‘If you don’t believe now, you never will’

Shiggy

Shiggy

Well-known member
Interesting article from Matt, he clearly thinks we’re in with a very good chance. I have to admit, last nights result really took me by surprise. All season long I’ve expected nothing more than a top half finish. I didn’t feel this team was ready for a promotion push, but was on the right lines. Now I’m starting to believe. Which is terrifying. Out of curiosity, has anyone’s opinion shifted significantly as of late like mine? Or have you always believed in this group?
 
I may have doubted if we could achieve it, but I’ve alway believed with the odd tweak we could click. Perhaps we’ve found that now & whilst it’s early days for the new creative formation, let’s hope it continues. Plus as long as it’s mathematically possible to go up/playoffs then I will remain hopeful.
 
Whilst I’ve been a fan of Critch’s approach since day 1 I must admit that after the start we had to the season and then the relatively poor results over Christmas that any hope of a top 6 finish this season was in my mind a bit over optimistic.

But the results and performances (some absolute shockers aside) he has coaxed out of a battered and injury plagued squad playing 2 games weekly is simply phenomenal.

The improvement some of these players have made over the course of a season is a real credit to Critchleys credentials as a top top coach and it really bodes well for the future.

The thing which strikes me most is that we started off with a high press attacking game and it just didn’t work effectively with the players and their abilities at the start of the season. We reassessed and changed our tactics, slowly but surely built a competent and organised defence and midfield and now Critch is bringing the high press and attacking football back and it’s all working together (atm) as was clearly hoped for at the beginning of the season.

He’s got a plan and a style of play. HeMs stuck to his guns as he’s always said he would and it’s absolutely paying dividends.
 
Players love knowing their roles and being played in their preferred positions. Experience playing with team mates and chosen systems is then needed, along with results. Credit where it is due to our coaching staff, as it's obvious the players throughout the squad, whether they are first or second or even third choice, know where they should be on the pitch and what they are there to do.
 
We are Blackpool and have done it on many occasions starting in 1970.
Think we were whopped by QPR 6-1 at beginning of season.

2007 and 2010 are fresh in everyone’s mind. Not forgetting 2016 when we were lower mid- table until thelast few weeks and sneaked into thePlay offs.
 
Shiggy said:
Interesting article from Matt, he clearly thinks we’re in with a very good chance. I have to admit, last nights result really took me by surprise. All season long I’ve expected nothing more than a top half finish. I didn’t feel this team was ready for a promotion push, but was on the right lines. Now I’m starting to believe. Which is terrifying. Out of curiosity, has anyone’s opinion shifted significantly as of late like mine? Or have you always believed in this group?
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I always believed we needed time to gel and get a solid team and formation perfected and didn’t expect it to come together overnight.
We’re getting on top of it now and maybe sooner than I anticipated after the first half of the season 👍
 
always felt that we had something different than what we have seen since the days of Holloway. Didnt see much during the Boycott years. the occasional game on TV. Since the odious ones departed and then under grayson the games always underwhelmed, dour hoof ball.

pre-season it was . . . . different and there looked to be some genuinely good players. Keshi Anderson, Robson, Ward looked a different player, Yates was full of energy.

the first couple of games we played well without really being that successful the two nil win against swindon was a decent game, the games after there was a lot of nice passing but no result then the confidence dropped off and we almost went back to hoofball. the game where both Robson and Ballard were sent off seemed to trigger something in the team. im not going to say belief but from that point there seemed to be more of a team ethic, we ground out some results and then the FA cup games gave the players some confidence. The penalty shootoout against Westbrom particularly Madines and his reaction also seemed to gel a group psychology.

what we are seeing now i think is players becoming accustomed to one another. over 25 games we are the best team in the league results wise but we have done it without really setting anything alight, but the signs were there. i said earlier in the season when a lot of others were being quite negative that i watched every game in the expectation of us doing something rather than under Grayson hoping that we might do something.
 
Shiggy said:
Interesting article from Matt, he clearly thinks we’re in with a very good chance. I have to admit, last nights result really took me by surprise. All season long I’ve expected nothing more than a top half finish. I didn’t feel this team was ready for a promotion push, but was on the right lines. Now I’m starting to believe. Which is terrifying. Out of curiosity, has anyone’s opinion shifted significantly as of late like mine? Or have you always believed in this group?
Click to expand...
Some great optimism folks - makes for wonderful reading and feelings

I think we also lost 7-1 @ Tony Cottee’s Barnet (Nov 2000) and won promotion that season too (McMahon) - so yes funny things can come out of disasterous odd results

we can believe but not get too carried away 👍⚽️
 
Critchley has always believed in the group of players he has. Even in the middle of the bad run he always had faith and the number of times he said he believed "we would get to where we want to be by the end of the season". It looks like "where we want to be" is in the playoffs or even an automatic spot.

I thought we'd left too much to do to get involved at the top end but we seem to be timing the run to perfection.
 
I certainly believed we could do it, maybe not this season but definitely next. But we are looking very strong at the moment and with a bit of good fortune and the return of a few players we can definitely go up this season, even automatically if we can continue this incredible run we’re on.
 
Only need 6 wins to hit the magic 74 points (this season you'll probably need even less) which secures a play-off spot in almost every League One campaign, we've just unlocked our potential attacking prowess that we've been missing all season with 12 games left - when you think about it like that Scrafter's statement is certainly true, if you don't believe now you never will!
 
I was optimistic at the start of the year, which turned to real worry about how impotent and flimsy we were, tempered by a sense that it surely couldn't stay so bad, so as it's turned around I'd not got too excited, more resigned myself to being midtable, functional and going again next year and now I'm blown away by the sudden transformation from a solid team, into one with cutting edge.

My main doubt about Critchley was how rigid we looked (which for a long time, we really did), how lacking in attacking guile (and at times purpose) we seemed and yet, I'd say the last few games have been all about intelligence, intent, quality football with a real directness to it.

Fuck knows what happens next, for all I know we'll lose 3-0 next weekend but if we play like we have in recent weeks till the end of the season we'll be putting real pressure on for automatic, never mind the play offs.
 
We have been absolutely phenomenal against the sides at the top end of the division. The only thing that I have a slight doubt about is our ability to break down the so called 'lesser' sides. If we put Plymouth to the sword on Saturday I will really start to believe.

The two games vs Sunderland could have a huge say in the outcome of our season. I feel we might have left ourselves too much for automatic. But we are bang in with a shout for the play-offs.

For me a switch seems to have been flicked since half-time in the Burton game at home. We were brilliant in that 2nd half and we have gone on to dominate Oxford and P'boro since. Fair play to Critchley and the players. To be in this position through some of the setbacks and injuries we have succumbed to this season is quite remarkable.
 
I put £20 on at 6/1 to get promoted at the beginning of the season. Genuinely thought with the signings we'd made we would be in with a shout.
 
We've got the second lowest goals in the top half of the table.
However, we've got joint best defence record in the Division.
Score a few more and 'Who knows?' We could stay in the top 6.
 
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