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Feb 26, 2001 - Becoming our longest-serving Manager since Alec Stock
Feb 26, 2001
QPR Official Site - HOLLOWAY CONFIRMED AS BOSS
IAN HOLLOWAY was this afternoon unveiled as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers at a press conference at Loftus Road.
The 37-year-old who managed Bristol Rovers for four and a half seasons left the Memeorial Ground earlier this season and returns to Loftus Road where he spent five years as a player. Further details and quotes from the new boss will appear here later.
QPR Official Site - HOLLOWAY - I AM MY OWN MAN
NEW RANGERS boss Ian Holloway insists his return to Loftus Road is a challenge he is cannot wait to undertake.
Holloway, who spent five years as the club in the mid '90s takes over the reins at Loftus Road less than a month after leaving his post as boss of Bristol Rovers, and follows the path of Rangers' Director of Football Gerry Francis, who also swapped the West Country for a return to West London in 1991.
Subsequently Holloway's respect for Francis, who he served under as a player for ten years, is very high, but the 37-year-old insists that he is very much his own man.
The new boss has signed a contract until the end of the season with a view to another year and he is very glad to be back at Loftus Road.
"I was lucky enough to work with Gerry for over ten years at two different clubs and when I met him I thought I knew a lot about football," he said.
"After I met him I realised I knew nothing. What he doesn't know about the game you can write on the back of a postage stamp and the affect that he had on my overall career was so strong that I think without him I wouldn't be say here right now.
"However, I am my own person, I have my own ideas and I motivate players in a different way to Gerry and I want to rub off on these players here and if I need anybody watched or any guidance then I can talk to Gerry.
"I am one of life's optimists but my policy is to be honest and open with our fans. They are the ones who pay the money to come in. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a wholehearted, passionate person and I was brought here before to rub off on the other players.
"I am hoping I can do that here with the players at the club and I am desperately looking forward to meeting them tomorrow morning and getting down to work." "I am absolutely delighted to be taking this on this challenge and I believe that by all pulling in the right direction we can get out of the position we are in."
More comprehensive quotes and a closer look at the new Rangers boss will appear here this afternoon.
QPR Official Site
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN ON HOLLOWAY APPOINTMENT
DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN Nick Blackburn believes the Rangers board have appointed the right man in Ian Holloway to take over as manager from Gerry Francis.
"We set a certain criteria in appointing a new manager; we wanted someone the ability to motivate, coach well, had experience of management but also someone who was on their way up in the game, someone to help re-structure the club in terms of the academy and the youth system and finally a man who knows players at a lower level in the game or people from Academy league clubs," he said.
"We also knew that Ian made a lot of money in the transfer market with Bristol Rovers which is something we have failed to do in recent years and also his ability to spot and develop players which he has done with the likes of Barry Hayles, Jason Roberts and Bobby Zamora in his time there.
"I know he brings a lot of passion in the way he works and has a lot of passion for this football club and after last Saturday's performance at Wimbledon, I hope some of that passion transmits to the players.
"Ian has signed a contract until the end of this season with another year with options and he is very heavily incentivised especially if he can keep us in the First Division this year which is absolutley crucial to the future of this club.
"He is also heavily incentivised in terms of league positions so I hope he is going to be here for another few years because if he is it will be because he has been able to bring success to the football club.
QPR Official Site
HOLLOWAY READY FOR RANGERS CHALLENGE
THE appointment of Ian Holloway as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers was not a huge surprise considering the 37-year old's links with the club and speculation which had linked him with a move back to west London.
'Olly' spent five years as a player at Loftus Road in the mid '90s, being brought to the club by Gerry Francis from Bristol Rovers as one of his first signings to play the role of a combative midfielder who, along with Simon Barker and Ray Wilkins, formed an midfield engine room which more than held their own with the Premiership's finest. .
Holloway, by his own admission was not a player who was up there with the likes of Ferdinand, Wilson, Sinclair and Wilkins, in terms of ability, but his whole-hearted, determined style made him a warm favourite with the Loftus Road faithful. .
"It was a huge part of my playing career and I was so proud playing here, anyone who watched me in my time here could see what I was about; wholehearted, determined and I was delighted to work for Gerry. Without doubt this was the biggest club I ever played for and for me to be sat here today is fantastic," said Ian today after being unveiled as the new incumbent in the Loftus Road hotseat.
Holloway's family life has been well-documented with two of his children being profoundly deaf and his wife having bravely beaten Cancer during his time at Brentford over a decade ago, but Holloway's positive attitude in times of adversity made him a hugely popular figure with his team mates in his first spell in west London.
Such positivity is something he is desperate to bring back to the club and Holloway insisted today that there will be no room for negative vibes in his dressing room despite the fact that he is taking over a side which has just experienced conceding five goals or more in a game for the third time in a month.
