Opinion: Ben Mansford's Blackpool departure isn't something to be celebrated

I highly doubt we’ll ever be on each other’s Christmas card list and he has made mistakes, I’m sure he would be the first to hold his hands up to that. But I do feel like he’s been made into a convenient scapegoat for many.

I can’t help but be concerned about the current upheaval behind the scenes. Losing a key board member in Brett Gerrity, a chief executive, a sporting director in Chris Badlan and a manager in Mick McCarthy – albeit an interim one – in the space of just 29 days is not a good sign, whichever way you look at it.

Some might argue Blackpool were in need of a clearing of the decks after their relegation, but I can’t get on board with this view. I fear it’s too much change in such a short period of time and it’s not conducive to long-term success.

If you compare Blackpool to Rotherham United, a club who are swimming in a similar pool in terms of budgets and their expectations, the Millers have yo-yoed between the Championship and League One for the last seven years and yet, when they’ve bounced back, it’s because they’ve largely kept the core of their squad together, Paul Warne was always kept on after their relegations and behind the scenes there was always continuity and stability.

Compare that to the Seasiders and they don’t have a permanent head coach at this moment in time, no chief executive or a sporting director – albeit one is about to be appointed – and they’ve got 17 first-team players out of contract.

I wrote the other day that wiping the slate clean might not necessarily be a terrible thing, it presents opportunities and drawbacks in equal measure. But to get recruitment right and managerial appointments right, you need the right foundations in place beforehand to ensure you get those decisions absolutely spot on.

While appointments are on their way, there’s currently a vacuum in the boardroom with only one man remaining – and that’s owner Simon Sadler.

Issues to resolve

Some key decisions will have to be made in the coming days and weeks, yet questions still remain. Who is overseeing the club’s retained list, for example? Because that will have to be sorted out next week.

I asked Stephen Dobbie on Thursday if he was expecting to have any involvement and he told me he didn’t know, his focus was elsewhere given he still has a game to prepare for.

If it’s the new sporting director, heavily rumoured to be Sheffield Wednesday’s head of recruitment David Downes, is he already familiar with Blackpool’s squad? If not, whose advice will he take? These are questions that require answers and pretty urgently too.

The Seasiders simply can’t afford to find themselves in a position to last season, when Neil Critchley’s surprise departure set them back a month or so while they searched for a replacement. As a result, summer recruitment suffered and they were playing catch-up from that point onwards.

Either way, let’s hope the club gets the big calls right. By all accounts Downes would be an astute appointment to oversee the recruitment process so if that happens, that would be a promising start. Then there’s the small issue of a new head coach, which is arguably the most important decision of them all.

One game to go

Nevertheless, we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little bit as there’s still one fixture of the season remaining, albeit no-one seems to be talking about it. Understandably so really, given nothing is at stake for either side.

Dobbie appears to be taking the game seriously though as it’s likely to be his last chance to make an impression, so I expect the Seasiders to go as strong as possible.

Blackpool’s interim boss has, however, teased two or three of the club’s youngsters from the development squad could be involved. Whether that’s from the start or off the bench, we’ll have to wait and see.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Lankshear, Rob Apter and Brad Holmes are all involved and it would be nice to see all three of them get on the pitch at some point.

How refreshing is it to even have this conversation? Yes, the circumstances aren’t ideal given we’re only having this discussion because Blackpool are already relegated. But even in a different turn of events, I’d still expect Dobbie to throw in the youngsters because that’s what he does, that’s his background and he has full faith in the development squad players he’s coached throughout the course of the season.

Going back to my earlier point about Blackpool’s long-term success, the academy has got to play a massive part in it. Sooner or later an Apter or a Holmes has got to be given a proper go, not just the odd substitute appearance here and there.

In a strange way, Blackpool’s relegation to League One might actually help on that front. I can certainly see Apter being more involved next season if he’s to stick around. He certainly deserves his chance.

On that note, it’s been an excellent week for the club’s academy, with the development squad lifting the Central League Cup and Neal Eardley’s Under-18s finishing top of the Youth Alliance league.

It’s provided some much-needed positivity after the doom and gloom of relegation.