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To all the fans,

It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my resignation as manager of Grimsby Town Football Club.

New wannabe owners are hovering over GTFC and John has told me he is selling his stake in the club. So it’s time for a fresh start across the board for this great club.

As I said recently, I intend to be fully honest with you, the supporters.

Contact was made by the new owners to me on several occasions before the takeover, which I felt was inappropriate, and told them as such. This is the key factor in my decision.

Why? The relationship between the incoming new owners, board and manager is so so important. It needs to be strong for a club to succeed, and we got off on the wrong footing.

Therefore, that relationship will be strained from the off, which is bad for the club.

This is a club that, if everybody has its best interests at heart, can progress onwards and upwards. That is their challenge. That is their honour.

I sincerely wish them all the best going forward and I implore them to communicate regularly and openly with the fans.

For a myriad of reasons, on and off the pitch, it feels like we didn’t get a fair crack together, and I take me share of the blame too. I hoped for this to be a long, serious relationship but it hasn’t worked out that way, and that saddens me

I wish you every bit of success. The fans deserve it. God bless

If we lost on Saturday he would of quit then i reckon, an easy get out excuse your telling me if we are near the top he would quit no chance.
Bottled it big time and under prepared for this season.

Just in time for christmas too how nice, feel really let down by him now so dissapointed.

Not surprised , the guys head hasnt been right for weeks, all this scandal on top and cr@p team he has assembled.

Hope he gets sorted mentally as he clearly has been struggling.

As for the whole sh!t show then just another act in the JF Circus.

Not a penny more until he has gone.

UTM

Not sure why anyone is surprised.

It would divide opinion massively but Hurst would get us working as a team with some identity. We wouldn’t go down under PH

17th December

"To the fans of Grimsby Town Football Club. Let me say, first and foremost, that I’m not going anywhere unless I’m told to. The love that you, the fans, have shown myself and my family since my arrival has exceeded even my highest expectations, on and off the pitch."

Yeh, yeh, yeh, whatever.

Tw@t!!

It feels very dishonest to me, there’s no way a takeover is this close.

He’s built a terrible squad and now we’re somehow going to have to turn it around in 4 weeks or we’re going down.

Thanks, Ian.

Oh yeah...

And I bet it will all be the fans fault.

I'm afraid I have to worry about the way this season and everything that has gone on, with his personal life and the club, has affected his mental situation. I know he is passionate but some of his touchline behavior, interviews and indeed last night's substitutions seem more than bizarre.

You could get Pep in to manage Grimsby but with Fenty in charge our position will never change . I think the penny has Finally dropped to all but the head in sand brigade

What we do know is that we have no manager and are dropping like a stone with a shocking squad.
What we don’t know is if there really is going to be a takeover, new board and a manager in the wings.
Personally I’ll just leave them alone until we know more and have finally given up for now on this marvellous club I have supported for over 60 years

can we re do the relegation poll please

Took the easy way out, should have stayed to sort out the on field mess we are in. All the optimism his appointment brought sadly evaporated. I'm saddened as without Covid I am sure we would be further up the table and not in a relegation battle.

Unpopular choice to some but bring back Paul Hurst, get us organized and hard to beat. Sod pretty football we just need to survive.

Personally I’m gutted.

Gutted, genuinely gutted.

Liked the guy a lot, and felt he could take us forward.

But he's obviously a Fenty friend, and doesn't want to be without him.

I would rather new owners and a new manager, than Fenty & Holloway, as much as i like IH.

Hopefully new owners come in and quickly sort this out, as January is right upon us, and we are in a bad position...

Club totally unprepared as per usual.
Not even on the social media feeds or website.

Historically been a massive Ollie fan but to resign at this moment in time just prior to a transfer window, when loan players need sending back and our whole future depends on who we bring in is in my mind just a disgrace. How does the guy feel who was warming up last night waiting for his clearance to come through?

This leaves the club in a terrible position at a crucial time of the season and will spoil more Christmas’s then it will make and I’m lost for words but feel mightily let down by him.

As for a replacement Graham Alexander.

We need a manager in fast sa the window opens in a few days , and we need players that can play at this level

Lousy illegitimate took his way out when it got tough.

Not surprised by this at all
I wonder what the potential new owners have planned?
On a positive note, that if true and Fenty is selling, then I have the view of 'every cloud has a silver lining'

excrement house. Was looking for a way out for a very very long time. No respect whatsoever after his famous little quote last week.

Quoted from coddy60

Every cloud, underneath his original post he says John has told him hes selling his stake 🤞

can't see that on his twitter account coddy. can you provide a link please?

The club’s an absolute laughing stock so I don’t blame him for not wanting to be a part of it especially with the excrement squad we have.

He’s certainly not left us in a good position however.

Shithousery at its finest...a tenure littered with feeble excuses, even his resignation is full of them...

Quoted from forza ivano

can't see that on his twitter account coddy. can you provide a link please?

https://twitter.com/IanOllie7/status/1341675118666387458

Gutted Ian has gone i thought he was more of a gentleman than that a poor excuse for me, he has worked with Oysten FFS so why he cannot work with the new owners is unbelievable.
I think fenty maybe promised him some of the redevelopment pie and when he left that has gone.
That’s his managerial career over now.

quote from IH 'New wannabe owners are hovering over GTFC and John has told me he is selling his stake in the club. So it’s time for a fresh start across the board for this great club'

The king of bullsh1t mountain or what?

I know this won't be a positive opinion but that statement along with many recently illustrates his self absorbed narcissism. In essence it looks like he's just announced a takeover before the board have.

I thought all along his recent behavior was him setting the scene for his exit and to blame the new owners without actually giving them a chance is stupid, what does he expect them to do bow down at his feet? Yes he clearly wasn't backed like many others before him but for this to become more about him and his ego just illustrates that he's not right anyway.

The club is in disarray but I hope he doesn't kick us when we're down and start moaning on Talk Sport about how others got it wrong and didn't keep their promises as the team & football he's been accountable for would suggest he didn't keep his side of the bargain either.

Not surprised by this for one second. When he said he wasn't going to invest that was it...

Let your heads rule your hearts - Hurst will keep this club in the league.

#Fentyout

He even takes a sly dig at potential owners...no wonder he got along with Fenty with that level of petulance.

May be the new owners realised Holloway was past it too...

