Ian Holloway’s introduction of three substitutes in the 64th minute of yesterday’s 3-1 defeat at Reading seemed like a strange tribute to Barry Fry, master of the ‘threeplacement’ in his heyday at Birmingham City. That said, it’s also a sign of one of Blackpool’s major problems this season; a campaign that has, nonetheless, been punctuated with lots of good things. On paper, this Tangerines squad looks stronger than the one that ascended to the Premier League in 2010, as well as the brave battlers of that 38 game elevated sojourn. That pair of Phillips are at opposite ends of their…
All posts tagged Blackpool
The Monday Profile: Matt Phillips
My friends and I often indulge in extended debate on the club vs. country issue and how so far, it’s ‘OK’ to support England. We eschew the jingoism, the hooliganism, the sheer repugnance of many of those called on to sport the jersey, the overreaction to defeat and over-anticipation of victory, the arrogance and the aggression, but still wish for a team we can support. Recent events have led many to fall out of love with the England team to an even greater degree. It was bad enough back in 2006 when the so-called ‘golden generation’ proved incapable of coping with a…
Trading Places: Time to Reform the Football League’s Loan System?
To look closely at the associated regulations is to acknowledge the Football League’s existing loan system as nothing less than a free for all. ‘Temporary loan transfer’ is the umbrella heading which comprises the following three types of move permissible under the current system: • ‘Standard Loans’ (half or full season in length and arranged during the two transfer windows); • ‘Emergency Loans’ (28-93 days in length and arranged both within the two transfer windows and during fixed periods outside these dates); • ‘Youth Loans’ (identical to ‘Emergency Loans’ but applies to scholars or new professionals on a work experience-type…
Great Football League Teams 28: Blackpool, 2006-7
Making her debut on these pages, Fiona Martin winds the clock back five years to Blackpool’s momentous return to English football’s second tier. Much has happened in the interim, of course, but this was arguably the season which gave the Seasiders the impetus to push on and climb the league tables. The summer of 2006 on the Fylde Coast was one of upheaval. Blackpool were still recovering from the disastrous Colin Hendry era, rookie manager Simon Grayson had had to scramble together a team that avoided relegation from League 1 on the final day, and then rebuild it in preparation…
The Under-20 World Cup: A Football League Perspective
In June, Ben Piggott ran the rule over the fortunes of Football League players in that month’s European Under-21 Championship, with Aron Gunnarsson and Mikkel Andersen in particular enjoying less than fruitful campaigns. Now, the man behind the illustrations that adorn this website turns his attention to the recent Under-20 World Cup, a tournanment that has been covered expertly by Two Hundred Percent and ended up with a somewhat Lusophone finale:The traditional Hispano-Iberian hegemony was reasserted at this year’s World Youth Cup, with Mexico, Brazil and Portugal consigning Ghana’s 2009 triumph to the history books by parking up in three of the…
James: Are the wealthy middle classes really the ones to back a football team...
Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
"It's amazing to be a...
Lloyd: On the Oxford / Reading thing, Lanterne, you write that "there is no c...
Ben: Yes, it does loom a bit, doesn't it? Moxey's comments on the ground re...
