Will Watt: Six ugly victories look great to me

Last weekend Blackpool and Doncaster battled their way through 90 minutes of scrappy play, with missed chances and two desperately struggling sides. But does that really matter?

The question is: would you settle for your side winning every game 1-0?

It’s an argument I often find myself having with people, particularly Manchester United fans this season.

Incredibly, some people insist they would not, jumping on their high horse to declare they’d rather see their team play nice and lose.

For me, that’s nonsense –football is all about winning three points.

With that in mind, Neil McDonald and his Blackpool side have got things absolutely spot on in recent weeks, the problems will come for him if Blackpool are losing - and losing ugly.

When the final whistle goes at Peterborough on the final day in May, not one care in the world will be given to how scrappy the win at Doncaster was or how unlucky Crewe were not to get a point two games before that.

I suppose Blackpool simply have to find a way of grinding out results between now and the end of the season.

It’s totally ridiculous the Seasiders find themselves in this position. Whatever anyone tells you – staying up will not be an achievement.

Regardless of Pool’s lack of players last summer, their terrible 2014-15 season and their off-field problems, the money at Blackpool should have ensured all these issues were easily addressed.

It was interesting to hear Southend manager Phil Brown’s comments about McDonald’s problems with chairman Karl Oyston.

They will have come as a surprise to no-one.

I’m sure McDonald will have dropped a text to his old pal Brown bemoaning his public remarks but at least it helps the Pool fans to realise that all maybe isn’t as well as McDonald makes out.

With The Gazette absent (again) from yesterday’s press conference, McDonald wasn’t asked on his thoughts on Brown’s comments.

But I’m sure that privately he’ll be happy Brown made them. I can understand McDonald not wishing to criticise his boss in public, but maybe the manager would gain more sympathy from unsettled fans if he was a little more open about what goes on behind the scenes.

McDonald’s handling of media interviews hasn’t been great. I’m not sure any of us really know what he’s all about or what he stands for.

Sadly, he’s only been allowed to do brief interviews, barely scratching the surface of his beliefs about the game.

When I eventually get to sit down with him, I would like to get to know McDonald the football man better.

Instead, fans are hearing under-pressure soundbites, and his level of popularity among supporters is pretty low as a result.

Believe it or not, I have huge sympathy with the desperately tough job he has.

He’s yet another, victim of the Blackpool FC infrastructure, which appears to offer very little support to the man in the hotseat as club PR is non-existent.

Ultimately, though, his tenure will be judged on whether he manages to steer them to safety.

Should Blackpool go down, I think he’d realise it would be very difficult for him to continue as manager, although I still think Pool will avoid the drop.

So while we all may moan and hate every second of the next six games – six ugly 1-0 wins will do me nicely.