Jason Euell (free, Southampton)

After losing some key players such as Holliohan in the summer they need to regroup and got off to a poor start losing the opening game of the season at home to Bristol City and they failed to win until the end of the month with a tight 1-0 win at Southampton.

Under Simon Grayson they were tough to beat though and began to upset the odds losing just one of the next ten matches including wins over Birmingham, Derby and Barnsley and draws with QPR, Cardiff and Crystal Palace.

It was enough to secure them a nice solid mid table spot for the first half of the season. The problem for them was they were drawing too many games making each loss more important and when Simon Grayson went to join Leeds in January they were left with former Blackburn boss Tony parks in charge of saving them from the drop.

That drop looked ominous after a run of eight games without a win but the signing of DJ Campbell on loan helped, he scored in the 2-0 win over Birmingham.

Campbell's nine goals were enough in the end to keep them up as they secured a respectable 16th place finish with one defeat in the final ten matches moving them well clear of the drop.

Blackpool have a new manager for the new season with Ian Holloway given the task to keeping Blackpool in the Championship for a third year in a row.

The seasiders have always played good football and the former QPR manager will be looking to add a bit of steel and belief to the squad to make sure they avoid the nervous end they faced last season.

Holloway has been quiet in the transfer market bringing in Jason Euell so far as the only addition but Richard Langley may also join after his trial with them.

Holloway has plenty of former QPR players to call on with Ian Evatt and Daniel Nardiello at the club, if he can instil the kind of belief into those players that he did at QPR then they should do well.

Looking at their squad though they are like many sides in lacking a stand out forward, DJ Campbell was excellent for them last season but is now back at Leicester so Holloway will have his work cut out trying to find a bargain striker who will bag them 10/15 goals this season.

It certainly won't be easy for Blackpool this year but they do have some decent players in their squad and if Holloway hasn't been too badly affected by his last job at Leicester they should have a manager more than capable of keeping them in this division.

They'll be one of those sides always looking over their shoulders through the season but I think they'll have enough to stay up.

PREDICTION: 19th in the Championship

I asked Blackpool fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say.

How do you think Blackpool will fare this season?

We need to bring in 3 or 4 new players at least but if we do then I think we'll be pushing for mid table which is as good as we can hope really.

Who are your players to watch out for?

Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Billy Clarke

Is your Manager the right man for the job?

I hope so, he's only just arrived but is talking of building the club from top to bottom so given time I think he could do well for us.

Which three teams will be promoted this season?

West Brom, Sheffield United and Newcastle

Which teams will be relegated?

Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Preston

How do you think QPR wil fare this season?

Same as last year, doubt you'll challenge for promotion unless you start spending some money

Blackpool central defender Ian Evatt has enjoyed spells at both clubs although I am not sure enjoyed is the right way to describe his time at QPR.

He arrived to a great fanfare when he signed from Chesterfield and was compared to Glenn Roeder.

Sadly we never saw him reach those heights as his lack of pace was cruelly exposed in the Championship and he struggled to make an impact.

He fell out of favour with Ian Holloway and got a second chance when Gary Waddock came in but his performances failed to improve and he dropped down a division to help Blackpool to promotion in 2007.

Some more successful defenders to have played for both clubs are defenders Clarke Carlisle and Danny Shittu.

Danny Shittu had a loan spell at Blackpool where he helped them to promotion. A year on he came to QPR on loan before we signed him for £250,000 from Charlton.

Shittu went onto be a massive player for QPR scoring seventeen goals for us.

He also suffered with a bad knee injury but returned to win the clubs player of the year award in his last season at the club before joining Watford.

Carlisle joined from Blackpool in 2001 and although the club were relegated in his first season Carlisle was excellent in defence for QPR and won an England under 21 call up. A bad knee injury not only ended his season but also his chances of joining a Premiership club.

He returned to QPR and had some good times at the club playing really well as we got to the playoff final in 2003 and he played his part in helping us win promotion a year later.

He suffered with off the field problems and moved up north to be closer to his family in 2004.

Perhaps the most famous of them all is Trevor Sinclair. Sinclair joined QPR from Blackpool in 1993 as a replacement for Andy Sinton and he went on to be a top player for us. He played on the left wing or the right and was a very exciting player.

Perhaps his best individual season came when we were relegated from the Premiership. Sinclair played up front and tore teams apart with his skill and pace promoting much attention from bigger clubs.

Sinclair eventually left QPR in 1997 to join West Ham after scoring 21 goals in 186 appearances. He went on to play and star in the 2002 World Cup and finally got to play for his hometown club Manchester City.

We met several times during our spell in division two and remained unbeaten against them. The first game was perhaps the closest when Blackpool played us off the pitch for much of the game but we still managed to race into a two goal lead through former magic Hat Leroy Griffiths double.

Blackpool came back though to earn a draw and in truth should have won the game as we left on that Tuesday night thankful to get anything.

The return game saw the start of a run Blackpool will want to forget as Richard Langley began his goal of the season run against them. He smashed in a stunning volley from the right to help us to a 2-0 win in 2002 and repeated the trick with a lovely run and finish in the 2-1 win at Loftus Road the following season. That win also saw us pick up three points despite being live on tv which was a shock at the time.

The return game was very memorable for every fan who went. QPR fans took over the town in the March sunshine and danced the conga as Richard Langley hit a stunning hat trick to give us a 3-1 win and we sang "We're not going home" to the bemused home support.

Our form against them improved the following season when we opened the season with a 5-0 hammering. Blackpool looked a decent side on the day but couldn't get near us as Ainsworth scored twice and Langley, Gallen and Palmer completed a memorable afternoon.

In January 2004 in the wind and rain we again got the three points. Martin Rowlands got the only goal of the game but we had Chris Day to thank for the win as he produced an exceptional performance to almost single handily win us the game.

Blackpool won promotion in 2007 and the two sides met at Bloomfield Road in December 2007. Rangers produced a very poor performance on a very cold and windy day. Lee Camp kept us in the game and those QPR fans frozen to their seats in the uncovered away stand were treated to a last minute goal from Ben Burgess to win the game for the home side that could easily have been a 5 or 6 goal win for them.

At Loftus Road the game was a cracker. We stormed into an early lead with Buzsaky scoring an amazing goal to give us the lead before Vine and Rowlands looked to have made the game safe just after half time. The 3-0 lead was only just enough though as Wes Hoollihan had a stormer and Blackpool fought back to 3-2 and it took some great saves from Lee Camp to secure all three points.

Last season the match at Loftus Road ended in a frustrating draw for QPR. We fell behind to a Gary Taylor Fletcher goal and the crown began to turn on manager Iain Dowie for his 4-5-1 system. He changed things for the second half without much luck as we struggled until Buzsaky curled a free kick against the bar and Blackstock tapped home from close range to earn us a point.

The return game was a much better night for QPR with Paulo Sousa gaining back to back away wins. Heider helguson has his best night at QPR so far scoring twice whilst Hogan Ephraim completed the scoring with our biggest away win of the season.

Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.