Holloway has strongly criticised some Derby fans for their treatment of Pride Park boss Phillip Cocu.
A number of Derby County fans have taken to Twitter to give their thoughts on Ian Holloway’s scathing criticism of sections of the Rams fanbase for their “abuse” of Phillip Cocu.
The experienced coach wrote a column in the Bristol Post in which he singled out Derby and Middlesbrough for how some of their fans have been strongly critical of Cocu and Jonathan Woodgate respectively.
Cocu is embarking on his first managerial job in England, having previously held the reins at PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce, while Woodgate has previously worked as assistant manager and scout at Boro and Liverpool respectively, with his current role his first as first-team boss.
Neither manager has had the best start to life in the Championship, with six points from their first six matches putting their respective clubs 20th and 19th in the table, while in the second tier there has already been one managerial casualty, with Jan Sievert being sacked by Huddersfield Town.
Derby are also out of the Carabao Cup having suffered a 3-0 defeat to bitter rivals Nottingham Forest in the second round of the competition last month, with numerous Rams fans accusing the Dutchman of not taking the fixture – one of the most hotly contested derbies in the country – seriously enough.
Nonetheless, Holloway made his feelings very clear after visiting Cocu at Moor Farm earlier this week, writing in his Bristol Post column: “Cocu was vilified during last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford, having seen a much-changed team go down by the same score to Nottingham Forest in a midweek Carabao Cup tie.
“He was sworn at and told in no uncertain terms to go back where he came from. These same so-called fans have inevitably taken to social media to voice their displeasure and will no doubt be hoping to influence their club’s board into making another change… I find it abhorrent that football men of the calibre of Cocu and Woodgate should be targeted almost before they have got their feet under the table.”
Here is what some Derby fans said on social media in response to Holloway’s opinion:
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