Swindon Town seeing positive results from Ian Holloway switch | OneFootball

Ian Holloway's tactical simplification has led to 2 wins in a row for the struggling League Two side.

Following his side's emphatic 3-1 win against Fleetwood Town on Saturday, Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway bemoaned the predictability of the team's tactics during their 4-0 defeat away at Colchester last Tuesday. During that match, the team enjoyed 59% possession but created little to no clear chances in front of goal.

The ineffectiveness of Town's attack led the manager to "tweak" his tactics, as revealed in an interview with BBC Radio Wiltshire, opting for a simpler approach that focused on keeping the ball in the opponent's half and putting constant pressure on their midfield.

He said: "I tweaked things around a little bit and made it a lot harder for us to make a mistake, and a lot easier for us to force mistakes from them."

This tactical tweaking led to Town ending their 85-day wait for a home league win, and creeping out of the relegation zone, leaving fans feeling a little less nervous about a potential exit from the football league.

A smart win on Tuesday in the Vertu Trophy against League One Wycombe Wanderers, despite playing with 10 men for the entire second half, was the cherry on top. There haven't been many this season, but this has been a very good week for Town.

Positive tactics lead to positive results

Holloway's simplification of Town's approach paid dividends.

Against Fleetwood Town, journeyman striker Harry Smith bagged a hat-trick in tricky conditions at the County Ground, jumping on a mistake by Fleetwood goalkeeper David Harrington in the eighth minute to poke home, nodding in from a corner after 28 minutes and sealing his hat-trick in style in the 58th minute with a thunderous strike into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.

Against Wycombe Wanderers, Holloway, with one eye on Saturday's visit to Bradford City, made nine changes to the side but still came out on top, with midfielder Nnamdi Ofoborh stating after the game that the trust the manager is showing in his players is starting to pay off.

Ollie Clarke brings solidity for Swindon Town

After the match on Saturday, Holloway also lauded the return of veteran defender Ollie Clarke, who Town signed from Mansfield Town in the summer for an undisclosed fee.

The manager described the defender as "Swindon Town's Rodri" and "an energizer", and extolled his bravery and fearlessness, underlining how his return from injury has brought a certain solidity to the backline.

Hollway is known for his eye-catching quotes and his claim that “Man City without Rodri is massive and Swindon without Ollie Clarke is massive" might even be fairly plain by his own standards but it says it all about the importance that he places on the midfielder.

Leaning on his older, more experienced players definitely seems to be an essential part of his plan to get Town up the table.

January is crucial but Swindon Town in safe hands with Ian Holloway at the helm

Holloway's rethinking of Swindon Town's approach, his 'back-to-basics' philosophy, has without doubt started to allay the immediate fears of fans, whose embryonic protests against owner Clem Morfani underline a feeling of exasperation felt throughout the fanbase regarding Town's league position, especially considering the money spent this summer.

Key to the continued success of Holloway's tactical simplification will be the fitness of key players like Clarke, as well as a culture of focus, mental resilience and perseverance, which can take a while to develop.

For Swindon, January cannot come soon enough, as reinforcements are crucial to their league survival. In the meantime, they seem to be in safe hands.