Burgess: Blackpool can make fast progress with pace

Let’s start with Blackpool’s vital three points against MK Dons at Bloomfield Road.

The 11 players who start the first game are rarely the same for the second league game.

Bowyer has wisely rotated his team in the first two games and now players can’t complain about not being given a chance.

It was good to see Bright Osayi-Samuel back in the side. I felt his performances matured and progressed well last season, culminating in a great display at Wembley.

His pace is so explosive that if he just manages to work on the other aspects of his game, then he could have a very good career.

In fact, Gary Bowyer described watching Samuel and new boy Viv Solomon-Otabor playing on Saturday as “like witnessing the World Championships 100m final”.

I presume he was talking about their pace, not that it was a disappointing finish and one of them has a chequered history with drugs!

Those two speedsters could prove to be a great foil for Mark Cullen this season.

I always enjoyed playing alongside pacy players as they can stretch a game and push the defenders back towards their own goal.

This in turn frees up more space for midfielders and strikers like myself, who come towards the ball to hold it up.

Off the pitch, Bowyer has refused to be drawn into a war of words with the Cheltenham chairman Paul Baker.

Baker has not held back in his summing up of the way Blackpool carry out their transfer dealings.

He was extremely frustrated with the months of measly offers and for the unsettling effect it had on his player, Harry Pell.

More worryingly, he has mentioned that if he ever has to deal with Blackpool again “it will be too soon”.

Let’s hope other clubs don’t take that approach, or Bowyer will struggle even more to entice the players he needs to strengthen the squad.

It appears that the transfer window is causing unrest all over Europe.

We have the crazy situation of Liverpool, who have already been warned about tapping up Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk, complaining about Barcelona wanting Phillipe Coutinho.

Both Coutinho and van Dijk have requested transfers and effectively gone on strike.

You can also add Riyad Mahrez, Ousmane Dembele, Alexis Sanchez and Diego Costa to that list as well, and Gylfi Sigurdsson until he got his move to Everton this week.

It’s a difficult situation for clubs and players, but ultimately all the power is with the players.

They know that if they carry on as normal and don’t kick up a fuss, their club would have no reason to sell them.

Alternatively, in Coutinho’s case, he has arguably the biggest and best club in the world trying to sign him and he has tried to play nicely by making his feelings known.

He started by saying he would only move if it was amicable. Liverpool’s response was to turn down various bids of up to £100million.

Liverpool valuing him more highly than Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and others has driven Coutinho to despair. He now has a ‘back’ injury and has handed in a transfer request.

However firm and confident managers like Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pellegrino may sound, I guarantee the players concerned will move before the deadline.

Another player making his feelings known is Tottenham’s Danny Rose.

He strangely chose to do an interview two days before the season started about his desire to get one more big contract (that he feels he deserves), preferably from a northern team.

He then slammed his own club for signing players he had to ‘Google’ and said that generally Spurs’ wage structure isn’t good enough to compete with the ‘big’ clubs.

Talk about being ungrateful and biting the hand that feeds you!