Top 10 in doubt?

Nuttalls Mint Toes

Nuttalls Mint Toes

Well-known member
I noticed at one point on Saturday we were down to 9th in League One and that gap between us and the teams below us is getting smaller. Looking at the table, what would be the reaction (especially if the BSM proves a distraction) if we don't finish Top 10?
 
We are clearly a team in transition - and it takes time to get the right personnel. Think we've had a lot of crap luck this season and we've also been poor in areas we need to strengthen. Stick or twist - i'd still say there are much much worse managers out there than Mr Critchley.
 
There's no point sacking Critchley anymore, I along with others never wanted him in the first place but now he's blown it he may as well stay. The squad he has is championship standard and should have been auto contenders but it is what it is. Prepare yourselves for a long stay in L1.
 
King Billy said:
Can you really sack every manager that doesn’t get us in the play offs?
I mean, you can obviously but is it really the way forward?
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This season will go down as a missed opportunity. Decent squad, and very good loans (apart from Coulson) kindly supplied by Sadler at a hefty cost I would imagine. Reading and Wigan who came down with us are out of the promotion picture due to their financial situations. This was our chance to go full tilt with a promotion push and we’ve been hampered by a manager who plays a crap formation and players out of position.
If we stick with Critchley we will have a season of mid table mediocrity next year. Yes, he should go.
 
King Billy said:
Can you really sack every manager that doesn’t get us in the play offs?
I mean, you can obviously but is it really the way forward?
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He’s seriously underachieved, the squad he inherited, plus getting in the likes of Rhodes and dembele, should have easily got us into the playoffs at least. His obsession with tactics which don’t suit the players he has, is the problem. He should have recognised that and changed tactics, but he didn’t and won’t. It’s a brutal business where failure isn’t tolerated and he should go.
 
Out of interest - was there (as in true championship manager style) ever a suggestion of what was an acceptable season from Sadler before a ball was kicked? I ask because clearly as a fan base most of you feel that way, but does Sadler, given the sale of Yates and Bowler?
 
neyo said:
Out of interest - was there (as in true championship manager style) ever a suggestion of what was an acceptable season from Sadler before a ball was kicked? I ask because clearly as a fan base most of you feel that way, but does Sadler, given the sale of Yates and Bowler?
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There did feel a big change in the second season. Critchley left for Villa and SS made an unbelievably bad managerial appointment. It was as though we just lost all ambition and confidence within a matter of a few weeks. Same this year.
 
neyo said:
Out of interest - was there (as in true championship manager style) ever a suggestion of what was an acceptable season from Sadler before a ball was kicked? I ask because clearly as a fan base most of you feel that way, but does Sadler, given the sale of Yates and Bowler?
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Think it has been mentioned we have a top six budget this season. So I guess he will be expecting, well, top six.
 
neyo said:
Out of interest - was there (as in true championship manager style) ever a suggestion of what was an acceptable season from Sadler before a ball was kicked? I ask because clearly as a fan base most of you feel that way, but does Sadler, given the sale of Yates and Bowler?
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And there you have it, Sadler and Critchley have a mutual admiration society. As long as one is prepared to finance the other we are stuck with both. One without ambition and one without ideas, what a combination.
 
King Billy said:
Can you really sack every manager that doesn’t get us in the play offs?
I mean, you can obviously but is it really the way forward?
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No of course you can’t - it’s simply not that black and white. SS won’t be pulling the trigger if we don’t do it this season. Rightly so, there is no divine right for any team at this level. We don’t get crowds of 20k plus like 3 teams in this league do and there’s no guarantee that anymore than one of those will get promoted. Patience is needed, not ripping up the plan because a few entitled types didn’t get what they wanted immediately.
 
BlackpoolFC said:
No of course you can’t - it’s simply not that black and white. SS won’t be pulling the trigger if we don’t do it this season. Rightly so, there is no divine right for any team at this level. We don’t get crowds of 20k plus like 3 teams in this league do and there’s no guarantee that anymore than one of those will get promoted. Patience is needed, not ripping up the plan because a few entitled types didn’t get what they wanted immediately.
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What the hell has the size of crowd got to do with how the team plays?
Quick, someone tell Luton and Bournemouth they shouldn't be in the Prem!!!
All that's being said on this thread is that they expected top 6, NOT automatic, that would obviously be entitled and with the players we had and the investment of SS that was the least to be expected.
This season has, so far, been an opportunity lost because when the likes of (perm any 3 from 7) Millwall, Stoke, Brum, Massive,QPR, Rotherham and Huddersfield come down, next season will be considerably tougher.
 
