Ian Holloway Drops Surprise Reaction After Swindon’s Defeat to West Ham — “I’ll Take That Any Day!”

Ian Holloway Drops Surprise Reaction After Swindon’s Defeat to West Ham — “I’ll Take That Any Day!”

Ian Holloway has no idea how Swindon Town ended up losing after their display in the 3-2 defeat to West Ham United under-21s.

Joshua Ajala and George Earthy both made the most of West Ham’s counterattacking moments in the first half to give the young side a solid lead.

Paul Glatzel struck one back, before Josh Landers made it three seconds before Glatzel got another and struck the bar as he led a one-man mission to force penalties.

Holloway felt that his side applied themselves in every area in the way that he wanted, and couldn’t believe they ended up on the losing side.

He said: “They had nine chances and we had 25, but they put five of them on target and three of them went in.

“How we lost it, I don’t know. And if that is a defeat, with the way we pressed, the way we closed, and the way we got to them, then I will take that. Every day of the week.

“It was much better than on Saturday, and we drew that one 0-0. It is a weird, old game football.

We were 2-0 down, but I don’t know how with the chances we had from the headers that were soft. We should have scored three.

“But we came back, I had to make substitutions as I changed my squad around and picked the team that needed minutes, so I stuck to my plan.

“I think that we should have at least drawn, let alone anything else, but well done to them for taking their chances as they were pretty deadly on the counter.

“But if that is a defeat, then I will take that all day long, because I thoroughly enjoyed and I enjoyed all sorts of performances.

“I hate losing, and I hate the way we acted at the end. We should feel like that at the start, and some of the aggression we showed at the end should be taken in the way we pinned them back, the way we went about all the bits and pieces that we have been coaching.

“I saw my team do that at the end, and that is what we need to focus on, not them sledging.”

Holloway added that it looked like his team got back to their previous levels within his principles of play.

He said: “[Was there a sense they had their mojo back?] You tell me. You saw their pressing, you saw the closing, you saw how it was totally chalk and cheese to Saturday.

“We were still two down, but that happens in football, and I believe that the substitutions I made, the players who needed minutes came on and applied themselves well.

“Well done to Ryan Delaney, I thought he did really well to last the 90 minutes and did very well.

“It is all about growth and learning; unfortunately, we ended up losing, so am I happy? Not really, but I will take that performance even as a defeat.”