What’s going on?!?

Athers

Athers

Well-known member
Full enquiry needed as to what’s gone on at the club in the last 12 months:

Why have we failed to spend the money from Bowler & Critchley on the squad?
Why are we so reliant on loans?
Why is our disciplinary record so bad?
Why is our injury record so bad?
Why didn’t we sack Appleton after the Wigan defeat?
Why did we hire him in the first place?
Why, when we need to win games to stay up, does McCarthy set up so negatively?

I’m not laying all of the blame at Sadler’s feet. He’s saved the club & I’ll be forever grateful, but what the hell is going on at the club? The radio silence is deafening.

I love the club, I’ve a season ticket and I’ll be renewing next season no mater what division we’re in, but I think Stoke is likely going to be my last home game this season. This isn’t an “oh look at me, we’re crap so I’m not going any more!” post. This is I live 90 miles away and have to endure a 6 hour round trip on British trains (which are about as reliable as our defence!) which aren’t cheap and I just can’t be bothered with it all, watching negative football under a negative manager. Rant over!
 
Athers said:
Full enquiry needed as to what’s gone on at the club in the last 12 months:

Why have we failed to spend the money from Bowler & Critchley on the squad?
Why are we so reliant on loans?
Why is our disciplinary record so bad?
Why is our injury record so bad?
Why didn’t we sack Appleton after the Wigan defeat?
Why did we hire him in the first place?
Why, when we need to win games to stay up, does McCarthy set up so negatively?

I’m not laying all of the blame at Sadler’s feet. He’s saved the club & I’ll be forever grateful, but what the hell is going on at the club? The radio silence is deafening.

I love the club, I’ve a season ticket and I’ll be renewing next season no mater what division we’re in, but I think Stoke is likely going to be my last home game this season. This isn’t an “oh look at me, we’re crap so I’m not going any more!” post. This is I live 90 miles away and have to endure a 6 hour round trip on British trains (which are about as reliable as our defence!) which aren’t cheap and I just can’t be bothered with it all, watching negative football under a negative manager. Rant over!
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Think we had enough smoke and mirrors from our last owners thought Simon would have been a bit more open with us.
 
Athers said:
Full enquiry needed as to what’s gone on at the club in the last 12 months:

Why have we failed to spend the money from Bowler & Critchley on the squad?
Why are we so reliant on loans?
Why is our disciplinary record so bad?
Why is our injury record so bad?
Why didn’t we sack Appleton after the Wigan defeat?
Why did we hire him in the first place?
Why, when we need to win games to stay up, does McCarthy set up so negatively?

I’m not laying all of the blame at Sadler’s feet. He’s saved the club & I’ll be forever grateful, but what the hell is going on at the club? The radio silence is deafening.

I love the club, I’ve a season ticket and I’ll be renewing next season no mater what division we’re in, but I think Stoke is likely going to be my last home game this season. This isn’t an “oh look at me, we’re crap so I’m not going any more!” post. This is I live 90 miles away and have to endure a 6 hour round trip on British trains (which are about as reliable as our defence!) which aren’t cheap and I just can’t be bothered with it all, watching negative football under a negative manager. Rant over!
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Those are the questions that Sadler should be addressing to the whole Fanbase in an open letter rather that fuckin useless non event called the Structured Dialogue Meeting. The only other question l would ask SS would be 'is your commitment to BFC the same now as when you took over? Never heard a thing since he openly had a pop at the fans for daring to question the appointment of Apfel Strudel!
 
Athers said:
Full enquiry needed as to what’s gone on at the club in the last 12 months:

Why have we failed to spend the money from Bowler & Critchley on the squad?
Why are we so reliant on loans?
Why is our disciplinary record so bad?
Why is our injury record so bad?
Why didn’t we sack Appleton after the Wigan defeat?
Why did we hire him in the first place?
Why, when we need to win games to stay up, does McCarthy set up so negatively?

I’m not laying all of the blame at Sadler’s feet. He’s saved the club & I’ll be forever grateful, but what the hell is going on at the club? The radio silence is deafening.

I love the club, I’ve a season ticket and I’ll be renewing next season no mater what division we’re in, but I think Stoke is likely going to be my last home game this season. This isn’t an “oh look at me, we’re crap so I’m not going any more!” post. This is I live 90 miles away and have to endure a 6 hour round trip on British trains (which are about as reliable as our defence!) which aren’t cheap and I just can’t be bothered with it all, watching negative football under a negative manager. Rant over!
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I’ve thought for a while ‘what’s going on’ things haven’t been rosey since Critchley left. Makes you wonder why he fucked off!
 
