Ego

Just before the 12 minute mark in the pre-Crawley press conference, Ian says that what is testing his resolve is his own ego. Interestingly after that he goes on to talk about everything but his ego. I'm not criticising him, just pointing something out; Ian Holloway is a man willing, but unable right now to stick to one topic of conversation. His mind leaps all over so much that when all he wants to say is "this is hard on me because I know I am good, but I'm not doing well right now, and it will take time" he talks about 15 other things, at breakneck speed for 5 minutes. It's like a stream of consciousness from a football version of The Office. I believe it's up to me to ignore the 90% of stuff that is not to do with the point under discussion and sieve out the good stuff. He knows what to do, it just isn't working right now. Would be simpler if he put it like that, but then it wouldn't be Ian Holloway, would it?

Quoted from BeijingMariner

Just before the 12 minute mark in the pre-Crawley press conference, Ian says that what is testing his resolve is his own ego. Interestingly after that he goes on to talk about everything but his ego. I'm not criticising him, just pointing something out; Ian Holloway is a man willing, but unable right now to stick to one topic of conversation. His mind leaps all over so much that when all he wants to say is "this is hard on me because I know I am good, but I'm not doing well right now, and it will take time" he talks about 15 other things, at breakneck speed for 5 minutes. It's like a stream of consciousness from a football version of The Office. I believe it's up to me to ignore the 90% of stuff that is not to do with the point under discussion and sieve out the good stuff. He knows what to do, it just isn't working right now. Would be simpler if he put it like that, but then it wouldn't be Ian Holloway, would it?

I wonder if his team talks are the same?

That's a really interesting post. I suspect that like a lot of people across the country he is finding things tough at the minute. Sure he's missing family he can't see and worried about their wellbeing and livelihoods. Saturday was beyond dreadful and I desperately hope we see a reaction but I really think now is the time to look after him so as we come out of this we have the manager we had in March ready to move us on.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

That's a really interesting post. I suspect that like a lot of people across the country he is finding things tough at the minute. Sure he's missing family he can't see and worried about their wellbeing and livelihoods. Saturday was beyond dreadful and I desperately hope we see a reaction but I really think now is the time to look after him so as we come out of this we have the manager we had in March ready to move us on.

Totally agree. Whatever some may say, he is the best we are ever going to get at our current level.

We must survive and then we can crack on next season. I know we say this every time but with a proper Holloway side next season, normal contracts etc. etc. then we will see the Ollie effect.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Totally agree. Whatever some may say, he is the best we are ever going to get at our current level.

We must survive and then we can crack on next season. I know we say this every time but with a proper Holloway side next season, normal contracts etc. etc. we then see the Ollie effect.

Would agree with that. With reference to his “Ego” this may be his desire/insistence for the team to be able to play in a style that appears beyond the current crop of players and tonight may reflect a different approach if that ego can be put on hold.

I like Ollie a lot.

BUT

When on the training pitch the young players look very confused to what he is trying to get through to them.

I wish one of more of them would have the guts to say.

Sorry boss I don't understand what you are getting at. !!!!

Mind you Ollie runs round like a 20 year old.

Quoted from chrissy

I like Ollie a lot.

BUT

When on the training pitch the young players look very confused to what he is trying to get through to them.

I wish one of more of them would have the guts to say.

Sorry boss I don't understand what you are getting at. !!!!

Mind you Ollie runs round like a 20 year old.

Go on then - how do you know?

I've worked with people like that and it's infuriating.  You can see they know the answers but they cannot express them. My current management team also speak that language and we all walk away with a different idea of doing something.  As a result, the place is starting to crumble.  What we and GTFC need is an intermediary R2 Unit who can understand what the boss wants and then relay it to the workers.

I stopped listening weeks ago......

Some interesting points made in this thread. If we make an objective assessment of Ollie, I think it's fair to say that his managerial career has been 'mixed'. Getting Blackpool into the Premier League and almost keeping them there was an incredible achievement, and the fact he did it again with Palace is enough to suggest it was no fluke.

He was doing an excellent job at Plymouth too, before he jumped ship to Leicester where he duly failed. His more recent stints at Millwall and QPR probably rank somewhere in the region of underwhelming.

So he's clearly got the skills, but hasn't been universally successful. No great shame in that - it's true of most managers who've been in the game for twenty-odd years.

However, I suspect he may be a manager who needs a fair wind behind him to properly get going. His personality is unique, but I can certainly see how he could be received differently in different scenarios. When the going is good, when things are going your way, I imagine his words are galvanising, entertaining, inspirational. But when they're not? I can probably see how the madcap style and zany anecdotes might become tiresome, particularly if you're working at close quarters with him. He has exhibited almost bipolar levels of positivity and negativity in his interviews during his time here.

At a higher level, you can see hallmarks of a strong personality working both for and against the manager in the career of Jose Mourinho. Claudio Ranieri achieved the impossible at Leicester by instilling an unbelievable sense of unity direction in his squad on the back of some unexpected, early season momentum. Those same players forced him out of a job the very next season. People, not just football fans, are fickle, and team pizza nights aren't enough to maintain your popularity indefinitely.

I think we started to see the green shoots of his style working last season, although it probably shouldn't be overlooked that two of our last three games before football was suspended were 3-0 defeats. Certainly, thanks to Covid he hasn't really had the fair wind he needed. Perhaps with hindsight he should have embraced it as a challenge, as an obstacle to overcome, rather than bemoaning the whole affair, but there you go.

Right now, we are where we are. He needs to use his experience, play it safe for a bit and stop the rot. Slowly build confidence and then think again about how to proactively move the team forward. Back to basics.

He has made a big commitment to the club, and I still believe that he can bring back the good times if the right circumstances prevail. But his career statistics do also show that he doesn't always get it right, and his profile and personality shouldn't make him immune to criticism when performances and results are seriously sub-par.