Football Blog: Tangerine Flavoured

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Cheers Rob!


To begin with, Robbie Apter was merely a rumour. The few who witnessed youth team games spoke in reverential terms of some young kid who was tearing it up.

Then he was a video, filmed from side on, halfway line at youth games, the strange sight of a match on video but without any football backdrop, the green of the pitch blending with the empty fields beyond, no zoom, no multicam, jerky panning. It's not easy to pick up what's going on but you couldn't fail to notice the little lad with the mop of hair picking the ball up, running wide, cutting in and finding an impetuous finish, tinny celebration by peers and coaches, puncturing the silence of the clip.

As he progressed through various loans, the noise grew, the backdrops became less agrarian and more recognisable as football stadia. Bamber Bridge, a tough grown up league to survive in for a player with a school boy physique ticked off and rave reviews received. Then to Chester and  in turn, on to Scunthorpe, both proper clubs., proper grounds, half decent crowds but the latter in freefall, a toxic crisis of a place, a horrible platform for a maverick looking to learn their unconventional trade - but again, end of level boss defeated and XP gained. 

There was now a clamour for him in tangerine. No longer merely a distant idea, he became a real physical option. Pre-season offers glimpses of him. He has had the odd moment in the first team. An injury crisis at Wigan sees a youthful Apter come on and immediately create a goal. 2 years later he plays a part in the lovely Stephen Dobbie inspired swansong (a pleasing coda to an otherwise discordant season) and fleetingly looks the part in the few Championship minutes he gets.

The next season starts, Apter again shows up in preseason. Pool are turgid and lack ideas when the business begins. I travel to Wolves, we lose by 5 but it's worth it for two things, a glorious sunset and a short substitute cameo from Apter where he shows mesmerizing feet and balance that suggests if football doesn't work out, tight rope walking or impersonation of a weeble is an alternative employment option. I travel to Lincoln, we lose by 3 and Neil 'grey polo shirt' Critchley doesn't bring him on. I'm furious at that. We have no creativity so why are we leaving a little magician on the bench?

Apter goes on loan again. It's football league. It's Tranmere, the club he spent his childhood development with. We bring in Karamoko Dembele, who is basically Apter with a stats boost. Dembele is special, but Apter explodes onto the league scene with double figures worth of goals and a bag of assists in the division below us. The videos are higher quality now and it's easy to see the impact he's having - one game at Stockport the highlights looks like County vs Apter, such is his domination of the key moments of Tranmere's play.

I still wonder inow f Apter's extra magic would have been enough to see us over the line in a season where we fell painfully just short of the where we needed to be - we were all but in the play off's except for a horrible lack of footballing imagination - but in Crichley's defence, Apter as a bit part occasional lockpick might have benefited the team, (which actually, thinking about it, in prosecution of him, was what he was their to improve) the loan was probably the right option for the individual - the full season of league football and the success as a result undoubtedly benefited Apter's game. 

Then there was this year. After so many years of him being at arms length, we had the chance to see him close up for an extended period. Coming on the back of Dembele, he had a hard act to follow, stepping into the boots of a player who was, without question, one of the most naturally gifted players I've ever seen in the flesh but that didn't daunt him. Confidence is not something that he lacks. 

The most notable thing about him is his ability in a tight space. It's not so much that he can wriggle out (and he certainly can) - it's his ability to hold the ball and then find an angle for a pass that seems impossible. It's almost an illusionist trick and Apter is spectacularly good at it. 

There's also his desire to shoot. I love players who have a go at the goal - because, whilst yes, pass and move is pleasing to watch, ultimately possession without an end becomes frustrating and soporific. Apter won't always retain the ball but he certainly won't leave you wondering about why players insist on sideways and backwards when there's space to run into or a sight of goal. That tendency to seek individual glory might have been what made Neil 'possession stats' Critchley cautious about using him. It didn't seem to bother Steve Bruce though. 

