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Post by mickyg on Nov 28, 2012 13:42:03 GMT 1
.........as Frazer once famously said in the Dad's Army T.V. series.
Yes, I know it's too early yet to be thinking the worst but if we continue to only draw games then "doomed" is precisely where we'll be come the end of the season.
When the 3 point system was originally brought in, it was done so to both encourage attacking football AND to punish the famous draw specialists of the time with their negative styles (Middlesborough springs instantly to mind). In the "modern game" it is simply not good enough to set teams up defensively and play for draws....the 2 point deficit will ultimately leave any team attempting to do this floundering at the shitty end of the table.
This is why I'm already getting a little worried about the state of play at Bloomers, both after reading Ted's recent match reports (great work Ted, keep it up!) and also with the kind of statements that appear to be coming from Appleton.
From Ted's reports it would appear that we are being set up very defensively and thus we're struggling to score goals. We have a squad which is in essence an attacking squad which for the last few years has played with the philosophy "we'll score more than you". When we had defensive problems the philosophy was to throw on more attackers and outscore them.....we don't have the personnel to play defensively!
When this is combined with Appleton's statements about wanting to reduce the squad size, it becomes evident that Karl appears to have found his perfect manager, i.e. cheap and lacking in ambition! It's as if we're setting the club up for an extended run in the lower leagues rather than pushing forward to become an established Premiership side! Perhaps this is why there's been no investment in either the pitch or training facilities......it simply isn't necessary if you're only going to be playing the likes of A.F.C. Wimbledon!
With GTF and Matty out upto Christmas and Incey being marked out of games you have to wonder where the goals are going to come from and let's not lose track of the fact that without goals the best that can be achieved is a draw! The Fonz appears to be resonably ineffective and I don't think many would think that playing KP from the start was a good idea.
So, are we doomed? Well I sincerely hope not but I am getting very nervous about things!
Right, now where did I put those optimism tablets..........
C'mon the 'pool !!
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Post by Tangerine Sherlock on Nov 28, 2012 14:35:51 GMT 1
Last night's performance was better than saturday not much but a bit, But another season and another winter and already the pitch is shagged and getting blamed for the teams performance, what amazes me is the warm up area for the goalkeepers, they never move them to the other side, so now behind the south the area that Tom ince normally cuts into the area is well and truly buggered. little things like this can make all the difference
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Post by pikeypete on Nov 28, 2012 18:49:44 GMT 1
Last night performance was better but, like Micky, I'm worried where we're going at the moment. I've given it a lot of though over the last few weeks so far there's nothing thats changed my mind.
There are a few assumptions here but I guess most of them will be right.
Ollie left because he didn't feel he could take us back to the prem and this where he wants to be. The lack of investment in the club in both playing staff and facilities, after the Prem money was put in to a "holding" company, meant he felt undervalued.
Appleton was appointed because he was well thought of but more importantly cheap and grateful for a chance. He will do as he is told.
His remit is to cut costs, reduce player numbers and pick up lower league bargains we can sell on at a profit.
Whoever followed Ollie was going to have a hell of a job convincing the exisiting players to play them the way they played for Ollie. It doesn't feel the same for us (the fans) so why should the players feel any different. Some will want out. So be it.
The big problem comes when the new manager tries to mold a team in a standard formation with standard tactics and offers nothing new. I'm afraid to say this is what we've got. The bigger problem then comes when the owners refuse to attract the quality players....and this is the key.......that do the standard stuff better than other players in the division.
So we have a manger that has no experience at this level with no fresh ideas and an owner that won't spend a bean on improving or even maintaining a standard. Not a great scenario!'
I have always tried to support Karl and recognise that fans don't always get the "business bit" of football but I'm afraid I cannot shake the feeling that we have been plundered by the owners and that they have been found out by the fans, the players and the football world. That was the beginning of the end and smacks of greed and self interest.
People like Karl never really understand what being a fan is like. sometimes thats a good thing because he keeps a level head when things go wrong. This time though he has got it wrong...... and badly
Got it off my chest now.
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Post by yeoldetangerine on Nov 28, 2012 20:07:15 GMT 1
Very eloquently put by all above, pretty depressed myself at the moment. We've often said we've been spoilt for the last 4 years, but we are now finding out what it really feels like back where we were, and it hurts.
Last night, once we scored, I expected us to rip them apart, poor ref, poor pitch, cold night, whatever. An Ollie team in that position would have done so, I hate to see the players shouting angrily at each other, it shows the spark that took a group of average players to the promised land, attack, attack, attack, all for one and one for all, has gone. Hoofball at Bloomers, no worries, remember the Varney goal, but intent, passion, fire, none of those things cost anyone, but it needs a motivator.
