Kentishgreen":wrh6ts5y said:
Can’t get over the number of people who would have Holloway manage this “team”. Personally I wouldn’t want the gnome from Bristol anywhere near an Argyle team even an imaginary one. What’s the matter with Sturrock. He was much much more successful and stayed for a considerably longer period of time.
I always felt Holloway's Argyle team played with positivity and a spring in their step from the off.
I remember one game in the Championship when Argyle drew at home with Dennis Wise's Leeds, the season they went down. Argyle were pedestrian, played long ball football an didn't look like scoring, and neither did Leeds. Argyle were unrecognisable from the performances we had been used to at home despite having the usual players available. We were booting the ball up the pitch to no-one and doing all kinds of things the players didn't usually do. It turned out Holloway had been away for personal reasons and not present at the game, leaving Des Bulpin I think to take charge for the match.
It struck home just how important a manager's presence is on the way the team plays. The team talk, his presence, his energy - it is all evidently vital because one absence from the manager and it was noticeable.
Looking at Argyle now, there is no doubt that Ryan Lowe is the biggest personality at the club, the most charismatic, and the team wouldn't tick without him being around. Holloway was exactly the same.
In terms of leading a team out, creating a positive atmosphere and getting the maximum out of every player on the pitch, I don't see how you can feel that strongly against Holloway. His subs we usually good and made sense, and he won more games than he lost.
If he hadn't have gone and the board didn't dismantle his team, we would have been a fairly good bet for promotion that season.
What did Sturrock bring after he was hired a second time that was better than Holloway was doing before?
