Walsall 3 Brentford 2 - That's Entertainment!

Brentford dominated this encounter for thirty minutes and then it turned into one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen this season and could’ve gone either way.

My clipping from this morning's paper

The Bees took a deserved lead via a diving header from eight yards by Dutch defender Pim Balkestein, but this only served to wake up the home side and ten minutes later they were level.

Keeper Jimmy Walker – making his 500th appearance for the club in his second spell at the Bescot – punted the ball up field, Darren Byfield nodded the ball down and former Manchester City striker Jon Macken volleyed in his seventh of the season from 25 yards with the outside of his right boot. It was a stunner and seemed to sting the Bees (sorry).

The Saddlers came out after the break and appeared to take control. Winger Jordan Cook scored his first goal on his full debut for the club to put Walsall ahead, but this just seemed to wake the visitors up again.

Adam Reed played a sweet pass to Lewis Grabban that split the home defence and the striker rounded Walker to knock the ball in from about six yards in the 63rd minute.

Given the precarious relegation position Walsall are in they could have been forgiven for folding, but they immediately bounced back and – as spectacular as his opener was – Macken tapped in from close range in the 64th minute to make sure of the points and lift his side out of the drop zone – albeit on goal difference from Bristol Rovers.

Brentford didn’t play like a team of players who already have the Thomas Cook brochures out and caretaker player-boss Nicky Forster made the right noises about not giving up on the play-offs quite yet, but realistically they haven’t got anything to play for now – apart from giving Forster the chance of the job on a permanent basis and securing their own futures of course!

I remember talking to Bees Chairman Greg Dyke in the game before Andy Scott was given the manager’s job and there was no doubt he was influenced by how much the players were giving their all for Scott.

So how will Walsall fare this season?

Well, it’s not all over by any means. The results went for them last night when Daggers and Notts County lost again, but with Rovers putting together some decent results and Swindon having won a game after not tasting victory in the previous eighteen, who knows what’s going to happen.

It’s going to be on hell of an end to the season in League One.

I’ve now seen Rovers, Swindon and Walsall in recent weeks and not one of these teams looks like they are giving up and so the sides just above them must be bricking it.

Tranmere face Dagenham and County in their next two fixtures and four points should see them safe.

Dagenham have then got Plymouth and while the Devon club looks doomed, they are still playing with pride. The ten point deduction wasn’t their fault.

Notts County have a tough home game against play-off chasing Bournemouth on Saturday and Martin Allen’s arrival hasn’t worked the same sort miracles that Barnet saw after his appointment there.

Walsall entertain Brighton on Saturday and after manager Dean Smith found out about the Seagulls promotion last night he said:

“With a bit of luck they’ll spend the next three nights partying.”

Nice thought if you’re a Saddlers fan, but I suspect Gus Poyet will still have the seasiders focused and so it’s going to be another tough game.

Swindon have also got a difficult fixture against MK Dons who are going for a play-off spot while Rovers have a tricky away game at Southampton who are looking to join Brighton as one of the two automatically promoted sides.

All in all it will make for an interesting and very tense Saturday afternoon. In fact my nerves are already on edge and I’m wondering whether I’ll be able to face eating those nice prawn sandwiches in the Press Room at the County Ground! Well, maybe I’ll be able to hold down one or two.

Walsall v Brentford - 500

I’ve been asked to go to the Bescott for tonight’s clash with Brentford and – looking at recent results – I expect to find a very different Walsall team from the one I saw on my last visit.
At that time Chris Hutchings was in charge and the Saddlers just managed to squeak past Fleetwood in an FA Cup replay. Jimmy Walker was the man of the match that night and the minnows from the north-west could have been four up at half time if it hadn’t been for the keeper who will make his 500th appearance for the club is if he’s selected tonight.

