What a difference 12 months make..

[Robinz]

12 months ago things were really going so well being a STFC fan.
How can anyone be looking forward to Saturday and the visit to those f#ckers up the road.
Please all genuine advice will be received with thanks.

COYMRs

[Trashbat?]

Strange, not as if anything has changed in the world during those 12 months

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Hasn’t it always been thus?

Any success has never been built upon with this club - it’s always short term.

Up and down like a whore’s drawers.

[Robinz]

Agreed, Covid19 has been a major distraction for everyone.

Just seems that when it rains else where.......... Swindon gets totally drenched.

 

[DiV]

12 months we were in a lower division with a better team.

Nature of Lowe league football. 1 and 2 year deals and season long loans. 70%+ rebuild every season will obviously disrupted any sort of continuity / momentum

We basically roll the dice each season and hope for the best.

[Trashbat?]

Unfortunately until the foundations are right at the club it will always be the case.

With our reliance on yearly squad rebuilds there will always be hit and miss years. I honestly believe if Covid hadn’t of happened we would of retained a huge amount of the team we lost, however I also have a feeling that with Swindon being Swindon we may have ended up not getting promoted.

[Panda Paws]

If someone had offered me 19th in L1 I'd have bitten their hands off.

[Peter Venkman]

If someone had offered me 19th in L1 I'd have bitten their hands off.

This.

If they offer me 19th place at the end of this season I would again bite their hand off.

[JBZ]

A sense of perspective is required I think.  STFC have been poor so far but they are not rock bottom.  There appear to be some other equally poor teams and there is no reason why relegation cannot be avoided (of course penalties arising from financial difficulties may impact on that).

[4D]

Oxford have everything to lose on Saturday, with our record there it's not like we're expecting to win. They are doing poorly this season, lots of pressure on them which is great.

[reeves4england]

We just suffered an undeserved 1-0 defeat to one of the strongest teams in the league, are above the dotted line and have a few important players due back from injury soon. Sure, things aren't as exciting as this time last year but we're a league higher and holding our own despite the finances being decimated by a pandemic and the manager walking out on us for a younger model.

[horlock07]

A sense of perspective is required I think.  STFC have been poor so far but they are not rock bottom.  There appear to be some other equally poor teams and there is no reason why relegation cannot be avoided (of course penalties arising from financial difficulties may impact on that).

I think we are basically in a mini league of about 8 clubs who are pretty crap, however as long as 4 of those are worse than us that should be this seasons target.

Looking at it, whilst we bemoan our goal scoring, only Burton have actually scored more goals than us (1 more) in the entire bottom half of the table, get the defence a bit tighter and we could be laughing teacakes.

[Peter Venkman]

I think we are basically in a mini league of about 8 clubs who are pretty crap, however as long as 4 of those are worse than us that should be this seasons target.

Looking at it, whilst we bemoan our goal scoring, only Burton have actually scored more goals than us (1 more) in the entire bottom half of the table, get the defence a bit tighter and we could be laughing teacakes.

The thing is we aren't that crap, we have at least matched every team we have played for at least half of the game. Individual errors have cost us hugely, whether its 2 very poor keepers or pretty much every one of our defenders at one point or another.

Our squad strength will improve as the 9 missing 1st team players gradually return, there is no denying Lyden, Conroy, DJ and Fryers are huge misses so far, we played last night without a recognised striker and Tyler Smith will also be returning soon to bolster the attack.

We are nowhere near as bad as many are saying we are and we are only just over 1/4 of the season in, theres a long long way to go yet.

My major concern is that we need a better keeper as pretty much every error by both keepers has been punished with a goal and these errors happen in every single game they play in, without fail in the league, we just have to hope we are up against strikers so inept as Rovers had that they aren't punished.

[JoeMezz]

The main objective last year was to get out the league anyway possible. While I'd have probably taken where we are now at that time, it is thoroughly disappointing how much the squad was dismantled in the Summer. Last year's squad with a couple new additions would have definitely been top half, maybe even top 6. 

[horlock07]

My major concern is that we need a better keeper as pretty much every error by both keepers has been punished with a goal and these errors happen in every single game they play in, without fail in the league, we just have to hope we are up against strikers so inept as Rovers had that they aren't punished.

Whilst I think that the keepers have been rather exposed by the defence at times, and that putting fairly rookies keepers in such a position is/was a failure of management which must lie at Wellens door (I still wonder whether the whole Baxter/Kovar thing was him doing a favour for someone at Utd), I don't disagree it needs sorting.

In terms of getting in an OOC keeper, I don't recall, did Doughty bugger off pre or post window shutting as if it was afterwards that would suggest there must be some wriggle room in budgets to pay someone at least until January?