Wizzerboy said:
What the hell has the size of crowd got to do with how the team plays?
Quick, someone tell Luton and Bournemouth they shouldn't be in the Prem!!!
All that's being said on this thread is that they expected top 6, NOT automatic, that would obviously be entitled and with the players we had and the investment of SS that was the least to be expected.
This season has, so far, been an opportunity lost because when the likes of (perm any 3 from 7) Millwall, Stoke, Brum, Massive,QPR, Rotherham and Huddersfield come down, next season will be considerably tougher.
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Luton and Bournemouth shouldn't be in the Premier League 😉
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
If we don’t finish in the top 6 (and for the record I don’t think we will) it’s irrelevant where we finish.

Apart from the bottom 4 incase anyone picks me up on it.
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Same, we either made the playoffs or didn’t.

I’d still take a long term view with the gaffer, but I’d expect changes elsewhere to address some of the failures.

Big week ahead 🍊
 
Wizzerboy said:
What the hell has the size of crowd got to do with how the team plays?
Quick, someone tell Luton and Bournemouth they shouldn't be in the Prem!!!
All that's being said on this thread is that they expected top 6, NOT automatic, that would obviously be entitled and with the players we had and the investment of SS that was the least to be expected.
This season has, so far, been an opportunity lost because when the likes of (perm any 3 from 7) Millwall, Stoke, Brum, Massive,QPR, Rotherham and Huddersfield come down, next season will be considerably tougher.
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So you don’t consider crowd size relevant then? So 1k or 10k it doesn’t matter?
 
Matesrates said:
He’s seriously underachieved, the squad he inherited, plus getting in the likes of Rhodes and dembele, should have easily got us into the playoffs at least. His obsession with tactics which don’t suit the players he has, is the problem. He should have recognised that and changed tactics, but he didn’t and won’t. It’s a brutal business where failure isn’t tolerated and he should go.
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So yes you would sack anyone who doesn’t get into the play offs at first attempt then?
 
King Billy said:
So you don’t consider crowd size relevant then? So 1k or 10k it doesn’t matter?
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Blackpool have the 7th best home average so far this season.
Barnsley, Bolton, Pompy and Derby are above them, it's not doing Charlton and Reading any good though.
On the flip side, Oxford, Peterborough and Stevenage have worse.
In fact Stevenages home average is the 4th worst in the division.

So no, it doesn't matter how large your crowd is. It actually matters what is done on the pitch and training ground.
 
Wizzerboy said:
Blackpool have the 7th best home average so far this season.
Barnsley, Bolton, Pompy and Derby are above them, it's not doing Charlton and Reading any good though.
On the flip side, Oxford, Peterborough and Stevenage have worse.
In fact Stevenages home average is the 4th worst in the division.

So no, it doesn't matter how large your crowd is. It actually matters what is done on the pitch and training ground.
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Yeah. The league system isn’t positioned solely on your budget. 2010 proved that.
 
King Billy said:
Well yeah so have I but my point was more fans = bigger budget which ultimately dictates the level of quality we bring in.
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You may not remember a bloke called Eric Hall, he was, amongst others, Dennis Wise's agent.
The story goes, a young lad saw Hall at a Chelsea match and along with his Dad asked Hall if he could try to see if the price of tickets couldbereduced. (He was quite influential in certain areas in his day)
Hall's answer was, it didn't matter if no one could afford the tickets as there was more money to be made using other avenues that would generate income.


So, yes, I understand your argument about bigger crowds but it's not the be all and end all.
 
You're fooling yourself if you think anything other than a top 6 finish will be considered a success.

The recently relegated Championship teams have followed up their season in League 1 this way;

2022/2023- Barnsley 4th, Peterborough 6th, Derby 7th
2021/2022- Rotherham 2nd, Sheff Wed 4th, Wycombe 6th

5/6 relegated teams from the Championship over the past two seasons have gone on to achieve Playoffs in League 1 in their first year back.

