by Ian Holloway
I decided to start with 4-3-3 again to try and unsettle them but it turned out to be the most bizarre game I can ever remember. Three of my players were knocked out by head clashes and two had to be carried off on a stretcher. Our goalie hit his head on the post and had to come off for treatment, and I’d lost two players by half-time. The personnel we’d lost meant I couldn’t switch back to 4-4-2 and that eventually cost us a goal but the one thing I did take from the game was pride. Our supporters, and there must have been around a thousand of them there at St Mary’s that day, never stopped singing from the first minute till the last and it was the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had at a football match – and my team weren’t even playing that well. “Green Army, Green Army, Green Army!” or “Ian Holloway’s green and white army!” It was fantastic and sounded like a constant hum throughout the 90 minutes. Whether they’d carried on from the Cardiff game or whether they’d always been like that, I’ll never know, but I’ll never forget it or the professionalism my players showed in difficult circumstances – it’s odd, but when I’m old and grey, that’s one of the days I’ll cherish – and we lost 1-0! I’ve bumped into one or two Southampton fans since and they’ve all said that they’ve never heard an away following sing like that before, not unless they were winning, so take a bow Green Army – that’s another pint I owe you all.
Pen and Tim Breacker had eventually joined me with their gardening leave situation finally sorted out and I felt like all the pieces of the jigsaw were coming together. I’d also brought in a big centre-half in the form of Marcel Seip because we’d been after a big defender because height was something we’d missed at the back up to that point.
Better still, we then went on a seven-match unbeaten run and finally ended our home jinx by beating Norwich City in the next game. We beat Derby County 3-1 with 10 men live on Sky, which was unusual for Argyle because the club had a history of freezing in front of the cameras, and seeing Billy Davies again was good because I’ve got a load of time for him. It reminded me of a time Gordon Bennett brought him along to one of the youth games at Bristol Rovers and he played against my side – he was small, but what a player. He had three lads on him and the next thing he’d scooped the ball up over all of them and was away. He was the best player I ever saw at junior level and afterwards Gordon came around to my house and said, “What did you make of him, then?” I said I thought he was brilliant and he said, “Well he won’t be playing for us. You’re a different type, but, do you think he was good enough?” I said yes, of course and Gordon said, “What are you worried about your feckin’ height for then? You’ve got a good foot on him.”
I was happy with the way things were shaping up and when we did lose at home to Birmingham, we battered Steve Bruce’s side but lost 1-0, and even Steve couldn’t work out how we’d come away with nothing. If it had been a boxing match it would have been stopped in the first half. Prior to our away game at Southend a few weeks later, Bojan Djordjic came up to me and asked, “Why am I not I playing?”
I said, “Why haven’t you been asking me about it? You seem happy playing where you are.”
“No, I’m desperate to come back,” he said.
“Well any chance of showing us a bit more? If you do, I’ll put you back in.” I don’t believe for one minute that Bojan thought I’d ever play him again at first-team level but I picked him for Southend and he scored our goal in a 1-1 draw. Then I played him against Leeds and he scored a goal and he played in the next game against Luton and scored the winner so I was absolutely delighted with him.
It was around that time that the partner of the chief executive asked if I’d mind coming and giving and talk at the school she worked at because she had to do a talk about exams in front of all the kids. I’d done a few speeches at dinners and suchlike while I’d been on gardening leave so I said no problem. They were year 10 and 11 students, and she told them about the importance of taking exams and the various rules and regulations surrounding the actual exam itself. Then it was my turn because she thought that if I talked about how important taking your exams was, they might listen better to me because I was manager of Plymouth Argyle. The main problem the school was having were students not attending the exams so I tried to think how I could link taking exams back to my players. We did coursework of sorts through the week and then were tested on a Tuesday or a Saturday. Then we were marked on our performance – even though ours was in the paper – and I told all this to the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All I basically was saying was that you have to set a goal on what you wanted to do and where you wanted to be. I told them we are all tested in whatever we did, every day. Whatever hairstyle you choose, the clothes you wear is all a test because you are putting yourself up for judgement against other kids, but it’s what you want to do in the future that really matters because everyone needs to earn money and to do that you have to have a job. I asked them wouldn’t it be better if, like me and my players, you earned money doing something you actually enjoyed? I asked them to imagine having to earn money doing something that you didn’t like doing. I told them they were in control of their own futures and they had to think long and hard about how they were going to arrive at their goal – if they did that, all roads in their lives would lead to that destination. If they didn’t, their lives would be like a roundabout going round in circles. I was lucky because I only ever wanted to do one thing and I had a focus. I told them they needed to look at exams differently because they could be the beginning of a fantastic journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the kids and I then got a call from the lady who’d asked me to do the talk in the first place. She said, “There’s not been one absentee from the exams. It was a one hundred per cent turn out and it’s a school record – everyone turned up.” I was absolutely delighted about that and talking with those kids actually helped me in my job as a manager. It opened my eyes to different ways of getting a point across and how important it was to go out in the community and get the natives on your side, because without their support, I can’t do anything. If the supporters aren’t singing your name and don’t believe in you, they won’t cut you any slack and you won’t make it. If I fail at Argyle, it won’t be for the want of trying, I can assure everyone of that.
