The Seasiders March Forward

Well what a weekend!

Blackpool's first game in the premier league, a situation which only six months ago any football fan would instantly have scoffed at, saw Blackpool top the premier league (albeit for only afew hours) and give the entire footballing community a sharp dose of reality.

Following the incredibly frustrating preseason which saw even the coolest fan express an element of their tethers end, a flurry of new signings and an intense display against supposedly top class opposition illustrates what Ollie, the backroom staff and the players have achieved in the last year of 'progress' at the seaside.

Lets face it, Wigan didn't play anywhere close to their full potential and the first game of the season is always slightly unpredictable, but noone can take away what a marvellous result and eye opening performance Blackpool pulled out of the bag on Saturday. Vaughan, GTF, Adam and Evo didn't seem to be as easily pushed around as much as most journalism would have us believe and our slick tactics and marathon-esque work rate shows that this league isn't all about money. 4 goals when we have (supposedly) no real attacking quality, and the boys at the back keeping a clean sheet means that this wasn't just a 'lucky' result.

If you were to read the papers and make a judgement based on the common conception of Blackpool, you'll have noticed we don't have 4 sides to our ground (yet), we had the second lowest average attendance in the Championship last year, we didn`t bring in any players until only 4 days before kickoff, we have a lower wage budget, record transfer fee, staff number and pretty much everything than everyone else in the league, we have a worse team than the team that got us promoted, our chairman has offered to step down and we are apparently absolute certainties to be whipping boys and relegation fodder for the premier league this season.

Testament, therefore, should be made to every core element of the club and the foresight and desire the entire Blackpool organisation has to believe that they can actually compete at such a high level. Ollie could conceivably sit back, stack up the defence and try to leak as few goals as possible and hope that we survive. He could tell the lads to enjoy the season because we are more than likely about to be demolished every game this campaign. He could play negatively and on the back foot… In fact, on Saturday we played the exact opposite of these false ideologies and came out aggressively and attacked our way to an emphatic victory.

The boys looked fired up, the passing was slick, the movement was intelligent and the attacking precise. Blackpool looked like a comparatively strong side and I think this victory will give them the confidence to put up a fight this season. Noone is under the impression that we will finish anywhere near the top, we are probably too scared to dream, but what a fantastic start to the new season and a invaluable 3 points on the board means that we could really be an underestimated force this year.

Here's to the underdogs… Bring on the Arsenal!