CRITCHLEY SIGNINGS SO FAR

TANGERINETOWERPOWER

TANGERINETOWERPOWER

Well-known member
Just my opinion and I am sure many will disagree and even be upset but hey ho...thoughts anyone?

Successful

Marv
Iceman
Dougall
Yates
Ballard
Gabriel
CJ Hamilton

Promising
Stewart(could be the best signing yet)
Simms(full of promise)
Garbutt (looks good but been a bit injury prone to call a good signing)
Keshi (still think theres a good player in there but now injured so needs a lot of time to get back up to speed)

Not so promising
Mitchell (I think he will come good but not with us)
Kemp (didnt work out for us or him)
Lubala (tries hard and hopefully will improve...dont think he has been great so far)
Fotofit (not progressing as hoped perhaps)
Williams (not the first pick in any position)
Robson (slowly going backwards after a decent start...hope he improves)

Flop
Sarkic
Woodburn
 
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I reckon that's a fair analysis, not much room for argument from me.

I'd say Ekpiteta, Dougall and Hamilton are all amazing signings which counteracts the flops. Generally it seems a balance, hopefully if some of the promising ones come good we'll have a really strong core of decent players - if we don't go up this year (which is looking likely), we can hit the ground running next season.
 
Poppajoe said:
Mitchell
Lubala

In my view over recent weeks are very promising
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Im just not sure with Lubala...I want him to do well because I like his commitment and attitude but technically he looks very green and he seems to make a lot of bad decisions when on and off the ball...I also think he needs to be coached to NOT give away daft fouls in dangerous areas.

I like Mitchell and in a 3 5 2 I think he would shine as he is quick, mobile and good going forward which suit wing backs. I think he will do well but I guess he wont want to renew his contract if he isnt getting more game time
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Im just not sure with Lubala...I want him to do well because I like his commitment and attitude but technically he looks very green and he seems to make a lot of bad decisions when on and off the ball...I also think he needs to be coached to NOT give away daft fouls in dangerous areas.

I like Mitchell and in a 3 5 2 I think he would shine as he is quick, mobile and good going forward which suit wing backs. I think he will do well but I guess he wont want to renew his contract if he isnt getting more game time
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Sam Walker was good for his little cameo too
 
glasshalffull said:
Mitchell deserves more game time IMO on what I have seen of him when playing further forward (not left back!).
I think I would pick him ahead of Kaikai and Lubala at least for a game or two to find out.
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I think he has been a bit unlucky really but thats why I think he will be off to somewhere like Salford/Oldham or even Rochdale/Accrington to rebuild his career
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Just my opinion and I am sure many will disagree and even be upset but hey ho...thoughts anyone?

Successful

Marv
Iceman
Dougall
Yates
Ballard
Gabriel
CJ Hamilton

Promising
Stewart(could be the best signing yet)
Simms(full of promise)
Garbutt (looks good but been a bit injury prone to call a good signing)
Keshi (still think theres a good player in there but now injured so needs a lot of time to get back up to speed)

Not so promising
Mitchell (I think he will come good but not with us)
Kemp (didnt work out for us or him)
Lubala (tries hard and hopefully will improve...dont think he has been great so far)
Fotofit (not progressing as hoped perhaps)
Williams (not the first pick in any position)
Robson (slowly going backwards after a decent start...hope he improves)

Flop
Sarkic
Woodburn
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I'll go with that.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Just my opinion and I am sure many will disagree and even be upset but hey ho...thoughts anyone?

Successful

Marv
Iceman
Dougall
Yates
Ballard
Gabriel
CJ Hamilton

Promising
Stewart(could be the best signing yet)
Simms(full of promise)
Garbutt (looks good but been a bit injury prone to call a good signing)
Keshi (still think theres a good player in there but now injured so needs a lot of time to get back up to speed)

Not so promising
Mitchell (I think he will come good but not with us)
Kemp (didnt work out for us or him)
Lubala (tries hard and hopefully will improve...dont think he has been great so far)
Fotofit (not progressing as hoped perhaps)
Williams (not the first pick in any position)
Robson (slowly going backwards after a decent start...hope he improves)

Flop
Sarkic
Woodburn
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Mostly agree.
Kemp will have a future - probably Championship.
Lubala - there's time yet.
 
How many are 'his' signings and how many are from higher up as I note we have a Head of Recruitment in Tommy Johnson and a Head of Technical Scouting in Jonathan Gibson.
 
WiltsSeasider said:
How many are 'his' signings and how many are from higher up as I note we have a Head of Recruitment in Tommy Johnson and a Head of Technical Scouting in Jonathan Gibson.
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I was having a discussion about TJ the other day. I thought he was a remote employee and not hands on, other person saw hi as a watered down DoF.

Does he work FT physically at the FC?
 
I think Kemp did ok, Mitchell is better suited to a more attacking role and may come good and Williams should probably be in the "Flop" section but otherwise it looks a good summation.
 
Don't agree at all with Williams being put in that category, he was playing very well before his injury and nothing got past him again on Tuesday.
He wasn't the best against Brighton but it was first game back in about a month(?)

