Owner of Blackpool, Simon Sadler, is still optimistic in Neil Critchley’s potential to lead the team back to the Championship.
The former Liverpool academy coach led the Seasiders to promotion through the League One play-offs during his first stint in leadership at Bloomfield Road, and he went on to have a successful season in the second division. He left the team in 2022 to work for Aston Villa under Steven Gerrard, but he came back to the Fylde Coast in the summer of last year.
Even though Blackpool is now six points behind the leaders, Sadler, who has owned the team since 2019, thinks Critchley’s team can still challenge for the top six in the end.
“All seasons are different- last season was really disappointing, obviously a few things went wrong,” he stated in a recent interview with BBC Radio Lancashrie. That’s the aim; we want to rise once more. Like everyone else, I’d like to see a few more points on the board.
We’re the play-off champs, so it’s the Blackpool way to make a late push for the top six and then be promoted. As long as we arrive at our destination, you could argue that everything is proceeding as per the Blackpool book thus far.
Both the players and the staff have strong faith. They need to address their inconsistent behaviour, since it has been well acknowledged. It’s that simple: Neil will have to do it next year if he doesn’t do it this year. He’s a kind man who has done it for us before. He knows football and puts in a lot of work.
Sadler also talked about the reasoning behind Critchley’s reappointment in the summer during his interview with BBC Radio Lancashire.
He went on, “It was only challenging from the standpoint that people would say, ‘This is your third time going back.'”
Had he not been our manager, he would have possessed the necessary qualifications. He got us up and kept us up in fine fashion. Neil is the right person to help us reach our objectives, and I’m delighted that we brought him on board after conducting some analysis and consulting with him.
