February - a grey month of grey results

[straightatthewall]

After a decent January, we came into February knowing we had a run of games that would be crucial to the season. Games against teams around us/in the promotion mix and an away fixture against a side in the relegation zone. Plus a cup match with a Wembley appearance on offer to the winners. It was a point where the players and staff had the chance to stand up and be counted and really push the season into something potentially special. We lost the cup game meekly at home and have secured 7 points from 6 games. We needed top of the table performances, fight and form and we produced bottom half form, mid-table mediocrity fight and totally inconsistent performances.

It's fair to say that all members of the football staff have underperformed when it mattered. We can only hope we learn from it, but I can't help but feel there's players in the group that really aren't going to develop much further as professional footballers. They've got bags of experience and know the game and what is required. That doesn't bode well for me and something significant has to change in terms of attitude and mindset if we're to make next season one where we're going to look back on 2023/2024 and say 'OK, now I can understand what we were creating.'

 

[BFCPaul]

It's fair to say that all members of the football staff have underperformed when it mattered. We can only hope we learn from it, but I can't help but feel there's players in the group that really aren't going to develop much further as professional footballers. They've got bags of experience and know the game and what is required. That doesn't bode well for me and something significant has to change in terms of attitude and mindset if we're to make next season one where we're going to look back on 2023/2024 and say 'OK, now I can understand what we were creating.'

That's a really interesting statement. It's almost like we've bought a car with 80,000 miles on the clock which will get you from A to B but will occasionally let you down.

 

[1966_and_all_that]

That's a really interesting statement. It's almost like we've bought a car with 80,000 miles on the clock which will get you from A to B but will occasionally let you down.

And usually does let you down when you venture any further than your home town.

 

[voyeur]

Excellent performances and six points in the two toughest games. Extremely frustrating.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

It’s interesting that you mention about everyone under-performing when it has really mattered.

I think a small number of individuals have become the usual targets for the fans frustration… Last season it seemed to be Maxwell who was singled out ..

I think inconsistent performances are usually par for the course at this level and so it’s no real surprise to some extent. What has been unusual though is the fact that we don’t seem to have had any one at all who’s been remotely consistent…. You’d normally expect at least one ‘Mr Reliable’, but there’s been nobody.

For me personally I think Jerry Yates has been a massive loss in that regard… Not so much in terms of consistency of ‘performance’ because I think that anyone can probably have an off day in that regard, but more in terms of consistency of energy, endeavour and character… whatever else you knew you’d get a player who’d left everything on the pitch.

And for me it’s been that lack of drive and energy. That willingness to roll your sleeves up and just work hard when things aren’t quite working out, that has been lacking … Far too many players have simply failed to turn up, too often when we needed them.

I’m not sure that you can necessarily blame the Manager for that…. Of course, it’s his job to motivate them, but in my opinion a player either has that character or they don’t….

 

[voyeur]

It’s interesting that you mention about everyone under-performing when it has really mattered.

I think a small number of individuals have become the usual targets for the fans frustration… Last season it seemed to be Maxwell who was singled out ..

I think inconsistent performances are usually par for the course at this level and so it’s no real surprise to some extent. What has been unusual though is the fact that we don’t seem to have had any one at all who’s been remotely consistent…. You’d normally expect at least one ‘Mr Reliable’, but there’s been nobody.

For me personally I think Jerry Yates has been a massive loss in that regard… Not so much in terms of consistency of ‘performance’ because I think that anyone can probably have an off day in that regard, but more in terms of consistency of energy, endeavour and character… whatever else you knew you’d get a player who’d left everything on the pitch.

And for me it’s been that lack of drive and energy. That willingness to roll your sleeves up and just work hard when things aren’t quite working out, that has been lacking … Far too many players have simply failed to turn up, too often when we needed them.

I’m not sure that you can necessarily blame the Manager for that…. Of course, it’s his job to motivate them, but in my opinion a player either has that character or they don’t….

