What a shambles of a season and who are we getting next?

Normally I hate the end of the football season, but I make this one the exception. If last season was a bad dream this one has been an absolute nightmare.

Ok, Paul Ince managed to stop us getting relegated after the Ollie debacle, but thankfully his rule finally came to an end via a KO text. This followed a shambolic course of ill-discipline starting with him getting a 5 match stadium ban and players being sent off for fun. The club’s reputation was unravelling in front of our eyes. His style of management was always questionable and yet if we hadn’t got off to the best start we’ve ever had we might have been relegated. Ok, most of us knew we were bound to come unstuck because although we were winning, the way in which we did it was very lucky. Our play was awful to watch, relying too much on defensive rather than attacking football and we scraped wins by the odd goal, nothing spectacular, just boring stuff. Resentment started to grow when despite son Tom turning in mediocre performances he was never dropped and only very rarely substituted.

So when he finally went, Oyston was left with the problem of who to turn to as a replacement. Normally he would have installed Thommo as a stop-gap solution, but he decided it was time for Thommo to go as well. It was obvious he didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of advertising the job again, especially after being previously turned down by all and sundry. So it came about that Barry Ferguson was put temporary charge until the end of the season to keep us in the championship. Although his CV will confirm he did it, how he did it was more by luck more than judgement. He looked increasingly like the proverbial “fish out of water”, when defeat after defeat plummeted us down the league towards the drop zone. I didn’t fancy our chances against Charlton even at Bloomfield Rd, so the unexpected win at Wigan gave us the lifeline we were looking for. Matt Gilks’s penalty save was priceless and paved the way for a rare 2-0 win. Funnily enough we actually did the double over promotion seeking Wigan, firstly 1-0 at our place & 2-0 at theirs. We avoided the drop by 2 points in the end, but it was squeaky bum time all the way.

So now the search is underway to get a new manager installed within the next 5 to 10 days, according to Oyston. I hope for once his time scale is right and not another drawn out farce. Who he gets is another fear the fans have. Obviously his past reputation will be a big stumbling block for whoever he approaches. He has managed to frighten off many experienced managers in the past with his stringent attitude towards how the club should be run. It seems every player who comes here has to take a pay cut or failing that he resorts to signing loanees. With Matt Williams due to leave the club and take up the role of Chief Executive at Shrewsbury Town, Oyston will be without his right hand man in any negotiations with prospective managers. All we can do is hope Oyston has finally realised his way of doing things has got to change, otherwise we might not manage to stay in the championship beyond next season.

3 games to go.....

For the first time this season we find ourselves in the bottom three, mainly thanks to Ollie's Millwall beating an unpredictable Middlesboro 2-1. Although I thought we played reasonably well against Burnley, moving the ball about well and challenging more, yet again we never really looked like scoring. With games against Brighton, Wigan and Charlton coming up the chances of us getting any points is looking bleak. Not only that but we're still reliant on others to slip up, which has never been our strong point in the past. Both Brighton & Wigan will be going all out to grab a play-off place, whereas Charlton, like us will be fighting for championship survival.

 

So, do I think we still have a chance of staying up? If I'm being realistic, the answer is no. We've squandered the points we accrued and goal difference we earned earlier in the season and I don't think the team have the confidence the fight back. Despite the passion & desire shown by Barry Ferguson to succeed and keep us up, I don't think he has the managerial experience to pull us through, nor the tactical sense. He certainly doesn't know what his best 11 is, and too many faded stars have turned up promising they'll help to turn things around but failed. Chopra and Earnshaw to name two.

 

It's sad to see how far we've dropped since the Holloway days, but it goes to prove if you run a business on a shoestring without proper investment and foresight, you will eventually become unstuck. Karl Oyston's reputation is now well known throughout football circles for his unwillingness to spend and his rolling contracts. Respected managers, many still out of work have turned us down, so as a last resort he hire's managers with poor past records or as in the case of Barry Ferguson untried ones. You can tell Ferguson has the passion and desire but not the experience to succeed at present. He was also someone Oyston fell out with dramatically with last season banishing him to Fleetwood for a time. Add to this the number of loanees making up the squad who will be moving on at the end of the season and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

Whether or not we survive or get relegated the same problems will remain. We need a quality, experienced manager with a good scouting team behind him in as soon as the season finishes. So that they can get players in early and not get lumbered with end of season leftovers. Players with a desire and hunger to play for the club, a proper training ground and facilities. Otherwise next season will be a repeat of the last two. I expect season tickets sales to be hit badly if improvements are not made quickly. The fans unrest was clearly seen at the Burnley game and will continue because most fans have had enough of the false promises spouted by the chairman over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do points make........

