Critch responding to no firepower claims

adamswonkyteeth

adamswonkyteeth

Well-known member

Neil Critchley won’t read too much into last month’s Blackpool goal shortage, insisting goals were there for the taking in last weekend’s defeat at Birmingham City.​


Blackpool only conceded four in those five games, but failing to finish at the other end forced them to settle for three points from the possible 15.
The Seasiders remain in the top half of the Championship, though only five clubs have a goal total below Pool’s 20.

But Critchley was not unduly alarmed by the figures, pointing out that last Saturday’s 1-0 loss at St Andrew’s was a game Blackpool could have won.
Pool’s head coach said: “You can look at stats however you want. You’ve seen all the games and every game is different. We’ve played against some really good opposition.
“Birmingham are tough, however I thought the game was there to be won.

“We had them at half-time but our second-half performance was poor. We huffed and puffed.
“Had we moved the ball better, the spaces would have opened and the gaps would have appeared on a more regular basis.
“Physically they were getting tired but we didn’t move the ball as well as we did in the first half and we didn’t make use of the moments we had.
“Ultimately that’s what decided our fate.”
Critchley says the club will discuss a replacement for his departed deputy Stuart McCall.
Speaking after the Birmingham game, Critchley said: “It’s something we’ve discussed only fleetingly because it happened on Thursday and we were really busy preparing for this game.
“In the next few days I’m sure it’s something we’ll sit down as a staff and discuss.”
 
SeasideKurt said:
Maybe because he left our top two scorers on the bench for the majority. Had they started, I feel we'll have been far better suited to winning that game.
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Agree. It wasn't just Birmingham, it's been pretty much the same all season. 20 goals in 20 games isn't really good enough. Personally in Lavery and Yates i think we've a couple of decent strikers but it has to be said you can't really recall too many chances that they've missed. Reason? We are simply not creating enough chances. It's all well and good Critch bemoaning a poor second half last saturday but even in a "good" first half we didn't create any clear chances so it certainly doesn't follow that even if we'd played as well in the second half we'd have had chances. Fact is we don't create enough goal scoring opportunities especially inside the penalty area.
 
20togo said:
Agree. It wasn't just Birmingham, it's been pretty much the same all season. 20 goals in 20 games isn't really good enough. Personally in Lavery and Yates i think we've a couple of decent strikers but it has to be said you can't really recall too many chances that they've missed. Reason? We are simply not creating enough chances. It's all well and good Critch bemoaning a poor second half last saturday but even in a "good" first half we didn't create any clear chances so it certainly doesn't follow that even if we'd played as well in the second half we'd have had chances. Fact is we don't create enough goal scoring opportunities especially inside the penalty area.
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Spot on. The good chances are quite sparse in most games so far, and from what I’ve seen we’ve bodged a fair few of those good chances by not keeping a cool head.
 
62years&counting said:
Irrelavent.
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Not really. We’ve only scored 20 in 20 games and it’s propelled us to top half in the Championship close to the play offs.

George Graham believed he could win the title scoring 1 goal per game.

Peterborough have scored only 3 less goals than us and are deep in relegation (promoted club like us)
Luton have scored 7 more goals than us but are 2 points behind us.

Does that lend you enough relevance yet?
 
Chunkylad said:
Not really. We’ve only scored 20 in 20 games and it’s propelled us to top half in the Championship close to the play offs.

George Graham believed he could win the title scoring 1 goal per game.

Peterborough have scored only 3 less goals than us and are deep in relegation (promoted club like us)
Luton have scored 7 more goals than us but are 2 points behind us.

Does that lend you enough relevance yet?
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I'll let you know after Saturday when we'll either maintain our position or possibly slip several places. Currently 6 points off 6th and 6 points off 20th.
 
Graves said:
Was McCall being on his way out somehow anything to do with our slight dip in form?
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Is this a joke He only left on 25th November, the day when Paul Heckingbottom was appointed so not sure how this impacted the team’s performances in the whole of November!
 
It’s as much about the way we set up as opposed to the personnel. Admittedly, Lavery and Yates are more potent than big Gaz. We’re very much set up to keep it tight and stay in the game. We’ll not get thrashed playing this way but equally we’ll never win by a few goals.
 
