Blackpool

Theo Walcott and Arsenal ran riot on 10-man Blackpool yesterday, with the England international scoring his first hat trick at club level, nearly two years on since his hat trick in Croatia in England’s 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Yesterday, Theo Walcott showed once again what he was capable of as he terrorised Blackpool’s defence for 90 minutes, scoring half of Arsenal’s 6 goals in the process. Starting as a right forward, Walcott had Stephen Crainey’s number all day, with the Scot, playing only his seventh ever Premier League match, not having the pace to keep up with Walcott.

We saw yesterday what Theo Walcott and Arsenal are capable of. But this result must be taken with a pinch of salt, playing against one of the weakest side’s in Premier League history, and whom were reduced to 10 men on the half hour mark when Ian Evatt brought down Marouane Chamakh as the last man.

All three of Walcott’s goals were tidy finishes in a game that saw him left open by a shell-shocked defence on a number of occasions. Even when he was marked by two defenders, he still managed to score against a poor-positioned Matthew Gilks in the Blackpool goal for his second of the game.

Arsenal fans will be aware not to get carried away with this performance from Theo Walcott. He’s been a model of inconsistency amongst a number of Arsenal youngster’s who have failed to find form on a consistent basis under Arsene Wenger. His movement, finishing and passing were all great today, with the occasional mistake that we’ve come to expect. But this came against a defence that was all over the place and lacked pace. Until Theo Walcott can put these performances in week in week out, and against the likes of Patrice Evra, Ashley Cole and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, critics will rightfully doubt him.

Arsenal’s 6-0 victory yesterday was matched by Chelsea in their thrashing of Wigan at the DW Stadium in Saturday’s evening kick off, making our weekly Premier League Tips never look in doubt at a handsome 6/4 price that was effectively finished before the hour in both games. They also settled the Unquoted Score on Betfair tips in the article I wrote on Friday. All-in-all, a very productive weekend!

Predicting the correct score in football games in often gambling suicide. With the odd exception of a 0-0, 1-0 I guess. Last weekend, if I was given £10 to put on a correct score bet on the Wigan Athletic-Blackpool Premier League game, I would have gone for 4-0. After all, that was my prediction with friends in our correct score league. Oh, I forgot to say, I predicted 4-0 to Wigan.

Blackpool’s 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic last weekend was the result of the most embarrassing prediction I’d ever made. I apologise now for anyone who put more on that than either of the other two tips I made last weekend, which were both correct.

Any Unquoted Scoreline

You’d think I was a liar if I told you I made money on that game. Well, I’m telling you that I made money on that game. While Wigan were just under evens to beat Blackpool last weekend, a bet which I took. Along with that, I also backed the unquoted scoreline (either team to score 4 or more) at a hefty 9/1 – my biggest winner of the weekend.

I expect a lot of games featuring Blackpool may see a few goals this season. The over 2.5 goals will be a popular bet with them I’m sure this season. But one bet for me this weekend is Arsenal versus Blackpool, once again backing the unquoted scoreline, again predicting Blackpool to concede 4 or more. The odds currently just over 2/1.

Chelsea Score a Few Too

That price was the same for Chelsea last weekend when they hosted West Bromwich Albion. In reflection, the result was never in doubt as Chelsea ran out comfortable 6-0 winners. The opportunity to put up a similar scoreline is presented to them again this weekend as they take on the same Wigan side that shipped 4 at home to Blackpool last Saturday, and whom let in 8 against Chelsea on the final day of last season.

This Weekend

Didier Drogba in particular isn’t a good match up for any Premier League defence, especially not this Wigan one that were torn apart down the middle against Blackpool. Expect a good performance from Frank Lampard this weekend, after a relatively quiet one against West Brom. As I wrote in my Premier League Tips for this weekend, the unquoted, the asian handicap and a Didier Drogba hat trick all look promising for Chelsea on Saturday.

With a lack of money to spend, at least before the sale of James Milner this week, Aston Villa have started their 2010/11 Premier League campaign with the inclusion of a number of youngsters in their first two competitive games.

Their 3-0 victory over West Ham United on Saturday to kick off the campaign saw first Premier League starts for youngsters Ciaran Clark and Marc Albrighton, while Andreas Weimann and Barry Bannan made appearances off the bench. The result was a 3-0 victory, albeit against one of the weaker sides in the division who gave a poor showing.

