Is this the worst trip ?

TwelveAngryMen said:
Yes we won but that was turgid
Reminded me of the way we often played in the early 80s in the old Division 4
Bar Dembele’s goal that was an incredibly poor performance against woeful opposition
Why we continue to persevere with a flawed system that does our players no favours whatsoever is beyond me
Trust the process ?
You are having a laugh
Click to expand...
Couldn’t agree more the fact that we’re on 70 points despite being so poor throughout the entire year speaks volumes to how much better we could and should be doing.
 
Bandagem said:
And that’s why I went to Burnley mate to watch some passion and decent football. Burnley FFS what has happened to me! Proper footy day though.
Click to expand...
I see Kompany has put that mad goalie back in who has the concentration levels of a goldfish.

Always interested in fans who go to other games to get their kicks (NWCFL for me today) but Burnley?!! Bloody hell.
 
We’re still in with a chance with 2 games to go. Not quite making the playoffs certainly isn’t a disaster in my eyes as very few clubs do go back up at the first time of asking - especially with our budget and especially with how dire we were last season.

Critchleys close enough to be given the chance to get an extra 10% out of the squad next year. An extra 10% sees us in the playoffs comfortably.

Even 1 striker getting an additional 5/10 goals would likely have resulted in that 10% if not more.

It’s not been a classic season from a style perspective but the facts are we’re very close to success on the pitch. Results and the league table, plus the runs in the cups all support that.
 
There is that lack of ambition again... not at lea unmitigated disaster and we will never have a season will be much much tougher with the cr promoted league 2 sides all fancying their cha from this season and once it is over and the lo weaker...personally I would deem the managers tenure as an abject failure and would appoint a stronger manager. Even if he stays it is time to spend some money and strengthen the squad in a big way.
 
Don't know what people want. We were the best team by a mile today, and like many games, lack of quality in the final third has let us down. We had 2/3 golden chances to score and then another 3/4 half chances where a better final ball may have created a goal.

We have one of the best defences in the league and have only conceded 3 goals in the last 10 games. Is Critchley perfect - No. But look at the players he has. Are Beesley Lavery Kouassi and Joseph really capable of firing us to the Championship? Not a chance. They all have certain qualities which is why we signed them, but in terms of footballing ability overall they are poor to watch and raw, the ball bounces off them etc. Same issue in the middle of the park. Take Byers and Dembele out and how many of them are good enough to get us into the championship?

Central Defence/GK is probably the only position where we look decent and don't need too much improvement.

Critchley will be well aware if he wants this system to work he is going to need the right signings in the summer, he isn't an idiot. He will know a good chunk of the players aren't good enough to play this system. It's why he has signed a 4 year deal - we are building a brand and style of football that should hopefully be better on the eye when we have a better quality of player, these things will take time.

I think the main issue is that the majority of fans need something to protest since the Oyston days. There always HAS to be something to pick at, to be negative about. Its like its ingrained in fans since the boycott years. If Critchley was to get sacked, which he won't and he shouldn't, I'm sure there would be something else for everyone to complain about.
 
BlackpoolJord said:
Don't know what people want. We were the best team by a mile today, and like many games, lack of quality in the final third has let us down. We had 2/3 golden chances to score and then another 3/4 half chances where a better final ball may have created a goal.

We have one of the best defences in the league and have only conceded 3 goals in the last 10 games. Is Critchley perfect - No. But look at the players he has. Are Beesley Lavery Kouassi and Joseph really capable of firing us to the Championship? Not a chance. They all have certain qualities which is why we signed them, but in terms of footballing ability overall they are poor to watch and raw, the ball bounces off them etc. Same issue in the middle of the park. Take Byers and Dembele out and how many of them are good enough to get us into the championship?

Central Defence/GK is probably the only position where we look decent and don't need too much improvement.

Critchley will be well aware if he wants this system to work he is going to need the right signings in the summer, he isn't an idiot. He will know a good chunk of the players aren't good enough to play this system. It's why he has signed a 4 year deal - we are building a brand and style of football that should hopefully be better on the eye when we have a better quality of player, these things will take time.