It's a key job of the manager to ensure it doesn't happen and to sort it out when it does. He's recruited a lot of really nice lads but we obviously lack the leaders. January was a chance to do something about that, having failed in the summer. He made Norburn captain, and that has been a significant part of the problem, in my opinion. His idea of what Norburn offers doesn't tally with the reality.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

It's a key job of the manager to ensure it doesn't happen and to sort it out when it does. He's recruited a lot of really nice lads but we obviously lack the leaders. January was a chance to do something about that, having failed in the summer. He made Norburn captain, and that has been a significant part of the problem, in my opinion. His idea of what Norburn offers doesn't tally with the reality.

Norburn has been a big disappointment really. I think most of us were pretty upbeat about signing him and credit to Sadler etc.., but he doesn’t strike you as inspiring captain material.

The difficulty is that the ‘Big Characters’ will often be flawed personalities to some extent. They don’t always play by the rules or tie the line etc..

The likes of Dicky Keogh, Big Gaz and Jerry were all big characters for us… All three are a bit crackers in their own way.

 

[voyeur]

Norburn has been a big disappointment really. I think most of us were pretty upbeat about signing him and credit to Sadler etc.., but he doesn’t strike you as inspiring captain material.

The difficulty is that the ‘Big Characters’ will often be flawed personalities to some extent. They don’t always play by the rules or tie the line etc..

The likes of Dicky Keogh, Big Gaz and Jerry were all big characters for us… All three are a bit crackers in their own way.

Norburn would be better without the captaincy. Tbh his interview with Andy Bayes in Ireland suggested he probably wasn't captain material. There's no stand out choice for captain though. Which says a lot really.

 

[Pun_1]

We are missing an Andy Morrison type in this team.

Add a player like him to the squad and I've no doubt we would have picked up more points away from home.

 

[Adams Kebab]

It's fair to say that all members of the football staff have underperformed when it mattered. We can only hope we learn from it, but I can't help but feel there's players in the group that really aren't going to develop much further as professional footballers. They've got bags of experience and know the game and what is required. That doesn't bode well for me and something significant has to change in terms of attitude and mindset if we're to make next season one where we're going to look back on 2023/2024 and say 'OK, now I can understand what we were creating.'

Been thinking who’s to blame for this lack of fight and resilience away from home or ability to change in-game. Can we just pin it on the Head Coach or is it the players or a combination of both?

Here’s where I’m at. I think NC has created a really structured and robotic team. It’s about shape and structure and zones of the pitch. There’s only Dembele in the squad who can do things off the cuff or randomly but he’ll never pop up anywhere than the right side of the pitch. Carey has got lesser of this but he’s probably the next best, but he’s a classic example of being stifled by structure. Cods away 2nd half a classic example of him being shackle free. It’s all a process of structure and patterns of play involving recycling the football and in most cases possession without a purpose.

What happens against teams who aren’t as good as us away, is they press our less able players on the ball who make mistakes, but generally defend deeper, cutting off the pass to Dembele’s feet by blocking it meaning we have to resort to long diagonals or punts upfield, to either small strikers or taller ones with nobody around them. This is a symptom of this robotic structure as nobody appears to have the balls on the pitch to say, nope, this isn’t working we need you to drop in here or come here or push up or get there etc.

That away performance Tuesday happens too much for it not to be robotic. It’s the same. We’ve got a centre half in a back 3 who’s like a Wes Morgan being asked to play like John Stones. I don’t see the plan to be honest with the personnel. Whether it’s over a timeframe with new recruits who knows? You can’t do what we’re doing though and not expect issues.

I think NC is a milk monitor type but I also think professional footballers should be able to sort things out on the pitch themselves.

My thought is though, we’re creating a load of robots and when plan A flops, the robot is lost, just like Lincoln, Wycombe, Burton, Stevenage and the rest of the shite we’ve not just lost to, but been literally clueless against.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Been thinking who’s to blame for this lack of fight and resilience away from home or ability to change in-game. Can we just pin it on the Head Coach or is it the players or a combination of both?

Here’s where I’m at. I think NC has created a really structured and robotic team. It’s about shape and structure and zones of the pitch. There’s only Dembele in the squad who can do things off the cuff or randomly but he’ll never pop up anywhere than the right side of the pitch. Carey has got lesser of this but he’s probably the next best, but he’s a classic example of being stifled by structure. Cods away 2nd half a classic example of him being shackle free. It’s all a process of structure and patterns of play involving recycling the football and in most cases possession without a purpose.

