It takes a big man to admit they are wrong

Insider said:
You mean the one where you couldn't get the players names right? 😉
TBH I don't actually disagree with some of what you say.
I do absolutely disagree that we should get rid of Critch.
He does tinker too much for my liking but you and I aren't usually privy to the fitness of the players so that's a consideration that may have influenced yesterday's team selection.
He is still learning and I'd say you learn more from a defeat than a victory.
We can all see the negatives from yesterday, primarily that we lost and also the poor 2nd half performance.
We soon forget that we actually did OK for the first 44mis of the game.
With what we appeared to have had available yesterday I would have played 4-4-2.
I'd have started with Turts instead of Gabriel.
Mid-field: Embleton, Dougall, Stewart Garbutt.
Up top: Yates Simms.
I listened to Larry post match yesterday and I came out in a cold sweat. 😁
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Why would you play Turton over Gabriel...thats just bizarre...Gabriel is different gravy to Turton and was my man of the match yesterday...the key question is what is NC actually learning because I am not seeing much evidence of any learning by mistakes. Any team with all 3 of Turton Husband and Virtue as first picks WONT be going up...they simply arent of the requisite standard. They are however decent back up.
 
clappers said:
The season is almost over playoff wise I think. A shame to see it all peter out given we are obviously better than our league position and performances suggest. Again it’s inability to score consistently in games that is costing us and the formation and selections are contributing massively to that.
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Sorry Clappers, but totally disagree with that statement
With regards the number of games left to play we have only just started the second half of the season.
A long, long way to go yet mate.
 
I dont want him gone, but.....
We all know Yates needs Madine or simms alongside him.
Results have proved this.
He is totally ineffective with no support, it's obvious to us all, and we have said this many times when he stubbornly reverts to a system & nearly always backfires ( apart from Pompey)
SO PLAY 2 UPFRONT & SAVE YOUR JOB!
Play Gabrielle & Garbutt as attacking wingbacks too?
 
fcblackpool said:
How much money does SS have to throw at it?

Some say get through this season and rebuild with nc in the summer. How much will that cost? Let alone whether you need 3 signings to find 1 player.

Sack NC now? How much will that cost?

Cheapest option is to stick with NC and hope it all comes good.

However, if you are going to change, now would be the time as there's no window and a new bloke has proper time to assess before discarding, unlike NC who discarded anyway without DC&A.
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Agree, but I don’t think SS should hope for the best, he should give him a little hairdryer treatment, not a lot, but telling him he’s had the backing, he knows he has to entertain, so start showing it now.
 
We used to get annoyed when Holloway tinkered. A a supporter it’s hard looking from the outside to see why they do it.
Critchley is learning his trade, he has improved from the start of the season and has had quite a few hurdles to overcome in a strange season. He needs to be given the rest of the season and at least the first half of the next.
 
Shiggy said:
Think his point was more the fact you said the season was ‘almost over’ when we have 22 games left to play. Another ridiculous comment
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We’ll shiggy you were quick enough to call my post ridiculous when in actual fact you obviously have trouble reading. I assume you have now read what I actually posted, be man enough to apologise for your mistake and I will graciously accept.
 
Eternaloptimist said:
Sorry Clappers, but totally disagree with that statement
With regards the number of games left to play we have only just started the second half of the season.
A long, long way to go yet mate.
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I understand where you are coming from but we just don’t look like a team that is suddenly going to start scoring the two a game that we will need to mount a serious challenge for the playoff positions. I just think we will end up 13th or below from what I’ve seen. Be different if we had CJ and a settled team with two up front starting to look organised. I just don’t see it this year.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Thats rubbish mate

My view on Critchley hasn't changed, i dont believe he's good enough and i didn't want him from day one due to his lack of experience

The only thing that has changed is me now calling for him to go

I've been critical of his tactics all season

We have a strong squad with good players yet can't get anything against a poor Ipswich team, he's been backed from the board more than any manager in my lifetime
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Phil, can you honestly say, with hand on heart, that you didn’t want him due to lack of experience? Did you come out and say that at the time?
I would imagine that being involved in the Liverpool set up he would have gained a wealth of experience even though it was with the under 21’s.
Experience is gained from being in places like that and working alongside a vast majority of people who have been involved in the game a long, time, time

Don’t get me wrong Phil, I am not advocating that because someone has come from a big club that they will automatically make a good manager but I just find it difficult to understand why you can dismiss someone without seeing what they can do first.

