Thetownend.com

Leon Clarke to leave Swindon Town after Di Canio spat
     

Swindon Town chairman Jeremy Wray confirms Leon Clarke will leave the club on loan following his row with manager Paolo di Canio.
     

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14731714.stm
     

Cheerio cheerio.  Shame he has such a bad attitude as he's obviously got some talent.  Hopefully Magera comes good....

I would be making him do at least 10 mile runs on his own every day.

i've obviously seen a lot happen as a town fan (aren't we lucky?) but can't remember a time when our two biggest striker signings in two years (benyon/clarke) both went out on loan after playing a handful of games between them, with no real likely hood of playing for us again (unless promoted this season). I wonder how we're regarded in the football comunity?.......hmmm.

agree, and i bet connell's confidence is draining by the day :badmood:

I suppose if you're a player and want to leave then its piss easy to cheese PdC off and get your move

Didnt rate Benyon to be honest. Not very good, and a crock.

Clarke on the other hand has been Di Canio's number 1 forward since he got here. Going to be a big loss.

Not sure whether Magera is interested or not to be honest. Hasnt shown much desire when he's come on as a sub.

Wasn't Magera the No.1 target from the start?

Doesnt stop me worrying after what Ive seen of him.

He did play a 40 yard cross field left footed ball to Gabillondo at Bristol City, but apart from that, fuck all. Looked behind the play, and seems to have fallen behind Kerrouch and Connell in the pecking order.

Wasn't questioning your opinion on Magera just the 'no.1 target' comment.

You go to games Spencer, I don't. Therefore I don't have an opinion on these players at this moment in time.

We may well find ourselves in the same situation as we were in before Clarke signed - desperately needing a big man up front. Worrying if this is the case, we really need a settled side.

I'm even more worried about our defensive cover after the departure of Amankwaah. Think we are ok in midfield but could do with the Arsenal defender in to give us some extra quality at the back.

Bodies wise we're okay up front: De Vita, Connell, Magera (BIG MAN), Kerrouche and (tee hee) Pavett. Plus Abdulla as an attacking midfielder.

Goals wise? God only knows.

Defensive cover is a concern.

If we were banking on Leon Clarke to be our main striker and goal scorer then we're in big trouble...

Firstly because he won't play for us again and even if he does, he's still woeful.

Should have kept Amankwaah and stuck him up front  ;)

It's easy to just blame paolo for the decision of clarkes departure. However J Wrey is the man that cleared out loads of players in the summer. Citing a new mantra of having a team full of people that want to wear the shirt and fight for each other. This is all very comendable but not very easy to do. The only person to speak on the matter today is J Wrey so what if (devils advocate time) paolo's prepared to work with Clarke but J Wrey's been infuriated by a very public rebelion?

I doubt any of our last squad wanted to stay (they jumped ship quick enough). Douglas ummed and ahhed until Brentford saved him. Cuthbert? Perhaps but we'll never know.

There's been a lot of finger pointing lately.

I don't think Cuthbert did.

If Clarke was bought in as the 'big man' up front, then he certainly wasn't up for the job, he hardly won a header and didn't really offer that much physical presence.

I admit to being caught up in the fervour when we signed Leon Clarke but I spoke to a couple of mates today a QPR supporter the other an Owl about their opinion on Mr Clarke and I wasn’t surprised to hear neither were particularly complimentary about his attitude.

Both agreed "Leon has plenty of talent" but simply "didn’t apply himself", was "prone to strops" and "in a struggling side you wouldn’t want him anywhere near the ground let alone the team".  Against the odds he was "as much use as tits on a fish" "lumbering around like a geriatric in Aldi" all comments they used.  

I still think it’s a shame he’s gone this was a handbag incident and should have brought the side together.   Sadly from Wray’s latest interview it indicates Leon bottled the face-to-face and clear the air meetings today and scuttled off to his agent.  

Which is what makes me think that this was just an excuse for Clarke to jump ship.

Last nights debacle a blessing in disguise then perhaps?

What an ace expression, I'll try and pull that little gem of saying out in a meeting tomorrow.

Last night's antics proved my fears about the whole media circus aspect and craziness surrounding Di Canio. We're a laughing stock right now. Obviously it doesn't look good at all but if we somehow manage to turn things round and get the last laugh it's going to be bloody brilliant.

On the strikers issue, Kerrouche has looked the pick based on the couple of brief appearances he's been given. Has to start on Saturday.

I don’t think so, the lad has talent and as bad as his attitude could be he took a considerable drop down the leagues to join Town.  

At the end of the day it was handbags at dawn and should of and could have been so easily resolved had he met with Wray today but it sounds like he either bottled the meeting or was told to steer well clear by the club.

I for one am a bit sorry to see the end of Clarke for us. In the only game i saw him(poxford) he led the line well with little support from his front partner and centre mids. If he's been shit in other games then i'l have to take peoples word on that but he wouldn't have been alone.

I'm worried that not giving the players time off and running them into the ground may be backfiring.
Unhappy players wont play to the best of their ability whether some fans think they are overpaid and priviliged or not.
I'm sure even the quiet players are pissed off with getting no time off and i'm also sure players who have signed are regretting it(connell in particular).

I thought he looked totally out of it on Tuesday night (except for the free kick).  Ran around a lot to very little purpose, didn't seem to read the game at all.  Hope I'm very wrong but I fear that his level is well below League 2.

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Free kick aside, I thought he played like a recently uncaged animal, all running and aggression but sod all actual achievement. Could and should have been sent off on at least two occasions and all.

If Clarke had actually been able to pass the ball properly Karrouche would have been clean through on goal at least twice. Clarke can (sort of) hold the ball up but he can't pass and he missed two sitters. Someone texted in bbc wilts last night stating he's a better Pericard. Absolutely true.

All that running around like an uncaged animal which Karrouche did actually got us back in the game. Caddis was able to push forward as he wasn't pinned back in our half as Karrouche put them under pressure. Plus he scored a free kick. I will concede he completely lost the plot at the end of the first half though.

Dunno, Austin used to chase down everything and got lauded for it.

Agree 100% with Si's post, did not look like a headless chicken to me,he was a big reason we played lots better second half with all his hassling,chasing and endless energy he raised the tempo of the team.Rarely remember him wasting a pass as well,free kick was also fantastic finish,has definitely earnt his start against Rotherham.Kerrouche has all the raw attributes to be good in this division he has good aggression,is physical,good speed and looks a threat,could end up being an important player for us.Like the fact he seems to love it here as well.

he took the considerable drop down the leagues to join us because no one else was daft enough to sign him.

I thought Smith was more guilty of this.

I thought Kerrouche has more of an impact. I don't know what his quality is like, and I do know he was lucky not to be sent off. But I thought his running and physical nature at least got at Southampton a bit.

Connell by comparison  looked a bit lacking in the physical department in his cameo. But I really believe he has the ability to score a fair few with the right strike partner. And he's bound to look a bit rusty having not played much.

Agree with Arriba that Clarke looked good v Oxford, but I thought he was lethargic and  ineffective on Tuesday, and was clearly blowing out his arse in the last 10. Over trained, maybe, or in a strop? 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/football-league-blog/2011/aug/31/paolo-di-canio-bust-up

If PDC turns it around I hope the Guardian swallows a little humble pie and does a suitably complimentary article...fookin lefties (no disrepect PaulD if you still check in)

Sky Sports might have to do something similar too, having completely misrepresented Tuesday's incident.

As for that Guardian article, it's amazing that somebody can write an article about "Di Canio's latest bust-up" without actually discussing what Di Canio did wrong...

Ha ha, I noticed that.