For the first time this season, I'm unsure

[Ball on Fire]

What do you mean by “level playing field?”

So you would have stuck with Appleton? Regardless of level playing field or not it was blatantly obvious that he was not up to the job. No tactical nous, no impact substitutions when it was blatantly obvious to everyone and, worst of all, standing totally motionless in his technical area for 90 mins.
So you would want someone like that to see us through the season and into Division 1?
Strange!

Let me try and explain my logic. What I mean by a level playing field is if all the Blackpool fans had got behind Appleton from the start of the season and supported him right through to Jan, similar to the current love in with McCarthy I am 100% sure we would be in a much better position than we are today. There is no doubt in my mind that Appleton never stood a chance from Day 1 and how he managed to keep his dignity and self control whilst retaining the dressing room is testimony to his personal qualities. I am not a big fan of animated Managers or Coaches waving their arms around and shouting instructions from the technical area. The Manager should prepare the team during the week, deliver his team talks before the match and at half time and then trust the players when they cross the white line as it is then down to them. Did I think Appleton was the right Coach to replace Critchley, no I didn’t. Do I think McCarthy will get more out of the current Blackpool squad than Appleton enjoying the same support as McCarthy would have got. No I don’t. Why do I say that? The Blackpool squad today is still very largely an Appleton squad, he knows those players and they were still giving him 100% up to the day he was sacked. My fear now is that McCarthy will attempt to fit square pegs into round holes in order to deliver his preferred formation and tactics e.g. CJ becomes a left back and Bowler becomes a midfield player with defensive responsibilities. Appleton, especially now that 1st team Coach O’Donnell has surprisingly gone this week, knows the strengths and weaknesses of this stronger Blackpool squad far better than McCarthy. This could be the classic case of “ be careful of what you wish for “. If McCarthy keeps us up this season, I will totally agree it was the correct decision to sack Appleton, if for any reason he doesn’t I have no doubt we will return to this discussion. I will get 100% behind McCarthy just as I did with Appleton as it is imperative we stay in the Championship. Managers and players all react positively to praise and support and a feel good factor especially at home games is essential. Appleton never had this and I am sure this was a contributing negative factor to our recent run of poor results.

 

[Micky Walsh]

We could do with Keshi back asap if in fact we do need a left wing back, but i also think we are eating the coaching handbook a bit too much here, no matter how advanced the game has become in terms of coaching the shouts are still the same before and during the game, win your first and second balls, be organised, give nothing silly away etc etc, that has never changed and is the foundation that all teams are still built on, then get it down and go and pay, we have enough for me but just need that elusive win. Will be at Bloomers for the first time in 2 years on Feb 11th with my little girl for her first every match, can't wait!

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Madness.

So before today you thought we had enough?

Pre appletons sacking you thought we had enough?

Those pills the nice lady brings round for you every morning, Phil, you need to TAKE THEM. It's not a conspiracy.

It's quite simple

I don't believe we have signed enough of the right sort of players for a Mick McCarthy team

 

[voyeur]

Some reasonable points in the OP. Not so much about bringing in players. We brought 6 in. The answer for me is to have more consistency and to use the players you have effectively. MA didn't. He should have gone earlier in my view, but he didn't. I thought they'd give him the December games and then decide. We drew 4 and lost 1 of 5. There was a sense that new players might make the marginal difference we needed but I felt Appleton just had the wrong vibe altogether and it woukdnt have worked out.

This all goes back to Critch leaving and the rushed appointment of MA. But it also demonstrates how difficult it is to run a football club, and we have a novice owner. We are lurching from one thing to the next. A bad appointment creates a domino effect, and we now have a short term disaster avoidance domino that doesn't fit the recruitment model.

Which doesn't really exist anyway. Every head coach has his own model. Grayson recruited Grayson players, Critch recruited Critch players, MA recruited MA players, MM has brought Goode and Nelson in.

Sadler seems to want something but can't find it. Probably because it's a model that looks good on Ben's PowerPoint but in real life people don't match up and money restrictions affect what is achievable.

Critch worked out well but was working under pressure to create a club based on good coaching and bringing on selected youngsters on a very tight budget. It's a long term project that requires better training facilities and better funding. We are probably trying to do too much too soon.

I still think we should have appointed Evatt when we chose Critchley, as I did at the time. More of a compromise solution. Critch was out of his comfort zone. People need to be firmly in their comfort zone. Evatt would have been.

Sadler and co are making mistakes but it's not really surprising. And it doesn't mean another owner wouldn't make mistakes, or worse, as we can all testify. Look at Everton, and all that player recruitment gone horrifically wrong.

Some old fashioned stoic resolution might be what we need as supporters. Go back to wearing flat caps and accepting that life is largely mundane!

Success isn't guaranteed. Success is also relative. We are one of the smaller clubs in the Championship, with a few bigger clubs in League One. We are quite successful! There's a post-Oyston learning process going on and we've actually moved forward despite the mistakes. We may well move backwards. But then move forwards again. Life has good times and bad times for everybody!

I respect Sadler for having a go and I'm not going to lob my dummy into the air every time a decision or its consequences doesn't match my dream. We have a regime now that wants to move things forward and is learning how to do that and 3 or 4 years is not a long time.

Whether Bowler fits a crisis system or not is just a minor detail really. It's not ideal. But he still might help keep us up. May be from the bench. You don't have to finish games the way you started them. It's a 16 man game now.

I don't ever want to see CJ at wing back again. Hopefully that was down to O'Donnell! A clueless idea that MM had a full week to avoid. If it happens again I'll be worried!

But I think we are a L1/Championship yoyo club as things stand and in terms of attendances and budget it's hard to argue with that I think.

 

[Wizaard]

I doubt any player who isn’t fully fit and contributing would be named in the 25. They’ll be assessed and brought in once they are ready I’d have thought.

You can't 'bring them in'. The squad named now is the one to the end of the season. What you can do is leave gaps, but that's a dangerous game if there's a setback (not that that would happen with Stewart).

