Thetownend.com

You all know it's a total joke to blame Paul Hart..in saying that he has not gotten the results that every true Town fan wanted...However, the blame must be firmly pointed to Andrew Fitton.
I suggest that he is not a chairman who can inspire anyone. His choice of player managers so far is clearly an "each way bet" sort of guy who won't speak out of turn...and won't be what a winning football club needs   !!! 
Having read the article written by Nick Watkins (Fitton's man) where he is obviously pissed off with what is currently happening with the club. I suggest the rot is becoming complete on and off the field. 
Football is about passion and energy...not, rules, regulations and KPI's. It needs players, managers and supporters with skills, guts and dreams...it also needs a chairman who is singing off the same page.
Small issues like Swindon not wearing "our" traditional red shirts at Wembley last year and allowing Brighton buying the club captain right before the start of the new season were simply the start. It was "all over" for me listening on the internet to the FA cup replay defeat to Crawley. I think it was Phil Kings comments stating Crawing were a far better footballing team and Swindon were simply not up to it.
It must be said Fitton got lucky with the signing of Austin last year. However, only because of Bournemuff's financial issues. He choice of allowing Wilson too long in a position where he was not getting any results needs seriously to be questioned. Football like businesses are measured by results.
Swindon are by a country mile the worst performing team in the division and this had been evident prior to the end of last season.....Rest assured Paul Hart is not the man to blame. 
In summary Fitton is not the man needed to be the chairman at STFC.   

No.

Its a total joke to blame everything on Paul Hart but he's come in, made us worse, sent back good players, bought in bad players, played players in random positions and showed no attacking intent what so ever.

Its Fitton,Hart,Wilson,the Players,ex Players,the Internet and the fans fault.

Either that or its just one of those things,some years stuff goes well,others years it goes badly and sometimes nothing much happens at all.

I think collectively the blame needs to be shared this season the board have made big mistakes letting vital players go, the management have been tactically inept and unable to motivate and the players have been consistently mediocre.To suggest it is a joke to blame Hart is a stupid statement he's had players to work with that are capable of beating most teams in this league and he like Wilson has failed to motivate them.During his stint as manager we've played Dagenham,Walsall,Plymouth,Notts County and other teams around us and he has played 4-5-1 in every game showing little endeavour,ambition and positivity to win these games when you think if we'd recorded better results against these teams we'd probably be out the relegation zone so it seems nuts to me the way Hart has set us up.He has played lots of players out of position,made terrible substitutions and failed to sign good players, he is without doubt one of the worst managers we've ever had,hope he's gone this week!!!

Agree with all but the first post.

Board, players & Hart must take some blame. Hart has never proven he's got a clue when it comes to tactics and has frankly done more to leave me bemused as opposed to making me think he's got what it takes to get something out of the game.

After his shoddy interview, I endear myself even less to him than before.

Why, what did you do?

They waited for too long to oust Wilson, in my opinion.
Hart took over a sinking ship, but has managed to speed up our demise

ultimately I blame the players and Board, but mainly the players. Bar Phil Smith & Matt Richie, I'd gladly get shot of the whole lot. As well as Hart, who makes Onuoras reign look like a giant success- at least last time we were relegated we took it to the wire.

Paul Hart did not get us relegated.

- Not bringing in quality to replace Paynter, Greer and then Austin was to blame. No goalscorers = struggle.
- Changing a manager on the eve of a critical 3 game spell against other bottom teams was to blame
- Changing manager after the transfer window was plain stupid.
- I see no evidence this current squad had the ability to stay up. We have some good players. And some good but miss firing players. But I am not sure we have any bottle and we are missing in key positions.


BUT....

Hart just hasn't 'gone for it'. 4-5-1 at home. Negative substitutions. He tried to tighten it up and nick wins. It didn't work. I dread seeing more of the same next year.

Agreed, the 4-5-1 formation in "must win" games is incredible.  At least he played 2 up front on Saturday.  The only trouble was that he changed it back to 4-5-1 after we were 1-0 up and in complete control of the match, as well as shuffling 3 people's position.  Maybe that would have been right to reshuffle the team if we were losing, but we were winning.

