Can we have a bit of faith now?

Macseasider said:
We are 8 points behind Bolton and 6 behind Pompey and they both have 2 games in hand.

I'm not rubbishing today. I am just arguing that it's hardly time to get the ticker tape out.
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Yes I understand that but it isn’t miles behind,we’re less than half way through the season and they have to win those games in hand
 
BlackpoolJord said:
Let's not kid ourselves, today could have gone very differently. We were under the cosh for most of the first half and could only see the second half going one way, like it usually does. We got lucky with the second offside goal and the red card moments later killing the game, but 9 times out of ten we are going to lose that game without the rub of the green we had. Everyone just needs to calm down a lilittle.
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The goal wasn't offside or so close you can't tell, so you can't give it.

It's not our fault they got someone sent off out of frustration because they couldn't get to grips with our midfield.

We played well for much of the game, particularly 2nd half.

We were 3 down against Peterborough, dominated them with 10 men and very nearly got something out the game. So it's not always easy, but we passed the ball around brilliantly and chose the right time to progress up the field and attack again. Complete control really.
 
clappers said:
We didn’t need to lose as many points to have enough faith in the players to let them play properly rather than negatively. So only now are we showing our real selves. At least we look to be getting there now, as no other team has looked anything to be scared of, which makes our nil nil Nick one set ups look ridiculously cautious and risk averse and self harming.

We certainly did need to do better on the road and this result…wow! It’s a statement alright! . It might springboard that now as teams set up to defend again at us more and fall into the tactics trap that we’ve just climbed out of.
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If only Critch had an experienced no.2. 😀

Bolton are 8 points above us, 8 points they've gained in the last 6 games. 18 points to our 10. We have 27 games left and are looking like a team that could go on a winning run like they're having. We were as good as Bolton at their place and we are scoring goals now, and looking confident, like a top 2/3 side. Long way to go, momentum building. Better to end hhe season well than start it well. Rather be us than Pompey or Oxford right now.
 
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voyeur said:
If only Critch had an experienced no.2. 😀

Bolton are 8 points above us, 8 points they've gained in the last 6 games. 18 points to our 10. We have 27 games left and are looking like a team that could go on a winning run like they're having. We were as good as Bolton at their place and we are scoring goals now, and looking confident, like a top 2/3 side. Long way to go, momentum building. Better to end hhe season well than start it well. Rather be us than Pompey or Oxford right now.
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I see lots of Crtichley is a genius stuff but look at what Evatt has been doing and already done at Bolton. He has been disrespected by the same people calling for genius status to be bestowed on Critchley.

I backed us to be champions outright this year before a ball was kicked because I felt we should be challenging for automatic with the squad we have and I believed in the players based on what we saw when Dobbie managed them competently. I get your point about finishing strongly but we were good enough to be consistent in winning points before we got November. We just didn’t need to go through what we went through due to managerial misjudgments about our ability to play on the front foot.

It’s the difference between automatic and the playoffs.
 
clappers said:
I see lots of Crtichley is a genius stuff but look at what Evatt has been doing and already done at Bolton. He has been disrespected by the same people calling for genius status to be bestowed on Critchley.

I backed us to be champions outright this year before a ball was kicked because I felt we should be challenging for automatic with the squad we have and I believed in the players based on what we saw when Dobbie managed them competently. I get your point about finishing strongly but we were good enough to be consistent in winning points before we got November. We just didn’t need to go through what we went through due to managerial misjudgments about our ability to play on the front foot.

It’s the difference between automatic and the playoffs.
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So he hasn't met your expectations. 😉

He's certainly not a genius. But he took over a bit of a mess, a depleted and demoralised squad. Whereas Evatt was building on a good season in L1 last time, adding strength to a squad that was already L1 ready and pretty confident. Completely different. And there's 27 games to go, we may well catch and overtake them. It's where you finish in May what matters, not where you stand at Christmas.
 
voyeur said:
So he hasn't met your expectations. 😉

He's certainly not a genius. But he took over a bit of a mess, a depleted and demoralised squad. Whereas Evatt was building on a good season in L1 last time, adding strength to a squad that was already L1 ready and pretty confident. Completely different. And there's 27 games to go, we may well catch and overtake them. It's where you finish in May what matters, not where you stand at Christmas.
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i generally side with clappers. We've got the players and i don't buy into this "they need time to bed in" cop out that some people are using. A lot of the players were here before with Critchley and playing any system doesn't take four four months for players to get used to. For me, we dropped way too many points earlier in the season because of his overly cautious approach and unwillingness to really attack teams from the off. How many times has it been said we couldn't put two decent halves together? That and some of his baffling team selections have left us now playing catch up on the teams at the top. Let's hope he has learnt to not tinker as much and if so, then i think we've got the ability to put a decent winning run together and claw back the top teams. One more point. Us getting that first goal is oh so vital for us. The earlier the better.
 
