Holloway column

The Plymouth manager gives his views on the week's events in football and beyond.

This week he talks about England's injury problems and Arsene Wenger's new contract.

Ollie also gives his verdict on Tube strikes, women Beefeaters, Luciano Pavarotti and fans taking over football clubs

ON ENGLAND'S INJURIES, AND STEVEN GERRARD'S TOE

It seems to be par for the course for England these days when it comes to a big tournament.

Hopefully with what we have got left we can put on a good show because everyone in the country wants us to qualify.

It's not easy for the England manager when suddenly some of his best players aren't fit.

It's Gerrard's decision whether to play through the pain

But I don't think the England manager should force Steven Gerrard to have an injection to play. That decision has to come down to the player himself, it shouldn't have anything to do with either his club or national team manager.

As the injection would only numb the pain, it's a question of whether he can do himself justice, whether he can give a good performance for his country.

I'm pretty sure that if Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves were fit we wouldn't be asking him to do this.

From my point of view it's a no-brainer, I think he will do it.

But I don't see how Rafa Benitez can criticise Steve McClaren for asking Gerrard to have an injection when he did the same thing to get him fit to play at Chelsea a few weeks back.

If it was a top Spanish player, like Fernando Torres and Spain needed him, I'm sure Rafa would have a different point if view.

ARSENE WENGER'S NEW £4m-A-YEAR CONTRACT

If Sven-Goran Eriksson was worth £5m a year when he was in charge of England, Arsene is worth more than that. If anybody deserves that sort of money, it's somebody like him.

When you consider what the top players get, someone at the top of his game as a manager like Arsene has got to be worth more than any of his players.

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You're only worth what somebody is prepared to pay you and it's obvious that Arsenal rate him highly enough that they will pay him that amount.

I'm a big fan of his - he's built up the club and left a great legacy.

I'm delighted he's staying and I'm delighted for Arsenal fans, too.

I might even make a touch on Arsene Wenger to see if I can borrow a fiver.

QPR TAKEOVER, BERNIE ECCLESTONE V MYFOOTBALLCLUB

A website trying to buy a football club? That's what Myfootballclub.co.uk is trying to do.

It wants 50,000 people to chip in and buy a club, which they would run on democratic lines, with everyone having a vote on things like team selection.

I see my old club QPR are about to be taken over by Bernie Ecclestone and I was asked, as a manager, who would I sooner work with?

It's certainly easier to have one man to deal with, as opposed to thousands.

Thousands of people picking the team is absolute madness, how are they going to gauge it?

Are they going to base their selection on current form? Does that mean they'll be watching players day-in, day-out doing drills, undergoing practice?

Do they know if players are physically and mentally up for it? Or is a player's wife moaning at him because she's not happy with something, or the kids aren't well?

If people want to put together a consortium and take over a club, OK, but they shouldn't be picking the team.

I think I would take somebody like Bernie Ecclestone all day.

THE FIRST LADY BEEFEATER

Moira Cameron will look after the ravens at the Tower

Have they had to change the costumes? Is she wearing trousers or a skirt? Has she got a separate changing room?

I don't suppose the Ravens will have any reason to want to leave now, they'll be much better looked after by a woman.

Well done and good luck to her.

TRAINS AND TUBE STRIKES

I was in charge at QPR a few years back when Coventry had to catch the tube to White City to get to Loftus Road on time.

Whether it's planes, trains or automobiles, you're taking a gamble whenever you travel these days.

I've always loved trains, especially now I'm in Plymouth, when you go through Dawlish and Teignmouth with the sea right alongside the track.

I don't see why people should have to go on strike. Why can't they be paid a fair wage? Why should anyone have to down tools because they feel that strongly about their case?

Sid James knew how to handle industrial disputes

I remember a Carry On film - Carry On At Your Convenience, I think it was - which was based in a toilet manufacturers when workers downed tools at the drop of a hat. One of their mums came in and made him go back to work.

Perhaps that's the answer - although I don't see why workers can't sit down with management and thrash it out fairly.

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, RIP

The loss of a legend. He will remembered forever with that voice.

Of course, he came to the consciousness of the British public during the 1990 World Cup when the BBC used his version of Nessun Dorma as the theme to their coverage.

Pavarotti was a larger-than-life character with a voice to match

I never thought I'd like something I couldn't understand so much.

You could listen to him over and over again, without understanding a word of what he was singing - and that's a bit special for me.

It's amazing to think of the sound that came out of a fellow like that, and he seemed wonderfully jolly.

And he loved his football. He will be sadly missed.

PUNTER'S QUESTION

Total Footballer: "Ollie, just how busy is a football manager's phone on transfer deadline day?"

It's not just deadline day, but in the last three or four days leading up to it. It's just silly.

I think we had it right before.

How can you close a window and make a company keep all its workforce when people might be injured, fall ill or get suspended?

It countermands what we were all supposed to be doing.

Us Championship sides should have benefitted from the extra money Premier League clubs get by borrowing some of their younger players.

But Premier League clubs seem to be stacking and racking young players, and when you restrict them from doing any business for a period of time they're reluctant to weaken themselves by letting those young players out.

A club like Manchester United could be going for three or four trophies and Sir Alex Ferguson reckons he needs around 73 players.

I asked him about a lad who would have done well for me, but he said he needed him because last season they ran out of players towards the end.

This stupid deadline has cost us. It's wrong.

The other question is that Premier League clubs are buying 15 or 16-year-olds all over the country and sticking them in their academies.

We can't sign them, and we can't borrow them.

It means that people like me have to go abroad to get value for money because the best young British players have been bought for a lot of money.

Then people wonder why English players aren't coming through. Nobody will let us borrow them because they need them.

Big clubs are doing it because if the rules change in the Champions League and they can't play so many foreign players, they're going to need these kids.

They thought they were helping us by saying we could borrow four long-term players, and eight others throughout the season, but you just try and get them.

All clubs are bunching up, trying to get the same players in the window.

I have gone away on holiday for a few days to try and get my head straight. I'm in Cornwall and it's beautiful.

PUNTER'S QUESTION II

M Weller: "Ollie, I've often thought they should have a play-off in the Premier League for relegation. It would add a bit of action to the bottom of the league - though perhaps too much pain after a long season knowing you have more games to stay up?

I'm not sure how a play-off for relegation would work. I suppose one way to do it would be two down automatically, with the next-placed team going into the play-offs with the teams finishing third, fourth and fifth in the Championship.

I wouldn't think Championship teams would want it, as it would mean one less play-off place.

You have 46 games to decide promotion and I never used to like the play-offs, but having been involved in a few of them, I like them now.

Having said that, I wouldn't want to protect the teams coming down that much.

They get that awful fat windfall for failing, which is making my league so difficult for the majority of teams who don't get that sort of money to compete.

Plus, the season would be prolonged even further. I'm not for it. Leave things as they are.

Ian Holloway was talking to John May.