Onwards, Upwards... Tangerine 🍊

Readers with decent memories may wish to point out that me writing an article dissecting the needs and actions required of the club over the summer is a self indulgent pile of shite that no one should take any notice of at all - because a) I'm not actually qualified in any way to do so and b) last season, I wrote a lengthy piece which boiled down to its core read "Dear Uncle Si, please give all your money to that nice Mr Bruce to spend because literally nothing can go wrong" 

Perhaps I should bin off the idea at the start and say something like 'what will be will be' or 'time will tell' - but that would be quite dull. It would make the blog easier to write (and probably read) but you don't get to hit the heights of 3rd best Blackpool FC related blog on the internet by saying such things so, in this era of idiots spouting shit for clicks, I'm going to clatter out my thoughts on what has been and what may be and hope that this season turns out better than the last. 

Last season: 

As mentioned above we spent all the money on all the players. Unfortunately most of the players came with bits hanging off them or weren't very good. We also forgot the bit of the season where you do such things as 'get fit' and 'sort out the tactics' so things didn't go very well. I don't wish to dwell on the start of the year but I can honestly say, the period up to late October was one of the most dispiriting, lacklustre periods I've ever experienced as a Blackpool fan. For whatever reason, Bruceball had gone from being quite an enjoyable, if slightly rough and ready thing, to every game being like that scene in one of the Lord of the Rings films where they walk through the bog of misery and despair* - I still am yet to figure out what we were actually trying to do, beyond 'sitting tight at the back lads and hope that one of the attackers scores' 

*I don't really like Lord of the Rings, so I'm not sure if that's what it's actually called but basically, the main blokes in the film go through a really miserable, dreary landscape for ages and it makes them depressed. It's quite an effective scene, so much so that I actually turned off the film at that point and didn't watch anymore. This was about 25 years ago, so I can't remember the finer details - I wish it was as easy as that with Blackpool FC. 

Evatt came in. He wasn't really my choice - I wanted a clean break with history and some kind of sexy foreign coach with mad ideas or a 32 year old hipster who would either be the best thing since Joe Smith or fired inside 6 weeks. Instead, we got Macho Critch replete with new hair and teeth. (Rumours that he got 10 free goes on Big Gaz's old sunbed as part of the signing can neither be confirmed or denied.) It only took some strangely lurid and weirdly slightly camp photos on his official reveal and a short interview to persuade me that it was worth giving Evo the time of day - this was clearly a man with a plan who wanted to be here and in a world of merry-go-round rent-a-manager that's worth backing. 

'Stephen, stop frowning, we look marvellous' 

We definitely picked up under Evo initially - we played some football that suggested some coaching sessions had taken place. That sounds like the kind of mild sarcasm that I write with normally to disguise a lack of any real insight, but it's literally the truth - we looked for the first time as if we'd been instructed as to what to do, how to move in relation to each other and essentially, vaguely resembled a professional football club in that it looked like we met up and did stuff midweek. A good run, a miraculously good Christmas, we giddily began to tell ourselves 'this is Blackpool, we come from the pack, we win promotion, this is what we do' and then everything fell apart against Port Vale and kept falling apart until sometime around late spring. James Husband's perfectly good tackle and the worst referee ever (I've not sworn in the rest of the blog, but Ed Duckworth is a cunt) were the footballing equivalent of the control rods being removed in the Chernobyl power plant, sparking an unstoppable chain reaction of horrendous events that went on for ages 

Whereas under Bruce, we looked under instructed, if anything, when we were in the trough under Evo we seemed the opposite - it's a curious thing how 'go and play lads' and 'lads, don't forget to read the 90 page dossier, remember the PDF on the quarter space tactics and also the positional line graph' can have similar results. An empty head and an over full head essentially amount to the same thing - poor performances and bad results. 

Things looked really bad as grim defeat after grim defeat stacked up. Then Big Si turned up. Now, it's obviously not the case that he picked the team, took the coaching sessions or gave the team talks - but it's undeniable that his call to arms had an impact. As the season progressed, the fan base got restless, Julian Winter gave an interview where he conceded that communication had been lacking but bristled at the suggestion the club was 'drifting' but, blown by the winds of League One towards the bleak, rocky coastline of League Two I'm not sure how we could really feel otherwise.

Sadler's intervention mattered in two key ways - firstly the decisive and well priced ticket offer helped give a sense of occasion to the remaining fixtures. His speaking out also showed us, that his interest remained and that he too, had been disappointed by the season. I think that gave something to us a fanbase that had been lacking - a sense that someone senior at the club might be willing to grasp hold of the under-performing mess and give it a good shake. Being told 'we're getting new floodlights' wasn't quite as galvanising and it's much easier to get behind something where it feels as if it's run with with some passion and care than on autopilot... 