Marc Albrighton

Following James Milner’s departure, Stewart Downing could be tucked inside with Stiliyan Petrov in midfield, opening up a space for Marc Albrighton to become a regular starter on the wing, switching sides with Ashley Young. Despite being one of the stars in pre-season, Albrighton may be pushed for a place in the starting lineup when Gabriel Agbonlahor returns from an injury that kept him out of the opening game. Agbonlahor, another product of Aston Villa’s successful youth system.

Fabian Delph

Another injured midfielder absent for the start of Aston Villa’s current campaign is Fabian Delph. Still only 20 years old, the former Leeds United star signed for Aston Villa one year ago and is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury picked up towards the end of last season.

Barry Bannan

Barry Bannan is another player looking to break into the Aston Villa first team. Playing just a handful of seconds as a substitute at Villa Park on Saturday, Bannan scored Aston Villa’s goal in their 1-1 draw with Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday evening. He’s had successful loan spells with both Derby County and Blackpool in the Championship over the past 18 months that boosted his push for a first team place at Vlla Park this season.

Ciaran Clark

Ciaran Clark debutised in the centre of defence alongside the experienced Richard Dunne on Saturday. Clarke’s first start for the team was handed to him with the injuries to both James Collins and Carlos Cueller. His chances of becoming a regular in the Villa side this season seem unlikely at this point and a full season out on loan may benefit him in the long run.

Nathan Delfouneso

One other player looking to become more active with the first team this season is striker Nathan Delfouneso. The former England under 19 star has been tipped for a bright future, but needs to remain patient in the Aston Villa side. He’s main experiences have come in cup competitions for Aston Villa so far, featuring and scoring in both the Europa League and FA Cup competitions. His opportunities to play in the league remain limited, below Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew and Emile Heskey on the pecking order.

Keving MacDonald

Aside from injuries to regular first teamers from last season, current caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald has been the decision maker for playing the kids. The reserve team coach since 2003 knows these youngsters well enough and has shown good judgement so far in giving them first team opportunities.

Premier League

Aston Villa travel to Newcastle on Sunday for their second Premier League game of the season. It will be interesting to see how many and which youngsters Kevin MacDonald goes with, should he remain in charge for the weekend’s game.

Seems like you Gooners are not praying hard enough for the club early on. Continuous injuries to key players has proven to be our nemesis for so long now, and early season, when we haven’t come out of our shells yet, we have been hit by another one. Official sources have confirmed that Nasri requires a minor surgery for his knee injury that is definite to keep him out of action for a month. The Frenchman looked in good knick and in the absence of other stalwarts this definitely is a blow. 11 Gunners delves deeper into how Arsenal can counteract this most recent blow..

In his absence, Arsenal have to contend with premiership newboys Blackpool and a potentially tricky away fixture to Blackburn. No that the Blackpool game is a cakewalk, given that they netted four goals on the opening day. Nasri’s position will most likely be deputised for by Rosicky, altough I would personally prefer to see Arshavin drop in the hole behind Van persie and the impressive Marouane Chamakh. There should be no inhibitions about going full throttle against Blackpool, we definitely need to secure our first three points that day and looking at the team, attack seems the way to go.

The midfield should be bolstered by the return of Alex Song, if that happens. Wilshere has shown promise but will find it difficult to hold on to his first team place for now. However we hope he fights for it, at the end of the day it signals better fortunes for the club.

At the back, Johan Djourou will step in for the suspended Laurent Koscileny. Djourou’s tryst with injuries doesn’t really exude confidence and we feel that a new buy is more critical than ever, we just hope the Professor is paying attention to our worries!!!

For now, we hope this injury doesn’t keep him off for more than it ought to, and when he returns we shall have a packed”Arsenal” to unleash!!!

Do Blackpool have two top flight championships in their trophy cabinet? No. Do Blackpool have 30,000 expectant fans at their home games? No. And has Blackpool’s manager had the money Billy Davies had at Derby to take them up and watch them flop? No, but you know why I’m going to compare these two teams…

As Derby County did in 2007, Blackpool are the latest team promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs, in a match touted as the richest in football. And just like Derby County did in 2007, Blackpool done it as the underdogs. To make another comparison between the two sides, both were widely expected to finish bottom of the Premier League the following season. Derby County more than lived up to those expectations, finishing the season with a number of Premier League records and in a mess.

