How Blackpool’s relegation to League One could be confirmed against Birmingham City this weekend

Stephen Dobbie was hoping results would go Blackpool’s way on Wednesday night to keep them in the fight with only three games remaining.

But unfortunately that didn’t prove to be the case, with Cardiff City winning while both Reading and QPR drew – leaving the Seasiders six points adrift of safety with only nine left to play for.

Should Blackpool lose to Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Saturday, their relegation will be all but confirmed anyway. But should Reading beat Coventry City and QPR avoid defeat against Burnley, then it’ll be officially confirmed.

The picture is muddied a little by Huddersfield Town, who sit in 19th place on 44 points, not playing. This is because their scheduled game against Sheffield United had to be rearranged due to the Blades qualifying for the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

But if the permutations elsewhere go as I’ve just laid out, then the Terriers will drop into the bottom three anyway and won’t be one of the sides the Seasiders can mathematically still catch.

Either way, it’s surely only a matter of time until it’s ratified. Whether it’s this weekend in the West Midlands or on Friday night in front of the Sky Sports cameras against Millwall, it’s all fairly immaterial.

At this point, it just feels cruel dragging it out. The Seasiders have been on life support for a matter of weeks now. Perhaps we’d all be able to move on if they were finally put out of their misery.

Going down with a fight

Dobbie at least installed some hope and belief, as brief as it was. As I wrote after Tuesday night’s harsh defeat to West Brom, we’ve seen more under Dobbie in three games than a large chunk of what the previous two incumbents served up over the ppevious 40.

But with two defeats in three, has the 40-year-old done enough to throw his hat in the ring? Perhaps not, albeit he’s still got three games in the hotseat to show everyone what he can do.

But I think it goes beyond that. Regardless of the result, Dobbie has already proven he ticks a lot of the boxes.

He’s shown with the development squad this season his ability to get the most out of the team unit, playing in a 4-3-3 with a clear identity and philosophy – something the club often refer back to when they’re on the lookout for a new head coach.

The club’s hierarchy have also spoken openly about their intention to integrate the academy and youth setup with the first-team, which again Dobbie is more than capable of doing given his background.

In fact, in having the development squad train with the first-team at Squires Gate and handing minutes to Brad Holmes off the bench, while also having Alex Lankshear involved in the warm-ups, Dobbie has done more to benefit the club’s youngsters in a week-and-a-half than many previous managers have done over the course of their entire time at the club.

This isn’t me saying Dobbie should definitely get the job, by the way. I just think his name deserves to be in the frame.

Ultimately, the club have to appoint the best man for the job. If that’s Dobbie, Neil Critchley or someone else, we’ll have to wait and see. But as touched upon previously, it’s absolutely imperative they get this next appointment right.

Three games left

All we can ask for between now and the end of the season is that Blackpool maintain the standard they set against West Brom on Tuesday night, especially in the first-half.

I still maintain it’s arguably the best 45 minutes of football we’ve witnessed this season, even bettering the QPR thrashing – as perverse as that sounds.

It was Blackpool back to their best, a callback to their League One promotion-winning campaign and their successful first season back in the Championship, when they had a clear and concise gameplan for each individual game and carried it out to a tee.

It’s one thing overcoming an abject QPR side or even Wigan for that matter, but utterly dominating a star-studded West Brom outfit whose budget will absolutely dwarf Blackpool’s shows just how effective Dobbie’s plan was.

If the Seasiders are going to compete at the top end of League One next season, should that be their eventual destination, or on their hopeful return to the Championship, that’s how they have to operate.

Unfortunately it’s a reality that Blackpool can’t compete with the bigger sides in and around them financially, so they have to do things slightly differently. They have to maximise absolutely everything at their disposal and ensure their team unit is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Whether we like it or not, the Seasiders can’t just go out there and snap up a John Swift or a Jed Wallace. Instead, they need to recruit far better than they have done this season and bring in players like Andy Lyons, who has arguably been the only success story in the transfer market this term, and scour the lower leagues and countries like Scotland and Ireland to find the best young talent.

Then it’s down to the head coach to coach and develop them, make them into better players and yes, at some point, sell them on further down the line for a big profit. Then that cash is reinvested and the process starts all over again.

That’s what we were advertised two or three years back: the Brentford model essentially. Blackpool need to get back to that as soon as possible.