Thoughts on tonight and the team

JJpool

Well-known member
I thought we started very slowly and the passing was poor, resorted to long balls mostly going nowhere, meanwhile Burnley showed very nice touches and passed much better and created more.

Towards the last 15 minutes though we suddenly started passing it more, has some good play and should have scored a few. Also a few nice bits of play second half, but without any finishing.

We looked quite hesitant in the final 3rd and took too long a few times with some great chances when a first time shot would have been better.

I thought Jerry should have scored his big chance, straight at the keeper either side its in. He's not looking in great form so far finishing wise and needs a goal pre season for me.

We looked a little bit poor in the finishing department overall with a few blazed over when you should hit the target.

I suppose you could say Burnley were just as wasteful with a few of theirs.

I still think we need more up top, there are times when maybe Jerry is having of those spells and where you need another finisher. We do have some options though, but an area I'd like to see strengthened.

We are missing quite a few players, didn't see Keshi and obviously the likes of Stuart and especially Dougall are a big miss. Bowler not involved, Madine, Ekpiteta, Gretarson etc.

Some key players out.

When we made all the subs it was quite a young side then with a lot of youth in it.

There were times when no matter who was out, we would work the ball into an area more advanced and actually made the space, but didn't take the ball on the half turn and wo wasted the opportunity by then going backwards. Thats frustrating.

As for pre season, well not long to go now and we haven't seen Dougall play yet, have had lots missing so they can't be fully in sync with the ones who have. We haven't seen how Lavery might do with Jerry.

Only a week or so to go and quite a few big unknowns.

Are we ready, what do people feel?
 
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I'd agree that our prep hasn't been ideal really, but as i've said on the match thread I came away tonight actually feeling happier about things than I was. We do have some very decent back up in many positions, especially midfield and defence. Forwards and wide players not so much, but I'd fully expect those are the positions we'll strengthen before the end of August, not least with a couple of good loans.
 
I thought we started very slowly and the passing was poor, resorted to long balls mostly going nowhere, meanwhile Burnley showed very nice touches and passed much better and created more.

Towards the last 15 minutes though we suddenly started passing it more, has some good play and should have scored a few. Also a few nice bits of play second half, but without any finishing.

We looked quite hesitant in the final 3rd and took too long a few times with some great chances when a first time shot would have been better.

I thought Jerry should have scored his big chance, straight at the keeper either side its in. He's not looking in great form so far finishing wise and needs a goal pre season for me.

We looked a little bit poor in the finishing department overall with a few blazed over when you should hit the target.

I suppose you could say Burnley were just as wasteful with a few of theirs.

I still think we need more up top, there are times when maybe Jerry is having of those spells and where you need another finisher. We do have some options though, but an area I'd like to see strengthened.

We are missing quite a few players, didn't see Keshi and obviously the likes of Stuart and especially Dougall are a big miss. Bowler not involved, Madine, Ekpiteta, Gretarson etc.

Some key players out.

When we made all the subs it was quite a young side then with a lot of youth in it.

There were times when no matter who was out, we would work the ball into an area more advanced and actually made the space, but didn't take the ball on the half turn and wo wasted the opportunity by then going backwards. Thats frustrating.

As for pre season, well not long to go now and we haven't seen Dougall play yet, have had lots missing so they can't be fully in sync with the ones who have. We haven't seen how Lavery might do with Jerry.

Only a week or so to go and quite a few big unknowns.

Are we ready, what do people feel?
Good summary, but I felt quite positive at the end. We played some good stuff at times and with some key personnel hopefully returning, it’s looking good for the season. We seem to have players who slot in when others are injured and it doesn’t weaken the team.
 
Good summary. Stewart, Keshi, Gretarsson, Nuttall, Ekpiteta, Moore were all sat just near me in their training gear. King Kenny was also there but in his civvies.
No sign of Goal Machine, Thorniley or Bowler.
 