"I fully aware and realistic of what we have to do but I am fed up with pessimists, I am an eternal optimist and I am so looking forward to this challenge.
"The players will get from me honesty and enthusiasm. I sincerely feel in my heart of hearts that I can keep this club up. We've had some cruel luck with injuries but all I am saying is that with determination, belief it is amazing what you can achieve. .
"I look for people who give me a positive when there is a negative and there are a few negatives at the moment but I know we can turn these things around."
Ian comes into the club with no fewer than 18 players out of contract in the summer and the new boss today warned that those who want to stay with the club would have to earn the right to be a Queens Park Rangers player.
"It is amazing what a new face can do there are an awful lot of players at this club out of contract and if they want to prove to me with hard work and determination that they want to be here next season by showing pride and passion for the club then they will have every chance for me to deal with them fairly.
"I won't criticise people before I start as the players don't know me I don't know them, it was a bad result on Saturday at Wimbledon but the two previous ones give me hope. As long as it is mathematically possible to remain in this division then we are in with a shout. I am a people person and I cannot wait to work with these people."
Prior to his arrival in Shepherds Bush Holloway has spent four and half seasons trying to get his home town club Bristol Rovers into Division One and he narrowly missed out in two heartbreaking occasions in 1999 and last season.
However, in his spell at the Memorial Ground he did add over £5 million into the club's coffers with the sales of Barry Hayles, Jason Roberts, Jamie Cureton and Bobby Zamora and his eye for a player is something what enhanced his reputation as a bright managerial prospect.
Last season was a heartbreaking one for everyone concerned with the Pirates as their promotion dream ended in disaster when a final day of the season defeat to Cardiff saw them drop out of the top six for the first time all season and miss out on the play-offs completely. .
"It was disastrous time for the club especially Olly who very much built that team and in the summer things went from bad to worse when Roberts and Cureton had to be sold," said Chris Swift, the Rovers Football Correspondent for the Bristol Evening Post.
"In his time here he did produce a team which liked to get the ball down and play but a combination of some of the bigger players being tapped up by agents for moves to larger clubs and injuries they missed out at the final hurdle twice.
"It was rotten luck for the whole team really last season as coming into the last eight games he lost his whole midfield with season-ending injuries and he simply didn't have the squad to cover the cracks.
"It was a horrible feeling for everyone concerned as a year earlier they missed out on a Wembley appearance after losing in the play offs to Northampton 3-0 after winning the first leg 2-0 at home and this season the team hasn't really recovered from the loss of two players who bagged 50 goals between them in a season," said Swift.
Holloway left the Memorial Ground a month ago after struggling start to the season but says his enthusiasm for the game has not been diluted one little bit.
"I am very proud of the fact that I have only been out of work for four weeks which has given me a chance to spend with my family something which you can't do too much as a manager, but once you are bitten in the neck you are a vampire and I can't wait to get back in there and start work with the lads here.
"When you go into a new job you never know what other people think of you. However, I know what some of the lads that I have taken from a lesser standard and worked with have done and I am very proud of them and I know what they think of me.
"My relationship with Jason Roberts was fantastic and it broke my heart when I had to sell him to West Brom, but I have faith in my ability and I am determined to succeed here with these players.
"If they want to work with me morning, noon and night to improve themselves then I am willing to do that. I will work with them as much as I can and I can't stress enough just how excited I am to get this opportunity and I honestly cannot wait to get started." .
Deputy chairman Nick Blackburn admitted at this afternoon's gathering that he was unsure as to how assistant manager Iain Dowie would react to the news of Holloway's appointment after he failed to get the job, and Holloway said he was unsure of Dowie's position in the new set-up.
"I am convinced that Iain Dowie will have a great career as a manager. I have not spoken to him since the appointment but it is up to the two Ians to decide what they will do for the future," he said.
Holloway did not rule out the likelihood of Dowie remaining at the club, but insisted that until he had spoken to the staff and the players at the club he wasn't prepared to comment.
"Until I have spoken to everyone here I cannot comment on what will happen but I have my own ideas which I want done my way. I know football is notorious for managers bringing their own people in, but until I have assessed the whole set-up I cannot say what will happen." .
BBC - Monday, 26 February, 2001, QPR name Holloway as boss
Queens Park Rangers have named Ian Holloway as the new manager at Loftus Road.
Former QPR midfielder Holloway - sacked as Bristol Rovers boss last month - takes over from Gerry Francis who announced he was standing down 10 days ago.
I can't wait to take it on and I feel we can kick on from this
QPR boss Ian Holloway
He said: "I'm absolutely delighted to take this challenge on and motivate some of these players.