If we were in a relegation scrap at the halfway stage of the season then yes, I would agree with you, but the fact is we are in the top half of the league, 9 points off the 6th team with 3 games in hand on them.


Yes, we have to win those games but to call for him to in our current situation is, IMO, a bit premature.

But we all have our opinions I suppose which is what makes for interesting debate.
 
Rektseasider said:
So in three days we’ve gone from the season and promotion are there for the taking to Critchley out, because we lost one game of football!?

I used to think you we’re a serious poster to be honest and I was being churlish the other day, to which you got narked at because you felt I was having at dig at you, whilst you were...... oh having a dig at other peoples opinions.

But you keep ‘arguing’ for us to replace mangers every twelve months. It’s just nonsense. I can’t take you seriously.

Anyway here’s my last run for you on your weird chases.
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Nailed it.. it’s like having Adrian Durham on this board.
 
clappers said:
I understand where you are coming from but we just don’t look like a team that is suddenly going to start scoring the two a game that we will need to mount a serious challenge for the playoff positions. I just think we will end up 13th or below from what I’ve seen. Be different if we had CJ and a settled team with two up front starting to look organised. I just don’t see it this year.
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Clappers, it starts on Tuesday night. 👍
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Why would you play Turton over Gabriel...thats just bizarre...Gabriel is different gravy to Turton and was my man of the match yesterday...the key question is what is NC actually learning because I am not seeing much evidence of any learning by mistakes. Any team with all 3 of Turton Husband and Virtue as first picks WONT be going up...they simply arent of the requisite standard. They are however decent back up.
Click to expand...
I didn't say Gabriel had a poor game yesterday although his stats aren't great but neither would I have given MOM. Nobody shone yesterday but I'd have probably given it Eky.
I just said I would have started Turton who was probably MOM in a couple of the games he last started in.
Going back to Gabriel I think the defensive side of his game has improved to the detriment of his forward play. His made 14 accurate passes yesterday with 7 of those in his own half and pass success rate of 61%. He was involved in 9 duels and won 4 but lost 5. He had 52 touches of the ball.
I don't think with a fully fit squad Virtue or Husband would be in Critchy's starting eleven.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
So come on Simon, Brett and Ben time to get rid of the tinker man coach Critchley

Big fanfare when he came in almost a year ago about fast exciting 'entertaining' football yet the reality is that Critchley's record is almost the same as Graysons, the football isn't much better either

I posted a thread a couple of days ago highlighting the support Critchley has had from the board and showed examples of our current squad and how strong it looks on paper with options all over the pitch

There really isn't any excuse as Critchley has been given all the tools necessary to build a good consistent team

The problem to me is the stubbornness and his reluctance to play 2 strikers week in week out, the stats show that we win more games than we lose when we play 2 upfront

Yesterday was awful for a number of reasons

Another new formation, that looked defensive on paper with 5 in midfield, it was all about accommodating the new Sunderland lad in a free role behind Yates. He did ok but nothing special considering he was given the freedom to make things happen. We have and have had several other players who could of played that role yet weren't given the chance. Both Kemp and Woodburn have been and gone without being allowed to play in that free role 10 slot that they prefer

Ipswich were bang out of form with several key players missing yet we were impotent

Credit to Critchley for the signing of big Marv he has really improved since the start of the season, but i suppose even a broken clock is right once

Maybe Critchley was brought in the develop players if so move him sideways and get a proper manager in the manage the 1st team

Get rid now to save our season, admit the experiment hasn't worked and kick on

Simon Sadler deserves better
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I read the title and thought, that explains a lot about Phil's stance 😉
 
I'm not going to advocate a change of manager but he did get it wrong yesterday. Saving a 15-20 minute spell in the first half we were nowhere yesterday. But these calls for the head of the manager when we have a bad result help not a bit when there is silence when things go right. There has to be more balance than bias.

