All or nothing for Blackpool
When the Tangerines were being tipped to be relegated from the Championship at the start of last season, the idea they would be facing Manchester United at the end of this one seemed preposterous. Even last summer, when Blackpool were preparing for their first top-flight campaign in three decades, few gave them any hope of travelling to United with their Premier League future still to be decided.
With by far the smallest playing budget of the 20 clubs, and the lowest average gate, Holloway has performed a minor miracle to reach this stage. However, telling the charismatic Bristolian what a good job he has done will not ease the pain should tomorrow teatime bring a return ticket to the championship.
“It will be the end of the world,” he said. “It will definitely feel like that. You can’t be a football manager, or a player, or have anything to do with a club and be happy if you go down. All you can do is let the dust settle and go on.”
Holloway made a pledge when Blackpool gained promotion by beating Cardiff in a Wembley play-off he regards as secondary to the task now facing his team.
Tempting as it would be to smash a pay structure that had been strictly adhered to by chairman Karl Oyston, the pair knew it was no way to run Blackpool’s finances.
So, should they fall, the Tangerines will do so knowing the financial disasters that have affected so many other Premier League clubs who find their status cruelly stripped away will not be creeping up on them.
On the scale of the task facing his side this weekend, Holloway added: “This weekend, we have to do something no-one else has managed this season. Beat the champions on their own ground.
“I take great motivation from the way we played against them earlier this season. For 70 minutes we were absolutely magnificent. Then they brought on Ryan Giggs and Javier Hernandez and we ran out of steam.
“It scares me just saying that. But this is an opportunity for us to achieve the best thing we could ever have dreamed of. Keeping a club like ours at this level.”
For his part, Alex Ferguson admits he will not enjoy Manchester United’s Premier League meeting with Blackpool, even though he knows there is a trophy to be collected afterwards. Before the Red Devils are handed their record 19th title, a nervous game of survival will take place at four top-flight grounds across the country.
Blackpool find themselves in the onerous position of becoming the first team to win at Old Trafford this season, and only the second to take any points, if they are to stand the best possible chance of staying in the top flight.
And even though he is not directly affected, Ferguson is not relishing the experience.
“This game on Sunday is not the kind of game you actually enjoy,” he said.
“You are talking about one point separating five teams (in the fight to avoid relegation). It is very tight down there and you could sense what was coming with the way the league was shaping.
“Losing a couple of games can put you right back in the mire and Sunday is going to be a very important day for the futures of these clubs, which means it is not the easiest game for me to pick a team in.”
There have been veiled threats about United being fined for fielding a weakened team with the Champions League final in mind but, in confirming at least half a dozen senior figures within his squad will start, the United boss is ensuring his impartiality is not brought into question.
Among the six men he named are Edwin van der Sar, who will make his final Premier League appearance, Dimitar Berbatov, who is engaged in a head-to-head duel with Carlos Tevez for the Premier League’s Golden Boot prize, and Darren Fletcher, who desperately needs competitive action to stake a claim for a place in Ferguson’s Champions League final line-up.
Ahead of the game there was a boost for United after they claimed an awards double with Ferguson and Nemanja Vidic landing the Barclays Manager and Player of the Season honours.
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