Holloway is Plymouth's cup of tea

By Robert Woodward

LONDON (Reuters) - Never again will Ian Holloway compare himself to a cheap tea bag.

Holloway has broken his FA Cup hoodoo by taking second division Plymouth Argyle into a quarter-final against Premier League strugglers Watford on Sunday.

"My record over the years has been shocking. I'm like a cheap tea bag - I don't stay long in the Cup," the 43-year-old said before Argyle's defeat of Derby County in the fifth round.

After the 2-0 home win his hyperbole was more rustic. "I'm as chuffed as a badger at the start of mating season," he said.

Holloway's way with words, delivered in his distinctive West Country accent, has made him something of a cult figure. Few lower league managers have a book dedicated to their words of wisdom and "The Tao of Ian Holloway" is a fitting tribute.

"When you play with wingers you look a bit like a taxi with both doors open, anyone can get in or out" was one gem while "we've picked the ship up off the bottom of the ocean, plugged a few leaks and we're floating on the top. Now we want to turn around and sail off into the sunset," was another.

Perhaps his most famous saying compared a winning performance by his team at the time, Queens Park Rangers, with chatting up a woman on a night out.

His extended metaphor included the lines: "We didn't look our best but we've pulled. Some weeks the lady is good-looking and some weeks she's not."