He runs hot and cold. He's alternately brilliant and invisible. When he's got the run on his full back, he looks Premier League. There's an air of Pat Nevin to him in both his stature and the way he can glide through defences. When he hasn't got the beating of his man, he can look a lot less than this. He plays a lot of games. He keeps going. He gets booted up in the air and crunched. He skips and tricks and leaves players lunging at empty space.  He doesn't lack fight or effort - he's just fundamentally little and can be pushed about - he's got plenty of fight - but it's not always an equal match. He has moments of invisibility and moments of technicolour presence. He's a mercurial winger after all. That's what they do.

He's got superb feet and a velvet touch. He's got a lovely delivery (particularly for a player always playing on his wrong foot) and a real sense of timing of his movement in space when we pick up possession - he's always available. He's a big part of why we're really good on the break. He scores a hat-trick. Our strikers never seem to score hat tricks, but he makes it seem like he's just strolling into the right place and scoring cos he can. Away from home as well. He looks almost sheepish as he celebrates the third. 

He's just half a yard short of pace. James McLean serves as a villain for many, but if we ignore the politics of sectarian divides, there's still the horrific and deliberate tackle that subdues an initially lively Apter away at Wrexham and the sense that, like a few other fullbacks he faces, McLean can use a mixture of intimidation and experience to shepherd Apter - because, despite a nice sharp acceleration, he doesn't have a great top speed - so he can't simply roast them with a punt and run into the space behind them, he has to get up close to beat them. He relies on skill - and that gives him an almost old fashioned feel - he bamboozles defenders with feints and feet in an era where pure pace and muscle are the default currency. 

All of this leaves me wondering if his future might see him come inside. He's so good in a crowd that the open space of the wing seems a waste in some ways. He needs more time though - he's not yet wise enough to be that fulcrum of team, to know when precisely to give and when to go - there's still development to be done - it's just a case of enough football in his legs, enough games running through his memory. 

Then he was gone. My thoughts of a fluid front five running amok in glorious Tangerine, with Carey and Apter wide but just as happy coming into the middle are gone with the swirl of a signature on a set of Charlton cheques. The are no lights as bright as Blackpool's in winter but nonetheless Apter's head is turned by higher wage, higher division and why shouldn't they be, because this is the increasingly stratified landscape of modern football. Charlton only finish a few places higher than us, but a promotion means their income is increased by a significant factor - and we therefore can't compete when they come knocking. 

Like Carey before him, he goes with my best wishes. It was a pleasure to see him play and ultimately a frustration and a sadness that we didn't get to see more of him. I wonder if we left it too long to introduce him but I also wonder if he left too soon. There's a player with certain skills of the highest quality there - but I'm not sure there's yet a player who is good enough to play the role that would best suit his attributes over time and whether learning that at a higher level is the right development - I don't know. Then again, I didn't want him out on loan, so it's maybe hypocrisy to say he should have spent another year at a level lower than football is willing to provide for him. 

I'm also left with a reminder of the transactional nature of modern football. The sense amongst many is that the money is enough to salve the wound left by the one player we've produced in the best part of a decade leaving. It probably is, if you see football as a simple case of 'asset out, asset in' - a bit like horse trading but with a bit more football in between the exchanges.

For me, I'm sad. Not because I think Apter was world class - he was great in his own way, but he wasn't the finished article - but because again, the pleasure of seeing a player develop over time is one that is increasingly denied to all but the most powerful of clubs - watching a player learn to play within the limitations of themselves and maximise their strengths is one of the sub plots that keeps the game entertaining even if the main story isn't going your way. Like so many before him, Apter leaves us with a sense that we didn't get to see the full development of his narrative - sometimes a player leaves because they're palpably too good not to - but with Apter, I've seen unequivocal brilliance but also times it's felt like there's development needed. Carey hit such a vein of consistency in the second half of the season that I suspect it's a case of using him right to get the best of him - whereas Apter seemed to always play the same role and be more dependent on the game state or opposition as to whether he'd have an impact. 