"It was a huge part of my playing career and I felt so proud. Anybody that watched me play could see what I was - whole-hearted and determined.
"This is the biggest club I ever played for and what we achieved in those five years, I was delighted.
"I can't wait to take it on and I feel we can kick on from this."
Optimistic
Holloway has joined Rangers on a contract for the remainder of this season and the whole of next term with options for an extension.
He is optimistic that he can keep the struggling club in the First Division, but insists that it is not just down to him.
"The players have got to work hard and they'll get honesty and enthusiasm from me and hopefully that will rub off.
"We are fully realistic of where we are and what we've got to do."
The former Rovers boss takes charge of first-team affairs on Tuesday and will work alongside his former mentor Francis, who has become the club's director of football.
But Holloway's appointment - which Francis is widely reported to have supported - throws the future of Rangers' assistant manager Iain Dowie into doubt.
Dowie was desperate to take over but, having failed in his second bid to land the job, could be set to leave the club altogether especially if - as expected - Holloway brings in Gary Penrice as his assistant. BBC
MAIL/STANDARD
Football: Holloway's back as QPR manager
by DAVID BOND, Evening Standard
Former Loftus Road favourite Ian Holloway was today appointed manager of Queens Park Rangers and handed the task of steering his old club clear of relegation.
Holloway, who played 147 games for QPR, has just 13 matches left to guide them to safety. Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Wimbledon left Rangers one place above the drop zone on goal difference.
His appointment comes 10 days after Gerry Francis announced he was standing down as manager. The game on Saturday was his last in charge of the team and he is now expected to take up the club's offer of a place on the board.
But Holloway, who was sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers last month, will be in full control of the side for Saturday's home League clash against Sheffield United.
The club refused to reveal the length of his contract but confirmed it was not a stop-gap measure and that Holloway's deal was "multi-year".
Iain Dowie will remain as his assistant for the time being even though he was interviewed and turned down for the manager's position.
Chief executive David Davies said: "Ian is one of the club's most enthusiastic sons and we are delighted he has decided to join us. He will be fundamental in keeping the club in Division One this year."
With the club facing an uncertain future following chairman Chris Wright's decision to sell his majority stakeholding, finding a new manager has proved difficult. Last week Dave Basset, Wycombe's Lawrie Sanchez and former Huddersfield manager Steve Bruce all distanced themselves from the job. But Davies says Holloway was always their No 1 choice.
He added: "No one else was offered the job. Steve (Bruce), Lawrie (Sanchez) and David (Basset) were never actually offered the post in the first instance. Two of those three were seen in interviews along with Ian and we only made one offer and that was to Ian.
"We believe he is the man to take us forward. His four and a half years at Bristol Rovers typified his character and in the end he got no reward for that work. We think he was unlucky to get sacked from Bristol Rovers but we are certainly not complaining as it has been to our advantage.
"He has never courted publicity but if you examine the statistics both with wins, losses and points and also in player trading, he has done extremely well.
"He has worked with financial restraints and in our current situation that's what we need. I think one or two of the other people we saw might not have been comfortable with that.
"When Ian was a player he instilled a great deal of affection with our fans. He never gave up and that's the attitude we need to get us out of trouble now.
"We've got 13 games to go and I'm sure the first thing he will do is to work on the dynamics of the team and the players' willingness to go that extra yard. Woe betide any of them who aren't prepared to do that."
There still remains the job of finding new owners and Davies said: "We can now devote all our energies to finding a buyer."
Monday, February 26, 2001 :
Soccer: Holloway named QPR boss
Ian Holloway has been named as the new manager of struggling First Division side Queens Park Rangers.Holloway was sacked as manager of Second Division Bristol Rovers last month and takes over from Gerry Francis, who recently resigned as QPR boss.Holloway made more than 200 appearances for the Loftus Road club between 1991 and 1996.He will take over another club fighting relegation - Rangers are fourth bottom of Division One and were on the wrong end of a 5-0 drubbing at Wimbledon on Saturday.Bristol Rovers almost won a play-off place under Holloway last season, but have endured a dramatic change of fortune this season.Despite beating Everton in the Worthington Cup under Holloway, they failed to win a home game prior to his departure on January 30.
archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/02/26/story5110.asp
[Just one of the scores of interviews and profiles of Ian Hollway which show the man as much as the manager.]
November 2003 Observer Interview with Holloway
Interview: Ian Holloway
Triumph and despair 'Having three deaf children out of four is so rare. We had the same chance of winning the lottery five times over.' The Queens Park Rangers manager Ian Holloway talks candidly about being a 'bolshie parent' - and how doing the best by his family disrupted his football career. Interview by Denis CampbellSunday November 2, 2003
It was a real shock when we found out that Eve and Chloe were deaf. You take it for granted with babies that there will never be anything wrong. William, our first born, had normal hearing. The twins looked fine. When they were born 14 years ago the doctors said they were perfectly healthy. But then, deafness is an invisible disability. After about six months we began to suspect something was wrong when we saw one of them mouthing words but with no sound coming out of her mouth.
