Cheltenham Town manager Michael Flynn was not impressed with his players following a 3-2 home defeat to local rivals Swindon Town.
So far, life under Flynn back in League Two has not proved easy for the Robins. Since their relegation back down to the fourth tier on the final day of last season, almost 20 players have departed the club. To balance the revolving door of players who have left the club, 19 players, including six loanees have walked through the door at Whaddon Road. Following the result against Swindon, Cheltenham now sit 21st, just three points away from the relegation zone. Out of 11 games played, Cheltenham have only won three and drawn one, leaving them on 10 points.
A poor defensive display left Cheltenham 3-0 to Swindon by the 50th minute. George Cox and Will Wright scored one apiece to put the visitors in the lead at the halftime break. Then within the first few minutes of the second half, 18-year-old Joel McGregor made it three. The hosts did mount somewhat of a second-half comeback, with Geroge Miller and Ethon Archer each getting on the scoresheet, but Mark Kennedy’s Swindon side held on for their first away win of the season.
With relegation rivals Morecambe and Accrington Stanley winning, pressure is mounting on manager Flynn to get results to avoid slipping into the League Two relegation zone.
Speaking to Gloucestershire Live after the game, Flynn expressed his frustration about the manner in which the three goals were conceded.
“I am more concerned with our defending as a team because that is nowhere near the required level for professional football. I am absolutely fuming. We have worked on stopping crosses and dealing with balls in the box and we’ve been doing it for weeks now because we’ve seen a common trend. We have conceded 10 goals now from crosses into the box and you shouldn’t concede that throughout the season and we’ve done it after 11 games.
“I have just told them that if they can’t do it, I’ll have to wait and make sure we get people in who can do it. As soon as the first goal went in, which Swindon didn’t have to do anything about, heads dropped and a few players went into their shells. Second goal, again, they didn’t have to do anything about it, a ball into the box, players switched off and he gets a free attempt at the back post to put them 2-0 up.”
The 43-year-old then spoke about how disappointing it was to concede a third goal moments after the second-half whistle blew and a triple substitution was made.
“Yes, it’s not good enough. We were absolutely in cruise control at Barrow last week and they didn’t look like scoring. We switched off and at that point, we gave the home team the impetus. Today, we give a Swindon team who are struggling a 3-0 advantage away from home. It wasn’t good enough. The third goal, straight after half-time, is not good enough. Let’s be honest.”
Cheltenham make the trip to Colchester United to take on Danny Cowley’s side next weekend, whilst Swindon host Grant McCan’s Doncaster Rovers.
Writer’s View
Even with the turnover that the club has had to endure, nobody could have predicted how poor Cheltenham have really been so far this season. Defensively, they are in the bottom five in terms of goals conceded, and that showed in yesterday’s clash. Although they mounted somewhat of a second-half comeback, it is still fair to say that the first hour of that match was again not good enough from a Cheltenham perspective. Many fans have turned on Flynn already, and he is now under more pressure to get results.
For Swindon, they now have momentum, winning their first back-to-back games this season. The side also registered their first away win yesterday, relieving some of the pressure on Kennedy and the players. Despite still winning fewer games than Cheltenham have, five draws have earned the side a current 18th spot in the table. Kennedy and Swindon fans alike will be hoping that the team can now carry momentum into next week and that they can start turning these draws into wins.
