Thetownend.com

I couldnt see it anywhere else...

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~1649145,00.html

Released (13)

Chris Allen
Peter Brezovan
Barry Corr
Tom Evans
Jake Hyde
Ben Joyce
Sam Morris
Lilian Nalis
Michael Pook
Hamdi Razak
Jack Smith
Blair Sturrock
Jamie Vincent

Under contract for 2009/10 (13)

Hasney Aljofree
Kevin Amankwaah
Yinka Casal
Simon Cox
Jerel Ifil
Callum Kennedy
Mark Marshall
Jon-Paul McGovern
Anthony McNamee
Sean Morrison
Billy Paynter
Lee Peacock
Michael Timlin

Players offered new terms (4)

Craig Easton
Lecsinel Jean-Francois
Patrick Kanyuka (short-term contract)
Phil Smith

ace

Only one I would've like to kept is Jack Smith.

Fucking hell. That looks a lot when you actually see it confirmed.

Let the new signings commence.

Now we know why Jamie was drinking......good to see a lot of deadwood cleared.  Time to let Wilson build his own squad, exciting summer ahead!

my reckoning there a few missing, macklin, phil smith, lescinel any others?

Easton

thats the one.

Players offered new terms (4)

Craig Easton
Lecsinel Jean-Francois
Patrick Kanyuka (short-term contract)
Phil Smith

I dunno how i didnt paste that bit :D

& Kanyuka

got official text. easton, lescinel, kanyuka and phil smith all offered deals

so whats the news on Macklin, charlotte you were probably snogging him at the weekend did you hear anything?

Macklin got offered a one year deal last month.

Thought Jack Smith did enough to get a 1 year deal. Mind you, I think I'm in the minority. Most seem to think he's the worst full back ever.

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/4323354.Hard_work_for_youngsters_begins_now__warns_Bodin/

Disappointed for Jack Smith, always thought he's been solid for us. Gutted Barry Corr never worked out, I fucking loved him and he could have been absolute class.

The rest I frankly hope the door gives them a good clout on the way out.

so my reckoning is if we dont sell anyone wilson is looking to bring in 5 more players to make up the squad to 22

Four youth players missing from the under contract list - Scott, Macklin, Hammonds and Thompson.

Guess we'll have to wait and see which of the under contract players Wilson has told to find new clubs though I'd imagine it will only be a few. Aljofree or Ifil (if Greer signs I can't see us wanting to keep both of them), Casal (unless Wilson has seen something he likes) and possibly Peacock (though Wilson seems to rate him for some reason).

All in all that's a bit a of a wipeout, though it still leaves us with 21 players but fuck all strikers (once Cox has gone). Kind of adds up is he is planning to bring in 5 or so decent players.

I would've kept Jack Smith as he's versatile...but maybe Danny's got someone else in mind.

We need more than 5, half of those retained are shit.

Sad to see vincent go, thought he could have done 1 more year, helped create that more solid defence going into the last couple of months

Provided the 4 take the new contracts we've already got 21 players (including Cox, excluding Greer).

Greer, left defender, right defender, centre mid, right wide mid and 30 goal front boy (Ifil up front?)

5 of those are inexperienced youths and 1 is Casal. We'll get in 5 more.

Well that makes my t-shirt even more pointless

I would have liked J Smith to stay :(

shame about corr,and i am a bit surprised about vincent.also in hindsight we should have cashed in on brez.
i dont really want to see much of marshall,peacock and ifil of those still on the books

Sad to see they didn't give Corr a pay as you play contract or even a short term one just to see how he did at pre-season, other than that the only other one i would have liked stay would have been Jack Smith

True, but Wilson isnt going to count the likes of the 4 1st year pros as part of the 1st team squad. I fucking hope not anyway. And Casal is mega shit.

Shame about Smith, I was a fan.

Gutted for Corr. I hope his injury problem sorts itself out, he's a good player.

Has anyone heard from Fatbury, he'll be suicidal "the rock" has gone.

Interesting idea playing Ifil up front. He must of got assists on at least 10 (opposition) goals this season, just imagine what he would be capable of playing up front and actually trying to create / score goals.

i'd have kept jack smith for his versatility (and i've always rated him)

out of the under contract players, i'd only keep four of them - cox, morrison, paynter and timlin.

Ditto, although not really fussed about Timlin.

