Ian Holloway’s circus: why the manager’s outbursts are no laughing matter for fans

Swindon manager has a history of viral outbursts but fans want a united club and manager they can support

In Ian Holloway’s often madcap managerial orbit, this was simply the latest in a steady succession of eccentric outbursts. Eyes bulging as he spoke, he boomed the letter “D” and promptly stabbed himself in the chest with an imaginary dagger. Next came the letter “M” alongside a blow from another invisible knife. Finally, a “W” followed by a jab to the heart. “Dead. Man. Walking,” he declared, pausing for effect between words and briefly falling into an Oscar-worthy zombie stupor. “That’s how it feels.”

To an offbeat press conference genre containing seagulls following trawlers and self-proclaimed special ones, it was a crazy new entry worthy of its subsequent viral nature. Holloway at his finest.

The clip was widely shared, there is every chance you saw it earlier this month. The general perception, from those of a neutral stance, was that one of football’s great characters had lost the plot. To those in the room, there was a sense that it was merely the exuberant mannerisms of a quirky manager during a tricky period. But for a large section of Swindon fans, it prompted an unamused eye roll. Here we go again. The circus tent is pitched firmly in town.

Supporting a Holloway-led club is an interesting assignment. Within weeks of taking the Swindon job two years ago on Sunday, he began constructing a hostile wall towards fans by reminding them that they could “go bowling” if they did not like his methods. Last December, he had to be restrained by his players during an altercation with a fan, while he has made a habit of telling them to “jog on” if overly vocal in their criticism.

When his side picked up a much-needed point against Walsall last week, the goalkeeping coach held him back from another confrontation with supporters. Asked about it, he goaded reporters into putting his address online so that disgruntled fans could have it out with him: “I don’t really care anymore.” So, when season-ticket holders found their phones pinging with amused messages containing the same viral Holloway zombie clip, their lack of laughter could be forgiven.

“When you get these soundbites from Ian Holloway, outside the Swindon Town world it’s all about what a great character he is, how he says it like it is, and how it must be great to have him as manager,” says Rich Pullen, founder and co-host of the largest Swindon podcast, Loathed Strangers. “But, to a growing percentage of the Swindon community, it’s exhausting and it takes away from any of the good.

“If Swindon win, post-match he often uses it as an opportunity to have a go at the fans. It’s got to the stage where you can’t even enjoy a win without Ian Holloway being unable to hold himself from criticising fans. The easy thing to do is ignore him, but it’s almost impossible because he is everywhere. He goes viral and everyone always thinks: ‘Oh, isn’t that funny.’ Well, no. People are tired of the excess noise.”

This time last week, there was a thought that Saturday’s M4 derby homecoming trip to Bristol Rovers might hasten a possible end to Holloway’s Swindon tenure. Winless in eight games in all competitions, the discontent was not expected to abate on the preceding midweek trip to high-flying Barnet. The 3-1 victory that followed – Barnet’s first league defeat of the season – was a huge shock, thanks in no small part to the heroics of the goalkeeper, Connor Ripley, who recently declared the whole squad would “run through a brick wall” for Holloway.

Swindon might have followed it with another win, at Rovers’ Memorial Stadium, only for Matty Virtue to miss an open goal 90 seconds into the match. The forgettable goalless draw that played out at least extended Swindon’s unbeaten run to three games and kept them safely mid-table in League Two. Holloway was right to savour the improved performances, but the malaise runs deeper.

The manager had said something far more significant immediately after his viral soundbite when he continued: “The owner’s a dead man walking as well and that over-complicates everything here.”

Even those seeking a more composed figure in Holloway’s place agree the manager is just one cog in a machine many argue has been misfiring for some time. Days after the zombie rant, the Swindon Town Supporters Trust declared the club had “lost our soul, our hope, our passion”, and urged Holloway’s comments about the Australian owner, Clem Morfuni, to “be a wake-up call”.

Since saving the club from probable administration in 2021, Morfuni has become a target of increasing fan indignation, failing to sell up and adding millions to the club’s debt. “Whilst the short-term focus may be on Ian Holloway, the bigger picture is above the role of the manager,” concluded the Trust, pointing to “a wedge with supporters so obvious that even the manager openly talks about it”.

In such a context, the uptick in form is merely one – albeit very welcome – aspect among wider misgivings. Because what fans really want is a united club and manager they can get behind; not to go jogging on.