Howe's gone and Holloway had been busy fending off interest from Venky's before settling down to discuss the game.
He was delighted to welcome his players back from international duty. "Everybody has got back unscathed and having been on a bit of a poor run we've got to try and get a decent result and what better than a local Lancashire derby to have a chance to do that in.
"I've had two weeks to look at what I wanted to do and the team that's been announced today, they know what it is, the subs have been announced today, I'm only taking those players with me and the rest of them will be training because I've got to shake this up and make sure everybody is fit enough.
"If they don't like it, they can speak to me but I don't really care. I only care about what we are going to do against Burnley and I'm only taking the people I think I need.
"We could do with a win now to push us back up but if we get a defeat which we are easily capable of losing then God knows how we will all feel but it's all about learning to deal with when it's going well and when it's not going well."
Speaking about Burnley, and living in the area when the Clarets beat his team last season, he added: "I can hear their voices in my head. Every week I used to go and have something to eat or pop into the pub and it's a very pub orientated village. It's a community over there in Pendle and my wife and I loved it but I felt it was too far away from where I was working so we don't live there any more.
"They are great people over there, great sense of humour, very passionate about their football team and what you don't get is stragglers. You don't get people in their pubs with a Chelsea shirt or a Man United shirt on. You don't because they'd kill 'em, they don't like 'em. They don't like that, it's got to be Burnley or nothing. They can associate with that, and I can, that's what I liked about them.
"I don't know how the Burnley players are going to feel. It was quite a weird scenario where a manager leaves a club and then he ends up going back there but I can tell you that Terry's a great coach.
"He's been there for years, he knows the club through and through. The club is well set up and they play the same way through the first team and all the way through the youths so it won't be a problem for him, it will be a great opportunity and I'm sure with his connections to Blackpool he'll be loving it but more importantly for me, the surface is great.
"We didn't get it right there last time. Yes, the TV cameras are there, but we've prepared our team to go over there and give a good performance. Yes, we might have lapses. We might let a goal in here and a goal in there but I don't need it affecting my team. It did last time and we've got to be better and stronger than that. That's all that matter, that's all that's relevant."
For Terry Pashley, after over 20 years as youth team coach at Turf Moor, he takes charge of the first team. Asked about the team news, he said: “I’ll listen to everybody because if I’m being honest I go scouting a lot at the weekend, so I’ve only seen the first team on a few occasions at home, which was mostly mid-week.
“So I will listen to all the staff, but ultimately I’ll go with what my gut feeling tells me and basically how the lads have trained. I know the boys and know the teams, so we’ll hopefully put a team out there that’s going to really have a go.
“We’ve got good staff here who give you good information but I know a lot about Blackpool anyway. I don’t think they have really changed in the last couple of years. The personnel may have changed but the way they shape up doesn’t really change a great deal.
“We will be aware of Blackpool, but I’m a believer in it’s what we really do that’ll ultimately win or lose the game.
“It’s a vital game and we want three points. We want to do ourselves justice. We want to ultimately stop the goals going in; we can’t get away from that fact. The boys are well aware of that fact and I’m sure they will be working extremely hard to do that.”
Pash takes charge against a team for whom he played over 200 times, and a town where he still lives. “I’ve had a few phone calls and a few texts already from a lot of people in the Blackpool area,” he added.
“Living in the town there has been a lot of friendly banter, although that might just slightly disappear by the weekend. I’ve played a lot for Blackpool and a lot for Burnley and they are the two main clubs that have been throughout my career.
“Still living in the town just adds that little bit of spice to it and the television even more. It should be very interesting and one all the boys, all the staff, all of us should be really looking forward to, to go and prove how good we are.”