When Derby County gained surprise promotion to the Premier League, they came up with a history that included two First Division Championships in the 70′s, 6 seasons in the Premier League between 1996 and 2002, a 33,000 capacity stadium and a bit of spending money for the manager. While Billy Davies blew a lot of that money on the likes of Robert Earnshaw, Claude Davis and Kenny Miller, fromwhom they saw no positive return. Ian Holloway hasn’t had that luxury. Blackpool are experiencing Premier League football for the first time, only have a small stadium and the manager hasn’t been given a cheque book to improve his small squad.

This week has seen Blackpool finally make their first signings of the summer transfer window. They’ve come in numbers too. A few youngsters and the free signing of Marlon Harewood. It’s nothing to send anyone’s pulses racing with excitement. It’s not enough to convince any doubters that Blackpool will stay up at the first attempt. As with Derby, Blackpool are heading into this season under-prepared.

In goal they’re going to need Matthew Gilks to pull off some heroics in order to pick up a few unexpected points during their stay in the Premier League. Arguably the most important position for any team, I’ll wait until the season gets going before I decide to rate Gilks.

Defensively they look vulnerable. They were in the Championship too. They finished outside the top 6 in terms of goals allowed last season, and it only gets tougher now. The pace of the Premier League attackers will hurt this team. Ian Holloway transformed the likes of Alex Baptiste last season and Blackpool will almost be depending on him to be a rock last season. Ian Evatt and Rob Edwards have minor Premier League experience between them, but for most defenders in this squad I expect the pace and skill of the Premier League front men to come as a big shock to them.

Tagged as lazy and a waste of space by a number of Glasgow Rangers fans, Charlie Adam turned out to be one of the signings of the season last term. He’s got good ability and technique and this season is a chance for him to shine and improve on the few international caps he has for Scotland. I would expect Blackpool’s creativity to come through Adam. I don’t expect him to get stage fight, but I wonder if he frustration will kick in if things don’t go his way. Captain Jason Euell adds the experience in midfield. Something this team lacks.

Marlon Harewood comes across as a desperate late signing to me. And not a quality one. One good season at West Ham back in 2006, Harewood has struggled since then, just as he did in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest way back when. He’s a target man, but as all newly-promoted teams are looking for a regular goalscorer, Harewood is anything but that at this level. Blackpool need goals and I don’t see where they are going to come from with their current batch of players. Even if it is their most experienced part of the squad, with both Harewood and Brett Ormerod having previously played a number of seasons in the Premier League.

And the manager himself, Ian Holloway. A good character in front of the camera, even if he toned down last season. While he has Premier League experience as a player, many a year ago, the lack of managerial experience in this league is going to hurt him also. I don’t rate the team he has and he’s seemingly struggling to bring in talent. Loan signings are a must at this stage, but ultimately I see him fighting a losing cause.

While Derby County’s 11 point record appears to be near-impossible to break, finishing in the bottom 3 means the same thing at the end of the day, and that is where I expect Blackpool to be. I’ll be happy to see them prove me wrong, but ultimately I expect these to be solid bets for the season:

Under 26 points 11/10
Blackpool to Finish Bottom of the Premier League 10/11

With the Premier League season now rapidly approaching, I have decided to take a look at each of the 20 sides that will be playing at the top level of English football during this upcoming season.

I have decided to actually go in reverse order, with Wolverhampton starting the list off and Arsenal concluding it right before the start of the Premier League season.

In the 16th installment of this series, I will look at Blackpool,  who finished sixth in the Championship last season, but were able to advance into the Premier League due to Seasiders' ability to win the Championship playoff.

 

Review of Last Season

Going into last season, many people believed that Blackpool would be going down into the Championship thanks to a 16th place finish the season before and a new manager in Ian Holloway taking over.

However, Blackpool more than just upset the odds to go into League One; they annihilated them thanks to strong play throughout the season, which proved to be enough to get Blackpool into the Championship playoff.