Poor poor tactics. On that basis (and not to mention I don't want to see 4-5-1 all next season), I would rather Hart goes.

I don't think anyone blames Hart as such but his attempt at keeping us up has been pathetic. If we had gone down 'all guns blazing' then every Town fan could take some, albeit very small crumb, of comfort from that.

To go down without so much as a whimper as we have/are about to, is unforgivable.

I've been critical of fitton and i stand by what i've said,but there aint other options out there waiting to take the club on. even though we are going down and the team is in a right mess,we are not in danger of going under.
if fitton and the rest of them fucked off we'd be right up shit street.
all we can hope is that the board have learned from the blunders this season.start a fresh next season and push on.
hart can't be part of that,even though i think the stick he's got is way ott.

benyon is proven in league 2,so get him firing, and another up there with him and we could do well next year.
4,4,2 with players knowing their job,ditch a few, and a few fresh faces,we will be right up there.
if trollope is taking over at least he has been having a look,and will have ideas.
no point ditching hart now as our fate is already known.let him see the season out.
i just hope fitton knows who is coming in to turn this around and has the plans ready now.

I think it will be Trollope and this will piss some fans off even more. I remember a few years back when a lot of people wanted Trollope here - it shows how one bad season (which is all Trollope has had) can change a person's perspective.

Everyone else seems to be having a go then so will I.

My take on things......

Paul Hart could be a good manager if he had better players who could play in the formation that he obviously likes, defensive, which on paper does work......it just hasn't worked for us and he is tactically immobile and cannot change his formations/tactics with the players he has here at his disposal or they arent technically as good as they should be possibly, which is why they are playing in the league that they are I guess.

I am certainly not blaming him for our relegation, I blame that on Wilson and the players, Wilson did not have the charisma to get in players who wanted to play for him/Swindon, and the players at the club have shown little heart for a battle, when their heads go down they go down totally and can't get back up again.

We have lacked a goalscorer, when Austin left us in a less than pleasant way then we should have gone out and replaced him with someone straight away, this I put down to Wilson.

When Greer left and Paynter then we should have gone out and replaced them, this I put down to Wilsons lack of charisma.

We have had underperforming players all season, the reliable Douglas, Cuthbert, JPM, Manks etc have all way underachieved and Ferry has been too much of a bit part player and not given a run, Prutton has come in with a reputation of being a good player and ended up being a rudderless speedboat, Dossevi and Pericard have proven to not be up to the standard needed in this league also.

Smith and Lucas in goal have both made some astonomical howlers and have shown little consistancy which is needed in goal.

Caddis and LFJ and Ritchie have shown some glimpses of style and class but certainly not often enough to make a difference.

Onto Mr Fitton.......

This man saved our club, for which I will be forever grateful and I will never want to oust him from his position as Chairman.

I would like a go between/general manager at the club with Football experience and I want us to be willing to trade with agents as pretty much every player has one these days and we need the best players we can even if it means paying fees of agents which Mr Fitton refuses to do.

I will say that IMO Fitton was slow in removing Wilson from his position when I felt it should have come earlier to save our season, but I also understand that Fitton wants some steadiness of managers at the club and was giving Wilson as long as he could to change things, I fear he gave him a month or more too long.

We are not Man Utd/Liverpool/Chelsea etc we ARE and ALWAYS WILL BE a selling club, so we buy cheap and sell on at a profit, thats how lower league clubs have always been run, we did well with Charlie and whos to say we wont do it again and again, the Hoddle link could work hugely in our favour if it appears.

As for Fitton interfering with transfers at the club.....how do we know that? do we have an insider that says Fitton sold Greer, Fitton sold Austin etc etc......no we don't we are football supporters who do not know whats happening inside the club, we have little idea of whats involved in the running of a club, and as for Greer coming out and saying that about Fitton...hes left the club, hes going to stir the shit, that was his persoanlity and why he was disliked by so many at the club.

