Thetownend.com

Good article here, he's right in what he is saying. This sort of thing is why i dont think he will be here come January, think he will get fed up and walk if other stuff like this occurs.

What does Seamus Brady actually do?

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/swindon_town_2014/15401703.Town___s_infrastructure_is_not_fit_for_purpose/

I don't understand his comments about the equipment though. Isn't the county ground lifestyle centre an actual gym?

Think I read before that players also use David Lloyd for weights sessions?

Isn't that his point though, that he was surprised we don't have the equipment in house so players have to go to an external gym to use weights?

Bit of a nothing story again, the cynic could suspect that the Adver are looking for opportunities to stir things up...

We have no recruitment team - hardly surprising as Power did all the recruitment...
We have no scouting - that is shit and possibly explains why we often didn't seem to set up to counter other teams in the last few seasons...
We have no strength equipment etc... - erm that's probably why we are building a new training centre?

Flitcroft would have known all this before he took the job, and this does read a little as him blowing smoke up his own arse as he is sorting this out and by the way I have loads of important friends you know...

As for him not being here come January we will see, I fear these sort of interviews where he majors on how shit things were before he arrived to sort it out are hardly going to develop a good working relationship with Power etc?

Quite. Sounds to me like a new manager wanting things done his way, hardly something to be concerned about. Provided he's getting what he wants, of course, and I'm confident he will be.

The headline is misleading. Again. It makes it sound as though he's complaining. Standard from the adver really.  

They don't really help their cause, do they?! Are they looking to be banned again?

I wouldn't be upset if they were. In the meantime, there'll be plenty going by the headline alone and acting as though he's had enough already.

The facilities we have were inadequate 15 years ago, not really surprising this is still the case.

I'm usually a negative nelly (nooo) but I thought that piece was fairly positive in that its identified things that need to change in the mid-longer term to make us better .

As I've said Flitcroft has come into a broken club that needs a rebuild in all areas.  So a Herculean job... seems he now gets it.

Prior to his arrival, it was a distinct possibility that carrying on in this way and we'd lose our FL status. Power by appointing Flitcroft seemed to accept this.

We can but hope, that the scale of the rebuild is not far greater than he anticipated, meaning the pressure on the Power purse, will cause a breakdown.

I'm impressed with the fella thus far.. let's hope he gets the backing he needs, although frankly I'm not expecting it.

Why would he not get the backing? We have obviously signed players of Flitcrofts ilk. We all know Power likes the youngsters, and we are yet to sign any.

Why so negative all the time?

Well simply, it will cost a lot of money. When at Bury, it seemed as if their Board allowed Flitcroft to shake the magic money tree... two things about Power we know, he is parsimonious, and he funds another football club.

When Sippo tells you to cheer up you know you have problems.

And how does that mean he doesn't receive the backing from Power?! How do you know the manager has no money to spend. Come on Reginald. You need to stop being so gloom and doom.

I think we all know that's not going to happen.

It is possible that Power has had a Damascene conversion..... as ever, it's about opinion, an article of faith if you like... I'm an atheist.

Please no, the whinging last time from both the Adver and some of our supporters was insufferable.

In regards to the lack of onsite CG gym; I am sure I recall reading that it was converted to either a bar or offices for staff? As the previous office were converted to a players bar...Jed I believe.

It took a fitness coach for Flitcroft to recognise at least some of what is missing. That's not a slight at Flitcroft in the slightest, rather it's one of these things that will happen with a competent new team in place.

Batch is right, this is a good news story. It's all about getting prepared and making sure they have all the equipment they need. It would have been soooo easy for the adver to approach it from that angle. Good news doesn't sell as well as sensationalist headlines that get people irate, though.

There used to be a bit of space under the Arkells, up the Bank end, which had some basic gym kit in. Not very impressive but it was something... mainly used by players coming back from injury as you wouldn't get too many in it.

Yep, and I told the adver editor this (he posts on the FB group) that they need to stop with the sensalitionist bs and to stop repeating the same interview 10 times to fill space, that there is a lot of content they can do which will get the fans interested in the paper, they are semi-listening but can't see them stopping with the sensational headlines to sell papers.

We all knew the club didn't have any facilities, they train in Calne / Bassett and the players do their fitness at David Lloyds gym (there cars are there a lot). Realistically, the gyms in Swindon will be far better than what can be done at the CG.

