of course it's a risk.....

B

basilrobbie

Guest
.... all managerial appointments are a leap in the dark, to one extent or another. On the downside :

1) it is a big step up in responsibility for him. Managing a L1 club is a lot harder and a far bigger job than running ANY U-23 side, whoever the club is

2) culturally, the club is very different to what he is used to ; smaller, more parochial, inferior infrastructure, limited recent track record of success. He will have to learn quickly about what the parameters are around what he can achieve, and when

On the plus side :

3) notwithstanding what I said in the Podcast blog, being appointed now gives him an extended honeymoon period with an unusually low amount of pressure, results-wise. It's a chance to learn and adjust, of a kind that new managers rarely get. I hope he takes it

4) he comes with a strong pedigree as a coach, and to be honest I feel that this is what we actually need. Mr. Sadler's pockets are not bottomless, and at some point we have to start getting the very best out of the assets we have, as well as those we might acquire in the future. Top quality loans from the Premiership will always have their place, but we need to start doing better in terms of organisation, tactics, technique and game management. I hope he will bring some good ideas and habits in all these areas

5) it might actually calm the fan base down a bit. I'm growing tired of the sense of entitlement in the stands, and even more so with the sentimental bollocks I have been reading on social media since around the time of the defeat at Lincoln. Hopefully, people will now focus on actually supporting the guy in charge, rather than repeatedly stamping their feet and demanding someone else

6) I think it nicely counters some of the muttering that has already started about the club's CEO - who seems to be the latest target in what has been a long twelve months where we have seen one whispering campaign after another. This is an imaginative appointment, puts emotion where it belongs, and - to my mind at least - suggests that the club hierarchy have analysed what we need and recruited accordingly. He may not be their first choice - but he is a highly defensible choice.

7) he has been given a pretty long contract. It fits neatly with what Mr. Sadler said at the very first Fans Forum about the long-term nature of his ambitions for the team and the club as a whole. I just hope we all remember that these things are important to him when the new manager has a tough patch - which he will.

There is a lot to do to be ready for August, and what needs doing at the club OFF the field will probably take far longer than that. But this feels like a bold and progressive step, and I applaud the club for being prepared to go their own way in taking it.
 
"2) culturally, the club is very different to what he is used to ; smaller, more parochial, inferior infrastructure, limited recent track record of success. He will have to learn quickly about what the parameters are around what he can achieve, and when"

He played for Crewe so I assume he understands something about those things.
 
I agree with just about all of that Mr B, its a bit of tangental thinking which brings us a guy who seems made for delivering a Blackpool way of playing and ensuring that it is played throughout the club.

I live in hope, and its the hope which keeps you going
 
He will either step up and find the attributes that are needed to make the significant transition from Coach to Manager or he won't. It really is a simple as that and so it is obviously a risk , but then there aren't really too many sure things in football.

It's almost impossible to gauge someone base upon a short 8 minute or so interview and obviously he has done something to impress SImon Sadler and the rest of the Board who have decided to make the appointment.

My intitial observations are that he feels a little bit quiet and unassuming and for me perdsonally, I prefer someone with a bit more 'personality'...Hopefully his substance will overcome and perhaps he can surround himself with a suitable foil.
 
This appointment is certainly a gamble but far more in keeping with the new forward looking BFC than was our previously chosen manager.I said at the time of Grayson`s appointment that what we needed at this time was a young ,successful,ambitious and upwardly mobile man with ambition. A description that at this point in time would appear to have fitted Evo pretty well but who knows potentially we could have unearthed a possible but as yet unproven gem. Let us sincerely hope so.

I would add that force of personality is something most successful managers have and I would be rather concerned if the description quiet and unassuming is accurate.
 
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I agree with much of what you say Robbie but I wouldn't be overly sure about your last three paragraphs.

1. I have no particular beef with the CEO - I can't say that the love in when he departed his Israeli gig did much for me mind - but those who do don't are hardly doing anything underhand in criticising him, there are shouting out loud and suggesting that he might look to employee the "boys for the job" rather than the "man for the job" and that is hardly a crime. Never criticising anything to do with the club is not necessarily a good thing, in fact highlighting positives when there are bigger negatives in not a good thing.

2. I have no doubt that you will be aware but long term contracts are not for the long term if they contain clauses. Not sure what good a 10 year contract is to a manager if it can be instantly severed with a months pay.

3. I have no problem with the appointment of Critchley myself but this "bold and progressive step" is about the 5th or 6th choice of the board at best.
 