Things appeared to have changed under new boss Dean Smith. Walsall started scrapping for their lives after former player and youth team manager Smith was made caretaker manager until the end of the season back in January. Walsall’s last home game saw them spank Hartlepool 5-2 and in the 19 games Smith has been in charge they have won five, drawn eight and lost the remaining six.

Smith was rewarded with a two year contract on April 1st and the Saddlers promptly lost their next game away to fellow strugglers Plymouth, but victory tonight would see his team move out of the relegation zone – on goal difference. It’s so tight at the bottom now that goal difference may well be very important in May. Aside from the stuffing meted out to the monkey hangers, Smith’s boys have also put six past Bristol Rovers.

The season is all, but over for the Bees. There is still an outside chance of a play-off place, but player-manager Nicky Forster has done an excellent job steadying the ship following the departure of Andy Scott in early February.

Like Smith, Forster was offered the job on a permanent basis in March, although only until the end of the season. His record is impressive though and he has overseen eight wins, two draws and five defeats including the final of the JP Trophy against Carlisle.

Jon-Paul Pittman - Substitute

Some quotes from J-P Pittman who grabbed the leveller against Oxford on Saturday:

"Yeah I’m happy with my goal - it came at the right time. I was hoping we would kick on and go for a winner but that didn’t happen. It was a good time to score and I’m happy with it.

I think a lot of it is all about being in the right place at the right time. I made a couple of good runs and luckily the lads found me so it gave me the chance to make an impression on the game straight away.

It’s just part of being professional in this job (being a sub), there are only 11 places up for grabs so everyone’s got to be patient and wait their turn to wait for it to come and I think I took my chance today.

It’s definitely frustrating because you want to be out there. You want to be out there in the mix of the action and enjoying winning games, but when you’re on the bench and out of the squad you don’t get that same feel. But I got it today.

It sends out a message to the manager and to my team as well that I’m here, I’m ready when I’m called upon. Hopefully I can get a little run in the team.

I think Oxford is a hard place to come. They’ve got a good squad. We messed up and gave away a couple of sloppy goals but we showed our character I know it’s a cliche but we genuinely showed our character because we’re genuinely a strong bunch of lads in getting the two goals back and pushing on for a winner. I think that speaks volumes about the squad that we’ve got.

The team as a whole feel they could get back from being two down - I certainly did. It’s one of those things that’s infectious. If you see someone closing down a ball or working that extra bit hard, anything small like that, it triggers off the rest of the guys and more people than not had that thought in their head today.

Yeah we were (trying to get the winner) but we’ve warned about that before. A point is decent here - away from home with a tough crowd. You’ve got to take a point sometimes. At the same time you want to win the game but you don’t want to throw it away either.

We’re just going to keep playing, trying to take it a game at a time. But you are always looking at other results. We’ve been advised to keep looking forward, not to look at the teams behind us and that’s the way to do it.

It would be devastating (if Wycombe didn’t go up). We’ve not even thought about not getting promoted. The mindset has always been that it’s going to happen but we need to keep performing like that if we want it to happen.

With five games left if I can get a few more goals that contribute towards our season that would be great."

Oxford United 2 Wycombe Wanderers 2 – All Over Now

Alfie Potter was very possibly the most miserable looking footballer I have seen this season when he was interviewed after the game.

Winger Potter scored one and forced central defender to turn the ball past his own keeper for Oxford’s second, but Wycombe’s fight back earned them a draw and another valuable promotion point.

Potter ran out the usual “while it’s still mathematically possible” line, but you could tell that he knew the game was up as far as this season was concerned.

He’s an honest lad though and pointed out that even though there is very little league experience in the Oxford squad, he felt that they should’ve done better this season. And he also told me that he felt the team would perform a lot better next term because of the experience and I have to agree with him.

My clipping from this morning’s copy of The Sun

Chris Wilder was left fuming about the first time penalty decision that went against his team after James Constable was hauled down in the box and I’ve got to say that I agree with him. Constable was still seething at the break and muttering pleasantries into the referee’s ear.

