Neil Critchley - Former Assistant Head Coach

[mike]

Interesting that Critchley prefers wingers to a diamon system I'm midfield. Maybe there's scope still for Traore and Bailey to shine on the flanks.

Maybe though I'd imagine Blackpool didn't have much to play with and he had to work with what he had. He also brought through the youngsters, again a policy or budget restriction? Either way, he was successful in first getting them promoted and then comfortably keeping them up.

If he can find a way to get the best out of Bailey and even Traore I'll be more than happy.

Is he a medical genius as well?

Bailey isn't injury prone - he just had an injury last year. Bad luck for himself and the club, but he's not one to be crocked year in year out.

Traore however, I think he's done here.

He came back into the squad at least a couple of times and then got re-injured so he’s either injury prone, our medical staff are incompetent and bring him back too soon or he’s a wingy fucker who won’t play if he breaks a toenail.

In his time at Leverkusen:

2017/18: 34 appearances
2018/19: 39 appearances
2019/20: 25 appearances
2020/21: 40 appearances

At Genk:

2015/16: 42 appearances
2016/17: 35 appearances

I think, if anything, this year may have been an anomaly. He's only 24.

Let’s hope so.

[john e]

Really impressed with how quickly this got done. Complete contrast to what happened when O'Kelly and Terry left just before the season started, and seems to be a very highly rated coach with even more experience (leastways of actual management) than the departing one.

I am hoping QPR take a few of our youngsters on loan next season, as under Beales tutelage they should slot in easily when they return should they do well there. Barrie, Philogen Bidace and Kessler-Hayden could all do with a run at that level. Hoping Archer gets a full season at PNE as all my PNE supporting mates up here are raving about him.

Really good point made about potential Loans at QPR

[Risso]

We should loan him McGinn just to disprove the rumours of a fall out.

[Percy McCarthy]

Really impressed with how quickly this got done. Complete contrast to what happened when O'Kelly and Terry left just before the season started, and seems to be a very highly rated coach with even more experience (leastways of actual management) than the departing one.

I am hoping QPR take a few of our youngsters on loan next season, as under Beales tutelage they should slot in easily when they return should they do well there. Barrie, Philogen Bidace and Kessler-Hayden could all do with a run at that level. Hoping Archer gets a full season at PNE as all my PNE supporting mates up here are raving about him.

Really good point made about potential Loans at QPR

Possible I suppose, but bear in mind he hasn’t worked with any of our players who were on loan last season.

[Dogtanian]

Interesting article on Neil Critchley in The Athletic for those of you with subscriptions;

https://theathletic.com/3357921/2022/06/12/neil-critchley-aston-villa-blackpool/?source=user_shared_article

“ As well as creating a plan to benefit the collective, Critchley excels in improving players — centre-back Marvin Ekpiteta, a signing from Leyton Orient, has become one of the best central defenders outside the top flight after moving to Blackpool. Critchley spends time focusing on individuals and knows the necessary stages to get a young player equipped for first-team action.”

[Drummond]

And for those of you without...

Gregg Evans in The Athletic

“He is a fantastic coach,” said Steven Gerrard when Aston Villa confirmed Neil Critchley as their new assistant manager.

A coach who will make the training sessions at Bodymoor Heath fun and varied. A coach who will help devise and execute specific game plans as Villa prepare for a serious crack at breaking into the top seven. A coach who knows Gerrard well; the exact style and set-up he is promoting, but more importantly, a coach who sees the bigger picture and is not overly focused on taking centre stage.

There was a sense of trepidation among supporters when it became clear that Michael Beale was leaving to take over as manager at Queens Park Rangers.

They feared losing the “brains” behind Gerrard’s operation and that the ending of a four-year relationship would spark a spiral of trouble.

But his exit was always in the pipeline; Beale wanted to test himself. Critchley, 43, has done that successfully at Blackpool and is better equipped for it, and while this is not the time to compare the old with the new, what is clear inside Villa Park is that Gerrard is equally as excited for pre-season even with the backroom changes.

In what was externally perceived as a crisis, Gerrard used the opportunity to continue building.

It was made clear to The Athletic in the days leading up to Beale’s exit that there was no panic. The manager had a plan and less than 48 hours after one assistant had officially left, another arrived.

Villa’s club motto is “Prepared” and their approach to key decisions fits that. Beale’s absence from the training pitch, the area he was in control over, will leave a strange void for Gerrard — who likes to oversee day-to-day sessions from a distance — and the players who return at the start of July.

It will not take Critchley long to fill in. His background serves him well; from his early days as a player to working in Crewe Alexandra’s academy, Liverpool’s youth development system and then his two-year stretch at Blackpool. He is well prepared for this and having a full summer ahead will be a benefit.

If there was a drawback to managing in the Football League it was the relentless nature of the fixture list when taking over at a new club. Critchley loves to coach — the chance to work at Villa and be a part of the push back up the Premier League table and into the latter stages of the cup competitions appealed.

Blackpool were stunned and disappointed. Followers of the club describe Critchley as their favourite manager for a decade; he was unassuming and purposeful. What he set out to achieve — taking them to promotion into the Championship and then keeping them there — was completed.

Those who have worked alongside the 43-year-old talk about a hard-working deep thinker, often described as a student of the game.

Critchley stopped playing at 24 after spells at Crewe and in non-League with Leigh RMI and Hyde United to focus more on analysis and coaching. He stepped into the academy at Crewe and began the next stage of his career. Stoke City’s Nick Powell and Burnley’s Ashley Westwood were two players who progressed under his watch.