Lets just accept we have gone down and build for the future and get in a new manager who we will all back, difficult I know as some days I feel that even Mourinho would not be accepted by Swindon fans...hes failed in the past with Chelsea hes had a bad season or 2 at Porto so we don't want him etc etc etc.

We as fans need to back the club in its hour of need and work for the future and get back up again as soon as possible with a new manager and squad of players.

Heres to the future COYR!!!!

That's my main concern. He needs to have some idea of what he's going to do to sort this mess out.

It is accepted that Andrew Fitton and his associates have saved a sinking ship in STFC ...
However, it is time for him to now stand up and show commitment to his five year plan where he promised Championship football at Swindon. The club sold many thousands of Season tickets this year on the "Fitton" promise.
Under his watch as Chairman he has had a very easy ride from supporters who have seen so many gutless team displays with little or no passion. These supporters must feel totally frustrated and let down.
If Swindon had gone under several years back where would the club be now ?....perhaps, just perhaps a white knight would have come to the fore and we would be doing a Crawley or Wimbledon and going forward. Or worse doing a Luton or Wrexham..I horrible to think about.
Andrew Fitton, it's your chance now to take brave decisions and either move over or bring in a "winner" who can forge a passion as seen in the Marcari days...if not I suggest Swindon will be playing sub division 3 football for many years to come.    :(

Everyone involved at the club this season ought to take some responsibility for the blame, singling out a particular individual is unfair. I don't think anyone can be held entirely responsible although I agree that Fitton has made some huge mistakes - not replacing Paynter or Greer, showing too much loyalty towards Wilson, his x year plans and some odd decisions like playing in white at Wembley - but doesn't he deserve the chance to show that he's learnt from his mistakes? We've done well since the board came in, escaping relegation, a great season culminating in a visit to Wembley and a great deal of stability at the club.

Hart is to blame for his negative approach and naive team selections which has not improved the side at all; regardless of his belief. The interview on Saturday evening was absurd, his non-responses, his belief that he'd taken the team forward and his overall attitude was one of a child sulking after being told he can't have a PS3.

Cut our losses, ditch the manager and coaching team, cast adrift the dead wood in the squad and rebuild starting tomorrow. If we don't have a good season next year, the rot will have well and truly set in.

And this is the key right here. What would have been the point in saving the Club if only to plunge it into years more of utter mediocrity?

Do you think? How do you define a good season exactly? Rovers are probably a similar sized club to us. Three seasons in League One with only one finish in the top 10 would be alright for you would it?

Oh and Paul Hart has not "made us worse", well not in terms of results and points accumulated anyway. He's just not made us better enough to dig us out of the shit we were in. Sadly it was always obvious that this was going to be the case, as his specialty is in making teams hard to beat and avoiding getting dragged into the relegation spots, rather than making them win and climb out of them.

Ever heard the expression, "the buck stops here"? I suspect you probably have :hmmm:

I'd take that from the position we are in. Rovers budget would have been smaller than ours that I am sure of. He took them to promotion from league 2 and to the JPT final in the same season. Until this season they've always been a good footballing side who have briefly knocked on the L1 play-off door. They just weren't able to find enough consistency under Trollope to take the next step up. Whether that was a player or manager issue I obviously don't know. I'd prefer Trollope to Bodin. Bodin would be a huge risk. Trollope less so and he's proven in L2.

This season has been a complete shambles. Regardless, I think people are forgetting a lot of good things about the board:

1) Cheap season tickets.
2) Best league finish in years last season.
3) Money is being spent on the squad, no matter how much certain people will deny that fact.
4) Trying to forge good relationships with larger clubs and thus getting in some decent players.

I know this season has wiped out a lot of that goodwill but it's one bad season. Who's not to say Fitton and the board cannot put it right next season?

I can understand why Fitton gave Danny Wilson so much time, they obviously had a good working relationship as well as trust. Fitton is new to this game, loyalty means a lot to him, his mistake was getting rid of Wilson too late, really didn't matter who he brought in the guy was on a loser.

I blame the non-replacement if Greer and Paynter on Wilson.

