Thoughts on today

JJpool

Well-known member
Firstly great to be back.

Interesting line up and I thought some of the passing though the lines was far better 1st half.

You could see much more positivity in the setup and selection.

Some good performances from the midfield.

All Reading really had was some corners.

Solid defensively although not sure why Marv kept passing it to them, his passing is really poor at times.

Got the goal we deserved and Connolly really can hit them, good player.

The atmosphere started well but then fell off a cliff, thought it was really poor and flat for a lot of it. Were the muckers asleep for a lot of it? Felt like Hoggy wasn't there to me.

I was really looking forward to the 2nd half but sadly for most of it we seemed to revert to the old sit back and hang on not being able to put many passes together side.

A few great opportunities completely wasted, Bowler hits the post, Madine has a free header and heads it tamely at their keeper and Lavery has a great chance and fails to pull the trigger 1 on 1, the ball falls to someone else and they lose it rather than shoot and suddenly they're on the break.

Prerty poor 2nd half but fairly solid.

Thompson looked way better than Garbutt defensively.

All in all great to get the win, just felt a bit flat though for parts and also a poor attendance, hospitality looked nowhere near as full. Maybe a combination of the summer we've had, price increases in a cost of living crisis, people on holiday etc. But expected more than that.

Some good signs and with more to join and improve us further im quietly confident.
 
Just to say...people said hospitality sales went well in the ST thread, well where were they?
 
Not much I can add to that, but I’m extremely confident that we will get better with games !
Yeah 1st half we looked a class above Reading, just didn't convert our dominance into enough chances.

Not sure what happened 2nd half for a lot of it, it wasn't the changes as we changed it to try and get more of the ball and hit them on the break maybe.

Seemed a hang over of a Critchley win feeling.

Would have been ideal to bring on a top midfielder who can keep the ball and spread play....

I'm sure we'll get one soon...
 
Positives far outweigh the negatives.

LB looks sorted.

LCB looks sorted.

Someone who can carry the ball and pass looks like it's far far better.

Madine looked hungry and, dare I say more mobile.

Yates covered every inch of the left.

Bowler was on fire and totally unplayable at times. A shame he went for goal when he hit the post as a lay off would surely made it 2-0 and basically game over.

Connelly is more than capable of filling in at RB and did well going forward (obvs.). And with 5 subs I wouldn't let him go for even 750k- too versatile.

Hopefully there will be a couple in over the next week. Then on to Stoke which will be a different proposition.

Should mention that was far better from Appleton than we saw from the puppeteer.
 
We need to clear out some of the sick notes.
Midfield is a bit weak. Needs some bite and creativity. Strikers still out of form, but thankfully Yates looked much sharper. Other than that, thought we looked competitive in a mid table kind of way.
 
Firstly great to be back.

Interesting line up and I thought some of the passing though the lines was far better 1st half.

You could see much more positivity in the setup and selection.

Some good performances from the midfield.

All Reading really had was some corners.

Solid defensively although not sure why Marv kept passing it to them, his passing is really poor at times.

Got the goal we deserved and Connolly really can hit them, good player.

The atmosphere started well but then fell off a cliff, thought it was really poor and flat for a lot of it. Were the muckers asleep for a lot of it? Felt like Hoggy wasn't there to me.

I was really looking forward to the 2nd half but sadly for most of it we seemed to revert to the old sit back and hang on not being able to put many passes together side.

A few great opportunities completely wasted, Bowler hits the post, Madine has a free header and heads it tamely at their keeper and Lavery has a great chance and fails to pull the trigger 1 on 1, the ball falls to someone else and they lose it rather than shoot and suddenly they're on the break.

Prerty poor 2nd half but fairly solid.

Thompson looked way better than Garbutt defensively.

All in all great to get the win, just felt a bit flat though for parts and also a poor attendance, hospitality looked nowhere near as full. Maybe a combination of the summer we've had, price increases in a cost of living crisis, people on holiday etc. But expected more than that.

Some good signs and with more to join and improve us further im quietly confident.
You do realise we won?
FFS what are you going to be like if we get beat!!!
 
Connolly is one of our most important players.
Covers multiple positions, fantastic work ethic, a threat up front, and top attitude.
750k you would be having a laugh
When Gabriel comes back or we get another RB Connolly needs to go back into DM as against the better sides can't see today's current three working as our CH's won't have protection.
 