I still don't know what being 'in receiving mode' actually means

Secondly - and perhaps decisively, he brought in Steve Thompson. At the time, I was again, slightly suspicious of the simple logic of 'if they're not dancing, play the greatest hits compilation' but equally, felt it was worth a shot - and it turned out to be a masterstroke. I don't know what precise part Thommo played, but it felt as if suddenly, we became a bit more flexible, a bit more pragmatic - the simplest way I can put it is, we seemed to start using players as what they actually are, instead of what we'd like them to become - Results are of course, the ultimate builders of confidence and as we picked up one or two, we played better and 3 became 4 and so on, until safety was ultimately comfortably attained. Whether Thommo was a sounding board for Evatt, whether he was a bridge to the players, whether he put his own ideas in or whatever else, he had a clear impact. Fans responded to greater fight and by the end of the season, we saw some reasonable football and some committed showings and the atmosphere had returned to what had, for most of the season, been a moribund and uncharacteristically flat Bloomfield Road. 

Where now? 

What we learn from last year is unclear. We learned that buying a load of players who are mostly around 30ish and giving them to an aging celebrity manager doesn't work. We learned, I think, that we still have no real sense of a 'through-line' between appointments - Evatt, I think did a decent job overall, he inherited a squad of players which really weren't designed to play the kind of technical, possession football he wants to play and whilst, he did get a bit stuck in the mid season mud trying to get them to do what he wanted, he also ended up finding a way to make it (sort of) work. From where we were to where we finished, it's impossible not to say 'job done' in regards to his work. 

The problem is, whilst Evatt ultimately should be applauded for turning round as an initially unfit, unmotivated, un-bonded and unsuccessful side as I've seen in tangerine, next season provides a different challenge. If you ask yourself two questions - 1) Who played well consistently? and 2) When did we play really well last season? then you're left with more or less the same answer - a few of them and a few times. We're left with quite a bit of work to do to put out a team that would convincingly challenge at the top of the league, not least because we've still got most of a squad that demonstrably struggled to convince playing 442 (despite having all the wingers) and also didn't look that special playing 532 either. 

The squad: 

This is the bit where I try to look at it objectively and work out what our priorities might be. I'm not making any assumptions about formation, not least because I think we're better when we show flexibility. I think there's a place for a 532, especially away from home against better sides, but there's also a place for a back 4, especially if you want to get at teams and utilise some of the attacking talent we may not have got the best of last year. 

Keepers: 

We've resigned Bailey Peacock Farrell - I'm a bit unsure about this. He's a great keeper and a terrible keeper at the same time. The hope has to be that with regular football, in the same team, over a period of time, he settles into being the former and not the latter. He's never really had that in his peripatetic career to date, so maybe it works. I have no qualms at all about his technical ability, he's as good a keeper in terms of his physical ability as anyone in the league - his concentration and sometime positioning is the issue and perhaps the communication that comes from being part of a unit with experience of playing together will address that. 

Franco is probably fine as back up - he looked calamitous initially, but had some good displays latterly - I don't really see a player who looks like an absolute top keeper, but equally, I don't see him as fatally flawed either as sometimes the reserve keeper obviously is, though he wisely cut out trying to fanny about at the back and kicked long in his better showings and I wonder if Evatt would possibly look to swap him out and bring in a keeper more confident in the short game if he wants to have a choice as opposed to a defined number one and a back up. 

Full backs/Wing backs: 

This is an area of urgent need. Zac Ashworth is fine, he's an able squad player, he's committed and can play a couple of roles. For me, he's one of the few this year who I rate more at the end of the season than I did at the start. 

Hayden Coulson hasn't really pushed on to be the player I'd hoped he'd be. He's likably energetic and can get forward, but he's not really got devastating skill or a demon cross and he's really lightweight. I don't particularly trust him at left back and I don't get overly excited about him as a left wing back. Coulson also is prone to injuries - it's a harsh way to judge a player, but like say, Shayne Lavery, his worth to us seems less than it could be as he seems unable to go more than 4 or 5 games without picking up a knock. 

Andy Lyons has similarly failed to be the player he looked he could be - In his case, personal and physical challenges have been genuinely massive and I think everyone would want Lyons to succeed - but as much as I hope he does, in my heart of hearts, I'd be very surprised if we started the season with him at right wing back - I think he probably needs a year of football somewhere to re find his mojo, as opposed to another season of stop/start gap filling and never really getting back to any kind of rhythm. 