I think the main issue is that the majority of fans need something to protest since the Oyston days. There always HAS to be something to pick at, to be negative about. Its like its ingrained in fans since the boycott years. If Critchley was to get sacked, which he won't and he shouldn't, I'm sure there would be something else for everyone to complain about.
Click to expand...
You are absolutely deluded if you think Critchley is capable of building a team to play attractive football. He has never done that, not when he was here before or now. His style is negative 1-0 wins, that will not change no matter what.
 
tangerinesince88 said:
You are absolutely deluded if you think Critchley is capable of building a team to play attractive football. He has never done that, not when he was here before or now. His style is negative 1-0 wins, that will not change no matter what.
Click to expand...

Oh he's deluded alright. He has done a complete 180.
 
BlackpoolJord said:
We have one of the best defences in the league and have only conceded 3 goals in the last 10 games. Is Critchley perfect - No. But look at the players he has. Are Beesley Lavery Kouassi and Joseph really capable of firing us to the Championship?
Click to expand...
We have been defensively sound under Critchley in both his spells at the club, but he has not managed to construct an effective attacking unit, except perhaps for a spell when Ellis Simms and Jerry Yates proved too strong for L1 opponents. He's not making the most of the attacking players we've got, and Beesley Lavery Joseph and Kouassi were all players he was keen to bring to the club, and three of them cost us fees.

I think Joseph was valued at £1m and Bees we paid about 400k. He told us Joseph was a goal scoring no. 9. He believed Bees could step up from L2 to the Championship, when he hadn't even played many games in L2. At Rochdale, he looked like a decent L2 striker. They must've been shocked by how much they got for him. Gift horse.

All four named strikers have been held back by injuries this season, as well as Rhodes, so there's a strong element of bad luck, but the continued choice of CJ ahead of Gabriel and Apter is bewildering to me. And before we signed Coulson the left side was equally unproductive. The loss of Dougall stifled our momentum, and was unfortunate, and Morgan's injury was untimely too, so Critch has had some bad luck, certainly.

I think some people fail to see the things Critch is good at, and some fail to see his weaknesses. But his ultimate crime for me is turning the beautiful game into an endurance test that nobody enjoys, including the players. For that reason I wouldn't be sorry to see him go. I just want to enjoy watching football. With our budget and attendances we don't have a right to win all the time, or to compete in the Championship against bigger budgets, but nobody gives up their Saturdays to be bored rigid by repetitive dull football. Our recent record is

P10 W5 D2 L3 F6 A3 PTS 17

Teams struggle to score against us. We struggle to score. Are we stale and dull by design, or does Critch just not know how to put attractive football together?

Well, if you come out with bollocks like "Apter needs game time so we've sent him back", you either don't know what you're doing or you aren't strong enough to make the right calls, in my opinion. It's an absolute nonsense to suggest that Apter couldn't have offered us something different, and better, in the final third. And we might have made the play offs. He has excellent control, he can beat players, he can cross a ball, he can cut in, he assists regularly, and he scores goals. Let's continue to develop him at Tranmere. And extend CJ's contract. Jesus! It's verging on corruption. 🤦🏻
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
We were solid enough, Carlisle look a League two team all day long, and if we’d have got a second I reckon we’d have got more. An away win, still in the hunt and have had a lot worse seasons following the ‘pool.
Click to expand...
We had plenty of opportunitues with 12 corners, 14 shots - but only 2 on target and scored only 1 goal. The reality is that we lack quality in the team, particularly, up front. If we had put even a third of our chances away it would have been a comfortable win. But people would still have a pop at NC. Appears to be a vendetta.
 
poolfc said:
They've been consistent in the season though. Scored 4s, 5s and 8s when I've noticed, put together long winning runs. And I have a feeling with how they operate that they won't be shy in recognising that there's a step up in level but you also have to be constantly looking to improve and they won't be scared to replace people who helped them on the way up. Same with Wrexham.
Click to expand...
Yes they're doing well and have a plan, I'm just reporting what my mate who goes regularly said. He was talking about the highlight of the season being an urn full of gravy falling off a wheelbarrow during a game, and the crowds all watching the clean up operation and creating gravy chants. And missing a goal in the process. "Did anyone see the goal?" "No, I was watching the gravy."