We were confused because they could laugh and cry and we thought they wouldn't be able to do that if they had a hearing problem, but apparently they're natural things that all children do. Hearing tests were inconclusive, the medical people kept saying not to worry, and it wasn't until they were 16 months old that they were confirmed as being profoundly deaf. A hearing specialist came round, got a big heavy bell out of her bag and waved it behind the girls. They didn't react at all. Then we knew for sure that something was wrong.
We were shocked and suddenly out of our depth. We knew nothing about deafness and didn't really understand it either. I mean, even if you really shove your fingers into your own ears, you still can't make yourself deaf, so it's a very difficult condition to appreciate. The scariest thing was not knowing how to communicate with them, so we got a deaf woman called Christina in to teach us British Sign Language. That helped get rid of our frustration at not being able to get through to our daughters; it unlocked the door to communication.
After the girls, Kim was worried that if we had another child he or she would be deaf too. But the doctors told us that there was only a remote probability of that happening, even though both Kim and I carry a gene that means we're much more likely to have a deaf child. Then two years later we had Harriet and she was deaf too. Having three deaf children out of four is unbelievably rare. Statistically, we had the same chance of winning the Lottery five times over.
Eve and Chloe's birth was the start of a long fight and we're still angry that nobody told us just how big a challenge it was going to be having deaf twins. We had to learn basic things such as how you get a deaf child's attention. With a hearing child you can just shout: 'Oi!' But that obviously wouldn't work with the girls. If you want to tell off a hearing child, you just get louder and louder until they stop doing something. But if you're telling off a deaf child, they'll shield their eyes and won't look at you. Christina taught us that leaving the room is the best response.
The situation nearly did drive us crazy at one stage. We had three children, two of them deaf, Kim was pregnant again, and the twins' behaviour was out of control. As well as not being able to hear, they also had glue ear, which is horrendously painful. They would wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and I'd have to run outside with them and let the fresh air shock them out of it. They were deeply frustrated that the only way they could communicate with us was through sign language. They threw terrible tantrums.
It's been a fight all the way along to get proper provision for the girls, especially a good education. There's been rows, tribunals, appeals and endless phone calls. We have been labelled as bolshie parents. My view is that every child in the world has the right to be educated properly and whether your eyes or ears don't work is irrelevant. But the system at the moment makes that difficult. It's all about how much money each education authority wants to hand out to their minority of deaf people.
We've twice had to move home to get what we wanted for them. The first time was when I was playing for Queens Park Rangers in the mid-1990s. We were living in Camberley in Surrey, but the nursery school they were in had only basic sign language, so we moved back to Bristol, where we both come from, so they could attend Elmfield School for the Deaf there.
Our view was that the girls' development had suffered enough and that we shouldn't lose any more time. But moving there meant that every day for three and a half years I had a 250-mile round trip from Bristol to QPR's training ground in west London then back home again. Gerry Francis, my manager at the time, was sympathetic.
But it didn't help my care er. I developed terrible sciatica from sitting in the car all that time, even if the journey to London was a relief sometimes because it was an escape from the pressures of being at home. It was a chance to have a couple of hours to myself to think and reflect, which was nice.
We moved again from Bristol to St Albans in Hertfordshire, where we live now, so that Eve, Chloe and Hattie would be in the catchment area to attend a brilliant secondary school here called Heathlands, where 70 deaf children are taught alongside hundreds of hearing children. It's a great place and means the kids haven't become isolated by going to a school for the deaf. The full national curriculum is taught by sign language and the headmistress is deaf herself; she's the only deaf head in the country.
We still feel that we're lucky. Yes, our children have a disability, but it's an invisible disability and in every other way they're perfect, and we're so thankful for that. To experience the sheer trust and the love of a deaf child is amazing. The girls' deafness has touched and enhanced our lives. We're better people because of it.
The life facts
Born on 12 March 1963 in Bristol, Ian Holloway played 561 league games during a 19-year career as a midfielder with Bristol Rovers, Wimbledon, Torquay, Brentford and Queens Park Rangers. He became player-manager of Bristol Rovers in 1996, aged just 33, and since February 2001 has been the boss of QPR, whom he took to the Second Division play-off final last May. He is married to Kim and they live with their four children - William, twins Eve and Chloe, and Harriet - in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,1072689,00.html
Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/edit/11474#ixzz5gdHgC4v4
Feb 26, 2001 - Becoming our longest-serving Manager since Alec Stock
Feb 26, 2001
QPR Official Site - HOLLOWAY CONFIRMED AS BOSS
IAN HOLLOWAY was this afternoon unveiled as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers at a press conference at Loftus Road.
