Swindon quickly lose patience with former Ireland winger Mark Kennedy as boss

PARTED WAYS: Former Ireland winger Mark Kennedy has been sacked by Swindon Town after winning just two of his opening 13 matches of the League Two campaign. Picture: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Former Ireland winger Mark Kennedy has been sacked by Swindon Town after winning just two of his opening 13 matches of the League Two campaign.

Swindon – now owned by Clem Morfuni following the controversial spell of former Ireland B international Lee Power – have acted swiftly by installing veteran Ian Holloway as his successor. The Robins go into Saturday’s meeting with Gillingham third bottom of the lowest league tier.

“Swindon Town Football Club have parted company with head coach Mark Kennedy,” the club said about the 48-year-old Dubliner, who’d progressed to standalone managerial roles with Macclesfield Town and Lincoln City after functioning as a coach at Manchester City, Ipswich Town and Birmingham City.

“Marcus Bignot, Steve Mildenhall and Gavin Gunning will continue in their current positions, with all three first-team coaches in place to oversee this weekend's game against Gillingham.

“Everyone at Swindon Town would like to express their appreciation to Mark for his commitment and hard work during his time with the club and wish him all the best in the future.” 

Former Liverpool and Wolves attacker Kennedy won 34 caps for Ireland from 1995-2002, infamously getting involved in the Starsky and Hutch incident with Phil Babb that landed the pair in Pearse Street Garda Station. Injury prevented him travelling to the 2002 World Cup.

Holloway’s arrival on a deal until the end of the season will tip his managerial career beyond the 1000 game milestone. He’s best known for overseeing Blackpool’s promotion to the Premier League.

He said of his return to the game after four years: “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.”