The money was made available, Wilson didn't make the most of it.

Never.


I don't see how Fitton can be directly held accountable for the atrocious performances this season of some of our best players last season.

I agree. Dossevi signed as Paynter's replacement and we didn't even sign a replacement for Greer as Wilson believed what we had was enough. That said though I do blame Fitton for actually selling Greer. The decision was basically made because he didn't fit into Fitton's youth policy and wanted a longer deal.

I'm almost sad enough to go back and look through old posts. I'm just telling you how it is. There's evidently a level of subjectivity as to how well Trollope did with Rovers but it doesn't change the fact people wanted him here and now they don't.

As we're on the subject of Hart, my disappointment has been his Wilson-like tendencies. Strange tactics, stupid substitutions, players out of position. All of those factors suggest he would never turn us around.

No they haven't. They've finished 12th, 16th and 10th if that's "knocking on the play off door" then Trollope must have fucking long arms.

Do we know that?

Either way, I stand by what I have been saying all along. Greer was an important player, no doubt about that. But I refuse to believe that his absence will make THIS much of a difference.

Wilson lost the plot on defence tactics/training and/or failed to use resources (which were available) to find a replacement.

Yeah. I think Fitton, Wilson and Greer came clean that it was pretty much Fitton's decision at the time.

If Paul Trollope is made manager here I suggest it will take years to rectify this balls up.
It will tell everybody that Andrew Fitton is running the club lock stock and barrell...It will tell you that he needs to be involved with every decision and Swindon football club will become a static / plastic club without passion.
I never thought I would say this...Bring back Andy King. At the very least it was fun   !!!

OK

Still. There is now way that Greer's absence.

Greer only plays for one team now. What about all the other teams in the league now including 2nd place and the pay-offs. They don't have Greer but they haven't had a train wreck of a season.

Wilson clearly had the resources to sort it, but he got it all so very wrong.

Of course he is running the club - he's the chairman.

Why?

Do he not get rovers up at the first time of asking, and on limited resources?

You know what, I have this strange feeling that the complete balls made of this season may one day turn out to be more than one person's fault.

The manager(s) made mistakes, the chairman made mistakes, the players have made more mistakes than Bob Holt can shake a stick at...

It's almost like blaming it on one person would be a gross oversimplification.

Wilson had resources but they were very limited. How many times did we hear "We cant get the players to come in"

SY....

I'm a business manager and have managers and staff to run my business.
Yes, I monitor and hopefully motive them when the going is hard..especially this year after the Christchurch earth quake.
But I let them manage and take responsibilties.

When was it ever stated that was down to resources?

It's clear they had the money. Money was spent on Flint as one for the future and Misun in action.

The money was there (And Wilson himself said the money was there). Wilson didn't know what to do with it!

I said they've knocked on the door a few times. By that I meant that they have been in and around the play-offs at different points every season e.g. last season when we went there and lost 3-0 they were in the top 6. For whatever reason they weren't able to sustain it and finish there. I wasn't referring to league position as such.

I reckon this season we had the largest playing and transfer budget in years. It's a big squad and that contrasts last season where resources probably were more limited.

Having read through all the posts it is clear that the same sort of theme is running through them.  Yes, we sold the wrong players at the wrong time and didn't replace them (couldn't do much about Billy P. leaving), Yes the board took too long in sacking Wilson and in my opinion the appointment of Hart has made us worse!  His tactics of 4-5-1 with a non-proven goalscorer at the 1 is a joke.  Many have said that Danny has been unable to bring in replacements although the money was there - how much of that is down to Fitton's statements that agents are killing the game (and we probably agree with that statement) and he will not deal with them.  The appointment of Hart almost echos the appointment of Jimmy Quinn - a last desperate throw of the dice, sadly it didn't work out for either of them.

I don't think Fitton ever said he won't deal with agents, and money has been spent on agents. Do we think that out of all the players that signed, not one had an agent making demands?

He just said he won't allow them to take the piss.

Although Fitton has said that he doesn't like paying agents, wasn't there a table of League one clubs with us far from the bottom on agent fees paid out? So although he says he doesn't like it, it would seem that he still does if it's in the interest of the club.

