10 Years ago - Pool 0 Shrewsbury T 1

Blackpool were the only ones to suffer a losing curse. So after Pool's previous four wins on the trot what is it that makes the club under-perform just when it seems on the up? We've been here before. Just over two years ago we sat at the same table in the same Lytham restaurant toasting a Seasiders manager's success at a manager of the month presentation. That time it was Nigel Worthington. This time it was Steve McMahon. Just over 24 hours later the same end result, Pool beaten at home to a side they were expected to beat.

York last time, Shrewsbury this - whose only other claims to fame are that they seem to be two of the most flood-prone areas of England! So if the Blackpool managers are different, that rules them out. And it's not as if it's the same players. Ian Hughes and Phil Clarkson were Pool's only survivors from two years ago in Saturday's starting line-up and it's not as if they were to blame.

There just seems to be something about the Seasiders' psyche as a club which means that just when it comes under the spotlight for its achievements, it lets everybody down. Ask any fan who had to suffer a seriously frustrating 90 minutes on Saturday and they'll tell you the same story. History shouldn't repeat itself, but it does in Blackpool. You think we'd see it coming, but every time we hope it will be different.

That's not to take anything away from Shrewsbury. Having spent the week trying to prevent their defences being breached by the River Severn they found the expected Tangerine tide tame by comparison. The Shrews played a shrewd game, stifling the Seasiders into ultimate submission by barricading any potential Pool outlets with men behind the ball. And the sandbagging approach worked to such an extent that on only one occasion in the whole 90 minutes did McMahon's men really looking like breaking the barrier.

Lee Collins was the one player beavering away to try to find a way through. And eight minutes after the break he played his part in Pool's best chance of breaking the deadlock. Collins' clever touch down on the edge of the area gave Paul Simpson rare room to break away from Shrewsbury's shackles and float a lovely ball back into the middle. John Murphy had read the situation perfectly, starting his run from the edge of the box towards the South Paddock goal moments before Simpson supplied the delivery.

And with the offside trap sprung, he flew at the ball eight yards out only to see his diving header sail wide of the left hand post. It was to prove Pool's only clearcut chance of the afternoon in which they never showed enough guile on a bobbling pitch to break down a dogged Shrewsbury side. Even at half time we were saying that at least the Seasiders were starting to look capable of keeping a clean sheet - something they still haven't managed at home since last April despite two recent 1-0 away wins.

But with 12 minutes left even that went down the swanny, after just the sort of mistake Pool's players themselves admit have cost them so dear for so much of the season so far. Pool's defenders - with the exception of right back Danny Coid - got themselves in a terrible tangle on the left edge of their own area when Steve Jagkielka, more in hope than anything else, tried to squirm his way through. Keeper Jon Kennedy came off his line to try to claim the ball at Jagkielka's feet, but when the Shrewsbury player went to ground referee Chris Foy had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Shrewsbury had only scored in one of their previous eight away games all season. But former Preston striker Nigel Jemson sent Kennedy the wrong way with what was always going to be the winner. It's the fourth time Shrewsbury have been successful from the spot this season, with almost a quarter of their 17 goals coming from penalties. Pool have had none. But before anyone starts feeling the Seasiders were hard done by, the truth is that Shrewsbury had a perfectly good 'goal' ruled out 15 minutes before half time.

Sam Aiston did all the damage down the left, carrying the ball beyond Coid. When Aiston pulled the ball back by the byline it was clearly still in play. With Kennedy beaten by the angle of the pull-back, Jagkielka had the simplest of tasks to tap the ball home for what should have been the opener. But thankfully for Blackpool the East Paddock linesman raised his flag to signal the ball had gone out before Aiston crossed and Pool were reprieved.

It should have been just the wake-up call the Seasiders needed. And in case they were still on the 'snooze' button they got another one only a minute before the interval. Jon O'Connor, straight from signing an 18-month contract, slipped on the heavy surface trying to clear a Brian Reid pass, which would have put Aiston straight in on goal. But Aiston wasn't having much luck. This time it wasn't an official who robbed him, but his footing, slipping just like O'Connor and the chance was gone.

On the eve of bonfire night it should have been just the spark the Seasiders needed - along with a half-time rocket from McMahon - to spur them into some sort of second half action. But aside from brief flickers when Murphy dived full length for his header and when substitute Brett Ormerod threatened to break through, there was very little to get excited about. And so McMahon exited along the touchline with more furrows on his brow than the strange single pitch line which marked his journey to the tunnel.

After Pool's mysterious on-the-pitch disappearing act - they were a pale shadow of the side which beat Mansfield, Macclesfield, Carlisle, and Cheltenham - you could be excused for thinking it was Blackpool's version of a crop circle. Instead it may have been the result of groundsman Keith Wadeson ending a difficult week by abandoning his one-man attempt to mow a meadow! There were plenty inside the ground who ended the day knowing exactly how he felt! Roll on Barnet.

The Hoodoo Strikes again

John Secker

It was inevitable, I guess. Steve McMahon was presented with the October Manager Of The Month award before the game today; the visitors had only scored in one away match all season, and that was against Halifax. Only one result was possible after that, a defeat, and it duly happened. Shrewsbury were very poor, however, and Blackpool had to work hard to lose, finally conceding a foolish penalty after a ludicrous mix-up in defence. Kennedy did his best to give away another goal late on with another bizarre move - the club shop will now be selling red noses alongside the goalie kits. What this game showed us is that Blackpool are still much too dependent on a couple of players to give them any cutting edge, and when these are missing, as they were today, there is a lot of possession but very little attack.

