The run in

straightatthewall said:
Naturally some people are more positive than others. Wiz would still think promotion was on if we were 30 points off 6th with 10 games left. A_T_G would find fault if we were 4 clear with 1 to go...

For the majority of us, I'd feel that uncertainty this season is really just linked to the inconsistency we've shown and the '2 steps forward/1 step back' or '1 step forward/2 steps back' pattern that's generally bookmarked the season. It's also probably linked to some of our performances when we've lost. Last Tuesday's loss (as an example) showed us nothing positive whatsoever and it also wasn't a surprise to anyone really. As long as we have that in the memory bank it's going to keep people 'guarded' against getting too bullish about how the season will pan out.
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When we talk about “2 steps forward and 1 step back” though (at least in the context of recent games) what we are really talking about is two wins, followed by a loss (or to put it a different way, an average of 2 points per game).

OK we might also question performance levels, but should we also be questioning our own individual mentality as fans?

In any normal ‘reality’ we ought to all be upbeat and positive right now and yet somehow it feels like many people are struggling.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
When we talk about “2 steps forward and 1 step back” though (at least in the context of recent games) what we are really talking about is two wins, followed by a loss (or to put it a different way, an average of 2 points per game).

OK we might also question performance levels, but should we also be questioning our own individual mentality as fans?

In any normal ‘reality’ we ought to all be upbeat and positive right now and yet somehow it feels like many people are struggling.
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I'm talking about the full season rather than an isolated group of games. There's been a clear pattern of some positive results followed by some poor results. As per my post the other day, Feb saw us pick up 1.1 points per game. That was bottom third form when we needed top 6 form and is probably setting the mindset.
 
straightatthewall said:
I'm talking about the full season rather than an isolated group of games. There's been a clear pattern of some positive results followed by some poor results. As per my post the other day, Feb saw us pick up 1.1 points per game. That was bottom third form when we needed top 6 form and is probably setting the mindset.
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February is an "isolated group of games", isn't it?

You make a reasonable point, but over 36 games you get a pretty fair idea of where you are overall. In our case, just short of play-off form, unless we can take 20 points or so from what remains. Difficult, but not impossible.

There is still a lot of water to flow under a number of bridges. If you take everyone below Lincoln and above Wycombe - plus Carlisle - as out of the running at either end, there are still a lot of games to be played with a lot at stake.

So, for example, Posh, Stevenage, Oxford and Orient have to play a contender at either end in practically every game they have left. So points will be dropped, and perhaps more than we think.

All that said, Orient are my dark horse for 6th place. They have Posh, Vale, Exeter, Cheltenham and the Cods to play at home.
 
straightatthewall said:
I'm talking about the full season rather than an isolated group of games. There's been a clear pattern of some positive results followed by some poor results. As per my post the other day, Feb saw us pick up 1.1 points per game. That was bottom third form when we needed top 6 form and is probably setting the mindset.
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irrespective though, as bazzlebobbler says, we’re sitting on the edge of the Play Offs. We’ve had a pretty famed good run of results quite recently and our rivals seem to be dropping points.

Is it normal to be this down in the mouth under such circumstances? I’m not convinced it is.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
irrespective though, as bazzlebobbler says, we’re sitting on the edge of the Play Offs. We’ve had a pretty famed good run of results quite recently and our rivals seem to be dropping points.

Is it normal to be this down in the mouth under such circumstances? I’m not convinced it is.
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So, answering you and the suddenly back with football chat Bobbie at the same time...

I'd say that the caution being shown by some is not about being down in the mouth, more just assessing what we've seen over the season and using that as a guide to what will happen next. Obviously what has happened before does not dictate, what happens next, but to be of the belief that there will be a change you also have to feel confident of where that change comes from. And that's where most people are caught. The coach has steadfastly stuck with a system and approach that has failed as often as it's come good, and we've regularly lost certain types of games where we've looked disjointed, uninspiring and brittle both mentally and physically.

My reference to February is rooted in the fact that it always looked a big month in terms of who we would play and how that could not only boost us, but also damage our rivals. When we needed to step up, we didn't. We need to step up again now as top of the table form is likely needed to get us in the play-off spots, rather than just outside them and the head says we won't quite have the qualities to make it happen.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I was thinking about this the other day and I have to wonder if this is very much symptomatic of where we are as a fanbase as opposed to anything else?

I mean we’re talking about something… (i.e. fairly inconsistent performances - mostly away from home) and a season where we find ourselves on the periphery of the Play Offs.

