Holloway has a column for The Sunday Mirror. Here is today's...
Quote:
“I am the new manager of Crystal Palace.
Some people will love me for saying that and others will hate me.
But I have always said that football is like life – it is all about timing.
And whether you support Palace, Blackpool or any other club, you have to understand that opportunities sometimes open up that are just impossible to resist.
The chance to work for chairman Steve Parish at Selhurst Park for the next four-and-a-half years – and hopefully beyond – was one of those.
It has been a whirlwind 48 hours.
Of course, I’d heard all the speculation linking me with a move away from Bloomfied Road.
But until Mr Parish contacted Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston on Thursday I was concentrating fully on preparing my Blackpool team for yesterday’s tough trip to Derby County.
My relationship with Karl has been a rollercoaster for the past three years, but the one thing we have always been with each other is honest.
So when he told me that Palace wanted permission to talk to me, I told him I would like to hear what they had to offer.
It wasn’t until five o’clock on Friday evening that Karl gave the go-ahead.
And to be honest, once I had heard what Palace had to offer, it took me about 10 seconds to make up my mind.
Blackpool fans will no doubt raise their eyebrows at that.
But when I talk about Palace’s offer, I don’t just mean the salary package that was put in front of me.
Yes, I had been working on a rolling contract at Blackpool.
And, yes, it was a source of some frustration to me.
That was because I didn’t think I was getting the going rate for a manager who had taken the club into the Premier League for the first time and then, after the disappointment of relegation and seeing most of my best players sign for top-flight clubs, rebuilt a team that was good enough to reach the Championship play-off final last season.
But Palace also sold me a dream.
The club’s four co-owners spoke about taking the club back to the Premier League.
They said that they would redevelop Selhurst Park if I could produce football good enough to fill it.
The enthusiasm with which they described the club’s *on-going commitment to a youth system that has *produced fabulous players like Wilfred Zaha, Victor Moses and Nathaniel Clyne was infectious.
In the end, it was an absolute no-brainer.
Palace co-owner Steve Browett was kind enough to put my wife Kim and I up at his house on Friday night.
His hospitality was wonderful, but I didn’t get a wink of sleep.
One moment I was flying as high as a kite as I contemplated my new challenge; the next I was as low as a snake’s belly as I realised I would have to let Blackpool down.
Deep down, though, I knew had to take up Palace’s offer - or risk spending the rest of my days wondering what might have been.
That is no slight on Blackpool Football Club.
I loved my time there, so much so that my wife Kim and bought a house on the Fylde Coast only a few weeks ago.
We had become adopted Lancastrians.
I was not unhappy at Bloomfield Road. I knew that as long as we finished in a respectable position in the Championship then my job would be safe.
That is a lovely position to be in. The threat of being sacked is one of the things that make football management bad for your health.
But I am 49 years old. I am far too young to slip into my comfort zone.
I know it’s a cliché, but I really do need a new and exciting challenge – and Crystal Palace provides that.
At Blackpool I was the man who generated all the energy. I was the one who always had to pick people up during the low points of relegation and that play-off defeat to West Ham.
It was beginning to sap my spirit because there was no-one there who would help me recharge my batteries.
The moment I met Steve Parish I was blown away by the sheer energy of the man.
He is a proper football guy, with an enthusiasm that is contagious.
Our meeting made me realise that I had done all I had could for Blackpool and that was the moment I realised it was time to move on.
Normally when a new manager takes over at a club it is in a time of crisis.
But I have inherited a team from Dougie Freedman that is packed with talented footballers and I can’t wait to start working with them.
I would like to think that whoever succeeds me at Blackpool will feel the same way about the players I have left behind.
I can walk away with my head held high.
I’d like to thank the people of Blackpool for being so welcoming and the fans for their backing.
I hope I have given them some memories that we will all never forget. You will always be in my heart.
I just hope you can find it in your hearts to understand why I’ve left.”
And here is what he said about Zaha...
Quote:
“I asked for no guarantees from Crystal Palace about the future of Wilfred Zaha.
Wilfred celebrates his 20th birthday on Saturday and he has got the world at his feet.
Every time I have seen him play he looks like a top player and the people I have spoken to at Palace say that it’s only a matter of time that he’s in the Premier League.
I have read that a host of big clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are looking at Wilfred. So you won’t be surprised to hear that’s the kind of player I really want to work with.
But whatever we achieve at Palace during my time at the club we achieve as a team. I saw some fine individual players leave Blackpool when we were relegated from the Premier League, but I felt we were still able to improve as a team.
I am sure one of the first questions I will be asked is about what the future holds for Wilfred. My honest answer is that I really don’t know.
Would I like to keep him with me at Palace? You’re damn right I would.
Players who can make a difference are like gold dust, especially in the Championship – and Wilfred is one of those.
I’ve got him at least until the transfer window reopens in January and I can’t wait to see him close up and in the flesh every day.
Hopefully I can show him that I can be good for him like he has been good for Crystal Palace.
The first thing I will tell him is that I will never hold him back when it comes to realising his ambitions.”
