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At
this crucial stage of the season it was a pleasure to
meet and talk to Rangers boss Ian Holloway. Olly talks
passionately about his hopes and dreams, looks back over
his time as manager so far and looks forward to the rest
of the season.
QPRnet.com:
Olly you’re three games away from being the first QPR
manager to win something in twenty odd years – what are
you thinking right now?
IH:
I’m thinking that most of them have been too high up to
win anything and we slipped down to the second division
under my time and I want to put it right. I’m totally
determined to turn that round. I’ll never forget the
Huddersfield situation, how they cajoled and barracked
us and now they’ve been relegated twice, funny how life
works out.
QPRnet.com:
When you looked around the seven man squad you had three
years back did you think you could get us in the
position we’re in now?
IH:
You have to feel you’re going to be successful and that
you can come through difficult situations, cope with
them and still be positive. I’ve had a few of them in my
life and I’ve always tried to keep upbeat. To see the
players we’ve got now though makes me immensely proud. I
believed we could do it, I believe Kenny was a huge part
of it, I’m sorry to see him go and I thank him very much
for his involvement. At the time there was no staff
either the club had run down so much, I lost god knows
how many players and had no staff so I started with a
blank sheet which is really unusual.
QPRnet.com:
Was there any kind of three year or five year plan when
you came on board?
IH:
There was absolutely no plan whatsoever, except to stay
in business! The finances were that dire, we’ve had days
and weeks where that was it, we nearly stopped. None of
us has ever shown it, we’ve just got on with it. It’s
the Men in Black thing, sometimes you’re better off not
knowing. It hasn’t been easy but it’s been thoroughly
enjoyable. Obviously now we’ve got to worry about Fulham
not being here next season but I think we’ve turned the
corner and we’re almost out of it.
QPRnet.com:
We’ve suffered some terrible blows this season, in a way
though do you think that has helped foster a greater
team spirit?
IH:
Team spirit is really something the lads have to be
responsible for and it’s something the fans can help or
hinder. It’s like when we were in administration, we
banned the word from round here. We all remained
positive and although people at the club were worried
you waste energy thinking about it, it’s all about what
we do on the pitch. That spirit has been united with the
fans realising how much the players are playing for the
club now and there must have been a time when the fans
didn’t feel that and the players didn’t show that.
I
believe it’s been a joint effort and the board in
amongst all of that have desperately tried to support
what I want to do. Sometimes they couldn’t afford it but
I’m a crafty son of a bitch who goes around trying to
get other people involved. The fans have been fantastic
what with little kids giving their pocket money in and
other people with money who helped out because they want
us to succeed so badly. It’s been an unusual situation
but the spirit I’ve felt here shows the club is special.
There are people behind the scenes who’ve been here for
years and years, who care about the place so much and
they make it what it is. None more so than Shelia
Marson, I’ve got so much time for that lady it’s
frightening. Any player gets any problem with anything
and she helps them way above and beyond the call of
duty. As far as I’m concerned there’s some fantastic
people at this club, they’ve had some hard times and
deserve some success and hopefully that’s just around
the corner.
QPRnet.com:
Kenny seemed to work more in hand with you than under
you, how much do you miss his input?
IH:
I believe long term that we made a mistake letting him
go but Ken wanted to be a manager and the way the lads
have performed and conducted themselves made him sought
after. I wish him all the best, he was someone I hadn’t
worked with before, he was incredibly professional and
he deserves to get on. This club has had blows before
and lost good people but the club is always bigger than
any one individual.
On a
personal level I’ll miss him and it’s meant I’ve got to
do a bit more than I had to do before. The structure
when Kenny was here was good, everyone was doing their
own job and I was overseeing things so I’ve had to step
up and do one or two other things.
Change can frighten people though and I think perhaps
the players were wobbled a little when they heard a
rumour on the Saturday of the Bristol City game about
Kenny going. Maybe we should have told them before the
game but Ken didn’t want it that way, he thought it
would affect them but half of them found out anyway.
