Stephen Dobbie profiled as interim boss prepares to take charge of first Blackpool game at Luton

A club favourite despite never actually signing permanently – all of his 56 appearances coming in four separate loan spells – the 40-year-old is rightly held in high regard among the tangerine faithful for the role he played in helping the Seasiders reach the promised land in 2010.

So much is his affection for the club and the Fylde coast, he remained based in Lytham even while making the 135-mile commute to Queen of the South during the back end of his playing career.

Upon returning from his native Scotland, Dobbie took his first steps into the coaching world by taking on the role of academy coach at AFC Fylde.

It proved to be an award-winning spell with the Coasters’ Under-18 side, with the former forward overseeing the most successful season in the academy’s history by winning three cup finals.

From there, he made his return to Bloomfield Road – only this time permanently – to take charge of the club’s newly-formed development squad, which is essentially an Under-23 side that aims to bridge the gap between the first-team and the youth teams.

With the Central League campaign almost finished, Blackpool sit second in the table having led the way for much of the season. They’re also into the semi-finals of the Central League Cup.

The Seasiders only faltered midway through the campaign when first-team players in need of minutes began to rack up more and more appearances.

That might sound odd, but the secret to Dobbie’s success has been the way he’s managed to create a cohesive team unit, a recognised structure where each and every player knows their role down to a tee.

When the first-teamers dropped in and out for a game at a time, you could see the adverse effect it had on the team’s performances. That’s nothing against said players either, it’s only natural. But needs must when so many of the injured first-teamers needed a route back to match fitness.

Nevertheless, given the first-team’s struggles this season it’s been a breath of fresh air watching a Blackpool side play with such unity and organisation.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. While there’s plenty of talented lads in the development squad, it’s more of a well-oiled machine where individuals don’t tend to stand out as much, much like Neil Critchley’s Blackpool.

I’m sure it takes hours and hours of hard work on the training ground to install these principles, so perhaps we shouldn’t expect things to transform over the space of a weekend as Dobbie prepares to take charge of his first game against play-off chasing Luton today.

But over the next six games, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Seasiders finally show some tactical nous, something they’ve badly lacked this season.

Could he turn to some of youngsters he’s helped guide in the development squad this season? Perhaps, the first-team are down to the bare bones after all.

Rob Apter deserves to at least be involved, while the likes of Jack Moore, Tayt Trusty and Brad Holmes could be in with a shout of making the squad.