Structured Dialogue Meeting – Tuesday 17th November 2020 at 7pm In attendance: Steve Rowland (SLO) James Ashton (Tangerine Seasiders) Phil Corbett (Yorkshire Seasiders) Paul Grimshaw (MSG) Tony Hodgson (BST) Scott Koudellas (Tangerine Knights) Fiona Martin (BSA) Karen McGuiness (BASIL) John Rigby (Leyland & Chorley Seasiders) Brett Gerrity (BFC – Director) Ben Mansford (BFC – CEO) Linton Brown (BFC – Chief Commercial Officer) Nick Horne (BFC – Club Secretary) A selection of questions were also provided to the SLO via AVFTT - Peter Gaughan, Jim Green, Alan Dickinson and Robbie Whittaker. Why do we appear to get rid of all the experienced players? (John Rigby, Leyland & Chorley Seasiders) BM – During the Summer Transfer Window we retained a core of experienced players in Chris Maxwell, Ollie Turton, Grant Ward, Sullay Kaikai, Gary Madine and James Husband to name a few. Last year’s squad finished the season in 13th position and was not good enough to get us promoted from League 1. Some of our better performers were the loan players – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Connor Ronan & Taylor Moore. The squad needed to be overhauled to get some higher quality, younger players in to play the type of high intensity, attractive attacking football that we all want to see. We wanted to get the balance right such that we have a squad good enough to get us promoted but which we could also develop and improve over a longer time frame. The players recruited have the potential to grow with the Club should we get into the Championship. We offered Jay Spearing a playing contract and a pathway into coaching. Jay wanted regular first-team football and had a desire to play every minute. Jay subsequently accepted an offer from Tranmere Rovers. Armand Gnanduillet wanted to move in the Summer of 2019 and an agreed deal with Charlton on the last day of that window didn’t happen because of a problem with the paperwork at the Charlton end. Armand was offered a good, new contract. Charlton came back in January but weren’t able to complete a deal due to being under a transfer embargo. We then tried to engage again with Armand about a new contract, but he had decided he wanted to play in The Championship. We wish Armand all the best in Turkey. The rest of the players we let go are playing at a lower standard than League 1. Why did we not sign Heneghan? (John Rigby, Leyland & Chorley Seasiders) BM – Ben was offered a permanent contract in January which he turned down largely down to a desire to play in The Championship. Despite a relatively good start to the season, some fans have been questioning Neil Critchley, can you clarify if he is still fully backed by the club? (Tangerine Seasiders) BG – Yes, Neil is backed 110% by the board. Neil is a fantastic human being with great integrity, an excellent professional, his attention to detail and preparation is second to none. Neil is exactly the man to take Blackpool FC forward. We are building for the long term and Neil is our man. We were disappointed at the reaction shown by a small percentage of supporters following the early results, but a handful of disappointing results did not and would not put Neil under pressure of losing his job. We believe that we were unlucky earlier in the season. Matt Scrafton wrote an excellent article in the Gazette about the XG data that is a widely used and respected predictive statistic measure, and that data had us 7th in the table after 10 games so our position in the table should have been better than where it was. The table does not lie but the data shows the fine margins. We are delighted that Colin Calderwood has joined the team. Some supporters have credited the upturn in our performances and results with Colin’s arrival, however this is disrespectful to Neil, Mike and Steve Banks as it does not take into account the huge amount of work they have already put in on the training ground. The board’s intention was always to recruit an assistant with experience of playing and managing in League Football. Neil Critchley played a leading role in the recruitment of Colin Calderwood and is pleased to be working with him. This was a position that was always going to be filled following the departure of David Dunn. It was not as has been suggested a knee jerk reaction by the board to a couple of defeats. We are delighted that Colin has joined us, he adds experience and another voice, that can only help. I would wish to clarify that when recruiting Neil the board was not “turned down left, right and centre” by managers as has been suggested. The board conducted a meticulous process and Neil was the stand-out candidate. Neil shares our vision of the kind of football we want to play and has the capability to develop younger players. We are building a platform for the long-term development and sustainability of the club. This is a project and was never a quick fix option. Simon and the board are very happy with the work that Neil, Mike and their team have done and the way things are going. With such a hectic transfer window, what saw us bring in just under 20 players to the club. Do you feel comfortable with our new team or are there still changes to be made? (Tangerine Seasiders) BM – We have put together an excellent squad with cover in most areas. We have 21 senior players named in our EFL squad list, deliberately leaving ourselves an open space and the option to use the emergency loan market if Maxi was to get seriously injured. The manager will always be looking to strengthen the squad and will be supported where necessary. In recent weeks we have been hit by a lot of injuries and some suspensions but the depth in our squad has meant that this has not been a major issue for us from the recent results. We deliberately put together a big squad partly because of the compacted season due to Covid so that we could rotate and rest players but also because of the long lay-off that players had which has clearly impacted some lads fitness and ability to put a solid pre-season in. These conditions not only mean that it takes longer to get players match fit but also makes them more susceptible to injuries if we do not prepare them properly. Thankfully we have a strong sport science department now, who have been able to work with the likes of Kenny Dougall, to assist us in this area. We hope that our deep squad will reap dividends as the season progresses and suspect that some other clubs will be more likely to suffer now we head into a Saturday/Tuesday programme until January. Will season ticket holders get a refund if unable to stream games? (John Rigby, Leyland & Chorley Seasiders) LB – iFollow is a service provided by the EFL. If a supporter has an individual streaming issue they should take it up with the EFL/iFollow. It was originally designed by the EFL to allow a small number of overseas fans to stream games. Due to the current situation, this service has allowed clubs to keep gain some of the revenues from away supporters and has probably kept some clubs in business. The service has less than 1% issues from all users, most of which tend to be user error. If there is real structural problem and persistent issues then we can speak to them and see what, if any, improvements can be made. PC – A few fans don’t have the ability to stream games or have online facilities. BM – it would be difficult to bring in this type of exception but we will discuss it. Let the SLO know who the individuals are and they can be discussed. Is there any update on the training ground, in terms of future location and a likely start and completion date of its development? (Phil Corbett, Yorkshire Seasiders) BM – The club is continuing to evaluate our preferred, detailed sites. This still promotes challenges and we are running a process to check any sites that we haven’t missed. This will be a very significant investment for the club, Covid has caused delay but this is not a decision that should be rushed and we want to get it right. For now, and credit to Simon Sadler, the new facilities at Squires Gate mean the first team has the best training ground operation that it has ever had so the basic needs of the players and coaching staff are covered. Notwithstanding this we are wholly committed to delivering a top class integrated training facility that will suit the needs of the club from the academy through to the first team. TH – Any plans to have it open to the public? BM – It largely depends on where it is. For example, green belt land can have restrictions. The site must be able to fulfil the need for it to grow along with the Club over time. The vision of Simon and the Club is it should bring the whole Club together from the academy up. Community use has to be considered. With the rearrangement of the Ipswich game, we now have had a free weekend. Obviously, we know how the game panned out, but do you still think it was the right thing to do? (Phil Corbett, Yorkshire Seasiders) BG – The outcome of the Ipswich game clearly means that with the benefit of hindsight this was a poor decision.