Neil Critchley proves he has Russell Martin's number as Blackpool swat aside toothless Swansea City

The pair, two of the country’s standout up-and-coming coaches, have met four times in the past two seasons.

During those encounters, whether it be with Swansea or with MK Dons last season, Martin has only claimed a point.

He’s only overseen one goal during those four fixtures as well and that was a 30-yard wonder-goal out of nothing.

I like Martin. He’s a bright young coach and he’s clearly a deep-thinker. His sides are technically excellent and they play attractive football, but is it as effective as it could be? I have my doubts.

The former Norwich defender can crow all he likes about dominating possession, which they did by some margin (76 to 24 per cent). But what good came of it? They only mustered one shot on target.

This was a tactical masterclass from Critchley in how to dominate a game without having the ball. On another day the margin of victory could have quite easily been by three or four.

The Swansea fans seemed fairly content with their side’s showing, which I found a bit bizarre, I have to say.

There was an awful lot of sideways and backwards passing. It was slow and ponderous and severely lacking in purpose.

Pep Guardiola has done wonders for the English game, but he appears to have spawned a gaggle of young coaches who seem to place possession above everything else, even at the expense of creating chances and scoring goals.

Once a move broke down on Saturday, as it inevitably did, acres of space would be left for Josh Bowler and Charlie Kirk to peruse forward.

“Trust the process” appears to be Swansea’s mantra, which is all well and good if you can see clear signs of progression. But Martin’s side are 16th and well off the pace.

Blackpool, on the other hand, are up to 12th in their first season back in the Championship and within touching distance of the play-offs.

They’re not rooted to one style of play or one particular approach and can switch from game to game, sometimes within games too.

Returning to Bloomfield Road, most were expecting Pool to continue in their 4-4-2 system and take the game to Swansea. But Critchley thought differently.

Instead, he switched to a back three, just as he did for the reverse game in November, which ended 1-1.

Many questioned the decision before kick-off, myself included, I must admit. It looked to be a classic case of over-thinking, but this is Critchley we’re talking about, this is what he does and once again he was vindicated.

Five minutes in, Blackpool led 1-0. It was a fairly rudimentary goal, Gary Madine heading home his eighth of the season from Charlie Kirk’s corner (it was about time the Seasiders showed some quality from a set-piece!).

On first viewing, I was completely baffled as to how Swansea had left Madine - the most aerially dominant player in the Championship, no less - unmarked at the back stick. But replays showed Marvin Ekpiteta did a good job of shielding a couple of players to free up the big man to head home.

In terms of entertainment on offer, if you were a neutral at least, this was probably the worst thing to happen because it only emboldened Blackpool’s decision to sit deep in their defensive shape and allow Swansea to have the ball.

Leading up to the game, the atmosphere was absolutely electric from both sets of supporters - a good 2,000 or so making the long trip up from South Wales, which is a great effort.

But life continued to be absolutely sucked out of the game as the first-half went on as Swansea utterly failed to break down Blackpool’s stubborn resistance.

It was like the Seasiders were the away side, which isn’t a criticism because it was certainly effective. When it comes to off-the-ball work, I can’t think of many sides more effective than Critchley’s Blackpool.

Josh Bowler was sent through on goal by a delightful Kevin Stewart through-ball but he somehow managed to miss the target.

The winger didn’t quite have his shooting boots on as he missed two other presentable chances in the second-half, but given his electric recent form he can certainly be forgiven on this occasion.

Madine, meanwhile, had another header brilliantly saved while Kirk had a low shot saved by the legs of the goalkeeper.

Swansea, for all of their patient build-up, couldn’t muster a thing. Not until the final few minutes anyway, where they belatedly upped the urgency.

Matt Grimes whistled a long-range shot just past the post while Dan Grimshaw made an excellent reaction stop to tip Cyrus Christie’s back-post header over the crossbar.

For all of their tippy-tappy, pleasing-on-the-eye passing, the visitors looked most potent when they got the ball into the Blackpool box - especially from wide positions. Otherwise the Seasiders were only too happy to keep the ball in front of them.

At one point it looked as though Swansea’s persistence might finally wear Blackpool down as they began to tire. But Critchley made a double change at just the right time to add a spark to their front line, replacing the exhausted Madine with Shayne Lavery.

The Northern Irishman and CJ Hamilton brought an intensity back to Blackpool’s press and they were able to keep the ball in the Swansea half for the majority of the final stages, which made for a relatively comfortable end to proceedings.

Comfortable is probably an apt word to use, to be honest. Even with the game in the balance at 1-0, you never truly felt in danger.

And so the Seasiders pass that magical 50-point mark at the start of March, which probably isn’t even worth discussing seeing as safety hasn’t been a concern for the majority of the campaign.

Instead, it’s all about that ever-shrinking gap to the play-offs…