That’s hindsight though, it’s easy to say after the
event “Holloway should have done this, Holloway should
have done that” but that’s after the event and funnily
enough that’s when Holloway realises it as well!
QPRnet.com:
You’ve mentioned criticism there, how do you guide
players through when they get a rough time from the
crowd?
IH:
I stick up for them if I feel it’s right and the stick
they’re getting is unjust, sometimes you do it publicly,
sometimes privately to the players. You have to use
every situation as a manager to your advantage. I’ve
only felt once or twice in my time here that the stick
we were getting was unfair. I think the expectation
level is so great now because of the players we’ve got
here; we’ve almost got hero worship back again whereas
when I first came here it was all about the players we
used to have. Everybody would say “oh we used to have
him and him and him” and nobody ever talked about the
ones we had and that’s when I knew I had to change a
fair few of them and bring in some new heroes.
I’ve
said to this lot that they’ve got a great chance to put
themselves on the QPR map and be part of a promotion
winning side, I’ve done it once and it’s tremendous, I
still talk about it now and I want them to share in that
experience. Not everyone can do it, I know players that
go through their whole careers without winning a
promotion. I still believe we can be champions, so do
the lads but that just words: it’s all there to do.
We’ve got three games to go, nine points to go for and
if we can get all of them we’ll be automatically
promoted. I know it’s a big if, but with our players,
why not and that fills me with pride to be able to say
that.
We
won’t have done it if we beat Plymouth, we might if we
then go and beat Swindon as well but for me people
celebrate far too early. We scored after three minutes
last week and everyone was singing about scores from the
other places, we don’t need that we need to focus on
what we’re doing. I swear we took our foot off the gas,
you can’t be totally focussed thinking “what’s going on
over there”. You’ve got to make sure you do the job, if
I’m disappointed about anything this season it’s that
we’ve given ourselves a lead so many times but we
haven’t seen it through and good teams learn how to do
that, they learn how to win and they keep doing it. In
the past QPR have half done it and half took their foot
off the gas and I don’t want the players to think like
the club used to.
The
attitude of the players at the moment has shone out of
late, no hesitation, go and get it and if you get
knocked down get up and go and get it back and that’s
what makes this little fella from Bristol feel the way
he is feeling at the minute. I’ve never ever felt like
this, I never felt I was good enough as a player, even
when I came here but at the moment I’m looking at my
team and my squad and I am filling with pride because I
believe that they are moving the right way. I keep
telling them everyday how lucky they are to be in this
position at this club. I believe they treasure that,
they appreciate it and they just want to finish it now.
QPRnet.com:
Do you think it helps having so many supporters of the
club in the team: do they encourage the others on more?
IH:
That’s a difficult one because in this type of run-in
they might care too much and lose a bit of focus, run
off and do someone else’s job instead of calling them,
staying calm and doing their job, you can’t do two
peoples jobs because you’ll be out of position.
No
one wants it more than Kevin Gallen but I don’t want him
to get tense or he won’t be able to produce what he
needs to. I just believe it could be our time; it could
be Kev’s moment to be part of the good times at QPR
rather than part of the bad times.
My
Dad taught me life is about people, it ain’t about where
you come from or who you are. You should be able to
stand in a room and talk to anybody, learn from
everybody and love them for who they are. That’s what
we’re trying to get here with the players we’ve got, we
care for the people that get criticised and we’re there
for them and one day they’ll be there for us. That’s
what you need and when I first came to this club it
wasn’t like that.
QPRnet.com:
How do you explain the gulf between our away form last
season and this season?
IH:
It
might be our away form that actually secures promotion
and then would you be talking about the gulf between it?
I
believe the status of our club has made it very
difficult on the road, I feel every game we play away
from home is the biggest the club we’re playing has and
I believe the referee’s sub-consciously balance it up a
little bit because we are a massive club in this
division in everybody else’s eyes.
