BLACKPOOL boss Ian Holloway has accused football of ‘going soft’ after vehemently claiming the game’s higher powers need to ‘take a long hard look at themselves’.

A larger-than life ‘Olly’ was left seething after Rovers’ 2-1 derby win at Bloomfield Road on Saturday, accusing Sam Allardyce’s men of going down too easily.

He insisted it wasn’t Rovers he was complaining about, nor any of his other Premier League rivals, but instead the way ‘contact’ is being outlawed by the authorities.

He said: “I’m getting really frustrated and in the league below they wouldn’t be fouls. People get up and get on with it and it seems to be much more physical.

“There was one that led to them hitting the post with Diouf when two of my lads were with him and David Vaughan sort of shouldered him and he went down like he was shot. Then the ref says ‘There you go, there’s a free kick’. Rubbish, rubbish. He knew where he was, he knew what he was doing and when he wanted a free kick, down he went.

“I’ve got to learn to shut my mouth and I’ll probably be in trouble now. But I can only tell the Premier League officials, whoever I speak to, what I think.

“It’s really difficult to take but I don’t think they’re being asked to look at the right things, what’s important. I’m looking at Salgado in his own box, twice, down he went but nobody touched him.

“Ask Sam when he played what difference it would have been. He’s a big strong man who organises his teams brilli-antly but it’s just not right.

“I am not saying they are deliberately cheating because they are not.”

Holloway didn’t spare referee Mike Dean the full force of his feelings post match and insists he will carry on ‘shouting from the tower’ until he is listened to.

In an extraordinary seven minute rant, Holloway launched a tirade at top-flight football throughout the world and claimed he didn’t care if it landed him in hot water.

He said: “I’m saying I can only talk to the people above me and I’ve said it every time so far because this is really different. They want my opinion on things and I may not be right but I’m only saying it how I see it.

“I told the referee what I thought, that he was blooming awful. ‘I couldn’t understand what you were doing, some of the decisions and neither could the crowd.

“‘I’m going to report you’, ‘Oh good, I can’t wait to write what I think about you pal’. Of course I respect him but overall what they’re being asked to do and how they’re asking them to do it, to let the game go on if someone feigns something and falls over when he wasn’t even shoved.

“I would like them to show me how I am wrong. I would love that. Perhaps my punish-ment should be to sit with a referee – who I think is a good referee – and I could say, ‘Right, tell me what you thought there, Mike’. I’d like him to sit there with me and give me a little lesson. Ollie Needs A Lesson.”