That leaves us with CJ and astonishingly, CJ would come quite high on a list of players in answer to the question 'who played well last year' - that said, I wouldn't in a million years, build my team around the idea of CJ at wing back. For me, CJ's greatest strength at this point in his career is his utility. I enjoyed Evatt's impassioned explanation of CJ's hitherto uncredited football intelligence and ability to execute instructions in different positions - to me, that screams of a utility player - someone who can come off the bench and play 4 or 5 different roles, depending on the game situation (and equally, of course, fill gaps in starting line ups) - but we've done the 'going for promotion with CJ at wing back' story before - and it wasn't a happy one... 

Raul Walters was a good loan addition - his ability to play RCB, RB or RWB would fit nicely with the idea of flexibility and he wouldn't be a bad signing at all - he's also the right kind of age, a player with room to grow and seemingly a good level of fitness. James Husband leaves a big hole on the left - his ability to drive us out, his aptitude as an actual old style left back and ability to step in to LCB and cover the LWB effectively are all misses - but we probably do need a more dynamic, mobile player moving forward. 

Centre backs: 

If we play a back 3 we're definitely short. I really like Fraser Horsfall but a trio of Horsfall, Ihiekwe and Casey only needs a striker with even the slightest bit of guile and pace to run rings round them. It also is a horrible prospect in terms of fluid football, carrying the ball out of defence, creating overloads and so on. It's just not a viable back 3 in a sexy footballing team. It also possesses no left footers so is fatally imbalanced - something that matters both in facing up skilful forwards running at you (a good back three needs to cover advanced wing backs, so in essence, the wider centre backs need to be auxiliary fullbacks) and driving the ball forward. 

As a two, I think Horsfall and Casey isn't a bad pair - Casey is a much, much better player in a back four or at the centre of a five - I don't see him as a really top LCB or RCB though. In a five, Horsfall has the attributes to anchor the defence, Casey is a very able deputy - but there's only really Zac Ashworth and at a real push, Andy Lyons, I'd see as candidates to be the more mobile players either side that you need to make a back 3 or 5 something that is part of an attacking team as opposed to a defensive one - and I don't think Ashworth is quite ready to be a first pick every single week player and I don't think Lyons has shown enough form since injury to be that player either. 

Ihiekwe is a problem - he's not without heart and clearly played through injury and probably earned a worse reputation than he deserves doing so - but he's also really more at home in that central role than anywhere else and we've already got the Horse and Casey who are stronger there and he's probably the least equipped to play the wider role of anyone. He's also on a long contract so he's not easy to move on but in an ideal world, he's the player who would give way to allow space for a quality LCB which is the most sorely needed position 

Width (wingers or wide forwards)

Josh Bowler is the best footballer in the division. He just is. His touch is sublime, his ability to beat people at will remains. He's a better passer than he was when he left. He can shoot with almost no back lift and he absolutely terrifies oppositions, particular those teams who choose to sit in and therefore cede space for him to run into. He'll pull people out of shape and make space for others. Why then, does he seem almost as big an ill fit as Big Mike? He played so few times in his natural position (and the one time later in the season he did, he was absolutely brilliant) that it's hard to make a judgement. Is he capable of playing as a 10? I'd say, yes, but not if he's actually an 8 - which is what happens when you play a '10' but also play two strikers (so, by definition, you've already got one of them doing what a '10' would do) and have a defence (i.e. Ihiekwe, Horsfall, Casey) that isn't really able to regularly step up into midfield and free that attacking midfielder to make the forward, space finding runs. Bowler, for me, is the single biggest argument for playing a 433 and getting at teams - he's still superb in a wide position and, in the latter part of the season, he showed he was able to play with effort and tactical discipline. The temptation will come to believe that maybe he can be an 8 or a RWB - but he's a maverick and at this level, he's a ridiculous one to have on a 3 year deal and we should make use of what he is, not what would be most convenient for him to be. 

Tom Bloxham is similar - he's also best in that wide forward role. He's a gifted player and though he continues to frustrate me because he looks like he could smash people like Big Gaz but heads like he's the size of Martin Bullock, he absolutely ploughed a furrow last season and I hope this year, we see him rewarded for that effort by getting a bit more opportunity off the left or right of an attacking three as I think he looks more at home there than anywhere else. 

Surprisingly, as we collected wingers like they were going out of fashion at the start of the year, we don't have anyone else other than CJ. CJ's best position is definitely also in a front 3 - as I've already said, I'm not putting him down as a nailed on starter in any role - so, short of Niall Ennis (more on him in a moment) looking like the player of 18 months ago again, there's a space as an attacking left sided player in the squad. 

