Bristol legend Ian Holloway begins tenure as Swindon Town Head Coach
The 61-year-old promised to remove players' fear of failure after taking over from Mark Kennedy on Friday
After watching Swindon Town from the stands over the weekend, new manager Ian Holloway will finally take to the training pitch this morning.
The 61-year-old legend, who was born in Bristol, and played for Bristol Rovers during his illustrious career, promised to remove players' fear of failure after taking over from Mark Kennedy on Friday.
Holloway has agreed a deal until the end of the season with the Sky Bet League Two strugglers - who, even after this weekend's draw against Gillingham, sit one place above the drop zone in 22nd place.
The new manager was soon in the dug-out during the match, after Grant Hall's early red card and Timothee Dieng's first-half effort for the visitors before Smith struck deep in added time.
Read more: Ian Holloway named as new Swindon Town manager
Holloway is returning to the world of management for the first time since resigning as Grimsby boss in December 2020 - and comes after a 13-match tenure of Mark Kennedy, during which, the Robins managed to register only two wins.
He told Swindon's website: "I'm delighted to be back working in football after a period out of the game as I wanted to get back into it if the right opportunity arose which, with this opportunity, I feel is the perfect fit for me.
"Conversations happened very quickly and both sides were very keen to get the deal done and, of course, I was delighted to engage with a club like Swindon Town, a club of whom I know a lot about due to my location and knowledge of the local area."
Holloway has managed 989 games in English football across spells with Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth, Leicester, Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Grimsby.
He was at the County Ground on Saturday to watch Swindon's match against Gillingham - during which the backroom staff oversaw the fixture.
Swindon's head of football Jamie Russell said: "We are confident that Ian's experience and leadership qualities which he has shown for many years across the top five divisions of professional football will be a significant asset for Swindon Town Football Club.
"His passionate approach coupled with his location being more local to the south-west area along with, most importantly, a desire to build a hard-working and entertaining side is a large part of what made us believe he would be the ideal fit for us."