Blackpool have made the decision to appoint Liverpool’s under-23s manager Neil Critchley as the permanent successor to Simon Grayson at Bloomfield Road.

The Tangerines have been met with frustrations in their attempts to bring in a new permanent manager, since electing to part company with Grayson following a poor run of form towards the start of the New Year, with approaches for both Oxford United’s Karl Robinson and Swindon Town’s Richie Wellens turned down.

However, Blackpool have now finally managed to bring in a new manager, with Critchley now having the chance to assess the quality of his squad during the last few months of the campaign, before looking to help the club improve the squad in the summer so they can mount a potential promotion push.

Here then, we take a look at THREE things that Critchley will be needing to address as soon as possible at Bloomfield Road…

Style of play

One of the main reasons why Blackpool would have made the decision to bring Critchley to the club will have been the 41-year-old’s reputation of his ability to implement an attack minded and possession-based style of play, which he showed during his time developing Liverpool’s under-23s.

That is something that Blackpool will be hoping that he can bring to Bloomfield Road, with the Tangerines having been guilty of playing at times in a negative fashion under Grayson, especially when they had taken the lead in matches – and that eventually led to a disconnect between him and the club’s supporters towards the end of his time in charge.

Critchley will be needing to improve Blackpool’s existing players on the training ground, as well as look to identify players who he can bring in to help implement a more attractive style of play – and if he can improve the Tangerines’ style of play he could have a good chance of enjoying success at Bloomfield Road.

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Armand Gnanduillet’s long-term future

One of the main issues hanging over Blackpool’s squad at the moment is the uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of Armand Gnanduillet, with the forward set to be out of contract come the end of the campaign – and the Tangerines have been interested in extending his stay, but it seems he is waiting to assess his options in the summer.

Critchley will be needing to establish whether there is a chance of convincing Gnanduillet, who has scored 15 goals in League One so far this term, to stay at the club or whether the striker is intent on finding a new challenge at the end of the campaign.

That would help Critchley start to plan for next season, with Blackpool needing time to identify a potential replacement for their top scorer in the summer were he to leave the club – and that could prove to be pivotal in helping the 41-year-old improve the Tangerines’ fortunes next term.

Consistency

If Critchley is going to be able to help the Tangerines battle for promotion to the Championship next season, it will be vital that he manages to sort out the consistency of their performances, with Blackpool having won 11, but also lost 11 and drawn 11 of their 33 matches in League One so far this campaign.

During most of the first half of the season Blackpool looked like they could well be amongst the promotion candidates come the end of the campaign, but having sat as high as fourth at the beginning of December, the Tangerines then went on a run of just one win in 12 matches, which ultimately led to Grayson’s departure.

Blackpool have managed to secure back to back wins against Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, but Critchley will be needing to make sure that his side are able to pick up results on a much more consistent basis, and that they can bounce back more quickly from negative results, if he is to succeed at Bloomfield Road.