Scrafton away….

BM’s Bargains

BM’s Bargains

Well-known member
Every frikkin time Matt is away on his hols, big things happen
We need to take away his passport ffs 😂

Anyway, as much as like him, he’s a bit careful with what he says on the gazette website and twitter.

Tbh I much prefer Sean McGinlay - he is a Blackpool fan after all, and pulls no punches.
For those who don’t know, he’s the official BFC reporter for Lance Live.

These quotes are excellent:

“A move to establish himself at a Premier League club without a hit to his reputation as a number one makes sense from a personal perspective.” This is in relation to the Kirk deal falling through and he was concerned his managerial record would take a hit as his ambitions were higher than the clubs. Ring any bells?? Sadly to me, it does.


And the second one, after highlighting all of the times he’s said he loves the town, the project, the staff, and especially the players and fans (who he himself called the best fans he’s ever come across).

“The manner of this exit after the words he's told supporters in recent times is quite frankly disingenuous.”

After also hearing that the players were only told minutes before the statement, is something really shocking to hear as a fan of our beautiful club.
 
Tangerine-Not-Clementine said:
Anyway, as much as like him, he’s a bit careful with what he says on the gazette website and twitter.
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I have it on good authority that Critch called in Scrafton over what he felt was unnecessary criticism - don’t think they quite had the cosy relationship we might have thought. Probably quite pleased he’s gone.
 
M61Exile said:
I have it on good authority that Critch called in Scrafton over what he felt was unnecessary criticism - don’t think they quite had the cosy relationship we might have thought. Probably quite pleased he’s gone.
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That’s interesting, it just goes to show thag you can’t judge a book by its cover.
 
voyeur said:
How is the manner of his exit disingenuous? He got offered a job at a top club and he accepted it. There's nothing disingenuous about that whatsoever. Red misty specs.
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I’m quoting a journalist. Not my words, but the point he was making was that after all of the fist pumping, bowing down, blowing kisses, putting his hand on his heart and only on TUESDAY he said how much he loved it here and the fans…..

So either he’s acting one way, or there’s more than meets the eye.
I still believe we need dialogue here. A statement a few mins after announcing his departure and then nothing? Well I can’t speak for everyone but I’m pretty certain a lot of our fans will want to know why (and our players!😒)
 
The fella might be a fan but he's also a journalist who needs to attract readers for the advertising revenue they bring to his employers.

Resigning because you didn't sign a target feels a bit immature and something to help justify a decision rather than cause one. Mind you, there's only a few people who will actually know how much of that is true and I'm not one of them.

The chest thumping, first clenching, and best fans in the land statements can all be true in the moment. He probably absolutely loved it at the time, and who wouldn't? No idea when Villa (or more specifically Gerrard) came calling, but if it was Wednesday all the things he said were true at the time.

He has gone for himself, it's selfish from our perspective, I'm not convinced it's a step up, or in his long term managerial best interests, but time will tell.
 
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Tangerine-Not-Clementine said:
I’m quoting a journalist. Not my words, but the point he was making was that after all of the fist pumping, bowing down, blowing kisses, putting his hand on his heart and only on TUESDAY he said how much he loved it here and the fans…..

So either he’s acting one way, or there’s more than meets the eye.
I still believe we need dialogue here. A statement a few mins after announcing his departure and then nothing? Well I can’t speak for everyone but I’m pretty certain a lot of our fans will want to know why (and our players!😒)
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Ok, but that's not the manner of his exit.

Tbh managers manage. They manage players, they manage expectations, they manage the whole situation. Including the fans.

The whole badge kissing thing is not to be taken too seriously surely. It's naive to think a player or manager forms an attachment to s club that means they will turn down a massive pay increase to stay at a club. I'm sure Critch enjoyed his time with us and appreciated the fantastic support of the fans though.

I'm shocked he went so soon, I didn't expect it, and I think he should say something. But I don't think he should be vilified.
 
I don't think Critch actually said owt on Tuesday about fans. I think the club put out a quote from one of his interviews earlier in the season on a twitter post in a season ticket advert.
 
td53 said:
I don't think Critch actually said owt on Tuesday about fans. I think the club put out a quote from one of his interviews earlier in the season on a twitter post in a season ticket advert.
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Correct. He's on holiday isn't he? He was taking his phone and laptop with him he said. They obviously came in handy.
 
Matt does a decent job, but he doesn’t seem to have any contacts. It’s very much ‘by numbers stuff.’ He’s as surprised as the rest of us when a story breaks.
As for Lancs Live, what’s the actual point of it?? Their twitter is like Fleetwood Town’s or Fylde’s … whenever they tweet nobody replies. It’s not a media outlet anyone takes seriously. The online equivalent of The Citizen from years ago. Sean, in fairness is having a good go at his career and probably needs to move on to bigger things.
 
TSSeasider said:
The fella might be s fan but he's also a journalist who needs to attract readers for the advertising revenue they bring to his employers.

Resigning because you didn't sign a target feels a bit immature and something to keep justify a decision rather than cause one. Mind you, that's only s few people who will actually know how much of that is true and I'm not one of them.

The chest thumping, first clenching, and best fans in the land statements can all be true in the moment. He probably absolutely loved it at the time, and who wouldn't? No idea when Villa (or more specifically Gerrard) came calling, but if it was Wednesday all the things he said were true at the time.

