Blackpool’s long suffering season was put to bed by promotion hopefuls Millwall in their last outing, as the Seasiders were edged out in a narrow defeat to the London side. The damage wasn’t done on that defeat, it was done from an accumulation of errors by the board, managers and injuries.
Blackpool fans and their players would of been looking forward to their second season in the Championship as Neil Critchley guided the Seasiders to a fantastic first season back in the second tier. However, those good feelings soon left as the manager who created something special with Blackpool left them to join Aston Villa as Steven Gerrard’s number two. This came as a huge shock as Critchley built a relationship with the fans, after a turbulent initial spell and earned himself a new deal which seemingly set himself and the club up to build on a fantastic two seasons and push Blackpool forward to where they’ve been before.
As unexpected as this was Blackpool’s board had a decision to make, who would replace Critchley and take over a squad looking to build on a great season? The man to take over looked to be Liam Rosenior, but for one reason or another those negotiations broke down… Enter Michael Appleton, the man whose previous tenure at the club lasted literally eleven league games (65 days), and just one win. The appointment was not popular with the Blackpool fans, and although Appleton had success with his previous side, Lincoln, missing out on promotion to the Seasiders, the appointment was always tainted with his links to Blackpool’s rivals Preston where he played 145 games. The appointment of the former boss also set up for an uninspired, and a rocky preseason with the fan base, which never settled.
The poor transfer windows
Appleton needed a strong window to build a team stable enough to kick on and win the fan base over. Ultimately, Appleton and the fans didn’t get that, first through the door was the talented Lewis Fiorini who worked with Appleton at Lincoln and was a decent signing in isolation. Next up was the bizarre saga with Colby Bishop, where at one moment John Coleman was interviewed post match saying Bishop deserves his chance at a higher level, to Blackpool deciding not to sign him due to an Injury which they didn’t want to risk. Alarm bells amongst the Blackpool fans who knew they needed quality and Blackpool didn’t have much through the door.
To add to the Saga, blackpool reignited their interest for Cameron Brannagan who was admired by Blackpool in the previous season, but failed bids meant Oxford kept their starman. Blackpool met Brannagans release clause and seemingly had their man, however, the battling midfielder couldn’t strike a deal with the Blackpool board and Brannagan became another player who performed a U-turn and decided against signing for Blackpool, this one resulted in the midfielder signing a new contract with his current side. This resulted in natural frustration with the Blackpool board amongst the fan base and an increasing doubt around their ability to close a deal and indeed, having any idea about who and what they were looking to build to give the Tangerines an identity.
Blackpool added some talented players into the team, with the likes of Charlie Patino and Ian Poveda, however there was not many players, if any to replace the cohesion and stars of the previous season after the likes of Richard Keogh, Josh Bowler and Dujon Sterling left the Seasiders. A huge loss, although expected was the one of superstar Josh Bowler, who joined Nottingham Forest on deadline day for a touted £2.5 million. Blackpool didn’t have the time to replace the creative forward and that began to show as the season went on, the Seasiders response to losing Bowler was to sign young Leicester City talent, Callum Wright, unfortunately the only thing that Wright had similarities with Bowler was the headband they both sported. Callum Wright optimised the poor window and strategy Blackpool had as he left in the following window, ironically securing promotion to the Championship with Plymouth.
Blackpool stuttered through both transfer windows, after big talk from previous CEO Ben Mansford. The squad wasn’t strong. The lack of a commanding midfielder present through the season was undeniably a big contributing factor into why they went down. They added the likes of Morgan Rogers, Charlie Goode and Tom Trybull in the following window but the latter two unsurprisingly got injured and couldn’t help Blackpool as they so wished.
In summary, the transfer windows were scattergun with no clear approach to build a strong squad to compete, not risking the likes of Bishop to then sign injury stricken players like Bridcutt and Ward did blackpool some serious damage, Bridcutt only managed four appearances, Trybull three and Charlie Goode two, leaving Blackpool threadbare and still needing that quality to help them. There were some highlights for Blackpool, as Andy Lyons shined in the second half of the season, and will no doubt be a big player for Blackpool in the next campaign. Lewis Fiorini was arguably Blackpool’s most impressive signing despite a big injury, Fiorini average 1.5 points per game, a difference maker who didn’t play enough.
