Thetownend.com

Leon Clarkes contract has been terminated by QPR !!!!  When does he need to sign for us to be able to play on Sunday, or has deadline passed ???

This could be bad news if QPR were planning to pay some of his wages as part of the loan deal.

If he is a free agent i can see a club higher up than league 2 coming in for him.

Or it could be terminated so that we can sign him on a perm. Alan O'Brien style. Oh wait, bad example.

Fingers crossed.

Good to see this. Means a perm deal assuming he still wants to come here.

Just confirmed by lee Stone from BBC Wilts on twitter


Confirmed: Leon Clarke drops from the Premier League to sign for #stfc.

Excellent news if true! Scarf above head and all that. Would provide a great boost ahead of Sunday.

Official:


Not on OS yet though.

Signed, seal, delivered!

Him and Connell up front on Sunday please! (providing he's eligible to play)

Superb news.

A player of his calibre dropping to this shitty division, lovely stuff.

Great news.  This is what I was hoping Di Canio would be able to do when he became manager.  Attract players from a higher level.  Boy am I looking forward to Sunday now! COYR

Has to be signed by 12 noon the day before the next match. Seeing as were playing Sunday he's good to go

Leon Clarke, Clarke, Clarke!

On the OS now!

great work mr di canio and wray hope he can play a part on sunday!!!
 :clap: :clap: :clap:

Where did you hear it is confirmed? BBC Wilts said he was undergoing a medical, unlikely to start as lack of fitness.

By getting QPR to release him I guess we could afford to give hima signing on bonus, thus getting round the wage issue?!

edit: OK On OS. Fantastic.

No scarf above the head, but this'll do...

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~2421796,00.html

Good news if he can play Sunday. Bring it on!

Clarke: 'Swindon have made me feel really welcome. There were other clubs in for me but this is where I wanted to be. I've been told the nine shirt is mine and I can't wait to get started.'

Very happy with this signing. Hopefully he can play some part on Sunday, cant see him starting though.

Agreed! That will do nicely.

Get in there! Now to smash the scummers and get this season back on track.

Be the perfect way to start your town carrier. Banging in the winner against the pox

Surely he could start his carrier by bagging a hat trick?

Just read the OS about the Clarke signing.  It appears we are yet to find out if he will be eligible for Sunday:

"Paperwork for Clarke's registration has been submitted and the club are yet to find out if he will be available for selection against Oxford United."

Let's hope someone at the FA works late or on Saturday mornings.

:D

one heck of a coup this. nice.

This signing should keep the plastics happy.

Great signing.Still think we got 1 more little(or big) suprise up our sleeve

By Monday so I'm hearing.

What have you heard?

That there's another striker signing by Monday.

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird
Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody's talking about the bird!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird...

Interesting....Bodin and Di Vita out on loan?

Bastard.

Now I have that in my head and i'm on my own so can't annoy anyone else with it.

:)

would appear that maybe so, bodin to (complete guess) wrexham perhaps?  probably a few clubs in scotland keen to loan de vita i would guess?

Back in for Cody McDonald?

Very happy with this.  And a big, happy hello to 'The PDC Effect'!  I thought you would never show up.

Now let's just hope he got registered in time to make the bench.

thank fuck for that....

A big man at last 6ft 2....that'll do nicely...

Some hope for Sunday if the fuckers papers clear in time!

Brilliant. Get back in from kids football training to a proper bit of good news.

Delighted with this. This could be the signing that makes the team work as a whole.

From Gary Rose - Good signing for Town is Clarke and likely to be another arrival on Monday, led to believe this one will be very exciting

McDonald is a good shout.

It's not McDonald

Foreign or British DRS?

have heard it is constable, waiting till bloody sunday is over ;)

Heard this in the car, fantastic news if he plays Sunday or not.

Not Constable haha

Surely Constable wouldn't count at "very exciting"?

DRS, if you know, fucking tell us and stop being a cunt :)

tis when being poached from the dross, who do you expect it to be, this is div 4 ;D

So now Gary Rose confirms it's not Constable.

Jeremy Wray has said "there is possibly one more key player to come in next week which looks promising".

:cunty: :smugfu:

this

Well if he doesn't play on Sunday, nor make the bench then he's definitely coming.

Could be a loan player..we haven't got any loanees in yet.

I'm led to believe it's another permanent deal.

It's Dean Ashton

"Key player" eh?  :hmmm:

So is it definitely another striker?  Has Christian Vieri retired yet?  :D

 :D

It's Steve Howard.

fat ronaldo

That would be ace

I thought it was just my 10 year old called him that on Fifa 11

Getting on a bit but would definitely do a job in L2.

Just tried looking up Leon Clarke related youtube clips and saw this....may have been posted before, but its worth seeing again I think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X06WnqhRWH4

Can we let Easyjet take our freekicks on Sunday please? Did he even get a look in with any of the 'shootable' set pieces against Numb and Daggers?

Lets keep Risser and Kennedy the fuck away from dead ball situations from now on shall we?  

I've seen some of his freekicks on YouTube, but that one's pretty special. Esajas to be set piece man - no arguments - from now on.

Edit: Oh yeah, Leon Clarke, seems like a superb signing and the optimism switch is now turned back up to maximum again. :D

Interesting to hear PDC, and Watkins talking about one more player coming in.Given the size of the squad surely a few are going to heading out to pastures new?I hope Ferry, and Amankwah aren't two of them :no: , but I have a worrying feeling that they will be.

I reckon Ferry will start sunday

I really hope so, I find it incredible that Ferry, can't get in the side.He's easily the most talented midfielder we have at the club.

Well, well, I didn't think this would come to anything to be honest.  Good to see that having identified where the weaknesses are, PDC and Wray have reacted quickly.  None of this dilly dallying that cost us so dearly last season.

Hopefully he can live up to expectations. Between Clarke, Kerrouche and Connell surely we'll be able to find some goals this season.

Signing Clarke should be a tidy bit of business for us.

After all the dross and shite that Fitton and Wilson managed to attract last season, PDS and Wray certainly don't seem to be fucking around in the early stages of this one.

Where are people getting their optimisum for this guy from. I dont know much about him so i cant really confirm if he is any good or not. I would love him to be and make a huge impact on sunday, i just read another article that said he was not the most prolific of strikers. I can appreciate he is dropping down to a lower league but is that enough?

Lets hope so

Interested to see who this other key player is.

Yes i am a newbie. Not really followed the town much but have lived here for about 18 years. Got a little boy of two and thought it would be nice if both of us supported the local team, if he likes footy that is. So please forgive my lack of knowledge at this point. Work has resrticted my viewing of the town far but I managed a few of the friendlies  :bye:

Clarke should be a different gravy in this league, is he match fit? I would guess he has some fitness  :hmmm:
Intrigued to find out who the 'Exciting' signing that Gary has mentioned is. Exciting times this season will be a crazy one  :beers:

It's steve lomas and sheena Easton. And some cheese.

I agree completely. I've only seen Risser once and had high hopes for him, but by all accounts he can't get over his nerves, or is not as good as he appears in training/games with no pressure.

Regardless of whether or not il capitano gets dropped, Ferry is of a whole different level to all our other midfielders and should be one of the first names on the team sheet. He might not score the most, but off the ball he's different gravy and he's probably the best passer we have.

I disagree, Ferry is ordinary and goes missing for whole chunks of games. He is a good passer but he's not lived up to the hype. I'd rather see McCormack in the middle and lets give Risser a break. Yes, he's not played well but lets give him time. 

Given that the last two games we've played McCormack and Risser, the above makes little sense.

Its not supposed to make sense on a Friday night. I just think we need to give it a few games and that Ferry is not the answer. If Bornmuff want to give us £175k for Ferry then I'd take it.

I'm also wondering whether Risser might play CB with Flint? It means the captain still plays, we keep his vocal influence, and we know he can play there.

