Blackpool v Burton Albion Official Matchday Thread 05.08.23

First full 90 minutes for most of the players today as all pre season they’ve only played 45-60 minutes. So we’ll done to all the players today 3 points in the bag and a clean sheet. I to derby away Tuesday
 
“We became a bit complacent and weren’t ruthless enough, so we need to improve on that- we just lost our way.”- NC

Glad he’s not satisfied after that 2nd half, all and all a decent first game. Need to improve and add a few more to contend for autos but that was as routine as it gets.

Hope Pennington is fine although I think Casey replaced him well.

Super worried about Lyons not playing because he is easily the best wingback in this division when fit.

Good start. 👍🏼
 
At times Norburn reminded me of Charlie Adam, had a great first half, had time on the ball and showed class. For me, we need to add another quality player in there, a number 8, to be challenging at the very top against the best in the league.

Lavery was excellent and I thought Beesley played well too. He works hard and will score goals, he’s deceptively quick and i hope he can be a fans favourite.

CJ did well, as he should at this level, and we should have made more of the chances he created.

Not sure about Connolly in that position when we have Lyons and Thompson. I like Connolly and he played well, but to be fully threatening in that formation I think we have better options.

Marv was Marv, glimpses of class followed by repeated mistakes. Hubby played well and Casey was good when he came on.

Morgan and Carey played well, but I thought the midfield dropped a level in the second half, perhaps because Norburn was on a booking.
 
Good performance overall from most.
Grimmy was untested but efficient
Pennington was good and looks useful
Marv showed what we miss when he is injured.
Husband was tidy
CJ had their full back on toast but decision making and stray passes sometimes let him down
Norburn was the player we were crying out for last season.
Morgan delivers good crosses and corners and looked busy
Carey was largely anonymous and needs to get involved more
Connolly was a strange choice on the left and although he did ok Lyons would have been better
Beesley won a lot in the air and put himself about
Lavery was sublime and really seems to have benefited from Jerry being sold.
 
Wilburrabbit said:
Good performance overall from most.
Grimmy was untested but efficient
Pennington was good and looks useful
Marv showed what we miss when he is injured.
Husband was tidy
CJ had their full back on toast but decision making and stray passes sometimes let him down
Norburn was the player we were crying out for last season.
Morgan delivers good crosses and corners and looked busy
Carey was largely anonymous and needs to get involved more
Connolly was a strange choice on the left and although he did ok Lyons would have been better
Beesley won a lot in the air and put himself about
Lavery was sublime and really seems to have benefited from Jerry being sold.
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Nothing wrong with CJ,s decision making, absolutely nothin, the problem is he doesn’t have a right foot, so how can anyone expect precise crossing?

Lyons would have scored today also.
 
Solid, professional performance. Excellent in first half but took foot off the accerator too much in the second. No bad performances, but some very good ones. Defence and midfield looked solid and purposeful and our forward line did OK, bearing in mind we need to strengthen there.
A great base to build on and one that had positivity and intent from the start.
I was surprised how poor Burton were, especially when I saw what a big size they were went they came out on the pitch. But I think our pressing, tackling and decent passing broke up much of their rhythm and game.
Well done the lads and NC and his team.
UTMP
 
AmericanTangerine said:
“We became a bit complacent and weren’t ruthless enough, so we need to improve on that- we just lost our way.”- NC

Glad he’s not satisfied after that 2nd half, all and all a decent first game. Need to improve and add a few more to contend for autos but that was as routine as it gets.

Hope Pennington is fine although I think Casey replaced him well.

Super worried about Lyons not playing because he is easily the best wingback in this division when fit.

Good start. 👍🏼
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No wonder he was pissed off with that second half performance. Feel like asking for half my ticket money back.
 
AmericanTangerine said:
“We became a bit complacent and weren’t ruthless enough, so we need to improve on that- we just lost our way.”- NC

Glad he’s not satisfied after that 2nd half, all and all a decent first game. Need to improve and add a few more to contend for autos but that was as routine as it gets.

Hope Pennington is fine although I think Casey replaced him well.

Super worried about Lyons not playing because he is easily the best wingback in this division when fit.

Good start. 👍🏼
Click to expand...
I don’t mind the connotations of ‘complacent’ too much, as it indicates a relaxed attitude (which can be easily coached), rather than poor ability.

Optimistic hat on - the likes of Lyon’s on the bench shows that we have strength in depth and we will need this as there are sooo many fixtures ahead of us. Injuries will come and we need quality back up. Everyone will play their part.
 
I thought we were excellent in the first half, not so in the second.

In the first, we kept the ball well, fought for it and closed down relentlessly, and Lavery was superb - the kind of performance we all knew he could put on in league one. The finish for the second took me by surprise it was that good, I didn't think he had that in him. I'm really looking forward to a Lavery/Joseph partnership (although Beesley did well today imo).

Norburn's awareness and positioning is absolutely first class. He has all the attributes that we were missing last season - leadership, experience, doing the simple things well, and always in position to stop a counter attack. One of the main reasons we weren't as good in the second half was because he was unable to find the space to offer an option to the defence to pass to him as much, as they'd obviously realised that was a problem for them. But very very promising. You can see why we'd been after him for a while.

Morgan looked decent, some good set pieces, and his workrate was great too. I know that should be a given, but he's not a player that stands around ball-watching.

Pennington looked good too, comfortable on the ball. Hope he's ok.

I'm not sure Connolly on the left and CJ on the right as wingbacks will be a promotion winning tactic. Both did ok, especially CJ in terms of beating the full back, but we have better. Lyons and Gabriel would be a promotion winning wingback combo, but obviously JG is out at the moment. I don't want to see a player as good as Lyons wasted, hopefully we'll see more of him pretty quickly. He's comfortably championship standard, let alone league one standard.

All in all, it was a solid start with promising aspects, but plenty of room for improvement. The team will probably look quite a bit different by September with a signing or two, with Joseph and Lyons pushing for a start.

Great crowd too, much better than I thought. Hope that gets even better as the season goes on, if we're doing well.
 
CJ is CJ ball at his feet running forward yes a real threat, but if you want him to be involved in midfield
he lacks consistency and can create an error very left footed, better from the bench in games. Norburn ran the show but other quality teams will
impose there game on him. Morgan is promising and fits in to the style of play Critchley wants. Carey just lacks involvement the
game seems to pass him by at times. Pennington is going to be a important player for us. If Joseph is fit soon see what he can
bring maybe more mobile ?. Another ball player crying out for Banks or someone else. So we shall see !
 
tommytwojags said:
Welcome three points but I think Burton might find life a struggle this season. Lots to discuss and lots of improvements we can easily make.

1. Push CJ up the right wing. As he showed in the second half, he's a winger with loads of pace not a midfielder.
2. We need a centre forward for Lavery to play off.
3. Is Lyons injured? Why would the manager leave out our most versatile and valuable player?
4. Stop Marvin playing short balls out of defence to marked players. Better opposition would have scored two off that today.
5. It looks like the bookings are carrying on from last season. That's four today. I hope the injuries are not going to be the same as last year.
6. I was never his biggest fan but shouldn't Dougall be playing more of a part?
7. Norburn looks exactly the type of midfielder we were crying out for all last season.
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Pretty good assessment that TTJ, would add the following..

1. agree if in a 442. If playing playing wing backs would play Lyon’s on the right hand side or on the left when Gabriel is fit

2. Thought Beesley did ok today and Lavery scored two goals, but if we play a few more physical sides then we will need someone in the Madine mould as you’ve suggested.

6. Think Kenny will be picked for certain games now if lucky - far better quality ahead of him in the pecking order - bench is where he should be.
 
fcblackpool said:
Nothing wrong with CJ,s decision making, absolutely nothin, the problem is he doesn’t have a right foot, so how can anyone expect precise crossing?

TBH I think that's a little bit unkind. CJ does more than "swing" with his right foot. Playing where he does has improved that aspect of his game significantly. If you notice he does always cross the ball in on the ground which today on 3or 4 times was hit into the keepers belly. He needs to work on that but he works hard, covers back well when he loses possession and I actually like him at WB.
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We'll come up against more Burton's than Barnsley's and the results are way more important than the performance. So often these sort of teams get the rub of the green, a few decisions going their way and a wayward goal and those are the games that can cost you promotion.
 