...........possible survival.

 

With only 10 more games remaining and half of them away fixtures with a possible 30 points at stake, what are our chances of survival? At one time you could predict where we were going to get the points from, alas no more. These are my predictions, see if you agree.

Sat.    22/03/2014 Home.    Huddersfield Town……………..1-1 Draw 1pt

Tues. 25/03/2014 Away      Bolton W……………………………. 0-3 Loss  0pts

Sat.   29/03/2014 Away      QPR……………………………………. 0-3 Loss  0pts

Sat.   05/04/2014 Home      Yeovil T……………………………… 1-0 Win   3pts

Tues. 08/04/2014 Home     Derby C……………………………….1-2 Loss  0pts

Sat.   12/04/2014 Away      Leeds Utd…………………………….1-1 Draw  1pt

Fri.    18/04/2014 Home     Burnley (on Sky, ugh)………...0-2 loss   0pts

Mon.  21/04/2014 Away     Brighton H A………………………..1-3 loss   0pts

Sat.   26/04/2014 Away      Wigan………………………………….1-3 loss  0pts

Sat.   03/05/2014 Home     Charlton A……………………………2-1 Win  3pts

As you can see my optimism is not what it should be. I see us with a possible 8 points from the remaining games, making us reliant on teams around us dropping points, which is never a healthy option. I just hope our survival is not reliant on the final game against Charlton, especially now they've changed manager. Of course we could upset the odds and get a few wins we didn’t expect, but these are desperate times and we never seem to play well under pressure. We’ve got an untried manager, a team with no set pattern of play, which seems to change every week instead of having a settled side.

Still, now’s not the time to think we’re doomed to League 1, but equally the players have really got to start believing in themselves and not rely on other results keeping us up. So, prove my predictions wrong and get us the points we need and fight for your pride, because the fans will get behind you if we see determined effort. Just think this was us not too long ago.....

 

......let's do it again. Come on Pool. Fight for the points. UTMP.

The start of the run in.....

Well, we're entering the final run in and as things are going it's going to be an uneasy ending to the season. I thought last season was bad enough, but we don't seemed to have learnt our lesson. BF has been in charge for 10 games now and his record is not very encouraging. Yesterday's 3-1 defeat by Leicester undid the result against Millwall, but came as no surprise considering they're running away with the league this season. Strange when you think both sides were level on points at the start of the season. I don't what it is about Leicester I dislike intensely but I do. Oh, I remembered. The king of smugness that is Nigel "Mr Non-Personality" Pearson, who never manages to give any opposing sides credit especially if they beat his little Leicester boys. There is also the fact some Leicester fans suffer from delusions of grandeur, big time. Anyway enough of them.

 

Is BF the man for us? I don't think he is. You can't fault him for passion, but he's fallen into the trap of thinking because he's got the passion and experience of playing it automatically gives him the tools to manage. It doesn't. You only have to see how, despite playing at the higher level, some famous names have not hacked it as managers. Notice most of the successful managers of our time weren't necessarily good players, average maybe, but successful, not many. 

Do we give him time like we did with Simon Grayson, because he struggled at first. But Grayson experienced managing the reserves before being given the chance to manage the first team. With BF we don't have the luxury of giving him much longer, otherwise we're going to be relegated.

 

Unfortunately, trying to attract an experience manager to Bloomfield Rd is never an easy task, as proved in the past. That's why I can't see Karl Oyston shifting from his present stance. So, like most Blackpool fans we're just hoping we can scramble over the championship finishing line this season in the hope we can move on next season. But we need a complete rethink about investing in a quality manager and players, otherwise the progress motto on our badge will have to be ditched for good.

 

 

No longer the Guvn'r.........

