Burton Albion v Blackpool Official Matchday Thread 26.12.23

We concede too many soft goals. Two players failed to stop a cross and I don't know what Grimshaw was doing. We made two changes that made us weaker, Beesley scores and is left out and Carey is playing well, left out? Burton hadn't won a game since October but you just knew that when they went ahead that would be game over! Norburn and Morgan were non-existent in midfield. We are a soft touch when it comes to the big, physical sides in this division.

Why do we never change tactics "in game" to give the opposition something to think about? Switch CJ and Lyons? Bring Dale and Beesley on at half-time?
 
fcblackpool said:
Hard to know on the goal. I think DG could see a near post deflection kicking off and tried to cover that. He couldn't know 2 players would throw excellant dummies.
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Seen the goal i blame Pennington to be honest he should of done better with the keepers kick he hesitated initially and then should have stopped the cross coming in, i cant blame Grimshaw or Connelly IMO
 
AlwaysOffside said:
He’s signed Yates, Bowler, Gabriel, Ekpiteta, Ballard, Simms, Embleton, Dembele, Rhodes to name a few. Agree Connolly probably not good enough to start but he’s certainly got more right than wrong re transfers
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He also, in his first window, signed Adi Youseff, Jordan Williams, Ollie Sarkic, Alix Fotijec, I’ll even chuck in Ethan Robson
 
You have to presume Simon is a good businessman so say if he’s looking for a CEO unless promoting in house he would look at the applicants track record. So Mr Critchley failed at Villa and Stevie G tried to blame the coach before both sacked and at OPR failed again and was sacked, logically can you not expect him to fail again. Anyway it’s time for us all to relax we won’t go down but even if we scraped into the playoffs can’t see us winning. Very depressing as a life long Pool fan
 
seasidelytham said:
I wonder if Portsmouth fans are feeling the same about their Manager having lost to Bristol Rovers. Very doubtful. On paper today’s team should have been strong enough to beat Burton or at least get a point. At lot of them are incapable of putting in 2 decent performances in succession.
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The MASSIVE difference is that it was only Portsmouths second defeat in the league all season, whereas this was Blackpool's second defeat in their last two away games.
As a certain Mr Clough used to say, you don't play football on paper.
Unfortunately, Blackpool can't play football on anything away from home 85% of the time.
 
HetzkeBlaster said:
Today was indeed terrible, but not as bad as the 2-0 away at Wycombe.
Either way, 0 shots on target against a team with a -14 goal difference when we had a +12 GD is unacceptable!
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Don’t recall Wycombe being on an 8 match winless run at the time, like Burton.

And we approach today in such a negative and dour attitude.
 
AlwaysOffside said:
I think some on here genuinely relish us losing so that they can turn on Critch. We’re at the halfway point of the season and are still in contention for the play offs. Give the manager the January transfer window, back him and if results don’t pick up in the new year then maybe consider alternatives. Sacking your manager with no succession plan is stupid and won’t bring us success
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Most on here want us to win, look attractive in style. I am not criticising the commitment of the players. But from their goal onwards it was obvious it was not working. Playing Rhodes for 90 mins was like having 10 men.
 
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I was never really confident today I went because it was only down the road as soon as I saw the team sheet I was deflated. I really think it’s time those above need to make a decision I personally don’t think we should waste a transfer window on Neil he’s proved beyond doubt he’s not up to the task, that was truly awful today, you could sense the crowds displeasure I think he’s slowly losing the fans and he’s lost the dressing room already. It’s time to pull the trigger
 
Enzo said:
I was never really confident today I went because it was only down the road as soon as I saw the team sheet I was deflated. I really think it’s time those above need to make a decision I personally don’t think we should waste a transfer window on Neil he’s proved beyond doubt he’s not up to the task, that was truly awful today, you could sense the crowds displeasure I think he’s slowly losing the fans and he’s lost the dressing room already. It’s time to pull the trigger
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Just watched his post match presser, it's all the players fault.
 
The players have to take some of the blame as out of 11 players only Dembele was winning individual battles.
 
Why do we never go for broke in the last 10 minutes when losing. May as well get beat by 2 goals. If noone else to go up front shove a centre half up.
 
Just watched Neil’s presser said he knew what type of game we was in for and port vale will be the same sort of game that’s only 20 miles down the road for me I don’t think I’ll bother it sounds like we’re beaten before we get there
 
Just back from my last away game of the season. Utter tripe, don't remember their keeper making one save or one shot on target. Rhodes missed one in the first half and inexplicably didn't shoot when in on his right foot second half. But take Dembele and Rhodes out of that team and we'd struggle to beat an egg, if the egg was at home in it's box.
Stubborn manager who refuses to acknowledge his formation isn't working and the team plod on , going from side to side, side to back and back to side.
His in game management is appalling, 532 not working so he takes Joseph off, replaces him with Beesley staying in the same rigid formation. As much as I like Lyons he should have been hooked half an hour before he was, allowing Dale to give his ten minute MOM performance .
Utter shite and the fans let Critch and the players exactly what they thought of that dross.
 
gordy29 said:
Why do we never go for broke in the last 10 minutes when losing. May as well get beat by 2 goals. If noone else to go up front shove a centre half up.
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My thoughts too, today. It looks like we’re too conscious of letting the 2nd in on a counter rather than forcing the errors and coming out at league with a last minute equaliser. 🙆‍♂️
 
fcblackpool said:
Interesting.