Well i am disappointed he has gone
But would like to thank him for his efforts for the last year and wish him well in anything he does , for 12 months he brought a belief ,craziness, hope , publicity to GTFC ....it was a ride ... not the best one but definitely a ride

Personally, I see some positives in this. I have listened to all of his interviews and he is completely inconsistent. This is shown in the way we now play a completely different game. Ironically I thought last night was the best performance for awhile.
Presumably, resignation means we do not need to pay him off and let’s face it if he had not been Holloway based on form this season anywhere else he would have been sacked anyway.
We have more than half a season to sort this out
The fans are way more important than Mr (ego) Holloway
This could be the catalyst for improvement and change and actually I think we have one or two decent players.it is not surprising that the players struggle for a pattern with a manager that cannot string together half a dozen coherent sentences utm

Seen a very interesting theory on twitter...

Was IH going to profit from this Fenty/May scheme, hence the reason for investing in the club?

He certainly got very angry when it all came out didn't he....

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Seen a very interesting theory on twitter...

Was IH going to profit from this Fenty/May scheme, hence the reason for investing in the club?

He certainly got very angry when it all came out didn't he....

Theory or fact? I think the latter is probably closer to the truth...

Get a taxi to Alexander's House get him here now.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Seen a very interesting theory on twitter...

Was IH going to profit from this Fenty/May scheme, hence the reason for investing in the club?

He certainly got very angry when it all came out didn't he....

Yep, the collapse of the May deal is the major factor in this, Ive felt all along that the Board were ready to accept that deal.

Quoted from aldi_01

Theory or fact? I think the latter is probably closer to the truth...

I think so aswell mate...

Let's hope the new 'potential owners' have been pre-planning for this mess

Bottled it and left us in the excrement .
I had a feeling this would happen , if we go down I’ll never forgive him or Fenty

Wanted out. Wants to live back in the South West near his family I assume. Suspect he only came here as he was sold a chance to invest and make some money through redevelopment. That's gone and coincidentlaly now so is he.

So we now have no manager just before a vital transfer window opens. We don't even have a proper flipping assistant to step up. Pretty appalling the way he has left us a week after stating he was going nowhere. So he can take his patronising 'this great club' balderdash and intercourse off for me.

The club statement confirms Fenty is selling.

It’s an awful statement though. Big swipe at the new owners

He was a busted flush from the day he arrived, bullshitting his way around the town, buying kids Town shirts, promising an influx of former players wanting to sign because of him. Like a fading filmstar

Out of touch, past it, rambling old man who somehow got all those desperate for success all excited and over reacting as usual (just like when Jolley arrived)

Been looking for an excuse to go for months but hadn't the balderdash to admit his dream and 'legacy' was no more than a mad hope he might regain 'former glories' (whatever they were)

On your bike Mr Holloway and don't take the club owned motor with you

A failure. Good riddance I only hope someone can put right the shite you have left in your wake

Never liked him, never rated him never taken in by his bumbling bullshit 'Investing in the club want to leave a legacy' my bottom

Quoted from It Bites

You could get Pep in to manage Grimsby but with Fenty in charge our position will never change . I think the penny has Finally dropped to all but the head in sand brigade

Would the person who red crossed this post care to enlighten everyone which part is in correct John

It’s all leaving me to feel that they’ve been caught with their hands in the till and they’d all have had a big pay off from the regeneration.

Phil marais will get the stand in job I reckon. Just signed for 18 months and looking to become a manager. Should be well connected too

Bottled it! He has resigned to save face so that he can go onto Quest or talksport and use these god awful excuses instead of just admitting he wasnt up to the job and built one of the most inexperienced/awful squads we've had since our last relegation. I think we all had the wool pulled over our eyes by him with his "love for the supporters" when in reality it was just a love in with JF. Goodbye Ollie, thanks for giving us some hope but in reality you delivered very little other than excuses week after week

To just walk days before the transfer window is reprehensible. He’s walking making excuses so his reputation remains intact. I wouldn’t pee on him if he was on fire.

It saddens me how everyone is keen to jump on this post and slag IH off. It's quite possible that the new owners are bringing in their own manager and therefore Ollie has had to bite the bullet and resign before getting sacked.

I respect Ollie and what he has tried to do here at GTFC, I only hope that the new owners and manager have the same passion for the club as he did. Thanks Ollie.

Sorry to see you go Olly, it was a right good laugh especially the early days
Sadly given a choice between you and Fenty or new owners and you leaving it’s a no brainer
Best wishes and good luck

Nice one ian!

The tough gets going and off you go.

All this im in it for the long haul and i love the club fans area and all that bolocks.

Fraud

If losing Holloway is the price to pay to get rid of the rotten core of the club then so be it.

No one is bigger than GTFC. No manager and no owner.

Completely predictable.

Pleased he's gone, no affinity with the area, the club or the fans, only in it for himself.

Full of bullshit.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

It’s all leaving me to feel that they’ve been caught with their hands in the till and they’d all have had a big pay off from the regeneration.

and you think the 3 wise men, are only interested in the football club ;D

Quoted from 123614

It saddens me how everyone is keen to jump on this post and slag IH off. It's quite possible that the new owners are bringing in their own manager and therefore Ollie has had to bite the bullet and resign before getting sacked.

I respect Ollie and what he has tried to do here at GTFC, I only hope that the new owners and manager have the same passion for the club as he did. Thanks Ollie.

Then the obvious option is to carry on and if you get sacked you get your contract paid up. What if a takeover doesn't happen? He would still be in a job at this "massive club with excellent supporters that he loves"

Blatantly was involved in the whole May dodgy deal . Get f.ucked Holloway you t.wat

I think the petulant statement suggests he was very much here for economical reasons linked to the Fenty/May deal...

I said on here prior to his appointment that I thought he was full of excrement, and he reminded me of Boris Johnson with his bullshit jingoistic headline grabbing quotes.

Funnily enough the guy on here who uses the Boris Johnson username, replied to my post saying: you mean a winner like Boris Johnson ;D

Let's hope we get someone in who has good knowledge/experience of this division.

Don't think his heart has been in it this season. He didn't want to restart football and we made a hash of the preseason, possibly because he was poorly prepared.

Ian Hollow go your own Way.

Next!

Good news. Fresh start needed across the board.