After knocking out Nottingham Forest 6-4 on aggregate, Blackpool went onto the richest match in football; the Championship Final against Cardiff City.

And thanks to three first half goals, Blackpool were able to reach the Premier League with a 3-2 victory in one of the greatest moments in Blackpool's long history.

Transfers

Incoming Player: Ben Burgess (Notts County)

Departing Players: None

Blackpool Fixture List

All times are GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

1. Will Blackpool's lack of movement hurt?

With a lack of Premier League players, Blackpool will be hurt as they look to sustain a spot in the Premier League this season.

Maybe Blackpool will get some more players before the transfer window closes, but things are not looking up for The Tangerines.

2. Will Blackpool be able to adapt into the Premier League?

With a lack of Premier League players, I think Blackpool will be hurt as they already appear to be a bottom feeder this season.

However, with Blackpool's heart, they will certainly make things interesting this season.

3. Are Blackpool the "new Hull City?"

After climbing up from the bottom divisions of English football, Blackpool already appear to be looking like the next Hull City (who of course were relegated last season.)

I hope Blackpool can stay up in the Premier League, but I think it is a stretch to call them the "next Hull City."

4. Will Blackpool find themselves relegated?

Sadly, Blackpool appear to find themselves likely going down this season, as they are not a Premier League ready side.

I hope Blackpool can stay up, but it will take a performance of the ages to stay up in the top flight of English football for the first time since 1971.

For a preview of Bolton's Premier League season, please click here.

For a preview of Chelsea's Premier League season, please click here.

When Blackpool kick-off at Wigan next Saturday, they will become the 44th different club to play in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.

However, there will be many followers of the EPL whose first thought will be "Blackpool who?"

And you may well be forgiven for thinking that. Most football fans will know more about Blackpool Pleasure Beach than the town's football club.

So here's a quick look at the club, a dive into its rich history, and an overview of the current team.

A history lesson

Blackpool Football Club were formed in July 1887, making the club just a year younger than Arsenal and older than the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea.

For the first 60 years of their existence Blackpool spent most of their time in the second-flight of English football, with the odd foray into the top flight.

During the Second World War, Blackpool became a key training centre for the Royal Air Force, and many of England's best players were drafted to the town and this in turn strengthened the football club.

After the end of the War in 1945, two of Blackpool's most famous players came to the fore—Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen.

After joining the club in 1946 Mortensen was Blackpool's top goalscorer for the next nine seasons and became the first Englishman to score at the FIFA World Cup finals when he scored against Chile in the 1950 finals.

The 1940s and 50s proved to be the golden era for Blackpool.

They reached the FA Cup Final in 1948 and 1951, losing to Manchester United and Newcastle respectively, and were runners-up in the first-division in 1956—the closest the club has ever come to winning the top-flight of English football.

The club's most notable achievement came in 1953 when they returned to Wembley for the third time in six years to play Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup Final.

Played in front of a crowd of 100,000, Blackpool won the game 4-3 after an injury-time winner.

The game—which is better remembered as "The Matthews Final" after Matthews' performance—remains the only Wembley FA Cup Final to have seen a hat-trick, scored by Mortensen.

As the 1960s dawned, the famous side of the 50s departed and in 1967 the inevitable happened and Blackpool were relegated to the second-division.

The period did, however, see the emergence of two very talented players.

Jimmy Armfield—who spent his entire career at the club and is now a match commentator for the BBC—would go on to make 569 appearances for the club and he was joined by Alan Ball.

Ball was still a Blackpool player when he won the Man of the Match award in the 1966 World Cup Final.

But after one year back in the first-division in 1970-71, the next 40 years saw the club go up and down the lower divisions, and spent seven years in the bottom flight.

However, despite starting the 2009-10 Championship season as second favourites to get relegated, Blackpool FC beat the odds to reach the playoff-final where they beat Cardiff City 3-2 to secure their return to the top-flight.

The current side

The seasiders will be most people's favourites to get relegated and a return to the Championship is certainly on the cards, even before the season starts.

Manager Ian Holloway has expressed his frustration at how difficult it's been for him to bring in new players and as of today there are no new faces at Bloomfield Road.

Key players from last season have left with Hameur Bouazza seeking a move back to his native France and DJ Campbell—who was on loan from Leicester—returning to his parent club.