Everything that could go wrong, pretty much has this season. This season isn't over yet but the chances of us dodging relegation are extremely slim. The board need to start planning for the inevitable and correcting what they have got badly wrong.
 
TangerineBayern said:
Those are the questions that Sadler should be addressing to the whole Fanbase in an open letter rather that fuckin useless non event called the Structured Dialogue Meeting. The only other question l would ask SS would be 'is your commitment to BFC the same now as when you took over? Never heard a thing since he openly had a pop at the fans for daring to question the appointment of Apfel Strudel!
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Agree to a point but he’s got a new manager in who he believes will get us safe (doubtful) apparently going through a divorce and a few business problems so perhaps we should cut him a bit of slack
 
Graham berrys plastic bag said:
Agree to a point but he’s got a new manager in who he believes will get us safe (doubtful) apparently going through a divorce and a few business problems so perhaps we should cut him a bit of slack
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Personally I’ve no issue with MM being the manager but the change should have happened immediately after the Wigan game as we entered the WC break to give us a greater chance of staying up as we approached the transfer window with a new manager in place. The point I’m making here Graham is that the SDM is not the forum to address the seriousness of the poor decisions that have been taken since the summer and this can only be addressed by SS because at the moment there is a massive disconnect between the club and the fans.
 
911_Kirky said:
I’ve thought for a while ‘what’s going on’ things haven’t been rosey since Critchley left. Makes you wonder why he fucked off!
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Because he was offered more money , at a bigger club with his mate . The question should have been "Why did you not address the fans when you first went" That's the main question.
 
Yep. Have to agree with all of that. I didn’t get a season ticket this year due to the club’s ridiculous lack of flexibility on payment options , so I fork out a fortune for me and my family to go each week. I can’t justify it really and so I’m also done for the season after Saturday. 3 home games in March will cost me the best part of £200. I have nothing positive to say about Blackpool FC right now. The team is awful, the manager is a dinosaur (despite our initial optimism, that’s what he is.) Things are not right at the top either and where’s the training ground ??? In doubt I believe.
 
Matesrates said:
Not heard he’s going through a divorce or business problems , where did you hear that?
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I read the part about the business on here probably 4-5 months ago, I was told about the divorce by a customer of mine who has got a connection to the club albeit a small connection but he’s got a lot right in the past
I have no idea if either situation is true
 
I agree with all of that Joe apart from the saving the club bit. He didn’t save the club, VB saved the club, the supporters who stuck to NAPM saved the club, Sadler got a club at a bargain price and to be honest he has done the bare minimum since he came in, he has done what had to be done to repair the damage the stains did but for me the guy is way out of his depth and should never have bought the club. I don’t think he wants it and if he could get a buyer he’d be off like a shot.
 
What pisses me off is were very reluctant to spend cash on bringing in better quality players yet what has it cost us to get rid of Appleton on a ludicrous 4 year contract?

What are we paying McCarthy to keep us up? even a bonus has been mentioned if he succeeds.

Why are the board/Sadler remaining silent?

Things just not adding up here.
 
hertfordseasider said:
Sadler got a club at a bargain price and to be honest he has done the bare minimum since he came in, he has done what had to be done to repair the damage the stains did....
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It was (arguably) a "bargain price" because the club had been run down to the point where it was barely recognisable. As you know.
Since then SS has done a damn sight more than the bare minimum.

He's ordered substantial remedial work on the Bloomfield Road pitch and the pitches and buildings at the training ground.
Remember the utter shambles behind the scenes, virtually everything was unserviceable, the kitchens were a fire hazard, even the machine to print season ticket cards was broken?
What was the number of equivalent full time employees when the stains were kicked out? 8?
For months after SS came in there was a long line of Transit vans lined up under the west stand, tradesmen working all over the place to rectify the damage left by the Odious Owner. All costing serious money.
The commercial side is generating a damn sight more than it did, but it needed upfront investment, principally in personnel costs, to revive it.

Yes, he's "done what had to be done to repair the damage" - and more besides - but it's cost SS a huge amount.

He's made mistakes - he said he would at the outset - but to depict him as some sort of opportunist chancer is unfair.
 
Toastrack said:
It was (arguably) a "bargain price" because the club had been run down to the point where it was barely recognisable. As you know.
Since then SS has done a damn sight more than the bare minimum.

He's ordered substantial remedial work on the Bloomfield Road pitch and the pitches and buildings at the training ground.
Remember the utter shambles behind the scenes, virtually everything was unserviceable, the kitchens were a fire hazard, even the machine to print season ticket cards was broken?
What was the number of equivalent full time employees when the stains were kicked out? 8?
For months after SS came in there was a long line of Transit vans lined up under the west stand, tradesmen working all over the place to rectify the damage left by the Odious Owner. All costing serious money.
The commercial side is generating a damn sight more than it did, but it needed upfront investment, principally in personnel costs, to revive it.

