If the squad isn't any good...

straightatthewall said:
How have we managed to stay in the top 10 for pretty much the whole season?

Is it 'just' the loan players? That would be unfair I think. Seems to me that whatever we think of the performances this season, they have been effective TO A POINT. So do we need to throw the baby out with the bath water?
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The bathwater is lukewarm. We definitely need it topping up with some hot water.

Actually, now I'm confusing myself because you would use lukewarm water to bathe a baby so maybe waiting for it to get lukewarm before putting the baby in is in fact a masterstroke.

In conclusion.

Too much time on AVFTT.
 
straightatthewall said:
Yeah. Which frankly suggests there's something 'there' that just needs tweaking. I agree with the line of thought that says we need bigger and stronger characters in the squad.
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The main thing I notice about Critchley is that the impish twinkle in his eye isn't there. He's dead behind the eyes at the moment.

I'm not sure how we scout for that in summer.

Whether that's inherently him, whether it's the joy of working with 'the group' or whether that's the dynamic of the backroom staff I honestly don't know.

I think we've lost a lot of character in the last few years. Gaz, Keshi, Keogh, Jerry to name but four very strong and ebullient types who had a bit of mischief, edge and also humour about them.

I absolutely maintain that for us to enjoy it the players need to enjoy it and part of what makes football enjoyable is being part of a good team dynamic - this team is honest enough but it just doesn't seem 'fun' to be in a lot of the time.
 
The fixture god was very kind to us. Our last 4 games are much easier than those facing Oxford, Lincoln & the fatmans team.
Despite our 3 hapless coaches, I still believe that 6th place isn't beyond us .....
This is providing that for the 4 remaining games, our players pick the team & the formation, they decide the tactics & who the subs are & when to bring them on. We have the players, they just need to be allowed to play 😂 🍊
 
We need stronger characters on and off the pitch and a much greater commitment to entertaining the paying public. Regardless of results, and much more than results, in my opinion. Make it something you look forward to going to. It's supposed to be an entertainment business, with excitement and drama.

Simples. Wake up, club.
 
voyeur said:
We need stronger characters on and off the pitch and a much greater commitment to entertaining the paying public. Regardless of results, and much more than results, in my opinion. Make it something you look forward to going to. It's supposed to be an entertainment business, with excitement and drama.

Simples. Wake up, club.
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Sounds like Ollie
 
td53 said:
The main thing I notice about Critchley is that the impish twinkle in his eye isn't there. He's dead behind the eyes at the moment.

I'm not sure how we scout for that in summer.

Whether that's inherently him, whether it's the joy of working with 'the group' or whether that's the dynamic of the backroom staff I honestly don't know.

I think we've lost a lot of character in the last few years. Gaz, Keshi, Keogh, Jerry to name but four very strong and ebullient types who had a bit of mischief, edge and also humour about them.

I absolutely maintain that for us to enjoy it the players need to enjoy it and part of what makes football enjoyable is being part of a good team dynamic - this team is honest enough but it just doesn't seem 'fun' to be in a lot of the time.
Click to expand...

Really agree with that last paragraph. There's a spark missing through the club at the moment. Everything is OK but there's not many elements that are special. We're a bit like a Premier Inn. Doing a job, but nobody's booking us for their wedding.*



* Apologies to anyone who booked the Premier Inn for their wedding
 
straightatthewall said:
Really agree with that last paragraph. There's a spark missing through the club at the moment. Everything is OK but there's not many elements that are special. We're a bit like a Premier Inn. Doing a job, but nobody's booking us for their wedding.*



* Apologies to anyone who booked the Premier Inn for their wedding
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Yes. Excellent analogy. We're 'servicable'
 
straightatthewall said:
Really agree with that last paragraph. There's a spark missing through the club at the moment. Everything is OK but there's not many elements that are special. We're a bit like a Premier Inn. Doing a job, but nobody's booking us for their wedding.*



* Apologies to anyone who booked the Premier Inn for their wedding
Click to expand...
I think travelodge would be better
 
td53 said:
The main thing I notice about Critchley is that the impish twinkle in his eye isn't there. He's dead behind the eyes at the moment.

I'm not sure how we scout for that in summer.

Whether that's inherently him, whether it's the joy of working with 'the group' or whether that's the dynamic of the backroom staff I honestly don't know.

I think we've lost a lot of character in the last few years. Gaz, Keshi, Keogh, Jerry to name but four very strong and ebullient types who had a bit of mischief, edge and also humour about them.