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Let me try and explain my logic. What I mean by a level playing field is if all the Blackpool fans had got behind Appleton from the start of the season and supported him right through to Jan, similar to the current love in with McCarthy I am 100% sure we would be in a much better position than we are today. There is no doubt in my mind that Appleton never stood a chance from Day 1 and how he managed to keep his dignity and self control whilst retaining the dressing room is testimony to his personal qualities. I am not a big fan of animated Managers or Coaches waving their arms around and shouting instructions from the technical area. The Manager should prepare the team during the week, deliver his team talks before the match and at half time and then trust the players when they cross the white line as it is then down to them. Did I think Appleton was the right Coach to replace Critchley, no I didn’t. Do I think McCarthy will get more out of the current Blackpool squad than Appleton enjoying the same support as McCarthy would have got. No I don’t. Why do I say that? The Blackpool squad today is still very largely an Appleton squad, he knows those players and they were still giving him 100% up to the day he was sacked. My fear now is that McCarthy will attempt to fit square pegs into round holes in order to deliver his preferred formation and tactics e.g. CJ becomes a left back and Bowler becomes a midfield player with defensive responsibilities. Appleton, especially now that 1st team Coach O’Donnell has surprisingly gone this week, knows the strengths and weaknesses of this stronger Blackpool squad far better than McCarthy. This could be the classic case of “ be careful of what you wish for “. If McCarthy keeps us up this season, I will totally agree it was the correct decision to sack Appleton, if for any reason he doesn’t I have no doubt we will return to this discussion. I will get 100% behind McCarthy just as I did with Appleton as it is imperative we stay in the Championship. Managers and players all react positively to praise and support and a feel good factor especially at home games is essential. Appleton never had this and I am sure this was a contributing negative factor to our recent run of poor results.

If there's one thing Appleton was good at, it was finding an excuse for him being shit at his job.... It seems it was maybe contagious in your case, and a few others

The reason he didn't stand a chance from Day 1 had nothing, whatsoever to do with the Fans.... The fans simply knew his for what he was .. CRAP!

In his first week, he undermined the squad's fantastic achievements last season, by his ridiculous claim that we over-achieved (what absolute bollocks, if anything the side under-achieved and could have got many more points)... He then went on to further undermine player confidence, be continuously choosing to reference lack of quality / ability instead of shouldering any responsibility...

He then went on to play naive football that left us completely exposed and extremely easy to score against. He further undermined confidence by focusing heavily on 'scoring first' and then continually 'conceding first'...

As a manager / leader he was dour and uninspiring and slowly but surely took everyone down with him....

As I've said before, I don't think we've had a worse manager or played more disorganised and naive football in all the time I've been watching the Pool.

Now you / he can try and blame the fans for not getting behind him, but the reality of the matter is that there was something more fundamentally wrong than than not being a fans favourite..... Plus he's had plenty of opportunity to build on fantastic backing / feelgood factor
and completely failed...

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

You can't 'bring them in'. The squad named now is the one to the end of the season. What you can do is leave gaps, but that's a dangerous game if there's a setback (not that that would happen with Stewart).

Of course you can bring them in...

Why would you name any player who is currently injured in the 25? What is the point?

What if the player you name has a set-back until the end of the season, whist a different player returns from injury and is available to play....

Obviously once you bring a player into the 25 they can't be replaced... I get that, but I'm not talking about chopping and changing the 25, I'm talking about leaving space open for fit players to return.

 

[Macseasider]

Let me try and explain my logic. What I mean by a level playing field is if all the Blackpool fans had got behind Appleton from the start of the season and supported him right through to Jan, similar to the current love in with McCarthy I am 100% sure we would be in a much better position than we are today. There is no doubt in my mind that Appleton never stood a chance from Day 1 and how he managed to keep his dignity and self control whilst retaining the dressing room is testimony to his personal qualities. I am not a big fan of animated Managers or Coaches waving their arms around and shouting instructions from the technical area. The Manager should prepare the team during the week, deliver his team talks before the match and at half time and then trust the players when they cross the white line as it is then down to them. Did I think Appleton was the right Coach to replace Critchley, no I didn’t. Do I think McCarthy will get more out of the current Blackpool squad than Appleton enjoying the same support as McCarthy would have got. No I don’t. Why do I say that? The Blackpool squad today is still very largely an Appleton squad, he knows those players and they were still giving him 100% up to the day he was sacked. My fear now is that McCarthy will attempt to fit square pegs into round holes in order to deliver his preferred formation and tactics e.g. CJ becomes a left back and Bowler becomes a midfield player with defensive responsibilities. Appleton, especially now that 1st team Coach O’Donnell has surprisingly gone this week, knows the strengths and weaknesses of this stronger Blackpool squad far better than McCarthy. This could be the classic case of “ be careful of what you wish for “. If McCarthy keeps us up this season, I will totally agree it was the correct decision to sack Appleton, if for any reason he doesn’t I have no doubt we will return to this discussion. I will get 100% behind McCarthy just as I did with Appleton as it is imperative we stay in the Championship. Managers and players all react positively to praise and support and a feel good factor especially at home games is essential. Appleton never had this and I am sure this was a contributing negative factor to our recent run of poor results.

I am. Because they are the managers that tend to win things. In fact they win everything.

Rather a man with passion that the likes of Appleton, the Wally with the brolly and Southgate.

 

[tangerine_neil]

O/P spot on.
We needed more from this window and I don’t think we have the players to suit a MM team.
It probably worked last time because Cardiff had a squad of giant b’stards.
Can’t see us getting anything from Boro and that will set the tone. In fact, I expect we will finish dead last.

 

[Albert Ross]

It is very odd new players were brought in last month and then they sack Appleton and replace him. This suggests to me that the manager / head coach has no input into recruitment - thus as you say our players don't fit the mould you would associate with Mick McCarthy (Madine aside).

Madine, Goode, Ekpiteta, Rogers, all around 6’4” Hamilton, Nelson 6’+ . I would say they all fit the perceived MM model, wouldn’t you.

 

[phill]

Certainly didnt play against southampton like we thought . Most people were happy with the side picked as we thought we would lump it up to the miss machine .We do look at our worst when we play that way .

 

[TANGERINETOWERPOWER]

If there's one thing Appleton was good at, it was finding an excuse for him being shit at his job.... It seems it was maybe contagious in your case, and a few others

The reason he didn't stand a chance from Day 1 had nothing, whatsoever to do with the Fans.... The fans simply knew his for what he was .. CRAP!

In his first week, he undermined the squad's fantastic achievements last season, by his ridiculous claim that we over-achieved (what absolute bollocks, if anything the side under-achieved and could have got many more points)... He then went on to further undermine player confidence, be continuously choosing to reference lack of quality / ability instead of shouldering any responsibility...

He then went on to play naive football that left us completely exposed and extremely easy to score against. He further undermined confidence by focusing heavily on 'scoring first' and then continually 'conceding first'...

As a manager / leader he was dour and uninspiring and slowly but surely took everyone down with him....

As I've said before, I don't think we've had a worse manager or played more disorganised and naive football in all the time I've been watching the Pool.

