We're Tangerine, Not Orange! (FM11)

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Hop on board and join me in experiencing Blackpool FC’s first ever season in the Premier League. If my past FM-related efforts in this forum are of any indication, this will be short and sweet - maybe even disastrous. Yay!



It took me two-and-a-half centuries to figure out what team I wanted to manage. I probably considered all 20 EPL clubs before finally settling on Blackpool. At first I wanted to take over one of the Top 6 or 7 clubs as European football was an attractive option. Then I considered how much fun it could be to fight for top division survival. Plus, no one really expects Blackpool to stay up, so really there is no way to fail!

You can read a helluva lot more about the club on their wiki page, but here’s the gist. Their greatest success was during the 50s when they won the FA Cup in 1953 and finished runners-up in the top division in 1956. Blackpool’s home ground is Bloomfield Road, which was built in 1901. Capacity-wise it is the smallest stadium in the EPL by far, seating 16,220 only after an addition of another stand after promotion. Not even 10 years ago they were playing in League Two, the 4th-highest division in the English football pyramid. Blackpool’s fiercest rival is Preston North End and they have three nicknames: The Seasiders, The ‘Pool, and The Tangerines (see kits below)

Onwards and upwards…

My expectations from the board are to “fight bravely against relegation” in the Premier League, reach the 4th Round of the FA Cup, and the 3rd Round of the League Cup. Easy peasy. I’ve been giving a transfer budget of 4 million pounds, which actually isn’t that bad of a sum for such a small club. Wage budget is 205k pounds, 182k of which is already being used. Speaking of wages, the average wage pulled in by a Blackpool player is 4.2k/wk, which is less than half of the next-lowest paid team. Facilities and the such are all average or adequate.

Enough blither blather. Let’s get things started by introducing the tangerine-clad squad.

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Name	Age	Height	Nat	Team	Caps	Squad Status	Wage	Expires	Value	Aer	Cmd	Han	One	Ref	Cmp	Cnt	Dec	Pos	Agi
Richard Kingson	32	6'0"	GHA	Main	83	First Team	£6,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£1.4M	13	12	13	16	15	10	9	11	13	13
Paul Rachubka	29	6'1"	ENG	-	0	Backup	£2,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£800K	12	12	13	16	15	9	10	11	12	12
Matthew Gilks	28	6'1"	SCO	-	0	Backup	£1,700 p/w	6.30.2011	£1.1M	13	15	15	12	13	11	11	9	12	13
Mark Halstead	19	6'1"	ENG	-	0	Hot Prospect	£300 p/w	6.30.2011	£45K	9	11	9	12	12	6	9	10	12	11
Chris Kettings	17	6'3"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2011	£12K	2	9	9	10	10	6	10	6	12	12
Joe Potts	18	6'2"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2011	£12K	13	7	6	8	13	5	5	9	6	10
Kerron Lewis	16	6'2"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2012	£7K	7	6	7	8	11	8	6	6	7	9

Got some depth here, but no one really stands out as the man. No one is signed beyond this season either. Fans of U.S. Soccer might recognize Richard Kingson as Ghana's numero uno. He spent 11 years playing for different Turkish clubs before making the switch to England in 2007. Kingson was a rarely used backup at Wigan for two seasons before signing for Blackpool this summer after his contract expired. Matthew Gilks spent years 13-25 of his life playing for his hometown club, Rochdale. He signed for Blackpool in 2008 after an unsuccessful stint at Norwich City. Gilks was sent on loan to Shrewsbury Town early on, but started seeing more playing time thereafter and made more appearances than any other keeper during the 2009-10 campaign. Paul Rachubka started out his career at Manchester United in 2000, but only made one first-team appearance before being sold shortly thereafter. A couple clubs and many loan stints later he signed for Blackpool in 2007 where he has been the primary keeper for the past few seasons. However, Rachubka started to lose his role as top keeper as last season wore on. The Verdict: I'm gonna roll with Kingson initially and ride whoever is hot from there. I can't think of any reason to extend anyone's contract at this time and will probably be searching for a younger, more long-term keeper in the background.

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Name	Position	Age	Height	Nat	Team	Caps	Squad Status	Wage	Expires	Value	Cro	Mar	Tac	Ant	Cnt	Pos	Tea	Wor	Acc	Sta
Stephen Crainey	D (L)	29	5'9"	SCO	-	6	First Team	£4,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£1.6M	13	14	15	12	13	14	13	15	9	16
Danny Coid	D/WB (RL)	28	5'11"	ENG	-	0	Not Needed	£1,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£550K	13	11	11	6	9	7	11	13	12	11
David Carney	D/WB/M/AM (L)	26	5'11"	AUS	Main	27	Rotation	£5,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£1.3M	13	10	11	11	12	10	12	11	11	12
Salaheddine Sbaï	D/WB (L)	24	5'10"	MAR	-	2	Backup	£4,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£800K	11	9	13	13	8	11	14	14	16	12
Alex John-Baptiste	D (RC)	24	5'11"	ENG	-	0	Rotation	£4,000 p/w	6.30.2013	£2.1M	10	15	15	13	14	13	9	12	12	9
Neal Eardley	D (R)	21	5'11"	WAL	Main	13	First Team	£3,000 p/w	6.30.2011	£1.6M	13	13	14	11	12	13	10	13	12	12
Ben Breakell	D (R)	18	6'0"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2011	£14K	4	9	10	5	11	5	13	13	6	8
Josh Roberts	D (L)	18	5'11"	WAL	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2011	£24K	6	5	9	9	11	9	7	10	11	5
Adam Dodd	D/M (L)	18	5'10"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2011	£14K	6	8	10	8	9	8	9	10	11	8
Chris Ellis	D (R)	16	6'0"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2012	£7K	4	6	6	5	10	6	9	12	12	7
Paul Cleary	D (L)	15	6'1"	ENG	-	0	Youngster	£55 p/w	6.30.2012	£7K	4	7	8	6	5	8	9	12	9	9

Pretty much set for fullbacks. Stephen Crainey is the elder of the this group and currently the most well-rounded too. He was born in Glasgow and started off his career with Celtic before being sold to Southampton. Crainey, who has been capped by Scotland, made 5 EPL appearances for them before moving on to Leeds and finally Blackpool in the summer of 2007, where he has been a regular starter. Danny Coid is useless and will not be bolded or get his own paragraph. David Carney is an Australian international who is solid, but not much more. He initially started his career with Everton, but moved backed to his homeland after failing to make an impression with the Toffees and several other British clubs. After a couple of seasons of A-League football Carney moved back to Europe playing for Sheffield United, Norwich City, and FC Twente before signing for Blackpool this summer. Salaheddine Sbaï comes to Blackpool from Ligue 2 side Nimes. His wiki says he's supposed to be on a loan deal, but that's not the case in the latest FM database I'm using. Sbaï started his career playing in both of the top Belgian divisions and he has been capped by Moracco. Alex John-Baptiste played for Mansfield, his hometown club, to kick off his career. He made 174 appearances for them before moving on to Blackpool in 2008. AJB quickly made his way into the first eleven, in large part due to his versatility. Neal Eardley has the most potential of the group and has been capped by Wales eight times already. He started his professional career with Oldham and was named to the League One Team of the Year for 2008-09. He moved on to Blackpool the following summer for a sum of around 350,000 pounds. The Verdict: Crainey and Eardley are the starters here. Carney and John-Baptiste will see the pitch as they can additionally play other positions with equal skill. Crainey and John-Baptiste are already being trailed by Stoke and Blackburn, respectively. I need to sign Eardley to an extension pretty quickly methinks.

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