Holloway keen to keep underdog tag

14 January 2011 13:30
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway believes his team have thrived this season because they are free of the weight of expectation - which is how he wants things to stay. Following their surprise promotion via the Championship play-offs in May, the Seasiders have performed impressively so far in their maiden Barclays Premier League campaign, taking 28 points from their opening 20 fixtures. Holloway feels the way Blackpool were so widely written off in the summer has worked to their advantage and, although he admits it is nice to prove the doubters wrong, the 47-year-old is wary of people's views shifting. "I've got the easiest job in the world, because there are no expectations on me," said Holloway, whose side, currently ninth, take on West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday. "If that starts to build with our crowd, then I've got to dampen and quash that because that is why we are doing so well. In my opinion, expectation in football has gone completely crazy, and nothing sums it up more than us. "If we turn up, everyone is booing their team before they even start - 'boo, you can't have Blackpool passing it past you, what is going on? It's only Blackpool'. "You have to earn the right to be a good team, whoever you are, in any division. If you look at managers who have got the sack, where has that come from? The expectations of everybody. Even if you are only one or two points off where you think you should be as a club, then the manager gets the sack these days."

Source: PA