5 games in and what’s your thoughts

5 games in and what I thought has turned out true, we have quite a lot of spoilt followers. I cannot bring myself to call them supporters.

On the pitch, not fantastic but again it is what I expected. Whereas 99% of the board thought we were going up I appreciate it takes time for a brand new team to gel and also most fans totally disrespect the opposition.

I'm not blind though, and a marked improvement is required but I still don't think it's as drastic as everyone else. The defence isn't a toughie to sort out as its more individual mistakes.

I still say there is no balance or creativity in midfield and until that is sorted then we will not pick up points.
 
This is not looking good
yes have a punt on 1or 2 lower league player's one might pay off but definitely don't base your whole team round them.
It's looking like men against boys all these teams we're facing have seasoned pro's and management of which are street wise in this league im thinking this could get a lot worse as everyone knows once your down at the bottom its hard to get out everything seems to conspire against you.
Infact since Simon purchased the club player recruitment has been very poor
this is down to bad management who's responsible take your pick
Mansfield /Johnson /Grayson /Crichley.
I don't like to say this but if you look back at Owen Oystons last year at the helm we were bring in a better standard of player.
 
Got two new centre halfs to come into the team,and hopefully we can get another midfielder in with a bit of experiance and maybe another striker ,but it will still take time , keep the faith, still rather watch this team than the utterdross of the last few years,and anybody who knows me no how vocal i have been against the likes of grayson and mcphilips and the hoofball that they played. Utmp
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
It's been atrocious at times, anyone saying any different has been watching different games to the ones I have, but that doesn't mean it's time to sack everyone and start again. Again.
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Absolutely agree. Far too early to be calling for a root and branch change. You can’t keep replacing the manager, and therefore the team, just because you have a bad (bloody dreadful) run.

I suppose though the next question is, if things continue in this fashion, when is the right time? 10 games? 15? 20? Or end of the season?
 
Finfind said:
This is not looking good
yes have a punt on 1or 2 lower league player's one might pay off but definitely don't base your whole team round them.
It's looking like men against boys all these teams we're facing have seasoned pro's and management of which are street wise in this league im thinking this could get a lot worse as everyone knows once your down at the bottom its hard to get out everything seems to conspire against you.
Infact since Simon purchased the club player recruitment has been very poor
this is down to bad management who's responsible take your pick
Mansfield /Johnson /Grayson /Crichley.
I don't like to say this but if you look back at Owen Oystons last year at the helm we were bring in a better standard of player.
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Mexboroseasider said:
Absolutely agree. Far too early to be calling for a root and branch change. You can’t keep replacing the manager, and therefore the team, just because you have a bad (bloody dreadful) run.

I suppose though the next question is, if things continue in this fashion, when is the right time? 10 games? 15? 20? Or end of the season?
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My honest answer is I have no idea.

If we continue to keep playing like 11 individuals all singing from a different song sheet, probably not that long.
We were woeful yesterday, it would be hard to be that disorganised and toothless again now that our backs are against the wall. If we continue to be that poor, it is gonna be very hard for anyone to keep making excuses.

If there can be some form of cohesion and what seems like a viable gameplan, I'm all for letting this run it's course.
 
Agree with what your saying Finfind but can you please use some full stops. Your sentences are massive, and it is extremely difficult to follow your thoughts. Just saying. 😉
 
If we don't start picking some points up soon we're going to be cast adrift and in a relegation battle.
No draws is a huge problem.
 
It is work in progress. Sadly the foundations are wobbly. I hoped for a season of consolidation. As I have said on other posts Neil has four more games IMHO. Relegation is not an option.
 
I think that there has been no improvement at all since pre-season. In fact I thought we were more cohesive at the very beginning. I think we are toothless and lacking leadership both on and off the pitch. This team seems completely rudderless at the moment. Not only that we are quite simply very weak in defence, midfield and can't score goals. The only beacon of hope comes from CJ who has been fantastic yet now often ineffective as teams have very quickly done their homework on him.

So where do we go? I don't know. I can't see us winning a game against anyone the way we are playing. It's so one dimensional and ineffective. Maybe the 2 new centre backs might sure us up at the back. Possibly. Maybe NC needs a veteran assistant out there with him? Possibly.

I think TAM raised the question on the podcast yesterday of where are these Liverpool players we were all excited about the chance of getting? They have HUGE squads of players yet we have signed a CB from Arsenal. It seems unthinkable that given his contacts we have had nothing from Liverpool?