But Ferry is the answer IMO. We dont have anyone else who will run through the centre and carry the ball forward. He also uses the ball very well and keeps it simple but at pace.

I've been thinking this as well. Especially seen as Devera was left out of the 16 for Dagenham. Risser at CB with Ferry slotting in at CM.

Fair enough. I'm undecided on Risser. Part of me is hoping he'll come good, and Sunday could be the time for that to happen. But there's always that doubt that he might just be crap, in which case it makes no sense to have him in ahead of Ferrry!

If we were on 6 points from 3 games, and if we weren't playing Oxford this weekend, people might be a bit more patient. Understandably, there is a need to get it right now.

I think this will be the line-up.

Smith
Caddis
Flint
Risser
Kennedy

RM one of: Richie/Gabilondo
CM: McCormack & Ferry
LM one of: Esajas/Richie

ST: 2 of Kerrouche/Connell/Clarke

seems the best way to go about it. i think the only reason risser is in midfield is to provide abit of height/strength to the midfield.

he seems to me that he is definatly a centre back

Not quite sure about this signing - seems a decent player but is this gonna LEGITIMISE the awful long  humpball we've been playing ! Starting to question PDC's tactical game plan as we've been hoofing balls to midgets up front to no avail ! Thought he'd have the nouse to realise we have to alter the strategy to accomodate the small, agile strikers we've been using up to now, but no, he's persisted with the hoof approach !

Now we've got the target man, that may become the only focus for attacks, which might be great if he's that good, but at this level surely we can OUTPLAY most of the teams in this league.

Whatever, beat the POX  and we're on our way !!!

Don't know anything about Clarke...but there's nothing wrong with playing direct football in Div 4.  Just need to do it better than the others...we've already shown that we don't do it as well as Cheltnum and D and R. 

So sorry if this has been mentioned (it probably has) but I'm a it hung over and can't be arsed to trawl through this thread. Is Clarke eligible for Sunday?

Di Canio appears to have the same transfer policy as I do on FM; huge squad with loads of attacking options but bugger all cover at the back... could be fun!

It's not been confirmed yet. Papers have been sent to the League Association, but needs to be confirmed by 12 noon today if he stands any chance of playing tomorrow.

Is it me or does the picture of Wray on the STFC homepage make him look like a Movie Villain, planning his destruction of Oxford

Surely if PdC saw Risser as a potential CB option he would have made that tactical move after Comazzi went off at Daggers rather than putting Caddis as the smallest CB in the league.
But things change rapidly around here at the moment so who knows?............

Also, is Gabilondo eligible for tomorrow?  The OS mentioned needing to get international clearance which often takes a little longer than FA registration does.

Good call :nod:

Im anal on FM and i will only allow 2 players per each position, no more no less.

Reading this made me want to go into a Dr Sheldon Cooper rant along the lines of:

'It’s not a game! Angry Birds is a game! World of Warcraft is a massive multi-player online role-playing… well, technically it is a game, but it’s more than that. And a stale pastry is little comfort of a man who’s had his bird stolen.'

Start Pavett and Bodin tomorrow upfront  :nod:

Having listened to DiCanio on the radio after the Cheltenham game when he expressly said he wouldn`t be signing Clarke coz his wages were out of our league but did say that the tall Austrian would definitely be our player by the Monday. I am getting a tad nervous about our man. I appreciate he is desparate to be a success in management and when we win on Sunday all will be clear as to what the fuck he is up to, at the moment I am begining to have my doubts..... :hmmm:

Just found out, good news!

More optimistic than realistic about Sunday now.

I think there's a hint of poison there, but have you not actually thought about it in a way that's not negative? By saying Clarke's wages are an issue, if the move is wanted, then it lowers the players expectations. And with regard to the Austrian, if you'd listened to the interview then it's obvious why he didn't sign - he was work shy and we now also know Clarke was back on.

PdC may have not signed Wojtanowicz after saying he would, but better that than signing a lazy player to save face no?

Ok, point taken. Glass half empty approach is not really the way to support appreciated. It just seems a whirlwind its going on and its all a bit out of control - when we win on Sunday I will understand what he is on...

So it's now 1:15,

anyone know whether he can play tomorrow or not?

Yes he can.

:beers:

Sauce?

My old man said he heard it on the radio this morning.

Facebook told me.

Confirmed by the clubs official Facebook now.

http://www.facebook.com/SwindonTownFootballClub/posts/246795962026923

Lovely job. Still half expecting him to be on the bench rather than start, but its still a massive plus

I can only say this is good news. Now fuck Da Vita off out on loan and let the men do the work.

So is DRS going to spill or doesn't he really know?  Is the DRS the new football rumours site?

To be fair, he tends to get it right.

I know, because he has the same contact as me! :D

id like to know :)

Sorry if this dampens anyone's enthusiasm for seeing Clarke in a red and White shirt, but been speaking to a few life long QPR fan friends of mine and they said whilst Clarke will be a good physical no.9 for us in league 2, apparently his finishing is lacking somewhat. The words 'abysmal' and 'barn doors' were mentioned but I'm refusing to let their views stop me from thinking he'll grab 20+ goals this year!! Especially once we sign Messi on Monday! :)

His record in the championship is a bit poor, but in league 1 he scores at a 1 in 2 rate. i'll take that for where we are now

Considering our front two now couldn't hit a very large cows arse with even bigger banjo I'd take the risk.

His record in the championship is a bit poor, but in league 1 he scores at a 1 in 2 rate. i'll take that for where we are now

Its very easy to pick and choose which statistics you want to use,i prefer made his debut in 2003 and has score 43 goals
in 8 years! or 5 a season.
Simon Heslop has scored 2 goals in 3 games for Oxford this season,that makes him a 30+ goal as season man.
See its easy.

Thats unfair, they banged in a few in pre season and its only 3 games into the season. Also, I dont think PDC has been using our best strikers at his disposal. Kerrouche looked a right handful on Tuesday, start him today please.

Everyone banged goals in pre-season I wouldn't say it was the toughest of pre-seasons.

Yes we are 3 games in and neither of them look like scoring and Kerrouche has been injured so he may provide something different now he is back. If we had to rely on De Vita and Bodin this season we wouldn't be going very far.

Agreed,

Most of Clarke's appearances in the higher have been as a sub i think

Most of Clarke's appearances in the higher have been as a sub i think

That does not dampen my enthusiasm one bit. The only thing that matters is, can he do a job for us in L2 this season and then hopefully L1 next? The answer to that I believe is yes.

After getting through his fair share of clubs, failing to hit it off at Sheffield Wednesday and QPR to name but two, is Town's new No.9 Leon Clarke ready to lead the Di Canio revolution?

http://thewashbag.com/2011/08/23/leon-clarke-swindon%e2%80%99s-new-number-9/

An interesting read, i feel we need to sing his name loud and proud to get him off the mark! Then we should be in for a treat!

Thought he did well on Sunday, was blowing out of his arse at the end (understandably).

Feed the Clarke and he will score.

If that shot from 25 yards had gone in he'd have been an instant hero! Looked goalbound from the Town End!

Put some fooking weight behind that one! Went like a bullet.

Interesting take on Clarke, sort of makes sense as I couldn`t work out exactly why he had decided to come down to our level, perhaps this explains it. As fans are we patient with our strikers, when they dont score. I always thought Pericard was a complete donkey but lots of others did support him, until he proved 100% that he was actually a donkey.

Looked reasonable on Sunday but ran out of steam with 20mins to go...and there I was thinking that DiCanio only wanted fit fuckers.... :hmmm:

PDC will make him fit, then let's see what he is made of.  he put himself about a bit, but I am yet to be convinced he is the answer.

Hope he is  :nod:

The Washbag is becoming a 'must read' for me.  Keep it up...please.

Him and Magera look like a potentially lethal pairing in this division. I don't want to get carried away, but you have to be optimistic!

Thanks for that. Will do.

