The following is written without much expectation that any of it will come to pass but for what it is worth, this is what I would like to see take place at Blackpool FC as I enter my fortieth year of watching the often not-so-mighty tangerines: Some humility from the club's owner Simon Sadler, the…
Blackpool FC: Fans voting with their feet as the Appleton Experiment reaps what it has sown
Blackpool 0 Birmingham City 0 - a result that technically stopped the rot but did nothing to suggest Blackpool will get out of relegation trouble, nor that Michael Appleton is the right man for the job. It is only eight months since a then Neil Critchley's Blackpool put six past Birmingham - two results and…
Relegation or Championship survival, a significant churn of players awaits at Blackpool FC
The four-week enforced cessation of Premier League and Championship fixtures has allowed Blackpool to step back from an appalling run of defeats, several of which were fully merited. It is indeed without doubt that the World Cup came at the right time, with on and off the field issues at Bloomfield Road in need of…
Wigan debacle brings Blackpool F.C. failings to a head
I have delayed this post for a few days after Blackpool's dispiriting reverse at Wigan Athletic not only to gather my thoughts away from the heat of the moment, but also to see if manager Michael Appleton would be relieved of his duties. One has taken place, the other has not. The DW Stadium debacle…
What Blackpool F.C. must do to retain their Championship status
A topsy turvy first three months to Blackpool's season in the second tier of English football has failed to give any definitive indicators as to whether the club will survive in the Championship. A more volatile set of results in the club's recent history, or even in my 39 years of watching the club, does…
Blackpool FC stand on a precipice as injury crisis as inadequate replacement of star players starts to bite
The transfer window was a painful and protracted experience for Blackpool Football Club. Deals for players with whom they had been linked continually fell at the final hurdle or the mere rumours of certain tie ups alerted rival clubs, who invariably could offer more attractive terms and realistically a greater chance of playing in the…
Window Shopping: Football Style. Why it is wrong, who it benefits, and how it can be improved.
The 2022/23 English Football League(EFL) season started as early as the 29th July to accommodate this winter's dubiously located Qatar-based FIFA World Cup, but the transfer window, in which clubs can trade players and bolster their squads for the campaign ahead does not close until 11 pm on the 31st August. This has created significant…
Should they stay, or should they go? Several big questions to be answered this summer at Blackpool FC
It should not be forgotten that Blackpool's meteoric rise since being brought back from the brink by owner/custodian Simon Sadler has been achieved using a considerable number of players whose respective journeys through the divisions have been equally expeditious, if perhaps more hasty than originally planned. After the dust has settled on what was a…
Ballard and Simms the standout performers of Blackpool’s loan rangers
As the dust continues to settle since Blackpool FC brought their 2020/2021 League 1 season to a close in perhaps one of the most stunning turnarounds in the club's history, thoughts have inevitably turned as to how promotion will affect the squad's makeup in the Championship, which of the players won't make the cut, and…
League One play offs: Blackpool FC entertain the football world and quieten any of coach Critchley’s lingering critics
In my junior years, Lincoln biscuits represented a rare treat that to this day are sadly missed, both for their unique taste and ubiquity of availability. Putting aside the obvious but lazy dreaming spires and punting on the Isis(river) cliches, Oxford is brought to my mind for reasons of Robert Maxwell, the old Manor Ground,…
Play-off contenders or otherwise, perspective is needed by supporters of Blackpool Football Club
In the last of a series of articles reflecting on Neil Critchley's first full season that is now nicely coming to the boil, I ask myself: have I been too harsh on what Blackpool's head coach has sought to achieve, and how he has gone about it? Most would answer that question with a resounding…
Blackpool FC: Flattering to deceive or building up a head of steam?
As a lifelong supporter of Blackpool Football Club I benefit from not owning tangerine-tinted spectacles, and am able to critique the squad's performances without resorting to unfounded hyperbole or ignoring what I regard as the reality. I understand that football in the main a game of opinions and is at times highly subjective, but there…
Eyes to the left: Blackpool FC must seek solutions to its port side dilemma
With the amount of left-footed players at Blackpool Football Club's disposal, it is easy to arrive at one of two conclusions. Firstly, that the correct formula of who should play the various sinistro roles within the team - left -sided centre back, full back, and wide midfield, should be attainable from what on paper appears…
A mounting fixture list will put Blackpool FC’s play off credentials to the ultimate test
At what should be the business end of the EFL League One season, Blackpool find themselves with almost half a campaign to play. As momentum builds from what was an extremely slow start that at one point drew into question Neil Critchley's continuation as head coach, it remains to be seen if a perfect storm…
Blackpool must seek solutions from within the January Transfer Window if end of season objectives are to be realized
If the recent League One form guide was anything to go by, Blackpool were firmly in the ascendancy after what must be said was an atrocious start to their 2020/21 campaign. A stop-start few weeks precipitated by Covid-related cancellations has though stalled momentum, with some of the issues which brought about such a dire first…
To bolster promotion push Blackpool must recruit astutely in the January transfer window
As novel coronavirus reaffirms its grip on all aspects of life it is by no means certain that the 2020/21 football season will not be suspended, or even be able to run its course either without interruption, or after any subsequent curtailment. Until otherwise stated it must be assumed that normal service, albeit along the…
Blackpool FC must seek additional routes to goal for their end of season objectives to be realized
Blackpool Head Coach Neil Critchley was correct with his precis of the frustrating goalless draw against Oxford United, that his side would a few weeks ago have a lost the game they dominated but once more failed to find the killer touch. To consider a draw against the best side Blackpool played last season to…
Blackpool FC finally highlight their credentials by overcome opponents of supposed substance
If someone had offered me three wins out of four for Blackpool against Peterborough United, Doncaster Rovers, Portsmouth, and latterly Fleetwood Town, I would have happily snapped their hand off, although would have at the same time doubted the sanity of someone proposing such a scenario. And yet, it really should have been four from…
Blackpool FC remain a work in progress, but cautious optimism still couched with familiar failings
I previously called for Blackpool to start picking up points in games that mattered; in other words, against opposition already jostling for the top six positions or who are expected to do so. The last two games, both away from Bloomfield Road have provided some illumination to the development of the Tangerines under Head Coach…
Blackpool FC must now win games that matter, not just those it is routinely expected to do so
A return to league action for Blackpool after a 18 day absence precipitated by bringing forward the home game with Ipswich Town, a move which did not exactly reap dividends, will not only shake any complacency from the squad's collective system after routine cup victories against Eastbourne Borough and Leeds United's under 21's, but severely…
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