Wednesday 18 March 2015 17:15, UK
Lee Clark has assured Blackpool's disgruntled supporters he will definitely right the ship next year after they inched ever closer to relegation before the end of March.
The Bloomfield Road stands were largely empty on Tuesday night, despite an official attendance of 9,168, and those Seasiders fans who did attend witnessed a 24th defeat of the season against Charlton.
The gap between Blackpool and safety remains 18 points and results on Wednesday night could ensure their demotion into Sky Bet League One is confirmed this weekend.
There are multiple factors for the Seasiders' struggles but Clark feels he is unfairly on the receiving end of some criticism and, having publicly accepted their fate last week, he has vowed to return them to winning ways in League One next term.
"I'll do it next season, 100 per cent," he told reporters after the Charlton loss.
"The fans, I understand their frustration, it's turned towards me and I understand that but I'll do it. I'll have the personnel on the 29th of June.
"It's very difficult but I've done it once before when I had my full squad done for the first day of pre-season. Sometimes, with the market, it's difficult to get them all but we'll certainly have high teens in terms of the squad size to hit the ground running on the 29th.
"We'll have a brand-new football pitch that will be conducive to playing fast, high-tempo football and a new squad with belief.
"When I was deciding on taking this job I knew there was a massive chance that this club was going to go do down and I wanted to be given the opportunity to rebuild.
"I'm hearing shouts (from the stands) that 'this is my team'. It isn't my team. There's four, five, six players but they're youngsters.
"I'm going to have to withstand what is going to come in the next couple of weeks but the only way I can change the opinion of the supporters is by winning games and I'll do that."
Some Blackpool supporters have accused Clark of being a puppet for unpopular owner Karl Oyston but the ex-Huddersfield and Birmingham chief insists he will be in charge come the summer.
"The chairman's got his own issues with the fans and I've got a lot of time for football supporters but I'm not going anywhere because I know I can change it," added Clark.
"I've got an opportunity because we're at the bottom of the well and sometimes when you get to the bottom things have to change for the better."