Ultimately the future lies in Mr Sadler's hands. Whilst people think this a long term project and the owner will back NC I'm not so sure. The football is a lot worse than I think any of us could ever have envisaged. An unproven U23' coach was a big gamble - regardless of whence he came. What was intended a long term project could in fact become an incredibly short and failed project. When you get dealt a bad hand at cards it's more often than not better to fold and move on rather than spunk even more money is it not?

If we are stuck at the bottom of the table at Christmas I personally can't see SS sitting on his hands and doing nothing - whatever that may be.

I really wish NC the best. He comes across as a very decent man despite all of the above. I really hope the players can find that something with the addition of new CB's. Hopefully a creative midfielder and a striker comes in and we start looking like a L1 football team.

NB: I am also bored of reading posts from people who think that if you are not sure NC is the man for the job then you a) know nothing about football or b) are not a supporter. What arrogant holier than thou rubbish.

Happy Sunday gang. 👍
 
Marcodan said:
Agree with what your saying Finfind but can you please use some full stops. Your sentences are massive, and it is extremely difficult to follow your thoughts. Just saying. 😉
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I'm very frugal with these
.......but for you anything ........lols😂
 
I'm not arsed we haven't got Liverpool players. I didn't like the 'oh, we can become Liverpool B!' excitement anyway.

I think Tim's other podcast point was what resonates with me.

What I am most bothered about is the stasis on games when we don't seem to be reacting to what other teams do or changing to respond to circumstances. Swapping positions, making subs, switching flanks etc.

I'm happy to keep trotting out 'time, patience, new players' and coming to each Saturday with an optimism that it will click this week but if our players are sometimes naive or fresh, then so is our manager and he needs to learn from what Evans, Lambert, Coleman, Appleton and Lowe have done by making changes or setting up in a particular way before games and thus influencing what happens.

Every game the other manager looks more proactive. Even yesterday, Ipswich subbed first and used all three. They were 3-0 up! We waited till 70 mins and made one.

We play the way we play the way we play works when you're flying high, but if you're not, you have to search for that way that works and sometimes that takes place within games.
 
I think we got a bit over confident in our preseason games against higher placed opponents & whilst we conceded a lot of goals we also managed to score quite a few & play some nice passing football, then the thought process was we should be ok against the lower league teams, as we will score more than them even if we concede a few. That's not happened & whilst Premier league sides generally allow you more time, in league 1 you are harried, closed down & this has stifled us to the extent even the goals have almost dried up, coupled with individual errors (that sounds very McMahon like I seen to remember) I also think he took time to realise the ability of the players at this level. Myself included I thought wow this looks like a new chapter as we looked capable of destroying teams in league 1. It's now clear that NC will have to adapt a way of playing which will incorporate aspects of his high press whilst doing the ugly things as well, coupled with all the players getting some sort of understanding in playing as a team. It remains to be seen if enough of this mass of players recruited are up to the challenge & with sufficient attributes to fill all that's needed in every area on the pitch. With all the chopping & changing I haven't got a clue what our best 11 would be. Yesterday we played a decent settled side with some quality players & it showed, fortunately we won't play teams like that every week, most of our games so far we have lost as a result of bad mistakes, rather than being out played. So my recalibrated expectations for this season have to be to consolidate as if we had just come up from league 2. This is where we will find out if the management team & players are up to it. I'll try to remain positive the sun is shining & it's time to take the dog out & stop worrying about something I can't do anything about.
 
Sooty59 said:
I think we got a bit over confident in our preseason games against higher placed opponents & whilst we conceded a lot of goals we also managed to score quite a few & play some nice passing football, then the thought process was we should be ok against the lower league teams, as we will score more than them even if we concede a few. That's not happened & whilst Premier league sides generally allow you more time, in league 1 you are harried, closed down & this has stifled us to the extent even the goals have almost dried up, coupled with individual errors (that sounds very McMahon like I seen to remember) I also think he took time to realise the ability of the players at this level. Myself included I thought wow this looks like a new chapter as we looked capable of destroying teams in league 1. It's now clear that NC will have to adapt a way of playing which will incorporate aspects of his high press whilst doing the ugly things as well, coupled with all the players getting some sort of understanding in playing as a team. It remains to be seen if enough of this mass of players recruited are up to the challenge & with sufficient attributes to fill all that's needed in every area on the pitch. With all the chopping & changing I haven't got a clue what our best 11 would be. Yesterday we played a decent settled side with some quality players & it showed, fortunately we won't play teams like that every week, most of our games so far we have lost as a result of bad mistakes, rather than being out played. So my recalibrated expectations for this season have to be to consolidate as if we had just come up from league 2. This is where we will find out if the management team & players are up to it. I'll try to remain positive the sun is shining & it's time to take the dog out & stop worrying about something I can't do anything about.
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My thoughts to a tee also but unless the team can set themselves out soon it won’t be consolidation.