Does that mean he won't be in The Merlin next season then? :)

After everything Im still gutted Corr didnt get a contract.

No more Big Bazz.

Bit surprised Kanyuka gets an offer, but I suppose it depends on the 'short term' aspect and is dependent on fitness/ability to stay awake etc.

 Unfortunately we've still got a lot of shit under contract, or players who probably wont figure in the first team.  Also take Cox out and there's an awful lot for Wilson to do.

Good opportunity for Kennedy at left back then, with Aljofree as cover ?

I'm pretty sure Wilson will have  his list drawn up already. I'd be surprised if we didn;t one or two of our major targets in early, then it's a summer of wheeling and dealing.

Must be good fun, champ manager, but for real.

Nice to have a spruce up though, much needed. exciting times.

  I think Yinka will stun us by becoming a decent player next season.

So do I Reg

How did we terminate the three Amigos and did it cost much?  Could it potentially be possible for us to terminate the likes of Aljofree etc to free up some space as he must be on a fairly decent wage...

Glad to see the back of most of those players. No real surprises apart from maybe Jack Smith going and Easton staying? As reg says a lot of work to do though.

Need a new keeper, striker for when cox goes, couple of midfielders and defenders.

a new team then gaz!

As far as I know they're still alive and playing football.

I doubt Fitton would agree to pay off an entire contract in order to get another player in on similar wages.

I thought we hired an Albanian hit man.  They're very reasonable.

Great News!

Clear em out!

Glad to see Easton offered terms - Wilson obviously sees him for the player he really is (not the injury-plagued, out-of-form shadow we've seen this season). A little suprised by Jack Smith leaving, but I'm more than confident that Wilson has identified a better replacement.

I'm oddly elated that Easton has been offered a deal.

Im especially pleased for Phil Smith,it strikes me that he appreciates being a footballer even if he ends up as number 2 he'll keep working hard. 

Glad Easton has been offered a deal. He lost his way under Malpas and then got injured and didn't really have a lot of time to impress. Dissapointed about Smith and Vincent though. I'd have kept those 2 but not the rest.

I concur...think he'll be a lot better for his travails this season. He's now a prime age for a keeper...would he be our second longest serving player now after Jerel?

Nope. Peacock.

 Good shout... 3rd then?

That list is mostly what I expected.

I think we can all take an educated guess that Jamie Vincent has not been released for footballing reasons and we need a decent experienced left back to fill in. We have to replace very close to like for like. I'm thinking someone in their late 20s who has at some point played in the 2nd tier.

Jack Smith I thought was worth keeping as a back up, even more so without Vincent.

Really fucking chuffed for Phil Smith - he has come and been pretty damn good since the Leeds game. He made some fuck up but his return to the side contributed to our up turn in form but his contribution was and always will be over looked

Easton - I was un decided. I guess Wilson has seen enough of him in training to know he's capable of alot more. Surprised he wanted to keep him after picking Kanyuka ahead of him for Rovers.

Other than that meh....

I expect Wilson wants rid of some of the other lot to.

Also, heres a question for you lot. Is Michael Pook the worst Swindon player of all time to make over 100 appearances?

You cheeky git!!!

As if a boy that young would look at an old lady like me! ;)

Ha Ha Pook finally released after all these years of suckling on the STFC teet!! 

How can we manage to convince other clubs to make offers for Peacock, Casal and Ifil? None of those three should be near the first team IMO.

Extremely surprised that Kanyuka got offered a new deal, even short term. Pleased for Phil Smith, and I hope Easton stays and rediscovers the form of 07/08.

As for the released mob, surprised Vincent wasn't kept on (but obviously the weekends events may have contributed to his release). Not entirely surprised the rest have been shown the door. And I've always thought Jack Smith was shit, FWIW.....

And to answer DV's question, no. How could you forget Matt Hewlett?

I can see why he kept Kanyuka as he has shown promise in the midfield role, particularly at Leicester. It's probably only a six monther to see if he can get and stay fit, nothing to lose, and he might not even accept!

Dissapointed Joyce has gone...wasnt given a chance,think hes a good finisher and wouldnt have cost us alot to keep,glad Smiths gone cos he cost Coxy the golden boot by nicking his pens..

That's a good point, did cox ever miss one?

Yes...but i think Lambert did also.

