Now We Know It's Real

Big time Blackpool

Everyone wants to be Ian Holloway's friend at the moment it seems.

After Blackpool's fairytale win in the Championship play-off, the Seasiders' manager has had to quickly adjust to his new life in the Premier League - as his phone has not stopped ringing.

The incredible game at Wembley, where Blackpool saw off Cardiff by the odd goal in five, was billed as 'The £90m match' - the richest game in football history - and suddenly everybody wanted a piece of Holloway.

"I've got some of the most famous agents in the world ringing me," Holloway told BBC Sport.

"They've never bothered with me in the past, and they'll have a shock because I've told them we won't be spending the sort of money they're talking about.

"What they won't realise is that we'll do the thing we've always done. I'm looking for good people, quality people, not people who want to pick up a big wage."

Holloway's amazing success, in which he led a team tipped for relegation from the Championship into the promised land, has been built on team spirit and he is not about to see those carefully laid foundations ripped apart by a bunch of prima donnas with pound signs in their eyes.

That's not to say he won't be bringing any new faces in, but first he has to sit down with chairman Karl Oyston and work out what funds are available to him.

"Basically there are two things I need to know - is there a transfer kitty and budget and what is my overall playing budget?" Holloway explained. "Once I've been told those things, I can go to work."

Several players, including Hameur Bouazza and Daniel Nardiello, have already been released, while the loan players who played such a key part in Blackpool's promotion, including DJ Campbell, Stephen Dobbie, Barry Bannan and Seamus Coleman, have all gone back to their parent clubs. (BBC Sport)