Yes, he's "done what had to be done to repair the damage" - and more besides - but it's cost SS a huge amount.

He's made mistakes - he said he would at the outset - but to depict him as some sort of opportunist chancer is unfair.
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He's done what any new owner of the club would have had to do, of course he has spent money, you can't buy a club like ours was and not know you are going to have to invest to get it up to spec.

I just don't think he wants it, could be wrong, it has been known! But something is definitely not right. BB for one thing.
 
It's pretty obvious to me. Critch deserted us late on and we didn't recover. MA ticked the coaching boxes and was wrongly appointed, followed by the most challenging window we've had since SS took over meaning we had square pegs everywhere. The flaws in our coaching model and recruitment strategy were exposed this year by a very tough league and we haven't been able to bounce back. Our injuries and discipline problems would be enough to see us down regardless of who we signed or who was in charge.

Philosophically, every year 3 teams go up and 3 go down and this would still happen if each championship team magically had the same budget and player quality, equally spread, somehow.

Although we love a good inquest and business owner personal circumstance conspiracy (which I think is true BTW), it is just football at the end of it all.
 
McCarthy and Connor are still enjoying the luxury of the 4* Clifton Arms hotel in Lytham, perhaps time to move them both to the BFC hotel or the Premier Lodge across the road so they can get a real feel of what Blackpool fans think of their performance so far.
 
McCarthy and Connor are still enjoying the luxury of the 4* Clifton Arms hotel in Lytham, perhaps time to move them both to the BFC hotel or the Premier Lodge across the road so they can get a real feel of what Blackpool fans think of their performance so far.
 
Under Appleton we had a Critchley team that did not suit his style of play, plus of course horrendous injury and disciplinary issues.
We finally signed the players that suited Appleton in Jan but sacked him and replaced him with Mccarthy and again the players did not suit his style of play.
Neither manager is a total failure as some suggest, but we have gone down experienced route and failed miserably 3 times under SS, so I would be happy to sign someone who simply buys into the club ethos of buying promising youngsters and developing them and be enthusiastic about it.
Wanted Evatt before Grayson but people were questioning his lack of experience, but most would love him now but he is out of the equation.
Still have the same gut feel with Dobbie, esp in L1 and think he would be given time by the fanbase.
 
Very fair questions and observations in the o/p.

It feels to me that SS may have got in too deep and/or the attraction of owning the club quickly evaporated. Whatever it is, he’s not been supported well by those around him. The decisions taken have been alarmingly naive and it feels to me that the planned redevelopment will never happen. I fear we’ll be back to a 3 sided stadium in the 3rd tier.

I didn’t have a major issue with MA being appointed, but like MM he is dour in his style and prioritised everything over flair. The Wigan game should have been the trigger for his departure.

MM is such a bad appointment, because we have attacking talent and that’s how we’ll get out of this situation. MM doesn’t like flair and the reality is. I couldn’t care less if Poveda or Bowler don’t train well, as long as they turn it on, on match day.

It’s arguable that SS benefitted significantly from the wave of optimism after the O’s departed. As soon as that evaporated we’ve not (as a club) been able to make the right calls at the right time. As owner that’s ultimately down to SS.

All we can do as fans is get behind the lads and try to carry them over the line this season. I firmly believe that as a squad we are significantly better than our league position, and that poor management / ownership has created this situation.
 
What's going on? That was by Marvin Gaye do I win a prize? In other news we have a team who need the ball played to feet or run to not a hoofed ball dropping from 3 thousand feet high. I suspect Poveda et al have told MM this but he won't listen. That's what I think is going on two wrong managers.
 
hertfordseasider said:
He's done what any new owner of the club would have had to do, of course he has spent money, you can't buy a club like ours was and not know you are going to have to invest to get it up to spec.

I just don't think he wants it, could be wrong, it has been known! But something is definitely not right. BB for one thing.
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My opinion, for what it is worth is that SS, like the rest of us, bleeds tangerine. He's the same age as me, started going in the mid 70's I assume. We've seen it all in that time, from the desperate lows to the occasional highs. The despicable Oystons and particularly Knut Karl, pulled many of us in even closer. The promotion to the PL was like winning the lottery and the missus sp*****king it all on booze, ciggies, bitcoin and the gee-gees. When we finally rid ourselves of the scum and the club was put up for sale, it was a once in a lifetime tempting proposition for someone with the means. The motivation is primarily altruistic (good for the club, community, facilities etc) but a dash of egomania is both understandable and indeed essential.

