Blackpool only have eight players in their squad for new Championship season

The World Cup may still be in full swing, but many clubs across Europe have started pre-season training. However, it appears that preparations for the 2014/15 season aren't going too well at Blackpool, who have just eight senior players in their squad and no full-time backroom staff.

As their 2013/14 Championship season petered out and they finished just two points above the relegation zone, the Seasiders slowly started losing personnel. In fact, 17 players were released at the end of the season and several other loan players were sent back to their parent clubs.

New manager José Riga was introduced at the beginning of June, but so far he hasn't hired any assistants and has only been able to bring in one player — defender Tony McMahon, who was on loan last season.

With just five weeks to go until the new campaign, Riga was forced to delay pre-season training until this week. When the first session did happen, it had fewer attendees than a Milli Vanilli reunion concert...

On Tuesday, chairman Karl Oyston told the Blackpool official site that they were trying to "kill or cure" as many player deals as possible.

"This situation is more of an opportunity than a problem but clearly the clock is ticking," he added, presumably confusing the words "opportunity" and "problem."

Blackpool have only announced one pre-season fixture and will need to act pretty fast to fulfil it. If the club get desperate, they may need to take a chance on a mysterious Uruguayan striker who is looking for a club for the next few months...

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Ryan Bailey is a writer for Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter! Follow @RyanJayBailey