Holloway on His Time at QPR

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Plymouth Official Site

OLLIE MEETS HIS FORMER CLUB

IAN Holloway comes up against his former club QPR for the first time as Argyle manager when Rangers visit Home Park on Saturday, and he admitted to feeling strange about the whole episode.

Holloway was place on gardening leave by the London club back in February, and spent five months out of the game before being appointed the new manager of Argyle in the summer.

Good times, however, are the way he prefers to remember his five years at Loftus Road.

"It is a strange old feeling really, it is an occupational hazard," said Holloway.

"All I can say is there were very difficult times but when I reflect, which sometimes you do about the things you have done in your life, I will look back on it as a very good time.

"I met some great people; got some wonderful memories and even now I can't say how privileged and proud I am to have been the manager of a London club like that.

"The support I received from the fans was immense and you need that in life, so all in all it was a very positive experience.

"As life always is, there are good bits and bad bits in relationships and, fortunately, I am choosing to remember the good bits.

"I remember the good performances and I actually got my first promotion there, and I am after more.

"it was a good time for my family but you draw a line under it and you move on.

"This is the first time and, hopefully, after the fifth, sixth or seventh time we play them I will learn to handle it better than I am at the moment."

Ollie

The Green Army are now the main priority for Holloway, and he is determined to put emotion aside and focus on winning the game for Argyle.

"The fact of the matter is that I am now a full-fledged, proud member of the Green Army," said Holloway.

"If I could have a number on my back it would definitely be 12, so my alliances and allegiances are with the Green Army.

"I will be determined to get what we deserve on Saturday but there will be very little emotion on my part because my job is to try and stay cool, calm and collective on the sideline."

Holloway would dearly love to secure his first win at Home Park as manager of the Pilgrims with a victory over his old team.

Argyle were beaten 2-1 by former manager Paul Sturrock's Sheffield Wednesday in their last home game in the Coca-Cola Championship.

That defeat, however, was countered by an excellent point at Stoke City, where Argyle dominated the game and were unlucky not to win.

Holloway said: "I tried to win the game against Sheffield Wednesday too much and my players went too open and a wily old fox [Sturrock] nicked it on the break, which he has done a lot.

"I think I realized that at Stoke and I managed to restrain my desire to win, and we kept our shape and formation, which got us a point and I think we deserved three points.

"What I want now is to break this home-duck against my old team.

"It would be a very nice story wouldn't it but that story is yet to be written.

"The emotion is nothing to do with my players here because what do QPR mean to them?

"It is just another game and I am the one that has got to deal with it but, as I say, I belong to PAFC now and I am very proud of it."

Holloway also refused to discuss his feelings towards QPR chairman Gianni Palladini, who placed him on gardening leave in February.

His focus will be on producing a similar performance to the one at Stoke but, this time, finishing up with all three points.

"It is irrelevant; it is my relationship with the chairman of PAFC that matters," said Holloway.

"I need to put my stamp on the team and after Stoke I was very pleased, I had one of my signings in the team and they started to play the way I wanted.

"The shape was right, the attitude was right, and the organization was right.

"It took a long time to get what we deserved but we eventually got it and, unfortunately, we still did not get that other goal."

Plymouth

This is Plymouth/Plymouth Evening Herald - September 8, 2006

PROUD 'JANNER' OLLIE HAPPY TO ROLL THE R'S

Ian Holloway had been the manager of Queens Park Rangers for five years until he was suspended in February.

Now, seven months later, the 43-year-old is ready to lead Argyle into battle against his former club at Home Park tomorrow.

And he has promised the Green Army that his alliegance is 100-per-cent with the Pilgrims.

Holloway's successful stint as QPR boss ended abruptly when he was put on 'gardening leave' following a fall-out with chairman Gianni Paladini.

It came after Holloway expressed an interest in the then managerial vacancy at Championship rivals Leicester City.

Holloway was suspended on full pay by QPR until he was appointed by Argyle at the end of June, and this is the first time the two sides have met since then.

But, in the build-up to the match, Holloway was upbeat about his tenure at Loftus Road.

He said: "When I reflect, which sometimes you do about some of the things you have done in your life, I will look back on that as a very good time.

"I met some great people and have got some wonderful memories of it.

"I couldn't tell you, even now, how proud and privileged I was to have been the manager of a London club like that. The support I received from the fans was immense.

"You need that in life so, all in all, it was a very positive experience.

"Sometimes, there are good bits and bad bits in relationships and I'm choosing to remember all the good bits."

One of the highlights was when QPR finshed as runners-up to Argyle in Division Two in 2004.