The 37-year-old who managed Bristol Rovers for four and a half seasons left the Memeorial Ground earlier this season and returns to Loftus Road where he spent five years as a player. Further details and quotes from the new boss will appear here later.
QPR Official Site - HOLLOWAY - I AM MY OWN MAN
NEW RANGERS boss Ian Holloway insists his return to Loftus Road is a challenge he is cannot wait to undertake.
Holloway, who spent five years as the club in the mid '90s takes over the reins at Loftus Road less than a month after leaving his post as boss of Bristol Rovers, and follows the path of Rangers' Director of Football Gerry Francis, who also swapped the West Country for a return to West London in 1991.
Subsequently Holloway's respect for Francis, who he served under as a player for ten years, is very high, but the 37-year-old insists that he is very much his own man.
The new boss has signed a contract until the end of the season with a view to another year and he is very glad to be back at Loftus Road.
"I was lucky enough to work with Gerry for over ten years at two different clubs and when I met him I thought I knew a lot about football," he said.
"After I met him I realised I knew nothing. What he doesn't know about the game you can write on the back of a postage stamp and the affect that he had on my overall career was so strong that I think without him I wouldn't be say here right now.
"However, I am my own person, I have my own ideas and I motivate players in a different way to Gerry and I want to rub off on these players here and if I need anybody watched or any guidance then I can talk to Gerry.
"I am one of life's optimists but my policy is to be honest and open with our fans. They are the ones who pay the money to come in. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a wholehearted, passionate person and I was brought here before to rub off on the other players.
"I am hoping I can do that here with the players at the club and I am desperately looking forward to meeting them tomorrow morning and getting down to work." "I am absolutely delighted to be taking this on this challenge and I believe that by all pulling in the right direction we can get out of the position we are in."
More comprehensive quotes and a closer look at the new Rangers boss will appear here this afternoon.
QPR Official Site
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN ON HOLLOWAY APPOINTMENT
DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN Nick Blackburn believes the Rangers board have appointed the right man in Ian Holloway to take over as manager from Gerry Francis.
"We set a certain criteria in appointing a new manager; we wanted someone the ability to motivate, coach well, had experience of management but also someone who was on their way up in the game, someone to help re-structure the club in terms of the academy and the youth system and finally a man who knows players at a lower level in the game or people from Academy league clubs," he said.
"We also knew that Ian made a lot of money in the transfer market with Bristol Rovers which is something we have failed to do in recent years and also his ability to spot and develop players which he has done with the likes of Barry Hayles, Jason Roberts and Bobby Zamora in his time there.
"I know he brings a lot of passion in the way he works and has a lot of passion for this football club and after last Saturday's performance at Wimbledon, I hope some of that passion transmits to the players.
"Ian has signed a contract until the end of this season with another year with options and he is very heavily incentivised especially if he can keep us in the First Division this year which is absolutley crucial to the future of this club.
"He is also heavily incentivised in terms of league positions so I hope he is going to be here for another few years because if he is it will be because he has been able to bring success to the football club.
QPR Official Site
HOLLOWAY READY FOR RANGERS CHALLENGE
THE appointment of Ian Holloway as the new manager of Queens Park Rangers was not a huge surprise considering the 37-year old's links with the club and speculation which had linked him with a move back to west London.
'Olly' spent five years as a player at Loftus Road in the mid '90s, being brought to the club by Gerry Francis from Bristol Rovers as one of his first signings to play the role of a combative midfielder who, along with Simon Barker and Ray Wilkins, formed an midfield engine room which more than held their own with the Premiership's finest. .
Holloway, by his own admission was not a player who was up there with the likes of Ferdinand, Wilson, Sinclair and Wilkins, in terms of ability, but his whole-hearted, determined style made him a warm favourite with the Loftus Road faithful. .
"It was a huge part of my playing career and I was so proud playing here, anyone who watched me in my time here could see what I was about; wholehearted, determined and I was delighted to work for Gerry. Without doubt this was the biggest club I ever played for and for me to be sat here today is fantastic," said Ian today after being unveiled as the new incumbent in the Loftus Road hotseat.
Holloway's family life has been well-documented with two of his children being profoundly deaf and his wife having bravely beaten Cancer during his time at Brentford over a decade ago, but Holloway's positive attitude in times of adversity made him a hugely popular figure with his team mates in his first spell in west London.
Such positivity is something he is desperate to bring back to the club and Holloway insisted today that there will be no room for negative vibes in his dressing room despite the fact that he is taking over a side which has just experienced conceding five goals or more in a game for the third time in a month.
