Following Swindon’s relegation to League 2 in 2021, it has been a struggle for Town to get out of the rut of League 2 whilst seeing the likes of Forest Green Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Bristol Rovers and most frustratingly Oxford United all have stints in League One.
The arrival of Wrexham AFC and Notts County from the National League as well as the relegated sides from League One being Forest Green, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe and MK Dons makes the upcoming season very tough with many writing off top spot and already handing the title to the newly promoted and Hollywood backed Wrexham as they re-signed former Manchester United and England Keeper Ben Foster for one more year.
As always the support of the County Ground faithful will always give Swindon Town hope of a successful season but is very obvious that the squad needs a lot of financial backing to give any chance of keeping up with the likes of Wrexham and others. Michael Flynn is said to be impressed by the “sizeable budget” that
Clem Morfuni is prepared to hand him for the up-coming season but has also stated the club aren’t going to rush into the market. Town Fans will hope that the recruitment is better than previous years.
The extension of Charlie Austin’s contract as well as the retaining of seventeen first team players is a boost. But as the the first game is fast approaching, Flynn will want to see arrivals coming in as time will be needed to gel the squad together as Flynn demands a defensive but counter attacking style of play with little room for error and complacency.
The appointment of former Newport County and Walsall coach, Michael Flynn, on the final day of the 22/23 season came with a whiff of optimism and hope for change. He has previously made the League 2 Play-Off Final twice but never achieved promotion so Town will hope he can go one further with Play-Offs being perhaps the most realistic way of getting out of this league due to the strength of the division this season. Flynn is expected to incorporate his 5-3-2 formation, expect to see a very defensive style of play but lighting quick on the counter attack with a “little and large” striking duo up front.
Replacing the twelve goal contributions as well as the experience of Johnny Williams will be a tall order, the Welshman’s departure saw the end of what was a short but successful time at SN1 as he signed for rivals Gillingham Town despite looking nailed on to join Bradford City. Hutton and Wakeling will hope to take their 23/23 form into this coming season with twelve and fourteen goal contributions respectively. Michael Flynn will hope he can hold on to them and fend off any suitors.
Town can expect a tough start to the season. The opening six games of the season include four away games with games against Wrexham and Forest Green Rovers proving to be the toughest on paper. Towns away form last season wasn’t great winning seven of the twenty three away games so Flynn will have to look to
change the fortunes of the team on road as a bad start to the season might destroy any early promotion hopes.
As preparation for the season continues and pre-season games start getting us excited for what’s ahead. As with most seasons, the in-comings are going dictate how the fans feel about the club and if the board aren’t prepared to back the new manager like implied, the season could be a long one for club and fans alike. The strength and quality of the League is clear all too see and any early dropped points could be detrimental to the fans moral.
Early signs are looking positive with the arrival of goalkeeper Murphy Mahoney on loan from QPR and rumours of more to come and with the majority of fans are backing Flynn. The sense is the club is on the up once again.
Author: Finn Hamilton (https://twitter.com/FinningHamilton)