Blackpool - Weakened Team or Squad Rotation?

When the Premier League gave Wolves a £25k suspended fine last season for fielding a weakened side, they set a dangerous precedent. It suggested that the manager was not free to select whatever team he felt suitable for any given football match, and that the Premier League would determine what the strongest side was.


This issue is back under the spotlight again after Ian Holloway made ten changes ahead of Blackpool’s trip to Villa Park last night, with midfielder Keith Southern being the only player retained from Saturday’s home draw with Everton. As it was, the ‘weakened’ Blackpool side played brilliantly, and gave Aston Villa a real shock in front of their own fans. They thought that they had grabbed a point when DJ Campbell’s shot was deflected past Brad Friedal, only for James Collins to break Tangerine hearts with only one minute left.

However, today the Premier League have announced that they will be investigating Blackpool’s decision to make those ten changes. If they find them guilty of having fielded a weakened side, then one would imagine that they would receive a similar £25k suspended penalty. On the surface, it is not really a major issue for the club. However, it is the thinking behind it that is worrying.

Who are the Premier League to suppose that they know what a manager’s strongest team is? The manager works with his players on a daily basis, whereas the Premier League occasionally see them play once a week. In this day and age, football is a squad game – a club does not simply have 11 players, who play week in week out. Indeed, the Premier League has set a rule stating that clubs have a squad of up to 25 players. Yet if a club uses this squad, it will be punished?


And why does this argument only ever seem to relate to the smaller clubs? When Manchester United travel to Villa Park this weekend, they will send out a strong team undoubtedly. If they sent out a line-up consisting of the likes of Tomasz Kuszczak, Wes Brown, Gary Neville, John O’Shea, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney, Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan, would the Premier League take any action? Of course they wouldn’t. Bringing in all those international players couldn’t possibly be equivalent to sending out a weakened side.

So why should Blackpool’s team be classed as a weakened side? In goal, he brought in Richard Kingson. Kingson has played in the Premiership for Birmingham and Wigan in the past, he has played in Turkey for Galatasaray, and he has won 83 international caps for Ghana. Should he really be classed as such a ‘weak’ player compared to Matt Gilks?

Chris Basham has played for Bolton for two years in the Premiership and cost the club a record fee of £1m. How could including the club’s record signing be classed as weakening the team? Dekel Keinen has represented Israel 15 times – he can hardly be classed as a poor player. Jason Euell is the club captain with almost 15 years experience playing in the top division of English football. Matt Phillips is a current England U19 international. Marlon Harewood has played for Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Aston Villa in the Premiership.

Yet the inclusion of all of these players has been construed as fielding a weakened side. Ian Holloway is quite correct when he says that “I’m the manager of Blackpool and I manage the players how I want.” As he admits, “we’ve got four games in 12 days and the lads I’ve played every week are struggling to keep up the level.” Would the Premier League have rather he kept playing the same eleven players for every game, even if they were exhausted and not able to play to their best level?


If someone told you that a team was set to replace a keeper who had played in two World Cups, and had twice been named the goalkeeper of the tournament at the African Nations Cup, with a 28-year old that had never played internationally, and who only had seven appearances in the Premiership, you would argue that it was weakening the team.

If someone told you that a team was set to replace an Israeli international defender with a player who had a grand total of 11 Premiership appearances in his 11 year career, you would argue it was weakening the team.

If someone told you that a team was set to replace their club’s record signing, with several years Premiership experience, with a player who had not even played in the Championship until last season, you would argue that it was weakening the team.

However, if Blackpool revert to their usual side this weekend, that is exactly what they will be doing. It should not be up to the Premier League what team Ian Holloway picks. He has a squad of 25 players, all of which he will feel are capable of performing in the Premiership. Otherwise, they would not be in the squad.

Not only does this bring up the question of whether the Premier League should interfere at all, it also re-raises the question of whether the same rules are not fairly applied to the bigger teams, simply due to the strength of their squads.

Let us go back to the penultimate day of the 2006/07 season. Fulham were fighting for their lives, battling with Wigan, West Ham and Sheffield United to avoid becoming the third relegated team. They welcomed Liverpool to Craven Cottage, expecting a tough battle. However, Liverpool had made nine changes from their side for the previous match, resting the likes of Javier Mascherano, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger. They were replaced by the likes of Gabriel Paletta, Emiliano Insua, Alvaro Arbeloa, Momo Sissoko and Robbie Fowler.

Now, even with all those changes, Liverpool had nine players who had represented their country in their starting XI, and the two that hadn’t have subsequently been called up. However, they are clearly playing a ‘weakened’ side, going by the definition of that by the Premier League.


Fulham went on to win that game 1-0, and stayed up by one point, relegating Sheffield United. If Liverpool had played a full-strength side, it seems unlikely that Fulham would have got that win. In this situation, the Premier League took no action, although it had a far greater impact on teams’ seasons that either the Wolves or Blackpool games.