"I fully aware and realistic of what we have to do but I am fed up with pessimists, I am an eternal optimist and I am so looking forward to this challenge.
"The players will get from me honesty and enthusiasm. I sincerely feel in my heart of hearts that I can keep this club up. We've had some cruel luck with injuries but all I am saying is that with determination, belief it is amazing what you can achieve. .
"I look for people who give me a positive when there is a negative and there are a few negatives at the moment but I know we can turn these things around."
Ian comes into the club with no fewer than 18 players out of contract in the summer and the new boss today warned that those who want to stay with the club would have to earn the right to be a Queens Park Rangers player.
"It is amazing what a new face can do there are an awful lot of players at this club out of contract and if they want to prove to me with hard work and determination that they want to be here next season by showing pride and passion for the club then they will have every chance for me to deal with them fairly.
"I won't criticise people before I start as the players don't know me I don't know them, it was a bad result on Saturday at Wimbledon but the two previous ones give me hope. As long as it is mathematically possible to remain in this division then we are in with a shout. I am a people person and I cannot wait to work with these people."
Prior to his arrival in Shepherds Bush Holloway has spent four and half seasons trying to get his home town club Bristol Rovers into Division One and he narrowly missed out in two heartbreaking occasions in 1999 and last season.
However, in his spell at the Memorial Ground he did add over £5 million into the club's coffers with the sales of Barry Hayles, Jason Roberts, Jamie Cureton and Bobby Zamora and his eye for a player is something what enhanced his reputation as a bright managerial prospect.
Last season was a heartbreaking one for everyone concerned with the Pirates as their promotion dream ended in disaster when a final day of the season defeat to Cardiff saw them drop out of the top six for the first time all season and miss out on the play-offs completely. .
"It was disastrous time for the club especially Olly who very much built that team and in the summer things went from bad to worse when Roberts and Cureton had to be sold," said Chris Swift, the Rovers Football Correspondent for the Bristol Evening Post.
"In his time here he did produce a team which liked to get the ball down and play but a combination of some of the bigger players being tapped up by agents for moves to larger clubs and injuries they missed out at the final hurdle twice.
"It was rotten luck for the whole team really last season as coming into the last eight games he lost his whole midfield with season-ending injuries and he simply didn't have the squad to cover the cracks.
"It was a horrible feeling for everyone concerned as a year earlier they missed out on a Wembley appearance after losing in the play offs to Northampton 3-0 after winning the first leg 2-0 at home and this season the team hasn't really recovered from the loss of two players who bagged 50 goals between them in a season," said Swift.
Holloway left the Memorial Ground a month ago after struggling start to the season but says his enthusiasm for the game has not been diluted one little bit.
"I am very proud of the fact that I have only been out of work for four weeks which has given me a chance to spend with my family something which you can't do too much as a manager, but once you are bitten in the neck you are a vampire and I can't wait to get back in there and start work with the lads here.
"When you go into a new job you never know what other people think of you. However, I know what some of the lads that I have taken from a lesser standard and worked with have done and I am very proud of them and I know what they think of me.
"My relationship with Jason Roberts was fantastic and it broke my heart when I had to sell him to West Brom, but I have faith in my ability and I am determined to succeed here with these players.
"If they want to work with me morning, noon and night to improve themselves then I am willing to do that. I will work with them as much as I can and I can't stress enough just how excited I am to get this opportunity and I honestly cannot wait to get started." .
Deputy chairman Nick Blackburn admitted at this afternoon's gathering that he was unsure as to how assistant manager Iain Dowie would react to the news of Holloway's appointment after he failed to get the job, and Holloway said he was unsure of Dowie's position in the new set-up.
"I am convinced that Iain Dowie will have a great career as a manager. I have not spoken to him since the appointment but it is up to the two Ians to decide what they will do for the future," he said.
Holloway did not rule out the likelihood of Dowie remaining at the club, but insisted that until he had spoken to the staff and the players at the club he wasn't prepared to comment.
"Until I have spoken to everyone here I cannot comment on what will happen but I have my own ideas which I want done my way. I know football is notorious for managers bringing their own people in, but until I have assessed the whole set-up I cannot say what will happen." .
BBC - Monday, 26 February, 2001, QPR name Holloway as boss
Queens Park Rangers have named Ian Holloway as the new manager at Loftus Road.
Former QPR midfielder Holloway - sacked as Bristol Rovers boss last month - takes over from Gerry Francis who announced he was standing down 10 days ago.
I can't wait to take it on and I feel we can kick on from this
QPR boss Ian Holloway
He said: "I'm absolutely delighted to take this challenge on and motivate some of these players.
