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Better Bets for West Ham Match?

Posted on November 12, 2010
Filed Under Blackpool FC | 2 Comments

The decision of Ian Holloway to field a starting line-up for the Villa game that had 10 changes from the one that drew against Everton at the weekend shows the importance of the upcoming games for Blackpool. He cannot have taken the tactical choice to rest so many regulars lightly and he was right to praise the feisty performance of the players who did play in Birmingham. It showed that there is
depth to the squad.

It is pretty clear that the next two games will give the team a tremendous opportunity to boost the points tally. First up is the away game against bottom of the table West Ham and a week later second bottom Wolves will be coming to Bloomfield Road.

It is a certainty that the side Ian Holloway names for the London game on Saturday will see the return of most of the players he rested against Villa. The prospects of a fourth League away win at the expense of the Hammers look promising with online betting sites offering odds of 11/4.

The next game looks equally mouth-watering – struggling Wolves will be coming to Bloomfield Road and they have yet to win an away game in the League this season. It could be the perfect chance for Ian Holloway’s men to chalk up a second win in front of their home fans…

No games are easy and no-one can predict what fate will throw at Blackpool in the future but there can be no doubt the team have confounded many a critic and nay-sayer since September and with about a third of the campaign completed and the football betting odds on Blackpool staying up now at 11/10 there is certainly grounds for optimism and confidence that Ian Holloway can keep up the good work and maintain the momentum for the remainder of the season.

10 changes, 10 more experienced players?

Posted on November 11, 2010
Filed Under Blackpool FC | 1 Comment

So after last nights results which was a cracking performance by our so called reserve team the Premier League are going to investigate if we played an under-strength team. To start thats a stupid rule to have, after introducing the 25 man squad this summer with the aim to get more young English players in the starting 11 to  stop managers from changing their starting 11 isn’t going to help any young players.

How the Premier League are going to decide if we played a weakened team is impossible.  They are going to try and play trop trumps with our squad, comparing Brett Ormerod To Gary Taylor-Fletcher, or Gilks to Kingston. You can’t compare one team to another as that’s one person’s opinion, and who’s to say that opinion is right.

The team last night played much better than the so called “first team” that lost to Birmingham 2-0 a few weeks ago. Thats my opinion.

So thought I’d do the Premier League a favour and compile some stats on the team that played last night against Aston Villa and the starting 11 against Everton, our last Premier League game. If your comparing player to player you have to compare stats, you can’t compare on your opinion of a player, and lets face it nobody at the Premer League knows who half the Blackpool players are.  To compare I’ve taken the stats of:

• International Caps
• International Goals
• Signing Fee
• Premier League Appearances
• Premier League Goals

So first up the 11 that started against Everton

And now the Villa starting 11.

So the team that started last night has more than double the caps at international level. Two of the players, Carney and Kingson have played in the World Cup, the 11 against Everton team have no international tournament experience. Kingson has even scored an international goal.

The team against Everton has a higher squad cost, but went it comes to Premier league experience the Villa 11 is face more experienced with 413 starts and 92 goals.

So if the Premier League are going to decide which team is stronger than the other, they have no chance, maybe they should fine us for the team that started the Everton match!

Stupid Premier League!

10 Changes!!!

Posted on November 10, 2010
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Just got into the ground and the screens are showing 10 changes, only Southern remains in the starting 11!! Crazy

Aston Villa v Blackpool

Posted on November 10, 2010
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Another match and another huge away game, the strange thing is the occasion seems to have been dampened with boths sides set to field weak teams.

Villa are forced into a weak side due to several injuries including Heskey, Carew, Sidwell, Reo-Coker and Petrov. Gabby Agbonglahor should be on the bench but they may start with Barry Bannan on wing, youngsters Alfonso and Albrightson upfront. A good reception for Barry Bannan hopefully.

As for us, Cathcart is out, Adam, Crainey, Fletcher and DJ may drop to the bench. It worked last year against Sheffield United on a Tuesday nigh at home, dropping 7 we reached half time at 0-0, brought Adam and Vaughan on, we won 3-0.

