Bodin

[Paolos meatballs]

I really don't want to seem as if I'm having a go at Meaty, I'm not (and I'm sure no one else is, I just REALLY don't want our visitor to get the wrong impression that this is anything other than discussion) having a pop, but everything you've said is pure opinion and speculation. You say about 'good young player, will make us a profit when we sell him'. 'We're building for a push into the Championship.'

I'm just objecting to the notion we are throwing money away aimlessly with no plan in mind. That is simply not the case.

[ferrarilover]

But it all smacks of being a bit simplistic.
"bugger it, we'll just spend our way out of L2, same for L1, then we'll be in the Chanpionship, 50,000 people a week will come to watch and they'll pay £50 each. Then we'll be rich, RICH BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS!"

As if that might be a viable plan.

Matt.

[jocktheknife]

You employ a high profile manager, with little idea of the level he is going to manage at....

...you're gonna get nicely "tucked up" in the transfer market =D - what a shock! Connell - nuff said.

Love the swindon fan......"we're investing in players to make a profit at a later date" - does he not realise that the transfer market is almost completely dead, apart from the dosh his basket case club are chucking around.

Considering they got....what 2 mil for Austin, last years rare profit is a wee bit misleading!

Really well run....

[CP Gull]

Have to agree with JTK (aka JMG). At the beginning of the season I felt sure that the appointment of PDC would more than likely not work out. The idea that he could recruit almost entirely lower league foreign players and expect them to both settle in this country and adapt well to life in League 2 - was in my opinion more than likely a recipe for disaster and in all honesty I think it would have ended up that way if it were not for the fact that when it started to go wrong the Swindon board (to their credit I suppose) decided to chuck more money his way to back their choice of Manager rather than sack him - when he has openly admitted that quite a few of his recruits don't suite the "type of game" that lower League football in England is all about - something which PDC would never really have had any experience of.

Whatever happens this season, should Swindon even achieve automatic promotion which they may well do, I really don't think anyone will be any the wiser as to whether PDC is a good Manager or not as quite simply he will have chucked so much money at it that he will simply be tagged as having "bought his way out of the League". At the moment he seems hell bent on trying to buy out the best players from the best teams in this division thereby not only strengthening his own teams chances but also weakening others. Not only that but instead of running with 3 or 4 forwards that he can put his faith in he seems hell bent on having 6 or 7 just in case he has "made a mistake" with one or two - hardly the test of a real, proper Manager if you ask me.

As for the man himself, based on his performance at Plainmoor on Boxing Day, you really do question his coaching/manangement abilities ... given that, as far as I could see, he spent half the game with his back turned on the game, ranting at the subs/coaches/whoever on the bench - quite surreal and not like anything I have ever seen from an opposing Manager!

If Swindon do go on and get automatic promotion, which I have a feeling they may well do, it will prove nothing as far as PDCs managerial capabilities are concerned in my opinion as quite simply he will (probably) have 1/ signed more players than anybody else in this division 2/ sold more players than anybody else in this division 3/ Spent more money on transfer fees than anyone else in this division 4/ Have a bigger squad of players than anyone else in this division and 5/ Been backed by the biggest playing budget in this division and 6/ Probably ensured that STFC make the biggest loss in 2011-12 for this division!

[Wubble U]

IMO, if anything PDC has proven that he CAN'T manage at his level.
He's publicly fallen out with his players (obviously Leon Clarke springs to mind but in particular his 4-letter outburst not so long ago rinsing his players for being crap and stating he would replace all of them!)
Man-management aside, his tactics are very suspect too. He expects vintage football ala Premier League - which is all he knows in fairness - but the players just aren't up to it consistently at this level.
Sorry Paolo but you need to change it up when playing Accrington's bomb site on a cold winter tuesday night.This is League 2 after all.