Well,well,well, the Guvn’r has gone. Didn’t think it would have happened after yesterday’s proceedings. KO seemed to have chickened out, but today he took action. Not only was Ince Snr shown the door but so were Alex Rae and surprisingly Steve Thompson. Some fans think Thommo's sacking was a bit unfair considering the time he’s been at Bloomfield Rd. Personally I think Thommo should have moved on before now. KO for all his faults has stayed loyal to Thommo up until today, but I think he’s done the right thing. Why? Well for me, Thommo has developed his own little comfort zone at Bloomers and I honestly think he was the obstacle previous manager contenders had to negotiate. I think he might have been seen, rightly or wrongly by other prospective managers, as a spy in the camp for the chairman. I also don’t think despite what other fans say, he carried that much influence with the players. To me he was your typical

“Good Egg” type of a bloke. Honest, loyal and trustworthy but lacking that steely determination to take it to the next level as a manager. Well now he’s going to have to do something away from Bloomfield Rd. KO has used him as a temporary manager in the past, but I think he realised he’s not the one to be given the job permanently. So, I wish him all the very best and thank him for what he’s done, but it’s now time for him and us to go separate ways.

As far as the Paul Ince/Alex Rae departures, neither are going to be missed. Both have shown a complete lack of discipline, which has filtered down to the players. Ince has been the worst culprit having been banned for 5 games not only from the touchline but from the stadium. Something that’s never been heard of from a Blackpool manager in the past and hopefully never again. Privately, I think Tom Ince will be relieved his father has gone, because his form has never been the same since he took over. In the early days you could see the anxiety on Tom’s face when he thought he’d done something wrong on the pitch, because his father was quick to let him know he wasn’t happy. Last Saturday’s match led to a nasty confrontation between Tom and some of the fans, which is best forgotten by all concerned. Now, whether Tom moves on we’ll have to see. Apparently he has been in talks with a possible move to Monaco, but nothing definite as yet.

The managerial baton has now moved onto Barry Ferguson. He will be installed as the player/manager apparently until the end of the season. Not yet sure how this is going to go? After all Ferguson all though the current captain and a big voice in the dressing room has no previous managerial experience. Obviously KO has seen something in him to think he can do the job and it’s not the first time KO has installed a player in the manager’s role. He gave the job to Simon Grayson, who turned out to be quite successful in the role, only to be poached by Ken Bates and taken to Leeds Utd in a very acrimonious fashion.

But for the time being, I along with most, if not all fans are delighted to see the back of the “Guvn’r” and his assistant. They’ve gone and hopefully long forgotten. The fight back starts NOW. UTMP

Misery, despair and on the slide....

The protests are growing and getting louder, but as yet Paul Nero Ince is still insitu fiddling away. Our demise continued yesterday away to Barnsley. Not only did we fail to score yet again, but we managed to get beat by a side bottom of the league who came into the game with a run of results similar to ourselves. But they got all three points, scored two goals (albeit one was a pen) and we came away with nowt. That means we have been beaten by two of the bottom three and we play the third one Doncaster Rovers this Saturday at Bloomers. The omens aren't looking good, especially as they're currently managed by old boy favourite Paul Dickov.

Not only did we get four players booked yesterday but Alex Rae gets sent to the stands as well. The travelling fans (quite rightly in my opinion) vented their understandable anger towards Ince Snr & co, unfortunately Ince Jnr got involved and had to be ushered away by Barry Ferguson. The stand-off continued after the game when none of the management team spoke to

Will Watt from the Gazette or other media present. Can't remember when that last happened? Doesn't say much for the integrity of the manager to avoid giving his view of what happened. I also judge a person on the way they react to defeat rather than when everything is rosy. We all can be everyone's best friend when we're winning but turn into a sulking bore when things go awry.

Paul Ince would never have been my choice as manager, mainly because I always suspected he couldn't hack it in the higher divisions. The trouble was we ended up with him because Oyston Jnr did his usual trick of wanting a top manager but not bothering to back up their ideas.

Yes, it always comes down to him. Because Ollie achieved success on a shoestring he thinks everyone can.

I was hoping along with others that PI would have done the decent thing yesterday and resigned, but it appears he's still there. A defeat by Donny should finally see him go, hopefully with KO helping him on his way. Team confidence is rock bottom, never has there been a better time for a new man to be in place before we end up in the relegation zone.

