Gabriel’s withdrawal at half time

TwelveAngryMen said:
Even if you are right he's a talented young player
Critchley is meant to be a coach - so make him better not banish him to the stands because he's not one of your favourites and play less gifted players
Jeez if CJ was pulled for every mistake he made he'd be training with the U10s
Click to expand...
My initial comment was based on a misunderstanding that he was ‘Liking’ certain ‘Critchley - Critical’ Social Media posts and had changed his profile picture to himself in a Leeds shirt.

I now understand that it was his dad and not the player.

As I saw it, that was an issue of attitude that was unacceptable..

As it is, I actually think his dad is a knob and that his Social Media is ‘unhelpful’ to us and to his son.. tbh.

The lad now needs to take his chances when they come like everyone else. He’s got potential, but he’s also a long way away from being the talent his dad (and some of our fans) think he is…. The mistakes he was making were poor and elementary ones for a CH.

So learn your craft… train harder…. Concentrate properly during games and Tell your Dad to Fuck Off… would be my message to the lad.
 
When Lyons got injured the obvious move would have been to bring on Husband and move Connolly to right-wing back.
Instead, he brought on Virtue the player who is probably the slowest in the Blackpool squad. We should have gone to a back 4 last night
but Critch is determined to keep playing a back 3 no matter the cost.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
My message would be you are wasting your time - Critchley has his favourites and you aren't one so move on
Click to expand...
He’s agreed to offering him a new contract, so he must think he has potential… (and he does).

If he’s not careful though his Dad is going to end up doing a Paul Ince on him and ruining his career.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
My message would be you are wasting your time - Critchley has his favourites and you aren't one so move on
Click to expand...
This is my concern with him. We could lose a talented lad because of Critchley playing favourites. We paid a decent sum for him as well which I doubt we get back if we sell him anytime soon.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
He’s agreed to offering him a new contract, so he must think he has potential… (and he does).

If he’s not careful though his Dad is going to end up doing a Paul Ince on him and ruining his career.
Click to expand...
If I was him would be more worried about our coaching team ruining his career
 
Is it not Critchleys 3 at the back that is making these lads look so poor. The centre half is generally a big strong unit, good in the air and often lacks pace. They do what they are good at.
Critchleys then decides to play centre halves as full backs in a 3 at the back formation and we wonder why we lack pace at the back.
Buy two defenders with genuine pace and we might get away with three at the back. I still prefer a back four though, especially away from home.
 
Just to add this is what really gets my goat
We should be all about developing our young players and you do that by playing them just as other teams do - Peterborough being the classic example
Yet we don't play Casey - we play Connolly and put a half fit Hubby on the bench
We don't play Lyons - we bring in a loanee who's preferred even when he's generally been bang average
We don't keep Apter and play him - we farm him out and play CJ week in week out
And where's the rest ?
We should be brimming with the best 20-22 year olds
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
He didn't play v Oxford or Stevenage b4 Cheltenham so I assumed poolfc was on about JG
Click to expand...
No, Casey. Gabriel is on a run of games at the moment where if not for the injury to Lyons last night, you'd have expected Lyons to come in for his own batch of random starts soon. And now that Critchley has seemingly reverted to wing backs on their correct sides.

That side of it, dipping players in and out of the team, hasn't really changed from his first stint. And you can see where they're trying to drag out the availability of the likes of Jim Husband who's usually done for around now with his hamstrings for three months. The main problem has been the formation, tactics, mindset and approach to games like last night where we're having a couple of minutes of trying at the start and then basically giving up.
 
Just checked back and this year he played

Lincoln - we won

Forest away in the cup Drew but played well

Exeter - we won without conceding

Burton - in cup Dropped / rotated

Forest replay - dropped / rotated

Bristol R - we won

Charlton - we drew but arguably should have won

Bolton in cup - drew 0-0 but won on pens

Oxford - dropped / rotated

Cheltenham - played and we lost

Not played since and has only played in one game we lost out of seven played

I'd suggest that statistically we seem to do far better with him in the team than without
 
Last edited:
TwelveAngryMen said:
Won two and lost two abjectly
Click to expand...
That’s been the story of this season TAM… And Oliver Casey certainly isn’t the key that’s going to unlock that particular conundrum, I’m afraid…. I wish he was.

There’s clearly something ‘Fundamentally’ wrong with our approach to Away Games this season. Whether that’s the Set Up, Player Confidence, the Approach, Homer Referees, Motivation, Lack of Leadership or any combination of things, I’ve no idea… but it is bigger than an odd player.

When Critchley had us performing at our best, he was rotating the squad regularly and seamlessly with limited impact on performances… This time around it’s very different… He’s tried to stick with a winning formula at times, but to no avail. Individuals have been as inconsistent as the whole to be honest… in-fact individual inconsistencies have been the story of the season. Casey being a Casey in point !!
 
Danny Ocean said:
When Lyons got injured the obvious move would have been to bring on Husband and move Connolly to right-wing back.
Instead, he brought on Virtue the player who is probably the slowest in the Blackpool squad. We should have gone to a back 4 last night
but Critch is determined to keep playing a back 3 no matter the cost.
Click to expand...
A laughably poor decision from a coach who seems to have lost the plot. Why on earth would you think that could work?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
That’s been the story of this season TAM… And Oliver Casey certainly isn’t the key that’s going to unlock that particular conundrum, I’m afraid…. I wish he was.

