Blackpool vs Sheffield United, Football League Championship Tuesday 20th October 2009, kick-off 7:45pm A second home game in three days. On Saturday Blackpool beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0 at Bloomfield Road and moved up to 5th in The Championship. For Sheffield United it will be their second away game in three days. They lost 3-1 at Scunthorpe United. Manager Kevin Blackwell was without ten players and could name only six substitutes as the Blades go through an injury crisis.
Keith Southern will have to overcome an ankle problem if he is to take his place in the Seasiders line-up tonight. The Blades though have been struggling even to field a team. With a squad of 22 and 10 of them out injured they have had to bring in a number of players loan. After their 3-1 defeat at Scunthorpe on Saturday they will be looking for big improvements tonight.
Blackpool currently have the equal best home record with four wins and two draws, meaning 14 points from a possible 18. And a win tonight would equal the total of home wins in the whole of last season! A win would at least keep Blackpool 5th and possibly a move up to 3rd (if Cardiff City and Middlesbrough fail to win!). A draw or defeat would mean almost certainly moving out of the play-off spots but probably still in the top 10.
Ian Holloway, who made seven changes to the team on Saturday has said that he may well make changes again tonight as he believes his squad is very strong and players can come into the side and make an impact. Stephen Crainey is fit to play after he came off with a sore knee. Keith Southern will face a late fitness test on an ankle injury.
We're so good it's unbelievable! Blackpool 3 Sheffield United 0 Ian Holloway who on Saturday made 7 changes to the team, did the same again last night, starting the game with only 4 players who were in the 11 who started against Plymouth! So it meant three internationals (and three of our best players) on the bench, as Ollie perhaps saw how depleted the Blades squad is and decided to take advantage of it by resting key players and bringing in others to get their chance. And it worked as Blackpool racked up another 3 points to move just two points off the top of the table as both West Brom and Newcastle lost. Blades boss Kevin Blackwell apparently had to do two team talks as he saw the side Ollie put out. Totally different from what Blackwell will have expected. It also meant three double-barrelled names in the starting line up with Alex John-Baptiste, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and the returningGary Taylor-Fletcher! The 1st half wasn't pretty, both sides came close to scoring, but neither could really gain control of the match. However, the introduction of David Vaughan and Charlie Adam saw the Pool totally dominate the 2nd half so much that the final possession stats were - Blackpool 67%, Sheffield United 33%. Adam in particular was simply superb. He again tried to score from fully 45 yards, only just missing with Blades keeper Mark Bunn beaten, but the ball just went over the bar onto the top of the net. The two funniest moments of the night - After singing "You're so sh*t it's unbelieable" toward the Blades fans, the Kop started singing "We're so good it's unbelievable". And after the usual request of "Ollie, Ollie give us a wave" which he always does in his own way, came the request "Ollie, Ollie give us a dance" - followed by him doing a dance pitchside! At the final whistle the Blades players went over to applaud those in the 857 away support who had stayed to the bitter end (at least half of them had left before the final whistle) and as they did, at least two players ened up getting into confrontations with their own supporters pitchside with stewards and cops having to separate them! What a time to be tangerine. 5th in The Championship. Unbelievable.
Daily Mirror match report: Blackpool 3-0 Sheffield United: Six straight home win for the Seasiders It was Double Dutch time for Marcel Seip and Blackpool's crazy but brilliant boss Ian Holloway as Sheffield United were beaten and bemused. Seip scored a vital opening goal for the second game running to keep the Seasiders in the play-off pack as they clocked up a remarkable sixth straight home win. But as Blackpool rocked to this unexpected run of glory Kevin Blackwell tried to work out what he had witnessed as Holloway proved there is method in his madness. Holloway made a stunning seven changes from the side that he praised for the way they beat his old club Plymouth Argyle, leaving out his best players and fielding a bizarre selection in the first half. However Holloway sent on main men Charlie Adam and David Vaughan at the break to turn the game and leave the Blades slipping out of the promotion chase. Adam brought genuine class to a scrappy game and Vaughan provided the pinpoint corner that let loan star Seip dive in spectacularly to make the breakthrough. Blackpool improved after taking the lead and the excellent Neal Eardley brought a fine save out of Mark Bunn at the end of one of their slick moves. And Eardley fittingly provided the second with a perfect delivery for skipper Jason Euell to run on and slot his shot past Bunn as the Blades back line was caught out again. Adam went close to a fabulous third with a chip from fully 50 yards that left back-pedalling Dunn relieved to see the outrageous shot bounce on the top of his net. But the Scottish international did find the target from the edge of the box to complete a fantastic second half show by Holloway's terrific Tangerine Army. Bloomfield Road bounced with delight and Holloway responded to their appeal for a little dance on the touchline. These are magic if mental days for the grand old club. Holloway was overjoyed with the result, especially after admitting it could have gone wrong. He said: "I wanted two or three people to stay fresh, but the performance was not too sharp. "Fortunately I had two players - both internationals - to bring on and they made the difference. It's about strength in depth in this division. "I don't know if we have enough to stay up there, but Burnley and Swansea are my inspiration from last season. Everyone else is under more pressure than us. "I am on a bonus that brings me up to the level I should be on if we stay up. So I am going to have a big cigar soon, lovely jubbly, let's keep going lads." Madcap Holloway also revealed he had missed the first goal because of a call of nature. He said: "I nipped to the toilet. It was cold and I had taken a drink at half-time. "I was doing my business when the roof came off, I knew we had scored. I will get in trouble for that - and might get fined." Blades boss Blackwell was not so happy and snapped at questions about his team's spirit. He said: "We were the better team in the first half but then they scored and after that everything they hit went in. "I have got massive injuries, players had to play out of position and Richard Cresswell went out there with a broken rib. I can't be over-critical, we made enough chances." The travelling fans were less than amused. Some stayed behind to abuse the team at the whistle as they went over to applaud them. There was also some controversy as Blades skipper Chris Morgan's elbow caught Brett Ormerod on the head in mild repeat of his infamous challenge on Iain Hume, but he was only lectured for the clash. Euell tried to take revenge on Morgan minutes later but was pulled up for a foul and the pair began a feud that livened up the game. This unlikely bunch will scrap as well as play