Next up tomorrow I've got an revealing Czech and Romanian football writer's view on surprise STFC signing Lukas Magera. His early days, time in Romania, international appearances and is he really the new Koller?

And plenty more to come...

i like to start my day at work pretending to look at emails but really reading the washbag and drinking coffee for about 30 minutes

Me too, although oddly our draconian firewall blocks access occasionally, it really depends on what side of the bed it got out of and whether it got 'any' the previous night....... it really is that temperamental.

Hats off to the washbag editors, it is a great website..

Was really impressed with leon against the pox. Held the ball up well, won his headers and chased down the ball when needed. Fair enough he did look tired in the last 20mins but it was his first full game this season so thats to be expected

I didn't go to the Pox game, but my Dad did. Reckoned he was a few seconds ahead of the other players in our team. Hopefully Magera will be on the same level as Clarke!

Was really impressed too but his timing of his jumps for heading was not up to scratch, he made it up for it though by getting ahead of the defender for knock on's and such when the ball was on the floor. Defenders take note!

But I've a feeling he'll throw a strop soon enough and be thrown out on loan somewhere else, his attitude did not seem right.
 :sherlock:

Its a shame when players are moved on other than being shit.

He held the ball up well but his heading ability was poor for a big man. Jumped too early for flick ons and couldnt direct in front of goal...ala Saints...that was a piss miss.

He was a few seconds ahead for his jumps, for sure...

Blimey, that was an impressive call!

what does the future hold for Swindon this weekend oh magical Kaufman

He'll tell you on Monday

Kaufman was telling me he went to the Docs about his fortune telling skills...
doc asked, "when did this first happen"
Kaufman replied..."next wednesday"

According to Gary Rose on twitter Clarke asked to leave two days before the saints game.

What a cunt.

Nine days after signing. Wow.

He can fucking rot for all I care. Leon 'I'm better than Swindon' Clarke can fuck off.

That's bumchump at West Ham standard.  Perhaps he misses his mummy?

Didn't like having to work for his wage. Thinks he's better than he is. PDB may be a fruitcake, but this guy had an attitude problem.

L2 is all about hard work and fitness. It's not about pretty football. He's had a reality shock and now he won't play again - not for us anyway. Good riddance.

Is the training really that bad, or is his attitude really that bad... questions, questions.

Di Canio: Leon Clarke not welcome near swindon ever again

I hope he wasn't going to go on loan to another League Two club then!

Hopefully this whole episode will install a siege mentality and bring the other players closer together...we need a win on Saturday massively now.

Hopefully it is because the training was too intense rather than the standard of our players here being absolutely abhorrent. Although in going from training with QPR of the Premiership to training with Swindon of Division 4, it should hardly be rocket science that the players wouldn't quite be as good!

The thing is he gets the last laugh which is the most annoying thing. Nice signing on fee I presume. Wages still paid.

Wonder whether the club will take him to court over breach of contract?

That surely depends if someone takes him and where he goes.

Contrast his attitude with Connell's.  From the outset, AC has come across as a model professional.  Clearly had the respect of Grimsby fans as well.  Even though they're a different kind of fron man, I'm willing him to do really well for us now - and capitalise on Clarke's career suicide.

Breach of contract? He hasn't refused to play. By law the club had to mutually terminate or keep paying. No club is going to pay 100% of his wages after the fiasco.

That would be the outcome I would want too. He seems like a really good guy and I hope he is as successful as we want him to be.

Agree.  Financially, difficult to see how Clarke will represent anything other than an expensive mistake for us.  He will know that he will be seen now as damaged goods...so expect to hear his side of the story in the press quite soon to justify his position.  If he doesn't manage to engineer a move soon, we pay.

STGary_Rose Gary Rose
Di canio received a text after Leon signed saying 'good luck with the nightmare'
21 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

STGary_Rose Gary Rose
Di Canio: Leon Clarke not welcome near swindon ever again
23 minutes ago

STGary_Rose Gary Rose
i don't think he asked club, said to his agent
32 minutes ago

STGary_Rose Gary Rose
Leon Clarke asked to leave Swindon two days before saints game
36 minutes ago

It would be pretty difficult I imagine to try and terminate one contact for being involved in the scuffle, whilst letting the others (Donatelli, or to an extent, Di Canio) continue in their jobs. His only other black mark is expressing displeasure at the training regime, and I doubt he is the only one.

Di Canio's comments about him not being welcome back ever again do nobody any favours and he should know better. He's publically damaging Clarke's reputation even more and making it more difficult to shift him. The only person comments like that serve are Di Canio himself, by carving himself out a disciplinarian reputation.

Keep quiet, boot Clarke out, make sure the other club picks up most if not all of his wages and then terminate as soon as we can in the summer.

Outrageous. Good riddance if that's the way he feels after a week at a club.

Hopefully Connell and Kerrouche can get amongst the goals this weekend and we can forget this cuntslop was ever here as soon as possible.

Clarke is a class A prick.

From what Gary Rose has said on Twitter, Di Canio knew about Clarke's past problems but decided to give him a chance to prove himself. Clarke has thrown it back in his face.

Di Canio received a text when we signed him saying 'Good luck with the nightmare'.

He is now up there with Tommy Mooney and Joey Beauchamp in my view.

Gary Rose tweets a lot.

Ralphy are you Leon Clarke?

...the key difference being that both Mooney and (to a lesser extent) Beauchamp turned out some very good performances for us while they were with us.

DOH ! Busted !

:D

Yet PdC wouldnt give Timlin a second chance of even give Big Kev a chance.

He's just making up as he goes along...

So Leon Clarke complained about the fitness training two days before the Southampton game? Whether or not his complaint was justified or not, that surely makes the actions of the fitness coach much worse? Knowing there was an issue there and doing what, rubbing it in straight after a hard match, on the pitch, in front of cameras?

He should go too.

I blame Phil Smith for all this.

and if this did happen before the game, he still started?
the plot thickens (strokes chin)

:)

Don't be a dick. You're basing your argument on 4 short tweets which don't actually fully support the conclusion you've come to. He didn't complain to the club, just told his agent he wanted to leave, and so far nobody has given us his reasons for wanting to leave. For all we know, the fitness coach might have had no idea how unhappy (read petulant) he was.

But he has refused to train.

I missed that - where does it say that?

Well, he didn't turn up yesterday.

Fair enough...Maybe Di Canio's comments were made to make him unwanted anywhere else so he has to come crawling back to the club with his tail between his legs? We may never know.

Lots of players complained about Macari's fitness regime, too. But I seem to remember we got 102 points in Div 4.

I'm not saying the fitness regime is good or bad, but if a player has made his concerns about it known then there's a correct way to work through. It in no way involves confronting the player on the pitch after a match.

Lou didn't have to put up with Leon "big bollocks" Clark though. Had he done i expect he would have lasted as long as he has under Di Canio.

It seems likely to me that the fitness coach was basically saying "told you so" after watching Clarke blow out his arse for the last 10-15 minutes. Whether he should have or not the noises coming out from Gary Rose points to a major attitude issue with Clarke.

Difference being Macari knew what the fuck he was talking about?

Agreed but unproven in the same vein as PDC at this stage in our record breaking season.

Oh dear Leon you are a bit of a twat arent you.

Lets hope you end up on the scrapheap.

Shame no-one knocked you out you big headed cunt.

I concur! If I were a car salesman and moved from Porsche to Honda (bare with it, this is going somewhere) and had two clear cut opportunities to sell and missed them both. I would EXPECT my superiors to tell me I need to train up. If the thing about him wanting to leave before that is true then he's even more of a cunt. What really takes the piss though is that a large cash injection went directly from the club to him. Some people think player power's just for the bigger leagues but he's so rich he knows he can do what he wants, he wont go hungry and inevitably another club will come in for him.............how many of us can say that in our jobs?

