DJ Campbell reckons Ian Holloway deserves the plaudits coming his way after Blackpool's latest scalp.
Blackpool striker glad manager is getting recognition
DJ Campbell reckons manager Ian Holloway deserves the plaudits coming his way after Blackpool claimed another scalp on Tuesday night.
The Tangerines have produced several notable results in their debut Premier League campaign, winning at Newcastle while doing the double over Liverpool.
And they upset another of the big boys by claiming a 3-1 win over a Tottenham side that just last week was beating AC Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League.
It is also Holloway's first season as a top-flight boss having spent the first 12 years of his managerial career with Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth and Leicester.
The 47-year-old guided Blackpool to an unlikely promotion last season and his unconventional managerial style has continued to bring the best out of Campbell and his team-mates.
"He's a great person, a great man," Campbell told
Sky Sports News. "He's a joy to be around and it's great for the lads to have a manager like him.
Credit
"With the results that we're getting and the way we're playing, he's finally getting the credit that he deserves. I'm delighted for him to see how well he's doing."
Holloway took Campbell on loan from Leicester last season and after the 29-year-old striker fired the Tangerines to promotion, the Pool boss gave him a chance at Premier League level.
Holloway has continued to play an adventurous 4-3-3 formation and Campbell has repaid his faith, scoring nine goals in 22 Premier League starts since signing on a permanent deal in the summer.
"We like to play attacking football," Campbell said. "The gaffer's philosophy is to attack and try to score goals.
"In this league the players you're playing against are high-quality, world-class players, so you know they're going to get chances. But we haven't changed the way we played from getting promoted from the Championship last year and we continue to do that.
"I think that's great for the league and great for neutrals to watch. It's a big credit to the gaffer to stick with the formation and his philosophy."
Tuesday night's win saw Blackpool climb to 12th and open up a five-point gap between themselves and the bottom three with 11 games remaining.
No target
And with the spirit Holloway has instilled at Bloomfield Road, Campbell is hopeful Pool can beat the drop.
"The lads are in it together," said the former Birmingham and Brentford man. "The gaffer makes sure we're focused and we're together as a team, as you saw yesterday.
"We haven't really got a target. We just want to win as many games as we can, and keep trying to improve as a team and as individuals.
"We're delighted to play against these players and be in this league, and if we can keep playing the way we're playing and keep nicking points, you never know.
"All the teams at the bottom are picking up points so it's really tight down there. It's going to be close all the way to the end of the season but with the belief that we've got and the gaffer keeping us focused, hopefully we can do it."