2nd half performance against a piss poor Reading, who themselves were missing key players, wasn’t a fun watch. But very pleased with the majority of the first half showing. Played some decent football at times and was really fun to watch.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Still a helluva lot of work to do and a fair few players still needed, but I’ll worry about that another day. 3 points all that matters
 
Just home and well pleased.
Three points was the objective today, against a team tipped for relegation.
We were brilliant for the first 20 mins, then to our detriment, we slowed our play down and somewhat lost the plot.
The second half we lacked energy (Steve Thompson said the same on 103.9 - "Blackpool looked tired second half"). I think this was due to a lack of game time for our incomings and things will only get better with game time.
On his debut, Thompson was very impressive, before both calves cramped up - I like him a lot. When he tired Reading tried to exploit this via an impressive Hoilett.
Every Pool player put a shift in and did their job well.
It's a good job Reading couldn't finish, as they missed several good chances and I think th football gods were on ur side second half.
Connolly had an excellent game (what a goal) but I want to see him playing in the midfield where he belongs.
Improvements needed before we play the better sides in this league, but onwards and upwards 🧡
 
Just home and well pleased.
Three points was the objective today, against a team tipped for relegation.
We were brilliant for the first 20 mins, then to our detriment, we slowed our play down and somewhat lost the plot.
The second half we lacked energy (Steve Thompson said the same on 103.9 - "Blackpool looked tired second half"). I think this was due to a lack of game time for our incomings and things will only get better with game time.
On his debut, Thompson was very impressive, before both calves cramped up - I like him a lot. When he tired Reading tried to exploit this via an impressive Hoilett.
Every Pool player put a shift in and did their job well.
It's a good job Reading couldn't finish, as they missed several good chances and I think th football gods were on ur side second half.
Connolly had an excellent game (what a goal) but I want to see him playing in the midfield where he belongs.
Improvements needed before we play the better sides in this league, but onwards and upwards 🧡
Our chances were probably better 2nd half.

Hit the post, madine header straight at keeper, Lavery 1 on 1 and can't remember who it was but the ball got pulled back unexpectedly for a tap in but it might have been Dougall or maybe the new lad Corbeanu wasn't in the right place to tap it in.

But I was encouraged by the first half and the chances we had despite giving the ball away cheaply.
 
Not a lot to disagree about, I'm fully honest about the atmosphere, love it when it's bouncing, had a few moments but for large parts was flat.

Was almost like people were in shock as we played some great football.
I've just seen it time and again when we play these almost silent, irrelevant teams/clubs. Atmosphere would've been worse if the ince's weren't around. As it was I thought it was decent and will get much better, no doubt. Enjoyed today and as you say played some good stuff 👍.
 
I've just seen it time and again when we play these almost silent, irrelevant teams/clubs. Atmosphere would've been worse if the ince's weren't around. As it was I thought it was decent and will get much better, no doubt. Enjoyed today and as you say played some good stuff 👍.
Yeah what I will say is its a bit dull occasion vs Reading, we've had a poor summer and a few down about missing some transfers.

I know we can and will go up a good few gears from today.
 
Just home and well pleased.
Three points was the objective today, against a team tipped for relegation.
We were brilliant for the first 20 mins, then to our detriment, we slowed our play down and somewhat lost the plot.
The second half we lacked energy (Steve Thompson said the same on 103.9 - "Blackpool looked tired second half"). I think this was due to a lack of game time for our incomings and things will only get better with game time.
On his debut, Thompson was very impressive, before both calves cramped up - I like him a lot. When he tired Reading tried to exploit this via an impressive Hoilett.
Every Pool player put a shift in and did their job well.
It's a good job Reading couldn't finish, as they missed several good chances and I think th football gods were on ur side second half.
Connolly had an excellent game (what a goal) but I want to see him playing in the midfield where he belongs.
Improvements needed before we play the better sides in this league, but onwards and upwards 🧡
Not so sure about Rwading having several good chances. There was one where the ball came right across and the lad side footed it straight at Grimshaw when well placed.
 
Not so sure about Rwading having several good chances. There was one where the ball came right across and the lad side footed it straight at Grimshaw when well placed.
There was also a header that they should have done better with but it bounced up tamely into Grimmy's hands.
There wasn't many direct chances Wiz (my poor wording). But they got lots of crosses in once the excellent Thompson got tired and cramped up, giving Hoilett more space. A better team would have punished us - but Reading are poor up top.
 
There was also a header that they should have done better with but it bounced up tamely into Grimmy's hands.
There wasn't many direct chances Wiz (my poor wording). But they got lots of crosses in once the excellent Thompson got tired and cramped up, giving Hoilett more space. A better team would have munished us but Reading are poor up top.
Fair enough. They had plenty of possession but didn't do anything with it.
 
Fair enough. They had plenty of possession but didn't do anything with it.
We need to learn how to stay on top like 1st half, in the 2nd.