The manager also had the good grace to admit that he had probably made a mistake taking Constable off in the second half, but to be fair to Chris, he’s also on a bit of a learning curve this season and once the dust settles in mid-May, I think most Oxford fans will want to see how he fares next season. Personally I think they’d be crazy to drop the pilot at this stage. They’ve chopped and changed managers before at the Kassam and it resulted in non-league football.

Meanwhile, the Wycombe players and management were in great spirits.

Boss Gary Waddock is still “talking each game as it comes”, but must have the taste of the promotion champagne in his mouth by now. There’s still a bit to do, but keeper Nikki Bull (who was my man of the match) told me that “three more wins should do it”.

And Scott Rendell, who scored the Chairboys first goal, pointed to the excellent spirit in the camp when he revealed:

“We had 23 players in the dressing room geeing us on before the game. Some of them obviously knew they weren’t playing, but they were still there for us and that speaks volumes. J-P (Jon-Paul Pittman) himself hasn’t played a lot this season because of injuries, but he was ready to come on and got the equalizer.”

It was a shame that Gareth Ainsworth didn’t make an appearance on Saturday. Wycombe’s 37 year old winger/skipper told me that he had felt his hamstring tighten up after the midweek fixture against Hartlepool and so, with the Easter fixtures coming up, it had been decided to rest him for the Oxford game.

This was a great game to watch from a neutral’s perspective and while I can well imagine the frustration Oxford fans are feeling now, it hasn’t been a disastrous season, just another step in the right direction. Not as big a step as some would like, sure, but not a backward one like so many taken in recent years.

Wayne Rooney - Disgrace

Okay, so who is eventually going to have the balls to tell Wayne Rooney that his behavior is no longer acceptable? The Manchester United and England striker doesn’t seem to be able to work out for himself where the line between right and wrong is and no-one appears to have the guts or influence to get through to him.

His off-field exploits are regularly documented by the press and media as a whole and following last weekend’s foul mouthed outburst in front (or at) of the Sky TV cameras, the Man Utd damage limitation machine is in full swing.

Rio Ferdinand is defending him and has been reported as saying:

“We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on. I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened, but sometimes because of the player he is and who he is the reaction can be over the top.

Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as I don't condone it, is not front page news. There are bigger things going on in the world. I don't condone it but because it is him everyone goes over the top. I don't feel sorry for him. He thrives off the attention. But he thrives off football attention rather than the stuff on the outside. He loves playing football.

That's what he wants to be judged on and talked about."

Fair enough Rio. If that’s the case though he should stop drawing attention to himself by doing stupid things or setting himself up by taking money from, sponsors, magazines for photo shoots, etc., and just concentrate on his football.

There are hundreds of top flight players who never find themselves on the front pages and will (or are) be remembered for their ability on the pitch. Rooney is letting them down too. He’s letting good pros down Rio and I’d happily class you as one of them.

How often was Alan Shearer photographed taking a leak as he staggered home drunk from a nightclub? Gary Lineker? Thierry Henry? Paul Scholes? Ryan Giggs? The Neville brothers? There are many, many more decent footballers out there (past and present) who just get on with their jobs and are grateful that they have been lucky enough to make their fortunes doing something they love. They realise that with the money and wonderful lifestyle comes responsibility and they take it seriously.

Now Sir Alex Ferguson has dragged poor old ref Lee mason into the rumpus as well in what is presumably an attempt to deflect attention away from the player.

Ferguson said:

"Mason has now put himself in the spotlight. If he doesn't send a player off for swearing the question will be, has he got double standards?"

No Sir Alex not at all. First of all how was Mason supposed to know what Rooney said into the TV camera? He could only react after the event. Mason has said he will send a player off in future for a similar incident if he sees it happening. If he doesn’t see it, but it is brought to his attention later, he’ll follow the same process as he did with Rooney.