Central Midfielders: 

The dream is to sign Karoy Anderson. Of everyone who played for us last year, I think Karoy became my favourite. For the first time since Kenny Dougall inconveniently hopped for a life of Instagram bliss in Thailand, we possessed a real all round midfielder, someone who never tired, could do everything to a level, was equally able to defend and attack and could adapt to what was happening instead of trying to bend the the game to his style. He wasn't perfect, but at 21, he's got space to really grow as a player and in the short time he was with us, seemed to become less chaotic and more assured with games. Whether it's realistic, I don't know, but if we can't sign the actual Karoy, we need someone like him. He's never the star, but he's never half hearted. We need an engine room because far too often in the last few years, we've been overrun in midfield. 

We already possess Albie Morgan and it mystifies me that there's a section of fans who don't seem to rate Albie. If we get a consistently fit Morgan this season, that will be a huge boost. He's not quite as 'all round' as Karoy or Kenny - but he's tenacious, he runs very hard and his long range passing is something that no one else really has - he's got a degree of creativity that compensates for his slightness - and he's largely had to partner less dynamic players and therefore I wonder if there's a little bit more to come from Albie if someone like Anderson who would be equally willing to do the kind of midfield leg work that Albie has been stuck with alongside players like Evans and Norburn who seemed to largely point at where Albie needed to go in order to get the ball for them (to launch out of play) 

George Honeyman is a curious player. It's impossible not to warm to his work rate. He's obviously an able footballer. I'm just struggling to look back at the season and see many games where Honeyman felt like 'the difference' in either an attacking sense or as I felt Anderson was latterly (in breaking up play and carrying the ball) - it basically feels like Honeyman *should* be an real attribute but I'm not sure he definitively is. I read somewhere (apologies to whoever said it that I've nicked it) that he feels like 'the new Jay Spearing' and that struck a chord. Spearing too had undeniable qualities - I just never quite *got* him - I'm not quite sure what Honeyman actually is - he seems to be able to do a decent job at 6, 8 or 10 but never particularly excel at either - having come from the level he was at, perhaps I'm expecting miracles because of a perceived reputation, perhaps he needs the right partners - I'm not sure...

Jordan Brown divides opinion, but in my mind, was one of the best players in the run in. As much as he had some really poor games leading up to that, he was consistently ugly and awkward in midfield when we picked up form and I think found in those last 10 or so games we saw a good example of the idea of players being what they are and not what we'd like them to be. He's not going to run the game at 6 and spray backspin passes to the corners - but he will sweep and clean up and play simple but solid passes to start an attack - I think he's got a place in the mix and I'm more clear about his impact than I am Honeyman's - which is strange in a way given their relative abilities, but I can only say what I see... 

Leighton Clarkson has gorgeous feet, his ability to change the direction of play with a shimmy or a drag back in a crowded midfield is special. He's got vision too and for me, would definitely be ahead of Bowler if we're looking for that central attacking midfield role - Clarkson looks like he understands the middle role better - you've got split seconds to make the move - wide, Bowler's game is pause, feint, pause again, explode, which is difficult to do in the centre, Bowler is all about slowing the game down at times but Clarkson looks like he's already in the move when he receives the ball because you have to be in that role - he should be a real asset because he's got real quality and that quality seems to be aligned to effort. 

Ryan Finnegan remains at the club - I've never been totally convinced by him. He's dynamic and physical, but he's prone to a clumsy or careless touch. He pleases when he comes on as he gets stuck in, but he also gives the ball away a bit too often. In a different team, he'd probably shine (and clearly did at Walsall who played a very rugged and direct style) but if Evoball is to be in practice what it appears to be in theory, I'm not sure about his place in it. 

Strikers: 

If I was the manager, then without question Dale Taylor would be my first pick up front - it wouldn't matter whether I was playing 2,3 or 1 forwards, his name would go on the team sheet. Imagine Jerry Yates, but drinking isotonic sports drinks at a golf club bar rather than continental lagers in town. He's very good, he's a grafter, presses superbly, is technically  and positionally sharp and has an eye for goal. What's not to like (apart from the injuries, which we need to collectively pray to whoever or whatever we believe can influence the future, that he's free from next year) 

The above seems a bit harsh on Ash Fletcher - there's no question Fletch had a good season and no question he's a quality player - it's just that I'm not totally sure that Fletch quite fits into my vision of the perfect team - We've covered how we need to get the best out of some of the forwards by playing them wide and I'm not sure Fletch (whose real strength is his ability to drop off the front line into holes) is going to be great in the middle of a three. I've also eulogised Clarkson and the same problem I identified with Bowler at 10 applies to him - i.e. when you play two up front, you've already got a 10 - something that is even more true when Fletcher's best quality is that he can step off into that exact role. If he stays, he's clearly a good player and it would be remiss of me to not be really grateful for the fact that, without his goals, we'd have been in Division Two - but if he doesn't stay, then he might just create the space for attributes we don't have and possibly a shift in how we set up. Maybe!!

