Blackpool boss is happy to rest and rotate his starting line-up

While it might be alien to others, Neil Critchley insists his tendency to tinker and rotate his Blackpool team comes as completely normal to him.
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During his two years in charge, Blackpool’s supporters have become accustomed to seeing Critchley pick line-ups that many of them would never have predicted.

Even after a big win, Pool’s head coach still has no qualms about making the odd change here or there should it be required when facing their next opponent.

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Over the past two seasons, the Seasiders have very rarely named an unchanged line-up.

Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley has no qualms about rotating his line-upBlackpool head coach Neil Critchley has no qualms about rotating his line-up
Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley has no qualms about rotating his line-up
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The club’s head coach has suggested supporters shouldn’t expect to see that change in the months ahead either.

“There’s so many things that come into it,” he explained to the club’s end-of-season review show.

“What other people might not see as the norm, I see as quite straightforward.

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“I know there are maybe other ways of working and other teams are more settled, but I think we’ve got a really good group and there’s not much difference between number one and number 24 or 25.

“That’s why we’ve been successful over the last two years – because of the strength of the squad – so managing those players over the course of the season, being able to change the system or freshen it up has enabled us to remain consistent.

“That’s not always easy for the players to understand because they want to play, but they’ve also seen the benefits of it and it helps them understand a bit more of why I do something.

“I try to explain most of the time why I’ve done something and obviously I don’t get it right all the time.

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“Whether it’s a tactical decision in terms of shape, or playing a certain player over someone else to give us a slight advantage, I think the players see the benefit of that and that element of trust grows stronger.

“I understand it might not be the norm but, the more you do it, the more normal it seems.”

Blackpool have also reminded supporters that the 2022/23 Championship fixture list will be released at 9am on Thursday, June 23.