What happens against teams who aren’t as good as us away, is they press our less able players on the ball who make mistakes, but generally defend deeper, cutting off the pass to Dembele’s feet by blocking it meaning we have to resort to long diagonals or punts upfield, to either small strikers or taller ones with nobody around them. This is a symptom of this robotic structure as nobody appears to have the balls on the pitch to say, nope, this isn’t working we need you to drop in here or come here or push up or get there etc.

That away performance Tuesday happens too much for it not to be robotic. It’s the same. We’ve got a centre half in a back 3 who’s like a Wes Morgan being asked to play like John Stones. I don’t see the plan to be honest with the personnel. Whether it’s over a timeframe with new recruits who knows? You can’t do what we’re doing though and not expect issues.

I think NC is a milk monitor type but I also think professional footballers should be able to sort things out on the pitch themselves.

My thought is though, we’re creating a load of robots and when plan A flops, the robot is lost, just like Lincoln, Wycombe, Burton, Stevenage and the rest of the shite we’ve not just lost to, but been literally clueless against.

So why isn’t Critchley able to see this and why isn’t he doing something about it?

It strikes me that if the issue is so obvious, then it ought to be something that is also obvious to him and his team? I mean he may be a lot of things, but he’s no mug … or is he… Is he just utterly clueless?

And if it’s so easy to counter us, then why haven’t teams simply come to BR and turned us over equally as easily… Why haven’t the better sides cottoned on and done us etc..?

 

[Adams Kebab]

So why isn’t Critchley able to see this and why isn’t he doing something about it?

It strikes me that if the issue is so obvious, then it ought to be something that is also obvious to him and his team? I mean he may be a lot of things, but he’s no mug … or is he… Is he just utterly clueless?

And if it’s so easy to counter us, then why haven’t teams simply come to BR and turned us over equally as easily… Why haven’t the better sides cottoned on and done us etc..?

Good questions. I think it’s easier for us to play at home where we’ll naturally have more of the ball and have more support. Peterborough came and took the ball off us and made us look stupid. Derby and Northampton both did a job on us and counter attacked. Normally though we’d expect to be in the ascendancy at home and eventually the robotic style comes out on top.

NC said he didn’t know what the problem was at Cheltenham or he’d have sorted it? Well he still didn’t know Tuesday? Which is a worry.

However, this isn’t a new thing. This was him 1st time round. In-game changes are 90% reactionary and slow to be made. He’s no mug but he’s slow to react

Players have to take responsibility too. I stand by the coach and the players being weak as piss. Far too soft and nice and there’s countless times we’ve shown zero backbone.

Evatt was giving it the Barry McGuigan on Tuesday on the pitch as one of their players celebrated infront of Bolton fans at the end…

NC probably hugged. Harrison Burrows last Tuesday after the Cup game and wished him every luck for the final…

He’s never going to be that guy but fuck me he needs to show a bit more as I’d be embarrassed if a junior team was as soft as we are when the going gets tough.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Good questions. I think it’s easier for us to play at home where we’ll naturally have more of the ball and have more support. Peterborough came and took the ball off us and made us look stupid. Derby and Northampton both did a job on us and counter attacked. Normally though we’d expect to be in the ascendancy at home and eventually the robotic style comes out on top.

NC said he didn’t know what the problem was at Cheltenham or he’d have sorted it? Well he still didn’t know Tuesday? Which is a worry.

However, this isn’t a new thing. This was him 1st time round. In-game changes are 90% reactionary and slow to be made. He’s no mug but he’s slow to react

Players have to take responsibility too. I stand by the coach and the players being weak as piss. Far too soft and nice and there’s countless times we’ve shown zero backbone.

Evatt was giving it the Barry McGuigan on Tuesday on the pitch as one of their players celebrated infront of Bolton fans at the end…

NC probably hugged. Harrison Burrows last Tuesday after the Cup game and wished him every luck for the final…

He’s never going to be that guy but fuck me he needs to show a bit more as I’d be embarrassed if a junior team was as soft as we are when the going gets tough.

Is that not more likely to be our issue though ?

Rather than being a case of Robotic tactics, it’s more a case that our players are defaulting to ‘Robotic’ because they’re made to feel that little bit uncomfortable and don’t have the bollocks to compete?