Bollocks! They're professional football players FFS! They're athletes. If they're told to go to training the next day, who are they to say otherwise? Put it this way, if we lost the Southampton game 6-7 nil then we'd expect them to be ran into the ground at the next training session.

Some players just can't be told! Too many young players think they're better than they are and need a slap sometimes. They should be lucky that they get to play football as a job!

webuyanycar wouldn't buy us right now.  We're more a bloody Yugo, than a Honda.

I thought it was a nice little nudge to local business, I guess we could be reliant.........ohhhh

I guess his reluctance to training and running is why the tag of being fat has followed his career

What a massive bellend. Good riddance.

What's wrong with Yugo? One of the best cars of all time.

Another Leon with a massive chip on his should, well rid.

Seen it again on SSN just a minute ago but with subtitles, Clarke saying "you're telling me I'm gonna run again tomorrow". Pathetic attitude, you're a footballer for fuck sake!

Just seen PDC on SSN he well and truly sorted out this mess, well done paolo, he said that clarke asked to leave the club 2 days before the game and that he had just found out.

PDC's views up on Adver site now.

Adver: Clarke wanted out before Saints game - Di Canio (http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/9228571.Clarke_wanted_out_before_Saints_game___Di_Canio/)

Clarke's views, no doubt, will not be far behind.

So Clarke asked his agent he wanted to leave 2 days before the game?

And no doubt be the exact opposite of PDC's

So, Di Canio is saying he actually had asked to leave 2 days before that game and his attitude has been bad since he got here?

Anyone believe that shit?

No, I think PDC made it all up just to wind you up DV

yes

Given Clarke's reputation, yes, easily.

It sounds believable.

I see el-hadji diouf has been released.

Worth a punt?

Might as well go for the hat trick

Might get a week or so out of him

Looks like blaming the player,and tweets from some bellend from the local paper has worked on most of you. We don't know whether it's true or not. I personally think there is more to this. Clarke isn't the only one driven out of the club is he?

On my daughters life i was told clarke had asked to leave 2 days before so yeah i do believe it.

Based on the info currently available, it does appear that Clarke bears most (but not all) of the blame here.  That's the consensus, I think.

You sound as if you know better.  Care to share your sauces?

We don't really know of any others though do we? Manks just wasn't getting a game and the Timlin fallout was never confirmed by anyone. Maybe Di Canio just didn't see him as part of his plans after the first game?

I don't know better,but am 100% sure there is more to this.
 I'm not rushing out to find my pitchfork just yet.

That really makes sense....

If he asked to leave why the fuck did he start in the first place?

Di Canio didn't find out until afterwards.

Why don't you fucking read what it says?

Alright. Fair enough. I don't tend to read the adver articles, they make my eyes bleed

I think it's pretty obvious, based on evidence, that Clarke wanted out. He acted like a fucking prick after we played Saints and clearly wanted it known that he's a petulant prima donna cock. He's made himself intentionally unplayable.

As "fans" I don't know why we always have to try to find more complicated (and probably damaging, negative and sensationalist) explanations for things that happen at a club we're supposed to support and be behind. The Season's young and I still believe it's going to be great.

Barry for PM.

I'd be interested to hear Leon Clarke's take on this. Clarke's track record suggests that this isn't a smokescreen.

These footballers need to stop listening to their agents and take the offer than appeals to them the most.

There's nothing more to it than Clarke not liking all the running.

di Canio fucked off that Austrian fella for the same reason.

Some footballers are awfully sensitive.

So people doubting what Paolo has said... are you more likely to believe what Clarke has to say? Would you find it easier to believe someone who will no doubt have damaging things to say about our club? Or wouldn't it make more sense to rally behind people who still represent our club at this time when our support is dearly needed.

Can't see the manager or the players getting much more time from fans if we don't win 3 on the spin in the next month.

How long til we're booed off? I'm going for Saturday.

Im starting to think this club deserves to drop out of the football league.

Our fans are deluded fucking idiots who'll swallow any spin as long as it gets DC off the hook.

Steady on! There's two people involved with a history of poor behaviour. As I've already said, I would like to hear Clarke's take on things. But I've seen Clarke's stroppy attitude and it matches what Di Canio states.

Ultimately, let's move on with our lives.

If you're basing that comment on anything other than your evident dislike of the manager, I'd love to hear all about it.

Theres also people who just wont believe dicanio full stop.The only thing that will change that is wins and as he isn't getting them he wont be given the benefit of the doubt

I can't understand why they should be booed off for the performances so far.  In each game (bar the Saints one) we have shown we are more than capable of good performances.  Unfortunately the performances have not been for 90 minutes.

Why even start talking about booing the team also amazes me.  You should be behind the team!!!

It hasn't been revealed though who Clarke told he wanted to leave, was it Wray ? that would be an interesting one to clear up. he's obviously got a bad attitude unfortunetly he is probably one of the highest paid and we may struggle to shift him as he would be viewed as a problem player

Spot on.

Definitely. Seems to me these past few seasons we have been very, very quick to boo the team.  At times its been deserved - other times its premature and unhelpful.

Im mostly basing it on him punching a player on TV..

Oh hang on that didn't happen anymore did it,he was just trying to "defuse" things. it was all down to Mr Clarke and his sudden desire to leave Swindon.

But Im also basing it on him giving players contracts on a willy nilly basis then changing his mind a few days later and his apparent inability to inspire his players or win a fucking game.

Still he says "passion" every other word so i'm sure we'll come good in the end :)

Quick someone say "get behind the lads"

Which is exactly what I was trying (and clearly failing) to allude to. The first time I booed last season was after Notts County at home, after Hart fucking lost it when we were 1 up and we lost 2-1.

Punch?...fuck me Yeo wouldn't take much to put you down :D

The scary thing is, I understand where you're coming from to an extent

"There are three sides to any argument, your side, my side and the truth" - not sure who said it, but its right isn't it.

What almost irks me is how some consider any form of support (whatever level) for our management as happy-clapping gullibility. Most of us are concerned about our current situation but what use does constant online whinging/swiping do? Of course, that's why the internet was developed.

In the words of Rev. Connell

"boys get on great,still very optimistic about the season! Please keep up your tremendous support."

Testify.........

Probably a 'smokescreen'.

Of course, although it is dangerous if take a leap and start presuming that the truth is always in the middle.

Never sign a footballer called Leon, theyre all cunts

Leon Clarke, Leon Knight, Leon Jeanne (druggy), im sure theres others

Leon Best is on a bit of a roll at the moment.

Only a matter of time!!

Arising out of all this maybe we will find out who else wants out.Presumably they will have a very public spat with Di Cannio, and will be shown the door in the same manner that Clarke has been.Who knows ? maybe Tims, and Manks had a behind the scenes bust up wit PDC?

Fact - it was all a bit untidy and embarassing but we didn't see the whole thing properly and we don't know the full facts.

We all agreed PDC was high risk, high profile, big on personality and short on relevant experience.  

Now we get the PDC makes managerial mistakes shock in August.  

Guess what Alex Ferguson didn't start the best in England, rookie Lou Macari got sacked due to out of control personality clashes with his assistant Harry Gregg and still only garnered 7 points from 8 games at the start of the following record-breaking season.

Mancini at City had players coming in and out last year and was generally reported as clueless if wealthy, now his team beats Spurs 5-1 away and he's a master who's known what he was doing all along.

The key is whether PDC learns or not.

I certainly hope he is given an opportunity to do so and that we can show a little patience.  Not everything is known in August.

Get behind the lads!

I'm of the same opinion but presumably that would make me a "deluded fucking idiot" according to Yeo.

Leon Cort ain't too bad either.

I really wish you would fuck the fuck off

If Clarke had told the club 2 days before the Saints match that he wanted to leave Swindon, why the fcuk didnt Di Canio know?  Surely if this was true then whoever Clarke told would have gone straight to PDC with the news?

Clarke clearly has to go but as others have said, there's another side to this story. 