We need a more options up front and another right back ive been a little disappointed in Connolly so far as he seemed a rock solid signing but its still very early but covid and injuries have not helped out prep i like the look of Trusty and Antwi how much they will play once the season starts remains to be seen
 
Good summary. Stewart, Keshi, Gretarsson, Nuttall, Ekpiteta, Moore were all sat just near me in their training gear. King Kenny was also there but in his civvies.
No sign of Goal Machine, Thorniley or Bowler.
So Nuttall is training but not playing,the plot gets stranger and stranger with this lad.
 
I started watching after 20mins, I enjoyed the game, thought we played well with new players looking comfortable against a strong Burnley side.
I’d like to see Yates and lafery play together and form a good understanding with each other.
Utp!!!
 
Don't forget Burnley are a very good established premier League side,we were always going to look second best at the start ,thought it was more nerves than anything else. ,but we will be okay ,some good signs there last night, up the mighty tangerines👍.
 
We need a big bloke up front if Maxwell hits long ball it came straight back last night or a midfielder who can thread a pass through on the floor.Last night when crosses came in we have no height in the box.
 
I was expecting a fairly low-key game, with it being a friendly, and then saw the team Burnley were fielding. My heart wished for something positive, but my head was saying we're in for a lesson. In the end, I felt both the first team that was put out and then the substitutes who followed them did a magnificent job against a very good Burnley team. OK we, at times, rode our luck, but with a bit more precision could have scored a couple of goals, and I'm sure Burnley will know they've been given a decent workout.

It's early days, and with the disruption caused by COVID I feel we are on the right track. We have a decent set of players and they all seem to fit in when required to do so. I was amazed at some of the skills shown by the new members of the team and the youths who were on display.

The future, in my book, is definitely bright, the future is tangerine.
 
I thought we started very slowly and the passing was poor, resorted to long balls mostly going nowhere, meanwhile Burnley showed very nice touches and passed much better and created more.

Towards the last 15 minutes though we suddenly started passing it more, has some good play and should have scored a few. Also a few nice bits of play second half, but without any finishing.

We looked quite hesitant in the final 3rd and took too long a few times with some great chances when a first time shot would have been better.

I thought Jerry should have scored his big chance, straight at the keeper either side its in. He's not looking in great form so far finishing wise and needs a goal pre season for me.

We looked a little bit poor in the finishing department overall with a few blazed over when you should hit the target.

I suppose you could say Burnley were just as wasteful with a few of theirs.

I still think we need more up top, there are times when maybe Jerry is having of those spells and where you need another finisher. We do have some options though, but an area I'd like to see strengthened.

We are missing quite a few players, didn't see Keshi and obviously the likes of Stuart and especially Dougall are a big miss. Bowler not involved, Madine, Ekpiteta, Gretarson etc.

Some key players out.

When we made all the subs it was quite a young side then with a lot of youth in it.

There were times when no matter who was out, we would work the ball into an area more advanced and actually made the space, but didn't take the ball on the half turn and wo wasted the opportunity by then going backwards. Thats frustrating.

As for pre season, well not long to go now and we haven't seen Dougall play yet, have had lots missing so they can't be fully in sync with the ones who have. We haven't seen how Lavery might do with Jerry.

Only a week or so to go and quite a few big unknowns.

Are we ready, what do people feel?
Sarkic looks like he wants to be involved again must have lost at least 1 stone
They were having to double up on CJ so he is almost back to the player we saw at the start of last season.
Trusty was brilliant for under 18 years old.
That was a really good work out against a very strong Burnley side.
Not worried about Dougall he is very professional as is Stewart.
Right back is starting to show a lot of promise so happy to sign him with Connolly as back up.
Only need Simms signed and KDH type player to complete.
We do not want to rely too much on good loans as we improve them then lose them unless we pay silly money.
 
