Not to tempt fate I have purposely delayed writing anything further about the Mighty Seasiders until the outcome of the play-off final was known. After a deliriously happy weekend visiting Wembley to support Ollie and the boys I can now put pen to paper. I still have to pinch myself when I think about us playing in the Premiership next season. Who cares about the World Cup preparations when you've got the Mighty Seasiders turning the football world on its head. This is what football is all about. It's what modern dreams are made off. It's about a club, manager and a squad of players who have shown that success is not all down to how much money you have (although a massive advantage), it's about a desire to succeed and prove all the doubters wrong through a combination of hard work and great team spirit. The wind of change started to sweep through the club when Simon Grayson took us up to the Championship, with Tony Parkes managing to keep us there and with Ian Holloway's vision and ideas of how the team should play making the dream of playing Premiership football possible. Let's not forget Steve Thompson's contribution too, he has been the constant throughout the whole time. The tangerine colour is unique and witnessing Wembley and its surroundings bathed in its hue was breathtaking, but what was more breathtaking was the manner in which the Seasiders came from behind twice and once in the lead managing to stay in control right to the end. Credit must go to both teams for producing end to end attacking football, which is both exciting and entertaining. I tried to keep my expectations under control before the game, so that if the worst happened I would console myself with the knowledge that this season has been the best I've seen for years. That went all out the window when the final whistle went and all the pent-up emotion kicked-in, a mixture of tears, cheers and hugs. I hope Ollie will see the challenge of the premiership through with us because we've proved the experts wrong in the past, so let's do it again. Ian Holloway is a LEGEND.
Of course, as a Blackpool supporter for more than 50 years, I was thrilled by Blackpool's fabulous performance against Cardiff. And it's true that the club's history and traditions mean it deserves to be a Premiership team. But of course in life you often don't get what you deserve, so can Blackpool stay up? Like most people my gut reaction was they can't. But think of this. They have 90 million pounds coming, apparently 40 million quite quickly. That means they will have some real money to spend on players. And, think of this too. Ian Holloway, Blackpool's manager, is not just a great inspirer. He has been very good at getting players, on the cheap, that have done really well. Maybe this is his real secret. So, with available money (plus some more hopefully from the club's Latvian millionaire part-owner, Valery Belokon),and Holloway's skill in buying well, Blackpool could well stay up and even establish themeselves in the Premiership.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking when Tony Parkes rejected Karl Oyston's conditions for taking the manager's job permanently, who would we be getting? I must admit I wasn't thrilled by the candidates including Ian Holloway. In fact it looked odds on that Alan Knill would get the job. But thank goodness Ollie did eventually get it, because what he has achieved in the short he's been with us has been amazing. He is a legend already and he is quite capable of taking the Premiership by storm. There will be a lot of clubs who, if they do not take him or the Seasiders seriously will be in for a shock. Ok, it's not going to be easy, but you wouldn't expect it to be, but I honestly think we will stay up.
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