Double delight for Blackpool

HE MIGHT be the King but that does not make him a magician.

19 years ago, in the week Kenny Dalglish resigned the Liverpool job, Blackpool were winning on the road at Aldershot Town in the old Fourth Division.

Blackpool, and football, has changed enormously since those pre-Richard Keys and Andy Gray years – it will be compelling viewing to see whether Dalglish has changed as well. If he has more nights like last night it will certainly age him more than they intervening years have already proved.

His first Liverpool league game back in the dugout will have taught him many things; most of them worrying and none of them flattering as Blackpool pulled off the most extraordinary double of this, or any other, Premier League season as goals from Gary Taylor Fletcher and DJ Campbell earned them their firstdouble over Liverpool since 1947.

Before the game, one thing Dalglish had done was tell Fernando Torres that he would do all he could to help him regain his scoring touch after a barren spell that had seen him score just once in the last eight encounters before this match.

His body may well have been on the pitch but his heart, and certainly his mind, have appeared elsewhere in recent times, prompting Dalglish to come out prior to the encounter and publicly wrap his arm around the Spaniard.

What a difference it made in the early stages last night. Roy Hodgson must have been watching from home wondering who the imposter in the number nine shirt was because it certainly was not the man called ‘Torres’ he had for six disastrous months.

It took Torres just four minutes of this encounter to underline how deep the Dalglish factor has already penetrated at Anfield and at Melwood, even if his goal gave precious little indicator as to how terrible Liverpool’s night would end up.

Liverpool’s fans sang Dalglish’s name loud and proud following the opening goal as they anticipated a rout yet Blackpool have been entertaining and tenacious in equal measure this term.

Perhaps Liverpool thought they already had it won, perhaps their midfield thought they deserved a break after a fraught opening period, perhaps they underestimated Blackpool.

But they have done that once already this term and paid the price at Anfield in October. And they did it again here as Gary Taylor-Fletcher benefited from some poor Liverpool defending to equalise for the home side.

The mini-Kop was comprehensively silenced in the 12th minute when a misjudgement from Raul Meireles and a poor piece of defending from Daniel Agger gave Taylor-Fletcher the space to sneak through Liverpool’s back line and comfortably slide the ball past Pepe Reina.

The goal extinguished Liverpool’s frail confidence as Blackpool blossomed into the more attacking side.

Lynchpin Charlie Adam — a Liverpool transfer target, and David Vaughan began to prosper in a Steven Gerrard-less midfield and DJ Campbell should have put Blackpool 2-1 up but squandered a golden header from four yards out as Ian Holloway’s men looked to squeeze their opponents.

In contrast, Liverpool’s early brightness gave way to listlessness as Torres was woefully underused while the likes of Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen did nothing to enamour themselves to an already sceptical Anfield fanbase with tepid showings.

Tepid showings in an increasingly tepid first half and the break came as a welcome refuge for players and spectators alike.

After the interval, Blackpool looked increasingly mischievous whenever Adam got the ball as he ran the home side’s offensive operations in the same manner that he has done since signing from Rangers for £500,000 in July 2009.

He forced one tidy save out of Reina, as did Vaughan soon after when his left foot shot was going in until Reina acrobatically tipped it over his crossbar. Those attempts were ominous indicators of what was to come as Campbell then put Blackpool ahead with only 20 minutes remaining.

A deep Neal Eardley ball was pumped into the box towards Ian Evatt who nodded it into Campbell’s path and his diving header gave the Seasiders the lead.

Craig Cathcart – who had had an amazing game in the Blackpool defence – then seemed to handle in his area as the end approached but to Liverpool’s fury no penalty was given.

No luck, no vision, no points. And Everton are up next.

Dalglish was on a cruise in the Middle East when the mercy call came from Liverpool to take over. It is a safe bet this morning that he wishes he was still there, not at Anfield with an increasingly gloomy mountain to climb.

Blackpool: Kingson 7, Eardley 7, Cathcart 7, Evatt 8, Crainey 7, Grandin 7 (Phillips 64), Adam 8, Vaughan 7, Taylor-Fletcher 7 (Baptiste 84), Campbell 7, Varney 6 (Southern 83).

Liverpool: Reina 8, Johnson 7, Skrtel 7, Agger 7, Kelly 7, Meireles 7, Poulsen 6 (Ngog 85), Lucas 6, Jovanovic 7, Torres 8, Kuyt 6 (Shelvey 76).

Ref: Michael Oliver