Have a Hart

At the moment many of the Swindon faithful will feel like lashing out at anyone and everyone at the club following their relegation at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday on Monday. There is no doubt that numerous people at the club need to take their share of the blame, but by choosing manager Paul Hart to vent their collective frustration, I think they are wide of the mark.

Skipper Jonathan Douglas owned up on behalf of the players and Andrew Fitton has accepted blame on behalf of the board, but Hart? Really?

Let's think about this. He came into a club that were in the bottom four after 33 games with their confidence shot away, they were leaking goals like the proverbial sieve and he couldn't change the squad try to motivate a fairly battered and bruised bunch into doing the right things.

In the eleven games before his arrival, Swindon had conceded 20 goals. In the following eleven games, they shipped 13 goals - and three of these came in the last match when they were - for all intents and purposes - already down. It was merely confirmed at the final whistle.

What he failed to do was inspire them to score goals at the other end, but let's not forget what he had to work with. Of the goal poachers last season, Charlie Austin had already been sold to keep Burnley's bench warm and Billy Paynter's contract was allowed to run down and so he left for nowt to Leeds.

Thomas Dossevi was never a prolific scorer of goals and is more of a foil for the main striker. His attitude and commitment appear to be in question as well and it was no surprise to see him as the first person to be shown the door this week.

Calvin Andrew is on loan from Palace and may well develop into a very good striker, but at this stage of his career he is by no means the finished article and has taken time (as happens with many new players) to get into his stride. This was time Swindon didn't have of course.

Elliot Benyon is another youngster who was scoring goals for fun for Torquay, but the step up to League One was never going to be easy and Town fans may well see him shine in League Two as he finds his feet.

Mike Grella whinged about not having enough opportunities despite starting six games and coming on as a sub in one in the eight matches available to him. He scored one goal in that time and then threw his toys out of the pram. Not a great signing, I grant you, but hardly Hart's fault.

Vincent Pericard has been injured recently (and picked up niggling injuries earlier in the season), but I know for a fact that he is the type of player who reacts well to an arm around the shoulder and not the abuse that was thrown at him when things weren't going well.

In the close season the manager will have a chance to rebuild the squad. Twelve of the current crop are out of contract and with his contacts and good reputation within the game, Hart could be just the person to turn things around. After the "disgraceful" abuse he received following the home defeat to Notts County on Saturday though, I wonder whether he really needs the hassle.

I've been reading some of the messageboards and there is a call for a big name manager from the fans. Who exactly would they main contenders be though? I fear Sir Alex, Arsene and the Special One are rather tied up with other commitments at present.

If Hart does stay though despite the vitriol he has been subjected to, what sort of message does that send out? To me it says: I'm a big enough man to fight for this club and turn things around and all credit to him.