All very predictable given his statement last week. I'm not quite sure what the sub-plot is here, but I'm fairly confident that the truth lies somewhere in between him having simply bitten off more than he can chew and the outing of the Alex May deal putting paid to a deal which would have seen him benefit financially. I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, but the fact he came here when he did seemed odd at the time and so I'm inclined to believe that there may be something in the latter.

Ultimately, it's a convenient narrative that allows him to walk away with his reputation intact in the eyes of the wider footballing world. I am not prepared to forget however that he came here full of bluster and potentially on false pretences, and left the club with a seriously underwhelming, unbalanced, oversized squad bereft of confidence and facing a very real threat of relegation back into the non-league abyss.

That's his legacy for me. A man who I had great respect for even before he joined our club just lost all of it. He is no higher in my estimation now than Mike Newell, and that is some achievement.

Whatever you make of his resignation statement, he is not telling the whole truth.

Sad news in many ways
So full of optimism when he walked in the club
He has not handled Covid situation well - on any count, including his mental health IMO

It may be a cop out - and his mixed message have not helped things; Dec 17 he is going nowhere, played better last night, beat Scunny and now resigns

With Fenty now selling - great news - his position would be a helluva lot more precarious; I guess he wouldn't have been a director and perhaps not on the board?

New owners - great news... no least cos it can't be any worse than current shitstorm

I was a '50/50' person on Fenty for many years (who else would come in etc) - but totally changed after events of last few weeks; he's poison and we need a fresh start

New manager? Depends on levels of investment...the more you have the better quality you get
But we are still GTFC - not exactly a thrilling prospect (no new stadium on horizon, delapidated ground, average facilties etc)

Paul Hurst would be good - I am 99% certain we wouldn't go down; Alexander is good at this level
Not pretty footy though from either...but perhaps, who cares?

It's a sad day - for all the promise and hope fans had when he walked in the door - but taken as a whole (Fenty/new owners etc) it's a great day IMO

Some of you wont like it but I think we need someone in that knows the club/area..they wont have time to put their feet under the desk they have to get going straight away, this is such a crucial period for us and the right and quick decisions are needed.

Feel so betrayed by I.H not surprised but betrayed

'I'm all about openness and honesty, me'.

'The potential new owners contacted me, that's unacceptable'.

What the fukk is he on about?

Quoted from immariner

'I'm all about openness and honesty, me'.

'The potential new owners contacted me, that's unacceptable'.

What the fukk is he on about?

This. Makes no sense whatsoever.

I suspect that things might have been different if it hadn't been for the pandemic.

No doubt that Holloway signed some exciting players initially and we looked like we had the basis for a good team when the pandemic hit.

Since then, he's not dealt with the situation well as our complete lack of preparedness for the season shows. I suspect he over-estimated his own ability to cobble together a team with the young, inexperienced signings from non-league, the young, inexperienced loan players and the senior players who haven't spent much time fit this season. I can see why they were cautious when trying to build a squad, but it just hasn't worked out. I'd imagine it would be difficult to attract players to the area given the pandemic conditions - "Come and sign for us. We can't pay you much, you won't be able to go out and make many friends, there aren't many attractions and everywhere is likely to be shut in any case."

I'd imagine this season would have been a different prospect if we'd kept Vernam and Hessenthaler as those two alone would have done enough to help win us a good few points.

Not surprised that he's gone as he's sounded distinctly wobbly in recent weeks. The good news is that we have the chance for a clean slate if the club does finally get new owners. You'd imagine that any potential manager looking for a job would have kept his eyes on what was happening and will already be looking at which players are likely to be available during the transfer window.

We've got a weak squad and are in poor form, but a couple of reasonable signings and the return of one or two players from injury ought to be enough to see us get a mid-table finish.

Of course, the new lot were going to get in touch. Firstly, If I was a director, I'd want to know what the new owners' plans and vision for the club is.

Secondly, as Manager I'd want a 'this is what I need to turn things around' chat.... There is nothing wrong with a little forward planning.

Many have been saying for weeks that he has been looking for a way out and I suspect this was the opportune moment for him..

On the flipside, this is shite timing for us, needing a manager for our mist important transfer window in years,

FFS Ian.

Of course the new owners contacted you Ian they wanted to know if you was still on board or not.. Feel this could be a positive for me we are in big trouble and I wouldn't have wanted IH anywhere near the Jan window personally.

Not one for losing my temper, but in my 35 years of supporting Town I have never been so infuriated with a departure as I am today. I am under no illusion that he was under achieving and off the field issues were currently effecting all at the club, but the way this has gone about is absolute s**thousery at its finest from both Holloway and the board. It is literally only days since Holloway's rousing statement saying he is here until told otherwise and he is staying for the fans. During that time we have beaten our local rivals something to at least give people a boost, despite last nights game.

This really feels like a practical joke, had Holloway have joined us and not have praised the fans and the history of the club at every turn and in every interview, made promises of investment, publicised wishes of wanting to take us up the League's then this would be a lot better received. He brought in a media circus and has been outspoken ever since joining the club, he has drunk up every bit of love, respect and charity that the fans have offered so today I feel is a big intercourse you back in the face of the fans who are again watching a complete and utter clusterf**k absorbing the club. If he loved the fans as much as he repeatedly told us then he would have made a way for this to work. All in all this is probably arguably one of the worst appointments the clubs has made, certainly from an embarrassment factor due to all the hype and promises made.

Where will Holloway go now? I couldn't give a intercourse, probably back on TV, back in some kind of media spotlight. I don't blame the man for having his opinions and feelings towards the board but I wanted and expected him to at least have some bottle and fight in him.

As for the board, Wow! well done guys, you have handled this with all the grace of a reversing Texaco Oil tanker, this Alex May saga has brought huge embarrassment to the club, and its obvious his offer was being entertained until the media cottoned on to it and alerted the fans. This club will never progress until it's ran by decent, honest, people who care about this club top to bottom. At the moment this club is an absolute disgrace and I can't see it stopping until big changes happen.

One last thing, whatever mad man wants to come in and take this job will now have a monumental task in trying to save this club from relegation. We arguably have the worst set of players since 2009/10 since we last went down, if anyone can come in and keep us up, then seriously you will earn my respect for life.

Another bad day in the life of being a Town fan.