Soul searching and finger pointing... It's going to be a long ol' TEF summer.

It's quite simply not Paul Hart's fault. What were people expecting - that he would come in and we would suddenly be amazing? We've been shit all season and it happens sometimes especially when you sell your best players, as selling clubs do. Fact is we got good money for Greer and Austin which'll help us for the future. If I had to blame someone I'd blame Fitton but only for not acting soon enough; the man is keeping us viable with his policies and if we exist but are in League 2, I'll take that rather than not existing at all like Plymouth.

I've said this before and I will no doubt say it again, but will everyone please stop propogating this complete bollocks about us not dealing with agents?

http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/a5/3c/0,,10794~146597,00.pdf (http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/a5/3c/0,,10794~146597,00.pdf)

This is the Football League's own Agents Fees Report for 2008-9, which I believe is the most recent one published.

You'll notice that Swindon Town paid £35,000 to licensed agents.

In the Division:

- Only one in 20 deals involved a payment to an agent
- 6 clubs did not pay a single penny. Swindon Town was not one of them. Scunthorpe were: they got promoted.
- 18 did pay.
- Across the Football League, 19 clubs did not pay a penny.

There are several legitimate points that can be held against Fitton, but this one comes up time and time again and just clearly isn't true. He may not like the idea of paying agents, but he is willing to do so if it is absolutely necessary.

Great post earlier jj - that's what I feel - I think!!

Yay. Celebrating financial security. Might as well go buy a season ticket to sit in fucking Sainsbury's all year.

Found the 2010 Report as well. Swindon's spending on Fees rose to £63,020

http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/7e/54/0,,10794~152702,00.pdf

haha. My internet was just battling through my mountain of ongoing torrents to find that too.

but yeah. I think the agent fee thing is a bit of a red herring.

To point the finger at one individual is ridiculous.

As you sit in the pub whether we're doing well or badly, a season ticket for Arkells (not the Arkells) might be more appropriate

I'd agree with all that. Well put sonic. Not sure about *everyone* at the club taking some of the blame though - seems a bit harsh on the lads and lasses in the club shop and the ticket office (and the bars, come to that) :)

bit harsh.

But true

So, should people like Ben and myself not contribute then?

I don't think you can call what I do "contributing" really.

It was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. Apologies if anyone took it seriously. I'll insert tongues in appropriate cheeks by way of apology to all who were in any way offended

Very true but he is the chairman and it is within his scope to make these changes as he sees fit. Criticising him for that seems unfair given that it's his job.

I have no evidence to support this belief but I genuinely think Fitton will learn from the mistakes he's made this season and take advice from the people around him to prevent it from happening again. The man isn't rich enough to put money into this club, play around with it as he sees fit and then walk away from it when he's bored. He's not Abramovich.

I can only imagine that rimming them would make matters worse.

This forum would be pretty quiet if only regular attendees contributed to the forum.

Hey I've seen just as many home wins in the last 5 months as the rest of you.

Now that I think about it, it was only a joke and ben's clearly ace but you can do one, BR, you ladyboy wierdo :) (Look, big smiley!)

@Nemo rimming is firmly off the agenda I'm afraid.

You realise you're fast talking yourself into being held responsible for the fucking disaster that this season has become? If you are our home win lucky omen, and you just haven't been arsed to go, the whole thing is your fault.

These are good points. I think you could add reconnencting to the business community, getting things right in the posh bits and 3 quality shirt sponsors as well.
One thing I remember is Fitton saying when he appointed the Chief Scout is that they would have 5 players lined up in each position. I take it this is still work in progress. Even when Charlie went it looked like the club were running round saying "cor, fuck me, Charlie's gone, what are we going to do now" - a complete unpreparednesss for the bleeding obvious. Fitton has spent plenty of money for thsi Division - its the fact its been pissed up the wall that is the problem not the sums spent - and that money was spent by Wilson on a team of midgets.
How can we be so good off the pitch and so shit on it?
The next managerial appointment is absolute key as crowds will drop considerably unless we get a "name manager", which is going to be hit and miss or someone who is going to hit the grouod running and stack up points early doors.