Charlton gain a player who might yet have learning to do, but who can be ignored by an opposition at their peril. We lose one of those players who, every time the ball goes near them, makes you alert, who prompts the possibility of an attack, a shot, a ball slung across the face of goal - to use the cliche, a player who gets you up on your feet.... 'Go on Robbie' - I must have said this to myself hundreds of times last season and for better or worse, he mostly responded with an attempt to do just that. 

I look at us at this point in time and we're lacking in that. I've been awoken by the economic realities of football in 2025 - we're in need of some real attacking potency. CJ and Coulson have their uses and Bloxham has shown serious ability in a few moments - but to me, that isn't anywhere near the quality we need. We've invested quite heavily so far and parts of the team look better stocked - but other parts of the team are without question weaker than they were - the search goes on and sadly, in what we've lost, we've lost a rare level of idiosyncrasy and raw skill - that's not always easy to find - because as we've already stated - physical ability and 'presence' has always been treasured in the English game (and let's be honest, I'm as big a fan of an ox of a target man as anyone) - which means the flimsy players blessed with golden touch and magic feet are that little bit rarer and more special for it. 

Mainly though, I'll remember Apter for the moment in a game early this season just gone where, boxed in by two players, he teased the ball past one, coaxed it down the line, using the spin of the ball to keep it in play, left the second for dead and put the ball across the box. I don't recall if we scored or not. That's beside the point. He'd left his mark with a moment of sublime skill - he lived up, in that moment, to the hype and the potential, the cheeky little scouser leaving full backs with their boot laces tied together and a look of sheer confusion on their faces, forever attacking, forever going for goal - and for those moments, I loved having him on the pitch - because they are the moments we dream of in our playground fantasies. Those childhood dream never leave us - and when a player like Apter appears and weaves a little spell, for a few seconds we're who we were, alone on the grass - with the whole world at our feet and our future ahead of us. 

Good luck Rob.

Onward!

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Writing about football is possibly a bit pointless in an era when there's the telly and youtube and videos all over the shop. It's not my living this and it's just something I do because I do so there's no problem with reading it and then getting on with your life - If you do want to chuck some money at the cause of some random fella writing shit no one ever asked him too, then Patreon. is a thing.


Sunday, July 6, 2025

So far... so good


At this remove, football seems an abstract concept. It's something that happens on DAZN in another part of the world. Observing the slow paced spectacle of multi millionaires sweating a lot whilst also sometimes not really seeming to try very hard, attempting to win a competition that no one can agree whether it matters or not, I feel very distant from the kind of bone chilling, leg crunching blood and thunder football of a mid January League One game.

Midsummer can take on a dreamy feeling. The days seem endless, even in the current gloomy weather. The world though is one giant clockwork certainty. Soon we'll look back on summer from the perspective of autumn and then, in turn winter. The nights will draw in, the temperature will drop, the floodlights will burst into life.


We've definitely turned a page. The chapter entitled Critchball has been reformatted and struck out. A failed attempt to relight a fire, abandoned early last season. Steve Bruce managed to find some kindling in the ashes and get an unsteady flame flickering but it was never a truly convincing blaze. Don't get me wrong, we were grateful for the warmth that the Supreme Steve managed to create - but there was always the sense we needed more fuel.

So, this summer, we've been out into the woods, foraged for wood and from where I stand, it seems we've done a grand job so far. I'm no expert in signing footballers, but shopping falls basically into two categories. You can either go the the supermarket with a neatly formatted list and steadily make your way around, ticking things off as you go- or you can run madly from aisle to aisle filling your basket with what happens to be on offer or takes your fancy.


