I have an image of the evil child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the look of joy on all the children's faces when they were released from his wicked grasp! Whilst they may now be out of work there can't be many of Blackpool's ex-players who aren't secretly relieved that they won't have to return to Gloomfield Road next season.
For the sake of everyone a cull was needed and if Lee Clark's final task as Blackpool manager was to hack away all the deadwood then maybe it will be his finest hour. There was always the worry that a Perkins, McMahob or Parrish might slip through the net but instead in one fell swoop the class of 2014/15 has been dispatched of in one big clear out. Here are the details:
Jamie O'Hara has been offered a new contract at Blackpool, while Tom Barkhuizen was also offered a new deal.
Options have been activated on the contracts of:
José Miguel Cubero
Andrea Orlandi
Nile Ranger
Already under contract:
Tom Aldred
Henry Cameron
Charles Dunne
David Ferguson
Luke Higham
Connor Oliver
The club will not be activating options or offering contracts to:
Andre Blackman
Peter Clarke
Tomasz Cywka
Steven Davies
Nathan Delfouneso
Joel Dielna
Bobby Grant
Gary MacKenzie
Tony McMahon
Jacob Mellis
Nyron Nosworthy
Darren O'Dea
Elliot Parish
David Perkins
Jeffrey Rentmeister
Saer Sene
Francois Zoko
Loan players returning to parent clubs:
Miles Addison
Grant Hall
Joe Lewis
Gary Madine
Niall Maher
The relief at never having to watch the likes of Saer Sene again is almost worth nipping out and buying a season ticket - albeit we now only have a handful of players left. Maybe the fact Tom Barkhuizen turned down a new contract to go to Morecambe speaks volumes. A Blackpool fan who would sooner go and play League Two football.
Having no players and no deadwood may be seen by some as an opportunity - others though will see it as the impossible task.