da realsbet： Lee Clark took over as Blackpool manager in October and was handed a seemingly impossible task: save a low-quality squad cobbled together only weeks before the season from Championship relegation.
da dobrowin： The Seasiders had only one win on the board and sat bottom of the table following the departure of Belgian boss Jose Riga, who never resolved his differences with Chairman Karl Oyston following broken promises and his failure to land numerous transfer targets.
The picture appeared bleak, but the Geordie stubbornly believed he could possibly pull off one of the greatest escapes known to man and get his management career back on track following his sacking from fellow Championship side Birmingham City.
Pulling off this feat would have been more impressive than when the Seasiders gained promotion to the Premier League on a shoestring budget in 2010, but what Clark failed to realise is that the supporters would turn on him quicker than he could mutter his infamous post-match catchphrase: ‘We dust wisels doon.’
On Monday, the inevitable was finally confirmed. Blackpool were relegated to League One with six games to go and a paltry return of 24 points following Rotherham’s victory over Brighton.
The Seasiders’ win record under Clark’s stewardship stands at an embarrassing 11%, with the club failing to win any of their last THIRTEEN games after last night’s draw against Reading. Blackpool are currently on course to amass the lowest points record in Championship history.
Now that Clark has failed in his task – and by some distance may I add – he should admit defeat and walk away from a club in terminal decline. The situation is only going to get worse from here.
Obviously Clark hasn’t been the primary reason for the Seasiders’ demise, but he has been on a hiding to nothing and repeatedly acted as the fall-guy for the club’s shambolic regime from boardroom level.
The ex-Birmingham boss has been chastised by Blackpool fans throughout his tenure, namely through being accused of acting as Oyston’s ‘puppet’. He puzzlingly froze out players from the first-team squad, such as Costa Rica international midfielder Jose Cubero and Belgian centre-back Jeffrey Rentmeister – both signed by former boss Riga. Cubero and Rentmeiser had previously shown brief glimpses that they were Championship-standard players and warranted a place in the starting XI.
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Clark also allowed other Riga signings to leave on loan, such as Spanish wingback Joan Oriol, who was comfortably better than the likes of Charles Dunne who remained at the club. Was this done to try and lay some of the blame for the club’s poor record on the Belgian boss? Allegedly so.
It is also worth noting that Riga walked into one of Belgium’s top jobs with Standard Liege after being shown the door and is continuing to prosper. This could have turned out to be a missed opportunity if he was backed appropriately in the transfer market.
Numerous comical moments followed down the line under Clark, such as when on-loan goalkeeper Joe Lewis was withdrawn from the squad due to ‘sickness’ and replaced with rookie keeper Elliot Parish. It then came to light that Blackpool were trying to return the loanee to his parent club Cardiff City, so that a clause wasn’t activated in his loan deal.
What made this even more ridiculous is that Lewis had prevented Blackpool from conceding a windfall of goals on a regular basis and he is now certainly a Player of the Season contender – truly laughable for a relegated side.
Overall, it appears Clark took the job without doing his homework and his motives for remaining in the hot-seat are questionable. Is he just collecting a wage?
He immediately joined Blackpool after being sacked by Birmingham following a poor run, where he amassed a win record of 26.9%. Since former Burton boss Gary Rowett succeeded him, they have comfortably avoided a relegation battle and have only lost five out of 23 league games – with the exact same squad Clark had available to him.
Over the course of the 2014/15 season, Clark’s combined record at Birmingham and Blackpool stands at a win rate of 13.5%.
More than 50 players have passed through the revolving door at Bloomfield Road this season, including short-term signings and loanees who haven’t made the grade.
Clark has made some baffling decisions, signing players such as Saer Sene, Joe Rothwell and Islam Feruz who haven’t even started a match.
Considering he possesses a significantly worse record than any recent Blackpool boss, it also doesn’t make any sense that Oyston hasn’t parted ways with him yet. He plans to stay on next season and has told the press that splashing the cash is the only way to compete – yet no manager has persuaded Oyston to splash out since relegation from the Premier League.
With only seven players on the books for next season, the squad faces a massive rebuild once again.
The core of players left for next season (Tom Aldred, Connor Oliver, Charles Dunne, David Ferguson and Henry Cameron) arguably aren’t good enough to compete in League One and it is yet to be seen whether the club can attract the required caliber to stay in that division.
I would put money on Oyston once again signing players only days before next season begins, with a daunting relegation to League Two possibly looming. Blackpool could therefore follow in the footsteps of Yeovil Town this season and suffer two relegations on the bounce.
If Clark is to leave, any new manager coming in will know it’s a poisoned chalice and hopefully not take the job, leaving Oyston in a massive predicament. Only a desperate manager would take the role and not gain the respect of fans.
Overall, the future looks bleak for a once proud club, and the regime will only end when the Oystons eventually pack up and leave.
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