Swindon Manager Ian Holloway Attributes Team’s Poor Form to Haunted Training Ground

Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway, who assumed his role at the close of last month and has yet to secure a league victory, has suggested that the team’s recent poor performance might be attributable to their training facility being haunted. Holloway stated that “some strange things happening” have occurred, following Robins captain Ollie Clarke’s ankle tendon rupture during training the previous week. The 61-year-old manager further mentioned his intention to request his wife “cleanse the area” using sage, citing its proximity to an ancient burial site. Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire, Holloway stated: “I’m absolutely devastated so I’m going to try and cleanse the training ground area because people are telling me it’s haunted.” He continued, “There’s a graveyard somewhere near. Honestly, I’m not joking.” Holloway elaborated, “I think our training ground is very close to an ancient burial site so I’m going to get my wife to come up and say sorry to all these people and hopefully we’ll have a bit more luck.” On Saturday, The Robins secured their first league point since Holloway’s appointment at the end of October, achieving a 2-2 draw against Accrington after falling behind. Nevertheless, Holloway indicated he would not emulate the actions of former Birmingham manager Barry Fry, who reportedly urinated on all four corners of the pitch at St Andrew’s in an attempt to dispel a supposed club curse. Holloway remarked: “I don’t want to do what he did, I think he had to urinate on the corners of his pitch but I’m going to get my wife to come up with her sage,” adding, “I’ve done the Glastonbury stuff and the hail and welcome – great if you believe it. Do I? Really I’m not sure but I’m going to get it just to help because there’s some strange things happening.” Swindon currently holds the 22nd position in League Two, placing them one point clear of the relegation zone. The team has not secured a league victory since Holloway’s appointment at the County Ground. Their next match is scheduled for Saturday at home against Morecambe, who are at the bottom of the table. Holloway commented: “We’ve got to win more games and I’d prefer to do it now, straight away, because then we’ll all feel a bit better,” he continued, “We’ve got to take everything out, polish it up and be brutally honest with them because they’ve had some from me [Saturday] because that wasn’t good enough first half.”