Your one piece of advice to Critch this summer

What others have said, play to our strengths and let teams worry about us. Set up less defensively more often and press more. Dont be affraid to oppose our style on to teams. Install confidence back in the players and believe in them. Encourage them to play foward passes when possibe and less in our own half allowing teams to press. Try and replicate the confident, free flowing football we were playing in September and October. Perhaps try and bring back Wintle as the midfield was more balanced with him along side Dougall during that period. Play your best players, don't drop them when on form and rotate less.
 
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Bring in a coach with playing experience
Try to improve the starting eleven. Be more consistent with team selection. Utilise the loan market to it’s full potential. Definitely improve the midfield. If bowler goes we are desperately short on creativity.
 
I'm in agreement on the need for better distribution from centre midfield... lacking that, the ball often goes wide early, or we bypass the midfield completely and teams then crowd out our wingers.. A Vaughan-style player would be perfect for me..
 
The passing around at the back won't have to go on forever if we have that creativity in midfield. Concentrate on the midfield and the whole jig saw will fall into place. I think we'll see the best of Lavery with that through ball played to feet and takes out the reliance of a big target man too.
Also if Grimshaw is to go we need to make sure we have a big keeper who can command his area and take some of the pressure off set pieces.
 
My advice to Critch......Get a nice pair of white Prada trainers and one of those tight fitting, black jumpers (see Jose) with a zip up the front
Pop on some extra tight black chinos and one of those glossy Moncler puffa jackets......Think Latin American drug lord, on a night out in Gstaad

OR....You could go the full; Gareth Ainsworth with your shirt open to the naval and a man bun.........a bit of diamanté or a diamond stud earing.

Maybe, copy Stevie G and dress like you're a sixth form student at a posh school........

I've got it........sunglasses!!!!!!.....wear a pair of big sunglasses throughout the whole game......and smoke a cigar at half time......

BUT the BEST advice I can give........don't listen to fans.....99.9% no fuck all....and if they did, they would be a football manger in the Prem...

AND....... the Sunglasses are a brilliant idea 😎
 
4-4-2 works fine (Klopp and Pep both deployed it regularly) but it needs fast overlapping full backs.

Critch - we need 2 if not 3 for both flanks. The rest will be fine
 
Genuinely find a better Number Two! No coincidence we went downhill after McCall went 🙄 Get Thommo on board.
 
Brazil said:
That´s what Liverpool do quite a lot, don´t they?
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Yes, but they pass it with tempo, which often lead to creating opportunities.

We usually end up passing slowly, sideways and backwards, then eventually back to the goalkeeper who just hoofs it up field anyway.

We play better football when we press.
 
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Grumpy_no_more said:
Yes. Better loanees. Notts Forest have five and they did okay!

Keinan Davis (Villa)
Philip Zinckernagel (Watford)
Max Lowe (Sheffield United)
James Garner (Manchester United)
Djed Spence (Middlesbrough)
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That's likely £4,000,000 - £5,000,000 you've just spent there for one season.
 
Lost Seasider said:
That's likely £4,000,000 - £5,000,000 you've just spent there for one season.
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I wasn't saying we should buy five players equivalent to Notts Forest's spend -- just that we should buy better:

-- TJJ was a failure 🙁

-- Wintle was okay, but not better than what we had already, which should be the aim of a loan

-- Sterling was a success 👍 and it worked to have him and Gabriel in that slot.

So many teams have overspent to get the big prize of promotion and fallen into difficulties, but it looks like Forest have spent wisely. This is the dilemma of the Championship.

Saint Simon has told us he's not spending big money on players in order to focus on infrastructure projects, and I'm fine with that. We'll get there in time.
 
Grumpy_no_more said:
I wasn't saying we should buy five players equivalent to Notts Forest's spend -- just that we should buy better:

-- TJJ was a failure 🙁

-- Wintle was okay, but not better than what we had already, which should be the aim of a loan

-- Sterling was a success 👍 and it worked to have him and Gabriel in that slot.

So many teams have overspent to get the big prize of promotion and fallen into difficulties, but it looks like Forest have spent wisely. This is the dilemma of the Championship.

