Ian Holloway Resigns!

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 23/12/2020

IAN Holloway has resigned as Grimsby manager just days after committing himself to the club. The high profile boss cited a likely change of ownership at Blundell Park as the reason for the decision.

Holloway arrived last season in a fanfare and quickly won over the fans with his attractive brand of football. The long Covid break and a poor set of decision over the close season meant Town started the season with a large, unfit squad more of quantity than of quality. The Mariners have struggled for form all season and currently lie just above the relegation places.

Holloway has had success in higher leagues but has never managed at this level before, and initially came with the intention of joining the board and working with owner John Fenty. Fenty has since resigned from the council and looks about to depart the club's board entirely. Not being able to continue that relationship appears to be at the heart of his decision.

"Contact was made by the new owners to me on several occasions before the takeover, which I felt was inappropriate, and told them as such," Holloway explained on Twitter in a message to the fans. "This is the key factor in my decision. Why? The relationship between the incoming new owners, board and manager is so so important. It needs to be strong for a club to succeed, and we got off on the wrong footing. Therefore, that relationship will be strained from the off, which is bad for the club."

With new ownership expected soon, and no manager, the Mariners are effectively rudderless. Who will appoint a new manager is yet to be determined, although former boss Paul Hurst, most recently at Scunthorpe, is a name inevitably linked with the job. Hurst would be a decisive character though and perhaps a clean start with a new individual experienced at this level would be the way to go.

It has been a tumultuous era on and off the pitch as well as the wider society. The fans need the opportunity to coalesce behind a new owner, manager and team in the coming days. Hopefully, the second half of the season will allow the supporters to vocally back their team, something that has been sorely missed in 2020.

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