Thetownend.com

It's 9:05 on the morning of a match day and no-one has written a match day thread yet? - shows the apathy of people towards the rest of the season.
I actually have a pretty good record opening these, and that with the fact we've got a new GK and 3 of our best players returning makes me think we'll get a 2-0 win today. COYR

Lose 0-1, cry baby to score

2-1 Swindon

Not going to predict how we do today until I see what team we put out.

Working today so can't make the game so we're bound to win comfortably.

I noticed that there was no thread 9ish. Didn't want to start one.

Knowing Swindon, we are more likely to beat Walsall..

However...

Would really like three points today.....pretty please, with sugar on top...

I don't care how we do it...maybe due a dubious pen after last week and Fleetwood.

Then we can all bin the season and fuck off on holiday....mentally and some physically.

I remember losing at home to Bury a few years ago in a rather abject performance - a rare outing for Alan Navarro in that one.

Today is a game we dare not lose...if we do then things could look bleak by 5:00.

This represents our best chance of a point before season's end. 

Both Chesterfield and Shrewsbury are much better on the road than at home...and Walsall and Rochdale away not easy. We haven't scored a goal on the road for 4 games and the chances of a clean sheet negligible.

No confidence in sexy football, no confidence in these players, best we can hope for is a no score bore.
cant wait for the pain to stop. Roll on May.

Was that when Di Canio had left and Ward and Miller were temporary managers? Remember us losing 1-0 goal from Schumacher I believe

Today, this doesn't sound like hyperbole.

Nerves.

Bury have only won at Swindon once since 1977 but that was their last visit 3 years ago, in that time we have won 8 of those 13 games drawing 4.

Bury have not scored more than one goal in any game at the CG since 1974.

In the last 13 games between us at the CG we have scored 26 goals and conceded 9.

The biggest win at the CG being an 8-0 win in 1979 (we were fantastic that day and could have scored many more if it wasn't for the Bury keeper John Forrest who played really well).

That said I am not over confident about even getting a point and as BO says would like to see the team before making a prediction, but if we have Beaker and Ajose back then we will stand a good chance, without them a draw is best we can achieve I fear.

And Leon cry baby wills score in front of a crowd of 6,485 with 129 Shakers in attendance.

3-0, Rodgers with a perfect hattrick.

You heard it here first.

It would be fun to see our attacking unit from that day in December, playing against our current lot.  Basic 4-4-2.  Kammy and Ray Mchale in the middle. Ian Miller and Animal Williams out wide, with Rowland and Mayes up front, it'd be a turkey shoot.

If the forwards are back, we'll go 2-0 down to the inevitable Clarke Brace then come back to get something out of it.

If not, we'll go 2-0 down and it'll stay that way.

What I would give for a Kamara and McHale in midfield now, for that matter Stroud, Miller and Williams and thats not to mention Mayes and Rowlands.

For me probably the best over all team I have seen play for the Town they just needed a little more bottle and fitness from March onwards and that team could have gone a lot further....the rest is history.

and last

All things considered the return last week of N.T. stopped the terminal decline - losing to promotion chasing Bradford by the single goal was probably not a bad result as feared - certainly by me. Today Bury arrive not having won away for 3 months - so all things considered we will win by a narrow margin - something like 1-0. Otherwise this season looks like being a particular dreadful experience.

2-1 defeat, Clarke to get a brace

2-1 win if we get our best team out, but whatever, I hope to see full effort and commitment

Call me fickle but it is cold and miserable out there so I am going to wait until I see the starting line up before deciding whether to go or not. If we have Obika and or Ajose then it will be worthwile if both are absent then I don't seem much point in going as Hylton could not hit a cows arse with a banjo

A bit harsh. Not as if he is served up with chance after chance is he?

I like Hylton.

There,  I've said it.

3-1 today with Rodgers sent off in the last minute justifying a 10 game ban

Swindon Town FC ‏@Official_STFC  24s25 seconds ago
Town starting XI: Kean, Branco, Thompson N (C), Turnbull, Barry, Doughty, Thompson L, Iandolo, Brophy, Obika, Ajose #STFC
0 retweets 0 likes

Subs: Henry, Sendles-White, Kasim, Marshall, Robert, Hylton, Cooke #STFC

Not too bad a line up.

Im feeling more hopeful than of late.

Much better line-up. Good to see Kasim on the bench too.

Much better starting 11 and also a much much stronger bench thankfully!

Obika and Ajose. There's half a chance of some points.

I concur.

Much happier with the lineup and subs bench.

Think we'll get a win today. 3-1

(http://i.imgur.com/B8QfpWI.gif)

That's more like it, i'll revise mine from 0-1 to 3-1 to us.

(https://media.giphy.com/media/7XNs1MzHitMvC/giphy.gif)

I take it that a lot has happened thus far this half.

midfield struggling..

Chalkie reckons the players look unfit - blowing already

Gone on holiday a few weeks early, that explains current form!

He'd be right. Fucking awful so far. Luckily we aren't playing anyone good today.

Sent from my MotoG3

dunno about unfit, but after a good opening 15 minutes bury slowly but surely got back into it getting wrong side of our midfield when they attack leaving the back three exposed.

doughty having a shocker

I know he is a trier but brad Barry is awful , he cannot beat his man is slow and goes backwards at every chance. There has to be better footballers in the non league that could a better job

At least Blackpool, are two down now  :D

Make that 3.

Kasim makes his return.

fucking soft

Sigh.

(http://i.imgur.com/hPwEbaL.gif)

Fleetwood winning.

First game for over a year for me today. Who is number 27 on the right wing and how is he a professional footballer?

Bradley Barry.

Brad Barry

Brad barry, no idea.

Can't wait for this season to finish

Fleetwood drawing

I am very glad Blackpool are so shit.

Shame that we are as well

Not actually true, but I know where you are coming from..

Woeful result again with a much better side out.

Apparently Robert was warming up alone before the game, sounds like there is something badly wrong there.

The sooner this season is over the better.

0-1 at home to fellow fodder is not good.

Yet again, results elsewhere were not drastically bad.

Nepotism

Those 4 days off worked well then.

Been told they have been given till friday off now, youths are playing tuesday night ;)

0 wins in 8 now for Williams.

That 4 days off last week worked wonders!

Brad Barry offers nothing.  Cheap option just like the majority of that dross.  First home game missed and so glad i did.  Unless Power realises cheap is not the answer this will continue to happen.

Is that since Williams was given a 5 year contract?

We are a fucking laughing stock at the moment.

He's out leading 'assister' this season. Perhaps if we changed our tactics and formation every now and then we might be able to utilise him differently.

Do you think he has the ability to be a professional footballer?  He is slow, cannot beat a man, no skill...Oh he is not the only one, there are others robbing a living.  Very depressing.

We more or less finished with our strongest team give or take a player.

Robert was warming up late on and when it became obvious he wasn't coming on, he kicked several water bottles over before going back to the bench.

We were a bit unlucky, hitting the post and bar and should have had at least 1 penalty.  Too slow and ponderous though, no real urgency at throw ins etc.  

5 defeats in the last 6 games says it all really.  We're really not very good.

Power should have stuck to his original plan to give Williams til the end of the season and then take stock.  As things stand atm, I think you'd say best for him to return to coach and get in someone who can "manage"

Losing in a game, where you must at least avoid a defeat, to a side who've nothing to play for and are generally poor on the road is frankly the stuff of a side deserving relegation, as it shows a lack of commitment to the cause.

Today was our chance to get to 52, it's very difficult to make a case for picking up another point this season....although Donny beating Wigan does show that sometimes weird results happen.

So has Bob thrown a Frenchy then?

Robert is far an away our most creative player in my eyes, I cannot for the life of me fathom why we can't accommodate him yet have given daisy Rodgers way more game time than is deserved.

At least we have a nice easy game on Tuesday.

