Blackpool fans are understandably concerned, but scapegoating and talk of inquests is premature...for now

In Blackpool’s instance, Ben Mansford is apparently the man to blame. Or Michael Appleton, or Simon Sadler, or the recruitment team, or the physio and medical team. Heck even Neil Critchley. Take your pick, eh?

The truth is, the blame can’t be solely put at one person’s door. And what are we even blaming them for anyway? At this moment, touch wood, Blackpool are outside the bottom three, although that status will be put under threat during this weekend’s crunch six-pointer against fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic.

Yes, it’s still only November and traditionally I’d scoff at any mention of a six-pointer this early into a campaign, but the significance of Saturday’s trip to the DW shouldn’t be underestimated.

But there’s no doubt things aren’t going particularly well at the moment, so you’d be foolish not to be a little concerned.

The Seasiders, who are hoping to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat this weekend, have lost eight of their last 14 games. They also hold the unwanted record of having the second worst home record in the league (something that was also a running theme of Appleton’s time at Lincoln City).

You’ll be glad to know Wigan are statistically the worst performing home side in the second tier, having won just one of their 10 games at the DW so far this season. So every cloud and all that.

But sticking to Blackpool, the problems go beyond the pitch. I’m sick and tired of injuries, illness and suspensions dominating every press conference before and after a game. But unfortunately it’s an inevitability and it will be the same situation once again on this occasion with the Seasiders likely to be without double figures this weekend.

It’s far too simplistic to blame that solely on the physio and his medical team and sports scientists. Are they doing anything wrong? Frankly, I’ve no idea.

But it goes beyond that. For a start, the Seasiders have signed far too many injury-prone players over the past two or three years, something they’re paying the price for now.

The likes of Jordan Gabriel, Liam Bridcutt, Kevin Stewart and Keshi Anderson have regularly picked up knocks in recent years and been forced to spend time out of the side, so what’s happening now isn’t particularly new in that regard.

The club, to their credit, have looked to rectify that and now operate a much more stringent medical process. Yes, it’s frustrating when you see Colby Bishop banging goals in for fun at Portsmouth but the club did the right thing if they had longer-term concerns about his fitness and ability to play regularly for three, four or five seasons, not just one.

Can you imagine how much stick the club would have received had they gone through with the Bishop deal, committing to a hefty fee and big contract in the process, only to lose him to a serious injury fairly early on? You can’t win in a situation like that.

Perhaps Bishop will go on to shrug off his issues and play on well into his 30s, who knows? But the club shouldn’t be criticised for weighing up the risks involved and not going through with the deal if they thought it wasn’t in their best interests longer term.

Saying that, it does raise one obvious question: if they weren’t willing to take a risk on Bishop, why did they do so with Bridcutt?

It’s a completely different scenario, I get that. Bridcutt arrived on a free and was only handed a short-term deal having supposedly proven his fitness during a lengthy trial period. But all Lincoln fans saw this coming.

As I tweeted on the day the midfielder signed, there can be no doubting Bridcutt’s quality. When he’s fit and available, he’s clearly a Championship-level player. But those days are far too few and far between, unfortunately.

There’s certainly questions to be asked about Blackpool’s summer recruitment, because it clearly didn’t go to plan. I don’t think it would hurt the club’s hierarchy to come out and admit that, either.

The Seasiders targeted the right calibre of player but were unable to get moves for their key targets over the line. It happens, especially when you’re a club of Blackpool’s size who are shopping in the same market with sides far bigger than them and budgets that dwarf theirs.

We were told the big positive of this summer’s recruitment was the club’s ability to get the best young players on loan from some big Premier League clubs.

Charlie Patino from Arsenal has obviously worked out well, but Rhys Williams (Liverpool) and Ian Poveda (Leeds United) haven’t. There’s still a question mark over Theo Corbeanu (Wolves) while Lewis Fiorini (Man City) hasn’t kicked a ball since August due to injury. So the verdict is still very much out on that one.

It’s because of Blackpool’s sketchy recruitment that I think it’s far too early to be pointing the finger at Appleton, because he’s not been given the necessary tools to work with and has been forced to manage with one arm tied behind his back due to the plethora of injuries, illnesses and suspensions.

Yes injuries are part and parcel of the game and are to be expected, but the last few weeks have reached ridiculous levels at Bloomfield Road.

Despite all the above factors, it was only two weeks ago Blackpool won back-to-back games, one of which was the derby, and were looking upwards and not over their shoulders, so we all know how quickly things can change in football.

But I’ve been pretty consistent from the start: if Blackpool stay up, then that’s job done. Anything else is just a bonus.

That might not sound particularly exciting, but it’s the reality of the situation the Seasiders find themselves in at this moment in time.