I
also believe some of the players haven’t had their focus
right and got too wound up with referees’ decisions that
cost us. Some of our away performances have been better
than some of the games we’ve won at home but we haven’t
seen them through. Last week summed it up for me, we
should have had two penalties and we didn’t get them.
QPRnet.com:
Looking ahead to Plymouth I think it’s fair to say that
they’re not the greatest squad of individuals but they
are a great team. What do you think about what they’ve
done down there?
IH:
Again it’s spirit, they’ve got standards set by their
former manager and they’ve grown strong because of it. I
think they’re very difficult to break down, they’re
excellent at set pieces, they’re big, strong, committed
and to have any chance of beating them you’ve got to
work as hard as they do to start with and not many
people have matched up to that. We’ll have our work cut
out but I believe that if anybody’s made to do it, it’s
us.
On
our day we’re big, we’re strong and we’ve also got
talent on top of that that can come on and unlock a
door. It’s all about being solid and I try to surround
myself with talented players and get them to work hard.
Who
knows what’s going to happen, people keep asking me
“what do you think, what do you think?” but I’m just fed
up of talking, I want my actions to speak for me. I
believe in this lot and I believe they can achieve
something. If I could give it to you now I would because
you all deserve it but unfortunately life doesn’t let
you do that so we’ve got to take what we want. We’ve got
to stay focussed and never believe we’ve got it in the
bag because the second you do that, you take your eye
off the ball and it goes. I don’t want them thinking
like that, I want them totally focussed on the next time
that ball moves, even if it’s after we’ve just scored.
If
Plymouth have any advantage over us it’s that they’ve
learned through success together before. We’ve not had
that, when you get success you know you can do it and
you understand what it took to do it. Once we get it
we’ll move forward. I don’t know what’s going to happen
but I’m looking forward to it!
QPRnet.com:
Is it better in a way going into games like this knowing
we have to get a result?
IH:
If you lose too many of these last three you’re not
going to do it are you? That’s the facts, if you can win
the first two, we might well go up. Sometimes after a
defeat you have to stop and look at what you’ve achieved
because it’s easy to get caught up in the disappointment
just like it’s easy when you’ve won four to think “oh
we’re so great”. It doesn’t work that way, you have to
step out and see the overall picture.
I
got angry the other night at the do, a fella told me
that if I’d left McLeod on we’d have won on Saturday but
I do apologise to him because he has every right to say
that.
They’re a good bunch of lads and I’ve got to treat them
right but sometimes, if they’re not doing it, you’ve got
to trust me to sort them out and make them do it. It’s
like having kids, I’ve got four at home and a load here.
It’s about rewarding good behaviour. At the end of the
season when we sit down and sort out the contracts I’ll
be in a position for the first time in my life to reward
the ones that have done really well.
QPRnet.com:
If we have to go through the play offs will it be harder
to deal with a second time, is it an advantage, or are
you not even thinking about them?
IH:
That’s not even concerning me at the minute because it’s
still all to play for. Last Saturday though we were
already confirmed in the play offs with four games to
go. Last year we secured that at Colchester and that was
good enough for us at the time. Now it’s not good enough
for us and that shows the steps forward we have taken.
Whatever it is and whenever it is we’re going to be good
enough to get there. I would dearly love it to be the
championship because I think we deserve it. If we can go
to Plymouth and win and beat Swindon and beat Sheffield
Wednesday then we will deserve it, if we don’t then we
won’t. It’s in our hands, as long as we don’t roll over
and die because I won’t put up with that and you lot
wouldn’t ever forgive us.
Around the time we lost Danny I thought “here goes my
luck again” lost a huge player and we couldn’t replace
him because we had no money. Then the next thing we
ended up bringing in Arthur Gnohere, then the fans got
together and bought in Jamie Cureton. Then I started
believing.
