The new reign has started......

A new managerial era has started here at Bloomfield Rd with the appointment of Michael Appleton as the new man in charge. He’s quickly brought in Ashley Westwood as his first team coach, with the purpose of getting the players fitter and improving our defence. Some fans are getting a bit irate about Westwood coming in and taking over Steve Thompson’s role. Well I would have thought that’s for the manager to decide and no one else. When a new bloke takes over they always bring in their own staff, why should it be any different here. For me Thommo has had his chance and although officially he is still classed as assistant manager I think his influence will start to disappear once Appy moulds the team more to his liking.

Appy has already identified areas for improvement including fitness levels and our defensive failings. It seems under Ollie, especially when it appeared he was losing interest, fitness levels and training weren’t as good as they should have been. These contributed to why the team were conceding late goals and matches in recent months. Most of us have been screaming long enough for someone to come in and improve the defence, because under Ollie/Thommo this was an area that suffered and consequently contributed to us losing our premiership status. Yes, Ollie brought us exciting, roller-coasting type of football, which for the neutrals was great to watch. But for us who travelled around the country it was also extremely frustrating watching us throw away games because we couldn’t defend to save our lives. Even this season we have lost games to teams, which we would have steamrollered earlier.

So, since Ollie left, we lost to Derby Co, away 4-1 (absolute nightmare) we have beaten Sheffield Wed away 2-0 (incidently when Thommo was in charge) and drew last Saturday 2-2 at home against Bolton (first game Appy in charge.) The good thing about the Bolton game was we came back twice from being behind, but really a draw at home is 2 points dropped. Again this was a problem in our premiership days too.

Appy is determined to trim the squad down from the current 45 players on the books. This was another problem caused by the chairman not negotiating deals with players Ollie had identified as his first choices. So instead of signing one quality player, we ended up with signing three cheaper but poorer options instead. Hence, a top heavy squad of players who will never get a game, because they don’t possess the quality that’s needed.

Next game is away against a struggling Bristol City. This will give us a good idea of whether the improvement has already started, because I would guarantee we would lose this game if Ollie was still in charge. Why? Because our confidence had gone along with the enthusiasm Ollie once had for the club. That’s why it’s more important than anything we get behind the new man and his staff and create the 12^th man again.

Our talisman has left the building.....

 

The man who did the impossible by getting us in and nearly keeping us in the premiership has gone. Us Pool fans are suffering a mixture of emotions at the moment. The majority of us loved the guy. He brought a brand new exciting style of football which made people worldwide take notice of Blackpool FC. Unfortunately towards the end of his 3 years with us you could see that enthusiasm he created within the club and fans was no longer there. His constant battles with the chairman finally wore him down and that takes some doing with an optimist like Ollie. Yes, I firmly put the blame totally at the door of the chairman. Time and time again, Ollie worked hard to put together names of players he wanted to sign to make us a consistent, potent force, only for the chairman to scupper the negotiations. We then ended up with players even Ollie couldn’t do anything with and so now we’re struggling to maintain a mid-table championship place. Saturday’s demoralising 4-1 defeat by a very ordinary Derby County side proved how far we’ve dropped since the start of the season.

I wish Ollie all the very best because he did as much as he possibly could to improve Blackpool FC and for that I will always be eternally grateful.

I would like to see Owen Coyle take over as the new manager, because he is a born winner. I know Steve Thompson wants the job, but I feel he will not be able to get the best out of the current players or the experience to attract the type of player we need. I also feel he hasn’t the strength to take on the chairman.

Watch out for the next thrilling episode of who takes over from our departed talisman…….

Everything 'cept our just desserts.

That was one game that got away. How we didn’t grab all three points against Brighton I’ll never know, but how many times do you see a side dominate a game and yet not get what they deserved. This was a better all-round performance by the Pool, with everyone playing their part. What a pity a silly defensive mix-up nearly cost us the game. I thought Broadfoot had a good game and perhaps was unlucky his backward header lacked the power to get back to Gilks. But even so, I thought Gilks should have taken more responsibility and grabbed the ball quicker because he was in a better position to deal with it. Watching the ball trickle over the line was sickening, so it doesn’t matter what a manager does he has no control over situations like this. The crowd played their part because they could see the effort the players were putting in and when Grandin score a deserved equaliser you could feel the tension in the ground lift. But despite all our dominance we still couldn’t put the game away. Shame really, but at least we’re starting to put some good football together again, which is encouraging. The next two games against Derby Co and Sheff. Wed are both away, should make interesting viewing. Both opponents will prove whether or not our current improvement will continue. Just wish we had Kevin Phillips back to his old scoring ways, because I don't think Nathan Delfouneso is the answer to our goal drought.

Where to from here?