Remember last season, when Raggy went in to do his Coach Carter impression?

When James Husband ended up agreeing with him that the East Stand being full was ‘intimidating’ ..

And Husband is supposedly a player we think of as maybe having a pair (at least compared to the rest)…

So could it just be the case that they’re a bunch of Fannies ?

 

[Adams Kebab]

Is that not more likely to be our issue though ?

Rather than being a case of Robotic tactics, it’s more a case that our players are defaulting to ‘Robotic’ because they’re made to feel that little bit uncomfortable and don’t have the bollocks to compete?

Remember last season, when Raggy went in to do his Coach Carter impression?

When James Husband ended up agreeing with him that the East Stand being full was ‘intimidating’ ..

And Husband is supposedly a player we think of as maybe having a pair (at least compared to the rest)…

So could it just be the case that they’re a bunch of Fannies ?

Husband is definitely the player who’s got the biggest pair compared to the rest of the squad, think the away team having the whole side was blown out of proportion because we were shite and it pissed everyone off them buzzing.

As regards the robots. If you create a situation in a workplace as an example of a robotic and structured culture, when something happens out of that sync, they look at you like, “what do we do now?” and there’s zero personality or responsibility. They can do what they are told but if that isn’t an option they are goosed.

I think that the team is far too nice but so is the Head Coach & that’s reflected in his in-game subs. If you look at the impact Nathan Jones has had at Charlton, NC is a world away from that type of character on the touchline. Both styles can work but in this League watching a team getting bullied by that fat knacker Steve Evans team or Richie Wellens saying they didn’t have to play football against us just mix-it up is a slight on both NC and the players, who are now pretty much all his signings bar for Husband and Lyons.

I remember Southgate once saying in an interview at the Euros that most importantly Saka was a lovely lad as well as a good footballer and NC is no doubts the same. He talks about their character a lot and a right fit for the group, but I’m not wanting a player to hold a door open for an old woman or pack her shopping I’m wanting them to tell Steve Evans to sit down before he collapses and plough into his central midfielder as well as being a decent player.

We need a mix to be fair but we’ve got a team of Neil Critchley’s. It’s not a bad thing but in League 1 especially away from home a tight shitty ground it’s not working out well.

 

[TangerineBayern]

December was a poor month too. The problem is we have a home starting 11 and an away starting 11 which are 2 completely different teams and it’s reflected in the results!

 

[straightatthewall]

Glad to see this finally got some traction and some decent football conversation too. For me, the 'blame' lies across the board here, we're just a bit off the boil in terms of all aspects of 'football'. The players and their mental strength have to be questioned. The biggest issue for me on Tuesday was how similar the game was to Stevenage at the start of the month. Sounds like Cheltenham was the same too. There is a responsibility among the players to take control of things during the match and force a change of momentum. If you're consistently second to everything and losing 50:50's, then that's weak and shouldn't be accepted by anyone who has a 'winning' mentality. And during the Stevenage game, individual players were routinely squared up to by their opponent and was never backed up by a teammate. That's not something that says 'team spirit' to me.

But the level of inertia and weakness also has to come from the coaching team. There was a Tweet yesterday from Casey's dad, which seemed to say Connolly is a favorite. Now - assuming it's legit - also implies discord and a growing lack of respect for the coach. The mystery surrounding Gabriel's substitution adds to the general feeling of dressing room discontent. Can the coach step up and stem such feelings? To do so requires a force of energy and respect. The problem that's always existed around NC is that he's no doubt a great developer of talent, but that's a small part of first team football. You have to manage bigger egos and also inject life into 'been there/done it' pros so they find new enthusiasm to the treadmill of a league season.

Last but not least, the board also have to look at themselves and their role - particularly around recruitment. Why don't we have spikey characters? Why do we have a collection of players that don't suit the rigidity of the coaches preferred system? Who is looking at the repetitive nature of these away defeats and demanding answers from NC and his team about what's going wrong? Fans can be myopic and downright ignorant when it comes to reading a game, but plenty of us also can see some basic faults when they're laid out in front of us. Where's the pressure coming from onto NC to bring change, because a one-off defeat in that manner is part and parcel, but when it happens consistently something is rotten that needs changing.