Also, Wrexham and Stockport have momentum, and money behind them, but it gets progressively harder. If they make the Championship they'll probably have the same battle we've had, it's not easy to compete up there now. They may recruit better than we have done. Remains to be seen. They both get similar crowds to us. Wrexham more than us, in a lower division, this season. These are the sort of clubs we are in a level with. County have a wealthy local lad as owner since 2020, who want to improve the academy and build a new integrated training centre, and a new stand.
 
We have the most clean sheets in the league which is hardly surprising. Marv is a top centre half and Pennington, Marv and Husband are solid. Grimmy is a superb keeper.

Lots of teams are successful with our shape. It’s the pedestrian way that we play and being so slow generally in transition which is frustrating. It is far better now that Norburn is out of the picture as Carey, Byers and Morgan are all forward thinking. The four strikers are very poor though. I’ve seen enough in Joseph to suggest he will come good.

I just think there’s a lot of frustration and anger now over what might and should have been. Whilst we still have a chance of the top 6, it is probably not going to happen. With our squad, that would be an underachievement in what is a poor league one in my opinion. I really hope we can squeeze in as if so, I feel we would be in with a shout against anyone.
 
Last edited:
voyeur said:
We have been defensively sound under Critchley in both his spells at the club, but he has not managed to construct an effective attacking unit, except perhaps for a spell when Ellis Simms and Jerry Yates proved too strong for L1 opponents. He's not making the most of the attacking players we've got, and Beesley Lavery Joseph and Kouassi were all players he was keen to bring to the club, and three of them cost us fees.

I think Joseph was valued at £1m and Bees we paid about 400k. He told us Joseph was a goal scoring no. 9. He believed Bees could step up from L2 to the Championship, when he hadn't even played many games in L2. At Rochdale, he looked like a decent L2 striker. They must've been shocked by how much they got for him. Gift horse.

All four named strikers have been held back by injuries this season, as well as Rhodes, so there's a strong element of bad luck, but the continued choice of CJ ahead of Gabriel and Apter is bewildering to me. And before we signed Coulson the left side was equally unproductive. The loss of Dougall stifled our momentum, and was unfortunate, and Morgan's injury was untimely too, so Critch has had some bad luck, certainly.

I think some people fail to see the things Critch is good at, and some fail to see his weaknesses. But his ultimate crime for me is turning the beautiful game into an endurance test that nobody enjoys, including the players. For that reason I wouldn't be sorry to see him go. I just want to enjoy watching football. With our budget and attendances we don't have a right to win all the time, or to compete in the Championship against bigger budgets, but nobody gives up their Saturdays to be bored rigid by repetitive dull football. Our recent record is

P10 W5 D2 L3 F6 A3 PTS 17

Teams struggle to score against us. We struggle to score. Are we stale and dull by design, or does Critch just not know how to put attractive football together?

Well, if you come out with bollocks like "Apter needs game time so we've sent him back", you either don't know what you're doing or you aren't strong enough to make the right calls, in my opinion. It's an absolute nonsense to suggest that Apter couldn't have offered us something different, and better, in the final third. And we might have made the play offs. He has excellent control, he can beat players, he can cross a ball, he can cut in, he assists regularly, and he scores goals. Let's continue to develop him at Tranmere. And extend CJ's contract. Jesus! It's verging on corruption. 🤦🏻
Click to expand...
Excellent post that Voy and post of the day already for me.
 
Like everyone else, very disappointed with 2nd half display. Yet again biting our fingers late in game.
Let’s blame it on the Weather and thank god that hail storm came before the final whistle, not like pelting and soaking I had at Derby.
At least I can sit in my hotel in Carlisle studying the League 1 table and possibility of Play Offs. Thought it was over after defeats at Wigan and Derby. All to play for against Barnsley next Saturday although I know it is unlikely we will make top 6.
At least I remain positive.

One must praise our defence though. 2 goals conceded in 9 games is some achievement. I know we have had some fortunate moments but haven’t we had some bad luck in front of goal.
 
is it FOOK, there have been many seasons miles worse than this one ! Last season was worse than this, the Nigel Worthington , Jimmy Mullen, and Graham Carr seasons were horrendous. the Riga Revolution was Dire, but nothing can be as bad as the Boycott Years. The Football this season has been very inconsistent to say the least and wasn't really the product advertised but to say it is the worst trip ever is ridiculous. Some people really do need to grow up. I do however think there is loads of room for improvement. UTMP.
 