The losses over the last few seasons must have been horrific, the injuries ... paying people to literally sit on their arses. Yikes. It's a slippery slope, especially when your customers are pushing you down it. We are a small to moderate fanbase, have always ebbed and flowed with the success on the pitch and are pretty high in the moaning and entitled league. Same as many others there I guess. People moan about the prices, the pies, the training ground, etc etc. It goes on and on. Of course.

And then, at some point when you have shovelled in loads of your hard earned wonga, the moaning really picks up. They start abusing your staff (BM) online, and guess what .... it's you next! This has happened time and time again.

There have been mistakes ... some truly awful (Grayson) ... some understandable (Mick M).

I really DESPERATELY hope SS stays. The club really isn't worth much to anyone else, despite what some deluded fools on here think. Perhaps a more transparent open conversation between clubs, their fans and the authorities is needed. Maybe we need to put OUR money where our bleating mouths are?

Either way, football is fukced.
 
Burnley and Middlesbrough both have 6 loans in their squads, Forest went up with a load of loans.

So it isn’t just us who are reliant on the loan system.
 
Macs tangerine army said:
You know as well as I do Tim lad that Simon wants rid.
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He probably does, the way the atmosphere around the club has changed from 18 months ago suggests so. To be fair to SS the money needed to compete in the championship is eye watering and maybe too much for him.
 
no9 said:
To be fair to SS the money needed to compete in the championship is eye watering and maybe too much for him.
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I think it is just that. But then why hire Appleton? We needed a like for like replacement of Critchley with the view to scour the lower leagues for rough diamonds that we could polish and sell on. This whole philosophy we were sold appears to have vanished.
 
no9 said:
He probably does, the way the atmosphere around the club has changed from 18 months ago suggests so. To be fair to SS the money needed to compete in the championship is eye watering and maybe too much for him.
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Too true, I’ve got nothing against Simon I like him👍🏻
 
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After a post on another thread saying SS is going through a divorce as well as having problems with his business, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is trying to sell, especially when you add into the mix we are bottom and staring relegation in the face, with huge investment planned for the training ground and east stand.
 
Macseasider said:
I think it is just that. But then why hire Appleton? We needed a like for like replacement of Critchley with the view to scour the lower leagues for rough diamonds that we could polish and sell on. This whole philosophy we were sold appears to have vanished.
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Well I don't think anyone could believe that appointment. Appleton was probably the only manager that was prepared to work with the funds that were going to be made available, why else would he employ him knowing it would just flatten the feeling around the club. Gutted how it's gone.
 
Matesrates said:
After a post on another thread saying SS is going through a divorce as well as having problems with his business, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is trying to sell, especially when you add into the mix we are bottom and staring relegation in the face, with huge investment planned for the training ground and east stand.
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If that's true he has a heck of a lot on his plate.
 
After a post on another thread saying SS is going through a divorce as well as having problems with his business, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is trying to sell, especially when you add into the mix we are bottom and staring relegation in the face, with huge investment planned for the training ground and east stand.
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Yeah right cos everything on here is gospel eh?

Very bad form posting such imbecilic gutter speculation.

Exactly what would make me sell up.
 
Matesrates said:
After a post on another thread saying SS is going through a divorce as well as having problems with his business, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is trying to sell, especially when you add into the mix we are bottom and staring relegation in the face, with huge investment planned for the training ground and east stand.
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I'll be amazed if the training ground happens, the east stand might happen but only because of the grant offered by the council.
 
TwelveAngryMen said:
The lack of comms from the Board is worrying to me
Without looking back I reckon it’s 4 months or more of virtual silence

SD meeting is coming up however I really do think they should open up to all via Zoom
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Pretty sure they wont do that and the questions will be preselected and vetted...There are so many queries they need to answer and we could do with someone like you TAM to ask those searching questions.
 
There will be no
Matesrates said:
After a post on another thread saying SS is going through a divorce as well as having problems with his business, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is trying to sell, especially when you add into the mix we are bottom and staring relegation in the face, with huge investment planned for the training ground and east stand.
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I am convinced there will be no new East stand or training ground if we are relegated...thats why we should have recruited a manager properly and invested heavily in the squad to consolidate last years position. This was all so avoidable.
 
We’ve had a shit season and we’re probably going down, is what’s happened.
 
Jaffa_The_Hut said:
What pisses me off is were very reluctant to spend cash on bringing in better quality players yet what has it cost us to get rid of Appleton on a ludicrous 4 year contract?

What are we paying McCarthy to keep us up? even a bonus has been mentioned if he succeeds.

Why are the board/Sadler remaining silent?

Things just not adding up here.
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Looks like we'll save a few quid by not paying McCarthy a bonus, unfortunately we lose millions by getting relegated!!
 
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