Blackpool manager's future hangs in balance after crisis meeting

The pair met at Bloomfield Road after McDonald’s poor first season in charge resulted in relegation to League Two.

While the club remained silent, The Gazette understands McDonald went into the meeting with his mind all but made up that he would be leaving.

But it is believed chairman Oyston has concerns about being forced to search for his seventh manager since Ian Holloway left three in November 2012 and is reluctant to sack McDonald.

In the club statement released yesterday, apologising for relegation and promising to get the club back into League One, McDonald wasn’t backed or even mentioned.

After the manager expressed doubts over his future in yesterday’s Gazette, Pool will be expected to make an announcement on his position this week.

Many fans have called for McDonald to leave. In a Gazette Twitter poll conducted yesterday, around 90 per cent of the 1,500 fans who voted feel McDonald’s time at Bloomfield Road is up.

Oyston also held discussions yesterday over the future of players who are out of contract at Bloomfield Road this summer.

David Norris and Martin Paterson are two who are, while the club must also decide whether to activate options to extend the contracts of other players for a further year, including Tom Aldred.