Is it because Liverpool could put out a team of internationals as a second string side that means that they can do that? Is the Premier League saying that the top teams are allowed to rotate their teams, but that the smaller teams should have to stick with whatever side they start the season with?

The problem the Premier League have given themselves is that they have to fine Blackpool for it. Having handed out such a punishment to Wolves last season, they now have no choice. But in reality, the Premier League should not be involved at all in determining what team a manager plays. The manager is the one in charge of selecting the team that he feels is right for each match, given the overall aim of the season.

As Ian Holloway has said:

“If some bright spark from the Premier League wants to tell me who I can pick, then come and have a cup of coffee and you’ll probably get it chucked in your lap. Let them try and fine me, it’s an absolute disgrace. I’ll show the Premier League. We were a credit to football, and let the Premier League try to tell me otherwise.”

DW

Magnificent Blackpool take their place in the Premiership

The most valuable game in professional football. 90 minutes that can make or break a club. With a place in the Premiership worth £90m at stake, one might have expected a tight, nervy game. Within 15 minutes, this had been proved spectacularly wrong.

Under the scorching sun at Wembley, Blackpool and Cardiff put on a footballing spectacle. Much of the talk ahead of the game was whether the big name players would turn up – Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra for Cardiff, and record signing Charlie Adam for Blackpool. Whittingham has surprised people to become the league’s top scorer with 20 goals; Michael Chopra has chipped in with 16, whilst Charlie Adam also has 16.

The action kicked off almost instantly as Cardiff’s two stars combined excellently – Whittingham’s cross from the left was flicked onto the bar by Michael Chopra. Only five minutes later, the pair combined again, but this time, Chopra drilled the ball perfectly past Matt Gilks to give Cardiff an early lead. However, never count Blackpool out. Having come from behind on the last day of the season to secure their playoff spot, and in both legs of the semi-final, it was no surprise that they came back strongly. Stephen McPhail gave away the free-kick, and Charlie Adam, signed for a club-record £500k last summer, curled a magnificent strike into the top corner. Any player would have been proud of an effort like that.

Blackpool continued to press forward; Cardiff being forced to repel wave after wave of Tangerine attacks. However, it was Cardiff who grabbed the next goal – Joe Ledley playing the one-two with Peter Whittingham and keeping his cool to lift the ball over Matt Gilks to give the Bluebirds the lead once again. But yet again, there was no holding Blackpool back. They swarmed forward yet again; Gary Taylor-Fletcher hitting the post with a cracking volley after some nice passing from Blackpool. From the resulting corner, Ian Evatt’s shot was cleared off the line by Mark Kennedy, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher was on hand to nod home. Only 3 minutes had passed between the two goals.

The first half still had more to give. On the stroke of half time, good work by DJ Campbell on the edge of the box created some space, and although he mishit his shot, it fell for Brett Ormerod to poke under Marshall to give Blackpool the lead for the first time. Nine years ago, Brett Ormerod scored in a playoff final to lift Blackpool out of the bottom tier of English football, and it looked as though he might have done the same again.

The second half began in the sweltering heat, with the pitch-side thermometer showing temperatures in excess of 106°F. Blackpool suffered a set-back when Gary Taylor-Fletcher limped off within 5 minutes of the restart, but the game seemed to have settled back in the previous pattern. A high tempo open game hinted at more goals, but they were not to come. Despite the lack of goals, the half was no less absorbing. Cardiff, knowing they needed to score, pressed forward with Blackpool content to play on the break.

They created chances with Michael Chopra hitting the bar, Joe Ledley flicking a header just wide, Ross McCormack putting his shot wide and Joe Ledley being prevented again by Matt Gilks. Gilks had a nervous moment when he lost a cross, but watched the ball trickle wide of his left hand post. Ian Evatt and Alex Baptiste, who was relegated from the football league with Mansfield only 2 years ago, were both magnificent, winning countless headers and tackles.

As the final whistle was blown, the Blackpool players celebrated with their fans and manager, whilst the dejected Cardiff players collapsed to the turf. Ian Holloway’s transformation was complete. Formerly regarded as a bit of a comedy sideshow, he went away for a year, and returned a more serious manager with a new style. Inspired by Roberto Martinez’s Swansea last year, Blackpool play with an open, passing style, reminiscent of the Dutch total football. Whether they will be able to stay in the Premiership is another question, but for now, Blackpool will celebrate, as they should.

Ian Holloway has built a team of loan players and lower league journeymen, with an overall wage budget of only £4.8m – less than John Terry earns. Their average attendance is below 10k, and Bloomfield Road’s East Stand is a temporary construction. However, tonight, none of this will matter to the 35k Blackpool fans, the players, management and owner, Valeri Belokon. After 90 minutes of enthralling football, the Tangerines are now £90m richer and will look forward to taking their place at English football’s top table next season.