Sport · Swindon
Ian Holloway admits relief after bizarre Swindon Town victory over Rotherham
By Swindon Now Editorial Team · Published
Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway has expressed his frustration with his side's performance despite securing a 2-1 win against nine-man Rotherham United.
Ian Holloway has admitted he was far from satisfied with Swindon Town’s performance, describing the 2-1 victory over Rotherham United as a bizarre encounter that left him exhausted.
The match was defined by disciplinary issues for the visitors, who saw Jili Buyabu dismissed after just six minutes for an elbow on Jack Thomson. Despite the numerical advantage, and a later red card for Dominic Iorfa, Holloway was critical of how his team managed the game.
Jack Thomson opened the scoring for Swindon with a deflected strike from distance. Following Iorfa’s late dismissal, Joseph Hungbo extended the lead with a well-taken free kick, before Denezel Hall grabbed a late consolation goal for Rotherham.
Reflecting on the match, Holloway expressed visible frustration with his side's tactical application during the disjointed affair. He stated that the early dismissal significantly altered his intended game plan and caused the players to lose their flow.
Holloway said: "That was the most bizarre game that I have ever seen in my life. Their first challenge, what was he doing? It was absolutely crazy. It looked like he meant it and smashed him in the face. Then the refs blew up and did that, and then that totally changed what we should be doing."
The manager remained particularly critical of the team's inability to control the pitch effectively against ten and later nine men, noting that the squad struggled to find the right balance in the middle of the park. He highlighted a failure to capitalise on the numerical superiority, describing the final period of play as a struggle where the team made the game appear more difficult than it needed to be.
"It's testing every bit of my experience, and I'm completely exhausted now because I hated every second of that," Holloway admitted. "We had too many high up. We played it forward, and we lost it. They only got nine, and they were desperate. All we needed to do is sit in with them, and then our skill would have been enough."
Despite his dissatisfaction with the display, Holloway acknowledged the importance of the three points in the context of the league table. He insisted that the team has much to learn and that tactical discipline will be a primary focus in upcoming training sessions to ensure they improve their ball retention and composure in future fixtures.
"I'll show them that, and then we'll practice it, and then we'll have to do it," he added. "We're trying to learn as we play. If you look at where we are on the table now compared to where we might have been if we'd only got one, then I'll take that all day long."
Source: Wiltshire Times — Football · View original