The Saga Continues...

The Milan Misun saga continues, amid revelations that Swindon Town have not actually signed the defender from Celtic.


This comes only four months after it was believed he had signed a 2.5 year deal with The Robins. 


The defender, 21, is currently in a state of limbo - with Celtic not keen on keeping him and Swindon Town seemingly not keen on buying him.  


I suspect it would be best for both parties if his contract was torn up, so that he may move on elsewhere.  Misun is clearly not going to play under Paolo at The County Ground and with interest coming from Dundee I suspect he will favour a return to Scotland.


Scott Cuthbert has reportedly been offered a deal to return north as well, with Partick Thistle offering him a two year deal.  


David Prutton is also close to exiting The County Ground, with Yorkshire sides Barnsley and Sheffield United interested in the midfielder.  A proposed move to Brighton fell through earlier this month as the Sussex side dropped their interest in him.


Jordan Pavett will be in the frame for a starting berth, if he can prove his worth during pre-season.  It is expected that Jordan will partner Billy Bodin against Cirencester Town (date TBC) and two new strikers at least will be signed by July 1st.   Scott Dobie and Stephen Brooker have been mentioned, but nothing as yet is confirmed.


Speaking of friendlies, it is strange that the club has not yet released its pre-season plan - although that could be in part due to the change of manager.  I won't expect AC Milan to give up a Saturday to play us at The County Ground, but if we could have a few home games v Reading, Tottenham Hotspur and Bristol City then that could make for a good campaign with a few away games at Bath City, Newport County, Hungerford Town, Swindon Supermarine, Chippenham Town and Cirencester Town.   Scrap any 'jollies' abroad - the players don't deserve it.

Quartet Offered Deals To Stay

Lescinel Jean-Francois, Nathan Thompson, Michael Timlin and Mark Scott have all been asked to stay on at The County Ground next season, according to the BBC.


Lescinel and Timlin look as if they could do well at League 2 level next season, and possibly young Nathan Thompson will see some action too, but I cannot see why we are keeping (no pun intended!) Mark Scott on.  He is 20 and nowhere near the standard needed to play at League level and has only played at non-league whilst on loan at Chippenham Town and Hungerford Town.  Good at that level, but I can't see him being a challenger for a first-team place.


Connor Thompson, in my opinion, should be the third-choice 'keeper as he is already a Northern Ireland Youth International.  If Mark is to progress, he needs to move on.


The futures of Jonathan Douglas, Alan Sheehan, Jakub Jesionkowski, Scott Cuthbert and Vincent Pericard are uncertain, but I would guess that most if not all of these players will be moving on.  Douglas is wanted by a number of League 1 sides, but he is based in Wiltshire and is settled here so it's 50/50 if he stays or goes.  As for Sheehan, he is wanted by Preston and has already gone on trial with them.  I hope he goes, as he's failed to deliver here.


Scott Cuthbert is wanted by Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock, and may favour a return north of the border whilst Pericard is wanted by Notts County, Dunfermline Athletic, Oldham Athletic and Tranmere Rovers.  Jakub is available on a free, according to the GiveMeFootball website, so I doubt he will be staying on.  Rumours are that he will move to Newport County if they sell Glyn Thompson to Cheltenham Town.


Thomas Dossevi is expected to leave for a team in France, believed to be FC Lorient.


Swindon Town are apparently looking at Thailand International Ronnachai Rangsiyo, who is a 22 year-old striker with 15 appearances for his country and four goals.  He has previously been on the books of Everton, and currently plays for BEC Tero Sasana.

Akinde Moves To Crawley

Crawley Town have swooped for Swindon Town target John Akinde.


The former Ebbsfleet and Bristol City striker has penned a deal with the Surrey club, ahead of their first season in League 2.

By Prior Appointment - Swindon To Bid For Rocks Hot-Shot?

A number of Football League sides, believed to include Swindon Town, are interested in Bognor Regis Town striker Jason Prior.

The Rocks striker hit an amazing 44 goals in 2010-11, as Bognor ultimately failed to win promotion to the Ryman Premier League despite being odds-on for promotion at the start of last season.


Bognor managers Jamie Howell and Darren Kilpatrick highly rate their prolific striker, and admit that he could play in the Football League, but with Prior having only one year left on his contract at Nyewood Lane and The Rocks struggling for cash, a bid of £50,000 could be enough to seal a deal for Prior.


