Rate Critchileys first season so far.

BpoolFred34

Well-known member
Seems as players get ratings for each game, i thought, for fun, it would be great to rate Critchileys season so far. I think it would be great to rate it from a number 1 being completly awful to 10, being the greatest season we've ever experienced. I am happy to go first and rate him a 6. He has a huge turnover of players, and brought in some decent players. The reason i have given him a 6 is because even though he had made some mistakes, and doesnt seem to learn from it, we have beaten some really good teams, the likes of Hull, Peterborough etc. For me, in order for Critchily to achieve a greater score, he really needs to start getting the best out of players, playing the right formations and stop overthinking on away games with his tactics and sometime poor team selections.
 
6.5 Learning and room for improvement which I fully expect him to do.
 
Seems as players get ratings for each game, i thought, for fun, it would be great to rate Critchileys season so far. I think it would be great to rate it from a number 1 being completly awful to 10, being the greatest season we've ever experienced. I am happy to go first and rate him a 6. He has a huge turnover of players, and brought in some decent players. The reason i have given him a 6 is because even though he had made some mistakes, and doesnt seem to learn from it, we have beaten some really good teams, the likes of Hull, Peterborough etc. For me, in order for Critchily to achieve a greater score, he really needs to start getting the best out of players, playing the right formations and stop overthinking on away games with his tactics and sometime poor team selections.
I think if your tell is what each mark indicates it will make it clearer how people feel
 
I'd say 6 is about right. Some good signings, but questionable team selections and sometimes tactics. Some very good performances and some absolute howlers like yesterday. He's slightly above average because in general we have improved as the season has gone on, and we have seen some players improve considerably.

The home game against Portsmouth is the performance level we need to aim for consistently.
 
Overall It’s a 6 from me too.
It’s unclear exactly how much of a say he’s had in recruitment so I’m not judging him on that.
Results overall have been disappointing and I feel the current squad should be doing better. So I’d give him a 4/5 on results alone.
In terms of developing players it’s very early days and there’s not a great many examples to look at but Marvin and Turton have deffinitely become much better players, as has Madine, Yates and Husband. So he’s had a pretty quick impact on some of the older players which bodes well for the long term development of the youngsters so he gets a 7 on that basis.
In terms of playing style sometimes it’s great and sometimes (yesterday) it’s been appalling. A 6 for that.
 
Think it’s all been a major letdown if I’m honest. The backing he’s had has been phenomenal and our wage bill will be top 3 comfortably. So it’s a 4
 
6.5

Very average indeed for the talent he has brought in. If it wasn’t for the recruitment wins it would be lower.
 
6 from me too, as per my post on another thread.

We're slowly heading in the right direction and we have made some really good signings, but we are stuttering too often and making similar mistakes over and over again.
It is imperative we continue to show some form of improvement consistently moving forward.
Defeats and poor performances are all a part of football, which seems lost on some posters, but we're seeing too many of both at present which has to be addressed.
If Critch nails down a formation and sticks to it, and learns how to use substitutions to his advantage, I think we'll be alright.
 
5. Still on the fence, it’s his first season at professional level so it was always going to be a learning curve for him and I think he’s done okay. There’s times where he gets his formations and team absolutely bang on and I think we’re finally going to hit form and go on a run, then there’s times like yesterday and he gets it wrong and it feels we’re back at square one. His signings have been very hit and miss also
 
3.5

Failings and lingering concerns
Messes around with the team like he's playing a computer game
433 - remains desperate to impose a formation that doesn;t work on a set of players that aren't suited to it
Tells the media how well we have played and how unlucky we've been when we've had all the possession and 2 shots on goal
Has spent a fortune
Allowed us - having spent the aforementioned fortune - to start the season with no centre halves, a left back who couldn't defend and a striker up top on his own who can't play back to goal
Went into the season (I suspect) with naive belief in his own genuis and the ability of his equally inexperienced assistant
Pretending that we didn't need a striker, which I suppose might have been a genius way of deflating prices but I suspect he believed it
Football has been dull as dishwater 90% of the time
Persisting with Bez when all them evidence suggests it ain't gonna happen
His name is Neil

Redeeming features
Mid-season signings have undoubtedly been an upgrade
Some of the summer signings might be Johnson / Mansford's fault, not his
We have tried to play better football this year, albeit with mixed success
I suspect he eventually listened to Calderwood to sort out the back four and discipline issues
He did eventually swallow his pride with Madine and built a competitive side around him
He binned off Woodburn (despite the questions that signing has raised about his judgement)
I suspect he is slowly learning what it takes to be successful at this level and should improve
There have been a few signs of willingness to get youth players involved e.g. Apter v Wigan
H doesn't buy into the AVFTT hysteria about Nathan Shaw being the second coming of Ryan Giggs
 
I think Critch should be judged on a full Covid free season ( if there is such a thing ) with crowds back and another two transfer windows. I want success today and tomorrow like most of us do but despite watching a dire performance yesterday I can see potential in what the club is doing and a project that is worth sticking with.
 
Another 6 from me, as has been said the backing he has received,we really should be in a stronger position. Ipswich for me was a real tester of how far we have come forgetting the Ipswich fans tales of woe about just turning up to beat them, and our collapse in the second half was disappointing and worrying.
 
