Brett Ormerod column: Blackpool have made an excellent addition with David Dunn’s arrival

I was delighted to see my old mate David Dunn brought in at Blackpool during the week as first-team coach.
David Dunn (right) has joined Blackpool as first-team coachDavid Dunn (right) has joined Blackpool as first-team coach
David Dunn (right) has joined Blackpool as first-team coach

I’ve grown up with Dunny. He’s a bit younger than me but I’ve known him since I was a kid.

He’s got massive experience and he’s a great lad to have around. He’s been there and done it and played at the highest level, including England.

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I was only talking to David on New Year’s Day as he was at the game against Rotherham and I was covering the game for radio.

I wish him all the best. I told him he’s joining a fantastic club and hopefully he can help Larry make Blackpool successful.

On the pitch, it was a better performance at Reading in the FA Cup, albeit they were playing a team that had made 11 changes, with Charlie Adam not included.

I don’t think they played any of their starting 11 but Blackpool were still playing against some good players, so to go down there and get a draw was still a decent result.

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On another day it could have been a win but at least they’re still in the hat, which is the main thing.

They’ve got them back at Bloomfield Road now and hopefully they can go and finish the job on Tuesday night.

I don’t see why Charlie won’t play in this game. It could be quite an emotional return for him because he’s not been back to Bloomfield Road since leaving.

But you never know what their manager is thinking, perhaps he will continue to prioritise the league and make similar changes to what he did for the first game.

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If he does do that, hopefully that plays into Blackpool’s hands.

The fourth round draw was made on Monday and Blackpool were given a tie against either Cardiff City or Carlisle United, should they beat Reading of course.

It wasn’t the most exciting of draws but if they can get past Reading then it’s another winnable game, which then gives them the opportunity to progress further in the competition.

I’m sure Simon Grayson isn’t looking that far, he’ll just be concentrating on the Reading game which is the most important fixture.

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I was at the Rotherham game and Blackpool played okay in spells, but it was disappointing to lose late on as they had done well to get themselves back into it.

Rotherham were superb for the first 20 minutes, and on another day, Blackpool could have been 2 or 3-0 down.

But they stuck with it and got themselves back level with a good goal from Armand Gnanduillet. They had chances to go ahead as well, so to lose it late on was tough to take.

When you put so much effort into getting yourself back into the game, only to lose it in the dying minutes, it is always disappointing.

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Football can be cruel sometimes. It’s great when you score in the last minute to win a game, but to concede is tough – but I guess it is all part and parcel of the life of a footballer. No-one likes it but these things happen.

It was made worse for Blackpool because it was their third defeat in four games and it finished a poor Christmas period for them.

But the players have just got to use this as a learning experience and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

I expect the club will be busy this month in the transfer window having already brought in two new recruits.

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From what I hear about Jordan Thorniley, the defender that has signed from Sheffield Wednesday, the fans of his old club are quite disappointed that they’ve let him go on a permanent as he’s very highly-rated.

Larry is also saying Grant Ward is a step up in quality from what he’s seen of him during training.

They appear to be very positive signings on the face of it so hopefully they can contribute and make a difference.

Finally, I’m still doing a bit of part-time coaching with Bamber Bridge, which I’m enjoying.

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They had a good 4-0 win in the league against Radcliffe on Saturday but unfortunately got beaten at Ramsbottom in the cup during the week, although they did make a few changes.

They’re looking to bounce back at Basford in their league fixture at the weekend now.