Grimsby Town: Shrewd Ian Holloway signing was anything but | OneFootball

Hopes were high for Mariners fans when they signed experienced midfielder Danny Rose in 2020. However, the move didn't work out at all.

Some transfers just don't work out for one reason or another, and while then Grimsby Town boss Ian Holloway's signing of experienced midfielder Danny Rose in 2020 appeared a shrewd one at the time, it proved a disaster for both player and club.

Prior to joining the Mariners, Rose had tasted success multiple times at League Two level and it was hoped his nous could guide a largely young and inexperienced squad assembled by Holloway in advance of the 2020/21 campaign.

Joining Grimsby late on in his career, Rose started out in the youth academy at Manchester United in 2006. Initially signing on loan with fifth-tier Oxford United in 2007, the midfielder, who was equally comfortable with the physical and technical demands of the game, joined permanently thereafter before ultimately joining Conference South outfit Newport County in 2008.

Rose looked a cut above at that level and helped County to promotion during his four seasons at Rodney Parade.

Moving on to help Fleetwood Town to promotion to the EFL for the first time in 2012, Rose spent further time on loan at Aldershot Town and back at Oxford on a more permanent basis before signing for Northampton Town in February 2016.

Rose won promotion from League Two three times in four years but couldn't get going at Grimsby

The midfielder quickly played a part in Chris Wilder's Cobblers winning the League Two title in 2016, before moving on to do likewise with Portsmouth the following campaign.

The Bristol-born player with a cultured left foot stayed on the South Coast for two-and-a-half years, helping Pompey consolidate in the third tier, before a long-term injury set him back, and saw him lose his place in the manager Kenny Jackett's long-term thoughts.

The 30-year-old moved on once more in January 2019, joining Swindon Town, whom he'd also help to promotion to League One straight away, as the Robins won the fourth-tier title under the stewardship of Richie Wellens.

After 18 months at the County Ground, Rose was released, and on the back of his previous successes, hopes were high among Mariners fans when the club announced the serial winner had agreed a two-year contract at Blundell Park ahead of manager Holloway's first full season in the Grimsby dugout.

It's fair to say things went wrong very quickly for the Mariners, their exuberant boss, and Rose, however.

Holloway looked out of his depth in putting together a competitive League Two unit, signing the likes of Montel Gibson and Ira Jackson Jr from the seventh and eighth tiers, alongside a number of young loanees from Championship clubs.

Preparation for the campaign ahead was almost non-existent, and, as COVID-19 saw supporters having to watch from home, concerns grew further, as Holloway arranged just one pre-season friendly, that being against local non-league outfit Cleethorpes Town.

It was evident things weren't right behind the scenes, and this became even clearer as a woefully unfit Grimsby side began the campaign in terrible fashion.

Rose, who was known to be a very decent EFL midfielder before his arrival on the East Coast, was one of the obvious victims of the unprofessional malaise that the Holloway era became.

Usually a calm, assured ball-playing midfielder, capable of playing in the holding role or further forward, the 32-year-old looked a shadow of his former self, inconsistent in possession, and clumsy out of it, resulting in him making rash challenges that gave away penalties and free-kicks in dangerous positions.

Rose wasn't the only one underperforming. The vast majority of Holloway's poorly constructed unit looked way off the pace and out of their depth.

The experienced former Pompey man gradually lost his place in a squad that new manager Paul Hurst, who replaced Holloway in the Blundell Park dugout in December, hastily put together to try and give the Mariners a better chance of survival. Rose made 26 appearances in total for the club.

Unfortunately, while performances and results improved towards the end of the 2020/21 campaign, the damage was already done, and Grimsby were relegated to non-league for the second time.

Not in boss Paul Hurst's plans for Grimsby's 2021/22 National League campaign, Rose was made available for transfer, subsequently joining sixth-tier Darlington on loan.

As his Mariners contract expired, a 34-year-old Rose made the move to the North East permanently in the summer of 2022, joining the Quakers in a player-coach role.

A popular figure in County Durham, Rose acquitted himself well over the following campaign, before briefly returning to North East Lincolnshire to play for eighth-tier Cleethorpes Town in 2023/24.

His stay with the Owls would ultimately be short-lived, and a quick return to Darlington was in the offing as he became fellow former Grimsby man Josh Gowling's assistant manager in September.

Following Gowling's sacking three months later, Rose soon departed too, quickly returning to Swindon as a Youth Development coach.

The 36-year-old is now back where he has happy memories of successful times, a far cry from his two years at Blundell Park. What looked like a shrewd move by Holloway turned out to be anything but.