Stephen Dobbie's future at Blackpool cleared up by club owner Simon Sadler

The 40-year-old was assigned the near-impossible task of keeping the Seasiders in the Championship with six games remaining following Mick McCarthy's departure.

The Scotsman, who had four spells with the club as a player, did impeccably well in his first managerial stint at senior level, delaying what had appeared to be the inevitable by winning half of his fixtures in charge.

Dobbie had reinstated some hope and belief within the camp during his all-too brief tenure – beating Wigan Athletic, Birmingham City and Norwich City by the same scoreline – but the damage had already been done beforehand with a crippling home loss to Cardiff City.

The ex-Rangers striker had been a popular choice with supporters to have his interim role transformed into a permanent post prior to Neil Critchley's unveiling as head coach on a four-year contract last week.

Sadler confirmed that Dobbie had impressed during the interview process, but inevitably missed out on the opportunity to lead Blackpool in League One next season.

"He [Stephen Dobbie] was involved in the interview process and he did really well in the interview process, as he did during the six games that he took," he said.

"He's come an incredibly long way; the last 12 months of his coaching career, from being at Fylde this time last year, to taking us in the Championship, is incredible. He did a fantastic job."

However, it does appear that the former Swansea City, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers goalscorer will be staying put, reverting back to his position as Senior Professional Development Phase Coach, which he'd initially undertaken last summer.

The Glasgow-born forward, who achieved promotion to the Premier League with the Seasiders via the play-offs in 2010, having scored an important equaliser against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final second leg at the County Ground, had a big hand in the Under 23s' success this term.

Having finished as runners up in the Central League, they went on to beat Wigan Athletic in a penalty shoot-out in the cup final, with Neal Eardley at the helm, to culminate the campaign with some silverware.

Sadler concluded: "Whilst I, and others at the club, were speaking to him throughout the interview process, we spoke to him about how he would like to settle in the club, if it wasn't to be his time this time.

"He was very much of the opinion that if it wasn't his time he would like to go back to taking the Development Squad again where they'd had such an exceptional year."