Why Pitman will regret snubbing Blackpool - and why Hodgson has a huge job at Liverpool

By Robbie Savage

Published 21:59 26/08/10

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I see Brett Pitman turning down Blackpool for Bristol City and I shake my head in bewilderment.

The Robins are a decent side but to snub a chance to play in the Premier League is an utterly ridiculous decision.

Yes, City are reported to have offered him more money than the £10,000-a-week limit at Blackpool. But the Seasiders have imposed that wage cap for good reason. They want to use this Premier League money to build a stable club and not risk crippling themselves. With the size of their ground and crowds, they simply could not sustain themselves as a business if they found themselves back in the Championship with players earning £20,000 and £30,000 a week.

I don't know Brett Pitman but I hope he doesn't live to regret his decision. He had a chance to go to a club with a fantastic history and one of the best managers in the game.

And most importantly, he had the chance to breathe the air of the Premier League, to play at Old Trafford, the Emirates, Stamford Bridge. To play against Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Cesc Fabregas. I simply can't fathom it.

I love Derby and I owe them a lot, so this is a purely hypothetical situation. But if anyone came to me now and offered me a chance to return to the Premier League on £10,000-a-week - which would be a significant wage cut for me - I would have to think about very seriously indeed.

I think Pitman has shot himself in the foot on two counts.

One, he has denied himself a chance to play in the most exciting league in the world and it is a chance he may never get again.

And two, he seems to have assumed that he would get just one season in the Premier League with Blackpool before they returned to the Championship.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I can see Holloway taking points here and there and still being alive by Easter. They certainly won't do what we did at Derby in 2008 and be down by March with a record low tally of points.

And if Wigan Athletic continue to struggle, the Seasiders will be fighting to stay out of only two relegation places as Dave Whelan's side will make the drop.

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Seeing Liverpool lose abjectly at Manchester City shows you what a huge job Roy Hodgson has on his hands.

Somehow, some way, he has to sign four world-class player - a left back, a centre back, a central midfielder and a striker - by next Tuesday night. Or the five-time winners will be nowhere near the Champions League again.

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ROBBIE LOVES... Lookalikes. Ran a Twitter competition to find the best one of me. Wayne Edwards won for pointing out my remarkable resemblance to Zelda from Terrahawks!

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