Still, things have been worse before, still playing in a great stadium, decent turnout for a Tuesday night, we actually still have the same players who played that sublime footy, maybe our 'Appy can think, sod it, let's give it a go, and then he can be the next Bloomfield legend.
Great thing,Double Drop
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Post by tangerinerob79 on Nov 29, 2012 11:28:10 GMT 1
Just a few things to get off my chest but here goes, for one when Appleton was unveiled as manager it didn't feel me with excitement and joy but only oh sh*te, what are you doing Karl! cheap and a yes boy! Then comes the dressing room, these are the same boys that Ollie got playing for the shirt and with passion and fire, can a 30 something manager do this and give the billy big balls in the dressing room a kick up the ass when needed! Yeolde posted on another post, saying Appy won't let the FB gets forward and to concentrate on defending, well are whole team cannot defend, so if we are relying on our front line with no support to score we are doomed! I really do feel he's tinkering to much with what Ollie left him and their's no need and if he thinks we can win 1-0 with the squad he's inherited, we really are in for a boring time and an unsuccessful one at that.
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Post by sandgrown'un on Nov 29, 2012 13:31:42 GMT 1
Over my fireplace at home is a beautiful Tangerine shirt in a very expensive frame signed by all the players from the 2006-2007 winning team at Wembley in the League One play-offs. It was a retirement present from my work. It inspires me so much.
I remember the day well, as probably many of you do too. We beat Yeovil 2-0 and I cried like a baby. We were in the bloody Championship,,,crikey. I couldnt believe it after all those years slogging away in the lower leagues and travelling to obscure away grounds it was wonderful. Expectation levels were pretty sensible then you see.
When the fixtures came out and I saw some of the teams my stomach turned over. Could we really compete with teams like that? The rest is history as they say.
Every time I look at the shirt over my fireplace I remember that day and how happy I was. It keeps me grounded.
Ye Olde has mentioned how spoilt we have been over the last four years and as usual he is right.
The problem is that some of you are really beginning to sound a bit like spoilt brats.
A good friend and fan once said that the worse thing that could happen to our club was if we got to the Premier League. He said it years before we actually did it. He envisaged all the discontent amongst fans and the ridiculous expectation levels that would follow. Like me, he had been going to Bloomers forever and like me he gave up his treasured season ticket this year. That wonderful anticipation of waking up on a matchday morning and all that it entailed had slowly been eroded and eaten away by negativity and shallow thinking. Like me, he was sick of the serial moaners who moaned for moanings sake.
Its great to constructively criticise and have a chip about your football team and club, its part and parcel of being a fan. Out of earshot over a few pints before and after a game was part of the match day magic. But, something fundamental has been lost at Blackpool and I cant quite put my finger on it. I feel it but I cant quite describe it.
Anyway, how about a bit more of,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,#"Its our club and we'll lose if we want"#,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and less of the, #"Its our club and lose if you dare"#
Either that or get a nice signed and framed 2006-2007 Tangerine shirt to put over your fireplace to keep you grounded.
If I sound harsh, forgive me because I would never want to offend folk, especially here.
It is what it is at Blackpool and we get on with it. It is, or maybe was, the Blackpool way.
UP THE POOL
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Post by pikeypete on Nov 29, 2012 14:20:01 GMT 1
Hi Sandy
Thats a good angle and actually cheered me up. We do need reminding of our past every now and then. That said however no matter what division you are in you always hope for promotion and to compete with better teams. You also want to see "good" players. What I used to really enjoy was seeing the like of Trevor Sinclair on his debut and thinking " this guys going places" and understanding that it wouldn't be with us! We used to get a buzz when a "name" joined the club who had once been in the top flight but was now seeing out his carreer. God forbid an "international" and it didn't matter which country!
If I'm honest I think the championship is the best we can achieve long term but hey I can dream!
We're never going to be a "Man Utd" but we could be a Stoke or Wigan or Swansea.
I'm not peed off with the players or the manager and that won't change. I still think that a golden era has been cut short by greed..... and that won't change either.
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Post by tangerinerob79 on Nov 29, 2012 15:18:41 GMT 1
The problem is ok, we have been spoilt, i'd admit that, and with our success also comes a bit of greed but as said above to try and achieve something that Wigan for example have done and show a bit of ambition, is something i'd love to see our club do. I've been their on them miserable days at like Barnet at Underhill getting beat 7-0, in a way i look back at days like that and think if it hadn't of happened, where would we be now the past is the past and i still think back and smile, win , lose or draw but we have to the look to the future, it's the only way, we have a fantastic squad, great attendances and a club to be proud of, and one where we are recognised around the world! What annoys me though, is that as a club, we could of shown a little bit more ambition trying to succeed and in doing so not breaking the bank,eg getting DJ and Dobbie when Ollie really wanted them but Karl was to tight and Ollie must of thought he was wacking his head against a brickwall and this must of had a factor in his departure to Palace. I suppose what i'm trying to say is lets stay stable financially , compete and just show little by little that ambition on and off the field to keep moving forward not back. UTMP!!!