IF
we have to go through the play offs, IF we have to have
another Cardiff, IF and IF and IF and IF. You’re wasting
your time and energy dealing with all that. I was stood
at the reserves the other night and I heard this kid
saying “well if Bristol City do that and if QPR do this”
IF IF IF IF IF! Let’s just look forward to each game as
it comes. We won’t roll over and die, we’ll keep going
whatever and we’ve got a chance to pull it out of the
fire with the talent that we’ve got and the people I’ve
got on the bench.
I
remember Alex Ferguson saying that he always believes
one of his players would score from thirty five yards
and he never knew which one it would be. I always used
to think wouldn’t that be nice but I know how he feels
now because that’s what we’re trying to do just at a
lower level. For the first time in my career I sit there
and I’m really excited thinking about who I have to
leave out today. I think to myself how’s he going to
take it, cos if I was that good I wouldn’t be happy
being sub but hang on, wait a minute, I was in a
stronger squad than this at QPR and I was delighted to
be bloody sub!
I
wish it was there and I wish it was already done and
celebration time but it isn’t and we’ve got some big
things to do yet and it’s no good counting your
chickens. Even if we’re two nil up with five minutes to
go on Saturday don’t think we’ve already done it, we’ve
got to kill it off, hold people down and strangle the
life out of them.
QPRnet.com:
If you could pick one moment from this season and change
it what would it be?
IH:
All the games that we were ahead in games and dropped
points. I would give every single one of my players the
knowledge as to why we let them slip because we’d
already be up now. You have to have enough people who
are strong to lead the others when they are wobbling and
then you all get stronger. Once players have lost
something they learn and I don’t think they all realise
yet that every single yard of every single game matters.
Every single second of every single game matters. Once
they’ve got that and they realise how important it is,
just a couple of yards to get back in shape, just a
couple of yards to run into an attacking position (like
we didn’t do against Bristol City) once they realise
that it’s absolutely vital on both sides of it, then
I’ll be happy. We’re not there yet but we’re working
towards it.
If
you look at Kevin Gallen and how he trains now, the way
he’s living and looking after his body compared to how
he was last time he was here. That’s why he’s one of our
best players. I used to keep on at him as a player that
it’s about what you put in during the week that you get
out on a Saturday.
QPRnet.com:
Wigan, Cardiff and Crewe have done well since last
season. How well do you think the current squad could
cope with division one?
IH:
I think what they’ve all had is a winning spirit and
when I first came here that’s what was lost. When you’ve
had success and you keep that squad together they
realise what it’s all about. They’ve had some money to
add to it, Wigan have got Jason Roberts, and I think
Cardiff added four players, including nicking Langley
off us.
We’ve been trying to bring first division quality
players here, we’ve begged some of them, we’ve borrowed
some of them and we’ve stolen some of them more or less.
You only have to look at Richard Johnson from Stoke and
Watford, Jamie Cureton was at Reading and Arthur Gnohere
from Burnley. We’re trying to add that sort of standard
and it’s not easy when you’ve got a limited budget but
if you can create an atmosphere at work where everyone
wants to come in because they see they are benefiting
whether they are playing or not then it becomes
somewhere people want to be for the right reasons, to
work, to get better, to move forward.
When
I came here I thought it was a place where people were
just picking up their money and were happy to do that.
Gerry was in a situation where he inherited that problem
and if he hadn’t added the ones he did, Jermaine
Darlington, Peter Crouch and Stuart Wardley we could
have had problems. We got 1.4 million for two of them
and we got fourteen goals in the first division from the
other one and without that money we could have well gone
under.
I
don’t believe the gulf is massive between divisions one
and two and I’m trying to bring players in who will be
good in the first division but we’ve got to get out of
the horrible second division first.
QPRnet.com:
We have a promising youth team and players like Scott
Donnelly, Stefan Bailey, John Fletcher, Scott Mulholland
and Jake Cole have made their mark on the reserves this
season, how excited are you about their potential?