When he moved to Liverpool he began to thrive, first as under-18s manager and then with the under-23s.

Remember Villa’s 5-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool in December 2019 when the visitors were forced to field a team of youngsters because the seniors had a Club World Cup game less than 48 hours later in Qatar? Critchley was in charge of that young group who earned plaudits for their efforts.

He also took charge in the FA Cup game against Shrewsbury Town the following month and has helped shape the early careers of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Harry Wilson (Fulham).

As well as creating a plan to benefit the collective, Critchley excels in improving players — centre-back Marvin Ekpiteta, a signing from Leyton Orient, has become one of the best central defenders outside the top flight after moving to Blackpool. Critchley spends time focusing on individuals and knows the necessary stages to get a young player equipped for first-team action.

At Blackpool he also earned widespread praise from the older players.

Richard Keogh, the 35-year-old centre-back, has spoken of learning things about his game that he had never experienced before.

Goalkeeper and captain Chris Maxwell, 31, said about his old manager: “His work ethic is second to none… hours and hours of endless drills… he will work behind the scenes and prepare sessions as well.

“I go back to a conversation I had with Gary Madine (also 31) and we said we feel like we’ve been taught how to play football wrong for the whole of our careers.”

Critchley delivers his messages in a calm and composed way. “He’s certainly not a ranter,” said an ex-staff member.

Results are important to him, but he is firmly focused on the performance. That was one of the main takeaways from working with Jurgen Klopp for so long.

“It was always about performance and taking care of what you can control — never underestimating an opponent, respecting them and always being fully prepared,” Critchley told The Athletic last year about the German.

By stepping into a managerial role, he learned new skills. Blackpool had to recruit almost an entirely new team and that took considerable effort on his behalf.

In meetings with players he was described as “affable and well-mannered”. Some players were not so sure about him at the start but that all quickly changed. By the end they knew that if Critchley put a system or tactic in place, it was because it was the right thing to do. The hope at Villa is that a group of high-profile, international stars quickly feel the same way.

Critchley remains comfortable outside of the limelight and that is perhaps why he made the surprise move to Villa when he was doing so well as a No 1.

But if Villa suddenly start motoring up the Premier League and into the top seven — that is the aim for next season — and Critchley plays a leading role, his stock will rise considerably.

And if it isn’t an immediate success, what harm has it done for his journey? The blame often falls on the manager, not the assistant, and Critchley’s work at Blackpool will keep him firmly in the thoughts of club chairmen.

Speaking last year he said: “Management was an itch that I wanted to scratch at some point. My ambition as a coach was always to do the best wherever I was at and hopefully then your work does the talking for you. I absolutely loved all of my coaching experiences at Crewe and Liverpool, but the first-team environment had always intrigued me.”

Villa are getting a coach ripe and ready, a man so respected at his craft that he was hand-picked by the Football Association to take UEFA’s first elite coaching course in 2013.

He has started preparation work for pre-season and in the weeks ahead Villa will take the first steps into a new era with Critchley on the team.

[Toronto Villa]

Neil Critchley isn’t currently with the Villa first team squad out in Australia. Instead he was in the stands watching the Villa U23’s at Leamington today. Apparently he doesn’t have a valid passport. Not a good look if that’s the case.

[Brazilian Villain]

Neil Critchley isn’t currently with the Villa first team squad out in Australia. Instead he was in the stands watching the Villa U23’s at Leamington today. Apparently he doesn’t have a valid passport. Not a good look if that’s the case.

Agreed, although a few H&Vers have also been caught by the delays in the processing of passports.

[dave shelley]

Neil Critchley isn’t currently with the Villa first team squad out in Australia. Instead he was in the stands watching the Villa U23’s at Leamington today. Apparently he doesn’t have a valid passport. Not a good look if that’s the case.

Agreed, although a few H&Vers have also been caught by the delays in the processing of passports.

I recently renewed mine on-line and despite being a bit worried by all the massive delay of months stories I'd been hearing, was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in approximately six weeks.

[Beard82]

Neil Critchley isn’t currently with the Villa first team squad out in Australia. Instead he was in the stands watching the Villa U23’s at Leamington today. Apparently he doesn’t have a valid passport. Not a good look if that’s the case.

Agreed, although a few H&Vers have also been caught by the delays in the processing of passports.

Yeah seems a pretty big mess up - cant you go and stand in a queue for a day and get some same day.

[Risso]

Neil Critchley isn’t currently with the Villa first team squad out in Australia. Instead he was in the stands watching the Villa U23’s at Leamington today. Apparently he doesn’t have a valid passport. Not a good look if that’s the case.

Agreed, although a few H&Vers have also been caught by the delays in the processing of passports.

Yeah seems a pretty big mess up - cant you go and stand in a queue for a day and get some same day.

Nope, they're not offering that service at the moment. Average wait for a new passport is about 10 weeks at the moment, so probably not his fault.

[Bad English]

You can understand the manager of Blackpool not needing a passport: they weren't likely to be playing Juventus anytime soon. And you've got donkeys and a pleasure beach just down the road.

[Toronto Villa]

Can’t you get express passport services over there? I assume that means he’s also out for Rennes too seeing as we fucked off out of the Union.

[Ian.]

Our four renewals for the kids have taken 13 weeks.

[paul_e]

Can’t you get express passport services over there? I assume that means he’s also out for Rennes too seeing as we fucked off out of the Union.

Brexit has made no difference there, we've always needed passports because we decided not to join schengen.