Now you / he can try and blame the fans for not getting behind him, but the reality of the matter is that there was something more fundamentally wrong than than not being a fans favourite..... Plus he's had plenty of opportunity to build on fantastic backing / feelgood factor
and completely failed...

Totally agree and just to add that Big Mick is a massive upgrade on a clueless buffoon who would without a shadow of a doubt not only taken us down but would have made us finish bottom. That said there are more facets to the issues we have and although Appleton was the biggest issue it was not the only one.

The recruitment team were simply awful going in to the season and have made some astonishing and panicked mistakes including appointing Appleton Grant Ward and Liam Bridcutt. I think this window caught us up a bit on what we were short of but we should have been looking at a couple of standout signings in the key positions of left wing back, centre forward/target man and central midfield.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Totally agree and just to add that Big Mick is a massive upgrade on a clueless buffoon who would without a shadow of a doubt not only taken us down but would have made us finish bottom. That said there are more facets to the issues we have and although Appleton was the biggest issue it was not the only one.

The recruitment team were simply awful going in to the season and have made some astonishing and panicked mistakes including appointing Appleton Grant Ward and Liam Bridcutt. I think this window caught us up a bit on what we were short of but we should have been looking at a couple of standout signings in the key positions of left wing back, centre forward/target man and central midfield.

Without a shadow of doubt that first paragraph is absolute horse shit

 

[hertfordseasider]

If there's one thing Appleton was good at, it was finding an excuse for him being shit at his job.... It seems it was maybe contagious in your case, and a few others

The reason he didn't stand a chance from Day 1 had nothing, whatsoever to do with the Fans.... The fans simply knew his for what he was .. CRAP!

In his first week, he undermined the squad's fantastic achievements last season, by his ridiculous claim that we over-achieved (what absolute bollocks, if anything the side under-achieved and could have got many more points)... He then went on to further undermine player confidence, be continuously choosing to reference lack of quality / ability instead of shouldering any responsibility...

He then went on to play naive football that left us completely exposed and extremely easy to score against. He further undermined confidence by focusing heavily on 'scoring first' and then continually 'conceding first'...

As a manager / leader he was dour and uninspiring and slowly but surely took everyone down with him....

As I've said before, I don't think we've had a worse manager or played more disorganised and naive football in all the time I've been watching the Pool.

Now you / he can try and blame the fans for not getting behind him, but the reality of the matter is that there was something more fundamentally wrong than than not being a fans favourite..... Plus he's had plenty of opportunity to build on fantastic backing / feelgood factor
and completely failed...

He should never ever have been appointed in the first place it's as simple as that, no one wanted him apart from Sadler and BB, how they missed th 20 elephants in the room is a mystery and then they got all snarky and defensive. He never had a chance Daz, he had an opportunity but was never the right man and he wasn't backed. It was a total and utter fuck up by the 2 in charge and is why we are here now.

 

[Ball on Fire]

If there's one thing Appleton was good at, it was finding an excuse for him being shit at his job.... It seems it was maybe contagious in your case, and a few others

The reason he didn't stand a chance from Day 1 had nothing, whatsoever to do with the Fans.... The fans simply knew his for what he was .. CRAP!

In his first week, he undermined the squad's fantastic achievements last season, by his ridiculous claim that we over-achieved (what absolute bollocks, if anything the side under-achieved and could have got many more points)... He then went on to further undermine player confidence, be continuously choosing to reference lack of quality / ability instead of shouldering any responsibility...

He then went on to play naive football that left us completely exposed and extremely easy to score against. He further undermined confidence by focusing heavily on 'scoring first' and then continually 'conceding first'...

As a manager / leader he was dour and uninspiring and slowly but surely took everyone down with him....

As I've said before, I don't think we've had a worse manager or played more disorganised and naive football in all the time I've been watching the Pool.

Now you / he can try and blame the fans for not getting behind him, but the reality of the matter is that there was something more fundamentally wrong than than not being a fans favourite..... Plus he's had plenty of opportunity to build on fantastic backing / feelgood factor
and completely failed...

Appleton was never given a chance from Day 1, the majority of Blackpool fans never accepted his appointment and wanted him to fail and their actions definitely contributed to his sacking, I also blame the BFC Board, call it naivety, irrespective of results this season their appointment of Appleton was a bad decision as they didn’t even consider there would be issues with the majority of the fan base. I noticed that Appleton refuted being a Preston fan in an interview the other day and confirmed he was a Man Utd fan, surely if he had made that statement earlier that would have kept him in the Blackpool job a bit longer. Blackpool did overachieve last season, Critch did a very good job in getting promotion from Div 1, quicker than Sadler and the BFC Board expected and delivering a good season of consolidation in the Championship and he was always going to be a tough act for anybody to follow. The reality is that Blackpool are currently a bottom half of the Championship or Top Half of League 1 side who I expect to at least flirt with relegation from the Championship most seasons. Irrespective of Sadler’s model, in terms of successfully managing the Club’s short, medium and long term objectives the player recruitment at Blackpool is still well below the standard I would expect from a progressive Championship club which could be down to Critch delivering promotion a bit too early.

Do I think Appleton would have kept us up, no I don‘t, not with a baying mob of Pool fans, not away fans by the way, chanting “ you’re getting sacked in the morning “. What impact did you think this negative, toxic atmosphere had on the players, do you think it motivated them to perform better? Appleton has gone, McCarthy has come in and the feel good factor and lots of positivity is back, Mick now needs to deliver Championship survival anyway he can.

 

[voyeur]

If there's one thing Appleton was good at, it was finding an excuse for him being shit at his job.... It seems it was maybe contagious in your case, and a few others

The reason he didn't stand a chance from Day 1 had nothing, whatsoever to do with the Fans.... The fans simply knew his for what he was .. CRAP!

In his first week, he undermined the squad's fantastic achievements last season, by his ridiculous claim that we over-achieved (what absolute bollocks, if anything the side under-achieved and could have got many more points)... He then went on to further undermine player confidence, be continuously choosing to reference lack of quality / ability instead of shouldering any responsibility...

He then went on to play naive football that left us completely exposed and extremely easy to score against. He further undermined confidence by focusing heavily on 'scoring first' and then continually 'conceding first'...

As a manager / leader he was dour and uninspiring and slowly but surely took everyone down with him....

As I've said before, I don't think we've had a worse manager or played more disorganised and naive football in all the time I've been watching the Pool.