He wasnt even our penalty taker for a large part of the season.

Cox missed against Huddersfield when they went straight up the pitch and scored. Smith scored 4 goals, I remember one outfield goal, think it was 2 pens but may be wrong.

I was suprised that vincent was on the list, until I saw the news of his arrest.
(I'm assuming that he didn't know about his release before).

It was noticeable that our upturn in form coincided with his return & Greer joining.

For some reason I'm assuming he knew about the release before. But who knows.

I know loads of people have already commented on it, but glad Eastons staying. I think I said this time last year that this was going to be a big season for him, how wrong I was! Hopefully this time round he'll finally do something.

Shame about Corr, I really rated the fella, surely a pay as you play deal could've been offered.

The article says that talks were held on Tuesday morning, so I guess Vincent didn't know for sure, although he may have had an idea

Didn't he score a free kick?

When trimming the squad you cannot allow sentiment to creep in - to be fair, he's had plenty of opportunities and it hasn't happened for him and Wilson is completely right to release him.

I hope he finds a club.

Arjofree should be told to fuck off (by mutual consent).

If smith scored 4 then:

He scored against millwall from at home from about 40 yards
He scored one which was a really well worked team goal, was a midweek game, either peterbrough or northampton
Im assuming he scored a penalty somewhere along the line
He missed a penalty (against stockport?) and then scored the rebound

Right! :nod:

I remember all of those now. Well done Dave, I'd forgotten about 1 and 2.

He scored a pen at Orient

swindon town fc also suggests he scored against oldham at home, though i cannot remember that one.

Smith should definitely have been kept I reckon.Lescinel is a surprise-if we sign Greer I make that 6 central defenders

Nah he's a decent trundler adje,no more, there's better out there. Didn't see you at Posh, but i thought Leschinel looked pretty decent, was steadier than jerel.

Agreed. Pay him up and tell him never to darken this door again.

So with Vincent gone, does that mean that we can finally sign John Hills?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hills_(footballer)

Should of given Razak another 6 months or match to match....the makings of a crowd favourite!

He managed to look out of his depth at Hampton pre season, where did he end up?

Think he went somewhere non-league as a stop-gap, just biding his time until the number 3 shirt became available.

Reckon we can dupe anyone into buying ifil?

Ifil has had a poor season. He's not as bad as some make out.

It is just the boo boys like stfc dave that get on his case.

Loyal supporters like me back him to return to his best :)

Hewlett > Pook


that was the free flowing sexy football goal wasnt it?

I like Jerel, but he's a bit russian roulette! Mind you he's due a good season next year, judging by previous form.

I remember me and Johno once made a point of cheering/applauding every good thing that Hewlett did in a game. Some people around us, who preferred to hate Hewlett unconditionally, got pretty pissed off after a while, and still got on his back for the slightest of mistakes

How old is he? 26/27? At man marking and tackling he's good i'll grant you that. General play i'm becoming less and less impressed. I dont have any figures, but morrison and him have played roughly the same games yes? Ifil has made twice as many fuck ups over someone 5+ years his senior over the season. He lacks any sort of composure on the ball whatsoever, and i'm still not certain he can last very long without someone stood next to him moddycoddling him through the 90 minutes telling him what to do. He's an elder statesmen of the team now, he needed to mature long ago

It may well have been. We definatley scored a sexy goal against peterbough because it was quite early on and i remember thinking we were in for a good performance. We then played shite for the rest of the game

...but...he hasnt and he wont.

we know that - we either put up with that or get rid.

if we can get the best out of him he is good enough for this level.

When was his last consistent good run at this level? 04/05?

last season...

Dissapointed for Allen and Corr but most of that was to be expected, only Jack Smith and perhaps Vincent are suprising. Kanyuka getting a deal is a suprise, we seem to have a lot of centre backs as somebody else mentioned, so perhaps he'll get another go at destroying things in midfield.

No surprise, but hope Blair Sturrock is fit enough for the BSP play-off final, looks like he will be a Torquay player next season.  A future Swindon Town manager?

Good luck to Blair..........i have nothing but praise for him.

Forget Cox at P'boro i remember him coming off the bench to get the equaliser there as we jumped back out of league 2.

kanyuka was a sensation at millwall, hard in the tackle and simple distribution, i think wilson is thinking of playing 3  at the back with kanyuka just in front.

