Why did we start the season so under prepared?

Phil_bfc deux

Phil_bfc deux

Well-known member
Looking at the squad and the key players now we are completely different to how we started off

What were we thinking starting the season with Robson as the only holding midfield player

With Nottingham as first choice centre half when he's hardly ever played there with an inexperienced defensive partner. Mitchell was first choice left back for a while as well

Madine who is now a key player clearly wasn't fancied

Its no wonder teams just ran through us we were weak and inexperienced

Critchley wasn't bothered about signing experience though, or thats what he said

4 months later and we could be playing Stewart and Dougall as the midfield anchors

With Madine as the focal point

I actually think the squad looks really good now for this level

Stewart will be a beast in midfield if fit

Garbutt whipping balls in to Madine with either Ballard or the Viking with Expo in the middle of defence

Gabriel if played further forward will be an asset as well

Its a massive change to how we started the season with so much experience now in the squad

There is no doubt that Sadler wants promotion this season the signings reinforce that

Also with the wage cap if we don't get promotion there could be a problem for next season as several of the players were signed before the cap and the higher earners like Maxwell and Madine only count as an average

Big few weeks ahead ...
 
An inexperienced coach having to deal with a Covid affected season and the introduction of a salary cap is bordering on a perfect storm. Whilst not writing this season off quite yet I get the feeling that a lot of the transfer activity is geared towards a big push next year. Just an opinion.
 
Martonmosser said:
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

If we get promotion with this wonderful team that you now like then no wages problem either.

Everything is now fine........UTMP 🍊😀
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Its not hindsight mate

I said we needed experience and a proper spine 6 months ago

It was unbelievably naive to think we could compete in this league with what we started the season with

Naive from the club and the giddy kipper fans who thought a draw in a friendly would mean we would walk the league

I'm just glad Critchley is learning although a bit slow on the uptake

Just a shame we have wasted a third of the season
 
This is a bit of a rinse and repeat subject.
Rome wasn't build in a day and I'd hazard an educated guess that not all the players that were identified were available or even affordable come the introduction of the wage cap and the squad limit at the beginning of the season.
Did Alex Ferguson get it right from day 1? I don't think so but he did alright in the end.
 
Insider said:
This is a bit of a rinse and repeat subject.
Rome wasn't build in a day and I'd hazard an educated guess that not all the players that were identified were available or even affordable come the introduction of the wage cap and the squad limit at the beginning of the season.
Did Alex Ferguson get it right from day 1? I don't think so but he did alright in the end.
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Sorry Insider but thats nonsense

If we don't get promotion this season this current squad would be over the wage budget

Thats the gamble that Simon Sadler is doing

I'm all for it to be honest its great we are showing ambition

The signing of Stewart proves that

He's a quality proven midfield player at championship level

Up to Critchley now ...
 
We did of course sign some players before the cap came in and also had players under contract.
In both cases for the purpose of the salary cap, their wages are added in at the League average.
Why do you think we are over budget and how do you know we will be next season?
The latter must depend at the very least who we still have on the books in another 6 months time.
 
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Phil_bfc deux said:
Sorry Insider but thats nonsense

If we don't get promotion this season this current squad would be over the wage budget

Thats the gamble that Simon Sadler is doing

I'm all for it to be honest its great we are showing ambition

The signing of Stewart proves that

He's a quality proven midfield player at championship level

Up to Critchley now ...
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It’s crazy times lads as we all acknowledge

Stewart thought he would be snapped up by a championship club but wasn’t and has been out of work

Great signing but he wouldn’t have considered BFC and we couldn’t have met his wage demands pre covid

Credit to Critch his relationship with the player must have been key

Great times and let’s hope we are back in our seats soon
 
No excuses now for Critchley

Very few clubs in this league have had the backing like us

Insider i said the current squad

You don't need to be a mathematical genius to work out key players like Madine and Maxwell once their full wage counts would push up the wage bill

Hence why I'm saying Sadler is gambling on promotion this season

And to be honest with the current squad of players promotion should be a realistic aim even with the current league position
 
Any existing contracts, pre rule change, are only ever included at the League average at the most.
Madine is of course out of contract this summer so if we re-signed him on a similar contract that would be a problem.
Maxwell's contract doesn't expire until June 2022 so he isn't.
Anything else I can help you with?
 
