Swindon Town Football Club

[r1cardo]

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Swindon Town Football Club
After witnessing the League 1 Playoff exploits I decided to start this story to see if I can match the successful campaign we have had this season.

I have been a silent reader for a long time on these forums and would appreciate any feedback.

I will be doing an update after I've done my first press conference that will go over the clubs facilities, finances and of course the squad.

It would be great to hear from any other Swindon supporters as I have never seen a Swindon story before! ​

 

[Timmzeh]

I live quite close to Swindon, support them as a local team! Luongo is unreal, Wes Foderingham is quality too! Will follow

 

[KeiranB]

can u not pal i want to forget about it

 

[r1cardo]

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Like many clubs in the Football League, Swindon have been riddled with financial difficulties and been bailed out several times to ensure their existence remains intact. In the 09/10 season we reached the League 1 playoff final but lost 1-0 to Millwall. The following season we were relegated to League 2. We've had manager come & go with the likes of Paul Sturrock & Paulo Di Canio moving on after short stay at The County Ground.

This season we have a talented young squad thanks to links to Tottenham & Southampton where we've been able to either sign or loan some of their youngsters that were not getting a chance in the Premier League. The finances are in check and we have fairly stable foundations to build on for a promotion push. However, League 1 is extremely competitive and it will not be a walk in the park.

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The County Ground is a 15,547 all seater stadium that is owned by the council. We have had issues with rent not being paid so it will be one of my priorities to either purchase the stadium or build a new ground elsewhere.

Season Expectations;

The minimum expectations for the 14/15 season is to achieve a respectable league position. Seeing as I am on a 12 month contract I didn't want to under achieve and believe this should be manageable. I am not too interested in a cup run but if I can get a big Premier League team and make a quick buck on gate receipts that'd be brilliant.


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[r1cardo]

I live quite close to Swindon, support them as a local team! Luongo is unreal, Wes Foderingham is quality too! Will follow

Cheers mate, yeah they will certainly be key players for me assuming I can keep hold of them

 

[r1cardo]

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Squad Analysis

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As previously mentioned, we've got a good young squad at Swindon and will not be required to make many changes for the forthcoming season. We've got more than a couple of players on loan but considering the restrictions a club of our size has financially I am happy to continue to use the loan system whilst in League 1.

Key Players

For me, our key players in this squad are Massimo Luongo, Yaser Kasim, Nathan Thompson & Jonathan Obika. They give us a strong spine and if we can keep them all fit we will certainly have no excuses if we fail to perform this season.

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Tactical Preperations

As Swindon have done this season, I will be looking to play a 3-5-2 formation looking to utilise our strength in the centre of midfield. The Ball Playing centre halves will be key as they will need to be comfortable in possession and we will look for the wing backs to stretch play and get assists from out wide.

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In my next update I'll be looking at the backroom staff, pre-season training and playing some pre-season friendlies.

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[r1cardo]

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Backroom Staff
The backroom staff at Swindon are looking pretty stretched, I am looking for a couple of coaches along with a head of youth development and some scouts before the new season kicks off.

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Pre Season Fixtures
Swindon U21's (Home)
Crystal Palace (Home)
Tottenham (Home)
Cirencester (Away)
Millwall (Home)
Chippenham (Away)

Pre Season is all about getting the squad adapted to our style of play. We will look to primarily use our 3-5-2 system but I will look to find a 2nd & 3rd system to use for over the course of the season.

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We will be doing our pre-season preparations at our training facilities in Liddington. With all of our games being local it will ensure we get as much time as possible on the training ground. We will be focusing on tactical training as well as fitness in pre season.

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[r1cardo]

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Pre-Season
It has been a tough pre season where we've picked up a few injuries which has exposed our lack of depth in a few areas. Nathan Thompson, Louis Thompson, Rafael Branco, Harry Toffolo & Nathan Byrne have all had some time out which has disrupted things. Otherwise we managed to perform well in our friendlies and we've added to our backroom staff.

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We looked impressive and picked up some good results along the way. Jonathon Obika scored 5 goals in 6 starts and looks to be in fine form ready for the start of the season.

Our first game of the season is at home vs Scunthorpe.

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[r1cardo]

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Swindon Town 1-1 Scunthorpe
Our first game of the season was always going to be a tough one as we've got injuries to our defence, meaning that a few youngsters will get a chance to prove themselves early on in the season.

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​It was in bizarre circumstance that Scunthorpe took the lead as a backpass from Kasim was missed by Foderingham before crossing the line into our own goal. We put on some good pressure in the second half and it took right up to the last minute for us to equalise with Kasim making a mends from his earlier mistake.

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We are disappointed not to have got a win, but with the injuries we've got it was a relief to get the late goal to draw the game. I may look to see if there are any players we can bring in on a free transfer to give us some extra cover at the back as Amie Geid is nowhere near strong enough to be starting for us again in League 1.




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