Opinion: Why we should all learn not to write off certain Blackpool players too early

We’re all guilty of passing judgement on a player far too early, myself included, but perhaps we shouldn’t.

Owen Dale became the latest Blackpool player to step out from the fringes in starting the Tuesday night draw at Coventry City.

The 23-year-old, already written off by some, produced a sublime bit of skill to set up Gary Madine’s goal.

It wasn’t just that though. Dale also impressed with his direct running and posed Coventry plenty of problems throughout the night, especially during the opening 45 minutes.

The reaction to the winger’s loan move from Crewe Alexandra being made permanent in January was lukewarm at best, which was incredibly harsh.

Dale has only made 10 appearances for the club and only five of those have come from the start. You can’t judge a player off such a small sample size, yet we all do it.

CJ Hamilton was written off as a player not good enough for the Championship after his poor display at Hartlepool United in the FA Cup last month.

This completely failed to take into account the winger was making his first appearance in more than two months.

The 26-year-old endured a nightmare 2021, making just 14 appearances during the calendar year as he suffered with a serious hamstring injury before undergoing not one, but two operations on his foot.

It’s no wonder he didn’t hit the ground running on his first game back.

Guess what? He gets a run of games in the team, he finds some rhythm and, all of a sudden, he becomes one of Blackpool’s most dangerous players again – just as he was the last time he was playing for Neil Critchley’s side on a consistent basis, which was at the start of last season.

The club’s fitness data suggested Hamilton could do with being taken out of the limelight in midweek to keep him fresh for Bournemouth this weekend.

It surprised many at first, but I can see a lot of sense in it.

The last thing Blackpool want is for Hamilton to suffer from burnout and pick up another injury. They’re stretched enough as it is.

That brings me on to Jordan Thorniley, who is another player to have been written off repeatedly during his time at the club.

At one point, I must admit, I didn’t see a future for the defender at Bloomfield Road. Critchley admitted as much himself a year ago.

However, circumstances change, players improve and opportunities arise that you may not have been anticipating.

A couple of weeks ago, most fans expected Thorniley to leave the club.

Fast forward a few weeks and there’s consternation he’s dropped to the bench following the return of Marvin Ekpiteta, arguably Blackpool’s best player. It’s a funny old game.

The same can be said of Callum Connolly, who isn’t a natural central midfielder but has done more than a capable job there in recent weeks following Ryan Wintle’s return to Cardiff City.

The 24-year-old was another taken out of the team at Coventry as Critchley opted to freshen things up and rest a few.

Pool fans wouldn’t have blinked an eye a few weeks ago had Connolly been named on the bench, so it proves how quickly things can change.

Ethan Robson didn’t have the best of games against Coventry but he will take time to get back up to speed again.

It was his first appearance for Blackpool since the second leg of last season’s play-off semi-final against Oxford United, so he’s going to need time to adjust.

The 25-year-old will need to get used to the Championship, as well.

While he’s been playing at a high standard at the top end of League One with MK Dons, he won’t have faced many midfields as capable or as talented as the Coventry one.

Speaking of midfielders, it was great to see Kevin Stewart make his long-awaited return off the bench on Tuesday night, replacing Robson who appeared to go down with cramp.

The 28-year-old is a massive player for Blackpool if he’s fit, which is a big if.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed because he was one of the club’s most important performers during the second half of last season’s promotion campaign. Some might do well to remember that.

I could go on though. Nearly every player has been questioned at some point and I get it, that’s football. Everyone has an opinion.

I’m rambling now, but the moral of the story is: don’t be too hasty to judge a player.

If they have a bad game, and at some point they will, I can assure you, don’t write them off.

If a player starts 20 games on the spin and is dreadful in all of them, that’s another matter, but somehow I don’t see that happening.

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