20togo said:
i generally side with clappers. We've got the players and i don't buy into this "they need time to bed in" cop out that some people are using. A lot of the players were here before with Critchley and playing any system doesn't take four four months for players to get used to. For me, we dropped way too many points earlier in the season because of his overly cautious approach and unwillingness to really attack teams from the off. How many times has it been said we couldn't put two decent halves together? That and some of his baffling team selections have left us now playing catch up on the teams at the top. Let's hope he has learnt to not tinker as much and if so, then i think we've got the ability to put a decent winning run together and claw back the top teams. One more point. Us getting that first goal is oh so vital for us. The earlier the better.
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I don't entirely disagree, I've been a bit critical of him myself. I've put it down to his own confidence being jolted last season, and returning to a club he waltzed out on. His ultra caution has been a reaction to all that stuff. But he has knuckled down, created a happy camp, and formed a team that keeps improving. I'm happy enough, and not into too much not picking, tbh. He's turned things around, for us, and for himself.
 
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Except. It is a proven fact statistically that managers in the job more than 1 season are more successful. Evatt is building on all of those games as Bolton manager, all of those transfer windows to remove those that don’t fit and bring in players to suit his style.

I didn’t see many doubters hailing the quality of the squad assembled on deadline day? Nor at the end of September when the poll came out. There were very few saying this squad was nailed on promotion material.
It’s that lack of patience and the bizarre jilted ex / snake comments I never understood.

There aren’t that many top drawer Div 1 managers with proven record of success and that pool was even less when SS needed a new manager.
 
clappers said:
I see lots of Crtichley is a genius stuff but look at what Evatt has been doing and already done at Bolton. He has been disrespected by the same people calling for genius status to be bestowed on Critchley.

I backed us to be champions outright this year before a ball was kicked because I felt we should be challenging for automatic with the squad we have and I believed in the players based on what we saw when Dobbie managed them competently. I get your point about finishing strongly but we were good enough to be consistent in winning points before we got November. We just didn’t need to go through what we went through due to managerial misjudgments about our ability to play on the front foot.

It’s the difference between automatic and the playoffs.
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What’s the difference between what Evatt is doing / has done at Bolton and what Critchley is doing here at Blackpool ? (Well apart from what appears to be Critchley maybe doing in on a faster timeframe)???

The side that Dobbie managed was a totally different team and with such a small sample of games, it’s pretty much impossible to form any balanced judgement about their capabilities in any case. There’s a variety of factors that could have contributed at that point in the season too…

Critchley has had to bed in half of his squad (new additions this season). Jordan Rhodes didn’t arrive until end of August, likewise an unfit Dembele!!

The so called ‘Tinkering’ is all part of the process…

Whether or not our early season form is the difference between the Play Offs and automatic, remains to be seen… The season ends in April 2024, not November 2023 (Or even August 2023, if the “Critchley Out” crew were to be believed).
 
voyeur said:
So he hasn't met your expectations. 😉

He's certainly not a genius. But he took over a bit of a mess, a depleted and demoralised squad. Whereas Evatt was building on a good season in L1 last time, adding strength to a squad that was already L1 ready and pretty confident. Completely different. And there's 27 games to go, we may well catch and overtake them. It's where you finish in May what matters, not where you stand at Christmas.
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Yet we were showing we could play well against championship level teams under reasonable selection and tactics. And you accept that Bolton didn’t look much better than us when we did play them. So I’d suggest we are/were in a much better place than them from the off to do well in what is a mediocre division.

What Dobbie did wasn’t rocket science. Neither Critchley (if he had been appointed to try and rescue us) nor any of the previous muppets in charge that season would have done what he did. Because they were all lacking confidence in the players to try and win games. That is the reality.
No Critchley hasn’t met my expectations. He’s an average manager in an average division so far. At least we are now showing results now his approach has been revamped.

