Bristol Rovers legend Ian Holloway offers verdict on current squad and crucial promotion advice..By Daniel Hargraves.
The former Bristol Rovers player and manager spoke to Bristol Live at the launch of his new documentary about management 'The Hotseat'.
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Ian Holloway on the pitch at the MemBristol Rovers legend Ian Holloway believes the Gas potentially have the best squad since his time in the Mem dugout, as he's been left delighted with the direction the club is heading in after a successful summer of recruitment and a promising start to the campaign.
Kingswood-born Holloway's first managerial role came at his beloved Rovers as he joined the Gas for his third spell in 1996 with the role seeing him take charge as player-manager. After a tricky first campaign which saw the club finish 17th in Division Two (now League One), an excellent 1997/98 season put Rovers well in the hunt for automatic promotion to the second tier. However, a five-game losing streak during the February and March dented those hopes with the Gas eventually finishing fifth.
Despite beating Northampton Town 3-1 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final, they were defeated 3-0 in the second and missed out on promotion. Rovers still haven't played second tier football since with their last campaign above what is now known as League One level being the 1992/93 season.
The former Gas player-manager eventually left the club in 2001 and, when speaking to Bristol Live at the launch of his new documentary 'The Hotseat', shared his delight with the state of the club's current squad. "It potentially is," the 60-year-old replied, when asked if Joey Barton's side is the best Rovers team since his time as manager. "I like the way they’re growing.
"It’s the identity that he wants. That’s what I like. It’s not about playing out from the back, people get that all wrong. It’s about controlling bits and pieces of the game, it’s about getting everybody to work on the same page and actually care. You’re trying to create an environment where people can grown and improve and people want to belong to and I can see that coming.
"I understand the game inside out and I absolutely love what they’re doing."
Plenty has changed for the club occupying the blue side of Bristol from when Holloway was last an employee at the club but one obvious link between his tenure and Barton's is the presence of Scott Sinclair. The winger was a youth player at Rovers when the 60-year-old was first-team manager before eventually joining Chelsea in 2005. However, he did get the opportunity to play for his first club's first-team, re-joining almost a year ago having been a free agent. Holloway did get the opportunity to work with the now-34-year-old though when taking him on loan at Plymouth Argyle and hailed Sinclair as one of his favourites in the current Gas roster.
"They’ve got some wonderful players," the former Premier League manager added. "I’ve always liked Scott Sinclair. I was lucky enough to see some of their pre-season training and he absolutely like a greyhound. He looks fitter than he’s ever looked and he looks happier than he’s ever been and what a talent.
"I never got to play him in the first-team. I lost him when he was about 11 or 12-years-old but I tried to keep him and had a word with his family and a word with him. I used to take the under-10s when he was playing there. I borrowed him when I was down at Plymouth and he scored one of the best goals I’ve ever seen for me when he ran the length of the pitch and scored.
i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article8673776.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_BSLYH-00172.jpgScott Sinclair equalises for Bristol Rovers against Barnsley"[Aaron] Collins is excellent. I love [Ryan] Woodsy, I’ve always been an admirer of him. He keeps it ticking. I’m delighted with where we’re going. Hopefully we’ll get used to it, they’ll understand it more and our identify will be as a club that’s growing and getting bigger and better. Bit by bit, it’s all about the infrastructure and that’s improving all the time.
"George Friend was a great take as well. Someone with his experience, still fit. Used to belong to the club. We’ve also got nous in that midfield, there’s that understanding. I think we’re only going to get better and better but it’s all about being consistent and creating an environment, the crowd have got a massive part to play. Create an environment where your lads aren’t under pressure and they can shine and if you can get your home form right you only need to pick up a few on the way like we did the other week.
"Hopefully for us Gasheads we’re on the up, we’re on a roll, we’re improving, we’re getting better and it’s the style of how we’re doing it. I think Joey and his staff get us Bristolians. They get it, they get what it’s all about, they care and I believe that they are doing a very good job so onwards and upwards."
As well as Rovers, the Football League veteran has managed a number of other clubs including Queen's Park Rangers (twice), Leicester City, Blackpool and Crystal Palace and boasts an impressive CV having been in football for a number of decades.
Despite having been out of work for nearly three years since his departure from Grimsby Town in late 2020, the 60-year-old knows better than most in regards to what it takes from a club for a manager to be successful and stated that the Gas are now reaping the rewards for sticky with Barton.
The 41-year-old was hired in February 2021 tasked to keep the club in League One but inheriting a poor squad and not having the opportunity to recruit his own players, the Rovers boss couldn't keep the club up. Moreover, after a shaky start in League Two the following season with six defeats from their opening 10 league games, Barton's job was at risk. However, the club stuck with the young manager and got their rewards, securing automatic promotion with that 7-0 win over Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season.
i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article7053563.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/0_JMP_Bristol_Rovers_V_Scunthorpe_WC-501.jpgJBHaving finished 17th in their first season back in League One last term, Rovers have taken 15 points from their opening 11 fixtures and are looking up the table with performances arguably deserving of more rewards.
"I think the relationship between Joey and the previous owners was fantastic," the former Gas boss declared. "Wael [Al-Qadi] and Joey seem to get on well. I think Bristolians were getting that benefit.
"What you don’t want is someone to go in, go out. How can you change something in months? You just can’t. There was something fundamentally wrong with the players that we had there. Their habits weren’t right and Joey was honest enough to tell us about some of that stuff.
"At the end of the day your job as a player is to wear that shirt with the pride a fan would and I don’t believe every club in country has that but I believe that my club, which has always been Bristol Rovers, has players that do wear that shirt proudly and I’d like to thank everyone in charge of it for getting that across and having enough time to get that across."
With an array of plaudits for Rovers' summer recruitment, it is still frustrating that the transfer window somewhat feels overshadowed by missing out on a club-record deal to re-sign striker Jonson Clarke-Harris on deadline day. However, a second move in January hasn't been ruled out with Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony seemingly keen to cash in on the 29-year-old whose contract with the Posh expires next summer.
Interestingly, Holloway claimed that doing good business in January can make the difference for a side targeting promotion, stating: "It’s about consistency and really it’s all about the next window. If you can add at the right time and you can get quality and you’re doing well enough to do that you’re normally the ones to go up.
"I got overtaken when I was at Rovers and it still hurts me now. We got some injuries, we got this, we got that. Burnley caught us up by 11 points and overtook us but they signed Ian Wright. They signed Ian Wright in that window and we didn’t. We lost players. So wow, well done Stan Ternent at the time who talked his club into investing. Imagine Ian Wright going into your club. I think that’s what we got with Scott Sinclair, I really do."
The Rovers icon also declared that selling strikers during his time in the dugout affected the club's chances of promotions, adding: "All I know is that I’ve tried as hard as I could to improve every single club and I would have loved to have done something with Bristol Rovers. Unfortunately in my time what we did, to sell our centre-forwards like we did, was crazy.
"The market wasn’t going bust. We didn’t need to sell all of them. We didn’t need to sell Bobby Zamoura, we could’ve given him a new deal but we didn’t give it to him early enough and he went and got pinched by the club that we loaned him to and look at his career ever since.
"It’s about balance. I’m just privileged to have had anything to do with Bristol Rovers let alone be their player-manager, let alone play the games I did because all I wanted to do was win a promotion for them and I didn’t do it as a manager. I did it as a player but not as a manager so that will always be a huge thorn in my side."
“Ian Holloway, speaking at the launch of his new documentary, ‘The Hotseat’ brought to you by Sky Bet. You can find the documentary on The League of 72 YouTube Channel”