Quoted from SomeSanity

On the flipside, this is shite timing for us, needing a manager for our mist important transfer window in years,

I wonder if this is one last attempt to stick two fingers up at the fans by Fenty .... this is what we'll do Ollie, this will leave them in a right mess, and they'll regret me leaving ..

Who takes charge in the immediate future then? We've still got games to play on Boxing Day (unless cancelled). We haven't got an assistant who can step up, what about coaches? excrement time to resigns ffs

Anyone getting the feeling we have dodged a bullet?

I mean the bloke was getting crazier as each week paased.

Holloway seems to me to have a borderline personality disorder! Just talks utter rubbish and believes his own narcissist hype. Glad he's gone, but he's left us in the proverbial. For all the talk of January clearout, it's not that straight forward. The club can't get out of employment contracts unless the players concerned agree. His atrocious recruitment has left whoever now makes the decisions in an impossible position. A squad packed with utter dross, that will be difficult to get out the door to enable new signings to be made. The only upside is there are at least a few player out injured who are possibly capable of keeping us up when they come back, eg. Max.

Quoted from JoeTheMariner

Who takes charge in the immediate future then? We've still got games to play on Boxing Day (unless cancelled). We haven't got an assistant who can step up, what about coaches? excrement time to resigns ffs

You know what, wouldn't be shocked to see it go to Filipe Morais. UEFA A Coaching badge, not even a coach here but probably the most qualified to take over in the interim. Already did it at Crawley in the past.

My son, who follows Town but in a rather detached way nowadays, has just sent me this text:

“It always follows the same tedious predictable pattern:

- Rumour Mill
- Appointment (he’ll be great, we’re going up)
- Wins a couple of games (we’re definitely going up)
- Players are crap, loses a couple of games
- Fans start to complain
- Loses more games (tactics are crap, players out of position, we know better than the manager)
- Wins a couple (stay of execution)
- Loses a couple more
- Sacked

Repeat until the end of time.”

Well, it made me laugh! One thing I’ll predict with total confidence: whoever the new manager turns out to be, there’ll be people on here calling for his head within 3 months. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ;)

Perhaps we’re gonna offer the ‘manager’ experience for £325 a game...

Absolute bottle job. Left us in the lurch. Take your soundbites and f*ck off you dishonest charlatan.

I am sorry he did not get a decent chance to build on a good start, there were lots of reasons for that but what’s done is done. I reckon he knows far more than he has let on and this is not some knee jerk reaction.

To me it implies that he was a part of the Fenty master plan along with May and his own ambitions have fallen foul of that collapsing.

Football-wise he did not stand a chance of success without the support of a budget and a decent assistant. He was never going to get either of those in the foreseeable months was he?

Well, maybe ..... just maybe ........ the New Year will bring GTFC what we have longed for. Some planning, some funding for the team, some future. The god of January is supposed to face both back and forwards. It’s many years since the forwards part was true for us.

Quoted from joe56

My son, who follows Town but in a rather detached way nowadays, has just sent me this text:

“It always follows the same tedious predictable pattern:

- Rumour Mill
- Appointment (he’ll be great, we’re going up)
- Wins a couple of games (we’re definitely going up)
- Players are crap, loses a couple of games
- Fans start to complain
- Loses more games (tactics are crap, players out of position, we know better than the manager)
- Wins a couple (stay of execution)
- Loses a couple more
- Sacked

Repeat until the end of time.”

Well, it made me laugh! One thing I’ll predict with total confidence: whoever the new manager turns out to be, there’ll be people on here calling for his head within 3 months. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ;)

Exactly this^^

Quoted from aldi_01

Perhaps we’re gonna offer the ‘manager’ experience for £325 a game...

We've got some on here who couldn't do any worse than the rambling Bristolian

Quoted from Boris Johnson

and you think the 3 wise men, are only interested in the football club ;D

Absolutely not. They’re definitely interested in profiting from a huge development.

The difference is they might be able to do it. They also are not involving a serial conman and fraudster in the deal.

Surely as a manager of a club with a potential takeover in progress, contact from new owners is a good thing?

Unless they told him they want to their own manager in place etc etc, but i highly doubt that

Quoted from Ipswin

We've got some on here who couldn't do any worse than the rambling Bristolian

For a start, we’d have all taken Spokes off last night...

More I think about it...
The new owners contacting him - bound to happen, surely?
Sounding him out? These are our plans? It'll be great to have a chat etc
Goes on all of the time in footy
I bet Holloway was spoken to by clubs when a manager was in situ

It doesn't ring true

It's a big cop out unless he knew his time was up with new owners; he wouldn't be allowed to invest; not be a director etc

Quoted from TAGG

Get a taxi to Alexander's House get him here now.

FFS NO.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Surely as a manager of a club with a potential takeover in progress, contact from new owners is a good thing?

Unless they told him they want to their own manager in place etc etc, but i highly doubt that

He is not just the manager though is he? He is on the board and that may be something prospective investors might be wary of as they know he has often praised Fenty.

Quoted from devs

More I think about it...
The new owners contacting him - bound to happen, surely?
Sounding him out? These are our plans? It'll be great to have a chat etc
Goes on all of the time in footy
I bet Holloway was spoken to by clubs when a manager was in situ

It doesn't ring true

It's a big cop out unless he knew his time was up with new owners; he wouldn't be allowed to invest; not be a director etc

Obviously it was going to happen. He would have had more to worry about if prospective new owners were not getting in touch with him. It's just a convenient excuse for a man who's not up to it.

I suppose on the up side, anyone who stops random team selections, bizarre mass substitutions, publicly denigrating the players, and appears to have even the slightest tactical knowledge, must be worth a few extra points to the team over the next few months.

If he'd left in the summer I'd have been gutted. This season has seen poor signings, a lottery approach to lineups and rubbish tactics.

Whatever the real reasons for his departure are, I'm not arsed he's gone.

Quoted from aldi_01

For a start, we’d have all taken Spokes off last night...

Not because he was sh!te as you think, but because the poor lad was cream crackered after 75 minutes!

Quoted from aldi_01

He even takes a sly dig at potential owners...no wonder he got along with Fenty with that level of petulance.

May be the new owners realised Holloway was past it too...

This was my thinking to, perhaps in those little chats with the potential new owners Holloway mentioned he was told that he would be surplus to requirements.

