Ian Holloway on Scunthorpe win, Gary Taylor-Fletcher and...Deal or No Deal - 10 years on from Blackpool's promotion to the Premier League
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Over the coming weeks, we’ll be dipping into the archives to bring you STEVE CANAVAN’S Gazette reports from a decade ago on Blackpool’s remarkable journey to the promised land.
On this day 10 years ago, Ian Holloway was reflecting on Blackpool’s 4-2 win at Scunthorpe…
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Hide AdThe Seasiders reduced the gap to the Championship play-offs to just one point on Good Friday with a fabulous victory at Glanford Park.
An own goal, a DJ Campbell brace and a Seamus Coleman solo effort saw Holloway’s men claim a third straight win.
The Pool boss was understandably delighted about the result, which heaped more pressure on the top six with just five games remaining.
Holloway said: “It was a fantastic game of football. Both sides were nervy as there was so much at stake.
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Hide Ad“But to come to a place like Scunthorpe and win like we did was a terrific three points.
“They were on a roll. They had won their last three games.
“But the strength in depth that I’ve managed to get on the team coach, because players have come back to fitness, really did show on the day.
“It did at Plymouth, when Stephen Dobbie came on. It is a squad effort and the exciting options we have going forward is very pleasing.”
On Gary Taylor-Fletcher’s missed second-half chance with the score at 1-1 at Scunthorpe, Holloway added: “ I know we’ve got people who can score and Gary is absolutely vital to what we do.
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Hide Ad“I thought Charlie Adam was going to shoot and probably Fletch did.
“But he rolled it across and it was a great save from their keeper (Joe Murphy) – we know he makes good saves.
“But I didn’t think that would be our last chance and luckily it wasn’t.
“Even if it had ended 1-1, I wouldn’t have been upset with Taylor-Fletcher at all because you have to have four chances to score a goal usually whoever you are – Taylor-Fletcher or Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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Hide Ad“Fletch is a fantastic player for us. He has been involved in the last four games, where we’ve got 10 out of 12 points.
“With the score at 1-1, the second goal scored by Seamus Coleman was crucial but everything is crucial.”
Not for the first time, Holloway then went off at a slight tangent: “Did you see Deal Or No Deal the other day?
“A lady had seven boxes left and she chose the £75,000 but that went.
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Hide Ad“There was only a £10,000 box left and the rest were blues, which are not what you want, as anyone who watches the show will know.
“But she saw it all the way through and she had £10,000 in her box and she took it and well done to her. She wouldn’t gamble but how lucky was she?
“So we need to open every box from now until the end of the season and hopefully there will be at least £10,000 in there.
“Because if we lose a game or drop a point, we are likely to fail.”
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Hide Ad“But if you ask me whether we will fail… I don’t think we possibly could this year. That is a fresh attitude to go into the last five games.
“But I do know we’ve got one thing if you open our box: we can score and we are going to need to do it.
“We also let some in but I thought we got the balance right on the day.”