Thats not a bad shout, Kanyuka can be a very good player, I think people forget that he's still a young lad at 21 and can grow.

He actually has a good touch and pass, its just his movement wasnt good in midfield, but thats because he's a defender, get a good pre-season inside him and I think (hope) he'll do the business next year.

Shame about Corr thought me may get pre-season to prove himself, although I think his wages may have come into consideration, thought Vincent may have been offered a deal as I think he has played nearly every game under Wilson...hey ho onwards and upwards

My opinion is based on both his injury record and the performances I've seen. I didn't see him in his firs tgame (was it Luton?) nor Millwall. When I have seen him play he looks to be a bit clueless regardless of which position he plays in!

Still it's only a short term deal, he is young like you say and he may not even accept yet.

Don't understand all the sympathy for Corr we have given the guy 3 seasons and hes made something like 17 starts in that time, we cant keep wasting wages on someone who someday may be fit and may turn into a good player.

Corr is the correct decision, but you have to feel sorry for him really. He didn't want to be injured. I guess I have sympathy for all of them, they're jobless now. But from a football point of view it had to be done.

Fully agreed.

Great when he was playing but that was only 1/3 of the time maximum, so if you worked out wages/appearance he was probably on not worth keeping.

In 115 games while he was at the club he started only 19 of those and 21 as sub.

If he gets fit I would welcome him back at the club in the future but I think his bones are made of balsa wood!

I feel for some of the released ....

Brez I think is the best of our keepers .. he deserves a contract more than Smith .... Vincent has been one of our best defenders .. Jack Smith has been a good player for us over more than just this year - and of course you know how much I rate Pook

Keeping Easton ... well I think THAT is the worst of the decisions ... he has been injury prone and totally lost form

Brezovan is a good shot stopper. His decision making is poor at best, his anticipation is non-existant, for a huge guy he hardly fills you with confidence when coming to collect crosses and his kicking is worse than Steven Hawking's.

I personally would have kept Jack Smith. Easton has proved in the past how good he can be, think he'll be important in our midfield this season.

Let's hope we sign some quality in the summer.

Smith deserves contract much more than Brez he loves playing pro football and loves being at the club and since he has got back in he has not looked back.  Brez thinks hes better than he is, strange how his agents not in the press talking him up now he has no club, think he may struggle to find a club in England.

Jack Smith's best season was in league 2 which probably shows he found his level down there, no doubt he is great with the ball and good going forward but his actual position is defence and both his positional play and awareness are very poor so he will be no loss.

Don't get me started on Pook hes been here too long, was never good enough to make the grade and will now find himself at supermarine.

Easton showed great form last season and has maybe shown glimpses in training that he can get back to that so maybe thats why Wilson has kept him.

happy with the people we have got rid of. Thing is, we could still do with getting rid of about half of the players we still have under contract!

Up until 6 weeks ago, i rated Brez more than Smith and always have done, but credit to Smithy he's pulled out the stops and deserves to be the one who stays, only thing is can he keep up his level of performance? If he can he could fly next year.

My views on the players that have now gone…

Chris Allen  - Too lightweight really, got pushed off the ball a lot. Could be a decent BSP player?
Peter Brezovan  - Appears to hit a purple patch when he got here, has been shit since his injury and never really looked confident. He also goes walkabout. As mentioned by someone else, we should have cashed in when we had the chance. Don’t understand all the dick waving about Brezovan. Phil Smith has been a far more consistent goalkeeper for us during his stay. Must say Smith plays better with competition so lets hope we get a decent keeper to challenge Smith.
Barry Corr  - Right decision to let him go, Injury record speaks for itself. If he could stay fit he would be a fantastic player at this level if not higher. He could be back if he doesn’t get a contract elsewhere, who knows? He may get a pre-season with us but I dare say someone in L2 may snap him up.
Tom Evans  - who?
Jake Hyde - meh
Ben Joyce – Never really got a look this year and from what I remembered never really did anything for the reserves.
Sam Morris – who?
Lilian Nalis  - Shame it didn’t work out for him here. His passing at times was great but the legs were gone. He is one of the nicest people I have met and wish him luck.
Michael Pook  - for every decent game he had, he had 30 bad ones, complete wanker as well. Glad to see the back of him.
Hamdi Razak  - Was told by someone he was one of the worst players he had ever seen train so not shocked to see him go, “That Shot” at Oldham made him a cult hero amongst Town fans at that game! Is one of those players who could come back to haunt us. Certainly knows where the goal is but so did Arrieta. Told me that Yeovil and Gillingham were interested in him.
Jack Smith  - Been a good servant to the club, thought he may have gotten something,. Was not too bad and was a decent enough back up player if nothing else. Would have given him another year.
Blair Sturrock  - Got a lot of unwarranted abuse. Certainly not the worst player STFC has ever had. Played the channels well and in my mind was under rated here. I don’t think he should have got a new deal though, hasn’t played enough. BSP bound I dare say?
Jamie Vincent  - I was certain he would get a new deal, and it was warranted IMO, Was one of the main reasons we stayed up. Feel he shot himself in the foot with his arrest etc and this likely prompted his release. Ady was let go due to his off the field events and it appears Vincent has been as well.

