Opposition view: Furious Bowyer baffled by Blackpool's '˜unacceptable' performance in Sixfields defeat

A deeply unhappy Gary Bowyer was left mystified by the '˜unacceptable' and '˜embarrassing' nature of his side's performance in their 1-0 defeat to Northampton on Saturday, describing the game itself as '˜absolutely awful' and '˜90 wasted minutes'.
WASTED: Gary Bowyer was furious with his side's performance at Sixfields. Picture by Kirsty EdmondsWASTED: Gary Bowyer was furious with his side's performance at Sixfields. Picture by Kirsty Edmonds
WASTED: Gary Bowyer was furious with his side's performance at Sixfields. Picture by Kirsty Edmonds

The Blackpool manager was clearly upset and somewhat bewildered by how poorly his side had performed at Sixfields, particularly in an attacking sense where they struggled to meaningfully test Cobblers goalkeeper Matt Ingram.

The Tangerines had come into the game sitting ninth in Sky Bet League One on the back of promotion last term but Sam Hoskins’ first-half goal condemned them to back-to-back defeats.

“We were nowhere near the levels that we’ve set this season with how we played and how we went about it,” lamented Bowyer afterwards.

“It was an awful game, an absolutely awful game, and I apologise to our supporters in particular for making that journey down and for the level of performance we gave.

“The standard of the game was poor, the standard of the refereeing was shocking and I suppose you put it down to a wasted 90 minutes of your life unfortunately.

“We’ve just spoken in the dressing room and there’s embarrassment for that level of performance, I’ve never been involved with a team who have produced a performance like that and as a result I wanted to know why and whether or not I had missed something during the week.

“They said themselves that it wasn’t acceptable and now they have to make sure that it’s only one game like that.”

It was a relatively peaceful afternoon for both goalkeepers on Saturday as the two teams struggled for fluency and cohesion in attack, although Hoskins’ smart finish on 20 minutes ensured the Cobblers picked up all three points.

“I don’t think either team created chances,” added Bowyer. “We had one in the very first minute and they had a chance at the death when the lad was in front of goal.

“We went too long too soon and as a result we decided to change it up at half-time and play more football, or at least try and play more football.

“We were slightly better in the second-half but in the first we were nowhere near so it’s still not acceptable.

“It was totally unlike us in the past 14 games we’ve been played and that’s majorly disappointing. It’s something that we have to work on going into the next game.”