Holloway said: "I got my first promotion there - I say first promotion because I'm after more than that.

"It was a good time for my family, but you draw a line under it and you move on.

"This is the first time I have come up against them and, hopefully, after the fifth or sixth or seventh or eighth time I will probably learn to handle it better than I am at the moment.

"But the fact of the matter is that I'm a very fully-fledged, proud member of the Green Army.

"If I could have a number of my back it would definitely be number 12, so my alliegance now is totally with Plymouth Argyle.

"I shall be determined to get what we deserve on Saturday.

"But there will be very little emotion in it from my point of view, because my job is to try to stay cool, calm and collected on the side."

Argyle lost 2-1 to Paul Sturrock's Sheffield Wednesday in their last home match on August 19.

But the Pilgrims put in a much-improved performance when they drew 1-1 away to Stoke City - managed by former boss Tony Pulis - a week later.

Holloway said: "I think against Sheffield Wednesday I tried to win that game too much.

"My team went too open, lost too much space and a wily old fox (Sturrock) nicked it on the break, which he used to do a lot.

"I think at Stoke I managed to realise that and I restrained my wanting to win, even at 1-0 down.

"We still kept our shape and our formation and that got us a point, and I thought we deserved three."

Argyle have failed to win any of their three fixtures in league and cup at Home Park this season.

Holloway added: "What I want now is to break this home duck against my old team. It would be a very nice story wouldn't it? But that story has yet to be written.

"We have got to earn that right, and that's all that matters.

"But the emotion is probably nothing to do with my players here, because what do QPR mean to them? It's just another game, isn't it?

"I'm the one who has got to deal with it and you (the Press) are the people who want to write about it.

"As I say, I belong to PAFC now, and I'm very proud of that."

Defender Hasney Aljofree has shaken off a slight back injury so Holloway has a fully fit squad to choose from.

Holloway admitted it was still too early for new signings Cherno Samba and Marcel Seip to be considered for first team selection.

Samba limped off in the reserves' 5-5 draw at home to Cheltenham Town on Tuesday, but was only suffering from cramp.

Argyle (from): Luke McCormick, Josh Clapham, Paul Connolly, Mathias Doumbe, Hasney Aljofree, Lee Hodges, Anthony Barness, Gary Sawyer, David Norris, Paul Wotton, Lilian Nalis, Tony Capaldi, Akos Buzsaky, Luke Summerfield, Nick Chadwick, Barry Hayles, Nick Chadwick, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Reuben Reid.
Plymouth

PLYMOUTH DIARY
"....Ian Holloway was the manager of QPR for five years until he was suspended in February. He is now ready to lead Argyle against his former club and promised the Green Army that his allegiance is 100-per-cent with Plymouth. He said: "When I reflect, which sometimes you do about some of the things you have done in your life, I will look back on that as a very good time. I met some great people and have got some wonderful memories of it. I couldn't tell you, even now, how proud and privileged I was to have been the manager of a London club like that. The support I received from the fans was immense. You need that in life so, all in all, it was a very positive experience. Sometimes, there are good bits and bad bits in relationships and I'm choosing to remember all the good bits."|

One of the highlights was when QPR finished as runners-up to Argyle in Division Two in 2004. He said: "I got my first promotion there - I say first promotion because I'm after more than that. It was a good time for my family, but you draw a line under it and you move on. This is the first time I have come up against them and, hopefully, after the fifth or sixth or seventh or eighth time I will probably learn to handle it better than I am at the moment. But the fact of the matter is that I'm a very fully-fledged, proud member of the Green Army. If I could have a number of my back it would definitely be number 12, so my allegiance now is totally with Plymouth Argyle.

I shall be determined to get what we deserve on Saturday. But there will be very little emotion in it from my point of view, because my job is to try to stay cool, calm and collected on the side." Argyle lost to Sheffield Wednesday in their last home match and Holloway said: "I think against Sheffield Wednesday I tried to win that game too much. My team went too open, lost too much space and a wily old fox nicked it on the break, which he used to do a lot. I think at Stoke I managed to realise that and I restrained my wanting to win, even at 1-0 down. We still kept our shape and our formation and that got us a point, and I thought we deserved three." Argyle have failed to win any of their three fixtures at Home Park this season, and

Holloway added: "What I want now is to break this home duck against my old team. It would be a very nice story wouldn't it? But that story has yet to be written. We have got to earn that right, and that's all that matters. But the emotion is probably nothing to do with my players here, because what do QPR mean to them? It's just another game, isn't it? I'm the one who has got to deal with it and the Press are the people who want to write about it. As I say, I belong to PAFC now, and I'm very proud of that."
Diary