Now you / he can try and blame the fans for not getting behind him, but the reality of the matter is that there was something more fundamentally wrong than than not being a fans favourite..... Plus he's had plenty of opportunity to build on fantastic backing / feelgood factor
and completely failed...

100%. He had a job to do to persuade the fans he was the man for the job. Change minds. Attack the job with positivity. He did the opposite. Just dropped his kecks and showed the muckers his arse. Symbolic moment?

 

[tangerinetitans]

Without a shadow of doubt that first paragraph is absolute horse shit

Sadler could have saved a fortune getting you in as manager,
Always next season though

 

[SEASIDE2020]

If we have enough to stay up

I'm bitterly disappointed that we didn't bring a couple more in this window

Granted the squad looks a hell of a lot stronger than it did when we started the season and at least we have options now, options that we didn't have during one of the most unique seasons we have had to face

All those games squeezed in due to the World Cup really put us on the back foot due to the lack of squad depth.

The Summer Window was horrendous did the club not realise it was a full on 2 games a week for 2 months

The appointment of Mick McCarthy given our squad and the players we signed in January before he came in baffles me a little

McCarthy certainly wouldn't have been my first choice to take over, thats not being disrespectful towards him as he's a experienced campaigner at this level

However I'm not sure we have the players for his proven style of play

We don't really have the wingbacks for 3 centre halves and I'm not sure we have the right sort of wingers for a 442 either. I don't believe we have a long throw specialist (this is something that Mick has had and relied on at previous clubs) and I don't think we have the big physical athletic central midfield types either

And we still don't have a decent alternative to Madine

It's going to be interesting to see how we set up and what the manager wants to do as we have a lot of technical smaller players in our squad

Fingers crossed we will get out of this but this last week in the market is disappointing

The whole thing shows a distinct lack of planning from the board I'm afraid

Utmp ....

Phil

I always like reading your posts whether or not I agree with you and you always inspire discussion/debate - even with this post that I'm now moaning about - but you are not really saying that much here and I can see where all the folk that are questioning you regarding what's changed for your opinion to change are coming from.

As 20s said, nobody knows whether we'll stay up or not, last time I looked - before the Watford game I think - Betfair had us at evens (50%) to stay up/go down and I couldn't argue with that percentage.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Sadler could have saved a fortune getting you in as manager,
Always next season though

No thanks

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Phil

I always like reading your posts whether or not I agree and you always inspire discussion/debate - even with this post - but you are not really saying much here and I can see where all the folk that are questioning you regarding what's changed for your opinion to change are coming from.

As 20s said, nobody knows whether we'll stay up or not, last time I looked - before the Watford game I think - Betfair had us at evens (50%) to stay up/go down and I couldn't argue with that percentage.

Nothing has changed except that we haven't brought in players to suit the way McCarthy plays

 

[Ball on Fire]

Certainly didnt play against southampton like we thought . Most people were happy with the side picked as we thought we would lump it up to the miss machine .We do look at our worst when we play that way .

Madine was injured for the Southampton game so that could have changed the starting X1. I am sure McCarthy’s first team selection at Southampton was heavily influenced by inout from O’Donnell who surprisingly left Blackpool earlier this week after being announced the previous week as a great coach and he would staying until the end of the season, I wonder what changed his or the Club’s mind after that game at Southampton. We should get a far better idea of a McCarthy Blackpool team at Middlesbrough this weekend and the two must win home games next week. I expect Connolly, Goode, Nelson, Husband, Dougall, Trybull and Madine to be important players for McCarthy plus Bridcutt, Beesley, Ekpiteta and Stewart if and when they become available for selection.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Appleton was never given a chance from Day 1, the majority of Blackpool fans never accepted his appointment and wanted him to fail and their actions definitely contributed to his sacking, I also blame the BFC Board, call it naivety, irrespective of results this season their appointment of Appleton was a bad decision as they didn’t even consider there would be issues with the majority of the fan base. I noticed that Appleton refuted being a Preston fan in an interview the other day and confirmed he was a Man Utd fan, surely if he had made that statement earlier that would have kept him in the Blackpool job a bit longer. Blackpool did overachieve last season, Critch did a very good job in getting promotion from Div 1, quicker than Sadler and the BFC Board expected and delivering a good season of consolidation in the Championship and he was always going to be a tough act for anybody to follow. The reality is that Blackpool are currently a bottom half of the Championship or Top Half of League 1 side who I expect to at least flirt with relegation from the Championship most seasons. Irrespective of Sadler’s model, in terms of successfully managing the Club’s short, medium and long term objectives the player recruitment at Blackpool is still well below the standard I would expect from a progressive Championship club which could be down to Critch delivering promotion a bit too early.

Do I think Appleton would have kept us up, no I don‘t, not with a baying mob of Pool fans, not away fans by the way, chanting “ you’re getting sacked in the morning “. What impact did you think this negative, toxic atmosphere had on the players, do you think it motivated them to perform better? Appleton has gone, McCarthy has come in and the feel good factor and lots of positivity is back, Mick now needs to deliver Championship survival anyway he can.

Of course he was given a chance... He just blew that chance be being utterly shit. Nobody wanted him to fail and the supporters (both home and away) have got behind the Manager and the Team all season Appleton refuted being a Preston Fan within a week of him arriving at the Club and conformed he was a Manchester United Fan.... The problem he had was failing to win enough games... That was the ONLY reason the fans turned against him and they'd have turned against any manager who churned out a similarly shit run of results.

I agree with you that the recruitment has been poor, but I also wonder whether Appleton has contributed to that problem too...

I don't think we had a particularly toxic atmosphere during games at all TBH.... And I certainly don't think there was any evidence that the players weren't trying or motivated... To me they just looked badly organised and I thought the same for pretty much all of the season... I think that lack of organisation and tactical naivety at this level is what led to Appleton's downfall... It's the reason he's never succeeded in the Championship, it's the reason his points per game dips the higher up the leagues he's been and it's the reason why he would have taken us down with or without the fan's backing.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Of course he was given a chance... He just blew that chance be being utterly shit. Nobody wanted him to fail and the supporters (both home and away) have got behind the Manager and the Team all season Appleton refuted being a Preston Fan within a week of him arriving at the Club and conformed he was a Manchester United Fan.... The problem he had was failing to win enough games... That was the ONLY reason the fans turned against him and they'd have turned against any manager who churned out a similarly shit run of results.

I agree with you that the recruitment has been poor, but I also wonder whether Appleton has contributed to that problem too...

