“We’ve got to remember who we are”

Seaside Aggro

Seaside Aggro

Well-known member
Back to ‘little old Blackpool’ is it? How inspiring
“Coming up against good teams, we've got to remember who we are a little bit, we're not going to dominate every game of football that we play. We're coming up against top sides who are going to have spells in games, whether that's a 20 minute spell or 45 or we're under the pump for 70 minutes and have a good 20 minute spell and win the game,"
Link
 
Mr Excuse at it again, wanting us to lower our expectations. Well I for one won't, I didn't think he was good enough for us and with every comment like this, I'm even more convinced. We've worked hard and earned our place in this division, if he isn't up to the job maybe he should bugger off and let someone with ambition and belief have a go.
 
We're in the championship because we deserve to be. Our promotion and consolidation was no fluke. We have some very good young players who suit attacking football and just need confidence and to play in the right system.
 
BruceBFC said:
We're in the championship because we deserve to be. Our promotion and consolidation was no fluke. We have some very good young players who suit attacking football and just need confidence and to play in the right system.
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Yes, it was interesting to hear we have the youngest average age for starting 11s in the Championship at 24.4 (or something like that). Aggressive, attacking football starts with belief. The players shouldn't care about who they face, they should be sent out with their chests out and raring to go. Statements like that do nothing for the club, team or supporters, the board need to have a gentle word in his skull.
 
I remember Tony parkes kept on saying similar and when Holloway came in it was the first thing he changed
This small time club mentality does nothing for us ,it permeates throughout the club
We can be confident in our place whilst being realistic
I'd personally want our players to go out every game full of confidence not having a ready made excuse
 
Philbfctrois said:
It was a great point won whats the problem 🤷
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I wholeheartedly agree it was a great point BUT it is a poor comment and mindset… we are not a particularly good watch at the moment and the tactics are beginning to resemble Simon Grayson where you play for 0-0 and hope you can nick a goal and win ugly 1-0…maybe that’s the legacy of the poor transfer window but it still needs working on as the lack of goals is stifling
 
I have gave Appleton the benefit of the doubt until now, however my opinion is starting to change. Poor summer window has allowed him time for me, however statements like that are so negative.

I thought Sunderland were there for the taking last night, as the game went on, however we set up negatively. Looked more like a 4-1-4-1 formation. If we attacked them like we have seen in a couple of games this season, we’d have taken 3 points - IMO.

I really can’t see the direction he is taking us in. I can’t see the plan, the system or the formation. Under Holloway it was clear what we were doing, how we were playing and how we set up. What’s the plan currently? Where’s this attacking football Sadler wanted when he took over - yet to see it since he did buy the club. Where’s the attacking football that Appleton said it’s the only way he knows? Seen it a couple of times this season and we looked dangerous. Burnley, Bristol City, Blackburn, Reading. Albeit for 15/20/45 minutes, but we looked good. I thought we looked a lot better against Norwich and for me, probably our best performance this season.

It’s 80% dross at the minute and 20% ok. 100% dross up front.

Roll on Saturday 🙄
 
Team selection is all about a matter of opinion and ultimately that decision solely lies with Appleton so like it or not we have to accept it. However, what we shouldn't have to accept is his constant putting down of who we are. There's absolutely nothing positive to take either as players or fans regarding his comments about being "little old Blackpool" and "punching above our weight". Maybe it's his personality to be negative but if I were Sadler 'd be having a word about thinking what he says and trying to breed a bit more positivity about the club and players.
 
NewburyOne said:
Yes, it was interesting to hear we have the youngest average age for starting 11s in the Championship at 24.4 (or something like that). Aggressive, attacking football starts with belief. The players shouldn't care about who they face, they should be sent out with their chests out and raring to go. Statements like that do nothing for the club, team or supporters, the board need to have a gentle word in his skull.
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I'm sure he doesn't say that in the dressing room and that's what counts not some media spin
 
20togo said:
Team selection is all about a matter of opinion and ultimately that decision solely lies with Appleton so like it or not we have to accept it. However, what we shouldn't have to accept is his constant putting down of who we are. There's absolutely nothing positive to take either as players or fans regarding his comments about being "little old Blackpool" and "punching above our weight". Maybe it's his personality to be negative but if I were Sadler 'd be having a word about thinking what he says and trying to breed a bit more positivity about the club and players.
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He probably gets it from the board
 
Seaside Aggro said:
Back to ‘little old Blackpool’ is it? How inspiring
“Coming up against good teams, we've got to remember who we are a little bit, we're not going to dominate every game of football that we play. We're coming up against top sides who are going to have spells in games, whether that's a 20 minute spell or 45 or we're under the pump for 70 minutes and have a good 20 minute spell and win the game,"
Link
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Nothing wrong with the old tough game routine, every manager does it.

