Pools v Pool Preview

By Albatross
October 17 2003

Hartlepool United take on Blackpool tomorrow for the first time since our playoff debacle a couple of years ago. Bloomfield Road has changed a lot since our last visit - though it's not complete - but what about the team we face? Pools Online previews the game....

The story of Blackpool's season so far does not make happy reading for Tangerines fans. They got off to the worst possible start with a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Queens Park Rangers, seemed to have bounced back well with successive wins over Barnsley in the Carling Cup, Wycombe and Oldham, but then lost it again with a run of four games without a win. Inconsistency has been their watchword: a couple of wins have usually been followed by a run of draws and defeats, leaving them in 17th place - albeit with a game in hand on most of the sides around them. After a decent season last year, and hopes of staging a playoff push, this is not what the fans wanted.

There have been one or two bright spots though; specifically, a win over top level opposition in the Carling Cup. A 1-0 victory over Birmingham has taken them into the third round of that competition, and a victory over Tranmere on Tuesday means they are also still in the LDV as well.

A quick look at their record reveals where the problems lie. While the other Pool have scored a reasonable 15 goals in 12 games, they have also conceded 22; and other than Birmingham, the only team not to score against them so far is Brentford. With some Blackpool fans talking of how they almost dare not look whenever their opponents come forward, it could be a fruitful afternoon for Gabbiadini, Williams and former Blackpool man Paul Robinson.

This is in part down to their struggling central defensive partnership. Simon Grayson (34) and Steve Davis (almost 35) may both be experienced, but even with the somewhat younger Chris Clarke to call on things have not been working out. McMahon has recently been employing three at the back in an effort to tighten things up, but it still didn't result in clean sheets against either Colchester or Tranmere - who came back from 3-0 down to 3-2 at Bloomfield Road.

Up front, Blackpool also have experience to call on in the shape of Mike Sheron. He hasn't scored yet since joining from Barnsley in the summer, but has apparently been playing well. The person to benefit has been his regular partner up front Scott Taylor, scorer of eight goals so far this season - by far his best ever start - including all three of Blackpool's goals in the Carling Cup so far. Challenging them for a place is John Murphy; he netted 19 times last season, but found himself frozen out somewhat following the arrival of Sheron. He's done his case for a regular spot no harm at all though with a hat-trick against Tranmere to take his tally for the season to four.

Other players likely to be taking the field against Pools are Richard Wellens, Danny Coid and goalkeeper Lee Jones. McMahon has few injury worries, and may even decide to play his son - also Steve - who played a part in the LDV game. Pressure is growing on McMahon senior though, and he knows that a couple of quick wins are needed to get the fans back onside.

As far as Pools are concerned, there's little to report on the injury front either. The main speculation seems to concern loans - Tony Williams possibly being the next to look elsewhere for first team action - and with Carlisle signing Hendo up for another month, it may be that a bid to make the move permanent comes in for the Pools forward. There may well be one or two changes from Tuesday Night; Provett looks a cert to start in goal, while Cooper is once again faced with the decision of what to do with his three forwards. The experiment with Tinkler in defence may continue, if it does then I'd expect Clarke, Humphreys and Strachan to be in the middle with just two of the three frontmen in the starting lineup. Which two? Eifion and Robinson would be my choice, with Gabbiadini available to come off the bench if either looks out of sorts - as Robinson has recently.

3-5-2 may be the way to go in this match, but one advantage of Tinkler's "Kaiser" impression is that it does provide us with flexibility. If things aren't working in midfield, it's a simple matter for Tinkler to move up alongside Strachan and have Humphreys and Clarke go out wide.

Having said all that, Cooper may decide to attack the vulnerable Blackpool defence by playing all three forwards, with Eifion again asked to play wide - though I think he may prefer to be a little more cautious, at least to start with.

So, who's going to scoop the Pool tomorrow? Blackpool leak goals, but so do we away from home; and McMahon knows that he needs to get his side turned round soon. Another tough game in prospect then, but Pools are looking more and more confident, and have yet to be outclassed by anyone. I'm going to go for Pools to just shade it, a 2-1 victory with Strachan and Robinson to score - but a draw wouldn't be a bad result either.

Just a quick word about tickets - any other exiles going to the game need to have arranged their tickets in advance as the police are refusing to allow them to be sold on the turnstiles. The Hartlepool Club Shop though will sell you a ticket over the phone to be collected at the Blackpool Ticket Office on Saturday - that's what I've done - but you need to call them ASAP. See you there!