I wouldn't mind seeing Neil Warnock take over until the end of the season. At least he has a personality and can converse with the media.

The misery, despair and slide needs sorting today not tomorrow.

 



First Half gone.......

Well now that 2013 is out the way it’s about time we had a look at how we’ve got on? Not been the success we hoped it would be so far. Yes ok, we started the season off fairly well. Our style of play under Paul Ince is far removed from the heady days of Ollie, but that was expected, the latter being a “one-off” who got us to the promised land of the premiership.

Initially under Ince our defence certainly been improved and we were managing to win games without setting the place on fire. Unfortunately our initial optimism has died a slow death and our lack of goal scoring has been our undoing. December was the worst run of games for a long time. Out of the six games we played we managed to lose five and draw one, that against a poor Leeds Utd side. We conceded 12 goals and only managed to score 3; this gave us a -2 goal difference. We‘re the only side in the top ten who now have a negative goal difference. Yet a few months ago Ince seemed to be answer to our post Ollie problems although some fans weren’t that convinced. Now the clamour for Ince to go has gained momentum leading to a couple of confrontations between Ince, Alex Rae and some fans, not dissimilar to the latter days of the Ollie era when he started to criticise the fans for not getting behind the management and team. Ince and co, are now saying the same thing. What they forget is, fans of a football club are there for life and they’re passionate about it. Unlike most present day managers, who come and go and move on as regular as clockwork, most without as much of a sideways glance when departing.

I wrote the above paragraphs before the result of our visit to Sheffield Wed was known. I am sorry to report our December 2013 hangover has continued to gather pace with a dismal 0-2 defeat. It was touch and go before the kick-off whether or not the match would go ahead because of the very wet weather. Like most fans I was hoping it would go ahead, but after the poor performance and result I now wish it would have been abandoned. So now, our goal difference has gone deeper in the red with a -4. Post-match comments by the manager were the players made silly mistakes, which led to us chasing the game. He also said he was without 4 to 5 players to choose from, but they should be available soon. At least Ricardo Fuller played yesterday but without much success.

As I write we are currently in 12^th place after 24 games, won 8, drawn 8, lost 8 (7 defeats during December & yesterday).

The main sources of the fans anger at the moment are split between Karl Oyston & Paul Ince. The former for not financing new players and the latter for not having a clue how to manage himself and the players (this is because of his 5 match stadium ban for assaulting the 4^th official in the tunnel). The fans new chant goes along the lines of We used to attack, We used to attack, now we play with 9 at the back. Even fans that verbally attacked Ollie for leaving want him back. Normally I too join in the criticism of KO for his lack of signing new players, but for once I’m glad he has held back with the current manager.

Why? Well his past managerial record has not been anything to shout about apart from his only successful period with Notts County. I remember reading Lord Alan Sugar’s autobiography, especially the bit about when he was chairman of Spurs. He describes how a host of well-known experienced managers signed and some pocketed back handers in the process, players who were past their best and some who never reached that level at astronomical prices. He eventually turned the club’s finances around and took a bigger role in the signing of players but it took time. I know KO comes in for a lot of criticism (including from me) but I can see it from his perspective. Like I said manager’s come & go, but he like us are there for a lot longer. His reluctance to sack managers is something which is very rare in today’s football business and I don’t see him moving Ince out just yet, but that might change if things on the field don’t improve. After all he still has his loyal lieutenant Steve Thompson to call upon as a stop gap, or maybe this time give him a long term chance at managering the club.

We now go into the second half of the season, one which in the past hasn’t been a happy time for us. Our premiership season went downhill and resulted in relegation after Christmas 2010. Unlike when Simon Grayson achieved the “Perfect 10 wins” for us, we now might be in for the “Disastrous 10 loses” under Paul Ince.

So, not a lot to be optimistic for at the moment, despite some fans saying we’re still only 4 points away from the play-off places, yeah right, dream on I say. The only reason we’re 4 points off is because the teams above haven’t capitalised on our bad form enough.

Anyway Happy New Year to everyone and you can always follow me on Twitter these days. Brian@truetangerine  

lnce