Birmingham v Blackpool Official Matchday Thread 27.11.21

62years&counting said:
Not proven at this level.
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Just like the entire squad was L2 standard last season right? And finished 3rd?

Of course, playing really well literally every time we’ve seen him, against all levels of opposition, and being our most prolific player of the season, doesn’t mean he’s Championship level.

Would you prefer Joe Garner?
 
A pretty toothless performance today I have to say we were very disappointing as poor as anything so far this season.

Birmingham to be fair weren’t much better and as usual the ref was just shocking.

Not often I pick players out for a poor game but Bowler offered absolutely nothing when he came on, gave the ball away time and time again he just couldn’t get round his man just not sure he’s up to this level.

Deserved nothing got nothing.

One thing is for sure we need to strengthen in January and in a few positions as well.
 
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Mr Tangerine Man said:
In the not winning games sort of way....3 points fromn the last possible 15 was it?
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Weve had a tough run, done well against some top sides.

Should have beaten QPR, today didn't score but their goal again offside.

The officiating is dreadful. I hate var but wed probably have a fair few more points.

Were outplaying sides but its just the final 3rd it's not clicking.

This is nothing new and under Critch we rarely have been prolific in the final 3rd.

But we definitely need to be better, almost every chance the ball was crap or at at a defender.
 
JJpool said:
Weve had a tough run, done well against some top sides.

Should have beaten QPR, today didn't score but their goal again offside.

The officiating is dreadful. I hate var but wed probably have a fair few more points.

Were outplaying sides but its just the final 3rd it's not clicking.

This is nothing new and under Critch we rarely have been prolific in the final 3rd.

But we definitely need to be better, almost every chance the ball was crap or at at a defender.
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clappers said:
It’s our first season back after years of chaos. It’s just realism. We need to keep improving and can get better.
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I agree, but I'm sick of hearing, " thinking we should have beaten Birmingham, Stoke, WBA, QPR etc. Shows how far we've come"
We have a right to compete in this league we have a right to beat every team in it, we're not plucky Blackpool.
 
EagleDay said:
But should those shit referees have had any real effect on the outcome? It's our own inability to score that's doing the real damage.
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I think our goal scoring ability is an entirely different debate, but even if we scored more these refereeing decisions would still be massively impacting us. Today if we'd scored and that offside goal still happened its 2 points dropped, we lost out on 2 more points against QPR, we most likely missed out on at least a point when a player wasn't sent off against Stoke (the winning goal scorer too boot).

They are examples of the top of my head, there are certainly more so yes the shit referees would have and are having a real effect.
 
Some other observations ….

Bowler getting the flack but Big Mustard wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity

If we aren’t scoring then dodgy ref decisions have more impact so somehow we need to play through Madine more as he has a fantastic footballing brain and not play through Bowler as much when he is in the team as it’s so one dimensional.

Great that Maxwell was on the grass pre match so maybe getting close to a return?

I’m sure Jerry is getting a bit angsty about his non role at the moment. Maybe some work for Critch to keep him and others cohesively behind the project.
 
Victorsponge said:
I agree, but I'm sick of hearing, " thinking we should have beaten Birmingham, Stoke, WBA, QPR etc. Shows how far we've come"
We have a right to compete in this league we have a right to beat every team in it, we're not plucky Blackpool.
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I get that totally👍 No disguising it was a frustrating day today overall and we didn’t do ourselves credit in the second half.
 
Would having 4 line officials help to ensure the correct decision is made in particular for handballs and offside that result in a goal.
Or would that simply introduce 2 more useless officials?
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
A pretty toothless performance today I have to say we were very disappointing as poor as anything so far this season.

Birmingham to be fair weren’t much better and as usual the ref was just shocking.

Not often I pick players out for a poor game but Bowler offered absolutely nothing when he came on, gave the ball away time and time again he just couldn’t get round his man just not sure he’s up to this level.

Deserved nothing got nothing.

