Opinion: West Brom defeat proves Blackpool are finally going down with a fight

They had a clear gameplan, a structure to their play, the build-up was clear and precise and as a result, they dominated a West Brom side that now sit sixth in the Championship table.

This was everything we’ve been crying out for; front-foot, entertaining football with chances creates aplenty. Blackpool might have lost another game, but it certainly wasn’t for the want of trying. The intent was clear from the off.

Unfortunately there’s only so much Stephen Dobbie can do and he can’t lace up his own boots and stick away the chances, because that was Blackpool’s only downfall.

Such was their dominance in the opening half, they probably ought to have held a two-goal lead at the interval. Morgan Rogers should have stuck his chance away instead of hitting the post from four yards out while Keshi Anderson also missed a gilt-edged chance. Baggies goalkeeper Alex Palmer later denied Rogers with a superb low save down to his left.

West Brom had no answer for Blackpool’s patient yet incisive build-up through the thirds and created absolutely nothing from open play.

But somehow it was the Baggies, not Blackpool, who took the lead with the softest of goals as Brandon Thomas-Asante was left unmarked to flick home after the Seasiders had failed to win both the first contact and the second contact from John Swift’s corner.

More often than not this season when Blackpool go a goal down that’s it, the game is done and the end result is an inevitability. Only once this term have they come from behind to win and that was back in October.

But this felt different. The fans kept believing and the players did too. Unlike previous instances, their heads didn’t drop and they stuck to their gameplan as a result, which was still working.

A question of quality

But the running theme of Blackpool’s season has been their lack of quality in both boxes, shipping too many goals at one end as a result of basic errors and failing to score at vital times at the other.

Had Rogers capitalised on Blackpool’s fast start, there’s no doubt this would have been a different game. But the time for if’s, but’s and maybe’s are long gone.

With Anderson not emerging for the start of the second-half as a result of a swollen ankle, Blackpool didn’t quite have the same verve or panache after the break.

He was the player linking it all together, collecting the ball in-between the lines and driving forward into gaps of space.

In his absence, the hosts lacked that flair and guile, a player of Anderson’s undoubted ability who could pick that final pass. Sonny Carey, his replacement, huffed and puffed but struggled to have the same effect.

That’s not to say Blackpool played poorly in the second-half, because they didn’t. It just wasn’t done with the same tempo or intent we saw previously.

And while 1-0 wasn’t an insurmountable mountain to climb back from, 2-0 certainly was as Carlos Corberan’s play-off chasers doubled their lead with another gift of a goal.

Andy Lyons was the man initially punished for trying to guide the ball out of play before the ball was played past Jordan Thorniley, who could only waft a lazy leg, and back to substitute Taylor Gardner-Hickman who had the simple task of slotting home from close range.

Remarkably, it was the North Stand you could hear roar the loudest after West Brom’s second, not the visiting away fans. The home faithful knew the players needed lifting and they responded in kind, going right to the very end even when the game was goosed – both in terms of the game and, in all likelihood, the season as a whole.

A vast improvement

There can be no faulting the players’ efforts, they gave it everything they had and more. It’s difficult to criticise the performance either, because this was among the best displays we’ve witnessed this season.

Some might point to the 6-1 thrashing of QPR a few weeks back but let’s be honest, that was a fluke. A one-off. QPR were absolutely terrible and Blackpool managed to capitalise.

But in terms of implementing a gameplan, and against a top side, let’s not forget, I’ve not seen Blackpool play this way since the win at Coventry six months ago.

Take away the results for a second, tactically we’ve seen more from Dobbie in three games than we’ve witnessed in the past 30.

Frustrating

That’s the frustration here, not Blackpool’s 23rd defeat of the campaign, but the inevitable feeling of ‘what if?’. What if Dobbie, or someone similar who could orchestrate a clear approach and structure, had been in situ a few weeks back?

I’ve no doubt in my mind that Blackpool wouldn’t be in this situation had Dobbie been at the helm all season. They certainly wouldn’t be second bottom anyway.

He’s proven what we all suspected: Blackpool do have good players. They have enough in that changing room to cause teams, even the best the division has to offer, plenty of problems.

Assemble those players into an effective system, with a clear style of play and identity, and the results will follow. It’s just a shame it’s all come far too late.

We all know where Blackpool’s season is likely headed in their final three games. But at least if the worst is confirmed, the Seasiders are finally doing what we’ve all been asking for: they’re going down with some fight.

Under the previous incumbents, they were going down with a whimper. But that’s not the case anymore.