BLACKPOOL FC will hold a press conference at 5pm today (Thursday) with rumours rife that manager, Steve McMahon, has quit.

McMahon, frustrated by a lack of transfer funding, has been strongly linked with the job at Oldham, and the Citizen believes that this evening's press conference will be to announce his departure.

Former Scotland captain, Colin Hendry, is being strongly tipped to take over. The Lytham-based defender finished his football career with a loan spell at Bloomfield Road last season.

McMahon held crunch talks with his chairman, Karl Oyston, on Friday regarding new contracts for stars such as Scott Taylor and John Murphy, as well as transfer funding.

No official announcement on the outcome of the meeting has been made, but it is understood that McMahon was told no cash will be forthcoming.

Further news will be published at www.thisislancashire.co.uk as soon as it is received.

Blackpool take on Tony Adams' struggling Wycombe at Adams Park this weekend and were also due to play ther rearranged game at Port Vale on Wednesday night.

Marc Bircham got away with kicking out at Blackpool's Richie Wellens then helped QPR to a smash-and-grab victory at Bloomfield Road.

The blue-haired Canadian midfielder was one of several QPR players who brought a nasty, niggly streak to a game in which Blackpool had the better chances.

Blackpool skipper, Richie Wellens, was outstanding again. Fouled every time he had the ball in the first 10 minutes, he eventually got himself into trouble, booked for a foul on Bircham after 14 minutes.

The Canadian retaliated, lashing out at Wellens, but -- despite a lengthy discussion with the linesman -- referee Mr Bates only showed the yellow card. In fairness, Bircham's manager, Ian Holloway, admitted afterwards that his player should have walked if the referee ruled that he had retaliated, which begs the question, why the leniency from the man in the middle? Yet another piece of gross inconsistency.

Moments later, Scott Taylor saw QPR's impressive keeper, Chris Day, make a good save with his legs , while John Murphy's header looked to be heading goalwards until Martin Rowlands' last gasp clearance.

Although QPR looked capable on the break, Lee Jones had got his hands to everything. That was until the 38th minute, when Paul Furlong's shot was parried straight to Rowlands, who fired home the rebound.

That stunned the Seasiders and the home fans, and it was the second half before Blackpool managed to re-group, with Taylor and Murphy forcing a fantastic double save and a long-range shot from Steve Elliott hitting the post.

But, on the rare occasions when Blackpool managed to get beyond the colossal Danny Shittu, Day, picked out as man-of-the-match by Steve McMahon, was equal to anything they could throw at him.

McMahon said after the game: "I feel worse today than I did after the last minute defeat at Portsmouth.

"We deserved better. We had all the chances. Their keeper will get man of the match -- he made some fantastic saves."

And his side received praise from his opposite number. Holloway said: "I still believe Blackpool will be there or there abouts at the end of the season."

KEITH Southern could give Blackpool a New Year boost by returning to action within weeks. The combative midfielder has been out since early December, but started training again this week and hopes to be back in action before the end of this month.

SIMON Johnson is back at Leeds after deciding not to extend his loan spell at Bloomfield Road. Johnson scored in the Boxing Day game against Tranmere but lost his place after the 4-2 debacle at Wrexham, though he looked useful coming off the bench in Saturday's defeat against QPR.

THINKING ahead, Blackpool have announced ticketing details for several forthcoming games. The matches against Swindon (January 30) and Colchester (February 14) are 'quid a kid' with under 18s admitted to parts of the ground for just a pound. The games against league leaders Plymouth (February 28) and Sheffield Wednesday (April 17) are all-ticket, with the Wednesday game kicking off at 12.30pm on police advice.