The fact that we played a Burnley side which has survived several seasons at the very top, and contained mostly first team regulars who know each other's game, with a Pool team using Trusty, Holmes, Bange, Antwi, Fitzgerald?, add in Carey, and two of the back four who have only had a few weeks with the squad, (even though the youth players came on for last half hour,(when Burnley scored), I was pleasantly surprised that we kept the ball well, limited them to few chances, and created arguably the better chances over the course of the game. A good training session, great experience for the youngsters above, and by no means yet our strongest team.
Much more and better to come, and eventually a sharper cutting edge. UTMP
 
Burnley are a very strong team, they have a simple game but know exactly how to play it. For 30mins we couldn't really handle them or make any impact on the game and in honesty we could have found ourselves a couple behind. What I've always liked about this Blackpool team however is their honesty and graft, we dug in and when we did come into the game on the 30min mark we carved out some glorious chances. The 2nd half was pretty even up to the raft of changes when again Burnley took control and got their deserved winner.

Positives
For a depleted team, we put in a decent performance.
Clark had a great game and did his chances of earning a contract no harm.
Carey is a tidy player, with more games and coaching he could be a real find.
Keogh showed exactly why he has been brought in, calm and paired well alongside Husband.

Of the players we already know about, Maxwell, Husband and Ward were excellent.

Negatives
Connolly didn't really have any impact, hopefully he just needs a little time to adjust.

We struggled to get enough ball to CJ and Mitchell who were a massive threat when we did.

Clark and Garbutt didn't overlap as much as I would have liked, getting Garbutt in a position to cross/shoot was a big weapon last season.

Our finishing was poor, the 3 chances shared between Yates and Carey should have led to a goal or 2.

Overall a very decent run out, with Ekipeteta, Gretarrson, Stewart, Dougall, Keshi and Madine to return, we would have given them a sterner challenge. We clearly need a right back, the trialist did well, and another midfield play maker of quality would be ideal. I'm sure we will see the players we need signing soon.
 
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We need a more options up front and another right back ive been a little disappointed in Connolly so far as he seemed a rock solid signing but its still very early but covid and injuries have not helped out prep i like the look of Trusty and Antwi how much they will play once the season starts remains to be seen
Very early indeed as errm the season hasn't even started. So yes very very early.
 
Yes we havent tried it yet and with the season starting soon I'm a little surprised about that.
Suggests Lavery is seen as understudy more than partner perhaps. Although he's only been available for 2 friendlies yet. See what Saturday brings.
 
Surely Lavery is your last five mins, shake it up, raw, unpredictable supersub option in place of Bez?
I like the look of Lavery and think he's more than a last five minute man. He has great pace and always looked alive to a through ball, which unfortunately never came, due in no small part to Burnleys well rehearsed, and effective, pressing game. Consequently he had to continually track back to help out the young lads that came on with him. I'd like to see him start with CJ and Demi up front, and Keshi feeding balls through, or even paired with Yates.
 
We need to see more of Lavery, obviously. He's only played 45 minutes against Southport and 25 minutes or so last night in a very makeshift side. His exclusion from the starting ;line up last night suggests Critch wants to to work with him more in training and get him up to speed, using him from the bench to rest Yates I suspect, to start with at least. Critch pretty much started last night with what he feels was his best available XI, I reckon. Which makes sense with only one friendly left now. He will really want Dougall back for Saturday I think. And Keshi.
 
We looked alright. We'll be hard to beat again. We still need to improve the first team with attacking players. We struggled a bit in that area last year until we added Simms. Plus we're down Kaikai as well.

Embleton and Simms signing up would be huge for us, but that's far from guaranteed. We'll get the firepower in somehow, but there's work to do.
 
From @LeeCharlesTV 's video, there looked to be a decent gate in for a friendly.

Anyone know how many there?
It's always deceptive from an angle as the bodies cover multiple empty seats especially when stood up. See Wembley recently for eg looking pretty full with at times only half full.

This pic from scrafron... and i dont know why he does this as a few of minutes before the game many people are still in the concourse and I know for a fact it was busier in the west as I was in L. He should take the pic a 10 minutes into the game.

But either way it still wasn't mega busy.

The north seemed to fill up the more the game went on but still I'd guess many empty seats. I'd guessed at a quarter full in the north (could have been less, very hard to tell) but would have to see a picture from near halfway line of it. Block E was virtually empty I know that, A didn't look a lot, d and b with some spare parts and c the most filled but I reckon not even half full.