He didn't tell the club.

He whinged to his agent that he wanted out because he couldn't hack the running.

di Canio didn't know until after the Saints game.

Clarke won't be the first or last person to realise after a week in a new job that he hates it and regrets the day he said yes. Some people stick with it to see if it improves and others get out as quick as they can.

Fair enough,funny way to give your notice in though.

Do you have anything to back any of this up, apart from an irrational dislike of PdC and a gleeful wish to shout I told you so..

Please go back to Thisis and leave us in peace

Leon El Messi aint bad

Agree Leefer, giving in his notice or disrespecting Paolo was always going to have the same outcome.

Di Canio, it's Di Canio.

This.

No one in their heart of hearts is going to be happy with the season's start result wise. But as you say why seeing the positives in what have been periods of good performance and supporting the new management team as they find their feet is seen as 'happy clapping gullibility' by some is ridiculous.

Fuck me if you're willing to write off a manager/season before the end of August it can't be much fun being a fan.

Whether people like it or not Di canio is the boss and for the sake of stfc we better hope he gets us up the table. When there is a spat between a player and the manager there is only one winner. The board will back the manager as they appointed him,and a manager of a team not pulling up trees is hardly going to blame himself. I'm behind Di canio until at least 10 league games in,but he has it all to do imo.

Fuck it, I've had enough of all the shit going on.

You won't see me at The County tomorrow at 3pm.

Well the game will be over by then so pointless being there

Really?

a possibilty of the players doing shuttle runs i suppose. Or even a scrap or two?

Spot on!

I'm keeping the faith. Di Canio is the man for the job and tommorow our patience will be richly rewarded  :nod:

PDC says he has no regrets.

He should have one for the way it happened in public.

As for fucking him off....no complaints here.

Whooosh

You clearly don't sit at the back of the DRS then

Why the fuck have the official site put pictures of that cunt on the official site?!

The only decent Leon I can recall was French, lived with a 13 year old bird, killed people and didn't take any shit from Gary Oldman.

Has he gone to Luton?

The problem I have is that Clarke will be one of the higher earners in the Team. Now we have very publicly back ourselfs into a corner anouncing he will never play for us again, all very correct of course. However, what sort of position are we going to be in, in having to get rid of him. Who will take him, who will pay his wages, also people now know that there is no way he will play again for us and will put any interested parties in a very strong position. The best outcome will be to sack him as he may have breach his contract but I expect that legal people will be crawling all over the contract to see if this is possible. I hope it is. I also hope Paolo does more research on the next player he brings in.

Leon Knight?

I'm sure if he is made to train on his own every day to the same standard as the other players he will soon ask his agent to negotiate a pay off. Actually, I'm sure if he was just asked to turn up and train every day he would probably ask his agent to negotiate a pay off too!

Looks like he is his own enemy, I actually thought he was our best striker. Ok he never scored but every game he came close and I felt that a run of goals was on the cards with just a bit of luck going the right way. A shame really, a guy who wastes the talent he has with a bad attitude.  :no:

I really was worried about di canio when this thing blew up, even after i saw the first poor quality videos online. i thought he's going mental. I've just looked at the one on the BBC site which shows quite rightly Clarke and the fitness coach having an argument first. He looks like an absolute grade A wanker. I'm glad he'll never play for us again

Don't know if anyone has seen this.

http://t.co/9P4q5xw

nope.
I wouldn't think for 1 minute Herthab's post was serious,nor him not knowing the kick off time.

In regards to Timlin, the monday after the Crewe game at a team meeting watching back the game, Di canio asked Timlin why he hadn't picked up a player, Timlin replied that Callum had said he had him covered. Di Canio turned to Kennedy and asked if this was true. Callum said yes i called out I had him covered.

Later in the week when Timlin found out he was not in the following weeks team he went to Di Canio's office to ask why had he been dropped when he played in a 3-0 winning team, Di Canio replied  you  never disagree with me in front of your team mates.

Already been posted that has

 :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz:

That is the equivalent of putting your house on the market, having a whopping great big mortgage to pay every month and then saying: "It's a shit house, there's damp everywhere, the neighbours are lunatics, and you'll probably get raped if you set foot outside after dark".

1st time i've seen it .

PDC = what a twat

TBh i'm even boring myself now 8)

What a pile of horseshit...doesnt even make sense you blithering idiot.
D- : must try harder.

ps: re di canio interview, ok, so schoolboy error wrt getting rid of clarke...but you gotta admire the guys honesty and front...

makes sense to me. Whether it's true or not who knows?
Something happend between them for sure.

Where's the disagreement?

So, if I were Leon Clarke and I'd just made a bit of a prat of myself and the manager had made it impossible for me to go anywhere else - by telling everyone I was trouble, lazy and not a professional. I think I would let the dust settle a bit, swallow my pride, apologize to Di Canio, Picachu and Co, then hope that he would help me by going to the media and telling them he'd accepted the apology and then let me train and play again.

Point taken.

The situation regarding Timlin is a strange one though.

1st time i've seen it .

PDC = what a twat

TBh i'm even boring myself now 8)
[/quote]

Dont let us stop you...have you got a degree in whinging?

We get it Yeo,you dont like the manager....how about moving on and maybe get behind the team.

with our manager this could happen

That better be a piss take

If it isn't i hope your truck breaks down

That's ok, you're boring everyone else too. :)

There is an ignore button,knock yourself out 8)

:yawn:    :zzz:

nice smilies 8)

Much better, a post without you being negative.

Now we just have to work on the smiley brain washing & you will be a happy clapper before you know it.
 ;) :wotjump:

If this forum has become a "lets post shit smilies at anybody who disagrees with the majority and the club" then it really has become worse than thisis.

It's lucky that we didn't have this attitude when the club was being ran into the ground by that fat greek crook.

I'm sure nobody would question Di Canio if we were winning, but we're not, and we're 89th/92. And with Timlin, the treatment of Connell, and the Leon Clarke thing, stuff isn't adding up all nice and rosey.

Blind faith is all good, if you want it, but if you can't answer the questions people are asking, then attacking them for asking just shows up how blind your faith is.

x

Some fans who never backed Di Canio cant resist comming back on here to try and finnish him off.

Why are you down on Di Canio Yeo?

I'm no fan boy but its not like you to be this harsh.  I rememeber when the old smoking chimp King was being absuing fans and on the verge of being lynched and (to your credit) you were still backing him.

To be fair, they've been given plenty of ammo.
The one thing I don't quite understand about this Clarke scenario is that Di Canio knew he came with baggage and needed to feel wanted. Tuesday wasn't great but I guess it was part of the baggage. So the first sign of baggage and we've binned him - probably at a fair expense for STFC. I would have thuoght that you'd need to work with the guy not throw him to the wolves when he shows signs of the baggage you knew he had.
If Di Canio was shown the same principles he has then he would have been royally fucked.
I'm still on side with PdC but he has made an absolute fucking balls of things so far.
Rotherham and Southend are probably not the best sides to be facing at the moment.
Tomorrow's gate will be interesting and could well be one of the lowest "walk up" attendances ever with 12:12 kick off, £25 tickets, live TV. i can see it being 5k STs, 300 very little above that.

Ooooo, hark at her.

Strangely enough Blind faith (in the team) is what being a fan is all about.

It's very different than blind faith in a Greek crook.

And for what it's worth Smileys are a great way to deal with anyone that can only post negative shite.

Negatives from someone with a balanced view I can happily accept, but point scoring in an "I told you so" way isn't worth fuck all.

I wish he was never made manager but to be honest I'm not as anti in real life as I am on the internet,its mostly just the deluded pricks for whom he can do no wrong that get my back up and make me a sort of angry caricature of myself. I've not had that much to say about it,i've just been a bit relentless in occasional spurts.

The only blindness here is your blind hatred for Di Canio. Funny how you wait until we lose a few games before you suddenly re-materialise spouting your worthless drivel.

