Before you read the rest of this article, I want to get one thing clear. I have nothing against Blackpool Football Club. I think they are a good club that I enjoyed watching in the Premier League, and even had a half decent Football Manager save with them. But this article does hit them pretty hard. So if you are a fan of the Seasiders you might want to look away now.
It’s no secret Blackpool are struggling. Bottom of the Championship, tied with Carlisle for the most goals conceded in the entire Football League and with no realistic hopes of survival barring a miracle. But in a lot of ways, they are just like us. Flash back to 2010-11. While we were busy beating Ipswich 9-2 combined, scoring late winners, and going up, Blackpool were already up. After some good results to start, they fizzled down the stretch with just three wins in the back half of the season and went down. Norwich had that exact same win total in the 2nd half last year and went down. But that’s not where the similarities end.
In their first year back down they lost a playoff final heartbreaker to West Ham at Wembley. While I would like to think we will go up, making and then possibly losing in the playoffs is certainly a possibility. Since then the Seasiders have finished progressively worse in the table. So here lies the question. With us on the same course as them, how do we avoid becoming Blackpool?
A key difference between us and our opponents Saturday is that we are much more financially stable. But that means nothing if you don’t spend it. We need to put it into our youth academy. Top notch facilities, top notch scouts, the best coaching staff, all of that and more is the fastest way to success. Blackpool have nine players on their squad 28 years of age or older and many of these are defenders. They are slower and cannot keep up with pace filled players. Many of their young players were just purchased this season to have a large enough squad, a bad reason to have a young average age for your squad.
I think the fans have lost belief in the club as well. Their average attendance is 6,500 fans less than their stadium size and fans are less ready to travel because of the form. That probably explains why they are yet to win away from Bloomfield Road all season. We need to keep the fans engaged. Make sure that if we lose a few on the bounce that they won’t be a little more ready to stay home. The Yellow Army is our best aspect, we need to protect it. To use a top flight example, Mike Ashley has lost all touch with the Newcastle fans because of some his dealings, and the fans rightfully hate him. I think Blackpool have the same situation, but much worse. It has even caused some fans to turn on the club.
Bottom line, there are a lot of things wrong with our foes for the weekend. They could use a certain Football Manager veteran to dig them out of this sticky situation. But for now they are stuck at the bottom and will surely be a League One side in a few months time. By investing in the youth and helping the fans stay engaged we can avoid that position. I feel sorry for Blackpool. I really do. But not this weekend, OTBC!
