incredible_edibles
Well-known member
I can see both Pompey and Oxford fading away in the next month - but who is likely to join Notlob in the top two - as much as it upsets me to say so .. probably Posh.
Hard to see beyond Bolton .. and who else
- Thread starter incredible_edibles
- Start date
AllezBlackpool
Well-known member
Noblot no chance. 
A_Tense_Grin
Well-known member
Peterborough made us look like Fleetwood. Just got to hope it was a one off game. They were very good and played the way I want Blackpool to play.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
I'd say Blackpool are the best side I've seen so far this season
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
Today's result is precisely why Critchley's tactics have been boiling my piss earlier in the season.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
Leyland bfc
Well-known member
They didn’t second half far from it and we had 10 men
Leyland bfc
Well-known member
Yep especially when we play like we did today
Matesrates
Well-known member
I’m having another beer, the positively on here tonight is intoxicating.
hertfordseasider
Well-known member
We just missed out 3 seasons ago but the start to that season was a lot worse than this and we also had a poor Christmas, if we can get to the top 4 by New Year we will be top 2, probably with Bolton.
TangerinePeel
Well-known member
Starting to hit our stride I hope. We've come out the end of a tough run of fixtures looking alright over the last couple months, top sides and derbies and we're sitting 7th at the end of it.
Next 8 games are more favourable. We could be well and truly kicking on now.
Next 8 games are more favourable. We could be well and truly kicking on now.
Last edited:
It took Sir Alex 4 years to get Man United going.Today's result is precisely why Critchley's tactics have been boiling my piss earlier in the season.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
Maybe you could give Critchley at least a few months to get us purring.
Dark_Side_of_the_Lune
Well-known member
If Bolton finish one place behind us they’ll be happy
Peterborough sorted us out with very clinical / cynical performance.Today's result is precisely why Critchley's tactics have been boiling my piss earlier in the season.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
So do you now think that Sadler did a good job in reappointing Critchley?
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
For me he's in his 3rd year, broken service, I'll give you that.
Stop making excuses for him
Not making excuses at all - I think that Critchley is great and that we are lucky to have him.
I'm also willing to give people time to get things right.
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
And then they had to go into gamesmanship mode as soon as we went at em with ten men.!!
Had we done that from the off with 11 men totally different story.
Bet they're not that good when we play them at theirs later in the season, especially if we continue to play like we have over the last few
LA1 Seasider
Well-known member
Do you not think it maybe takes time to get the team to gel, up to speed on tactics abd game plans and also over the complete clusterfuck and confidence sapping drudgery of the 12 months prior. It’s not a case of clicking fingers and players aren’t robots who can just execute demands at will. They’ve got to learn and train and become confident and comfortable at doing what they’re asked but also at doing it as a matter of second nature.Today's result is precisely why Critchley's tactics have been boiling my piss earlier in the season.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
There’s no suprise that some of the players Critchley turned into stars, but who regressed last year are now beginning to find their feet. Dougall, Marv and CJ look like new men
Wizaard
Well-known member
They were that good they crumbled against 10 men and conceded two goals.
We will beat them at London Rd.
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
So by your reasoning Leicester, Leeds and Southampton should be struggling in the Championship because they got relegated and their confidence was shot to shit.
Nope 1st 3rd and 4th in the division
70% of the team Critchley inherited at the start of the season were his players last time he was here.
Did all those players have to retrain the way Critchley wanted them to as they'd forgotten everything they'd done the last time he was here? Yeh, right
Wilburrabbit
Well-known member
Yes but Appleton and McCarthy had coached the sh*t and confidence out of them.So by your reasoning Leicester, Leeds and Southampton should be struggling in the Championship because they got relegated and their confidence was shot to shit.
Nope 1st 3rd and 4th in the division
70% of the team Critchley inherited at the start of the season were his players last time he was here.
Did all those players have to retrain the way Critchley wanted them to as they'd forgotten everything they'd done the last time he was here? Yeh, right
Wizaard
Well-known member
Yes, they did.So by your reasoning Leicester, Leeds and Southampton should be struggling in the Championship because they got relegated and their confidence was shot to shit.
Nope 1st 3rd and 4th in the division
70% of the team Critchley inherited at the start of the season were his players last time he was here.
Did all those players have to retrain the way Critchley wanted them to as they'd forgotten everything they'd done the last time he was here? Yeh, right
LA1 Seasider
Well-known member
It’s a bit different isn’t it. All 3 have a squad of players far too good for the Championship. The gulf between those divisions is much larger than that between the Championship and League 1. All 3 bought millions of pounds of talent from other Championship clubs. All 3 were established Premier League clubs full of internationals. It’s common for the PL clubs to go straight back up. It’s quite uncommon for that to happen to clubs dropping out of the Championshiop. In fact League 1 is notorious for trapping clubs with far bigger budgets and much greater resources within it. Sunderland, Portsmouth, Derby, Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry, Bolton, Blackburn, Ipswich etc… I could go on. Your comparison is plain silly.So by your reasoning Leicester, Leeds and Southampton should be struggling in the Championship because they got relegated and their confidence was shot to shit.