I don't think we had a particularly toxic atmosphere during games at all TBH.... And I certainly don't think there was any evidence that the players weren't trying or motivated... To me they just looked badly organised and I thought the same for pretty much all of the season... I think that lack of organisation and tactical naivety at this level is what led to Appleton's downfall... It's the reason he's never succeeded in the Championship, it's the reason his points per game dips the higher up the leagues he's been and it's the reason why he would have taken us down with or without the fan's backing.

Bit of re writing history in that little lot mate

When he was appointed it was quite clear that nobody in our fan base wanted him

It was a bizarre appointment and our fans never took to him and couldn't wait to stick the knife in

Wigan, Hull and Cardiff away games the fans turned on him, that's not debatable

He wasn't wanted and wasn't backed

 

[SEASIDE2020]

Nothing has changed except that we haven't brought in players to suit the way McCarthy plays

Fair enough Phil.

I'm thinking that you can't get away with your thoughts on the board and specifically a possible lack of planning.

I'm not saying that what you are saying is wrong and you are perfectly entitled to your opinion but I think that things have now moved on and if plans were wrong, what's more important now is learning from any mistakes that have been made.

All football teams will have a lot of changes in personnel and all sorts of things can happen and managers will always have to work with players who may not have been their first choice and/or don't suit their style.

Also, although I appreciate that McCarthy is a defence first, hard to beat manager, I'd like to think that he has the ability to adjust things to get the best out of the resources afforded/available to him.

I know I'm exaggerating a point to make a point but if we had 11 Messi's, I'm sure McCarthy wouldn't play 4-5-1 or whatever.

As I said before, I don't know whether we will have enough to stay up or not but if you haven't guessed by now, I'm a fan of Big Mick "Every point is a prisoner" McCarthy.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Bit of re writing history in that little lot mate

When he was appointed it was quite clear that nobody in our fan base wanted him

It was a bizarre appointment and our fans never took to him and couldn't wait to stick the knife in

Wigan, Hull and Cardiff away games the fans turned on him, that's not debatable

He wasn't wanted and wasn't backed

I disagree that nobody wanted him.... Plenty didn't, but of those most (pretty much all) were willing to give him a fair shot.

Ultimately managing relationships (including the relationship with supporters) is a part of the manager's job.... He wasn't very good at it... In fact I'm struggling to think of anything he WAS good at TBH.

As I've said many times Phil, decent managers will find a way to get results and our squad has been good enough to get more points than we did. The supporters aren't stupid and they could see that the football was comedy stuff in the main... Just like many of his interviews.

Draw a line under it....We won't get much worse than him, so things are looking up already

 

[JJpool]

Of course he was given a chance... He just blew that chance be being utterly shit. Nobody wanted him to fail and the supporters (both home and away) have got behind the Manager and the Team all season Appleton refuted being a Preston Fan within a week of him arriving at the Club and conformed he was a Manchester United Fan.... The problem he had was failing to win enough games... That was the ONLY reason the fans turned against him and they'd have turned against any manager who churned out a similarly shit run of results.

I agree with you that the recruitment has been poor, but I also wonder whether Appleton has contributed to that problem too...

I don't think we had a particularly toxic atmosphere during games at all TBH.... And I certainly don't think there was any evidence that the players weren't trying or motivated... To me they just looked badly organised and I thought the same for pretty much all of the season... I think that lack of organisation and tactical naivety at this level is what led to Appleton's downfall... It's the reason he's never succeeded in the Championship, it's the reason his points per game dips the higher up the leagues he's been and it's the reason why he would have taken us down with or without the fan's backing.

I don't think it's in doubt that he wasn't liked by many because of the pne connection, his previous stint here and leaving to a rival, his perceived demeanour, record etc.

However after thre initial meltdown people generally got behind him. Of course always grumbles online.

That doesn't mean the atmosphere was great, it was poor, he didn't have a connection and it never really built up. But the football results were poor especially at home and when you keep losing and looking clueless it spreads to the crowd.

Some people were expecting it to fail though and it did.

Some fans could have been better but you can't magic that connection up and he was never going to have it unless he really did well.

For all the toxic claim bollocks there was literally 2 chants against him. One at Wigan and another Cardiff.

Most sets of football fans would have turned on him far earlier and probably nastier.

But given his history he was always going to be given less time with many and what happened was always likely to happen.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

I disagree that nobody wanted him.... Plenty didn't, but of those most (pretty much all) were willing to give him a fair shot.

Ultimately managing relationships (including the relationship with supporters) is a part of the manager's job.... He wasn't very good at it... In fact I'm struggling to think of anything he WAS good at TBH.

As I've said many times Phil, decent managers will find a way to get results and our squad has been good enough to get more points than we did. The supporters aren't stupid and they could see that the football was comedy stuff in the main... Just like many of his interviews.

Draw a line under it....We won't get much worse than him, so things are looking up already

Nah he definitely didn't get a fair shot

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

Nah he definitely didn't get a fair shot

The story of his life it would seem….

 

[Insider]

Just had an e-mail from the BFC Volunteers Group.
They've asked if we can be available pitchside on Tuesday with a towel.

 

[Wizaard]

Of course you can bring them in...

Why would you name any player who is currently injured in the 25? What is the point?

What if the player you name has a set-back until the end of the season, whist a different player returns from injury and is available to play....

Obviously once you bring a player into the 25 they can't be replaced... I get that, but I'm not talking about chopping and changing the 25, I'm talking about leaving space open for fit players to return.

I don't think we should name 22 on the off chance some sick notes get better. That would result in a couple of fit players being left out.

 

[SwannDangerous]

It's quite simple

I don't believe we have signed enough of the right sort of players for a Mick McCarthy team

But you thought we had enough under appy on the 10 game winless run before he got the boot?

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

But you thought we had enough under appy on the 10 game winless run before he got the boot?

Yeah because he finally got the players in he wanted

I'm not sure Big Mick has those players

It's really isn't rocket science

 

[Insider]

I don't think we should name 22 on the off chance some sick notes get better. That would result in a couple of fit players being left out.

Wiz. What are you on about?
Bifster explained it in words of one syllable and its not like its not been done before.
You don't put injured players in the squad but if you think you will want them you leave a space.
If they don't get fit you bring someone else in.
The ones that aren't included will be fringe players anyway.
It happened with Gary and CJ last season.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

I don't think we should name 22 on the off chance some sick notes get better. That would result in a couple of fit players being left out.

I suppose it depends…

Lubala isn’t going to feature

Current Injured

Ekpiteta 6-8 weeks
Husband ?
Gabriel (training)
Garbutt ?

