"Bleeds blue and white" - Ex-player reacts to coach missing out on Bristol Rovers job | OneFootball

Highlights

With the somewhat new trend of bringing in young head coaches in the EFL in recent years, it has seen many experienced bosses left on the sidelines whilst looking for fresh opportunities.

And one of those is the charismatic Ian Holloway, who has now not had a job in football since December 2020, when he departed League Two outfit Grimsby Town.

Holloway has had a successful career in management, starting at Bristol Rovers as a player-manager in 1996, and he has promotions on his CV with Queens Park Rangers, Blackpool and Crystal Palace.

In 2021, Holloway claimed his appetite for management had somewhat diminished, but having been interviewed for the Motherwell job earlier this year, it appears that he wants to be back in the game - and he was on the radar of his favourite club in the form of Bristol Rovers last motnh.

Was Ian Holloway in consideration to return to Bristol Rovers?

Rovers considered a number of candidates before eventually opting for former Exeter City and Rotherham United manager Matt Taylor, but Holloway was one of the early names that was linked with the post.

According to BristolLive at the start of November, Holloway was of interest to the Gas board as well as fellow out of work boss Garry Monk, although the former did not meet owner Hussain AlSaaed's initial critieria of a young manager who has experience in taking clubs from League One to the Championship.

Now 60 years of age, Holloway is waiting for that next job, but it wasn't to be a second stint as a manager at the Memorial Stadium as they got Taylor in last week instead.

Brett Ormerod, who was managed by Holloway during a successful period at Blackpool where the Tangerines made it to the Premier League for the very first time, believes that a return to Bristol Rovers would have been good for Holloway to get his managerial career back on track, but ultimately the Gas went in another direction.

"There's been a switch in football. Owners are now going for younger managers. Lee Johnson is younger than me and has managed over 500 league games, which is amazing," Ormerod told Stocklytics.

"I'm 47 now and I think I'm older than most of the average managers coming into the game.

"I'd like to see Ian Holloway back in the game because football needs an Ian Holloway, just like it needed a Gordon Strachan. Both had the same level of enthusiasm for the game and wanted to make you a better player.

"Ian did tell me he was still looking for a job but football is going in a different direction now. I'd love to see Ian back in the dugout because he brings that buzz and fun factor into football which isn't always there anymore. "Bristol Rovers is the club for Ian. He's been there a few times and he's Bristol born and bred. If you cut him in half, he bleeds blue and white.

"Holloway has a good rapport with the fans and he'd be walking into the big rivalry. I didn't realise how big it was until I met him and he used to go on about them a lot. I'd like to have seen him at Bristol Rovers."