Didn't deserve to lose that today but we did (always liable to concede at the moment). The reality is we're in 16th which is where we deserve to be regardless of what some may think. We won't go down!

Has our fearless leader done his post match interview yet? If so what did he say?

Bury are an inept bag of shit, unfortunately, we were worse. don't let hitting the woodwork twice give this game a false prospective. this was dire.
uninspired tactics.
poor execution of passes.
no desire in the challenge.
little urgency.
our throw ins and corners are not an advantage. (to us)
On the upside, I've only got to watch this bag of shit twice more and then I can wash my hands of them.
How is Power going to subsidise the lost season ticket money without any star players to shift over the summer? That surely must be the question on everybody's lips?  

Well, with luck we could have won that.

But we didn't really deserve it because we played shit after the first 15. Branco was given a free role, and the back three of Thompson, Brophy and Turnbull looked susceptible every time Bury broke. Mainly because the midfield clearly didn't have a clue who was playing defensively and just let the Bury counterparts get goal side of them every fucking break.

The goal was a crap one to concede. Cross, header, goal.

Utter shite. Hope we stay up and then I can fotget all about this season which has been a reverse shit sanswhich, shit for the beginning and end of the season and a period of OK in the middle.

Easy....Ajose's got to be worth a mill of someone's money.

No wonder Robert is pissed off not getting into this team. He hasn't really lived up to expectations but surely would have offered us something for last 20/25 minutes today. Bury didn't deserve to win and neither did we. With Obika back we at least had some presenceup front even if he clearly wasn't fully fit. Doughty very unlucky with effort that hit post but no real sense that we were going to turn the game around as we did earlier on after going behind to Southend, Blackpool, Wigan and Millwall.

Even worse when it should've been disallowed. Blatant push on Nate Thompson, just as the cross was coming in. But the officials were crap as proved by the handball in injury time.

I doubt five hundred thousand. Stranger things have happened though.

Apart from just attempting to keep possession, just what is our method of play supposed to be?

Nobody appears to know what they should be doing in any given circumstance.

It all seems to be ad hoc. Maintaining possession isn't a style of play - it has to be a platform for the players to build an attack as well defend.

No matter what anyone says, what we are doing (or not doing) since Williams took charge bears no resemblance to how we were attempting to play last season.

If it's because the players aren't as good (obviously) why the fuck do we stick with it. Squeezing out the odd result here and there will only lead to one thing.

2 crumbs of comfort, it's not far for an evening game, Saddlers win today and Burton's struggles opens up the auto slot for them, so big pressure, which is not always easy to deal with.

Having said that we're so poor atm....as I said before the Oldham game, we're pretty much the side you want to play if you need a gimme 3 points. A very sad state of affairs.

Was it 3-5-2 again today i presume? Rather we played a diamond 442, think we look better with that

I am struggling to find positives now which is unlike me. Crowd down, no leadership on the touchline from the manager or his assistant yet each week opposition managers are vocal in their instructions and encouragement. Failure to keep a clean sheet and lets be honest Bury arent a great side and at home surely we should be dominating and creating a number of chances.

People rave about Fabien Robert but certainly in the last few games his body language in the warm ups doesnt look that of someone who is really in the trenches with his team mates?

After the highs of last season this has been a real damp squib. Im trying to get myself motivated to go to Walsall on Tuesday night as I doubt ill make the long trip to Rochdale but even Walsall seems a long way away with how i feel right now.

Im really not sure where this "best coach in 25 years tag" is born out from as defensively we have been a mess for well over 12-16 months

The only positive i can come out with is at least Obika and Ajose are back so perhaps with the game today they will be closer to being back to their best for the last few games and can hopefully notch the odd goal to lift my sorry spirits  :( :cry:

 Sadly our failure to avoid defeat today besides keeping us in the dog fight, equalled our worst ever season for home defeats in Div 3 with 9, with potential to take it outright

The one home clean sheet is also on course for an all time record for any season, and ensures at least equalling the previous historic crap shit of 3.

I take it the loanee keeper was an improvement on Belford?

to be honest he didn't have much to do. put Clarke off/saved when he should have scored, good kicking, one dodgy moment with a low cross where he came to get it but got caught up with a defender

looks OK though, and no needles short shit

Williams post match interview didn't inspire confidence.

When asked about Leon Clark out muscling 3 defenders. Well he's a good player at this level was the response. Hmmn, not poor defending then?

On lack of creativity and only creating chances only after going a goal own, 'The players are worried about conceding do have lost their attacking edge and when we concede the pressure is off'.

The reasoning from Power for not appointing Williams in October was to take off the pressure of turning the performances and results around.

Yet, we are back in the same situation and you worry if he can do it now. Fortunately, Blackpool need to win 2 from 3 to overtake us and that might be a stretch as it includes Wigan.

Sent from my HTC One M9

I swear Power said he wants to keep this squad together. God help us.  Williams is way out of his depth. Williams reluctance to change his thinking is just stupid.  Our full back can't defend at all, and going forward thou they have had a few good games going forward they are simply not good enough. Massive changes need to happen in summer with a move away from bringing in players who are viewed as technically good. We need defenders who can actually defend. Someone in the midfield that can actually tackle, and we crave leaders. Players with fight in them who will give their all and also make sure their team mates do there jobs properly.

Have renewed my season ticket but have no faith in Williams and power to realise their model is hopeless and just doesn't work.

Yet again, too many crosses allowed to come into our box. Sooner or later one leads to a goal.

What is the point of wing backs that can't defend and struggle to beat full backs and get crosses in? Brophy got next to no support when out wide and he seemed to lose every block tackle due to his small stature. I feel a bit sorry for him, but he doesn't do himself any favours by not crossing when he has the chance. There is very little overlapping from the midfielders, so the tendency is for the wing backs to come inside to a congested centre.

Yet again no one looks as though they know what to do or where they should be when we have a throw in. Corners were a bit better today.

Yet again too slow in possession, allowing opposition to set themselves up defensively.

Nathan Thompson needs to stop falling over every time he feels the presence of someone behind him. No ref is going to give him a pen, and it is a risky tactic at the back.

Having said that, we deserved a draw today. Shame it took Bury's goal to get us going.

Today was the ideal match to get the win that should have got us to safety. Instead of going all out for the win against a side that looks safe in lower mid table, we've now got to get points away against a side going for an auto spot and a side going for a play off spot, and home games against sides fighting relegation. Our form is appalling and we don't seem to have a winner-takes-all cup game mentality. Doncaster's result today means that we really do need both them and Blackpool to fuck up to keep us up. Thankfully the number of teams between us and the bottom four didn't change today. Unfortunately, I think it will look very different at 5.00pm next Saturday.

Decent start, then shocking for 60 mins.  Only came to life once they had scored - how many more times does this have to happen?  Bury rode their luck with us hitting the woodwork twice and denied at least one pen and stronger refs might have taken of bit of their strong arm tactics to book.  But the truth is we looked disjointed and lacking ambition, no bite, no pace and not waking up until it is too late.  It is almost as if they go out with the instruction to settle in slowly and lets see what happens and with our poor defending the result is always the same.  Hopefully the front two will have regained a bit more match fitness and sharpness, and Kasim should start at Bescot.  Tough game though.

I saw Shaun Hodgetts interviewing Lee Power.  What was said, anyone know?

If Williams is the new Pep G. how come he hasn't yet noticed we are fucking useless with throw-ins - wait so long until everybody is solidly marked and then consequently lose possession.  Was nice to see Kasim taking a better corner than we have been used to!

Chippy feel for you, renewing your season ticket, my dad has as well but i can't stomach that every week.  I called this ages ago, no faith in Power what so ever, wish he had proved me wrong but we are nothing short of a disgrace.  Next season in terms of fixtures, this division has potential but unless Power starts doing the right thing, that is bringing in quality then we are destined for failure.  Feel as low as a snakes belly at the moment with regards to our football club.  Certainly cannot listen to Power's complete bull shit on the radio, that is keeping this shower of shit together.

