1. Tell us a bit about yourself & history as a fan?
London-based Town fan into season number 25. Work in media and content. Been supporting Swindon since I was five, and my first game was the opening day of the 1992/93 season (v Sunderland, Hoddle screamer, 1-0 win).
2. How do you expect your team to do this season (including a forecast for a positional finish for the entire season)?
Fully expect us to progress on from last year. If we can keep the majority of our squad fit and well (which seems impossible at the moment), I expect us to steer clear of trouble completely and, you never know, maybe even threaten the top 6. 10th
3. What are your thoughts on your manager and his signings this season & who should we watch out for (danger players)?
Luke Williams is incredibly highly rated by those in the game, but less so by our own fans. In my mind, he and the Chairman (de facto Director of Football) are doing their best to mould the youngest side in the Football League in to a competitive side at this level, despite being bottom three in terms of budget.
Signings wise, our business isn't completed yet and we always do it late, much to the frustration of the fans. Incomings in the summer included Lawrence Vigoroux from the Scousers for 400k, a big sum for a gk but one who did well last year here on loan and looks to be getting better and better. Michael Doughty signed on loan for the season from QPR and is a bloody good signing at this level - most consistent/impressive player thus far. John Goddard (from Woking, guessing fee would be c. 150k) scored 26 from midfield in the National League last year and Luke Norris (150k from Gills) looked very good on debut but is struggling to be fit for the weekend. Darnell Furlong from QPR on loan looks a great addition at RWB and Lloyd Jones looked assured at CB on debut but, like everyone else, now injured.
Ones to watch: Jon Obika is out, which is a shame as he's in the top three all round strikers in the league. Norris, if fit, should go well on his home debut. Jordan Stewart, a young Norn Ireland attacker we bought last year but struggled to settle, has looked very good in a couple of sub appearances. Doughty loves a goal from midfield. Him to score anytime is always worth a couple of quid.
4. What are your thoughts on your board & off field club activities?
Oh God.... Good luck with this if you get more than my response.
Personally - Lee Power took the club on in an absolute shambles. He openly states he doesn't like the media unless they pay for access, doesn't believe in PR and is behind most of our signings BUT for the first time in memory, we run at breakeven and remain competitive at this level. We have a young, forward-thinking, progressive team with a batch of young players that we own, and are developing having picked up for very little. We sell players, but who doesn't? We also buy players though - and paid a c. 750k out on signings this summer, which is unheard of for us until recently. We also own our own training ground for the first time in generations, developing it (slowly) into a base for the whole club.
Despite all of that, some our fans will not take to him, the manager or the team's style. They'd rather we spent money we don't have signing players who we have no interest in developing. They'll also accuse him of asset-stripping, bankrupting the club and only signing his mates' sons.
5. Can you tell us up to 3 quirky things opposing fans might not know about your team?
Quirky? We're Bubbly, GSOH and like dog-walking...
6. Our fans love to read opposing team’s forums and blogs, any recommendations on these for your team?
Well, this forum obvs. For a club our size, we're blessed with a brilliant blog (
https://thewashbag.com/) and a quite frankly incredible archive of all our results, players, videos and more (www.
http://swindon-town-fc.co.uk/)
7. How do you expect Vale to do this season?
I fully expect your experiment to blow up and your loud-mouth chairman to have egg on his face by Xmas, where he gets pushed to implement the much talked about plan B, which I assume is a combo of Micky Adams and Tom Pope.
8. What is your team's most memorable game with Vale (good or bad reasons)?
Great chance to plug this site again:
http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/HeadToHead.asp?Team=Port%20Vale#HeadToHeadI mostly recall absolutely smashing you on a regular basis, but the one that stands out is the 3-3 at Vale in March 2004. We were pushing hard to go up. Came from 3-0 down with 30 mins to go, Rory Fallon scoring the equaliser.
9. A score prediction (and potential scorers for both sides) and what do you expect the attendance to be?
All depends on who we have back from injury. If we can start Norris, Kasim and Jones then we'll win this 2-1 after going a goal behind - Norris and Doughty for us and someone from Benfica's reserves for you. If we're still as thin on the ground as last night, 0-0. Attendance: 7350.
10. Finally can you pass on any decent recommendations for local ‘away friendly pubs’, eateries and the best places to park for our fans travelling to the game?
Park in the cricket club next to the ground then drink pints of Stowford Press in their bar while watching the cricket. For the half dozen sunny games a season, no better pre-match watering hole.
Feel free to use my name and Twitter handle below. Take my pic from Twitter too.