Blackpool v Accrington Stanley Official Matchnight Thread 13.04.21

Sooty59 said:
We just can’t beat this lot my 5-0 prediction proved a little rash. But Kaikai really should have put that chance away with his left foot which would have been better with his body shape. Automatic a bridge too far now. At least Maxi kept our unbeaten run going.
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We were never in for autos, often not clinical enough and sit back and conceed at times near the end crept in.

Should have scored the easy chance tonight, but poor overall. Need to be more clinical and not sit deep when leading.

Not sure why no changes tonight, we cant keep playing the same players so much, especially when its not going particularly well.
 
We had some great chances, Kaikai should have done better from 2 of them and with the follow-up. Ward's was a speculative strike that their keeper did well to shovel behind. Then you have Garbutt's piledriver that was so unlucky. We weren't at our best and they worked tirelessly to stop us playing. If they had scored the penalty it would have been another robbery.

As for the officials, poor and weak. They fell for all of Accrington's gamesmanship and the ref pretty much couldn't wait to award the penalty. When you look at some of the penalties we've had waved away recently it seems even more annoying.

We should have had 3 points from an average performance but could have easily lost. We have 1 more point than the chasing pack so we shouldn't dwell on things too much, the focus now needs to be resting up and being ready to get back to our best against Sunderland.
 
62years&counting said:
It's an obvious lack of quality particularly in midfield. Dougall hasn't got a decent pass in his locker, hopefully Stewart will soon be back to replace him. Young players like Embleton and Simms will be inconsistent and struggle playing twice a week.
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Yes it's easy to forget that those two are quite inexperienced. Playing at home to teams like Accy who are niggly and come to frustrate are perfect games for Madine - a bit of strength and shithousery to give back as good as we get. When not given space to play, we become too passive.
 
Insider said:
Accy always save their best for us. They put a tremendous effort in with their pressing game and quite simply stopped us playing.
Sullay should have done better with his 2 big chances but a draw was a fair result.
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I think by the clear nature of at least one chance you could say we should have scored and therefore won.

He just had to hit the ball to the side more. Very poor finishing.

Their penalty looked a joke, typical of this day and age, the ref in fact blew for everything any time a player went tumbling, refs need to be tougher and make them stay on their feet more.
 
We've consistently struggled against sides that make it hard for us - closing down, niggles, timewasting, big physical players etc. Not helped probably by the two games a week problem, but something we need to address. Hopefully Sunderland etc will go for it and let us in.
 
Mark_GT said:
We've consistently struggled against sides that make it hard for us - closing down, niggles, timewasting, big physical players etc. Not helped probably by the two games a week problem, but something we need to address. Hopefully Sunderland etc will go for it and let us in.
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We played straight into their hands Kicking it long for 90 minutes. We played to their strengths rather than our own.
 
If Yates or Simms get injured then what? We will be fucked 🥺

NO other attacking options! Not even Bez ..... what did he do to Critchley? 😳
 
JJpool said:
I think by the clear nature of at least one chance you could say we should have scored and therefore won.

He just had to hit the ball to the side more. Very poor finishing.

Their penalty looked a joke, typical of this day and age, the ref in fact blew for everything any time a player went tumbling, refs need to be tougher and make them stay on their feet more
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They are sooooo easily conned.
 
South Stand '58 said:
Yates and Simms seemer to be the only players capable of controlling an aerial ball and not giving it away. Everyone else happy to play head tennis and lose posession. Far too much of this ruined the game for me. That and an absolutely atrocious referee.
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One thing that annoys me I've noticed is that when we head clear often its aimless when there's someone free who we could head to.

It as simple as a hoof forward knowing we will head it forawrd, all the opposition need to do is sit about 20 yards in front and pick up the knock downs.

If the defender is free surely a lean back and catch the ball on chest sometimes is doable and then go forawrd and pick a man out but if not a header at least towards a tangerine shirt is a must.
 