We're not a smaller club than Barnsley, Rotherham, Posh, or Wycombe. No excuses.

We came in with stated aspirations of top 6 and have been nowhere near consistent enough.

You don't sack a manager because they fail to make the Playoffs, but if we are more or less in the same situation come December next year you have to consider a change in coaching staff.

Maybe the squad isn't as good as we thought and we never had hopes of challenging for Promotion? Time will tell.
 
Superbretty said:
This season will go down as a missed opportunity. Decent squad, and very good loans (apart from Coulson) kindly supplied by Sadler at a hefty cost I would imagine. Reading and Wigan who came down with us are out of the promotion picture due to their financial situations. This was our chance to go full tilt with a promotion push and we’ve been hampered by a manager who plays a crap formation and players out of position.
If we stick with Critchley we will have a season of mid table mediocrity next year. Yes, he should go.
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I remember the Charlton fans wanting more when they were a top 10 team in the Premiership. They forced Curbishley out and look where they are now, so be careful what you wish for
Replace Critchley with an equivalent of MacDonald, Clark etc and we could be Division 2.
Chritchley is regarded as one of the finest coaches on bringing on young talent, and as we cannot venture too much into the transfer market, in my humble opinion, we need him to stay put.
Win the EFL Trophy and stay in the hunt for the 5th or 6th spot and it’s not been a bad season for the fans.
Just miss out and next year could be the big season for us so plenty to look forward to.
 
CAGU said:
I remember the Charlton fans wanting more when they were a top 10 team in the Premiership. They forced Curbishley out and look where they are now, so be careful what you wish for
Replace Critchley with an equivalent of MacDonald, Clark etc and we could be Division 2.
Chritchley is regarded as one of the finest coaches on bringing on young talent, and as we cannot venture too much into the transfer market, in my humble opinion, we need him to stay put.
Win the EFL Trophy and stay in the hunt for the 5th or 6th spot and it’s not been a bad season for the fans.
Just miss out and next year could be the big season for us so plenty to look forward to.
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Ha ha ha. Name the young talent Critchley has nurtured at Blackpool? Don’t say Dembele because he was playing for Celtic at 15. We have a talented young player in Apter but he has been punted out on loan to be developed by Tranmere. Ditto Casey last season. Did well with Bowler for the most part but he wasn’t really that young. Lyons has gone backwards this season.
We won’t go up this season and we won’t go up next season unless Critchley has some kind of epiphany or we change the manager.
 
Superbretty said:
Ha ha ha. Name the young talent Critchley has nurtured at Blackpool? Don’t say Dembele because he was playing for Celtic at 15. We have a talented young player in Apter but he has been punted out on loan to be developed by Tranmere. Ditto Casey last season. Did well with Bowler for the most part but he wasn’t really that young. Lyons has gone backwards this season.
We won’t go up this season and we won’t go up next season unless Critchley has some kind of epiphany or we change the manager.
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Highly regarded within the game - that hasn’t come from me it’s just fact!
 
BlackpoolFC said:
No of course you can’t - it’s simply not that black and white. SS won’t be pulling the trigger if we don’t do it this season. Rightly so, there is no divine right for any team at this level. We don’t get crowds of 20k plus like 3 teams in this league do and there’s no guarantee that anymore than one of those will get promoted. Patience is needed, not ripping up the plan because a few entitled types didn’t get what they wanted immediately.
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It is a massive underachievement when you consider the context of this season. It is an objectively weak league in terms of financial power of the clubs within it in comparison to us, it is objectively weakened by the fact the two clubs we came down with are in financial difficulty and have both received point deductions.

In seasons gone by we'd have been competing with: Sunderland, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday as well as the likes of Bolton, Derby & Portsmouth, and you typically are competing with the two clubs you've come down with to bounce straight back. Majority of the heavy hitters have left the league over the last two seasons, this was a prime opportunity to bounce straight back to the Championship.