 

[JJpool]

Been thinking who’s to blame for this lack of fight and resilience away from home or ability to change in-game. Can we just pin it on the Head Coach or is it the players or a combination of both?

Here’s where I’m at. I think NC has created a really structured and robotic team. It’s about shape and structure and zones of the pitch. There’s only Dembele in the squad who can do things off the cuff or randomly but he’ll never pop up anywhere than the right side of the pitch. Carey has got lesser of this but he’s probably the next best, but he’s a classic example of being stifled by structure. Cods away 2nd half a classic example of him being shackle free. It’s all a process of structure and patterns of play involving recycling the football and in most cases possession without a purpose.

What happens against teams who aren’t as good as us away, is they press our less able players on the ball who make mistakes, but generally defend deeper, cutting off the pass to Dembele’s feet by blocking it meaning we have to resort to long diagonals or punts upfield, to either small strikers or taller ones with nobody around them. This is a symptom of this robotic structure as nobody appears to have the balls on the pitch to say, nope, this isn’t working we need you to drop in here or come here or push up or get there etc.

That away performance Tuesday happens too much for it not to be robotic. It’s the same. We’ve got a centre half in a back 3 who’s like a Wes Morgan being asked to play like John Stones. I don’t see the plan to be honest with the personnel. Whether it’s over a timeframe with new recruits who knows? You can’t do what we’re doing though and not expect issues.

I think NC is a milk monitor type but I also think professional footballers should be able to sort things out on the pitch themselves.

My thought is though, we’re creating a load of robots and when plan A flops, the robot is lost, just like Lincoln, Wycombe, Burton, Stevenage and the rest of the shite we’ve not just lost to, but been literally clueless against.

Interesting about the robotic structure. It does ring true in many cases.

Certainly backed up by these training clips from TTV.

Grimmy should have done better for me there.

 

[tangerine_neil]

 

[JJpool]

We need a mix to be fair but we’ve got a team of Neil Critchley’s. It’s not a bad thing but in League 1 especially away from home a tight shitty ground it’s not working out well.

The team often does reflect the manager and we are very weak away...

Tbh if the issue is robotic, structured or whatever, when things aren't going to the normal plan and teams aren't letting us do what we want, we do run out of ideas or patience and just launch it aimlessly. For all the brilliant coach talk where is it? There's a lack of a proper passing intent to me, as teams will frustrate and when they do we need to stick to our principles or introduce on occasion an effective plan b. Just blasting it long isn't an effective plan.

NC has said he doesn't know the issue or he would have fixed it, but if the above is right, then that would be because he doesn't see the structure as the issue, if indeed it is, it's his whole way of playing He'll change like for like often, but that's usually it.

Tbh the launching could be largely cut out if he didn't want us doing it, there's not really effort or effective setup to try or be able to pass it round.

The spaces don't just appear, you have to move teams around, pass with pace and purpose etc. We don't get that far because after a few we usually give up.

A manager who plays a passing style encourages it and you generally stick to it.

Tbh it's getting hard to make a case for him staying if we don't improve in the remaing games and there's no signs of it, as he doesn't know the issues and continues playing some players who aren't the best at times.

His potential heavily structured style didn't work at Villa and he will have had a heavily influence in that as that's generally how the ex pro experienced coach setup works, like a co manager almost. QPR didn't improve either. We're currently about where you'd expect if we had a limited manager given our pretty strong squad for the league.

 

[straightatthewall]

The team often does reflect the manager and we are very weak away...

Tbh if the issue is robotic, structured or whatever, when things aren't going to the normal plan and teams aren't letting us do what we want, we do run out of ideas or patience and just launch it aimlessly. For all the brilliant coach talk where is it? There's a lack of a proper passing intent to me, as teams will frustrate and when they do we need to stick to our principles or introduce on occasion an effective plan b. Just blasting it long isn't an effective plan.

NC has said he doesn't know the issue or he would have fixed it, but if the above is right, then that would be because he doesn't see the structure as the issue, if indeed it is, it's his whole way of playing He'll change like for like often, but that's usually it.

Tbh the launching could be largely cut out if he didn't want us doing it, there's not really effort or effective setup to try or be able to pass it round.

