Substance Rather than Style

The ex pat Dubai member of the CAFCPICKS 'Management Team' wondered how many of the Blackpool side had pink (red or green) iridescent boots adorning their pampered feet during their triumphs when he joined the chorus of approval and congratulations for their side.
He praised their use of scant resources implying it was a real 'belt and braces' / 'back to the wall' season with the management side and team really getting down to brass tacks and cutting out the flash crap!
Our success next year must be based on both players and culture that is commensurate with Blackpool's success. It's great we have a top class training ground and a flash team coach but success will be built on players who give 100% to the cause, get stuck in week after week taking the good with the bad without creating havoc and tensions on the training pitch if they are not selected.
Those kind of players may not be the most talented but they are professional and give there all.
In recent years, players like Gary Nelson was a good journeyman pro, not without talent but someone who exploited the talent he had to the maximum by sheer hard graft.
When Lennie Lawrence took us back to the top division there were other players like that in his side (e.g. Pender, Pearson, Melrose, Thompson,and Shipley) and before that players like Phil Warman and Peter Reeves.
You could go on but they are the kind of player (plus a goal scorer) that we need.
Going way back, when we were in desparate need of top quality strikers we were fortunate enough to see the likes of Firmani come back from Italy, and some may even recall the short term bargain basement acquisition of Cliff Holton. He was at the end of his career and probably the wrong side of 30 but he knew where the goal was and never flinched from a 50/50 ball no matter who the defender was. He was also built like a centre forward: height, weight and solid muscle: no lightweight as in more recent years.
So as our man from Dubai said, Blackpool did it their way and how many of their players had pink (red or green ) iridescent shining boots in the process.
Let's take off the cosmetic coatings and get back to basics to get out of this division with players who are not over pampered but see an opportunity to get to the top and put the required effort and commitment to make it happen.