Quoted from Grimal

This was my thinking to, perhaps in those little chats with the potential new owners Holloway mentioned he was told that he would be surplus to requirements.

Would not be surprised - football is full of egotists... they are never wrong
So walk away saying "I would have got it right blah blah...cos no one can say he wouldn't have

Quoted from mariner91

Absolute bottle job. Left us in the lurch. Take your soundbites and f*ck off you dishonest charlatan.

I love the ‘Hands Face Space Replace’ thing!

Dream team Moore and Morais can turn it around in the short term.

My biggest worry is I doubt the new lot will be any better / knowledgeable at appointing a manager than the old lot.

Do we rush into it and risk another bum choice just so the new man can have the transfer window and possibly cocking it up or wait until the right man can be appointed and carry on with what we've got?

If injuries can be sorted with Moore and Morais in temporary charge until the 'right' man is found I feel the squad is strong enough to avoid the drop at least, I don't want to see even more dross arriving in January

Quoted from Poojah

All very predictable given his statement last week. I'm not quite sure what the sub-plot is here, but I'm fairly confident that the truth lies somewhere in between him having simply bitten off more than he can chew and the outing of the Alex May deal putting paid to a deal which would have seen him benefit financially. I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, but the fact he came here when he did seemed odd at the time and so I'm inclined to believe that there may be something in the latter.

Ultimately, it's a convenient narrative that allows him to walk away with his reputation intact in the eyes of the wider footballing world. I am not prepared to forget however that he came here full of bluster and potentially on false pretences, and left the club with a seriously underwhelming, unbalanced, oversized squad bereft of confidence and facing a very real threat of relegation back into the non-league abyss.

That's his legacy for me. A man who I had great respect for even before he joined our club just lost all of it. He is no higher in my estimation now than Mike Newell, and that is some achievement.

Whatever you make of his resignation statement, he is not telling the whole truth.

as usual Poojah nails it.
the more i think about it the more i feel its 100% about off the field stuff . i also think more stuff will come about may and fenty in the next few months and it'll all start to make sense

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Absolutely not. They’re definitely interested in profiting from a huge development.

The difference is they might be able to do it. They also are not involving a serial conman and fraudster in the deal.

This! If we’re going to have rich men own the club, let’s at least have competent, ethical* rich men.

* yeah I know for some that’s an oxymoron, and for others it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Is he the first manager in history to give himself a vote of confidence and then sack himself?

It's typical of this club that it all ends like this, in a complete shambles with the team plummeting down the league and looking for yet another manager.

The silver lining being that we have a new start and the chance to begin anew. It's gonna be rough, but I think worth it in the long run. Just a pity the fans are excluded because BP would be packed for the next game and that would be a great boost to our survival.

Critical we get the manager and Jan window right, but I think the new lot have the money to pay off the excess baggage and bring in the necessary to do the biz. Their first job is to stop the rot, pronto.

Holloway has just proven himself to be the biggest gobshite in football.

With his peculiar interviews this season, I was worried that his mental health was suffering. What with Covid etc. Poor recruitment, bad selections. Then I thought with the revelations about May I thought ‘maybe he’s been derailed because he genuinely believed Fenty’s BS and feels a fool’. I was worried that he might have also had his fingers in the till and this was bothering his conscience.

Then he put out that ‘carefully worded’ statement last week, and goes and contradicts it with this action and latest statement.

Well, the best you can say about the Hollow Man is he is a quitter! Put us in this position then quits. Feckin ersehole!

Quoted from joe56

My son, who follows Town but in a rather detached way nowadays, has just sent me this text:

“It always follows the same tedious predictable pattern:

- Rumour Mill
- Appointment (he’ll be great, we’re going up)
- Wins a couple of games (we’re definitely going up)
- Players are crap, loses a couple of games
- Fans start to complain
- Loses more games (tactics are crap, players out of position, we know better than the manager)
- Wins a couple (stay of execution)
- Loses a couple more
- Sacked

Repeat until the end of time.”

Well, it made me laugh! One thing I’ll predict with total confidence: whoever the new manager turns out to be, there’ll be people on here calling for his head within 3 months. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ;)

Your incorrect in assuming they'll be calling for his head within 3 months, firstly Ipswin will be saying I told you it wasn't a good idea, Boris will be saying out within a day.

Classic destroy and exit from Holloway.

Quoted from ginnywings

Critical we get the manager and Jan window right, but I think the new lot have the money to pay off the excess baggage and bring in the necessary to do the biz. Their first job is to stop the rot, pronto.

I hope that's the case, but even if they have the money, is it possible within the new limits of 1.5 million a year? I don't think any of us know how much financial room we have to manoeuvre in the January window.

I'd cancel the deal for the new striker (Pierre) asap, as there is no point having someone else on the books that a new manager might not fancy at all.

I'm really sorry to see him leave.

One of the worst aspects of this morning has been seeing fans of other clubs and pundits coming out & giving it the “respect to Holloway, an honest man of principle” line. It’s all absolute shite and couldn’t be further from the truth.

Just goes to show how much of Holloway was about his own brand and his own image. All the “mad” quotes he comes out with, which he’ll try a few times a week to see if they land, all his wacky stunts designed to get some airtime, the image he paints of himself constantly - all a massive show. All his contacts, his relationships built up over decades in the game, his melting phone, his scouting network - all bullshit. Emperors new clothes-level garbage.

Got warned by plenty of Millwall fans that the bloke was a fraud but I never expected anything on this level. Hopefully this is his last job in football, but he’ll never be off the telly because he’s a loud mouth self publicist and that gets views. Gobshite.

Quoted from 140067

Your incorrect in assuming they'll be calling for his head within 3 months, firstly Ipswin will be saying I told you it wasn't a good idea, Boris will be saying out within a day.

id have said a week

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

I hope that's the case, but even if they have the money, is it possible within the new limits of 1.5 million a year? I don't think any of us know how much financial room we have to manoeuvre in the January window.

I'd cancel the deal for the new striker (Pierre) asap, as there is no point having someone else on the books that a new manager might not fancy at all.

It's more about squad numbers than budget. May have to pay off some to free up room, but there are a few loanees that can go back too.

Quoted from 140067

Ipswin will be saying I told you it wasn't a good idea,

Well I wasn't going to bring it up but seeing as you mentioned it ...