Nope 1st 3rd and 4th in the division
70% of the team Critchley inherited at the start of the season were his players last time he was here.
Did all those players have to retrain the way Critchley wanted them to as they'd forgotten everything they'd done the last time he was here? Yeh, right
And yes of course the players have to train and relearn. It’s not fifa ffs.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Can you put some names to this 70% figure please?So by your reasoning Leicester, Leeds and Southampton should be struggling in the Championship because they got relegated and their confidence was shot to shit.
Nope 1st 3rd and 4th in the division
70% of the team Critchley inherited at the start of the season were his players last time he was here.
Did all those players have to retrain the way Critchley wanted them to as they'd forgotten everything they'd done the last time he was here? Yeh, right
I mean the squad we finished our Championship Season with was completely decimated when we were relegated to L1 and I'm not convinced at all by this 70% figure.
A stronger bench than one with Morgan, Weir, Joseph, Lyons, Connolly and Casey?
I think we've got one of the deepest squads of the last 50 odd years.
Hadley
Well-known member
Yep imho. Perhaps two striker options and another winger. Players that can impact games consistently.
Is there a team in League One with a better set of strikers than Rhodes, Joseph, Lavery, Beeley and Kouassi?
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
Off the top of my head none of the forwards apart from possibly Lavery.
Grimmy
Defence
Hubby
Marv
Casey
Gabriel
Connolly
Midfield
Dougall
Carey
Dale
CJ
Virtue
And the others who are now in the squad are Critchley signings, maybe not Lyons or Thompson
I've omitted the loans
Hadley
Well-known member
Possibly not. Good point made. However one is on loan with a recall option and two are currently injured.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
By my reckoning the figure is just over 48%
Wizzerboy
Well-known member
Fine
Let's hope that we keep Rhodes and the other two recover soonish, otherwise we will need reinforcing. Fingers crossed
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Reality is that what he inherited was pretty threadbare and players like Carey, Hubby, Ekpiteta, Lavery, Beesley, Kenny and CJ had all struggled for form TBH. I think you have to be realistic about where we were at the beginning of this season... He's breathed life and confidence back into all of those players (accepted it's a drop in level) but losing Jerry will have been a big blow to the group (as much for his energy and personality as anything else)..By the end of last season we were more or less 50/50 loan players in the team....Fine
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
As you're one for facts, in our last 15 games of last season, we rarely started with more than 3 loan players on the pitch and it was often less than 3. Hardly 50/50!
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Last 10 - Players in Starting Line UpAs you're one for facts, in our last 15 games of last season, we rarely started with more than 3 loan players on the pitch and it was often less than 3. Hardly 50/50!
Norwich 5 Loan (Won)
Millwall 4 Loan (lost)
Brum 5 Loan (Won)
W Brom. 4 Loan (Lost)
Wigan 5 Loan (Won)
Luton 4 Loan (Lost)
Cardiff 5 Loan (Lost)
Preston 2 Loan (Lost)
Coventry 4 Loan (Lost)
QPR 4 Loan (Won)
So barring the freak result against QPR we never won a game where we didn’t start with at least 5 loan players.
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
Norwich was 4, Millwall was 3, Brum was 4, West Brom was 3... I think you may be counting Nelson as a loan player, he wasn't!
AmericanTangerine
Well-known member
Frustrating we didn’t pick up more points in those earlier games, but those matches were necessary to us getting to where we are now.Today's result is precisely why Critchley's tactics have been boiling my piss earlier in the season.
Some supporters and Critchley himself making out results against the likes of Exeter, PV and Orient we're ok
Teams like Derby and Lincoln beating us hurt even more because........
Apart from Bolton, who are on a par with us, I've not seen a team in this division who can hold a candle to us.
Critchley doesn’t have a switch where he can just make the team start playing well, it’s a process.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Curtis Nelson was effectively a loan player (signed to end of season only)
We also lost Thorniley & Jerry who both featured as regular starters.
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
Effectively perhaps but not actually!
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
The point is that you look at that starting line up at the end of last season (especially the one that was anywhere near successful) and it’s effectively back to the drawing board at the beginning of this season.
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
I'm not convinced. Our midfield is much better now with Norburn's arrival and more recently Dembele's arrival. Yates was a big loss but Rhodes is a class above any striker we've had in recent years. I'd say the defence is better too! The tools were all there, they just needed using properly.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Whether it's better or worse is not really the point... The point is that we definitely didn't start this season with anything like the same players that had been playing last season. Many of our retained players had suffered issues with their form last season etc.. It certainly wasn't a Championship Team in any sense of the word.