Hopefully it’s going to be a great game despite the missing players. I’m on The train from Manchester now with a couple of beers. A few more in the Wellington and Bria Rose and then off to the ground!

Ian Holloway for BBC Coach Of The Year

Posted on November 8, 2010
Filed Under Ian Holloway | 3 Comments

A new facebook group has been started up over the past few days looking crown Ian Holloway as BBC Coach Of The Year in this years Sports Personality of the year. It’s an achievable accolade a fitting celebration of his time in charge so far and something he deserves.

At the moment there’s 688 fans of the group, every refresh of the page more are being added…. 695, 697, 699, 705. etc etch

I’ve spoke to David Armstrong who se up the Facebook group.

BFCBlog : Are you a BFC fan?

Dave : No, I am not a born and bred Blackpool fan. I am, and always will be, a Glasgow Rangers supporter. However I have tried to push the message through the page that the campaign isn’t just for Blackpool fans (although they have so far been very responsive to it). We already have Rangers, Celtic, Notts Forest, Dundee United, Motherwell,  Leeds United, Manchester United fans along with many guys and girls from Blackpool and Bristol Rovers who basically just all felt that Holloway should be in with a shout of winning the BBC Coach of the Year 2010 award.

BFCBlog : So have you been following Blackpool this year in the top flight?:

Dave : Of course, this year I have been cheering on Pool in every game as their spirit, style and determination has been a revelation in the money driven world of the EPL. Your captain, Charlie Adam, was a Rangers player for many years and was basically thrown out due to financial difficulties at Ibrox at that time. I know he is having a dispute with the Seasider’s board at this time however that has not stopped him from being one of the finest captains in the EPL this season. Thanks to Ian Holloway, he has also developed into the Scottish national side’s most technically-able midfield players along with Dorrans at West Brom, so I have further reason to be grateful to him.

BFCBlog : Why does Ollie deserve to be in line for the award ?

Dave: Holloway hit the nail on the head during the Rooney V Manchester United saga, and the Man United fans have taken him to their heart for that as can be seen from some of the posts on the campaign’s facebook page. What Holloway has at Blackpool FC isn’t just inspire a club, he is inspiring all of Blackpool and beyond. His famously outspoken approach to key issues both in the game and in society in general have been a breath of fresh air. That surely means, at the very least, he should be given a nod at the BBC Sport’s personality of the Year awards.

BFCBlog : Who are the competition Ollie faces?

Dave: I think there is quite limited competition from within the top level of the British game because perhaps money talks so loudly these days that it has become a game of who can you sign, not what can you do with what you’ve got. Maybe Walter Smith (Winning 2 titles in a row without signing a single player for two years) and possibly Harry Redknapp for his work at Spurs would be contenders, as might Chris Hughton for getting Newcastle back on track. In any case, I think that Holloway has done more with less – not just meaning money but also training facilities, working conditions, etc - than anyone else this year.

Cheers Dave, if you haven’t joined the group head over to face book and join now. I think there’s a real chance of him winning, Capello won it last year!

>–Ian Holloway for BBC Coach Of The Year Facebook Group –<

Blackpool 2 – 2 Everton

Posted on November 6, 2010
Filed Under Blackpool FC | 2 Comments

A great game and a great point today against a very good Everton side. Either side could have come away with all three points, Everton had the better chances but we had a great finish to the match.

We took the lead from a Eardley free kick bending the ball around the wall into the corner. Everyone was expecting Charlie Adam to strike ball.

It didn’t take long for the away side to get back into the game a quick free kick resulted in a cross being headed in from close range by Cahill. Gilks nearly kept the ball out but only managed to push the ball into the roof of the net.

The start of the second half was greeted by two early goals. A crossed into the box caused mayhem in the Everton box, a shot was blocked but that came out to Vaughan who’s shot found the back of the net.

Everton’s second goal came from Coleman who had a great game on his return to Blackpool. A long ball in the air was won by Crainey who only managed to head it up in the air. Coleman was quickest to react and drove into the box shooting past Gilks. The ball squirmed under Gilks into the net, he should have saved.

