Blackpool fight to keep Holloway

Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston hopes Ian Holloway will remain at Bloomfield Road, despite the club’s relegation from the Premier League.

Holloway joined Blackpool as manager in May 2009, guiding the club to promotion via the Championship playoffs in his first season in charge.

A team assembled on a tight budget came close to surviving against the odds in the top flight, before succumbing to relegation on the last day of the season with a 4-2 defeat away to Manchester United.

Several clubs have been tipped to move for Holloway in the close-season, but Oyston is determined to keep hold of the 48-year-old manager.

“The nature of the industry is that people always try and covet what you’ve got,” Oyston said.

“I just hope that Ian doesn’t get his head turned by a club that probably won’t allow him to express himself the way we do.”

“Ian has performed miracles ever since he arrived here and we will help him as much as we can to try and get back into the Premier League, because every manager wants to manage at the highest level they can.”

Oyston acknowledges that some of Blackpool’s players will inevitably depart before the beginning of the 2011/12 campaign.

“We’re certain that there will be a lot more movement in and out this year than there would be ordinarily, because people’s contracts are up who we came through League One and the Championship with,” Oyston said.

“That’s our decision not to renew some of those. One or two players who we’d probably like to keep are out of contract or attracting interest from other clubs.”

“It’s almost certain that we will lose some players that we don’t want to, but we have a lot of space and the finance in place to bring people in.”

“My own view is that we won’t lose too many that we don’t want to lose.”

Oyston is however resigned to losing Charlie Adam, who had a transfer request rejected in January.

With only 12 months remaining on his contract, Blackpool are expected to sell the star midfielder or risk losing him for nothing at the end of next season.

“There was a lot of interest, hostile interest in some cases at the time,” Oyston said.

“What will happen now is out of my hands. That is down to other clubs’ valuation and interest.”