What was the deal with the lad in the Town End who lit a flare/smoke thingy and held on to it until the stewards finally noticed and kicked him out? We just kind of assumed he'd had enough of a shit game and wanted out.

yet another dull game, with an increasing sense of desperation as we slip closer to the trap door... yes we may survive but to finish the season in this shambles winless in 8 games is shocking and a clear indication of the failure of Powers model. Williams on a 5 year deal is as daft as Pardew deal at Newcastle was .... we need an experienced manager with some authority and motivation to drive the team forward like Ling had started to do (Williams should return to coaching).          Ive renewed my season ticket, but have genuine concerns how competitive our team  will be next season, especially if Ajose or Obika are the next players to be sold to fund Powers model. Rovers / Oxford and Plymouth will have bigger playing budgets if they come up and the prospect of them  turning us over with our current flyweight squad is not an inspiring thought.

I didnt go but i saw the pictures of it. What a fucking prick, getting banned for pyro against Bury ffs :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Apprently Power said on the radio we would struggle to keep Ajose and Obika due to what teams would offer them. Getting the excuses in early imo

I thought he was celebrating Kasim coming on as sub.

He was clever, get banned and morally absolved of the guilt of not going next year.

That or one to many beers.

How can you "struggle to keep players" who have years to run and contract clauses attached?

Aren't Obika and Ajose here for at least another year?

Obika's deal runs out in the summer but we have an option on his contract to extend for a further year.

Ajose is not out of contract in the summer.

So when Power sells the two strikers, who will be the replacements, top scorer from Penhill reserves?  Does this man not understand fans will vote with their feet.   

Those two temporary pitches at the training ground aren't going to pay for themselves, so if bids come in for Obika, Ajose, Thompson et al then they will be sold.

I think he understands very well that most won't. That's the nature of being fans, you tend to stick with it (not having a pop at anyone who chooses not to, btw - I'd have paid good money for a flare so I could have been kicked out this afternoon)

I'm genuinely indifferent to our current shitness, I don't think it's indicative of anything other than having nothing to play for.

If we were still in with a shout of the playoffs, or in serious threat of relegation, then I think we'd be seeing better performances. I also suspect we may have had fewer 'injuries' had we still had something to play for.  I'm not saying it's OK, because it's not, rather that's just the way I see it. I've not even bothered listening since the Wigan defeat. Not in protest, but I just find the games to be utterly meaningless and I'm sure the players must feel the same to some degree, they are just people after all. I think pre-season friendlies mean more as they give a glimpse as to what we might expect for the coming season.

We've been spoiled in a sense because our seasons usually go right to the wire whether it be promotion challenges or relegation battles. I'm not used to this meh-ness about games. I'll be glad to see the back of the season and look forward to the next, whatever it may bring.

Season ticket sales down. Balance the books. Sell before contracts run out. Clauses in contracts if x is offered by y. Blah blah blah.

I wish I had your confidence.

Fair comment Paul.  Like i said i will not be renewing, not because we are totally shit but because i am so frustrated with Power.  Fair play to those that have, i did not go today, first home game missed and spent day with family instead and did not miss the football one bit.  Sad really.  Unfortunately, know loads of lads, been going years who are rapidly losing interest and will pick and chose games next season.

It's not confidence. It's meh-ness.

No fucking fight in us

Nothing to play for and they battled for everything with a simple tactic. 9/10 times it failed but that's better than keep ball, knock it about and do fuck all.

Improved after they scored (which came from a shooting chance)...but poor luck meant we couldn't score and thus meh...

This match summed up our season.

I fucking hope and pray we stay up but we are clinging on.

I feel a majority have had enough and there is a lack of confidence....ST sales, signings etc etc will suffer.

Sadly gutted tonight.

But doesn't your men-ness come from being confident we are not going to get relegated?

Oh, that much I am confident of. We're not going down. I'm sure of it and I think the players are sure of it too, hence the recent poor performances, and why I am indifferent to them.

I hope I can share in your meh-ness sooner rather than later!

Another Orient style last game of the season will suit me fine.

Flash, that is a concern re ticket sales will suffer but even if we sold the same number of season tickets Power's investment in players would be minimal.  

Power has invested invested in players. He's spent more on transfer fees than Black did.

But I'm not going there again as it's been done ad finitum already.

Yes or no, simple answer, you think Power is doing a good job at Swindon Town?

Ask me again at the end of next season.

ok, for what its worth i would answer NO!

If it was anyone on here who found my phone today and handed it in to the club shop, thank you. As for the game Bury were totally shit and didn't need to get out of 2nd gear against us. I fear for us next season. Apart from Ajose and Beaks I don't think I give a fuck if any of the others go. No bottle, no passion, shit decision making, passengers. Turnbull is a fucking joke defender who kept playing them onside and has been consistently shit this season. He has fuck all physical presence and can't read the game. Nate Dog is a shadow of what he was. Branco at least puts in the effort most of the others lack but without decent players around him will look bad as he tries to cover the others. The midfield has been totally dogshit for a while now. Doughty is like Branco, he can look good and shit within the same 10 seconds. Louis like Nathan is a shadow of what he was. Both Barry and Brophy were absolute wank today. Bury just about got every cross they tried in the box while we managed about 3 all game. The lack of movement at throw ins and corners is fucking shocking. The lack of a physical presence is beyond bad. Ajose and Beaks are class acts at this level but both were feeding off scraps today.
We have been total bollox in a division that is total bollox. Unless Power does a lot of horse trading and brings in some leadership, defensive ability and steel into the team that allows us to man the fuck up and nick a clean sheet then there is every chance we will be fucked. One clean sheet at home all season says it all. 

Had a bit of an epiphany today as I left the ground after 40 minutes and heads towards the Merlin. There was a time in my life when I would be heartbroken until Tuesday after a performance like that. Today I was sipping a Coors by the time the second half kicked off. This will probably sound daft but as I mosied up past the fire station I was thinking about the TEF, and the time I was so in love with the game, and the forum, that I was willing to shove myself in the back of Whits' Focus on a Tuesday night and go to Chesterfield to watch the boys. I'm sure you'll all miss me, especially Sutton Red, but as I thought about that I figured it was time to give the whole STFC thing the flick once and for all. Let's be fair it's utter shit isn't it? Fare well all.

Fuckin hell. Not you too?

I had the same epiphany when Paul Hart took over. I've been to three games since then - which must be close to 5 years ago now and feel a lot better for it.

The Di Canio era nearly bought me back. Loved the blokes drive, determination and passion. It galvanised the club. That's all long gone now.

I follow the results (when I remember) I completely forgot about both Easter games!

Nothing worse than supporting a nothing club, just treading water, happy to be alive. All that gets you is complacence and fuck all.

Ha.

DMR has flounced, what a girl.

It must be bad if DMR deletes his account :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

OMG I trolled a troll off the internet how hard am I? (just ask the wife)

I'll bite.

It's cuntish, bullshit statements like you've made there that perpetuate the myth that Power has invested in players and is therefore entitled to make a profit when our players are sold.

1: He can't personally invest in players - read the fucking FL rules.
2: He can't personally profit from player sales (see above)

Like a lot of fans, I sit here reading stupid, ill informed 'facts' about what a fucking super hero Lee Power is and about how he's entitled to make a profit, while the club is rapidly disappearing down the khazi.

The same old shit from gormless, idiot supporters about giving him a chance to get things right, and him being the only one willing to fund the club literally makes me want to vomit.