Fellow Bognor player, Ben Johnson, is also a target for League 2 sides including Dagenham & Redbridge, Gillingham and Crawley Town.

Forza Swindon!

Paolo Di Canio has announced that fellow Italians Fabrizio Piccareta and Claudio Donateli will be joining him on the coaching staff at The County Ground.


Piccareta takes over the mantle as Assistant Manager, with Donateli coming in as Fitness Coach.  Paul 'Zippy' Bodin stays on the Coaching Staff, resuming his role with the Youth Team.  Rumours are that a Goalkeeping Coach is set to be appointed soon, to replace George Wood - names being mentioned so far are ex Wales Goalkeepers Martyn Margetson (currently Cardiff City's Goalkeeping Coach) and Paul Jones.  However, Italian Andrea Pazzagli (currently a Goalkeeping Coach with Italy's U18s squad) is being mentioned more frequently and could soon form part of Paolo's revolution at The County Ground.


On the playing front, Jonathan Douglas is expected to depart for either Bournemouth or Exeter soon.  Another player I won't miss.  Milan Misun is expected to leave soon (possibly for a club on the Continent) whilst Jordan Pavett has been linked with Kettering Town, Bath City and Newport County and Aden Flint could be heading back to Nottinghamshire to former club Alfreton Town.  


Billy Bodin and Will Evans could each be set for loan moves to Forest Green Rovers, as part of a proposed bid for Reece Styche, whilst Callum Kennedy and Nathan Thompson are to be given pre-season games to make a case for inclusion in the first team.  Callum is wanted by Hereford United whilst Nathan is wanted by Barnet.


Thomas Dossevi will be given until June 1st to find a new club, following which his contract will be torn up.  I can't see many bidders coming in for him, and so he may end up a free agent before long.  I believe that Wrexham have shown an interest, but could they afford to pay a player who has consistently underperformed the wages he was on at The County Ground?


Believed to be coming in on trial with The Robins are Poole Town winger Carl Preston and Chester striker Michael Wilde.  

Prutton Departs For The Owls

Within the last hour, it has been confirmed that David Prutton has left Swindon Town to sign a two year deal with League 1 side Sheffield Wednesday.


Prutton follows Michael Rose out of the exit door at The County Ground, and there are rumours abounding that Thomas Dossevi will be the next player to depart - possibly for a club abroad.


Good luck to David, but I will not be sorry to see him go.

Paolo Planning For The Long Term

Paolo Di Canio knows that he faces a tall order to get Swindon Town promoted, during his debut season as a manager, yet signs are already evident that he is in it for the long haul and that he is planning to make Swindon Town a force in football once again.


Paolo has already been in contact with Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp, and rumours are that Harry may allow young striker Harry Kane to link up with The Robins on loan next season.


Harry spent last season on loan at Leyton Orient and scored five goals in 18 appearances for the O's including two over Bristol Rovers in a 4-1 win at Brisbane Road.  He is an England Under 19 International and looks a very good prospect for the future, and a player who would lead the forward line well for Swindon Town - something we have not had since Charlie Austin departed for Lancashire.


Whether or not Tottenham Hotspur would allow Harry to play in League 2 next season remains to be seen, but if he does let us hope he performs better than the last Tottenham Hotspur loanee - namely Jonathan Obika.


Silly season has started on the Football Rumours site, and I cannot see us going for Ryan Mason, Dominic Adiyiah, Andreas De Vito nor Mattia Vatoli.  These players would walk into most Championship sides - people need to get real about who we can realistically get and how much the Board will allow Paolo to have in transfer fees.


Shabir Khan (Worcester City left-back) and Reece Styche (Forest Green Rovers striker) have also been linked with us.  Shabir, 25, is a Pakistan International and has played over 100 games for Worcester City.  He has recently attracted the attentions of Bradford City and Notts County, so he has the potential to play in the Football League.  Reece is based locally and plays for neighbours Forest Green Rovers and is a full England C International aged 22.  Very highly rated by Forest Green Rovers manager (and ex-Swindon Town player) David Hockaday, maybe Reece has the potential to move into the Football League as a Swindon Town player?