Should be Holloway. Always cracking funnies. Real cheeky chappie.
C**t has gone and put the hex on us now.....
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footba...ns-and-bluebirds-to-be-in-mix-91466-22391372/
Holloway tips Swans and Bluebirds to be in mix
Dec 3 2008 by
Chris Wathan, Western Mail
DERBY day might not have found a winner – but it may just have proved to some that South Wales has a pair of promotion contenders.
It was honours even for Swansea and Cardiff in the first league clash between the rivals in nine years, a result that kept both outside the play-off places and still just a point apart.
But the Sunday morning show put up by both sides in front of a captivated live television audience as well has at least boosted belief of observers that both sides can be in the top-six mix at the end of the season.
Though a passionate fixture, the way in which the respective teams stuck to their footballing guns in the heat of it all suggested to many neutrals there’s enough ability to satisfy their supporters’ ambitions.
And former Championship boss Ian Holloway has added his name to the growing list of pundits who reckon both Roberto Martinez and Dave Jones can be in the end-of-season shake-up for those coveted Premier League places.
“They both have a real chance,” admitted Holloway, the maverick manager who has taken charge of QPR, Plymouth and Leicester at this level.
“They play wonderful football and it’s amazing how close they are in the table.
“One thing’s for sure, it will be interesting to see which one finishes higher because there’ll be plenty of bragging rights down there.
“I have to say, when you look at it, both managers have done a terrific job.
“Roberto Martinez is one of the brightest young managers around and some of the football they play I’d happily pay to watch.
“There were those rumours of him actually turning down the assistant job at Manchester United over the summer but he’s doing a brilliant job with Swansea.
“But then I do have a soft spot for Dave Jones and they pass the ball and play it the proper way. They both have a chance.”
Still in and around things with almost half of the season gone, there seems to be little reason why they shouldn’t have that chance.
Even more so when you consider the fact eventually play-off promoted Hull were still languishing in the lower half of the table this time last year.
What both sides must now do is ensure the points come as thick and fast as the plaudits.
Following Jones’ recognition as manager of the month for November, Cardiff have picked up just one win from their last six and would have to accept they have clung on to a top-six position for a while when results haven’t been so favourable.
And Martinez, even with his midfield problems taken into the equation, openly admitted on Sunday that the Swans have now dropped points in successive games against Birmingham, Coventry and, of course, the Bluebirds.
Yet the nature of the division means virtually every match presents an opportunity to get one over on a side with similar lofty aims.
Cardiff host in-form Preston on Saturday after North End nicked ahead of them at the weekend, while Swansea visit last year’s play-off finalists Bristol City – a side six places below them but only three points worse off.
Holloway’s assertion that both clubs are good enough to compete for promotion must, however, be qualified against his view that Birmingham and Wolves look set to take the automatic spots on offer, Mick McCarthy’s side hitting the 47-point mark after just 20 games.
When achieved by sides in the past, that return has seen the team in question promoted as champions, even if Holloway believes the biggest test for the young men from Molineux will come in the shape of their own lack of experience.
With Reading looking odds-on to be the next nearest challenger, that leaves three places for both Cardiff and Swansea to aim for as part of a pack of as many as 12.
However, that Cardiff should be considered a play-off contender should not come as a surprise to a side that has flirted with the idea for the past few seasons without having the legs to make a sustained challenge of it.
But the fact that very few sides have really struck fear into such hopes of going that extra yard this year should breed confidence in and around Ninian Park, especially with the way Jones has managed to successfully utilise the top-flight loan market over the last few weeks.
What will serve as unexpected to the uninitiated, though, is Swansea’s presence among the play-off chasers. New boys in a new division, they were given precious little chance of threatening the top six before a ball was kicked in this Championship campaign.
Yet strength of squad and style of play has shocked the Championship, creating a belief that seems to have overcome the blow of Ferrie Bodde’s long-term injury.
Ironically, it was Swansea who probably provided Cardiff with their toughest tests of the season so far.
“Cardiff have got good players, they'll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season,” said Leon Britton in the aftermath of Sunday’s derby.
“But I think we can do that as well.
“Fingers crossed, if we keep up our high standards, we can be there.”
Swansea will have to continue that aim without Britton, the livewire Londoner banned for Saturday’s Ashton Gate clash after picking up his late red card for a second bookable offence against Cardiff.
And Cardiff’s own plans for Preston will have to be altered as Steve McPhail starts his two-game suspension for his derby indiscretion at the weekend.
But Holloway admitted he thought McPhail was hard done by when he was given his marching orders by referee Martin Atkinson, the West Yorkshire official coming in for heavy criticism from the outspoken former boss for his all-round performance.
“McPhail shouldn’t have gone to ground for the first one,” Holloway said.
“He’s got a little bit of the ball but I was always told as a midfielder to stay on your feet so he runs the risk.
“But for the second, I think he’s actually kicked the ball towards a Swansea player and he’s deliberately let it go.
“But I think the referee’s had a stinker; the first goal was clearly offside, the penalty didn’t look like a penalty and if I had to give him marks out of 10 I’d give him one.
“It was a great game for the neutral but the public would always like to see games decided by good goals and not poor refereeing.”
But Holloway has backed pal Jones’ decision to publicly slam McPhail, adding: “If Dave thinks he’s done it then he’s right to have a go.
“Sometimes you’ve got to have a go in public.
“He’s a big miss and the last thing you want to do is get sent off in a derby game the way he did.”