Some Holloway Snippets re QPR

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[ All quotes from this Plymouth Diary Link of "SEMPER VIRIDIS" http://www.semperviridis.co.uk/diary.html

July 3 "Ian Holloway admits he is unsure whether he will be able to bring Gary Penrice and Tim Breacker to Argyle as his coaching staff. Like Holloway, both Penrice and Breacker have been on 'gardening leave' from QPR since February. "I have got two different problems," said Holloway. "I have got the first two days of pre-season training to make sure the lads get to know me and it is organised with a new set of staff that I don't know. I have met them before, but I don't know how they work, so their situation has got to be sorted as well. I have spoken to Tony Pulis - I don't know what is happening there. Hopefully that confusion will be sorted out one way or the other. I then need to ring my people who have been working for me to get my lists of players that I have had - because I pay people to do jobs and so I need to get all that from them. I haven't even got that yet. Gary Penrice has got my lists of names which I will have to get off him - he has been on holiday. Tim Breacker is also compiling everything that he did for me and I am going to have to bring that with me. Whether they come or not I don't know as they are still employed by QPR. But at the moment I have got some really decent people who have done fantastic for this club, who might go with Tony, might not - I don't know yet. I have had some fantastic people who work hard for me who are sat up there being paid by somebody else, so that is all being worked on."


June 28-30

Ian Holloway's appointment as Argyle manager almost collapsed on Monday, Paul Stapleton has revealed. Ian Holloway could not take up any new position until a settlement on his QPR contract was agreed, and that proved to be problematic. It took the intervention of Stapleton to persuade QPR chairman Gianni Paladini to ease the way for Holloway to complete his move to Argyle. Stapleton got to know Paladini at the Football League chairmen's annual meeting in Portugal earlier this month. He said: "Sometimes in life things happen by chance and this is one example of that. Last season we played QPR and we had a cup of tea with the chairman and met his daughter.

When Robert Dennerly and I went to Portugal, Mrs Paladini didn't really know anybody and was quite shy but she became part of our party, with our wives. Because of that, Gianni Paladini spoke to us quite a bit. In those two or three days we created a relationship with him so when there was a hiccup over Ian coming, and there was no movement at all, I was able to ring Gianni and see if there were things that could be done. He said because he liked Robert and I, he wanted to get things sorted out and he actually made things move. Without that it would have been very, very difficult indeed, and, therefore, Ian was pleased I was able to do that. We are all interested in our own clubs but, at the end of the day, I explained to Gianni it was silly having two managers on his payroll when just to have one was probably more economical. We had a sticky point on Monday. It was all off then. But Gianni rang me at 8.30am on Tuesday morning and we had a good conversation. I have got to thank Gianni for what he did."

Paladini had suspended Holloway after he expressed an interest in talking to Leicester City about their then managerial vacancy. Stapleton said: "I don't know all the ins and outs of that. Ian is probably a bit bitter but he will not ever say that because he's respectful to former employers. We are just pleased it has been sorted out because one of the most pressing things for me and the rest of the board was that we wanted a manager in place by tomorrow morning. We had to put certain deadlines out for things that were dragging on because I didn't want to go into pre-season without a manager."

Holloway was interviewed by the Argyle board in Taunton on June 19th, along with Stan Ternent. Stapleton said: "He knew a lot about us as a football club and he understood our geographical situation. He's not going to be a manager who says, 'look at the budget Leeds and Wolves are coming with'. He's going to be a manager who says 'we are Plymouth Argyle, you come down and we will give you a battle'. That came across in the interview. He believes he's a really good manager and he's going to prove that to everybody. He's very positive. He's a genuine person who wants to succeed. We believe he has got contacts in the game and we believe he has already made inquiries about positions we might need to strengthen. We are in the situation where we have got to push this football club on. We have got to get people to come and watch us. If they don't come and watch us then the club will go backwards." Stapleton denied Argyle had spoken to Holloway before officially completed his move to Stoke City on June 14th. He said: "We had a full and frank interview with Ian and it lasted quite a considerable time really. We hadn't spoken to him before then, other than to invite him for an interview, and he was really keen for this job."

Ian Holloway has praised his predecessor Tony Pulis for keeping the club in the Championship last season. .....
The scars of Holloway's final months as QPR manager were clearly close to the surface as he reflected on his departure from Loftus Road. He said: "From my point of view, I had a very emotional year. Most managers get a few problems but in my last job I had far too many to talk about. It has made the book I was going to publish about Olly and the Rangers totally unreadable because it wouldn't be believable. To end up sat in my garden as I was, for as long as I was, in the circumstances that happened and being a very proud man, was difficult. But I'm absolutely delighted now to be sat with a group of people who made me believe again. They made me believe in where I want to go, and how I'm going to get there. I don't care how long it takes, I want to work towards making something all shiny and all new and look fantastic. I want to be remembered for that. So it's not just about what we are going to do this year, or next year. I don't care how hard it is, and what anybody else is paying players. It's not about that. We are going to work hard together to bring in the right people to help us get there. I want to be part of it so much it hurts..."

".... You need the right balance and I believe strongly that you have a fantastic cake mix and you need some icing on the top of your cake. That's always the hardest thing to get right. It's the most expensive item, and that's what the fans are looking for - to be entertained by those type of people. I'm so excited about getting started and working with these people. That's what I have been missing. In my garden I have been staring at some fish and they don't respond to me the way humans do. So I can't wait to get that relationship going."

June 28th
Argyle today appointed Ian Holloway as the clubs new manager
Ian Holloway is fully aware of the areas that need improving at Argyle, but feels that the fundamental ingredients are already in place. The squad return for pre-season tomorrow, and Holloway said: "I know the positions that we need to strengthen and I might have to spend in order to do that. I think we've got a very strong cake mix but we need a bit of icing on the top, and those things can look very fancy. The icing on the top is really the players who put the ball in the net, and they are the ones that normally cost the most." Consolidation is seemingly the key word for Holloway after the fantastic success Argyle have enjoyed in the last five years. "In the last few years the club has run so fast that they've almost left their backside behind," he said. "Obviously I've got plans, but I doubt if I can bring in the type of people we need to get promoted instantly, but that's our eventual aim and target, and we'll die trying."

Ian Holloway was full of praise for the Argyle board, and the manner in which his appointment has come about. He said: "I was very impressed with the ambition of the board and, technically, I could have sat in my garden for another two years. That is not me, and I was shaken out of that situation by your chairman and board of directors in one meeting. The overall professionalism and the way they've handled this situation has been nigh on gob-smacking for me, so that's why I'm here and I'm ready to go to work."

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