This also comes back to the point of Power investing in Highworth, so the club have a gym and training facilities in one place. Unfortunately it's taking a lot of time to get it sorted but the article (even though aimed wrong) proves that we do need the facility at Highworth for DF (or the next manager) to use and expand on.

The Advertiser Editor posts in the Facebook group, bloody hell that explains a lot!

It certainly does.

Gareth if you read the article... it's saying that Flitcroft's main concern is in scouting and recruitment... obviously gym can be easily dealt with by deals with providers, there's plenty about.

We used to have a scout... Ken Ryder? his job not only to prepare reports on players but opposition's player style etc. Ryder went a few years back. Recruitment we know was done by Power... and once the Spurs/Sherwood connection went a right pig's ear was made of it.

Having watched us play over the last couple of seasons, it's been pretty obvious that we haven't been preparing for games in a professional manner.

Flitcroft is right to flag this up... Adver right to print it... I'm not sure that all of our fans fully understand the depth to which we have sunk and the task in getting us out of this mess that Flitcroft faces.

He certainly won't be able to do it without full backing by Power... the like of which we haven't seen for a couple of years.

So you have the ear of the adver now, are you on their payroll yet ?

Do you know what sort of equipment DF is talking about, he may have expected to have the basics in house and for the more intense work needed to go out to the gym, I'm sure he will get what is required though as it sounds like Power is taking a back seat and allowing flitcroft to mould the club to be more professional which would help to attract different calibre of player.

I was picking up on the points of the gym but the scouting is a concern and it proves that Williams didn't have a clue when going up against teams, did we have scouts on board when cooper or Ling were here?

Every day I am liking DF more and more, knows what he wants and needs, and will do what he can to get it, and it seems like Power is willing to give him the funds to do that (anyones guess how long that will last).

I can't see us having a gym at the CG so will rely on the gyms around Swindon for a while yet but can see DF having a massive influence on what goes on at the training ground.

The main problem with our "equipment" is that we have always been renting facilities (Liddington, Bassett and Calne) so it's not a massive surprise that we don't have any facilities of our own, it's probably cheaper to get the players memberships at a gym than build our own at the CG.

Having our own facilities will have a lot of positives for the club including:

- less travel so more training time for players
- better equipment for the club needs
- better facilities for training and fitness
- integrate the youth and seniors better (as they all train separately at the moment)

It's going to take time to wrong the rights of the last 20+ years but least we have someone who knows what is needed and is putting in the legwork to get that done. DF is going to become a fan favourite if he keeps this up.

Paul Jewell's kid was our scout until a few months ago.

I'm not sure how it works now, but back in the day the gaffer, would definitely run the rule over players before signing, and probably watch the opposition himself when able.

I remember Macari ditching his motor with Kevin Morris in it when tey were on some scouting mission... happily no harm done.

Similarly, I once read an article about Albion Rovers, then bottom of the Sweatie pile and considered the worst club in Britain.

The correspondent, had gone to see life in the nether regions, and found Steve McMahon in Coatbridge watching a player, which turned out to be Lee Collins.

Going off Tan's original post, what does Seamus Brady do? According to Power his role is "Sporting Director" and he was brought in to deal with the training facility at Highworth (and probably was involved in securing the use of Bassett / Calne facilities).

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/14110620.Brady_comes_on_board_at_Town_to_be_Power_s__cushion_/


Was a recommendation of super Tim Sherwood so take from that what you will.

The fact the nearly two years after it was first published that piece still has a dreadful typo in the headline says all one needs to know about the credibility of the Advertiser!

I think Flitcroft is doing his best - and by and large has been extremely successful - in creating a wave of positive momentum with the players and fans with all of his words and actions to date, including his comments in this article. Sadly a lot of people have chosen to take them in a negative way (and the Adver certainly haven't helped by putting a negative spin on it) but I see it as nothing other than a 'fuck that shit we're moving on, from now on we do things properly' kind of thing.

Some people seem to be desperate to see the worst in every situation*

*note to self - FFS for your own sanity...stop reading the Adver comments section  :crash:

I just think it's inevitable, given the shit we've had to put up with the last couple of seasons... that sane folk whilst welcoming the shift of emphasis to old fashioned gaffer, will still maintain a certain scepticism as to whether Power can get it right.