Generally agree with your points Robbie; ultimately, nobody knows how anyone will turn out.

I would play devils advocate around the questions/negativity towards the CEO. That's come from how things have evolved through January onwards. You can either assume that he allowed Larry his head and then potted him because he signed a load of random players without any obvious plan. Or you can assume that he's been a driving force of the recruitment - with Tommy Johnson - and he's expecting a 'head coach' to make it all work.

In either scenario (and I doubt the former view is accurate) his actions as a CEO have been deserving of criticism because we've got a lot more wrong than right on the pitch recently and we've done it in a way that has thrown away a good opportunity to get promoted from a bang average league.

He needs to be learning something from this and as supporters in this new age, I'd like to be getting some transparency from him as to how the football side is going to set up. The head coach shouldn't be carrying the can for not being able to polish someone elses turd...
 
Good appointment in my opinion. Presumably he'll get us pressing high, with a generally attacking style that he'll have learnt off klopp. Add his contacts...it's a thumbs up from me
 
In the last few days I have seen people complaining about us having too many loan players we don't own. That's not really compatible with a view that we are asking Critchley to polish someone else's turd. It will be all his own in eleven games time. And that is setting aside the fact that a good many of the players who have come in are demonstrably better than the ones they replaced.

I think a lot of people are looking at this from the outside and guessing about where they think responsibility and thus accountability lies. That has led to a lot of finger-pointing at Mansford in particular which appears to be based upon little more than conjecture. I've even seen one of the usual suspects bleating about him interfering vis a vis the new guy before the latter has even got his coat off.

Mr. Sadler may not have got all his appointments right, but at least he is picking people with track records of achievement and decent testimonials from the places they have been previously. I take a lot more notice of that than I do some of the comments that I have read recently. Ironically, I think the bollocks-spouting has got worse since the new regime came in because they run a tighter ship and not much gets out until they are ready for it to.
 
basilrobbie said:
I think a lot of people are looking at this from the outside and guessing about where they think responsibility and thus accountability lies. That has led to a lot of finger-pointing at Mansford in particular which appears to be based upon little more than conjecture. I've even seen one of the usual suspects bleating about him interfering vis a vis the new guy before the latter has even got his coat off.
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The only thing I don't get is that the people we were rumoured to be after were all Managers and would have come as Manager and so why change their stance and appoint a Head Coach which changes the whole dynamic. Not a criticism, merely an observation.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
He will either step up and find the attributes that are needed to make the significant transition from Coach to Manager or he won't. It really is a simple as that and so it is obviously a risk , but then there aren't really too many sure things in football.

It's almost impossible to gauge someone base upon a short 8 minute or so interview and obviously he has done something to impress SImon Sadler and the rest of the Board who have decided to make the appointment.

My intitial observations are that he feels a little bit quiet and unassuming and for me perdsonally, I prefer someone with a bit more 'personality'...Hopefully his substance will overcome and perhaps he can surround himself with a suitable foil.
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I admit, I thought exactly the same - he's not very 'klopp-esque' but hopefully that's a sign that he's a calm, measured presence.
 
I think some of you are being a bit unfair regarding his personality from an 8 minute interview. I thought his answers were thoughtful and he spoke well, he was also containing his emotions throughout, you could see in his face that he just wanted to smile all the time, he is so happy to be our manager. He is also a "fist pumper" (No, not something from a porno!!) that is emotion, the emotion our supporters will love.

As long as he knows how to produce a great attacking team and the players love him then that is all I am bothered about. I mean if you want dull and uninspiring then come back Grayson, all is forgiven!!

I'll see if he can wear a bow tie that whirls round and lights up for his next interview Daz, will that do? 😜
 
Oh, another LOOK AT ME opening post from that contains snide digs at fellow supporters, as a well as narcissistic reference to a podcast.

How are you qualified to claim that running Liverpools U23 is easier than running Blackpool? Based on what, other than you own opinion? Maybe Sadler should have appointed you as a consultant..........you seem to think you know better than everyone else.

Let's face it, you're still heartbroken that our club is no longer being destroyed by the Oyston family. You've never got over it.
Good.
 
The CEO’s “hecky” interview was a load of old cobblers IMO and I came away with that old feeling I used to get under KO where if things were repeated enough they sounded almost convincing but really I knew it was mostly bull crap PR. And we have handled the recruitment process with no interviews in a fairly unsuccessful manner.

anyhow, I want to hear from the new manager...sorry head coach and see what he can bring to the table.