I'm in agreement that starting without a front 2 is a mistake. Simms and Yates could and should have started against an unimpressive Ipswich side. I know we introduced a couple of new faces and that seems to have confused midfield but I think changing formation to accommodate them was the wrong way to go, given how little time Embelton in particular has had with the squad. Yes I'm unhappy with yesterday but I never expect great performances or the right approach every week. Just doesn't happen.

Lesson need to be, and hopefully are, being learnt. It isn't season over by any means but it is unlikely we'll be in the hunt. That bothers me less if the squad we have now is the core of what we will start next season with. If we are going to have another year of preparing for a move to the Championship then I'm fine. I'd rather we had this while we aren't in the ground to have the boo boys get on the backs of everyone.

I'll do my judging at the end of the season based on where we are, how we got there and how we look prepared for the upcoming season. If it all looks crap, if it is obvious nothing had been learnt off the back of all this, I'll join those hoping for a managerial change. If I see enough to suggest next season will see us challenging I will stay backing the manager. End of the day though what I or any of us think won't matter at all cos Sadler will make a call, and I am completely fine with that.
 
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Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
We used to get annoyed when Holloway tinkered. A a supporter it’s hard looking from the outside to see why they do it.
Critchley is learning his trade, he has improved from the start of the season and has had quite a few hurdles to overcome in a strange season. He needs to be given the rest of the season and at least the first half of the next.
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To me it looks like he’s trying to give them all a chance, rotate his squad. The same thing Ollie did. There are lots of matches coming up and too many in February, imo, so I can understand the logic.

In my view, the formation and the style of play is more our undoing than the players who should know their role by now and should be able to fit in seamlessly.
We are too defensive minded, overpass in midfield, too slow and methodical in our build up play (especially when CJ is injured). Any reasonably well organised team can set up to defend against us, hence why the number of goals scored is so poor.
We need to be more innovative, with a cutting edge. Quick one-two’s, balls into space or over the top, players making runs into space and interchanging positions, snappy forward passes and turns. We are far too ponderous in our approach play, even when chasing a game we can’t pick up the pace, and there’s no Plan B to be more direct. We just pack midfield with instructions to be patient, to the point we are often back in our own half or even worse, back to the goalkeeper. It’s annoying and basically killing our potency up front. These are the changes NC needs to make and it stems from the training ground.
 
Eternaloptimist said:
Phil, can you honestly say, with hand on heart, that you didn’t want him due to lack of experience? Did you come out and say that at the time?
I would imagine that being involved in the Liverpool set up he would have gained a wealth of experience even though it was with the under 21’s.
Experience is gained from being in places like that and working alongside a vast majority of people who have been involved in the game a long, time, time

Don’t get me wrong Phil, I am not advocating that because someone has come from a big club that they will automatically make a good manager but I just find it difficult to understand why you can dismiss someone without seeing what they can do first.

If we were in a relegation scrap at the halfway stage of the season then yes, I would agree with you, but the fact is we are in the top half of the league, 9 points off the 6th team with 3 games in hand on them.


Yes, we have to win those games but to call for him to in our current situation is, IMO, a bit premature.

But we all have our opinions I suppose which is what makes for interesting debate.
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Yes i did, i wanted someone with more experience

Let's not forget that the board also wanted that after having approaches tuned down for Wellens, Robinson and the Luton bloke
 
Eternaloptimist said:
Phil, can you honestly say, with hand on heart, that you didn’t want him due to lack of experience? Did you come out and say that at the time?
I would imagine that being involved in the Liverpool set up he would have gained a wealth of experience even though it was with the under 21’s.
Experience is gained from being in places like that and working alongside a vast majority of people who have been involved in the game a long, time, time

Don’t get me wrong Phil, I am not advocating that because someone has come from a big club that they will automatically make a good manager but I just find it difficult to understand why you can dismiss someone without seeing what they can do first.

