Inside track on Swindon Town

First of all I would like to thank Gary for his time to reply to our queries. Lets hope both sets of fans leave the County Ground happy on saturday.

> 1. How has your season gone so far at the County Ground



Well started off great 6-0 under Dennis Wise, we had a new investor Bill Power but come November it all turned sour. Wise had left to get Leeds United relegated and Bill Power left after he suffered injuries in a plane crash. We brought in the best manager out there at the time, Paul Sturrock. We sold Andy Monkhouse who was influential in Hartlepool`s surge up the table and he promptly came back to score against us and take 3 points. Our form has been fairly good as of recent so after Saturday`s blip at Rovers we are ready to give it a go at Promotion.

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> 2. Which Swindon Player should Saddlers Fans look out for?

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Lee Peacock (if healthy) and Jerel Ifil. Ifil has been immense this season at the back and has been a key figure in keeping us near the top of League 2 and Peacock will command a game from the midfield.



> 3. Who has been your player of the season thus far?

Vital Swindon fans voted Phil Smith, League 2 fans voted Lee Peacock and I choose Jerel Ifil. Again for the reason mentioned above. Without Ifil we would be mid-table or lower.

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> 4. How do you explain the failure to grab that extra point you needed after the Mansfield game, nerves or just bad luck.



Disappointment. The players looked lethargic and disinterested. I think many of them took promotion for granted given the fact they had a 7 goal difference. I don`t think the fact fans started cheering and celebrating that we were going up helped. Someone had fed Swindon fans incorrect information saying that Wycombe had taken the lead when in reality it was MK Dons. I reckon the boys will be up for it this weekend. Sturrock has said if players aren`t trying in the first 10 minutes they will come off.

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> 5. Do you think the loss of Dennis Wise has effect the clubs promotion push?

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To start with yes, The team looked like a cohesive unit and looked to be the fittest they have been in years. I think if we would have promoted someone from within to take Wisey`s place we may have been in trouble now but if you offered me Dennis Wise or Paul Sturrock before the season I would have taken Sturrock so?.



> 6. What is the current finacial situation at Swindon we have all heard various rumours during the season?



I really don`t know to be honest. We have a £900.000 CVA payment we need to make in the Summer and cannot pay. We have been told by the club they are trying to re-negotiate it and the administrator seems fine with this, but will the FA and the Football League. Will we get a 10 point deduction next season if we re-negotiate? The club state that the clubs finances are “difficult but stable”

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> 7. If you could have one Walsall player on your side who would it be

> Dean Keates a goalscoring midfielder who gets stuck in. I think we would be top of the league if we had a midfielder who can find the back of the net.

> 8. Which team and which set of fans have impressed you this season?

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I was really impressed with Accrington`s fans. I guess because you know they are “REAL” fans and are passionate about their club. They were very keen to talk to Swindon fans this season when we were at the Fraser Eagle. Very polite and know a lot about “REAL” football.



As for which team impressed me, it would have to be Hartlepool. WE played them first game of the season and you could tell they would be up there.



> 9. Where in the table do you see yourself in a year’s time in League One?

If we get promoted to League one ha-ha, In seriousness if we do go up, unless we find a decent goalscorer we could be in trouble. A lot of our first team players are out of contract and I would hope promotion would entice the core to stay together. Should we stay down we may have problems as well. Most of these players who are out of contract will likely try to get into a League One side and thus our core could be gone and we start from scratch.

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> 10. What are your predictions for Saturday`s sell out at the County Ground?

> I would love for us to win the match and do the double however I will take 1-1 and get promoted. PLEASE!!!

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> Thank you again Gary for taking time to answer our questions