Is Swindon’s 442 too open? Alex Cooke looks at the blueprints for Paolo’s master plan. No one could doubt that Paolo Di Canio is demanding: his pre-season training, half-time tantrums and full-time ABH prove at that. But tactically Paolo also asks a lot of his players because he has created a system that demands discipline and athleticism, and can yield great results, but also leaves little margin
Read moreIt was only last week that Alex Cooke introduced Leon Clarke on this site. Now Alex reviews Di Canio’s awful decision to sign Clarke. “Paolo Di Canio in heated confrontation with Swindon’s Leon Clarke”, “Paolo Di Canio and Leon Clarke Come To blows” and “Di Canio’s Tunnel Bust Up”: it was exactly what the national media had been waiting for –
Read moreUntil the Swindon v Southampton match report and reactions to ‘Clarkegate’ are posted later today (as trust me to be away after such events), here’s something to read over your Cornflakes. Swindon fan and BBC Radio commentator Andrew Hawes has his say about ‘Project Di Canio’. One of the few things I can remember from school physics lessons, apart from
Read moreAt the other ‘STFC’, Town approached the game knowing the midweek League Cup victory at Bristol City must be used as the impetus to re-start a misfiring League Two campaign. Against confident predictions, including my own wild partisan cries of absolute confidence, Town had so far failed to set the league alight with three successive hard fought games post Crewe.
Read moreIf you can stomach it, ‘U’s fan Steve Butcher gives his view of the game from The Stratton Bank. For the first time since October 2000 Oxford United made the short trip along the A420 for a league match against Swindon Town, a game that has been talked about ever since Town’s relegation to League 2 was confirmed last season.
Read moreSuccessive defeats was hardly what we were all expecting having (eventually) put a solid 3 past Crewe on the opening day. Yet a sense of reality and perspective is sorely missing from yet another vocal minority in the post match reactions to our narrow 1-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge. It’s almost like Paul Hart was still in charge… It’s all well and
Read moreIt’s only taken 18 months! Yes, finally I can welcome ‘The Overseer’ to The Washbag. Perched in the Arkells Stand with his flat cap and pipe, Neilsen ‘The Overseer’ gives his expert and often irreverent view on Swindon Town. From ‘Bell-ends’ to ‘Bellissimo’ – what a contrast from the morale-sapping dross we were subjected to last season! The Paolo Di Canio [hopefully fascism
Read moreIt 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 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 moreAfter returning from Italy, Paolo Di Canio took his Robins a short distance across town to face Evo-Stik Southern Premier Swindon Supermarine at Hunts Copse. With a first opportunity for the Swindon public to witness Di Canio in the flesh a bumper crowd swelled the football ground attached to a bungalow, delaying the kick-off for 15 minutes, a rarity for a pre-season friendly.
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