IH:
I’m expecting these lads to come through and knock for a
first team position, hopefully some of the names you’ve
said there will do that because that’s what I want, some
youth, hunger and desire coupled with decent, proper
pro’s. These lads have got a hell of an opportunity to
be a part of something that’s done right whereas the
crop I had before, I felt, had an attitude problem. They
were promised too much and gave us little back.
It’s
all about attitude, we’ve got some exciting ability in
some of the names you mentioned there like Scott
Donnelly and Stefan Bailey, I think Jake Cole has been
very unlucky because he did really well out on loan and
had he been fit I might not have had to get Campy in, he
might have been given a chance.
The
attitude of those kids is fantastic and that’s what
makes a player and I want to bring through as much home
grown talent as possible.
QPRnet.com:
Will you say to Tim and Gary that you want to see x
player in the reserves or will they come to you and say
“you should have a look at this lad”?
IH:
it’s structure you’re talking about, it’s all about the
first team really and that’s where it was wrong before I
took over. We had a youth structure where everyone was
held back to their own age group because they felt
results were important but it’s about producing players.
We’ve culled a lot of the age groups because financially
it wasn’t right, we kept the best of each group and
moved them up so they’re being stretched every week.
That’s when you find out about someone’s character and
that’s why the likes of Scott Donnelly and Stefan Bailey
have played a fair few reserve games this season. What
I’ve got to try and do is bring them through and give
them decent opportunities to step up the ladder and keep
going. It’s been an ongoing thing but I will only give
my first team group to the reserves if I feel they need
a game. Last week we had Day, Forbes, Johnson, Thorpe
and McLeod all playing because I wanted to watch and
assess where they are for the first team. Anybody who’s
on board and I don’t feel is taking us forward I might
loan out and that frees up a place in the reserves for a
youngster, because it’s not about results, it’s about
experience.
The
brilliant thing though is the club is united from first
team down to under nines. We’re all singing off the same
song sheet and that wasn’t happening before. Hopefully
there will be room if they are good enough to come
through. Look at Marcus Bean, no one expected him to
have as many first team games as he has had. We know he
still has to make progress but I’m delighted in the
progress he has already made. He’s given us something
that we sorely needed, which is a bit of steel and anger
in midfield, he breaks up things and he gets there and
his desire shows through. I think we missed him when he
was out, we lost Marcus and Danny Shittu and both of
them have pace and power and you can’t have a team in
the second division without that. The kid has been
excellent and there’s potential there to improve.
Hopefully some of these lads will have the opportunity
to step on and do that for us as well.
In
the future I hope to be able to pluck from the youth
team rather than going out into the loan market. Before
there was no way through to the first team, there was no
togetherness. Now we’ve got say Scott Donnelly, who’s
already trained and played for Tim in the reserves, if
he carries on like that he’ll be in his first year with
us next season and we’ll be moving him on with us. There
is the opportunity to progress and move on and Marcus
Bean has proved that.
QPRnet.com:
If the second division is more of a physical division do
you think division one will be more of a footballing
division and therefore easier to bring youngsters into
the first team?
IH:
That’s a very good question. I think you have to have
the right standard of player first. You have to keep the
commitment and the work rate in division one, but some
teams might back off you a little bit more and give you
more space to play. I think you have to do both sides
but do them both better. I don’t think you can suddenly
say we’re going to play more football because we’re in
the first division, if you play in the wrong areas
you’ll lose the ball. You have to keep playing and
working off a decent shape and the football will come.
It’s about developing but you have to keep the qualities
that get you up.
All
the best teams do it, you only have to watch the
champions league the other night, every time a Chelsea
player had the ball Monaco were all over them like a bad
rash and they only had ten men. You can’t step off of
people, you have to keep pressing and closing and I
don’t know if enough is made of that.
If
you look at Arsenal when they haven’t got the ball how
hard do they work as a group to get it back? Some of the
lads have got to realise that. For example with Kevin
McLeod, its not the first thing he does that’s the
problem it’s if he stops and sulks about it and if you
give him stick it affects him even more. So all I say to
you is please don’t do that shout “unlucky Kev” instead
and that’ll pick him up.
