Opinion: Blackpool fell flat against Reading - but it was pretty understandable why

It’s been a disappointing few days for Blackpool - but it doesn’t define what they’ve produced on the whole at the start of this season.

The Seasiders find themselves looking for a reaction heading into their meeting with Bromley this weekend after back-to-back defeats in League One.

Football can come at you fast, and things can quickly change, with Ian Evatt’s side certainly feeling that.

Look, the 2-1 loss at Barnsley isn’t one that needs over dissecting. A controversial handball in the build-up to the Tykes winner should’ve been spotted by the officials, and the game should’ve ended in what would’ve been a fair 1-1 draw.

There was both good and bad from Blackpool at Oakwell, with their energetic press on display, mixed with some sloppy periods.

It wasn’t a too distant story from some of the games before.

Away to Stockport County, it could’ve easily been a big win for the home side with the chances they had, but it was instead the Seasiders who made the most of their opportunities and had the work ethic to pick up an impressive win.

There were also good moments for Peterborough before the first goal in their 4-0 defeat at Bloomfield Road, with momentum swings proving critical.

This isn’t downplaying the positives of those performances from a Blackpool perspective, merely to highlight the fine margins of how things could’ve been different.

The difference to last season is, they had the fight to create their own luck in those games.

Even against Barnsley, heads didn’t drop after falling 1-0 down; they carried on battling and quickly got an equaliser.

A fair assessment would be as individuals there’s been a number of excellent starts to the season, with a couple of partnerships also emerging.

Perhaps as a wider unit, they’ve been more disjointed and are still gelling - which is fine at this stage of proceedings.

The main thing is, there’s still been an overriding identity, and everyone has been fighting for the same cause.

In the same way Stockport could’ve had a clear lead at Edgeley Park if they had taken their chances, the Seasiders could’ve had the game won at Barnsley.

Moving onto Saturday against Reading, and it was a different story. It was a flat performance from the start, and they didn’t deserve anything from the game.

They looked short of ideas with the ball, and were wasteful and lethargic at times, while in defence there were far too many gaps.

Weirdly a drop off from what had come before didn’t come as a surprise. After a late Wednesday night/Thursday morning getting home from South Yorkshire, they then had to make the lengthy journey down south - mixed with the disappointment of losing the previous game.

They’re human, it would’ve been impossible for that not to impact them. There was always going to be a dip in the energy levels they had demonstrated over the opening weeks of the season.

The disappointing element was the fact they didn’t adapt. Of course, it’s important to stay committed to your values, but you’ve also to play the hand you are dealt.

There’s going to be plenty more long midweek trips and disrupted journeys, and the following matches can’t be free hits simply because of that.

Saturday would’ve provided everyone at the club with something to learn from, which no doubt they’ll implement going forward.

With that in mind, it’s been a solid start to the campaign, especially compared to where the club was 12 months ago.

There’s always going to be bumps in the road, so it certainly wasn’t a result or a performance against Reading that merited an overreaction.

We don’t know how things will pan out for Blackpool this season, but there’s been more good and bad in the opening month, and the trip to Berkshire was the game that went against the curve.

The Seasiders will lose games - that doesn’t mean they’re repeating the cycle of last year.

We’ll have a much clearer idea of where they’re at in another month’s time, but at the moment there’s nothing to worry about.