Have you noticed the similarities in the way Pool and the current England side play? Both teams lack the ability to move the ball forward quickly and rely on passing sideways and backwards too many times without getting anywhere. Both have shaky defences and are suspect at set pieces, unable to mark properly and win headers. Players are getting picked, even though you know they are not good enough because there are no others coming through to take their place. I didn’t think I’d ever say this under Ian Holloway, but like Roy Hodgson’s side we are boring to watch and too predictable. Blackpool are carrying too many players who are well past their sell-by date. You would think after playing together for so long they would have an understanding with each other, but you’d be wrong. Yes, we have some talented young players, which is encouraging, but some of them lack consistency.

I realised our start to the season was a false dawn. Yes, we were getting the results, but apart from a couple of games I felt the scores flattered mediocre performances. Yet again today, against a managerless Burnley, we never looked like winning the game. Burnley are a typical mid-table championship side who have been leaking more goals than they have been scoring and yet they managed to prise open our defence time and time again and eke out 1-0 win. A score line made to look a lot closer than it was mainly thanks to a much improved performance by Matt Gilks.  We only looked half decent in last 20 minutes following the substitutions, but our efforts quickly dried up as the game petered out.

Ollie for me is a legend, but I am now for the first time wondering if his reign at Blackpool has run its course. The way we played, which excited everyone is fading fast. We have failed to strengthen a defence, which frankly has struggled since the premiership. The goals have dried up too. Where once we were scoring for fun, now we can’t even find the net. I just think we look like a side that’s lost its way and our slipping down the division will not help our confidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



It was a dream....

.....yes it was a dream after all. There we were a few weeks back looking down on all the plebby teams below us thinking we're automatic promotion candidates now. 4 games played, 4 games won, 12 points, Ollie and the boys are unbeatable, confidence sky high. Fast forward to the present and we look a whole lot different. We can't score, the team changes game by game and more worryingly we can't stop shipping goals. I'm sorry to go harping on about our fragile defence but it is pretty dire at the moment, in fact, it's been dire for a very long time.

 

Personally, I would be build the defence around Alex Baptiste, who for me has been the most consistent defender we've had for ages. Crainey would still get in despite his lack of pace, but I would like to have a bit more competition for him. As far as Ian Evatt is concerned, I feel it's time he moved on. I also think Eardley should be moved on, because he is the weakest link in the current defensive chain. He quickly gets disheartened when things are going badly and his body language proves it. Cathcart, although currently injured doesn't inspire me either, but until we bring in some fresh blood I think him & Baptiste work better together than with Evatt.

 

You see, I have always worked on the principle of if you have a strong defence, you'll have a strong team capable of winning more losing. Whereas at the moment opposing teams have worked out our weaknesses and exploit them to the hilt.

 

We play Hull on Tuesday night who are another side who like us have slipped up of late, so the outcome of this match should be interesting.

Miserable nights watching.....

Well that must rank as one of our worst performances for a long time. I think some players have been suckered into believing all the hype about us being automatic candidates for promotion. After last night they should think again. I have said for a long time now our defence is just not good enough. What went wrong last night was obvious to any football watcher. Huddersfield came with a plan to harrass us and exploit our weakness at the back. They came with an ex-manager and two ex-players. Not only that they knew how to beat us. They relied on the long ball because they knew we were uncomfortable defending this type of play. Their defence marshalled by Peter Clarke won everything in the air and gave our forwards no time to settle. Whereas our defence stood off their forwards, only won a few headers, gave away silly fouls, which in turn set-up dangerous set-pieces, which we all know we cannot defend to save our lives. Messrs Gilks, Crainey, Baptiste, Evatt and in particular that most inconsistent Eardley should go back to defensive school and learn how to defend. Perhaps watch repeated videos of how Huddersfield defended. I also thought we were badly let down by our non-firing midfield led by "captain" Barry Ferguson. I can't for the life of me understand why Ollie thought he should be made captain. I have yet to see him put in anything like a decent performance since we signed him. His distribution last night was dire and as far creativity is concerned it's non-existent. Osbourne and Gomez were no better,  their inability to help the defence and forwards never materialised. We only looked a little more confident when Ferguson and Gomez were replaced, but by the then it was far too late to get anything ouf of the game. It made miserable viewing for any Blackpool fan.

 

So, where do we go from here? Well hopefully this was a one-off, although  we have rode our luck more than once already this season.  Ollie's objective must now be to focus on signing at least 3 new defenders rather than concentrating on more midfielders and strikers. It's no use having a glut of attacking players if the defence can't stop conceding goals. Last night's game reminded me of the home game against Wigan in the premiership when they were bottom of the league. Similar to Huddersfield they bullied us out of the way and beat us 3-0, which more or less doomed us to relegation. I remember the game vividly, because I left the ground at half-time unable to endure watching it any longer.