None of the above is knocking how he has approached the last few games and very well done to him for that. 4-0 away at unbeaten league leaders is a massive achievement but again it shows how much the first goal really matters in football. The negative approach more often gives that goal to the opposition IMO
 
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Macseasider said:
Easy to say this on the back of a couple of brilliant results but we are miles behind the top two and have played more games than most.

Save these kinds of posts until we are nailed on top 6.
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That wasn’t really the point of my post though.

I’m not saying that result means we’re the finished article or that we’re going to win the league.

I am saying however that yesterday is an indication that we are heading in the right direction under him. He’s got the coaching ability and the man management skills to get the best out of this group of players, and the result yesterday is the clearest sign yet that the players are buying into everything he’s doing with them in training.
 
clappers said:
Yet we were showing we could play well against championship level teams under reasonable selection and tactics. And you accept that Bolton didn’t look much better than us when we did play them. So I’d suggest we are/were in a much better place than them from the off to do well in what is a mediocre division.

What Dobbie did wasn’t rocket science. Neither Critchley (if he had been appointed to try and rescue us) nor any of the previous muppets in charge that season would have done what he did. Because they were all lacking confidence in the players to try and win games. That is the reality.
No Critchley hasn’t met my expectations. He’s an average manager in an average division so far. At least we are now showing results now his approach has been revamped.

None of the above is knocking how he has approached the last few games and very well done to him for that. 4-0 away at unbeaten league leaders is a massive achievement but again it shows how much they first goal really matters in football. The negative approach more often gives that goal to the opposition IMO
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I really do think this idea that he’s been really negative is a myth tbh.

We had a few games early on in the season where we couldn’t score and that fed perfectly into people’s preconceptions of the type of football we were going to see under him.

Since then, we’ve scored plenty and have seen a consistent improvement in the players, both individually and collectively.

He’s definitely got it wrong with team selection a few times. The lineup he chose at Fleetwood was baffling.

But I think that’s more a reflection of his tendency to ‘tinker’ more than him possessing some innate negativity when it comes to approaching games.
 
clappers said:
Yet we were showing we could play well against championship level teams under reasonable selection and tactics. And you accept that Bolton didn’t look much better than us when we did play them. So I’d suggest we are/were in a much better place than them from the off to do well in what is a mediocre division.

What Dobbie did wasn’t rocket science. Neither Critchley (if he had been appointed to try and rescue us) nor any of the previous muppets in charge that season would have done what he did. Because they were all lacking confidence in the players to try and win games. That is the reality.
No Critchley hasn’t met my expectations. He’s an average manager in an average division so far. At least we are now showing results now his approach has been revamped.

None of the above is knocking how he has approached the last few games and very well done to him for that. 4-0 away at unbeaten league leaders is a massive achievement but again it shows how much they first goal really matters in football. The negative approach more often gives that goal to the opposition IMO
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Dobbie had a massive advantage over any incoming manager though (in terms of short term fix potential) because he was at the Club and working around the Players all season. However, whilst adopting a round pegs in round holes approach and simplifying the system might have short terms results, particularly when you're in a shit or bust (zero pressure) environment, assembling a completely new squad and developing a robust system that allows you to compete for promotions, is a completely different matter.

These things take time..

Look at the situation with Evatt...

First season at Bolton (Promoted in 3rd place) but they were languishing in 15th place on 25 points after 19 games that season.

First Season in L1 (Finished 9th) 13th place and 24 points after 19 games
 
We have a great chance now to move on from all this and put some punishing results in. I have come around to a multiple fisting from Critchley now, but love hearts can phook right off!
 
Shiggy said:
I really do think this idea that he’s been really negative is a myth tbh.

We had a few games early on in the season where we couldn’t score and that fed perfectly into people’s preconceptions of the type of football we were going to see under him.

Since then, we’ve scored plenty and have seen a consistent improvement in the players, both individually and collectively.

He’s definitely got it wrong with team selection a few times. The lineup he chose at Fleetwood was baffling.

But I think that’s more a reflection of his tendency to ‘tinker’ more than him possessing some innate negativity when it comes to approaching games.
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If we look at the season from 1st September onwards (the point at which Critchley has had a full settled squad from), we've averaged 1.71 points per game (79 over a full season) and scored 30 goals (2.14 average per game). To put into context, the much lauded and super aggressive / exciting Dobbie, managed to average less than half the number of goals per game!!

