Opinion: Blackpool left to mull over uncomfortable truth following Bristol City malaise
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With just 23 seconds on the clock, Gary Madine appeared to twist his knee as he challenged for a loose ball by the touchline.
After receiving lengthy treatment and a failed attempt to run it off, the striker was forced to withdraw – later appearing in the dugout wearing crutches.
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Hide AdAs if the club’s injury woes haven’t been bad enough this season…
It leaves poor Jerry Yates as Blackpool’s only out-and-out number nine. While he remains the only likely source of goals, he’s now failed to find the back of the net in his last 18 league outings.
That barren run should have been put to bed at Ashton Gate, but more on that later.
The other moment that prompted face palms among every Seasider in the away end and among those watching on Sky Sports from home was when CJ Hamilton went to grab the ball to take a quick throw-in. There was only one slight problem…the ball was still in play.
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Hide AdBristol City promptly pumped the resulting free-kick up the pitch before doubling their lead seconds later. You seriously couldn’t make it up.
No excuses
This was an abject display from the Seasiders and McCarthy didn’t even attempt to dress it up afterwards as anything else, admitting his side had let the travelling fans down.
Having performed so well against the league leaders Burnley last weekend, Blackpool finally had something to build on. But what was served up here was nowhere near good enough and deserved the boos from the away end at full-time.
What was most worrying about the display was the complete lack of goal threat McCarthy’s side carried. They never looked like creating a chance, never mind scoring.
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Hide AdBut goals are clearly a problem, only three have been scored in their last seven games.
To overcome that they’ve got to show more intent and adventure, but do you know what would also help? Some quality.
Much has been made of Blackpool’s lack of confidence in recent weeks and months and rightfully so. One win in 19 will do that to you.
But at some point we’re going to have to face the uncomfortable truth that, no matter what team or system is out on show, perhaps the talent just isn’t up to scratch either.
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Hide AdFar too often on Saturday simple passes went astray, or first touches immediately turned into tackles. I lost count of the number of unenforced errors.
It’s mightily difficult to sustain spells of pressure or build attacks when you’re not able to do the basics and keep the ball for a prolonged period of time.
We’ve seen it in glimpses, Coventry away, for example, which remains their last victory on their travels. But we’re 36 games into the season now, this goes far beyond a short-term trend.
Game-changing moment
Confidence, or should I say the lack of it, is certainly playing a part though. We saw that when Yates went through one-on-one with the goalkeeper only to inexplicably steer wide of the post despite the goalkeeper already going to ground, leaving much of his goal at the striker’s mercy.
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Hide AdYates is a good finisher, we all know that. Nine times out of 10 in training he buries that chance with ease.
But in the pressure cooker of a Championship fixture, and with everything that remains on the line, Yates appeared to overthink or doubt himself at the crucial moment and the chance went begging.
If we’re being brutally honest, the goal and the lead would have been the last thing Blackpool deserved for their lackadaisical first-half performance. We certainly would have taken it, mind. They were fortunate to even remain goalless.
To Blackpool’s credit, they did improve at the start of the second-half, beginning to see more of the ball, maintaining one or two attacks all the while anxiousness began to creep in among the home support.
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Hide AdBut with one swing of Andi Weimman’s left foot, all that work was undone as the home side took an admittedly deserved lead courtesy of the Austrian’s fine long-range effort.
Once that went in, you knew it was always going to be an uphill challenge for the Seasiders to get back in the match given their aforementioned troubles in front of goal.
Just prior to the goal, Morgan Rogers had attempted a similar curling effort to Weimman’s at the other end, but unfortunately for Blackpool it was straight at goalkeeper Max O’Leary. It was their first shot on target of the afternoon.
But the game was eventually put to bed eight minutes from time when the talented Alex Scott drilled home after Curtis Nelson, Blackpool’s best performer on the day despite this mistake, cleared straight to the Bristol City midfielder.
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Hide AdSomething has to change
If this sort of malaise continues, Blackpool’s chances of escaping relegation are slim to none.
Thankfully results mainly went their way during the 3pm kick-offs, with even rivals Preston doing them a favour by beating Cardiff City, who remain in reach, six points away.
These back-to-back home games before the international break are absolutely crucial. The Seasiders must win at least one of them, if not both. Otherwise games are rapidly running out.
But for Pool to pick up wins, something they’ve only done once since October, something has to drastically change and fast.
Many are already throwing in the towel, but the players simply can’t afford to do that.