Smith and Evans in Waterford

[bluemovie]

Hello from Waterford (the place that loves Lee Power right now and knows you hate him!)

I'm not sure if this is the right section for this, but you can move it. I was chatting with some Swindon fans on the Advertiser's page last week and said I'd keep you informed of how your boys are doing in Waterford. A few Town fans have joined our supporters page too.

These are highlights packages from our first two games. The squad numbers weren't in place for the first game so Jake Evans was 2 and Tom Smith was 6 in our white away kit, but they were 17 and 23 respectively on Friday and from now on. Tom was solid in the first game, outstanding in the second. Jake is playing out of position at right back and had a ropey first game (at fault for the goal when overplaying it from the back...albeit in an attempt to push on for a winner), but much better on Friday night.

To give you an idea, the first game (lost 1-0 in Athlone) was a nightmare, played in extremely windy conditions on a disgraceful pitch after a 35 minute delay because the floodlights failed. That's not an excuse for losing, but it explains the dreadful football. Attendance was a paltry 326 with between 120 and 150 of those being Blues fans. This week's game was at home on a very wet night. 1317 attendance which is huge for our division. Last season, things had got so bad that crowds had dwindled to about 200. 3-0 win versus Cabinteely who were pretty awful, but our division is terrible - there's a big gap in quality between the two divisions here (Dundalk and Cork could probably challenge in League One, whereas our division might be sub-Conference level).

They're getting on very well anyway. The club have got a good deal renting houses in a beautiful spot in the neighbouring town of Tramore for any of the non-local players. I must upload a photo of the view they have - it's a really prime location. Tom came very close to scoring on Friday with a header just wide. We're still gelling, but look like we got the disastrous first game out of our systems. Two away games in Dublin next and then home in a derby on Saturday the 25th.

I cringe seeing this one:



This is more like it:



Lastly, commiserations on yesterday's loss and its circumstances. We've all been there! No worse feeling.

[Batch]

Tom Smith I still say should be on our bench and used as an option. Glad he doing well so far.

not seen Jake Evans play much, if at all, I hope he gains in stature and improves.

With Power I guess expectation is the key here, you can see your squad and club improve, we see ours seemingly in decline.

thanks for the feedback

[Flashheart]

Do you have any players that might move in the other direction?

[Leggett]

Do you have any players that might move in the other direction?

Theres blind optimism, then there's this...

[bluemovie]

You're welcome. Yeah I think we're fairly aware of the situation and the difference between the two clubs. With us, we had a proud history, but were incredibly close to folding. We own NOTHING so there are no assets to sell off. However, we are the anchor tenants of the council-owned Regional Sports Centre and have cheap rent there. It's a 3,000 seater which can hold 5,500 with standing for league games (but our average attendance was 277 last year!). The 3,000 seats means we are entitled to host UEFA games which is important. Dundalk have to play their European games in Shamrock Rovers' stadium and pay for that. Obviously the plan is that we qualify for Europe eventually. That'd be a dream for the likes of me. We last played in the ECWC in 1986 against Bordeaux, but had played Manchester United, Celtic, Galatasaray and others before. We have a fantastic pitch and our training facilities (again rented) are top quality. Power said he was amazed with them and that most League One clubs haven't access to anything as good. So the potential is there for us to grow. He's a businessman for sure and has seen how Dundalk were in just as bad a state as us a few years ago and now aren't far off possibly qualifying for the Champions League group stages. They were in the Europa League group stages before Christmas and made more money from a single game in that than they did in prize money for winning our league!! So for a minimal investment by his standards, he could potentially do very well out of us.

But the thing is, we're quite happy with all this. We had nothing. We were going to fold after 86 years. He's rumoured to be putting €300,000 into the club initially. That's nothing in your league but we had players' cheques bouncing for €20 last year!! And it is HIS money rather than Swindon's. Like he could have just bought a Ferrari instead. He wasn't at the game on Friday (I think he was just at one of the pre-season friendlies) and has a good general manager and a respected director of football (Pat Fenlon who used manage Hibernians a few years ago) to take care of things here. There will be a link-up between Swindon and Waterford - not just with loanees. The plan is that if a young player is developed here, you have first dibs on him. So if you consider that the likes of Séamus Coleman, Shane Long, Kevin Doyle, Wes Hoolahan, James McClean and loads of others came from our league and were successful and sold on for big money, then Swindon could be on a winner. Our club produced Daryl Murphy and Noel Hunt. We sold Daryl to Sunderland for about £100k, he helped them get promoted to the Premier League and they eventually sold him on to Celtic for a million. We had a great youngster in Seán Maguire a few years ago, but because we couldn't renew his contract, we only got a pittance from West Ham for him. He went down to Accrington Stanley and is now at Cork, but I'd expect him to go back to England again. Then there's Lee O'Connor whose story is almost identical to John O'Shea's. Both grew up as Blues fans, but we had nothing really to offer them to compete with Man U. Lee signed straight from schoolboys last year and is ripping it up there. He's captain of their u-18s and is playing regularly in the reserves. So the hope is that the next prodigy to come along will sign for us first because we'll have an attractive set-up (we have u15s, 17s and 19s as well as the first team). They can sign knowing that they have a clear path into the English leagues through Swindon. You can even test them out on loan first. So from our point of view, it suits us if Swindon stay up as League One is obviously a better attraction for players. We have a decent record of producing young talent so Swindon could reap the rewards in the future. There are some at the club now who might go back over. Google Kenny McEvoy who is 22 and was called Baby Bale when he was at Spurs!

I know none of that is much consolation when you're having a disastrous season, but if you can stay up (and there's a lot still to play for) the Waterford side of things could be a help to your club rather than the hindrance which most seem to view it. Anyway, as someone who remembers the Fjortoft days very well, I hope things pick up for Swindon. Bets of luck and I'll keep you up to date on how the lads are doing.

