Rochdale v Blackpool Official Matchnight Thread 20.04.21

Well that was extremely poor. The players have put in a great effort to go 16 games unbeaten, but we were found out tonight. Credit to Rochdale, but you have to say Spotland really is the graveyard of Blackpool. Along with Portman Rd.
Kaikai was a total passenger tonight. I'm a fan and generally think he should be in the team, but even his most ardent fan can't surely defend that display. He wasn't the only one though, Embleton did very little, and Simms didn't look interested either. All three have done well in recent weeks so, and I rate all three, so let's just hope they can get back on it on Saturday.
Critchley - i'm a big fan, but just to prove that you can be a fan and are allowed to criticise, those subs were way way too late. It's reactionary rather than taking a pro-active approach, and why does it always take our subs 10 minutes to get ready?
It's incredibly frustrating when we lose in that manner. Every game that goes by where we struggle to get the better of the oppositions defence I can't help think of Madine and that these are the games he'd thrive in. It's a crying shame he's had this injury because if he hadn't, I think we'd have already secured a top six place by now.
But having said all that, we're still in a top six place, and the results weren't all bad. But we're going to need to play an awful lot better than that to secure a play off place at the end.
 
Unfortunately we were not at it tonight, but credit to Rochdale, they are fighting for their league 1 lives . Their game plan worked a treat . I would imagine Mr Critchley will analyse this performance and make the necessary tactical changes for the next game . COYP.
 
There was a lot to moan about but there was always going to be a defeat before the end of the season.
It's out of the way.
Start the next 8 match unbeaten run on Saturday, but that won't be easy.
UTMP
 
There’s a few that have been waiting for a gash performance like this for 16 games.
Meaning back in their lives again, chance to vent and slate every player.
We’ve been poor tonight but still a play off team snd still we never give up trying until the final whistle.
Dusty wizzels. One poor performance doesn’t mean we are a bad team or badly coached

Anyhow - vent away. Get it off your chests.
It’s been poor
It's funny that from out of nowhere a load of posters have appeared who haven't posted on a match thread for 16 games suddenly give their comments tonight. They must have been waiting patiently for that game, well, there you go, get it out of your system, I hope you disappear for a few months again.

There is no denying that was probably the worst performance from us this season and I hope the players are made to watch that through tomorrow to see what rubbish we have had to endure. They need to move on and put that right on Saturday. Now is not the time to get heads down and fell sorry for yourself. Make the play offs at all costs and ensure the players are as fresh as possible.
 
keeps the season exciting, you wouldnt want it all done and dusted with games to spare

hopefully critch gets them all together and does his magic
 
We've had terrible results against the lower placed sides, tempered by good results against the top ones.

Strange, strange season, and Im still not convinced with Critchleys tactical nuances.
 
He gave Brad Holmes 4 minutes of normal time..... apart from that recycled the same old subs, to be fair we dont have much else but Holmes earlier would have been better.

Utter shite tonight, still in a great position in the league, with games in hand on below, but that was crap.
Yep , he's a big lively looking lad. Fresh legs and say 20 minutes to stretch em and who knows. Pity the speed merchants weren't on earlier because we were jaded and slow which I can understand .Too much football , too many injuries ... so mix it up with what precious little options we've got
 
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"The lads were exhausted" - shouldn't be any more tired than any other team. Not an excuse.

A LOT of people can't use "being a bit tired" as doing a shit job in their employment.

"I'm sorry Mrs Jenkins but the surgeon removed your husbands penis instead of the wart on his neck. He's really tired you see. I do hope you understand?"
 
Utterly frustrating affair today, felt like a game earlier in the season where we could have played till midnight and we'd still all be waiting for us to score.

Only positive I can take is that we might have needed a loss at some point to refuel the fires before the play-offs, I hope they're pissed off and come back on Saturday raring to get our play-off chase back on track.
 
It was an off night for us tonight. Sometimes these nights can act as a kick up the arse. We should make the play offs though. Believe!
 
It's the end of an incredible run which has seen us beat pretty much all the top sides. The lads looked a little jaded tonight and not quite at it. Way too many had below average games but that has been something of a rarity lately. Now is not the time to panic or be overly critical, the play offs are still very much in our own hands.