I don't know what people think they're getting with him, he's a defensive midfielder who shields the back four, something he does successfully. I don't think he was signed to be a starter, so he fulfilling a squad role pretty well.

The keeper was signed as a back up, and has done exactly that. What was anyone expecting of him?
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
Don't agree at all with Williams being put in that category, he was playing very well before his injury and nothing got past him again on Tuesday.
He wasn't the best against Brighton but it was first game back in about a month(?)

I don't know what people think they're getting with him, he's a defensive midfielder who shields the back four, something he does successfully.
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His distribution and decision making are dreadful. A recipe for disaster, if you ask me. I very much hope to be proved wrong but I've not seen anything in his game yet that makes me think he's good enough.
 
AllTheBoysAreCheerin' said:
His distribution and decision making are dreadful. A recipe for disaster, if you ask me. I very much hope to be proved wrong but I've not seen anything in his game yet that makes me think he's good enough.
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As per my previous point, he does what he's good at well, he isn't in the team to play defence splitting passes, I'm not sure why anyone would expect him to, it isnt his role, he's there to break up play and give it to someone who can play the ball.
He's a combative ball winner, not a play maker.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
As per my previous point, he does what he's good at well, he isn't in the team to play defence splitting passes, I'm not sure why anyone would expect him to, it isnt his role, he's there to break up play and give it to someone who can play the ball.
He's a combative ball winner, not a play maker.
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Stewart is both and that's what we need if we hope to move forward. Having just one string to your bow doesn't produce the music we need.
 
Not easy to bring in genuine quality at this level but on the whole I think we have recruited well.
To the seven 'successful' signings in the o/p I would add Stewart and Garbutt who are both potentiall very decent signings at this level.
I also think that Lubala, Robson, Mitchell and Williams are all going to have a big part to play in negotiating the fixture pile up for the second half of the season.
Bring it on!
 
Too early to say either way, some have started well, others have shown nothing, At the end of the day we finished last season 13th and although it’s hard to judge because of the covid situation we are only 16th now. End of the season is time to take stock
 
20togo said:
Yep, decent assessment. I'd hope Robson can move up and i've got doubts over Anderson.
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Funny how we've signed so many players that the o/p has missed out Anderson. Agree with much of what the o/p says and in terms of percentages of successful players, Critch has done a decent job.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Promising
Stewart(could be the best signing yet)
Simms(full of promise)
Garbutt (looks good but been a bit injury prone to call a good signing)
Keshi (still think theres a good player in there but now injured so needs a lot of time to get back up to speed)
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Maths said:
Funny how we've signed so many players that the o/p has missed out Anderson. Agree with much of what the o/p says and in terms of percentages of successful players, Critch has done a decent job.
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He nailed it Maths.

But your premise is right, for me. Signed so many I often forget people we’ve signed.
It’s looks as if we’re at about 50/50 for Hits to duds ratio. I’d say that’s about average for every club.

Like others have said, some have been signed by the people above NC. I know Sarkic for instance was signed by BM and NC only knew when he turned up at Bloomfield Road to sign. It looks like that’s stopped now thankfully.

I’ve probably been slightly harsh on the club recently, regarding signings. Looks like when fit we have a good backbone to the side now. Looks like Simms signing gets us to the summer where we need bit of flair in the middle, a proven striker and see if we can get Gabriel or similar at right back to give us a bit more sizzle.
 
Rektseasider said:
He nailed it Maths.

But your premise is right, for me. Signed so many I often forget people we’ve signed.
It’s looks as if we’re at about 50/50 for Hits to duds ratio. I’d say that’s about average for every club.

Like others have said, some have been signed by the people above NC. I know Sarkic for instance was signed by BM and NC only knew when he turned up at Bloomfield Road to sign. It looks like that’s stopped now thankfully.

I’ve probably been slightly harsh on the club recently, regarding signings. Looks like when fit we have a good backbone to the side now. Looks like Simms signing gets us to the summer where we need bit of flair in the middle, a proven striker and see if we can get Gabriel or similar at right back to give us a bit more sizzle.
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I think there's quite a bit of work to do in the summer re contract negotiations, offloading those surplus to requirements, loan players returning to their parent clubs, and looking to fill the gaps hopefully with the emphasis on quality over quantity.
 
I think the signings have improved as we have gone on and all the recent signings have been improvements and upgrades on what we already had. I think we may get two more in tomorrow and hope they too are good enough to get straight in the first 11. We are not far away and the future looks great even if we just miss out this season which given the rebuilding job would be understandable.
 
62years&counting said:
I think there's quite a bit of work to do in the summer re contract negotiations, offloading those surplus to requirements, loan players returning to their parent clubs, and looking to fill the gaps hopefully with the emphasis on quality over quantity.
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Definitely, it’s imperative that Critch finds the formation he wants, that’s the start point.

Once he’s decided on that, we desperately need to retain, release then recruit propely for it in the summer, even if it’s 4-3-3 💀
 
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