7-We have a far better squad then last term and are now technically a far better side. He has brought in some real quality in players such as Marvin, CJ, Yates, Dougall, Gretarsson and Stewart. He is getting the best out of Madine who is proving he is real quality and players such as Maxwell, Turton and Thorniley have improved under his management. He has been able to attract exciting young loanees in Ballard and Simms who are enhancing the squad. Clearly it has not been perfect, why would anybody be happy with what happened yesterday. It should be about the right formation , 4-4-2 has been serving us so well, so why then change it. Simms had two goals in two games yet was not given sufficient time to be able to influence the game. We are all frustrated with his substitutions. I do feel he is learning and will get this right, promotion could be a real prospect next season.
 
5 out of 10 from me, Critch is still on a steep learning curve, some very good results coupled with lots of disappointing performances but there is no consistency. You can never successfully predict a Critch starting X1, he has his favourites and is the new Tinker Man but his use of substitutes is woeful. Be interesting to see where Pool end up this season, will Critch end up in the Div 1 table below what McPhillips, another Pool Managerial novice, achieved and he didn‘t even want the job.
 
The only Judge would have been the fans in the stands he's getting away with it with no one there.

The affect on crowds being in the ground who knows we could have been better or worse he really is having a free hit.

We have improved but that was the three Musketeers to our rescue- Dougall + Calderwood + 4-4-2 so a
5/10.
 
I’d say 6. Would be higher if he stuck to 4-4-2 and kept the same winning team playing wherever possible
Don’t get why he would play one up front with the opposition being an attacking team.
 
6. Critchley is part of the BFC project. He's a student of the game learning how to manage a League 1 side. He was never going to give us the instant success that some expect.
 
6
Even the best coaches can't do much about individual errors, of which there were (too) many during the the poor start, so to a certain extent he has been let down by his players on a few occasions.

But he's a tinker man, and I still don't get why, including the much discussed 422 v 433 which I find bewildering and frustrating.
 
7 - Pieces are in place slowly but surely, there's a plan, Covid makes it all a little difficult to judge against other regimes.
 
The only Judge would have been the fans in the stands he's getting away with it with no one there.

The affect on crowds being in the ground who knows we could have been better or worse he really is having a free hit.

We have improved but that was the three Musketeers to our rescue- Dougall + Calderwood + 4-4-2 so a
5/10.
It's not a free hit at all, it's a shocking season for a first time league manager, no crowds, delayed games, players out etc etc...
 
I think it’s hard to give a proper score until the end of the season.

Some of the signings have been very good and will only get better, of course some haven’t been good but you can’t get them all right.

You have to factor in losing players to covid and the amount of games cancelled we’ve had especially when on a good run has probably stopped our momentum sometimes so I feel it’s hard to give a score at the moment and will judge it when I see how we finish.

If I high score now then we went on a dreadful run and got relegated (unlikely I know) it would look stupid, if I give an below average score and we make the play offs it’ll look stupid.
 
And do you not think after some of our performances BR wouldn't have turned against our manager?
The minute it did Grayson was toast.
Free hit. 👍
You don't know if performances would have been the same with a crowd at BR, that's the point, it's not a normal season, it's far from a free hit.
 
5.5

Think he has taken on a big job - no doubt done a lot of work within the club and set up. I think the clock is ticking but I fully expect him to turn it round and make us a force. Depends whether SS and many fans are as patient as me - think he needs another season personally
 
7 He is learning on the job and without the shocking start to the season and Hamiltons injury I would guess we would be higher in the table.
 
7 He is learning on the job and without the shocking start to the season and Hamiltons injury I would guess we would be higher in the table.
He was responsible for the poor start and all clubs have injuries and covid to deal with. For me, he makes too many mistakes and worse still he doesn't learn from them. He appears passionless and demotivating.
 
This tinkering is a bit exaggerated. One change on Saturday from the previous game. We don't change the side that much and injuries and Covid have been the main reason.

Saturday was disappointing, and we haven't attacked effectively all season. I'd give NC and Calderwood a 7 for this season so far, on the basis that it's a total rebuild and a work in progress and we have put in some great building blocks especially down the spine of the team. Marv and Greta, Dougall and Stewart, CJ and Yates. For next season we need to sort the left hand side and balance the attack better.

In the summer I felt Lincoln's transfer business stood out as very smart and so it's proved. I thought Appleton would mess it up though. He hasn't, so far. I think Rochdale are interesting, they were financially challenged in the summer and had to cut their cloth, lost some key players, but they play with a freedom and fluency that we lack. Ok they are 8 points behind us and have played 2 games more but their coach has handled a pretty difficult situation well and very positively. They attack better than we do and have spent nowt. It's disappointing that our attacking play is so stuttery and disjointed given all the players that have come in. Sometimes less is more, as Rochdale sort of demonstrate. 40 goals compared with our 28 on a skeleton budget. Stick their attack onto our defence and defensive midfield and you have promotion.

I think we signed too many. If you are told you can sign 15 players it gets messy. If you are told you can sign 5, you have to really focus on the players to sign and the players you have. Let's do that next time. No more Lubala style punts. Just sign players who fit the bill. That's what Lincoln did.

But also let's have some solidarity. I really object to all this carping and moaning. We are in a great place as a club, the owner has gone for a new manager who is learning about senior League One football and will stick with him and it would be far more intelligent for the fans to be supportive and patient and to appreciate all the positives.

I'm shouting into a gale force beast from the east wind of negativity though aren't I? Human nature and all that.
 
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7/10. I think we are on the cusp of going on a decent run and climbing the table. Keep the faith, this project will come good.
 
It's a 5 from me. I think he is very stubborn, likes to tinker too much and is too reliant on a sole striker, which just does not work. I also thought in the January window we needed to bring a rapid winger and cover at centre half, neither of which happened!
 
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