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.