We can’t win them all. Accrington Stanley v STFC

[Berniman]

I don't know why so many people are convinced we can't get a good owner. Just look at the likes of Reading, Brentford, Bristol, Bournemouth, Posh. I could go on. Swindon may not be a fashionable club but neither were any of those mentioned before they got investors. That, and it's well known that Swindon has a very large catchment area and could probably maintain Championship level crowds if the club saw some success.

That's what a legitimate investor would look at: the potential state of the club in a few years after investment. Not the condition it's in now. Picking up the club in its current condition might even make the club more attractive to some because there's a greater scope for development. And players in the Championship are often sold for millions.

The reason we ended up with Power this time is because Black wanted out quickly, leaving us vulnerable to characters like Jed who managed to pick up a L1 club for a quid.

Whether or not we do end up with a good owner is, of course, another matter entirely but I've heard rumblings that there's some very wealthy interested parties involved. We could well end up with another shyster, but it's hardly a leap to think we could attract the right people.

Agree with this and have heard the same rumblings

[Peter Venkman]

And the views of the Accrington fans may slightly surprise some Town fans.

Have to stop Twyne (sp?) running the midfield for them.

Hard game to call Swindon no mugs good at set pieces so need to cut out needless fouls around the box

good win today against a good footballing side should have been 4 or 5 for us though

Not at all pretty to watch but it's the 3 points that matter so well done lads for grinding out a result.

Thought Swindon were a better team than one sitting a single point above the drop-zone. Shows how tough this league is this season.

i enjoyed the game swindon are better than the table shows am delighted with the victory

Boys dug deep to get those 3 points, at one point it looked like they didn’t want them and tried everything to give something to Swindon, fortunately it seemed Swindon didn’t fancy anything themselves either!

[Jimmy HaveHave]

And the views of the Accrington fans may slightly surprise some Town fans.

Well we did have more possession than them!

[JBZ]

You do know that clubs can also make money from player sales, right?

And that would be one of the biggest draws. Many club owners have the ethos of investing in players to sell on. Like McAnthony at Posh, for example. There's bound to be many wealthy people out there who think they can do the same and, if they do, Swindon would be a good vehicle to help them achieve that. It's hardly some pie in the sky notion - it's actually rather common in football.

I think you're being a bit myopic here. People who buy into a football club often have a vision. They look to what they can do with the club in the future.

I hope you are right.  For whatever reason STFC hasn't been the chosen vehicle for success. As bemoaned by many, the club seems to generally attract a certain level of investment/owner.

We may soon be at the point where significant inward investment doesn't guarantee div 2 football- as shown by some of the clubs currently languishing in div 3.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

It really doesn’t matter what attendances were, the eternal problem was/is we’ve had no owner willing to invest in the club whose sole objective wasn’t just to make a quick buck.

Makes you wonder why those ‘fans’ who continually snipe and hope for the worst even bother to feign interest.

[Legends-Lounge]

Agree with this and have heard the same rumblings

Fingers crossed. The key to a brighter future is the freehold. Period. Aided and abetted by someone with a bit of bunce and a realistic vision.

[Peter Venkman]

It really doesn’t matter what attendances were, the eternal problem was/is we’ve had no owner willing to invest in the club whose sole objective wasn’t just to make a quick buck.

Makes you wonder why those ‘fans’ who continually snipe and hope for the worst even bother to feign interest.

[leftside]

Agree with this and have heard the same rumblings

Any idea if the rumblings turning to actual noise might be dependent on which division we’re in next season?

[FreddySTFC!]

Agree with this and have heard the same rumblings

Any chance of a DM on this Berni? Presuming it's not something that you're happy to disclose on the main forum?

[BambooToTheFuture]

sigh. slightly OT.

our remaining games (courtesy Alan Wilson, FB):

Home
Oxford United
Gillingham
Ipswich Town
Peterborough United
Portsmouth
Blackpool

Away
Wigan Athletic
Bristol Rovers
Burton Albion
AFC Wimbledon
Rochdale
Franchise
Fleetwood Town


our home and away form, bottom of the league with 9 points (next worse 13 points)

https://www.soccerstats.com/homeaway.asp?league=england3

What it fails to show in some way is Town have done well against the shittest (and some of the better) teams in the division. They should have enough to beat Wigan, Wovvers, Rochdale and Original Dons.

Points from any of the others will be a bonus (like Crewe and Lincoln). The way I see or expect Town's results to pan out would be;

Home
Draw - Oxford United
Nowt - Gillingham
Nowt (outside point chance) - Ipswich Town
Nowt (outside point chance) - Peterborough United
Nowt - Portsmouth
Nowt - Blackpool

Away
Win - Wigan Athletic
Win - Bristol Rovers
Nowt - Burton Albion
Win - AFC Wimbledon
Win - Rochdale
Possible Draw - Franchise
Hot/Cold, will say Nowt - Fleetwood Town


13pts in the "getting close to certain" category. 16pts in the "a decent possibility" category. So 44pts or 47pts. I reckon either just about keeps Town up in this shitty season (I said 43pts to 45pts previously). Have to take into account that a lot of teams at the bottom are playing each other, so points WILL be dropped. The main indicator is as long as Town do what they have done against most of the bottom sides and win/pick up points it won't matter.

