It was a great performance from Paolo Di Canio’s men as they exploited the holes in the Tranmere defence, but they made it easy for Swindon, says Alex Cooke. There are many reasons why Swindon thumped Tranmere 5-nil. Pressure and presence were vital as Town’s midfield swarmed and swamped with controlled aggression, but so was the general ineptitude of Tranmere’s
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Why Swindon struggle against teams who force Town to hit and hope, by Alex Cooke. The way to beat Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon is simple: pressure them. Preston did it, Leyton Orient did it, and last Tuesday night Colchester did it. The problem is that now every scout in League One will have seen it too: once Swindon are put under pressure at
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Many Swindon fans loathe them as much as substituting Alan Connell but short corners deserve their place in Town’s armoury, says Alex Cooke. We should blame Shaun Taylor. From the 1992/93 season onwards, when that slab of Devonian muscle piled in 13 goals, mostly off his Neanderthal brow, Swindon fans have expected – no demanded – that Town should score
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He’s wild, he’s exuberant, and he’s fantastic entertainment, but Paolo Di Canio is a more studied manager than his pitch-side persona reveals, says Alex Cooke. “The media portrayal of Paolo Di Canio is very different to the manager I’ve come across. The one I have experienced is very meticulous in his planning, very knowledgeable about every level of football from
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Swindon Town are top of League Two and normally that comes down to a solid frontline banging in the goals, such as our partnerships of Mooney and Parkin, Allison and Finney etc. This season, the frontline has chopped and changed but still to some success, Adam Johnson looks at the situation. Paul Benson. 32, 6ft tall, 11st, looking for a
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How Di Canio’s desire for width can leave Swindon outnumbered in central midfield, by Alex Cooke. “It’s 10% about the formation and 90% about the players. If you have the best ones and they do their jobs, then they can pretty much play any way you want them to.” Harry Redknapp might be one of Paolo Di Canio’s former managers
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His arrival was met with excitement, but as of yet, it hasn’t worked out for Lukas Magera. Consequently, he has returned to his old club Banik Ostrava on loan. Rosie MacGillivray looks at his long-term future at the County Ground. One goal in eight starts from the one-time Czech international striker paints a bleak picture. Although, that bleak picture fails to mention
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He can play 50 passes in less than 90 minutes and knits defence and attack but lately illness has deprived Town of Simon Ferry in full flow, Alex Cooke looks at what we have been missing. “Less energy, more quality”. That was Paolo Di Canio’s opinion of what Simon Ferry brought from the bench to Swindon versus Shrewsbury on Tuesday.
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Swindon’s wingers are always cutting in instead of crossing from the by-line, Alex Cooke looks at seven reasons why. ‘Why doesn’t Matt Ritchie go down the line?’ ‘What is Ritchie doing crossing from there?’ ‘Why won’t he pass?’ You can hear the questions in the stands, read them on the forums and scroll quickly past them on Twitter. For a player
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Paolo Di Canio has changed him from a midfielder to a defender, but playing at the back has allowed McCormack to change the way Swindon play, writes Alex Cooke. It took an injury to get Alan McCormack’s Swindon Town career going: not an injury to him, but to Oliver Risser. For the Namibian had been deployed as an emergency centre
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The Washbag 