BLACKPOOL have sacked manager Neil Critchley after just TWO league games this season.
The Tangerines have let the former Liverpool coach following two consecutive losses in League One to start the campaign.
The club’s owner Simon Sadler said: “Neil’s dedication, commitment and tireless work ethic have been a real credit to the Club.
“Despite his best efforts over the past 12 months, there have been a number of disappointing results and performances which means that a change is needed to give the Club every possible chance of competing at the top end of the division this season.
“I will always be thankful for Neil’s wonderful efforts in guiding the Club to promotion to the Championship in 2021, and then comfortably keeping us in the division the following season.
“I and all at the Club wish Neil and Mike the very best for the future.”
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Critchley’s assistant coach Mike Garrity has also left the club alongside the 45-year-old.
Blackpool also confirmed that Richard Keogh, who has been working as a first-team coach at the club, will take charge of the side on an interim basis.
Keogh will be in the dugout for Blackpool’s trip to face Cambridge United this weekend.
Critchley, who spent seven years as a youth coach with Liverpool, had been in charge of Blackpool since May 2023.
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The former QPR gaffer had previously penned a contract to keep him at Bloomfield Road until 2027.
Blackpool narrowly missed out on a play-off place under Critchley last season, finishing in eighth spot – just three points off Barnsley in sixth.
However, an opening day defeat at the hands of Crawley was compounded by a 3-0 thrashing by Stockport on Saturday – starting the new campaign in torrid fashion.
And it now appears that the shaky start was too much for the chiefs at Blackpool to allow Critchley to continue in his role.
Critchley paid price for formation rigidity – fan’s view
By lifelong Blackpool fan Connor Greaves
NEIL CRITCHLEY’S departure from Bloomfield Road will be welcomed by the large majority of Blackpool fans.
The Seasiders have made a horrific start to the new League One season, losing to two newly promoted sides in Crawley Town and Stockport County.
Critchley has deployed a 3-5-2 formation in pretty much every minute of every game since he was re-appointed as Blackpool head coach in May 2023, which has frustrated fans with his reluctance to adapt a failing system.
The 45-year-old’s love for the 3-5-2 has seen players shoehorned into positions that they are not accustomed to.
In the early days of this season, for example, Critchley tried to find a role for bright young winger Rob Apter, who scored 12 goals and assisted six during his successful loan spell at Tranmere Rovers last term.
During pre-season, Apter was deployed in the No10 role of the 3-5-2 and then at the beginning of the new campaign, Critchley opted to shoehorn the 21-year-old in at right-wing back rather than changing the formation to suit his better quality players.
This the most recent case of Critchley not playing to players’ strengths due to his love for the system – and Blackpool fans will be praying that the new gaffer steers clear of the feared 3-5-2.
Owner Simon Sadler is on the lookout for his sixth permanent gaffer since he took over the club in 2019.
The hugely successful hedge fund manager may opt to go down the route of a young Premier League coach or a youth team manager to a similar mould of Critchley – as many EFL clubs look to be the side to find the next Kieran McKenna.
Or Sadler may seek EFL experience, with many fans keen to see former Pool midfielder and Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens return to Bloomfield Road.
It brings an end to the manager’s second spell with the Seasiders after he was in charge of the club from March 2020 to June 2022.
That two-year spell saw Critchley guide the club to promotion into the Championship, as well as helping them maintain their status in the division in the following season.
After leaving Blackpool in 2022, Critchley joined Aston Villa as part of then-manager Steven Gerrard’s coaching staff.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