The second coming on Michael Appleton
Despite Appleton winning his first game of the season, his Blackpool side never got going, infact out of his 29 games for Blackpool he won only SIX league games (24% win ratio), this left for fans calling for his sacking, which was always inevitable. Highlights for Appleton were a victory against rivals Preston in a 4-2 home win, a 3-1 home win vs Watford and the scalp of a heavily changed Nottingham Forest side in the FA Cup.
Whilst you can argue you could see what Appleton was trying to do moving Blackpool forward, in games such as Burnley away where the Seasiders battled from behind to draw 3-3 and arguably should’ve won and Sheffield United away, a game which sponsored the same scoreline, attacking football and green shoots of positivity from the fans. However, those green shoots of positivity soon became dead grass when the Seasiders consistently showed vulnerabilities under their new management, conceding sloppy goals, having more red cards than wins and tactics which left fans absolutely baffled.
Appleton favoured 4-3-3 but often switched between 4-3-3, 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1, however having the likes of Charlie Patino in the middle Ian Poveda out wide and Yates upfront was no good when the Seasiders had no midfield general to dictate play, the poor defense, missing key experience meant Blackpool were consistently vulnerable to conceding goals, it was a recipe of failed signings, inexperience and poor game management which saw the Seasiders become impotent, uninspiring and increasingly frustrated. In the previous campaign Blackpool did things so differently, they were hard to beat, they ground out results and they made subtle changes to ensure they weren’t always predictable, a world apart to what Appleton eventually served up.
During many games Appleton used Madine as a single man press or when playing Yates Blackpool would play aimless balls in the air to him expecting something to happen. Appleton also made the decision to drop arguably one of the best keepers in the league in Daniel Grimshaw for “mistakes” made by the keeper, but kept his replacement in Maxwell in for the rest of his time as Blackpool boss, when it was he made clear mistakes himself. To add to that Appleton often used players out of position, the likes of Jake Beesley as a right midfielder and constantly playing a youthful heart of midfield in Sonny Carey and Charlie Patino, when is was clear to see they weren’t strong enough to play as a two, and not used to their full ability, this sucking the life out of the youngsters.
Blackpool fans were confident Michael Appleton was going to lose his job, after a red card and 2-1 loss away to Wigan saw his side slumped in the relegation zone with 11 defeats already to their name, but this was arguably one of the worst choices from the Blackpool board, sticking with Appleton after the woeful run, abysmal performance and a clear signs they were facing relegation in the face. Blackpool had time, a whole four weeks to find a replacement, someone to inspire this team to be better, instead Appleton lasted a further SEVEN games, winning one game, that of Nottingham Forest, the league position still in tatters. The final nail in the coffin was an uninspiring 2-0 loss away to Watford, a game where Appleton had a right back in Andy Lyons ready to tear things up on the back of the cup win, only to be dropped for Connolly. The negative approach to games, and the clubs blind loyalty to Appleton didn’t pay off and he was sacked just a couple of days later. Appleton never really showed the desire on the sidelines which added to the frustration, instead of demanding more and trying to communicate with his players, he often stood there, hands in pockets like a man waiting for his fish and chips! The fans were more than happy to see him go.
Mick McCarthy
Appletons replacement, a positive and shrewd move for the Seasiders? The appointment was met with more positive opinions than negative, however, this was on the back of nearly 30 game of poor football. Some fans were calling for Stephen Dobbie to be given the chance to show his ability and others liked the appointment, McCarthy had experience, over 1,000 games in football, and talked well about what he wanted to achieve.
