Neil McDonald labelled his Blackpool side ‘rubbish’ as they lost 3-0 to Northampton Town in the Capital One Cup.
Speaking to the official site, he said: “I thought we were rubbish first-half. I thought we were outplayed, out-ran, out-battled and obviously out-scored. We’ve lost the game there and then” adding:”Whatever system we played it wouldn’t have worked because we never passed the ball, controlled the ball or showed any composure whatsoever.”
Pool never looked good enough against the league two side and conceded their first goal after 20 minutes when Chris Hackett was allowed to drift into the area totally unmarked to fire home. Northampton were allowed to add a second after some pinball in the Pool area before Calvert-Lewin was able to fire past keeper Kyle Letheren.
Northampton added a third soon after, this time it was Sam Hoskins who scored after McAlister’s block. Pool did have a good chance to peg one back but Jack Redshaw missed an absolute sitter, much like he did against Colchester on Saturday.
McDonald switched to 4-4-2 at the break and brought on Henry Cameron and Bright Samuel in an attempt to change things, but the Tangerines couldn’t get back in the game. Things did improve, they had a fantastic chance on 57 minutes through Kwame Thomas but he too scuffed his effort. The game finished 3-0.
This was an absolute disaster for McDonald’s side. 3-0 down after half an hour meant there was never a chance of coming back. The 4-3-3 failed massively and the lack of experience in the team was very evident, the team looked lost in the first half and well below the standard needed to survive in League One.
Experience is needed and fast. Sadly though it seems a lot to ask for us to sign 3/4 experienced quality players before the window shuts, every window the demands are the same but they are never met. There is potential for the young side to succeed, but there has to be improvements.
Let’s hope for a better performance this Saturday!
Player Ratings
Letheren
Aldred
Robertson
Jones
Ferguson
Cubero
Potts
McAlister
Thomas
Cullen
Redshaw
Cameron
Samuel
