Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier has hit back at Blackpool manager Ian Holloway, accusing him of double standards over the Charlie Adam transfer affair.

Houllier believes Holloway has singled him out for criticism, despite the fact that other clubs have bid for the midfielder through the same channels.

Adam’s future at Blackpool has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks with Villa, Birmingham and Liverpool all tabling bids for his services.

The Scot has handed in a transfer request which was quickly rejected by Blackpool.

Houllier is angry that Holloway distanced Kenny Dalglish from the offer made by Liverpool, yet did exactly the opposite when talking about Villa’s bid.

“I noticed this weekend that I was not treated the same way as my friend Kenny Dalglish,” Houllier said.

“Ian said ‘it must not come from Kenny’ when Kenny makes a bid, ‘it comes from the club’.

“He called me all sorts of things because our club, officially, did the right things, and went to them.

“He went back to the press having a go at me.”

Houllier also alluded to the comments he made last week, when he said he had been victimised by other managers due to his nationality after also coming in for criticism from Sunderland boss Steve Bruce over the deal for Darren Bent.
Easy target
“I was stunned, but hey, easy target, as I’ve said,” he said.

“I’m not happy with him, I’m not happy with what he said. I think it’s very, very unfair.”

The Frenchman joked that Saturday’s match between Blackpool and Sunderland would have been a meeting of managerial minds.

“He must have had a good conversation on the touchline with Bruce last weekend,” joked Houllier.

Gerard Houllier concerning Aston Villa’s move for Darren Bent.

There is bad blood between the clubs over the £18m switch of the England striker, with Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn suggesting Villa had approached the player long before the deal went through, although the Midlands club insist no approach had been made prior to the Black Cats’ 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Sunday.

But Bruce says a top-class manager would have shown him the respect and courtesy of a phone call.

He also revealed Bent had wanted to move to Turkey last summer but the club averted the switch.

Bruce told Sky Sports News: “There’s a lot of people bitterly upset and disappointed, and rightly so.

“My big disappointment of course is Gerard Houllier too who up until this time now, I still haven’t had a phone call from.
Respect

“I would have thought out of respect and a manager of his status, I would have thought maybe a phone call from him to say ‘Listen Steve, we’re after your centre forward and your striker.’

“I would have thought, maybe that might have been the way forward, it usually is with the great managers I’ve had the pleasure to deal with in the past, that’s usually the case.

“But in this, so the whole thing has disappointed us and I thought we’d averted it last summer – he (Bent) wanted to go to Turkey last summer and we averted it then.

“So, it’s the timing for me – if I’d have known four weeks beforehand or five, six weeks beforehand from his agent or Darren that they were unhappy at the club and wanted to move on then I wouldn’t be in a position that I’m in now, with ten days before the window ended and with an injury to Danny Welbeck, that’s put us in the situation that we’re in and it gives you very little time to try and do anything.

“So it’s the timing of it and that’s the disappointing thing – all Benty’s thought of is himself but I suppose that’s football and that’s the way it is.”

Asked if he was tempted to say no to the deal, he replied: “Yes of course we were, of course we were tempted.

Shocked

“I think what shocked us all was the written transfer request with Benty that it was so brutal, you know.

“And then in my experience with him, what’s the point of keeping someone who doesn’t really want to be here.

“I have to say in the last few weeks we have all been scratching our heads saying ‘has there been something wrong with Benty, he doesn’t look himself’.

“But we didn’t see it coming and, yes, we were quite within our right to do that, but in my experience of these things, what is the point?”