Fatboy said:
is it FOOK, there have been many seasons miles worse than this one ! Last season was worse than this, the Nigel Worthington , Jimmy Mullen, and Graham Carr seasons were horrendous. the Riga Revolution was Dire, but nothing can be as bad as the Boycott Years. The Football this season has been very inconsistent to say the least and wasn't really the product advertised but to say it is the worst trip ever is ridiculous. Some people really do need to grow up. I do however think there is loads of room for improvement. UTMP.
Click to expand...
It’s not a vendetta rather frustration
The thread title is a bit misleading as it came from a conversation Tigger and I had when a small group started singing ‘ This is the best trip ‘ as the hail was coming down and we were hanging onto our 1-0 lead against already relegated Carlisle
My main issue is the system and the refusal to adapt
Marv is great off the ball but limited in possession and yet we play a system that repeatedly puts him at the start of our creative play rather than in a back four where he’d be far more comfortable
Add to that the obsession with possession at any price ( mainly in our defensive third ) and the strange selections / non-selections of certain players and you have what I still believe to be a decent squad that’s hard on the eye and as I see it under-performing
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
For me it’s not about winning rather intent
What I hate is the way we set up to negate opposition who are clearly not as good as us
Click to expand...
Absolutely, and the perceived negativity isn’t knee-jerk to us not being in the top 6. Many of us commented about our negative approach very early in the season. This approach isn’t new, we saw it second half of the Championship season.

It was very obvious how things were going to play out. It’s a very poor L1 and even with the approach taken, we are close. That for me is not acceptable and it’s a huge chance missed. Next season will be far more challenging and I can foresee us being no better than mid-table.

I just cannot get my head around NC not adapting, but I think this is likely to be, because he’s not under pressure from SS. It was misguided at best for SS to back NC in his last broadcast.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
It’s not a vendetta rather frustration
The thread title is a bit misleading as it came from a conversation Tigger and I had when a small group started singing ‘ This is the best trip ‘ as the hail was coming down and we were hanging onto our 1-0 lead against already relegated Carlisle
My main issue is the system and the refusal to adapt
Marv is great off the ball but limited in possession and yet we play a system that repeatedly puts him at the start of our creative play rather than in a back four where he’d be far more comfortable
Add to that the obsession with possession at any price ( mainly in our defensive third ) and the strange selections / non-selections of certain players and you have what I still believe to be a decent squad that’s hard on the eye and as I see it under-performing
Click to expand...
I can Totally agree with all of that Tim, however, i do think that a lot of people are over reacting.
Also , selecting CJ above JG in any situation makes me wonder if Mr Critchley's Coaching badges were found in a LUCKY BAG.
I also believe that he should have the summer and next January's transfer wind to allow the recruitment team to show some improvement. UTMP
 
voyeur said:
Yes it proves we're shit. I think. 🤔😆
Click to expand...
Because the quality in this league is awful, the top three are absolutely nothing special from what I've seen. On paper it looked weak and it has proven to be the case, massive missed opportunity if we don't go up as next season I don't think it'll be anywhere near as poor with big hitters coming up and down.

The fact we're still in with a chance of the playoffs says it all about the quality of League One this year. We have been average as fook, yet we're 7th and 3 points off. I reckon we'll take it to the final day which is mad.
 
TangerinePeel said:
Because the quality in this league is awful, the top three are absolutely nothing special from what I've seen. On paper it looked weak and it has proven to be the case, massive missed opportunity if we don't go up as next season I don't think it'll be anywhere near as poor with big hitters coming up and down.

The fact we're still in with a chance of the playoffs says it all about the quality of League One this year. We have been average as fook, yet we're 7th and 3 points off. I reckon we'll take it to the final day which is mad.
Click to expand...
Yes I don't disagree. We've been pretty anaemic all season apart from the odd iron supplement day, like Pompey and Bolton.
 
Camberwell1 said:
But if we had hammered the Second and first worst teams in this league we might have had a chance of 90er taking Oxford !

