This season, Ian Holloway’s Blackpool have lit up the Premier League with an attacking approach that has been thoroughly refreshing to watch. In spite of this, only Charlie Adam has come under any serious Fantasy consideration so far, with a tendency to catch the Bonus Judges eye almost every time he takes to the pitch.
A culmination of the recent spell of frozen weather and Blackpool’s lack of undersoil heating means that, currently, Holloway’s side now has an eye-watering three Double Gameweeks (GW22, GW 24 & GW 27) over a period of six game weeks, with their fixtures reading (BIR & LIV, wba, SUN & MUN, WHM, eve, AVL & TOT). With that in mind, it would be remiss of us not to run the rule over couple of other alternatives.
Stephen Crainey
Far and away the most attack-minded of the Seasiders’ back four, Crainey has yet to gain the returns his forages forward have merited. A look at the Members Area stats shows just how much more of a potential advantage he holds over the likes of Ian Evatt, Neal Eardley and Craig Cathcart when it comes to going forward.
Although Blackpool have failed to record a clean sheet at Bloomfield Road so far this season, they have scored in every home game and sooner or later, Crainey’s promise of a decent haul will surely come to fruition. On the road, Holloway’s side have also been far better defensively than many appreciate, chalking up five clean sheets, which is, astonishingly, the same number as Man City and Chelsea combined. That stat alone means Crainey (and Blackpool defensive options) are definitely at least worth consideration.
Cairney comes in at £4.1m in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and is owned by 3.8% of managers, though with the Seasiders’ run of fixtures, there’s no doubt his ownership will rise.
Luke Varney
The on-loan Derby man has been overshadowed thus far by Adam, but has scored some cracking goals and shown a consistency of performance that has crept well under the Fantasy radar.
Varney has played a part in all six of Blackpool’s home games and has averaged 5.3 points per game at Blooomfield Road. Indeed, there has only been one home game so far where Varney has failed to either score or assist, as Holloway’s tactics ensure plenty of chances for his forwards.
At just £4.6m, Varney has accumulated 68 FPL points so far, which, in terms of “Value”, makes his fifth-top forward to date. Owned by a mere 2.4% of FPL teams, Varney is certainly showing he has the ability to make his mark at the top level. Such has been his impact, Holloway is keen to make Varney’s stay a permanent one, though there’s no surprise the likes of West Brom are also rumoured to have joined the chase for his signature.
DJ Campbell is also worth a look, though he seems to do better away from home, the polar opposite of Varney. Every one of Campbell’s five league goals this season have came on the road, though he is looking like a man in form right now, with three goals in his last three games.