The defence needs to toughen up. We need some hard lads who are going to get stuck in.

We need Critch to get tough on the slackers and motivate them.

These are his players and ultimately he is responsible so he needs to get right into them and make it absolutely clear that in no uncertain terms this is not acceptable.

All their careers are at stake here including the manager. He needs to work them very hard this week in training double sessions if necessary and get these lads going before it’s too late .
 
Early days and a completely new team in place more or less from top to bottom. The lack of experience was always a worry, but the style of play, getting the ball from back to front as quickly as possible is always going to work very well against some clubs, but some, like Ipswich are going to gobble up the openings and punish us, not many will be as ruthless as Ipswich who scored on every break. We enjoyed the lions share of possession but that final ball that finds so many out surely needs working on.

We have a young, athletic and pacy side, every game is a learning curve, its early days and I’m sure the patience of the owner and the belief of the coach and the eagerness of the players to learn will see results improve.
 
When Grayson came at the start of last season I thought it odd how he played pretty much the same 11 as we had with mcphillips. Established managers know that you cannot make too many changes too quickly.
The danger with changing an entire squad whilst trying to implement a new system in what is a very competitive and tough league 1 is a big risk. We can all see what’s trying to be done and jesus SS has backed him (yet again). This year could be a really struggle and I think supporters will have to adjust there expectations down a hell of a lot. Consolidate, build and for Christ’s sake don’t get relegated
 
I'm comfortable with it. There's a logical sequence that Critchley's going through and, although it's obvious the very first plan A hasn't worked, it seems the manager is flexible enough to change things around while still retaining the style of play that he needs to make it all work.

He's started from the back first, given the existing lads a chance, brought new players in (both his choices & the scouting team's), got rid of those he feels won't fit or will gain from experience, made changes to the line-up and doesn't get too upset when we lose. As far as I'm concerned those are all the right things to be doing.

We're short in midfield and the injuries to Virtue and Kaikai have meant Ward and Lubala have possibly had more game time than they might have expected at this stage.

It'll take a while, possibly even until after January window, but the amount of panic on here after a few bad games is just silly.
 
Do you know, in the midst of this pandemic, I can't really concentrate on football anyway - am looking out for our results but that's about it. I come on here for all I need to know (although that sometimes isn't wise!). If this was normal times I might join the dissenting voices in the echo chamber but as it is I can't say that BFC is my main priority at the moment.
 
td53 said:
I'm not arsed we haven't got Liverpool players. I didn't like the 'oh, we can become Liverpool B!' excitement anyway.

I think Tim's other podcast point was what resonates with me.

What I am most bothered about is the stasis on games when we don't seem to be reacting to what other teams do or changing to respond to circumstances. Swapping positions, making subs, switching flanks etc.

I'm happy to keep trotting out 'time, patience, new players' and coming to each Saturday with an optimism that it will click this week but if our players are sometimes naive or fresh, then so is our manager and he needs to learn from what Evans, Lambert, Coleman, Appleton and Lowe have done by making changes or setting up in a particular way before games and thus influencing what happens.

Every game the other manager looks more proactive. Even yesterday, Ipswich subbed first and used all three. They were 3-0 up! We waited till 70 mins and made one.

We play the way we play the way we play works when you're flying high, but if you're not, you have to search for that way that works and sometimes that takes place within games.
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Yep I agree with that

But according to Scrafton a few weeks ago when he spoke to Critchley the Plan B was to make Plan A better

What a ridiculous comment that was then, even more so after 4 weak defeats
 
I’ve witnessed four x League 1 Relegations and we were dire and deserved to go down.
In the 5 games we have played we have had majority of possession and been punished with every mistake. At this level you usually get away with it, half the time. We have had very little luck and fortunes will change.There are new additions to the squad yet to play.

This season reminds me of 06/07 season rather than 99/00 or 15/16.
 
As with Life, Football and Business......the good rise to the top and the 'not so good'......they hang around on their own scratching a living.
Mr Critchley proved he was that good, he achieved the position of Liverpool's U23 coach.
It's not like coaching a pub team or a bunch of 14 year old kids because you did a coaching badge down the YMCA
Jurgen Klopp doesn't hand the management of a Liverpool game to the U23 manager.....for a laugh.
You cant be 3 -0 and 2 - 0 up against Premiership teams.....just by luck

He was given a squad of 'promising' young players and his job was to train them so they could play at the highest level.
Now he's' been given a squad of players...some young, some old, some promising.....some not.

