Don’t sack Critchley

L

LA1 Seasider

Well-known member
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
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That's a very balanced opinion. Might be something in it too. Some sort of change certainly required because while I'm no vocal critic type, that simply wasn't good enough.
 
he might be a good coach, but hes a crap head coach. he makes truly bizarre selection decisions, he cant read a game and make changes - generally, (he has done it a few times) he's seemingly stifled the talents of; dembele, carey, shayne looks half the player we though he could be, Gabriel used to be mr consistent and hes going backwards, Lyons who seemed to be a real talent seems not to have any confidence, hubby looks a shadow of his first half of the season at the moment. Joseph looks a decent player and works his arse off but hes often chaing the ball all over the pitch trying to get decent possession.

The defence looks in disarray, we dont bother playing through the midfield, any possession we have is largely in our own half between one of the defenders and grimmy, and have to say im not that confient with grimmy at the moment either, still a good shot stopper but we concede so many silly goals.
 
Tbh I wouldn’t mind madine coming back til the end of the season at least especially whilst Rhodes is off

I think him and Rhodes would do alright for us moving forward in this league and as you say experience etc.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
he might be a good coach, but hes a crap head coach. he makes truly bizarre selection decisions, he cant read a game and make changes - generally, (he has done it a few times) he's seemingly stifled the talents of; dembele, carey, shayne looks half the player we though he could be, Gabriel used to be mr consistent and hes going backwards, Lyons who seemed to be a real talent seems not to have any confidence, hubby looks a shadow of his first half of the season at the moment. Joseph looks a decent player and works his arse off but hes often chaing the ball all over the pitch trying to get decent possession.

The defence looks in disarray, we dont bother playing through the midfield, any possession we have is largely in our own half between one of the defenders and grimmy, and have to say im not that confient with grimmy at the moment either, still a good shot stopper but we concede so many silly goals.
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Great post says it all for me👍. The last ten games of the 21/22 season were the defining games for me that Critch was simply not good enough as a manager / head coach and he’s definitely gone backwards during that time.
 
A_Tense_Grin said:
Improving players? He has made the majority of players look like League Two quality and yet half the team are proven at this level.

I can't put into words how bad that performance was tonight. There are no signs whatsoever of this improving.
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Yeah tonight was awful. But you can’t just ignore the fact that at times we’re also brilliant.

It’s frustrating watching us go from one extreme to another. We probably deserved 3 points against Oxford on Saturday and a few weeks ago we could have put 6 or 7 on the board against Charlton. A week before that we were magnificent against Forest too.

It’s the mix of performances which to me highlights it’s a mentality / character issue.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
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But saying he needs a number 2 (not a shit I hope) is like saying someone can't fulfil their job on their own so instead of sacking them, let's get someone in to do it for them, whilst keeping them.

Getting a number 2 in would completely undermine and demoralise him.

If he needs that back seat driver then he's not the man for the job surely.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
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Sorry LA1 but you remind me of the geezer on The Titanic tidying up the deckchairs as the ship is sinking…… things have to change and they have to change now
 
JJpool said:
But saying he needs a number 2 (not a shit I hope) is like saying someone can't fulfil their job on their own so instead of sacking them, let's get someone in to do it for them, whilst keeping them.

Getting a number 2 in would completely undermine and demoralise him.

If he needs that back seat driver then he's not the man for the job surely.
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I think you’ve got to be an idiot - no matter what your job - to think you don’t have strengths and weaknesses. The best managers (in any field) build a team around them that supports where they’re weak and allows their strengths to flourish.
Critchley appears to have a weakness which may require a different character to support him.
If he’s a good manager and he wants success he’ll recognise that and work with it - he’s done it twice before afterall.
If he can’t recognise it and isn’t willing to bring in or accept the support he won’t enjoy the success it could bring
 
LA1 Seasider said:
I think you’ve got to be an idiot - no matter what your job - to think you don’t have strengths and weaknesses. The best managers (in any field) build a team around them that supports where they’re weak and allows their strengths to flourish.
Critchley appears to have a weakness which may require a different character to support him.
If he’s a good manager and he wants success he’ll recognise that and work with it - he’s done it twice before afterall.
If he can’t recognise it and isn’t willing to bring in or accept the support he won’t enjoy the success it could bring
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He struggled to implement a passing style first time, then ditched it mostly for solid effective football, bar a few great passing performances.

This time back he's not the same after his failures.

He again tried to implement a passing style, but it failed badly away and at home in some ways, so now we just pass it about the back and hoof it aimlessly.

We'd actually be better sticking to possession football, as at least teams can't hurt us as easily, wear teams down and do it that way.

But he doesn't seem to know how to get us to do it like managers who set teams up to do that do.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
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Well put but I disagree. I truly haven't seen one player who has benefitted from his training. Lavery's gone backwards, Lyons is a shadow of the player he was last season. Seriously, I'm struggling here.
 
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LA1 Seasider said:
Difficult to justify this argument given the absolute garbage just served up.

But I don’t think Critchley is a bad coach. In fact I still think he’s a very talented coach with a knack for improving players. He’s improved plenty again this season and will continue to do so going forward. He can get us playing good football and can be very effective. Is there a more talented coach we can attract that will build the club for the long term ? Seems unlikely to me.