Norburn is a decent enough signing and so is Dembele, but Patino and Fiorini were exceptionally good players, as was Josh Bowler and Morgan Rogers
Ultimately it's not at all unreasonable to have had some moderately indifferent form when we have a new manager, substantive changes to the squad and first team, a change in system, wholesale changes to the board and executive team and a load of players who were low on morale and confidence after a relegation etc... And let's face it, based on actual performances we were probably 4-6 points shy of where we deserved to be in any case.
it's quite possible that today was a fork in the road for pompey (cue the fork in gags...).
it might galvanise them - who knows? - but they were clearly rattled (on and off the pitch). it might also encourage other teams to be less intimidated when playing them, home or away. we might have done ourselves a strategic favour on loads of levels today.
wanky wanderers do look to be useful though, which puts our game against them in better perspective - it had 0-0 written all over it - two well-matched sides trying to play the right way yet effectively cancelling each other out.
on the pool side, it seems the penny is dropping, system-wise, with the players. i just hope our progress is exponential because it really does like we're getting there. i only hope our nay-saying, negative-agenda attention seekers are willing to give credit where it's due and channel their energies into something more worthwhile - like supporting the club, gaffer and squad for a fork in change.
it might galvanise them - who knows? - but they were clearly rattled (on and off the pitch). it might also encourage other teams to be less intimidated when playing them, home or away. we might have done ourselves a strategic favour on loads of levels today.
wanky wanderers do look to be useful though, which puts our game against them in better perspective - it had 0-0 written all over it - two well-matched sides trying to play the right way yet effectively cancelling each other out.
on the pool side, it seems the penny is dropping, system-wise, with the players. i just hope our progress is exponential because it really does like we're getting there. i only hope our nay-saying, negative-agenda attention seekers are willing to give credit where it's due and channel their energies into something more worthwhile - like supporting the club, gaffer and squad for a fork in change.
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
Patino, Fiorini and Bowler were part of the problem. Patino and Fiorini are talented lads and may become Championship players but they were nowhere near ready for a Championship campaign last season which is why our midfield was constantly overrun throughout the season. Bowler was a complete waste of space, out of shape and looked completely uninterested. Our relegation was a result of our poor midfield!
BFC_53
Well-known member
I think it's worth noting that of the top three:
Bolton have only played one away game against a top ten side.
Portsmouth have only played three away games against the top ten.
Oxford have played the most difficult games of the three, having played four of the top ten away. But they've just lost their manager which might derail them somewhat (as we saw last season!)
All three still have to play each other before the halfway point.
We've played six away games against the top ten, including all of the top three. As it stands, we've already played many of our most difficult fixtures. I think we have a real opportunity here.
Bolton have only played one away game against a top ten side.
Portsmouth have only played three away games against the top ten.
Oxford have played the most difficult games of the three, having played four of the top ten away. But they've just lost their manager which might derail them somewhat (as we saw last season!)
All three still have to play each other before the halfway point.
We've played six away games against the top ten, including all of the top three. As it stands, we've already played many of our most difficult fixtures. I think we have a real opportunity here.
BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
We were constantly overrun in midfield last season because we had one manager who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and another who's tactics belonged somewhere in the mid 1980's. We were relegated, because we were shyte from top to bottom, because the confidence had been sucked out of our players and we couldn't defend if our lives depended on it.
That was the ship that Critchley had to turn around as well as integrating around 12 new faces (faces that weren't around last year) into the squad.
no, im sorry, but the big problem in our midfield (or lack of a cohesive unit therein) last season was appleton. he was asking boys to do a men's job with little or no cover.
as a former (decent) midfielder himself, i found this flabbergasting from appleton and it convinced me he was a useless manager. if you can't see what is happening in the very position that you used to play in, then it's a poor, poor do. anyone with nous could see we needed a midfield anchor - apart from him apparently - which smacks of either arrogance, ignorance, or both. either way, it's toxic.
34 yr old jonny howson taught us a midfield masterclass in november '22 and appleton still couldn't see it. i felt sorry for charlie, lewis , sonny et al because they were stitched up by a rotten gaffer who really should've known better.
to the present, we have a decent, balanced midfield though now, thankfully. i just hope that norburn recognises he can still boss a game a bit higher up the pitch because he was coming too deep earlier in the season and was not very helpful, to marv for instance, and invited the press from the opposition. king kenny has recently reminded us of just how important he can be too. onward and upwards.
AllTheBoysAreCheerin'
Well-known member
That's pretty much what I was saying but didn't feel the need to waffle so much! The young lads were hung out to dry.