Why is Appleton so stubborn

S

Sandgroanun

Well-known member
At half time it was obvious that his preferred 433 was totally getting overrun and we were a bad 2nd. In my opinion it was crying out for a change of formation and going to 442 with the same back 4, dougall and Patino in the middle and width from CJ and Theo. Replace Madine with Lavery partnering Yates up front. In stead he just kept to his 433 and nothing changed. Surely it would of been worth a try. He needs to be more flexible and adapt to game situations better and not be so stubborn.
 
Sandgroanun said:
At half time it was obvious that his preferred 433 was totally getting overrun and we were a bad 2nd. In my opinion it was crying out for a change of formation and going to 442 with the same back 4, dougall and Patino in the middle and width from CJ and Theo. Replace Madine with Lavery partnering Yates up front. In stead he just kept to his 433 and nothing changed. Surely it would of been worth a try. He needs to be more flexible and adapt to game situations better and not be so stubborn.
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I know what you mean but formation has nothing to do with desire, being second to every single loose ball, not tracking runners, not marking from corners, 100 percent commitment and effort is the absolute bare minimum required from every single player regardless of formation.
 
Two good posts. There were solid arguments for substitutions even before HT last night. I think Dom Thompson worked hard, everyone else is struggling to get 5/10.

Was it the Swansea game where the West Stand massive gave Appleton and Bowler what for? Same is needed now / overdue imo.

Wigan should be interesting.
 
Northstandsinger said:
I know what you mean but formation has nothing to do with desire, being second to every single loose ball, not tracking runners, not marking from corners, 100 percent commitment and effort is the absolute bare minimum required from every single player regardless of formation.
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And not only that if we were getting overrun with 3 centre mids we would be getting even more overun with 2 centre mids

Madine offers nothing with no support, the whole team looked dead on their feet last night

That's the limitations of the squad and it all goes back to the transfer window
 
Sandgroanun said:
At half time it was obvious that his preferred 433 was totally getting overrun and we were a bad 2nd. In my opinion it was crying out for a change of formation and going to 442 with the same back 4, dougall and Patino in the middle and width from CJ and Theo. Replace Madine with Lavery partnering Yates up front. In stead he just kept to his 433 and nothing changed. Surely it would of been worth a try. He needs to be more flexible and adapt to game situations better and not be so stubborn.
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We’ve seen him adapt to games and make changes at HT at least 5 times this season and got us 1 point, sometimes 3.

Last night a change could have been made, correct. But we can’t say he needs to be more flexible when he is.
 
Northstandsinger said:
I know what you mean but formation has nothing to do with desire, being second to every single loose ball, not tracking runners, not marking from corners, 100 percent commitment and effort is the absolute bare minimum required from every single player regardless of formation.
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Spot on that’s exactly as l saw it. Notwithstanding all the injuries and sickness that starting eleven wasn’t that bad but it was evident from the start there was no desire or commitment with the exception of Jerry who ran his socks off.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Madine offers nothing with no support
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We were shit last season when this happened, QPR away, Knobbers etc.

We’ve made this point numerous times. He’s got lots of qualities but his lack of mobility in behind or down the sides means if are other two are out wide, you’ve got very little options to hit when you get the ball centrally. It he does get the ball to his feet, he can lay it off but he’s never ever going to turn and get at someone, it’s not his game, so it completely limits how we can build attacks. I like Madine, he would always be in a squad with 4 strikers as he gives you a great option, but we’re killing him using him like we are.

The lack of transfer activity in the centre forward role was obvious, but we couldn’t get it done. I even had people telling me we’ve signed a striker from Brighton 🙃
 
He’s fallen into the Gaz trap, same as NC did. Last 3 games Gaz has been exceptionally poor, forever complaining that the ball isn’t where he wants it. It hasn’t mattered where the ball is, because it’s bounced off and the opposition are straight back at us. We simply cannot play Jerry deep and wide in every game. We need his clever movement and link play with the wide & midfield players.

