Two things Steve Bruce got right as Blackpool boss - and two costly factors that went against him
Steve Bruce was sacked by Blackpool over the weekend - with the club currently sat in the bottom four in League One.
Steve Bruce’s time with Blackpool came to an end over the weekend - following just 13 months in charge on the Fylde Coast.
The 64-year-old was sacked by the Seasiders on Saturday night after losing seven of his opening 11 games in League One this season - with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon proving to be his final outing in the Bloomfield Road dugout.
Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence also exited alongside the head coach, while Stephen Dobbie and Steve Banks will take interim charge and lead the preparations for next Saturday’s game against Stockport County.
Bruce’s time with Blackpool promised a lot, especially with what seemed like a positive summer of recruitment, but the product ended up being far from acceptable.
There was both good and bad from the experienced coach’s time in charge as a whole, with some foundations in place, and other things that need ripping up.
Here’s a look at two of the positives and two of the negatives:
Took the handbrake off... initially (Positive)
The two positive things we’ve picked out from Bruce’s tenure both concern last season - which is probably quite obvious.
In fact the first comes from his first month, as he time in charge of the Seasiders started with four wins on the bounce.
At that time, the experienced coach had come in and ripped up what former boss Neil Critchley had been working on for the 18 months before.
Sacking the ex-Liverpool figure after two league games was a bold move in itself, never mind bringing in a manager who had completely different ideas.
A switch to a 4-4-2, and an emphasis on wingers rather than wing-backs was initially a success.
Players who had previously looked restricted had freedom, and certainly provided a bit of freshness everyone needed.
Unfortunately the squad hadn’t been assembled to play that way, and as soon as the injuries started to come it became far harder to maintain.
Players were forced out of position to use the system, which produced differing levels of success (more on that later).
Bruce had tried to take the handbrake off to let the team play, but sadly it took its toll on the vehicle in question.
Even with these problems, the second half of the campaign did provide positive snippets, and still should’ve been a platform for the current season.
Using players out of position (Negative)
A theme of Bruce’s spell at Bloomfield Road was using players out of positions, and that ran over into this season - even into his final game.
Throughout periods last season, it was understandable. Around last Christmas, the club was so short, he had no other choice than to play Elliot Embleton or Dom Ballard on the left.
Even a change of system wouldn’t have fixed the injury crisis at the start of last December.
In his defence, the campaign so far chucked problems in personnel his way, but he also created his own.
Understandably there’s been caution over managing Andy Lyons’ work load, but at the same time it’s been counter productive not to use him when he’s been the only available right back option when Danny Imray has been injured.
Instead Jordan Brown and Olly Casey were both shoehorned in there, which provided the opposition with an obvious weakness.
There’s also been occasions that were made for Zac Ashworth to start at left back, but CJ Hamilton was preferred there on some occasions.
The obvious one, and the most avoidable, was playing Albie Morgan on the left against Northampton Town. Perhaps it was an attempt to replicate the success enjoyed with Sonny Carey, but with the bench loaded with natural wingers, it wasn’t the right time.
Bringing the best out of pre-existing players (Positive)
Swinging back to the positives, we can’t ignore the good Bruce did with a number of players throughout his first season.
We’ll start with Carey while we’ve just mentioned, and the drastic upward trajectory his career has taken.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, it was probably 50/50 whether Blackpool would take a one-year option on the midfielder, with some decent form towards the end of that season tipping the balance.
The 24-year-old had always shown snippets of what he was capable of, but hadn’t quite produced any consistency.
Under Bruce it was a different story. Things started to turn for Carey in January as part of the midfield two with Morgan, before improving further on the left - where he was given freedom to float inside.
Credit must be given for the ex-King’s Lynn man firing in front of goal and becoming a true attacking threat. Unfortunately, his contract was up and Charlton Athletic were quick to swoop in.
Another man to join the Addicks in the summer, albeit for a fee, was Rob Apter. The winger was already on the right track after a number of positive loan moves, but the way Bruce utilised him didn’t do him any harm at all in his first year in League One.
Elsewhere, the first player to really impress under the ex-Newcastle United boss was Kyle Joseph - who ultimately ended up getting a move to the Championship with Hull City back in January.
After struggling for a number of reasons throughout his first year on the Fylde Coast, the striker hit the ground running under Bruce, and what was being asked of him just suited his greatest strengths.
Of course, there’s also current squad members like Olly Casey and Albie Morgan who have discovered some consistency as well, so that should be remembered.
This fact just makes it all the more surprising that he couldn’t get a tune out of the summer signings that arrived with big reputations.
No identity in the end (Negative)
We’ll finish on a negative, and while there was a lot of good progress for individuals, as a team Blackpool now feel like they’re in a worse position than before.
Throughout the current season, there’s been no overriding identity. Without seeing parts of the previous campaign, you wouldn’t know what the end goal was.
Teams have come to Bloomfield Road and dominated the ball, while positives away from home have been non-existent.
The Seasiders’ have had a costly mix of being vulnerable at the back and toothless up front.
There were a few positive moments in the games against Bradford City and Luton Town, but they didn’t act as much comfort when neither of the two outings resulted in three points.
The AFC Wimbledon was one of the worst performances in a long, long time by Blackpool, and probably symbolised that the end of the road had been reached.
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