The new Football League season is a month away and most clubs are putting the finishing touches to their squads for the forthcoming season. All but one. One former Premier League club, who were mixing it with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool three seasons ago, have just eight players. Not one of the eight is a goalkeeper. Since the end of last season, 27 players have left, including their player of the year and one of the most highly-prized assets in British football. With the club's first pre-season friendly a matter of days away, fans and recently-departed players are frustrated, uncertain what the future holds. Yet the club's chairman is unruffled. In fact, he thinks the club is in a strong position. Step forward Karl Oyston, chairman of Blackpool FC. "There is no panic," he tells BBC Sport. "In fact, I see it as a benefit. It allows the manager to bring in his own team, as opposed to picking up a squad that is already overloaded and he doesn't think is good enough." That is not how some of the fans see things. "The squad is not just thin, it is almost non-existent," says Glenn Bowley, chairman of the club's official supporters' association. "There seems to be a significant lack of progress. It is a complete and utter shambles." What is causing widespread unrest and anger is a perceived lack of investment since a Premier League season that generated £80m - a sum the chairman claimed would "change the club forever". While Blackpool almost won promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking - losing to West Ham in the play-off final - they have endured two disappointing seasons since. Last year, the team narrowly avoided relegation, while some fed-up fans hurled tennis balls on to the pitch in protest at one game. The mood of supporters did not improve when they learned the club paid £11m to a company owned by Owen Oyston - Karl's father - during the Premier League campaign, equating to £211,538 a week and putting Oyston senior among the highest earners in world football. In the past few years, players such as Charlie Adam, David Vaughan, DJ Campbell and - most recently - Tom Ince have departed. They have been replaced, in the main, by free transfers. Keith Southern, who played in midfield during Blackpool's year at the top and is now at nearby Fleetwood Town, understands the frustrations. "When we were relegated, that should have been the start of it, not the end," says the 33-year-old. "There should be a legacy the club can look back on and in 10 or 15 years say, 'we got relegated but this is what happened, this is what we built from that day'. "Unfortunately it didn't happen and it doesn't look like it ever will. Neither the foundations or the infrastructure is in place and it breaks my heart." Their Squad Defenders: Gary MacKenzie, Tony McMahon, Charles Dunne Midfielder: David Perkins Forwards: Steven Davies, Bobby Grant, Sergei Zenjov, Tom Barkhuizen
CJS, we have got it bad. Look at the big names in our squad, players who have already expressed their trade can be plied better with League Clubs etc and our position Skrill v Championship. Were would I rather see Rovers playing ? Well even with a reduced squad of 8 allegedly it wouldn't be were we will be playing our Football in a few weeks time. With all the misfits released by many League Clubs still circulating Blackpool may just be playing a wise game and know that in a few weeks time plenty of these players will along with their agents sign for much reduced packages to at least get a Club and put themselves in the shop window again. After all as we at Rovers know most players today are sporting (?????) mecenaries. Blackpool are in a far better position than Rovers even though they have a couple of interesting Characters in there Chairman and his relation being one of the Clubs joint owners.
