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…

Blackpool FC: Despite recent victories far greater challenges await Neil Critchley and his squad

Securing back to back wins for any football club would normally be a cause to rejoice, building confidence within the squad and management team. Blackpool can though in reality gain little kudos from narrowly beating Wigan Athletic and Burton Albion, two teams likely among League One's also-rans come May. Equally, there were few pointers from…

Colin Calderwood: Assistant to the Head Coach, or the next one in waiting?

The arrival of Colin Calderwood at Bloomfield Road as Assistant Head Coach - or should that be assistant to the head coach - will presumably be an appointment thrust upon incumbent head coach Neil Critchley and not one of his choosing, or something he has requested of Blackpool's owner Simon Sadler. In keeping with the…

Overcoming poor opposition does not indicate progress for Critchley’s Blackpool

Following a series of poor performances and results that matched, a win for Blackpool Football Club against fellow strugglers MK Dons was the absolute minimum demanded of Neil Critchley's side. Whilst that was achieved, there were no indications in one of the most turgid 90-minutes of 'action' seen at Bloomfield Road for some seasons that…

Calamity James fails to overshadow the many doubts surfacing from Critchley’s poor start to life at Blackpool FC.

It was tacitly assumed from our remote vantage points that the sending off of James Husband after 58 seconds would set the tone of last night's game at Bloomfield Road, as Blackpool took on Charlton Athletic. A backs to the wall rearguard action against presumably emboldened Addicks would surely only be a case of damage…

Blackpool Football Club: Head Coach Critchley must meld together his new squad with a League One-averse methodology

A raft of new signings prior to the slamming shut of the transfer window is not something that fans of Blackpool Football Club have become accustomed. Reared on slim pickings delivered by the previous regime more inclined to go on holiday or at least AWOL when vital squad strengthening was needed, an approach diametrically opposed…

Blackpool Football Club secure much-needed defensive reinforcements, but the called-for experience remains conspicuous by its absence

A new defence is what many fans of Blackpool Football Club have recently called for and that is what they have now got, but it remains uncertain whether it is a rearguard that will firmly close the door or one that will do nothing but paper over the back line's sizeable cracks. If anyone had…

Blackpool Football Club: Faltering start already puts head coach Critchley’s footballing ethos under the microscope

Barely a handful of games into the 2020/21 season Blackpool Football Club head coach Neil Critchley can surely be under no illusion just how difficult it is to navigate a course out of League One. Not only from a personal perspective of being the 41-year old's first full season as the main man at a…

Blackpool Football Club: Liam Feeney thrown under the bus as exodus of experience continues

It is assumed and in the main understood in equal measure that football managers on arriving at their next posting will wish to bring in personnel to play in their image, to dovetail with the most suitable component parts of their predecessor's squad. In the pursuit of implementing an ethos as far removed as can…