Holloway on ‘small club’ decisions and transfer targets
Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway has told talkSPORT that he will not put up with losing points to referee decisions he believes are influenced by the Eagles being "a small club".
Speaking after Palace lost their first game of the season 1-0 to Tottenham at Selhurst Park, Holloway was unhappy about two decisions that led to Spurs' winning penalty, which he claims might have been officiated differently had the visitors been on the receiving end.
"To me it’s very simple, we were mounting an attack," explained Holloway. "Stephen Dobbie cut inside [Tottenham’s Nacer] Chadli. Chadli then shoulder-barged him over. It should be a foul."
Holloway was also disappointed by the ensuing penalty award. "Was it deliberate or not? A second before that [Dobbie] went down, he [the match official] didn’t give it, then Lennon gets to the line, my bloke dives to the floor to try and block it. The ball was only two yards away from him, if that, and as he’s fallen it hits his arm.
"We had the defensive structure in behind that. We were safe. I thought that was unbelievably harsh.
"My question to you is would I have got that? If I was away at Tottenham and one of my players shoulder-barged one of their players in my half, they’d have got a free-kick."
Citing his experience as Blackpool manager during the Seasiders' sole season in the Premier League, Holloway suggested that the top flight's smaller clubs might lose points due to officiating.
"That’s just the way it is, that’s the way it was before and that’s how I feel. I might be completely wrong, but there you go. They’ve assured me that isn’t the case, but nine points it cost me last time being a small club. I’m not putting up with it this time."
Despite his lament, the Palace boss admitted that his team needed to improve their performance, hinting at some additions to the Selhurst Park squad before the transfer window closes.
"A point at the end would have been marvellous for us, I think it was more than we deserved to be honest, but we’ve got to create more than that. I’ve got to get some pace in certain areas. Without Bolasie I thought we missed him today..
"Maybe if I’d have got one or two more players in, my team might have believed that, hang on a minute, we can nick one on the break here, hang on a minute, that bloke’s pace can get us in.
"I’m sure if Mr Zaha was playing for us today we would have caused one or two more problems for their back line, and they would have been more scared when we broke out.
"I’ve lost both those people who did that [offered attacking pace], so I know what we’ve got to do. At the moment I haven’t got people who can do that, so I’ve got to bring them in and I’m working on it."