He had gone for himself, it's it's selfish from our perspective, I'm not convinced it's a step up, or in his long term managerial best interests, but time will tell.
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I think this move may well come back to bite Critchley in years to come. In the ego driven world of football I think many (Chairmen/Chairwomen, CEOs and peers etc) will look at this as a soft easy move. If you take away the emotion and look at it logically, you have a promotion winning Championship manager, who stabilised a small club (by Championship standards) easily in the division in his first season, at an ambitious club who has chucked it all in to be a no2 to a mate for mega money. Since Critchley came in has has been well backed by SS in terms of signings - remember we were one of very very few clubs spending transfer fees in the pre season after the season was curtailed - and infrastructure in terms on what Critchley needed such as analysts and training ground updates etc. Now that we apparently have a tight budget with not much to spend on transfer fees - which is no different to a lot of other Championship clubs apparently - he jumps ship! When the going got tough Critchley got going and fooked off it seems. A few other observations on Critchley’s reign -

1. For a renowned developer of young players we did not bring through one genuine first team player from the academy.
2 We had 5 or 6 games at the end of the season where we and the opposition had nothing to play for yet aside from the second half at Peterborough we did not play one academy ‘prospect’ - why? Surely this was the time to do it?
3. Did the constant tinkering help or hinder us?
4. We continually had hamstring type injuries and large numbers out injured - was this just bad luck or poor preparation/training methods?
5. Particularly at the back end of the season you did wonder if Critchley was watching the same game when we got beat.
6. Playing out from the back - we were just not good enough at it, to slow never played forward etc.
7. Set pieces - simply dreadful and never improved.
8. Rarely shot when we had the chance - always looking for the extra pass.
9. How many times did we go 1-0 up and just sit back getting deeper and deeper as the game went on?
10. Since Critchley came in we were never clinical enough and he never solved the problem.
11. The obsession with Branagan - good or bad?
 
voyeur said:
Ok, but that's not the manner of his exit.

Tbh managers manage. They manage players, they manage expectations, they manage the whole situation. Including the fans.

The whole badge kissing thing is not to be taken too seriously surely. It's naive to think a player or manager forms an attachment to s club that means they will turn down a massive pay increase to stay at a club. I'm sure Critch enjoyed his time with us and appreciated the fantastic support of the fans though.

I'm shocked he went so soon, I didn't expect it, and I think he should say something. But I don't think he should be vilified.
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I suppose so, I think though if someone does that, then they are on a hiding to nothing when they suddenly uproot and go.
Can’t remember a manager in the past doing that, so yes I agree it could be deemed as being naive, but it was the whole package - the togetherness, the players putting in 110%, the fans singing when the opponent scored, the mutual respect of all parts in making the whole.
I understand that one man moving on cannot change what 10,000 people do on a match day, but it may affect things, especially if the manager is a bit of a closed book.
Anyway we’ll see
 
TSSeasider said:
The fella might be s fan but he's also a journalist who needs to attract readers for the advertising revenue they bring to his employers.

Resigning because you didn't sign a target feels a bit immature and something to keep justify a decision rather than cause one. Mind you, that's only s few people who will actually know how much of that is true and I'm not one of them.

The chest thumping, first clenching, and best fans in the land statements can all be true in the moment. He probably absolutely loved it at the time, and who wouldn't? No idea when Villa (or more specifically Gerrard) came calling, but if it was Wednesday all the things he said were true at the time.

He had gone for himself, it's it's selfish from our perspective, I'm not convinced it's a step up, or in his long term managerial best interests, but time will tell.
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Could’ve simply been the straw that broke the camels back, or with that happening and then SG popping round for some tea and biscuits - it swayed his decision.
Btw, I don’t get the whole “He went to his house so he obviously wanted him a lot” business. I think that’s the only way to do it for things like this.
Trying to imaging a WhatsApp convo:-

“yo Neil, it’s erm Stevie Gee”
“Oh Erm hiya pal long time no see”
“Yeh, Erm wanna join my club? Ill give you some monies”
“Yeh Erm sure, fkn sound m8”
“Booya! Reet then. C ya in a week or two”
 
The popping round his house thing is a bit of bollocks. It involves a 30 mile drive from Formby to Warrington, hardly the stuff of ‘bobbing for a pint of milk stuff’.
 
voyeur said:
How is the manner of his exit disingenuous? He got offered a job at a top club and he accepted it. There's nothing disingenuous about that whatsoever. Red misty specs.
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He was offered A job at a top club, not the top job at the top club, maybe financially it is a good move, but not good for his progression as a football manager.
 
CalderwoodCritchleyWon’t said:
Matt does a decent job, but he doesn’t seem to have any contacts. It’s very much ‘by numbers stuff.’ He’s as surprised as the rest of us when a story breaks.
As for Lancs Live, what’s the actual point of it?? Their twitter is like Fleetwood Town’s or Fylde’s … whenever they tweet nobody replies. It’s not a media outlet anyone takes seriously. The online equivalent of The Citizen from years ago. Sean, in fairness is having a good go at his career and probably needs to move on to bigger things.
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Disagree about Lancs Live. Often seems ahead of the Gazette nowadays (who make their website a ballache to read, meaning I don't bother as much with it) and has had its own unique articles offering a different view on things.
 
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