Anderson (training)
Bridcutt ?
Stewart ?
Fiorini ?

So by my reckoning that leaves us 21, based on injured players alone.

 

[Insider]

I suppose it depends…

Lubala isn’t going to feature

Current Injured

Ekpiteta 6-8 weeks
Husband ?
Gabriel (training)
Garbutt ?

Anderson (training)
Bridcutt ?
Stewart ?
Fiorini ?

So by my reckoning that leaves us 21, based on injured players alone.

I'm led to believe Beesley is also injured.
Just looking back on the EFL site they put the squad lists on their site on 12 Sep for the first half of the season. We had 22 then + Carey.

 

[SwannDangerous]

Yeah because he finally got the players in he wanted

I'm not sure Big Mick has those players

It's really isn't rocket science

Before he got those players in though.. the 9 games without a win. You thought we had sufficient personnel?

I'm just saying. Maybe big mick doesn't have the right players. But it certainly shouldn't be the first time you've thought we didn't have enough. We haven't had enough all season.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

I'm led to believe Beesley is also injured.
Just looking back on the EFL site they put the squad lists on their site on 12 Sep for the first half of the season. We had 22 then + Carey.

So Beesley out leaves us with 20 + Carey…

I think or then becomes a case of bringing players back in based on fitness and how much cover we already have in their position.

Edit: sorry That‘s 19 plus Carey

 

[fcblackpool]

Perhaps MM will have to adapt to the players we have.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

Before he got those players in though.. the 9 games without a win. You thought we had sufficient personnel?

I'm just saying. Maybe big mick doesn't have the right players. But it certainly shouldn't be the first time you've thought we didn't have enough. We haven't had enough all season.

No I didn't i said we had gaping holes in the squad from the cluster fuck of the summer window

Hence why we were struggling to get results

We finally get the players in he wanted and he gets sacked

Now we have a new manager who doesn't have the players he wants either

It's all a bit of a mess caused by piss poor planning for the top

 

[Ball on Fire]

Of course he was given a chance... He just blew that chance be being utterly shit. Nobody wanted him to fail and the supporters (both home and away) have got behind the Manager and the Team all season Appleton refuted being a Preston Fan within a week of him arriving at the Club and conformed he was a Manchester United Fan.... The problem he had was failing to win enough games... That was the ONLY reason the fans turned against him and they'd have turned against any manager who churned out a similarly shit run of results.

I agree with you that the recruitment has been poor, but I also wonder whether Appleton has contributed to that problem too...

I don't think we had a particularly toxic atmosphere during games at all TBH.... And I certainly don't think there was any evidence that the players weren't trying or motivated... To me they just looked badly organised and I thought the same for pretty much all of the season... I think that lack of organisation and tactical naivety at this level is what led to Appleton's downfall... It's the reason he's never succeeded in the Championship, it's the reason his points per game dips the higher up the leagues he's been and it's the reason why he would have taken us down with or without the fan's backing.

i think you are in complete denial, not a toxic atmosphere, do you go to all of the games? At times I was embarrassed to be a Blackpool supporter when large numbers of Pool fans turned on one of their own. It is testimony to Appleton’s skills when you say there was was no evidence that the players weren’t trying or weren’t motivated.

To bring a little more balance into this discussion, here are my Top 10 Appleton achievements this season, during his 7 months at Blackpool:-
1. Annihilating Preston at Bloomfield Road 4-2.
2. Beating Premier League Notts Forest 4-1 in the FA Cup.
3. Two great 3-3 draws away from home against promotion favourites Burnley and Sheff Utd.
4. Away wins at QPR, Coventry and Huddersfield.
5. Got Bowler back on track as a special Blackpool player after he was not being selected by Critch for the last few games of the previous season. Bowler was sold for £4M.
6. Got Jerry Yates scoring regularly in the Championship and his valuation soared to £5M in Oct/Nov.
7. Noticeable improvements in the consistency and contributions of Connolly, Thorniley, CJ and Madine.
8. His excellent coaching and player development skills recognised by Arsenal, Man City Wolves and Leeds Utd when they allowed Patino, Fiorini, Rogers, Theo and Poveda to come on loan to Blackpool.
9. Both Bowler and Rogers, who have previously had experience of Appleton as a Manager and a Coach, were delighted to come to Blackpool in the Jan transfer window. Squad harmony and Not losing the dressing room — Appleton seemed to have had a very good working relationships with all of the Blackpool players, staff and Board. There were no dramas or fall outs.
10. Totally committed to the job and worked very hard to turn the results around, including coming into work when his child was ill and in hospital.

I will also produce a Top 10 list of Mick McCarthy’s achievements at the end of this season.

 

[SwannDangerous]

No I didn't i said we had gaping holes in the squad from the cluster fuck of the summer window

Hence why we were struggling to get results

We finally get the players in he wanted and he gets sacked

Now we have a new manager who doesn't have the players he wants either

It's all a bit of a mess caused by piss poor planning for the top

"For the first time this season, i am unsure if we have enough to stay up"

That's a direct quote, the first thing that you said in this thread.

 

[Insider]

No I didn't i said we had gaping holes in the squad from the cluster fuck of the summer window

Hence why we were struggling to get results

We finally get the players in he wanted and he gets sacked

Now we have a new manager who doesn't have the players he wants either

It's all a bit of a mess caused by piss poor planning for the top

I can't remember whether it was Goode or Nelson but one of them suggested the move had been in planning from before McCarthy was appointed.
I really don't know these days how it works when you have a recruitment team in place and it's even more complicated this season because we've changed our recruitment team mid-season.
The direction obviously comes from The Board ie "young players to develop and sell on for a profit." and there will lots of data, lists etc.
But when you change Manager late in the day AND particularly if he has a completely different style then meeting his requirements must prove challenging.
I wonder how much input the Manager has?
These are the type of questions that would be interesting to ask at a SD meeting (to me anyway) rather than how soft the toilet paper is.

 

[Charlie Gracie]

If we have enough to stay up

I'm bitterly disappointed that we didn't bring a couple more in this window

Granted the squad looks a hell of a lot stronger than it did when we started the season and at least we have options now, options that we didn't have during one of the most unique seasons we have had to face

All those games squeezed in due to the World Cup really put us on the back foot due to the lack of squad depth.