However, what he is saying is right, we do have to remember against the better and bigger sides we won't dominate and will play in spells etc. Sunderland are a big club but have just come up too.

For me nowt wrong with saying " we have to remember we are up against good sides who can hurt us too and we won't always dominate, but we also have to remember we're here on merit, we're a good team and have our own ambitions of improving and finishing higher than before" etc....

We know he'll be saying positive things to the players however the fans need to hear positives too, as that builds hype and belief.

So yeah I'd like to hear a bit more talking up of our ability and ambition.
 
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Maybe some of you on here think he should have said “ we should be beating clubs like Sunderland and Norwich”.

Judged by some on the basis of a media interview.
 
Philbfctrois said:
It was a great point won whats the problem 🤷
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The problem is it seems like he’s deliberately trying to set expectations as low as possible.

Fans don’t want that.

It’s good to be able to believe that we can punch above our weight like last year, with Appleton I don’t think anyone believes that.

Nothing he’s said is ‘wrong’, but it’s a case of whether it needs to be said.

You didn’t like Critchley, so it’s natural you’re a fan of Appleton.

They couldn’t be more opposite, and most (including me) aren’t really on board with that.
 
Shiggy said:
The problem is it seems like he’s deliberately trying to set expectations as low as possible.

Fans don’t want that.

It’s good to be able to believe that we can punch above our weight like last year, with Appleton I don’t think anyone believes that.

Nothing he’s said is ‘wrong’, but it’s a case of whether it needs to be said.

You didn’t like Critchley, so it’s natural you’re a fan of Appleton.

They couldn’t be more opposite, and most (including me) aren’t really on board with that.
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It isn't natural at all and I'm not a fan of any manager, i just support the club

I didn't want Critchley as i didn't think he was experienced enough, my thoughts towards Critchley are irrelevant when discussing Appleton and how he's doing

For what its worth i wasn't keen on the Appleton appointment but I've seen enough to give the bloke a chance

Appleton shouldn't be the target it should he the board as he's been let down badly
 
JJpool said:
Nothing wrong with the old tough game routine, every manager does it.

However, what he is saying is right, we do have to remember against the better and bigger sides we won't dominate and will play in spells etc. Sunderland are a big club but have just come up too.

For me nowt wrong with saying " we have to remember we are up against good sides who can hurt us too and we won't always dominate, but we also have to remember we're here on merit, we're a good team and have our own ambitions of improving and finishing higher than before" etc....

We know he'll be saying positive things to the players however the fans need to hear positives too, as that builds hype and belief.

So yeah I'd like to hear a bit more talking up of our ability and ambition.
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Sunderland are a newly promoted side, with a new manager and no strikers. It's 11 v 11, the size of Sunderland's support has no baring. I'm sorry but it is unacceptable, I would agree to a certain extent with the likes of Norwich, Burnley, Watford, etc with Prem payments, but not last night.
 
bleach51 said:
Maybe some of you on here think he should have said “ we should be beating clubs like Sunderland and Norwich”.

Judged by some on the basis of a media interview.
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And that’s exactly what the Boro manager said when they beat us last December, oh wait a minute …. he’s just been potted!
 
Philbfctrois said:
It isn't natural at all and I'm not a fan of any manager, i just support the club

I didn't want Critchley as i didn't think he was experienced enough, my thoughts towards Critchley are irrelevant when discussing Appleton and how he's doing

For what its worth i wasn't keen on the Appleton appointment but I've seen enough to give the bloke a chance

Appleton shouldn't be the target it should he the board as he's been let down badly
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I really think in spite of some wanting him sacked tomorrow, we can only truly judge him after summer,when he has a real opportunity to radically change the side. Until that time his remit is to keep us up.
The squad was bloated with L1 players and sicknotes. Maybe the board allowed Critchley too much leeway on dishing out contracts. We had a 28? man squad so changing the dynamics, could not happen overnight, and I think that had a big part to play in the boards reluctance to sign too many more players.
I do not think anyone could fault his loan signings, though I agree it is a short term solution.
 