Firstly, this is a pretty normal and everyday situation in football. It’s a position that plenty of football fans would absolutely love to see their club enjoying.. A position that plenty of us would have relished at various times during our years supporting this Club - And something which ought to be a source of great excitement, rather that ‘frustration’.

Are we ‘Damaged Goods’ ?

Has the Premier League and the subsequent nonsense tainted us all. Something certainly seems to be missing, because this isn’t the Blackpool ‘attitude’ that I grew up with. It’s something I find myself increasingly struggling to relate to at all, yet increasingly it seems to be accepted as the norm.
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Good post that Daz. I was thinking that some of us miss the fight with the previous owners, the craziness of it, the awfulness and the will to win and still hope the team would do well in spite of that adversity.

I wouldn't want to go back to those day but the absurdity of it all did make it car crash interesting. As it is now, it's all a bit normal and we're really not used to that so it comes across as bit dull because we're just a normal football club. Weird, but I'm sure a psychologist could make sense of it all.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
Have people been smoking weed or ingesting magic mushrooms, or in some cases, both?

In the form we are in with Critchleys tactics mainly with away games, not a Scooby doo of the PO's

IF and I repeat, IF he reverts to the attacking formation he keeps accidentally ending up with, just maybe we might do it.

With the Mighty, anything can happen.
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Won 3 from the last 4, keep that form up we will make it comfortably
 
If we get in the play offs we will win them.

Big question is if we get in them. I fear we will fall a couple of points short and be 7/8th.
 
hertfordseasider said:
Good post that Daz. I was thinking that some of us miss the fight with the previous owners, the craziness of it, the awfulness and the will to win and still hope the team would do well in spite of that adversity.

I wouldn't want to go back to those day but the absurdity of it all did make it car crash interesting. As it is now, it's all a bit normal and we're really not used to that so it comes across as bit dull because we're just a normal football club. Weird, but I'm sure a psychologist could make sense of it all.
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I think there’s something to that…

I definitely think that a lot of people have become addicted to the drama and feed off it.

I can understand that folk might want to temper their emotions / expectations as @straightatthewall suggests, because we’ve seen our hopes of a consistent run dashed a few times this season, but the fact remains that we’d have given our right arm for a season like this for a good portion of the last few decades.

The whole Anti-Critchley thing (especially on Social Media) has gathered far more momentum than it ought to really… And far too many people have pushed that agenda (and pushed it relentlessly) until ultimately we talk about firing off a manager with one of the best records in our Club’s history as if it’s some kind of unequivocal requirement… It’s absolutely bizarre really.

I keep saying it, but we need a collective reset and a complete shift in mentality across our fanbase. To get back to pulling in one direction for the benefit of the club and each other, instead of focusing on the innumerate number of reasons we can find to pull in opposite directions.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
I think there’s something to that…

I definitely think that a lot of people have become addicted to the drama and feed off it.

I can understand that folk might want to temper their emotions / expectations as @straightatthewall suggests, because we’ve seen our hopes of a consistent run dashed a few times this season, but the fact remains that we’d have given our right arm for a season like this for a good portion of the last few decades.

The whole Anti-Critchley thing (especially on Social Media) has gathered far more momentum than it ought to really… And far too many people have pushed that agenda (and pushed it relentlessly) until ultimately we talk about firing off a manager with one of the best records in our Club’s history as if it’s some kind of unequivocal requirement… It’s absolutely bizarre really.

I keep saying it, but we need a collective reset and a complete shift in mentality across our fanbase. To get back to pulling in one direction for the benefit of the club and each other, instead of focusing on the innumerate number of reasons we can find to pull in opposite directions.
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I think that's right, I had a sudden realisation this morning that I was turning into a right miserable old ** on here, and I was thinking why, because in reality we have a really good owner and a decent, but stubborn, manager and we are slowly catching up to the play off places.

We talk about the "Blackpool way" as if it's some free flowing, beautiful football, well I've been watching this club for over 50 years and I can honestly say that is just not the case, there have been moments of that but the utter dross has been far more to the fore. I think the "Blackpool way" is being the underdog, being beset by terrible owners for decades, a basket case club whose supporters are one of a kind and love the challenge of a fight against the pantomime villains and we have been good at it, that is the "Blackpool way", but that has all stopped, we are a normal football club now, free of the dramas that we loved to face and defeat, we are being run properly, we are not out of the promotion race but really should be a few places higher than we are, last season was a bit more "The Blackpool way" which appeared out of nowhere. We are now stable, in good hands and it's all, well, a bit boring. There are plenty of things that can be improved on, particularly player recruitment, some experienced heads and some personalities, something for those of us with PTBD (Post Traumatic Blackpool Disorder) to get our teeth into because all we have to moan about at the moment is a bit of a boring manager, a lack of "Oomph" (Your words) but I think I will try and get used to less dramatic times, it's a bit like an addiction so it may not be easy but I'm going to try.
 
hertfordseasider said:
I think that's right, I had a sudden realisation this morning that I was turning into a right miserable old ** on here, and I was thinking why, because in reality we have a really good owner and a decent, but stubborn, manager and we are slowly catching up to the play off places.