Apart from picking Connelly again and maybe not Beesley what was NC supposed to have done today? Too many wrong options, sloppy balls played by players today. The goal was a mess and Rhodes scores that 9/10 times.

This from someone who would never have hired him and think he's actually a bluffer previously hiding behind good players.
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It's about the mentality, style and setup of the team. It's clearly not working and we're a completely different side away from home.

We play different football and seem to fold under very little pressure.

You know how it is, it's the players too but the manager takes responsibility.

It's his task to get us back up to the championship and we're failing badly at that.
 
Enzo said:
I was never really confident today I went because it was only down the road as soon as I saw the team sheet I was deflated. I really think it’s time those above need to make a decision I personally don’t think we should waste a transfer window on Neil he’s proved beyond doubt he’s not up to the task, that was truly awful today, you could sense the crowds displeasure I think he’s slowly losing the fans and he’s lost the dressing room already. It’s time to pull the trigger
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Spot on.
 
bleed_the_freak said:
Dembele had a run of form when he arrived, Critch immediately dropped him!
Kousasi made a MOM debut, scored and Critch immediately dropped him!
The same with Dale and Beesley

People on here may say fans are jumping the gun wanting Critch out, but he's the man with the team sheet and refuses to learn
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I was going to post exactly that.
 
rememberlesshannon said:
Just back from my last away game of the season. Utter tripe, don't remember their keeper making one save or one shot on target. Rhodes missed one in the first half and inexplicably didn't shoot when in on his right foot second half. But take Dembele and Rhodes out of that team and we'd struggle to beat an egg, if the egg was at home in it's box.
Stubborn manager who refuses to acknowledge his formation isn't working and the team plod on , going from side to side, side to back and back to side.
His in game management is appalling, 532 not working so he takes Joseph off, replaces him with Beesley staying in the same rigid formation. As much as I like Lyons he should have been hooked half an hour before he was, allowing Dale to give his ten minute MOM performance .
Utter shite and the fans let Critch and the players exactly what they thought of that dross.
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They did at Cambridge too and they are starting to at home, he is also acting like a manager who is on his last legs. Problem is Sadler loves him.
 
rememberlesshannon said:
Just back from my last away game of the season. Utter tripe, don't remember their keeper making one save or one shot on target. Rhodes missed one in the first half and inexplicably didn't shoot when in on his right foot second half. But take Dembele and Rhodes out of that team and we'd struggle to beat an egg, if the egg was at home in it's box.
Stubborn manager who refuses to acknowledge his formation isn't working and the team plod on , going from side to side, side to back and back to side.
His in game management is appalling, 532 not working so he takes Joseph off, replaces him with Beesley staying in the same rigid formation. As much as I like Lyons he should have been hooked half an hour before he was, allowing Dale to give his ten minute MOM performance .
Utter shite and the fans let Critch and the players exactly what they thought of that dross.
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Credit to you paying to watch that shite.
 
He had ample time to sort things out tactically at half time yet if anything we were worse second half. I thought he was supposed to be a good tactical manager. We can't seem to deal with these sort of teams away. Big game now coming up.
 
hertfordseasider said:
Did Critchley shy away from the supporters at the end like he did at Cambridge? He veered to a corner then sloped off because he knew he was going to get a mouthful. His fist pumps at home are one of the most cringeworthy things ever, makes me want to puke.
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I've enjoyed them as it's all part of it, enjoy the win, a bit of fun too.

However it helps if it means something and increasingly the home wins are less meaningful when we keep bottling it and messing up away. Slipping further and further away from our goal there's less reason to fist pump anything.
 
JJpool said:
I've enjoyed them as it's all part of it, enjoy the win, a bit of fun too.

However it helps if it means something and increasingly the home wins are less meaningful when we keep bottling it and messing up away. Slipping further and further away from our goal there's less reason to fist pump anything.
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He wants to take the accolades for the win and do his puke inducing ritual when we win but disappear at the end when we have lost and not face the supporters who want to have their say and then blames the players. He can fuck off as far as I'm concerned but he's here to stay.
 
Enzo said:
I was never really confident today I went because it was only down the road as soon as I saw the team sheet I was deflated. I really think it’s time those above need to make a decision I personally don’t think we should waste a transfer window on Neil he’s proved beyond doubt he’s not up to the task, that was truly awful today, you could sense the crowds displeasure I think he’s slowly losing the fans and he’s lost the dressing room already. It’s time to pull the trigger
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It's a shit position to be in, as he's failing his goal, he'll need some help in the window yes, but should be doing better with what we have.