One thing is for sure we need to strengthen in January and in a few positions as well.
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I listened to the game on the radio, so didn't see it first hand. However, the commentators were very surprised when Demi was taken off, and they attributed blame for the goal to Bowler, for not tracking his winger, which Demi had been doing.
 
We`re a low scoring team and we`ve not had a single shot on target in the first half despite dominating possession.

I`m especially surprised that Lavery, who has shown he is a goal scorer before his injury and now surely needs time on the pitchto get back to his best, is not being given that opportunity. Especially when we`re so short of goals.

In the top 16 in the Championship we have scored the least number of goals whereas our defensive record stands up to close scrutiny. We can therefore see where our weakness lies. Hopefully Lavery will get back to the goal scoring form he showed before injury stopped him in his tracks but looking at our other strikers and our midfield the cupboard looks pretty bare in terms of goal scorers and that is clearly where we need to invest and improve

Time Madine was rested?​

So his main role is playing up front .I wonder how many goals or even assists he will get this season?

All the above bar the top one were my posts BEFORE todays game.There was all sorts of nonsense posted on here how we we were going to win by such scores as 3-1,how often do we ever score 3? It`s not difficult to see where our weakness lies and it`s clearly not in defence. We lack creative midfielders and we lack goal scorers,Lavery if given time may be the only exception, certainly not Madine, nor Yates at this level who clearly Critch has little confidence in, an opinion I fully share.
 
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Brett scores for fun said:
I listened to the game on the radio, so didn't see it first hand. However, the commentators were very surprised when Demi was taken off, and they attributed blame for the goal to Bowler, for not tracking his winger, which Demi had been doing.
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That’s exactly how it was.

Demi looked pissed off that he was subbed because he was playing really well.

And yes Bowler at fault for their goal he didn’t track back the guy had acres of space for a simple cross.

I’ve already said on another thread Bowler was poor today one of his worst games in a Tangerine shirt (yes I know he was a sub) but not sure he’s up to this level of football.
 
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FessParker said:
I certainly would have started Gabriel , Wintle and one of Yates/ Lavery assuming they were
fit to start of course. We may have lost with them but I don't understand why any Manager wouldn't
start his best team for any league game. Squad rotation ..... do me a favour.
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You want to bin Critch then?
His choices
 
tangerinesince88 said:
Surely then referencing “last season” in your point is nonsense?
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Not at all as the same problems were there last season in that we didn't score enough goals or create enough chances but got away with it cos we were so much better generally than the opposition. I'm surprised you think differently.
 
I thought we played some good stuff in midfield, and the system Critch adopted created a lot of space, so the tactics worked, at least first half. But the crossing was, yet again, abysmal. Is this a skill we should be concentrating on? I still find it difficult, and slightly depressing, that we lost that game. Brum were far worse than most teams we have seen this season.
 
A touch pissed off tonight, if I’m honest. Thought we were good for at least a point. January looming - and it’s pretty evident we need someone who can score goals, or at least look like they want to score goals. Maybe a Sean Longstaff and/or Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall type of player, who will shoot on sight of goal, whether it’s from distance or not. Still, got to be pleased with the season overall, thus far. I think it’s fair to say, that Critch and the boys have, up to this point - exceeded our initial expectations.
 
Larryknows said:
It's the same since last season. We need a quality creative midfielder and a quality goal scorer. In no way do I think we are poor but until we address these we will continue having mixed results
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That’s exactly why they are very expensive in the transfer market and wages !
 
Alf said:
Just like the entire squad was L2 standard last season right? And finished 3rd?

Of course, playing really well literally every time we’ve seen him, against all levels of opposition, and being our most prolific player of the season, doesn’t mean he’s Championship level.

Would you prefer Joe Garner?
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I'd prefer to score more goals than we do and, if your honest, so do you. We've struggled to score enough goals all season whichever forward combination we've put out. Critchley, of course, is a safety first coach.
 