And has he really put himself in the spotlight Sir Alex? Or are you doing that for him to try and shift some of the glare from your player.

And then not content with that he questions Mason’s career path because of the incident – an incident (lest we forget) that started with the England striker’s inability to engage his brain before his mouth.

"It is a very difficult position the lad is in. I feel for him. I really do. I don't know where his career is going to go now. “

Well if it goes the way of Rooney’s career when he makes mistakes, he’ll probably be on £250k a week this time next year, eh Alex?

I can’t believe that fans of the most successful team in this country will ultimately hold memories of Rooney in the same affection as Best, Law, Charlton, Beckham, Cantona, Scholes, et al., once he has hung up his boots. And if Sir Alex has any sense he’ll sell him to the highest bidder this summer – which would, coincidentally, repay him for his own apparent disloyalty at the start of this season. Something the fans haven’t forgotten.

Whether he likes it or not Rooney is a role model. It comes with the big money, the endorsements and the multimillionaire lifestyle. If he doesn’t like it he should pack in the professional game and go and play park football on a Sunday morning. He’s probably made enough money to do so by now.

One of Rooney’s sponsors – Coca Cola – have reportedly decided not to use his services anymore following last Saturday’s outburst and good on them.

But what about his paymasters?

No, I don’t mean Manchester United, I mean Sky.

Sky money underwrites the English Premier League. Without it, the players wouldn’t receive a fraction of what they currently earn. Why haven’t they come out and made a bigger fuss? After all it is their subscribers who had to suffer Rooney’s foul mouthed tirade last Saturday. It was their subscribers who had to explain to their young kids why they couldn’t watch the lunchtime game anymore.

I would have thought it was in Sky’s interests to lay the law down in a way that the feeble FA cannot seem to do. If Sky penalised Manchester United by refusing to show one or two of their fixtures next season, then I suspect that they would do a little more to ensure that one of their players acted like a true professional and not a brainless yob.

Oxford v Wycombe – I Walk on Gilded Splinters

A tasty ‘derby’ fixture tomorrow for yours truly.
Okay, so Oxford fans will see Swindon as the big derby game, but they will have to wait until next season – at the earliest – before that one comes around and so the Chairboys are probably the next best thing.

As usual I’ll have blisters in my bum from sitting on the fence for this one as I wish both sides well.

With six games to go Wycombe must fancy their chances of automatic promotion as they currently sit second in the table, although they can’t afford to get over-excited as the gap between them and the play-off places is only three points and the end-of-season knock out fixtures are a real lottery.

I’ve detected a little bit of negativity creeping in from some of my Oxford supporting friends, but it’s still possible for the Us to make the play-offs themselves. A decent run from now until the end of the season and they could still be heading to Old Trafford in May.

I’ll admit though that defeat would pretty much kill off any lingering hopes they still have. While defeat for Wycombe is something they can still bounce back from.

You often hear the cliché: “Anyone could beat anyone in this league” trotted out by players, but in League Two it really is the case. Oxford can’t afford to underestimate any of the sides they have yet to play, but as far as I can see Chesterfield at home is the only really dangerous looking fixture.

Chris Wilder has done a great job this season and fans shouldn’t forget what he did last season (and also the state of the club before he arrived). Sadly, when your team drops out of the football league, there is diminishing interest shown in it by the media the longer you’re out in the wilderness. This was the case with Oxford before Wilder got hold of them.

The manager will have learned lessons this season in much the same way as the players and, if Oxford stick with him, I believe the club will be in pole position for promotion this time next year if they don’t manage it this season.

On the other hand, if they dump Wilder they may well slip back into the turmoil that took them out of the league several years ago.

Wycombe’s talisman is evergreen, long haired skipper Gareth Ainsworth one of the few players widely respected by fans of most clubs – just because they’d love to have someone of his work rate and vision in their own side. Gareth is now 37 years old, but without him it’s arguable that they wouldn’t be sitting where they are in the league.

