Brett Ormerod column: Blackpool can learn the lessons of Coventry City defeat

Last week’s result was disappointing for Blackpool but it still shouldn’t take away from what a great start they’ve had.
Sullay Kaikai has played a key role in the early stages of the seasonSullay Kaikai has played a key role in the early stages of the season
Sullay Kaikai has played a key role in the early stages of the season

What will have been most disappointing for Simon Grayson and his players was the fact they were 2-0 up and conceded with the last kick of the first half and the last kick of the game.

But they will learn and Coventry is never an easy place to go anyway.

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It’s never nice to lose the game so late on but it’s happened to me quite a few times down the years.

It’s usually down to a lapse in concentration or just little individual errors. But it happens in football.

Had it been 0-0, Coventry go 2-0 up, Blackpool fight back but Coventry nick it at the end, people would have been saying ‘we were unlucky after doing great to fight back’.

It gives people a different perception of things, but when you go 2-0 up you should be getting at least a point.

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It’s their first defeat and there’s still a long way to go, so it’s about learning and moving on.

Had Grayson been offered this record after seven games, he certainly would have taken it. In fact I think any manager in the league would.

It’s early doors and it’s a long season ahead. You don’t get too high with the highs and too low with the lows, either.

They just have to stay focused and keep at it. There are going to be setbacks along the way because it’s a tough league.

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They’ve got to dust themselves off, re-evaluate and try and learn from where the mistakes happened.

On another note, it was great to see Sullay Kaikai get two goals.

From the first game I watched him I could tell he was a special player. He’s one of those players who are exciting and you want him on the ball.

Good players always look like they have a lot of space and time and that’s because of their natural ability; they find those little gaps and he’s one of them.

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He creates, he scores and he’s got an armoury of different passes. He’s just an exciting player and he’s definitely going to be one of the best players in the league for me this season.

I’m just delighted he’s a Blackpool player and I think he’s one of those who will only get better as the season goes on.

There was no game for Blackpool in midweek and that can go either of two ways.

As a player, if you feel a bit tired when a lot of games have been coming thick and fast it can be a nice break.

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But if you’re on a good run, and you suddenly taste defeat, sometimes the best thing is to have a game on the Tuesday to try and put it right.

But there will be a lot of bumps in the road this season, this is just the first. But hopefully there will be a lot of highs as well.

I just hope they don’t dwell on it too much, because they’ve done a lot of good so far this season.

It’s MK Dons this weekend and I think it’s a good opportunity for Blackpool to get back to winning ways.

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If you want to be up there with the big boys you’ve got to be looking to try and win every game you can.

It’s not possible, but that’s the mindset you’ve got to have.

The players will have been champing at the bit this week with no game and they’ll certainly be looking forward to playing at home again.

Now it’s time to try and put things right and get back to winning ways.