If we were in a relegation scrap at the halfway stage of the season then yes, I would agree with you, but the fact is we are in the top half of the league, 9 points off the 6th team with 3 games in hand on them.


Yes, we have to win those games but to call for him to in our current situation is, IMO, a bit premature.

But we all have our opinions I suppose which is what makes for interesting debate.
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Sorry but we aren’t in the top half of the league we are in the bottom half, 11 teams below us 12 above. However that’s nitpicking. As you know there is a world of difference between u23s and big boys football, the main one being in u23s results are a secondary consideration in league football it’s the first. In u23s the coach can also experiment or ‘tinker’ with formations, systems etc. Critchley doesn’t appear to have yet grasped the difference. I am not, like some, advocating his dismissal but I think it’s about time an older head, say Calderwood, had a good heart to heart with him and got him to fully appreciate that results do matter. And also, as he will find out when we return, fans also matter. The sooner he takes this attitude on board the better it will be al round.
 
Goforgoal said:
We’ll shiggy you were quick enough to call my post ridiculous when in actual fact you obviously have trouble reading. I assume you have now read what I actually posted, be man enough to apologise for your mistake and I will graciously accept.
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😂😂😂 I’ll pass mate
 
Well I did tell you all last August that we wouldn't fare well under a novice. It was always going to be a step too far from coaching cream of the crop talented youngsters to play the Lpool way to dealing with 25 to 30 year old professionals at Bpool. The football is turgid and Critchley is passionless and demotivating. Madine saw through him early on and it's well known what he thinks of Critchley's abilities. His sacking is inevitable as this isn't what Sadler expected and promised.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
So come on Simon, Brett and Ben time to get rid of the tinker man coach Critchley

Big fanfare when he came in almost a year ago about fast exciting 'entertaining' football yet the reality is that Critchley's record is almost the same as Graysons, the football isn't much better either

I posted a thread a couple of days ago highlighting the support Critchley has had from the board and showed examples of our current squad and how strong it looks on paper with options all over the pitch

There really isn't any excuse as Critchley has been given all the tools necessary to build a good consistent team

The problem to me is the stubbornness and his reluctance to play 2 strikers week in week out, the stats show that we win more games than we lose when we play 2 upfront

Yesterday was awful for a number of reasons

Another new formation, that looked defensive on paper with 5 in midfield, it was all about accommodating the new Sunderland lad in a free role behind Yates. He did ok but nothing special considering he was given the freedom to make things happen. We have and have had several other players who could of played that role yet weren't given the chance. Both Kemp and Woodburn have been and gone without being allowed to play in that free role 10 slot that they prefer

Ipswich were bang out of form with several key players missing yet we were impotent

Credit to Critchley for the signing of big Marv he has really improved since the start of the season, but i suppose even a broken clock is right once

Maybe Critchley was brought in the develop players if so move him sideways and get a proper manager in the manage the 1st team

Get rid now to save our season, admit the experiment hasn't worked and kick on

Simon Sadler deserves better
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Phil I don't know what you do for a living but.........
If you started in a new job and after a year someone said that you were doing the same work as someone with 15 years experience I dare say youd be quite chuffed as how good could you be with another 14 years experience under your belt 👍🏻

That's how I'm looking at the Critchley situation, he's only been in the job a year and some are comparing him to someone with 15 years experience!!

I'll be the first to say that some of his tactics and squad rotation have been baffling at times but everyone makes mistakes when starting out and it's how he learns from those mistakes.

Let's not forget that a certain Mr Furguson was a bugs dick from getting potted until something 'clicked' the rest, as we know, is history
 
It’s all well and good to say Ollie rotated and tinkered, but you could see from very early on what Illie was trying to achieve and all the players slotted into that system by an large. Under Critchley it isn’t clear at all. Where is the excitement? The only passage of play recently that has been top draw is the Yates individual effort and that super slick exchange of passes involving Madine. Everything else is just lower league one standard dross.
 
