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…

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A Season of Triumphs, Fine Margins, and What Ifs for Blackpool FC

That was the season that was. After a sour end to a campaign which in August threatened to be one of toil and chastening defeats, in the end Blackpool never looked to be in the relegation trouble which most of the pundits and those supposedly 'in the know' suggested would be the outcome of their…

This season the Championship is a paper tiger; will Blackpool F.C. feel they should have done even better?

When Kenny Dougall's two goals at Wembley nine months ago sent Blackpool back to the Championship a lot sooner than Head Coach Neil Critchley and owner Simon Sadler could have anticipated, the reality of (re)joining what has become a Premier League 2.0/Premier League-lite immediately dawned on all with tangerine in their hearts. Dialling back nearly…

Wildschoenau: what I miss, and why I may never return

Wildschoenau: Wild and Beautiful. This Tirolean high valley has much to live up to, and delivers in digger-sized buckets. It is though the use of the aforementioned construction apparatus that is slowly dragging the valley back into the pack, from its once nonpareil position of being perfectly formed and relatively untouched by human intervention. It…

A failure to turn home draws into victories highlights Blackpool’s questionable play off credentials

A run of four draws in as many home games has seen Blackpool FC fail to make up ground on those currently within the League One play off places, and steal a march on teams currently outside the top six but with similar aspirations to the Seasiders. Without a hint of bias or trace of…

Will a post-Covid-19 Alpine Europe recalibrate its priorities or continue to pay homage to them?

Many of Europe's alpine regions are slowly emerging from their longer than usual pause between tourist seasons into a new reality, one where domestic guests and those from neighbouring continental countries will make up the bulk of visitor numbers. It is not though from where tourists arrive and to what extent an increase in staycationers…

Turkmenistan’s Hall of Mirrors image to be showcased at Dubai Expo 2020

While Turkmenistan continues to stagnate President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow's policy of presenting a very different image to an increasingly sceptical world shows little sign of slowing. The reality of citizens queuing for basic foodstuffs, normally in areas away from the prying eyes of the few cameras and curious foreigners who get into the country hardly tallies…

Blackpool: Developers and planners vie over one of the last remaining green sites within the resort

An appeal lodged by the Tamworth-based developer Lovell Partnerships following Blackpool Council’s refusal to grant permission for the construction of 86 dwellings on land off Warren Drive in the resort is set to be heard from today(29th January 2019), scheduled to last up to 4 days. Lovell, whose successful redevelopment of the Queens Park area…

The Tirol’s Neustift Rebuffs Further Cableway Expansion, But For How Long?

The seemingly inexhaustible desire for further, bigger, longer, and higher cableways in the Austrian Tirol and Salzburgerland provinces is to many a distasteful, unquenchable process that will never be sated. The marginal net gains promised by many projects fail to justify the financial outlay but crucially, the environmental scarring of landscapes to facilitate further pistes,…

Premier League 2017/18 Season: The Verdict

The denouement of the 2017/18 Premier League season brings into sharp focus the ever-increasing gap between English football's haves and have nots. Or does it? Manchester City's total dominance reflects the creeping influence that petro-dollars are now having on the modern game. Coupled with Sky Television's largesse the seemingly limitless wealth brought to the Etihad…

The Scourge of Litter in the UK: Are the Actions of Some the Responsibility of All?

UK government plans to all but double the on the spot fine for littering is a welcome development in a country increasingly swimming in inconsiderately disposed waste, although punitive measures against those responsible don't tell the whole story, nor create a catchall panacea. On three recent, separate occasions I have come across examples of utter…

Failure is Inevitable Without a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy

Build it and they will come, or at least as the saying goes. As an attempt to be a catchall principle the aforementioned is a tad vague, perhaps at times specious, but the message remains: only through market exposure can a commercial enterprise expect to prosper; there is little prospect of success without anyone knowing…

I Like(d) Google+ but Could Never Identify its Reason for Being

The simplicity of it as a platform on which to write has always been the primary reason why I previously enjoyed using Google+. Without the bangs and whistles more commonly associated with Content Management Systems Google+ affords those who literally want a blank canvas minus an array of fonts, and picture options. That is not…

Bohinj: Balancing Tourism and Ecological Sensibilities Remains a Huge Challenge

Striking a precarious balance of promoting sustainable tourism that doesn't alienate those it wishes to attract to the region remains the municipality of Bohinj's greatest challenge. Increasingly swamped with primarily day tourists, Bohinj had previously been an antidote to Lake Bled - a byword itself for the grim realities of mass tourism and the negative…

Salisbury Poisoning: UK can Expect Few Favours from Serbia

The UK will in effect be crossing its own Rubicon should it take steps to request of Serbia that it denounce its Russian ally, in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning scandal. Moscow and Belgrade have long since forged impregnable ties, which have only strengthened during the perceived impression of anti-Slav bias from those seemingly…

Amid a Toxic Backdrop Blackpool Football Club’s Youth Team Show Maturity Beyond Their Years

The unlikely appearance of Blackpool in tonight's F.A. Youth Cup semi-final acts as a neat counterweight to the manifold off-field issues that have become the ultimate ruination of the first team's prospects, which have included a fall from the Premier League to League Two in the space of five years. Now at a stage in…

England’s Attitude to Highway Litter on a Road to Nowhere

The amount of litter snared in the undergrowth and verges of England's highways is a national disgrace, with little chance of this most unsightly of problems disappearing any time soon. Although on a purely aesthetic level littering has been a bugbear of mine as long as I can remember, there are several moral and practical…

Masterstroke Mitrovic Signing Gives Fresh Impetus to Fulham’s Promotion Credentials

Are two Serbs better than one? At Fulham's Craven Cottage, it would appear so. Benefiting from owner Shahid Khan displaying an element of patience increasing rare in today's game, manager Slavisa Jokanovic has made the Cottagers into realistic promotion contenders and used his Serbian links to recruit, albeit initially on loan, fellow countryman Aleksandar Mitrovic…

Do West Bromwich Albion Represent Alan Pardew’s Premier League Denouement?

As Wolverhampton Wanderers look set to replace Black Country local rivals West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League, the highly questionable appointment of Alan Pardew as Tony Pulis's replacement at The Hawthorns that was intended to precipitate a Baggies 'boing' has instead been the equivalent of holding a large pin to a balloon - with…

The Oxymoron of Improving Public Transport at the Expense of the Environment?

Network Rail's electrification of the line between Preston to Blackpool North is reaching its crescendo, with a tagline promising greener, quieter, and more efficient journeys for all. What though the project has meant for the attendant environmental habitats redolent with railway track sides is utter devastation, culminating in the sweeping away on an industrial scale…