Blackpool (A) - Match Thread

[melonhead]

im happy to hear himmoan if its justified tbf

I don't like it. Say the ref got it wrong by all means, but Le Fondre and Kebe were just as culpable in us losing as the ref. They both made costly individual mistakes missing good chances.

i dont think its a good idea to come out and slag his player for missing a chance after the game

[1871 Royal]

I’m just tired of McD altogether.

- Keeps starting Church even though he’s the worst player in the league by a country mile. disagree
- Seems to insist we play long ball rather than keep hold of possession at crucial moments.
- Has a daft policy to pick his mates over talent. disagree
- Continues to play the same formation and tactics despite them clearly not working, and aren’t compatible with the players. disagree

1. Play the ball to feet, we aren’t a side who can hit a decent long ball, nor win one.
2. Go 4-5-1/4-3-3; we don’t have the strikers, wingers or central midfielders to play 4-4-2 effectively anymore. disagree
3. Quit being loyal to lads you know better, grow some balls and stop playing repeat offenders.disagree

I take issue with a few things here.

Simon Church is not the worst player in the league, that is such a laughable statement is quite pathetic and shows blind hatred towards one individual who hasn't proved himself in the past but is expected to live up to high expectations by previous forwards who have played for the club : Doyle, Long, Cureton, Forster etc

Agree with the long ball but surely the players should be good enough to realise what they need to do?

Don't agree that any professional manager would 'pick his mates'. Maybe in sunday league but not in the championship. I'm sure he picks them on how they perform in training and I for one has complete faith in the players BMcD picks based on a week by week basis, its not his fault they don't perform in training.

Don't agree the formation is wrong, we don't have the players to play a more dynamic formation. ALF, our best striker, can not play upfront by himself, therefore 4-5-1 is out of the question, as is 4-3-3 because again we just don't have the players to fit the formation. Kebe and McAnuff are not "forwards"

So yeah, why you will no doubt shoot me down, thats just what I think and I think anyone who questions a professional should take a realistic look as I am 99.9999999 recurring % sure they could not do a better job.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Of course McD is doing a better job than I could. The way he makes bacon and egg icecream in a petri dish using a Bunsen burner and solid carbon dioxide is stupendous. But sometimes a person with less investment and further removed, can see things a little clearer.

1. Right. Long ball. Players should know better, agreed – but it seems to be something we do with alarming regularity, which leads me to believe it’s either instructional, or McD is not doing enough to discourage it. A direct game is nothing to be ashamed of, but in times where possession is everything, taking the reigns of the game rather than hoofing it away should be stamped into the side. That’s the managers job.

2. I still think there is some favouritism in selection or a loyalty towards longer servers. Fair enough if it worked, but how is it the likes of Church, Karacan and Kebe are allowed to perform like bunk-sniffers every week yet players like ALF, Manset, Obita and HRK have one duff game at worst and are dropped like stones? Kebe’s performance last week for me would have seen him relegated to emptying the f///ing bins, let alone the bench.

While player morale is important, I think McD is too worried about peoples feelings, and this could have a negative impact on the players wondering why they aren’t afforded the same time.

3. Kebe and McAnuff may not be forwards, but they aren’t doing much as wingers either. We don’t have enough variance or creativity in the middle to play just 2 CM’s, we don’t have enough decent strikers to make a front 2, and we don’t have enough quality to control games when throwing 2 up front, who are wasted when they a) aren’t getting the service and b) fluff their lines when they do.

4-5-1 would not be perfect, but it would be a far sight better. Slip McAnuff or Kebe into the centre infront of our two holders, give the wing to the forward HRK, and deploy the other wide. You don’t have to be forwards to play 4-3-3; think Chelsea with Cole, Robben, Malouda, Duff, etc. Not only would this pack the midfield more, win us more possession, give us more options to feet thereby reducing long balls, and stop wasting a man in picking a random sh//t forward just because the formation dictates it, we would have the cover to exploit that rather better crossing of our fullbacks, and inject a much needed bit of creativity into the middle of the park.

And hey, of course you are welcome to disagree, argue, and think I’m talking horse-conk. I probably am.

But that’s what forums are for.

[Ian Royal]

He doesn't have to slag any off Brendy.

By slagging off the ref he's ignoring all the faults of the team that caused us to lose.

He could quite easily say, "I think the ref got that one wrong (incidentally he didn't), but we can't complain as we didn't play well enough second half and missed several good chances, without the ref's help. We should have won, but we let ourselves down."

No one singled out. But an honest approach that allows no excuses, acknowledges our failings and puts us in a position to address them, rather than ignore them and hope it gets better.

[melonhead]

id say him moaning about the ref is about as bad as you moaning about him moaning

but some people just like a moan, especially football managers

dont think its that big a deal tbf

clearly you do.

i advise getting over it

[melonhead]

He could quite easily say, "I think the ref got that one wrong (incidentally he didn't), but we can't complain as we didn't play well enough second half and missed several good chances, without the ref's help. We should have won, but we let ourselves down."

thats what he said a couple of weeks ago- something about us needing to put games away so that luck and refs dont come into it
cant say teh same thing every week!

[Extended-Phenotype]

Bad decisions are just stockpiling. Bound to be more frustrated the more they happen.

Fishslap McD for playing a striker who is frightened of the football, not because he bitches about refs who don't have the danglies to give a penalty against the home team.

[melonhead]

i can agree with that tbf

cant believe he kept ALF out for church for two games, then put him back in ahead of nhunt

[1871 Royal]

who was injured

[Hoop Blah]

Long story short...our squad doesn't contain enough variety or quality for McDermott to do a hell of a lot else in terms of line up and tactics.

Who's fault is that? Well he's put the majority of this squad together, and even if he hasn't had the biggest transfer budget, I think the buck stops with McDermott. He needs to address it somehow and I'm sure he's aware of that really.