62years&counting said:
I'd prefer to score more goals than we do and, if your honest, so do you. We've struggled to score enough goals all season whichever forward combination we've put out. Critchley, of course, is a safety first coach.
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Do you not realize how much shit you talk man? I’m honestly trying to help you out. You start by saying somebody is not Championship standard, then your point gets refuted, and you just go off on a completely different tangent, and this time it’s Critchley’s fault.

Of course I want us to score more goals, but I wouldn’t be pointing fingers at the lad who scores loads of goals and gets into the right positions all the time and has literally just returned from injury.

It’s like your attitude is that literally everything is shit literally all the time, and when somebody tries to point out one minor positive you accuse them of pretending everything is perfect. There is such a thing as nuance mate, and it will add years to your life if you allow your heart rate and your knee jerks to just caaaaaalm down.
 
62years&counting said:
I'd prefer to score more goals than we do and, if your honest, so do you. We've struggled to score enough goals all season whichever forward combination we've put out. Critchley, of course, is a safety first coach.
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Critchley is definitely a safety first coach, and it's been highly successful so I've no problem with that. However, it's clear we do need more in an attacking sense - we either struggle to create, or we do create and struggle to finish. Let's be honest, we 100% should've had at least two goals against WBA. In recent games we've been nearly but not quite.

What we're missing is one of those midfielders that can really play a pass, a through ball that can set us away. Our attacking mostly relies on running at defenders, but we have more than enough pace to put players beyond the defence and we rarely find that pass. Wintle and Dougall are great defensively and that's their main job, but they don't have that passing range. Nor does Anderson really, although he does have a few assists.
Secondly we need a presence in the penalty area. Madine is strong but isn't a finisher and lacks pace/movement, yet Yates and Lavery have the pace and finishing instinct but they do get bullied out of games often, especially when up front on their own. A combination of them in one player would be perfect......but you'd be talking a fair amount of money!!
 
The game went exactly as i thought it would. Fact is there really isn’t that much between the teams in this division. I never ‘expect’ us to win but by the same token i never ‘expect’ us to lose.

My take on it is that this team is far far better than the sum of its parts. I really think a lot of these players don’t have that much individual quality. How many players would be in demand by other top sides in this division if they were for sale? Arguably nobody apart from Keshi.

I think Critch realises this (especially after the start we had) and he’s now set the team up to compete as best they can.

Its a pragmatic and sensible approach and it’s allowing us to pick up more points than we would do otherwise going hell for leather.
 
BFC_53 said:
Critchley is definitely a safety first coach, and it's been highly successful so I've no problem with that. However, it's clear we do need more in an attacking sense - we either struggle to create, or we do create and struggle to finish. Let's be honest, we 100% should've had at least two goals against WBA. In recent games we've been nearly but not quite.

What we're missing is one of those midfielders that can really play a pass, a through ball that can set us away. Our attacking mostly relies on running at defenders, but we have more than enough pace to put players beyond the defence and we rarely find that pass. Wintle and Dougall are great defensively and that's their main job, but they don't have that passing range. Nor does Anderson really, although he does have a few assists.
Secondly we need a presence in the penalty area. Madine is strong but isn't a finisher and lacks pace/movement, yet Yates and Lavery have the pace and finishing instinct but they do get bullied out of games often, especially when up front on their own. A combination of them in one player would be perfect......but you'd be talking a fair amount of money!!
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Yes, we should have scored against WBA but they should have scored several and won the game.
I agree with the rest of your comments.
 
Bigpommo said:
The game went exactly as i thought it would. Fact is there really isn’t that much between the teams in this division. I never ‘expect’ us to win but by the same token i never ‘expect’ us to lose.

My take on it is that this team is far far better than the sum of its parts. I really think a lot of these players don’t have that much individual quality. How many players would be in demand by other top sides in this division if they were for sale? Arguably nobody apart from Keshi.

I think Critch realises this (especially after the start we had) and he’s now set the team up to compete as best they can.

Its a pragmatic and sensible approach and it’s allowing us to pick up more points than we would do otherwise going hell for leather.
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Critch knows that draws are no good though, he said as much after the WBA game.
 
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