I absolutely maintain that for us to enjoy it the players need to enjoy it and part of what makes football enjoyable is being part of a good team dynamic - this team is honest enough but it just doesn't seem 'fun' to be in a lot of the time.
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Exactly that, I mean everyone is saying Rhodes is the consummate professional but his evening knitting club for the lads is hardly the same as having the likes of Gaz, Keogh, Jerry & Keshi livening the place up. The place is completely devoid of any dynamism or ebullience, it's like the whole club has gone Steve 'Interesting" Davis from the owner to the tea lady. It's a bore fest.
 
straightatthewall said:
Really agree with that last paragraph. There's a spark missing through the club at the moment. Everything is OK but there's not many elements that are special. We're a bit like a Premier Inn. Doing a job, but nobody's booking us for their wedding.*



* Apologies to anyone who booked the Premier Inn for their wedding
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Myself and my two ex wives had our weddings at a premier inn so your talking nonsense ☹️
 
I fear for us next season. With our loanees returning to their parent clubs and our out of contract players not resigned, we have an awful lot of recruitment to do. To recruit players of sufficient quality and first team readiness we have to shop at a higher level than Aldi, which is our current provider of the Oakley Booths of this world!
 
Notathome said:
I fear for us next season. With our loanees returning to their parent clubs and our out of contract players not resigned, we have an awful lot of recruitment to do. To recruit players of sufficient quality and first team readiness we have to shop at a higher level than Aldi, which is our current provider of the Oakley Booths of this world!
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I hope we clear the majority out. Too many are either not good enough or traumatised from the past two seasons and lacking confidence.

Let’s do a 2019. Go hunting in Div 2 and lower Div 1. We can rebalance the wages losing the lads who have Championship boosted wages (Connolly on £6k per week etc).

Clean sweep. If that’s the manager too then so be it, even though you all know that longevity in manager equals success.
 
Chunkylad said:
I hope we clear the majority out. Too many are either not good enough or traumatised from the past two seasons and lacking confidence.

Let’s do a 2019. Go hunting in Div 2 and lower Div 1. We can rebalance the wages losing the lads who have Championship boosted wages (Connolly on £6k per week etc).

Clean sweep. If that’s the manager too then so be it, even though you all know that longevity in manager equals success.
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The weird thing about us, is that doing the exact opposite of what should work has got us further than any other option. Although I'm 100% certain we shouldn't do it again.

We need something to change but I don't think we need a clean sweep. There's good players in this squad but I don't think they have been used well at all by NC. And that's not to say the whole squad is worth keeping.
 
voyeur said:
We need stronger characters on and off the pitch and a much greater commitment to entertaining the paying public. Regardless of results, and much more than results, in my opinion. Make it something you look forward to going to. It's supposed to be an entertainment business, with excitement and drama.

Simples. Wake up, club.
Click to expand...
Spot on.
 
585 = never give up said:
The fixture god was very kind to us. Our last 4 games are much easier than those facing Oxford, Lincoln & the fatmans team.
Despite our 3 hapless coaches, I still believe that 6th place isn't beyond us .....
This is providing that for the 4 remaining games, our players pick the team & the formation, they decide the tactics & who the subs are & when to bring them on. We have the players, they just need to be allowed to play 😂 🍊
Click to expand...
What a shame we didn’t perform at Wigan and Derby ( neither team looked great) and home to Wycombe.
We’d have been in a great position going into the Fleetwood match
 
CAGU said:
What a shame we didn’t perform at Wigan and Derby ( neither team looked great) and home to Wycombe.
We’d have been in a great position going into the Fleetwood match
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That's been the issue all season. When we've needed to step it up at crucial times we've
generally not been able to. You can throw in games at Stevenage and Orient to the mix here to. That's 5 games at least where points were up for grabs and not taken. Based on other teams weakness, just an additional 5 points from those games and we're right in the mix. Hardly a stretch. Is it?
 
straightatthewall said:
That's been the issue all season. When we've needed to step it up at crucial times we've
generally not been able to. You can throw in games at Stevenage and Orient to the mix here to. That's 5 games at least where points were up for grabs and not taken. Based on other teams weakness, just an additional 5 points from those games and we're right in the mix. Hardly a stretch. Is it?
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You & Cagu are spot on.
Psychology plays an important part in being a winner.
At the start of a football season, the head coaches who have a dogged determination to win every single point, will instill this ethos into their squad. Inevitably there are times when you lose, but by fighting for every point, you won't look back at the end of a season saying "what if etc".
We've literally gifted too many points to poor teams this season & that leaves us in this "if only" situation.
It's not over yet, but we must win our 4 games and hope the others, with tougher run ins, drop points.
 
