There's been a lot of fuss being made about the way he risked conceding the game at Villa, but that is not the point. The rule that Holloway undoubtedly broke is there to ensure that no team enjoys an advantage over any other because of a manager deliberately picking a weakened team.
But there is another side to this. Blackpool's game is based upon 100% commitment and they play at a frenetic pace. The question is, if the same 11 players had played for ninety minutes at that pace on Wednesday, could they have repeated it for 90 minutes 4 days later?
Our players had battled through a tough game on Wednesday, whilst the Blackpool Brickies had enjoyed a night off after a bracing day on the building site. Would they really have been able to compete for 90 minutes had Holloway stuck to the rules? Probably not.
Last season I called for Wolves to be deducted points after they pulled a similar trick, so I am not being inconsistent here. The rules were broken, plain and simple, and we suffered as a result.
9 comments:
aah but the rules were different last year
If so, why the fuss?
We were, and are continued to be, cheated by gold sullivan brady
In fact, had they interviewed holloway, like they lied and leaked to the press they had (along with dave jones), then we might well have holloway at our club now, a real manager, someone inspirational that can motivate. Instead we have death.
Don't be ridiculous.
Ian Holloway is the manager of Blackpool and he can pick whatever team he wants to ensure that his team don't get relegated.
Who the hell are the FA or Premier League to tell a manager who he should pick and who his best players are.
Avram Grant would have done something pretty similar in the same circumstances and I would be fully behind him.
If West Ham get relegated this season it has nothing to do with Ian Holloway and Blackpool.
Let's look at our own affairs before we question other peoples.
How in any way is picking players from a 25 man squad cheating?! THEY ARE ALL PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS ON BLACKPOOLS BOOKS!!! To that end Ian Holloway (or any other Manager) is fully entitled to pick WHO THE FUCK HE WANTS! WHEN HE WANTS!!!To suggest anything else is crass,ignorant,stupid and qite frankly bizarre! At the end of the day only the Manager knows how he wants to play a particular game against particular opposition! WHO ELSE WOULD YOU PROPOSE KNOWS BLACKPOOLS(or anybody elses) BEST TEAM FOR ANY GIVEN GAME?! You? Me? The FA(lets be honest they know fuck all about anything they are supposed to so how they could sit in judgement of "what somebodies best team is" defies belief!!!
9002, I understand your passion but please do not use the f word. It nearly caused me to moderate out your comment.
Let me ask you this. We are down to the last game of the season and we need Tottenham to beat one of our rivals to avoid the drop in a game that means nothing to Tottenham. Tottenham select from their squad of 25 but do not include any centre backs, any forwards and play an outfield player in goal. 'Arry claims it is his right to pick who he likes and it has nothing to do with anybody else. We win our last game and Tottenham lose 0-5, resulting in us going down and our rivals staying up.
Is that acceptable? Has that got nothing to do with the Premier League? Would you not feel cheated?
You then find that the Redknapp family all gambled £30k each on Tottenham losing the game at odds of three to one before Redknapp's selection was revealed. Still no business of the Premier League? You still don't feel cheated?
'Arry is then caught on camera saying, "That's pay back for West Ham sacking me". Still no business of the Premier League? You still don't feel cheated?
The rule is there for a reason. Allow clubs to disregard the rule and you open up a massive can of worms of abuse.
Apologies for swearing. It was unnecessary.Im think your taking the "playing your strongest team" topic to a new level by suggesting you "play an outfield player in goals"! Not sure what (if any) rules there are to stop that happening!! The "Harry betting" theme as well is a personal slant that you obviously want to indulge in but it not relevant to the whole concept of "whats anybodies strongest team"! Just fro good measure "whats West Hams strongest team"? If you can answer that without knowing the opposition,the way players have been performing in training and anything els esuch as tiredness due to Internation travelling etcetera then I would be interested to know your secret!! The bottom line is YOU AS MANAGER CAN PLAY WHATEVER TEAM YOU WANT!! IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO DO SO.
For further good measure. Whats Spurs strongest line up?Man Us? Do you not think Alex should always be in the starting line up at Chelsea? I believe Adam Johnson should always start fopr Man City. He didnt last week in The Manc derby. Shall we fine Mancini because he doesnt agree with my choice?!
Apology accepted. But surely you must see that it CANNOT and MUST NOT be entirely down to an individual. That opens the door to all forms of abuse - betting scams, revenge, bribery, electing to hurt a rival for business reasons etcetera. I accept that rotation has become a feature of the game, but picking a reserve team is not rotation!
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