The spaces don't just appear, you have to move teams around, pass with pace and purpose etc. We don't get that far because after a few we usually give up.

A manager who plays a passing style encourages it and you generally stick to it.

Tbh it's getting hard to make a case for him staying if we don't improve in the remaing games and there's no signs of it, as he doesn't know the issues and continues playing some players who aren't the best at times.

His potential heavily structured style didn't work at Villa and he will have had a heavily influence in that as that's generally how the ex pro experienced coach setup works, like a co manager almost. QPR didn't improve either. We're currently about where you'd expect if we had a limited manager given our pretty strong squad for the league.

The 'launching' is a result of limited options or being pressed to the point of having to go long or risk losing the ball in our own third, which was a common fault last season and cost us time after time. The midfield structure seems to fall apart as the game goes on, with gaping holes opening up and us repeatedly unable to get a foot on the ball to build on. A scrappy game, with the ball repeatedly in the air or bouncing around is the exact opposite of what our midfield is good at, but that's so often what the games become and we fail to deal with it.

To me, a Keith Southern figure, in both physique and playing style would improve us by 15-20% immediately. The closest we had was Kenny and he was replaced by Byers who is really no different to Morgan or Norburn. None of those three is pushing the tempo and getting the team closer to the opposition or able to physically dominate to the point where you then get the ball under control, on your own terms and start dictating the game. That's not to say they don't work hard during the game, it's just not their strength. And that last point - playing players in positions/situations that maximizes their strengths and minimizes their exposure to their weaknesses - has been raised all season.

It's OK having a longer-term plan to develop and improve, but - just as with the 2020/2021 season - pragmatism is sometimes needed in the harsh reality of a proper league season. Sometimes you wonder if NC can't see the difference between developing talent in the junior/ressie ranks and winning real games.

 

[poolfc]

Biggest difference I've seen so far with Critchley compared to his first stint is he's come back with one way of playing and the players look completely detatched from each other on the pitch at times. If they were hunting in packs for the ball and backing each other up then it would be something.

Whether it was Calderwood or McCall's influence last time we often saw a reaction when things weren't quite working. A formation change, a plan to basically shut a game down and try for a 0-0+, or try to stay in it and trick to nick a result. Something to break a malaise or a pattern of performances or results. It showed he could learn on the job and it made it look like he understood the players he had and the best way to get a lot out of a little at times.

Nowadays we seem to keep walking headfirst into the exact same away/midweek game and then effectively saying oh well nowt can be done afterwards. If you could fasttrack me a year when the squad looks different and maybe we've become more consistent then fine you can say the approach he's come back to us with was right but the players weren't and there was disruption we don't get to see and problems with prep and motivation. But in the here and now it just feels like the home form is a sham and the real us is we can't cope when the opposition expect more of a say in a game and Critchley can't do anything about it.

 

[Tangerinemoss]

Good thread, this.

The best part of an old lag is their willingness to challenge the coach. I feel that as Neil has coached youngsters, he expects them to do as they are told without question. The old lag will both challenge off the pitch, and change stuff on the pitch when the game plan is not working.

The comment about player being squared up to and not being backed up, is that a thing? So different from our teams of the past, the image of the tiny DJ hauling that Birmingham giant off GTF is burned in my mind. And remember who went to stand in front of him whilst the ref sorted it?? Bolton's manager.

I didn't want NC back, but, like most, was happy to give him the chance to prove me wrong. Our position isn't dreadful, we have laughed at teams replacing managers in that position before, but I'm not sure atm he is learning from his mistakes, and insisting on a squad with some grit and experience.

About time the club senior management took a long hard look and supported him with advice and some grit.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

I’m yet to see a single League 1 side that doesn’t look uncomfortable at the back when put under pressure from a good press. Plenty have lauded Peterborough, but in reality they regularly find themselves in trouble through over-confidence and what might simply be described as ‘faffing around’ (at least at this level).

Interestingly, it was something Ollie touched on in his recent INO Podcast interview.., That players at this level, probably don’t really have the technical ability to be messing about at the back…

We’ve been pretty slow and ponderous for most of this season… even at home.

I think we possibly fo need to be a bit more pragmatic and a bit more direct and purposeful in how we attack and put sides under pressure.