Ainsworth has weighed in with nine league goals this season, but it’s the work he does for his team mates that impresses. I’d love to hear what Oxford fans think on Monday morning.

From what I’ve seen of Oxford this season, an Ainsworth type figure is just what they’ve been missing. Who knows though, if Wycombe gain promotion and dump him at the end of the season, maybe Oxford could pick use him next term as I know for a fact that he wants to keep playing.

Wycombe haven’t lost in their last four away games and are undefeated in five.

Oxford, meanwhile, have won three and lost three of their last six matches, but have also won the last two at the Kassam.

So who do I think will win? Excuse me while I remove this large shard of timber.

Hereford United – Rough Justice

What is the Football Association playing at? Two clubs in the bottom tier of English football made an error by not filing the transfer deadline paperwork on time for two new players – Hereford’s Rob Purdie and Torquay’s Jake Robinson.
It appears that both Hereford and Torquay made a genuine error, alerted the FA to their mistakes immediately, but now face a three and one point deduction respectively.

Fortunately the only game affected by the two ineligible players was fought out the day after deadline day between … Hereford and Torquay. Therefore no other club was involved. Neither of the two clubs benefited from the error on the pitch and so the other twenty two league clubs didn’t suffer.

So, as lower league football becomes increasingly cash strapped, the FA have stepped in to possibly prevent one team from winning promotion – Torquay – while it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Hereford could well slip out of the league altogether. Two 'possible' financially crippling scenarios.

I’m not saying that clubs, players and officials shouldn’t be punished for flaunting the game’s rules. They should. But the FA needs to be sensible and realistic about the punishment they hand out.

In this case, a simple slap on the wrist consisting of a hefty suspended fine would have been sufficient. What about £20,000 for two years? That would focus the attention of the office staff every deadline day.

But the people FA don’t think like that. It’s an organisation in turmoil. It doesn’t really have a great say in what goes on in the top flight of English football anymore. It lost nearly all credibility in the build up to the World Cup bid and then lost more during the bidding process and vote.

The friendly international fixtures it (and UEFA) arranges are coming in for criticism from clubs, players, pundits and fans.

And wasn’t Benjani’s transfer to Manchester City and then a couple of years later to Sunderland, completed a day (or even days in the first case) after the transfer deadline had closed? Who sanctioned these moves? The FA must have done.

It appears to me that FA is scared stiff of the Premier League who pay merely pay lip service to the rules and fines as they laid down by the European and World governing bodies. But is the FA strong enough to take on the bigger clubs and wield a big stick when neither they nor their players step out of line? Doubtful, but it is much easier to get heavy with the smaller clubs who haven’t got the power or resources to fight back.

But what happens when the rich clubs finally say enough is enough and cut their ties with FIFA and UEFA and set up a new governing body? Some people say that it will never happen, but why not? The Premier League (Premiership) clubs of the early 1990s effectively changed the way the English game was being run and wrestled a good deal of power and finance from the FA.

Maybe at that point the smaller clubs will fall in behind their richer counterparts and the FA will be left with what it deserves … the Wembley debt and little else.

But I digress a little.

I don’t know too much about Torquay, but I can’t imagine that they are too dissimilar from Hereford which is a club run by decent people and who have many journeyman professionals earning a fraction of the sums their colleagues in the two top divisions enjoy.

Hereford and Torquay have small, but extremely loyal fan bases that must be shaking their collective heads in bemusement at this decision.

Finally, another question that needs answering is; why Torquay were docked only one point and Hereford three for what was effectively the same ‘crime’? Maybe the suits at the FA are taking lessons in consistency from some of their referees.

Bristol Rovers 1 AFC Bournemouth 0 - Oh What a Night

Wow what a night!

My clipping from this morning's paper

Rovers had their collective backs to the wall as Bournemouth battered them, but the home side clung on for three vital points and moved out of the relegation zone.

