Just got back

[TangerineBayern]

yes, I agree with much of that. Against Wigan you could visibly see our back line of four which didn't include Hamilton because Pennington pushed over to full back when we weren't in possession. This allowed Hamilton to remain much further up the pitch and why he caused them so many problems and had a great game. Yesterday, it was never anything other than a back three with Hamilton as a wing back and when he got the ball he was so much deeper than against Wigan and why he not only was dreadful for his marking and his unawareness for their second goal but was ineffective going forward and posed lttle or no threat til the last few minutes.

At the moment I'm finding it hard to still be backing Critchley because he seems so reluctant to play to players strengths.It would be acceptable if we were getting results but we are not and performances on the whole have been dreadful.

Pennington playing RCB of a 3 yesterday got caught twice the wrong side of the forward and twice they scored. 352 simply does not suit the players we have and the alarm bells started ringing again for me against Barrow where the first half we were decent but 2nd half got overrun a bit. Both teams made whole changes that night but it should have been the game for NC to give those players the opportunity to play in a 442 given the fact we had just beaten Wigan with the best performance of the season so far. He’s the manager but it makes no sense to the majority of fans and probably the players too!

 

[TangerineBayern]

I said after watching it that it's the closest that I've seen certain players "downing tools"...they clearly don't enjoy the system and I think it'll be up to a few of the senior pro's/shop steward types to spell this out to NC otherwise we're in for a long painful season.

And as if last season wasn’t painful enough!

 

[HetzkeBlaster]

I think Critchley is too proud/stubborn to eat humble pie and change it…he only changed it last time he was here due to injuries and by luck stumbled across a winning team……

In his first season here, I remember posting after the humiliating defeat at home to Ipswich that he was showing an inability to tactically change things in a game to turn a match around. His 433 was failing badly and it was only when Sadler brought in Calderwood? was that his name sorry? and we changed instantly to 442 away at Burton? and won 0-2.

That change for me is what turned his season around. I'm not sure he stumbled on it as I believe he was being firmly coached in match-management and that is what it appears we need again T99.

But I agree, he appears to be a stubborn chap

 

[TangerineBayern]

In his first season here, I remember posting after the humiliating defeat at home to Ipswich that he was showing an inability to tactically change things in a game to turn a match around. His 433 was failing badly and it was only when Sadler brought in Calderwood? was that his name sorry? and we changed instantly to 442 away at Burton? and won 0-2.

That change for me is what turned his season around. I'm not sure he stumbled on it as I believe he was being firmly coached in match-management and that is what it appears we need again T99.

But I agree, he appears to be a stubborn chap

Agree, 2 changes Calderwood and 44 ** 2 and the rest is history!

 

[rememberlesshannon]

In his first season here, I remember posting after the humiliating defeat at home to Ipswich that he was showing an inability to tactically change things in a game to turn a match around. His 433 was failing badly and it was only when Sadler brought in Calderwood? was that his name sorry? and we changed instantly to 442 away at Burton? and won 0-2.

That change for me is what turned his season around. I'm not sure he stumbled on it as I believe he was being firmly coached in match-management and that is what it appears we need again T99.

But I agree, he appears to be a stubborn chap

It was only when Madine who he was reluctant to pick, came on against Ipswich, scored and forced him into a 442

 

[Bob Hatton]

A 435 mile round trip today, what a waste of time and money. Frustrated, that ain't the half of it. I can't believe he set up again with the formation that has yielded no success since the start of the season, especially after we had two wins on the bounce playing 442 and then 343 in the cup - does he never learn? obviously not!
And why oh why he keeps using a failing system with a right footed defender on the left who has to continually check back wards to get the ball on his right foot I'll never know.

The game could have been there for the taking today, the pitch was flat as a pancake and the conditions were ideal for attacking football. A fair turn out of Pool fans considering the ground's surroundings offer nothing for the away fans to get excited about. But within 10 minutes you could clearly see it was going to be one of those performances and the travelling Pool fans were kept very quite thereafter, not by the lump it forward football by Wycombe, but by the starch, predictable, negative, ineffective tactics of our Manager. You can clearly see the players are uncomfortable with his approach, they don't believe in it - as well as the fans, and they must be groaning inside with the turgid tactics he must keep spouting to them in the dressing room.

It's in the past now, but BFC gave up the chance to give the raw Dobbie his first Managerial role with his attacking team line-ups and his attacking mindset. Instead, we've opted for the defensively stubbornly minded manager that is draining the energy from the team, as well as the dedicated Pool fans who travel far and wide to watch them and probably gave up a fair few quid to go and watch that garbage served up today.

Rant over...............

Was going to go myself as my son lives nearby but just knew that Shitley would go ultra negative as usual so gave it a miss. Sure loads of other pool thought exactly the same.

 

[Jaffa_The_Hut]

Does he listen to the fans?
I doubt it very much.

I honestly think he reads this board Dave so I’d say yes he does.
More than a coincidence he decided put that statement out a couple of weeks ago after so many people were asking questions of his commitment on here.

 

[Enzo]

League 2 is a horrifying prospect after the journey we've been on - I dread to think of it. However, I do believe Enzo that there's enough in this squad to keep us further up the table and no where near the drop zone come the end of the season. It's all about game management right from KO to the final whistle whereby changes are made accordingly as the game unfolds. Unfortunately at the moment we're not seeing anything like that happening by Critch. So yes, any talk on here about the risk of dropping into L2 will be snuffed out quickly, but we've become a fearful lot and if we lose the next game the negatively will only increase. Let's hope he goes into Saturday a changed man and we bounce back!!

The squad is good enough to be competing in the top half of the table it just needs a change in manager to get the best out of them

 

[tangerine_neil]

Excellent post I just hope Sadler reads it.

Expect he will be told to wait outside the headmasters’ office while he prepares a letter to his mum.

 

[tangerine_neil]

You need to be a special kind of thicko to even allow CJ anywhere near defensive duties.
And yet here we are…

 

[IEvattOG]

Steve Eyre on Radio Lancs got some stick for his summary of a recent away game but perhaps those who thought Critchley would ‘piss this league’ were a little premature.