At todays weekly press conference Ian Holloway stated his belief that things will carry on as normal, at least until the end of the season, just with Karl Oyston as acting Chief Executive rather than as chairman and director. Ollie also said that he would have to consider his future the day Oyston leaves the club, because of the relationship the two of them have. He also really laid into the gathered media for their made-up story last week about him supposedly walking out on the club. And he criticised the young players at big clubs who get paid ridiculous amounts of money, calling them "monsters" who are given far too much money at a young age, then behave wrongly, waste the money and don't portray what a professional player should do as a role model for youngsters. Ollie certainly never holds back!
can anyone really disagree, when fringe players at clubs can earn tens of thousands a week and agents are haemorrhaging money out of the game by deliberately unsettling players and demanding big increases for already contracted players and taking big chunks for doing so.
The question becomes, how do you put an end to it? Is it better to lose money and win with superior players or lose money and lose games with inferior players?
Trouble with Ollie is he very rarely holds back and he has very strong opinions and values. He doesn't subsrcibe to the "greed culture" at all and is more concerned with what sort of people his players are rather than the amount of money they earn, nor does he want to "win or bust" at any cost. One example being of course that when Scottish striker Stephen McPhee was forced to retire at the end of last season at the age of 28, Ollie kept his promise to keep him on at the club in a coaching role. And he did this because of the work McPhee had been doing locally while he had been out injured, where he worked hard on a charity calendar for a local Bispham-based Hospicefor which the club often raise money. McPhee had thrown himself into raising money and getting the calendar - which featured playes and staff in shall we say unusual outfits as the photographs were taken at Funny Girls Showbar in Blackpool's Gay Village. "Funny Girls" referring to the fact that all the performers aren't actually girls, but certainly look like girls.... But with Holloways background, which has seen him having profoundly deaf children and nursing his wife through cancer and at one point commuting from Bristol to London every day when he was manager at QPR, because the only school he could find that would suit his daughters was in the Bristol area, he is a very caring individual. But he also says what he thinks.
More from today's press conference, another quote from Ian Holloway who certainly doesn't seem to think anything is going to change at the club. Holloway said he had not spoken with Karl Oyston about his decision, but was adamant it would not change things at Bloomfield Road. It has also emerged today that Karl Oyston is involved in a bankruptcy hearing at Lancaster County Court . The BBC reported that Blackpool Football Club declined to comment. And that if he is declared bankrupt, then under Premier League rules he would not be able to be a chairman or director of any football club. The Premier League brought in its "fit and proper person" test in 2004 to try to prevent clubs from being taken over by dishonest owners. It applies to people wishing to become directors or take a shareholding of more than 30%, and primarily relates to an individual's criminal record or whether they have been bankrupt. That certainly adds another twist to the tale. Although of course it only says that he is involved in the hearing, not that the bankruptcy case is against him. Fans speculation had been that he would rather declare himself bankrupt than let his ex-wife get hold of his £millions! Though I should add of course that is merely fans rumour and speculation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-11028420
Please excuse yet another post but yet more quotes from the press conference: Asked if he thought Karly Oyston was upset about football agents, Holloway said: He also laid into the gathered media for their non-story last week (which Sky Sports News had in my opinion been guilty of sensationalising and putting 2+2 to make 365) about him supposedly having walked out on the club, when all he had done was go home to his family in Bristol following a PL meeting on Monday, before then returning back up to the Fylde Coast.
My knowledge of these kinds of dealings is primarily from the US perspective but you will have players saying, the owners are making lots of money from our play on the field and therefore we deserve a piece of that pie. Has there been any discussion from that perspective? (Please note that I really don't have an opinion on the subject and am just playing devil's advocate here.)
There has to be a middle ground. At the highest level in England a lot of young players have money thrown at them. And they earn far too much money. Ollie is right IMO about them. The likes of Theo Walcott who seems very level headed seem to be the exception rather than the norm. What Ollie wants to do is give them decent money but not obsecene amounts, then let them develop, on and off the pitch, both as players and people. Then as they grow, they start to earn more, and if they improve then it can benefit both the player and in our case the club, because we can sell that player on to a bigger club, making a decent profit which can bring in new players, while the player himself then moves on and starts earning more money. But that way they can learn how to deal with money; learn how to be decent human beings and good role models.