Saint Simon has told us he's not spending big money on players in order to focus on infrastructure projects, and I'm fine with that. We'll get there in time.
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And I was saying that the 5 players you listed were senior pros at PL or upper end Championship clubs and just to loan them for one season would've likely cost the better part of £1,000,000 each.

We're not in that market, we have to gamble on academy players plus maybe the occasional Championship surplus such as Wintle.
 
Lost Seasider said:
And I was saying that the 5 players you listed were senior pros at PL or upper end Championship clubs and just to loan them for one season would've likely cost the better part of £1,000,000 each.

We're not in that market, we have to gamble on academy players plus maybe the occasional Championship surplus such as Wintle.
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I think we are in agreement 😀
 
Blackpool Are Back! said:
Yes, but they pass it with tempo, which often lead to creating opportunities.

We usually end up passing slowly, sideways and backwards, then eventually back to the goalkeeper who just hoofs it up field anyway.

We play better football when we press.
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Well, when I've watched Liverpool they seem to be quite happy passing sideways and backwards calmly until they see the moment to inject tempo and pace. I take your point, though.
 
Graham berrys plastic bag said:
I’d love him back but with the greed of modern day football I find it refreshing that he moved from us back to Northampton for a lower wage to be with his family,granted he’s now gone to Swansea but it’s a 15 maybe 20 minutes drive back to Northampton ( I think?)
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Swansea is more like a 3 to 4 hour drive from Northampton
 
Graham berrys plastic bag said:
Exactly my point TT I was being sarcastic ( even if geography isn’t my strong point!!!)
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Looking back I’m slightly concerned I didn’t pick up on that sarcasm 😂 I do think he’s been missed at our club, he came in when we were struggling and then all of a sudden we had a rock solid back line and gained solid results all season. Shows the value of a good Number 2
 
The biggest problem that we have is that there are three players that are not fit enough to play week after week. Stewart, Virtue,
and Keogh, and another couple of players that also struggle with injuries such as Garbutt and Anderson. If we got a long-term injury
to Dougall and Ekpiteta we would have big problems with the current squad. My advice to Critch would be to sell/move on Virtue, Anderson, and Garbutt, and with the money from the sale of Bowler. Try and sign 3/4 championship quality fit players on a permanent basis and 2/3 quality loans from premier league teams.
 
TimperleyTangerine said:
I do, well his statue.

Do you think they building a team and style around big Gaz is the way forward?
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11 Gary Madines is the way forward.

We've tried twice in last two years to be a sexy football side with nippy little lads scoring on the end of tippy tappy moves at the outset.

Each season we've had to revert to wor Gaz.

We will really struggle to get the quality of technical footballers we need to play a game that apes the way Fulham or whoever play and beats them at it.

We thus need physicality. We need players that can win battles in other ways. Madine is one of them.

We really do need to be technically better in midfield. Players like Dale, Yates etc are rendered pointless by having a meat grinder midfield but we also really don't have the resources or quality to be sniffy about what physicality can and has achieved.

Also, Man City football is boring as fuck. They've just paid loads for a shit Gaz Madine knock off as even Pep realises you need a big lad sometimes.
 
td53 said:
11 Gary Madines is the way forward.

We've tried twice in last two years to be a sexy football side with nippy little lads scoring on the end of tippy tappy moves at the outset.

Each season we've had to revert to wor Gaz.

We will really struggle to get the quality of technical footballers we need to play a game that apes the way Fulham or whoever play and beats them at it.

We thus need physicality. We need players that can win battles in other ways. Madine is one of them.

We really do need to be technically better in midfield. Players like Dale, Yates etc are rendered pointless by having a meat grinder midfield but we also really don't have the resources or quality to be sniffy about what physicality can and has achieved.

Also, Man City football is boring as fuck. They've just paid loads for a shit Gaz Madine knock off as even Pep realises you need a big lad sometimes.
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Gaz Madine knock off, brilliant 😂

My point was that we need alternatives or we become predictable. I’m not knocking Gaz, he’s a great asset, but he’s been overused. As you say, the midfield is the key area that will allow us to have greater flexibility.
 
My advice would be to cut out so much of the 'across the back four' so often.
It always give lots of time for the opposition to get organised, especially the slow ponderous way it's done by BFC.
 
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