For me a good manager at this level succeeds by producing the formula that works best with the players at their disposal, to play each player and the squad as a whole to their potential. Even if that means survival is punching above their weight.
Take for example Coleman and the job he does each year for accrington.
You could say Ling is doing exactly this. and moreover that PDC is in the Paul Buckle mould of "if it doesn't work chuck more players at it" scenario.
For me, that is not a good League 2 manager.

PDC's credentials will not be tested until his team are a lightweight in their division.
At the moment Swindon are the heavyweights and any Tom, Dick or Buckle could get out of League 2 with unlimited funds

well maybe not Buckle then

[Dutchgull]

[ferrarilover]

I was all ready to argue (Devil's advocate, you understand) Wubble, then I got to the line "Tom, Dick or Buckle" and laughed so much that the tea I drank four hours ago came out of my nose.

Matt.

[Southampton Gull]

I was all ready to argue (Devil's advocate, you understand) Wubble, then I got to the line "Tom, Dick or Buckle" and laughed so much that the tea I drank four hours ago came out of my nose.Matt.

In that case, stop sucking your own...................

[cambgull]

In that case, stop sucking your own...................

That wouldn't be possible SG, his head is far too far up his own a*se to get it round the front.

[Paolos meatballs]

You employ a high profile manager, with little idea of the level he is going to manage at....

...you're gonna get nicely "tucked up" in the transfer market =D - what a shock! Connell - nuff said.

Love the swindon fan......"we're investing in players to make a profit at a later date" - does he not realise that the transfer market is almost completely dead, apart from the dosh his basket case club are chucking around.

Considering they got....what 2 mil for Austin, last years rare profit is a wee bit misleading!

Really well run....

That was the sale of Cox, not Austin. Austin's sale is included in the next accounts.

Misleading? How exactly. Invest in youngsters that can be sold at a later date. That's the exact intention, it's not misleading, it's the board's investment policy in action. It's the entire 'bleedin point.

I could understand if we were spending beyond our means, but we are not. You seem to be suggesting that even clubs that can invest, without going over budget, should not do so? Some clubs just have more resources available to them than others.

This is all pointless anyway, you all just seem to be quite pig-headed. Makes me wonder though if the way to go is not to invest, why are you struggling to get out of this league?

[tufcbrett]

That was the sale of Cox, not Austin. Austin's sale is included in the next accounts.

Misleading? How exactly. Invest in youngsters that can be sold at a later date. That's the exact intention, it's not misleading, it's the board's investment policy in action. It's the entire 'bleedin point.

I could understand if we were spending beyond our means, but we are not. You seem to be suggesting that even clubs that can invest, without going over budget, should not do so? Some clubs just have more resources available to them than others.

This is all pointless anyway, you all just seem to be quite pig-headed. Makes me wonder though if the way to go is not to invest, why are you struggling to get out of this league?

Struggling? I dont know what you call 3 and abit seasons. Which last season was a play off final. Just outside te playoffs on goal difference atm. To me thats not struggling. Infact out club dont have the expectation of going up wich is nice.

Ive got no problem with them spending money, if we had the money im sure we would too.

[Paolos meatballs]

Struggling? I dont know what you call 3 and abit seasons. Which last season was a play off final. Just outside te playoffs on goal difference atm. To me thats not struggling. Infact out club dont have the expectation of going up wich is nice.

But you are still in the league so yes, you are struggling to get out of it.

[gullsflyinghigh]

But you are still in the league so yes, you are struggling to get out of it.

Quite possibly the most ridiculous comment ever.

[usagullmichigan]

Quite possibly the most ridiculous comment ever.

Agree that is a dumb comment. I guess every team in L2 is struggling then.

[Paolos meatballs]

How can you claim to not to be struggling to get out of the league when you have failed to get out of the league? It's black and white....... no gray area.

You either

A) Do get promoted
or
B) Do not get promoted

You are still in L2. If you think 'nearly' getting promoted is a good season for you, then so be it. But if you 'nearly' get promoted, that means you do not get promoted.