I tend to think of Fitton and the board buying a new shop,it looks respectable and in general is being run well,the problem is that this season the shop has been selling shit goods.

And thinking about it Fitton/the board have changed things where they've gone wrong previously too:

* Town End price structure - maybe the discount wasn't enough for some people but they made it cheaper for a limited time after listening to the fans. The take up wasn't good enough and the idea was fairly scrapped.
* Malpas fitted in with Fitton's ideas for a manager. He didn't fit in with the required standard. Fitton then got in an experienced manager which was a change from Malpas.
* Last season we narrowly missed out on promotion with a pretty small squad. This season a larger squad was obtained probably to help us in the quest for auto-promotion or at least ensure a play-off spot again. Unfortunately the extra players were all in the wrong areas but the change in idea is there to see.

I think Fitton hasn't addressed some shortcomings in the decision making/management process:

* We sold Cox for good money and got in a decent replacement in Austin (albeit late on from the start of the season). McNamee was sold because he was behaving like a stroppy git and we didn't miss him as a result. Fitton evidently thought we could do the same with other players but it has backfired.
* Taking too long to sack managers and get new ones in. I can see Fitton's reasoning here in wanting a stable club and continuity in the management structure but it's had the opposite effect by hanging on to under-performing managers for too long.
* Selling players too close to the end of the transfer window and not allowing sufficient time to replace.

There are some decisions, a combination of Wilson's and Fitton's which the fans thought were the right ones and everyone was wrong:

* Getting in the experienced pros. David Prutton's capture was seen to be good business. Frampton looked to be in the Greer category when we got him in. Most people were happy with Pericard's signing before they'd seen him turn out for us. Many spoiled their undergarments when we did a deal for Dossevi, based on one friendly game. We all wanted experienced pros, we liked the idea of these players, but they haven't been good enough.
* Signing Simon Ferry. An in form Ferry can be class at our level. Out of form and favour Ferry doesn't improve us. I'm sure everyone based their opinion/decision on last year's performances but it hasn't worked out for some reason.

I honestly think Fitton is not as stubborn and idealist as people make out. It's a learning curve for him also and he has tried to change where necessary. I think next season will see some changes yet again.

Getting rid of Byrne i feel was a big mistake,he seemed to get on well with the players.
Also he leaves important decisions ie selling and buying to late...the Benyon signing was laughable.
Also in my opinion he has taken his eye of things at the actual ground,silly little things but important to families who are dishing out money with kids in tow etc.
That said this time last year we were praising him no end so as you say Sie lets hope this has been a big blip,the crowds for a team struggling have been superb and a good start next season is a must.

How so?

Because we went for three players before him,didn't get them,and he isn't/wasn't good enough in my opinion............though he could do a job next season,at the time though we were trying to sort of replace Austin.
Fitton and co new Austin was on his way............yet signed Benyon on deadline day after missing out on others.
It has cost us big time.

Because we were trying to replace a striker worth around £1.5 million with one who was worth around £100,000? We were never going to get another striker anywhere near as good as Austin, which was why we needed a whole new striker force, 3 new players.

Which of course we had successfully done all of 12 months previously (except Cox was 1.7m and Austin less than 100k)

Although a bit different as we still had Paynter shaped options at that point. Austin was carrying our attack single handedly.

Fitton was willing to spend AT LEAST 300k on a player. 300k AT LEAST.

300k is A LOT for a player at this level, we bought Austin for 50k FFS. We bought Cox for 250k (ish). Fitton was putting forward the money, despite Wilson's apparent incompetence.

But would you really have wanted Wilson, who PROVED inept at putting a squad together, with a huge wad to spend?

Although the money was clearly available for a player.

Fitton (or Wilson) said they didn't even make their first contact with Torquay until about 5pm or something like that, so he was obviously a last minute panic buy. He was one of the top scorers in League Two when he joined us so he should be more than capable of scoring 20 for us next season - just need to get him the right partner.

