Luton Town claim issued over Matt Bloomfield, Blackpool links - Tangerines fans may be impressed | OneFootball

Matt Bloomfield could soon be back in management after recently leaving Luton Town

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been a hectic two-week period for Blackpool and Luton Town, with both clubs initially hoping for much stronger starts to their respective League One campaigns.

Unsurprisingly, expectation levels are currently far greater at Kenilworth Road than at Bloomfield Road, with the Hatters expected to immediately mount a bid for automatic promotion at a bare minimum before a ball was kicked after they became the first club since Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2012/13 to suffer the ignominy of back-to-back relegations from the Premier League straight through into League One.

Matt Bloomfield was the man who oversaw a final-day relegation from the Championship for the Bedfordshire outfit as his side were defeated 5-3 at West Bromwich Albion in May, just four months after moving from League One promotion contenders, Wycombe Wanderers, in an attempt to halt the aforementioned drastic slide.

Unfortunately for the 41-year-old, he was unable to do so, and in the eyes of Luton CEO, Gary Sweet, the club's return to the third tier has been far from acceptable, as he was handed his P45 following a 2-0 defeat at Stevenage on October 4th, subsequently being replaced by Jack Wilshere.

Another 2-0 defeat in League One which proved costly was Blackpool's loss to AFC Wimbledon, which was the final game of Steve Bruce's 13-month tenure on the Fylde Coast.

At present, the Tangerines are second bottom of the table with eight points to their name. And, with owner, Simon Sadler, looking to swiftly replace the 64-year-old, it has recently emerged that Bloomfield is among a cluster of front-runners for the vacancy.

Despite recently being dismissed by his own club, FLW's Luton Town fan pundit, Simon Mills, believes he could certainly succeed in Lancashire.

The Luton job was only the third of Bloomfield's relatively short managerial career, having previously made great strides of individual and collective progress at both Colchester United and Wycombe, which led to him being handed a long-term contract at Kenilworth Road back in January.

Despite overseeing plenty of expected turnover at the club following relegation, the former midfielder exited the club with a 35% win percentage and an average of 1.3 points per game, winning 12 of his 34 overall encounters in the hotseat.

Yet, just days after leaving Luton, it has been reported by Alan Nixon that Bloomfield is set for a second interview with the Blackpool hierarchy, who could hold fire regarding his potential appointment until they are clear that no compensation package will need to be paid, having endured such struggles in an attempt to prize Richie Wellens away from Leyton Orient.

Former Pool icons Ian Evatt and Charlie Adam are also reportedly in the frame, but Mills believes a move to the North West could be the right one to take for the former Luton boss.

"I wish nothing but the best for Matt Bloomfield. I strongly believe he was the right manager for Luton Town, but at the completely wrong time," Simon told FLW.

"I wish him nothing but the best.

"I think he'll find a team that he might have a bit more time to mould and get going, in a similar vein to what he did at Wycombe.

"I think he's a good talker and has ideas of what he wants to do with a team. He just wasn't able to be afforded the time at Luton, with the way things are, to do that," Mills added.

"Good luck to Matt Bloomfield. If he ends up in the Blackpool job, I wish him nothing but the utmost best."

Matt Bloomfield would be a strong short and long-term appointment for Blackpool

As Mills alluded to, his dismissal at Luton clearly hasn't had negative implications on Bloomfield's stock on the managerial circuit, although it remains to be seen whether he wants to immediately jump back onto the managerial horse.

Blackpool have a plethora of talented and experienced names among their squad which, in truth, is far better than what their current position suggests, with a major instilling of confidence the first requirement for any new manager.

Bloomfield was able to do exactly that at Colchester, addressing a disastrous start to the 2022/23 campaign before returning to Wycombe, where he is regarded as a legend full stop.

As a result, he would be an ideal short and long-term appointment for the aforementioned Sadler, albeit the same could also be said for Wellens and Evatt, who have, and had previously, transformed the fortunes of Leyton Orient and Bolton Wanderers.