Holloway talked about a 4 pass rule at the back, before he was looking to pop that diagonal, which was super effective at the time… then it was all about picking up the second ball etc.

The question has been raised before, but maybe Critchley has been used to working with more gifted (technically at least) players… He says he’s seeing progress in the Training Ground, that perhaps isn’t translating into performances… I’m genuinely struggling to see much evidence of progress if I’m being totally honest… As others have said, we don’t look particularly together for the most part….And maybe the Time-Lag to get this level of player to where we need them to be is just too long winded.

As others have said it’s still very challenging to see quite how our recruitment is matching up with our ambition on the pitch….

I hate keep comparing to Holloway, but he seemed to have a very clear idea of the particular attributes he needed in certain players to fit into his system… He managed to identify players where he could gain maximum benefit from their strengths and min negative from their weaknesses… At times it feels like we are doing the complete opposite with Critchley

I suppose there’s the hope that like some kind of Rolf Harris(apologies, but I couldn’t think of a non-pedo alternative) picture, things might suddenly become clear and click into place…. Increasingly though, Critchley is looking like a man who’s in need of help.

 

[straightatthewall]

Good thread, this.

The best part of an old lag is their willingness to challenge the coach. I feel that as Neil has coached youngsters, he expects them to do as they are told without question. The old lag will both challenge off the pitch, and change stuff on the pitch when the game plan is not working.

The comment about player being squared up to and not being backed up, is that a thing? So different from our teams of the past, the image of the tiny DJ hauling that Birmingham giant off GTF is burned in my mind. And remember who went to stand in front of him whilst the ref sorted it?? Botlon's manager.

I didn't want NC back, but, like most, was happy to give him the chance to prove me wrong. Our position isn't dreadful, we have laughed at teams replacing managers in that position before, but I'm not sure atm he is learning from his mistakes, and insisting on a squad with some grit and experience.

About time the club senior management took a long hard look and supported him with advice and some grit.

Moss,

there were a couple of cases of players 'not being backed up' at Stevenage. It was something me and a mate both commented on.

 

[voyeur]

I suppose there’s the hope that like some kind of Rolf Harris(apologies, but I couldn’t think of a non-pedo alternative) picture, things might suddenly become clear and click into place…. Increasingly though, Critchley is looking like a man who’s in need of help.

I don't think anyone can see what it is yet.

 

[JJpool]

The 'launching' is a result of limited options or being pressed to the point of having to go long or risk losing the ball in our own third, which was a common fault last season and cost us time after time. The midfield structure seems to fall apart as the game goes on, with gaping holes opening up and us repeatedly unable to get a foot on the ball to build on. A scrappy game, with the ball repeatedly in the air or bouncing around is the exact opposite of what our midfield is good at, but that's so often what the games become and we fail to deal with it.

To me, a Keith Southern figure, in both physique and playing style would improve us by 15-20% immediately. The closest we had was Kenny and he was replaced by Byers who is really no different to Morgan or Norburn. None of those three is pushing the tempo and getting the team closer to the opposition or able to physically dominate to the point where you then get the ball under control, on your own terms and start dictating the game. That's not to say they don't work hard during the game, it's just not their strength. And that last point - playing players in positions/situations that maximizes their strengths and minimizes their exposure to their weaknesses - has been raised all season.

It's OK having a longer-term plan to develop and improve, but - just as with the 2020/2021 season - pragmatism is sometimes needed in the harsh reality of a proper league season. Sometimes you wonder if NC can't see the difference between developing talent in the junior/ressie ranks and winning real games.

It is but its also the result of not being set up to keep the ball, having the intent to keep the ball and giving the players the belief and confidence to do that.

Our early season approach was that we dominated, largely sacked off now. Although we still got beat I've no doubt that it is the way to go for the future.

Of course there has to be a switch from pointless possession to penetrative possession but if they don't have the ball they can't hurt you.

I'm convinced that if you stick at something you improve, we didn't have players like Dembele or Joseph playing early on and that again would have improved us.

I think we'd have got far more results sticking like that and improving at it, growing in confidence as a team dominating the ball and when the spaces opened up suing our more skillful players to unpick defences.

It's the style he wanted to and tried to set up, a couple of times now.