Also, if we're being totally honest, we really should (based on performances) have picked up a few more points along the way too...

I agree that some selections may have (at least on the face of it) seemed to be confusing for us as fans, but ultimately it's about where we end up in April and it's impossible to now how individual players are going to perform, unless you give them game time and a chance... In some cases, that works our for the best, in other cases the players don't quite work out... But if you never try, you can never make progress and so unfortunately 'getting it wrong' sometimes is an inevitable consequence of moving forwards.
 
His faith in Beesley and Dale certainly seems to have come good. His setups though were making Dougall look like an amateur when we know and can now see he is the midfield king of this division
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Dobbie had a massive advantage over any incoming manager though (in terms of short term fix potential) because he was at the Club and working around the Players all season. However, whilst adopting a round pegs in round holes approach and simplifying the system might have short terms results, particularly when you're in a shit or bust (zero pressure) environment, assembling a completely new squad and developing a robust system that allows you to compete for promotions, is a completely different matter.

These things take time..

Look at the situation with Evatt...

First season at Bolton (Promoted in 3rd place) but they were languishing in 15th place on 25 points after 19 games that season.

First Season in L1 (Finished 9th) 13th place and 24 points after 19 games
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The other aspect to Dobbie's tenure was that he was setting up against teams already on thr beach, an accusation levelled at Critchley the previous season, when we clearly stopped as the season was over.
 
clappers said:
Yet we were showing we could play well against championship level teams under reasonable selection and tactics. And you accept that Bolton didn’t look much better than us when we did play them. So I’d suggest we are/were in a much better place than them from the off to do well in what is a mediocre division.

What Dobbie did wasn’t rocket science. Neither Critchley (if he had been appointed to try and rescue us) nor any of the previous muppets in charge that season would have done what he did. Because they were all lacking confidence in the players to try and win games. That is the reality.
No Critchley hasn’t met my expectations. He’s an average manager in an average division so far. At least we are now showing results now his approach has been revamped.

None of the above is knocking how he has approached the last few games and very well done to him for that. 4-0 away at unbeaten league leaders is a massive achievement but again it shows how much the first goal really matters in football. The negative approach more often gives that goal to the opposition IMO
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What utter bollocks an average manager doesn't get promoted in his first full season then easily keeps us in The Championship despite a bottom four budget that ain't average unless your comparing him to Pep
 
Wizaard said:
The other aspect to Dobbie's tenure was that he was setting up against teams already on thr beach, an accusation levelled at Critchley the previous season, when we clearly stopped as the season was over.
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Dobbie beat -
Wigan relegated.
Birmingham end of season mid table safety mode.
Norwich same too far away from play offs.
Yet Dobbie is a Messiah nonsense.
 
poolseasider said:
Dobbie beat -
Wigan relegated.
Birmingham end of season mid table safety mode.
Norwich same too far away from play offs.
Yet Dobbie is a Messiah nonsense.
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look i’ve nothing at all against Dobbie, a potential future manager but for people to compare him (and wanting him over) to Critchley is nonsense imho.
I have given Critch stick early doors as i was bored ridged but now he has found the balance between possession and intent and maybe i should have been more patient but hey ho, we are in a good place and need to stop this dobbie nonsense.
 
Dobbie and Matty Blinkhorn brought some much needed positivity / energy to a squad that had been appallingly mishandled by the previous two incumbents and they got some results. I don’t think you can really knock them in that respect.

I do think that some fans got a bit carried away with it all though and it has probably clouded the judgement of some, when it came to Critchley and the extent of the task he faced this season.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Dobbie and Matty Blinkhorn brought some much needed positivity / energy to a squad that had been appallingly mishandled by the previous two incumbents and they got some results. I don’t think you can really knock them in that respect.

I do think that some fans got a bit carried away with it all though and it has probably clouded the judgement of some, when it came to Critchley and the extent of the task he faced this season.
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they couldn’t fail too x3 after the last two clowns
 
poolseasider said:
What utter bollocks an average manager doesn't get promoted in his first full season then easily keeps us in The Championship despite a bottom four budget that ain't average unless your comparing him to Pep
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More living in the past. We are 7th having played more games than others above us. Back in the present, 7th in league one is pretty average when all the other teams in the top 8 have a game or two games in hand on us.
 
clappers said:
More living in the past. We are 7th having played more games than others above us. Back in the present, 7th in league one is pretty average when all the other teams in the top 8 have a game or two games in hand on us.
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Living in the past?
You called Critch an average manager so surely that has to be what he's achieved with us or just after 19 games which is bonkers.

