It's very rare that I've ever felt sorry for a football manager. After all they are paid a wage most of us will never attain, watch a group of men kick a bag of wind around and enjoy the trappings that come with the position. If one gets sacked (and usually with a decent pay out), then they clearly didn't do a good enough job to remain in their position.

However you can feel nothing but sympathy for Jose Riga. Seemingly a man of principles, ethics and loyalty, he turned up for training on Monday despite knowing that the Blackpool Chairman was touting around the job to anyone who'd listen. Most people, myself included, would have told Karl to stick his job, cleared their desk and let down his tyres on the way out, but the way that Riga has conducted himself has been exemplary. After all, he has not only been handed the poisoned chalice, he was handed it with both hands tied behind his back and was smacked across the face with it before he'd even started.

Any last shred of credibility Karl Oyston had as a Chairman has gone. If you're going to go behind a manager's back and make someone an offer you have to do so knowing that you'll have to agree to the majority of their terms. The fact both Owen Coyle (a desperate out of work manager) and Gary Rowett (a manager desperate to further his career) turned down the Blackpool job shows that Oyston really has no grasp of conducting himself and retaining the club's reputation (albeit that it is now in shreds).

It's no longer a soap opera - it's gone beyond a farce - it is now a tragedy. This was Karl's final opportunity over summer to prove he has what it takes to re-establish Blackpool FC as a decent Championship club with ambitions to return to the Premier League. A fish rots from the head down and we've now reached the tail.

Photo: Action Images

we_are_Superior added 09:24 - Sep 10 I often wonder what Karl must think when he's reading all this stuff about himself - wonder if he feels he's still right?
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