ONLY POOLS AND HORSES

Joker ‘Olly turns Serious

“This time next year, we’ll be millionaires”.

Those are the words that are uttered on nearly every episode of Only Fools and Horses, by the irrepressible Del Boy Trotter.

Ian Holloway could not have dreamed of saying those words when he took over at lowly Blackpool in May 2009. Yet only a year and a day after he took charge, Holloway was celebrating promotion to the Premier League with Blackpool, after winning the £90m play-off final at Wembley.

However, much like the Trotter’s doomed jackpot win, which saw them go from paupers to princes and back again, Holloway, seems to be far from settled sitting at English football’s top table.

‘Olly seems to be someone who has got it all having won the jackpot (i.e. won promotion to the Premier League). Yet now he is there he is finding that it is not everything he had ever wished for.

The recent debacle over his ten changes to the side which narrowly lost 3-2 to Aston Villa, was blown out of proportion by many in the media, but also worsened by Holloway himself. A siege-mentality has been adopted by him recently that is totally unlike the man who would come up with a press-conference cracker every week, not so long ago.

His attitude towards the media has become surprisingly defiant and bullish recently. Surprising for a man whose entire managerial career up to this point, has been the stuff of YouTube legend, with bloopers and quotes almost becoming his trademark.

His bizarre blackmail threat, offering his resignation if found guilty of fielding a weakened side, only made the situation even more complex. It also signified that Holloway is a different character to the one painted as a lower-league jester. It would seem he is keen to shake off that impression, and instead be portrayed as a very serious and competent football manager.

Contract wrangles, rushed signings and talks of financial penalties have so far eluded Holloway in his career, and they have undoubtedly marred his impression of the top flight now that they have become commonplace.

As far as the results on the pitch are concerned, have been nothing short of outstanding, yet they have they do have the look of a timid Hull City not so long ago, in their first season, in the sense that they like to attack and outscore teams, rather than hold out for an edgy 1-0 win.

Victories at Anfield and St James Park have gone some way to showing that Holloway’s bunch of lower-league journeymen and foreign unknowns may actually survive amongst the big fish.

They also have an individual match-winner in Charlie Adam, much like Geovanni was for Hull when he first joined. The key is keeping up the results and morale, after Christmas, when the euphoria and hype over the Seasiders will have surely wilted. That is something that will be arguably the hardest part of Holloway’s task; keeping momentum going, whilst trying to add sensibly to the squad to ensure survival.

When comparing Holloway to the Trotters, it is ironic that both have had sniffs of the big-time, the money, the limelight etc. But the question is will Holloway’s moment, and Blackpool’s for that matter, last longer than a season. If it does, it will have been an outstanding achievement.

If he was to break up the relationship between him and the seaside club, purely because of a disciplinary rule or a contract wrangle, then there are many that would believe he would be a “plonker” to do so.