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The Impact Of The January Transfer Window On Swindon's Season
The January transfer window is a period that can make or break the seasons of nearly all of the teams in the top four English divisions. For Swindon Town though, the 2016 January window has the potential to have a huge impact on the club’s immediate future too, writes Ben Wheatland.
New manager Luke Williams only officially took on his new role on the 21st of January, but having been the first team coach at the club for the past two years, he is in a strong position to make the necessary decisions about reinforcing his squad.
Fate has not been kind to Williams, with five players leaving his first team squad in the first week of January, and not just any players either. Ben Gladwin, Louis Thompson and Adam El Abd were all key members of the starting eleven who have since returned to their parent clubs.
Also on the way out were Wes Thomas; returning to Birmingham City following a frustrating time in Swindon, and Henrik Ojamaa, who had his contract terminated, paving the way for a move to Austria’s Wacker Innsbruck. Worse news is that the return of Gladwin and El Abd to the County Ground is now impossible, with Gladwin having joined Swindon’s rivals Bristol City on loan, and El Abd making it clear that he would not be returning.
Williams must now hope that the slim chance of Thompson returning for the remainder of the season can be secured. However, much depends on whether the powers that be at Norwich would rather see their young midfielder tested in the Championship rather than League One.
Swindon have also seen youngsters Will Randall, Jayden Bogel and Jayden Mitchell-Lawson depart for Wolves and Derby County respectively. Whilst this is unlikely to directly damage Swindon’s ambitions for the remainder of the season, it is disappointing to see a club that cannot afford to strengthen their squad externally also lose potential future first-team members.
Amidst the outgoings at the County Ground, there have been very few players coming in. At time of writing, Swindon’s only signing has been Michael Doughty on a month-long loan from QPR. While Doughty has decent experience of lower league football, and has even made a handful of appearances in QPR’s underwhelming Championship season so far, his signing will hardly ‘blow the socks off’ Swindon’s fans. Moreover, yet another short-term loan signing highlights the grim reality that Swindon find themselves in.
The reality is that in recent years, the club has been forced to reduce its wage bill significantly in order to live within its means. A significant tightening of the belt by the club after the free spending of the Paolo Di Canio/Andrew Black era means that the club has increasingly been seeking to secure young players on loans, as well as scouring the transfer market for young and unproven talent whilst at the same time selling on more established and experienced members of the squad. This has meant a high level of turnover at the club during each transfer window, which this year has played a part in Swindon’s decidedly mixed start to season.
Tied to this is the question mark over who is bringing in players at Swindon. It remains to be seen how much influence Williams will have over any additions that make it into the County Ground this January, as in the past a lot of work has been put in by Chairman Lee Power into acquiring signings by using his large list of contacts within the game.
Whilst this wider strategy worked wonders in the 2014/15 season; seeing Swindon go all the way to an unlikely play-off final, it cannot always provide miraculously entertaining and upwardly mobile teams, nor does it offer stability. Indeed, after a quiet summer, a flurry of activity just as the transfer window shut in September left the team with more loanees at the club that could be included in the match-day squad. This poor planning meant that the club could not field all of its loan players in the match-day squad.
This over-reliance on loan players has left Swindon short of players and experience in key positions. The current Swindon squad, shorn of its best loan players, needs bolstering in key areas in order to plug the gaps created by the departure of individuals such as Gladwin, Thompson and El Abd.
Goalkeeping is not an area where Swindon need to focus. The team is well served by the (you guessed it) on-loan Lawrence Vigouroux, who despite some disciplinary issues and the odd mistake has been a reliable replacement for the departed Wes Foderingham. Swindon tested Liverpool’s resolve to hold on to Vigouroux in the summer, and rumour suggests that Chairman Lee Power will once again attempt to sign the stopper on a permanent basis this January. Swindon also have an accomplished backup goalkeeper in Ty Belford, so should focus on strengthening elsewhere.
In defence, Swindon have been error-prone at the back all season and have gifted a number of goals to opposition teams, allowing them back into games (see Swindon’s thrilling recent 4-3 win over bottom club Crewe as a prime example). El Abd’s loan signing added experience and calm to the youthful backline, and he proved himself to be a solid and dependable centre back. But with his return to parent club Bristol City, Swindon are in dire need of strengthening in this position. Thankfully Swindon have competition in the left and right back positions, particularly with the recent return to fitness of club-captain Nathan Thompson, so the focus should be instead on acquiring at least one experienced centre back to partner Jordan Turnbull or Raphael Rossi Branco.
Swindon’s midfield has been strong, but Thompson and Gladwin were both key to the team’s success in pulling itself into mid-table after their dreadful start. Swindon have so far managed to retain Iraq international Yaser Kasim, and if they can keep hold of him past January he is the man they should build their midfield around.
There is also an experienced head in the shape of Anton Rogers, although he has recently come under criticism from fans. Strengthening in midfield is essential if Swindon’s recent revival of fortunes is to be maintained, and whilst Doughty’s signing goes some way to reinforcing this area, focus should be in getting in one or two players who can contribute in the longer term – at the very least until the end of the season.
In the attacking third, Swindon are in possession of two in-form forwards, Jon Obika and Nicky Ajose. However, beyond this Swindon could do with some cover to fill in when form and fitness go missing. With Michael Smith seemingly on his way out of the club, and Swindon’s forgotten man Miles Storey renewing his loan deal with Inverness Caley Thistle, quality cover is in short supply.
Jermaine Hylton has only shown in glimpses the talent that convinced Swindon to snap him up a year ago, and there is clear evidence that a supporting man is needed to step in when necessary. In this sense, it is a shame that Wes Thomas; a player who has long been on Swindon’s radar, fell victim to injury and Swindon’s own poor planning, and has decided to return to Birmingham. Swindon could well use a player of his proven ability at this level, and more could have been done to accommodate him within the match day squad.
Strengthening in key areas could see Swindon mount an unlikely bid to crash the play-off party. However, failure to do so effectively might well see Swindon drop off, and there is potential for the club to be dragged back into a relegation scrap.
This article was originally published on The Boot Room. You can follow the author, Ben Wheatland, on Twitter here.
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