Brett Ormerod: Plenty for Blackpool fans to be optimistic about ahead of new season

It can always be unsettling when there’s a change in manager but at the same time, professional footballers should be used to it because there’s always change in football, nothing is ever consistent or stays the same.

Appleton’s had a good few weeks with the squad now and it’s largely the same group of players that did so well last season, so I think there’s plenty to be optimistic about.

I watched the pre-season friendly against Rangers a couple of weeks ago and I thought they had some spells where they looked very, very good. They’re clearly going to try and play a bit more football anyway.

Saying that, you can never gauge how good or bad a team is from a lot of these friendlies, the main thing is just getting everyone through the game and picking up as few injuries as possible.

At this stage, when Blackpool are still putting the final touches to their squad, it’s difficult to say what a good season would look like for Blackpool. If Neil Critchley was still here and you had that stability, you’d be looking up the table and wanting to progress and maybe even considering a play-off push.

One good thing Blackpool have is that strength in depth in their squad, but we all know how tough the Championship is, especially when you’ve got your three massive rivals in the league as well.

It’s such an exciting prospect having these five North West clubs in the same division, I don’t think it’s ever happened in my lifetime and I certainly can’t recall it happening before. It will be a great season for the derbies, that’s for sure.

Even when a couple of the sides are in mid-table and don’t have a lot to play for, they will still have some exciting games to look forward to and that’s what it’s all about.

It will be interesting to see which players come to the fore this season, because there’s usually one or two that break out that you don’t normally expect.

Sonny Carey has looked sharp in pre-season and he’s a player I like. Hopefully Shayne Lavery can carry on from where he left off last season because he did ever so well to finish the season as the club’s top goalscorer in his first year with the club.

There’s a few candidates though. Obviously Josh Bowler is still there as it stands and we all know what an exciting player he can be. If Marvin Ekpiteta can maintain his performances from last season he will be important again.

As I say, there’s some good depth in the squad which isn’t something you associate with Blackpool, certainly not until recent years anyway.

As a player, you just want to get that first game out of the way. There’s a big build-up to it and a lot of unknowns.

Blackpool playing their first game at home is a big advantage for them because they’ll have a great backing.

But it’s going to be a long, tough season but I’m sure everybody is looking forward to it.