Ashley Young at United – Slippery Snip or Expensive Bench Warmer?
By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London
Ashley Young’s arrival at Old Trafford has been met with mixed reaction amongst Manchester United fans. At around £15m some say he’s good value English talent when compared to the £20m Liverpool paid to bring in Jordan Henderson from Sunderland, but could he end up being a £15m bench warmer?
The major bone of contention seems to be the conundrum of where he will fit in at United. In Nani and Valencia, Ferguson already has two of the Premier League’s best wingers and it’s hard to see how Young will go about displacing either of the pair. Young was utilized predominantly on the left wing for Villa, but this is the wing that Nani plays on when Valencia is fit.
Alas, Poor Ollie
By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London
“If we can go to Man Utd and get something and that keeps us up, I think that will be the best story that I’ve ever read or seen unfold - never mind anything that William Shakespeare’s ever written.” – Ian Holloway
Fifty-seven minutes of Blackpool’s do-or-die last game of the season again Manchester United had elapsed. Vaughan whips a delicious cross into the box and Taylor-Fletcher produces the unlikeliest of deft finishes to send his Blackpool side 2-1 up and the Seasiders into delirium. Cue commentator’s cliché: ‘You just couldn’t write this’. Holloway’s best story ever was starting to unfold right before our very eyes. But then Shakespeare turned in his grave…
To Survive, or not to Survive - Holloway’s Blackpool Dilemma
By Oliver Sparrow, writing from London
Finally the fateful day has arrived - Survival Sunday. Come this evening we’ll all know who will be joining poor old Scott Parker’s West Ham in The Championship and who will be staying up to enjoy another season of fun and frolics in the Premier League. One man no-one will want to see go down, though, is Blackpool’s fantastically entertaining manager Ian Holloway.
He is a man who possesses a wonderful way with words and his post-match interviews will be sorely missed should Blackpool be relegated today. However, the fear of the drop will have been hanging over ‘Ollie’s head for the past few weeks now. As he wrestles with the prospect of life in The Championship, I wonder what thoughts might be running through Ian’s mind…