It is looking increasingly likely that there will be three drummers this season, in the East, South and North stands. Hoggy will occupy his usual place at the back of the South stand behind the goal, and there should be a drummer in the Kop (North stand) where Hoggy originally stood. And in the new East stand, another fan (who took his drum to Wigan last week) plans to bring it to every home game. So the only stand without a drummer then it seems will be the West stand..... Where many seem to be flask and blanket brigade anyway....... One thing is for sure that if there is a drummer in each stand then it is going to be one hell of an atmosphere when the whole stadium gets chanting.
ha ha!!!! Sort of - People who go to games and "sit on their hands" and don't join in the chants. The vast majority of fans will chant and sing, but we often laugh at the "Westies" because they don't really chant much. Even the newbies in the East joined in chanting on Saturday, and I actually heard the West singing along to chants! LOL
The PL confirmed each club's 25-man squad. This is Blackpool's: 1. Charlie Adam 2. Alex John-Baptiste * 3. Chris Basham * 4. Stephen Crainey 5. Malaury Martin 6. Danny Coid * 7. Ishmel Demontagnac * 8. Neal Eardley * 9. Rob Edwards * 10. Jason Euell * 11. Ian Evatt * 12. Matthew Gilks * 13. Elliot Grandin 14. Marlon Harewood * 15. Dekel Keinan 16. Brett Ormerod * 17. Keith Southern * 18. Ludovic Sylvestre 19. Gary Taylor-Fletcher * 20. Luke Varney * 21. David Vaughan * 22. DJ Campbell * 23. David Carney * 24. Richard Kingson Players marked with an asterisk are those listed as home-grown players. Under-21 players (contract and scholars) Louis Almond Tom Barkhuizen Craig Cathcart Matthew Challoner Adam Dodd Ashley Eastham Kingsley Francis-Reynolds Ryan Gratton Mark Halstead Stephen Husband Pa Modou Jobe Chris Kettings Joe MacDonald Adam Mitter Dillan O'Connor Matthew Phillips Josh Roberts Elliott Tarney Garen Tchobanian Curtis Thompson Liam Tomsett Biko Youanda http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~2142220,00.html
Oh, you would definitely not have any issues with this Yank. I might not know the chants right away but I would be one clapping fool!
It is being reported that the Blackpool squad will share £3M (about $4.66M) if they stay up. This follows on from the £5M (about $7.7m) bonus for promotion last season shared by the squad with the likes of Keith Southern apparently getting something like £500,000 (about $777,000)
Holloway - the movie PNEThor is an annoying specimen of a PKE fan who infests BFC forums and who is even disowned by most PKE fans. http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/1534/177654440114598083541284887105ltuULwwr7t3gklXN1tX3.JPG
Blackpool today launched the club's official iPhone/iTouch app. All info at the link below: http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10432~2162718,00.html
It is exactly ten years to the day today since Blackpool played Chesterfield at home and lost 3-1. That result left the club joint-bottom of the Football League above only Halifax Town on goal difference. A massive change in just ten years that has seen Blackpool become the first club to be promoted from the bottom flight of the League up to the top division all via the Play-Offs: 2000-01: Third Division, finished 7th. Beat Leyton Orient at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff in the final. 2006-07: League One, finished 3rd. Beat Yeovil Town 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in the final. Attendance 59,313. 2009-10: Championship, finished 6th. Beat Cardiff City 3-2 at Wembley Stadium in the final. Attendance 82,244.
talkSPORT has a lot of "slightly amended" videos of PL players and managers, including this from last week in which Ian Holloway makes an appearance...... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj8FPO0oflw&feature=channel"]YouTube - Premier League gaffers talk sex, death and bizarre FIFA rules![/ame]
Club president, Valery Belokon told the News of the World newspaper yesterday that following the good start to the club's first ever PL campaign there will be more money to spend in January. Of course compared to every other PL club (and even a number in the Championship) Blackpool spent relatively little in the summer. But they still smashed the club's transfer record by paying a reported £1.25M for DJ Campbell, following on from other undisclosed fees for the likes of Ludovic Sylvestre and Elliot Grandin. Belokon said:
Blackpool today announced a milestone in shirt sales. In just six-and-a-half weeks 10,000 replica shirts have been sold. And that is more than were sold in the previous two years! The volume of sales so far this season far exceeds anything the club has ever sold before. The 10,000th shirt was bought by Mrs Hampshire from Canada. Originally from Blackpool, she was back in her hometown visiting her sister and bought the shirt as a present for her son back home in Canada. She received a signed Ian Holloway shirt as a reward. Demand for the new shirts has been quite amazing since they went on sale on 13th August with internet sales going through the roof, and fans from all over the world clamouring to get hold of a tangerine shirt. Sales have come from afar afield as Brazil and Hong Kong in addition to almost daily requests from Australia and the United States. Blackpool ordered 20,000 replica shirts. With interest in the new shirts not waning and Christmas on the horizon, it looks likely that most of them will be sold if not all.
Fantastic news but are the authentic shirts available too? We need to replace ours as they don't have the premier league patch!!!
English is a great language.... Replica here means the "authentic" ones. And the new shirts can have the PL patch on the arms which everyone seems to want for some reason......