Side note to say well played Rochdale, for a team in the bottom four they gave us more problems than most teams we've played recently.

Roll on Saturday, bounce back and the start of a new unbeaten run.
 
As have they all except Maxwell. He had no chance with that shot the angle it was coming in at.
Was hard to tell from the angle of the camera but looked a soft goal all round either way. Not sure who should have put a tackle in but before that we kept clearing the ball unnecessarily into touch when we could have tried to play it out within the pitch, didn't fully clear and paid the price.
 
Also to add - I think people are overestimating the number of points that will be required to get a playoff place. I reckon 74 maximum, possibly one or two less even. The teams below us are running out of games. Oxford in seventh for example have 65 and have three games left. The Oxford and Portsmouth results really did us a massive favour tonight which meant that although it was a missed opportunity, there was actually no real damage done.
 
Course I’m not happy with tonight’s performance, but it seems to me some posters almost can’t wait to jump in and moan when things aren’t going right.
Would hope you'd know me better than that Al.
Right from the start when people were calling for Critch's head I was asking for him to be given time.
What I do do is call a bad performance when I see it.
It must be wonderful to watch every match through tangerine glasses or blinkers without seeing the bleeding obvious.
Tonight Blackpool were leggy, devoid of attacking ideas and made a team in bottom 4 look good.
I dont buy into this the bottom teams will be fighting for their lives garbage, they are there for a reason, they're bad.

So ok we move onto Shrewsbury on Saturday a team we rarely do well against then the Makems who seem to have got their shit sorted.
I've no fingernails left to bite
 
It's funny that from out of nowhere a load of posters have appeared who haven't posted on a match thread for 16 games suddenly give their comments tonight. They must have been waiting patiently for that game, well, there you go, get it out of your system, I hope you disappear for a few months again.

There is no denying that was probably the worst performance from us this season and I hope the players are made to watch that through tomorrow to see what rubbish we have had to endure. They need to move on and put that right on Saturday. Now is not the time to get heads down and fell sorry for yourself. Make the play offs at all costs and ensure the players are as fresh as possible.
There’s one poster I made the mistake of looking at his post history. Every game he posts Dougall is shit, Mitchell can fuck off etc etc etc. Never one post of positivity and that was in a run of 16 games unbeaten
Imagine hating your players so much?

He must have been bursting blood vessels left, right and centre whilst grabbing his little man part in excitement of how bad it was.

Tonight was poor in all departments- we got it wrong, but jeez calm the feck down
 
There was a lot to moan about but there was always going to be a defeat before the end of the season.
It's out of the way.
Start the next 8 match unbeaten run on Saturday, but that won't be easy.
UTMP
I thought tonight was a great opportunity to freshen things up, play Husband, Marv, Gabriel, Mitchell and give Holmes a go with Simms. We are likely to need them at some point and they need game time.

NC has heaped pressure on himself, and now I think he’ll be even less likely to make changes.

Relaxed about the defeat, as you say, had to end sometime, but it’s the manner of the performance against a poor team and not giving it a go.
 
My main criticism tonight is that we didn't respond off the bench fast enough, we definitely looked better after Mitchell and Gabriel came on and it felt like we were crying out for a change with how we were playing - they come on without much time and left and it feels all a little too late.

Bounce back on Saturday needed definitely, hope they're all fuming and channel that against Shrewsbury. We need to get them back for turning us over at their place anyway.
 
We are still 3 points clear with games in hand!
A couple more wins will do.

Both Oxford and Portsmouth lost to struggling sides.

You have to feel a little sorry for Dale as Wigan and Wimbledon are both in form.
Curtains for Joey Barton’s lads are down. We play them final game.
 
Not one of our players has had a good game.

The superfans will be on later saying how we aren't entitled to win every game borin blah blah blah.

