Ben Burgess column: No defence for woes at the back

Many times the word ‘consistency’ has been mentioned and people talk about how every impressive win Blackpool have is another platform to go on a run.

After battering high flying Doncaster the week before, everyone expected the Cheltenham game to be a straightforward three points for them.

Despite once again creating a host of chances and dominating the game for large periods, Gary Bowyer’s men were undone by poor defending.

At the moment Blackpool need to score more than two goals to win a game because they concede so many.

It was a worrying lack of organisation and inability to deal with crosses that led to both Cheltenham’s goals and the last one was reminiscent of Rommy Bocco’s winner for Accrington Stanley a few weeks ago.

Players were not picked up and the attacker had time and space to score from just eight yards out, which just can not happen if you have any dreams of escaping this league.

It will be frustrating Bowyer immensely and he needs his goalkeeper and defenders to be vocal and organise and most of all to take responsibility for the men they should be marking.

Kaspars Gorkss was one of the best defenders I played with for blocking everything that went into our box.

We always used to laugh at him when he came stumbling into the changing room after the game with blood pouring from a wound in his head.

He’d throw his head where most people wouldn’t even put their foot.

Kaspars was like a magnet in the box and he would literally block and stop everything.

John Terry does it for Chelsea, Nemanja Vidic did it for Manchester United and now the Seasiders need someone to step up and put an end to the soft goals.

I took particular interest in the Blackburn Rovers v Wolves game on Sky on Saturday evening for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, Rovers is where I started my career and secondly the club’s plight and the supporters frustrations hold many parallels with the goings on at Bloomfield Road.

Rovers fans have tried and tried to open dialogue with the owners (Venkys).

Unfortunately, they are never around and their last interview to BBC Radio Lancashire was over four years ago, when they had just sacked Sam Allardyce because being in the top 10 in the Premier League wasn’t good enough!

Since then the club has plummeted and all the star players have been sold off with little investment back into the team.

At the game against Wolves the fans staged a protest whereby they did not enter the stands until the 18th minute and then left in the 75th minute, to represent the date the club was formed (1875).

The fans were criticised in some parts for ‘disrupting’ the players and making them lose focus.

I personally don’t agree and the fans only made this protest because they are desperate for action.

It had the desired affect because it was a big focus on Sky and all the national media are writing about it.

Let’s just hope it was seen all the way in India where the Venky’s reside.

On a brighter note, the game also saw the first match of Rob Edwards’ managerial career.

Rob is testament to what hard work and dedication can bring you.

He had a good career and was unfortunate, that like myself, it was curtailed through injury.

He chose to go into coaching like so many ex-players do but unlike most, Rob was willing to make sacrifices and perservere.

He spent a long time coaching at various places for free, a long time learning and speaking to experienced coaches.

This was time he had to spend away from his family and unpaid.

Now he’s reaping the benefits of all that sacrifice. He’s risen from Wolves’ Under-18s manager, to first team coach and now, as caretaker manager, at just 33 years old.

Whether he gets the job full-time or not, Rob is an intelligent guy and understands the game to a degree that I believe he will be a big success in the managerial world.