These was just one change from the Blackpool side which defeated Cheltenham last week, with Hills out injured and replaced by Jaszczun. This meant Reid, O'Connor and Hughes across the back, and Murphy alone up front with Simpson and Clarkson pushing up in support.

The early exchanges set the tone, with Blackpool playing a lot of possession football, and Shrewsbury getting in more attacks. The pattern of Blackpool's play was always sideways or backwards, and typically the ball was played across the midfield from one side to another, then back into defence until it came to O'Connor in the middle, who usually put the ball up to Murphy. However there was little going on around him, so even when he won the ball in the air, nobody was picking up the knock- downs. Jaszczun and Coid are not really attacking wingbacks - they are fullbacks being played in a forward position. Unfortunately neither has the ability to beat a man with the ball, and neither was prepared to push up into space on the wing when it was available - they are nervous leaving an attacker behind them. The contrast with Hills is painful - whenever the ball comes to him he thinks of nothing other than heading up the wing for the opposition area.

Chances were very few, and one of the best came early for Blackpool, after only five minutes. A cross from the right was knocked down by Murphy to Simpson, just inside the box a little left of centre. He had time to take aim and shoot, but it flew wide of the top corner. Things might have been very different if this had been on target. Shrewsbury were working hard up both wings, and making things happen by using pace and knocking crosses over, even though most of them were dealt with easily by the defence. Blackpool, by contrast, were playing a holding, waiting game, but the problem was that there was rarely any useful result of all the possession. They made only two more chances in the first half. One came to Clarkson after some good inter-passing up the middle - he had a chance to shoot from inside the box, but a defender managed to get a foot in the way and the shot bounced tamely to the keeper. The other chance fell to Jaszczun, who ran onto a ball wide on the left of the area, and fired in a shot, but straight at the keeper. Shrewsbury were still finding space down the wings, especially their left, and towards half time the winger took on Coid and beat him for pace. He got to the by-line before Coid and Hughes and then fired over a low, hard cross which beat Kennedy and was tapped in from close range by an un-marked forward in the centre of the goal. To our relief we saw the linesman signalling that the ball had gone out for a goal kick. All I will say is that the decision was very tight - if it had gone against Blackpool the home crowd would have been furious.

The second half was pretty much the same as the first - a great deal of fairly fruitless possession by a team which seemed to have no idea how to get the ball into a scoring position. In the early minutes a good move saw Clarkson in the middle, some way outside the area, with a gaping hole in the defence ahead of him. Instead of racing forward he hesitated and looked round, and of course the cover came back and the chance was gone. The best chance of the half came from good work by Collins on the left; he hit a cross into the middle and Murphy, running into space in the area, dived forwards and upwards and put in a great header, but unfortunately just the wrong side of the post.

You felt that everyone was just waiting for the introduction of Ormerod, to put some pace and bite into the attack, and after 58 minutes the change came. The one surprise was the player taken off - O'Connor, who had been playing well in the centre of defence. Certainly it was a positive, attacking decision. Ormerod started to get involved immediately, and there was more of a buzz about the home team, although they were still not putting the visitors under consistent pressure. Ormerod made a couple of good fast runs down the left, getting behind the defence. The first time he put over a good ball, a few yards out from the goal, but no-one had made the right run. The second time Simpson was in perfect position, but Ormerod chose to shoot and the keeper caught it easily at the near post.

Shrewsbury were still having their attacking moments, and suddenly, with twelve minutes to go, a harmless situation turned into disaster. The ball was rolling into the Blackpool box, on their left, with Kennedy coming out and Hughes and Reid shepherding it back. Somehow everybody left it for everybody else, an attacker nipped in and Kennedy brought him down. It all seemed so stupid, we could hardly believe it was a penalty, but the referee was correct, and the ball was driven straight up the middle as Kennedy dived to his right.

There were moments of urgency from Blackpool after that, but not enough, and only one good opportunity, when Ormerod nearly managed to reach a cross. The home side could easily have gifted the visitors another goal, when a long ball was played up the right. Kennedy came out of his area for it, then seemed to change his mind as an attacker ran toward him. He tried to kick it out for a throw but slipped and barely made contact, and the ball didn't have enough speed to get into touch. A Shrewsbury player got to it, but fortunately his ball into the goal area was cleared by a defender getting back desperately.

There was the usual spectacle of the team in the lead holding the ball by the corner flag, but even when they got it back Blackpool didn't seem able to find a way into the Shrewsbury area, and the whistle went to signal the end of their winning run. Blackpool badly missed Ormerod and especially Hills. Murphy can finish things but he can't create them, and Simpson is much too slow and patchy to make a consistent provider of chances. When he is back to full fitness Ormerod's speed and willingness to keep in constant motion will always create opportunities around the box, but most of all we need Hills back in action, running at the opposition and making chances for the rest of the team.
Team (3-5-2/3-6-1) Kennedy, Coid, Jaszczun, Hughes (Capt), O'Connor (Ormerod 58), Reid, Wellens, Collins, Clarkson, Simpson, J Murphy

Subs not used: Barnes, Milligan, Thompson, N Murphy
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John Secker