Quoted from Marinerdan

Classic destroy and exit from Holloway.

Money, money, money, money, money, money.

My first reaction was to be gutted. Then angry at the timing of it all. I now feel that this could finally be the catalyst to clear the decks once and for all. Would preferred a more secure league position. It may be real bumpy over the next few weeks/months but jesus if weren't not use to it by now. That's my glass half full!!

He has achieved nothing at this club, he hasn't even left us with any Sprinklers!

I loved it when Ollie came but he has been a great disappointment .

I wish him well but maybe it was a mistake to come here in the first place.

All we can do is hope the new board pick the right man for the job and it's not Fent y choosing before he goes.

I bet he was told to go re- his comments

Quoted from ginnywings

It's more about squad numbers than budget. May have to pay off some to free up room, but there are a few loanees that can go back too.

Surely paying someone off is still using your budget though. In the current climate I can't see many players accepting a pay off that is much less than what they are due to earn if they stay.

Did Hurst get that job he was favourite for

Quoted from Poojah

All very predictable given his statement last week. I'm not quite sure what the sub-plot is here, but I'm fairly confident that the truth lies somewhere in between him having simply bitten off more than he can chew and the outing of the Alex May deal putting paid to a deal which would have seen him benefit financially. I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, but the fact he came here when he did seemed odd at the time and so I'm inclined to believe that there may be something in the latter.

Ultimately, it's a convenient narrative that allows him to walk away with his reputation intact in the eyes of the wider footballing world. I am not prepared to forget however that he came here full of bluster and potentially on false pretences, and left the club with a seriously underwhelming, unbalanced, oversized squad bereft of confidence and facing a very real threat of relegation back into the non-league abyss.

That's his legacy for me. A man who I had great respect for even before he joined our club just lost all of it. He is no higher in my estimation now than Mike Newell, and that is some achievement.

Whatever you make of his resignation statement, he is not telling the whole truth.

As always Poojah, you have an amazing knack of putting into words what I'm thinking in my head. It always baffled me why a manager would invest in a club and get a position on the board, never heard of it being done before. Now the chance of a financial windfall has gone....... so has Ollie, Reading between the lines and in my opinion only, I think Fenty has sold him a line about his plans for the club, but just neglected to tell him it would be funded by a convicted fraudster.

Has he put his house up for sale ( that he was supposedly buying )

A bit Gutted when I first heard this as I was proper excited when he first took over. But not so much now had a think about it all.

I think he is full of excrement here. Says he cares about the fans etc etc. this take over hasn’t even gone through yet- and everyone knows it isn’t over till it’s all signed sealed and delivered when it comes to business. Resign if and when it happens..... ok..... but no way is it even close yet.

We needed a massive January and He knows this. If he cared so much about the fans and club he wouldn’t have left 8 days before the start of the so important window.

We may not even have a manager in place for it. And if a new guy comes in- he won’t have time to fully assess the squad and make the appropriate changes that are needed to save our league status. Holloway has sold us down the river here. And for that he can intercourse right off.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

Surely paying someone off is still using your budget though. In the current climate I can't see many players accepting a pay off that is much less than what they are due to earn if they stay.

Don't think it's about the budget, there is room in that. Think it is more to do with freeing up space in the squad. That's why Ollie had been shipping players out to bring others in. There are squad limits attached to the new salary cap.

Quoted from 123614

It saddens me how everyone is keen to jump on this post and slag IH off. It's quite possible that the new owners are bringing in their own manager and therefore Ollie has had to bite the bullet and resign before getting sacked.

I respect Ollie and what he has tried to do here at GTFC, I only hope that the new owners and manager have the same passion for the club as he did. Thanks Ollie.

In the cold light of day, he did an absolutely rubbish job
Also if he thought new owners were going to sack him, why not hang around and take the payoff it would’ve been substantial. Personally, delighted he has gone and look forward to a manager who talks a little bit of sense as opposed to his rambling ball crap. Will be a pleasure Do not have to listen to his interviews with John Tondeur who asks sensible questions and gets snapped at on most questions by the clown . I guess he will revert back to media where they enjoy a jester, hopefully he never manages another professional football club again and good riddance utm

Quoted from golfer

Has he put his house up for sale ( that he was supposedly buying )

I suspect that was all bullshit too (that he was buying I mean) I wonder if he wife ever wanted to move up to N Lincs TBH

I'd finally had enough of him when he substituted Bennett last night..

Good news that he has quit. Especially as we don't have to pay off his contract. Should have gone some weeks ago and certainly after the Southend match.

It's far better that he goes now rather than wasting the up-coming January transfer window (if indeed any of that goes ahead with the spread of Coronavirus).

In the meantime Dave Moore should be asked to take over with Rodger/Davies/Woods as support. In the longer term I wouldn't mind Limbrick coming back, Hurst and Doig (or even Doig on his own), the Cowleys (unlikely but you can wish). Maybe Slavan Bilic would like to stay in the UK in a post-Brexit world?

Any change has to be for the better

Quoted from Poojah

All very predictable given his statement last week. I'm not quite sure what the sub-plot is here, but I'm fairly confident that the truth lies somewhere in between him having simply bitten off more than he can chew and the outing of the Alex May deal putting paid to a deal which would have seen him benefit financially. I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, but the fact he came here when he did seemed odd at the time and so I'm inclined to believe that there may be something in the latter.

Ultimately, it's a convenient narrative that allows him to walk away with his reputation intact in the eyes of the wider footballing world. I am not prepared to forget however that he came here full of bluster and potentially on false pretences, and left the club with a seriously underwhelming, unbalanced, oversized squad bereft of confidence and facing a very real threat of relegation back into the non-league abyss.

That's his legacy for me. A man who I had great respect for even before he joined our club just lost all of it. He is no higher in my estimation now than Mike Newell, and that is some achievement.

Whatever you make of his resignation statement, he is not telling the whole truth.

Completely agree, and as he clearly can't stop his gob moving before he engages his brain I would expect to see him bad mouth us in the media at every opportunity,

So what did Holloway actually achieve?

A team which even clubs in the bottom five can beat. A team that was not organised enough to avoid giving away soft goals almost every match. A team lacking any consistent goal scoring threat, even against rubbish opposition.