Before discussing Rovers, I think it’s only fair to take a look at the Cherries.

The south coast club have now not won in six games as things hot up at the top end of the table, but thy really did deserve something out of this fixture.

Danny Ings must have left for home wondering what he had to do to beat Conrad Logan in the Rovers goal. The Irishman – on loan from Leicester City – stopped everything the Bournemouth striker threw at him and used his hands, legs and, on two occasions, his chest to thwart his opponent.

The one time Logan was beaten, central defender James Tunnicliffe covered for him to head a Danny Hollands drive off the line.

Bournemouth will no doubt have felt aggrieved at their lack of luck, but get another bite at the cherry (no pun intended) when Rovers visit in a few weeks time.

Manager Lee Bradbury complained that they did everything they could, but “the ball just wouldn’t drop for us.” He was also decent enough to give credit where it was most certainly due – to the Rovers defence.

And Bradbury isn’t fazed about the fight ahead. He said:

“The pack are closing in behind us in the battle for play-off places but I wouldn't swap places with any of them and we still have it in our hands to secure a top-six finish."

Rovers have now won four of the six games since Stuart Campbell took on the role of player-boss after Dave Penney was sacked and this result sees them get out of the relegation places for the first time this year.

When you listen to Campbell speak about his side you can feel his genuine pride. In fact he said:

"I'm immensely proud of them and their effort, desire and commitment. From front to back, they all put their bodies on the line and were phenomenal. It was a fantastic performance from everyone and I couldn't have asked for any more. The lads are fighting for their lives and it showed in their performance."

Although he’s no mug and with games against Southampton and Brighton coming up (as well as the Cherries reverse fixture when you can be guaranteed they’ll be looking to set the record straight) he admitted:

"The job's not done yet. We've been in the bottom four for far too long. We'll enjoy this result but then we have to prepare for Saturday's game.”

All of the other results at the bottom went in Rovers favour last night and even though they have played a game more than most of their rivals, Notts County, Tranmere and Dagenham all seem to be playing like Rovers were at the turn of the year and are dropping like stones. In fact even the Swindon players must be thinking survival is possible … assuming they can win a game or two in the very near future.

The saddest sight of the night came only 15 minutes into the game when Will Hoskins appeared to twist his ankle and hobbled off. At half time he needed to be supported by two of the backroom staff as he hopped across the Mem towards the dressing room.

Rovers showed that they could win a game without him last night, but there’s no doubting he will be sorely missed in the run in if his injury is as bad as it looked.

Maybe the Rovers board should have loaned him to Brighton (if rumours are to be believed) on deadline day with a view to a £1 million summer move, but then again, hindsight is always a wonderful thing.

Rovers v Bournemouth – Cherries

I turned up for the original Rovers versus Bournemouth fixture at 6.15pm in the evening at just about the same time that the game was called off due to a water-logged pitch.

As I switched off my car’s engine in the car park, the Bournemouth team was getting word of the cancellation via their goal-keeping coach’s mum – not great communication skills from the powers that be.

That evening as the Cherries squad stood by the pitch looking bemused at the decision - and furious in equal measure - one of the backroom staff told me that they would come back and batter Rovers. At that time I couldn’t argue a defence for the Gas, but that was before Campbell-mania took hold.

Rovers have picked up ten points in the five games since midfielder Stuart Campbell took over from Dave Penney and confidence is building with each match.

I was talking to another club’s scout before the Swindon game on Saturday who told me that the word in the ‘game’ was that Rovers had given up and were down. Campbell doesn’t want the job, he said. And top scorer Will Hoskins was down in Brighton on loan deadline day taking a medical in anticipation of a move to the Champions-elect. The Rovers board had, allegedly, accepted a bid in the region of £1 million for Hoskins’s services and Plymouth striker Rory Fallon was being lined up as his replacement, but terms couldn’t be agreed with the financially strapped Pilgrims.