Anyway heres the pic, if anyone has any more pics of when the game was actually going it'd be better.

 
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I thought Jerry should have scored his big chance, straight at the keeper either side its in. He's not looking in great form so far finishing wise and needs a goal pre season for me.
Strangely does seem to be a confidence player .. score and they will come!!
 
Strangely does seem to be a confidence player .. score and they will come!!
Yeah and this is exactly what pre season is for to get upto sharpness.

However people like Mitchell and Hamilton for eg come back looking super sharp.

He has a reputation of a bit of a party animal.... Whilst going on the piss and don't contact me for a week is funny to the fans..... I wonder if maybe its a factor in the early form or being a bit more rusty than you would be without it.
 
Yates will come good again, I think he scuffed the shot straight at their keeper. At least we created a few scoring chances.
 
I’d like to see Yates and Lavery playing together up front. They do seem like similar styles (true), but most defences struggle to deal with one such player. Might just work and create space for them both to run into
 
Be more competition for places with the arrival of John-Jules from Arsenal Yates could end up
on the bench if he doesn t start scoring again
 
I’d like to see Yates and Lavery playing together up front. They do seem like similar styles (true), but most defences struggle to deal with one such player. Might just work and create space for them both to run into
Yeah with cj and Mitchell too a lot of defences couldn't cope imo.

You cant easily double up on cj with Yates and lavery buzzing aboit and Mitchell on the other side without being overly defensive and I think teams will expect to beat us well somw of their fans may anyway with us coming up.

If lavery and Yates occupy their defenders then if Cj or Mitchell get 1 on 1 they can cause real problems. Plis maximum pace all over.
 
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FFS, he scored the most goals last season since Andy Watson and we are playing friendlies, WTF is wrong with some of you???? We haven't even started the season yet and it took him 11 games or something to score his first goal last season. Why are people always looking for the negatives when there isn't even a reason to do so?
 
FFS, he scored the most goals last season since Andy Watson and we are playing friendlies, WTF is wrong with some of you???? We haven't even started the season yet and it took him 11 games or something to score his first goal last season. Why are people always looking for the negatives when there isn't even a reason to do so?
Hang on no one is saying drop anyone.

If Lavery turns out a better finisher and TJJ is on fire do you leave them out?

Yates has had a slow pre season and could do with a goal but we all know he'll be playing and what he can do.

Arent you being a bit negative against TJJ and Lavery, give them a chance 🙂

The truth is they are all needed as strikers go though spells and against different opponents do better or worse, so we need to mix it up and have all options available.

No one is undroppable, thats why we have competition for places to drive those in the team on, they know if they don't perform theres someone else ready to go.

Thats not a negative thats a positive.
 
Yates is nailed on our main striker and he needs a partner a la Simms, who I really hope we sign. I would guess TJJ has been bought in to partner Yates up top plus we have Madine too. Lavery I see as a sub who will get a chance if one of the others is injured. It will be interesting to see who NC picks if he gets Simms, It may be that signing the Arsenal lad is because we won't be able to get Simms?

It's the massive over reaction of the OP and yourself in relation to Yates not scoring in pre-season, he's only played in 2 games and not full games at that. It's those sort of comments that make me shake my head. NC will pick his team based on from, fitness and tactics not because a player has had such a terrible lean spell as not scoring in 2 friendlies!!
 
Yates is nailed on our main striker and he needs a partner a la Simms, who I really hope we sign. I would guess TJJ has been bought in to partner Yates up top plus we have Madine too. Lavery I see as a sub who will get a chance if one of the others is injured. It will be interesting to see who NC picks if he gets Simms, It may be that signing the Arsenal lad is because we won't be able to get Simms?

It's the massive over reaction of the OP and yourself in relation to Yates not scoring in pre-season, he's only played in 2 games and not full games at that. It's those sort of comments that make me shake my head. NC will pick his team based on from, fitness and tactics not because a player has had such a terrible lean spell as not scoring in 2 friendlies!!
How's it an over reaction from me? If anyone is over reacting to a hypothetical situation its you.