The truth is that many of the better performers recently have been players already here when he joined; Hendrie, Hewitt, Pollock, Wright, Waterfall and maybe Clifton.

Not only did he fail to recruit enough quality players, Moralis being the best of them, but he chopped and changed the team from game to game and made inexplicable substitutions, at times seemingly at random, which often served to disrupt the team.

It's very bad timing to walk out right now, but at least it gives an incoming manager chance, albeit against a tight very deadline, to use the January window to improve the team and save our league status.

I was never a fan of his bizarre interviews. Frankly I found them embarrassing.

He tenure is another farcical chapter in the sad decline of our club.

Good riddance.

Without reading every page I don't know if its been mentioned but part of him quitting maybe he just wanted to go back home. Another big lockdown coming miles away from his kids and grandkids. His wife probably hasn't settled here for those reasons too. I remember being in the club shop when he gave my son a hat and saying he was 100% commited to giving it everything he's got here. Shame it didn't work out right man wrong time maybe.

Will he appear on EFL on Quest tonight?

Club shop.....flat caps:

By one get ten free 8)

Quoted from promotion plaice

Club shop.....flat caps:

By one get ten free 8)

Quoted from RonMariner

So what did Holloway actually achieve?

A team which even clubs in the bottom five can beat. A team that was not organised enough to avoid giving away soft goals almost every match. A team lacking any consistent goal scoring threat, even against rubbish opposition.

The truth is that many of the better performers recently have been players already here when he joined; Hendrie, Hewitt, Pollock, Wright, Waterfall and maybe Clifton.

Not only did he fail to recruit enough quality players, Moralis being the best of them, but he chopped and changed the team from game to game and made inexplicable substitutions, at times seemingly at random, which often served to disrupt the team.

It's very bad timing to walk out right now, but at least it gives an incoming manager chance, albeit against a tight very deadline, to use the January window to improve the team and save our league status.

I was never a fan of his bizarre interviews. Frankly I found them embarrassing.

He tenure is another farcical chapter in the sad decline of our club.

Good riddance.

I would suggest they'll be a few of the current squad looking at the situations vacant section in the paper and checking to see if they can get their deposit back for surrendering their property leases early.

The only thing I feel sorry for is us the loyal fan base let down at every turn Poor management poor Board shocking PR and least of all The Football was so bad my ex Sunday league Team would be embarrassed to produce I certainly have no ill feeling towards IH but action speak louder than words but I feel some dark days are coming and being set adrift in the open sea is very much the case I fear we are now heading for the whirlpool of non league UTM

i've just listened to his post match interview and it's weird - its very positive, talking about the future, about bringing in the goalkeeping coach and Pierre whatshisname
has something happened overnight to change all this? maybe a post match chat & with jsf over a game of snooker?

Quoted from forza ivano

i've just listened to his post match interview and it's weird - its very positive, talking about the future, about bringing in the goalkeeping coach and Pierre whatshisname
has something happened overnight to change all this? maybe a post match chat & with jsf over a game of snooker?

I'd guess that's exactly what happened, Fenty must have told him last night he's going to accept some sort of offer. I can't imagine there's anything else that would have caused such a volte face.

Holloway hasn't shown himself in the best light in recent months, both in terms of team performances and his own 'performances' in the media. From what I saw, part of the problem with the team lay in the huge squad, constant changes, playing people in unfamiliar positions - it all seemed a bit confusing and too complicated. I'm sure I remember him saying something about GTFC needing squad rotation - because all the 'proper' clubs have squad rotation!! That set the alarm bells going for me, but I never actually got to the point where I wanted IH sacked, as I feared that a new manager would bring in new players, leading to yet more changes and by the time the players settled and got used to each other, the season would be over.

Now it's happened and he's gone, I'm up for it and REALLY looking forward to a new start. If we can keep the best of the players we've already got and move out some of the 'excess' - bring in new if absolutely necessary but not too many - above all, get them settled and familiar with each other and the system they play - even then we might well struggle and we're not best placed in the league, but let's give it a go at any rate. Bring it on.

Holloway is a billy bullshitter...so i wouldn’t worry if something happened last night after the match.

His post match interviews have been consistently inconsistent anyway so I wouldn’t overthink that one too much...

Quoted from 140067

Your incorrect in assuming they'll be calling for his head within 3 months, firstly Ipswin will be saying I told you it wasn't a good idea, Boris will be saying out within a day.

To be fair, Swin is usually right! ;D

Daft Cap set his stall out by squandering valuable money on too many players:  players that were untested, not geed enough (or not yet ready), not fit or too many of a similar style. No leader or leaders in the team.

He then had one pre-season game and it continued downhill from there.  Far too many changes and never a settled side.  What can the players think?

Hanson being injured was a reasonable expection.  Max Wright was not.  Macca making far too many basic edrrors was also a surprise. You have to manage unexpeccted setbacks though.  He was experienced.

BUT: we lost to the 2 bottom sides.  Southend are a basket-case but still scored 3 against us and won by 2 clear goals. In their other 17 league games Southend have scored 8 goals in 17 games.   Still the lowest scorers in Div 2.

Dagenham in the FAC were a similar basket-case.  Bottom of the NL with only 5 goals scored.  The lowest scorers in the NL. . Like Southend, they managed 3 goals against us and won by 2 clear goals.  (In the previous round they only beat a l team with a late goal.  A team named after a jam factory.

A pattern of abject mediocrity established here against the very poorest teams around. Who have easy wins against us.

Holloway talks a very good fight with emotive persausion.  He does not deliver a good fight or results.

Quoted from forza ivano

i've just listened to his post match interview and it's weird - its very positive, talking about the future, about bringing in the goalkeeping coach and Pierre whatshisname
has something happened overnight to change all this? maybe a post match chat & with jsf over a game of snooker?

Should have known something wasn't right He called Tondeur 'mate' six times!

Quoted from Ipswin

Should have known something wasn't right He called Tondeur 'mate' six times!

love to hear what he really thinks about our other Honest John ;)

Quoted from vernontown

Holloway seems to me to have a borderline personality disorder! Just talks utter rubbish and believes his own narcissist hype. Glad he's gone, but he's left us in the proverbial. For all the talk of January clearout, it's not that straight forward. The club can't get out of employment contracts unless the players concerned agree. His atrocious recruitment has left whoever now makes the decisions in an impossible position. A squad packed with utter dross, that will be difficult to get out the door to enable new signings to be made. The only upside is there are at least a few player out injured who are possibly capable of keeping us up when they come back, eg. Max.