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Post by yeoldetangerine on Nov 29, 2012 17:09:32 GMT 1
Sandy, harsh? maybe a little, but we are all allowed to disagree without falling out on here I suppose, just like everything else in my life, I like to see steady progress, always been an evolutionist rather than a revolutionist. Most of us get frustrated, and sometimes struggle to articulate it in just the way we want. Agree with you 100% about the Prem and what it did to the club. Where I differ is that for the last twenty plus years, through all the financial dreadful times, when people like you literally put your necks on the line, we supported the view that we had to do everything at minimal cost, sell our better players to keep going, couldn't afford the bells and whistles. Now, however, that one season in the sun should have meant, to many of us, that we did not need to be a selling club, that we could afford a Championship standard replacement to Squires Gate, that the manager, whoever he was, could expect modest backing, things like a dodgy pitch should be a thing of the past. I'm not sure any Pool supporter would argue with that, same as most wouldn't really query KO's position on parasite agents. In the end, it is also the club motto, all I want is Progress. If we could get a bit of excitement back on the pitch as well, marvelous. if 'Appy can get them playing to something like their potential, even better. Ollie, love him or hate him, played a style of team attacking football that scared the bejesus out of many solid unimaginative teams, its' difficult for many of us to grasp that we ended up on 39 points, when QPR are sat, at the end of November, on only 4 points. Will still be there when I can, whatever division, but we are still so close, I can taste it. And if we do go down, for heaven's sake lets going down fighting as a team, not with a disinterested whimper.
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Post by Tangerine Sherlock on Nov 30, 2012 10:52:20 GMT 1
yes we have been treated to a great few years and maybe it has changed peoples mind sets and its not always about performance on the pitch. What eats away more than anything with me is the pitch and training ground and no getting away from it really.
The money the club has brought in over the last 4 years, we should be able to sort the pitch and the training ground, not bothered about silly things like faded seats.
BUt when the team has to ring round to find somewhere to train because the training ground is unfit for use and we have no indoor option or a all weather surface to train on i get very disheartened, was it really to much to ask out of the money gained from the fantastic journey over the last 3/4 years?
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Post by Tangerine Sherlock on Nov 30, 2012 10:54:15 GMT 1
On a side note the atmosphere at the ground at the moment is very strange and can not describe it either, but its nothing a few wins would not put right
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Post by yeoldetangerine on Nov 30, 2012 11:04:19 GMT 1
Not surprised that there is a strange atmosphere, Sherl, having listened to MA's interview on Radio Lancs. He told the fans to lower their expectations, and that lots of players would leave. Not the best way to motivate a squad, and will ensure that anyone who is even vaguely good will clear off at the first opportunity if even the manager does not think we can get back to the Prem.
Also rumours that Big George is off?
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Post by pikeypete on Nov 30, 2012 13:27:01 GMT 1
Yep I heard that too. The bit where he said "with respect, do you think IH would have left if he felt he could get promotion" hit a nerve. I hope he meant he couldn't..... but I can, but it did come across as we're not good enough to challenge. Not inspiring!
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Post by april13th1970 on Nov 30, 2012 20:01:57 GMT 1
I've kept my counsel until now but the fact is Appleton was a joke as a player, couldn't make it at Old Trafford and went on to have a less than stellar career with an insignificant little club from a decrepit market town with delusions of grandeur that's still trying to live off it's former glories 800 years later.
He was then so desperate to be a manager he took a job with a disgusting club that only survived by shafting it's suppliers and local businesses more than once and he acheived their inevitable failure quite spectacularly
And now he's turning our club into a joke
The sooner we get rid of him and his pet crony Westwood the better
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Post by pikeypete on Nov 30, 2012 21:58:30 GMT 1
so you're undecided then April!!
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Post by april13th1970 on Nov 30, 2012 22:21:39 GMT 1
Yep, undecided as to whether I'll continue going to home games whilst he's serving up the shite he has us playing
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Post by tangerinerob79 on Dec 1, 2012 11:20:14 GMT 1
I know i shouldn't laugh, but i can't help but smile at your posts April their brutally honest and with a certain amount of truth behind the jokes! Everyone's entitled to their opinion!
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Post by Tangerine Sherlock on Dec 1, 2012 14:03:22 GMT 1
a win today and a win next saturday will have everybody in a festive mood
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