Why Richie Wellens can take Swindon into promotion contention?

When Richie Wellens was first appointed Swindon Town manager, there was a lot of scepticism among natives.

Many Robins fans had grown mistrustful of Lee Power’s ownership regime; he had overseen a significant decline since the club reached the League One Play-Off Final in 2015 and, for various reasons including his reluctance to publish financial accounts, his motives are sometimes questioned.

Wellens arrived with only nine months’ worth of experience in management, and that period ended in relegation with Oldham Athletic.

Was this Power taking the cheap option – handing the job to the first out-of-work manager who applied?

Not quite.

Firstly, Wellens took charge of Oldham when they were bottom of League One with four points from their first nine games - they looked likely to be in that position all season.

Had the Latics’ form under him been elongated over a whole campaign, though, they would have finished 13th - the relegation was in spite of his work, not because of it

Amid the off-field problems at Oldham, Wellens established himself as a bright young manager, determined to have a good career.

He has made a similarly impressive impact at Swindon, too.

Under predecessor Phil Brown, the Robins largely looked bland, uninspiring and reliant on moments of individual brilliance from one of their midfielders – Michael Doughty or Brighton loanee Steven Alzate.

Wellens, inheriting a team that was 17th in November, helped improve their rate of chance creation through his excellent coaching, with particular emphasis on pressing high up the pitch and incisive transitions.

Swindon operated with a narrow 4-3-3 as wide forwards Keshi Anderson and Kaiyne Woolery came inside to support the front man, which was normally January recruit Theo Robinson in the second half of the campaign.

This template, which could be perceived as a League Two version of Liverpool, yielded great success against the top sides.

Swindon won 3-1 at Bury, 3-2 at MK Dons and 2-1 at Tranmere after Christmas – each of those sides won promotion, a feat the Robins are 4/1 with Betway as of 4th July to achieve in their 2019-20 campaign.

In fact, under Wellens, the Wiltshire club accrued as many as 17 points from eight games against top seven opposition.

Most of those teams play possession football to a high standard relative to League Two level, but even they were perhaps not used to facing teams that cut them open so quickly and so ruthlessly.

Unfortunately for Swindon, their pre-Wellens form meant they needed to be flawless to make the Play-Offs and failure to beat Cheltenham, Crawley, Grimsby, Port Vale and Yeovil all at home – even if they were unlucky in some of those games – meant they fell short.

Once again, though, Wellens’ chances of success were hindered by the relative failings of those before him – so Swindon fans can be excited about what he can do over a full season.

His recruitment this summer seems promising, too.

Jerry Yates, who scored five goals in his last four games at this level, could thrive after joining on loan from Rotherham; he certainly has the mobility off-the-ball to fit into the current setup.

Yates has been boxing in training – perhaps to work on his upper-body strength – and has the look of somebody determined to make his mark.

Another loanee, Daniel Ballard, has drawn parallels at Arsenal with ‘a young Tony Adams’, which is a hugely encouraging statement – perhaps it was the now-capped Northern Irishman's character and leadership qualities that appealed most to Wellens, who is driven to change the mentality of the club. He promises to be an exciting loan signing who will add a lot to Swindon in the coming season.

Kyle Knoyle, who has surprisingly gone to Cambridge, represents something of a loss at right-back, but Tyler Reid could add more pace and quality going forward – he has already shown signs of pushing on with intent in pre-season and could operate as a wing-back.

Swindon have had a difficult four years – the club is a long way away from its former status as a competitive League One club, let alone their days in the Premier League.

However, Wellens is the right man to lead them back on an upward trajectory.