'Reading the room with the vision of a mole rat' - the problems besieging STFC
Ink Sport Focus - Football writer Sam Morshead gives his verdict on the rut Swindon Town finds itself in
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Every Monday will now be our new Ink Sports Focus led by STFC reporter Sam Morshead.
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Where do we go from here? A club devoid of dynamism and creativity
Swindon Town Football Club is not exactly setting the world on fire this season and owner Clem Morfuni faces some tough business decisions during the January transfer window. These decisions will shape the rest of the season. STFC writer Sam Morshead reports…
By Sam Morshead
It was somewhere along the dark backstreets between the County Ground and the Fleming Way multi-storey that the realisation began to set in.
Really, it ought to have set in weeks ago. But occasionally we are all blind to the flaws of that which we love.
Swindon Town, devoid of dynamism and creativity, low on resource and confidence, had just spent 45 minutes running after 22nd-place Colchester like a toddler might chase a parent holding a chocolate biscuit. And it was hard not to think: has it been this bad before?
There are 23 days left for the situation to be rectified, but the market is difficult to negotiate and there remain huge question marks hanging over the budget, the elasticity of which – like our post-Christmas waistbands – is feeling the strain. And Swindon have been a 40-inch club waddling around in 32-inch trousers for far too long.
Clem Morfuni has spent a few days in Wiltshire, where work on at least three signings has taken place. One has been confirmed and others are due to follow, perhaps even before you read this on Monday.
But he will have to manage the operation from another timezone, with an overseas trip on the agenda this week – for non-footballing reasons.
Should there be a desire to improve the offering on the pitch, Town need to move fast. They need two forwards, another midfielder, and a versatile defender at the bare minimum. Should Remeao Hutton or Saidou Khan move on, the number of recruits will have to increase.