Wilson was responsible for signing Greer, Douglas and Lucas on free transfers. 3 players of unbelievable quality for free transfers. His luck ran out with Pericard, Prutton and Dossevi.

Why was there not more targets than Benyon and the Plymouth lad in january?

But we still signed him, didn't we!

On the very same Benyon signing thread people were moaning we didn't work to exhaust all options. Now people are bemoaning the fact Benyon was a last minute buy.

Who's responsibility is it to identify players?

I think the massive error with Benyon is that he is another lightweight player who is even labelled a finisher of chances and not a creator. Not what we need but in the right team he'll be class I feel.

Usually Ken Ryder who himself will tell you he did not once go and watch elliot Benyon

Well, it certainly isn't the chairman's responsibility.

Who do the scouts report to?

The manager i presume.

The criterion for buying players was too strict.

I dont think the board considered paying money for players over 24. Which was something we had to do.

So surely it is safe to assume the lack of available options lays with Wilson?

And still, with AT LEAST 300k to spend, Wilson could only find three?

There is a problem with signing strikers in the summer. Their agents seem to do a merry go round and they go to the highest bidder/wage payer (usually Huddersfield).

It all seems a bit more low key in january, and it seems easier to get business done.

We havnt managed to sign a decent striker in the past 2 summers, and I dont think we'll sign one this summer either.

I think this board are too idealistic in terms of wanting to sign such young players.

Its not even as if we give them long contracts. Scott Cuthbert is walking out on us already.

I don't think anybody's saying Wilson was free of blame, but given Fitton's openness about how he wants the club to run (he's been pretty open about preferring to spend money on youngsters), it's fair to presume that he was involved in the whole January transfer window disaster.

Benyon has a 3 year contract.

I think most managers in this league would bite the board's hand off for the parameters Wilson has to work within.

Well maybe Fitton should have rang one of them up a bit earlier.

On that, I agree!

Fair and valid point Red,so basicly no one knows what went wrong really i suppose.

I know what went wrong. No quality up front at the crucial stage of the season.

Lets hope we can sign a decent striker over the summer. Without one, we're stuffed.

Benyon is a proven striker at League 2 level. Lets get him playing regularly up front and with a partner before we write him off.

Not sure i totally agree,when Austin was banging them in early doors we were conceding to many goals,fine line Spence.

Im not writing him off. Hopefully we'll be playing 4-4-2 next season, so there is another first team spot up for grabs.

Teams challenging for promotion usually have another 2 options on the bench.

We are totally depleted up front in terms of permanent players.

I agree, the spell around the Peterborough (a) and Plymouth (h) games was a bit of a joke.

But at the half way stage of the season we were still on course to stay up.

Quite the opposite. I think we all know what went wrong.

Do I blame Hart for the fact we are relegated?

No.

Do I blame Hart for his short tenure delivering some of the most pathetic, unattractive, dire, negative football I've witnessed?

Fucking right I do.

Correct. And this is why, in an incredibly short space of time, pretty much every Town fan, man, woman, child, dog, hamster etc....has come to HATE Paul Hart.

I was not 'fortunate' enough to watch a Paul Hart team.

But Vic Morgan sounding and saying he's bored speaks volumes!

Wilson's average points per game this season was 1.1, Hart's is 0.7.

Hence if Wilson was still in charge we'd have four more points and would not have been relegated yet.

So it is all Hart's fault. Plus as others have said, he's played ultra defensive, made stupid selections, even dumber formations and even more dumber substitutions and even more more dumber comments in interviews.

I have never hated a manager as much as I do Hart. Mainly due to his interview on Saturday.

Amen to that.... How the man can expect be to employed by the club after that heaven knows.

It doesn't work like that.

For the record i think if Wilson was still in charge we could of had a reasonable chance of staying up.

No, but the idea of getting rid of Wilson was to get someone in that would turn things round. Hart didn't and wasn't any different to Wilson, it's almost as though Wilson was still in charge - bizarre selections, tactics, formations, substitutions etc.

