Boring Blackpool!

M

Micky Walsh

Well-known member
We are a boring team, no expression playing sideways or backward, then start again, all well and good if you see progression but that was shite, we don't go for it under this manager. Measured approach, play chess with the opposition coach and come up empty, not reactionary here but the coach doesn't go for it, safety first football with a squad that has so much more potential if only they were allowed to play.
 
Micky Walsh said:
We are a boring team, no expression playing sideways or backward, then start again, all well and good if you see progression but that was shite, we don't go for it under this manager. Measured approach, play chess with the opposition coach and come up empty, not reactionary here but the coach doesn't go for it, safety first football with a squad that has so much more potential if only they were allowed to play.
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I think that is the main reason why Critchley gets a lot of stick on here.
Most of it is just unpleasant to watch.
 
I always said under Critchelys first tenure that we were boring

Take away the January transfer window in the promotion season we'd have been screwed. We had some very good loans that served us well

We went uo and were boring as hell. Some games managing one shot

For me, he's too concerned about the opposition. A confident man, makes the opposition be concerned about his team
 
Maybe there should be a chant for Critchley when we are passing it around at the back and we are chasing a game. "BORING,BORING CRITCHLEY ". We have plenty of chants for our players ,but only the one for the manager "NEIL CRITCHLEY'S TANGERINE ARMY". Which I have noted is not sung very often.
 
Northstandsinger said:
You don’t think the football we played in the first half was boring ??
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I think that on the whole it was an exciting and entertaining game of football.

In the first half I thought Peterborough had the better of the game. They’re obviously confident in possession and with their passing and possession , we struggled to really impose ourselves on the game in the first half.

So no, I don’t think “The football we played was boring” , I just think the opposition were better than us and stopped us from playing our game.

Maybe it’s a case that fans these days have a very low boredom threshold, because everything seems to be “boring” nowadays.

We’ve seen 11 goals in the last two games…
A combined 46 Shots (26 shots for us)
A penalty save
A sending off
A valiant comeback in both games
A tense second half where it could have gone either way (right up to full time)
A couple of ‘goal of the season’ contenders

In any game of football there might be spells where the opposition is on top, but I really don’t get what people are on about, when they describe it as boring.

I think the problem is that most fans just don’t want to be in L1 and are really just passing time until we get back to the championship. So I don’t think anything apart from smashing every other side out of sight every week is going to be good enough.
 
Peterborough had way more quality on the pitch and Darren Ferguson schooled Critchley with tactics.

Lavery was brilliant against Cheltenham and then dropped for Kouassi. Utterly bizarre.

Their defenders had the freedom of Bloomfield. Then they picked pockets through our midfield. We had no answers. Kouassi was unable to hold the ball up and give them any problems and our wing backs ended up pushed right back and offered nothing going forward.

Tactically and technically it was an absolute shambles.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I think that on the whole it was an exciting and entertaining game of football.

In the first half I thought Peterborough had the better of the game. They’re obviously confident in possession and with their passing and possession , we struggled to really impose ourselves on the game in the first half.

So no, I don’t think “The football we played was boring” , I just think the opposition were better than us and stopped us from playing our game.

Maybe it’s a case that fans these days have a very low boredom threshold, because everything seems to be “boring” nowadays.

We’ve seen 11 goals in the last two games…
A combined 46 Shots (26 shots for us)
A penalty save
A sending off
A valiant comeback in both games
A tense second half where it could have gone either way (right up to full time)
A couple of ‘goal of the season’ contenders

In any game of football there might be spells where the opposition is on top, but I really don’t get what people are on about, when they describe it as boring.

I think the problem is that most fans just don’t want to be in L1 and are really just passing time until we get back to the championship. So I don’t think anything apart from smashing every other side out of sight every week is going to be good enough.
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There are elements of truth in that but at the same time we start Kouassi ahead of Lavery who was very good against Cheltenham. I honestly think Boothe and Kouassi wouldn't even make Fylde's team so we are not giving ourselves the best chance possible. It was an utter shambles yesterday.

Derby and now Peterborough have shown us that we are bang average. I still think this formation is half the problem. Over complicated bollocks at this level.
 
I wouldn't call us boring (or shite), we are developing a possession based team and there are signs of that starting to work. You can't expect us to go 'balls out' for a full 90mins. What I do want to see is shifts in tempo, that 30min period with 10 men was brilliant, we have to combine the controlling of a game with switches in pace/attcking intent, especially at home to get the crowd into the game. I'm as disappointed as anyone about losing but I actually came out of Bloomfield Road thinking the team gave everything. Ultimately our biggest weakness is in the middle 3 with Norburn and Virtue out. TOB is miles off it, Weir has been hopeless and Carey is a complete enigma. Why did he start to play well with 10 men, it's baffling. Until we sort that area of the team and figure out how to use Dembele, we'll always have the odd struggle. Please show a little patience.
 
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A_Tense_Grin said:
There are elements of truth in that but at the same time we start Kouassi ahead of Lavery who was very good against Cheltenham. I honestly think Boothe and Kouassi wouldn't even make Fylde's team so we are not giving ourselves the best chance possible. It was an utter shambles yesterday.

Derby and now Peterborough have shown us that we are bang average. I still think this formation is half the problem. Over complicated bollocks at this level.
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I’m pretty sure that the ‘formation’ has proved to be very successful at this level.

I think it has more to do with ability and mentality when it comes to the better teams to be honest.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I’m pretty sure that the ‘formation’ has proved to be very successful at this level.

I think it has more to do with ability and mentality when it comes to the better teams to be honest.
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Nothing to do with mentality. That part is fine. It's simply lack of talent and in my opinion, shit tactics.

Peterborough showed how much better a 4-3-3 if for example. They had space and attacking options whilst the only option we had was to pass backwards and sideways to Husband who hoofed it to no man's land.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I think that on the whole it was an exciting and entertaining game of football.

In the first half I thought Peterborough had the better of the game. They’re obviously confident in possession and with their passing and possession , we struggled to really impose ourselves on the game in the first half.

So no, I don’t think “The football we played was boring” , I just think the opposition were better than us and stopped us from playing our game.

Maybe it’s a case that fans these days have a very low boredom threshold, because everything seems to be “boring” nowadays.

We’ve seen 11 goals in the last two games…
A combined 46 Shots (26 shots for us)
A penalty save
A sending off
A valiant comeback in both games
A tense second half where it could have gone either way (right up to full time)
A couple of ‘goal of the season’ contenders

In any game of football there might be spells where the opposition is on top, but I really don’t get what people are on about, when they describe it as boring.

I think the problem is that most fans just don’t want to be in L1 and are really just passing time until we get back to the championship. So I don’t think anything apart from smashing every other side out of sight every week is going to be good enough.
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That’s not what I asked you I don’t care how entertaining the opponent was, I asked if you thought the way we played first half was boring ? Why do you always have to go around the houses instead of just answering a direct question you’re like a politician.
 
Northstandsinger said:
That’s not what I asked you I don’t care how entertaining the opponent was, I asked if you thought the way we played first half was boring ? Why do you always have to go around the houses instead of just answering a direct question you’re like a politician.
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No, I don’t think the way we played was ‘boring’… It just wasn’t particularly effective and the opposition were better than us, but that can happen in games and sometimes you just have to work through it.

I’m not going around the houses…. I’m just trying to explain that there’s a bit more to it than going all ‘Kevin and Perry’ just because everything doesn’t go to plan.

And in case you missed it last time….

BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I think that on the whole it was an exciting and entertaining game of football.

In the first half I thought Peterborough had the better of the game. They’re obviously confident in possession and with their passing and possession , we struggled to really impose ourselves on the game in the first half.

So no, I don’t think “The football we played was boring” , I just think the opposition were better than us and stopped us from playing our game.

Maybe it’s a case that fans these days have a very low boredom threshold, because everything seems to be “boring” nowadays.

We’ve seen 11 goals in the last two games…
A combined 46 Shots (26 shots for us)
A penalty save
A sending off
A valiant comeback in both games
A tense second half where it could have gone either way (right up to full time)
A couple of ‘goal of the season’ contenders

In any game of football there might be spells where the opposition is on top, but I really don’t get what people are on about, when they describe it as boring.

I think the problem is that most fans just don’t want to be in L1 and are really just passing time until we get back to the championship. So I don’t think anything apart from smashing every other side out of sight every week is going to be good enough.
Click to expand...
 
