Swindon v Crewe - matchday thread traditionally created on the match day

[Reg Smeeton]

At least all the hope is gone, it's the least we can ask for in a season.

Don't you qualify hope with the reality of expectation?  We haven't really had that all season.  There have been perhaps 3 or 4 times this season, whereby there has been a glimmer, but rapidly extinguished.

So, I would identify, the start under Brown after 7 games we were in a PO slot after a steady run.... OK thrashed at Lincoln, but after the summer recruitment it was obvious they'd be there or thereabouts, so unsurprising.  We then had the Bury game at the CG, just relegated, suspected financial problems and a terrible away record.... win in a routine manner and we could be onto something... we lose.  We do bounce back at Yeovil, but it has exposed the home form and Brown never recovers.

Wellens comes in and the thrashing by Carlisle, does raise questions in his mind as to whether we might struggle, but a little three game bounce helps to get a more stable looking mid table place.  A bit of window shopping then brings a further welcome if modest improvement.....  which leads to 3 stand out results.... winning at Tranny, but backing it up by losing at home to Crawley isn't what you need to be doing.  Then winning at Franchise backing it up by beating FGR, yes there was perhaps a glimmer then, but promptly drawing with Grimsby, showed nothing had really changed.  By now it was expected so, there were those like BD, who could identify yes we'd win at Bury, and then as happened fuck up against Yeovil.

It just hasn't been convincing Wellens himself has said it doesn't smell like a promotion squad.

[Peter Venkman]

I personally think that we won't do much better than Wellens and would struggle to get any better manager without major investment from an outside party, which probably won't happen under Power in the near future.

We are playing decent football and creating chances we just don't have a striker/midfielder that can actually hit the back of the net regularly, have said it all season and still will...we need a goal scorer.

Robinson is a good striker but hes not the out and out scorer we need, he would be decent playing alongside a poacher/scorer but we can't rely on his finishing which has gone downhill in the last 4 games after a good start for the club.

Despite the result yesterday and some of the posts on here I am still looking forward to next season and think we will do well with 4 or 5 good signings and removing the deadwood.

Even if it seems not many agree with me judging by many of the comments on here.

[reeves4england]

It's one thing to say Wellens got 8 more points than Brown in the same amount of games, but another thing entirely to consider where we'd have been had Brown stayed in charge. The squad was totally unbalanced, results were becoming alarming and the team didn't seem to have a decent performance in them. Wellens turned results around, brought in players in the positions we needed and even gave us glimpses of a decent side. For that reason he's worth keeping on for another season.

[Flashheart]

With a goalscorer, so many of those draws would have been wins. Ifs and buts.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

If we take it for granted that there is unlikely to be a major increase in the budget, then I fail to see where/how Wellens can replace the likes of Robinson, Woolery, Anderson etc with anything better.

Unless he and Jewell have something up their sleeve another season of bluster and nearly there beckons.

[Flashheart]

We'll be shifting a lot of dead wood for starters.

Don't forget we do have a 1 in 2 striker in Richards... only age has caught up with him. They are out there. An aging pro with a couple of years left or a non-league starlet. Things may have been very different for us had Richard's legs held out for another season.

[Reg Smeeton]

It's one thing to say Wellens got 8 more points than Brown in the same amount of games, but another thing entirely to consider where we'd have been had Brown stayed in charge. The squad was totally unbalanced, results were becoming alarming and the team didn't seem to have a decent performance in them. Wellens turned results around, brought in players in the positions we needed and even gave us glimpses of a decent side. For that reason he's worth keeping on for another season.

But that's the point... that 8 point increment was needed otherwise trouble.... that prospect of trouble was why Brown was sacked.

I don't think I've read anyone on here saying Wellens should go, you'll need to go to the Adver BTL for that....

Wellens is an inexperienced gaffer... after yesterday, a bit of humility might have been called for, hands up admit he fucked up, and don't blame the players.

[Peter Venkman]

If we take it for granted that there is unlikely to be a major increase in the budget, then I fail to see where/how Wellens can replace the likes of Robinson, Woolery, Anderson etc with anything better.

Unless he and Jewell have something up their sleeve another season of bluster and nearly there beckons.

The only way is by good dealing in the loan market, bringing in 2 or 3 good youngsters for this level, such as getting Alzate back and maybe taking a risk on a high scoring youngster at U23 level.

