FM11: Blackpool - A New Era

[hedger_14]

True although away games at West Ham and Aston Villa could be tricky fixtures.

And if anybody's wondering, this is Marcio and his skills.

 

[JBlues08]

Some straight forward looking fixtures there but I have to say, Arsenal's April fixtures is just plain crazy, on paper at least!

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True although away games at West Ham and Aston Villa could be tricky fixtures.

And if anybody's wondering, this is Marcio and his skills.

Looks like he might be a good signing for you there.

 

[Bevab]

Looks to be a good advanced forward.

You might be enjoying April, but be sure that you don't get complacent.

 

[hedger_14]

Blackpool April Update​

4th April - Blackpool v Wolves - Premier Division

Charlie Adam's influence can never be overestimated and another perfect pass gave David Goodwillie the opening goal of the match as he smashed it past Cuellar, Wolves loan keeper. We were up 1-0 at the break but we were hit with the injury of Giovani dos Santos and Steven Fletcher made our day even worse when Hodson had pushed up allowing Fletcher in behind and finished the move off to grab the equaliser for Wolves. Despite our dominance in the match, we just could not find a winner and it was a draw that could hurt us.

11th April - Peterborough v Blackpool - Premier Division

We needed a win in this match although Man City's draw with Tottenham meant we were still in front by a point. It wasn't surprising to see us go down early in the game through Guidetti's 9th minute goal. Ian Evatt's spot might have been in trouble at the end of the season but he was making the most of the injury to Phil Jones as he scored his third goal in the space of 4 matches to give us the equaliser on 16 minutes. Goodwillie's goalscoring form continued as he found the back of the net again when a beautiful touch found his way around Zakuani and the finish was even better and we had the lead. We dominated the match but we only went into the break 2-1 up, but things changed when Jack Robinson was sent off for a professional foul in the 55th minute stopping Bojan from a clear goalscoring opportunity. Evatt showed his control over the ball in the best possible way when he drew a penalty from Ashley Williams and Charlie Adam made no mistake from the spot. Ivan Fatic, off the bench then scored his first goal for Blackpool and the third goal of the game from a corner as Charlie Adam swung the ball to the near post where Fatic nodded the ball home to give us a 4-1 win and even though 3 goals came from set plays, the scoreline reflected the dominance we had in the match, 60% of possession and 21 shots to 9. Unfortunately, we were hit with bad news that Stewart Downing would likely be missing until the final match of the season through injury.

15th April - West Brom v Blackpool - Premier Division

Following City's defeat in the Manchester derby, we had the chance to really pull ahead at the top of the table but complacency was an issue, especially after an early goal, Giovani dos Santos setting up Bojan's 16th minute goal. Pacheco levelled on 33 minutes before Dorrans took the lead for West Brom shortly after half-time and went on to win the game. We really didn't deserve anything from the game though, we played poorly and gave Man City another shot at us.

25th April - Blackpool v Leicester - Premier Division

We had turned Bloomfield Road into a fortress this season and we weren't going to blow our unbeaten record in the league at home to the last placed team, Leicester even missing Giovani dos Santos through injury. Bojan found the target early with a goal in the 2nd minute and he doubled the lead just before half-time after tapping in a beautiful cross from Jeffren. Grandin who set up Bojan's first goal then put in a beautiful corner just over 20 minutes into the second half as David Goodwillie hit the ball on the half volley leaving Bunn no chance and it was a vital 3-0 win to stay top of the table going into May.

Premier League

The top 3 was now only separated by 3 points and if Arsenal had beaten Man Utd, it would have only been one point. We still hold a one point advantage over Man City and we have the easier run in May having to go up against Blackburn, Swansea, West Ham and Aston Villa but we will need wins against Blackburn and Swansea to make sure we can take the title. Man City will play the low on confidence Chelsea before a tough home match against Sunderland before finishing their season away to Wolves and home to Leicester. Arsenal play Sunderland away from home before matches against Wolves, Swansea and Leicester to end their seasons but they also have to worry about the champions league so they might find the travel to Sunderland difficult but they should win their last 3 games. Leicester have already been confirmed as relegated while Swansea are still trying to keep their survival hopes alive but they don't have the easiest end to the season, playing both Blackpool and Arsenal away from home meaning they will need wins at Leicester and home to Aston Villa if they want any chance of surviving, providing Peterborough don't find many points this month. We're in for an exciting month though.

 

[Spoobir]

Is it just me or do you always seem to have a brain burp against West Brom? Definitely going to be an exciting finish to the season though!