WirePool said:
Loads of positives to take from today, but a few points I think need to be addressed. Big Marv at times looked a bit lost in possession with plenty of time to pick a pass. Grimmy's distribution was a bit off, likely just shaking off the rust of off-season though to be fair. Kenny Dougall - I'm still not sold on him. I know Kenny has a lot of fans but for me, take away the nostalgia of the playoff goals and he's still the weakest link in our midfield area... (puts hard-hat on, ready for incoming abuse 😂).
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He only came on after 75mins!!!
 
I’m all for a good fisting after a comfortable win, but patting the badge as though he’s one of us?? Not so sure. I’m desperate for Critch to be the best manager we’ve ever had but he’s got a long way to go before Holloway even appears in his sights. Please just stick to fisting the North for now. No need to get ahead of yourself. It wasn’t that long ago that Gerrard’s dice were dangling on your chin
 
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Southshoresteve said:
Pretty good assessment that TTJ, would add the following..

1. agree if in a 442. If playing playing wing backs would play Lyon’s on the right hand side or on the left when Gabriel is fit

2. Thought Beesley did ok today and Lavery scored two goals, but if we play a few more physical sides then we will need someone in the Madine mould as you’ve suggested.

6. Think Kenny will be picked for certain games now if lucky - far better quality ahead of him in the pecking order - bench is where he should be.
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Kenny is a better option than Carey at the moment but it’s early days
 
A perfect game in some respects, 3 points, clean sheet and loads to work on. Onward and Upward 🍊
 
From what I've seen Josh Feeney and Scott Banks would give us a lot more on the left so hope we get them both over the line. I was mystified about Lyons being left out but who knows what happens behind the scenes? It will be interesting to see the line-up for the cup game at Derby. In theory a completely different XI could start and if Lyons is left out again then it could mean he is angling for a move.
 
Seainsea said:
From what I've seen Josh Feeney and Scott Banks would give us a lot more on the left so hope we get them both over the line. I was mystified about Lyons being left out but who knows what happens behind the scenes? It will be interesting to see the line-up for the cup game at Derby. In theory a completely different XI could start and if Lyons is left out again then it could mean he is angling for a move.
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Agree about Lyons. There's absolutely no reason not to start him in both the Burton and the Derby game, so I fully expect him to start unless he does want to leave. He can't be injured otherwise he wouldn't be on the bench, so I hope he starts Tuesday otherwise it's a worrying sign.
 
Seainsea said:
From what I've seen Josh Feeney and Scott Banks would give us a lot more on the left so hope we get them both over the line. I was mystified about Lyons being left out but who knows what happens behind the scenes? It will be interesting to see the line-up for the cup game at Derby. In theory a completely different XI could start and if Lyons is left out again then it could mean he is angling for a move.
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I read elsewhere that someone who knows Feeneys family says Fleetwood are after him but no enquiry from Blackpool. Just what I read.
 
As an aside I noticed that Ben Garritty played for Port Vale yesterday in their 7-0 defeat. Not surprisingly performance rated as poor. But seems Grant Ward did well for Bristol Rovers.
 
Seainsea said:
From what I've seen Josh Feeney and Scott Banks would give us a lot more on the left so hope we get them both over the line. I was mystified about Lyons being left out but who knows what happens behind the scenes? It will be interesting to see the line-up for the cup game at Derby. In theory a completely different XI could start and if Lyons is left out again then it could mean he is angling for a move.
Click to expand...
Feeney is right footed!
 
AmericanTangerine said:
“We became a bit complacent and weren’t ruthless enough, so we need to improve on that- we just lost our way.”- NC

Glad he’s not satisfied after that 2nd half, all and all a decent first game. Need to improve and add a few more to contend for autos but that was as routine as it gets.

Hope Pennington is fine although I think Casey replaced him well.

Super worried about Lyons not playing because he is easily the best wingback in this division when fit.

Good start. 👍🏼
Click to expand...
'... all in all ...'

It's 'in', innit, as in, 'all in all'; not, 'all and all'. Unless it's simply a case of AT employing an Americanism I ain't familiar with. If so, I apologise for my misplaced attempt at a grammatical correction.
 
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