Swindon Town V Scunthorpe

[Panda Paws]

I'm surprised by how little I'm annoyed/bothered by this. Disappointed but almost apathetic about it which is the biggest concern for the future of the club - happy clappers or doom mongers, at least the passion is still there. It's vanished for many.

I don't support Power, I recognise the work he has done to keep the club on an even keel but this has been outweighed by countless atrocious decisions, not lest keeping Williams at the club and trying to con the fanbase with the 'appointment' of Sherwood. I realise there is no viable alternative so I can only hope that Power accepts that we need to get out of L2 at the first time of asking and acts accordingly. I doubt this will happen.

I'll probably attend fewer Swindon games next season and become a footballing nomad whilst I have a number of clubs on my doorstep. Football really is not important, I'd prefer to attend a game as a neutral than spend 90 minutes seething with rage. Life's too short.

A good summation. I agree. Only thing I'd add is the one thing that has hindered my enjoyment of watching us this year is our own support, or sections of. I've gone to some games with neutrals this year and they've been really surprised at the constant negativity and infighting, sometimes right from the first whistle.

I go to watch Town to enjoy it.  Not to rant and moan at other fans or hurl abuse at young lads playing a sport. I also don't go to watch the other team, so Oldham at home or Morecambe at home makes shit all difference to whether I go or not.

This summer is going to be very interesting - does Power fight back and learn his lessons, or does he carry on regardless? Lots of people can pretend to know the answer, but let's see shall we?

[Reg Smeeton]

For me, in terms of footballing quality this team not nearly as bad as the dreadful two seasons under Trollope and Beamish.  I believe that it is, however, the most soulless, boring and utterly dispiriting team we have had since I started watching in '73.

In the same vein, I don't see how people can maintain that the club is in its worst ever state.  Unless there is some financial black hole that we don't know about then the club has been in a far worse position on more than one occasion.  But there is a case for saying that the direction in which we are heading is as bad as it has ever been.  As has been said earlier in this thread, will Power's fine words be followed by inaction over the summer and then once again a patched-up assortment of young loanees with no nucleus of experienced professionals to support them is thrown together in the last few weeks of pre-season and then tossed to Williams to manage?

I've renewed my season ticket for sentimental/loyalty reasons.  I wonder if I will come to more than the 6 games I could be bothered to attend this season.  Apart from the beers beforehand, I didn't enjoy one of them.

The football played in Div 4 in the early 80's was traditional... and therefore not sophisticated. It was still the days of terrible pitches, footballers with weedy legs, and defenders like Nigel Gray and Simon Gibson, who would kick the shit out of opponents if they could get close enough.

So yes, the stuff today is more pretty, played on a lovely pitch, by lads who spend time in the gym rather than bookies.

But there's the disconnect, the 80's Div 4 lads had to make up for their limitations by a bit of graft... a quality mostly sadly lacking in today's lot.

As to the state of the club, the danger is not solely Power, but SBC.

Being stuck between these two is definitely Scylla and Charybdis as far as the club is concerned. 

According to tans, Sherwood stated the problems were not only the players but Tory controlled SBC. Maybe he knows something we don't about future plans.

[herthab]

A good summation. I agree. Only thing I'd add is the one thing that has hindered my enjoyment of watching us this year is our own support, or sections of. I've gone to some games with neutrals hisbyear and they've been really surprised at the constant negativity and infighting, sometimes right from the rest whistle.

I go to watch Town to enjoy it.  Not to rant and moan at other fans or hurl abuse at young lads playing a sport. I also don't go to watch the other team, so Oldham at home or Morecambe home makes shit all difference to whether I go or not.

This summer is going to be very interesting - does Power fight back and learn his lessons, or does he carry on regardless? Lots of people can pretend to know the answer, but let's see shall we?

I'm not a serial moaner, but I've got sympathy for those that have vented this season. Watching the tripe we've been served up week in, week out, I understand their frustration.

[Sippo]

of course it will, because Power will have had to change his
approach for that to happen

He may get some decent loans in...

[Batch]

he may not.