Despite the uphill task, Blackpool had time to get themselves out of the trouble they were in, with massive home games against Huddersfield and Rotherham upcoming the fans showed up expecting the see a team fighting for them, yet the Seasiders failed to win in their first five games under McCarthy and only registering two wins in his time with the club. (14% Win ratio)
Contributing factors were the negative style of play, lack of game plan and once again, not having his best players on the pitch in keytimes. As an example, Blackpool’s key clash with Huddersfield at home saw Jerry Yates out wide, whilst the likes of Bowler, Morgan Rogers, Patino and Poveda were all left on the bench, playing into the hands of Huddersfield and it took for Bowler and Rogers to come and on a rescue a point for the Seasiders, who undoubtedly missed a huge chance to do some damage to the Terriers and build some momentum.
Despite Blackpool injuries McCarthys stubborn tactics continued to play a huge part in Blackpool’s inability to win games, he often opted to leave the like of Rogers and Bowler on the bench, McCarthy switched between several formations, but all didn’t have a clear identity, players like Luke Garbutt and Josh Bowler were used centrally, the latter not being released from his shackles being played in a rigid system which limited Blackpool to being arguably worse than before.
Fans were rightly calling for McCarthy to go and try something different before it’s too late and you can’t argue they were wrong, McCarthy constantly ignored his best players, failed to live up to his words, such as promising the fans they’ll be up for their derby game vs Preston and being turn over with absolute ease. McCarthy’s time was finally up when Blackpool’s biggest game of the season against Cardiff at home was over before half time when the Seasiders were 3-0 down with no way back. McCarthy left the next day with Blackpool having it all to do.
Stephen Dobbie
A shining light at the end of Blackpool’s horrendous season, Dobbie had an almost impossible tasks set to him, games against Luton, Millwall and West brom were always going to be difficult but in his five games in charge for Blackpool, Dobbie has achieved two victories, one at home to Wigan in a huge match and one away to Birmingham, but it wasn’t the wins that have been so impressive… Since Dobbie took over the side, Blackpool have looked tactically smart, brave on the ball and much more of a threat on the attack. In his first game vs Luton, Blackpool dominated the ball in the first half and took the lead away at the Hatters, only for defensive errors and a lack of cutting edge saw the Seasiders fall short in a 3-1 loss.
Given time, Dobbie would have potentially shown these characteristics over the second half of the season and given Blackpool a much better chance of staying up, but alas it wasn’t the case but Dobbie has shown his ability in leading his side to play better and brave football, whilst not shirking any responsibility and taken each game by the scruff of the neck showing Blackpool fans exactly what they wanted to see.
In summary a lot of responsibility falls with the Blackpool board, although a shock, there was zero contingency plan for losing Neil Critchley and it took them a number of weeks to appoint an uninspiring manager, who’s previous relationship with the club was short lived and toxic. The only was to appease the fans and build on a poor appointment would’ve been to back the manager and build a strong team to compete, this didn’t happen. Missing transfer targets, failing to compete with lower league sides and refusing to sign players due to a potential issue only to sign 3-5 players with bad injuries made the board look incompetent and panicked.
Despite the above it was the sheer blindness to keep a manager on that had only won six league games before the world cup break, and this was echoed by keeping Appleton in the job after the Wigan defeat and having four weeks to hit the reset button and find a replacement. Seven games later the board took action, evidently too late. McCarthy’s appointment on paper looked savvy, but in reality it was abysmal. Having been sacked at Cardiff the season before McCarthy’s reputation failed him as his stubborn tactics left a Blackpool squad frustrated, lifeless and uninspired, leaving Stephen Dobbie six games to save the side was again reactive and Dobbie has shown what he could’ve done given more time.
The poor recruitment, mixed with woeful managerial appointments have ensured Blackpool will be playing league one football next season, the board now have the job of hiring a new director of football since both CEO Ben Mansford and Brett Gerrity have left the club. Added to this a playing squad which would have lost a lot of its talent which is currently on loan and the tasks of appointment the right man to bring Blackpool back up. It’s going to be a busy summer at the Seaside and if the owner is going to learn anything it’s got to be get it right first time and ensure Blackpool are well structured going into the new season.
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