 

Next game up is against Cardiff away. No idea what to expect, but that's supporting Blackpool for you. I hope my next report will be more upbeat.

 

I'd like to hear what other people think about the season so far. So please get in touch.

Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming......

What's going on? Three games into the new season and we're unbeaten at top of the division with 9 points, 10 goals for and 1 goal against. I'm sure I'll wake up shortly because this is isn't how my beloved Seasiders start a season. We've manage to put the skids under Millwall, the once mighty Leeds Utd and today the best result for a very long time 6-0 against a fancied Ipswich Town team. Paul Jewell must be having nightmares about playing us. Defeats like this can be the death sentence to a manager.

What a fantastic game to watch for any Pool fan. The whole side played with so much confidence and credit goes to Ollie who on a very tight budget is putting together an extremely strong squad. Ok, we're going to be attracting a few premiership vultures hoping to pick off the likes of Matt Phillips, Tom Ince or Alex Baptiste or anyone else out of the squad. But that again is down to Ollie for making us into an attractive attacking side. I'm surprised other clubs haven't come in for him either, because he is a chairman's dream capable of saving them millions in the transfer market. I've said it before but Ollie is in my opinion the best manager Blackpool have ever had. The guy is a genuinely nice bloke, who is not frightened of speaking his mind.

Today was fantastic and to see us up there is nothing more than we deserve. Let's finish the season now please.



Here we go again. New season, new start.

Well what a summer of sport that turned out to be. I'm finding it hard to adjust to the new season yet. I'm still in a post patriotic Olympic Games mood, where respect for your opponents was everywhere, well nearly everywhere, but on the whole a fantastic outcome for most of the British athletes. Great stuff.

Saturday saw us open the season with a trip down to the Den against Millwall. Managing a 2-0 win is always a good start. Yes ok, we rode our luck a few times, but there we are currently sitting at the top of the division (albeit on an alphabetical basis) looking down on everyone else. Let's hope that's where will be come the end of the season (talk about wishing my life away). We've signed a few players over the close season without breaking the chairman's bank account, because most have come in on free transfers. Trying to sign Stephen Dobbie on a permanent basis seems to be an annual event, with the lastest saga seemingly running out of steam yet again. Matt Phillips seems to have been illegally approached by Southampton and as a consequence has thrown a strop and asked for a transfer but because as he is still under contract he's not going anywhere as yet. To be quite honest, Matt isn't as good as he thinks he is and needs to improve on his all round contribution before chasing a move. He reminds me of Adam Hammill, who came to us on loan a few seasons back. Was on fire when he first arrived but gradually fizzled out and went on to sign for Wolves, did the same there, they eventually loaned him out to Middlesboro and now Wolves have put him up for transfer. So, Matt should heed a lesson there. Still , that's his problem, not the club's.

Tomorrow night we entertain Leeds Utd, which should be an interesting game. Neil Warnock's their current manager and his teams have always caused us problems in the past, but I'm hoping we can see 'em off and stay on course for another three points. NEVER A DULL MOMENT, WHEN YOU SUPPORT THE POOL. SO COME ON & CLIMB ABOARD.

My view on Beckham....

So, Stuart Pearce is coming in for some critisism for not picking Beckham for the Olympic GB squad. Why? Pearce's job is to pick the best possible players available to compete in the Olympics because he is the manager. He can pick three over age players and went for Bellamy, Giggs and Richards. All three have played regularly in what could be described as the most competitive league in the world, whereas Beckham has been playing in a league where former players go to see out their playing days. Sorry my American cousins but there it is. I'm sick to death of hearing whining celebrities, some journalists and former politicians  saying how Beckham deserves inclusion because of the work he has put in promoting our Olympic bid. Oh please, give me a break. Is the guy better than the three picked? No. It's no good living off past performances. For me Beckham is a one trick pony and has lived off his past reputation for far too long. Well done Stuart Pearce for being your own man and for not bowing down to outside pressure. This is not the David Beckham show, it's our first chance to play as a Great Britain football team based on current form and to prove we can perform well without the distraction of an underwear model.

Wembley hangover...