Really could have worded that in a not so disparaging way, words to the effect of "its a tough league so we're not going to be dominating for 90 minutes every week".

In context, Sunderland are a newly promoted side - I get they are Sunderland and much bigger than us in the grand scheme but that is one of the games in this division we have a good chance of winning (and nearly did with the 2nd half performance). No need there for Appleton to play us down as some underdogs that shouldn't be touching them, the first half wasn't a reflection of that scenario, the first half we were just shite!
 
Philbfctrois said:
It isn't natural at all and I'm not a fan of any manager, i just support the club

I didn't want Critchley as i didn't think he was experienced enough, my thoughts towards Critchley are irrelevant when discussing Appleton and how he's doing

For what its worth i wasn't keen on the Appleton appointment but I've seen enough to give the bloke a chance

Appleton shouldn't be the target it should he the board as he's been let down badly
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I agree he’s been let down.

But I don’t think his negative comments really help the situation.
 
JJpool said:
For me nowt wrong with saying " we have to remember we are up against good sides who can hurt us too and we won't always dominate, but we also have to remember we're here on merit, we're a good team and have our own ambitions of improving and finishing higher than before" etc....
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Spot on. He is not just the coach, he is a leader, club spokesman and media focus. if he downplays our team and ambition, how the heck are the supporters and players going to get it. I don't understand this about him being different in the changing room, either, mixed messages?

He picks the team and sends them out with a gameplan. What was the gameplan first half last night ( and so many times this season) that could be changed so simply at half time that the difference was incredible.

For me, he has plenty of time to perform, never been a believer in knee-jerk sackings, and he needs support from the recruitment team. However, what I am seeing at present is the same emotionless dispassionate leader who we left on the sidelines at Wembley. Critchley and Holloway will get grief over how they left, but they were both far better at motivating players to get the best out of them, and this followed through with the crowd. If the manager doesn't appear to believe in the programme, how will the fans? Close season and early season he showed some spirit, some fun, now it is flat.

Tough gig, Blackpool
 
TangerinePeel said:
Really could have worded that in a not so disparaging way, words to the effect of "its a tough league so we're not going to be dominating for 90 minutes every week".

In context, Sunderland are a newly promoted side - I get they are Sunderland and much bigger than us in the grand scheme but that is one of the games in this division we have a good chance of winning (and nearly did with the 2nd half performance). No need there for Appleton to play us down as some underdogs that shouldn't be touching them, the first half wasn't a reflection of that scenario, the first half we were just shite!
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Agree his choice of words is the problem, not Appleton as a manager.
At the end of the day we played a side on the fringes of playoffs and mullered them 2nd half.
We just cannot score, and that ain't down to Appleton, the strikers are not good enough as a unit, he did not sign them and has not had the opportunity to replace them.
 
tangysider said:
Agree his choice of words is the problem, not Appleton as a manager.
At the end of the day we played a side on the fringes of playoffs and mullered them 2nd half.
We just cannot score, and that ain't down to Appleton, the strikers are not good enough as a unit, he did not sign them and has not had the opportunity to replace them.
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He recently said we massively overachieved last season as well which is probably a bit unfair. I thought we were good value and against some big sides and that was down to the players ability in my opinion
 
BruceBFC said:
He recently said we massively overachieved last season as well which is probably a bit unfair. I thought we were good value and against some big sides and that was down to the players ability in my opinion
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We were good value for our 60 points last season and at one point we could have easily gone on to push on a bit further than that.

There’s no doubt that Critchley managed to get the best out of the squad he had available, but then that’s what good coaches / managers do.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
We were good value for our 60 points last season and at one point we could have easily gone on to push on a bit further than that.