[Batch]

Theres blind optimism, then there's this...

Maybe he's just trying to prepare for the future 

[Flashheart]

Theres blind optimism, then there's this...

Why not? We're always picking up players from lower/obscure leagues. Some of them even turn out to be quite good.

[Flashheart]

Google Kenny McEvoy who is 22 and was called Baby Bale when he was at Spurs!

We've been linked with him before.

[Peter Venkman]

We've been linked with him before.

Yeah ex Spurs youth product was linked in the Summer/early season.

[ron dodgers]

nice of you to post bluemovie and can I be the first of the Townend to welcome you as a cunt (as we all have been)

[BambooToTheFuture]

Their PA is better than ours. Their no.10 isn't bad at that level. Knows a pass, can strike a ball. Probably upper L2/lower L1 standard. With the right fitness and conditioning, a good team would make him a better and more confident player. Not this current team though. Maybe next season.

Thanks for the write up

[bluemovie]

nice of you to post bluemovie and can I be the first of the Townend to welcome you as a cunt (as we all have been)

Thank you, I'm flattered with the honour I've been a cunt in my own club for many years too

[bluemovie]

Their PA is better than ours. Their no.10 isn't bad at that level. Knows a pass, can strike a ball. Probably upper L2/lower L1 standard. With the right fitness and conditioning, a good team would make him a better and more confident player. Not this current team though. Maybe next season.

Thanks for the write up

You're welcome. I'll post the odd update about how they're doing or any other Swindon/Power-related news and rumours from here.

That striker is Davy McDaid who we've just signed from Cliftonville in the Northern Irish league. He scored something like 50 goals in 100 appearances for them. Made his first start for us on Friday, scored two and had that bicycle kick effort brilliantly saved. Some excellent passes too and just showed the cleverness a striker needs in hold-up play, etc. He was in the Derry City team that James McClean emerged from and had a short spell at York City - didn't work out, which may mean he wasn't good enough, but often can be for other reasons. He's 26 now so likely a little more mature.

Kenny McEvoy, who I mentioned earlier and someone said was linked to Swindon last summer, is an interesting one. He clearly has bags of talent. It wasn't just for his uncanny physical resemblance that he was nicknamed Baby Bale. Spurs had high hopes for him. He was another who was at York. It looks like his career has plummeted, but I've convinced there's just something up and that he's lost his confidence. He's had a lot going on - even getting married at 20 is unusual! He's too good for our level, but I hope that a spell back at his hometown club will get him back on track and that he can go on to prove himself in England. I think he might need an arm around the shoulder or something. He's the one crossing for the first goal in those highlights. He's still only 22 and I still think he has a huge amount of potential so Swindon might be his route back to England.

That's what happened with Daryl Murphy. He came home to Waterford having been dumped by Luton as a 19 year old. He regained his confidence, was superb for us and went on to have a great career. I'm not saying he's Messi but he's played for Sunderland in the Premier League, Ipswich, Celtic and now Benitez bought him for Newcastle. He's a solid Championship striker and has more than 20 international caps, but his career looked over until he came back home and regained his confidence. That's part of Lee Power's thinking with Waterford so that Swindon could benefit from it. I totally understand why he is unpopular (ok a lot more than unpopular) in Swindon, but I do think the Waterford, and possibly Montenegran, links could be good for your club.

[singingiiiffy]

You're welcome. I'll post the odd update about how they're doing or any other Swindon/Power-related news and rumours from here.

That striker is Davy McDaid who we've just signed from Cliftonville in the Northern Irish league. He scored something like 50 goals in 100 appearances for them. Made his first start for us on Friday, scored two and had that bicycle kick effort brilliantly saved. Some excellent passes too and just showed the cleverness a striker needs in hold-up play, etc. He was in the Derry City team that James McClean emerged from and had a short spell at York City - didn't work out, which may mean he wasn't good enough, but often can be for other reasons. He's 26 now so likely a little more mature.

Kenny McEvoy, who I mentioned earlier and someone said was linked to Swindon last summer, is an interesting one. He clearly has bags of talent. It wasn't just for his uncanny physical resemblance that he was nicknamed Baby Bale. Spurs had high hopes for him. He was another who was at York. It looks like his career has plummeted, but I've convinced there's just something up and that he's lost his confidence. He's had a lot going on - even getting married at 20 is unusual! He's too good for our level, but I hope that a spell back at his hometown club will get him back on track and that he can go on to prove himself in England. I think he might need an arm around the shoulder or something. He's the one crossing for the first goal in those highlights. He's still only 22 and I still think he has a huge amount of potential so Swindon might be his route back to England.

That's what happened with Daryl Murphy. He came home to Waterford having been dumped by Luton as a 19 year old. He regained his confidence, was superb for us and went on to have a great career. I'm not saying he's Messi but he's played for Sunderland in the Premier League, Ipswich, Celtic and now Benitez bought him for Newcastle. He's a solid Championship striker and has more than 20 international caps, but his career looked over until he came back home and regained his confidence. That's part of Lee Power's thinking with Waterford so that Swindon could benefit from it. I totally understand why he is unpopular (ok a lot more than unpopular) in Swindon, but I do think the Waterford, and possibly Montenegran, links could be good for your club.

Thanks for the updates they are a good read and interesting to hear how our loan players get on. Not all fans hate power by the way. Poor player recruitment can happen and happens to a huge amount of clubs up and down the country and I don't mind what he's doing here. He has kept our club alive, got some good players through the door, spent money and until I see evidence that says he is screwing us il keep an open mind. 

Good luck for the season.

[sonicyouth]

What Montenegrin link?