Pretty much agree with all of that TBF Gaz.

The surprises for be were Jack Smith, who I've always rated. I also thought that Rasak would get a chance after Danny Wilsons interview the other day, & also surprised & glad about about Easton being offered a new deal.

I don't think Vincent going has got anything to do with his arrest, I think his arrest is probably to do with him going though.  He probably knew he wasn't getting anything and took it out on the bottle.

Early on in the season he made one hell of a difference, but towards the end of the season, after another injury, his legs looked like they were on the turn.  He even kept falling over in one of the last home games as soon as the ball came to him.

If we want to take advantage of all these players being out of contract, Vincent is exactly the sort of player we need to clear out.  Unfortuantley I think Peacock is the same, except he has a year left, if not he would be gone too.

We need to move forward with the personel.  A 34/35 year old left back is not moving forward.  The only loss is the leadership rather than the player, hopefully Greer and a few other new signings with remedy that as stated by DW.

The only slightly confusing thing about the vincent situation is that Wilson has (rightly) stated that he wants 4/5 leaders in next years team, and vincent is obviously that type

I've read that Phil Smith plays better with competition in this thread a few times. That's wrong isn't it? His best run was when Brez was injured and there was none.

His best run has been the last six weeks, so i would suggest it's not competition, it's the impending lack of a forthcoming contract that might have upped the ante.

This is true, however some would say given Brezovan's exploits prior to his injury, a lot of people, including most on this forum, wanted Brezovan to be given the number 1 shirt over Brezovan despite Smith being a big part of that promotion side.  Many expected Brezovan to be the number 1 choice as soon as he recovered from his injury.

Thankfully Sturrock stood by Smith and again he did very well at the start of last season. After Malpas came in, both keepers turned to shit. Since Brezovan's injury I think he had only 2 good games? One was against Swansea and the other (Nottingham Forest???), he appeared to go walk about during games and quite often changed his mind when leaving the area, leaving our defenders exposed... When Brezovan lost his spot this season however, Smith stepped up again and put in a good shift and deservedly got a new contract. I actually do beleive that Smith is a better keeper than Brezovan all around. I would have been a bit annoyed if Brez got a contract and not Smith.

I'm not sure that argument works quite so well with goalkeepers. With outfield players it obviously works - a soon to be out of contract player will tear around the pitch like a madman in a bid to impress. The goalkeeper is still by and large confined to the same patch of grass, and will still continue to make the same saves regardless of their contract status. I think more to do with smith's upturn in form is a sense of security in his place: Brezovan has been stating for ages now he wants to leave, he's hardly going to get a chance in the crucial games we've had. This security means smith has been free to concentrate on the games, rather than having the nagging thought at the back of his mind over whether he'll be playing next week. The fact many fans are no longer clamouring for brez to be included has helped also.

I believe that Smith is the better keeper too. I just don't agree that he's played better with competition.

I agree Dave, its much much harder for a keeper to raise his game.

For keepers its more about concentration and confidence not the amount of effort put in.

A good point.

Dont worry!
Peaks will carry us!

Michael Nelsons being free transferred from Hartlepool, he'd be a good signing -

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11719_5288089,00.html

Weren't we linked to him before transfer deadline day? and rumours were that we couldn't afford him then.....well if DW thinks he is the type of leader we need then I am sure we will approach him.

