The Countdown to History: Our Verdict on the Playoff Final

This Saturday the world of football prepares itself for a showdown of monumental proportions and far reaching consequences. A game the victory of which means more to both clubs that any other single match in world football. Step aside Chelsea and Bayern Munich as this Saturday's "Day of Destiny" belongs to West Ham and Blackpool.
The Championship playoff is a fixture like none other as the rewards bring not only promotion and glory, but possible survival as a football club. The game is often referred to as "the richest game in world football" with a £40million windfall up for grabs, and with 2 of the Championship's biggest teams set to contest the showpiece final, there's sure to be fireworks. Let us take a closer look at the 2 teams vying to reach the holy grail of English football.

West Ham

West Ham were the first to progress through the semi final with a comfortable 5-0 aggregate win over a wearied looking Cardiff team. The Hammers' season has been riddled with inconsistencies as they frequently flirted with automatic promotion, and even topped the table in January. Yet they seemed to strain with the crippling burden of being labelled favourites to bounce straight back up to the Premiership. Allardyce is not renowned for producing prolific teams but 86 goals this season isn't a bad return for the big man. This, in the context of a slightly less impressive fourth best defensive record in the Championship with 17 cleans sheets, bodes well for expectant Hammers fans up and down the country. Playoff finals are infamous for their frantic tempo and open, expansive football, and I expect this one to be no different. With Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan providing the firepower up front, the Blackpool defense will be in for a busy afternoon. Mark Noble, arguably West Ham's player of the season, will no doubt patrol the midfield in his characteristically mercurial fashion. Likewise, the late fitness boost of Jack Collison, who scored both goals in the first leg victory over Cardiff, is a timely boost to any Hammers fans experiencing last minute jitters.

Any XI facing a squad set out by Holloway is sure to be tested at the back and this could prove to be the Hammers undoing. While Robert Green has been impervious in goal (and justly rewarded with an England call-up) the four in front of him have been considerably less commanding. Tomkins and Reid, while showing promise early in the season, have shown lapses in concentration at crucial times and was no doubt a major reason for the 11 game winless streak the claret and blues suffered in the tail end of the season. However the recent inclusion of Guy Demel appears to have sured up the Hammers and the trio along with Green have only conceded 4 goals in their last 4 matches.

Blackpool


Blackpool fans watched horrified as their pre-season preparation was thwarted by the constant poaching of vital players in key positions. Charlie Adam, DJ Campbell and David Vaughan all departed for Premiership clubs leaving a gaping hole for Holloway to fill. Despite this, a core group of players remained, including: Taylor Fletcher, Alex Baptiste and Stephen Crainey; all of whom will be praying their loyalty is rewarded come Saturday evening. The signings of Barry Ferguson and Kevin Phillips went someway to recuperating the firepower that saw the Tangerines narrowly miss out on Premiership survival the season before. Phillips' 16 goals this season is truly remarkable for a player who, at 38, still looks as sharp and lethal as he was back in his Sunderland days. If Blackpool were to clinch promotion, it will be the fifth time 'KP' has represented a top flight club.

The stats don't make comforting reading for Holloway, as the previous meetings between the 2 sides this season resulted in 4-0 and 4-1 defeats, yet Holloway knows the age old cliche of "the lottery of the play-offs" better than anyone. They weren't favourites going into the play-offs 2 seasons ago and they certainly won't be this time round, yet this season has seen Blackpool scramble results when it really counts (none more so than the 3-2 aggregate win in the play-off semi final over Birmingham). If winger Matty Phillips can get at the occasionally brittle Hammers defense and Tom Ince can dominate the game from the center of the pitch, thus stifling the influential Noble, then the Tangerines could be looking at a remarkable bounce straight back up to the Premiership.

Verdict


Blackpool fans will bemoan us saying this, and it may well come back to bite the Trequartistas in its proverbial face, but as we have alluded to in previous articles, we don't believe in sitting on the fence. Come Saturday night West Ham will once again be where a team of its size, history and fan base should be. Allardyce has experienced the bitter taste of defeat and enjoyed the bounties of victory in previous play off finals, and while this West Ham team is far from equipped at this moment in time to challenge in the Premiership, their squad looks set to overwhelm a Blackpool team likely wearied by their far more troublesome path to this showpiece final.

The spoils of victory cannot be overestimated in this annual showpiece event. While the glitz and glamour of the Champions League final will no doubt be gracing the back pages of newspapers this coming Saturday, the play-off final is what characterises the English game. Its potential to shape a club's history makes it a game of consequnces far beyond anything Europe can offer.