Swindon hammered Portsmouth 5-nil thanks to James Collins, but it wasn’t just his arrival which altered the direction of the match, says Alex Cooke. James Collins changed the game against Pompey and their 352 formation, but you knew that. What he did wasn’t hugely sophisticated – it is his natural way of playing – strong, quick, central, but the contrast
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Alex Cooke looks at who is in and who is out of Paolo Di Canio’s squad as the January transfer window opens. This transfer window is going to be significant for Swindon Town. Forget whatever Paolo Di Canio has said about the embargo stopping his shopping, the current Town team is built on loans. The spine of the side has
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Making a claim for the twin titles of Steve McMahon’s worst value-for-money signing and Swindon’s duffest left-back, Alex Cooke welcomes Jason Drysdale to the Hall of Shame. Even within the dismal shower of Swindon’s former left-backs Jason Drysdale stands out. Squeezed between the likes of Hall, Elkins, Casal, Rose and Beswetherwick his name still seems to bob up and down
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As Aston Villa arrive at the County Ground, Alex Cooke looks at how the Town boss always gets Swindon ‘up for the cup’ Under Paolo Di Canio Swindon have a great record in the League Cup, FA Cup and even the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Stoke, Wigan, Huddersfield, Colchester, Burnley, Bristol City, Brighton, AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Southend and Exeter have all
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It should have been a predictable tale of an STFC win but as Alex Cooke found, this story had a twist. With last week’s removal of chairman Jeremy Wray, Paolo Di Canio’s latest threat to quit over his lack of players and the return of Leon Clarke and David Prutton to the County Ground, this game already seemed to have
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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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Wes Foderingham has followed Paul Caddis in falling foul of Paolo Di Canio, but even he won’t be the last, writes Alex Cooke. First it was Paul Caddis, now it seems to be Wes Foderingham; the list of players who have offended Swindon’s Paolo Di Canio swells week by week. Leon Clarke was the first (and the fastest) to fall
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Throughout this week our writers reveal their hopes and expectations for Swindon Town in League One during 2012/13. Next up, Alex Cooke… Hopes and expectations for the season: More of the same. Di Canio will continue to be dangerously mental, often confrontational but also inspirational. He will still be backed generously by the board, chucking out at least one of this
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Why the recent £2 million cash injection won’t mean Town will buy Harry Kewell, by Alex Cooke. It seems churlish, grumpy and almost disloyal to question anything about a £2 million injection by the board of STFC into the club, after all this is that rarest of things – good news. But few things are quite that simple and you don’t
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Pre-season with Paolo is always said to be hard work but does all the running work? Alex Cooke looks at the evidence. Fitness has been something of a theme for Swindon Town; the club’s foundations were being laid by the Victorian ideal of ‘muscular christianity’, its badge carries the exhortation to effort; ‘Salubritas et Industria’ and one of its greatest
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The Washbag 