"It was a huge part of my playing career and I felt so proud. Anybody that watched me play could see what I was - whole-hearted and determined.
"This is the biggest club I ever played for and what we achieved in those five years, I was delighted.
"I can't wait to take it on and I feel we can kick on from this."
Optimistic
Holloway has joined Rangers on a contract for the remainder of this season and the whole of next term with options for an extension.
He is optimistic that he can keep the struggling club in the First Division, but insists that it is not just down to him.
"The players have got to work hard and they'll get honesty and enthusiasm from me and hopefully that will rub off.
"We are fully realistic of where we are and what we've got to do."
The former Rovers boss takes charge of first-team affairs on Tuesday and will work alongside his former mentor Francis, who has become the club's director of football.
But Holloway's appointment - which Francis is widely reported to have supported - throws the future of Rangers' assistant manager Iain Dowie into doubt.
Dowie was desperate to take over but, having failed in his second bid to land the job, could be set to leave the club altogether especially if - as expected - Holloway brings in Gary Penrice as his assistant. BBC
MAIL/STANDARD
Football: Holloway's back as QPR manager
by DAVID BOND, Evening Standard
Former Loftus Road favourite Ian Holloway was today appointed manager of Queens Park Rangers and handed the task of steering his old club clear of relegation.
Holloway, who played 147 games for QPR, has just 13 matches left to guide them to safety. Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Wimbledon left Rangers one place above the drop zone on goal difference.
His appointment comes 10 days after Gerry Francis announced he was standing down as manager. The game on Saturday was his last in charge of the team and he is now expected to take up the club's offer of a place on the board.
But Holloway, who was sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers last month, will be in full control of the side for Saturday's home League clash against Sheffield United.
The club refused to reveal the length of his contract but confirmed it was not a stop-gap measure and that Holloway's deal was "multi-year".
Iain Dowie will remain as his assistant for the time being even though he was interviewed and turned down for the manager's position.
Chief executive David Davies said: "Ian is one of the club's most enthusiastic sons and we are delighted he has decided to join us. He will be fundamental in keeping the club in Division One this year."
With the club facing an uncertain future following chairman Chris Wright's decision to sell his majority stakeholding, finding a new manager has proved difficult. Last week Dave Basset, Wycombe's Lawrie Sanchez and former Huddersfield manager Steve Bruce all distanced themselves from the job. But Davies says Holloway was always their No 1 choice.
He added: "No one else was offered the job. Steve (Bruce), Lawrie (Sanchez) and David (Basset) were never actually offered the post in the first instance. Two of those three were seen in interviews along with Ian and we only made one offer and that was to Ian.
"We believe he is the man to take us forward. His four and a half years at Bristol Rovers typified his character and in the end he got no reward for that work. We think he was unlucky to get sacked from Bristol Rovers but we are certainly not complaining as it has been to our advantage.
"He has never courted publicity but if you examine the statistics both with wins, losses and points and also in player trading, he has done extremely well.
"He has worked with financial restraints and in our current situation that's what we need. I think one or two of the other people we saw might not have been comfortable with that.
"When Ian was a player he instilled a great deal of affection with our fans. He never gave up and that's the attitude we need to get us out of trouble now.
"We've got 13 games to go and I'm sure the first thing he will do is to work on the dynamics of the team and the players' willingness to go that extra yard. Woe betide any of them who aren't prepared to do that."
There still remains the job of finding new owners and Davies said: "We can now devote all our energies to finding a buyer."
Monday, February 26, 2001 :
Soccer: Holloway named QPR boss
Ian Holloway has been named as the new manager of struggling First Division side Queens Park Rangers.Holloway was sacked as manager of Second Division Bristol Rovers last month and takes over from Gerry Francis, who recently resigned as QPR boss.Holloway made more than 200 appearances for the Loftus Road club between 1991 and 1996.He will take over another club fighting relegation - Rangers are fourth bottom of Division One and were on the wrong end of a 5-0 drubbing at Wimbledon on Saturday.Bristol Rovers almost won a play-off place under Holloway last season, but have endured a dramatic change of fortune this season.Despite beating Everton in the Worthington Cup under Holloway, they failed to win a home game prior to his departure on January 30.
archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/02/26/story5110.asp
[Just one of the scores of interviews and profiles of Ian Hollway which show the man as much as the manager.]
November 2003 Observer Interview with Holloway
Interview: Ian Holloway
Triumph and despair 'Having three deaf children out of four is so rare. We had the same chance of winning the lottery five times over.' The Queens Park Rangers manager Ian Holloway talks candidly about being a 'bolshie parent' - and how doing the best by his family disrupted his football career. Interview by Denis CampbellSunday November 2, 2003
It was a real shock when we found out that Eve and Chloe were deaf. You take it for granted with babies that there will never be anything wrong. William, our first born, had normal hearing. The twins looked fine. When they were born 14 years ago the doctors said they were perfectly healthy. But then, deafness is an invisible disability. After about six months we began to suspect something was wrong when we saw one of them mouthing words but with no sound coming out of her mouth.