Not an attack on Gaz, he does what he does and there are times when we’ll need him. He just cannot be Plan A every game.
 
Philbfctrois said:
And not only that if we were getting overrun with 3 centre mids we would be getting even more overun with 2 centre mids
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It doesn't really matter if there's 2 in midfield or 3, it'd be nice to even have a midfield.

Dougall, hit and miss
Patino, obviously cannot play with a bug but no alternative
Ward, 🤦🏻‍♂️ my god!!
Bridcutt, obviously been to the Kevin Stewart school of training
Carey, (see Dougall)
Anderson, (see Bridcutt)
Connolly, now a right back!!
Wright, Nice headband😔
Stewart, Who?
 
TimperleyTangerine said:
He’s fallen into the Gaz trap, same as NC did. Last 3 games Gaz has been exceptionally poor, forever complaining that the ball isn’t where he wants it. It hasn’t mattered where the ball is, because it’s bounced off and the opposition are straight back at us. We simply cannot play Jerry deep and wide in every game. We need his clever movement and link play with the wide & midfield players.

Not an attack on Gaz, he does what he does and there are times when we’ll need him. He just cannot be Plan A every game.
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The problem is that we don't have a Madine replacement we tried to get one and failed

Like we did to get a Stewart replacement or a Gabriel one

Or a Keogh one

4 key roles lacking

But it's OK eh Bullshit we have Connolly who can play anywhere, but let's all laugh at his referee jokes and not bring him to task
 
TimperleyTangerine said:
He’s fallen into the Gaz trap, same as NC did. Last 3 games Gaz has been exceptionally poor, forever complaining that the ball isn’t where he wants it. It hasn’t mattered where the ball is, because it’s bounced off and the opposition are straight back at us. We simply cannot play Jerry deep and wide in every game. We need his clever movement and link play with the wide & midfield players.

Not an attack on Gaz, he does what he does and there are times when we’ll need him. He just cannot be Plan A every game.
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He's plan A because we haven't got a plan B!!!
Beesley has walked under the same ladder every other bloody injured player at Bloomfield Rd has and Colby Bishop, you know, that lad scoring for fun at Pompy, hilariously FAILED a medical at our club 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
Adams Kebab said:
We were shit last season when this happened, QPR away, Knobbers etc.

We’ve made this point numerous times. He’s got lots of qualities but his lack of mobility in behind or down the sides means if are other two are out wide, you’ve got very little options to hit when you get the ball centrally. It he does get the ball to his feet, he can lay it off but he’s never ever going to turn and get at someone, it’s not his game, so it completely limits how we can build attacks. I like Madine, he would always be in a squad with 4 strikers as he gives you a great option, but we’re killing him using him like we are.

The lack of transfer activity in the centre forward role was obvious, but we couldn’t get it done. I even had people telling me we’ve signed a striker from Brighton 🙃
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yep, Madine can be ineffective if no -one is close to him. Last night I noticed Yates was playing very wide and that it seemed to be Carey and sometimes Patino trying to get up close to him when the long punts forward were made. The problem for me then was that in effect you were making Yates redundant as an attacking force but also there was no movement from our midfield to try and find space to receive the ball. In fact that's why Marv was so poor at times with his passing. There was never an easy forward pass on for him as two of our central midfield players were too far forward. That's not making excuses for Marv because he was poor but it's just how it was. And why I was frustrated with Appleton because he failed to address the point not only during the first half but well into the second too. Last night was just shiite but we've had a good few performances like last night already this season. So yep, I'm worried.
 
