Football Season Guide

Swindon return to League One after winning the League Two last time around and are riding a wave of optimism, having been on a constant upward trend since Richie Wellens took over as their manager a year-and-a-half-ago. The Robins played some excellent football en route to the division title last time around, but a big problem is that two of their best attacking players are no longer with the club, with top scorer Eoin Doyle having joined Bolton and winger Jerry Yates having returning to parent club Rotherham and having since joined Blackpool. Of course, Wellens was not content to sit with his arms crossed and has brought in a number of signings, with midfield maestro Jack Payne and striker Tyler Smith arguably being the men to watch among the ones who joined during the summer. Alongside Ryan Lowe, Wellens is a promising manager, who will now have a case to showcase his modern, attacking-minded brand of football to a League One audience. Had they managed to keep hold of Yates and particularly Doyle, the Robins would probably be seen as a side with a chance of achieving back-to-back promotions. As things stand, they still look a decent side with strength in depth, but there are major worries that their new signings could come up short, in which case the Robins would follow a frequently seen pattern of being a neatly-playing newly promoted side constantly let down by a lack of a cutting edge.