‘I Can’t Work For This Madness’ – Ian Holloway Issues FA With Quit Threat

Chris Wright

11th, November 2010

9 Comments

By Chris Wright

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has threatened to resign if the Premier League go ahead and punish the club for fielding a weakened team in their 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa last night.

Holloway made ten changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Everton at the weekend for the clash at Villa Park, with midfielder Keith Southern the only player to retain his place.

The Seasiders were on course for a point thanks to substitute DJ Campbell‘s deflected 86th-minute equaliser, but Villa managed to grab a winner just two minutes later via a thumping header from centre-back James Collins.

When asked what he would do if the Premier League decided to impose similar sanctions on Blackpool as they did when Wolves were handed a suspended £25,000 fine for making ten changes for a match against Manchester United last season, Holloway retorted angrily:

“I’d pack in, I can’t work for this madness. I would resign. They do not know what they’re talking about.

“You haven’t got to be a genius to work out what happened to Wolves last year and how wrong that was. [Wolves manager] Mick McCarthy can pick whoever he likes.

“We deserved at least a point and how dare anybody tell me the players I’ve been working with, I can’t treat them with respect and give them a chance. [My reserves] should have played before now. I wasn’t sure they were ready, but tonight they have enhanced their reputation with me.

“Let some person from the Premier League even try to tell me who I can pick. I am the manager of Blackpool Football Club and I select people to come to the club and play them whenever I want.

“I’m going to come here and try to beat Aston Villa and I’m going to go to West Ham and try to beat them and all. If I pick a different team, I’ve got every right to do what I like.

“Let them try and fine me, it’s an absolute disgrace. I’ll show the Premier League. We were a credit to football, and let the Premier League try to tell me otherwise.

“You’re so rude and being so disrespectful to my players.”

It seems that Ollie is either playing the ‘seige mentality’ card to the Nth degree or simply unravelling before our very eyes. I’ll let you be the judge…

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9 Comments

  1. Jon says:

    Ian Holloway is a great man and one thing that you can’t say about him is that he is dishonest. I think this year especially, he is solidifying himself as one of the premier league’s voices of reason. I think that with the fans of Blackpool as well as fans of other premier league clubs he is seen as someone who does what he thinks is right no matter what the repurcussions.

    Whoever that reporter is doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about if he is comparing this to Wolves last season. The difference is that Wolves were going away to United where they knew that they had very little chance of getting points. So instead of putting a strong team out and having a go, they fielded a team of 11 players that were not in the normal starting squad and lost the match convincingly (3-0). Their fans got nothing for travelling to Manchester, paying significantly more at Old Trafford than they do at home and watching their boys get pummeled. Holloway takes a admittedly less-experienced team to Villa park and salvaged a point, playing some really attractive football, in a 5 goal (could have been 6 or 7) stunner. How is that similar in any way?

  2. Jon says:

    Should have said “NEARLY salvaged a point”…

  3. yank says:

    damn right..

  4. Greg says:

    what state has football gotten to when a manager doesnt even have the right to choose his own starting eleven? disgrace

  5. QueerAsFuß says:

    Can someone who is more of an EPL expert explain what the issue is for me? Is there a rule stating a maximum number of changes from week to week or does it raise suspicions of match fixing? I’m not sure what the fine would be levied for.
    I think Mr. Holloway sounds like a very dedicated-to-his-club manager who is willing to give his bench players time on the pitch- I’m sure his players respect that. But I honestly don’t know much about Blackpool or his history.

  6. Kevin Barry says:

    Why can the likes of Ferguson and Wenger do it but not McCarthy and Holloway………….it’;s those little grey men in their cozy little jobs being paid from the proceeds of the fans and the clubs……… get rid of the lot of them, make Ray Wilkins No. 1 in the Premier League Structure and surround him with ex-players who know what the are talking about!!!

  7. Grant says:

    The Premier League has a rule that says every team must play their strongest team in every match. Now, disregarding the logistical impossibility of determining what every squad’s strongest eleven are in every situation (e.g. what if a manager simply gets his tactics wrong, or doesn’t play a star player because he thinks a different formation would be more suited to the game at hand), this is a rule that has been demonstrably unenforced for years. Everyone knows that teams have been prioritizing European games or big cup ties, especially if they are in a safe league position come the end of the season. The problem is that the teams most guilty of this are the big teams like Manchester United and Chelsea. The real problem is that smaller teams have started to do the same thing when they feel like there is a marginal game they probably won’t get something from followed by a much better chance to pick up three points at home against another midling team. The bottom line is that a manager like Ian Holloway has 38 games to get enough points to keep his club in the top flight for another season, and if he feels like he should rest some players to make the most of his handful of opportunities to win games, then that should be his right, just as much as it is Sir Alex Ferguson’s or Arsene Wenger’s to depriorotize a home game against a relegation candidate in favor of a critical European game. It’s not a matter of not fining Ollie, as much as it is a matter of getting the rule off the books in the first place.

  8. Jon says:

    Agree 100% with Grant, but – just to play devil’s advocate – There are players in United or Chelsea or Arsenal who are on the bench most of the season but could be starting at any other club in the prem. Not saying it’s right and I do see the double standard but it is worth noting that when a “top four” team fields a “weakened team” it is much different then when a mid or bottom-table team does it.

  9. hollis says:

    I’ve been following Holloway since his Argyle days, praying that he’d one day make it into the Prem so that his randomness would reach a wider audience. Really doesn’t seem to be able to cope with the pressure, which is a bit of a letdown. Here’s to hoping for a good cup run so that we can go back to the days of absurd analogies as opposed to the incredulous rants we’re now seeing.

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