Plymouth chairman Paul Stapleton has blamed Ian Holloway for the departure of several key players.
Watch Leicester v Plymouth, live on Sky Sports 1
Plymouth chairman Paul Stapleton has blamed former manager Ian Holloway for the departure of several key players during the January transfer window.
In a wide-ranging six-page statement on the club's
official website, Stapleton claimed Holloway was largely responsible for the departures of Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, David Norris and Akos Buzsaky.
Holloway left Home Park to take over at The Walkers Stadium in late November, with Paul Sturrock then returning to the South West but being unable to prevent a number of players moving on during the transfer window.
Stapleton claims the motivation for his comments was purely to explain to the club's supporters the sequence of events, and was not related to the meeting between the two clubs in the Championship on Saturday evening, live on
Sky Sports 1.
Coincidence
He told
Sky Sports News: "I just wanted to set the record straight as far as Paul Sturrock was concerned. Paul came in and suddenly a lot of his players are going. The seeds of that were set before he came in.
"It's a coincidence we're playing Leicester this weekend. This statement would have been released if we were playing Colchester or Barnsley.
"I shall speak to Ian and wish him all the best, but I just felt some of the facts had to be said."
Saddened
But Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric has hit out at the timing of Stapleton's statement, and has called on his side to ignore what he feels are 'mind games'.
Mandaric told the Foxes'
official website: "I am saddened and disappointed by Paul Stapleton's comments and the timing of them just three days before our crucial game against Plymouth at The Walkers Stadium.
"One thing their chairman fails to mention is the amount of quality players 'Ollie' (Holloway) brought to Home Park and the team he built under difficult circumstances and financial constraints. Surely Ollie deserves some recognition and praise for his efforts. But Plymouth's loss is Leicester City's gain.
"I am delighted Ollie is with us and the important thing is that we put these mind games to one side and concentrate on picking up three points on Saturday with the help of our players and supporters.
"In the short couple of meetings I've had with Paul, he has always conducted himself in a professional manner but after reading these statements, all I can say is that it's not all about their chairman crying all the way to the bank."