Pathetic wins, nearly meaningless as we almost certainly not win the remaining matches and if we do it won’t be enough - wasted season
Click to expand...
We were definitely not going to win the last three games according to many on here, but we have...
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Personally I don’t think we do enough to attract new fans however unless the product is right if you coax them in they aren’t coming back
Click to expand...
We benefited massively from the positivity the boycott created. SS inherited that good feeling and our younger fans have helped to create a real buzz. They feed off what’s happening on the pitch, they like to be excited and they get behind the team, home & away. That feeling and the atmosphere has died, and it has nothing to do with us winning. It’s all to do with the manner of our performances.

Sadly, some fans are content to just have a home game to go to. It’s what they do every other week. We’ve witnessed on here comments that fans won’t be missed if they don’t come back. They will be missed, in fact they are already being missed.

The risk next season is huge, on and off the pitch. That risk impacts on the fantastic investment made by SS, and I hope he realises that we only want the best for him. For that to happen he’s got to start to make better and more timely decisions relating to the head coach. The problem is blindingly obvious and there is no point in him burying his head and taking an approach that is anti-fan.
 
It's not the worst trip but it's a very boring ride.

The bad trips at least have some character to them.

There's been a lot of attritional football and lots of spells where it looks like we're not interested in/aware of how to score.

We're not bad enough to lose your shit over and not good enough to really celebrate. It's just been nothingy.

Like a trip to Wickes to buy some emulsion paint or something. You wouldn't describe it as a living hell but equally, it feels like a duty or a chore and that's how the football has felt this season.
 
td53 said:
It's not the worst trip but it's a very boring ride.

The bad trips at least have some character to them.

There's been a lot of attritional football and lots of spells where it looks like we're not interested in/aware of how to score.

We're not bad enough to lose your shit over and not good enough to really celebrate. It's just been nothingy.

Like a trip to Wickes to buy some emulsion paint or something. You wouldn't describe it as a living hell but equally, it feels like a duty or a chore and that's how the football has felt this
Click to expand...
Maybe i need to change the thread title to ‘ Is this the dullest trip …. ‘
 
Fatboy said:
I can Totally agree with all of that Tim, however, i do think that a lot of people are over reacting.
Also , selecting CJ above JG in any situation makes me wonder if Mr Critchley's Coaching badges were found in a LUCKY BAG.
I also believe that he should have the summer and next January's transfer wind to allow the recruitment team to show some improvement. UTMP
Click to expand...
CJ over JG in the RWB role because JG has produced nothing in the final third when he has played there recently. I accept CJ was poor
yesterday.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Maybe i need to change the thread title to ‘ Is this the dullest trip …. ‘
Click to expand...
Don’t think so, it’s generated good debate. If people can’t see beyond the title then…

I started as a fan in the re-election year and this has been the worst season. For my son, his too. We’ve had very poor teams in the past and expectations were much lower. But then, I always felt we were together in adversity, doing the best we could. Often it was rubbish, but I loved it. Most definitely we’ve not done the best we couid this season.

No point looking back, football has moved on and we can only hope to influence what happens going forward.
 
poolfc said:
I see Kompany has put that mad goalie back in who has the concentration levels of a goldfish.

Always interested in fans who go to other games to get their kicks (NWCFL for me today) but Burnley?!! Bloody hell.
Click to expand...
The fans were really getting on young Trafford’s back unfortunately, so I think Kompany has been influenced there with putting Muric in. The fans got what they wanted.

It’s certainly back fired and he’s cost them 3 points this last week (Everton and Brighton). Add those 3 to what they’ve got and they could still be in the mix for staying up.

Son in law is a ST at Turf so I get a ticket every now and then. Hence Burnley. The 4 games I’ve been to have been thoroughly entertaining, if they keep Kompany and the majority of the team they will walk the Championship next season.
A bit like us with League One 😄
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Maybe i need to change the thread title to ‘ Is this the dullest trip …. ‘
Click to expand...
I went for the most disappointing trip. I just feel we could have done so much more to show positive intent. Who knows, with the injuries we've sustained this season the points tally might have ended up similar, but the product would surely have made for a better watch. Priority one is to get the feelgood factor back into this club and that begins with the way we play.
 
