Ollie Distances Himself From Hammers Speculation

Following the news that West Ham are set to ask for permission to interview him about their vacant manager’s job, Ian Holloway has moved to distance himself from such speculation.

Speaking to the gathered media, the Blackpool manager said:

‘It’s an honour to be linked with something like that but it’s not genuine is it?

‘If it was genuine then my chairman (Karl Oyston) would be talking to me about it. I think a lot of journalists are quite lazy. They look at things and think ‘oh, we can throw that name in’.

‘At the end of the day it’s the people at the top of the clubs who make these decisions.

‘You read the stories but these newspapers will be wrapping someone’s chips tomorrow. Never believe what you read in the papers. I don’t.

‘I’m doing a job as well as I possibly can and I’m more than happy to keep doing .

‘All that matters to me is getting my lads ready for Wembley on Saturday.’

Karl Oyston has also ‘rubbished’ the speculation in an interview with the Blackpool Gazette, stating:

‘There is nothing in it. Any successful manager or player is always going to be linked by the press to every available job or other club.

‘There is absolutely no substance in it as far as I’m aware.’

However, a note of caution: it has already been detailed by the press how the Hammers intend to approach Blackpool after the playoff final (hence why it’s only speculation at this stage), and Ollie was hardly likely to say ‘Yes, I’d love to manage West Ham’ just before the playoff final, was he? Still, at least Cardiff have been hit by the same speculation with Dave Jones also featuring on the Hammers’ shortlist.

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant remains the favourite to land the post though, and held talks about it earlier in the week.