on 21 january 2014, ferguson was installed as blackpool's caretaker manager in the wake of ince's sacking. he initially stated that he would not be playing while in the managerial role, but on 12 april, at leeds, he named himself in the starting line-up in an attempt to stave off the threat of relegation. although blackpool won only three of their twenty games with ferguson in charge, they avoided relegation by two points. ferguson left blackpool at the end of the 2013–14 season.