 

[hedger_14]

Not really, just that match and the FA Cup match previously. The only other time I haven't beat them is our first meeting back in 2010 when we lost 4-1 away from home. So our 3 defeats against them have come away from home. We've won 3 times at home and 1 away to them.

I can't say I really have any bogey teams. We don't have the best record against the top teams, Man Utd and Arsenal in particular though.

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And this is the first time I've ever heard anything about my birthday in the press. Maybe it's cause this is the only save I attend press conferences

"As it is your birthday on Saturday, you must be hoping the opposition gift you a win?"

And one of the replies is "I don't want to discuss my birthday. I'm getting old and don't need reminding of the fact"

 

[Bevab]

What was your answer?

 

[JBlues08]

Drama drama. Time to get the popcorn out.

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And this is the first time I've ever heard anything about my birthday in the press. Maybe it's cause this is the only save I attend press conferences

"As it is your birthday on Saturday, you must be hoping the opposition gift you a win?"

And one of the replies is "I don't want to discuss my birthday. I'm getting old and don't need reminding of the fact"

You should have print screen that. What is the setting for your birthday?

 

[hedger_14]

What do you mean, how old I am? If so, I think it was 48

And my answer I think was it would be a lovely birthday present but I don't think Blackburn would be that generous or something along those lines.

 

[JBlues08]

What do you mean, how old I am? If so, I think it was 48

I meant the setting for your DOB in the game in particular the date and month.

 

[hedger_14]

2nd May, whatever year

 

[hedger_14]

Blackpool May Update​

2nd May - Blackburn v Blackpool - Premier Division

This was a must win match for us if we were to go on to win the league but things weren't looking good when Samba headed home Weiss's corner. We were really outplayed though and only some great keeping from Wilfredo Caballero kept us in it and it was Rodrigo, who came off the bench at half-time, who found the equaliser with 5 minutes remaining, off the back of a beautiful long pass from Tarik Brack as his superb season continued and we managed to take a draw from the game but it could have been a loss if it wasn't for our superb defence and a MOTM performance from Caballero. We had lost our top spot though to Man City who had defeated Chelsea 3-1 away from home while Arsenal only managed a draw at Sunderland. Still it was not the birthday present I wanted.

9th May - Blackpool v Swansea - Premier Division

Swansea's hopes of surviving in the league would be all but over if they didn't manage a win against us but we weren't going easy on them. I was not happy at all though when poor defence allowed Ched Evans to open the scoring and give Swansea a 1-0 lead which they held until half-time. Things changed after half-time though when de Vries only managed to clear the ball as far as N'Zonzi who headed it back down field for David Goodwillie to equalise. Charlie Adam then sent Bojan in on goal after heading it forward and Bojan kept composed and finished in the bottom corner to give us the lead and we held on for a deserved win but we did make it hard for ourselves. We still needed Man City to lose but a 5-0 win against Sunderland didn't brighten the mood while Arsenal kept their title hopes alive with a 7-0 thrashing of Wolves.

16th May - West Ham v Blackpool - Premier Division

Our confidence wasn't great knowing how poor we had been in our previous 2 matches but we did enough to win the match as Goodwillie set up Rodrigo for the opening goal and despite not being able to score another goal, we held on for a needed win while Tarik Brack's great performance at the back earnt him his first MOTM award for the season. Man City would be kicking themselves after falling to a 2-0 defeat against Wolves, the team who were hammered 7-0 by Arsenal the previous week. Arsenal's top 2 hopes were also over as they were involved in a goalless draw with Leicester leaving us with a 2 point advantage over Man City.

24th May - Aston Villa v Blackpool - Premier Division

The day everyone had been anticipating since the start of the season. The final day of the season. A win would secure the first premier league title for Blackpool in history, while Man City would need Blackpool to either draw or lose to have any chance of winning the title. Aston Villa started the match well with a couple of opportunities but we fought back well with a couple of chances of our own and David Goodwillie was the first to find the back of the net, his left footed shot too good for Hennessey, Tarik Brack with another assist. It was a pretty even first half though but we went into the break 1-0 up. Another Charlie Adam corner extended our lead only a minute in to the second half when Evatt headed the ball back across goal for Phil Jones to find his way onto the scoresheet. He was the one who was urging the team onwards before the game and his 4th league goal of the season might have won them the league. Some pretty poor defence 15 minutes later gave Kyle Walker the chance to shoot and he made no mistake in bringing Aston Villa back into it. Aston Villa continued to create chances but they couldn't find the back of the net but Caballero won us the game with his 88th minute save to stop a certain goal as Yakubu hammered it in low from 25 yards and the Argentinian got across to tip it wide and seal the win and the championship. A day to remember for all those associated with Blackpool! Man City's 4-0 win against Leicester proved worthless.

