Ben Burgess column: Seasiders show their killer instinct

All that team building last week clearly paid dividends for Blackpool as Gary Bowyer's men claimed two good results in the space of four days.
Kyle Vassell continued his impressive start to the season against Portsmouth on Tuesday eveningKyle Vassell continued his impressive start to the season against Portsmouth on Tuesday evening
Kyle Vassell continued his impressive start to the season against Portsmouth on Tuesday evening

First up was a decent performance and a draw with Crewe but the most impressive result was the 3-1 dismantling of League Two favourites Portsmouth.

For many games this season the Seasiders’ downfall has been killing off teams; they finally did that ruthlessly on Tuesday as Kyle Vassell and Brad Potts continued their impressive starts to the season.

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The true test will come on Saturday away against Crawley, who sit just one place above them in the league table.

A win could spark a climb up the table but defeat will bring out the criticism again that the team isn’t strong enough to be consistent.

Whilst it may have been a relatively pain-free week for Bowyer, it appears that nearly every other manager has had a nightmare.

First Nigel Pearson was suspended by Derby County for a bust-up with the chairman.

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Even that news was dwarfed by the serious allegations against Sam Allardyce.

It seems that the job Allardyce has worked his whole career for, the job he has made so many sacrifices for has been jeopardised by some extremely embarrassing comments against fellow managers and careless boasting about exploiting FA rules.

Talk about trying to bite the hand that feeds you!

In my opinion, for once, the FA actually made a swift and correct decision in removing him from the job but unfortunately Gareth Southgate isn’t the most inspiring of ‘caretaker’ managers.

Maybe that lack of expectation could actually free him from the usual pressure that paralyses many an England manager.

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If only the revelations of the murky world of management had stopped there.

Sadly, it appears that more allegations will be released soon by the Daily Telegraph.

Another manager dealing with a problem was Zinedine Zidane.

His issue was dealing with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to being hauled off last weekend.

So inflated has Ronaldo’s ego become that it’s just unthinkable that he would be sacrificed by a manager at any point.

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Especially as he believes he is so much better than the other players – which he alluded to last season.

In the end Zidane’s brave decision probably ended up costing Real Madrid the victory, as they conceded a late equaliser.

However, I’m sure he will be having a quiet word in Ronaldo’s ear.

Ronaldo’s reaction wasn’t as bad as some we’ve seen down the years.

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I must admit that in my earlier, less mature, years I could be extremely sulky and would be so angry and frustrated with myself if I was playing poorly that I would storm off the pitch like an angry toddler.

I didn’t realise how disrespectful I was being to the manager and my team-mates until I had matured a little.

I always saw it as just me being angry with myself and slightly cross with the manager.

When you see how childish players look that sulk, then I cringe at my early days.

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I recall reacting badly when Ian Holloway took me off at Bristol City.

I shouted a few choice words towards him then slumped into the dugout.

Olly tore a strip off me after the game and I never did it again.