Wouldn't dream of getting rid of the coach, but some serious conversations about "managing" should be going on. It is all very well saying he's a great coach, but after the umpteenth time of him picking a different team and formation, that the supporters predicted before the match would fail, it is not working.

Now, we have a lot of games coming up, and I can understand the need for rotation, but it only works in a settled formation. If you look back at Ollie's teams, and what his players said about his coaching, they all knew exactly where they fitted in, and could be changed at will because of that, without missing a beat. When you change strategy again and again, whilst putting new and old players in, it will not work.

I think him feeling real pressure to perform would actually benefit him. His background with U23's is far more about development than results, he needs to understand in black and white, his job is to win games. He has a decent squad, but he needs to install aggression and directness in them. At 2- 0 down and 5 minutes left, the kitchen sink should be thrown at the opposition, not careful tappy in defence. He is still young, with good advice and a little more humility, I think he and this squad could be something special. It bugs me when he keeps harping back to that atrocious run at the start of the season, saying how well we played. It is about points, NC, not prettiness.

Final from me, our revival started with Dougal's arrival in the team, he is not as aggressive and quick as he was. I genuinely wonder if he is still feeling the loss of fitness post Covid.
 
62years&counting said:
Well I did tell you all last August that we wouldn't fare well under a novice. It was always going to be a step too far from coaching cream of the crop talented youngsters to play the Lpool way to dealing with 25 to 30 year old professionals at Bpool. The football is turgid and Critchley is passionless and demotivating. Madine saw through him early on and it's well known what he thinks of Critchley's abilities. His sacking is inevitable as this isn't what Sadler expected and promised.
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Ah, the triumphant ‘I told you so’ post after a defeat. You expose yourself for what you really are; a poster who’s had an agenda from the beginning and is so desperate to be proven right that they see their team losing as a moral victory. You’re secretly loving this.
 
Shiggy said:
Ah, the triumphant ‘I told you so’ post after a defeat. You expose yourself for what you really are; a poster who’s had an agenda from the beginning and is so desperate to be proven right that they see their team losing as a moral victory. You’re secretly loving this.
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Far from it, but many on here including you, are in denial....unless your happy in defeat and mid table mediocrity?
 
Unfair to compare Grayson's 7 months to Critchley's 11 months, but what will be an interesting comparison is the Grayson/Critchley at the point Grayson was sacked:

GRAYSON
GAMESTOTAL
PLAYED29
WON9
DREW10
LOST10
POINT TOTAL37

CRITCHLEY:
GAMESTOTAL
PLAYED24
WON10
DREW4
LOST10
POINT TOTAL34

5 games less and Critchley is already beating his wins in the league, but has matched his losses. The 5 fixtures he has before he reaches Grayson's total of games:
Burton (H)
Peterborough (H)
Rochdale (H)
Portsmouth (A)
Doncaster (H)

You'd imagine he'll be safely beating Grayson by the 29 games played point. Not bad considering its his first full season in charge, whereas Grayson was a seasoned manager with around 15 years of experience.
 
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62years&counting said:
Far from it, but many on here including you, are in denial....unless your happy in defeat and mid table mediocrity?
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I posted a thread just this week at how the recruitment over the last 2 years has been questionable. I’ll hold my hands up and say that Critch needs to stop unnecessarily fiddling with the formation. I’ll admit his substitutions are sometimes either too late or have no substance.

Despite this, I can see what the club is trying to do, I can see that Critchley needs and deserves a season at least, I can see plenty of reasons to be positive, and I know that one defeat doesn’t break our season.

You on the other hand recycle the same hyperbolic nonsense whenever we lose, have no intention of changing your stance on Critchley, and seem to enjoy the opportunity to criticise anyone and everyone at the club when it arises.

I know where I’d rather stand.
 
