Marked for Joel McGregor
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Darren Oldaker out for 134 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Swindon Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Swindon Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
Joel Latibeaudiere and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paul Glatzel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryan Delaney, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
James Scanlon knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and James Scanlon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Apr 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Harrogate Town, and it could have been more.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.52, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Junior Hoilett has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Swindon Town is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joel McGregor is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Swindon Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Ollie Palmer
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.40 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Swindon Town may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Filozofe Mabete is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Joel Latibeaudiere was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Paul Glatzel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market29 Mar 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Danny Butterworth has his answer from Swindon Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kay van de Vorst has written the date down.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kaelan Majekodunmi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Swindon Town know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Swindon Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Márk Kosznovszky’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Swindon Town.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Márk Kosznovszky was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paul Glatzel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Jack King: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Market22 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Joel McGregor has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Swindon Town.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Sam Inwood is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The offer went to Watford this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jake Batty commits to Swindon Town for another 5 years.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leicester City have kept their man, and Swindon Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Barrow AFC made Swindon Town work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Márk Kosznovszky was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Joel McGregor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paul Glatzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.