Premier League

So an end to a great season of Premier League football, Blackpool winning the league for the first time in their history. Man City bettered their 5th place finish last season to come runners up this time but couldn't make it a third premier league title in history and their first since 1968. Arsenal would have been disappointed not to finish in the top 2 after winning the league in 3 of the past 4 seasons and coming runner up the other. Man Utd and Liverpool took the final spots in Europe while Peterborough qualified for Europe through winning the League Cup. The final spot in the EURO Cup will go either to Sunderland who finished 9th or Chelsea who finished at an extreme low in 14th, as they face off in the FA Cup final. Swansea couldn't do enough to survive the drop so they will hope to bounce back and secure promotion from the Championship next season. Birmingham and Leicester were the other 2 teams to be relegated. Wigan and Stoke will make a return to the top division next season while Preston and Middlesbrough play in the promotion playoff final to see who gains the final spot in the premier league next season.

 

[hedger_14]

Also, I'm not going to bother with off-season formal updates so I'll just give updates of transfers in normal posts.

Anyway, here were the awards for last season:

English Footballer of the Year:

1. David Silva - Man City (30 apps, 6 goals, 21 assists, AR 7.49)
2. Carlos Tevez - Man City (36 apps, 31 goals, 7 assists, AR 7.60)
3. Wayne Rooney - Man Utd (34 apps, 23 goals, 6 assists, AR 7.41)

Manager of the Year:

1. Brendon Hedger - Blackpool (Win Ratio 65%, 1492 Manager Points)
2. Gareth Southgate - Wolves (Win Ratio 31%, 909 Manager Points)
3. Hugo Sanchez - Blackburn (Win Ratio 44%, 802 Manager Points)

Players' Player of the Year:

1. Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal (35 apps, 3 goals, 14 assists, AR 7.30)
2. Arturo Vidal - Arsenal (33 apps, 12 goals, 6 assists, AR 7.32)
3. Marek Hamsik - Arsenal (37 apps, 8 goals, 15 assists, AR 7.25)

Young Player of the Year:

1. Mattia Destro (24) - Man City (34 apps, 19 goals, 11 assists, AR 7.30)
2. Kenzo Buisson (23) - Man City (38 apps, 6 goals, 6 assists, AR 7.24)
3. Rodrigo (24) - Blackpool (29 apps, 14 goals, 5 assists, AR 7.00)

Top Goalscorer:

1. Carlos Tevez - Man City (36 apps, 31 goals)
2. David Goodwillie - Blackpool (38 apps, 26 goals)
3. Wayne Rooney - Man Utd (34 apps, 23 goals)

And David Goodwillie was ripped off only named on the bench behind Wayne Rooney despite scoring more goals, more assists and a higher match rating. Wilfredo Caballero was also named on the bench from our team behind Gomes.


Transfer News:

Marcio and Michele Romano have completed their moves to Blackpool. Nelson Oliveira has left to Birmingham and Dekel Keinan to Nurnberg. Kevin-Prince Boateng was unhappy and I let him go to Besiktas on a free transfer, Mikael Dorsin's contract has expired and Israel has gone on loan to Doncaster for a fee of ?130k. We've also confirmed the signing of AC Milan's Salomon Kalou who will join for a fee of ?2M upfront plus ?2.5M over 12 months.

 

[hedger_14]

Blackpool have confirmed the signing of Man Utd youngster, Paul Richards for a fee of ?450k. The Welsh left midfielder signed for the Red Devils from Swansea 2 seasons ago for ?725k and spent a season on loan at Crystal Palace where he made 18 appearances for 4 assists and he has now made the move to Blackpool where they lack good young midfielders. He is also a natural wing back and good left back but it's more likely he will be trained as a winger as Tarik Brack has already made the left back spot his own at 20 years of age and he will only continue to improve, with Fatic a more than capable replacement.

Blackpool have also confirmed that they will not be making any huge signings with plans to build a new stadium at the end of the season. Bloomfield Road capacity is only 20,000 and despite being unbeaten there last season in the league, the financial benefits of moving will be needed if Blackpool are going to compete on the highest level.

 

[JBlues08]

on your magnificent achievement with Blackpool! Looking forward to see how you fare in the Champions League again with them again.

And whoever is managing Chelsea needs to be sacked!