Is 16th an achievement??

Insider

Insider

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A quote from Critch's presser.
"When you get to Wembley & win the play-off final...that feels like an achievement. When you're 16th in the division...it doesn't feel like you've achieved much. But I don't think we can sniff at what we've done this season"
We currently have 57 points and are 12 points behind Sheff Utd in 6th and 23 points ahead of Peterborough in 22nd.
So head ruling heart that's not a bad effort for our first season back in the Championship.
So it's a 👍 👍 👍 from me to the Board, the coaching staff and all the players at Blackpool FC (and all those behind the scenes as well 👍 ).
Looking forward to making that total 66 points and to getting a few more than that next season.
Onwards and upwards 🍊🍊🍊
 
Yes from me.

I am sure the Pool fans at Wembley would have taken your hand off for 20th place.
We have every opportunity to end up higher than 16th with 60+ points a reality.
 
Yep it’s a very solid first season and there’s plenty to feel encouraged about going into next season 👍
 
We have a great opportunity to finish in the top half, above the nobbers, and to have won more than we’ve lost back at this level. I’ll take that.

We’ve been far more competitive than many expected us to be and the whole club deserves some credit, especially when you compare us to other recently promoted sides.
 
I am not sure you can put a value on how much a season of experience will help the players who hadn't previously played at this level next time around but we had a lot who were new to this who will be more savvy next year.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Nah should be at least 12 points higher given how many games we have thrown away
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Every team in football can say the same though, or that the refs cost us at least 3 wins, or injuries etc...

Even the Scousers can say had they not lost at West Ham, or drawn against Brentford, or Leicester, or Brighton they'd have won the league by now.
 
We've won 15 and lost 16, which is bloody good for a club with a relatively low budget in its first season after being promoted.

16th position is a bit deceptive.
We're at the tail end of a clutch of mid-table clubs. 6 or 7 points from the final fixtures would lift us 2 or 3 places higher.
 
It's a fantastic achievement. 👍 On Phil's games thrown away, yes we certainly deserved to pick up a few more points & this is where the extra quality caught us out, close to the end of games, when we'd had to work much harder & were running on empty. That quality had cost £50 million + in some cases.
 
Consolidation was the priority and it's been achieved with several games to spare.
Only Huddersfield and Forest done the double over us (realise Derby still to visit Bloomfield Road).
Pre-season favourites for relegation.
Shaky start when we were finding our feet.
Horrendous injury list.
For me, the club, its offials and players deserve our thanks for a relatively outstanding campaign
Not lost face with regard to local bragging rights, either
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Every team in football can say the same though, or that the refs cost us at least 3 wins, or injuries etc...

Even the Scousers can say had they not lost at West Ham, or drawn against Brentford, or Leicester, or Brighton they'd have won the league by now.
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And that little Welsh ** Jones going on about how Luton were robbed of certain victory, conveniently forgetting the blatant penalty on Bowler and saying their defender didn't touch CJ!!
16th is a good return to the championship, however, I fully expect top 10 next season since the manager, players, the whole club tbh now know what's expected from them.
 
Massive achievement , if people are being honest what you have expected/ wanted at the start of the season. I would have taken anything above the bottom 3 even if it was on goal difference in 93rd minute on the last day of the season to avoid relegation. Problem now is too many people think we should be getting promoted, next season mid table would be amazing, but again avoid relegation and it will have been a good season. Lots of big clubs in this league and to say we are competing with them is a real achievement in itself.
 
Could've.. should've..would've.
I'm fully expecting a top half finish which would be a massive achievement for our first season back.
Much as it would have been great to reach the playoffs (and anything could have happened if we had) it might have been be too early for the PL this time.
Much to look forward to in the summer without the grind of the playoffs again.
 
Unbelievable season with in the main a nucleus of last year's team and boy how they have stepped up in the Championship.

7 Saturday
6 Monday
8 @ Blackburn all with us in League One and none have looked out of place despite the big step up.

16th I'm as happy as Fxxx !!!
 
I’d have accepted staying up on goal difference this season so absolutely a great achievement. Add to that taking 7 points from 4 derby games it’s been fantastic. Also love the fact the team haven’t stopped fighting since we were safe. Great mentality in this squad and they rightly deseve a huge ovation on Saturday.
 
To quote ‘Gladiator’

‘Are you not entertained?’

Great achievement from all concerned at the club and not least the fans. Really enjoyed this season, looking forward to an interesting Summer and the start of the next campaign.

Since SS took over, and especially since NC started, the whole feel of the club has been positive and friendly.

UTMP
 
I think it’s a fantastic achievement even leaving aside our bad results early doors. Taking the start into account it’s been an incredible effort and achievement.
 
The job they set out to do has been achieved. Can't ask for any more than that.

Once we were safe the job, to me at least, turned to making sure the season finished on an up. Last 2 games have repaired some damage done previous 4 games, but if they can see the next 3 through in the same manner, everybody goes to the beach with smiles and looking forward to coming back again pre season.

Make no mistake though we'll still be 2nd favourites for the drop with the bookies.
 