The Summer Window was horrendous did the club not realise it was a full on 2 games a week for 2 months

The appointment of Mick McCarthy given our squad and the players we signed in January before he came in baffles me a little

McCarthy certainly wouldn't have been my first choice to take over, thats not being disrespectful towards him as he's a experienced campaigner at this level

However I'm not sure we have the players for his proven style of play

We don't really have the wingbacks for 3 centre halves and I'm not sure we have the right sort of wingers for a 442 either. I don't believe we have a long throw specialist (this is something that Mick has had and relied on at previous clubs) and I don't think we have the big physical athletic central midfield types either

And we still don't have a decent alternative to Madine

It's going to be interesting to see how we set up and what the manager wants to do as we have a lot of technical smaller players in our squad

Fingers crossed we will get out of this but this last week in the market is disappointing

The whole thing shows a distinct lack of planning from the board I'm afraid

Utmp ....

There goes Mr. Negativity again. The same old record. Why don’t you stay in Wales and have a good moan there.

 

[Loco]

i think you are in complete denial, not a toxic atmosphere, do you go to all of the games? At times I was embarrassed to be a Blackpool supporter when large numbers of Pool fans turned on one of their own. It is testimony to Appleton’s skills when you say there was was no evidence that the players weren’t trying or weren’t motivated.

To bring a little more balance into this discussion, here are my Top 10 Appleton achievements this season, during his 7 months at Blackpool:-
1. Annihilating Preston at Bloomfield Road 4-2.
2. Beating Premier League Notts Forest 4-1 in the FA Cup.
3. Two great 3-3 draws away from home against promotion favourites Burnley and Sheff Utd.
4. Away wins at QPR, Coventry and Huddersfield.
5. Got Bowler back on track as a special Blackpool player after he was not being selected by Critch for the last few games of the season. Bowler was sold for £4M.
6. Got Jerry Yates scoring regularly in the Championship and his valuation soared to £5M in Oct/Nov.
7. Noticeable improvements in the consistency and contributions of Connolly, Thorniley, CJ and Madine.
8. His excellent coaching and player development skills recognised by Arsenal, Man City Wolves and Leeds Utd when they allowed Patino, Fiorini, Rogers, Theo and Poveda to come on loan to Blackpool.
9. Both Bowler and Rogers, who have previously had experience of Appleton as a Manager and a Coach, were delighted to come to Blackpool in the Jan transfer window. Squad harmony and Not losing the dressing room — Appleton seemed to have had a very good working relationships with all of the Blackpool players, staff and Board. There were no dramas or fall outs.
10. Totally committed to the job and worked very hard to turn the results around, including coming into work when his child was ill and in hospital.

I will also produce a Top 10 list of Mick McCarthy’s achievements at the end of this season.

We played so well at qpr and things were looking very promising, until Patino and Fiorini got injured. Then Josh was sold. Things started to unravel very quickly after that. MA has to be the unluckiest manager we've ever had.

 

[Ball on Fire]

I can't remember whether it was Goode or Nelson but one of them suggested the move had been in planning from before McCarthy was appointed.
I really don't know these days how it works when you have a recruitment team in place and it's even more complicated this season because we've changed our recruitment team mid-season.
The direction obviously comes from The Board ie "young players to develop and sell on for a profit." and there will lots of data, lists etc.
But when you change Manager late in the day AND particularly if he has a completely different style then meeting his requirements must prove challenging.
I wonder how much input the Manager has?
These are the type of questions that would be interesting to ask at a SD meeting (to me anyway) rather than how soft the toilet paper is.

Yes that was Goode who said he had been waiting 2 weeks for the loan deal to go through.

 

[BFC_BFC_BFC]

i think you are in complete denial, not a toxic atmosphere, do you go to all of the games? At times I was embarrassed to be a Blackpool supporter when large numbers of Pool fans turned on one of their own. It is testimony to Appleton’s skills when you say there was was no evidence that the players weren’t trying or weren’t motivated.

To bring a little more balance into this discussion, here are my Top 10 Appleton achievements this season, during his 7 months at Blackpool:-
1. Annihilating Preston at Bloomfield Road 4-2.
2. Beating Premier League Notts Forest 4-1 in the FA Cup.
3. Two great 3-3 draws away from home against promotion favourites Burnley and Sheff Utd.
4. Away wins at QPR, Coventry and Huddersfield.
5. Got Bowler back on track as a special Blackpool player after he was not being selected by Critch for the last few games of the season. Bowler was sold for £4M.
6. Got Jerry Yates scoring regularly in the Championship and his valuation soared to £5M in Oct/Nov.
7. Noticeable improvements in the consistency and contributions of Connolly, Thorniley, CJ and Madine.
8. His excellent coaching and player development skills recognised by Arsenal, Man City and Leeds Utd when they allowed Patino, Fiorini, Rogers and Poveda to come on loan to Blackpool.
9. Both Bowler and Rogers who have previously had experience of Appleton as a Manager and a Coach were delighted to come to Blackpool in the Jan transfer window. Seems to have had very good working relationships with all of the Blackpool players, staff and Board.
10. Totally committed to the job and worked very hard to turn the results around, including coming into work when his child was ill and in hospital.

I will also produce a Top 10 list of Mick McCarthy’s achievements at the end of this season.

I'm not in denial at all, I just don't agree with you and, evidently, I'm not the only one. I've been to most games and more than enough games over the years to know what a Toxic atmosphere looks like... The occasional bit of discontent expressed towards Appleton was long after results had already started to go downhill and wasn't anywhere close to being toxic Try the few games prior to the Boycott for what a Toxic atmosphere looks like...

As for being a testimony to Appleton's skills... It was certainly a testament to the fantastic group of players that Appleton inherited. I think you'd struggle to find a more honest and hard working group anywhere, which is why it was so disappointing for Appleton to put them down before a ball had been kicked.

Just to put your best moments into some kind of context:-

1. A great result, but a game that we were very, very lucky to win and one that could (and very much looked like it was going to) go the other way.

2. A good result against pretty weak opposition where the wind favoured us for once.

3. The football in both those draws was complete comedy stuff at times.... Two games where the results and the excitement really papered over the cracks of some kamikaze stuff.

4. Sometimes things come together and there were a couple of decent performances in there where things went our way... Huddersfield was obviously very lucky that the Goal Line Technology failed, otherwise we'd be talking about a disappointing draw. The failure to build on the Coventry result and at least come away with a credible draw at WBA, together with the subsequent shyte run of games really summed Appleton up... He really had no idea why or how he managed to cobble those results together and was clueless as to how to push on.

5. Bowler's absence at the end of the season wasn't down to Critchley..

6. Jerry's purple patch this season was certainly one of the highlights.... I'm not sure it was down to Appleton though...

7. Sorry, I must have missed all of that.... All those players have been equally as good / bad in spells as they were last season.

