Appleton never really stood a chance

LA1 Seasider said:
Phil’s absolutely clueless. You can ask him to justify his bizarre views but you’ll never get any sort of rationale. I think he’s a troll or a very very brilliant parody account ran by a nobber.
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Phil isn't clueless and certainly isn't a nobber or a parody

What is bizarre is the man love you have for Critchley

Very strange
 
I agree that it was always going to be difficult for him but he has to share some responsibility

Managers will always make mistakes, not every signing will work out and players will get injured especially in training. I also don't care what he does on the touchline.

Where he is responsible though is for the tactics, preparing the team etc. Baring a few blistering 20 min spells in 6/7 games, we have largely been a shambles. Overrun in midfield, exposed defence, zero attacking threat - these are down to him.

Critchley did far better with, on paper, a weaker squad. Some of the football was dull at times but he achieved results.
 
AngelBFC said:
Was it not £750k approx ?

For a league 1 club thats not insignificant.

I think the yearly revenue from the EFL is roundabout that.

Factor into the equation he did nowt its big money.
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No I don't think it was anywhere near that figure

Although we will never really know with all these undisclosed fees these days

Granted he didn't work out, he won't be the only player who doesn't work out at our level
 
FY5_Seasider said:
I was out in PLF last night. Madine was in Marvin's. I went for a piss and he was in the toilet telling a lad that he's leaving at the end of the season. When the lad asked why, his response was 'just bored'. When asked if it was down to the manager, he replied 'yes'.

I'm not convinced that the players are on board with MA. This incident last night being a pretty strong indicator of that.
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Ahh didn't realise you'd posted this on here, as I posted similar from a twitter account, not sure if that was taken from here.

But for me there's a bit too much of this talk around, we heard an account after the Wigan game where apparently there was some unrest amongst players and manager, we have the Grimmy situation.

We can question some players attitudes but same as fans, players are affected by the situation and the manager etc.

The players know the fans aren't with him, given the chants at Wigan at the end and the general atmosphere.

Wouldn't bode well then if players aren't buying into the manager.....
 
Philbfctrois said:
We had a poor run over Christmas, I seem to remember Kaikai being Injured along with a couple more and we had 2 poor home games against Shrewsbury and Accrington, then the fans got on his back

All sounds very familiar

However you dress things up 6 months just isn't long enough for a manager at any level

Swapping and changing managers is completely counter productive as any new manager comes in and wants to change things and put their own stamp on stuff etc

All the best most successful clubs stick with managers not knee jerked reactions every time a club loses a few games

Look at Man Utd with Fergie or Liverpool with Klopp or closer to our level Dyche at Burnley or Frank at Brentford or Ainsworth at Wycombe or Robins at Coventry or Coleman at Accrington

Clubs need to build not react every time a lilley livered fan gets his knickers in a twist
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We could have stuck with him longer than 6 Months and I was in favour of doing so, but the reality of that situation (same as the current one really) is that he wasn’t the right man for the job.

In the end it was the right decision to pot him …. Simple as that…
 
Philbfctrois said:
I said it really isn't his fault and it isn't

Team selection has been forced due to the injuries and lack of options in key positions

Do you really think he wanted to play a back 3 against Rotherham or Millwall?

Do you really think he wanted to sign Grant Ward?

Do you really think he wanted to sell our best player Josh Bowler?

Do you really think he wants to flog Madine week in week out?
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He could have played 433 at Millwall as he had Carey on the bench,he also played Connolly at wing back and left Gabriel on the bench bizarrely.He also could have played 433 at Rotherham because he had Carey and Patino on the bench
 
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straightatthewall said:
Here’s the way I see it.

Critchley’s new job at QPR buries any notion that he left because he preferred to stay out of the limelight. He obviously decided it was worth jumping in the summer - a select number of people know why, but budget and ‘going as far as we can’ seem to be as strong a reasons as any.

The budget has obviously been set with a wider business consideration in mind. There are plans to build the East, which has to be done - and a new TG, which we all know will be a positive for the long term strength of the club. As much as I’d like us to have our cake and eat it, reality says we can’t.

The budget was also likely responsible for MA being appointed over other mooted candidates. He needed a job more than the others so took it on and accepted the constraints.

All these elements fall at the door of the board. Some are acceptable to me (the budget is what it is), some are poor decisions.

MA is also to blame. Because of who we are in this league, we need the head coach to be a dynamic force; a man who leads and others follow. Hate to say it, but Ryan Lowe has that about him. MA comes across as aloof, arrogant and uninspiring. That’s the exact opposite of what’s needed and I don’t see how he can change that. He’s Paul Ince without the international caps.
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That’s spot on for me
 
Philbfctrois said:
You can't underestimate the Josh Bowler effect

You could see how poor we were towards the end of the Critchley regime when Bowler wasn't playing
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The only true quality player, some of our players are good but most are average we need more or at least a sprinkling of quality or championship nouse, improve the first 11 not the squad. Important January window.
 
HighfieldSeasider said:
I don't know whether I've said it on here but I've told friends and family about my little conspiracy theory I've had since the moment Appleton was appointed.

All the noise after Critchley left was about a certain type of manager, someone who the fans could have a bond with, keep that positivity and connection. Then the club appoint the one guy the fans were pretty much unanimous they didn't want, it went against everything that Ben Mansford said in his post Critchley interview. Something just didn't sit right, I said at the time it felt like an 'old boys club' appointment due to his relationship with Mansford.

The injury situation has been a disaster, but as people have said, part of that is due to giving injury prone players contracts, then using our 'stringent medical process' as an excuse when we missed out in transfer targets.

So my conspiracy theory from day one has been Appleton was given the job with the remit of simply keeping us in the division for the next few seasons. The amount of investment off the pitch in the training ground and East stand development meant the finance needed for improvement on the pitch simply wasn't there.
So let's appointment someone who if he keeps us up the fans will see it as a success and if things go wrong he will be the scapegoat, which will deflect the blame away from the club.
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Interesting Highfield. That does seem to credit them with quite detailed strategic thinking tho 🤔
 
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