The sit back mentality came back a bit and we conceded possession to cheaply, which surprised me after the 1st half.

Maybe some were tired but we have a young side so shouldn't be.
 
Positives far outweigh the negatives.

LB looks sorted.

LCB looks sorted.

Someone who can carry the ball and pass looks like it's far far better.

Madine looked hungry and, dare I say more mobile.

Yates covered every inch of the left.

Bowler was on fire and totally unplayable at times. A shame he went for goal when he hit the post as a lay off would surely made it 2-0 and basically game over.

Connelly is more than capable of filling in at RB and did well going forward (obvs.). And with 5 subs I wouldn't let him go for even 750k- too versatile.

Hopefully there will be a couple in over the next week. Then on to Stoke which will be a different proposition.

Should mention that was far better from Appleton than we saw from the puppeteer.
4-1 last season this game. 😉
 
Positives far outweigh the negatives.

LB looks sorted.

LCB looks sorted.

Someone who can carry the ball and pass looks like it's far far better.

Madine looked hungry and, dare I say more mobile.

Yates covered every inch of the left.

Bowler was on fire and totally unplayable at times. A shame he went for goal when he hit the post as a lay off would surely made it 2-0 and basically game over.

Connelly is more than capable of filling in at RB and did well going forward (obvs.). And with 5 subs I wouldn't let him go for even 750k- too versatile.

Hopefully there will be a couple in over the next week. Then on to Stoke which will be a different proposition.

Should mention that was far better from Appleton than we saw from the puppeteer.
Connelly is worth a lot more to us than £750K imho. He's solid, dependable and 100% committed. He's going to be a Pool legend.
 
Firstly great to be back.

Interesting line up and I thought some of the passing though the lines was far better 1st half.

You could see much more positivity in the setup and selection.

Some good performances from the midfield.

All Reading really had was some corners.

Solid defensively although not sure why Marv kept passing it to them, his passing is really poor at times.

Got the goal we deserved and Connolly really can hit them, good player.

The atmosphere started well but then fell off a cliff, thought it was really poor and flat for a lot of it. Were the muckers asleep for a lot of it? Felt like Hoggy wasn't there to me.

I was really looking forward to the 2nd half but sadly for most of it we seemed to revert to the old sit back and hang on not being able to put many passes together side.

A few great opportunities completely wasted, Bowler hits the post, Madine has a free header and heads it tamely at their keeper and Lavery has a great chance and fails to pull the trigger 1 on 1, the ball falls to someone else and they lose it rather than shoot and suddenly they're on the break.

Prerty poor 2nd half but fairly solid.

Thompson looked way better than Garbutt defensively.

All in all great to get the win, just felt a bit flat though for parts and also a poor attendance, hospitality looked nowhere near as full. Maybe a combination of the summer we've had, price increases in a cost of living crisis, people on holiday etc. But expected more than that.

Some good signs and with more to join and improve us further im quietly confident.
Fiorini particularly in the first half ran the midfield less so in the second half. Jerry looks a real threat in the wide role, Virtue had a decent game - nothing spectacular but really solid, Connolly played well as did all the debutants. I agree Thompson looks a real find and will only get better the more he plays, Williams looks solid and wins everything in the air. The Legacy of Chritchley and the hanging on second half is still there and needs to be eradicated. I though overall Reading were poor - their passing was shocking - they didn’t test Grimmy once who did not have a save to make. They popped it about better in the second half and had a few decent crosses but that was about it - could be a long season for them. As for us the old achilles heal is still there - being clinical and finishing teams off by scoring more goals, my concern is are their enough goals in this team?
 
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Connelly is worth a lot more to us than £750K imho. He's solid, dependable and 100% committed. He's going to be a Pool legend.
Plus we got him last summer.

"Blackpool Football Club is pleased to announce the signing of Callum Connolly on an initial two-year contract, which includes an option for a further 12-months."

Still 2 years left if we activate the extension which we will.
 
Positives far outweigh the negatives.

LB looks sorted.

LCB looks sorted.

Someone who can carry the ball and pass looks like it's far far better.

Madine looked hungry and, dare I say more mobile.

Yates covered every inch of the left.

Bowler was on fire and totally unplayable at times. A shame he went for goal when he hit the post as a lay off would surely made it 2-0 and basically game over.

Connelly is more than capable of filling in at RB and did well going forward (obvs.). And with 5 subs I wouldn't let him go for even 750k- too versatile.

Hopefully there will be a couple in over the next week. Then on to Stoke which will be a different proposition.