Set plays are part of the problem … constantly either under hit or over hit … or taken short. 😡

For team like ours we can’t afford to waste these valuable opportunities to get men in the box & see what falls (Like at Swansea, Boro etc) 😉 🤪
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Gary Madine should be a last 15 player and not a starter...he just doesnt score enough goals or get in positions to do so
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he shouldn't always be a starter but I think there are certain teams where his presence and height is needed. He certainly doesn't get enough goals but again how much service is he getting? Very little. We are sadly lacking in the creative department with how Critchley sets up his team. That's either by decent crosses to come in the box for Madine or balls slipped through for either Yates or Lavery.
 
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For me we need to get a bid in for Simms. He’s never going to get a chance under Rafa. Rafas said Everton might need to sell before they can buy in the window so a couple of mill up front with a healthy sell on percentage and I think Everton will let him go. The boy must be pulling his hair out that Rondon is ahead of him so I’m sure he’ll jump at the chance of regular football.
 
Superbad said:
For me we need to get a bid in for Simms. He’s never going to get a chance under Rafa. Rafas said Everton might need to sell before they can buy in the window so a couple of mill up front with a healthy sell on percentage and I think Everton will let him go. The boy must be pulling his hair out that Rondon is ahead of him so I’m sure he’ll jump at the chance of regular football.
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don't see us paying anywhere near 2 mill up front or otherwise for a player.
 
Superbad said:
For me we need to get a bid in for Simms. He’s never going to get a chance under Rafa. Rafas said Everton might need to sell before they can buy in the window so a couple of mill up front with a healthy sell on percentage and I think Everton will let him go. The boy must be pulling his hair out that Rondon is ahead of him so I’m sure he’ll jump at the chance of regular football.
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If he did he'd only be 5ft 6inches
 
Nadine is a passenger and should not be starting and despite what people think he doesn't actually win the ball as much as he should when we go long
 
We don’t lack firepower at all.

We lack getting the ball to the forwards. If you don’t feed them they can’t score. It is very simple
 
phill said:
Nadine is a passenger and should not be starting and despite what people think he doesn't actually win the ball as much as he should when we go long
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And what about what Critchley thinks? And if you've played football at any level you should know that long balls always favour the central defenders who will win most of them.
 
20togo said:
And what about what Critchley thinks? And if you've played football at any level you should know that long balls always favour the central defenders who will win most of them.
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Yes Critch has the final say but Madine on his own up front is never going to work at this level...He wont be here next season and I hope he starts winding him down and signs a quality replacement.
 
I would like to see 3-4-3 with a starting front three of Lavery, Yates and Anderson. Wintle and Dougall in the centre with Gabriel and James out wide. Perm any three from Sterling, Big Marv, Keogh, Husband and the Viking.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Yes Critch has the final say but Madine on his own up front is never going to work at this level...He wont be here next season and I hope he starts winding him down and signs a quality replacement.
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yep if he plays he needs a partner, he's not a lone front man especially as we seem incapable of getting to the byline and putting any sort of decent cross in. Yeah agree too, not sure he'll be here next season either,
 
It’s very simple, 2 up top will give us a threat. We have seen the partnership between Yates and Madine work, including this season v Preston and Blackburn. Yates and Lavery has shown promise and is something I’d like to see develop, but I’m not sure about Lavery and Madine together.

We cannot go on with 1 up top.
 
It's invariably safety first with Critchley. He isn't an expansive and attacking coach. Several of us on here have mentioned that we feel there is a need for more creativity and goals, but it seems Critchley doesn't see it that way. Let's hope our defence continues to perform miracles and keep us in games. To Critchley's credit he has the team organised, fit and playing for the shirt and one another.
 
johnnyb said:
Is this a joke He only left on 25th November, the day when Paul Heckingbottom was appointed so not sure how this impacted the team’s performances in the whole of November!
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Not a joke really, no. It has been said that he knew that he was on his way out for weeks before it actually happened. Just posing a question.
 
I don't honestly believe that it's just about NCs safety first approach, although that clearly hasn't helped the goal scoring stats. I hope I'm wrong but I can't help feeling that both Madine and Yates can't cope at this level, hence the priority need for a proven goal getter. If we can get Simms on loan that might help, but the key thing is to bring in someone on a permanent basis.
 
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