No regrets for Ollie

Ollie reflects on life at Leicester, Plymouth and QPR

Last updated: 25th August 2008

Ian Holloway

Holloway: former Foxes boss

Every club needs to bottom out and I think Leicester bottomed out last summer.

Ian Holloway
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When Ian Holloway moved from Plymouth to Leicester last season, many people were surprised by his decision.

Last November, Argyle looked like contenders for a place in the Championship play-offs and Holloway was seen as a hero around the town, while Leicester were scrapping it out at the wrong end of the table and had been through three full-time managers in less than a year.

However, Holloway decided to move to the Midlands and was ultimately unable to improve Leicester's fortunes as the club were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.

Despite the benefit of hindsight, Holloway insists he made the right decision to leave Plymouth because of behind-the scenes problems, most notably the fact that many of his players were out of contract at the end of the season.

"There were other things off the field that people didn't really know about," Holloway told Soccer Extra.

"At this precise moment in time I feel I made the right decision. I didn't want to do what Paul Sturrock is trying to do, which is rebuild a team.

"We started last season with a good team, but by the end of the season 13 players would be out of contract.

"We kept talking about who we were going to keep and how much we were going to give them. They had them on such small contracts, which is great management, but the players had started to win in the Championship and other teams had seen that so they were going to be sought after.

"They were going to walk out on Bosman rulings. We'd had it happen the year before when Tony Capaldi went to Cardiff and he told some of his mates how much he was getting.

"We inherited a problem at Plymouth and I realised the more we were talking about it the more we couldn't solve it and I didn't want to do that any more."

Devastated

Holloway admits he was "devastated" by Leicester's relegation and his subsequent departure from the club, but feels just one goal in their final few games of the season might have saved them from the drop.

However, he says the club has reached its lowest point and will bounce back under new manager Nigel Pearson.

"Even now I still can't believe how we didn't get one goal in any one of 10 games," he said.

"Bristol City at home or even Stoke on the last day of the season... we just needed one goal. The chances we missed were unbelievable.

"I believe they're in a better place now and I believe Nigel's going to take them forward.

"The players that they have got there are going to be strong in that division and they're building. Every club needs to bottom out and I think they bottomed out last summer.

"It was devastating for me because life's all about timing and that was wrong as it was proved.

"But I wish them all the very best. Their supporters are absolutely outstanding."

Experience

Holloway also chatted about his experience at QPR, whom he managed for five years with relative success considering the difficult financial position the club was in during his reign.

Things are very different at Loftus Road these days following a takeover by multi-millionaires Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, but Holloway insists money won't necessarily guarantee success.

However, he believes that Iain Dowie is the right man to win promotion for QPR, as long as he is allowed to do things his way.

"At the end of the day if Iain Dowe's given the chance to spend money, he's got a proven record of taking a team to the Premier League. I hope it works for him.

"You're talking about new directors and new owners and with the greatest respect to them, they have to learn that this is a different business and you have to trust people who know what they're doing.

"It must be difficult for them because they've got all the money in the world, but it's about building a spirit within the squad that is strong. Sometimes that doesn't happen no matter how much money you've got.

"I believe Iain will do it and I'm very proud that I was left holding that baby at a time when no-one else wanted to.

"I had five different boards at that football club. They were on about merging with Wimbledon, which would never have worked, and I'm proud of what every one of us achieved at that club - the players and Kenny Jackett when he joined me. We were in administration and we literally couldn't buy a bar of soap without asking the administrators.

"It's a great club and I hope their fans are given what they want, which is top-flight football again."

Holloway says he is keen to return to football management when a job comes along, despite the difficulties and the frustrations of working in professional football.

"It's the politics that kills you in management, it really does," he added.

"You can never really make a decision. You've always got to get it through other people. You've got your players and you've got your squad, but you're never totally and utterly in control.

"It's everywhere. Any manager can try to make decisions - you can buy a player, but if he gets injured then before you know it you've lost your main striker. You're not really in control.

"What you do is you learn to firefight and you get on with it. The clubs I've been at I've always had to do that because I've had limited budgets."