I suppose I’m feeling slightly better than I did yesterday following our defeat by West Ham at Wembley. Got to admit I had this uneasy feeling all week we were not going to do it this time, despite our previous 100% winning record with play-offs at Wembley. Ok, West Ham were cast iron favourites, which isn’t that surprising considering the amount of money they had available to buy players compared to us. This makes our performance all the more better and if we had put away the chances we had it would be us playing in the premiership next season and not the Hammers. Matt Phillips in particular should certainly have converted at least one of his efforts. Instead he fluffed both attempts. Although he is attracting the attention of several top clubs I find he drifts in and out of games and ball watches too much. He obviously has potential, but like many other former players who use Blackpool as a stepping stone, he will find it very difficult to keep a first team place if he chooses to move on. He should see what has happened to Adam, Campbell and Vaughan since they left. All have struggled despite being better players. Stephen Dobbie was also wasteful yesterday with his efforts. In fact I forgot he was playing in the first half because his contribution was woeful. Obviously Ollie had a word with him at the break because he seemed to realise he had to do something. When Ince scored the equaliser straight after the start we had one of our better periods and had West Ham reeling, but like I said earlier we squandered too many chances. You always knew it would take a late goal to settle the game and so it was. Unfortunately, it went to them when Vaz Te scored the winner. This is the guy who had done nothing all through the game and was totally outplayed throughout. No justice, eh? Our boys deserved to win and did us all proud, but it’s goals that count and they got more than us.

End of season table....

Before I go any further and before I know the forthcoming play-off results I want to say Ollie has done a fantastic job yet again. Although our results have been erractic at times, what he has managed to do after the disappointment of last season is remarkable. Don't forget he lost three important players  and with team and fans morale  at an all time low he had to start all over again. Add to that his own massive disappointment, the guy deserves the upmost respect for what is has achieved. We play Birmingham home and away, with the prospect of playing either West Ham or Cardiff in the final should we get that far. Although our record against Cardiff is very good, I think if we were drawn against them it might not be as easy because they are due a win. So for them to play West Ham might be better for us, because I would expect a Hammers victory. That said, our results against Brum & West Ham have been awful. 2-2 and 0-3 against Brum and worst still 0-4 and 1-4 against the Hammers. Play-offs always seem to bring the best out us and I think Ollie will gee the players up with his own brand of psychology prior to the games. Should be an interesting end to another remarkable season. So well done boys and in particular Sir Ollie.

The business end of the season.....

It's coming to that time of the season when consistency and concentration are the most important factors in determining whether promotion is achievable or not. What I like about the team now is, Ollie has finally got the defence looking a bit more responsible for their actions. I can't fault Matt Gilks this season because he has saved us time and time again. I've always believed Alex Baptiste is a better central defender than he is a full back and since Ollie moved him to the centre we've looked more solid. Last night's 1-0 win against Leeds could have been the classic banana skin especially after we beat them 5-0 at their place. Fortunately after last night's results one more win should be enough to guarantee us a play-off place. We should be in the mix with West Ham, Birmingham and Cardiff because I think Middlesborough have blown their chance by their inconsistency at home.

I fancy our chances against any of the other sides, if, we maintain our concentration and don't make silly mistakes. I know that could apply to any side, but we tend to hit the self-destruct button at the wrong time. I know the other sides won't look forward to playing us because they know on our day we are capable of beating them. It's going to be an interesting end to another remarkable season. I hope the neutrals get behind Blackpool along with every Pool fan because if nothing else we will entertain you. Up the Mighty Pool.

My thoughts so far.....

It's been a while since my last blog, this has been mainly down to me being extremely busy since I moved house. Nevertheless, I've managed to keep tabs on the Mighty Pool. The season has been developing nicely culminating in an easy win over Cardiff City yesterday. Surprisingly, the Bluebirds looked a poor outfit considerly they are third in the league. They must hate playing against us, especially after that fantastic day when we met at Wembley when we beat them to secure our promotion to the Premiership. Still, yesterday's game didn't actually go to plan, mainly due to us taking it a bit too easy at times. We seemed to take our foot of the pedal, which allowed them to come into the game more. But saying that we had a couple of chances to win the game by half time. Dicko, the French guy on loan from Wigan, should have scored when he only had the keeper to beat, but shot wide. If I was being critical I would say we relied too much on the high ball and didn't move the ball quick enough. This allowed them time to close us down. They came into more in the second half and took the lead against the run of play. The Dicko/GTF combination was struggling so Ollie brought on SuperKev and Roman Bedner. What can you say about Kevin Phillips. This guy is absolute class. He can score in any division and can be relied on to change a game. I was dead chuffed when we signed him up, despite his age. You can't put a price on the experience he brings. We might not be the same passing team as we were last season, but we seem to have a better, balanced squad. Although Charlie Adam made things happen last season, he was also the main reason our form dipped this time last year, which ultimately led to us getting relegated. Thankfully, we don't have the same ego problem with players this season. We've now moved up to 4th and seem to be moving into a settled run even though we've been leaving it a little late to get the points. Like most footy fans we're all a bit superstitious, so I won't get carried away with thoughts of promotion back to the premiership, but if Ollie did managed it again surely the England job shouldn't be unthinkable. Although let's just keep things the same for the time being cos I'm loving it. Cup replay against Sheff Wed on Tuesday night and I think it's important to keep the winning run going, so I hope Ollie puts out a strong team. UTMP.