Timlin is fucking shit, he always has been and always will be. It was perfectly acceptable to slate him last season, but it's not now? Just because it's Di Canio and you don't like him?
And what "treatment of Connell"? Massive straw clutching. Connell likes it at Swindon.
And even the media are now exonerating Di Canio from blame re the Leon Clarke incident.

So really all you have is that we are 88th and yes that is gutting, of course, but if everyone who gave Danny cunting Wilson chance after chance when his brain had clearly melted and dribbled out of his ears would now extend the same courtesy to Di Canio maybe he could concentrate on the football and actually get us out of this mess.

x

Can't we just all play nicely?

Clearly people have contrasting opinions on Paolo's views but maybe we can put them to one side and just concentrate on that little thing called football?

Still believe Di Canio can turn this around, starting tommorow  :thumb: Just wanted to say I think your description of Wilson  :eek: is more than a tad harsh but you're entitled to your opinion

Well he started it.. He pushed in and stole my doughnut.

If you think that with 4 consecutive league defeats with 1/5 over all, losing at home to our biggest rivals for the first time in 40 years, publicly slating the players he'd signed in general, on the pitch altercations between his staff and a player, other players starting in our win then disappearing out on loan, another player he signed being subbed after 30mins...

After all that, you think everything is all good, that PDC deserves your unquestioning adulation, then to be honest I think I've made my point.

You've written that as if it's a bad thing.

I didn't mean to give that impression, I obviously meant that his "passion" is a great thing.

That's better.

I've really gone off the word passion recently. I got angry with a Passion Fruit earlier for no better reason than it reminding me of football and moronic post game text-ins.

I agree with Nick.

It's nice than someone still does, poor fella seems to have rather nosedived in popularity. Bogus Dave even wrote an angry song about him, the heartless bastard.

booooooo cunt etc

To be fair, Wilson had earned some time and patience from the fans, by getting us to the playoff final the season before and giving us memories like Southampton, Leeds and Charlton away (Not forgetting the Leeds game at the CG).

I still think PdC will turn it around, but apart from some impressive soundbites and loads of charisma, he hasn't actually done much yet, has he?

A little thing we did about Leon Clarke's last week in Swindon...

http://thewashbag.com/2011/09/03/my-week-leon-clarke/

Made me smile, good work!!

Paolo, it's Paolo.

Are you trying to get your user title changed by any chance Nev?

Good idea Nemo, I'll put it in a signature instead.

The Mirror says Leon is off to Chesterfield.
 http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Paolo-Di-Canio-row-striker-Leon-Clarke-set-for-loan-move-from-Swindon-to-Chesterfield-article795536.html

BBC Wilts say a loan deal is close too (didn't name club). See ya Leon

I look forward to his first interview.

Awful news, hate to see a legend leave the club.  Thanks for all the memories Leon, you're up their with Petr Mikolanda and Mark Marshall in my book, shame you never reached the heights of your early days at the club.  All the best.

I wonder if anyone had Clark put on a shirt?

What's the shortest length of time a player has been at Swindon for?

I was thinking of doing that for the little'un as a punishment, but had a change of heart!

So, what have the club learned?

Never to approach players called Leon, as they all seem to be wankers!

http://www.thecfss.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=34184&st=0

Cheeky cunts are even saying we are cheats and its no surprise clarke went mental

Ignorant northern cunts don't know what they're talking about as per usual

Hey, plenty of us thought he'd be great and weren't worried about his antics/attitude all of three weeks ago, I think we can allow them a level of hope/naivety.

So its OK to "tackle" our players with studs showing on numerous occassions, some around the knee and a lot round the ankles yet they call us divers and cheats, they need to take a fucking long hard look at themselves, dirty Northern cunts.

What he said...

What dross:
"the thing we have to remember is that unlike PDC at Swindon, Sheridan is a black or white kind of man..tell's it straight, no self-gonratulating, egocentric flannel...he might be stubborn (which come across as arrogant) but his ego seems to be based on achievement rather than history.."

Haha, some idiot on there thought the washbag diaries were written by Leon.

I wonder if he's related to Stuwall?

Sebastian Ruster?  Technically he wasn't here as the transaction was declared null and void...

Surely achievment is history?

nicky summerbees 2nd spell only lasted 5 days didnt it?

I think that's a bit unfair on Marshall.  I may be alone in this.

Mark Marshall wasn't that bad. O'Brien on the other hand...

I rated Marshall. He had pace and skill but had no idea what to do when he approached the penalty area!

Misun?

I hate the fact that another team will benefit from this situation

They'll only benefit if he knuckles down and stops acting a twat.
And presumably we'll benefit by having his wages off our outgoings; if he's even reasonably successful we'll probably be able to get shot of him too.

Bournemouth?

I reckon he made a more positive contribution than Clarke.  He threw a scarf into the crowd once.

It's your typical blind faith comment. Many of us do the same RE: Paolo Di Canio. I look forward to the days following Clarke's department so we can fully move on from this sorry little episode.

I notice that much listened podcasts like Football Weekly and the Football Ramble have been (sometimes ignorantly) laughing at these events and it almost annoys me. The club signed up for this but much of what has been written has been way over the top.

You're right it's ignorance. It's no different then any other football crap written and regurgitated by readers of The Sun/Star/Mirror country wide though. Only now we're not partaking and realising how much of it is simply made up bollocks to fill column inches.

Shock as Clarke speaks out at last!  :eek:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_7165345,00.html

I genuinely believe it has taken Leon ten days to look all those words up in a dictionary and have his Mum check and correct his spelling for him.

clearly not writen by himself. but who gives a shit. you can see/hear what happens in all the videos which were released after the game.

don't come back Clarke, you're not welcome

Whilst he is clearly a bell end, he has come out and apologised. I suggest we put this to bed and forget about him until after his loan spell is complete.

This

If that was indeed Milan Misun...

Quite.  It's in our interest for him to succeed there, so I hope he does.

When did he apologise?  I didn't see that

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/swindontown/news/9243431.Clarke_speaks_about_Di_Canio_spat/

Who the fuck are Swindon FC?

Plank.

Clarke told skysports.com in a statement....

In other words his agent sat down, wrote out a statement and duly handed to skysports.  

Pretty much sums him up for me...

Infinitely more professional than Di Canio's conspiracy theory that he purposefully planned it as a reason to leave the club?

Infinitely less of a man for not standing up and making a statement in person...

I assume, factually, that you know different regarding his intentions behind it?

A good point.  Are perception filters real?

As opposed to the conspiracy theorists view that Di Canio only signed Clarke for the sole purpose of exposing his lazy arsed approach to training live on Sky Sports?

You'll be telling me that Clarke isn't actually real, he was only brought in by Di Canio so that he could be publicly flogged so as to scare the shit out of the other players...

Cheers - its hardly heart felt.

Still good riddance - couldn't care less what he does now provided we can get rid of him and not have to pay him a penny more.

Wtf is @macphlea on about?

who cares?

We've moved on from Clarke now so who really cares what he has to say? He won't be playing for us again.

Unless I suppose PDC walks for some reason.... (and if he scores an absolute hatful for Chesterfield)

It would be interesting to hear both sides of the argument. But I think his statement is to be commended. Nothing to gain from a "he said this" argument.

coincidently one of his (two?) appearances was against Chesterfield (away)
Think the other was Oldham at home?

Ruster came off the bench at Wycombe... think it was the time we got stuffed in the FA Cup?

Clarke's fucking lucky anyone will employ him in my opinion

what a total Leon, Clarke-ing on about the situation. I can't see that his statement tries to clear anything up, he just states he doesn't agree with pdc's comments after the incident. His record of being loaned so much and not exactly adored by previous fans, for me speaks volumes. On another point, I think tomorrow's a big game for us, if we can win back to back games.........that could be the real kick start we need

I thought this.

