'Too long' - Blackpool boss reiterates ambition as he assesses current situation
Blackpool have a number of big games coming up in their battle at the bottom of League One.
Blackpool boss Ian Evatt states the club has underachieved for too long - and has reiterated his belief that he can bring long-term success back to Bloomfield Road.
After being relegated from the Championship in 2023, the Seasiders failed to finish in the play-offs in their first two attempts of returning to the second tier, while this time around they find themselves in a League One relegation battle.
Across the next few weeks, Evatt’s side will take on a number of clubs currently around them in the table, as they look to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom four.
The former Blackpool defender returned to the Fylde Coast as head coach back in October, and has endured mixed fortunes in the top job so far.
On the back of enjoying an unbeaten December, the Seasiders have managed just two wins in 2026, and head into their meeting with Wigan Athletic this weekend on the back of a 4-0 defeat to Lincoln City.
Blackpool boss assesses current situation
Evatt admits there’s been highs and lows during his tenure so far, but remains confident he can deliver in the long-term.
“Fragile is the right word, and that’s why we need support,” he said.
“It’s been hard, there’s been huge highs and huge lows, from that run in December and beating Cardiff here, we’ve had a lot of lows as well.
“It’s been hard to regulate, it’s been hard to stay calm and stay focussed. I knew this was going to be a really difficult job.
“I see huge potential in this football club - it’s underachieved for too long now. I want to be the guy to bring the good times back, but to be able to do that we’ve got to sort this out first and gets the points required to stay clear of what is that dreaded bottom four.
“When you’ve lost games consistently, the players' confidence levels have taken a hit, but it’s my job outside of the difficult conversations, which you need to have to improve and grow, that I support them and give them encouragement to show them what they’re capable of.
“There’s been times this season where we’ve played some really good football and got some really good results. It’s not all been doom and gloom. We’re still outside of the bottom, and we still have points on the board that others haven’t.
“We have the opportunity with the games we’ve got to get ourselves clear of that. Our focus now is to do what’s required to get us out of trouble, and to build some momentum for next season.”
Injuries have been a mitigating factor behind Blackpool’s misfortunes at times this season, but in the last few weeks options have increased.
Despite this, the Seasiders have still found themselves on the end of some heavy defeats, with a 4-0 loss to Plymouth Argyle coming their way a fortnight before the Lincoln result on Saturday afternoon.
“The squad is fuller, it’s obviously still not where we want it to be, but that’s probably a mark of where we’ve been all season that it’s better than it has been,” Evatt added.
“Saturday was completely different to the Plymouth game - that was extremely disappointing for so many reasons.
“Saturday was 10 minutes of madness, prior to that there wasn’t too much wrong with an away performance against a really good team. My job as a coach is to try and make players understand.
“There’s huge emotion when any team loses 4-0, and rightly so, but taking the emotion out of it, it’s clear there wasn’t loads wrong until the last 10/15 minutes, and that’s when we hit self destruct.
“Too often this season we’ve hit self destruct, and that’s something we need to improve on.”
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