Northstandsinger said:
That’s not what I asked you I don’t care how entertaining the opponent was, I asked if you thought the way we played first half was boring ? Why do you always have to go around the houses instead of just answering a direct question you’re like a politician.
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Passive is probably a better word to describe the first half than boring.
Defenders passing to defenders isn't boring in itself if its done with purpose to pull the opposition out of their shape.
But passing it around just to keep position for the sake of it until you face the slightest hint of a press and knock it long to isolated strikers isn't good football.
 
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gjr said:
Passive is probably a better word to describe the first half than boring.
Defenders passing to defenders isn't boring in itself if its done with purpose to pull the opposition out of their shape.
But passing it around just to keep position for the sake of it until you face the slightest hint of a press and knock it long to isolated strikers isn't good football.
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It’s boring football, people not singing everyone going underneath to drink beer and watch it on the TVs instead it’s shite. First half there was no purpose to any of our passing no forward through balls no pressing and closing down it was just shit boring football but because Peterborough scored and missed a penalty BFC X3 thought it was entertaining.
 
Northstandsinger said:
It’s boring football, people not singing everyone going underneath to drink beer and watch it on the TVs instead it’s shite. First half there was no purpose to any of our passing no forward through balls no pressing and closing down it was just shit boring football but because Peterborough scored and missed a penalty BFC X3 thought it was entertaining.
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I'll stick with passive but agree with you that it was shite!
 
Briggsysgonagetya said:
Yeah, we went 3-0 up against an absolutely shite team then switched back to boring defensive crap.. conceded 2 and only just clung on to win
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We won so I honestly wasn’t worried about it after the game, only during! We never win on Tuesday nights, pre match I thought we’d be worse and only get a point. So three points was a bonus for me.

Did you see Cheltenham won again yesterday?! Anyone can beat anyone in this league.

As for yesterday, I’m gutted we couldn’t follow it up, but again, I’ve been following Blackpool for many years so I didn’t expect us to.
 
Graves said:
We won so I honestly wasn’t worried about it after the game, only during! We never win on Tuesday nights, pre match I thought we’d be worse and only get a point. So three points was a bonus for me.

Did you see Cheltenham won again yesterday?! Anyone can beat anyone in this league.

As for yesterday, I’m gutted we couldn’t follow it up, but again, I’ve been following Blackpool for many years so I didn’t expect us to.
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I was only pointing out that we are so much better when we ditch the boring defensive shite and go out and attack the opposition with our best players on the pitch.

We have nothing to fear in this league but (Critchleys) fear itself.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Unfortunately ‘boring’ seems to be the go to word for anything that isn’t us unflinching wave after wave of attacks on the opposition.
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There does seem to be a lack of patience for anything other than full tilt attacking football. That isn't sustainable but the 1st half yesterday was too far the other way, its about getting the balance right and half decent opposition like Peterborough make this difficult to do. Better team won yesterday, I just hope Critchley is learning as the season unfolds and we can make more of the available squad straight from kick off.
 
gjr said:
There does seem to be a lack of patience for anything other than full tilt attacking football. That isn't sustainable but the 1st half yesterday was too far the other way, its about getting the balance right and half decent opposition like Peterborough make this difficult to do. Better team won yesterday, I just hope Critchley is learning as the season unfolds and we can make more of the available squad straight from kick off.
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I agree, we were far too passive in the first half, although obviously that’s not the intention. Critchley clearly wants us to be more aggressive, but it then comes down to a question as to whether his selections and set up are always giving us the best opportunity to do that, whether the players are simply failing to implement their plans properly or whether the opposition were just playing really well etc..

There are always going to be periods of the game where the opposition seizes the initiative and you might have to weather the storm for spells, but yesterday we really didn’t cope well at all and ultimately that will rest on the Manager’s shoulders.

That said, even at 1-0 down, I still think a decent second half was within our capabilities and we could get something out of the game, but the early sending off and the goal was a killer blow really.

After that it’s always easy to say ‘why couldn’t we do this with 11 men’, but in reality you’re playing shit or bust football … and they picked is off in the end.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I agree, we were far too passive in the first half, although obviously that’s not the intention. Critchley clearly wants us to be more aggressive, but it then comes down to a question as to whether his selections and set up are always giving us the best opportunity to do that, whether the players are simply failing to implement their plans properly or whether the opposition were just playing really well etc..