There’s no doubt that Critchley managed to get the best out of the squad he had available, but then that’s what good coaches / managers do.
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yes, we were good value for our sixty points and yes Critchley and his style of play got the best out of the squad. But we don't want to be standing still, we want to be progressing. But how do we do that? What changes can be made to kick on from last season?
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
We were good value for our 60 points last season and at one point we could have easily gone on to push on a bit further than that.

There’s no doubt that Critchley managed to get the best out of the squad he had available, but then that’s what good coaches / managers do.
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It does seem like he's not giving the squad he took over enough credit. It wasn't down to luck anyway so it comes across as denying their ability to me
 
20togo said:
yes, we were good value for our sixty points and yes Critchley and his style of play got the best out of the squad. But we don't want to be standing still, we want to be progressing. But how do we do that? What changes can be made to kick on from last season?
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Very few when we had a 28man squad of contracted players.
I think all he could do was loan out and loan in and he had some success in that.
I think we will stay up and there will be a big turnover of players in the summer.
 
tangysider said:
Agree his choice of words is the problem, not Appleton as a manager.
At the end of the day we played a side on the fringes of playoffs and mullered them 2nd half.
We just cannot score, and that ain't down to Appleton, the strikers are not good enough as a unit, he did not sign them and has not had the opportunity to replace them.
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The 3 strikers who started last night scored a total of 25 league goals last season. With a quarter of the season gone, the same 3 have 3 goals between them which puts them on target for 12 goals this season. When will people see the issues stem from formation, tactics and coaching, all of which are down to Appleton. Fair enough the call to give him more time, I disagree on that, but giving him a free pass is entirely wrong in my view.
 
20togo said:
yes, we were good value for our sixty points and yes Critchley and his style of play got the best out of the squad. But we don't want to be standing still, we want to be progressing. But how do we do that? What changes can be made to kick on from last season?
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We’re stuttering a bit on the ‘kicking on’ front, I think 20’s. It’s tough, because we’re obviously operating on a tiny budget and had no alternative to sell our most creative player.

Recruitment is clearly a problem…
 
NewburyOne said:
The 3 strikers who started last night scored a total of 25 league goals last season. With a quarter of the season gone, the same 3 have 3 goals between them which puts them on target for 12 goals this season. When will people see the issues stem from formation, tactics and coaching, all of which are down to Appleton. Fair enough the call to give him more time, I disagree on that, but giving him a free pass is entirely wrong in my view.
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25 goals includes penalties doesn't it?
It was still a poor return.
Is Madine likely to improve with coaching? Will that speed him up?
Formation of 433 was the same formation that took us to Prem league.
Not free pass, but do not heap all issues on Appleton's shoulders.
 
tangysider said:
25 goals includes penalties doesn't it?
It was still a poor return.
Is Madine likely to improve with coaching? Will that speed him up?
Formation of 433 was the same formation that took us to Prem league.
Not free pass, but do not heap all issues on Appleton's shoulders.
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Well it does yes, but are they not still classed as goals? You kind of have to get in the box and draw the foul. The point I'm making is that a decent coach, got 25 goals out of them, our current coach isn't on target for half of that. Not for 1 second am I saying Appleton is to blame for everything but he sure as well isn't covering himself in glory. I for one am completely fed up with his excuse laden, negative interviews which unsurprisingly seem to match the majority of our performances.
 
NewburyOne said:
Sunderland are a newly promoted side, with a new manager and no strikers. It's 11 v 11, the size of Sunderland's support has no baring. I'm sorry but it is unacceptable, I would agree to a certain extent with the likes of Norwich, Burnley, Watford, etc with Prem payments, but not last night.
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Which is why I put what I'd have liked to hear. I have no issue with the tough game routine, we can't expect to dominate etc etc. But you should add after it we're a good club, we've earned our right to be here, we have our own ambitions to improve etc.

Sunderland have far bigger funds than we do.

But yes we don't need constant reality check talk, the fanbase needs inspiring.
 
JJpool said:
Which is why I put what I'd have liked to hear. I have no issue with the tough game routine, we can't expect to dominate etc etc. But you should add after it we're a good club, we've earned our right to be here, we have our own ambitions to improve etc.

Sunderland have far bigger funds than we do.

