Gaffers Gabber

Following the rare 0-0 bore draw against Brighton ‘Larry’ was rather frank with his comments in his post-match interview.

‘It was disappointing that we did not get the three points – at this stage of the season you want to try and win every game. I thought we were a bit slow out of the traps and didn’t play well in the first half.’

Can’t argue at all with that viewpoint, the fans were certainly disgruntled in the first 45 minutes, so much so that a common round of applause – to rally the players up as they run down the tunnel – was replaced with a scattering of boos and a deafly silence from the rest of the ‘Pool faithful.

‘We had a real good go at it in the second half – but for some poor finishing and some good goalkeeping [from Scott Flinders] we could have quite easily won the game.’

There is no doubt in the fact that Scott Flinders denied ‘Pool of any chance of the full points haul on saturday. Pulling off numerous saves to deny Claus Jorgensen.

However, there are positives to come out of the game. The point – and Tranmere’s loss to Swansea – ensured that Blackpool ended the weekend in 6th position with a little foot-hold onto the final play-off position.

‘Looking at the table it has taken us into sixth position, so we have to be positive about it. It’s another point and we are delighted to move into the play-off positions.’

Captain, Michael Jackson, was once again ill and Kaspars Gorkss filled in at his preferred – and stronger in my opinion – centre half position.

‘Kaspars Gorkss did well – he competes very well and he is an English-type centre-half who likes to get tight to people and heads it. We will work on his distribution, which can only get better. He is an honest lad – that’s why we brought him here and he has been a good addition to the squad. He stepped into Michael Jackson’s shoes really well.’

It seemed to many that the players were feeling the effects of the heavy workload – travelling between away games and of course the fixture pile-up caused by re-arranged games. This was possibly the reason that Wes Hoolahan – ineffectual in the previous 4 games – and Keigan Parker – lets just say ‘jaded’ (no pun intended!!) – were dropped to the bench to ensure that they came off the bench refreshed and at their best – which is yet to be seen in my opinion.

‘I agree we did look a little ‘leggy’ on Saturday – Brighton picked up on a lot of second balls with the extra man in midfield and we probably did look second-best all over for the first half. But full credit to the players, they kept going. They have had an immense run of games, with all the travelling, and it has an effect physically and mentally. So we will give them a few days off to recharge their batteries.’

With a key game coming up against Yeovil at Huish Park, it is vital that the players get back firing on all cylinders – just like they were prior to the Norwich FA Cup tie. How ironic would it be if our promotion hopes were dashed because of our first outing in the 4th Round of the cup since the QPR tie way back in the early 90’s. Football, funny old game isn’t it…