'Pool Nearly Spurned Holloway Chance

Blackpool almost spurned the chance of capturing Ian Holloway as their new manager before even interviewing him, the man himself says.

Talking to the official site, the former Plymouth boss said 'It was surreal. I spoke to my agent and spoke about the possibility to talk to Blackpool.

'Then I get a phone call saying we're not choosing you saying that they couldn't do certain things.

'I was abit taken aback and put the phone down!'

And it wasn't The Seasiders who initiated the second chance, it was Holloway himself who rang the club back after the first call with Chairman Karl Oyston.

Holloway continutes: 'I rang him back, and I'm so glad I did.

'We had a good conversation then, and we both explained what we were thinking and before you know it he wanted to meet me!'

The meeting was obviously a huge success, and took over four hours, but it didn't feel formal to Ollie at all.

'It didn't feel like four hours - I was totally shocked at the time I got back in the evening because it seemed like about 25 minutes!

'It had a refreshing honesty about it. He (Oyston) is in your face. It's got to be a relationship right from the outset - you have to know the worst about people.'

After that meeting it seemed nailed on that there was only one man for the job.

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