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LA1 Seasider said:
I don’t agree about Dougall as he can be very effective. But he did struggle tonight. Once or twice he took the ball on the turn and it opened Accy up - it’s a real shame he can’t do it more often.
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All about opinions, but I don't rate him. I can't see him getting much game time next season when hopefully we'll add some real quality in midfield.
 
SeasideKurt said:
Dougall Ward Kaikai and Embleton were absolutely off it tonight. Coupled with Accrington's tactics meant a very stale game.

They offer roughly nothing in attack. I can't think of a decent attacking play they had where I was worried. A penalty that shouldn't have been.

Draw was a fair result but we did have the better chances.
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I dont think Ward was as bad as the others...the Kai Kai lovers wont like this but that performance was a 4 or less...when he plays like that he is a liability and a total passenger...theres a good player in there but there is also a player stealing a living in there aswell...at times its 4 bad games to 1 good game and that is something we cannot afford...if you compare Yate's workrate to Kai Kais tonight then its chalk and cheese
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Constant poor decision making from every man in Tangerine tonight and clearly not enough movement off of the ball as Maxwell, Gretarsson and Ballard have had to pass it between themselves most of the game. Embleton was poor tonight. Kai Kai is a brilliant player when he wants to be but was not at it at all tonight. Jerry looked off the pace too. Simms tried hard but he’s a little too inexperienced to play successfully against the likes of Accy.

My biggest gripe all season has been that we often carry the players who can give us a few moments of brilliance for the other 89 minutes of a game. Kai Kai has been that player quite a lot this season and tonight he’s done it again. Embleton the same.

If we’re to be successful this season or next we need to increase competition out wide. I’d have had them both off on 60/65 mins but Critch doesn’t have the luxury atm.
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Spot on that and supported by the stats which show that Ballard and Gretarrson had the most touches and whilst we had 139 more passes than Saturday, 120 of those were in our own half.
 
Yeah not sure why we didn't freshen it up, we are crying out for reinforcements and we need to give players a break from Sat - tues.

Yet it wasn't going well tonight and we had some limited options but even near the end nothing, very bizarre.
 
Pretty sad that the subs that you picked are only for injuries otherwise at least one of them would have got on the pitch, wouldn't they ?
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
The manager got it wrong aswell and Mitchell should have come on for either Kai Kai or Embleton and what is the point of having Holmes on the bench if not for him to get a chance in the last 15 mins?
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I think he should have gone to one striker and the midfield 5 and really spread the pitch, got Sullay and Embleton going all over the place.

I also suspect Demi wasn't really fit as I can't see why, after that switch changed the burton game so much, he'd not try it at some point in this.

Agree about Holmes. It's pointless having him, if he can only come on when we're 4-0 up. Apter got his chance and took it well, 1 brief cameo, one assist, but then we've never seen him again. Shaw played one brief cameo and did fine, no sign of him.
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
So happy with that 90 minute performance then ?
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Not 100% but to say there was no intent to win is just untrue. Accy came not to lose after a couple of recent batterings and for one reason or another we struggled to break them down.

11 shots on goal, 6 on target.

We have played 2 games a week for god knows how many weeks and are missing Hamilton, Madine, Stewart, Ekpiteta, Anderson, Virtue. All potential starters so it’s not surprising some of these players are struggling to play like peak Barcelona every game.
 
Mitchell will play Saturday instead of Embleton, that being the case a top performance from Kai Kai is a must if
we are to get 3 points.
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
That was shocking, no intent to win that game at all. Long ball, hoof, that isn't our game and at half time you could see that we needed a change. Three points would have been massive tonight but we were never going to get them playing like that !
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Whilst we didn't play well it's ridiculous to say there was no intent to win the game . 11 shots , 6 on target !! We had enough half chances
to win the game but didn't take them. Other than possibly bringing Mitchell on , the bench is lacking in attacking options.
 
