After a brief hiatus from the league and an
all-too-rare level of success in the two cup competitions, City return to
league action this weekend in the first of a trio of mouth-watering clashes at
the top of league one. Preston North End
and Peterborough United are on the horizon, but for now a classic local derby
looks to be on the cards, as Steve Cotterill takes his unbeaten league leaders
to the County Ground to face Swindon.
Stu Radnedge caught up with Dan Johnson www.twitter.com/danwjonson - a
blogger for the Swindon Advertiser, to get the other Robins’ take on their own
great start to the season.
“As
the new campaign got underway in August it was hard to predict what sort of
season was on the horizon. Due to a courtroom battle over the clubs ownership the
club had only signed a handful of players in time for the big kick-off.
However,
despite suffering a chaotic pre-season, Town began with a win, beating
Scunthorpe 3-1 at the County Ground. The
opening month continued in the same vein with Mark Cooper’s side suffering just
one defeat in League One.
Those
impressive results continued into September, as Town went throughout the month
unbeaten, including three away wins. One
of the best performances came against Sheffield United, where Town brushed aside
the promotion contenders 5-2 at the County Ground. All three of Town’s forward line got on the score
sheet, with homegrown talent Louis Thompson adding a fifth in the final five
minutes. This result in particular
highlighted the superb style of play on offer at the County Ground.
Despite
many calls to change from fans, Mark Cooper has persisted with playing from the
back, knocking the ball around in defence.
Using a sweeper in Nathan Thompson who dictates the play, with Yaser
Kasim sitting in front of the back three, feeding the ball to either Massimo
Luongo or Louis Thompson, who have both been superb this season, the system is
all geared around retaining possession of the ball before using the pace on the
flanks.
October
was another good month for Town, but it was the clubs away form that was taking
all the headlines with impressive away wins against Leyton Orient and
Chesterfield.
So
far this month, Swindon have managed to take a step forward in their home form,
beating one of the favourites for promotion Preston North End 1-0, but has
suffered two defeats, one away at Milton Keynes, and another in the FA Cup away
to Cheltenham.
The
14/15 season is Mark Cooper’s first full campaign at Swindon, after being
appointed full-time boss in late August 2013.
Dad Terry Cooper will be well known to Bristol City after playing and
managing the club for six years in the 1980’s.
Last
season, alongside coach Luke Williams, Cooper built a successful side, that
went onto finish in a respectable 8th position in League One. In this campaign, the former Tamworth and
Peterborough boss has built on last season’s success, and stood firm on his
style of play, which has paid off so far, with Swindon sitting 3rd
in League One, two points outside the automatic promotion spots.
One
of the reasons for Town’s new formation was losing key men Alex Pritchard and
Nile Ranger in the summer. Cooper had no
choice but to change the teams formation, out went last season’s 4-1-4-1 to a
3-5-2 in this campaign.
Out
of the eleven that started in the same fixture last September, five are still
playing in the first team. Goalkeeper
Wes Foderingham and club captain Nathan Thompson are the only survivors in the
back five, and are now joined by Southampton loanees Jordan Turnbull and Jack
Stephens. Wiltshire-born Turnbull is
enjoying his first foray into first team football, but his defensive partner
Stephens has enjoyed some experience, and played a key role in Town earning a
point at Ashton Gate last season.
Out
of all the areas on the pitch, it’s Swindon’s back three that are the most
inexperienced, with this weekend’s game far by the biggest game of their young
careers.
One
of the key differences in the clubs formation this season has been the use of
wing-backs. Right sided wing-back Nathan Byrne has been one of the clubs best
players so far this season. After playing as a full back in the last campaign,
he struggled to make an impression in the side, but since the introduction of a
new system, he has flourished in his new position. Both Amari’i Bell and Harry Toffolo are on
loan deals and have been in direct competition to fill the left wing-back
position. Amari’i Bell enjoyed a good
start to his loan deal, but in recent weeks has gone off the boil, which has
made way for Harry Toffolo, who has grabbed his chance with both hands and put
in some impressive displays in recent weeks.
Incredibly
over the summer Town managed to keep the best area of the team in one piece,
our midfield three of Yaser Kasim, Massimo Luongo and Louis Thompson are still
at the club, and enjoying a superb season.
But that talent hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Kasim and Luongo both
earning international recognition for Iraq and Australia respectively, meaning
both players will be missing for this weekend’s big game at the County Ground. This comes, as a huge blow for Swindon, with
the heartbeat of the team being ripped out for one of the biggest contests of
the season, Jake Reeves and Ben Gladwin are likely to take their place in the
team.
The
biggest change in the team this season has been the talent that Mark Cooper has
had to pick from up front. Last season
our standout front man was Nile Ranger, despite what happened in his personal
life, no one could doubt his ability on the pitch. But this season the club has gone from one
gifted front man to three talented strikers.
Michael Smith, Andy Williams and Jonathan Obika have racked up 21 goals between
them in the league so far this season, nearly ¾ of all Town’s goals in League
One.
Chairman
Lee Power and manager Mark Cooper have done a great job in producing a
competitive team in League One considering the cut backs that have had to be
made in the first team, especially the wage bill.
In
the last three meetings between the sides, Swindon have been fortunate enough
to face a Bristol City side on a bad run of results, but this season they face
an unbeaten team full of confidence. We
all know that local derbies never follow the script, with Swindon the home side
and missing key players and City the visitors, riding high in the league, it
promises to be a must-watch game in Wiltshire this Saturday.”
Huge thanks to Dan for his insight, let's hope his concern at the missing internationals proves a valid one.
It looks and feels like our toughest test
of the season to date, at a venue where traditionally we haven’t had loads of
success, from memory (stats may tell a different story). What is certain is we’ll
have to be firing on all cylinders to get something from the game, but we all
know we can do that this season.
COYR!
The Exiled Robin
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