There is no divine right but that doesn't mean some seasons are a better opportunity than others. Next season could potentially be more competitive, clubs with financial clout such as Stockport and Wrexham could be coming up. We could have QPR & Sheffield Wednesday joining us from the Championship, and Rotheram who are the kings of bouncing back to the Championship. Wigan look to be sorting themselves out, who knows if Reading might also be more competitive next season as well?

If we don't go up this year, we could be anchored in League One for who knows how long. You can't even make the argument we've built a foundation for next season either with the last two windows, we've barely signed anyone and our best players are all on loan. This was either an opportunity to rebuild or go for it, IMO we've done neither.
 
I was just looking at the last 10 form table. 14th. Thats atricious. But, however, the last 6 games has us 5th. I think we’ve been far better the last 6 games IMO. Stevenage have only lost once at home also season. They are no mugs even if the football appears crap. It works as a whole host of teams have found out. They’ve been up there all season on merit.

I think we will fall short but foundations are in place next year. It took Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and others years to go up. Derby etc hadn’t managed it on their first attempt. I look at Ipswich. Took them a few years but they reset and rebuilt and now look at them.
 
BestTrip said:
I was just looking at the last 10 form table. 14th. Thats atricious. But, however, the last 6 games has us 5th. I think we’ve been far better the last 6 games IMO. Stevenage have only lost once at home also season. They are no mugs even if the football appears crap. It works as a whole host of teams have found out. They’ve been up there all season on merit.

I think we will fall short but foundations are in place next year. It took Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and others years to go up. Derby etc hadn’t managed it on their first attempt. I look at Ipswich. Took them a few years but they reset and rebuilt and now look at them.
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But that’s tangerinepeel’s point, which is correct. This season is a missed opportunity. We won’t get a better chance for years. We could be stuck in League One for the next 10 years if we don’t go up this season, which seems highly unlikely now.
 
CAGU said:
I remember the Charlton fans wanting more when they were a top 10 team in the Premiership. They forced Curbishley out and look where they are now, so be careful what you wish for
Replace Critchley with an equivalent of MacDonald, Clark etc and we could be Division 2.
Chritchley is regarded as one of the finest coaches on bringing on young talent, and as we cannot venture too much into the transfer market, in my humble opinion, we need him to stay put.
Win the EFL Trophy and stay in the hunt for the 5th or 6th spot and it’s not been a bad season for the fans.
Just miss out and next year could be the big season for us so plenty to look forward to.
Click to expand...
What young talent has Critchley brought on then ?
 
If we are not in the play offs then the season is a failure. Cup is irrelevant in regard to the big picture. Sadler needs to have a big think if we are stuck in League One at the end of the season because what makes him think this manager is the solution to ensuring the club progress. Has any of our players improved under Critchley this season?
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
What young talent has Critchley brought on then ?
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He is known for improving players such as Josh Bowler, Jerry Yates and recently developing Kyle Joseph, Albie Morgan and Kylian Kouassi to name a few.
Also tops clubs have sent us youngsters for their development such as Ellis, Ballard, Dembele. They wouldn’t send them if they thought Critchley wasn’t a good coach.
Quote from the book about Blackpool fc.
“Internally, Blackpool officials believe manager Neil Critchley, who had previously worked in the youth setup at Liverpool, to be the finest developer of young players in Britain. A quiet, assured man, he speaks confidently and honestly to the press”
 
CAGU said:
He is known for improving players such as Josh Bowler, Jerry Yates and recently developing Kyle Joseph, Albie Morgan and Kylian Kouassi to name a few.
Also tops clubs have sent us youngsters for their development such as Ellis, Ballard, Dembele. They wouldn’t send them if they thought Critchley wasn’t a good coach.
Quote from the book about Blackpool fc.
“Internally, Blackpool officials believe manager Neil Critchley, who had previously worked in the youth setup at Liverpool, to be the finest developer of young players in Britain. A quiet, assured man, he speaks confidently and honestly to the press”
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It's strange how one of our own in Rob Apter is now flying whilst getting regular game time at Tranmere don't you think ?
 
bill40 said:
There's no point sacking Critchley anymore, I along with others never wanted him in the first place but now he's blown it he may as well stay. The squad he has is championship standard and should have been auto contenders but it is what it is. Prepare yourselves for a long stay in L1.
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It's not Championship standard, hence why we got relegated and find ourselves in this division.
 
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