But yes we don't need constant reality check talk, the fanbase needs inspiring.
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As do the players, way too many games this season we have been passive and devoid of ideas, passion and belief. Some of that has to fall on Appletons shoulders. If you keep telling someone they're crap, eventually they will believe you.
 
Tangerinemoss said:
Spot on. He is not just the coach, he is a leader, club spokesman and media focus. if he downplays our team and ambition, how the heck are the supporters and players going to get it. I don't understand this about him being different in the changing room, either, mixed messages?

He picks the team and sends them out with a gameplan. What was the gameplan first half last night ( and so many times this season) that could be changed so simply at half time that the difference was incredible.

For me, he has plenty of time to perform, never been a believer in knee-jerk sackings, and he needs support from the recruitment team. However, what I am seeing at present is the same emotionless dispassionate leader who we left on the sidelines at Wembley. Critchley and Holloway will get grief over how they left, but they were both far better at motivating players to get the best out of them, and this followed through with the crowd. If the manager doesn't appear to believe in the programme, how will the fans? Close season and early season he showed some spirit, some fun, now it is flat.

Tough gig, Blackpool
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For all the talk of inspiring the fans etc, if we were winning no-one would care much and his words wouldn't be scrutinised as much.

We'd also be getting different words having won.

A lot of the things are true, but id like to hear a bit more positivity.

Look at a club like Luton, smaller than us, I bet they believe in their teams ability.

As for remembering who we are yes a small club at the level but we remember than when we have a feelgood factor and all the fans are behind the club, we can achieve things above our level.

So we need to remember who we are there too, inspire the fans and we can achieve more than our stature would suggest. Theres something special about it when were at it.

We have to get that back.
 
It was a poor, ill-judged comment that won't do him any favours if he wants to develop a rapport with the fans. There's no other way to view it.

You won't find the manager of PNE or Luton for example saying the same and I think he needs to choose his words more carefully. There is a world of difference between saying remember where we are vs who we are. The first implying that we're in a stage of club development (stadium, training ground, relatively new to the league) that means we're in a period of adjustment that makes competing quite difficult right now. The latter implying that BFC will never be more than a survivor in this league, clinging on to championship status if we're lucky.
 
Razzledazzle53 said:
Although not my 1st choice I've been a supporter of MA. I enjoy his brand of football in general. However he's gone down in my estimation after this comment. Not acceptable to play that card, so uninspiring!
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its not the first time he's played that card. his second interview he made the comment about needing a lot of new players which i think undermines the players he has, who up till the last four or five games of last season had gone toe to toe with every team in the league, not always brilliant to watch but at least never a shambles and even our defensive displays we could look upon them as a defensive masterclasses, our defending now is very very last gasp.
 
Far north tangerine said:
I remember Tony parkes kept on saying similar and when Holloway came in it was the first thing he changed
This small time club mentality does nothing for us ,it permeates throughout the club
We can be confident in our place whilst being realistic
I'd personally want our players to go out every game full of confidence not having a ready made excuse
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My thought as I read the OP.
 
To be fair to Appleton, the 2-3 statements we've had from the board recently were littered with this kind of talk. I understand they're trying to set realistic expectations but I believe it's played a part in the lower attendances/general attitude of the fanbase.
 
Holloway was full of bollocks. But he knew how to give the fans belief. That is part of the battle. Any manager could come in and say, "look fans, we're a small club and the chances of getting into the top flight are slim. In fact, we just need to fight to stay in this division."
But that's not how to communicate with your fanbase. The players aren't stupid, they pick up on these things.
 
We are Blackpool and we have to sell our best players when a half decent bid comes in. Until that day comes when we can knock back every bid under £10 million we do need to remember who we are a bit.
 
clappers said:
We are Blackpool and we have to sell our best players when a half decent bid comes in. Until that day comes when we can knock back every bid under £10 million we do need to remember who we are a bit.
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Those are simply our current circumstances...They are not "Who we are"
 
In August Simon Sadler said this…

“I could probably re-phrase that and say there’s unlikely to ever be any big transfer fees regardless of the capital investment because the simple fact of the matter is we’re Blackpool and we’ve got one of the smaller budgets.”

The reaction from many was “we don’t want to do a Derby”.

When Appleton says similar, he’s a miserable mood hoover.

Work it out cos’ I can’t 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
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