Insider said:
Any existing contracts, pre rule change, are only ever included at the League average at the most.
Madine is of course out of contract this summer so if we re-signed him on a similar contract that would be a problem.
Maxwell's contract doesn't expire until June 2022 so he isn't.
Anything else I can help you with?
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Yeah Madine is a key player

Do you really think he would take a significant wage cut ?
 
We don't score enough goals to get promoted and rely too much on CJ to make things happen , the manager needs time but when nxt season comes around we have to be winning more than we are losing ! We have signed too many mediocre players when for the last 2 years we have been crying out for an attacking midfielder
 
Jakeyr said:
We don't score enough goals to get promoted and rely too much on CJ to make things happen , the manager needs time but when nxt season comes around we have to be winning more than we are losing ! We have signed too many mediocre players when for the last 2 years we have been crying out for an attacking midfielder
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Yeah i agree with that we don't create enough

However i do think some of the attacking options we do have just aren't being played correctly to get the best out of them
 
Can't think of any team or club that has experienced such a radical overhaul of both staff and players and suddenly been instantly successful. It's amazing how many people think that by just making lots of new signings almost guarantees success. Reluctantly writing this season off but no excuses for next season, we should be, and need to be, quick out of the blocks with a settled squad.
 
Blackpool-rocks said:
Can't think of any team or club that has experienced such a radical overhaul of both staff and players and suddenly been instantly successful. It's amazing how many people think that by just making lots of new signings almost guarantees success. Reluctantly writing this season off but no excuses for next season, we should be, and need to be, quick out of the blocks with a settled squad.
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Yep i do agree with that however Simon Sadler wants promotion this season

That's the target thats the expectation

He's an ambitious man
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yeah Madine is a key player

Do you really think he would take a significant wage cut ?
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I think Madine, along with all players in Leagues 1 and 2, are going to have to be a bit more realistic in their financial expectations. Of course if Gary can tempt a Championship club to sign him then we would never be able to compete with them.
Building your academy, which we keep getting told is the plan, does help you out of course. If you can build a successful squad with 25% or more of them under 21 and outside the scope of wage and squad restraints you can be more generous with what you pay your "solid spine" of experienced professionals.
Maybe Gary's best bet however is to get Blackpool promoted.
As for the mathematics of it all I'm pretty damn sure that will be area where Simon Sadler "knows what we're after".
 
How many pros have we got on the books at the minute who earn say £1k upwards ? I don't agree with all the talk about we can't offer Madine more or previously Gnanduillet a better contract when we have at least 6 players on reasonable wages not even making the squad on match day not even taking in to account the players loaned out , for eg take sarkic wage and allocate it to madine or work to a budget and have less players
20togo said:
A thoughtful o/p but it still comes down to this. It's all got to work and at the moment it isn't really doing on a consistent basis.
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Jakeyr said:
How many pros have we got on the books at the minute who earn say £1k upwards ? I don't agree with all the talk about we can't offer Madine more or previously Gnanduillet a better contract when we have at least 6 players on reasonable wages not even making the squad on match day not even taking in to account the players loaned out , for eg take sarkic wage and allocate it to madine or work to a budget and have less players
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Get your point but that's the fine line isn't it? It's a tough balancing act and it raises the question of is Madine worth twice the wage of some-one like Yates?
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Looking at the squad and the key players now we are completely different to how we started off

What were we thinking starting the season with Robson as the only holding midfield player

With Nottingham as first choice centre half when he's hardly ever played there with an inexperienced defensive partner. Mitchell was first choice left back for a while as well

Madine who is now a key player clearly wasn't fancied

Its no wonder teams just ran through us we were weak and inexperienced

Critchley wasn't bothered about signing experience though, or thats what he said

4 months later and we could be playing Stewart and Dougall as the midfield anchors

With Madine as the focal point

I actually think the squad looks really good now for this level

Stewart will be a beast in midfield if fit

Garbutt whipping balls in to Madine with either Ballard or the Viking with Expo in the middle of defence

Gabriel if played further forward will be an asset as well

Its a massive change to how we started the season with so much experience now in the squad

There is no doubt that Sadler wants promotion this season the signings reinforce that

Also with the wage cap if we don't get promotion there could be a problem for next season as several of the players were signed before the cap and the higher earners like Maxwell and Madine only count as an average

Big few weeks ahead ...
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Sadler did say he wanted a strong push for promotion this season and through attacking, exciting football.
He must be terribly disappointed with results and the on field product.
I'm not sure it's wise to keep throwing money at it under the current recruitment and coaching team.
 