Should mention that was far better from Appleton than we saw from the puppeteer.
Heard a whisper that there could be some good news this week which isn't about a player coming in. Could be bullshit but I would be very happy if true.
 
When Lavery went through 1 on 1 he looked so short of confidence. Start of last season he would have headed straight at the goal and finished it. Today he’s through, but he’s looking around for someone to pass it to, then realises he needs to go alone. He then fluffed his lines.

Match fitness seemed to played its part second half. If you’d have told me last year that we would have started Virtue and Carey with some untested kid from Man City in midfield, I’d have panicked. First half, they ran Reading ragged.

Enough in there to confirm my thoughts pre season that all would be fine.
 
We need to clear out some of the sick notes.
Midfield is a bit weak. Needs some bite and creativity. Strikers still out of form, but thankfully Yates looked much sharper. Other than that, thought we looked competitive in a mid table kind of way.
Yates must have been happy to have got much more of the ball rather than just running his bollocks off for no service. Different role & he took to it well.
 
When Gabriel comes back or we get another RB Connolly needs to go back into DM as against the better sides can't see today's current three working as our CH's won't have protection.
Agree with that, but winnable games we should start off with an attacking 3.
With better finishing we could have been 3 goals up in 30 minutes.
With the high energy pressing few would last the 90 minutes anyway so by default some more defensively minded midfielders would get game time.
 
I wasn't impressed at all with Thompson in that second half as I thought Hoilett took him to the cleaners far too often and put some great balls into the box which fortunately for us no one was on the end of. But sitting at the north end of the West it wasn't clear that he was struggling with his fitness so perhaps my previous comments have been a bit harsh. But surely Appleton should have done something a fair bit earlier to addres this.
 
I wasn't impressed at all with Thompson in that second half as I thought Hoilett took him to the cleaners far too often and put some great balls into the box which fortunately for us no one was on the end of. But sitting at the north end of the West it wasn't clear that he was struggling with his fitness so perhaps my previous comments have been a bit harsh. But surely Appleton should have done something a fair bit earlier to addres this.
Hoillet‘s a seasoned good player would give any full back torment
 
I wasn't impressed at all with Thompson in that second half as I thought Hoilett took him to the cleaners far too often and put some great balls into the box which fortunately for us no one was on the end of. But sitting at the north end of the West it wasn't clear that he was struggling with his fitness so perhaps my previous comments have been a bit harsh. But surely Appleton should have done something a fair bit earlier to addres this.
He looked good 1st half with full energy, probably faded up to his cramp, hasn't played and was thrown in.

Seen enough to suggest he looks good to me.
 
All 3 debutants who started had good games and if they can maintain those levels will be an asset to the club. MOTM was between Fiorini, Bowler and Connolly, with the latter being my choice given he was being played out of position and scored the decisive goal. Lots of positives but also plenty of areas to improve on. Hopefully we can get a couple of our injured players back for Stoke and sign another player or 2 this week.
 
I wasn't impressed at all with Thompson in that second half as I thought Hoilett took him to the cleaners far too often and put some great balls into the box which fortunately for us no one was on the end of. But sitting at the north end of the West it wasn't clear that he was struggling with his fitness so perhaps my previous comments have been a bit harsh. But surely Appleton should have done something a fair bit earlier to addres this.
Second half, Thompson visibly tired and played more narrow, allowing space for Hoilett to get the ball and put some crosses in, albeit to no great effect.

Thompson was struggling to get up and down and should have gone off earlier.
 
Positives, we can play some of the best football in the league, new additions showed real potential, still have plenty of players to come back from injury, 3 points from a winning start. Maybe some new additions to come.
Not so positive, Still don’t look like scoring enough goals (especially when we lose Bowler), playing one of the weaker teams in the league yet in the end they had more position, more corners and more attempts on goal, we are at home and need to learn to dominate games not sit back and defend. Playing great football for 30 minutes is not enough. Far tougher opposition to come.
 
Im not so sure about more attempts on goal, barring one save in the 2nd half, which may not even have been on target, I can't think of a single save Grimshaw had to make?
Positives, we can play some of the best football in the league, new additions showed real potential, still have plenty of players to come back from injury, 3 points from a winning start. Maybe some new additions to come.
Not so positive, Still don’t look like scoring enough goals (especially when we lose Bowler), playing one of the weaker teams in the league yet in the end they had more position, more corners and more attempts on goal, we are at home and need to learn to dominate games not sit back and defend. Playing great football for 30 minutes is not enough. Far tougher opposition to come.
 
Hoggy on Holiday at the minute - but you could start some songs yourself!
I do but I'm away in right of the north forest get going unless a group starts them.

Plus, have suggested some new chants too.

 
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