Jerry Yates’ three year deal signifies a new dawn in Blackpool’s history

Last season’s Blackpool talisman Jerry Yates has signed a three-year contract extension in a move that signifies a new chapter in the club’s ambitions from a position of strength.

Supporters of the Seasiders are well versed to seeing their key assets leave the club on the cheap as soon as they had even a moderately successful spell in the side, yet those days are no more.

Whilst the Tangerines have effectively strengthened in the transfer market through the likes of Shayne Lavery and Callum Connolly, adding to an already strong spine from the season prior, the most important signings were of those who already were at the club.

A spine that understands the way the club operates, the vision in place that is long-term and what Head coach Neil Critchley expects both on and off the field is already there for all to see at Bloomfield Road.

But, as was expected given such a successful campaign last time round, murmurs of bids for Blackpool’s prized assets have been flying about since they returned from Wembley.

With Jerry Yates signing a three-year contract with the club, it is hard to remember when, if ever, Blackpool have done this with a key asset, speaking to the long-term scope of succession planning that the club operates with under Simon Sadler’s ownership.

When Blackpool were relegated from the Premier League, rather than building from a position of strength with tens of millions worth of parachute payments in the bank, some of the club’s star men were offered up to 60% pay cuts weeks after they battled in vain to avoid the drop at Old Trafford.

Another example is when Tom Ince was one of the hottest properties in the Championship in 2013/14, the club had failed to agree a new contract for the star player in the seasons prior despite his potential being clear for all to see.

Instead of pushing for a new contract in order to recoup a hefty fee for the player, whose dad Paul was manager at the time, they let it run down and as a result Ince was left free to speak to other clubs.

This came as far as his dad, acting as his representative, and Ince meeting with representatives from AS Monaco two days before Blackpool’s 2-0 defeat away at Barnsley, which was both Tom’s final game for the club and his dad’s final game in charge.

These occasions have been prevalent throughout the history of the club with contracts longer than a one-year deal with a year option a non-existent entity in the realms of Bloomfield Road.

This is why Yates’ deal, alongside Chris Maxwell’s and Kevin Stewart’s to name a couple, symbolise a new dawn for a club that has always had the potential to sit much higher in the echelons of English football.

Yates is a striker that has all the assets to go to the very top of the football pyramid.

His off the ball work and positional sense is exemplary, suiting a modern, high pressing system down to the ground and setting the tone from the front in terms of the intensity Blackpool play at.

Whilst he is happy to run in behind and be fed balls through the lines and finish in that manner, he has been more than capable of creating goals for himself, moving wide to find the ball and drive at the defence or likewise through the middle.

His hold up play is an underrated asset and his aerial ability is above what you would expect from a striker of his physical stature.

The norm for a player coming from where he has is that they offer the technical ability but struggle in the final third, or they are simply a poacher, or a target man.

It is a rare occurrence to see such an all-round young player as he is still plying their trade in League One, up until Blackpool’s promotion last season.

He has to be expected to step up once more as questions marks over certain attributes just simply do not appear in the conversation, a seven-figure player in the making, if he is not already.

That’s back-to-back promotions for the player following his League Two promotion with Swindon and it is clear from his attitude that he sees Blackpool’s ceiling as much higher than what those outside of the club anticipate.

There is a growing sense of pure trust in Neil Critchley and his system, the board and their long-term infrastructure vision, the recruitment department and the players they identify and the players to step up when required.

It is the perfect recipe for a club that sees the only way as up.

The past is far in the distance now, the inter-club war that threatened to tear apart one of the finest institutions in British sport instead has brought about the perfect motivation to make up for lost time and finally run this professional club in a professional manner.

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