But if we fall any further away is his job fully safe? If this carries on and he's backed then again we've potentially backed a leaving manager, we've been there before recently.

Tbh he does seem to bring in some capable players and I think the club should be signing players to a model that suits us longer term too, so maybe not as big an issue. But it would be much healthier if we were doing better and any players we do bring in are then worth paying the Jan premium for.

As it is, there would be an argument of whats the point in splashing cash, which I doubt we'll go overboard anyway, but if we’re so far off why waste it in a difficult window.
 
It's pointless talking about personnel and different players. The formation and tactics are the first point of failure.

How anyone can support this failure is beyond words.
 
rememberlesshannon said:
Just back from my last away game of the season. Utter tripe, don't remember their keeper making one save or one shot on target. Rhodes missed one in the first half and inexplicably didn't shoot when in on his right foot second half. But take Dembele and Rhodes out of that team and we'd struggle to beat an egg, if the egg was at home in it's box.
Stubborn manager who refuses to acknowledge his formation isn't working and the team plod on , going from side to side, side to back and back to side.
His in game management is appalling, 532 not working so he takes Joseph off, replaces him with Beesley staying in the same rigid formation. As much as I like Lyons he should have been hooked half an hour before he was, allowing Dale to give his ten minute MOM performance .
Utter shite and the fans let Critch and the players exactly what they thought of that dross.
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I’ve travelled to watch some shite this season and this was up there with Lincoln and Wycombe. Port Vale, Orient and Florist were on my list but can’t be arsed now if that dross is all there to look forward to. I’ll feel slightly guilty no doubt when the time comes but its not a cheap day out and I’ve no confidence in NC. Our only hope is a busy transfer window but i fear it will be busy for the wrong reasons.
 
hertfordseasider said:
Did Critchley shy away from the supporters at the end like he did at Cambridge? He veered to a corner then sloped off because he knew he was going to get a mouthful. His fist pumps at home are one of the most cringeworthy things ever, makes me want to puke.
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Play like that again against Port Vale & the only positive will be no fisting's. Glad we'll be away in the soggy lakes TBH.
 
Hockaday’s Quiff said:
He also, in his first window, signed Adi Youseff, Jordan Williams, Ollie Sarkic, Alix Fotijec, I’ll even chuck in Ethan Robson
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Youseff was signed by the interim board, Williams transfer fee was recouped when he was sold to Bolton in Jan window and Robson played a part in our promotion season. Other two weren’t good enough but you cannot deny that his signings have largely been effective. No one I’d trust more to strengthen the squad in January
 
Apart from the inability of the team to score against any team that takes the lead and sits back, Critchley cannot do anything different
in the second half. The first sub is normally on after 60 minutes to replace a forward, then the usual couple of subs with 10-15 minutes left, there is no change of formation. Also, I cannot understand why we keep playing CJ for the last fifteen minutes toward the end when there is no space for
him to use his pace, surely we would be better to switch to 4-3-3 and push Dembele forward in a roaming role and put Virtue on in midfield, at
least he is capable of scoring from a shot at the edge of the box.
 
JJpool said:
It's about the mentality, style and setup of the team. It's clearly not working and we're a completely different side away from home.

We play different football and seem to fold under very little pressure.

You know how it is, it's the players too but the manager takes responsibility.

It's his task to get us back up to the championship and we're failing badly at that.
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I think they bullied us to get the lead and then knew we did not have the nous to break down a massed defence.
If things, are not working it is up to the manager to change things around, and I am not sure he knows how to.
The strong characters are missing and pass the buck as well as the ball
 
gordy29 said:
He had ample time to sort things out tactically at half time yet if anything we were worse second half. I thought he was supposed to be a good tactical manager. We can't seem to deal with these sort of teams away. Big game now coming up.
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He, along with his lieutenants, have consistently shown little or no tactical capability this season
 
AlwaysOffside said:
Youseff was signed by the interim board, Williams transfer fee was recouped when he was sold to Bolton in Jan window and Robson played a part in our promotion season. Other two weren’t good enough but you cannot deny that his signings have largely been effective. No one I’d trust more to strengthen the squad in January
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Youseff signed 28 June! You reckon he bought Williams to bust a lil profit?!
 
BFCfan33 said:
Seen the goal i blame Pennington to be honest he should of done better with the keepers kick he hesitated initially and then should have stopped the cross coming in, i cant blame Grimshaw or Connelly IMO
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100% this, their winger has been able to pull a ball down from a high kick out of their keepers hands, whilst he’s stood on the touchline and he’s stood off him instead of getting tight on his touch.

That’s what happens though when you’re playing centre halves in a 3 and they are getting dragged about.
 
Hockaday’s Quiff said:
Youseff signed 28 June! You reckon he bought Williams to bust a lil profit?!
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Adi Youseff signed on 1st July 2019. He was at the same time as Devitt etc.

No, but the point is he realised he was surplus to requirements and shipped him out recouping the money. No manager is going to get every transfer right but with Critch he has got more right than wrong.
 
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