MacDonald Earns the Right to Manage

Everyone connected with Swindon Town, whether an employee, local sports reporter or fan, has probably used the metaphor "roller coaster" to describe the season just ended. With Paolo Di Canio at the helm, promotion to the Championship was a certainty; let's face it, he wouldn't have allowed any other outcome. However, the great proponent of "loyalty" showed his true mettle by upping and leaving the club, the team and the fans when Swindon Town was put up for sale and it was made plain that his days of running roughshod over those who disagreed with him were over. He's now at A.F.C. Sunderland and will find it a struggle to achieve any real success with them - in my opinion. The best place for Di Canio will be the English national team in around ten years time when he has earned the right to take on the rest of the world by leading his adopted country's top footballers in pursuit of the ultimate footballing Holy Grail, the World Cup.

Jed McCrory with Kevin MacDonald

The foremost team in Wiltshire were left in a healthy position in League One and the appointment of Kevin MacDonald, ex-Liverpool F.C. player and football coach at Aston Villa, was a curious nomination by the new Swindon Town board led by Jed McCrory. It took a while for the new First Team Manager to find his feet in his first football management job and, presumably, for the players to adapt to the new regime's modus operandi as compared to the almost military-style methods of the erstwhile Italian management team. The team struggled to achieve match day success under MacDonald's stewardship, but, eventually, things seemed to click and a play-off place was assured. The home match was a cagey affair, somewhat spoilt by the windy conditions and the dubious penalty awarded to Brentford F.C. in the dying seconds of the game. However, at 1 - 1, the match went to Griffin Park on the western outskirts of London finely poised at what was effectively half-time.

The first half hour of the return leg at Brentford saw Swindon Town overwhelmed by an adversary intent on winning at breakneck speed. With only one chance at goal by a soft header from Aden Flint, the early part of the game became one-way traffic with "The Bees" laying siege to Swindon's goal. It was with a sense of relief then, that I, along with every other Swindon Town fan took a sip of our half-time beverage and thanked our lucky stars that the Town were still in the game with the score on the day 2 - 1 to Brentford at the half-way mark. The second half could only get better for the Wiltshire outfit, couldn't it? Well, at the start of phase two of the match, things got worse when Gary Roberts gifted the ball to Brentford's Donaldson with a sloppy cross ball and the Bees' player made it 3 - 1 to the home side. I walked away from the match for five minutes only to return to the coverage like a junkie returning to an opium den, hoping beyond hope that the Town would get something out of the game.

Cue The Great Escape theme tune and some of the most exciting football seen for a long time. Not pretty at times, but totally enthralling and when Joe Devera smashed home Swindon's second, the comeback was on. With virtually the last play of full time, Aden Flint's bullet header wiped the smiles off every Brentford fan's face as the score was levelled and extra time beckoned. A harsh sending off for Swindon's left back, Byrne, saw the advantage swing back to Brentford and, when the whistle went for the end of extra time, most Swindon fans knew that the game was going to be lost on penalties. Like Steve McQueen caught up in the barbed wire after his failed attempt at jumping into Switzerland from war torn Germany, Swindon couldn't overcome their last hurdle and League One awaits next season (at least it's six easy points from Bristol City, though!).

The one positive from all this is that, in my opinion, Kevin MacDonald has proved himself as worthy Manager of Swindon Town. To be able to pick his team up from what must have been the depths of despair in the Town dressing room at half time at Griffin Park, the first 30 minutes of the game being all Brentford, to inspiring the team to put on a gritty, determined display to fight back to 3 - 3 at full time, shows the mark of the new regime now in control at the County Ground. I for one am optimistic for next season.