Lee Clark: what options does he have?

Lee Clark's first match at Blackpool as manager was back in November when they lost 0-2 to Ipswich Town, since then Clark has added 17 points to the Tangerines' total, that Blackpool total was on five at the time when Jose Riga was sacked. Clark has not made the kind of impact that he would have hoped for having had 22 games in charge and if you are collecting less than a point a game there is only one place you are going to end up - the relegation zone. The first thing he probably needs to do is to get a good pitch at Bloomfield Road next season, but even Blackpool can't use that as an excuse for when they play away.

Lee has turned towards youth now in his attempt to get as many points as he can for the Tangerines while building for next season. There was a debut for Osayi-Samuel against Sheffield Wednesday in their last match and while playing 17-year-olds might be termed adventurous in a league as tough as the Championship, there is little doubt that Clark is brave to give youth its chance. Giving such players a run in the team now though would make it a bit easier for them next season when they will need to have some confidence behind them. It has to be long-term planning for Blackpool now, because this season they have paid a high price for lack of planning in my opinion. 

Another player that Blackpool have brought in this week is 23-year-old winger Michael Jacobs on loan from Wolves. Clark also has Charles Dunne coming back from suspension and striker Gary Madine is available again. Jamie O'Hara though is a doubt with an ankle injury, while Niall Mahill is definitely out with a groin strain. Miles Addison is also unavailable as a Bournemouth player on loan. Nathan Delfouneso will probably lead the line, but the Aston Villa man has only scored three times on loan at Blackpool in 30 games.

It all went wrong very early for Blackpool when they did not get the players in over the summer and just did not have any hope of building a team spirit before the defeats started to mount up. Lee Clark has not really stemmed the bleeding but at least he is telling the fans exactly how it is and has not hidden behind any of the poor performances.

Now they meet a Cherries side that is looking to not only get three points but build as high a goal difference as it can in what is probably the tightest Championship title race that anyone could expect. Lee Clark will probably sleep okay on Friday night as he has to see the game as a great challenge for his players and can use the knowledge that no one gives them a chance of getting anything. That could be dangerous for the Cherries, but finding the answers are proving difficult for Lee and I don't expect him to come up with the perfect solution by 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Still if Blackpool do get a result, Lee Clark and his team will deserve great praise for taking points off the Cherries at this stage of the season.

Blackpool's team last time out against Sheffield Wednesday
21 Parish, 27 Barkhuizen booked (Clarke 71 booked ), 02 Aldred, 32 Hall, 25 Ferguson, 17 Addison,  20 Oliver (Osavi-Samuel 60 ), 04 Perkins, 31 O'Hara, 14 Delfouneso, 34 Telford 
booked.

Substitutes

06 Clarke, 22 Cubero Loria, 30 Sene, 37 Nosworthy, 42 Boney, 43 Osavi-Samuel, 48 O'Dea