FessParker said:
Whilst we didn't play well it's ridiculous to say there was no intent to win the game . 11 shots , 6 on target !! We had enough half chances
to win the game but didn't take them. Other than possibly bringing Mitchell on , the bench is lacking in attacking options.
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So why not bring Mitchell on ?
 
Let’s be honest, Accy have done to us tonight exactly what we have done to plenty of teams in the second half of the season. Pressing and hurrying our players so a lot of the time the only option was to pass backwards or hoof it forward.

Had one of the early chances gone in, the game could abs probably would have gone a completely different way, as when the game went on, they would have been chasing a goal, giving the likes of Yates plenty more space.

We got away with it a bit with Maxwells pen save, but other then that, they didn’t test him at all, and on another day, Garbutt’s shot goes in, or falls nicely for Yates.

Sunderland won’t be pressing half as much as today, although I’d be seriously tempted to play Mitchell in a midfield 5, and give Kaikai more of a free licence to roam.

All is not lost, and it’s still well in our hands, and we remain unbeaten. Keep the faith
 
I've said it before, but we play down to the level of the opposition; I think it's possibly down to being a relatively youthful set-up from top to bottom.

Regarding timr wasting, Maxwell does it loads. It's part of the game.

The positives.
We played ok and are still unbeaten.
No team in the playoffs is flying.

The concerns
We should be beating teams as negative as Accrington, but have struggled all season to do it all season.
We still aren't clinical enough in tight games.
There's nothing on the bench to bring a new dimension into our play.
We're limping injury the play-offs with a few too many draws for my liking.

Still, we remain in the mix and promotion is in our own hands.
 
Hazi said:
Mitchell not 100% saved for Sunderland when we won’t have Embleton. If had gone 3/4 up he would blood the teenagers
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Yeah, but we keep saying that and we never go 3 or 4 up and do it. The squad is on it's arse in attacking sense and there's a very real danger that Simms or Yates pulls up in training and then where do we go. We'll be wishing we'd 'blooded' the kids earlier.

I get that if he puts on Holmes, he has a mare and we lose it's bad for everyone, but I also think we could be bolder with these players. As I said earlier, Apter got a game and couldn't have done any more than he did, but when we're absolutely screaming for the midfield/creative/attacking options to be bolstered, he's not there.

I know Critch knows more than me etc etc etc but I also think there's a caution in the way we're treating the kids and the energy and verve they offer is something we should/could look at as a counterpoint to the argument that they're inexperienced.

I remember Brett's debut - he ran around like an absolute loon. He wasn't especially good, but that's what we lacked up front. Simms cruises, Jerry can only run week after week after week so hard for so long and ten mins here and there for Holmes when he's effectively the third striker now, I think would be wise.

Saying that, I felt it more against Lincoln than I did tonight where I thought extra energy and zest up front in the last 20 would have finished them off. Tonight, I can see why you'd not blood a kid against that defence.
 
Accy and Coleman deserve a lot of credit, his game plan was to stop our passing game which they did, they closed down Dougal and Ward as soon as they got the ball, Bishop pressed our centre backs, so all they could do was pass it back to Maxwell to launch to a grateful and huge Accy defence.
They did a job on us pure and simple.
 
62years&counting said:
All about opinions, but I don't rate him. I can't see him getting much game time next season when hopefully we'll add some real quality in midfield.
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I’d love to have another midfielder (youngish one) of real quality and with a greater attacking instinct and an eye for goal (KDH would be the ideal mould). If we can find such a player Stewart and Dougall would have to fight it out for a starting berth and Virtue would be forced to up his game too.
 
td53 said:
Yeah, but we keep saying that and we never go 3 or 4 up and do it. The squad is on it's arse in attacking sense and there's a very real danger that Simms or Yates pulls up in training and then where do we go. We'll be wishing we'd 'blooded' the kids earlier.