We were confused because they could laugh and cry and we thought they wouldn't be able to do that if they had a hearing problem, but apparently they're natural things that all children do. Hearing tests were inconclusive, the medical people kept saying not to worry, and it wasn't until they were 16 months old that they were confirmed as being profoundly deaf. A hearing specialist came round, got a big heavy bell out of her bag and waved it behind the girls. They didn't react at all. Then we knew for sure that something was wrong.
We were shocked and suddenly out of our depth. We knew nothing about deafness and didn't really understand it either. I mean, even if you really shove your fingers into your own ears, you still can't make yourself deaf, so it's a very difficult condition to appreciate. The scariest thing was not knowing how to communicate with them, so we got a deaf woman called Christina in to teach us British Sign Language. That helped get rid of our frustration at not being able to get through to our daughters; it unlocked the door to communication.
After the girls, Kim was worried that if we had another child he or she would be deaf too. But the doctors told us that there was only a remote probability of that happening, even though both Kim and I carry a gene that means we're much more likely to have a deaf child. Then two years later we had Harriet and she was deaf too. Having three deaf children out of four is unbelievably rare. Statistically, we had the same chance of winning the Lottery five times over.
Eve and Chloe's birth was the start of a long fight and we're still angry that nobody told us just how big a challenge it was going to be having deaf twins. We had to learn basic things such as how you get a deaf child's attention. With a hearing child you can just shout: 'Oi!' But that obviously wouldn't work with the girls. If you want to tell off a hearing child, you just get louder and louder until they stop doing something. But if you're telling off a deaf child, they'll shield their eyes and won't look at you. Christina taught us that leaving the room is the best response.
The situation nearly did drive us crazy at one stage. We had three children, two of them deaf, Kim was pregnant again, and the twins' behaviour was out of control. As well as not being able to hear, they also had glue ear, which is horrendously painful. They would wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and I'd have to run outside with them and let the fresh air shock them out of it. They were deeply frustrated that the only way they could communicate with us was through sign language. They threw terrible tantrums.
It's been a fight all the way along to get proper provision for the girls, especially a good education. There's been rows, tribunals, appeals and endless phone calls. We have been labelled as bolshie parents. My view is that every child in the world has the right to be educated properly and whether your eyes or ears don't work is irrelevant. But the system at the moment makes that difficult. It's all about how much money each education authority wants to hand out to their minority of deaf people.
We've twice had to move home to get what we wanted for them. The first time was when I was playing for Queens Park Rangers in the mid-1990s. We were living in Camberley in Surrey, but the nursery school they were in had only basic sign language, so we moved back to Bristol, where we both come from, so they could attend Elmfield School for the Deaf there.
Our view was that the girls' development had suffered enough and that we shouldn't lose any more time. But moving there meant that every day for three and a half years I had a 250-mile round trip from Bristol to QPR's training ground in west London then back home again. Gerry Francis, my manager at the time, was sympathetic.
But it didn't help my care er. I developed terrible sciatica from sitting in the car all that time, even if the journey to London was a relief sometimes because it was an escape from the pressures of being at home. It was a chance to have a couple of hours to myself to think and reflect, which was nice.
We moved again from Bristol to St Albans in Hertfordshire, where we live now, so that Eve, Chloe and Hattie would be in the catchment area to attend a brilliant secondary school here called Heathlands, where 70 deaf children are taught alongside hundreds of hearing children. It's a great place and means the kids haven't become isolated by going to a school for the deaf. The full national curriculum is taught by sign language and the headmistress is deaf herself; she's the only deaf head in the country.
We still feel that we're lucky. Yes, our children have a disability, but it's an invisible disability and in every other way they're perfect, and we're so thankful for that. To experience the sheer trust and the love of a deaf child is amazing. The girls' deafness has touched and enhanced our lives. We're better people because of it.
The life facts
Born on 12 March 1963 in Bristol, Ian Holloway played 561 league games during a 19-year career as a midfielder with Bristol Rovers, Wimbledon, Torquay, Brentford and Queens Park Rangers. He became player-manager of Bristol Rovers in 1996, aged just 33, and since February 2001 has been the boss of QPR, whom he took to the Second Division play-off final last May. He is married to Kim and they live with their four children - William, twins Eve and Chloe, and Harriet - in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,1072689,00.html
Read more: qprreport.proboards.com/thread/edit/11474#ixzz5gdHgC4v4