Of course, scepticism isn't the same as not wanting him to get it right.

You're right about BTL on the Adver mind.

This! The ones below the Mullin article are a classic example.

Sam Jewell
Chief Scout
Swindon Town Football Club
October 2015 – July 2016 (10 months) | Swindon, United Kingdom
Head of scouting Opposition and Players

I refuse to believe that we had no one in place to scout opposition last season. Is Alex Seager new with Flitcroft?

BBC Wiltshire Sport‏ @BBCWiltsSport  14m14 minutes ago
More
 Hear from Swindon Town manager David Flitcroft on BBC Wiltshire at 8.30.

Lots of love for Conor Thomas there.

Has "lovely soft feet" apparently.   :girlgiggle:

Makes it sound like he was being utilised incorrectly/not to the best of his ability last season. Hardly surprising. I haven't rated Thomas at all so it will be interesting to see how DF utilises him.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Thomas, and other players, shouldn't be judged for their performances under Williams alone.

Indeed, I also hope Brophy too will benefit from being played in the right position and a good training regime.

Thomas has played well in the two friendlies, no doubt about it.

Reserving judgement on them all until a month or two into the season though.

Never judge very much on pre-season friendlies..... beyond the obvious, so and so looks like he's had a good hol, who's that fat bastard etc.

I used to find watching pre-season more useful as a guide..... does anybody know if the public have access to the Calne place?

Thomas was far from the worst of the bunch last year. Was public enemy number one but a decent player at this level I think. We'll soon see, but he seems like he's positioning himself to play a big part this year.

Thomas was woeful last season, made Anton Rodgers look dynamic.

that's irrelevant now

You could see early doors that he had some ability with the ball, but that isn't enough, you have to influence a game, and sadly as you point out Conor didn't.  New season, new boss, clean slate..... let's see what he's made of.

My, Flitcroft likes Twine

https://www.totalswindon.com/sport/swindon-towns-david-flitcroft-excited-by-scott-twines-outing-in-melksham-friendly-win/#.WWYcw7Eo-hB

"David Flitcroft excited by Scott Twine's outing in Melksham"  :hmmm:

Like to see Flitcroft's final 1st XI play the piss stains. Be a bit different to the lily-livered capitulation of the last couple of years.

It really was a cracking goal

https://www.facebook.com/SwindonTownFootballClub/videos/1591921180847721/

Good lord, he gave that some welly.

Long interview here with that gimp Moose from Talksport if anyone is interested

https://m.soundcloud.com/talksport/david-flitcroft-with-ian-abrahams-1

Did David ever play for Man City or is he getting confused with Garry?

Just Garry. Around the same time Man City had the Brightwell brothers Ian and David.

I mention them because I used to get them mixed up with the Flitcrofts.

You can imagine the sort of conversations I used to have in my youth and the amount of friends I had as a result of said conversations...

The Brightwells were distinguished by having a father.... Robbie who won a silver in the 4 x 400 relay at the Tokyo 64 Olympics, topped by their mum to be Ann Packer winning gold in the 800 metres, an event which heralded David Coleman, doing the first completely over the top commentary, not at all stiff upper lip, heard on the BBC radio or TV.

I don't think the Flitcrofts had quite the same pedigree.

Nah, we've all got a father, Reg

Perhaps he meant it was rare they knew who he was.. Or have I been in Wales too long  :hmmm:

Lynn Davies won a gold in 64 also. Possibly the last Welshman to win a gold in track and field. Lynn the Leap...

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Lynn_Davies_1964.jpg/240px-Lynn_Davies_1964.jpg)

Colin Jackson never won a gold... but I'm sure appreciates Lynn's classical statue look

What's the bloke with the flags got on his head?  :hmmm:

his lunch

 Little snippet about Flitters in a Guardian article about Chris Kirkland and his struggles with depression....

Reading this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kirkland I didn't realise how fucked over his career was by injuries, nice touch from Scott Carson as well...

Ha, just came on here to post a link to this. Reg is too quick for me!

He seemed to always be injured. Saw him play for the England U21s against Macedonia and he went off injured after 25 minutes. Nobody was surprised. Francis Jeffers scored a hat-trick, two of the goals looking a mile offside.