I get that if he puts on Holmes, he has a mare and we lose it's bad for everyone, but I also think we could be bolder with these players. As I said earlier, Apter got a game and couldn't have done any more than he did, but when we're absolutely screaming for the midfield/creative/attacking options to be bolstered, he's not there.

I know Critch knows more than me etc etc etc but I also think there's a caution in the way we're treating the kids and the energy and verve they offer is something we should/could look at as a counterpoint to the argument that they're inexperienced.

I remember Brett's debut - he ran around like an absolute loon. He wasn't especially good, but that's what we lacked up front. Simms cruises, Jerry can only run week after week after week so hard for so long and ten mins here and there for Holmes when he's effectively the third striker now, I think would be wise.

Saying that, I felt it more against Lincoln than I did tonight where I thought extra energy and zest up front in the last 20 would have finished them off. Tonight, I can see why you'd not blood a kid against that defence.
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...and there's Ewan Bange, Nathan Shaw and Cameron Antwi all of whom have been given professional contracts but play very little professional football. If we aren't going to develop them then why bother giving them contracts but as you say, not tonight.
 
Victorsponge said:
Accy and Coleman deserve a lot of credit, his game plan was to stop our passing game which they did, they closed down Dougal and Ward as soon as they got the ball, Bishop pressed our centre backs, so all they could do was pass it back to Maxwell to launch to a grateful and huge Accy defence.
They did a job on us pure and simple.
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Absolutely Victor and why would they come here and just roll over. We should be allowed to play all our games away, where the opposition have to come out a bit more.
 
Yates hasn’t scored in the last 2 matches - he should be dropped




I jest of course, yes concerning - I actually don’t think the playing 11/12 players are training much as they are resting mostly and need to but I do think we need to work out mentally how we are going to hammer our opponents - that was tired
 
I will never be bored of an unbeaten run as long as our current one - they rarely happen. It takes a lot of hard work to make it happen - and teams played in that run include Lincoln, Oxford, Peterborough, Charlton and Portsmouth - all in the top 8.

But we have played 11 home games against teams outside the top ten now and scored 12 goals. That's really poor for a playoff chasing side.
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
You' re overanalyzing this. Coleman came with a plan which was to make us play long. What did we do ? We played long.
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Yes, I can't help thinking that.

Coleman completely owned the Crown Ground game as well. It was a good plan. Pack the midfield, hedge the bets that the defence will cope with our strikers but have enough energy to keep us cautious about what happens at the other end.

They made one real chance (the pen) but it felt like they had a much more control of the game than that and that suggests Coleman got what he wanted.
Insider said:
...and there's Ewan Bange, Nathan Shaw and Cameron Antwi all of whom have been given professional contracts but play very little professional football. If we aren't going to develop them then why bother giving them contracts but as you say, not tonight.
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Yeah, there are - you can't give the players time, just to give them time, for the sake of it, if there's players ahead of them with more experience or better attributes but I think right now, there's a real argument for saying you need to use the atticking resources you have. The freshness, the verve, the legs - losing that is a massive risk, just as blooding a kid is.

I don't understand why last week we had a back four on the bench (and a keeper) but if Demi (attacking left sided player who can invert and play on right and also play full back) isn't available, you don't say 'hey, Nathan!' (attacking left sided player who can invert and play on right and also play full back) and put him on, instead of one of the entire back four.

We know Marvin can play, We know Jimmy can play etc. What we don't know is what we do if Yates pulls up, or one of the wide men gets a thigh strain. Where do we go then?
 
Mark_GT said:
We've consistently struggled against sides that make it hard for us - closing down, niggles, timewasting, big physical players etc. Not helped probably by the two games a week problem, but something we need to address. Hopefully Sunderland etc will go for it and let us in.
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We definitely need to adopt a game plan for when we come across big teams that come to stop us play, otherwise we’ll be sitting ducks every time in games like this.
 
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