Dont think there is any doubt that Wilson will be interested in him

The only issue might be the number of centre backs we have, but I'd happily fuck Ifill off to get Nelson in.  Another club would take Jerel on a free

That's the one. Wilson said on that call in to BBC Swindon he wanted him!

Apparently we face competition from Hibernian, Oldham and Leeds for his signature.

Oh well. Depends how serious Hibs and Leeds are I suppose.

Oldham and Hibs is one thing but he aint going to pass up Leeds for us if thats true....

Unless he likes DW more than staying up north!

http://www.hibernian-mad.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=446113

on the Hibs mad website.

Which also says he's 29 (Skysports suggest 27) and would cost £175,000!

He IS 29 born on 3rh March 1980.

Cant see Wilson making a move for Nelson given that he's already made an offer to Greer.

Greer and Morrison will likely be our first choice CB pairing next season and we'll still have Aljofree and Ifil in the squad. The sort of wages an experienced pro like Nelson would command would be a waste if he was only going to be 3rd choice.

If the Greer deal falls through, he could be an alternative, but I cant see Wilson going for both given the constraints on squad size and budget.

Maybe the first choice pairing will be Nelson and Greer?

took the words right out of my mouth....

Fatters was hinting that Ifil could be on his way out.

He also hinted he fancied a 3some at the radio 1 gig, how did that pan out?

Ian hart is still available. A defence of greer, nelson hart and anankwah would be good.

I think that perhaps DW will go for Nelson if Greer decides not to sign, as others have suggested we will not be looking to sign another centre back assuming we get Greer and Morrison stays

We have other positions we have to strengthen.

Fair enough then  ;D

According to the ever-reliable BBC, Carlisle have offered him a 2 year contract.

What about Billy Jones from Crewe to fill the left back slot? any opinions on him?

i think greer and aljofree will be the first choice pairing,with morrison(if still here? banging on the door to get selected)keeping ifil is pointless as it's like carrying a youth player yet to learn the game.i hope he's transfer listed and we can get another body in.either a promosing youth from a prem club with real potential,or an experienced pro.

I think morrison and jerel will be elswhere next year

I feel for Jerel.  It feels like years ago that he first came to us as a 20 year old 'kid' (when it was only 2003).  He had so much promise in those days - and I have never really forgiven Andy King for knocking the stuffing out of him with his ill-judged comments in those dire post-match interviews he used to give.  God only knows what was said in private.

With a decent mentor at that stage in his career, I really think Jerel could have gone on to better things.  Big shame.

king may have dealt with the situation poorly,but he was right about ifils performances.he was diobolical.to his credit he improved(league 2 season he was awesome) but has gone back to his old self again.
we need players who can take us forward.i'm afraid ifil isn't good enough to do that.

has everyone forgotton that Ifil was brilliant for us last season? Our defence last season of Comminges, Ifil, Aljofree and Vincent was a hell of a lot better than this seasons.

If i'm honest id rather Ifil wasnt first choice next season but I wouldnt exactly be dissapointed if he was a squad player for us. He isnt as bad as some are making out.

Ifil really found his level in league 2, he looked strong and composed. With decent mentoring and quality coaching the guy could be a good player at league 1,  I thought he was strong against Rovers, I just get nervous awaiting his regular calamity...if he just cut out the silly errors he'd be immense.

With the amount of confidence building hugs and kissings he apparently needs, can anybody see him being any use as a squad player not starting regularly?

no

I'm losing no sleep over any of the names.  keeping on "good squad" players is all well and good if they are in fact good players in the first place.  Every single one released is at best average so you get the minimum gain of recruiting another average player on less money than their older contracts, plus newer players won't have any residual knowledge of how crap it's been here.  At best, we replace them with half the number of better players.  Players like Smith are the reason we are where we are, meddling with mid to bottom of the table, because we accept players like him.  Fair enough, he's ok, wouldn't cry about him being in the team this season and he puts the effort in where others may not (bu they are being released as well).  That's not good enough if we want to move up a level, so using the end of their contracts as a time to clear out is fair enough.

I'd reckon we are actively trying to offload some of the contracted players as well.  I can see Ifil and McGovern going down a league on freebies, which should be possible for us to engineer.  Again, like Smith, I have or have had time fo those 2 (Ifil's ran out start of this season for me) but they are replacable by other average workhorses in a worst case scenario and by players probably on less with out new Board set-up, or players who may turn out to develop in a season or two to be sellable.