Back to the analogy of 'Life, Football & Business'.........You need time, you need support, you need a bit of luck....in all 3
Mr Sadler is giving that to Mr Critchley
Mr Sadler is giving support to that dream of having a 'normal' football club
Mr Sadler is building for the future.......not just to the end of the month.

How many in 'Life, Football and Business' would throw it all in after so little time...?

BUT.......(A small minority) are not even willing to accept any of that......and that's OK, you're welcome to your opinion.
BUT.......Nobody gets anything in 'Life, Football and Business' when you're not given a chance.....time......and support.
 
seasideone said:
We will be fine - anyone who thinks a brand new team will not take time to gel is either an idiot - or knows nothing about the game!!
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Tell that to Michael Appleton, they won the first 4 games. 9 of the 11 that played against us were new signings. Doh!!! 😜
 
I'm not sure the system we are trying to play will work in this division. For me, most of the players we have brought in, are too small and lightweight and don't appear to have enough quality. I think we will get kicked off the park a lot this season, I can also see us conceding a lot from corners and free kicks.Be happy to be wrong though.
 
I've commented at length on this previously so in summary:
  • I'm very happy that the owner and manager are being bold and trying a root and branch experiment of running this club and side very differently for a club at this level. I'm bored of that same old so if Sadler is up for the risk then why not!
  • I'd stick with it at least until Christmas but it may as well be the whole season, and I think Sadler will do so. If we don't then it will have been a complete waste of time even trying this change.
  • I absolutely want this experiment to succeed because for me the long term benefits if it works out far outweigh the risk of something like relegation.
  • I don't believe Critchley or Sadler are perfect. Nobody in football ever is.
  • I wouldn't have taken such a punt to have no real experience/quality at CB or centre mid. Definitely not when the plan is to create a new squad of young, raw players. The new centre backs hopefully can improve stability but we still possibly won't have a captain or a midfield 'rock' to rely on.
  • I think the manager has shown inexperience in some on the pitch decisions but that's because he is inexperienced. I wouldn't object if Sadler got Critchley access to some experienced advice just so he has a different view offered to him.
  • I agree with having 'plan B', but we haven't got 'plan A' close to right yet so I'd rather manager and squad concentrated on that.
  • We will get tonked in more games yet this season - some will be unlucky defeats playing the right way, some will be performances like Ipswich that are without real effort and just awful from all angles. I can handle the former but won't make excuses for the later.
So....
  • I'm behind this experiment until it works or the owner pulls the plug. Not like we have any choice anyway because Sadler is doing it whatever!
  • I still reserve the right to call a shocker if it is justified.
If Sadler is going full on to give this approach a go and willing to risk money failing spectacularly then for me he earned the right when he bought the club and made all the improvements he already has.
 
Hevster said:
I've commented at length on this previously so in summary:
  • I'm very happy that the owner and manager are being bold and trying a root and branch experiment of running this club and side very differently for a club at this level. I'm bored of that same old so if Sadler is up for the risk then why not!
  • I'd stick with it at least until Christmas but it may as well be the whole season, and I think Sadler will do so. If we don't then it will have been a complete waste of time even trying this change.
  • I absolutely want this experiment to succeed because for me the long term benefits if it works out far outweigh the risk of something like relegation.
  • I don't believe Critchley or Sadler are perfect. Nobody in football ever is.
  • I wouldn't have taken such a punt to have no real experience/quality at CB or centre mid. Definitely not when the plan is to create a new squad of young, raw players. The new centre backs hopefully can improve stability but we still possibly won't have a captain or a midfield 'rock' to rely on.
  • I think the manager has shown inexperience in some on the pitch decisions but that's because he is inexperienced. I wouldn't object if Sadler got Critchley access to some experienced advice just so he has a different view offered to him.
  • I agree with having 'plan B', but we haven't got 'plan A' close to right yet so I'd rather manager and squad concentrated on that.
  • We will get tonked in more games yet this season - some will be unlucky defeats playing the right way, some will be performances like Ipswich that are without real effort and just awful from all angles. I can handle the former but won't make excuses for the later.
So....
  • I'm behind this experiment until it works or the owner pulls the plug. Not like we have any choice anyway because Sadler is doing it whatever!
  • I still reserve the right to call a shocker if it is justified.
If Sadler is going full on to give this approach a go and willing to risk money failing spectacularly then for me he earned the right when he bought the club and made all the improvements he already has.
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Im sure Sadler will have a good idea now
if Critchley can pull this around....
Hes had him last season....pre season...this season....
He will be getting feedback from players... coaching staff...
IF hes not the man im sure he will pull the plug but imo half the season at most unless results improve going down would be unforgiveable with the dosh splashed.
 
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