TOWN FLIER: Exciting and unsettling times ahead (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

TOWN FLIER is the weekly fan's blog about all matters relating to Swindon Town FC

12:10pm Wednesday 30th January 2013 in Sport By Town Flier

FIVE YEARS ago Swindon Town were taken over by a syndicate fronted by a man, Andrew Fitton, whose experience running football clubs had come at non league Hungerford Town.

The name to emerge on Tuesday as the front runner to take the club off the hands of the last man standing from Fitton’s consortium, Andrew Black, is Jed McCrory who owns Southern League Premier mid-table side Banbury United.

More will emerge over the coming days about McCrory’s bona fides and the source of the considerable amounts of money needed to keep the SS Swindon Town afloat. But we should not be quick to dismiss McCrory, as some have done, because he does eat at the top table of the Premier League.

I still hang on to the belief that Black will not pull the plug and let the club flatline at midnight tonight when a pivotal transfer window closes.

It is surely asking a lot to get the complicated nature of club transference pushed through with such a short deadline.

Paolo Di Canio still dreams that investors will come riding in over the horizon in time for him to boost his squad on the back of injuries to Danny Hollands, Troy Archibald-Henville, Miles Storey and Joe Devera.

Conversely, the doom merchants would have us believe that Paolo will be forced to offload some of his assets.

The boss is apparently set to move quickly for transfer targets if funds allow. Should he have to generate his own funds, one wonders whether striker James Collins will be that cash cow.

Despite two spectacular games – Stoke and Portsmouth – Collins has not had the impact that I expected following his move from Shrewsbury. And I suspect the manager is of like mind.

Collins has his admirers and the fact that they are from his former patch in the Midlands (Wolves and West Brom) suggests he might not be fully settled. Di Canio has indicated that fees mentioned are considerably more than Swindon paid for Collins originally.

The striker was Di Canio’s first tactical rather than forced substitution in Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient, in front of another fine turn-out of 794 Town fans.

Collins did not have a bad game, but he was guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance just before his substitution – a familiar punishment from the boss.

Di Canio succumbed to his frustration and criticised certain players after the Orient game – something he has kept in check recently.

On this occasion he said all three substitutes – Aden Flint, Chris Martin and Gary Roberts were ‘bad’, singling out Flint for further brickbats and revealing that he would be in the market for another centre back.

He also indicated that he might be willing to play some of the kids in Saturday’s televised Crawley game because ‘I smell something I don’t like’.

In truth, Town had been the better side on a difficult pitch and had simply failed to ruthlessly put away their chances against a defence consisting of four tall centre backs.

Williams, Collins and Martin were all guilty of missing chances while my Man of the Match Alan McCormack had a potential candidate for goal of the season well saved by Jamie Jones.

One goal conceded in the last seven games is a very positive statistic. Unfortunately, these are the games that have to be won if we are to go up automatically.

Who knows what the team sheet will look like on Saturday? Who knows off whether new off- field ownership will be finalised?

For the sake of continuity let’s hope the new owners keep current Chief Executive Nick Watkins in place and with Sir William Patey signposting his exit from the club, is it too much to ask that Jeremy Wray could return as chairman?

Certainly, that would bring a smile to Di Canio’s face.