Scored in Chesterfield's 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

We want more please Leon. Score a fucking shit load, so we can get rid of you easier.

And maybe get a few quid for him at the same time

Fuck him, mutally terminate his contract and get his wages off the books in January.

And again after 3min!

And another.

Hatrick imminent

Yep hes done it.

Adrian Durham on TalkSport said "Do you think he's sending out a message to PDC?"

is that fourth one his??!!! Nah, it's Westcarr's

his ability is why we signed him for big money,   pdc doesn't need telling.

...is a cunt

Exactly.  Now bollocks to Leon Clarke.

More goals means more money!

The jny is he's probably got to work his bollocks off to save his career, something he didn't want to do at all here.

Brilliant. 2 year contract, if he keeps going we'll get a massive fee for a player we signed for free.

Team spirit has been a lot better since he left.

We'll never get a massive fee for Clarke.  Any buying club will know he has no future with us, which moves the negotiation in their favour.  The only circumstances under which we would get a fee at all is if we get two or more interested clubs in a bidding war.  Even if he does maintain his current form at Chesterfield, it would be difficult to see us ever making more than £100k.  Sell on clause will be important, I would guess.

2 year contract, we can just loan him out again.

Football is a fickle game, if he scores plenty of goals in december then we will get a good fee. The market for strikers is often rediculous.

Indeed, just look at someone like Huddersfield.

We will get a good fee for him if he keeps scoring, good bit of business by Paolo.

Shame we can't get the problems worked out with him as he's scoring goals for fun.

It's good that he's scoring goals, but it fucks me off that he's not scoring them for us.

I agree.  If he starts scoring loads, there will be other clubs coming in for him (assuming they can handle that BIG chip on his shoulder), which measn ££££££££££££££ to us.

I know what you are saying, but that isn't PDC's style, so you shouldn't expect that.

You've got your rouge tinted spectacles on if you think that falling out with a big striker, the type of player your manager has continually been looking for since he came to the club, who can score goals at the level above ours is 'good business'. And as Ardilles said,


Di Canio's quote that "he'll never play for this club again" (something to that effect) is the exact opposite of good business - it severely diminishes his transfer value.

'Good business' would have been to manage him properly.

Err, because Di Canio signed him for free? Money for nothing.

How many Championship strikers have you persuaded to sign on a free transfer?

League 1 is a much better shop window than L2. No one really pays any attention to L2 players, the bigger clubs dont rate the standard of this league.

Great bit of potential business I'd say, the fact that it wasn't planned doesn't mean it won't be good business.

Unfortunately I agree with the Scummer. I can't see how it is good business. I'd imagine Chesterfield are laughing their heads off. They've got a quality striker for fuck all. He's now got to prove himself after the very public spat, which he appears to be doing. When the loan runs out they'll have Jack Lester back from injury and may not want to sign him.
Any fee we get for him will be limited by the fact clubs know we want to shift him.
Saying that, its looking to be a good job all round that he's gone. Good for him and good for us as we've played well.
The bad news is that we need to try and get a striker just like him when it took us so long to get him in the first place.

Le Fondre had to score about 400 goals in League 2 before anyone was prepared to put in a serious bid.

Charlie Austin, after 6 months of scoring in League 1, there was never any doubt that a team would pay at least £1m for him.

It is a sad state of affairs to be honest,but only a matter of time before he pulls another stunt and is on his way in my opinion,if someone like Warnock can't get the best out of him at QPR then PDC in his first job would find it nigh on impossible.
Only at the seasons end will it be apparent how much it will effect us,so no point in guessing otherwise.

You haven't got any money for him though. I don't buy the argument that him scoring out on loan is going to pocket you hundreds of thousands. Other clubs know that he's not wanted at Swindon, which means you'll get much less money for him than you should.

Personally I'd rather we didn't sign any utter cocks who clearly aren't up for playing for my team, or manager, whether they be from the Championship, Premiership, or anywhere else. And the wording of your question tells a story about Clarke. He was "persuaded" to sign. And he was a free transfer because QPR wanted rid, the (lack of) fee is a warning itself in this case - they didn't even ask for £50k for him.

"League 1 is a much better shop window than L2" - the higher the league the higher the fees, that much is obvious. But Clarke is contracted to a L2 club whose manager has publicly stated that he won't play for him again.

Still a pointless argument at the moment. Di Canio might not even be here in January.

We can only win from Clarke scoring goals for Chesterfield.

Whether it is good business or not will be decided in January, when he is sold. Resurrect the thread then.

History states that it only takes 1 maybe 2 seasons at League One level to get a decent move for a striker.

Clarke has played for 11 clubs at the age of 26 so I disagree with the scummer in that Clarke is certainly NOT the player we need here. We paid fuck all for him, possibly not paying his wages and will demand a fee and all the time we are still winning (albeit yesterday) with a happy squad.

He's playing well for Chesterfield but before he went there he looked lethargic and crap here. He couldn't even score against Poxford.

Any profit made from a player who doesn't want to be here is good

Chesterfield fan here in peace

Well what can one say. He didn't need the extra running did he. Leon Clarke, one of John Sheridan's pre-season targets is doing the business. Sheridan says, he believes him to be 'the' best striker in the division and his performances have been sheer quality and, with respect, he's doing it in a higher division surrounded by better players. Certainly a more skilfull player than Craig Davies who notched 24 goals for us last season. I think I've seen Clarke lose the ball three times in three games. As for being a troublemaker, nothing could be further from the truth so far. In my dealings with him he has been a model professional, polite and charming.

I can understand Swindon fans supporting their manager and club but from this side we see a player who was verbally abused at the end of a gruelling match and physically assaulted - being dragged by his shirt in the process of leaving the field - by your manager -  grounds for constructive dismissal perhaps? A fantastic signing. I hope we can keep him. Let's hope Di Canio stays at Swindon for a couple of years.

he didn't want to be here and in the first place di canio didn't physically assult him, what nonsence.

team spirit has improved tangibly since he left, with players running to hug pdc when we score.  it's very easy to say what you said looking in from the outside but the players are 100% behind paolo.

none of our other players have moaned about the training regime so it is right that he has been told to find another club.  he thought he was above having to work hard and that clearly put the rest of our squad out.

as for better players, i doubt it...

His reputation for being a cock wasnt made up by Swindon fans or random forums.

I liked the bloke and i think if he had notched once , he would of got more.

The episode after the Saints game was a shambles for everybody involved at the club...fans, board, PDC... AND Clarke.

I am glad he is doing the biz for you and if your description is to be believed, hes trying to change his attitude too. Last chance saloon.....otherwise another Leon Knight....

What a complete load of shite u have just typed, u couldnt be futher from the truth. Deluded aint the word..

Clarke is an utter Leon, end of. Yes he may be scoring goals, but his attitude caused unrest in the camp from the looks of it, 9 out of 12 after he left and Ritchies celebration shows Paolo has the team behind him. Aslong as he keeps scoring goals and gets us a tidy profit, then it will have been a win win situation for us.

Clarke was in the wrong by behaving like a petulant twat in front of what was a three-quarters full County Ground. Di Canio and his coaching staff were also in the wrong. To imply that Clarke was assaulted is fucking nonsense, Di Canio was trying to get Clarke into the dressing room when he pulled his shirt and it was nothing more than handbags in the tunnel, although it's hard to actually see what happened from the shaky footage.

It infuriates me and pisses me off that our player, who we are still paying wages to, is scoring goals for fun in the league above. It's all too reminiscent of that odious little twat Cureton.

Shame we can't just negotiate a contract termination or something and cut our losses and move on. I wonder how the board feel about Di Canio announcing that he wants to sign another striker while Clarke is still contracted to Town (and Magera has hardly been given a chance yet)...

You're honestly telling me you believe Di Canio assaulted Leon Clarke? Seriously? Either you're a WUM or just very gullible.

Magera is the obvious answer when back from injury, no?