Wizzerboy said:
He's plan A because we haven't got a plan B!!!
Beesley has walked under the same ladder every other bloody injured player at Bloomfield Rd has and Colby Bishop, you know, that lad scoring for fun at Pompy, hilariously FAILED a medical at our club 🤦🏻‍♂️
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That Colby Bishop situation was seriously embarrassing. He travelled all the way back from Portsmouth who he was about sign for, saw an opportunity to play in the Championship, stay living within the NW, agreed personal terms (???) and looks like we royally fucked it up citing an eye problem he had in junior football!🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
 
TangerineBayern said:
Spot on that’s exactly as l saw it. Notwithstanding all the injuries and sickness that starting eleven wasn’t that bad but it was evident from the start there was no desire or commitment with the exception of Jerry who ran his socks off.
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Jerry is being linked with a big money move so he is keeping himself in the shop window. The rest don't care or are trying to get Appledroll sacked. 🤔
 
20togo said:
yep, Madine can be ineffective if no -one is close to him. Last night I noticed Yates was playing very wide and that it seemed to be Carey and sometimes Patino trying to get up close to him when the long punts forward were made. The problem for me then was that in effect you were making Yates redundant as an attacking force but also there was no movement from our midfield to try and find space to receive the ball. In fact that's why Marv was so poor at times with his passing. There was never an easy forward pass on for him as two of our central midfield players were too far forward. That's not making excuses for Marv because he was poor but it's just how it was. And why I was frustrated with Appleton because he failed to address the point not only during the first half but well into the second too. Last night was just shiite but we've had a good few performances like last night already this season. So yep, I'm worried.
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Yates is 100% motivated every game and having to cover several other players who can't be arsed!
 
Lots of things went wrong last night but for me the biggest issue we were too "weak".
With Ward, Patino, Carey and Corbeanu (and even reluctantly add Hubby to that at CB) in the team you will always get out-muscled.
We've played 3 hard teams on the bounce, 2 with new Managers to add to it.
I'm just hoping we get a reaction on Saturday.
 
Philbfctrois said:
And not only that if we were getting overrun with 3 centre mids we would be getting even more overun with 2 centre mids

Madine offers nothing with no support, the whole team looked dead on their feet last night

That's the limitations of the squad and it all goes back to the transfer window
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Transfer windows have nothing to do with having 9 or 10 players unavailable.
 
Strange isn’t it - not that long ago we played some awesome football against big teams - Sheffield United for example , 4-2 derby win - the players can do it , but something isn’t right. Are they just knackered ? Missing a couple of key players ?
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
Everyone having a go at Madine or Appleton . How has Eppi escaped the criticism . He gave the ball away a number of times in the first half and cost us the penalty in the second. To me ,thats what killed the game ,not Madine or Appleton.
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Here’s a thought.

When Marvin had the ball, what options did he have to hit?

Granted he gave it away a lot, but if you have limited options to use when you have it that’s going to happen.
 
Adams Kebab said:
Here’s a thought.

When Marvin had the ball, what options did he have to hit?

Granted he gave it away a lot, but if you have limited options to use when you have it that’s going to happen.
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He passed the ball to a Middlesborough player twice in the middle of the pitch where there was no Blackpool player plus if under pressure just hoof it up the pitch . Also it was his short back pass to Maxwell that cost us the penalty . You can't defend his play lately.
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
He passed the ball to a Middlesborough player twice in the middle of the pitch where there was no Blackpool player plus if under pressure just hoof it up the pitch . Also it was his short back pass to Maxwell that cost us the penalty . You can't defend his play lately.
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Decent tactic that. Just hoof it up the pitch. Great to watch.

He’s been poor lately not saying he hasn’t been but the options we have on the ball aren’t great at all.
 
WIZARD OF TANGERINE said:
He passed the ball to a Middlesborough player twice in the middle of the pitch where there was no Blackpool player plus if under pressure just hoof it up the pitch . Also it was his short back pass to Maxwell that cost us the penalty . You can't defend his play lately.
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of course Marv had a stinker but when we've three central midfield players does it not make you wonder why there was no Blackpool player near to where he was trying to pass it? The bigger picture isn't just about Marvs passing it's also about the midfield players getting into positions to be able to receive the ball from out of defence. And last night Appleton failed to address that problem. Have a read of the thread "midfielders hiding".
 