[Sippo]

To be fair to him and Sherwood, the January transfers weren't too bad. Yes it would have been better to get them in July, but obviously that was not possible.

[Batch]

they were a day late and a dollar short.

conroy, dabo, Ince and (should have been) Ajose were good. however Conroy only got in once Jones didn't and Ince could have gone inside.

the rest were absolutely not the type of player we needed. Bring them in for September and add to them in January, fair enough. But bring them in at the end of January when it was bloody obvious we were in deep shit from November was unacceptable and never enough.

In short either Sherwood didn't do anything, or cocked up the window. That's if you believe he actually set the deals up. Brighton and Chelsea youths... bet we'd have got them anyway.

[garethgillman]

To be fair to him and Sherwood, the January transfers weren't too bad. Yes it would have been better to get them in July, but obviously that was not possible.

January was always going to be a struggle to get in every player they wanted / needed and in realistic terms they did as best as they would have hoped, unfortunately a couple haven't done shit so wasted their space (Feruz, Gladwin) but you never know how a player is going to perform until they are on the pitch. January would have had to been spectacluar to really get us out of the shit as you have limited time and limited players to pick from, you can't expect someone to rebuild a squad in January when the summer transactions were poor.

I am optimistic there will be a massive influx of players in the next 4 months, quite a few are out of contract and won't be retained and that means a lot of work needed to replace them. Power has said he knows the team was poor so it's time to see if he can put actions to the words.

[Batch]

seriously? the January excuse? he had from November to work on something proper and ended up signing a load of kid punts at the last minute. again.

fuck me, think i need a TEF holiday, think I'll come back when Williams is sacked or in a week or so..

[Reg Smeeton]

January was always going to be a struggle to get in every player they wanted / needed and in realistic terms they did as best as they would have hoped, unfortunately a couple haven't done shit so wasted their space (Feruz, Gladwin) but you never know how a player is going to perform until they are on the pitch. January would have had to been spectacluar to really get us out of the shit as you have limited time and limited players to pick from, you can't expect someone to rebuild a squad in January when the summer transactions were poor.

I am optimistic there will be a massive influx of players in the next 4 months, quite a few are out of contract and won't be retained and that means a lot of work needed to replace them. Power has said he knows the team was poor so it's time to see if he can put actions to the words.

The hugely annoying thing about the window, was that it was obvious what was required and next to nothing was done to achieve this.  As I said at the time.... a sticking plaster was applied and soon fell off. Power reckons relegation will cost us at least a £mill, a bit of investment in experience in Jan, could have kept us up, and saved that money.

There will need to be new players, just in order to put out a team and fill the bench....but all the evidence suggests more of the same, loans and trialists, just a lower quality.  The only saving grace is that most of the other clubs in Div 4 will be in the same boat.

[garethgillman]

when Williams is sacked or in a week or so..

That's pretty inevitable going by what Power said, I don't want to see him sacked though just moved back to coaching and let someone else doing the management.

[Reg Smeeton]

That's pretty inevitable going by what Power said, I don't want to see him sacked though just moved back to coaching and let someone else doing the management.

Luke needs to be out of the club altogether. He has no credibilty with the fans.

[Bogus Dave]

I'm not sure about that. I could see him being accepted if he moved down to coach or assistant manager (whether he'd want to or not would be another issue). It's quite noticeable the lack of any huge chants for him to get the sack despite the shit show of the last season

[Oaksey Moonraker]

Luke needs to be out of the club altogether. He has no credibilty with the fans.

I think LW needs to move on for the sake of his career and own well being. That post match interview on Saturday showed a man feeling the pressure. I am sure a Prem/Champ academy would welcome him back into their cosy world.

[The Grim Reaper]

When we are top of Div4, let's see what people's thoughts are then...

All this will be forgotten.

Are you for real? If you honestly believe Powers business model of loans and leftover players that no other club wants managed and coached by cheap yes men who have no idea what they are doing then you are simply delusional. I fully expect us to be fighting the drop next season too playing the same shite football. At least I will have the foresight to stick a large bet on it happening.