Come February 1, 2011, Charlie Adam may no longer be a Blackpool player but this is irrelevant to the mood of this article.
As of yet, Blackpool have not received a bid which they feel is realistic to prise Adam away from Bloomfield Road. Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, has been as open about the fact that they have received bids as he has been quick to describe them as "insulting".
It is believed that Liverpool, Birmingham and Aston Villa have all registered an interest in the Scottish international.
What makes this situation so refreshing is that both parties have a mutual understanding and respect for each other. On so many occasions you will hear the manager of a football club praise the subject of transfer speculation in the vein hope that the player will be hanging on every word and not have his ears covered by his agents hands.
Holloway has made no secret of the fact that he wants his captain to play at a higher level, meaning a bigger club. He has alluded to discussions that he has had with Adam about a "career plan" which consists of him progressing to a bigger club at some point in the near future. As entertaining as Holloway can be and as jovial as he may come across he is also a man who is a realist. He understands that Blackpool has financial constraints, he understands that their season objective was to stay in the Premier League and he also understands that keeping Adam beyond his remaining 18 month contract is highly unlikely.
Similarly to Holloway, Adam deserves a lot of praise for his conduct during a time which is surely both exciting and distracting. Unlike so many footballers previously in this position, Adam has remained silent and sustained the level of performances that has seen him become one of the most talked about midfielders in the Premier League. As of yet, and it is important to realise that there is still time for this to happen, Adam has not come out and demanded a move or thrown his metaphorical toys out of his pram. Instead, he has acted every bit like the consummate professional Blackpool supporters would expect.
After all, Adam owes as much to the Tangerines as they do to him for where they find themselves. Holloway gave Adam an escape route from the periphery of a Rangers team where chances were limited by bringing him to Bloomfield Road in the hope that he could help maintain their Coca-Cola Championship status. No-one could have envisaged that they would gain promotion to the Premier League. It was fairy-tale stuff.
Having been made early season favourites to be relegated from the Premiership, many suggesting that they would do worse than Derby County's record of eleven points in an entire season, Blackpool are currently on 28 points and find themselves 12th in the table after 22 games; something few would have predicted.
If Blackpool are to stay up then they need to retain their influential captain which is why Holloway has branded the bids so far as "disgraceful". He is acutely aware of the void that would be left should Adam leave before the end of the January transfer window and the increasingly less time he has to find a potential replacement.
Despite the shoe-string budget Blackpool has to work with and the wealth of clubs circling their club, its uplifting to see that they will not be bullied into selling their biggest asset for anything less than what represents a good deal for the club, the player and the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment