Showing posts with label Blackpool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blackpool. Show all posts
Former Everton goalkeeper Gordon West has died at the age of 69, the club have confirmed on their official website.
West, who also had spells at Blackpool and Tranmere, had been battling a long illness and passed away peacefully on Sunday.
West helped the side to the First Division title in 1963 and 1970 as well as the FA Cup in 1966.
After becoming Harry Catterick's first signing from Blackpool in 1962 for £27,000 - a then-record fee for a goalkeeper - West went on to make 402 appearances and was capped three times by England.
He retired from football in 1973 only to make a comeback three years later with Tranmere.
When he hung up the gloves three years later, West went into security, working at RAF Woodvale in Southport before retiring.
Fellow Everton favourite Graeme Sharp told the club's official website upon hearing of West's passing: "It's dreadfully sad. I met Gordon many times and he was a real larger-than-life character who loved Everton.
"All Evertonians will be distressed at this news and my thoughts are with his family."
It was a very frustrating performance on Saturday. We had no pace in our game. We were flat, we lacked energy and we lacked sharpness.
I felt we started OK but after that our game became flat and it is difficult to identify one special reason why we played poorly.
Very few players looked to have the resources to put the pace up in the game. Part of it is down to the fact that Blackburn defended well but that was not the main reason. I feel it was more down to our poor offensive performance.
We did have chances. We had golden opportunities in the first half and the second half but when you don't take them it is not a coincidence.
We are now seven points behind and now is the time just to focus on our performance, not on Manchester United. Before we can even speak about the title, I believe we have to come back to a good level. That is our first concern.
It was a difficult decision to start Cesc Fabregas on the bench on Saturday. I believe he is over his injury and on Saturday he was fit, but he has had a few setbacks of course, so we did not know completely if he could play 90 minutes. He will take it step-by-step to get completely back to his best, to be 'free' in his head and not concerned about the injury.
Our next game is on Sunday at Blackpool and we must show we have the mental strength to deal with recent disappointments. You cannot worry about yesterday and lose the targets you have in front of you.
Blackpool put some much-needed space between them and the Premier League relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Bloomfield Road.
Charlie Adam maintained his 100 per cent record from the penalty spot to give Blackpool the lead before top scorer DJ Campbell added another just before half-time.
After Tottenham laid siege to their hosts' goal - they ended up registering 25 shots, 10 of which were on target - Blackpool substitute Brett Ormerod added a third 10 minutes from time to seal the Tangerines' first win over Spurs since 1966.
Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a late consolation for Spurs, but by then most of the travelling fans were already headed back to London. However, the Russian's injury-time strike means that Bloomfield Road has still not seen a clean sheet from any team all season.
The win was only Blackpool's second in their last 10 league games, but it was enough to lift them from 16th to 12th in the table, below Blackburn Rovers on goal difference. Tottenham's first defeat in six league games denied them the chance to go third and they remain in fourth, two points behind Manchester City.
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway was typically bold in his team selection, handing striker Sergei Kornilenko his debut in a three-man attack alongside Campbell and James Beattie, while Spurs boss Harry Redknapp fielded Jermain Defoe and Pavlyuchenko up front.
This rearranged meeting between two of the Premier League's most attacking sides promised plenty of goalmouth action, but the opening stages failed to produce, with Steven Pienaar's sliced shot from range the only effort of note.
That all changed on 18 minutes when Campbell drew a foul from Sebastien Bassong inside the Spurs area, and Blackpool skipper Adam stepped up to convert his fifth spot-kick of the season.
Spurs were sparked into action, with Steven Pienaar having several efforts blocked before Defoe lifted the ball over goalkeeper Richard Kingson only for Craig Cathcart to head the ball off the line.
Defoe, still searching for his first league goal of the season, was again denied at the last when Kingson palmed Aaron Lennon's cross into the path of the England striker, but once more Cathcart was well placed to block the effort.
That denial of an equaliser for Spurs was compounded by a sucker punch as Blackpool doubled their lead on the break. Campbell surged forward through the centre before passing to Kornilenko, who moved the ball out wide to Beattie. The striker, on loan from Rangers, bent in an inviting cross which Campbell headed in at the far post for his ninth league goal of the season.
Tottenham have recouped more points from losing positions this season than any other side, and the manner in which they emerged after break certainly illustrated that.
Right from the restart Neal Eardley made a vital sliding block on Pienaar's effort inside the area, and soon afterwards Pavlyuchenko had a header saved by Kingson and Luka Modric flashed a strike just over the bar.
Adam's surge into the Spurs box and low strike across goal showed Blackpool still carried a real threat, but Spurs continued to hammer their hosts and it only looked a matter of time before they broke through.
Half-time substitute Jermaine Jenas and Pavlyuchenko both narrowly missed low balls across the six-yard box before Kingson blocked another Pavlyuchenko header.
Niko Kranjcar and Peter Crouch were introduced to try and force the issue, but when Modric was denied a penalty by referee Chris Foy after Kingson sent him flying, it looked as though Tottenham's luck had run out.
And so it proved when two Blackpool substitutes combined to put the game beyond the visitors on 80 minutes. Benoit Assou-Ekotto shielded the ball from the persistent Matt Phillips inside the Tottenham box, but in doing so showed it to Ormerod, who tucked a finish underneath Heurelho Gomes for his first Premier League goal in over seven years.
By the time Pavlyuchenko's speculative effort clipped off Cathcart and over Kingson's head in the third minute of injury time, the result was no longer in doubt, and even the late denial of an extra step up the table could not dampen Blackpool's joy at hearing the final whistle.
Mark Davies grabbed a late equaliser for Bolton in a 2-2 draw with Blackpool that saw the Seasiders squander a two-goal lead.
Bolton have had the under-soil heating on all week at the Reebok stadium, but on a freezing day the match took a while to warm up.
Ian Evatt scored the opener for Blackpool from an Elliott Grandin corner in a less than entertaining first half, and they increased their lead after the break through Luke Varney from another Grandin corner before Bolton fought with late goals from Martin Petrov and Davies.
Both sides failed to create many chances in a scrappy first half, but when Grandin whipped the ball in to the near post in the 28th minute Evatt flicked the ball on to beat both Bolton 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and Chung Yong Lee on the line.
If the first half was dull, the second was anything but. Blackpool started strongly and their second goal was almost carbon copy of their first corner, this time Varney finding the net with a looping header from the near post just before the hour mark
Blackpool have played some wonderful attacking football under Ian Holloway and despite being two goals ahead they continued to press forward looking for a third.
Twice they went close through DJ Campbell, who forced Jaaskelainen into a good save and then minutes later should have done better when one on one with the Finnish goalkeeper.
However, with Blackpool flooding forward looking for a third Bolton had space to exploit and they hit back late on to.
Petrov, a second half substitute pulled one back with a wonderful volley from the edge of the area, flicking the ball up with his first touch before smashing the ball into the top corner with his second.
With 25 minutes remaining Blackpool refused to sit back and conserve their lead and they were punished when a brilliant flowing move involving Kevin Davies, Johann Elmander and Ivan Klasni, before Mark Davies was found in space and he side-footed home.
Had Blackpool won they could have moved up to seventh, but they remain 10th and Bolton stay in fifth.