There are always going to be periods of the game where the opposition seizes the initiative and you might have to weather the storm for spells, but yesterday we really didn’t cope well at all and ultimately that will rest on the Manager’s shoulders.

That said, even at 1-0 down, I still think a decent second half was within our capabilities and we could get something out of the game, but the early sending off and the goal was a killer blow really.

After that it’s always easy to say ‘why couldn’t we do this with 11 men’, but in reality you’re playing shit or bust football … and they picked is off in the end.
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Think that's a good summary of yesterday, Ferguson definitely won the tactical battle yesterday. Be interesting to see if Peterborough have a recognised best 11 and stick to it barring injuries and suspension. I think this is where Critchley might be getting it wrong. I understand tweaking things depending on the opposition, but that to me would be a case of Lavery or Kouassi, Lyons or Hamilton, the other 8 or 9 would be starting each game until injury, suspension or loss of form rules them out.
Battle was lost in midfield yesterday, should've started with Dougall, Morgan and Dembele but its done now, just have to hope Critchley gets the right starting 11 on Wednesday.
 
Team selections and tactics wrong yesterday and Posh were a decent outfit. But there has been improvement in performance in recent weeks even if we can’t string 90 mins together. I really don’t think the last few weeks have been that boring at all, there’s been goals and we are creating a lot more chances compared to the first 5/6 games. I think the annoyance is we can’t string 3/4 wins together. It’s win draw lose on repeat.
 
gjr said:
Think that's a good summary of yesterday, Ferguson definitely won the tactical battle yesterday. Be interesting to see if Peterborough have a recognised best 11 and stick to it barring injuries and suspension. I think this is where Critchley might be getting it wrong. I understand tweaking things depending on the opposition, but that to me would be a case of Lavery or Kouassi, Lyons or Hamilton, the other 8 or 9 would be starting each game until injury, suspension or loss of form rules them out.
Battle was lost in midfield yesterday, should've started with Dougall, Morgan and Dembele but it’s done now, just have to hope Critchley gets the right starting 11 on Wednesday.
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In fairness, outside of the current ‘regulars’ I’m not sure any of the players being rotated in and out have genuinely done enough to stamp their mark on the position and earn the shirt.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
In fairness, outside of the current ‘regulars’ I’m not sure any of the players being rotated in and out have genuinely done enough to stamp their mark on the position and earn the shirt.
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Dembele is probably the only one who looks like he should be a nailed on regular starter but maybe it's the over rotation that is the problem for some of them.
 
Micky Walsh said:
We are a boring team, no expression playing sideways or backward, then start again, all well and good if you see progression but that was shite, we don't go for it under this manager. Measured approach, play chess with the opposition coach and come up empty, not reactionary here but the coach doesn't go for it, safety first football with a squad that has so much more potential if only they were allowed to play.
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2 defeats in the last 8 games and 7th in the table by the way.
 
We have shown on several occasions that we could be a very good team, Burton first half, maybe half an our in the Charlton game and last half hour against Oxford amongst others

BUT then we have these really poor spells, which I think are largely down to the team and formation selected by NC

I think most of us hace a fairly good idea of how the gave is likely to go as soon as the team sheet is announced

I think the word passive is a good one. Too many games we sat back and looked to hold the opposition. When we put it up ‘em we look very dangerous
 
Ockers said:
I always said under Critchelys first tenure that we were boring

Take away the January transfer window in the promotion season we'd have been screwed. We had some very good loans that served us well

We went uo and were boring as hell. Some games managing one shot

For me, he's too concerned about the opposition. A confident man, makes the opposition be concerned about his team
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Spot on. My arse was on the fence when he returned and to be honest, he's done nothing to shift it in either direction.

For me, he's more reactive than he is pro-active. Sets up not to get beat then makes changes in reaction rather than seeing the issue and rectifying it.
 
JohnnnyQuidd said:
Spot on. My arse was on the fence when he returned and to be honest, he's done nothing to shift it in either direction.

For me, he's more reactive than he is pro-active. Sets up not to get beat then makes changes in reaction rather than seeing the issue and rectifying it.
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Exactly
 
I’m honestly thinking of staying in the pub for the first half and coming in for the second half, it’s like he’s completely written off trying to score a goal for the first hour. Just take the handbrake off and pick your strongest lineup, injuries and suspensions will give you a natural squad rotation FFS!
 