straightatthewall said:
That's been the issue all season. When we've needed to step it up at crucial times we've
generally not been able to. You can throw in games at Stevenage and Orient to the mix here to. That's 5 games at least where points were up for grabs and not taken. Based on other teams weakness, just an additional 5 points from those games and we're right in the mix. Hardly a stretch. Is it?
Click to expand...
It's not a stretch to talk about it but it's clearly a stretch for it to actually happen, because it hasn't.

Too many games we concede first and we might as well shake on it and get a head start back north. No reaction other than pre-planned subs after 63 and 70 minutes.

Even when we've had nothing going on up front, as is often, it's sort of surprised me how easily they've given up a 0-0. Considering Critchley's entire coaching knowledge and expertise USP is based on the FA showing him the art of legally timewasting in a game to limit the opposition. And how most training sessions and prep will be focused on shape, structure, keeping everyone behind the ball to work for a result.

Christmas and in the toil period of those shite away games nobody wants but you've got to compete in if you want shiny things was the time to put down a marker for improvement in the second half of the season and it didn't happen. Stevenage, Orient, countless others yep. All the exact same outcome. Stevenage look to have run out of steam of playing on those fine margins all season in order to outperform expectations but it can't be denied how much of a bastard they are to play against under Steve Evans when they double down for a clean sheet, and if you let them in just once they won't care what it looks like.

It might be the players now, but I doubt a new cast would fare much better because of who is doing the recruiting and how we recruit. The hope has got to be if we carry on as-is that there's some adaptation going into next season. Critchley Mk1 felt like he was always ducking and diving and looking at ways to get the best from more games. Rather than just accepting there's going to be a tranche of fixtures across the board that we can't compete in. Which was the immediate drop off in performance felt when he did his backdoor boogie and Appleton showed up instead.
 
poolfc said:
It's not a stretch to talk about it but it's clearly a stretch for it to actually happen, because it hasn't.

Too many games we concede first and we might as well shake on it and get a head start back north. No reaction other than pre-planned subs after 63 and 70 minutes.

Even when we've had nothing going on up front, as is often, it's sort of surprised me how easily they've given up a 0-0. Considering Critchley's entire coaching knowledge and expertise USP is based on the FA showing him the art of legally timewasting in a game to limit the opposition. And how most training sessions and prep will be focused on shape, structure, keeping everyone behind the ball to work for a result.

Christmas and in the toil period of those shite away games nobody wants but you've got to compete in if you want shiny things was the time to put down a marker for improvement in the second half of the season and it didn't happen. Stevenage, Orient, countless others yep. All the exact same outcome. Stevenage look to have run out of steam of playing on those fine margins all season in order to outperform expectations but it can't be denied how much of a bastard they are to play against under Steve Evans when they double down for a clean sheet, and if you let them in just once they won't care what it looks like.

It might be the players now, but I doubt a new cast would fare much better because of who is doing the recruiting and how we recruit. The hope has got to be if we carry on as-is that there's some adaptation going into next season. Critchley Mk1 felt like he was always ducking and diving and looking at ways to get the best from more games. Rather than just accepting there's going to be a tranche of fixtures across the board that we can't compete in. Which was the immediate drop off in performance felt when he did his backdoor boogie and Appleton showed up instead.
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Don't disagree with any of that. I guess the conclusion here is that it's NC that is the issue.
 
straightatthewall said:
How have we managed to stay in the top 10 for pretty much the whole season?

Is it 'just' the loan players? That would be unfair I think. Seems to me that whatever we think of the performances this season, they have been effective TO A POINT. So do we need to throw the baby out with the bath water?
Click to expand...

I guess it is important to know exactly what you consider to be "good" Straighters ?

I'm sure that the squad is "good" in that they would win the Sunday Alliance Premier Division without breaking sweat.

I'm also sure that the squad would not be "good" in the Premier League.

Clearly the current squad is capable of competing at the top end of the Championship but perhaps a better question would be, "Is the current squad good enough to gain promotion from League One" and I guess we will all have our own opinions on that.
 
straightatthewall said:
Don't disagree with any of that. I guess the conclusion here is that it's NC that is the issue.
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So what's the solution?

