Swindon Town manager Jody Morris has said that he thinks that the team’s recent poor performances will help them in the long run, according to The Swindon Advertiser. Battling adversity and demonstrating resilience in sport can be important lessons, but with a squad already fragile and demoralised, Morris’s apparent acceptance of their current form may not be well received by fans and players alike.
Coming into tomorrow’s game against Barrow without a win since 25th February, Swindon are struggling on and off the pitch. Captain and star striker Charlie Austin was reportedly told not to travel with the team for their Monday game against Tranmere, with Austin’s wife Bianca engaging with the fan debate on Twitter, ‘liking’ tweets suggesting that even if he wasn’t starting he should have travelled with the team and supported from the bench, and another criticising Morris, who has only won two of 13 games since he joined. Morris commented that “…it helps you discover more about the players, how they react and how the dynamic in the group gets affected during a bad run of form,” which could be interpreted as an explanation for why certain players have featured less.
After sharing that “the boys will be better off after going through this tough spell”, Morris has reportedly drawn on his own experience as a player and coach to motivate the team by sharing that he’s “been involved with groups that end up coming out the other side of a rot and flourishing, so I’d love that to be the case with this group.”
These words will not be comforting to Swindon fans who want to see an immediate return to form to give them some confidence going into next season and are frustrated by what they see as inaction from the Board. The fanbase has also levelled frustration at Technical Director Sandro Di Michele who oversees football operations at Swindon, after less than 12 months with the club and is seen as a major contributing factor to Swindon’s slip down League Two this season.
Morris, who replaced Scott Lindsey who left after just six months in charge in January, was brought in to align with Di Michele’s club strategy and philosophy. This was described to the BBC in January as someone with a track record of developing talent from within the club, but in January signings included the marquee signing of Swindon veteran Charlie Austin and Jake Cain from Liverpool, and so far less has been little evidence to suggest that reinforcements are coming from the academy.
Pete Wild’s Barrow will be hoping to add to Morris’ teachable moments for his squad by defeating Swindon in their fifth consecutive game, at The County Ground tomorrow (15th April).
Writer’s View
At a time when Swindon’s team and backroom staff need all the support behind them that they can muster, this tacit acceptance of their recent form is going to further sap the players’ confidence. It’s easy to appreciate the sentiment, but I would argue that it’s something that shouldn’t have been shared so overtly and would be better saved for when Swindon’s form is back up to scratch, and reflecting on what they as a team and a coaching staff learnt from the 22-23 campaign. The comment about the players’ reaction seems unnecessarily divisive and again suggests deeper issues at the club. In an interview which was intended to be reassuring, Morris has been anything but.