Niall Ennis is yet another difficult case - what became abundantly clear was that the Ennis who came back from an early season injury was far less mobile than the one we saw on loan and at the outset of his permanent spell. The exact nature of the injury is unclear, but Ennis looked like he needed something sorting out and a long spell of fitness work - my theory (and it's mere speculation) is that his physical shape was related to an inability to train - but that we needed him to be available, so that whatever rehabilitation or intervention was required couldn't happen. A fit Ennis would be a huge asset and like Morgan, almost like a new signing. 

Tom Bloxham, I've covered, he's able to do a job up front and deserves respect for properly sticking at the role and finding some performances and indeed, gaining some stamina, but I wouldn't put him there out of choice because I think his real strength is elsewhere. 

It won't surprise anyone that I think what we lack is a physical presence. At the lowest of ebbs last year, I half jokingly, half seriously proposed sticking the Horse up front and picking up the pieces that bounce off him. As the Horse can't be at both ends and as ultimately, in League One you sometimes need to resort to such things, I feel the real gap up front is in this type of player. Taylor can play with back to goal, Ennis isn't bad for a little lad, Fletcher isn't awful in the air but none of them are the kind of dominant physical threat who will change a game and allow us to hit direct balls on the occasions when football isn't the answer. 

The overall: 

There's without doubt quality in the squad and I think there's a few areas where we should have some healthy competition - there's gaps too and those gaps exist regardless of formation. There's players we could hope to get more out of and a few players it seems might not really fit. It's not going to be a summer of total change - and perhaps, given that last summer was, that's not a bad thing - but there really does need to be targeted recruitment of quality in full back roles, in some mobility for central defenders, especially if we're going to pick 3, a left sided attacker if we're going to play 3 up front (and we should do that sometimes,) someone to do what Karoy did (or in an ideal world, Karoy) and of course, if Fletch isn't staying, a nasty, physical striker for hold up play and flick ons... 

Off the pitch, we've seen changes that needed to happen. I've no real way of knowing how good Winter was at the minutiae of his job - but clearly, barely speaking for three years whilst the club performed worse year on year and (publicly at least) no real discernible sense of enthusiasm or great feeling of ownership of the backsliding drift left it difficult to defend him. It's also difficult to know whether David Downes is the right man to step into his shoes, especially given we've had a relatively poor time in the transfer market and 'Football Operations' haven't been a resounding success but like other key appointments (Nick Horne, Harry Lyons) Downes has a link with the town and the club and ultimately, Winter was the senior role so Downes may work differently without him - we'll see! 

The one question that remains in that respect is the role of Steve Thompson. Again, I don't pretend to be a journalist, I don't know if Thommo wants a full time role, I don't know what the finances involved in that would be, I don't know how Evo feels about it (beyond him seeming publicly positive about it when asked) but it does seem logical that we should try to keep him on as he clearly had a positive impact. 

We're going into the new season with more people in footballing and non-footballing roles who clearly care about the club than we've had of late -, in fact, we've got a manager who sometimes seems as if he cares a bit too much... The  owner has to some extent at least, reengaged and some of the business side appointments have had universal approval from people I've spoken too who are closer than I to their roles.

As ever, what how the season feels will be largely dictated by what happens on the pitch - but it does feel as if some of the concerns about a club run by numbers and by distant individuals applying generic strategies might have been understood and addressed. I can't even begin to understand what's going on in a Hong Kong legal case, I won't even pretend to understand what a hedge fund even is, let alone what the finer points of legal discourse about a topic I don't understand in a country I don't live in even means - but provided we get through that and recruit in a much more effective and targeted way, then we've got a chance next year of a much better season. It's impossible to believe that Evatt's preseason will be a lacklustre as Bruce's, there's some continuity within the squad, a core of some talented players who've had some time to gel with each other and understand their roles in relation to Evatt's ideas - add the right players to those and we might start to look like we're designed for something, rather than a random collection of people. 

As ever, optimism is the only option, belief is the only way, tangerine is the one true colour and the Pool are, as always, going up. 

Onwards. 

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