Another blow was dealt when it was revealed striker Billy Clarke will miss the entire season after surgery on a ruptured cruciate ligament.

But Blackpool will undoubtedly provide entertainment.

Holloway is well-known to many fans as being a good man for a quote. He once said of the lights along the coast at current home that "I love Blackpool. We're very similar. We both look better in the dark."

They have experienced players in Jason Euell and Brett Ormerod and are captained by the talented Charlie Adam.

Adam, 24, is a product of the Rangers youth system and was an unused sub when the Scottish club reached the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. A skillful midfielder, Adam was Blackpool's top scorer last year, netting 17 times in 46 games.

A lot will rest on his shoulders if Blackpool are to do the incredible and stave off relegation.

They don't have the easiest of starts though.  Blackpool will play Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in their first eight games.

It will be a great experience for their fans though, and for their players.

Danny Coid—who joined Blackpool as a trainee in 1998—will have played in every flight of English football while at the club when he plays in the Premier League.

Blackpool will also have an upgraded stadium for the new season as they upgrade the capacity from 9,650 to 17,600.

While the work will not be complete for the start of the season—the game against Wigan next week was originally scheduled to be played at Bloomfield Road—it is on target for the visit of Fulham on Aug. 28.

Blackpool will struggle this season—to be honest, a 17th place finish would be something close to a miracle for this club—but I'm sure they will gain many fans over the next eight months.

At the very least, it will be a very popular away trip for fans of the other 19 clubs.

Blackpool's thrilling 3-2 win over Cardiff City in the Championship Playoff is now two days behind us. They won a captivating game that had both teams pouring forward at the expense of backline fortitude. Since their promotion to the Premier League, the media have been praising Blackpool's style of attacking football, and reliving Ian Holloway's hilarious sound bites.

Blackpool's manager, who has never been coy about speaking his mind, brought up an interesting point in the wake of their emphatic playoff win—that Blackpool's promotion could be a curse in disguise for himself.

In a postmatch interview, Holloway drew comparisons between himself and Billy Davies. Davies got Derby County in the Premier League a couple of seasons ago, only to leave the club after 14 PL games due to a lack of performance. They earned six points before his departure in November 2007, in route to relegation and the lowest points total ever in Premier League history.

Ian Holloway has indeed created a problem for himself, but it is borne out of a tremendous achievement. 

Blackpool are the smallest club ever to gain promotion to the Premier League. There were a number of football pundits who tipped the side to be relegated to League One at the start of the 2009-2010 campaign.

The fact that Blackpool made it into the playoffs at all is an achievement in itself. Promotion is undoubtedly a dream come true for the fans (their stadium seats a mere 12,555). 

Bookies currently offer 3:1 odds that Blackpool will go straight back down to the Championship. They have a difficult campaign ahead. 

Blackpool have a brilliant manager in Ian Holloway and a number of very capable players (Charlie Adam is especially noteworthy). They have already made an unlikely journey. It will be interesting to see how they fare against England's best next season.

This season, the Championship has thrown up an unlikely success story with the rise of the Tangerines. Not since the days of Sir Stanley Matthews has the seaside town of Blackpool had such success.

The appointment of outspoken Ian Holloway as the Tangerines' manager in 2009 was a stroke of genius. Holloway has built a team of journeymen, veterans, and loanees that have managed to get to the Championship playoff places for the first time in their history, by the skin of their teeth in sixth place.

However, there is one Blackpool player who will have mixed emotions over the playoffs. Dudley Junior Campbell, the Blackpool striker is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand he will possibly have a trip to Wembley Stadium with Blackpool and promotion, where he has been instrumental in their push for the playoffs, scoring 11 goals in 17 games.

However, for D.J., there is a flipside to his successful season. His parent club, Leicester City, is in the other playoff semifinal against Cardiff City, where they are trailing 1-0 after the first leg.

Does he hope for his parent club, Leicester City, to go all the way to Wembley and the Premiership? If they are successful and beat Cardiff, he will be unable to play for Blackpool in the final as he will not be eligible to play against his parent club.

Or, does he hope that his parent club fails to reach the final and therefore get his chance to walk out on the green of Wembley Stadium (one of the biggest achievements for any player in the English game)?

If it was you, what would you choose?