On Saturday League Two strugglers Hereford United were the visitors at the County Ground with the home side expected to record a comfortable victory. However, as we all know all too well, football is not that simple. Reports Andrew Steele-Davis. Swindon were going into the game having just come off the back of an excellent midweek 2-1 victory over Exeter
Read moreSwindon slumped to yet another away-day defeat at lowly Macclesfield, extending their wretched and unpredictable run of form away from the County Ground in the process reports Tom Otbrebski. The performance at Moss Rose bore a striking resemblance to the showings at Cheltenham and Burton earlier on in the campaign: a tale of missed chances, a penalty that perhaps should have
Read morePaolo Di Canio has now been in charge of Swindon Town for ten League Two games and throughout this week we’ll be reviewing his successes in three key areas. Today Andrew Steele Davis looks back on an area that has played a major part in Di Canio’s time in charge so far; substitutes. Has Paolo’s subs been inspired? How much of an impact, positive
Read moreSwindon secured their fourth victory in five games thanks to a comfortable 4-0 win over The Bees. However, despite Town’s dominance, it always takes two to tango, with Barnet heavily responsible for their own downfall. Reports Ron Smith. After being brought back down to earth a week ago at Burton, Paolo Di Canio responded with one enforced change in Comazzi returning to the side and Phil
Read moreAlex Cooke looks at the rules on home-grown players and how they are stopping Di Canio picking, playing and signing the footballers he wants. For once the ‘too many foreigners’ brigade are right. Not because their blinkered, dust-brained views on who can and can’t ‘do it’ on a windy night in Barnet are remotely correct, but because the rules say so.
Read moreIs 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 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 moreAdam Johnson reports on Swindon’s excellent 1-0 victory at Bristol City in the Carling Cup 1st Round. Passion, skill and energy, they’re the three main characteristics we were told Di Canio would bring to Swindon and last night we finally saw it in full flow. A 71st minute winner from summer signing Raffaele De Vita sealed a great night at Ashton
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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The Washbag 