Allmodcons said:
As with many chairmen SS clearly has little or no regard to the opinions or feelings of the fans.

I think if SS sat down with the players individually and ask their honest opinion of what they thought of this season and where it all went wrong he might be in for a rude awakening.
Click to expand...

I've as little idea as you about how SS feels about fans. I actually think he's keen to maintain a good relationship with supporters and try to work with them to make the club as strong as it can be. There's really no reason to be at war with fans unless you're an utter moron.

What I think he could learn though, is that most of us talk nonsense and have zero clue about a) football and b) running a football club. Far better to get in with trying to make things as good as they can be and accept that the fickleness of fans will mean you never keep all of the people happy all of the time.
 
Bandagem said:
The fans were really getting on young Trafford’s back unfortunately, so I think Kompany has been influenced there with putting Muric in. The fans got what they wanted.

It’s certainly back fired and he’s cost them 3 points this last week (Everton and Brighton). Add those 3 to what they’ve got and they could still be in the mix for staying up.

Son in law is a ST at Turf so I get a ticket every now and then. Hence Burnley. The 4 games I’ve been to have been thoroughly entertaining, if they keep Kompany and the majority of the team they will walk the Championship next season.
A bit like us with League One 😄
Click to expand...
Not forgetting your strong Dingle roots, that came to light in that bar in Barbados! 😜
 
I can't believe fans are still singing this soppy song.

Especially this season.

It's the kind of song you'd expect to hear at a ladies football match.
 
Last edited:
A_Tense_Grin said:
Came 3rd compared to our miserable 8th or 7th.

Also had some great players you could relate to like Morrison, Mellon and Ellis. Plus it was the first time we had made any sort of challenge getting out of Division 3 (League One). There was none of this shitty 3-5-2 either.

The other times you accepted we were shit as we didn't have a pot to piss in. This season we have come down from the Championship so expectations are naturally going to be high.
Click to expand...
Allardyce’s first season was far worse than this one. Despite having a top three budget and signing top players such as Morrison, Ellis and Mellon we finished 12th with 64 points and had to suffer appalling defeats at Chester and Birmingham (7-1) and were thrashed by the mighty York 4-0 and 5-0. Not to mention a pathetic performance at PNE in the cup.
Fortunately for Allardyce there was no internet or podcasts in those days.
 
straightatthewall said:
I've as little idea as you about how SS feels about fans. I actually think he's keen to maintain a good relationship with supporters and try to work with them to make the club as strong as it can be. There's really no reason to be at war with fans unless you're an utter moron.

What I think he could learn though, is that most of us talk nonsense and have zero clue about a) football and b) running a football club. Far better to get in with trying to make things as good as they can be and accept that the fickleness of fans will mean you never keep all of the people happy all of the time.
Click to expand...
Spot on 👍👍👌
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
Yes we won but that was turgid
Reminded me of the way we often played in the early 80s in the old Division 4
Bar Dembele’s goal that was an incredibly poor performance against woeful opposition
Why we continue to persevere with a flawed system that does our players no favours whatsoever is beyond me
Trust the process ?
You are having a laugh
Click to expand...
A victory that felt like defeat. I went with Carlisle fans and they all agreed ‘we can see why so many of your fans want rid of the manager’
 
Fatboy said:
I can Totally agree with all of that Tim, however, i do think that a lot of people are over reacting.
Also , selecting CJ above JG in any situation makes me wonder if Mr Critchley's Coaching badges were found in a LUCKY BAG.
I also believe that he should have the summer and next January's transfer wind to allow the recruitment team to show some improvement. UTMP
Click to expand...
Neither Jordan Gabriel nor CJ are right wing backs, we don't have a right wing back which is strange given Critchley's preferred system.
 
Worst trip….what a stupid comment.I won’t bother listing how many worst seasons( trips) we’ve had over my 60 + years of following BFC…but one thing for certain this isn’t one of them.
 
What gets me is the fact Critchley has not tried a back 4 in either a 442 or 433 with the best available players in their preferred positions. If he’d done that I think he’d get a bit more slack. Needless to say I’ve not bothered listening to the eerrring post match interview.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top