All I do each night is …

P

Paul Gardner No2

Well-known member
During Critch’s first tenure we had a bad run of results to start with. However I was an ardent supporter of the football he was playing as it was very easy on the eye and I was convinced it be only a matter of time before results turned in our favour.

He then switched tactics. He seemed to setup our team to directly negate the oppositions threat and then counter that threat with a cunning “sleight of hand”. Hence no one could ever guess the team selection. It worked a treat as we know…

Fast forward to his second tenure… he seems to have disregarded both the free flowing one touch football he started with and the tinker man master strategist. He seems to have a new system hardwired into him with his insistence on playing keep-ball with inverted wingbacks. The team is now becoming predicable even though results have been poor.

So what the hell happened in the intervening 12 months? It’s like he has reinvented his approach again but this time is stubbornly sticking to it, no matter how ineffective it is.

Is it the right system but wrong players? The right players but wrong system?

I rate Callum Connelly but as soon as I see him playing left wing back on the team sheet my heart sinks.

I desperately want us to succeed but without another fundamental shift in tactics I can’t see it.

Here’s praying for a 4-4-2 tomorrow 🙏
 
In his first stint he didn't switch to 4-4-2 from 4-2-3-1 until game week 10, we're only at game week 8 so he's not really been any more stubborn than he was previously.
 
Paul Gardner No2 said:
During Critch’s first tenure we had a bad run of results to start with. However I was an ardent supporter of the football he was playing as it was very easy on the eye and I was convinced it be only a matter of time before results turned in our favour.

He then switched tactics. He seemed to setup our team to directly negate the oppositions threat and then counter that threat with a cunning “sleight of hand”. Hence no one could ever guess the team selection. It worked a treat as we know…

Fast forward to his second tenure… he seems to have disregarded both the free flowing one touch football he started with and the tinker man master strategist. He seems to have a new system hardwired into him with his insistence on playing keep-ball with inverted wingbacks. The team is now becoming predicable even though results have been poor.

So what the hell happened in the intervening 12 months? It’s like he has reinvented his approach again but this time is stubbornly sticking to it, no matter how ineffective it is.

Is it the right system but wrong players? The right players but wrong system?

I rate Callum Connelly but as soon as I see him playing left wing back on the team sheet my heart sinks.

I desperately want us to succeed but without another fundamental shift in tactics I can’t see it.

Here’s praying for a 4-4-2 tomorrow 🙏
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An interesting and insightful post highlighting Critchley 1.0 v Critchley 2.0. His staunch fans refuse to listen to any criticism directed at him stating "he started off badly last time but got us promoted and stabilised us in the Championship."

Well yes we all know that. Grayson similarly had a very successful first tenure, picking up lots of good players, entertaining the fans and building a palpable togetherness. 2nd time around after a couple of disastrous previous jobs he brought a negative system, upset the squad, rubbed up the fan base the wrong way and brought in lots of uninspiring players . . . I give you Joe Nuttall to name just 1. He then went to Fleetwood and buggered them up too. 🤦

Critchley for many of us is on the same trajectory. He can (and needs to) change tactics and attitude soon. 26% Backing him after 7 league games is shocking. A couple more games of what we've already been served up already and he's toast!

Well that's my opinion, I'm sure it's all nonsense to someone else.
 
Fylde Seasider said:
Well that's my opinion, I'm sure it's all nonsense to someone else.
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It's not complete nonsense but it does lose sight of the fact that we have lost 2 of just 7 games. And taken 8 points from 4 home games. It might just be teething problems. Let's hope so. The football needs to improve. Changes to how we play are required, for sure.
 
Fylde Seasider said:
An interesting and insightful post highlighting Critchley 1.0 v Critchley 2.0. His staunch fans refuse to listen to any criticism directed at him stating "he started off badly last time but got us promoted and stabilised us in the Championship."

Well yes we all know that. Grayson similarly had a very successful first tenure, picking up lots of good players, entertaining the fans and building a palpable togetherness. 2nd time around after a couple of disastrous previous jobs he brought a negative system, upset the squad, rubbed up the fan base the wrong way and brought in lots of uninspiring players . . . I give you Joe Nuttall to name just 1. He then went to Fleetwood and buggered them up too. 🤦

Critchley for many of us is on the same trajectory. He can (and needs to) change tactics and attitude soon. 26% Backing him after 7 league games is shocking. A couple more games of what we've already been served up already and he's toast!

Well that's my opinion, I'm sure it's all nonsense to someone else.
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Comparisons to Grayson are wide of the mark, over a decade between his stints.
 
voyeur said:
It's not complete nonsense but it does lose sight of the fact that we have lost 2 of just 7 games. And taken 8 points from 4 home games. It might just be teething problems. Let's hope so. The football needs to improve. Changes to how we play are required, for sure.
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Ah statistics! Yes 1.28 points a game from a 57.1% of games played at home equates to 59 points for the season. Comfortably avoiding relegation.

Lose today and it's 1.12 points a game from 62.5% of games being a home fixture!!!! Meaning a season total of circa 51 which may see us relegated in successive seasons?

Now the home fixture part might be crucial (and I'm going to cherry pick stats) given that we've neither won or scored an away goal all season.

Delve a bit deeper into the stats by looking at the current form rather than having a hunch we might get better (hmmm, really under the current incumbent?) and you will see we sit 19th in the table from the last 6 with all that home advantage and having dropped down a league with supposedly a decent budget and better players. Look at the form since January (this calendar year) and we are 80th out of 92 🤦

Love your optimism though!
 
Fylde Seasider said:
Ah statistics! Yes 1.28 points a game from a 57.1% of games played at home equates to 59 points for the season. Comfortably avoiding relegation.

Lose today and it's 1.12 points a game from 62.5% of games being a home fixture!!!! Meaning a season total of circa 51 which may see us relegated in successive seasons?

Now the home fixture part might be crucial (and I'm going to cherry pick stats) given that we've neither won or scored an away goal all season.

Delve a bit deeper into the stats by looking at the current form rather than having a hunch we might get better (hmmm, really under the current incumbent?) and you will see we sit 19th in the table from the last 6 with all that home advantage and having dropped down a league with supposedly a decent budget and better players. Look at the form since January (this calendar year) and we are 80th out of 92 🤦

Love your optimism though!
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I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. Just pointing out that weve only played 7 games and only lost 2! Some people cling very tightly to an intense feeling of negativity, and focus 100% on what's wrong, to feed that need. It seems to me.
 
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It's not black and white though! There are also them that may be considered to hold the middle ground as well as realists and of course the happy clapper types who like Nero are fiddling whilst Rome burns. We've all been in groups with people who hold totally differing views and beliefs ranging from red to violet on the spectrum. And you also have them that feel the need to be argumentative, abusive or even downright aggressive towards them they don't agree with. 🤷
 
Fylde Seasider said:
It's not black and white though! There are also them that may be considered to hold the middle ground as well as realists and of course the happy clapper types who like Nero are fiddling whilst Rome burns. We've all been in groups with people who hold totally differing views and beliefs ranging from red to violet on the spectrum. And you also have them that feel the need to be argumentative, abusive or even downright aggressive towards them they don't agree with. 🤷
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I'm just saying our start to the season has been very dull but not as bad as some people make out.
 
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