Football managers can often be accused of being dull, unimaginative or speaking in clichés when interviewed by the press.
However, one man who can’t be accused of that is former Blackpool and Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway. Famed for his one-liners and quick wit, the Bristolian has a way with words most managers could only dream of.
Speaking exclusively to UCFB as part of the LMA Insight Series, Holloway cited his upbringing and having a laugh and a joke with his family if things went wrong as a big part of his light-hearted nature in front of the cameras.
He said: “[When being interviewed] I’m reacting to whatever you’re asking me. ‘Do you think you should have won by more?’ ‘Are you disappointed you lost?’ ‘Why did your team let so many goals in?’ You get asked the same sort of questions and it is rather boring, so I like to put a bit of life into things.”
Holloway added: “As a manager you’re interviewed every minute of every day for the programme, the radio and other media, so you’ve got to get used to it no matter what, so I feel that I have to be me. You look at it and think you’re somebody, but really deep down you have to be your authentic self otherwise it’ll never work. That’s why if anything happens in my life I like to have a bit of a laugh about it.”
After starting his coaching career as player-manager at boyhood club Bristol Rovers, Holloway went on to manage the likes of QPR, Plymouth Argyle and Leicester City before taking Blackpool and then Palace into the Premier League. It was in the West Country though where he cut his teeth with the media – with varying results!
He said: “When I first started off I was angry with the press most of the time. I was Bristol Rovers manager, a supporter and a player, and I just took everything personally and everything they asked me I was angry at and that just didn’t work. So I decided I couldn’t be like that and to be more like myself and say it how it is.”
Holloway finished: “That’s why you either love me or hate me, I’m a bit like marmite I think. I am who I am and I won’t change.”