We should expect better than this. A painful evening and those talking about Wembley and promotions should have a reality check. We need a lot lot better to make those playoffs.
Maxwell had a good game...no others though
 
Unfortunately we were not at it tonight, but credit to Rochdale, they are fighting for their league 1 lives . Their game plan worked a treat . I would imagine Mr Critchley will analyse this performance and make the necessary tactical changes for the next game . COYP.
I hope so, we were always going to be outnumbered where it matters in midfield and playing 2 up front doesn't make you a more attacking team if you cant get the ball to them!
Come on Critch use your football brains, we know your choices are limited but you do have some, we need some pace and inventiveness in the team, please shake it up a bit in the final third!
 
There’s a few that have been waiting for a gash performance like this for 16 games.
Meaning back in their lives again, chance to vent and slate every player.
We’ve been poor tonight but still a play off team snd still we never give up trying until the final whistle.
Dusty wizzels. One poor performance doesn’t mean we are a bad team or badly coached

Anyhow - vent away. Get it off your chests.
It’s been poor
I think it's reasonable to give fans a bit of slack here Chunky. We're in a precarious position with a chance, no more, of getting into the play-offs. We played a bottom 4 team and we were abysmal.
Fans letting off steam is the least of Critchley's worries.
He said in his pre-match vid that he knew how Rochdale would set up. Well? That went f*cking shite didn't it!
At this stage we should be doing a Charlton and beating these by a score.
 
We was always going to lose or draw sooner or later ,hopefully we get back on another mini run and stay in the playoffs and hopefully have a couple of players back to freshen things up. Give a bit of credit to the dale they battled and fought to the end and deserved to win in their fight to stay in the league. I thought we should of put an extra player in the middle of the park as we were being out fought and second to every ball maybe we should revert to a 4321 formation to stay a bit more solid in the middle.
 
There was a lot to moan about but there was always going to be a defeat before the end of the season.
It's out of the way.
Start the next 8 match unbeaten run on Saturday, but that won't be easy.
UTMP
Correct, there was always going to be a defeat. But I don’t think the ‘ moaners’ along with myself are too concerned about a defeat. Tonight wasn’t a defeat, it was a capitulation, losing will be accepted by most reasonable fans, the manner of that defeat is what’s causing concern. It can’t be blamed entirely on tiredness, we have played less games than most other teams. The main bone of contention seems to be, at least for me anyway, the constant backwards and sideways passing and the management team seemingly incapable of changing personnel/ tactics until it’s to late. Proactive not reactive should be the order of the day.
 
Think in games like this we miss an outfield captain. We need someone to urge the team on and marshall the team. Tonight could have been a whole lot worse but now I worry about our games in hand as we seem to be running on empty. Our wins at Charlton and Oxford now seem vital too.
 
Players dead on their feet and no one to inspire from the bench is really hurting us at the moment. Defensive foundations are good but midfield very average and take Yates out the forward line we are sorely lacking. I know we have players out but we do need to strengthen in these weaker areas even with a fully fit squad.
 
I think it's reasonable to give fans a bit of slack here Chunky. We're in a precarious position with a chance, no more, of getting into the play-offs. We played a bottom 4 team and we were abysmal.
Fans letting off steam is the least of Critchley's worries.
He said in his pre-match vid that he knew how Rochdale would set up. Well? That went f*cking shite didn't it!
At this stage we should be doing a Charlton and beating these by a score.
I’m not against criticism on here nor even a vent 66.
I just cannot understand certain posters who literally only post when it’s bad. They can literally only contribute to directly attack players.
On the night we murdered Charlton and played them off the park, these people could not say one thing positive. No where to be seen?
I guess I will never understand that view of life?
 
Would hope you'd know me better than that Al.
Right from the start when people were calling for Critch's head I was asking for him to be given time.
What I do do is call a bad performance when I see it.
It must be wonderful to watch every match through tangerine glasses or blinkers without seeing the bleeding obvious.
Tonight Blackpool were leggy, devoid of attacking ideas and made a team in bottom 4 look good.
I dont buy into this the bottom teams will be fighting for their lives garbage, they are there for a reason, they're bad.

So ok we move onto Shrewsbury on Saturday a team we rarely do well against then the Makems who seem to have got their shit sorted.
I've no fingernails left to bite
You should know after years of watching Pool, we never do things the easy way! We need to be emotional wrecks before the prize is won, 🤣 keep the faith Wizzer!
 
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