Gillingham’s League 2 opponents Swindon Town will have a new manager watching on today.
The Gills take on Swindon a day after the Wiltshire club sacked their head coach Mark Kennedy and hours later announced experienced manager Ian Holloway would be taking over.
Holloway is giving himself a bit of time to get stuck in, however, leaving it to a group of coaches to take this weekend’s game.
First-team coaches Marcus Bignot, Steve Mildenhall and Gavin Gunning will stay on at the County Ground and lead the side on an interim basis,
Kennedy’s departure was announced at 9.30am on Friday morning and two hours later Holloway was named as his successor, the 61-year-old back in charge of a team for the first time in nearly three years, his last job being at Grimsby Town.
Holloway has taken charge of over 1,000 games as a manager, over 20 years, which has included promotions to the Premier League with Crystal Palace and Blackpool.
He takes over a team sitting 22nd in League 2 with just two wins from 13.
Holloway said: “I’m delighted to be back working in football after a period out of the game as I wanted to get back into it if the right opportunity arose which, with this opportunity, I feel is the perfect fit for me.
“Conversations happened very quickly and both sides were very keen to get the deal done and of course, I was delighted to engage with a club like Swindon Town, a club of whom I know a lot about due to my location and knowledge of the local area.
“I want to be able to bring everyone together to deliver success and positivity on and off the pitch.”
Holloway officially starts his new job on Monday but the club have confirmed he’ll be at the game against Gillingham.