What Critchley doesn’t seem to possess is that ability to get a player to run through brick walls. To get 110% even on a bad day. This squad seems to lack the character which served him well first time around and I don’t think Critchley possesses the skills to replicate and rebuild that.

Critchley does need that no. 2. Someone who will, by carrot or stick, get that extra 10%. Calderwood, McCall, even Madine, Keogh, Yates, Keshi and Maxwell all appeared to add something NC cannot.

We don’t need a new manager but we clearly need to improve the mix of characters behind the scenes.

If Critchley isn’t able or willing to let that take place - then I think he does need to go as I’d expect any coach to be willing to adapt to their own weaknesses.
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Exactly what the majority of fans think and keep saying. "He's a great coach, but a useless manager " .
We've taken the European style of running clubs and apart from a top few with lots of money it doesn't work. Coaches,directors of football,special people to run other parts of the club and it just doesn't work here. Just like the playing style, other than the teams with outstanding players this playing it out from the back at all times just doesn't work for the majority of clubs. Get a manager to manage and as they were in the old days trainers to train the players.
Players were taught to play football and do what they were good at and also kept fit with some monotonous running and general exercises. Unlike todays that are highly tuned athletes and prone to injuries.
 
Our failure to have enough wide men (wingers) who may change a game instead of “One trick Pony CJ” is a failure in itself. Our Wing backs are not effective enough and pass back because the coach likes to see a possession based team, but we are not good enough to 1, keep the ball and 2, move the ball effectively forward. How many teams have done a job on us such as tonight. We are not equipped to cope with this type of opposition clearly it upsets the apple cart and Critchley will blame his teams performance. Surely he can see this but fails to rectify the set up of his team. !
 
JJpool said:
But saying he needs a number 2 (not a shit I hope) is like saying someone can't fulfil their job on their own so instead of sacking them, let's get someone in to do it for them, whilst keeping them.

Getting a number 2 in would completely undermine and demoralise him.

If he needs that back seat driver then he's not the man for the job surely.
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'Getting a number 2 in would completely undermine and demoralise him.'

We can but hope ...
 
tangerinesince88 said:
Really looking to the future with Rhodes and Madine upfront.
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We cant keep looking at the future we need to look at the here and now and get some goals bagged this season and win some tough games.

These two have had combined transfer fees of over 10 million .
 
Costero Poderoso said:
he might be a good coach, but hes a crap head coach. he makes truly bizarre selection decisions, he cant read a game and make changes - generally, (he has done it a few times) he's seemingly stifled the talents of; dembele, carey, shayne looks half the player we though he could be, Gabriel used to be mr consistent and hes going backwards, Lyons who seemed to be a real talent seems not to have any confidence, hubby looks a shadow of his first half of the season at the moment. Joseph looks a decent player and works his arse off but hes often chaing the ball all over the pitch trying to get decent possession.

The defence looks in disarray, we dont bother playing through the midfield, any possession we have is largely in our own half between one of the defenders and grimmy, and have to say im not that confient with grimmy at the moment either, still a good shot stopper but we concede so many silly goals.
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Spot on - NC's a well qualified coach, but as his outcomes show, he's certainly no head coach / manager.
Throwing the players under the bus after a loss demonstrates his big ego & the sooner he moves on the better our performances & results will be.
 
Sadler won't sack him while we're in the top half of the table and he's right not to. I don't think we're far off being promotion material but it may be case of Critchley needing to have a re-think.
 
585 = never give up said:
Spot on - NC's a well qualified coach, but as his outcomes show, he's certainly no head coach / manager.
Throwing the players under the bus after a loss demonstrates his big ego & the sooner he moves on the better our performances & results will be.
Click to expand...
The really weird thing for me is how he seemed to have a genuine squad spirit in his first stint, but since he's come back the body language of players seems to be one of discontent. Critchley himself seems genuinely unhappy at the side of the pitch as well.
 
lets just get as far up the table as possible. i was as disappointed as most on here at last night. listening to the commentary it sounded absolutely dire . glen little who was doing the match anaylis tore the team apart. simply not up to it. Bullied out of the game . Cheltenham had a game plan which worked . And we were second best. BUT i will NOT call for Critchley to go. BUT what are his coaches exactly doing every day. Is one the hard man who rips into them . And what is the other responsible for. We are to far into this season to consider a change as far as i am concerned. WE can redeem our season with a two game shootout with Peterborough . A 100 percent away trip on SAT and a cup game against them on TUE. And if changing managers worked TROVERS lost one nil after the change of coach last night.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
The really weird thing for me is how he seemed to have a genuine squad spirit in his first stint, but since he's come back the body language of players seems to be one of discontent. Critchley himself seems genuinely unhappy at the side of the pitch as well.
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Rather than 'weird', the whole sorry saga we are now having to watch, as it unfolds before our very eyes, is one which could only really described as both 'predictable', and 'inevitable'. Forget his first stint in charge, we all know the true architect behind the outstanding success we enjoyed during that momentous spell, maybe take a look, instead, at the implosion he presided over during the mercifully truncated period he had as manager in charge at QPR, a post he somehow succeeded in wangling for himself at the London club, before - surprise, surprise - the chickens inevitably came home to roost in double-quick time ...
 
It’s kinda ironic the fans are calling for his dismissal whilst he’s nominated for manager of the month? ..I think..🤣….
Personally I don’t think he should have ever been reappointed, think he’s going nowhere though….
 
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