In reality, I see the crowds dwindling, the squad getting more and more threadbare, embarrassing, lifeless performances from several players who really are not up to FL standards (not their fault) a manager who is clearly not ready for managing a FL side and a Chairman that must be laughing his cock off at having got away with telling everyone up front that he's only in place to make a profit - and 99% of our sycophantic mug supporters think that's somehow OK because 'at least he admits it'.

And all this is going on while one half of the towns media has been told to fuck off, the other half is sucking him off, and  supporter groups are presumably either sitting on their arses or knitting fucking bog-roll covers while the shit continues.

The lack of leadership is fucking deafening lads. In the boardroom, on the terraces, in the pubs, on the radio and in the newspaper.

I appreciate that this rant gives a shoe-in for smart-arses like Tails to come up with some cocky bullshit about conspiracy theories, but there you go. 

Your posts are interesting.

I love you Delta 8)

Not true though, see; Ritchie, Cox, Austin, Flint, Caddis, Ferry, Cuthbert, Foderingham, Rooney, Collins, Archibald-Henville, just off the top of my head.

Plus the (in)famous spend on wages.

Debunked.

FFS..... I'm sorry to read this....

We are becoming Meh Ultras.

This season is going to break a few and I'm fearful for next too....

Amen, Delta Incline.

When i posted my concerns months and months ago about Power, the amount of embarrassing replies was laughable.  Posters such as Flashart were sarcastic, however from licking Power's ass, now cannot decide whether he is doing a good job or not.
When the reply earlier in this thread "Power invested more than Black", you just feel like banging your head against a brick wall.  Most clubs supporters would questioning the chairman, selling assets in the summer, then strategically selling the best player after an opening day hatrick, replacing with players who are way out their depth.
Power has made a handsome profit from Swindon Town, consequently loyal fans are suffering, i wonder if those still thinking he is this saviour will be happy when we are beaten by the likes of Oxford next season.  I can honestly say in 28 years, Lee Power has made me not want to attend Swindon Town which is very sad.

I'm still in position where I can reassure myself that 2010-11 was far worse. Better owners, better squad, train wreck of a season. We even lost DV as a result of it.

Lee Power let last seasons moderate success go to his head. He started alienating too many areas involved with the club and as results were going well previously, he could get away with it. Currently, it's not going well and therefore questions have to be asked.

However, this season is nowhere near enough for me to throw a paddy and declare my lack of interest because the 'brand' isn't to my liking.

Perhaps I have a higher pain threshold when it comes to football? I should do, I support Swindon Town.

Agreed entirely and as far as owners go, Diamandis was far more toxic to the club than Power. A lot will depend on this summer and it has the potential to turn quite nasty next season.

Exactly and agreed.

We've had 4 pretty decent/fun seasons and now we're having a desperately shit one. Not the worst ratio is it?

Certainly not worth melting down over of you've got a millimetre of perspective

Big summer ahead

Trouble is we didn't have a queue of potential investors waiting to buy the club.
One question to you, Jed or Power?
For what's is worth I'd have Power.

Has he done a good job? Well he has brought down the debt only a phenomenal end of season from Blackpool or Doncaster will see us go down. He isn't the richest chairman in the league what other option do we have?  
I'm as frustrated as everyone else, i dont wear glasses so they're not rose tinted but we do create chances and should have scored yesterday. But i dont like the thought of playing any of those coming up from division 4.
He needs to influence his contacts in the game and get more ex players on board with the investment we are so desperate for.

The most recent figure I saw was that we owe Lee Power £6million. [Edit: Not been able to verify the £6m figure. Can verify £4m though]

It was, we were told, £0 when Jed & Power got involved because the previous owner apparently wrote off £10million.

The debt is dead, long live the debt.

Hahaha. DMR and Albert Brind. Two peas in a pod; who'd have thought it?!

I'll miss his racing tips but not a lot else I guess.

It seems like you see Town fans as either Power arse-lickers (and therefore deluded) or view Power as Satan (and therefore well in their rights to dump the club). There are some of us who able to accept a shit season, see that there is little positive leadership, comprehend that we are still a selling club, yet have bought season tickets for next season. We're not happy clappy, and we're not 'suffering'. We might just dust down the pitch forks and light the torches if there is evidence that the owner is leading the club to oblivion. Until then, I'll carry on watching the good seasons and the bad seasons.

Ah right i didn't know that, what is that debt for please? How the fuck can we owe 6 million and for what?

Why do ower Power 3 million after only 80k last season and all the player sales/Wembley money? We need clarity on finances IMO. We shouldnt have a bottom 4 budget with the 6th highest avaerage attendance. These are the questions i want amswered.

On the pitch i get the plans etc and it makes sense but off it something doesnt quite seem right to me.

I stopped reading Delta's posts some time ago, although I'm guessing he made lots of ranty claims without offering any reason why we should believe them.

Well, he claimed it was £4million in January (2016), and I *think* subsequently said £6million, but I may have that wrong.

Let's go with £4million for now :-)

Why would you not read anybody's posts?

I've lost the love, couldn't be bothered to go yesterday.

Who knows whether Powers methods will deliver anything like success or not - last season was pretty good but this one has been awful.

I have just bought a season ticket for my local premier league team for next season, feel like I'm cheating on my wife, but to continue the analogy, she's fit and the sex is amazing.... STFC doesn't do it for me at the moment, hopefully I will fall for her again soon. 

Because they offer nothing of value. Nothing interesting, informative or humorous, best to just scroll down,

I'm not a big fan of Power, however I would much rather have a club (not losing £m's a season) than being on the brink of going bust every other season.

Power has invested money in the squad in the past but who has he paid for this season? I could be wrong but I can't remember anyone, has the money this year gone on the training ground? Yes I know the club hasn't purchased the land but Power funds all players the club buys as he pumps the money into the club.

As for Williams not being a good enough manager!  I bet if we read back 5-6 weeks people will be saying the total opposite, we have a small squad with a lot of injuries (or dickheads inhaling gas) what else could we expect.

There was 40 seconds of 'highlights' on sky which says it all really.

So many people have no commented on our lack of movement at throw ins, corners etc, rather than give the useless fucks 4 days off why don't we utilise the time in training on these aspects of the game?

It's been utter dross this season in the main.

There were plenty of slow, ponderous performance with static movement last season too. It's just we didn't go into meltdown over them because we were winning. The problem is we rely on doing our defending with the ball a la Guardiola. We try and stop the other team attacking by dominating possession, slowly working our way up the pitch and then being quick and incisive at the right time. The problem is aren't able to/aren't good enough to become quick and incisive in the final third. I thought this was a big problem last season too. Sometimes constant possession leads to the players being frightened to do anything with it for fear of losing the ball and inviting a counter attack, whereby we are usually all over the place positionally. Our best performances this season seem to have been when we gone behind and thrown caution to the wind.

The best teams in almost every league are built upon being able defend solidly when the opposition have the ball. Until we are able to do this rather than relying on stopping the other team scoring by having the ball, I think we will continue to have these frustratingly slow performances. Unless we suddenly start signing players as good as Xavi and Iniesta.

On the brightside, it's nowhere near as bad as 2010/11, Power himself said on the radio yesterday how disappointing this season has been, which suggests to me things are being put in place to improve things.

Best post I've read for a while.

Well said, pretty much sums it up for me.

It's obviously been a disappointing season, however it started reasonably well, then we had a clusterfuck of injuries, picked up a bit and had an outside sniff of the playoffs, then another clusterfuck of injuries.

Had it not been for all the injuries this season it could've been a lot more positive.

I'll be back next season, it's very easy to support the team when they're doing well.

We know we need to improve the squad. I'd like to see Vigouroux signed permanently, I like the look of Doughty, would like to see him here next season, keep Nathan Thompson, Iandolo, maybe Kasim if he wants to stay, Ajose and Obika obviously. The rest i'm not bothered about in the slightest, they're easily replaceable and with better players in my opinion.

First and foremost we need to sort out the defence, been an absolute disaster this season.