There’s clearly something ‘Fundamentally’ wrong with our approach to Away Games this season. Whether that’s the Set Up, Player Confidence, the Approach, Homer Referees, Motivation, Lack of Leadership or any combination of things, I’ve no idea… but it is bigger than an odd player.

When Critchley had us performing at our best, he was rotating the squad regularly and seamlessly with limited impact on performances… This time around it’s very different… He’s tried to stick with a winning formula at times, but to no avail. Individuals have been as inconsistent as the whole to be honest… in-fact individual inconsistencies have been the story of the season. Casey being a Casey in point !!
Click to expand...
The stats suggest there are players who are far more inconsistent who repeatedly get preferred over OC
 
Insider said:
Critch never makes substitutions until its too late. Critch out
Critch makes a substitution at HT. What's he playing at? Critch out.
Why didn't Critch start Andy Lyons? Critch out.
Fans favourite Andy Lyons comes on at HT. Critch out.
Only on this messageboard.
For the record I wouldn't have made the change.
Click to expand...
I agree with you insider. Critch out!
 
Basically we are just waiting for Critchley to finally realise that Connolly is never going to win the fans over and that should allow Casey to move further up the pecking order
 
haggertyf said:
Basically we are just waiting for Critchley to finally realise that Connolly is never going to win the fans over and that should allow Casey to move further up the pecking order
Click to expand...
Well, apart from when a few weeks pass without Connolly having played and then ‘the fans’ will be talking about “Why didn’t he include Connolly Last Night, we could have done with a bit of steel in the Midfield”

I mean it’s not like it hasn’t happened before (time and time again!!).

TwelveAngryMen said:
Getting those two off their iPads wil be like me trying to ban my kids from using their phones Not going to happen
Click to expand...

I suspect they’ve probably discovered Game Of Thrones after all these years and are binge watching it during games. I found it very addictive myself to be honest…
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Well, apart from when a few weeks pass without Connolly having played and then ‘the fans’ will be talking about “Why didn’t he include Connolly Last Night, we could have done with a bit of steel in the Midfield”

I mean it’s not like it hasn’t happened before (time and
Click to expand...
Well you will always get the odd poster coming out with strange comments like that but generally Connolly isn't going to win the fans over now I'm afraid
 
I was under the impression that Casey had a small knock.
With JLG, I thought he started to look a little blowy towards HT. He hasn't stopped running for us the last few games.

I still think for away games we need to look at a number of variables, as some have mentioned previously.
Have we developed travel sickness? Do we travel too late on the day of a game? Is the coach cheaply maintained and excessive vibrations on the motorway causing fatigue? Do we use BnB's for overnight stays? Does Critch get the choice of music on journeys? Do the lads not get enough rest between Sat>Tuesday games? Do we need Big Gaz to enforce positive vibes during away travel?

I'd love to point the finger at Critch as the sole reason for our away performances, makes life much easier. I just can't, I still believe there are multiple issues, some of which I hope are sorted in the summer (Callum not renewed freeing up some wages/squad spot for example), but of which a change of manager/coach might only paper over.
 
haggertyf said:
Well you will always get the odd poster coming out with strange comments like that but generally Connolly isn't going to win the fans over now I'm afraid
Click to expand...
He’s been a very good player for us and at times has been invaluable. Every Team / Squad can benefit from a solid Utility Player and that’s what CC offers.

It’s not been his best season of course, but you could say that about a good few of the squad.
 
pooljimbo said:
Yeah, I know, I suppose he just thought he had adequate replacement with Lyons, who tbf most have been clamouring to see play more, especially in his more suited position, and didn’t need to take the risk. Obviously him getting injured wasn’t part of the plan.
Click to expand...
He should start with Lyons and Gabriel as wing backs, surely anyone can see they are our best players then bring on CJ when the teams are tiring. Or change the formation to accommodate all three if we need a goal.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
He’s been a very good player for us and at times has been invaluable. Every Team / Squad can benefit from a solid Utility Player and that’s what CC offers.

It’s not been his best season of course, but you could say that about a good few of the squad.
Click to expand...
You are probably right about what his done in previous seasons and its a shame he's now seen as a scapegoat when things don't go right.I can't understand why Critchley keeps giving him game time though as he's not playing well and he just isn't going to win the fans over no matter what
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Just checked back and this year he played

Lincoln - we won

Forest away in the cup Drew but played well

Exeter - we won without conceding

Burton - in cup Dropped / rotated

Forest replay - dropped / rotated

Bristol R - we won

Charlton - we drew but arguably should have won

Bolton in cup - drew 0-0 but won on pens

Oxford - dropped / rotated

Cheltenham - played and we lost

Not played since and has only played in one game we lost out of seven played

I'd suggest that statistically we seem to do far better with him in the team than without
Click to expand...
To be fair, he had an absolute shocker at Cheltenham. No one was playing well, but he was stand out weak.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top