Does NC reinvent himself and change the way the team plays and if he does see the need now, then what's different to earlier in the season when it was required? For this reason I can't see him changing very much.

Do you bring a proper exp. No 2 in? If HE brings someone in he'll need to lose 1 at least of his buddies and it would be admitting he's not good enough on his own to kick on. Good enough to get so far...I'm ignoring the VFM aspect.

The strange thing I can't fathom is first time round a No 2 was brought in quickly when things weren't working. So why did SS think this time no No 2 was needed when he saw the positive impact?

SS forces a No 2 now I can't see NC accepting what would be a slap in the face. It would be a good way of bringing about a mutual consent departure and may be the future. You don't actually appoint one, just go through the process.
 
SEASIDE2020 said:
I guess it is important to know exactly what you consider to be "good" Straighters ?

I'm sure that the squad is "good" in that they would win the Sunday Alliance Premier Division without breaking sweat.

I'm also sure that the squad would not be "good" in the Premier League.

Clearly the current squad is capable of competing at the top end of the Championship but perhaps a better question would be, "Is the current squad good enough to gain promotion from League One" and I guess we will all have our own opinions on that.
Click to expand...

I would say the current squad can compete in League 1 but has to be utilised better to be promoted from League 1.
 
straightatthewall said:
Don't disagree with any of that. I guess the conclusion here is that it's NC that is the issue.
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Not the only issue. It's never that simple. But there seems to be some disconnect in the football operation in the club, a lack of clarity and spark. Maybe not a major thing but I think most can feel it. It could always be worse, obviously. But you think it's getting somewhere, and then it's not. We're sort of on hold. 42 games in, what are we as a team? You couldn't suss out who was supposed to be playing where when you saw the 2pm teamsheet on Saturday.

I'm not Critchley in or Critchley out. He's OK but you wouldn't buy the DVD. I wouldn't have brought him back in to front it up but this is the corner that SS has backed himself into with the volume of management staff churn he's overseen. He went for the option that let him sleep again at night and then paid for a sit down interview in an office with a Sky Sports reporter to try and make it look inspirational. Maybe it is and he'll be proven right but I don't know. There's a big world out there to try new things and fortune favours the brave etc.
 
poolfc said:
Not the only issue. It's never that simple. But there seems to be some disconnect in the football operation in the club, a lack of clarity and spark. Maybe not a major thing but I think most can feel it. It could always be worse, obviously. But you think it's getting somewhere, and then it's not. We're sort of on hold. 42 games in, what are we as a team? You couldn't suss out who was supposed to be playing where when you saw the 2pm teamsheet on Saturday.

I'm not Critchley in or Critchley out. He's OK but you wouldn't buy the DVD. I wouldn't have brought him back in to front it up but this is the corner that SS has backed himself into with the volume of management staff churn he's overseen. He went for the option that let him sleep again at night and then paid for a sit down interview in an office with a Sky Sports reporter to try and make it look inspirational. Maybe it is and he'll be proven right but I don't know. There's a big world out there to try new things and fortune favours the brave etc.
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Yeah, this is what I ultimately keep coming back to. The set up of the team and squad just doesn't look right. The performances are all a bit 'meh' and there's no spark, passion or connection between coach, players and supporters.
 
straightatthewall said:
How have we managed to stay in the top 10 for pretty much the whole season?

Is it 'just' the loan players? That would be unfair I think. Seems to me that whatever we think of the performances this season, they have been effective TO A POINT. So do we need to throw the baby out with the bath water?
Click to expand...
I've never seen a Blackpool team in my life play in such a rigid structure and given specific tasks to do whilst on the pitch.

Dembele is the only one who really plays with freedom and creativity. Even then it feels like Critch is snarling at him while doing it.

I really do believe this is a top 6 squad if you include Owen Dale and Rob Apter who should be with us now.

If we played with more attacking intent, I think we'd have seen better results. But ultimately, more engagement with the support that is at an all time low post the Os.
 
SeasideKurt said:
I've never seen a Blackpool team in my life play in such a rigid structure and given specific tasks to do whilst on the pitch.

Dembele is the only one who really plays with freedom and creativity. Even then it feels like Critch is snarling at him while doing it.

I really do believe this is a top 6 squad if you include Owen Dale and Rob Apter who should be with us now.

