Eight days on, if Blackpool were still at Wigan Athletic’s DW Stadium but Shaun Maloney’s men had long since gone home, the Seasiders would still have failed to score. Indeed, for all the Seasiders’ second half possession and huff and puff, the ‘tics quite comfortably had out the deckchairs and cigars.

Yet another winnable away game sailed by, with only increased dissatisfaction to show for it. A recurring theme, characterised by a lack of guile and a plan B against resolute opposition has seen the ‘pool draw frustrating blanks against the likes of Burton Albion, Port Vale, Cheltenham Town, Exeter City, Leyton Orient, ad infinitum.

By mid-March you would hope/assume that this had been addressed by Neil Critchley, but an obsession with slow possession and build up play allows the opposition to remain in/get back into their defensive shape without being pulled about the park in a way that moving the ball more rapidly can precipitate. In games like this, and many others beside during what has been a stop-start, frustrating, and often unacceptable campaign, Blackpool have carried about as much menace and attacking threat as a disorientated hedgehog emerging from hibernation.

Most clubs’ supporters will complain during disappointing results of their team’s inability to do x, y, and z, but on this occasion Wigan should be given some credit. Each half showed a different style within their locker, with the first 45 minutes highlighting how possession play should be executed. The second half saw a more defensive, rear-guard action with few forays upfield, with Maloney’s men retaining their shape and discipline to repel what admittedly was a labouring, and ultimately toothless Blackpool attack. Whilst Shayne Lavery and ex-Latic Kyle Joseph both spurned decent chances, I don’t think anyone can say that Wigan’s endeavours, ranging from a young, vibrant and forward thinking midfield to resolute defending didn’t deserve victory.

A lot of Blackpool supporters said that the team didn’t turn up, didn’t try, and so on. This isn’t a squad containing rotten apples, or those with an attitude problem. It is quite simply a case of the team, and peripheral players, being not quite of the standard which many expected them to be. The issue of our best players – Karamoko Dembele, Hayden Coulson, Jordan Rhodes, and George Byers – not belonging to the club cannot be ignored, nor can the fact that Blackpool does not own a proven goalscorer. A lot of poor decisions have been made, and/or assumptions on certain players, the budget, and indeed Critchley himself, have ultimately failed to hold water.

The reduced atmosphere compared to our last visit to the DW, in November 2022, was also evident. That game turned into a barrage of toxicity towards then manager Michael Appleton, when even after Marvin Ekpiteta’s early red card, Blackpool should have won had Appleton not stood on the touchline like a mannequin, refusing to make the changes needed until after Curtis Tilt’s late winner. Nevertheless, there were 4,000 Blackpool supporters in attendance that day, just over a thousand more than this time around.

Arguments why there was such a reduced following for an event 40 minutes down the road ranged from it being £30 to attend a third-tier match, it being a League One fixture rather than last season’s Championship fayre, Blackpool’s appalling away form and performances, and Neil Critchley’s brand of boring football. There is credence to all of the above, but whilst most football fans are predominantly clueless about the game, preferring to shout things like “snap him” and “shoot” than study formations, tactics, and a game’s nuances, people quite rightly wish to be entertained for their hard-earned money. That we are not goes a long way to explain why crowds both home and away have in the main not been what they should be. Otherwise, we should be able to take 4-5,000 to Wigan, just as the opposition would be able to bring a similar amount to the seaside if we gave a sensible ticket allocation to them and the likes of Derby County, Carlisle United, and Bolton Wanderers.

If Blackpool win their last seven games, they’ll extend their season into the play offs. They won’t. It doesn’t matter if we are playing Barnsley, Derby, Fleetwood Town, or Carlisle, the side has failed all season to build up a head of steam because the squad lacks the ability to be able to build upon big results, the 4-0 drubbing of champions-elect Portsmouth being a prime example. Disproportionate faith has been placed in the likes of CJ Hamilton, Sonny Carey, Kyle Joseph, Owen Dale(now at Oxford) and Shayne Lavery, whilst the relative big hitters of recent times – Kenny Dougall, Dujon Sterling, Kevin Stewart, Gary Madine, Jerry Yates, Keshi Anderson, and Josh Bowler – have not been adequately replaced, or have been so by loanees. Coupled with a lack of nous and steel to play poorly but win(or draw) in many of the dire away days already lost this season, once more proves that the league table does not lie at this stage of the campaign.

There is much to prune, and ponder, during pre-season. Another seismic churn of personnel seems likely, although at this time it is impossible to predict which out of contract players will be released, offered new deals, or decide that their futures lie elsewhere. It is difficult to imagine that Daniel Grimshaw, Jordan Gabriel, and Marvin Ekpiteta will want to play another season of third division football. Retaining Albie Morgan, Matt Pennington, Ollie Casey, and Rob Apter is mandatory, but who else really would fans’ be devastated to lose? I don’t think any sleep would be lost if CJ Hamilton, Ollie Norburn, Sonny Carey, Matt Virtue, Jake Beesley, and Callum Connolly decided to move on to pastures new.

Off to Pride Park we go, where a heroic, positive result is just as likely as a drubbing. Will the real Blackpool FC please stand up? I don’t think anyone would recognise it if it did.

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