Are we really that bad?

B

basilexile

Well-known member
After a season of coaching there is possibly only Casey that I would say has moved forward.

Pennington started very well and has gone backwards. The same could be said for Norburn.
Beesley came back into the side and started well, but again went backwards. Andy Lyons has gone from looking Championship class to a non league player this season.
Husband looked good on the ball in the Championship and frequently got forward and crossed the ball. Dare I say it Callum Connolly has looked far worse this season than last. The first 15 minutes yesterday showed just what has happened to Ekpiteta's confidence.

It just seems the longer our trio have working with them, the natural confidence appears to drain away. Some of these players are nowhere near as bad as they are being portrayed.
 
Agreed - it’s either the system they don’t see any value in, or the coaching and managing they’re receiving is demotivating, or most likely both.
Remember the end of the Championship season before Critchley left, it’s like the players just gave up. Similar this season, no real fire to drag ourselves into the play-offs, no real resilience or fire to win away. Set up not to get beat first.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Agreed - it’s either the system they don’t see any value in, or the coaching and managing they’re receiving is demotivating, or most likely both.
Remember the end of the Championship season before Critchley left, it’s like the players just gave up. Similar this season, no real fire to drag ourselves into the play-offs, no real resilience or fire to win away. Set up not to get beat first.
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Yep, yesterday was one of the most bizarre games I think I've ever been to, no one cared.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Yep, yesterday was one of the most bizarre games I think I've ever been to, no one cared.
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A strong manager ensures this never happens unless and until the dressing room is lost. I don’t believe Critchley is a strong manager and I have a suspicion that the players have long since had enough of training hour after hour after hour to play to a system that hardly ever suits us against teams that are in truth largely no better than we are. It has to be demoralising for the players and that feeds into the atmosphere around the club.
 
clappers said:
A strong manager ensures this never happens unless and until the dressing room is lost. I don’t believe Critchley is a strong manager and I have a suspicion that the players have long since had enough of training hour after hour after hour to play to a system that hardly ever suits us against teams that are in truth largely no better than we are. It has to be demoralising for the players and that feeds into the atmosphere around the club.
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They got thumped but CA would have been this angry yesterday having witnessed what we did and in a manager who looks like he has given up and our players who seem to have given up on him.

Have a quick listen.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774856203606085671
 
basilexile said:
After a season of coaching there is possibly only Casey that I would say has moved forward.

Pennington started very well and has gone backwards. The same could be said for Norburn.
Beesley came back into the side and started well, but again went backwards. Andy Lyons has gone from looking Championship class to a non league player this season.
Husband looked good on the ball in the Championship and frequently got forward and crossed the ball. Dare I say it Callum Connolly has looked far worse this season than last. The first 15 minutes yesterday showed just what has happened to Ekpiteta's confidence.

It just seems the longer our trio have working with them, the natural confidence appears to drain away. Some of these players are nowhere near as bad as they are being portrayed.
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Good post.
 
No, we're not that bad, but we are severely under performing with boring results, no passion, courage, or fire with no sign of improvement.

It's bleak and people have a right to be dismayed and upset.

Where do we go from here?

When Critchley first came in he was a breath of fresh air and we were willing to give him ample time to rebuild (in fact I think many were more than willing to not go up that 20/21 season because we were trending up), because we understood it was a long rebuild post Grayson and Oyston.

He's come in last Summer off the back of a relegation (that he was partly at fault for) with a squad that was in MUCH better shape than the one he inherited in 2020.

His expectations were rightfully much higher (Sadler even said our goal this season was Playoffs) and there has been nothing to indicate that we're closer to our goals now than we were in August.
 
Simonized said:
They got thumped but CA would have been this angry yesterday having witnessed what we did and in a manager who looks like he has given up and our players who seem to have given up on him.

Have a quick listen.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774856203606085671
Click to expand...
It’s so easy to big Charlie up for saying that but if Critch had come out and said exactly the same he would have got lambasted
“You put the team out.”
“You should be able to motivate them,”
“Square pegs in round holes!”
“Blame the players for your failings”
“Wrong starting XI”
“Poor substitutions”
Etc, etc, etc.

Why is Charlie such a cult hero? Great player but done naff all in management and yet lots on here would welcome him as manager.”
One thing people are overlooking is the fact that it ain’t Critch’s fault for the players failing to score.
And football fans are the same all over. I was reading today that the Leicester fans aren’t happy with the “keep ball” game and are begging the manager to play a long ball system because they are fed up.
They are in an automatic promotion place, what else do they want?
 
Eternaloptimist said:
It’s so easy to big Charlie up for saying that but if Critch had come out and said exactly the same he would have got lambasted
“You put the team out.”
“You should be able to motivate them,”
“Square pegs in round holes!”
“Blame the players for your failings”
“Wrong starting XI”
“Poor substitutions”
Etc, etc, etc.

Why is Charlie such a cult hero? Great player but done naff all in management and yet lots on here would welcome him as manager.”
One thing people are overlooking is the fact that it ain’t Critch’s fault for the players failing to score.
And football fans are the same all over. I was reading today that the Leicester fans aren’t happy with the “keep ball” game and are begging the manager to play a long ball system because they are fed up.
They are in an automatic promotion place, what else do they want?
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why isn't it Critchs fault for players failing to score. No player takes every chance they get but if you continue to create chances then hopefully someone will take one of them What we don't do is create enough chances. How many times after so many matches have you read on here about our failure to get very few If any shots on target? Why is that? Its because the manager doesn't set the team to attack or create any sustained pressure.

