Former Players: What do you do – boo or ignore?
Should former Swindon players, such as Aden Flint, get a rough ride at the County Ground, asks Ron Smith?
Aden Flint will be back at the County Ground on Saturday, playing in the colours of Bristol City. But how much do you care about former Swindon players once they have left. Do you boo every former Town player who dares to depart, or do you simple not care? Whatever you think, answer our poll and add your opinion below.
Is your anger reserved for those who claim they are leaving for better or bigger clubs or is it all about how they leave – with badge kissing and transfer requests? If Flint had gone to the Championship and not the bottom reaches of League One would Swindon fans be happy for him? Let us know.
What makes the difference? Does the size of the fee help? Or is it all about the player? After all, we’ve seen mixed receptions for Charlie Austin, but Sam Parkin is always warmly welcomed. And what would happen if someone who was once loved such as Simon Ferry, Alan McCormack or Paolo Di Canio came back to the County Ground?
Also don’t forget to add your comments below the line as we’ll be talking about this and reading out the best of the comments in TheWashbag podcast to be recorded this Sunday and available for download later that evening
The Washbag 
To be honest, I never rated Flint that highly – and thanks to Twitter, I could find out that he was even more of a tit than just his hair showed – but I won’t boo him. I’m too old to bother with that pantomime stuff.
Plus I do feel that booing everyone is just as contrived as players not celebrating – a job is a job. Players can be just okay and move on.
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Interesting that a popular view on the SwindonTownFans FB page – which isn’t covered in my poll – is “boo and assaulted in the car park before and ideally afterwards” – https://www.facebook.com/theswindontown/posts/709773125703051?comment_id=111647043&offset=0&total_comments=22
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Just imagine Flint in this team! He’d be a disaster – hoofball all the way! We’ve only shipped one more goal than the same number of games as last season – I’ll give him some stick – but he’ll probably score a late winner!
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Personally I don’t like to boo any ex players, especially the ones who have done well for us. The case with Flint is very similar to that of Austin, plucked from non-league and had a successful spell at the club before being sold on for profit and both better players then when they arrived. However the nature of their departures having both handed in transfer requests at her tendons times, Austin in the midst of a relegation battle and Flint, days after having a clause in his contract triggered to extend and having released Joe Devera leave a lot to be desired. I can see the argument both ways, in these cases but there is no doubt in my mind that only Austin has and is likely to progress further.
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In Flint’s case, we boo him to affect his game. We know he’s a hot head and with the crowd on his back and our silky football skills he’s bound to lose it. Tactics!
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I take the view that returning old STFC players should be met with a sympathetic clap as they know we were the best club they ever played for! Being anything than respectful to ex-players shows us in a poor light IMHO. i’ve never understood the mentality of those that abuse opposing players, it normally has the reverse effect. All energies sHould be concentrated on supporting our team only. In all my years I can only think of one player, Chris Taylor, then at Oldham, who became affected by constant abuse.
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