Ian Holloway last night issued a frank New Year's message to the sulking superstars and pampered prima donnas of the Barclays Premier League, admitting he would punch one of them if he was at a bigger club than Blackpool.
As Holloway takes the league's paupers to face mega-rich Manchester City at Eastlands this afternoon, he criticised the 'obscene' amount of money his opponents' wealthy owners have thrown at their club and insisted he would never want to swap places with manager Roberto Mancini.
Fighting talk: Holloway has hit out at City
City's Italian boss has struggled to maintain harmony among his highly-paid stars, with both Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli guilty of snubbing their manager in public after being substituted in recent weeks.
Holloway said: 'I would hate to have some fella who is not in my team or who I bring off treat me like that. At the moment, I am not experienced enough and I would try to fight them or knock them out.
'My players have to earn the right before they get an ice-cream. They have to do what I want them to do and do it in the right way. But some of these players, who are of that
ilk, think they are better than they are and think they can get a manager the sack.
'If you look at all the stable clubs who have a great tradition, the players know who the manager is and have to toe the line. If they don't, they get bombed out and that is exactly how it should be.
'The tail should not wag the dog. I don't want Blackpool to be like that. I like the stability
of clubs that have been successful. You look at Bayern Munich, Manchester United,
Arsenal — there is structure to what they do.'
Sulking superstars: Tevez (left) and Balotelli
Holloway praised Mancini and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for the way
they have tackled player power by keeping Tevez and Wayne Rooney at their clubs this season.
He added: 'Football is about how Liverpool used to be run. Can you imagine being part of Bill Shankly's or Bob Paisley's squad and stepping out of line? Those players were great but they knew who they were playing for and didn't dare disrespect the club.
'I think we've got to get back to that, and if Mancini can manage to bring that to
Manchester City like he's dealt with Tevez then they might have half a chance.'
Mancini: Holloway doesn't envy the City manager
As City line up another £30million-plus signing in Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko,
Holloway warned that money was the biggest evil in football and no guarantee of long-term success.
'I wouldn't want their cash,' he added. 'It's quite obscene at times. I would rather do
what we're doing.
'That sort of wage budget is going to cause all sorts of hassle. Money isn't just the
biggest danger in football, it's the biggest danger in the world. Greed is still one of the
seven deadly sins.
'Football isn't instant coffee. You have to work at it. You must grow the bean, grind it.'
Holloway said his New Year's resolution will be to join his backroom staff in having a
personal health check after youth-team coach Gary Parkinson suffered a severe
stroke in September.
But after leading Blackpool up to eighth place in the league with games in hand, he does not want 2010 to end. 'I might just call the next one 2010 as well, rather than 2011,' he said.
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