Let's take a look at the updated last five form for the bottom 6 (since Burton are rampant at present and only Sunderland better their last five (13pts to Burton's 12pts sigh) games):

N' hants - L-D-L-W-W = 7pts (1.4PPG)  ~ G/L 13
Swindon - W-D-W-L-L = 7pts (1.4PPG)  ~ G/L 13
===============================
Wigan A  - L-W-L-L-W = 6pts (1.2PPG)  ~ G/L 13
Wombles - L-W-L-D-D = 5pts (1.0PPG)  ~ G/L 15
B Rovers - L-L-W-L-L  = 3pts (0.6PPG)  ~ G/L 14
Rochdale - D-D-L-L-L  = 2pts (0.4PPG)  ~ G/L 13

Using games left (G/L) and last 5 form then this would have those teams accrue:

N' hants - 18.2
Swindon - 18.2
===========
Wigan A  - 15.6
Wombles - 15.0
B Rovers -  8.4
Rochdale - 5.2

This "form" indicates Town might go and get an extra couple of points somewhere (I don't think they will). Maybe Fleetwood and one of the home games?! Obviously you can't have 0.2 or 0.6pts so I will round them down or up accordingly. With the current points on the board, the points added in from above, this is what the projected bottom (projected bottom  ) could look like come the end of the season;

N' hants -  50pts
Swindon -  49pts
===========
Wigan A  - 46pts
Wombles - 45pts
B Rovers - 38pts
Rochdale - 33pts

I think it will be lower than that all round, possibly by upto 3pts. Could quite easily seeing both Wigan and Town both being on 45/46pts going into the last game of the season, and Northampton on 46/47pts. It's going to come down to the last day - isn't it? 

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I can see us losing 7/8 games so will be lucky to get 44/45 points which probably wouldn't be enough.
I think Rovers will get more than us leaving Wigan, Wimbledon, Rochdale and ourselves as the four to go down.
Hope I'm wrong but to get to 49 points would take a miracle with this group of players and manager but stranger things have happened

[Batch]

@bamboo

I agree drawing conclusions isn't as clear cut as 'on paper'.

but relying on that many wins away from home, I think that's wishful thinking.

we've got something from Lincoln, Ipswich, Hull and Charlton. it's possible to win a few of those home games

[BambooToTheFuture]

Hope I'm wrong but to get to 49 points would take a miracle with this group of players and manager but stranger things have happened

Just to clarify, I don't think Town will get to 49pts but I don't think any of the bottom 5 (poss 6) will either. It's looking more like 46pts and then only on GD.

@bamboo

I agree drawing conclusions isn't as clear cut as 'on paper'.

but relying on that many wins away from home, I think that's wishful thinking.

we've got something from Lincoln, Ipswich, Hull and Charlton. it's possible to win a few of those home games

Yeah for sure but this season Home/Away I don't think it really counts for much. If anything I think it goes against the teams who would usually have a big following come rain or shine. I;m going purely on that Town have done well against the teams around them and somewhat raised their game against teams in the top 8.

You're right though, in some respects Town could also go and grab "surprise wins" against the likes of Peterborough and Ipswich. Think that's why I put "(outside chance of point)" because it's possible they can get something from those games. I guess realistically I was only using the "form" and thinking about how well Town had returned against those that are equally shit.

Be interesting how it pans out and hopefully Town end up the right side of the line.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

Just to clarify, I don't think Town will get to 49pts but I don't think any of the bottom 5 (poss 6) will either. It's looking more like 46pts and then only on GD.

Yeah for sure but this season Home/Away I don't think it really counts for much. If anything I think it goes against the teams who would usually have a big following come rain or shine. I;m going purely on that Town have done well against the teams around them and somewhat raised their game against teams in the top 8.

You're right though, in some respects Town could also go and grab "surprise wins" against the likes of Peterborough and Ipswich. Think that's why I put "(outside chance of point)" because it's possible they can get something from those games. I guess realistically I was only using the "form" and thinking about how well Town had returned against those that are equally shit.

Be interesting how it pans out and hopefully Town end up the right side of the line.

Fair point about Swindon's predicted total points but I will stick with 44/45 but doubt that would be enough

[STFC no2 fan]

We won the League Cup as as a L1 team in 1969. This is our level. We then got lucky with Ossie and Glenn. Supporting a team is not dependent on results. Why do people on here get annoyed about single seasons/single results? COYYR for life, not just for the good times.