New old man takes over at Bloomfield Rd.

 Well, they say a week is a long time in politics, the same I could argue applies to football management as well. Only last week I was lamenting on the demise in the fortunes of Michael Appleton's tenure as Blackpool's Head Coach. Never a popular choice of many fans, but like I previously said whoever is appointed as Head Coach I would back them, but after the lack lustred performance against Watford I too came to the conclusion it was time Appleton went. Losing and alienating the fanbase is as bad as losing the dressing room (which might have happened too?) and the lack of passion and motivation on the touchline was another contributary facture. 

So, on Wednesday it was announced by the club that Mick McCarthy was to be installed as the new Head Coach along with Terry Connor as his second in command with immediate effect. 

The appointment came as a surprise to many after a number of names had been mentioned as possible replacements, but on the whole having someone with the experience McCarthy has swung it for him and more importantly he was a popular choice with the majority of the fans. I think it was imperative an experienced coach took over rather than having another untested rookie taking the reins because of the dire position we currently occupy and the danger of the points gap widening with the teams above us. Both men will be in charge until the end of the season with the aim of keeping us in the Championship. Whether they both continue in the role will no doubt depend on how successful or unsuccessful they are. 

Their first opportunity to see the players in action came on Saturday against fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town at Bloomfield Rd. Whether fate took a hand in proceedings we'll never know, but the game was called off late morning due to the pitch being frozen over despite efforts by the ground staff who had covered the pitch and placed heaters on it to get it into a playable state. On a personal level this news came too late for me to cancel my train journey to the ground and it was only when I reached Preston I heard it was off. I know the interest and enthusiasm generated by Appleton going and McCarthy taking over had reached a level on a par with the first homecoming game after the Oystons had departed. It was so noticeable how everyone I spoke to were determined to come and fill the ground in the hope our fortunes would change for the better. Only time will tell but at least now the passion and optimism has returned. #UTMP

I hate to say this, but it's now time for a change.

 Well the last time I wrote was just before the World Cup started. At that time I felt the break would do use good and we would be able to regroup, get some of the injured players back into the squad and generally restart our season. Then we were just above the relegation zone and within points distance of other clubs. Our last game before the break was against Wigan away who were in the relegation zone and who had just sacked their manager. Unfortunately, despite leading 1-0 at half time even after Ekpiteta was sent off after just 17 minutes we were holding our own, but you just knew it would only be a matter of time before that would change. Sure enough in the 2nd half Wigan were a different team and it ended with them winning 2-1. 

We resumed our season again in December with draws against Birmingham, Cardiff and Hull and a 2-1 defeat against the then league leaders Sheffield Utd. Our first game of the new year was another 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland again after leading 1-0 at half time. Our hopes were lifted last week with a resounding 4-1 thrashing of Nottm Forest in the 3rd round FA Cup tie. Added to this was the news that Josh Bowler was returning to us until the end of the season and were signing

Morgan Rogers on loan from Man City and permanent signing of German midfielder Tom Trybull.

This was what we were hoping for in the transfer window, new additions in areas we were lacking in and hopefully some more signings to follow? 

Armed with all this information brought a new sense of optimism to the fans and you could sense the enthusiasm at yesterday's game they were really getting behind the players. The team selection caused a few ripples of surprise mainly with the absence of in-form Ian Poveda who apparently suffered a groin injury prior to the game and failed a fitness test. Trybull too didn't feature despite being a named substitute. Watford were a completely different team to the one we beat 3-1 at our place earlier in the season, a score which I thought flattered us at the time. It was 1-1 for most of that game until we got two goals in quick succession. They harassed us from the start yesterday and stopped us building any momentum at all and even though we went in at half time 0-0 you just felt they had enough skilled players to get a win, which they did late on. Maxwell had saved us from going behind earlier on a couple of occasions but made a clumsy attempt to stop their player in the box resulting in a game changing penalty. Ekpiteta added to our woes by having to go off with a hamstring injury. Like Slaven Bilic said Blackpool didn't do enough to hurt us so we added more to our attack. A 2-0 defeat after a long visit down to Watford in atrocious weather was little comfort to the long suffering Pool fans. A result which has left us 2nd from the bottom on 26 points along with Huddersfield who have a game in hand over us and who we play on Saturday. A game we MUST win. 

Which all brings me to my original thoughts of 'it's now time for a change'. Since Michael Appleton was appointed as manager I have tried to be as objective and unemotional about his appointment as possible. I know a lot fans didn't want him here for reasons too numerous to mention, but like anyone who comes to the club as manager I hoped he would turn the critics into fans and prove the doubters wrong. The club was left in a sorry state when badge kissing Critchley left us with the speed of a frightened cat to join Gerrard's sinking ship. Appleton didn't have a lot of time to get to know and shape the team to something of a cohesive outfit. He also inherited an horrendous  list of injured players some of which are still injured to this day, illnesses, Covid, players unavailable through dismissals and so on. His record so far reads:- Played 27, Won 6, Drawn 8, Lost 13, 26 points. If I was a neutral I would say he's had 14 positive results as opposed to 13 negative ones. That's if you class draws as positives. Personally I have sat through some awful games this season and to be fair when Critchley was in charge too, but we are now in a worst position than we've ever been. It doesn't matter how good a coach a person is or isn't, if they are not able to gel with the fans they'll never win them over. Appleton unfortunately comes over as a dour disciplinarian who lacks any sort of personality and who seems to lack any motivational skills during a game. Simon Grayson showed the same aloofness during his second spell here and look what happened to him. I think a result other than a win this Saturday against Huddersfield should be his last. Who would take over from him, I don't know? But it needs to be someone with proven experience who is capable of inspiring the players and changing the way we play quickly otherwise I see the gap between us and the teams above us growing.

Thanks for reading this and I would welcome any comments you may have.