Further Ian Holloway's Perspective About Returning to Loftus Road

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Plymouth Official Site - THREE POINTS

ARGYLE manager Ian Holloway has dismissed the hype surrounding his return to QPR on Saturday, insisting that winning the game is the only thing that matters.

It will be Holloway's first visit to Loftus Road since being placed on gardening leave by QPR chairman Gianni Paladini in February 2006.

It was a sad end to Holloway's five year reign at QPR but it did enable the Argyle board to move in for his signature after the departure of Tony Pulis from the Home Park hot-seat.

"Three points is all that matters," said Holloway.

"I am very proud to take my new team there and I shall be trying to win the game with the same passion that I had with them [QPR].

"I am desperate for the three points and I shall be doing all I can to get them.

"If I do see some of the wonderful people that were there, that will be a bonus but I just want to get off the bus, do my job and get back on the bus with three points."

Holloway admitted that he was not sure of the reception he will receive from the QPR faithful.

He said: "They [QPR fans} will give me whatever they think I deserve and that is life. I will ignore it and get on with what I am doing.

"It is what I think that matters, not what anyone else thinks. That is life and what we are all trying to learn, but it is very difficult sometimes."

A year has passed since Holloway left Loftus Road and the QPR squad has changed dramatically since then.

"I don't know hardly any of their team," said Holloway.

"There is Lee Cook, who I took there. I also bought Martin Rowlands and Gareth Ainsworth. They are the only ones I recognise."

QPR have struggled this season and currently sit one place above the relegation zone but Holloway is not interested in their league position.

He said: "It does not matter where they are. It is about us needing three points and them needing three points. Hopefully, my team will be better than theirs and we will get the three points.

"It can go either way but I am very optimistic it will go our way if we keep doing what we have been doing." Plymouth

PLYMOUTH OFFICIAL SITE - LIFE IN A FISHBOWL

ARGYLE manager Ian Holloway will make his first return to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, following his acrimonious departure from the London club a year ago.

Holloway was placed on gardening leave by the Loftus Road outfit after five years in charge - a move which eventually led to his summer appointment as Tony Pulis's replacement at Home Park.

Holloway's experiences at QPR has made him reflect on his life as a football manager and the best analogy he could find was that of a fish swimming around in his tank.

He said: "When you are me, you are totally immersed in what you are doing.

"I was thinking about it the other night when I could not sleep. I was sat drinking a cup of cocoa and thinking that being a football manager is like being a fish.

"One minute you are in your tank and that tank is everything. The next minute you are flushed down the toilet and you don't know where you are. Hopefully, you will jump into another tank. It is really weird.

"To a fish, that tank must be everything but when you are thrown out on gardening leave, you are still swimming but you can't get back in your tank. It is very surreal and horrible.

"I had it at Bristol Rovers where I really cared and I thought the world would stop if I was out of my bowl or my tank.

"You keep swimming but, for a while, you don't want to swim and you keep nudging the tank because you want to get back in it.

"I am now in another tank and you have to adjust. It is weird." Plymouth

Plymouth Officail Site - HAYLES DOUBTFUL

EXPERIENCED striker Barry Hayles has been rated as doubtful for Saturday's Championship clash with QPR at Loftus Road.

Hayles has been struggling with a broken toe and manager Ian Holloway is not convinced that giving him a pain-killing injection would be a wise move.

When asked about the prospect of Hayles starting the QPR game, Holloway said: "I have got to talk to the doctor but I don't think so. It is a broken toe.

"Barry is telling me he wants to play and he wants an injection. I have heard all that before and it might be a bit of fear of not getting his place back. It would be nice if it is."

One striker definitely missing for the QPR game will be Kevin Gallen. The experienced marksman has been in fine form since joining the Pilgrims on loan from QPR but the terms of the deal makes him ineligible for Saturday's match.

Holloway said: "He can't play, which is a shame because I think he has been very good."

Defensive pair Hasney Aljofree and Tony Capaldi have also been ruled out of the game. Aljofree has a bruised foot, while Capaldi is struggling with a groin problem caused by the difficult playing surfaces Argyle are facing at this time of year.

Holloway said: "[Aljofree has got a] badly bruised foot. It is not broken but it is very painful.

"He [Capaldi] will start training again on Monday. The scan showed an awful lot of tendonitis but no tear and we have got four people with the same thing, so my physio has written a report on it.

"It is heavy pitches and the change of surfaces from heavy to hard. We need a consistent pitch or different pitches."

Despite these absentees, Holloway is very pleased with the options he has for the game. When asked whether Rory Fallon would replace Gallen in the vanguard, Holloway said: "I would not assume anything.

"I could change shape. I have got Bojan [Djordjic], who could come back in. I have got [Peter] Halmosi. I could put [Scott] Sinclair up there or [Luke] Summerfield just in behind. I could do anything I like." PLymouth