Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway slams the defensive structure of his side

Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway has criticised the defensive structure of his team and claimed it’s “not good enough”.

The Robins have conceded 25 goals in League Two this season which is amongst the highest in the division.

The former Crystal Palace boss made his opinion on the situation clear ahead of the tie against bottom of the league Morecambe.

“What we have to do without a shadow of a doubt is so do an awful lot more [defensively].

“I’m only just starting with them, but it’s our defensive structure of our team.

“It ain’t good enough, it’s not consistent enough and we better sharpen up because we look weak sometimes.”

“Consistency, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition and encouragement to be braver [are important to success], because when things are going wrong, people can hide easily.”

Holloway’s expectations are high for his new side as he looks to drag the club away from the dreaded relegation places in League Two.

He wants his team to show pride in the shirt on Saturday and is looking for a sense of ruthlessness as Swindon needs to pick up important points.

“There is no room for the faint-hearted on Saturday, absolutely. There is no room for disappointment if we let one in.

“There is no room for any failure in any body language, anywhere. We need to be right at it and believe that we’re strong enough to defeat the army of Morecambe people coming to us, that’s what we need to do.

“I’m totally determined and I’m focused on getting our lads to feel that because I totally believe it.”

After being 2-1 down at half time against Accrington on Saturday, Holloway made his opinions clear and admitted he ripped into his players and let them know how he felt.

Town went on to salvage a point through a brilliant run and finish from Danny Butterworth and the new boss has said he’s pleased with the responses he’s seen from his team in games.

“Do you know what, I’m delighted with that. I think every sub that has come on has made a huge difference to help us.

“As long as they keep doing that, they’ll have no trouble with me.

“I don’t like it if they don’t show me that they want to be the best team that I can make them, even if their not picked.

“They’re on a contract so their job is to shut up, come into work and try and please me, not the other way around – that’s the way it is.”

Swindon have thrown away leads many times this season, with the most recent one being an eventual 3-1 loss to Milton Keynes Dons after going in front in just 16 seconds.

The big question is why this happens but the manager believes he has an idea to why these errors occur.

“I’ve seen that twice. I think it’s a lack of self confidence, not in you’re own self but in what you’re being asked to do.

“I think what they’re being asked to do is chalk and cheese from me taking over because I am an attack minded coach who knows how to defend as well.

“Honestly, we have an attack, then they’re down the other end nearly scoring.

“Whoa, hold on, that’s why I know where the problems are and it’s very simple to work on.”