Everton had the best opportunities to take the lead, Saha missed a one-on-one, a slight tug from Evatt helped. Piernar had a toke poke effort saved and Beckford had a shot blocked.

At the other end Varney had a shot fizz past the post. Charlie shot wide and had one tipped over. Matt Phillips looked great when he came on and caused problems down he right but couldn’t carve a chance on goal.

Our second draw of the season and a great point we keeps us ticking. However we never really got going today, Everton sat deep with two backs of four when out of possession which led to us just knocking the ball around the back for long periods.

Anyway looking forward to the Villa!!!

Pool 2 – 1 WBA – A win’s a win!

Posted on November 3, 2010
Filed Under Blackpool FC, Charlie Adam | 3 Comments

It was a strange feeling at full time on Monday night, relief at getting the first home win of the season but also a slightly unfilled feeling from anther performance that lacked in comparison with other games this season.

It might have been slightly different performance if West Brom had kept 11 men on the park but  I’m not going to complain against playing 9 men.

No analysis on the match this week instead head over to UpThePool, Tangerine Dreaming and Zonal Marking who have sliced and diced the stats about to conclude…

• Charlie passed the ball a lot, but didn’t pass it anyway useful (bar the 1st goal)
• We keep on attacking down the left, very lopsided
• We had a hatfull of chances, more shooting practice but West Brom did manage 7 blocks
• Evatt may have been playing left wing second half
• We are poor at crossing or poor at winning the ball in the box

What’s important to remember is a win is a win, three points in the bag, points on the board etc etc.

Lets hope for a slightly better performance against Everton next week!

Pool V West Brom

Posted on October 31, 2010
Filed Under Football | 1 Comment

It feels like an eternity since the defeat at Birmingham and the past week hasn’t been the easiest with all the talk about Charlie taking the club to court, and transfer speculation about Gilks and Vaughan. At times like this it’s just best to get focus back on the pitch and Monday’s game should be a cracker.

Last season we were very unlucky to come away with nothing from two games against West Brom, losing both 3-2, both winning goals very dodgy penalty decisions. The away defeat was especially hard to take after we got back into the game thanks to a goal from Brett Ormerod. That time the foul looked out of the area while the home one a great tackle was deemed a foul.

As for our starting line up I’m guessing there will be changes, Harewood dropping to the bench with Grandin back in. If Charlie doesn’t recover from his ankle injury we may see Keith Southern win his first start of the season along side Vaughan and Grandin. Let just hope we can grab our first win at home this season.

A one man team?

Posted on October 25, 2010
Filed Under Blackpool FC, Charlie Adam | Leave a Comment

Not the greatest of results at the weekend and not the greatest of performances. Things just didn’t click, that might have been our tactics, Birmingham’s formation or the players just not turning up. One player who just couldn’t get going was Charlie Adam.

Comparing Adam’s Saturday performance to his master class at Manchester City, he only managed 17 successful passes before going off with an ankle injury.

Vs Manchester City
Total passes 56
Successful passes 49
Successful passes 6
Assists 1

Vs Birmingham
Total passes 19
Successful passes 17
Successful passes 2

He did however manage two shots against Birmingham, one wide and one on target. Against Manchester City he fired three shots wide and one on target which Joe Hart tipped over the bar.

What was interesting is that Birmingham lined up with two upfront, Zigic and O’Conner, with Helb just behind the two thus occupying the space Adam normally operates in. As a result we can see Birmingham won their fair share of tackles in the Blackpool half. O’Conner made 10 tackles winning 3, while Zigic made 9 tackles and won 7.

What we really needed on Saturday was a player to get hold of the ball in the middle, pass it about, make a few runs. Many were calling for the introduction of Grandin. We could have done with Barry Ferguson who made 63 passes, all successful.

After Ollie’s praise for McLeish’s tactics it will be interesting to see if other sides try a similar formation.

Birmingham v Blackpool

Posted on October 23, 2010
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I’ve had a few beers at the wellington on the city at the one at the Cricketers arms and now ready for the match.

Great following by the pool maybe over 3,000. I wad also the featured fan in the match programme. Come on the Pool!

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