Now, how true any of this is I don’t know and it might well just be rumour, but having seen quite a bit of Rovers recently, I can say for certain that they haven’t given up.

Whether Hoskins was strolling along the sea-front eating candy floss or not, I don’t know either, but he sure wasn’t playing like someone who didn’t care before deadline day and hasn’t played like that since. Without his goals, they would already be down. He’s a skipper leading by example.

Who knows whether Stuart Campbell wants the job long term? Whatever his ambitions are, I can say for certain that he is busting a gut to keep Rovers in League One. If he manages that feat, he will find it bloody difficult not to accept the inevitable job offer that comes his way. He was already highly regarded by Gasheads for his playing ability and work ethic - survival will see him achieve God-like status in the blue half of the city.

If Dagenham lose to Peterborough tonight and Rovers manage to turn over play-off hopefuls Bournemouth, then the Gas will move out of the relegation zone and the resulting euphoria and self-belief from within the squad might just see them beat the drop in their final few games.

You have to feel for the Cherries though. Had that original fixture taken place, they were riding high and bankers for the win. However, they have now not won in five games as the nerves start to jangle and their promotion hopes seemingly slip away.

I have a lot of time for Bournemouth. The club has effectively been saved by the fans, they play good football and they don’t deserve to miss out on promotion.

Swindon Town 1 Hartlepool United 1 - Struggle

I've never been a ticket buying fan of any of the teams I cover on a regular basis, but I want each of them to do as well as possible because frankly I want to write fun and uplifting pieces for the papers - I hate the negative stuff.

My clipping from this morning's paper

Unfortunately it's impossible to put a positive spin on Swindon's current predicament. It looks very much as if they will be heading for League Two in May.
Poor Phil Smith - a decent man - was at fault for the Hartlepool opener (after 37 minutes and so there was still plenty of time to rescue the situation and get the win) on Saturday and to his credit he 'fronted up' after the game, although he looked as crestfallen as I have ever seen him.
But his boss, Paul Hart, was spot on when he said: "He obviously didn't mean to do it and the man who hasn't made a mistake hasn't been born."
And anyone getting on Smith's back is missing the point - the season started last August and the responsibility for the situation needs sharing about amongst the other players, the manager(s), coaches, and finally the directors who let two strikers leave the club for peanuts, or in Billy Paynter's case, nothing.
Swindon have suffered a dire run of 18 games without a win and I'm afraid that, even if they did string a few wins together, it could be too little, too late.
Earlier this season, I had a dig at Bristol Rovers fans for jeering their own team at half time. On Saturday Swindon's fans were at it. Surely their priority is to help the team get them out of the mess they're in not to compound the misery of the players. Swindon's players worked hard on Saturday and deserved better support.
There are now seven teams in relegation trouble in my opinion. From the bottom of the table; Plymouth, Swindon, Bristol Rovers, Walsall, Dagenham, Notts County and Tranmere.
Plymouth are down, but fighting.
Swindon have played at least one game more than the other six and are five points adrift of the team above them.
Bristols Rovers have now won three games and drawn one of the five since Stuart Campbell took over. They have a tough run in, but look up for the scrap.
Walsall haven't given up hope yet either and Dean Smith has just been given the job on a permanent deal - so he must be doing something right.
Dagenham have only won one in five games, have lost the last two and so could very well get sucked into the bottom four spots.
Notts County have just ditched Paul Ince and that move might go one of two ways for the club. They've lost the last five games and so the rot may have already set in or, alternatively, Ince's replacement might lift the gloom around the club ...  but he'll need to be quick.
Tranmere seem to be struggling too, but to a lesser degree - they're not out of the mire though.
I'm afraid that none of this gives me any great hope for Swindon and their survival chances. In my opinion they are 'down', but then again this is written by someone who has made so many bad predictions this season - and hopes he's making just one more.