If we played with more attacking intent, I think we'd have seen better results. But ultimately, more engagement with the support that is at an all time low post the Os.
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Yep. That's definitely a fair shout. The rigidity or plan sticking has - at times - bordered on absurd. The approach this season has lost the coach popular support and (seems to me) also killed the confidence of plenty in the squad who have played too many games being forced to do things that really give them no chance to play to their strengths.
 
straightatthewall said:
I would say the current squad can compete in League 1 but has to be utilised better to be promoted from League 1.
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I'd say that you are probably about right Straighters and my original post should have said that clearly the current squad is capable of competing at the top end of League One and not the Championship as I said.
 
Basically we lack flair ,we lack belief,we lack ambition,we lack inspiration and the only two players that have shown more this season are Dembele and Rhodes neither of whom are ours.

Personally I thought at the time of his reappointment that it was a big mistake to bring Critchley back just as I previously thought it had been a mistake to bring Grayson back and Appleton and McCarthy weren`t exactly inspirational either.

Grateful as I was when Simon Sadler bought the club and we were finally able to rid the club of the poisonous Oystons SS has proved less than adept at finding the most important man needed to achieve playing success ,a good manager.
 
td53 said:
The main thing I notice about Critchley is that the impish twinkle in his eye isn't there. He's dead behind the eyes at the moment.

I'm not sure how we scout for that in summer.

Whether that's inherently him, whether it's the joy of working with 'the group' or whether that's the dynamic of the backroom staff I honestly don't know.

I think we've lost a lot of character in the last few years. Gaz, Keshi, Keogh, Jerry to name but four very strong and ebullient types who had a bit of mischief, edge and also humour about them.

I absolutely maintain that for us to enjoy it the players need to enjoy it and part of what makes football enjoyable is being part of a good team dynamic - this team is honest enough but it just doesn't seem 'fun' to be in a lot of the time.
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Not only is Critchley 'dead behind behind the eyes at the moment' - sorry to have to say, he's also pretty much 'dead in the water'.
 
poolfc said:
Not the only issue. It's never that simple. But there seems to be some disconnect in the football operation in the club, a lack of clarity and spark. Maybe not a major thing but I think most can feel it. It could always be worse, obviously. But you think it's getting somewhere, and then it's not. We're sort of on hold. 42 games in, what are we as a team? You couldn't suss out who was supposed to be playing where when you saw the 2pm teamsheet on Saturday.

I'm not Critchley in or Critchley out. He's OK but you wouldn't buy the DVD. I wouldn't have brought him back in to front it up but this is the corner that SS has backed himself into with the volume of management staff churn he's overseen. He went for the option that let him sleep again at night and then paid for a sit down interview in an office with a Sky Sports reporter to try and make it look inspirational. Maybe it is and he'll be proven right but I don't know. There's a big world out there to try new things and fortune favours the brave etc.
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'Nail On Head'.

Excellent post, poolfc. Take a bow.
 
Burnnazzer said:
The squad is not good enough to be promoted. It is what it is and league does not lie. Inconsistency is a sign of inability not quality. We are good enough to finish in top ten. It’s pretty obvious really.
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People judge players in the systems they play now, positions they play, instructions they're given. They were good enough to be signed and probably good enough to be better than they show.

The squad is better than this.
 
poolfc said:
Not the only issue. It's never that simple. But there seems to be some disconnect in the football operation in the club, a lack of clarity and spark. Maybe not a major thing but I think most can feel it. It could always be worse, obviously. But you think it's getting somewhere, and then it's not. We're sort of on hold. 42 games in, what are we as a team? You couldn't suss out who was supposed to be playing where when you saw the 2pm teamsheet on Saturday.

I'm not Critchley in or Critchley out. He's OK but you wouldn't buy the DVD. I wouldn't have brought him back in to front it up but this is the corner that SS has backed himself into with the volume of management staff churn he's overseen. He went for the option that let him sleep again at night and then paid for a sit down interview in an office with a Sky Sports reporter to try and make it look inspirational. Maybe it is and he'll be proven right but I don't know. There's a big world out there to try new things and fortune favours the brave etc.
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Great post.

We've been blue balled all season, we think we've taken a step forward, then we haven't. 42 games and 64 points really isn't that bad, but I think it isn't the best or even above average where the squad could be.

Is that because of Critch? Maybe (I think so personally)? Or maybe it is just the squad is hungover from relegation and is in a transition between Critch's old squad from 20'-22' to whatever we are creating now?
 
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