2010/11 – Written off already?

With just a couple of days until the new season starts, football fans up and down the country have that nervous excitement in their bellies, the hope that this might be their year.  Such optimism, such light-headed anticipation!  It’s the kind of feeling that only a 5-0 reverse at Gillingham can spoil.

How not to head a ball, courtesy of Scott Cuthbert (and swindontownfc.co.uk)

As Swindon fans, our emotions seem to be on a permanent rollercoaster.  Last season began with that humiliating thrashing down in Kent followed by gradual improvement, stopped off for a bit of fun at Craven Cottage, reached a peak with two 3-0 donkings of Leeds and Charlie Austin’s goal at Southampton, merged with fear as the play-offs approached and wins turned into draws, exploded with delight on a Monday evening at the Valley and ended, devestatingly, in a damp Wembley squib.  As teams go, we’re not the easiest to predict!

Not that that’s going to stop the pundits of course.  In the last couple of days I’ve seen Sky Sports News attempt to sort the winners and the losers in League One, and today the BBC Sport website has had it’s say.  Neither of these has any time for Swindon.  It seems we’re being written off already.  Again.

BRILLIANT!

Despite playing some excellent football and taking points from most of the leading sides, we were largely ignored last season and it suited us very nicely indeed.  Without any pressure or fuss we went about our business easily making it to the play-offs, and even flirting with second place for a while.  When the pundits finally sat up and took notice, our form dipped as the nerves set in.  Clearly if we have a season like the last one it won’t take as long for reporters to single us out, but it is nice that the players can once again get on with the job in hand with just the local Wiltshire rabble to impress.

In terms of the playing staff, it’s excellent news that Ferry is back, Caddis is almost universally lauded as a player, and I think that Prutton will be a fine addition to the squad.  I don’t know much about messrs Ball and Rose, but they are also well respected.  On the flip side, we’ve lost Paynter to Leeds, Greer to Brighton and Ward is back at Bolton.  Despite finishing the season as top scorer, I don’t think we’ll miss Paynter all that much.  Champagne Charlie has had a very decent pre-season, Big Vince should be fit for the first time since he’s been at the club, and Thomas Dossevi has impressed during his trial.  If we were to also land Tresor Kandol, as is reported, I think we’d have an excellent looking attack.  We will miss Ward who just got better and better as the season progressed, but hopefully we can fill that gap quickly.  Greer is a big loss, and very disappointing.  Hopefully Sean Morrison will step in, but central defence is probably our weakest position now in terms of depth.  I am sure Morrison and Cuthbert will do well, but we’re looking a bit exposed if one of them gets injured.

A bad pundit. Well, two actually...

This pre-season reminds me a bit of the season we got to the play-offs under Andy King.  I remember Chris Kamara, amongst others, writing us off as relegation candidates and could only assume they hadn’t looked at the squad.  That’s the way I see it this time around.  In my opinion we have a better bunch than we did last season.  If we can get a decent centre back to add depth then we’ll be pretty much there.  Yet we’re being ignored by the pundits and journos who are supposed to know what they’re talking about.  Yet they all tread the same well worn path of picking Southampton and the three relegated sides as promotion favourites.  It’s just lazy journalism in my opinion.  Sheffield Wednesday are financially crippled and may well struggle, while Plymouth and Peterborough are back where they belong and will find that League One sides are ready to gobble them up.

Will we go up this season?  Who knows.  But there is clearly a momentum behind the club, and the squad we have is more than good enough to battle for honours.  I can’t wait!

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