62years&counting said:
Sadler did say he wanted a strong push for promotion this season and through attacking, exciting football.
He must be terribly disappointed with results and the on field product.
I'm not sure it's wise to keep throwing money at it under the current recruitment and coaching team.
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Totally agree , needs to work and improve what we have got first and foremost
 
Insider said:
This is a bit of a rinse and repeat subject.
Rome wasn't build in a day and I'd hazard an educated guess that not all the players that were identified were available or even affordable come the introduction of the wage cap and the squad limit at the beginning of the season.
Did Alex Ferguson get it right from day 1? I don't think so but he did alright in the end.
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With the help of several hundreds of millions of pounds. Many millions of which was wasted on useless signings.
 
Blackpool-rocks said:
Can't think of any team or club that has experienced such a radical overhaul of both staff and players and suddenly been instantly successful. It's amazing how many people think that by just making lots of new signings almost guarantees success. Reluctantly writing this season off but no excuses for next season, we should be, and need to be, quick out of the blocks with a settled squad.
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I have been behind the club and all connected with it since SS took over. However I shave recently become critical of the tactics and management. I didn’t expect instant success, I don’t honestly think many were, most were prepared to accept Simons timeline of 2/3 years. But we are not making any noticeable progress. Exciting, attacking football was another of his criteria, I don’t think even the most avid supporter would call the turgid stuff we are watching either of those. Slow steady progress would have been perfectly acceptable with a new manager and the current situation, the best you could say about us now is standing still. Exciting,no attacking no, making progress, I don’t think so. Frustration leads to people saying things they don’t really mean and I think most of us are very frustrated.
 
Goforgoal said:
I have been behind the club and all connected with it since SS took over. However I shave recently become critical of the tactics and management. I didn’t expect instant success, I don’t honestly think many were, most were prepared to accept Simons timeline of 2/3 years. But we are not making any noticeable progress. Exciting, attacking football was another of his criteria, I don’t think even the most avid supporter would call the turgid stuff we are watching either of those. Slow steady progress would have been perfectly acceptable with a new manager and the current situation, the best you could say about us now is standing still. Exciting,no attacking no, making progress, I don’t think so. Frustration leads to people saying things they don’t really mean and I think most of us are very frustrated.
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Extremely disappointed with results and style of play. Sadler isn't getting value for money out of his recruitment and coaching teams.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Its not hindsight mate

I said we needed experience and a proper spine 6 months ago

It was unbelievably naive to think we could compete in this league with what we started the season with

Naive from the club and the giddy kipper fans who thought a draw in a friendly would mean we would walk the league

I'm just glad Critchley is learning although a bit slow on the uptake

Just a shame we have wasted a third of the season
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Neil Critchley must be very grateful for your advice and great experience...
 
Yes, its obvious that the first thing Critch does on a Monday is find out what Phil thinks, imagine where we would be if only he had come and asked in the first place.
 
Im not sure Sadler ‘expects’ promotion this season, and don’t remember reading that. He may well expect a push for promotion, and why shouldn’t he. It’s what all chairman, players, managers and fans want. This being said, I can’t imagine he will be disappointed with a strong second half, just missing out and knowing 3/4 players next season will give us a great chance of challenging for the playoffs or automatic. I genuinely don’t think we are more then that away, and with fans allowed back in the ground next season, what’s to say we won’t be that 12th man. We know how much of a boost our fans give players, and some of those closer games this season could have swung it our way. It’s clear they are setting the building blocks for next seasons push, it’s all trial and error with a new team, some players work, others don’t, if after two seasons we haven’t kicked on, then I think Sadler will start questioning the management and recruitment teams. Keep the faith.
 