This season we seem to have plumped for the former approach. It feels as if we've written a metaphorical list on the fridge door and that we've taken that our with us and have returned with at least some of what we need in our bags, rather than a random collection of things we're not sure what to do with. There's a lot to be said for a bargain, but the problem with hoovering up only the offers and reduced items is you end up with a confused and overstocked fridge full of things about to go off and because you haven't properly planned it, you lack other items that would allow you to turn the things you've bought into a meal. I'm not a man of great planning and routine - but shopping is one place where a bit of discipline and forward thinking definitely applies and I'm glad to see that Steve Bruce and David Downes have opted for a steady and focussed trudge around the supermarket of football, rather than a fitful dash

Everyone we've signed falls into the category of "was an important player last season for a club who were us or better" and equally importantly, none of them fall into the all too familiar category of "if he can stay fit/if you can get him fit - there's a player there" with all of them playing regular football at a good level over the last few years.


We seem to be following the plan Bruce and Downes outlined at the mid season event - we're putting our resources towards wages and trying to cultivate a smaller squad of higher quality and reliable players, rather than a larger squad of punts and gambles. Less is more.

Time will tell if that's the right approach but I like it as an idea because for too long, it's felt like we've had players taking up a first team squad place who aren't really threatening the fist team but also blocking an opportunity for a young player or an investment in new talent.

I find it difficult to really assess the signings in depth. I struggle to really evaluate a player until he plays for us. I'm not a pundit, I'm not a scout - I'm just a bloke with a blog he writes for no apparent reason. I just don't watch the opposition or a neutral game in the same way I watch us - but all the signings make sense to me - for whatever that is worth (which is probably not a great deal.)


I'm delighted to get Ennis back (who, of course, I do have an opinion on) as I like his gritty willingness allied with a bit of sharpness and skill. He's not a million miles away from Jerry Yates in his style, a determined irritant to opposition defences and I wonder if we've yet seen the best of him.

Honeyman is an amazing coup - a player with considerable experience at a higher level, who seemed at home in the division above and who possesses both determination and no little skill. He's not the same player as Carey, being less of a dribbler and more of a touch player - but he brings a certain adventure to us that we'll undoubtedly need.

Horsfall is another coup coming from a team who were right up there and being a key player for them. It's evident from his numbers that he's dominant in the air but his passing stats suggest a reasonable quality on the floor as well. Iheikwe comes with good reviews from Wednesday fans I know and has largely played his football in the Championship. I'll freely admit I don't know a lot about the keeper - but he started at River Plate and brings a lot of potential for chants and exotic cult status so I can't not like that.


We've brought in a hell of a lot of experience and (as you might expect from Steve Bruce) the central defence looks potentially outstanding (assuming we keep Casey) and what we've bought, definitely addresses some of the shortcomings - but there's still a lot to do. CJ alone as a left side option doesn't cut the mustard, we've only got one keeper who isn't a nailed on first choice (something Bruce has acknowledged openly) Andy Lyons is an unknown quantity as the sole right back and we don't possess a defensive midfielder (link with Jordan Brown would suggest we're well aware of that long standing deficit)

There are, of course other positions where we might want to upgrade - but for me, I want to see us balance the experience with some more youth. Despite valid critiques of our transfer policy at times, we've done ok in terms of finding younger players and giving them a platform. Yates, Bowler, Joseph and Grimshaw have brought in good money. Carey, Anderson and Ekpiteta potentially *could* have brought decent fees in different circumstances. Casey almost certainly will command a few quid one day, Morgan and Apter might also make a step up on the back of good performances for us.


The one thing about the players we've signed so far, is few of them will attract much at the end of their contracts and I think it's important we stock the cupboards for the next 2 or 3 years and ensure we have the assets developing to fund the next rebuild.

In our own ranks, we have Bondo, Upton and Knight who spring to mind as the players currently with a shot at a future (it seems we'll lose Schluter, a fact that underlines the frustrating and in unequal playing field in youth development) but all of those are far too big a gamble to imagine being the next million pound plus sale - it's no sleight on their abilities at all, but it's a stretch to have any confidence that any of them could could even establish themselves on our bench, let alone prosper, such is the brutal attrition rate of youth players attempting making the step up to the pro game, even at League One level.

