‘Absolute tinpot garbage’ – Ian Holloway threatens to sell players after pre-season defeat

Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway has threatened to sell underperforming players in an explosive rant.

League Two Swindon lost 3-1 at home to Championship outfit Bristol City in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, and Holloway was furious about the manner in which his side conceded.

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Asked if the aim now was to pick up positive results in upcoming friendlies against League One Leyton Orient and National League Forest Green Rovers, Holloway replied: “None of that matters. It’s not about good results at the moment; it’s about getting your understanding.

“Pre-season’s a joke – always has been, always will be. Imposters wandering around. If you have a brilliant pre-season, you win every game, you can start the season like a bunch of idiots.

“What we’re trying to do is get people who understand it’s nice if you win, it’s nice if you get rewarded for your good stuff, but they’ve just showed me what I’ve got to look at.

“How can you take a throw-in here? How can you take a throw-in here and not make them go back towards their goal and let you let a goal in?

“Absolute garbage. Terrible back line, awful midfield. The back line should be talking to the midfield. So, got some wonderful coaching points.”

Holloway continued in typically acerbic fashion, adding: “Great goal by them, but that’s what we should have stopped. They had to throw it this way; they should be allowed to go through the middle of us. That’s in a war, we’re dead.”

Referencing another Bristol City goal where their player was able to score unmarked from a free-kick, Holloway further laid into his team’s defending.

“So, the truth about it: absolute tinpot garbage,” he lamented, before going as far to see he might have to show some players the exit door.

“That is in the Swindon area; that is right on our doorstep; that’s got to be headed out.

“So, I will look at that. And if anybody continues to do it then I’ll have to get rid of them. If anybody didn’t do their job, we’ll have to show them.

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“Hopefully, they’ll do it better, or we’ll have to get rid of them – because we’ve got to move forward.”

Swindon are preparing for a fifth straight season in the fourth tier having been relegated from League One in 2021.

The Robins finished ninth last term, missing out on the play-offs by three points, with Holloway admitting ‘the wheels came off’ at the crucial moment.

Holloway took over at Swindon in 2024 after almost four years out of management.

A highly experienced EFL manager, he’s played for and coached boyhood club Bristol Rovers and later guided both Blackpool and Crystal Palace to the Premier League as Championship play-off winners.

Swindon begin the new campaign away to Cardiff City in the first round of the Carabao Cup, before travelling to Northampton Town for their league opener.