Gazette opinion: Huddersfield postponement a frustrating start to Mick McCarthy's Blackpool reign but the buzz is back

After the buzz and hullabaloo that surrounded Mick McCarthy’s appointment, the tangerine army couldn’t wait to get back to Bloomfield Road.

That positivity was in stark contrast to the feeling around the club in recent weeks, where many supporters felt they were attending games out of habit rather than excitement.

The Huddersfield game was widely described as a six-pointer, one that would have likely been dreaded had Michael Appleton remained in post.

But with a new manager comes a new dawn and a renewed sense of optimism.

Pros and cons

Given McCarthy’s lack of time on the training ground, not much might have changed in terms of team selection, tactics, structure and so on, but I’m confident we would have seen a different Blackpool. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say Blackpool would have won this game.

They might well still win it, whenever the fixture is rearranged for, but picking up three points right on the heels of McCarthy’s appointment would have been the perfect way to begin his tenure. Momentum and confidence is key, after all.

By all accounts ticket sales had been very encouraging as well, the feel good factor has finally returned.

That will still be the case heading into next weekend’s FA Cup tie against Southampton, but it’s a little frustrating the Seasiders now aren’t back in league action until the start of February.

On the positive side, that does at least give McCarthy and his trusted lieutenant Terry Connor time to get to know his new squad, work on his desired shape and structure while also assessing his options for the final nine or 10 days of the transfer window.

It’s understood McCarthy has brought with him Dave Bowman, an experienced chief scout and Ipswich Town’s former director of football, to help with recruitment, so there are certainly plans to further bolster the squad.

Sporting director Chris Badlan, meanwhile, speaking to Tangerine TV, suggested there is more work to be done in terms of incomings.

If that proves to be the case, and a new centre-back is certainly required, that will likely set up a hectic end to the January window given Blackpool are already top-heavy in terms of numbers in their squad.

We await further news on Grant Ward, whose short-term contract has now expired, but the club already has 27 ‘senior’ players on their books, two more than the 25 permitted under EFL regulations.

Departures, one would think, are inevitable, but we shouldn’t discount one or two players just being left out altogether and not being registered at all.

It’s far from ideal, but given the injury situation – with Jordan Gabriel, Liam Bridcutt, Kevin Stewart, Lewis Fiorini and Keshi Anderson still sidelined – the Seasiders need to remain flexible and adaptable.

Given their perilous situation down at the bottom of the table, one thing that is needed is quality and fit bodies, so if one or two that are currently injured miss out then so be it unfortunately.

The right fit for the here and now

Anyway, back to McCarthy. It’s an appointment that doesn’t really fit in with the club’s ‘model’, but at the same time it’s one that makes perfect sense.

With 19 games to go, the Seasiders need to stay up at any cost. Whether it’s by five points, one point or by goal difference, it really doesn’t matter. Just stay up.

I think most would agree Blackpool stand a better chance of doing that with McCarthy at the helm in a short-term spell than had Appleton remained in post.

A lot has been said about the way McCarthy’s time at Cardiff ended, with eight straight defeats, but not much has been spoken about the way it started: 11 unbeaten games, which at one point included six straight wins.

That’s exactly the sort of run Blackpool are looking for, that new manager bounce to at least get them up and running after a dire 10-game winless run.

Chances are they’re not going to win six in a row (although you never know!), but two or three with the odd draw sprinkled in will at least help relieve some pressure and hopefully get them out of the bottom three.

Looking ahead

If it goes well, do I expect McCarthy to get the job long-term? I don’t think so, but you never know. It’s certainly happened enough times elsewhere where a supposed firefighter has been given the reins after turning the ship around.

But as touched upon before, the 63-year-old doesn’t really fit in with the club’s longer-term philosophy, to coin an overused buzzword.

I do get the feeling the club would like to revert back to the ‘Critchley model’, as I like to call it. Eric Ramsay, the Manchester United coach working under Erik ten Hag, was clearly fancied.

But there seems to have been an acknowledgement that now isn’t the time for a young, up-and-coming coach. It’s about hiring someone who has been there, done it, got the t-shirt as well as the battle scars. In McCarthy, they’ve got that man.

It still raises questions about the club’s ‘process’ we hear so much about. If McCarthy is the answer, then something has clearly gone wrong to get to this point where a firefighter is required in the first place.

But due to the poor summer appointment, that’s the situation the club find themselves in and at least they’ve recognised that sooner rather than later.

At least now there’s unity and the fractions have subsided, because with all that going on in the background – supporters continuously arguing amongst themselves and the famous Bloomfield Road atmosphere almost as muted than Deepdale – the chances of Blackpool remaining in the Championship were minimal.

Now, they’ve given themselves a chance and that’s all you can ask for.