I think we are beginning to see a major shift in our team, and other teams seem to be waking up to the realism, that money is only in the top league of the game and we don't all have to pay top whack on wages when it's not deserved just because Terry gets £100k a week+.

He was no worse then than Morrison is now.

I'm not knocking Morrison by the way.

we'll have to agree to disagree i think battch.

and to dv.ifil was far from brilliant last season,he started the season really well and was on course for player of the year imo,but he faded badly and was dropped from the team.

He did start well under PS, faded under MM, and is recovering under DW, same goes for JPM and Phil Smith, and potentially the same might happen with Hasney.

I 100% disagree with you., Brez is a decent shot stopper and thats about it IMO, His kicking is shit, he goes walkabout, often gets confused with the defenders and seems to lack and kind of communication with his defenders. He also does that silly catch the ball and drop it thing that gets on my tits. Prior to his injury he was the dogs bollocks however it looks now afdter 2 seasons after, it was only a purple patch which is a shame. People appear to hve the blinkered approach. yes he was shit hot and saved the 2 penalties but you can't live on that memory forever.

Smith puts in a decent shift and genuinly appears to want to play for STFC and as Yeovil said, appreciates being a pro footballer, he has done the 9-5 job and doesnt want to go back to that. Smith has worked his bollocks off this year to get back to his best and fully deserves the reward he got (a new deal). Some of the saves he made towards the end of the season, against Bristol Rovers for example. Showed committment, passion and dedication, someone who really wants to earn his stripes.

It's no coincidence since Smith came back into the fray we got better, (ok OTJ, HRK, Greer helped ut Smith played his part 2)

It is certainly true that Brezovan has been moping around at Swindon for far too long. When you talk about the team going stale, I would say Brez is one of the worst for that. He needs a new challenge.

Such a shame about the arm break. He could have been a one of the finest keepers weve ever had!

Ifil was pretty solid last year.

I dont remember him being dropped either? He played 40 league games out of the 46 so missed 6.

One red card and 8 yellow cards means he spent 4 of those 6 games suspended.

Dropped indeed.

The problem though DV is that Ifil hasn't really developed as a player. At 26/7 years old, a couple of hundred league appearances behind him, he really should not need an experienced head beside him to perform to his best. He should be starting to BE that experienced head.

I want Ifil to succeed here, but I'm starting to think he needs a new challenge. Can we afford to wait for him to 'come good' again?

With players like ifil j smith and vincent we will be a lower half league 1 team as has been proved. It dont matter whether they played well last year or in patches this year the fact is dw obviously thinks we can get better then so be it.

Problem is though, Cox aside, have we got any players who would succeed at championship level. I can't think of any.

sturrock dropped him.i didn't mention anything about the number of games nor do i care,but he was dropped nonetheless.

There are so many players that have come to the County Ground, either for us or other teams, that I've thought looked fucking awful yet have gone on to establish themselves as decent Championship players. It's a hard question to answer because you don't know how different players cope to different levels and we haven't seen football from the 2nd tier in nearly 10 years now.

I guess so. Cureton doing OK being a prime example of what you say.

Of course you dont care because you are talking complete bollocks.

Last season Jerel Ifil started every league game under Paul Sturrock.

To be fair its fucking irrelevent. If as wilson said he wants to push for the playoffs then ifil is not good enough

Matt Hewlett, Andy Gurney and David Duke were good enough in our last playoff season.... Ifil also played 20 or so games for us that season on loan from Watford.

I'm not really sure what my point is but I love Ifil and want you to be wrong! :D

I want to be aswell just think a fresh start is needed for both

no i dont care about the number of games because it's irrelivant.the fact is that his form dipped.i may have my wires crossed about sturrock dropping him but i remember the dip in form.if it wasn't sturrock then it must have been byrne.i'm sure he was dropped but i have no evidence to hand to prove this.
if thats complete bollocks then fine as i believe what i said.i'd say giving ifil a description of brilliant for that year is more bollocks than anything i have said.but as always dv you can have the last word as you are the oracle on football

of course im having the last word - you're point of view is being made up.

He was dropped this season if it helps your cause at all?

Your point of view is being made up worser.

He must have been dropped last season - he came off the bench against leeds when kanyuka (suprise suprise) went off injured