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Holloway: hunted by Foxes

Ian Holloway has obviously gone with his gut feeling and in six months time he might regret it. But then again it might end up being the best thing he has ever done.

Chris Kamara
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Ian Holloway has come out of the comfort zone, but it's probably the toughest decision he has ever made.

Nothing surprises you in football, but knowing Ian as well as I did, I was slightly taken aback when I heard he was leaving Plymouth for Leicester. It's slightly out of character for him to walk out on a club, but in footballing terms I can understand why he's done it.

As I wrote in this column last week, it hurt him greatly when he was sacked by Bristol Rovers because I know how much he loved that club. He was let down by Queen Park Rangers as well, so I suppose this is the first time the worm has turned.

It would have been easy for him to remain in a comfortable position at Plymouth, but it's hard to turn down the offer of a job like Leicester and I mean no disrespect to Argyle when I say that.

I wouldn't say he had a job for life at Plymouth, but he certainly has a place in Argyle folklore. He achieved so much there and they were hoping he would be the manager for a long time to come.

But the one thing you know for sure is that Leicester City is a good football club. He's not taking over any old rubbish. He's based his decision on what he considers to be the most advantageous to him in terms of football.

The Walkers Stadium is magnificent and there are a lot of grounds in the Premier League that aren't that nice. They are getting an average of 20,000 people a week in there and if they start doing well they will be getting full houses. If they got back into the Premier League they would be locking people out!

Ian Holloway must have sat down and decided he is the man to bring the good days back for the Leicester fans. He know he'll be a hero in the city if he can revive their fortunes.

In reality, the playing staff is probably on a par with what he had at Plymouth, so he'll be knocking on Milan Mandaric's door and I'm sure the chairman will be happy to invest. He's not there to hang about and he wants Leicester back up in the top flight.

Good lad

I've got no doubt Ian can work with Mandaric. The one thing with Ollie is that he's a good lad and he really gets on well with people. He is a top man and his character won't ever change. He doesn't go in for confrontation unless it approaches him.

Ian was quoted as saying that he's lived in the bargain basement since he's been a manager and now he's going to be in Harrods for a while. So while he's there he's going to try and enjoy it as much as he can.

Mandaric will have a ball working with him and the Leicester public will enjoy what he's about. Hopefully for their sake it will work.

Time will tell whether it was the right decision. He's obviously gone with his gut feeling and in six months time he might regret it. But then again it might end up being the best thing he has ever done.

Saying that, I can understand why Plymouth fans feel betrayed because in many ways he was Mr Plymouth.

Paul Sturrock revived their fortunes to begin with, but then Ollie went there and superseded what Sturrock did. The whole place was behind the football club and he was the main personality within that city because of what he did and because of his character.

I said last week that I would be surprised if he moved because of that attachment to the people of Plymouth. So they are obviously going to feel let down.

But Paul Sturrock is there now and he's a very good manager. He made a decision in 2004 to leave Plymouth to go to Southampton when they were in the Premier League and you couldn't argue with his ambition in wanting to do that.

Better position

But now he has come back to the football club and finds it in a better position. That is really rare because it's not often that you can go back to a club in a better state than when you left it.

But there is a problem with that. I wouldn't say he's on a hiding to nothing, but he'll be under a lot of pressure to maintain what they've got and challenge for the play-offs.

It will be very different for Paul because in his previous jobs he has been trying to revive a club's fortunes. Now he's got to try to keep the momentum going.

In an ideal world he would be picking up the pieces when Plymouth were struggling because the only way would be up and people could say that the messiah had returned.

But this is a different scenario and he won't want people saying in three weeks time that they wish Ian Holloway was still there. But hopefully Paul will do even better.

They've got some good players and they are a very organised team. They are in the mix and there is no reason why they should drop out of the play-off positions tamely.

But who knows what the rest of the season has in store for Leicester and Plymouth? They've both got a chance of going up, but I'd say Leicester have a bigger chance because of the finances they can throw at it.

Mandaric will make funds available to Holloway in January to try and guarantee promotion, but at Plymouth that might not be quite so forthcoming.

Do you agree with Kammy? Let us know what you think by using the feedback form below and continue to email him your questions here

Kammy answers your questions...

Kammy, what has happened to Watford? That's two defeats in a row (Burnley and Barnsley) and we looked unbeatable a couple of weeks ago. Have the wheels fallen off? Dave, London.

KAMMY REPLIES: No. They are just going through a bad patch. It's good to get it out of the way when you're top of the table rather than when you're trying to catch the top team. It will happen to all the teams in that division, though I'm really surprised it has happened to Watford because they looked invincible when I saw them at Crystal Palace.

They've just fallen below their standard and for the first time Aidy Boothroyd has had to come out and slaughter them. He doesn't like doing it and he doesn't do it too often, but he's decided he's not having any more of this. When you lose at home to Burnley in the manner that they did, then that level of performance won't be tolerated again by Aidy.

He's a manager in a fantastic position going into January because he's got money available. The biggest thing you've got to take into consideration is that they're financially better off than any other team in that division. If one or two players let themselves down between now and January then Aidy will buy the necessary players to make sure they see themselves through. A lot of people have backed them, myself included, and even though there is a long way to go yet I still fancy them.

Chris, I thought you could answer the question every Bournemouth fan wants to know. Why is Kevin Bond still manager of AFC Bournemouth? I understand that we don't have funds to bring in new players, but the choices he makes on loaning people in are appalling. We've had so many players come and go this season, but it seems they were only brought in to make up the numbers in our squad, rather than influencing and giving something to our team. I, like many fans, would like to see a new manager in before the end of the season, and try to get us a respectable finishing position. Martin Allen seems to be the obvious choice. Jas Shearer.

KAMMY REPLIES: Changing your manager every two minutes doesn't always help. The board are obviously trying to give him as long as possible and hopefully the team will snap out of it. But Kevin knows a time could come when that could change. The concerns you have mentioned in your email will have been conveyed to the board.

But all is not lost for them at this moment. They are not dead and buried and one win could see them get out of the bottom positions. Give him an opportunity and if he fails to get the results over the Christmas period then I'm sure it will change. Results will dictate what happens. If they don't win the next game, I'm sure they'll consider his position, but if they do win then they'll hope they can go on an unbeaten run throughout December. Then the whole world would look like a different place.

It's his first job in management apart from when he was at Stafford Rangers in non-league. He's only worked as a number two before that, so he's probably still finding a bit out about himself. He had his dad on the bench the other week and perhaps he just needs that extra bit of experience to see him through.

Kammy. How do you think Darlo will do now mate? We are sitting pretty in second place and there's plenty more to come. Garry Waters (Darlington fan).

KAMMY REPLIES: Darlington have done well under David Penney and have enjoyed another good month. Just one league defeat in November at home to Hereford, which is no disgrace because they have been in top form as well.

I like Penns, he's a good pal of mine and I think he'll do terrific. I know Sean O'Driscoll has done a decent job at Doncaster, but I think Mr Ryan got rid of David sooner than he should have done. He's a talented manager and could have even been in the frame for the Derby job if he'd stayed there. But getting the sack at Doncaster meant he had to take a step back to move forward again.

I'd be surprised if Darlington didn't get promotion this season and I think David will be a Premier League manager one day. He's very sensible, he knows his tactics and his performances in the Carling Cup with Doncaster when he plotted the downfall of a lot of big teams was superb.

Do you agree with Kammy? Let us know what you think by using the feedback form below and continue to email him your questions here