Looking forward to this season ending, looking forward to the Euros, looking forward to the outgoings, incomings and ridiculous transfer rumours, got a baby due any day (due date today) and the sun is shining.

The sums simply do not add up.  We owe Power £6 million? How the fucking hell do we owe him, have we sold players last summer, plus play off money plus the young lads sold to Wolves.  We have the 6th highest average attendance, yet the lowest budget, makes me angry, Power must be laughing his. bollocks off.

As for Flash, you stop reading Delta Incline posts ages ago, thats how i feel about your general contribution.  Months back your sarcastic posts at me criticising Power, trying to be a funny fucker when i was highlighting genuine concerns.  Not so funny now is it, especially with the utter dross taking to the field every week.

GL5 you are spot on.

The sums just don't add up- problem is with the exception of BBC Swindon Power has cut off the whole of the media so none of us can get close enough to know what's really going on.

You wouldn't do this if you had nothing to hide. He is alienating the fans and community at large

Aside from that awful analogy, I understand your point. The last time I enjoyed going to a game was when I went to watch Fulham. It's surprising how pleasant watching a game of football can be as a semi-neutral instead of the anger and stress that comes with watching Town.

Most of the sums that don't add up are on this thread.

Would someone like to check and confirm this "£6 million" before getting carried away, because the original poster of the figure couldn't?

It's £4 million now.

Fact or rumour?

I was chatting to a mate yesterday who's a neutral...he takes his son of the right age for father and son bonding.

He was telling me he'd been to 12 games this season, we'd won one...however they enjoy it, because it's comically bad.

I think Power himself gave a figure of about 4M in a phone in, if my memory serves me correctly.

The figure itself was revised in this thread to an agreed-upon £4m, no idea where it came from

I'm the same, i always go to at least 5 games a season as a neutral because they are much more enjoyable (unless Town win). Villa, plymouth, Cardiff, FGR and Torquay for me this year

£4m was from a radio phone-in in January, it is on the Trust STFC twitter feed when they did their live updates.

I thought I heard £6m since then, but can't verify it, so maybe not... :-s

Perfectly put, exactly my feelings too (apart from the season ticket part as funds and 200 mile round trip each home match won't allow).

The trouble is a  lot of fans these days want success and fast, football isn't like that for 90% of all clubs.

We are average, some great, some good, some avergae, some awful, thats just how it is when you support a club that isn't funded by a multi millionaire owner.

I quite enjoyed our possession football for most of the match and Kean had hardly a save to make. We deserved a draw. I am confident that Power will sign suitable additions to provide the know-how in the final third to actually be able to score, and some better defenders.  I bought a season ticket before the recent dross, so have to believe that.

In Power's three full seasons we've had one ok year, one good and one bad. I think we should see what happens next year before writing him and the model off.

We were unlucky, incidentally, that the one good year coincided with a much stronger League 1 than the bad one.

Players left because we didn't get promoted. That was inevitable. Unfortunately we just haven't replaced that quality. It's just one of those seasons. It's almost done, and once we are safe mathematically we need to move on and plan for next season.

Power is an evil genius...

Three more Home games left and then I'll be back to picking the games that I attend next season.

Me and 6 others have Season Tickets in the DRS this season and have done for a number of years, 6 of us have decided not to renew for next season. This season has had me attending games like it's a chore and I haven't enjoyed going like I used to.

Last season we played some great Football and I personally think that we've been let down by some awful recruitment in the summer. Liverpool youngsters came in, got injured and went back. They weren't replaced. Last seasons stars like Turnbull have been awful this season.

We've got too many players that aren't good enough for League One Football. I just hope for the Clubs sake and for those that have committed to a Season Ticket for next year that the current transfer philosophy is improved greatly in the summer.

just noticed dmr quit.

I think he's grown up.
_---_--------
on the session ticket front, whatever Power is doing or not doing in terms of taking the club for a ride, the current model is a hard sell.

you have tippy tappy boring football (not always, but right now and often)

you have constant squad rebuilding (this season, not last)

you have the leagues lowest budget.

a necessary model, but not an exciting one. next year is going to be massive. crap recruitment and sell Obika + ajose is worst case. keep them and add quality is probably best case.

no idea which it will be.

DMR gave up on Town a long time ago and now he's finally let TEF go.

(http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21600000/Goodbye-Michael-gif-the-office-21673016-300-169.gif)

£6,534,586 deficit at 31/05/2015 in the published accounts but we assume the last summer transfers are not in that. That includes £2,000,000 given security by company due in over 12 months and £950,000 due in over 5 years. The £2m could be the reported money owed to Andrew Black if the club is sold.

Power may talk of a £4m owed as his loans as the Black money only becomes due when the club changes ownership so day to day it's not an immediate debt. Will be interesting to see the May 2016 position.

Interestingly Oxford lost £2.4m in the same period last year and Shrewsbury lost £450k so an idea of some losses incurred at this level.

It was exactly the same under Di Canio, perhaps even more so in the sheer volume of players signed who were bombed out and then replaced.

I think the most frustrating part of watching us currently is the lack of urgency, two or three times yesterday it looked like we were going to counter attack, then we would just stop all of a sudden and start passing the ball around, sideways and backwards. Our players to seem to have forgotten they can run with the ball, the most excitement is when in past games Thompson or Branco have run out from the back with the ball, and the teams back off and let us run, our other players suddenly start moving off the ball and it looks like we might do something. But 9 times out of 10 currently a player will receive the ball and stop, looking for the next pass and I just want them to bloody run with it, there is no point in boring possession if there is never a killer ball, it's fine having build up, but when the opportunity is there to drive forward with the ball, we never take it, and then you see the opposition take 3/4 passes and be in our box quickly.

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00053100/filing-history

The above is a link to the latest unaudited accounts filed for the football company, to 31 May 2015. So presumably show the effect of the wasted trip to Wembley. It's not the ultimate holding company, the football co is owned by Seebeck 87 which is itself owned by Swinton reds 20, ultimately controlled by LP. There is nothing in the accounts for the latter two, they're basically non trading. Sorry if this goes over old ground as I've seen this sort of stuff on other threads on here.

So, the football co balance sheet is really all we have  on and the disclosure is pretty much non-existent but presumably entirely within the rules. It's also nearly a year out of date. Anyway Cash less creditors > 1yr at May 15 is around £4m net debt. God knows what's in creditors < 1 yr but some of that is likely to be financial debt, say £2m to get the £6m quoted elsewhere.

To be honest £4m net debt quoted feels about right given Luongo, Gladwin and Byrne sale proceeds post the 31 May 2015 balance sheet but a season worth of losses to fund + likely repayment of some debt.

It all looks pretty weak financially and we're reliant on LP (for better or for worse, anything's got to be better than the last lot) but I doubt that our situation is much different from many other clubs operating at our level.

Confidence is a fragile flower....we've young players who have zero belief atm, the same goes for the coaching staff. Which is why our side is as poor as any in our history...marginally better than 10/11, mind.

we used actual cash under pdc to bring in the quality we needed. even if black did decide it was a nuts approach.

ajose aside this season we bought bargain basement

I don't really see them as comparable

I've never had a season ticket, and I'm not buying one until Power starts using payday lenders to borrow loads of cash secured on the training ground to bring in lots of "experienced" players we've all heard of on lots of money, so we can scrap our way to 11th and "just miss out" rather than finish 16th, all while losing £2m+ a year.

When that happens, maybe.... maybe I'll get a season ticket - but only if someone draws me a picture to explain where the Luongo/Gladwin money has gone.

This this this...

Bury gambled whipped in a cross and scored.....from a promising attack that fizzled out.

I actually applauded a shot that sailed into the TE because it was just that...a shot.

Get the fucking in there, when we had a go at them they crumbled.

I hope we have a right go at Walsall.....shit or bust!!!!

