The relegation battle in the Premier League will be decided on Sunday with five teams all in danger of having to play Championship football next season.

Of those in the relegation fight there is one team amongst the five threatened teams that has caught the imagination of the neutral this season and will be roared on by millions who cannot help but admire the team’s spirit or how their manager has told them to go about their business.

This team is of course Blackpool and there are many reasons they have become the pin up side for neutrals and fans of teams not involved in the relegation scrap.

Ian Holloway

Madder than a box of frogs the manager from the West Country is a cult figure that has his own unique style of management.

He is famed for his honest and entertaining press conferences that are guaranteed to produce at least one noteworthy quote in an age filled with bland media interactions.

The Premier League needs managers that are characters and can provide more than the stock clichés when talking to the press and Holloway is certainly a character.

If you don’t believe me search for some of his videos on YouTube such as the one below.

Style of Play

As well as being charismatic off the pitch Ian Holloway has encouraged his players to express themselves on it with a mantra that involves outscoring their opponents rather than nullifying their threat.

In his BBC press conference about this Sunday’s game Holloway espoused this and admitted that his side were “no good at shutting up shop” comparing his team’s goal to the Kwik-E-Mart as it was never shut.

This attacking football has to be admired even if it has cost the club points that could have ironically avoided the situation they face on Sunday.

Goals however make football entertaining and with an average of 3.4 goals per match involving Blackpool there is little argument that the Tangerines are not providing value.

 Blackpool the Underdog

The romance of the underdog is a big part of English football and survival for Blackpool would fit the bill having reached the Premiership after playing in League Two as recently as 2001.

The club has a long and at points distinguished history but is a small club with the smallest ground in the Premier League but a set of fans who make up for their lack of number in volume.

With a squad assembled with a budget that equates to less than Man City have paid recruiting and paying Yaya Toure the club was expected to sink without a trace from the Premier League.

Instead players that have in general either failed to make it at a higher level or have stepped up from the lower leagues have held their own in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.  

Fourth from bottom is not normally a coveted position but to Blackpool it would be a fairytale.

Therefore, because I would like to see Ian Holloway on Match of the Day every weekend after his team of underdogs have played each week, I would like those without a team in the relegation dogfight to join me in being a honourary Blackpool fan for the day on Sunday.

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