Five versus seven substitutes

After the Football League announced they would revert to seven substitutions for the 2012/13 campaign, Christopher Panks asks how this could affect Di Canio’s approach… Much is spoken of how substitutions have won or lost games for managers. Many have pointed to Harry Redknapp’s tactical decisions which saw his team surrender a 2-0 lead away to bitter rivals Arsenal, eventually conceding five without scoring another,

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Hall of Shame #14: Ron Atkinson – ‘When Big Ron Went Iffy’

For our 14th entry into the Swindon Town Hall of Shame, Dan Johnson looks back at when former manager and disgraced pundit Ron Atkinson turned up at the County Ground as a ‘football troubleshooter’ with Sky TV cameras for a short period in the 2005/06 season. As all Town fans know this season was a disaster, fellow Washbag contributor Tom Otrebski has

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Going Up! 1986/87 – A Season of Firsts

1986/87 saw Lou Macari’s young side secure back-to-back promotions, as Town returned to the second tier after a 13-year absence. From Digby’s debut to Chalkie’s elbows, this was a season of firsts, writes Ben Beaumont. This was my first full season as a Town fan, having opened my account half-way through the 1986 Division Four title-winning year, at the tender

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Going Up! 1985/86 – Lou Macari’s Red & White Army

A big-name ex-player of Italian descent in his first managerial role, leading Swindon to the fourth tier championship despite a bad start to the season, with a regime based on teamwork and discipline, breaking club records and knocking top flight opposition out of the cup on the way…. hmmm…. does this sound a bit familiar? Writes Richard Banyard. Though there

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