8. We've looked utterly toothless in midfield at times this season as a result of an over-reliance on loans and kids.... I think the loans have been one of the biggest negatives of this season overall so far.... And I'm convinced it was a strategy that Appleton encouraged to our cost.

9. Bowler and Rogers are two more loan players..... Loan players are often more concerned about their individual ability to have freedom and show themselves off than they are with getting results... That seems to have been a big part of our problem all season.... Trading proper organisation for so called excitement... Another example being Corbeanu, a player who was simply here to play for himself.

10. So lacking in commitment that he couldn't even raise any emotion on the touchline, regularly seemed completely under-prepared for games and failed to properly assess the opposition and didn't seem to work that hard on training either... All in all a complete dead loss and no surprises whatsoever that his results were shyte.

His record in the Championship speaks for itself.... He's a poor workman who blames his tools....Simple as that.

 

[Thatseasider]

i think you are in complete denial, not a toxic atmosphere, do you go to all of the games? At times I was embarrassed to be a Blackpool supporter when large numbers of Pool fans turned on one of their own. It is testimony to Appleton’s skills when you say there was was no evidence that the players weren’t trying or weren’t motivated.

To bring a little more balance into this discussion, here are my Top 10 Appleton achievements this season, during his 7 months at Blackpool:-
1. Annihilating Preston at Bloomfield Road 4-2.
2. Beating Premier League Notts Forest 4-1 in the FA Cup.
3. Two great 3-3 draws away from home against promotion favourites Burnley and Sheff Utd.
4. Away wins at QPR, Coventry and Huddersfield.
5. Got Bowler back on track as a special Blackpool player after he was not being selected by Critch for the last few games of the previous season. Bowler was sold for £4M.
6. Got Jerry Yates scoring regularly in the Championship and his valuation soared to £5M in Oct/Nov.
7. Noticeable improvements in the consistency and contributions of Connolly, Thorniley, CJ and Madine.
8. His excellent coaching and player development skills recognised by Arsenal, Man City Wolves and Leeds Utd when they allowed Patino, Fiorini, Rogers, Theo and Poveda to come on loan to Blackpool.
9. Both Bowler and Rogers, who have previously had experience of Appleton as a Manager and a Coach, were delighted to come to Blackpool in the Jan transfer window. Squad harmony and Not losing the dressing room — Appleton seemed to have had a very good working relationships with all of the Blackpool players, staff and Board. There were no dramas or fall outs.
10. Totally committed to the job and worked very hard to turn the results around, including coming into work when his child was ill and in hospital.

I will also produce a Top 10 list of Mick McCarthy’s achievements at the end of this season.

Points 5 and onwards are a wind up, right?

 

[voyeur]

How short are we of Mick players?

I'd say we have 6 who play in a back 3. Goode, Marv, Nelson, Connolly, Husband, Thorniley.

Wing backs less so but we've Lyons and Gabriel. Lyons either side. Hubby can do a job as cover at LWB and I woukdnt discard Thompson who suits a 5 better than a 4 probably. Maybe Rogers too? Better option than CJ I think. So Lyons or Gabriel RWB, Hubby/Thommo/Rogers LWB?

Midfield 3? Trybull, Dougall, Patino, Carey. Bit short here, but Poveda may be one of the three, in front of two of those 4. Several injured who may help at some point.

Up front we've only got Madine as the big bastard option but I'm not sure MM is one track minded about that and we have Jerry and Lavery. Another striker option would have been good.

 

[Phil_bfc deux]

"For the first time this season, i am unsure if we have enough to stay up"

That's a direct quote, the first thing that you said in this thread.

Yet again you miss the point

 

[Ball on Fire]

I'm not in denial at all, I just don't agree with you and, evidently, I'm not the only one. I've been to most games and more than enough games over the years to know what a Toxic atmosphere looks like... The occasional bit of discontent expressed towards Appleton was long after results had already started to go downhill and wasn't anywhere close to being toxic Try the few games prior to the Boycott for what a Toxic atmosphere looks like...

As for being a testimony to Appleton's skills... It was certainly a testament to the fantastic group of players that Appleton inherited. I think you'd struggle to find a more honest and hard working group anywhere, which is why it was so disappointing for Appleton to put them down before a ball had been kicked.

Just to put your best moments into some kind of context:-

1. A great result, but a game that we were very, very lucky to win and one that could (and very much looked like it was going to) go the other way.

2. A good result against pretty weak opposition where the wind favoured us for once.

3. The football in both those draws was complete comedy stuff at times.... Two games where the results and the excitement really papered over the cracks of some kamikaze stuff.

4. Sometimes things come together and there were a couple of decent performances in there where things went our way... Huddersfield was obviously very lucky that the Goal Line Technology failed, otherwise we'd be talking about a disappointing draw. The failure to build on the Coventry result and at least come away with a credible draw at WBA, together with the subsequent shyte run of games really summed Appleton up... He really had no idea why or how he managed to cobble those results together and was clueless as to how to push on.

5. Bowler's absence at the end of the season wasn't down to Critchley..

6. Jerry's purple patch this season was certainly one of the highlights.... I'm not sure it was down to Appleton though...

7. Sorry, I must have missed all of that.... All those players have been equally as good / bad in spells as they were last season.

8. We've looked utterly toothless in midfield at times this season as a result of an over-reliance on loans and kids.... I think the loans have been one of the biggest negatives of this season overall so far.... And I'm convinced it was a strategy that Appleton encouraged to our cost.

9. Bowler and Rogers are two more loan players..... Loan players are often more concerned about their individual ability to have freedom and show themselves off than they are with getting results... That seems to have been a big part of our problem all season.... Trading proper organisation for so called excitement... Another example being Corbeanu, a player who was simply here to play for himself.

10. So lacking in commitment that he couldn't even raise any emotion on the touchline, regularly seemed completely under-prepared for games and failed to properly assess the opposition and didn't seem to work that hard on training either... All in all a complete dead loss and no surprises whatsoever that his results were shyte.

His record in the Championship speaks for itself.... He's a poor workman who blames his tools....Simple as that.

Your total negativity towards Appleton simply continues, you don’t give him any credit for anything. You also seem to know Appleton really well and even know how he thinks. In terms of credibility you always have a reason not to give Appleton any credit and blame him for everything, now that is what I call toxic.
I am intrigued by your comment against Achievement number 5 — Bowler himself said he was fit to play in those games at the end of last season so why didn’t Critch play him, if Bowler had played at Posh who knows it could have been 5 all.