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20togo said:
of course Marv had a stinker but when we've three central midfield players does it not make you wonder why there was no Blackpool player near to where he was trying to pass it? The bigger picture isn't just about Marvs passing it's also about the midfield players getting into positions to be able to receive the ball from out of defence. And last night Appleton failed to address that problem. Have a read of the thread "midfielders hiding".
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I think in a nutshell everything that could go wrong last night did.
To be fair to Appleton I think most of us would have picked the starting 11 that he did from what was available and possibly even made the same changes.
Talk of formation is a bit irrelevant IMO when you have under par performances from just about every player.
Lets get past Saturday, come back refreshed, and not press the panic button until we go on our usual festive season losing streak.
Concerning times though.
 
Sandgroanun said:
At half time it was obvious that his preferred 433 was totally getting overrun and we were a bad 2nd. In my opinion it was crying out for a change of formation and going to 442 with the same back 4, dougall and Patino in the middle and width from CJ and Theo. Replace Madine with Lavery partnering Yates up front. In stead he just kept to his 433 and nothing changed. Surely it would of been worth a try. He needs to be more flexible and adapt to game situations better and not be so stubborn.
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Thommo said exactly the same thing at half time - change the formation to a 442 & take control of the midfield.
Thommo, as usual, spoke good sense all through the commentary - why SS doesn't employ him as a coach heaven knows. You can tell he has a real interest in the club, by the way he refers to the players and their abilities.
 
Insider said:
I think in a nutshell everything that could go wrong last night did.
To be fair to Appleton I think most of us would have picked the starting 11 that he did from what was available and possibly even made the same changes.
Talk of formation is a bit irrelevant IMO when you have under par performances from just about every player.
Lets get past Saturday, come back refreshed, and not press the panic button until we go on our usual festive season losing streak.
Concerning times though.
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yep, I'd no problem with the starting line up that he selected but pretty much just a few minutes in you could see the problems. It was his failure to address them that concerns me. I said to my lad after about 35 mins that even though he hadn't changed anything lets just get to half time only one down and then let's sort things. How they didn't score a second in those ten minutes I've no idea as they were simply strolling through us an d missing a good number of chances especially from corners and that free kick they had. But he sent the same players out for the second half in the same formation. Sure, Marv fucked up early in the second half, but even so he still did nothing.

It would be easy after reading this board to get drawn into all the various conspiracy theories written on here and I'm trying hard not to get involved in them but safe to say, it's an extremely worrying time. Yes, glad of the break for the WC but am I convinced that returning injured players will solve our problems. Not really.
 
I can only assume if we had signed a couple of good players at the start of the season they would,nt have caught this bug !
 
Adams Kebab said:
Decent tactic that. Just hoof it up the pitch. Great to watch.

He’s been poor lately not saying he hasn’t been but the options we have on the ball aren’t great at all.
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Our options when we have the ball are always 2nd best to the team we are playing, they all pass it and keep possession better than we do. Having said that, at the end of the day, we’ve still managed to beat some of the best teams, or get a draw.
 
CAGU said:
Our options when we have the ball are always 2nd best to the team we are playing, they all pass it and keep possession better than we do. Having said that, at the end of the day, we’ve still managed to beat some of the best teams, or get a draw.
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I agree with that. We always seem rushed.
 
Adams Kebab said:
Decent tactic that. Just hoof it up the pitch. Great to watch.

He’s been poor lately not saying he hasn’t been but the options we have on the ball aren’t great at all.
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I am not saying just hoof it up the pitch in normal circumstances ,just when he is being pressured . Saying that ,his passing is bad when not pressured.
 
Sandgroanun said:
At half time it was obvious that his preferred 433 was totally getting overrun and we were a bad 2nd. In my opinion it was crying out for a change of formation and going to 442 with the same back 4, dougall and Patino in the middle and width from CJ and Theo. Replace Madine with Lavery partnering Yates up front. In stead he just kept to his 433 and nothing changed. Surely it would have been worth a try. He needs to be more flexible and adapt to game situations better and not be so stubborn.
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I genuinely think he’d given up.
Maybe, a bit like the last time he was here, it was his petulant attempt to say he wasn’t happy with what was going on.
He’ll be gone by December.
 
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