'I made a mistake:' Blackpool boss explains circumstances around original exit in passionate answer

The 45-year-old guided the Seasiders to promotion via the League One play-offs in 2021 during his first stint on the Fylde coast.

However, after a season in the Championship, he departed the club to become Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Aston Villa.

His time at Villa Park proved to be shortlived, as was a spell in charge of QPR, with Critchley returning to Blackpool last summer after a year away.

The club had just been relegated back to League One following a poor season under Michael Appleton and Mick McCarthy, and the reappointment of the former Liverpool youth coach was met with mixed views.

At the recent fans forum, Critchley was asked about the manner of his exit – and admitted he should have handled things in a different manner.

“All the conspiracy theories at the time were complete nonsense,” he said.

“I’ve always had tremendous support from Simon (Sadler, club owner); he’s never done anything but try to support myself and this football club, which is a major reason for me coming back.

“Without going back over something that happened two years ago, I explained my reason for leaving at the time, which was to go and work in the Premier League with Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa – it was as simple as that. There was nothing untoward.

“Should I have handled it differently? – yeah, I should have. I’m not on social media at all, I’m a private person, so I’m not one for posting messages.

“Believe me, there was nothing more I wanted than to come out and say ‘thank you for everything’ and to show you my gratitude, but as soon as I signed the contract for Aston Villa, I came under their media legal contract.

“I learned from that experience massively. Of course I wanted to show my appreciation and I made a mistake, that’s quite obvious.

“I can’t turn back the clock unfortunately and I learned from it. I’m not after any forgiveness, just an understanding of what happened – that’s life, sometimes we all do things we’re not proud of.

“I’m obviously here for the opportunity to come back to try and do what we created last time. This is a special football club, and I love being here.

“I’ll do anything I can while I’m here, which I hope is for a long time, to make this football club better.”