Shiggy said:
I posted a thread just this week at how the recruitment over the last 2 years has been questionable. I’ll hold my hands up and say that Critch needs to stop unnecessarily fiddling with the formation. I’ll admit his substitutions are sometimes either too late or have no substance.

Despite this, I can see what the club is trying to do, I can see that Critchley needs and deserves a season at least, I can see plenty of reasons to be positive, and I know that one defeat doesn’t break our season.

You on the other hand recycle the same hyperbolic nonsense whenever we lose, have no intention of changing your stance on Critchley, and seem to enjoy the opportunity to criticise anyone and everyone at the club when it arises.

I know where I’d rather stand.
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You live in hope and that's up to you. I say what I see and the performances and results suggest that I got it right and that Critchley, and many on here, got it wrong.
 
clappers said:
It’s all well and good to say Ollie rotated and tinkered, but you could see from very early on what Illie was trying to achieve and all the players slotted into that system by an large. Under Critchley it isn’t clear at all. Where is the excitement? The only passage of play recently that has been top draw is the Yates individual effort and that super slick exchange of passes involving Madine. Everything else is just lower league one standard dross.
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"Under Critchley it isn't clear at all".

I genuinely think that the players in fluid positions don't know either. They look lost. Changing the player produces the same lost response.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yes i did, i wanted someone with more experience

Let's not forget that the board also wanted that after having approaches tuned down for Wellens, Robinson and the Luton bloke
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On this I think we missed out on a decent manager in Nathan Jones but to be fair to the board they offered him the job and he turned us down...I have no doubt he watched footage of our games and probably saw how influential the loan signings were and how the rest of the squad were not great. Whether that is the reason he didnt come only he knows but I suspect it played a part.

This is also borne out by the fact he signed KDH on loan at Luton...I reckon he saw how good KDH was for us and knew he could cut it at championship level.
 
TangerinePeel said:
Unfair to compare Grayson's 7 months to Critchley's 11 months, but what will be an interesting comparison is the Grayson/Critchley at the point Grayson was sacked:

GRAYSON
GAMESTOTAL
PLAYED29
WON9
DREW10
LOST10
POINT TOTAL37

CRITCHLEY:
GAMESTOTAL
PLAYED24
WON10
DREW4
LOST10
POINT TOTAL34

5 games less and Critchley is already beating his wins in the league, but has matched his losses. The 5 fixtures he has before he reaches Grayson's total of games:
Burton (H)
Peterborough (H)
Rochdale (H)
Portsmouth (A)
Doncaster (H)

You'd imagine he'll be safely beating Grayson by the 29 games played point. Not bad considering its his first full season in charge, whereas Grayson was a seasoned manager with around 15 years of experience.
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Grayson was starting with McPhillips team. Critchley started with Graysons team and had way more backing than Grayson ever had. If anything there isn’t much between them and less goals in the team.
 
clappers said:
Grayson was starting with McPhillips team. Critchley started with Graysons team and had way more backing than Grayson ever had. If anything there isn’t much between them and less goals in the team.
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The stats could end up being damning on Critchley if you think Grayson was sacked for 37 points at the 29th game. You'd imagine we aren't going to win 5 on the bounce so they will be relatively close by that point.

There are lots of arguments to be made either was I suppose, such as Critchley having covid to contend with and how that is throwing the season into turmoil left right and centre. We'll have to see where we're at in 5 games!
 
clappers said:
Grayson was starting with McPhillips team. Critchley started with Graysons team and had way more backing than Grayson ever had. If anything there isn’t much between them and less goals in the team.
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I wouldn't read too much into stats like those., Grayson after 10 games was a point behind Hendog.
 
Tangerinemoss said:
Wouldn't dream of getting rid of the coach, but some serious conversations about "managing" should be going on. It is all very well saying he's a great coach, but after the umpteenth time of him picking a different team and formation, that the supporters predicted before the match would fail, it is not working.

