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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kasper Boogaard 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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gessime Yassine did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gessime Yassine 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.
Ryan Tafazolli 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Gessime Yassine has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Colchester United had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Swindon Town did not stop to explain themselves.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gessime Yassine. 2‑1 against Colchester United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gessime Yassine did not need any: 8.37, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Swindon Town know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gessime Yassine did not need any: 7.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Swindon Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gessime Yassine did not need any: 8.33, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Gessime Yassine has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Hoilett. 2‑0 against Oldham Athletic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Gessime Yassine, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kasper Boogaard 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.
James Ball 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
11 new faces, and Swindon Town are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It needed Gessime Yassine to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Newport County, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Two goals and a mark of 7.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gessime Yassine did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
James Shea 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gessime Yassine 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.
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Aaron Drinan 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Barnsley go through and Swindon Town go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kasper Boogaard did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fletcher Holman 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joe Sbarra. 2‑0 against Bromley, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 terracesThe press cannot get enough of Joe Sbarra
7Edition
The Swindon Town Sentinel
14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondentCrisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
Aaron Drinan 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.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Swindon Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
11 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad7 Sep 2026
James Ball 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.
A 2‑2 draw with Barrow AFC leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Aidan Borland
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Aidan Borland has come out of that comparison in the side, and Swindon Town have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Swindon Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Aidan Borland has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
James Ball 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Swindon Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Sheffield Wednesday pay $420.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
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.
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.
Salford City pay $260.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Add another name to the list: Sheffield Wednesday have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Joe Snowdon. The answer from Swindon Town has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Swindon Town are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A 1‑1 draw with Crawley Town leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrison Minturn 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.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
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 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.
Charles Bailey is 16, and Swindon Town have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Hoilett and Swindon Town agree another 2 years.
Gavin Kilkenny 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.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Swindon Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Will Wright 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gavin Kilkenny trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Swindon Town, another week without a signature from Paul Glatzel.