The Holloway Factor

As a diehard Blackpool fan who has followed the Tangerines all his life, I can say I`ve seen my share of Blackpool's greatest moments and disasters. I`ve seen us lose 7-0, I`ve seen us win the LDV Vans Trophy twice and I have seen many past managers make Blackpool what it is today.

I`d first like to speak about Tony Parkes. I know this report is about Ian Holloway, but he does deserve a shout out. Parkes became caretaker manager of Blackpool when Simon Grayson left Blackpool for Leeds, and he kept Blackpool up when they could have easily gone into free fall.

With the shocking departure of Tony Parkes in early May, many people started to discuss who was next to be Blackpool`s 'messiah`. Many rumours started to fly around with big names like Roy Keane being mentioned, but on 21st May it was announced that Ian Holloway was going to be next in charge; and what a few months it has been!

Holloway has been here for a few months now but I believe no Blackpool fan will ever forget him in the near future, with witty quotes like "It was lucky that the linesman wasn`t stood in front of me as I would have poked him with a stick to make sure he was awake."

Holloway is truly going to be remembered, but it`s not all about his personality. Holloway has made a big impact on Blackpool, with him urging Karl Oyston to build the South Stand, the stand has gone from a piece of ground to an outstanding stand; which any Blackpool fan should be proud of.

Holloway has impacted upon Blackpool more than I could say in this report. When we look at the stats - 13 games played. Won 5, drawn 4 and lost 4 putting us in 10th place, he has truly smoothed those sharp edges of Blackpool.

It`s not all about the league games though, let`s look back to the start, with a friendly with Burscough; a shocking display made people doubt Holloway wasn`t fit for this club. But this soon turned round with wins over Everton and Wigan; it looked like Holloway was starting to turn tiny Blackpool round and teams started to respect us.

With Blackpool getting Stoke in the Carling Cup it showed Holloway has made Blackpool step up their game. Losing 4-3 in the last minute made many Blackpool fans disappointed but it showed how well Blackpool can compete with Premiership sides.

I believe Holloway has done well so far this season, with big wins over Forest and Newcastle. Holloway will be here for a very long time I believe and who knows, maybe by the end of the season we will be going into the Premiership!

Overall Holloway gets a 7/10 for the season so far.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.