He did assault him,might not have been GBH but it was deffinitly assault.The whole thing was a fiasco,but its been done death now.

thank fuck you're not a beak

Clarke is just another 'dont touch me' streetkid. Cant handle authority. Probably never had a dad.

Probably is scared shitless because for the first time in his career someone stood up to his bad attitude, and kicked him out of a club. Hence the good form.

Wow, are you being serious? you watched a 2 minute video and you think you saw Di Canio assualt him? and his verbal abuse, barely our fitness coach told get ready to run tommorow which every player at the club had to deal with. Clarke is someone who expects everything to be easy, and this is obviously the first place that expect him to work for his wages. Im happy to see him scoring for you just so we can get a tidy profit but I don't want him here at the County Ground.  :bye:

Can we not let this go?

Sonic was right, both parties were in the wrong. I'm sure we'd defend anyone playing for Town in such a circumstance.

I don't understand why the Chesterfield fan felt the need to join TEF to tell us this? Makes me want Di Canio to recall him :)

Clearly you know more from a short video, where nothing remotely close to an assault takes place, but a player gets cross at having to train (like every other fucking player) the next day. Not needing to run and refusing to run aren't the same thing.

One is because he's a lazy cunt and doesn't like being told what to do and the other is because he's super fit. If he was super fit, like our whole squad now are, he wouldn't need to run. If he's fit enough for your club, good for you, if he's happy with the fitness regime, I'd wager that after 75 minutes, when your team are blowing out of their arse, we'd run rings around you (in a fitness sense). Any fitness work Leon Clarke is happy doing isn't likely to be particularly strenuous.

I really hope you sign him in January and he shows his true colours. Maybe then we can come to your forum and gloat or post something judgemental and lacking knowledge? Or maybe we can make sweeping remarks about your team and manager if he doesn't?

Chesterfield fan in peace my arse. Chesterfield fan who fancies opening old wounds and having a troll more like.

Spot on Barry.

Watch the ticker bazza ;)

Your welcome to him...he is as crooked as that fucking spire on your church...or is it a cathedral :D

Also i have been reliably informed that his words on leaving the pitch was...if you think i am running again tommorow think again....and then the coach reacted....then he ran off without even talking to team mates like a big kid.
He is a pro and is paid to do what the manager asks...not what he wants.

Fair play to him for doing the biz for you.....................lets see if you can afford to buy him let alone pay his wages :no:

I heard he went to burger king in full playing kit after he ran off and was sat with one of those cardboard crowns you get with the kids meal on his head.

The lazy cunt

Lets be honest, everyone involved in that incident acted like a total bellend.

But you can't let a player upset the management, so lets hope Chesterfield buy him. If he keeps up his scoring at least they won't be in total shock when he hands in a transfer request after a few months.

So let's hope he continues to score and we can sell him for a nominal fee we're apying part of his wages while at chesterfield and I'm sure there was probably a signing on fee to him as well so to recoup our outlay would be good, and if he continues to score goals then other teams will take notice and want to take a risk on him as he would be seen as a goal scorer

Hello Leon. What's your favourite cheese?

Currently would be Derbyshire,few weeks back it would have been hard cheeze.

:D Brilliant, and probably all true.

Swindon is far from the first club he's been kicked out of. If he was going to changehis attitude he would probably have done so by now.

Exactly how I saw it...

In the end, he will fuck up there. Its clearly an attitutde problem

[url width=600 height=398]http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad185/swindon123/training-pg-crying.jpg[/url]

From the Wednedsay forum with there up coming match v Chesterfield :D

I see he has signed for Scunthorpe on loan for 3 months.

Sat 20th Oct should be nice for him

Scunthorpe also have Prutton. That game will be fun.

Never has a player suited a club like Leon Clarke suits sCUNThorpe.

If Typhoo put the T in Britain who put the cunt in Scunthorpe. old joke but still a favourite. :D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19561207

Whinging tosspot. Still trying to blame others for his own shortcomings.

not when both the fuckers score ;-)

""My match fitness isn't as high as I'd like it"

'cause you're a lazy fucker.

 :nod:

the first couple of pages of this thread makes for amusing reading with the benefit of hindsight

Look at his moping fucking face.

What a twat.

Still a cunt!

I forgot about that cunt Prutton.

Odds on Clarke scoring against us, very short I'd imagine.

I can see him sliding on his knees towards PDC in the dugout too. Could be interesting

David Prutton on a piece of string...

He might have to slide a very long way to prostrate himself in front of PdC, by Saturday.

Prutton and Clarke, on Saturday,  :badmood:

From the BBC...

Discipline data - The league's worst offenders are Scunthorpe, with 149 fouls, 22 yellows and three reds.

It would be lovely if Prutton and Clarke were sent off on Saturday.

Prutton would actually have to do something for that to happen. Unlikely.

I bet Tans is really looking forward to the return of those two  :)

True, but he was terrible at tackling (well terrible at most things). I'm sure we can make the most of any foul.

They also have Mike Grella...Remember him !!!

Sulked off because heart wouldn't play him in his infamous 0-0-10 formation.

He had a point though.

Not everything. He had a great hair-care regime

Nods in agreement.

Mwahahaha

I fully expect STFC Player to inform me someone has thrown a burger at the pair of them..

I doubt it.  All talk and no action.  Will probably have left just after half time as well.

Callum Kennedy also...although I am looking forward to the abuse Clarke and Prutton will get (mainly Clarke)

Prutton deserves it more for being a disinterested arse and instrumental in our relegation.

Yeah, Clarke didn't really harm us... still an unlikeable fellow though

True, Clarke is indeed a chip on the shoulder thinks he is better than he is type. I think he can be pretty decent mind.

Hope the off field events doesn't distract the Town End from their duty of giving them both pelters for 90 minutes.

I think a shout for Jeremy Wray would be good at kick off but once the game starts I can't see us holding back  :)

Clarke and prutton both cunts and deserve abuse imo.

Kennedy on the otherhand always tried his best and deserves a reasonably warm welcome back

Looking forward to hearing a sustained bout of Town End Tourettes: 'There's only one / two / three (depending on Clarke & Prutton being on the pitch) c*nts in Scunthorpe'.

I hope he hasn't had his hair cut  :)

Clarke, Prutton and Kennedy will all score against us, because former players just always seem to.

It's a given.  Clarke will score against us, and probably in front of the Town End.  We will just have to score one more than them.

Thinking of asking the announcer to play  'Keep on running' (spencer davies group) at the game

Hahahahaha, this has to be done. Right after they read out his name on the team sheet.

You could always get the Town End to chant 'Run Leon Run Leon Run Run Run' (to the tune of Run Rabbit Run)?

Here comes Paolo with his gun gun gun?

You took on Paolo but he kicked you in the bum, so.....

winner!

I would have gone more for:

Run Leon Run Leon Run Run Run
Paolo didn't pay you to have fun fun fun
We'll get by, without a lazy guy (or maybe 'without your baby cries')
So run Leon, Run Leon, Run Run Run!

How's about:

Fuck off you lazy fat cunt.

but there's only 1 cunt in scunthorpe, its between the S and the H  :D

I'm not sure, but I think that might have been exactly his joke.

Now I read it back, i am inclined to agree. I will crawl back into my hole now...

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8176148/Charlton-are-keen-to-bring-Leon-Clarke-back-from-his-loan-at-Scunthorpe

Hmm, I take it this won't be tomorrow?

He is bound to score tomorrow unfortunately, probably in front of the town end.

Will be chucking a fiver on him to score, as he should be massively up for this match, the tosser.

Can the TE please do a similar Leeeoooooon as they did with Taaaaaayyyyylllloooorrr?

Why not just 'Cuuuuuunnnnnntttttt'

Town to win and cry baby to score double with a tenner going on.

You could do both, "llllleeeeeeooooooon", "cuuuuuuunt". Everyone wins.

I'll be chucking a fiver at him in pennys if he does