Season Preview - Swindon

2005/2006 Season Preview - Swindon Town

Swindon: Wiltshire Home: County Ground. 15,728 (all seated) Nickname: The Robins Hate: Oxford United and oddly enough, Gillingham. Last Meeting: 17th Mar 2001 LD2 Swindon Town A D 1-1 "Hi! I'm Swindon Town Football Club, you may remember me from such entertaining football stories as: 'Premiership - Down Before The Decorations', and 'Once, Twice, Thirty-Six Times a Breach of Financial Regulations'" Chaired by former jockey and small human Willie Carson, the Robins have hit the financial brick-wall in recent times, and the fans have had to endure a number of departures from the club to help balance the books. The most notable being star striker Sam Parkin who signed for Ipswich Town for a fee believed to be in the region of £750,000 just a few weeks ago, although it was likely that Parkin would be snapped up by a Championship club sooner or later regardless of the financial position of the club, due to his goalscoring exploits. Most people probably remember Swindon for: 1) Their inglorious season in the Premier League in 93/94, 2) Their player/manager Glen Hoddle 3) The financial irregularities that brought the authorities down on them like a ton of bricks. Ossie Ardiles got the club promoted to the top-flight in the 1990-91 season, but the club had been a bit slack with the finances, and admitted to one or two (36) breaches of the rules. The Chairman was banged up for 6 months and the club was relegated before they had kicked a ball, much like they were in 93/94… The club pulled off a surprise coup when they appointed the pop sensation of 1987 Glen Hoddle as player/manager in 1991. After guiding them to the top division for the first time in their history, Hoddle was tipped off by Eileen Drewery that they were going to get a right royal gubbing in their games the following season and so he quit to join Chelsea. Assistant manager John Gorman, now manager of Wycombe, was given the job offer equivalent of a hospital pass, and was promoted to take charge of Wiltshire's mission impossible. In their single season in the top-flight they conceded a record 100 goals, and the Robins were rooted to the bottom of the table all season. Yes, ALL season. It all got a bit too much for Gorman after their 256th successive game without a win. During half-time at a rain-soaked game at the County Ground in November, Gorman forlornly made his way up to the directors box where Premier League chief Rick Parry was a guest, and shouted: "You've got to help us! We've got promoted by mistake!..." Since dropping down to the third tier in 2000, The Robins have reached the play-offs once in 2003/2004 after finishing 5th. Last season the Robins were unable to match their play-off push of the previous season, only the 24 goals from Parkin kept them in the top-half of the table. Financial constraints made life difficult for King, but he managed to bring in a few loan players to stop the club sinking into the lower reaches of the division. The clubs other main goal scoring threat was midfielder Grant Smith who contributed 10 goals. He would no doubt be earmarked for a vital part in Swindon's challenge this season - that's if they hadn't lost him to rivals Bristol City that is. Manager Andy King's moves in the transfer market were initially delayed whilst the Sam Parkin situation resolved itself, and with a small squad to start with, King will need to make the best use of his resources and eye for a player to assemble a squad capable of lasting the full season. With Parkin finally gone, King has moved quickly to bolster his attack with deals to sign QPR pair Jamie Cureton and Tony Thorpe, both players that Kenny Jackett will know all about. Jackett will no doubt also know about Jack Smith, a defender signed from Jackett's former club Watford. After missing out on former Swan Andy Melville, King has signed former Cardiff midfielder Gareth Whalley from Wigan, and former Arsenal trainee Nicky Nicolau. Nicolau, a left-sided winger, joins from Southend where he rejected their offer of a new contract after helping them to promotion from League 2. Other summer signings include Ricky Shakes and the nice and posh Charlie Comyn-Platt Esq, Chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association, PhD (Cambridge). Although we won't be seeing Melville at the White Rock next season, one former Swansea defender will be lining up against us for the Robins. 16-times capped Steve Jenkins left the Swans in 1995 to join Huddersfield in a £275,000 deal, and has made more than 470 league appearances for a number of clubs in his 15-year career. The Merthyr boy joined Swindon from Peterborough in November 2004, giving the defence added experience and scruffiness. With manager Andy King still actively seeking to add names to his squad, it is difficult to predict what we can expect from Swindon this coming season, but a laughable lack of knowledge of opposition teams hasn't stopped me so far, so…I say they will finish in about 15th place.

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