Magnets can attract and repel one another. Likewise so can Ian Holloway and Swindon.
The 61-year-old, who is rapidly approaching 1000 games in management, becomes Swindon’s sixth permanent manager in the Morfuni era.
He will be tasked with trying to spare Town’s blushes from relegation. In all honesty, I believe the ever-eccentric character will either extinguish the fire at STFC or add to it. There’ll be very little in between. Let’s try and digest just why.
We’ll start with the reasons for cautious optimism - his CV. As Town fans, we’re always disappointed when we see managers arrive with little experience. With Holloway having managed across all four divisions, the same argument can not be pointed at him.
The former Blackpool manager is an absolute football nut, he is on the verge of managing 1000 games for heaven’s sake. There really aren’t many left like Holloway – proper football men.
Here’s the thing though, is there a reason for that? Being the third oldest manager in the top four English divisions, obviously gives Holloway a wealth of expertise.
But how much of that is relevant in 2024? In any career an employment gap of just under four years is concerning, but in football it’s especially concerning. Why wasn’t Holloway in demand? Was it because the club where his win record last sat at over 33 percent, he departed in 2012?
Holloway’s management career is best known for taking underdogs Blackpool, despite all odds, to the Premier League. He did a fantastic job in Lancashire, especially under difficult ownership circumstances. Arguably, the achievement is still keeping Holloway vaguely relevant 14 years later. But its relevancy is quickly slipping, hence why he finds himself at a club suffering their lowest point in history.
After Blackpool, the only achievement was promotion with Crystal Palace into the Premier League. From there, underwhelming spells with Millwall and QPR followed, before Holloway’s last job at Grimsby – which saw him at the helm of the club’s relegation out of the EFL.
It's clear that Holloway’s star in management has been waning for some time. To add to the concern, those four years out of management have seen rapid change in football.
In many ways League Two is very much the same in terms of tactics. But the techniques for managing and communicating with players are vastly different. They simply can’t be handled in the same way which Holloway would be used to. Will he be able to adapt to get a tune out of this Swindon team?
One thing which Holloway will still have is a way with words in front of the media. He’s known to be a strong and unique communicator, something which will work in Town’s favour. Obviously the talking must be done on the pitch, but Holloway can go some way in uniting Swindon fans behind their team once again.
Once more, due to his character, the spotlight will be on Holloway. This will temporarily shift the negative attention on the goings-on behind the scenes, hopefully giving the players a renewed sense of hope they can escape this mess.
He will be tasked with trying to spare Town’s blushes from relegation. In all honesty, I believe the ever-eccentric character will either extinguish the fire at STFC or add to it. There’ll be very little in between. Let’s try and digest just why.
We’ll start with the reasons for cautious optimism - his CV. As Town fans, we’re always disappointed when we see managers arrive with little experience. With Holloway having managed across all four divisions, the same argument can not be pointed at him.
The former Blackpool manager is an absolute football nut, he is on the verge of managing 1000 games for heaven’s sake. There really aren’t many left like Holloway – proper football men.
Here’s the thing though, is there a reason for that? Being the third oldest manager in the top four English divisions, obviously gives Holloway a wealth of expertise.
But how much of that is relevant in 2024? In any career an employment gap of just under four years is concerning, but in football it’s especially concerning. Why wasn’t Holloway in demand? Was it because the club where his win record last sat at over 33 percent, he departed in 2012?
Holloway’s management career is best known for taking underdogs Blackpool, despite all odds, to the Premier League. He did a fantastic job in Lancashire, especially under difficult ownership circumstances. Arguably, the achievement is still keeping Holloway vaguely relevant 14 years later. But its relevancy is quickly slipping, hence why he finds himself at a club suffering their lowest point in history.
After Blackpool, the only achievement was promotion with Crystal Palace into the Premier League. From there, underwhelming spells with Millwall and QPR followed, before Holloway’s last job at Grimsby – which saw him at the helm of the club’s relegation out of the EFL.
It's clear that Holloway’s star in management has been waning for some time. To add to the concern, those four years out of management have seen rapid change in football.
In many ways League Two is very much the same in terms of tactics. But the techniques for managing and communicating with players are vastly different. They simply can’t be handled in the same way which Holloway would be used to. Will he be able to adapt to get a tune out of this Swindon team?
One thing which Holloway will still have is a way with words in front of the media. He’s known to be a strong and unique communicator, something which will work in Town’s favour. Obviously the talking must be done on the pitch, but Holloway can go some way in uniting Swindon fans behind their team once again.
Once more, due to his character, the spotlight will be on Holloway. This will temporarily shift the negative attention on the goings-on behind the scenes, hopefully giving the players a renewed sense of hope they can escape this mess.
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