Bring back Mark Cooper........... :pint:

"Which is why our side is as poor as any in our history...marginally better than 10/11, mind"

Surely better than the side Macari inherited Baddeley, Blackler, Batty, Baillie, Brian Hughes, Simon Gibson and of course Nigel Gray?

You've just got to look at the replacements for the players we sold last summer.

Luongo - Robert
Gladwin - difficult to say, suppose ultimately Doughty
Byrne - fucking Barry ffs
Williams and Smith - Ajose

So, players we paid around £600,000 for are replaced by players who cost nothing.

Not wishing to get embroiled in the current spat, but my question would be

Why would Power spend good money when he initially took over when we were, according to Power, losing money hand over fist but now when we are financially on an even keel he doesn't seem keen to invest again in the same way

I've been to a few games this season and its been painful, Wembley still grates on me if I'm honest,
been watching town for over 30 years but never felt as depressed as I do now, cant even bring myself to wear any town tops anymore :suicide:

I would say not.

That side had could field as an attacking choice from Alan Mayes, Andy Rowland, Jimmy Quinn or Garry Nelson. Who collectively scored 618 FL career goals....pretty impressive for a Div 4 side.

Colin Baillie was a cultured full back, who we got money for which enabled the purchase of Colin Calderwood....he played over 300 FL games.

Dave Hockaday and Leigh Barnard were 2 more who gave good service as we went up the leagues...we tried to bring through young local players, around the experienced types not a bad stategy....Charlie Henry was in that side.

They showed what they could do by reaching the 4th round of the cup....winning at The Den, and beating a Carlisle side who at the time were flying in Div 2.

Resale value.  Clearly nobody with price tag was available for us in the summer who he thought he could make a future profit on.  he doesn't always get it right either, we paid for Barker and Smith - both will not provide any return.  Ajose was the closest to that this year because his wages were outside our structure (as mentioned in the press when we signed him).

At the time we were told Jordan Stewart was the Byrne replacement and we paid 50K for him.

If what you say is true, and tbf is sounds reasonable, then the kind of player(s) we really need - experienced - he will never sign. We will be forever in a cycle of signing youngsters in the hope the occasional 1 or 2 may turn him a profit.

No foundations will be set to build on as we will be in constant flux. Sounds like he is already smoothing the way for Ajose and Obika to be sold.

If a Loungo appears, he'll go for it.  The worry is just how much of that was down to Sherwood and him being best friends.  Can he repeat that without that contact?  He's spent money on at least the following:

Byrne
Luongo
Smith
Barker
Obika
Stewart
Gladwin (small amount)

Probably a couple more, so he's shown he will do it.

I suppose the real problem is that we need 6 or 7 new players. Will he finance that many?

Especially as some of those that need replacing will still be under contract.

I have it in my own mind what sort of player I would like to see.

Or Ojamma ?

He's got to enter the pantheon of truly shite  Swindon players - Roy Greenwood, Shaun Close-esque

I wonder if, considering the success of the likes of Gladwin and Kasim, they got a bit complacent in terms of the quality of player they could polish up.

The way I see it this is how we need to strengthen:

WING BACKS --> Definite priority, playing 3-5-2 wing backs are your outlet and probably have to be your best players. Don't think Barry/Boo/Brophy are currently up to it.
Centre back - JSW and NT are good enough. Branco is shocking. One permanent and one on loan would probably be enough.
GK- probably looking at Vigouroux: would fit model, big sell on chance
CM - need 2/3 permanent and 1/2 loan players
ST - need another permanent striker if Obika and Ajose don't go, 2 if one of them go.

I make that around 5 permanent signings and 3/4 players on season long loans.
If you were able to pick up a couple of decent permanent players at end of contract then really wouldn't have to spend that much money recruiting.

Do not understand how Branco starts over JSW.

You mean Branco, the roaming centre back. Yesterday's performance from him was a disgrace

He was a weak link in the squad last season. The fact he has been a mainstay of the team this season, and captain st times, says enough about why we will finish in the bottom half.

Then why is he contuinally picked?

The only possible thing I think he brings is physicality at set pieces.

I don't think he was playing centre back on Saturday. he seemed to have a roving midfield role.

"The only possible thing I think he brings is physicality at set pieces."


We haven't even had goals from our centre backs from set pieces this season to balance out their ineptitude defending corners/free kicks etc against us. Number of goals we have conceded through poor marking or switching off our focus at free kicks must be well into double figures this year. Feels like almost 1 a game.

So the best way to improve the transfer policy is to starve the club of income. Makes sense.

We've only got two more home games  :)

Thank fuck for that. The sooner this shitstorm of a season is over the better

Its the best way for my own personal bank balance. Sorry if that upsets you.

Even better.

Nah, course it doesn't. 'I cant go to the games because I'm skint' is a lot different to 'I'm gonna not give the club any money because they don't spend the money they don't have' which was your original point :)

I can get £10 tickets instead of spending an average of £16 a ticket with a Season Ticket. I'm not skint, far from it. Just a no brainer to not spend what I don't have to.

This isn't aimed at any particular individual, but it always amuses me when 'lifelong' Swindon fans say they aren't going any more because someone with no real ties to Swindon refuses to spunk millions and instead tries a different approach that doesn't jeopordise the Club's long term financial future. Yeah, that makes perfect sense; cut off the only major revenue the club has. You can all then moan when players are sold to balance the books....

I've read some absolute bollocks over the last few months, some on here but mainly on the God awful STFC fans page on Facebook. Over reaction doesn't do it justice. Yes it's been a crap season, but the worst ever? I can think of 2 relegations to the basement division in the last few years, Maurice Malpas anyone? Paul Hart? Power's a crook who's asset stripping: yeah, a league 1 club that doesn't even own it's own ground is a potential fucking goldmine, isn't it?

We've had a bad season. In August we start again. If you follow a club like Swindon you shouldn't expect, much less demand, success. You should hope for it. We haven't got a divine right to be fighting for promotion, no more than any other club in the league. The football's been bad. A lot of the supporters have been atrocious.

Quality post!

Fucking spot on.

Great post, absolutely nailed it

This here is why i like touching you.

This should be pinned and referenced whenever anyone throws another tantrum about asset stripping, cheap options and stay away protests.

Still time before this season's over to make that call. If things continue as they are, we're looking at a candiddate for the Hall of Shame, that's for sure.

It's not exactly surprising that fans are a bit hacked off...

Yeah this pretty much sums it up...

Absolutely spot on, none of the moaning financial whizzkids on here has ever managed to establish how Power is asset stripping, nor whether he can be accused of asset stripping when the players being sold are ones he funded the purchase of himself?

Cue the 'Licking Powers arse' abuse, sorry I have no idea what is going on, however I do like a thing called evidence before I reach a decision, I hope to god few of our supporters ever do jury service.....

This is a football club we're talking about here....not a PhD dissertation;  people should doubt the owner, people should question what is going on at the club, if they can find out anything.

You said the other week that as we'd all but confirmed safety we should spend the rest of the season experimenting and preparing for next season.

Are you telling me you're not so confident now Reg? I did think you'd gotten a little carried away - that little decent spell we had certainly had a lot of fans going so don't feel too bad.

Such are the dangers of optimism, it's the hope that gets you in the end...when we reached 50 points with 10 games to go, I did think we'd pick up at least 2 points, rather than the 1 which now looks likely.

It would have been a luxury to have a quiet end of season, look at a few kids etc.

Surely the 1950's as an entire decade could easily rank as worse than this season (one season apart in 1957/58).  The early 80's was pretty terrible as well and several seasons in recent memory.  If it's boardroom strife we rank this on, then again, 70's to 80's would be up there, as would about 1997-2007.  No, this season is merely a rank mediocre one on any measure, as it stands.