SouthWalesSeasider said:
Im not sure Sadler ‘expects’ promotion this season, and don’t remember reading that. He may well expect a push for promotion, and why shouldn’t he. It’s what all chairman, players, managers and fans want. This being said, I can’t imagine he will be disappointed with a strong second half, just missing out and knowing 3/4 players next season will give us a great chance of challenging for the playoffs or automatic. I genuinely don’t think we are more then that away, and with fans allowed back in the ground next season, what’s to say we won’t be that 12th man. We know how much of a boost our fans give players, and some of those closer games this season could have swung it our way. It’s clear they are setting the building blocks for next seasons push, it’s all trial and error with a new team, some players work, others don’t, if after two seasons we haven’t kicked on, then I think Sadler will start questioning the management and recruitment teams. Keep the faith.
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I think you’re being a bit optimistic saying 3/4 players short for next season.
If we should lose Madine over wages, and when we hand back our loanees, I’d say we’re 5 short if we play 5-3-2, and 6 short for 4-4-2.
I’d be happy for half of those to be loans, but they’d need to be the standard of Ballard and Gabriel.
 
It's said that you should build from the back. Defensively we have improved. However, we are not a set of supporters used to watching defensive football and we don't like it. Let's hope the staff are now working on the attacking side of our game. Blackpool = entertainment. Watched the end of the Liverpool cup tie and they seemed to have the same lack of urgency, passing back and sideways in the last 5 minutes when they needed to score.
 
Johnno said:
I think you’re being a bit optimistic saying 3/4 players short for next season.
If we should lose Madine over wages, and when we hand back our loanees, I’d say we’re 5 short if we play 5-3-2, and 6 short for 4-4-2.
I’d be happy for half of those to be loans, but they’d need to be the standard of Ballard and Gabriel.
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Well im hoping that Madine does indeed stay, which ive seen no reason why he wouldn't, wages dependant. Your probably right with possibly being 5/6, the point I was making though, was that instead of needing to bring in a whole squad bar a few, we will be starting from a much better position, and think its much fairer to judge where the club is going mid way through next season.
 
I personally think this season has gone now for us, I know we’re half way through but there doesn’t seem the signs of significant improvement in front of goal which would lead to a charge up the table.

I think we’ll end up between 10th and 15th.

It’s vitally important however in the second half of the season, that Critch finds the formation he wants to play for next season.
The flip flop between formations has in large part left us very impotent.

Critch and the club need to come to some definitive idea of a formation over the next 6 months, so next season we can move the players that really won’t have a spot in it and bring in the necessary types of players for said formation to thrive, what ever it is, 442, 352 or even 433 ☠️
 
Personally don’t want us to get promoted this season. I don’t think we’re ready for it yet and because of that would go straight back down. Another year’s preparation would do nicely.
 
I think the next 6 games will define the season. Stay unbeaten and get around 14 points and wer're still in with a chance. Single figure points total and I'd start giving the kids a chance.
 
Victorsponge said:
Whatever the combination of players Critchley chooses to put out, the result is always horrible turgid football.
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dont talk rubbish we knock the ball about very well its pleasing on the eye your not telling me it was better when our only tactic was to get feeney to cross the ball to gnands we just need a bit more end product.
 
bfcfan 1960 said:
dont talk rubbish we knock the ball about very well its pleasing on the eye your not telling me it was better when our only tactic was to get feeney to cross the ball to gnands we just need a bit more end product.
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I haven't mentioned Feeney, but if your entertained by watching players pass the ball around in there own half for large stretches of the game then good luck to you.
 
bfcfan 1960 said:
dont talk rubbish we knock the ball about very well its pleasing on the eye your not telling me it was better when our only tactic was to get feeney to cross the ball to gnands we just need a bit more end product.
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....and how are we going to get that end product or are we going to continue playing 75% of our passes in our own half?
 
The manager certainly ignored the defence during the summer bringing in only one right sided centre half. As a consequence we kicked off the season with Nottingham having to play on the left, not his natural position. Even with a fit Ballard and Viking I think we are still one centre half short, assuming the manager does not rate Thorniley!
 
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