Essentially, I think good football teams are generally a blend of abilities and ages - alongside the solidity and experience, you need a few wildcards. You need experience to ground the youth, but you need the youth to energise the experience.


Whilst the job is ongoing, the most important thing about this close season so far, is that the club has acted with a sense of purpose. The stadium will be refreshed and improved when we walk back in to it. Season ticket prices were addressed in the right places - something that goes a long way to restoring a sense that the club values the support and we've recruited thus far, with what feels like a sense of ambition, confidence and purpose. It's hard not to feel some positivity in these circumstances. 

We have, as I've already suggested (and Steve No1 has also acknowledged,) still got plenty to do - and in the remodeling of a team, there is of course, the danger we get it wrong. Football history is littered with preseason excitement yielding disappointing realities There's a possible future where, by November, Bloomfield Road is a frustrated place, bored of watching massive players trundle around smashing it up front and then looking leaden footed as teams pass around us and all the dire warnings from Newcastle fans upon Bruce's appointment come back to haunt us.
 


I don't think that will be the case though. I think the precise reason why Bruce seems to fit us so well is because he knows that he can deliver what we want and that, however you cut it, whilst we're not in a position to buy the league, we're on the bigger end of the teams in this league - When you look at the basic numbers (i.e. how many people pay to watch us play) we really should always have a sporting chance at competing and therefore, he can build a side to play some football, score some goals and express themselves a bit.

 For all of his prior attritional reputation at certain clubs, he's a manager forged in the ethos of Manchester United and in sides who, whilst less technically and tactically complex than their modern counterparts at the top of the pyramid, possessed players of game changing skill and largely, played 'we'll score one more than you' football rather than 'we'll strangle you and stop you having the ball and score one goal' football. To put it another way, our recruitment thus far has been quite focussed on the Pallister and Bruce types - but I can't believe he won't have a few Sharpe, Kanchelskis, Giggs or Cantona types on his shopping list because this is a man who surely knows (and has said multiple times himself) you win games with match winners.



I think Bruce is here for one last dance and is listening very carefully to the music and moving in perfect time with it. I think, whilst he wants solid foundations he wants those to be the basis for something that both he and we enjoy. I think he's a man of remarkable resilience who has had just about everything football and life can throw at him, thrown at him and has emerged, ready to snap off the ends of reporters questions, to put an arm round players and whisper some gently spoken words in their ears, to front up when we're crap and to smile softly and modestly praise the players when we're good. 

I know of at least two of our players from last season who thought Bruce was the best manager they'd worked for. It felt brilliant to be in crowds where we were behind the team, even when it wasn't going very well. It feels as if our owner trusts him too. Perhaps most importantly, pretty much every time he speaks, he exudes a sense that he's enjoying what he's doing and that enthusiasm is unexpectedly infectious.


None of this is any kind of promise of success. Football doesn't work on preseason vibes alone. Nonetheless, none of this resembles the mood of the last 3 pre-seasons which were marred by divisive appointments and characterised by, yes, some signings that worked in the long run, but also, a lot of insipid business in the transfer market and at times some odd choices off the pitch. That's the past - the beauty of the game is the, the book is never ending and new chapters always being written - this one feels as if it's a story of a club where everything is pulling in the same general direction.

For the third and final time, there's still a lot to do. Regardless, the signs so far are encouraging...

Something tells me, I'm into something good.




Onward!


You can follow MCLF on facebookTwitterBlueskyThreads and Instagram or use Follow.it to get posts sent to your email If you appreciate the blog and judge it worth 1p or more, then a donation to one of the causes below which help kids and families in Blackpool would be grand.


Writing about football is possibly a bit pointless in an era when there's the telly and youtube and videos all over the shop. It's not my living this and it's just something I do because I do so there's no problem with reading it and then getting on with your life - If you do want to chuck some money at the cause of some random fella writing shit no one ever asked him too, then Patreon. is a thing.

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