Opinion: Promising signs in Stephen Dobbie's first game despite Blackpool's defeat at Luton

After suffering a third straight defeat by a 3-1 scoreline, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a case of being the ‘same old story’. But that doesn’t quite fit the narrative on this occasion.

Dobbie, taking charge of the struggling Seasiders for the first time since being given the role on an interim basis, oversaw a much improved performance against the promotion-chasing Hatters.

During the first-half, you could barely hear a pin drop inside Kenilworth Road, which gives you some indication of how well Blackpool were executing their game plan.

That’s the key phrase here: game plan. It’s something the Seasiders have sorely lacked for the vast majority of their miserable campaign and yet, despite only overseeing one day of training, Dobbie managed it here – in the first-half especially.

Lesson

It just shows you what you can do when a team is put into a proper structure, with organisation, clear patterns of play and the players involved knowing their clearly identifiable roles. Dare I say it, but it’s what Blackpool had under Neil Critchley.

It’s what you have to do when you’re battling against the odds and coming up against sides that are far better than you and/or possess quality players with salaries that dwarf anything the Seasiders could ever afford in the Championship. You have to become greater than the sum of your parts.

Having regularly watched Dobbie’s development squad this season, I wasn’t at all surprised to see Blackpool perform in this manner. But for him to implement his ideas within the space of just 24 hours was mightily impressive, especially given they were facing an in-form Luton side that are unbeaten in their last nine and potentially on course to be playing their football in the top flight next season.

During the first-half, Blackpool were the better side. They frustrated Luton and limited them to very little. At the other end, Dobbie’s men possessed a threat and posed plenty of questions on the counter-attack especially.

The returning Lewis Fiorini, who was brought in from the cold, was hugely influential, pulling the strings from the base of the three-man midfield and bringing quality in decisive moments. It beggars belief he barely got a look-in under Mick McCarthy.

The Man City loanee provided the quality cross from a free-kick that Andy Lyons headed home to give Blackpool a more than merited first-half lead. As for Lyons, that’s now four goals he’s scored since signing in January, making him the club’s joint second top goalscorer. Not too shabby, especially when you consider he’s a right-back.

Focusing on that record very briefly, Lyons actually boasts a goals per 90 minutes ratio of 0.35, while he’s averaging a goal every 258 minutes. Both metrics put him in the same territory as leading scorer Jerry Yates, who was unfortunately missing through injury for the second time in four days.

Game-changing moment

Blackpool deserved to take their lead into the half-time interval and that’s exactly what they looked to be doing. An equaliser never looked to be on the cards.

But one lapse in concentration left the door open for Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu to curl home a leveller with literally the last kick of the half after a free-kick, conceded in needless fashion by James Husband, had been headed back to the impressive midfielder.

Had the visitors not conceded that goal, I’ve no doubt the second-half would have panned out differently. They were looking confident and comfortable while always remaining a threat on the break. The more Luton pressed forwards, the greater the gaps that would have appeared.

But as it was, the Hatters capitalised on the swing in momentum. Not only that, they took full advantage of Blackpool’s heads dropping as basic errors began to creep into their game.

Dobbie deserves plenty of credit for the things he’s managed to change in such a short period of time, but what he’s not responsible for is some of the failings that have blighted Blackpool’s season rearing their head once again here.

Once Blackpool concede, all semblance of organisation seems to go out of the window for the next five to 10 minutes. It’s an issue of mentality more than anything else. There’s only so much Dobbie can change, I’m not sure there’s a quick fix.

Basic errors

The most disappointing aspect of this defeat was the manner of Luton’s second goal, which was gifted to them by Husband. A deep cross was played towards the back post where the left-back inexplicably failed to clear his lines, resulting in the ball landing directly at the feet of the grateful Cartlon Morris who had the simple task of slamming home from close range. It really was shoot-yourself-in-the-foot stuff.

Again, you’re wanting Blackpool to shut up shop for a minute or two and see out Luton’s period of pressure, but two quickly became three as Mpanzu fired an emphatic finish into the top corner of Maxwell’s net to put the game to bed.

To Blackpool’s credit, they rallied and ought to have pulled a goal back when Lyons was denied a second not once, but twice in quick succession. But otherwise the home side saw out the remainder of the game with ease.

So this wasn’t the result Blackpool craved and required – losing for the eighth consecutive away game – but there were certainly some promising signs.

They need to be a lot better defensively, they’ve now shipped 13 goals in their last four games. But with a full week of work on the training ground, it’ll be interesting to see what Dobbie can deliver in the bottom-of-the-table encounter against Wigan next week.