Chapter 25: The Trouble With Refs...
We were still fairly well placed in the table and definitely in with a chance of the play-offs going into 2007, but there were areas of the team I felt needed strengthening because whenever I had players ruled out with injury I was having to put younger and younger kids in to replace them as the squad became seriously stretched. I had a budget of around £200,000 to bring in new players and we needed another striker and a centre-half, but I didn’t think the money I had would get me very far. Pen had been out on the road and was working ever so hard to find new talent that we could afford and he had one or two interesting ideas that might or might not bear fruit.
We played Southampton on New Year’s Day and after a couple of blatant offside goals had been scored against us in previous matches, I was absolutely fuming and fit to burst by the time we played that game and by the end of it, I’d lost it completely. I’d never been a fan of the new offside laws so you can probably imagine how I felt when we were the victims of the new rule not once, but twice in the same bloody game! We should either have won the game 1-0 or 2-1 instead of the actual 1-1 scoreline it ended up. There were two identical incidents during the game and on the first occasion they scored one that was given and we scored one and it was disallowed, and the second instance with exactly the same circumstances, they scored and it was given. Southampton hit a ball over the top and one of their forwards was a mile offside so my keeper came out and cleared it but it went straight to the guy who’d been offside but when he rolled it into an empty net, the ref gave the goal. He’d been offside and gained an unfair advantage but they go 1-0 up regardless. We make it 1-1 and in the last couple of minutes, David Norris scores for us in similar
circumstances only because the keeper is on his line, it’s ruled out for offside. I took my video evidence into the officials’ room at the end of the game but would they watch it? Would they hell! Later, I got a call from referee assessor Paul Durkin telling me I’d been right to protest, and the incidents would now be used to help train refs and show them how they sometimes get it wrong!” It didn’t help us because we’d lost two points and that could have been the difference in the last few games between us challenging for a play-off spot or not. Maybe I’m clutching at straws but it would have made a difference and I’m still minging about that to this day.
Then came the Saturday all managers dread – FA Cup Third Round day. We’d drawn Peterborough away, which might not sound too daunting, but with the injury crisis we had by then, added to that fact that Peterborough were flying at home and had already knocked out Ipswich Town at London Road in the Carling Cup and they were right up for us that day. I could feel the cold steel on the back of my neck and it’s a horrible time. We arrived with a really young side but were awarded a penalty which Hasney Aljofree took and missed. The ref wasn’t happy, however, and ordered a re-take which Hansey tucked away, but they equalised and took the game to replay.
The board told me they were happy with the way things were going and I said that we needed a few new players in to up the ante, particularly if we wanted to have a crack at getting into the play-offs, and to be fair to them, the first time I asked for help, they gave it to me. I managed to sign Rory Fallon for £300,000 – a record fee paid by Argyle – and two Hungarian lads in Péter Halmosi and Krisztián Timár on loan, plus Kevin Gallen on loan and though I knew what a great signing Gallen could be, I knew absolutely bugger all about the Hungarians. All I knew was that Pen had recommended them and that was good enough for me. I’d called Pen up and said that I might need a few players in and he said, “Don’t worry, come over because I think I’ve got a few players for you to look at.”
I said, “What? Have you got them in your front room or something?”
“No, I’ve got some DVDs and I’ve done some homework on them and they’re coming out as great characters.” I went round, watched the DVDs and said, “I’ll have them. I like that, they both look quality.”
Pen told me to bring Timár over for a trial, which we did and I liked his attitude – another one who’d kick his grandma – and Hamolsi turned out to be a very accomplished midfielder and a totally professional footballer with stacks of ability, and I thought bringing those two lads in would get me another player, because Buzsáky had been homesick up to that point whereas now he had two compatriots to settle him down a little. I used some of the lads in our next game at Norwich and we won 3-1. I then added Chelsea reserve striker, Scott Sinclair, who had become a bit stale in the stiffs at Stamford Bridge. He was quick and Pen reckoned we could use him as an impact player. I was pleased with the new additions and we hadn’t spent a fortune in doing so, either. I’d spent £1.2m in my first year – more than I’d ever done before as a manager, so the Argyle board are giving it a real go, aren’t they?
We saw off Peterborough 2-1 in the replay but then I got hauled into the Mike Newell bungs controversy which broke in the second week of January. I’d made some statements when I’d been at QPR and my former chairman Nick Blackburn included them in a book he’d written not that long after. The incident had happened while Rangers were in administration and I’d been trying to sign a player on a free so I told the agent I was dealing with, “There’s got to be no fee because we’re in administration and we can’t get any money to pay any fees.” The agent said not to worry and everything was fine. We talked about a contract and the length of it and the agent calls me back the next day and says, “Well there is a fee, actually, because there’s an agent’s fee.” I think it was £40,000 or something so I said, “Didn’t you hear me yesterday? I’ve got no money, so there’s no deal.”