Joey_Rex said:
It’s really not that bad. In parts we play some good stuff the main issue seems to be putting that together for a full game. Critchley is tactically frustrating and does need to let the shackles off at home like we did first half against Cheltenham but I’ve seen a lot worse.
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Just for clarity, J_R, is that, 'a lot' reference you make, basically concerned with the issue of extent (i.e., 'more serious' shortcomings you have seen demonstrated by certain opponents in games); or is it basically numerical (i.e. various shortcomings you've seen commited in matches by any number of teams we've been up against as part of this campaign)?

I am a tad slow on the up-take in these matters, so a little deliberation in your reply (if there is one!) would be greatly appreciated.
 
The main problem is that the defence is poor, and keeps making bad mistakes. I honestly don't think a back three works,
especially when teams play a 4-3-3, there is no spare player to cover when a mistake is made. I also don't think it helps that
Grimshaw is poor on crosses and in my opinion, is too small, I would be looking to get another keeper in January.
We would look so much better with Gabriel, Ekpitta, Pennington, and Husband as back four.

I honestly don't know why Critch persists with the current formation, especially as we only have one central midfielder Dougall
who can play with both feet, we are lacking a left-footed central midfielder as Morgan, Weir, and Casey are all right-footed. As for Virtue
the problem has always been he is injury prone and unreliable.

I would play 4-2-3-1 with the back 4 as mentioned above, with Lyons playing for Gabriel until he was fit, Norburn and Dougall as the 2
in midfield, Dembele, Carey, and cj as the three and Rhodes up front.
 
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Tense Grin: “Kouassi wouldn't even make Fylde's team”

There you have it. It sums up the attitude of some of the drama Queen posters on here. Our young, exciting 20 year old striker who has been a revelation since his debut has one poor game - that’s the reaction.

Ridiculous
 
Danny Ocean said:
The main problem is that the defence is poor, and keeps making bad mistakes. I honestly don't think a back three works,
especially when teams play a 4-3-3, there is no spare player to cover when a mistake is made. I also don't think it helps that
Grimshaw is poor on crosses and in my opinion, is too small, I would be looking to get another keeper in January.
We would look so much better with Gabriel, Ekpitta, Pennington, and Husband as back four.

I honestly don't know why Critch persists with the current formation, especially as we only have one central midfielder Dougall
who can play with both feet, we are lacking a left-footed central midfielder as Morgan, Weir, and Casey are all right-footed. As for Virtue
the problem has always been he is injury prone and unreliable.

I would play 4-2-3-1 with the back 4 as mentioned above, with Lyons playing for Gabriel until he was fit, Norburn and Dougall as the 2
in midfield, Dembele, Carey, and Anderson as the three and Rhodes up front.
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Anderson? 😂
 
It would be interesting to see how many long passes each team made yesterday. Pborough to me are set up to attack when they win possession having pressed and defended. We on the other hand appear not to respond as efficiently and play the long ball to solve the problem, is that because we lack that extra bit of quality in midfield ! or it’s because we are set up not to lose. Critchley is reportedly a top coach yesterday we lost because we couldn’t match the opposition !
 
Micky Walsh said:
We are a boring team, no expression playing sideways or backward, then start again, all well and good if you see progression but that was shite, we don't go for it under this manager.
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.. and the sad fact is we have the players who can playing exciting, pacey direct football.
Critchley has Premier League ideas in a League One world.
Like a Formula One car being given to my Mother to drive!
 
Chunkylad said:
Tense Grin: “Kouassi wouldn't even make Fylde's team”

There you have it. It sums up the attitude of some of the drama Queen posters on here. Our young, exciting 20 year old striker who has been a revelation since his debut has one poor game - that’s the reaction.

Ridiculous
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Revelation..... that is the funniest thing I have ever read and I do like humourous books.
 
Just play to your strengths, I know NC likes two holding midfielders and that's fine with Dougall and Norburn. If one isn't fit don't just try and shoehorn an Oakley-Booth into the team just for the sake of it.
Pick the best team you have available and if that means starting Dembele/Morgan and going for it, people should be more forgiving if we lose.
 
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