We talk about the "Blackpool way" as if it's some free flowing, beautiful football, well I've been watching this club for over 50 years and I can honestly say that is just not the case, there have been moments of that but the utter dross has been far more to the fore. I think the "Blackpool way" is being the underdog, being beset by terrible owners for decades, a basket case club whose supporters are one of a kind and love the challenge of a fight against the pantomime villains and we have been good at it, that is the "Blackpool way", but that has all stopped, we are a normal football club now, free of the dramas that we loved to face and defeat, we are being run properly, we are not out of the promotion race but really should be a few places higher than we are, last season was a bit more "The Blackpool way" which appeared out of nowhere. We are now stable, in good hands and it's all, well, a bit boring. There are plenty of things that can be improved on, particularly player recruitment, some experienced heads and some personalities, something for those of us with PTBD (Post Traumatic Blackpool Disorder) to get our teeth into because all we have to moan about at the moment is a bit of a boring manager, a lack of "Oomph" (Your words) but I think I will try and get used to less dramatic times, it's a bit like an addiction so it may not be easy but I'm going to try.
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When I talk about ‘oomf’ I think it’s just a case of getting some personality into our performances and a few more ‘characters’ in and around the place that people can relate to.

As a collective we need to find something to unite behind. Ideally that should be getting this Club back to where we’d all like it to be and thriving.

That’s not boring, it’s all very exciting and having a stable and credible Head Coach is going to play a big part in that….

I think we’ve maybe just got to start enjoying life, making the most of this great opportunity in our Clubs history…

If we can harness the collective energy and ingenuity that was a feature of our fight against the Oyston Family and focus that on taking this Club forward, then the Sky may be the limit…but that requires a ‘We win together, we lose together’ mentality and not the kind of ‘finger pointing’ / blame culture that we seem to have developed.
 
April 20th
Blackpool vs Barnsley
Oxford vs. Stevenage
L Orient vs. Fleetwood

April 27th
Reading vs. Blackpool
Exeter vs. Oxford
Stevenage vs. Cheltenham
Shrewsbury vs. L Orient
P'Boro vs. Bolton W
Derby vs. Carlisle
Lincoln vs. Portsmouth
Barnsley vs. Northampton

Some interesting match ups in those two final rounds of Lg1
 
Hazi said:
Won 3 from the last 4, keep that form up we will make it comfortably
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That's what @straightatthewall is saying. We don't keep good form going, every time they look like being a top 6 side or better then a couple of results come along to squash that idea.

That can change, but if it does it will be a change of approach and that would already have happened.
 
fcblackpool said:
That's what @straightatthewall is saying. We don't keep good form going, every time they look like being a top 6 side or better then a couple of results come along to squash that idea.

That can change, but if it does it will be a change of approach and that would already have happened.
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Since 1 December (our last 16 games) we’ve averaged 1.75 ppg (81 over a season). It’s not been enough to get us in the top 6 yet, but it dies highlight just how ridiculous and reactionary the criticism of the manager is tbh.
 
BFC_BFC_BFC said:
Since 1 December (our last 16 games) we’ve averaged 1.75 ppg (81 over a season). It’s not been enough to get us in the top 6 yet, but it dies highlight just how ridiculous and reactionary the criticism of the manager is tbh.
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Shame the season starts in August and end near May 😉





















































I know, I know, I know........
 
I think most of us had two draws for Pompey/Cobblers and so that is massive to be 2 points ahead of that (plus the Stevenage/Oxford defeats) - similar I only had us down for 1 point against Wigan/Derby and so avoid defeat in both games will be more than I expected - if we can get a win/draw or a win/win that takes massive pressure off the last 6 games (incidentally I had us on 75 points from my predictions and so we're now on 77 - a big result tomorrow would be massive.
 
Going back to this thread so far in the 7/10 games we've won 3 drawn 2 and lost 2 which is 11 points.
Most thought 20 points minimum was needed which ironically we could get in the last 3 games.
 
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