Cult hero Ian Holloway spent four years out of football painting Paolo Di Canio, now he’s following in his footsteps
IAN HOLLOWAY enjoyed four years out of football as he focussed on painting and travelling Britain in his motorhome.
One of his proudest pieces of art was an acrylic painting of West Ham legend and former Swindon boss Paolo Di Canio.
So it was ironic he followed in the Italian maverick’s footsteps by returning to the game in charge of the League Two Robins in October.
He has also painted other sporting figures such as Jurgen Klopp and Ian Wright.
Although Di Canio and Holloway have different personalities they are outstanding characters.
The 61-year-old has a management career that has spanned 29 years, bossing Bristol Rovers, QPR (twice), Plymouth, Leicester, Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Grimsby.
And Holloway told SunSport: “I went on the after-dinner circuit and got a motorhome with my wife Kim because I didn’t want to feel like a lorry driver.
“I’d go up to wherever we were doing a gig, book on a campsite, get a cab to the job, come back, stay there for a couple of days then come home.
“I learned to paint with acrylics — I do portraits – because I’ve always got to be doing something new.
“I find painting frustrating because everything I do, I don’t see as good enough so I’m trying to be kinder to myself.
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“I’ve always drawn and used charcoal, pencil and even ink but with colour it’s the tonal value that can change everything.
“I might be driving and will pull over because I’m seeing a sunset. It makes you see life, it makes you see shadows, it makes you see all sorts of things.
“Anybody can paint, anybody can draw. It makes you feel even more alive to the wonderful things around you.”
Holloway loved painting Di Canio after being commissioned to do it for a mate.
He said: “A friend saw one of mine that I gave to my son of the Joker and he said, ‘I’ll buy that’ and I said, ‘You can’t, it’s my son’s’.
“So I said, ‘Give me a picture of your favourite player’, because he’s a West Ham geek, and I did Paolo Di Canio, who funnily enough is an ex-Swindon manager, and I gave it to him. He loves it.”
Holloway believes the Premier League has created a selfish culture in English football — and players even in the lower leagues can lose touch with fans and each other.
The Swindon boss — who famously took Blackpool into the top flight in 2010 — had to tough out a period of criticism from fans but last week won the SkyBet League Two manager of the month.
At one point, he even claimed the training ground was haunted … and needed to get his wife Kim to banish the demons with sage!
We can only conclude that if she did do that, it has worked because Swindon host Mansfield tomorrow aiming to stretch their unbeaten run to 10 games — having lost just once in their last 14 league matches.
Holloway said: “Football has become selfish. It’s all about money and more like a business whereas at our level it shouldn’t be.
“Everybody in the Premier League talks about how much they’re spending and how unreal it is.
“It’s like travelling to the moon. We talk about how far it is, how many miles an hour we’ve got to be going and how much fuel we need.
“Hang on a minute, this is football — but footballers have got so far away from your average person in the street it’s wrong.
“In League Two we’ve got to be more caring and understanding — and it’s also about your attitude to going to work. There’s not enough encouragement or support in the world, there’s always criticism.
“I’m creating an environment where you’re allowed to fail provided you’re working hard. And that has made the difference.”
Holloway blames modern society for creating an uncaring culture.
He said: “We don’t revere older people. We don’t look after them like the Chinese and Japanese.
“I was brought up by good people in my early days as a Bristol Rovers player and that’s what I’m building here.”
The highlight of Holloway’s managerial CV was managing Blackpool in the Premier League.
And, although he enjoyed his time with the Seasiders, he disliked the top division because it was so removed from reality.
He said: “Did I like the top of the game? Do I like it? No, I don’t.
“Football needs to start relating to the real world. During Covid, we weren’t the vital source, it was people in hospitals helping us. We were just entertainment.
“If you get away from that you’ve got it all wrong. Our priority must be to entertain and give our all for supporters.”
During Holloway’s time out of the game, he watched on with interest as English football continued to pay homage to the Pep Guardiola way of playing before others decided to break ranks.
He said: “Football was following one person’s lead but now I’m happy people are realising you haven’t got to have total possession to win.
“You can win football in different ways. You haven’t all got to be Pep.”
And there is something poetic about managing back in his beloved West Country after years moving around the country.
The Bristolian said: “Geographically it’s perfect for me being a West Country boy. I like the fact I had no ties with Swindon – never played for them, never managed them. They were deep in the mire so it was a great challenge.
“If I’d have failed that would’ve been me failing but I’m delighted we’re moving forward and I’m feeling good about my decision to come here.
“My wife let me because we didn’t have to move. I’ve moved her FORTY-EIGHT times! She didn’t want to move again.
“And this club is nicknamed the Robins … and you know my history with Bristol City, whose bitter rivals Rovers are the Robins!
“Marina Dolman, the Bristol Rovers president, keeps teasing me by saying, ‘We’ll make a Robin of you yet!’
“She’s got a road named after her in Bristol — Dolman Way. I don’t think I can get one named after me here … Holloway Way doesn’t sound right. And it’s the last thing we need in Swindon. We’ve got magnificent roundabouts and the Sat Nav explodes! We don’t need a street named after me!”