The Critchley Cacophony as opposed to the Riga Revolution
 
RONJI said:
Oh, another LOOK AT ME opening post from that contains snide digs at fellow supporters, as a well as narcissistic reference to a podcast.

How are you qualified to claim that running Liverpools U23 is easier than running Blackpool? Based on what, other than you own opinion? Maybe Sadler should have appointed you as a consultant..........you seem to think you know better than everyone else.

Let's face it, you're still heartbroken that our club is no longer being destroyed by the Oyston family. You've never got over it.
Good.
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I thought he has been appointed as a consultant 😉
 
I don't care if he is great in front of the media as long as he gets the best out of our players and inspires them where it counts - at the training ground, in the dressing room and on the pitch. There are far too many hot air merchants in football already. This is league 1, we are a club in the midst of rebuilding and I don't really care much what happens in press conferences. I'm hopeful we have just got a head coach who will use his experience at Liverpool as the basis to build a Blackpool worth watching. If so I'll be over the moon and I'm 100% behind NC giving it a good go.
 
Hevster said:
I don't care if he is great in front of the media as long as he gets the best out of our players and inspires them where it counts - at the training ground, in the dressing room and on the pitch. There are far too many hot air merchants in football already. This is league 1, we are a club in the midst of rebuilding and I don't really care much what happens in press conferences. I'm hopeful we have just got a head coach who will use his experience at Liverpool as the basis to build a Blackpool worth watching. If so I'll be over the moon and I'm 100% behind NC giving it a good go.
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He's fine in front of the media, so i don't get why some would suggest otherwise.
Grayson sounded like he had a speech impediment and brain damage most of the time. This Critchley guy is a massive appointment for us.
 
Absolutely Ronji, I'm very happy with the appointment. I just watched it and I agree, he's absolutely fine.
 
voyeur said:
He played 1 game for Crewe and 3 for Leigh RMI. That's his entire playing career, according to Wikipedia.
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Just read that myself on wiki which seems rather odd having played just one senior league game and just 3 non league games, anyone know if it was injury related that ended his career or was he just crap as a player?
 
More than likely he played at a very low level which trying to find out facts is near on impossible.
I scored a few and a couple of try's not sure that's on-line, 😃
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
Just read that myself on wiki which seems rather odd having played just one senior league game and just 3 non league games, anyone know if it was injury related that ended his career or was he just crap as a player?
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Doesn't matter - the fact is, he's been working at the top league club in the whole world at the moment. Jurgen Klopp won't suffer fools anywhere.
The pedigree of Critchley is very impressive. I'm guessing it was injury because nobody gets binned professionally after just 1 game.
 
Just YouTubed his press con from when Liverpool beat Villa in the crapaboa cup. He sounded sensible then!
 
Worth the so called risk,any manager/coach can be classed as a risk. Could be great for future young talent who dont make it at Liverpool. Our 1st and 2nd team Liverpool fans will be exstatic,lets get behind him. UTP.
 
Give the man a chance to get his feet under the table, I'm sure his presence in front of the camera will improve, and I particularly liked the way he laid out his plans for playing the game. Basically, in the oppositions half, bossing the game plan and therefore the game. It will be a big lift from passing back to the goalkeeper from the opponents 18 yard line as per the Grayson technique. The seeds are already there, thanks to Dunny, and it can only get better from now on I feel.
 
hertfordseasider said:
I'll see if he can wear a bow tie that whirls round and lights up for his next interview Daz, will that do? 😜
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That's the last thing I'd want to see...The strength of character to deal with difficult personalities and the challenges that he will face at a L1 club as well as motivating the squad, when things are not going as well as they might, is what I'd be looking for. As I said in my comment, it is impossible to make any judgements from such a short interview and hopefully his appointment will turn out to be a great success.
 
Only time will tell with this appointment, it’s a risk but at the same time managing Liverpool u23’s and him learning from the likes of klopp is sure to add something to his coaching style. Obviously if he gets that Curtis Jones fella On a season long loan next season that should see us get promoted 😜
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
That's the last thing I'd want to see...The strength of character to deal with difficult personalities and the challenges that he will face at a L1 club as well as motivating the squad, when things are not going as well as they might, is what I'd be looking for. As I said in my comment, it is impossible to make any judgements from such a short interview and hopefully his appointment will turn out to be a great success.
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I was only joking!!
 
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