Speaking from a little experience of coming across complex people through work, If you look at what narcissistic traits really are, then I think you're looking in the wrong place with Holloway - like us all, he may have issues, but is at least able to admit his mistakes, er, unlike some (perhaps!)....
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder

Such judgements are for the professionals - but if there are issues of NPD among those who hold power at GTFC (and let's face it, it has become an easy bad leadership trope after Trump and all) then they will feel the unfair victims of all that has happened in recent weeks and we might expect petulant actions that set up the incoming board to fail. Being seen to be better than the new owners will become more important than the progress of the club.

I would hope the present board allow their professed love of GTFC to give the new owners (if that's what will be) every opportunity to succeed. All I can say is I've long since held very real reservations about Fenty's leadership style and if this present debacle is what it takes to for him to surrender ownership, power and control then I'd accept things getting worse in the short term in the knowledge that they will ultimately get better.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Money, money, money, money, money, money.

He’ll be quaffing swan beaks and licking his English Manager’s Lunch Club badge as we speak!

Another one bites the dust and joins the long list of ex Grimsby Town managers.

Quoted from Marinerdan

He’ll be quaffing swan beaks and licking his English Manager’s Lunch Club badge as we speak!

Destroy and exit complete!

And watch out for those cider monkeys.....

He said players were in for training today and tomorrow, with Christmas day off.

Wonder who took training today?

Little matter of a game coming up, a tough one at that.

Quoted from ginnywings

He said players were in for training today and tomorrow, with Christmas day off.

Wonder who took training today?

Little matter of a game coming up, a tough one at that.

Luckily for us, Davies, Moore and young Greg are extremely professional, and would of cracked on.
We are lucky to have them at times like this!

I think we all feel betrayed by IH.
He really has left us in the lurch - just before the transfer window.
I fail to see what he found unacceptable about potential buyers contacting him - when other board members were aware of the situation. Nothing underhand it would seem, yet he has used this as a flimsy excuse to bail out of his sinking ship, rather than staying to try & keep us afloat.
I fell for his baloney - very disappointed in him.
I also wouldn't be surprised to see more dubious activity surfacing over the coming weeks.

"New wannabee owners are hovering over GTFC..."

What a strange turn of phrase. The exact thing we have all been craving and he dismisses it as some irritant.

There is obviously a lot more to all this than meets the eye, but it is so typical of the Fenty regime that things always turn nasty in some way.

Tie wiggling, obscene rants, sniffing, falling out on the eve of a playoff final, our managers invariably end up going mad.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

"New wannabee owners are hovering over GTFC..."

What a strange turn of phrase. The exact thing we have all been craving and he dismisses it as some irritant.

There is obviously a lot more to all this than meets the eye, but it is so typical of the Fenty regime that things always turn nasty in some way.

Tie wiggling, obscene rants, sniffing, falling out on the eve of a playoff final, our managers invariably end up going mad.

or perhaps he thinks they havent got a clue how to run a football club,

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

"New wannabee owners are hovering over GTFC..."

What a strange turn of phrase. The exact thing we have all been craving and he dismisses it as some irritant.

There is obviously a lot more to all this than meets the eye, but it is so typical of the Fenty regime that things always turn nasty in some way.

Tie wiggling, obscene rants, sniffing, falling out on the eve of a playoff final, our managers invariably end up going mad.

I would call Alex May a wannabe owner. Shutes, Stockwood and Pettit are prospective owners.

Quoted from Heswall Mariner

I think we all feel betrayed by IH.
He really has left us in the lurch - just before the transfer window.
I fail to see what he found unacceptable about potential buyers contacting him - when other board members were aware of the situation. Nothing underhand it would seem, yet he has used this as a flimsy excuse to bail out of his sinking ship, rather than staying to try & keep us afloat.
I fell for his baloney - very disappointed in him.
I also wouldn't be surprised to see more dubious activity surfacing over the coming weeks.

The bit about potential buyers contacting him being a reason seems strange to me. He was on the Board and willing to invest in the club so it seems logical to potential new owners would "sound him out ", it happens all the time in Business and Financial circles. They also met The Trust but they didn't decide to chuck their connections with the club ! It could be things promised by JF wouldn't come to fruition with new owners -who knows . It may come out eventually but I'm not holding my breath as anything with JF's hand in it is questionable to full disclosure.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I would call Alex May a wannabe owner. Shutes, Stockwood and Pettit are prospective owners.

Indeed. I can hear Fenty saying wannabe owners though which is why it struck me as odd - like they were singing the same tune.

I think Fenty has had to bow to the inevitable and both of them didn't like it one bit.

Bizarre behaviour from Ollie. Makes you lose faith in human nature. Why DID he have so much faith in Fenty when even a cursory glance at his record would show you different?

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Indeed. I can hear Fenty saying wannabe owners though which is why it struck me as odd - like they were singing the same tune.

I think Fenty has had to bow to the inevitable and both of them didn't like it one bit.

Bizarre behaviour from Ollie. Makes you lose faith in human nature.

I lost faith in human nature years ago. These kind of incidents just reinforce my decision.

sadly Holloway will probably get TV time to cover his #rse with his version, and come out of it a great manager badly treated by GTFC. Who is going to tell our side of things.............probably no body. Forget Fenty at the moment , the Team we Love was created by Holloway and is bloody useless, the super manager has left us in the #hite and buggered off back to Bristol. Once again we took his bullshit hook line and sinker. We deserve /need a manager who wants/needs to succeed ,not some hasbin. ( my rant is over.) GTFC til i Die.

What a difference between the start of 2020 and the end. Holloway appointment results and performances pick up, some good players brought in and optimism for a brighter future but now look at us, the club is rotten to the core and I really cant find many positives and how things will get better.

I liked Holloway I was very excited by his arrival but since the restart he seemed to have lost the passion and enthusiasm that got me so excited, his signings since have mostly been poor, he’s been very snappy, rude and belittling to John Tondeur who doesn’t really ask the most difficult of questions, he just became a bit of a misery and not what you need if your in a scrap like we are.

You won’t keep him off the telly or radio in the coming weeks and months.