Coaching chaos a common thread as Cardiff travel to Tangerines

If there’s one team that beleaguered Blackpool should relish having underdog status against, then it’s Cardiff City. The Seasiders, 12/5 outsiders for victory with Coral, pipped the Bluebirds to Premier League promotion back in 2010 after winning the most absorbing play-off final of recent times.

Subsequent Bluebirds revenge was sweet, as they did the double over the Tangerines in their own successful season when they went on to lift the Championship title in 2012/13. Both of these clubs failed to prosper from top-flight stints, however, as they each suffered immediate relegation.

Cardiff, who are still to appoint former Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade as their new manager because of legal wrangling, start as 5/4 favourites to beat Blackpool under the caretaker stewardship of Danny Gabbidon and Scott Young. A draw is priced at 23/10.

Managerial madness, like the brief savouring of Premier League action, links these two clubs despite the distance between the Lancashire coast and Welsh capital. Controversial Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan has been through two talented young coaches in Malky Mackay and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer already, while Seasiders chairman Karl Oyston reportedly offered Jose Riga’s job to Burton Albion boss Gary Rowett.

Blackpool are a side shorn of any investment, possessing a hastily cobbled together squad that is still getting to know one another. It’s no wonder they prop up the Championship table with no wins all season and status as strong odds-on 1/6 favourites for relegation.

For there to be any hope at all of the Tangerines putting up a fight under Riga, then their strikeforce must start to fire. A cynic would say the likes of Nathan Delfouneso and Ishmael Miller are rejects, and Nile Ranger simply courts controversy. This trio of attackers, unwanted by other clubs, join fellow forward Steve Davies on odds of 2/1 to score anytime.

It’s probably not Blackpool you’re going to bet on here, but rather how many the Bluebirds will net against them. Punters will be encouraged to learn Cardiff have only failed to score once on the road in all competitions so far this term, so you can give them a one-goal deficit to overcome in the handicap market at 13/4.