Good o/p.

It’s a difficult one for me, because whilst the core aim has been achieved, in school report terms, we could have done better.

We have taken points out of games when we probably shouldn’t, for example Sheff United away, but then we’ve thrown away points in a number of other games. It happens and that’s learning at this level.

My biggest disappointment, if that’s the right word, is that I feel Critch has failed to take the initiative at times. Either the starting 11 or formation has been a tad negative. I don’t mean games where we have been bare bones, but ones like Birmingham and Derby away, and QPR at home when at 1-1 we didn’t put on another striker. There were others and certainly since we have been safe, we’ve not had a proper go. I’m not sure that’s about learning, more a coaching mindset that personally I’d like to see change next season. Our goal difference tells the story really. Sure that will be addressed in the summer with a creative midfielder, to go with Carey. We definitely have 4 good strikers, who all bring something slightly different.

Another observation is that Critch benefitted from the 5 subs rule last season. I think he’s struggled to quite get it right with 3, to change what he started with.

Overall though, we’d have taken this at the start of the season. It’s been great to be back watching Pool and the fans home and away have been superb. I’d be really interested to see the Championship stats for the highest average away following in comparison to home support.
 
Critch has had 2 seasons with League 1 players and a one of the lowest budgets in the EFL.....and we still ended up mid table in the Championship.
Some clubs have spent millions and brought in superstar players and still finished in the same place as us.
Other clubs will be looking at Critch in a new light......and I have no doubt, some will be asking him if he fancies a 'bigger' club
Enjoy it while it lasts......I can see the next 2 seasons being amazing and us pushing for the Prem.....something specials happening

***Written before the above post******
Which proves how well we have done this season
 
I am delighted, but there will be that little bit of 'we could have had a few more points'

If I could be bothered I'd look at how much each point has cost per club but there are some examples below.

BFC £24,561
PKE £215k
Stoke £2,383,606
Fulham £2,678,160

Ok, they might not be the most up to date figures, but it gives the scale of the achievement some perspective.

Pound for pound we are one of the best teams in the division.
 
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Must say that I think you have done very well for your first season in the Championship after winning the playoffs. Doesn’t matter where you finish as you have done really well. Have to admit it but some of your games you have been really good, though nowhere near as good as when you got promoted to the Premier, at times you where a breath of fresh air and certainly didnt disgrace yourselves. So be contented with your performance in the Championship and see you next season.
 
TimperleyTangerine said:
excellGood o/p.

It’s a difficult one for me, because whilst the core aim has been achieved, in school report terms, we could have done better.

We have taken points out of games when we probably shouldn’t, for example Sheff United away, but then we’ve thrown away points in a number of other games. It happens and that’s learning at this level.

My biggest disappointment, if that’s the right word, is that I feel Critch has failed to take the initiative at times. Either the starting 11 or formation has been a tad negative. I don’t mean games where we have been bare bones, but ones like Birmingham and Derby away, and QPR at home when at 1-1 we didn’t put on another striker. There were others and certainly since we have been safe, we’ve not had a proper go. I’m not sure that’s about learning, more a coaching mindset that personally I’d like to see change next season. Our goal difference tells the story really. Sure that will be addressed in the summer with a creative midfielder, to go with Carey. We definitely have 4 good strikers, who all bring something slightly different.

Another observation is that Critch benefitted from the 5 subs rule last season. I think he’s struggled to quite get it right with 3, to change what he started with.

Overall though, we’d have taken this at the start of the season. It’s been great to be back watching Pool and the fans home and away have been superb. I’d be really interested to see the Championship stats for the highest average away following in comparison to home support.
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excellent post. It's a tough question. Start of the season and yep 16th is brilliant but...
I don't think we're the most exciting team to watch but can understand the amount of caution Critch has shown in a great many games. I don't think we are good enough for the top six or to be challenging for the play offs but then again we are not that far away and knowing that yep, currently 16th is a tad disappointing. Our style of play means we have rarely dominated games in the way of creating constant pressure on our opponents and that's why it's not been as exciting as it could have been.
But when it comes back to the basic question of accepting 16th when the season kicked off, then the answer has to be yes.
 
It's been a great effort this season especially considering we came up through the play offs and had little time to prepare for this ultra competitive league. My main hope next season is that we put more emphasis on giving the opposition a problem rather than matching up. My second is that we leave someone up when defending corners.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Nah should be at least 12 points higher given how many games we have thrown away
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In the bigger picture, it's an achievement that as a newly promoted team we can say that we threw away points and still ended up on 57 with 9 left to play for. I'm sure no Brentford fans are upset with their league position, clear parallels that can be drawn between ours and their season.
 
Sooty59 said:
It's a fantastic achievement. 👍 On Phil's games thrown away, yes we certainly deserved to pick up a few more points & this is where the extra quality caught us out, close to the end of games, when we'd had to work much harder & were running on empty. That quality had cost £50 million + in some cases.
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£238 million in Fulham's case.

£150 million in Bournemouth's case.

Ridiculous
 
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