That should be standard fare for every football club. Problem is, nobody will know for sure what Power's legacy will be until he goes.

I suppose if next season is a replica,  or worse, than this I suspect the cat will be out of the bag.

Tbh I'm more worried about Williams than Power

Doubt the owner? Fine. Question what's going on? Fine.

Throw accusations around with absolutely no evidence? Not fine.

IN fact, looking back, our dodgiest owners brought our best seasons in recent times!  So the boardroom being squeaky clean is hardly something fans are normally that concerned about.

You realise that to many this post makes you happy clapper.

To the sane among us, you just talk a lot of sense

Do people do that here without qualifying their speculation?  I don't do Facebook/Twitter, if the stuff that displeases is on there, then do like me ignore it.

Yes Reg, yes they do.

Some try to 'support' their argument with theories about financial misconduct, but that's just circular reasoning. They're trying to use the claim to justify the claim (despite being told we've heard it all before). They qualify nothing.

Those putting forward the allegations about Power have a tendency to put forward 'arguments' packed with logical fallacies, and logical fallacies do nothing to address the questions about said allegations.

Notably: Circular reasoning fallacy (The figures show he's taking the money because the figures show he's taking the money), ad-hom fallacy (You're not a passionate fan anyway), personal incredulity fallacy (I don't understand so it's wrong), begging the question fallacy (so what will you do when we're bust?), appeal to authority fallacy (I've been a season ticket holder for years) and the good old Strawman fallacy (So you think he's wonderful then!)

All we're asking for is a reason to actually believe that their hypothesis are correct, instead we tend to get offered a selection from the above. Then, of course, they get agitated at us for not accepting their hypothesis even though they've not given us any valid reason to do so.

There is a particular one on the facebook group that really grates me!

Let me guess, that Christian tool?

:D

He's a right fucking plumb.

Were you the guy alleging that Power had spent more on transfer fees than Andrew Black did?

It's quite difficult to get a complete feel for the 50's, relative to today....I was quite young so saw things through a kid's eyes, with a bit of help from my father and grandfathers.

We weren't very good, but you could still get a crowd of 20,000+ for a game v Rovers.  Players didn't earn much more than the fans maybe less in some cases and families were having to put up with post war austerity, which was proper austerity, not Gideon's garbage. 

So I think football was still the Saturday afternoon escape, and the club and players although not achieving much were still well regarded in the community.

A bit of a cup run would generate some interest and a good pay day home to Stoke in 1952....28,140 at the CG. Home to Posh 1955...who were non-league at the time 23,983 at the CG.  Home to Worksop Town 1956...16,060  and not too far out, home to Bath City 1960,  19,369 at the CG.

Yeah.

I've worked it out before, not doing it again though. Disregard it if you like, it has no bearing on whether or not Power is fleecing us anyway.

I'd be interested in seeing your workings, seeing as we're talking about proving a statement :-)

Black must have spent a fair bit cos we got hit with a transfer embargo for overspending.

I can't be bothered to do it again. I think I was right, but I may have been wrong. Who cares, it's irrelevant to the discussion. See, I've just accepted I might have been wrong, I have no burden of proof. If I were under formal debate conditions then I would have been more precise in my wording to make it clear it was my opinion but, hey ho, this is the TEF.

Is this the bit where I'm supposed to get agitated that you wont believe me?

Calm down Christian ;)

I keep on meaning to troll the fuck out of that tool and others on there, there's so much trolling to be had. Remember that time I made a remark about 'Power's fault' and he totally missed the sarcasm?

Actually, I screen-shotted it, Tans:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/idiot_zpsyjt6wpo2.png) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jamiethon/media/idiot_zpsyjt6wpo2.png.html)

Ah Christian Kostiuk aka Superkoz the tool that will happily slag you off and throw abuse at you but as soon as you challenge him he gets all defensive and throws a hissy fit with the old I've been X many years line. I'm surprised Power hasn't got someone to call him out and threaten him with legal action as he doesn't half throw out some unsubstantiated allegations. Obviously 90% of what he calls info has probably come from Clare Scarth when he was banging her. I'm sure she really knew the inner workings of the club....

Fucking happy clapper....

Yeah I'm in with this, too. I'm in my 20s and, yes, we fail to defend as a unit, but it's nowhere near the worst Swindon team that I've seen. So to witness veterans getting off on claims that this is some kind of historic nadir is pretty feeble.

I think overall it's probably closer than most think because most of the Black money went into players bank accounts.  He did however fund the purchase of Cox and while Di Canio's spending was mostly on wages, he did get quite a few in for tens of thousands which probably add up to a bit.  Power has the potential badge of honour of investing more in one player than anyone since the 90's (Ndah possibly being the last one we spent big on?).

The main fault of Power's (which he won't see as a fault, or care about quite frankly) is the PR side of all of this.  Pre the Luongo sale, he could easily have made a big song and dance about the fact we had to pay 50% to Spurs of any profit, playing down the revenue, or even quoted much lower numbers as what "we earn" instead.  his view is that it's none of our business anyway - rightly or wrongly.

I'd love for Power to have Black's money and someone like Fitton to front it.  For all the fun we had under Black's ownership, we were left with nothing, not a hint of a club in a better position than he found it and very few sellable players (Ritchie having been flogged to pay the bills).  Under Power, we've brought in, and sold, more players of worth than any time in our history (even the prem season), look set to have a long term lease on a training ground and a wage bill under control.  Sprinkle some real investment potential on that and you'd be doing well I think.

So, what's the concensus if he just provides more of the same, recruitment wise, this summer?

If we get fobbed off with more BOOs,  Barrys, Balmys etc ?

Well there won't be one as the argument will just shift. If those recruited are duffers again then you could question those doing the recruitment as not being as good at picking a rough diamond as they think they are and  that Power's contacts in the game are restricted to Tum Sherwood and Pals.

On the other hand the Power sceptics would just say it's all a deliberate ploy to down the club.

So, did we win?

Yep. 3-0

You've forgotten that Black et al paid the CVA off, when coming into the club. If you think Black left it as he found it, when taking over from SSW, Diamandis, Holt, Grey etc, you might be advised to think again.

it was surely more saleable/as debt free as it had been for years.

unfortunately his desperation to get shot asap meant a chancer like  Jed could come in and just about keep it going by selling Ritchie and the catering contract.

My honest opinion is I really don’t think no matter what he does he can’t really win. He made his model clear,the first season it was working and we were close. Even then though as soon as January came he was being slated being accused of cashing in on Byrne Kasim Luongo etc which didn’t even happen.

This season has been poor but im not trying to make excuses but we were very unfortunate to go through a patch where injuries destroyed us. Kevin Stewart for example is showing he would have been a superb player for us,injuries elsewhere meant we couldn’t play Thomas.

I think the intention to replace the players sold was there but the fact is they were not good enough and that happens in football. My bit about him not winning is when it comes to the summer. If he signs cheap he will get shit and if we get decent players he will get shit about only getting them to sell in 12 months

Reg, I was talking in terms of club infrastructure and he was more than willing to put us into Admin if it was needed to prevent him putting any more cash in.  While no CVA payment was due, the wage bill meant we were still only one month away from total financial collapse again when he decided he'd had enough (and I don't blame him by the way).  I just don't see much of a "legacy" having been left.

The club had more or less been ripped apart by the dog days of Diamandis and co, fans getting banned, protests, etc

I'm not arguing for a legacy rather that in relative terms the Black era was less bad.....more like stepping in a dog turd, than falling in farmyard slurry.

Definitely agree regarding a legacy being left. As much as I appreciate Black writing off the debt his overall exit strategy left a lot to be desired for a very respectable businessman.

@drs: still can't help have a nagging doubt that Sherwood helped us out in the recruitment of the Wembley squad, and that this year was us going it alone.

unfair? untrue? probably. but that's why next year is going to be interesting. good interesting, bad interesting. who knows!