But also if we do indeed lose Taylor, Vigs, Richards, Robertson, Lancashire, Dunne, McGlashan and possibly McCourt/Toums then that will free some high wages enabling us to get better quality but lower quantity. All of those came to us on decent wages we would imagine as all are experienced.

Thats 8 good level wages saved.

[Peter Venkman]

Wellens is an inexperienced gaffer... after yesterday, a bit of humility might have been called for, hands up admit he fucked up, and don't blame the players.

Mark Cooper has managed a decent career as a manager blaming everybody else for his own fuck ups, even blaming the fans at Swindon on a few occassions but never ever himself. Even the FGR fans think he sometimes should blame himself but never ever does.

[Berniman]

Having slept on it i think yesterday was a blessing in disguise.  If the fringe players had turned up yesterday we might have ended up giving contracts to players that would just drop back into mediocrity for next season.  The fact that we were so bad has prompted the reaction from Wellens which is the one that is needed.

Doesn't make it any easier to take after watching that, but at least Wellens is angry enough now to clear the decks of the dross and make the right decision of (almost) completely rebuilding which is different to what he was saying a few weeks ago.

I for one am happy with Wellens at the helm, he has done enough to show he has the potential to do the right things - the fact that he has had his hands tied with the majority of somebody else's squad (years of poor recruitment being mentioned regularly as a reason we find ourselves in the mess that we are) leaves me with the feeling that "if" he is allowed to bring in the players that he wants we will at least be good enough for a play off push next year. 

[Reg Smeeton]

The only way is by good dealing in the loan market, bringing in 2 or 3 good youngsters for this level, such as getting Alzate back and maybe taking a risk on a high scoring youngster at U23 level.

But also if we do indeed lose Taylor, Vigs, Richards, Robertson, Lancashire, Dunne, McGlashan and possibly McCourt/Toums then that will free some high wages enabling us to get better quality but lower quantity. All of those came to us on decent wages we would imagine as all are experienced.

Thats 8 good level wages saved.

Steven Alzate is just the sort of thing you don't need in Div 4 if serious about going up... a Carroll type is required, less talented but horrible.

At this stage I'm not sure it's worth speculating too much about the summer.... we kind of know who'll be out but little of what the budget might be like.  You'd like to think that with Power trying to get a foot in the CG ownership door, that he'll maintain it at present levels in order to at least keep league football at the CG, rather than the usual well income has dropped therefore budget must drop.

[Reg Smeeton]

Mark Cooper has managed a decent career as a manager blaming everybody else for his own fuck ups, even blaming the fans at Swindon on a few occassions but never ever himself. Even the FGR fans think he sometimes should blame himself but never ever does.

I guess in the scheme of things, it could be argued that plenty of games in non league and Div 4, with a few higher.... might have been more at a higher level without the slagging off players trait.

You can probably get away with it to an extent in the lower leagues... like PdC,  but you can't when dealing with the egos higher up the food chain.

[reeves4england]

But that's the point... that 8 point increment was needed otherwise trouble.... that prospect of trouble was why Brown was sacked.

I don't think I've read anyone on here saying Wellens should go, you'll need to go to the Adver BTL for that....

Wellens is an inexperienced gaffer... after yesterday, a bit of humility might have been called for, hands up admit he fucked up, and don't blame the players.

DV has suggested Wellens should go, so there's one. And my point was written in response to that - the danger of underestimating how much we improved under Wellens. We didn't necessarily only improve by 8 points... with Brown we might have finished on 53 points or we might have finished on 43, nobody knows but it certainly wasn't looking good. Basically I agree with you but was trying to make a slightly different point.

[pauld]

Mark Cooper has managed a decent career as a manager blaming everybody else for his own fuck ups, even blaming the fans at Swindon on a few occassions but never ever himself. Even the FGR fans think he sometimes should blame himself but never ever does.

I'm with Reg on this tbh, think Wellens showed himself up a bit with that, albeit it went down well with the fans but rarely comfortable with a manager who plays to the gallery at the expense of his team. Just because Cooper does it as well, doesn't exactly set a template

[Panda Paws]

RW has done more than enough to deserve a summer and his own squad. He done better with Brown's team than Brown did.

Also, we know we'll have a budget somewhere in the 6-9 bracket at this level. We need a manager to recruit well and deliver against budget to get in the play-offs. Hardly a miracle is it...