For Hart to claim he isn't at all to blame (which is what he did on Saturday) is a joke. Bigger joke that he didn't get sacked for it, my blood is still boiling from that interview.

I don't think he was to blame. Hart needed time before the transfer window. I honestly don't think Mourinho or Fergie would have kept us up with the players we had.

His negativity, complete lack of "giving it a go" and lack of fan approvalwill be the reason he isn't offered the job. And rightly so.

Being appointed on a 3 year deal tomorrow

I heard 5 year deal. Rix in as DOF. Spackman as chairman ;)

I'll spin you right round if he is. :furious:

Aljofree as asst manager

Steve Lomas as Technical Director.

Is Sheena Easton available?

If we could get odds on Sheena Easton again, that would definitely take a bit if the sting away?

Did anybody get a screen shot last time?

You people do remember that he got sacked at the end of a 13 game run without a win during which we accumulated a whole 3 points and plummeted down the table right?

Here's my two pennies worth.

Biggest mistake of the season was selling Greer to Brighton for £250k. Why? Because not only was he our captain, a leader, he was also our best defender. People tend to forget that Cuthbert, in July was starting only his 3rd season in professional football. He is raw, talented but raw. Last year he was immense. Why? because positionally he was helped throughout games by Greer. So we sell Greer to a promotion rival, and replace him with.... you guessed it another young defender who only last season wasn't good enough to get into the side and had to be shipped off to a struggling League 1 side. Morrison again, talented but very very raw, inexperienced and prone to errors. So you have a situation where your starting the season with two players aged 23 and 19 as your 1st choice centre halves. And waiting in the wings if these two get injured you've guessed it... JLF who again is a decent footballer, he's very young and very raw and at 23 years of age has still plenty of things to learn etc. Is he a player you can rely on if your going for promotion? Can an inexperience player like him ,like Cuthbert and Morrison also, handle the pressure at this stage in his career?

Early on in the season we were scoring goals for fun, up until Christmas I think we were the 6th or 7th top scorers. However unfortunately we we're an absolute shambles at the back. We we're conceding goals left right and centre, we we're dropping points all the time.

Along comes January and we sell a player, that without his goals up until that point, we would have probably been bottom of the league. We sell Austin, our only real highlight of the season, the only player that could score any goals for us.

And people wonder why we got relegated. The answer? we got relegated because we're shit at the back and for half the season couldn't score a fucking goal.

This season stinks of just pure naivety, it's a simple as that.

If we'd have given Greer the contract he wanted there was a chance he'd be the next Aljofree - an ageing player who isn't fit or good enough to play but still earning a big salary. Not replacing Greer may have been a mistake, but selling him wasn't.

Plus I always thought he was a bit shit and as prone to fuck ups as every other one of our defenders.

Failing to win last seasons play off final and the departure of some of our better players left a big cloud hanging over the club this season.  The problem is that relegation can have an even bigger affect and as other teams have found one relegation is followed by struggle or another relegation.

The board need to do something positive now.  Appointing a manager who can whet the appetite of town fans and mean we start the season with a fresh start and some positivity around the club is paramount.  Even though he was only here for a few months thats exactly what Denis Wise did when he came into the club.

Do i think he would have been more attacking in his lineups/formations than Hart in games we needed to win? Yes almost certainly, then again we did tighten up a bit at the back under Hart so i suppose it could have evened things out.

http://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/jump?http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fgo%2Frss%2F-%2Fsport1%2Fhi%2Ffootball%2Fteams%2Fs%2Fswindon_town%2F9467993.stm

oh dear

Yeah, apart from the fact Greer had already given us a season and a half of good performances missing minimal games through injury.

He played 73 times for us in the 16 months he was here.

Oh dear indeed...this sounds like Paul Hart will be in charge next season he is just waiting to confirm with Fitton before telling the press....not liking this very much :(

Isn't there a thread on here somewhere with 50 odd reasons why Sean Morrison is better than Greer?

If the internet experts can get it wrong then what chance does someone in the game have.

People seem to forget he helped Cuthbert immensely last season.