It can’t just be me. The arrival of Paolo Di Canio has signalled a total shift in my outlook and expectations for the season ahead. So much so that I’m throwing away caution and struggling to accept anything other than complete domination of League Two. Call me arrogant for believing this, particularly those outsiders of you reading this looking in, yet having
Read moreYou’ve heard it so many times before. Prior to the start of every season managers all over the country proclaim the importance of winning the opening League match. With only one potential winner per game there’s definitely someone going home disappointed and their manager’s well rehearsed plans now up in smoke by a defeat that wasn’t in the script. Already managers are
Read moreWith pre-season now drawing to a close, Alex Cooke looks back at past seasons to establish whether pre-season and form taken into the campaign make any difference for mounting a successful promotion push. Can anybody predict promotion from pre-season? What exactly does a crushing 11-0 win against a Norcia XI teach us? What can Paolo learn from a match as
Read moreNew writer Alex Cooke gives his view on one of the least talked about summer departures. “If we’ve ever spent good money on one individual then it’s been Ken, he’s been absolutely outstanding.” At this point you are probably racking your brain to work out which Ken then caretaker boss David Byrne was eulogising to the Evening Advertiser about back in 2008.
Read moreNo.18 | Andy King (2) | Manager December 2001 to September 2005 | Score 247.2 Andy King was reinstated following the ousting of the Board that had brought Roy Evans into the managerial hotseat, leading to the former Red resigning. King’s reappearance in the County Ground was a backwards step, never has an imcumbant manager faced such a hostile reception and
Read moreNo.19 | Ted Vizard | Manager April 1933 to June 1939 | Score 244.8 Ted Vizard became our second Football League manger under the worst possible circumstances. In 1933 Town finished bottom of Division Three South and were re-elected. In bringing in Vizard, he became our first manager in the modern sence, on professional terms, full time and with a footballing pedigree, having
Read moreNo.20 | John Trollope | Manager November 1980 to March 1983 | Score 230.27 John Trollope might have made 770 appearances in the Football League for Swindon Town, however when he made the decision to retire his boots and take over from Bobby Smith in November 1980 he put his legendary status fully on the line. At first Trollope inspired
Read moreIn this next Managers Month post we finish the first group of Swindon Town managers with Ken Beamish and Andy King’s first spell in charge at the County Ground. We’ve had two managers, Andy King and Danny Williams, who’ve managed us in two separate spells, so for the purposes of this feature each spell is considered in isolation. As we’ll
Read moreI’ve reached Swindon managers No.24 Dennis Wise and No.23 Dave Mackay. Perhaps, like me initially, you had thought Wise and Mackay might have been higher in this countdown. Instead they’re both in the bottom third of my list of the good, the bad and the ugly Swindon managers throughout the years. No.24 | Dennis Wise | Manager May to October 2006
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My story of Swindon Town through ranking the 30 managerial appointments is only based on the permanent managers over the years, so no caretakers were included. However, after the sacking of Maurice Lindley towards the end of the 1954/55 season the Board took a bit too much of an active interest in match selection. In the interim period the Board preferred
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The Washbag 