I've said he's not scored and needs a goal, he's not looked as sharp as others so far and looks to be having one of those little spells.

But pre season is exactly the time to play yourself in and get back to the levels.

His workrate is part of our game thats so vital and his goals also, but if the other 2 turn out to be anything like that, maybe some have stronger elements of their game, we don't knows.

All I'm saying is if strikers don't score other strikers are rightly going to feel they can come on and have their shot, literally.

If a player puts in a few bad performances for eg and the others waiting to get in the team don't get a chance, then there is no system that gives the sqaud a chance to impress.

I'm sure Neil wants him to get a goal for his confidence and we know he'll be picked and currently is obviously first choice on the teamsheet and has earned that.

All I'm saying is no one is undroppable given bad form/results.

Pointless debate really as he's in all our teams to play obviously.
 
How's it an over reaction from me? If anyone is over reacting to a hypothetical situation its you.

I've said he's not scored and needs a goal, he's not looked as sharp as others so far and looks to be having one of those little spells.

But pre season is exactly the time to play yourself in and get back to the levels.

His workrate is part of our game thats so vital and his goals also, but if the other 2 turn out to be anything like that, maybe some have stronger elements of their game, we don't knows.

All I'm saying is if strikers don't score other strikers are rightly going to feel they can come on and have their shot, literally.

If a player puts in a few bad performances for eg and the others waiting to get in the team don't get a chance, then there is no system that gives the sqaud a chance to impress.

I'm sure Neil wants him to get a goal for his confidence and we know he'll be picked and currently is obviously first choice on the teamsheet and has earned that.

All I'm saying is no one is undroppable given bad form/results.

Pointless debate really as he's in all our teams to play obviously.
I wouldn’t want to gamble with you on the chase
I certainly wouldn’t apply
 
How's it an over reaction from me? If anyone is over reacting to a hypothetical situation its you.

I've said he's not scored and needs a goal, he's not looked as sharp as others so far and looks to be having one of those little spells.

But pre season is exactly the time to play yourself in and get back to the levels.

His workrate is part of our game thats so vital and his goals also, but if the other 2 turn out to be anything like that, maybe some have stronger elements of their game, we don't knows.

All I'm saying is if strikers don't score other strikers are rightly going to feel they can come on and have their shot, literally.

If a player puts in a few bad performances for eg and the others waiting to get in the team don't get a chance, then there is no system that gives the sqaud a chance to impress.

I'm sure Neil wants him to get a goal for his confidence and we know he'll be picked and currently is obviously first choice on the teamsheet and has earned that.

All I'm saying is no one is undroppable given bad form/results.

Pointless debate really as he's in all our teams to play obviously.
To be honest with you it was really aimed at the o/p not you, no one is undroppable, I’m not sure talking about it after about 90 minutes of time on the pitch pre season isn’t being a little bit flaky like the o/p was suggesting.
 
To be honest with you it was really aimed at the o/p not you, no one is undroppable, I’m not sure talking about it after about 90 minutes of time on the pitch pre season isn’t being a little bit flaky like the o/p was suggesting.
No idea what he meant but I was defending the principle. Forget Yates and say King Kenny Dougall has a bad run of form, others might rightly come in and if Ward and Stewart are playing out their skins KD unlucky but your out until needed.

Although of course silly to be discussing thinking of 'dropping' anyone.

I have my favourite players and Yates is one, cj another etc but if they don't do the business sometimes you change it up and if someone secures the shirt and is able to keep any top player out it means were on the up.

Hes nailed on for main striker, top scorer, just needs a goal for confidence, preferably a hat trick Sat so he's bouncing into game 1.

Our finishing outside of Mitchell has been a little rusty so far. TBF CJ put away a chance but was offside at Carlisle, but he looks sharp.

I would like to see all of CJ, Lavery, Mitchell, Yates all on at the same time, maximum pace and attacking speed.
 
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