You
have to do the same things in division one which is
close down, keep it tight and play off your front with
quality. People said halfway through the year there was
too many long balls and we should keep it on the floor
but when teams press on you because they realise how
dangerous you are they force us to hit a long ball and
when I had Gallen and Thorpe upfront I didn’t want to
hit long balls but they made us and that’s good play on
their part.
It’s
all about selection and the higher up the divisions you
go the more you have to select the right pass. We’re not
about smashing it long, squeezing up and chasing it,
we’re about looking forward. Your first look should be
can I get my centre forward in, cos normally they’re
your best players, and then get your wide men joining
them. It’s about playing in the right areas and using
that to put them under pressure. You watch Plymouth they
will hit it to Mickey Evans, hit it to Mickey Evans, hit
it to Mickey Evans. We’ve got to deal with it and then
break off on it
QPRnet.com:
Do you want to stay whatever division we’re in?
IH:
Yeh I don’t want to go anywhere else. I don’t feel I’ve
achieved what I can at this football club yet. I want to
be here for as long as their ambition matches mine. I
wouldn’t be happy to get in the first division and just
sit there, I want to push towards the top of it and I
know that means a lot of money to bring in better
players but that’s what I want to do. I don’t want to
sell my best players, I’ve had enough of that. I want to
be somewhere that’s moving forward and I think the
potential at this club and the excitement we could
generate is fantastic.
You
haven’t asked me anything negative yet? Don’t you want
to have a go at me about something?
QPRnet.com:
OK! Well if you took a straw poll at Loftus Road most
people you asked would say we should be more attacking
at home and look to be playing Rowlands central with
Bircham and two wide men.
IH:
Who’s going to win the ball back then? Birch wants to go
forward and so does Rowly. We played that against Man
City and they did us twice and none of our midfield saw
any danger whatsoever when it went over their head. The
last goal summed it up when the central midfield player
run off the back of Rowlands and Bircham and slotted in
the winger who ran off the back of McLeod and that
shouldn’t be happening. When the ball goes over your
head any midfielder worth his salt does both sides of
the job.
Look
at Patrick Vieira, what’s his best attribute? Everyone
sees how he flicks it over someone but what about how he
gets the ball back. He technically could play centre
half and who does Wenger play him in there with? Edu and
he’s practically a defender. It’s about both sides of
the game, in that midfield area you’ve got to have
balance. Truthfully speaking would you have played Simon
Osborn and Ray Wilkins in the same team together? Who’s
going to win you the ball back?
It’s
all about balance when you’re in and out of possession
and what I love about Rowly is he does both sides of the
game in a wide area cos he wants to get forward. The way
I play, if I put him in the centre and he bombs forward
there’s too big a gap left and someone will hurt us. If
he does it at the right time and gets on the end and
scores, great, but what about if it happens at the wrong
time? You’ve got to be solid up the middle.
It’s
all about opinions, at the end of the day I’m the one
who picks the team. I don’t expect everyone to agree but
I’d like people to understand. Eventually I haven’t got
a problem playing Rowlands in the centre but it’s about
timing and having the right blend and balance to do it.
Everyone wanted me to play Langley in the centre but
sometimes his head was about going forward and he wasn’t
that switched on out of possession. Isn’t it funny how
Cardiff played him on the wing? Richard looked great in
Gerry’s old system, Gerry stood him in the middle of a
centre three and told him to get on the ball and ping it
everywhere but that’s a luxury. The best midfield
players in the world do both sides of the game – Steven
Gerrard, Vieira, Roy Keane. That’s what we have to do,
be solid up the middle and get flair on the outside.
If
we need anything right now it’s a free kick specialist
and that’s where we miss Langley. Rich used to practise
and practise and believe in himself and I need someone
with that mentality towards it and I haven’t quite got
there yet. We need that at the minute, when it’s tight
knock one in under the bar, lovely jubbly.