Now, we have a lot of games coming up, and I can understand the need for rotation, but it only works in a settled formation. If you look back at Ollie's teams, and what his players said about his coaching, they all knew exactly where they fitted in, and could be changed at will because of that, without missing a beat. When you change strategy again and again, whilst putting new and old players in, it will not work.

I think him feeling real pressure to perform would actually benefit him. His background with U23's is far more about development than results, he needs to understand in black and white, his job is to win games. He has a decent squad, but he needs to install aggression and directness in them. At 2- 0 down and 5 minutes left, the kitchen sink should be thrown at the opposition, not careful tappy in defence. He is still young, with good advice and a little more humility, I think he and this squad could be something special. It bugs me when he keeps harping back to that atrocious run at the start of the season, saying how well we played. It is about points, NC, not prettiness.

Final from me, our revival started with Dougal's arrival in the team, he is not as aggressive and quick as he was. I genuinely wonder if he is still feeling the loss of fitness post Covid.
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What makes you think he isn't under real pressure to perform ?

We have a very ambitious owner who wants blackpool to be promoted to the championship . The owner has invested millions and continues to.

Critch must be under as much pressure as any other manager of an ambitious club. The board which consists of people with experience see him as the man who can achieve the targets. They know him better than we do but in football there are no guarantees which makes the game so compelling

This isn't an oyston keep us up situation
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Its not my fault you misread my post the other day

No excuses i said

As I've been saying for a while

Yesterday was abysmal against a side in horrendous form
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He’s had over a year and I don’t see any signs of improvement. We’ve got an excellent squad for this division and it’s been mismanaged. If Sadler has still got enthusiasm for it and hasn’t suffered as a result of Covid19 I’d get rid, third time lucky!! Get a new guy in and we could even make a late charge for the play offs.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
So come on Simon, Brett and Ben time to get rid of the tinker man coach Critchley

Big fanfare when he came in almost a year ago about fast exciting 'entertaining' football yet the reality is that Critchley's record is almost the same as Graysons, the football isn't much better either

I posted a thread a couple of days ago highlighting the support Critchley has had from the board and showed examples of our current squad and how strong it looks on paper with options all over the pitch

There really isn't any excuse as Critchley has been given all the tools necessary to build a good consistent team

The problem to me is the stubbornness and his reluctance to play 2 strikers week in week out, the stats show that we win more games than we lose when we play 2 upfront

Yesterday was awful for a number of reasons

Another new formation, that looked defensive on paper with 5 in midfield, it was all about accommodating the new Sunderland lad in a free role behind Yates. He did ok but nothing special considering he was given the freedom to make things happen. We have and have had several other players who could of played that role yet weren't given the chance. Both Kemp and Woodburn have been and gone without being allowed to play in that free role 10 slot that they prefer

Ipswich were bang out of form with several key players missing yet we were impotent

Credit to Critchley for the signing of big Marv he has really improved since the start of the season, but i suppose even a broken clock is right once

Maybe Critchley was brought in the develop players if so move him sideways and get a proper manager in the manage the 1st team

Get rid now to save our season, admit the experiment hasn't worked and kick on

Simon Sadler deserves better
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That's been ready to post for a few weeks now on Phil's hard drive.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
I'm not advocating replacing Critchley but Phil does make some good points about the stark contrast in results when play a lone striker / 4-3-3 and when we play two up top - see my 4-4-2 post for the specifics

What that tells us is that both Madine and Yates need each other ( or a like replacement )

Until we have the personal to play the system Critch wants us to play we should stick to what works - fairly certain we'd be a lot higher in the league if we had adopted that mantra back in Nov when the benefits of 4-4-2 first became apparent

We also need to stop the ridiculous number of substitutions
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We’d be a lot higher up the league if we converted a few more of the chances we create. I think it was mentioned the other week that we had an 8% conversion rate. That’s with the different formations we’ve been deploying. We even created a couple of good chances yesterday that we should have done better with. It’s not all down to the formation!
 