Then he said, “No, wait a minute, you don’t understand. How much of it do you want?” I said, “Look, do me a favour, you idiot. I’m going to talk to my chairman because there’s no deal now.” I put the phone down, told Nick that I was sorry for wasting his time and asked if he’d call the agent to confirm the deal was dead because he’d now asked for money and even asked how much I wanted.
My quotes were out there, then when Mike came out with his statements on bungs and stuff, I think a journalist either recalled or was tipped off to the quotes attributed to me in Nick’s book and this reporter said, “Well you’ve been offered bungs haven’t you?”
I said, “No, not really. It was a conversation and that’s all.” I explained what had happened and that I didn’t hate agents but the facts were that if a window of opportunity is presented in life, somebody will grab it. The problem is that there shouldn’t be any loopholes which have been caused by the Bosman ruling because that would eliminate a lot of these windows of opportunity, and there wouldn’t be so many grey areas surrounding transfers deals. As for Mike and his comments, I’m not sure what he was doing and couldn’t believe what he was coming out with. He seemed to be trying to tar everyone with the same brush, but what I couldn’t do at the time was leave him stood out on a limb so I wasn’t denying what had happened to me, but nothing ever came of it so there was no problem. I got sort of sucked into that whole row whereas I wouldn’t have actively been involved otherwise.
Back to action on the pitch and we were due to play Coventry City away when I heard that my old mate Mickey Adams had been sacked. He called me up and said, “Beat that lot for me, would you?” which was typical of Mickey’s humour though I knew he was hurting badly after that. Adrian Heath was put in charge for the game, which was live on Sky, and we won 3-2 – we were getting a taste for live TV!
Our next FA Cup opponents were Barnet away and, just like Peterborough, it was a tricky tie and against a bloody good home side. They were probably a little bit better than us in the first half but after the break I decided to freshen things up by taking off Peter Halmosi and Akos Buzsáky and replacing them with Scott Sinclair and Luke Summerfield. We went 1-0 up through an Aljofree penalty and then Scott scored a goal that probably only he could have scored, taking on and beating half of the Barnet side before slotting it home, cool as a cucumber. That was his first senior goal and it gave all the lads a real boost. We knew what he could do because he’d done it in training and after turning two of our best players inside out during one run I remember Paul Connolly, a Liverpudlian right-back and wag of a lad saying, “Fuckin’ hell! He’s better than Aaron Lennon. Where the fuck did you get him from? Can you play him over the other side or what, gaffer?”
Scott had earned the respect of our lads straight away and that was nice for the kid, especially coming from a club like Chelsea and it could have been hard for him. I was also pleased on a personal level because I’d seen him as a 10-year-old when I was player-manager of Bristol Rovers and to see that boy becoming the player he is becoming – he’s not there yet – is very pleasing for me. He hadn’t changed a bit in that time, either, and was as solid as a rock – he doesn’t drink and is never late and does everything properly – a lovely kid – and to see him score that goal was fantastic. It also put us in the fifth round of the FA Cup – a place I’d never been as a manager before.
Like everyone else, when the draw was about to be made we were hoping for a big tie at Home Park – but I’d have taken anyone at home. I watched it live and we drew Derby at home – and shortly after they showed all the Derby players’ faces when they found out they had to go to Plymouth again, having already lost against us not that long ago and we’d only had 10 men. It was the last team they probably wanted to be drawn against, but for us it was great. They were top of the table so it’d be a decent test of how far we’d come and if we lost, there would be no disgrace but I used the Derby players’ body language to our advantage because they’d made it so obvious they weren’t relishing coming to us.
In be
tween our Cup progress we still had League games to win and a trip to The Hawthorns to play West Brom had me jumping around on the line again because I thought the ref was treating the match as Big Club v Little Club and I wondered if I’d contributed to that by saying to him before the game by saying, “Great ground isn’t it?” He seemed awe-struck and said, “What a club – it’s amazing isn’t it? Great atmosphere.” It was unbelievable but I have to say he was right – I just didn’t want to hear that from the man in charge of the game!
West Brom had Diomansy Kamara and Kevin Phillips and several other good attacking players but I wasn’t happy with the way everything seemed to be going against us. The ball hit Akos Buzsáky’s hand but it was a classic case of ball-to-hand and the ref gave a penalty. They went 2-0 up through a brilliant Kamara goal before big Rory Fallon scored his first goal for us to make it 2-1. Then Sylvan Ebanks-Blake broke through, lifted it over Dean Kiely but was felled by him as the ball rolled towards goal but was cleared by a defender. It was a stonewall penalty but the ref topped that by doing the same thing again when Tony Capaldi pushed it past a West Brom player in the box, only to be clattered by a two-footed challenge. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – it was the worst decision I’d ever seen up to that point. Incredible!
I rested a few players for our next game at Wolves, which was a bit of a gamble, but the young lads did really well, particularly 17-year-old Danny Gosling, and we came away with a 2-2 draw. Next up were Roy Keane’s Sunderland and I must admit that game was our most comprehensive defeat because Sunderland shackled us down and beat us 2-0 at Home Park and I was very impressed with them.