So yep its the managers fault
 
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I agree that almost all players have gone backwards and therefore lost value. Not good business for Mr Sadler
 
We came down a division and are incapable of being in a play off position. Morecthe inept manager than the under utilized players. Sadler is wasting time and money if he persists with this as is next season.
 
basilexile said:
After a season of coaching there is possibly only Casey that I would say has moved forward.

Pennington started very well and has gone backwards. The same could be said for Norburn.
Beesley came back into the side and started well, but again went backwards. Andy Lyons has gone from looking Championship class to a non league player this season.
Husband looked good on the ball in the Championship and frequently got forward and crossed the ball. Dare I say it Callum Connolly has looked far worse this season than last. The first 15 minutes yesterday showed just what has happened to Ekpiteta's confidence.

It just seems the longer our trio have working with them, the natural confidence appears to drain away. Some of these players are nowhere near as bad as they are being portrayed.
Click to expand...
I;d 100% agree and that's why when we're thinking of Critchley that we shouldn't just be thinking of him as a Manager, tactician and the results he's getting but also his main attraction as a coach where I think he's failing!
 
Whenever I see Premier League goals, certainly among the top teams, it's one touch and bam! At our level we regularly see a player want one touch too many and the chance has gone. It might have been Derby away and CJ carried the ball to the edge of their penalty area. He looked to have a great shooting chance on but instead, rolled it sideways to someone (Carey?). The opportunity was lost. This has to be a general lack of confidence because I've seen both of these players put away good goals from the edge of the area.
 
20togo said:
why isn't it Critchs fault for players failing to score. No player takes every chance they get but if you continue to create chances then hopefully someone will take one of them What we don't do is create enough chances. How many times after so many matches have you read on here about our failure to get very few If any shots on target? Why is that? Its because the manager doesn't set the team to attack or create any sustained pressure.

So yep its the managers fault
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20’s, on Monday we had 12 shots (5 on target), 12 shots against Derby (2 on target), and I can’t remember which game now but we had about 18 shots, so by those stats you can’t blame Critch for the players not taking those chances, and what about Rhodes absolute sitter a few weeks back? It was easier to score but he completely fluffed it. And there has been a few of those throughout the season as well as numerous shots on goal but simply not scored. Sorry mate but Critch can’t take all the flack for that and the players have to take some responsibility.
 
Eternaloptimist said:
20’s, on Monday we had 12 shots (5 on target), 12 shots against Derby (2 on target), and I can’t remember which game now but we had about 18 shots, so by those stats you can’t blame Critch for the players not taking those chances, and what about Rhodes absolute sitter a few weeks back? It was easier to score but he completely fluffed it. And there has been a few of those throughout the season as well as numerous shots on goal but simply not scored. Sorry mate but Critch can’t take all the flack for that and the players have to take some responsibility.
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yes, i understand that but here's the difference. A shot on or off target is not necessarily a chance. Some-one shooting from outside the box or from 30 yards or so is not necessarily a chance that has been created. We don't really create enough clear cut chances. So yep, i maintain it's Critchleys fault because of the way he sets us up and how we play. Monday told us that he is really starting to lose the fans and in my view they've been very patient because so many performances this season have been nothing short of woeful.
 
I wonder if Norburn arrived less half a yard of pace after his injury, he has been a big let down.
 
I think Wellens would be interested. However Regarding our performances at this stage of the season I want to focus on our approach play and how we try to involve our W/Backs and so many times we have to re-work the ball to move our opponents. Without Dembele we lack any creative ability apart from Morgan. We have no wingers in the squad that we are able to introduce and test the opposition. The squad has proven to be short of this type of player, this has been a big failure from our coach. Dembele is 20yrs he’s done well but we have lacked that extra player who could have made the difference in this area of the team. Is it down to money I don’t know, Joseph is a good player and needs some players round him who have equal ability. Critchley has the qualifications/certificates etc etc BUT ITS ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT AND HE NEEDS TO REMEMBER THAT. This season he has failed to bring together a squad of players who can attack the opposition and exite the customers. If he continues in this vein he will cost his owner more money and end up unemployed !
 
Eternaloptimist said:
It’s so easy to big Charlie up for saying that but if Critch had come out and said exactly the same he would have got lambasted
“You put the team out.”
“You should be able to motivate them,”
“Square pegs in round holes!”
“Blame the players for your failings”
“Wrong starting XI”
“Poor substitutions”
Etc, etc, etc.

Why is Charlie such a cult hero? Great player but done naff all in management and yet lots on here would welcome him as manager.”
One thing people are overlooking is the fact that it ain’t Critch’s fault for the players failing to score.
And football fans are the same all over. I was reading today that the Leicester fans aren’t happy with the “keep ball” game and are begging the manager to play a long ball system because they are fed up.
They are in an automatic promotion place, what else do they want?
Click to expand...
Difference is this is Critchley’s team with personnel he mostly recruited. It’s not Adam’s team.
 
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