Memphisboy said:
He’s had over a year and I don’t see any signs of improvement. We’ve got an excellent squad for this division and it’s been mismanaged. If Sadler has still got enthusiasm for it and hasn’t suffered as a result of Covid19 I’d get rid, third time lucky!! Get a new guy in and we could even make a late charge for the play offs.
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So who is available for league 1 manager money that than can give us a better chance of the play offs with these players than critch ?

The answer is no one . These are his players and as such he is the person to get the best out of them .

Its a work in progress operating within a laid down league 1 EFL budget .

In hindsight it’s easy to say this didnt work and the line up was wrong etc etc
 
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A great innings that's brought interesting and relevant debate from the OP.
 
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AngelBFC said:
What makes you think he isn't under real pressure to perform ?

We have a very ambitious owner who wants blackpool to be promoted to the championship . The owner has invested millions and continues to.

Critch must be under as much pressure as any other manager of an ambitious club. The board which consists of people with experience see him as the man who can achieve the targets. They know him better than we do but in football there are no guarantees which makes the game so compelling

This isn't an oyston keep us up situation
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What makes you think he is? Any answer to any of my substantive points, or are you happy?

Not sure what your last sentence means.
 
Memphisboy said:
We have seen with Appleton what a decent manager can do in his first year.
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Yep Lincoln is a great example

New manager but one whose also been about a bit but plays good progressive football

22 players in 17 out and a massive change of direction from what got Lincoln to this league

I dare say if Lincoln had of gone for Critchley instead they wouldn't be a top of the table side
 
clappers said:
The season is almost over playoff wise I think. A shame to see it all peter out given we are obviously better than our league position and performances suggest. Again it’s inability to score consistently in games that is costing us and the formation and selections are contributing massively to that.
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The fact that relationships are nigh on impossible to form due to the constant tinkering will have had a major impact on our lack of goals.

I couldn't believe that Emberton, not wanted at Sunderland, went straight in yesterday ahead of a prospect like Simms. I'm surprised Everton haven't recalled him.

And Stewart after months out is just put straight in again after hardly any football (apart from the fact he and Dougall should not really play together). He looked like he was running in custard in 2nd half.

Then there was half an hour left, 2 nil down and his first thought is to bring Mitchell on. A defender. I couldn't believe my eyes.

He would be fine in the job if he played the 11 we all know is the best 11 each week in a 4-4-2 formation. But he seems to think he is too clever for this league and can adapt L1 standard players to a Champions League standard team's system. He can't. And for that reason he's on thin ice.

Maxwell, Gabriel, Ekpiteta, Grets (orBallard), Garbutt, Robson, Ward (Lubs or Kaikai if you like), Dougall, CJ, Yates Madine.

Same 4-4-2 bang it up there each week. Ok CJ is out so bring Turton in and push Gabriel on to right MF. Likewise you could play Husband or Mitchell at LB and push Garbutt forward to left MF but the 4-4-2 structure is not compromised and interchanges are like for like.

He really needs to do one of he sticks with these 2-1-3-2-1-1 type nonsenses.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Thanks....
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Yes, and a necessary one. His honeymoon period is well and truly over.
By now he should know his best starting line up (albeit injuries and covid hasn't helped) and he should definitely have implemented a system that suits his players and works. Having a plan B and better timing of substitutions is also essential. He just doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. In giving him 4 out of 10 I'm being generous.
 
Don't you love all the outpourings of negativity that come out after a defeat and half a poor performance.
It's the easiest job in the world to find fault.
 
There's some right numpties on this thread, with the opening poster being the biggest one of them all (obviously not referring to height).

It's ok to criticise the performance, tactics, application or effort of a football match, but why in the world does it always have to result in people calling for the manager to be sacked?

I'm glad Messers Sadler, Mansford and Gerrity aren't as clueless as the OP!
 
I never wanted Grayson as Manager but when he was appointed I was desperate for him to prove me wrong because the most important thing was he was managing the team I support.
There are far too many posters on here desperate to see Critchley fail because the most important thing in their life is to say "I told you so".
 
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