Holloway Speaking Out in Plymouth!

-
Plymouth Official - MEET THE MANAGER

Ian Holloway with the team at St Dennis Club - Picture by Paul Williams
Photo by Paul Williams

ARGYLE manager Ian Holloway attended a meeting with Cornish supporters on Tuesday evening and thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.
The event was organized by the Cornish Supporters' Association and took place in St Dennis.
"It was absolutely outstanding with outstanding people," said Holloway.
"Life is about people and football is about people.
"My Dad was right when he said 'I hope you like football because you will meet some wonderful people.'
"I have also met some absolute pillocks that really do use it as a business and treat people horribly.
"It becomes about them and not about the club but at my level, with this club, with these people, my players, I am delighted and these fans are something else."
Holloway was accompanied by some of the Argyle squad, much to the delight of the attendees.
"They were gobsmacked and one lady even started crying," said Holloway.
"I made them (the players) shake everybody's hand and mingle.
"After I finished blabbering away and boring everybody to tears, we stayed on for an extra 30 minutes and it was great."
The evening was also a perfect opportunity to talk about the recent achievements of the club.
Since the current chairman, Paul Stapleton, took control, Argyle have won two promotions and now compete in the second tier of English football.
Holloway was keen to remind people of this extraordinary rise through the divisions.
"I asked them (supporters) to remember how far we have come in the last six years," said Holloway.
"I have watched it from afar. Remember the great achievement to get here and remember who has been at the helm.
"I want to build again because that is what we have got to do.
"I want to build the youth team but it is not me on my own, it is the structure, the training regime and the people.
"Since Mr Stapleton and his friends took over, it has been absolutely remarkable.
"Where were you going before that?"
Plymouth Official

MANAGER'S OUTBURST AT COUNCIL - This is Plymouth
Plymouth Argyle manager Ian Holloway has launched an astonishing attack on the city council - accusing the authority of failing to support the club's Premiership ambitions.
The Argyle boss said that the council 'owed' the club some £6million and criticised its handling of the sale of Home Park.
He claimed that council chiefs had offered to pay Argyle £3million in the past, and had even offered to give the freehold of the ground to the club for nothing.
But the council today said it was 'mystified and disappointed' by the claims, and insisted that the £2.7million Home Park deal was still going ahead, as agreed by senior councillors in March.
Negotiations between Argyle and the council have been continuing for six months, but the transfer of the freehold has yet to be finalised.
And Mr Holloway, who only took over as manager at the end of June, said that it was time for the council to 'wake up and smell the coffee'.
In a Press conference ahead of tomorrow's match between Argyle and Norwich City, he said: "I'm pretty upset with one group at the moment. That's the council.
"They owe me £6 million by the look of it. They promised us £3 million the other year. They were shouting on the steps 'yes, we will give you £3 million, we are going to help this club'. Where's that then?
"They were going to give us the freehold, and now they are not. They are going to sell it to us. Hang on a minute, that's a £6 million turnaround almost."
When Argyle were promoted to the Championship in 2004, the council held a civic reception in their honour.
Council leader Tudor Evans told thousands of the club's supporters that the authority would get a new grandstand at Home Park completed.
But, despite much speculation since, the plans are still on the drawing board - and some fans are getting impatient.
However, Mr Holloway said that Argyle's board, led by chairman Paul Stapleton, should not be blamed for any delay.
Mr Holloway said: "I want the council on board as well. I don't feel they are on board at the minute.
"They have got to help the people of this area get Premiership football down here. They had better wake up and smell the coffee, I'm telling you, because I'm after them.
"I want some help from them - big time - and if that upsets an apple cart, I'm sorry.
"The people of this area deserve better, and that's what I want. All these starry-eyed kids with the green shirt on, I want them to see fantastic players on that pitch.
"Is it all our responsibility? It has got to be a marriage. How much can we bring this area if we are a Premiership club? And how much are they helping us? I can't see it."
But a spokesman for the council said Mr Holloway's claims that the authority owed Argyle £6million were unfounded.
The spokesman said: "We are mystified and disappointed about the comments attributed to Mr Holloway because the criticism is not based on fact and does not reflect the ongoing productive negotiations between the council and the board.
"We have responded in a timely manner to the points raised by the club's legal adviser and we will ensure the agreed terms will be entirely in accordance with what Cabinet agreed."
Mr Stapleton declined to comment earlier this morning. Argyle chiefs were due to meet the council this morning to discuss the deal. The club is expected to make an official statement after the meeting.
This is Plymouth

PLYMOUTH Argyle issued the following statement today:
Chairman Paul Stapleton: "Plymouth Argyle Football Club has been working with officers at Plymouth City Council over the last few months to bring the complex deal over the purchase of the Home Park freehold to completion.
"There have been legal and technical issues involved that are normal for a deal of this nature, but the fact is that all the principles have been resolved and lawyers are working to conclude matters imminently."
Argyle manager Ian Holloway, who spoke out about the deal earlier this week, said: "I have talked to the chairman, who has appraised me of certain facts, and now appreciate that these things take time.
"I have always been convinced that the chairman and the board of directors have been acting in the best interests of the football club and it is music to my ears to hear that the Council are doing likewise."
Plymouth