Saturday brings the Seasiders to the Greenhous meadow. Town v Blackpool at home stat: Games won: 5 Games drawn: 3 Games lost: 5 Our biggest win was 9 Sep 1978 at 2-0 and our biggest loss was in the reply game where we lost 5-0 in March 1979. We of course recently beat the 1-0 in the Capital One Cup. Town will have a near full choice of players, Collins is pushing for a start and MM might try to fit him somehow, whether as a lone striker or alongside another such as Barnett, or JLAA. Blackpool gave fallen along way in recent years since the glory of Ian Holloway managing them. It is not felt by some that the chair have not aided the decent in anyway. They also have made some bizarre staffing changes and purchases including Nile Ranger who is out on a limb at the mo. Town should win this, but after last Saturday's game, who knows what'll happen... Floreat Salopia and let's hope for a glorious home win.
I am not sure if I have watched enough games this season yet to venture a worthwhile opinion but here goes anyway. The changed line-up showed some promise in the first half without fully convincing as the suspicion is that Blackpool are one of the weakest teams in this league. The introduction of Collins with his 'bull in a china shop' approach' asked different questions of the Blackpool defence and seemed to free up some space for Akpro to go down either side and he put in two very good finishes after two excellent passes to him. I would make Ogogo my Man of the Match - he has pace and good positional sense and plays the simple pass - he is certainly the most consistent of the summer signings. The two full backs are still a worry as both were beaten too easily several times and Blackpool created several decent chances but lacked a finish. I thought our keeper looked to have a good presence and a hefty kick. We will face much better opposition over the season but a win and a clean sheet are all we could ask for after recent home games. As for Blackpool I have a lot of sympathy for their plight and their inexperienced team tried to attack and never gave up. Their diehard supporters made a decent amount of noise but if they cheered on their team with the same passion as they chanted 'Oyston Out' their team might be able to do better.
Not altogether convinced that Blackpool are that inexperienced. Several players in the team have well over 100 league appearances. Bringing on Collins led to a different style of play although he had little to do with it. Cole my MOM purely because he made the 2 goals for JLAA. Agree about the fullbacks. Lack of pace and in a 4 at the back even NKP was caught out a few times with no cover which the extra central defender provides.
Barnett was doing a good job but wasn't creating much, yet offered height in defensive positions which we were lacking. When Collins came on it did seem to change things. We were frustrated though that Collins kept dropping too deep and needed to be in a prime position up front. Cole and Kaikai played well.
I think we will see a different team in the away games coming up with Lawrence starting again and even a recall for Grandison (especially at Coventry) and a reversion back to 3-5-2 which has served us well away. I think both the full backs are good pros who can perform at this level but neither played very much last season (Tootle because of injury) and it may well take them a bit more time for them to attain full match sharpness. We certainly seem to have few alternatives to replace them though perhaps Brown might be able to fill in at wing back if needed.
I am pleased to see the quick and intelligent passing that occurred between Ogogo, Clark, Cole and Kaikai in the game. There definitely seemed to be a good understanding between them in terms of where to play the ball and the 1-2s that happened, which we haven't seen a lot of in recent years. I thought when Cole signed on loan that he might end up as a permanent player come January and if he continues like that then, they might want him back at the parent club! The only issue is the height of our midfielders, as we had plenty around 5'8" yesterday.
