Neil Critchley on the recent departures of Teddy Howe, Demetri Mitchell and Oliver Sarkic from Blackpool

Both Teddy Howe and Oliver Sarkic, two players that have barely featured for the Seasiders, have had their contracts cancelled by mutual consent this month.

It freed up Howe to sign permanently for National League side Barnet, while Sarkic has yet to finalise a move to a new club.

Demetri Mitchell, meanwhile, is a little bit different as he was featuring under Critchley, although perhaps not as often as he would have liked.

The winger was allowed to leave Bloomfield Road to sign for Scottish side Hibs, while Charlie Kirk has since come in on loan from Charlton Athletic as his replacement.

Daniel Gretarsson became the latest player to depart yesterday, joining Polish side Slask Wroclaw, while Joe Nuttall is close to finalising a switch to Scunthorpe United.

On the need to move players on this month, Critchley said: “You only do it if you think it’s right for the player and right for the football club.

“If you think it’s right for them (to leave) and it’s right for the club, then as we’ve seen recently with Demi that situation happens.

“If that creates room and it gives you the chance to bring someone else in to ultimately improve you, you try and do that obviously.”

Mitchell departs Blackpool having made the move to the Fylde coast in September 2020, following his release from Manchester United.

During that time, the winger made 53 appearances for the club, scoring once.

This season he struggled to get back into Critchley’s first-team plans this term after suffering a knee injury during pre-season, making just 14 appearances in all competitions.

“He played at Wembley and played well,” Pool’s head coach added.

“He had a fantastic pre-season and barring an injury at Morecambe in pre-season, there would have been a good chance he would have started against Bristol City in our first league game.

“Who knows then what would have happened? But injury robbed him of that opportunity and he was out for about six weeks.

“During that time other players came in and played well and he couldn’t quite get his place back in the team on a regular basis. That’s how football can work sometimes, which was unfortunate for Demi.

“But he’s got a great personality, he’s a great lad. We loved having him around and we will miss him.

“But it was an opportunity where a club came in and he felt it was a good opportunity to play on a more regular basis, so I wish him all the luck in the world.”

As for Howe and Sarkic, they were two players that were never going to feature in the club’s plans and had to depart for the good of their careers.

Howe failed to make a league appearance for Pool, while Sarkic’s departure came exactly a year to the day since his last cameo.

“Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out for Oli and sometimes that can happen,” Critchley said.

“But I can honestly say Oli always added to us in terms of the training. He’s a quality player, a good professional and a good person who trains properly.

“It just didn’t work out for him here, but again I wish him the best of luck and he can get his career going, similar to Teddy who has now gone to Barnet which is a great opportunity for him to get back playing and enjoy football again.”

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