QPRnet.com:
With three games to go what’s your message to the fans?
IH:
Enjoy it, sing your heads off for the lads and whatever
the score keep believing. Keep believing that one of
them is going to get the goal that does it for us. Be
proud of your club, don’t sit there and worry – enjoy
the moment because this could be the best time of your
life so why waste energy worrying.
I
expect people to have their own opinions but I believe
that everyone deserves to be encouraged. If I stood and
moaned at my kids when they got things wrong and
grumbled to them while they were doing it I don’t think
that would be positive, I don’t think that would help
them at all. Don’t take your own fears and worries out
on your own team. If you must voice it then let it be
afterwards, in a bar with your mates but while you’re
there just encourage the living daylights out of them
because I know from my life’s experience when you can do
that in the face of adversity you get much better
results.
You
can turn a bad ball into a good one by being positive
and it really does help when you get that all around the
ground. I said all that “come round my house stuff”
before and the next game the noise was fantastic. Even
if we’re three nil down with your encouragement I
believe we can come back. I know our players don’t
deliberately mean to get it wrong, this group aren’t
like that. They might be feeling nervous, however
nervous you are how do you think they’re feeling?
The
first thing anyone asks me when I meet them in the
street is “are we going to do it then?” I don’t know,
what am I a fecking mind reader! My names not Derek
Acura and I’m not on Most Haunted, I don’t know! But I
believe we can and if you’re a believer like me then let
the lads know cos that might well be the difference. It
was in the team I played in that won promotion and I
would dearly love to bring that feeling to this club.
I’m
delighted with what’s happened over the last couple of
years and I was delighted with the atmosphere after
Cardiff because I know what we all felt like. It was an
injustice because we outplayed them in the second half.
Should have squared it, should have shot, Kev should
have scored, Thommo should have scored. Then they stick
a 1.5 million ginger centre forward on and he scored.
QPRnet.com:
In years to come, how do you hope to remembered?
IH:
Not about the bloke in the taxi and the bird, I don’t
want that! If I’ve ever regretted any one thing I’ve
said in my life, Jesus what the hell was that all about!
And not as the idiot on soccer am who talks with a dodgy
accent either!
In
seriousness it’s not for me to say is it? I’ll remember
it as a good period in my life, if I ever do leave it’ll
be because I can’t take them any further and I’ll be
happy with what I’ve achieved. The hardest thing in my
position is you can be sat here one minute and gone the
next but I hope people will appreciate how difficult the
job was, how many people didn’t want it in the first
place but how much enthusiasm I’ve given it. I’ve
enjoyed every minute of it even in the worst times cos I
believe in this place. It’s the best club I ever played
for in a million miles, I never forget the first game I
came on as a sub here was Arsenal away and this little
kid from Bristol replaced Ray Wilkins. I almost asked
for his autograph when he came up to me!
The
cruellest thing about football life is you’re only ever
appreciated when you’re gone. I’ve appreciated ever
cheer I’ve ever had from the crowd, every person who’s
come and bought a season ticket, even if they have
moaned a bit.
I
want to leave something, whenever that is and hopefully
it’s a long time in the future, but I want to leave
something behind that everyone talks about in the right
way and even maybe some of the people who aren’t
appreciative of it now will say “hang on a minute, that
weren’t bad”. Everything I’ve ever done is genuine, if
I’ve made a mistake it’s because I was trying to make
things better and it didn’t work. That’s what they’ll
put on my tombstone “here lies Olly, he tried”.
I
don’t want to go though, I want that to be a long time
in the future but right now we’ve got a massive 10 days
in front of us but what an opportunity it is.
All
I’m going to be saying on Saturday is “c’mon lads, don’t
let your fears stand in the way of your dreams. Let’s go
and do it, lets make it happen. You deserve it”. That’s
it in a nutshell. |