But equally (I am emphasise I am no sort of Jedders apologist) there wasn't exactly a queue waiting that Jed was at the head of, without him taking a flyer Admin beckoned and thus being once again at the mercy of the FL.

At the very least Power brings stability which has been something lacking for the majority of my time supporting the club, I remember the heady and what felt like never ending, days of constantly refreshing this site to see if another takeover/bail out had fallen through!

I think football fans suffer from problems of financial perspective moaning that an owner won't put £20m into a club at a whim yet in the next breath moaning that burgers have gone up 50p.

While i can't disagree with that there were also other players that we got not due to him. The saints lads,Kasim was one of williams signings. Still say this year we were very unlucky with the 2 liverpool lads injury situations

I suppose the next question will be to what extent does Blacks charges over future ground development further hamstrung any chance we have of ground development (ignoring the fact that we don't even own the ground) which could provide the 24/7 revenue sources that the club desperately needs to move forward.

The Black era could have been golden but was badly managed form the start (I know everyone loved Fitton but he seemed to lose the plot very quickly) and disintegrated at the end, if he had held his nerve for 6 months it may have been an entirely different proposition to now as we could have been a Championship outfit and thus attractive to investors (possibly!).

I suppose the issue going forward is what are Powers contacts up to at the moment, Sherwood is out of the game essentially (still somewhat surprised he hasn't landed here in some position), Williams picks from Brighton will have dried up and no idea where the link to Liverpool is, not sure who the contact was but Klopps arrival seems to have reduced their wish to loan players....

He must have one at Norwich.

Fair point.

I think the timing was key. There may well have been others interested, but not within the timeframe, and with no guarantees of the deal getting done. so yeah, the only choice at that time.

I have a suspicion that Fitton may have thought about it - but this is purely based in a throwaway type comment Fitton made about 'you never know' when asked if he could be back at the club at the future. Probably 2+2=5.

Still say there is no way of knowing what he's up to, if indeed anything above what he says.

Thing is it doesn't matter in terms of football fans expectations. He's saying we'll be a long term sustainable project. Its the right thing to say/do and sets expectations. But its not going to make an exciting sales pitch where STs are concerned. So if on pitch success looks to be equally far away then STs will dwindle.

That's the way it is though.

The more I look back on Fitton the more he just seems to have been a mouthpiece, he said all the right things that the fans wanted to hear, but apart from that its all a bit hmmmmm. He ushered in the 'New Labour' era of ownership where it was more to do with what was said than what actually seemed to happen.

Not doubting the position he holds in saving us from Diamandis et al, but with hindsight all a bit meh now.

I hold a very different view. but it's history so I'll leave it there

Agreed, lets move on to the happy place the club and its supporters are in now   ;).... oh bugger!

This, from a Barnsley fans seems to sum it up well

It's the same for most clubs at this level, I can't see Winnall, Hourihane, or Hammill, staying with us, unfortunately players would rather leave to sit on a bench somewhere on fortunes a week, than play first team football on the wages clubs in this league pay.
Once you get below tenth in the championship,every club just continually chop and changes the majority of their squad every 12/18 months, either because the cheap options they are forced to take haven't worked out, or because they've turned into little diamonds and a club with more money wants them, or because they've simply gone back to their parent club. Ether way unless you want a squad full of mediocre polders no one else wants it's something you have to come to terms with, it's really sad but the days of building a squad over 3/4 years and challenging without spending millions and millions are long gone definitely at this level anyway, it's the reason the gap in standard between this league and the championship just keeps getting bigger unless you spend big, we're all just feeder clubs for the championship teams .

Lee Power needs to release a few statements with some carefully crafted hashtags, open up a bar in the middle of the town end and recall Miles Storey from whichever club he is on loan with at the time. That'd get the fans excited again.

And buy a pint for everyone in the Tap and Barrel. They won't care "where the money's gone" then.

Actually didn't Power pop in the Merlin and buy a few beers once? Or did I dream that?

We always wanted Power...

I do wonder how that would have panned out with Bill and the fans consortium.

We'd probably still have Maverick and his circular arguments on here!

it would have either been brilliant, or he'd have got his million back and legged it.

Reading back through this and regarding communication etc you can't argue with it,Power is awful but i had a bit of a think last night and think in terms of the footballing side he is getting a bit of unfair stick.

It's never a excuse but injuries this season has crippled us i do not care what people say. Last night was only the 5th game this season that L Thompson,Kasim Ajose and Obika have managed to start a game together all season.

We had to return Kevin Stewart and Williams to Liverpool we had to send Wes Thomas back due to injuries. Nathan Thompson this season has only played 21 games. People are quick to say that power hasn't recruited well but that's based on the likes of Boo barry(5th highest amount of assists in the division tbf) and Brophy .

If you look at the players we have actually bought in with the likes of the following has he actually recruited badly this year

L Thompson
Doughty
El Habd
Ajose
K Stewart
Traore
Barry
Wes Thomas
Turnball
Boo
Brophy
J williams
Vigaroux

What i am saying is we have had the basis for a good team this year but i honestly can't remember a season as bad as this injury wise and as above shows to say Power hasn't bought players in of a decent standard isn't strictly true is it.

The poor recruitment line goes with the fact that we received £xM in fees and proceeded to not spend anything. In Swindon fans logic that = poor recruitment. I don't fully agree personally, I think we've been unlucky with injuries and the Cooper / Williams fall out obviously had an impact but in general I don't think it was a particularly good season recruitment wise. There were some cheap options in there though you can't deny that.. the likes of Balmy, Bangoura or whatever he was called. I am thinking (and it's pretty optimistic I'll admit) that next season will bear the fruit of this seasons recruitment with the likes of BOO, Brophy and probably Barry's development coming on.

If Power is serious about promotion he simply cannot sell Ajose or Obika. He needs to add more depth in that area (not sure Hylton is up to it) and also a bit more quality depth elsewhere.

But what quality striker will want to be a bench player just waiting for Obika and Ajose to get injured/suspended to get a game?

The number one priority has to be to address our obvious (and well-documented) defensive frailties.  You can't be successful by shipping goals at the rate we have been over the past couple of seasons.  And you can't continually go into games knowing that you are going to need to score 2 or 3 to stand a chance of getting a win.

I would say though that Hylton is a long way short of what I'd expect from a bench warming striker, which I guess is why he never gets off the bench unless we are really desperate for a body.

There's a massive middle ground between his level and that of NA / JO, and, in the absence of a reserve team here, he should be out on loan somewhere. The current arrangement is doing nobody any favours.

I see no reason why we couldn't recruit someone within that middle ground to give us a regular 20/30 mins off the bench, and who could credibly start a game when needed.

If/when we offload Smith and Storey, it should be possible to do just that.

Spot on, there's the conundrum, which might be summed up as Barca v Atletico, Barca are always dodgy defensively, but don't concede many as the belief is possession does your defending, Atleti rock solid at the back, terriers in midfield and nick lots of goals from set plays.

The Swindon way, is Barca style, the problem being of course the players have to be top drawer to make it work properly....ours aren't.

Nevertheless, it's more likely playing expansively can put players in the shop window, and that's where Power wants them to be. In Div 3 an outfit like Burton are more Simeone style....rugged in defence, terriers in midfield, lots of goals from set plays....nobody can name any of their players.

I don't think there's any chance of a change of style....but we do need to get better at the basics.

Absolutely. It's just frustrating that we've had to face the whole season with 2 strikers (and no wingers) who are really up to task. Obika has always been injury prone, and it does make us vulnerable to almost having to forfeit games, with Oldham and Bradford being recent examples.

Get the main men back out there and, whether certain people on here wish to accept it or not, we're actually quite good. We're just never likely to achieve much over a season when the absence of 2 or 3 players together can set us on a terrible run of form.