Marlborough Saint

Swindon were on the slide even before Austin was transferred, it was his goals that was keeping them out of the bottom 4. Probably their biggest loss though was when Gordon Greer went to Brighton in the summer. They havn't managed to replace him adequately. Also, Billy Painter went to Leeds and these were probably their 3 best players from last season. There really is no reason why we should not beat this present Swindon side and that will make my life a lot more bearable. The only cautionary note is that their players and particularly their fans will treat this like a cup final and we need to match that passion.

148 posts and no one has mentioned Kevin Richardson. He came to us in 1997 as a former England international at the very end of his career. He was a holding midfielder who read the game well and through his experience and discipline allowed Carlton Palmer and others to bomb forward at every opportunity. A real team player, never spectacular or flashy but an important part of one of our better seasons in the 90's. does anyone agree?

Given that December is nearly over I think the defining period will be up to the end of the transfer window. As a minimum expectation I would expect to see Chaplow signed permanently, a quality replacement for Puncheon and a proven striker. If a real statement of intent is being made I would also bring in a further pacy striker to replace Guly and Connelly plus another central midfielder as I believe we will need 4 to compete for the 2 spaces given the fixture backlog. This would give us a strong first eleven and impact players when needed in the event of injuries and suspensions.

Yes I went to every game with a few work colleagues. We were all from the Southampton area originally but found ourselves working for the same company in Swindon. Good for the away games but not so good when we had to make the trip to The Dell to buy tickets in person.

Agree with all you say Wes and surely the press conference on Monday would present a great opportunity for a protest given that all the TV stations & press will be there.

The best right backs for me were Jason Dodd, Ivan Golac, Mick Mills and Steve Mills. I think Steve Mills would have become the best and Ivan Golac was certainly the most skilful. Jason Dodd was a good competitor too. My vote though goes to Mick Mills, one of our many England captains at the time, a great leader and versatile too.

Chris Nicholl and Ken Monkou. Killer would be my next choice along with Dean Richards and John McGrath.

David Peach was the best, closely followed by Nick Holmes.

Its good to see some balanced posts on here. Yes this will be a season of ups and downs but there is a good spirit is in the team, unlike last year and these young players can only get better. I see us avoiding relegation but there will be disappointments along the way. The defence does need tightening up though and I do think Lloyd James should be getting more protection.