27 games to go stop panicking about league positions with only 10 points between the top 8 in November maybe in March.
 
poolseasider said:
Living in the past?
You called Critch an average manager so surely that has to be what he's achieved with us or just after 19 games which is bonkers.

27 games to go stop panicking about league positions with only 10 points between the top 8 in November maybe in March.
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The phrase was so far, but really I meant “at present” ie) since his return his return has been average. We’ve won a few on the bounce to get to 7th having played one or two more games than everyone around us. So it’s valid to say his performance this season is average at best. We will see what he delivers from here of course. Unless your mindset is akin to a Fleetwood fan, this position isn’t good enough for a team that is supposedly run well, had Championship experience and cash, and which in my opinion (again small time mentality fans might disagree) had the players to dominate this division from the get go.

It’s making excuses for Critchley pretending he’s been polishing each of his chess pieces, testing them in weird places on the board, deliberately making wrong moves before then rearranging them having planned it all out in advance like Coach Kasparov
 
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clappers said:
The phrase was “at present” ie) since his return his return has been average. We’ve won a few on the bounce to get to 7th having played one or two more games than everyone around us. So it’s valid to say his performance this season is average at best. We will see what he delivers from here of course. Unless your mindset is akin to a Fleetwood fan, this position isn’t good enough for a team that is supposedly run well, had Championship experience and cash, and which in my opinion (again small time mentality fans might disagree) had the players to dominate this division from the get go.

It’s making excuses for Critchley pretending he’s been polishing each of his chess pieces, testing them in weird places on the board, deliberately making wrong moves before then rearranging them having planned it all out in advance like Coach Kasparov
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But even in the past you never ever liked the guy.
 
Shiggy said:
But even in the past you never ever liked the guy.
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I will warm to him more if he continues to deliver wining football and success, which then leads to a much better league position come 2024. Which is what it should be all about….not whether individual fans like the guy or not.
 
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clappers said:
More living in the past. We are 7th having played more games than others above us. Back in the present, 7th in league one is pretty average when all the other teams in the top 8 have a game or two games in hand on us.
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When we were last promoted from this division, plenty of teams around us had games in hand, mainly through covid call offs, while we played on.

They didn't win them and we finished 3rd.
 
The other two relegated teams would still be below us even with their points restored.
We are making nice progress rebuilding after last seasons mess. Only 6 of last seasons players started yesterday and Hubby, Carey, CJ and Kenny were all deemed as not good enough to be here by the illuminated on Avftt.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Critchley (by his actions and his words) has never had a negative approach.

It’s always been about getting the squad to gel and the system to bed in.

No surprise that our these two consecutive wins have come on the back of him having time (after a manic schedule) to get some quality time in on the training pitch.

You can’t rush a masterpiece!!
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Tell me x3, when Critchley farts are they absolutely the best farts you've ever tasted?
 
Simonized said:
That sums it up and the fans shamed him into changing things at H/T at F/wood and that seems to have been a turning point from his fearful tactics.
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Yet more deluded nonsense.

Game in/game out Critchley sets the side that he thinks is the right one for the circumstances and you honestly think that "the fans" have any influence at all on his actions?
 
1966_and_all_that said:
Tell me x3, when Critchley farts are they absolutely the best farts you've ever tasted?
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That's a very strange question.... very strange....disturbingly strange even..

TheLuker said:
Yet more deluded nonsense.

Game in/game out Critchley sets the side that he thinks is the right one for the circumstances and you honestly think that "the fans" have any influence at all on his actions?
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I'm afraid there are a few on here, who manage to take stupidity to a whole new level... 😂
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
That's a very strange question.... very strange....disturbingly strange even..


I'm afraid there are a few on here, who manage to take stupidity to a whole new level... 😂
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Sorry x3, I just used the opportunity to reflect back to you the love that knows no bounds. I also believe that Critchley's work is very much starting to bear fruit. Even so, you do go that extra mile in your dedication.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
Sorry x3, I just used the opportunity to reflect back to you the love that knows no bounds. I also believe that Critchley's work is very much starting to bear fruit. Even so, you do go that extra mile in your dedication.
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You could at least have said 'smell' as opposed to taste...
 
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