Inter versus AC, Rangers versus Celtic, Barcalona versus Real Madrid, Swindon versus...er... Gillingham? What a really strange discussion. They really need to get over it...

Ahh. That's nice. It's Alan Reeves saying, through teeth that are barely gritted at all, that he's pleased Adam Willis put in such a good performance on Saturday.
Another thought: I see Reeves is stilled called "club captain" - but I'm sure Razor was wearing the armband when the two were playing alongside each other last week. Can anyone confirm?

A couple of notable performances at the weekend, as picked out by the Adver's match report. First, of course, Wayne Carlisle, who scored Town's goal and certainly looked the part after coming in to replace Bobby Howe, who had both blisters and an unwell parent he wanted to visit. If Carlisle keeps playing like that - and he's saying there's better to come as he gets fitter, even this paid-up member of the Bobby Howe fanclub is going to have to say our man will struggle to get his place back.
Second, and also mentioned in dispatches is "forgotten man" Adam Willis, who stepped in at the back and put in a solid performance. This is like having another man added to the squad (as Roy Evans kinda suggests) - nobody expected Willis to really be good enough to deputise properly.

Stop everything you're doing, and head over to the Adver's website for their weekly poll. What's the coolest thing Rokin' Robin has done this season? (I plumped for his tackle at Bristol City - it got the biggest cheer of the afternoon).

FA Cup draw
Swindon have been drawn at home to Hartlepool United, a team so pisspoor even struggling third division outfit Oxford United was able to beat them, away, today. Should be a formality, shouldn't it?

Wycombe 1 Swindon Town 1
Town have earned an excellent away point this afternoon, with Wayne Carlisle scoring a blinding first half goal on his full debut for Town. Graz had earlier had an goal ruled out for offside, and Danny Invincible hit the post after a good interchange with his striking partner.
But Wycombe equalised just before half time, and went on to squander several chances in the second 45 minutes, with Bart Gremink pulling off a couple of superb saves. At the other end, Martin Taylor also had to look lively to deny Town all three points.
You can read the Annanova report here, while TeamTalk's is here.
On balance, a draw seemed fair, and after the match Town boss Roy Evans said he was pleased with the point. He added that the late sending off of Richard Walker - goalscorer for Wanderers - was unnecessary. "Sometimes the officials work hard to make a good game a bad one," he said.

There's team news from the BBC, but it doesn't mention that Alan Reeves and Neil Ruddock could both be out with niggling injuries after Wednesday's game. Which is odd, because Wiltshire Sound told us this last night.

The first round of the FA Cup is drawn tonight just after 5pm, on BBC1's Grandstand. Swindon are in the hat - wouldn't a home tie with Oxford be nice? As much as anything, we'd at least know we're into the second round, and it would probably be the tie of the round...

It's a measure of how tight the second division is - and how well Town are doing this season - that, while tomorrow's opponents Wycombe are five places ahead of us they have only a two point advantage, and we've got a game in hand.
On Tuesday night Wycombe fought out an exciting 2-2 draw with early season pace-setters Colchester on Tuesday, and will be hoping to keep up their excellent run of form against Town. They haven't lost since a 2-0 reversal away to Reading on September 22, and last week notched an impressive 1-0 win away to Bristol City.
This form, along with the fact Wanderers have yet to lose at home this season, suggests we're in for a tough match. Danger men for Wycombe include pacy frontman Jermane McSporran - who scored last weekend - and on-loan Aston Villa striker Richard Walker.
There's an interesting chat over on their Rivals.net board about the game. Wycombe fans have heard we're playing badly at the moment, and say they'd be disappointed not to win big, although a Townie has pointed out our last two games have been at home, and we've got the second best away record in league. Another Robin generously points out we've a lot to thank Wycombe for too, even if they consider us their local rivals...
In the Adver tonight, Danny Invincible sounds like he's wanting to prove he's worth more than £50,000, the size of the "bid" Lawrie Sanchez put in for our Danny over the summer. He says he wouldn't have gone anyway - he'd only opt for a move to a higher division, and thinks Town is a bigger club.
Meanwhile, Steve Robinson says he's making a big effort to get forward a little more - he set up Graz's first goal on Wednesday night, and feels he should be doing more of that.
But, despite all this optimism, you've got to feel that a draw at Adams Park would do us very nicely.
Driving to the game? You'll find text instructions on how to get there at the foot of this page.

Oops - another reader offended. "This is what an unbiased match report looks like - read it and learn for next time!" urges emailer James Hilton this morning, helpfully clipping this report to his message. Hmm - not quite getting the concept yet, are we James? Good luck for the rest of the season - I still maintain you guys will need it...

Swindon 2 Cambridge 0
Once upon a time, when we thought a game was going to peter out to a nil-nil draw, Town would contrive to surprise us. Normally they'd do that by conceding a last minute goal, probably as a result of comic-cut capers between Bart Gremink and Alan Reeves.
Last night, to everyone's delight, it went the other way. Giuliano Grazioli popped up with two cracking goals - the second a clear goal of the season contender - in the last ten minutes. Everyone where I was sitting left the ground with a smile on his or her face.
It hadn't looked like it was going to go our way in the first half. Roy Evans says in today's Adver that Cambridge had power, pace and strength but, quite frankly, I'd put them down as one of the worst teams I've seen at the County Ground.
What they did have was an ability to disrupt Town's rather tentative advances, with our confidence in the first 45 at a low ebb. They did this by falling over a lot to waste a little time, and standing in the way to disrupt the flow. You can't blame them - the Us were clearly a side incabable of doing much else - and the plan was obviously to grab a point. Give them their due, they very nearly got away with it.
But in the second half Town picked up the pace, the midfield came on to a game and it looked like a few players might redeem themselves after Sunday's debacle. Steve Robinson, in particular, seemed to grow in confidence, with the ball being knocked around the deck with some zip.
Bobby Howe harried and hassled the inept Cambridge defenders, while up front Invincible and Graz worked hard. But a goal seemed far off: young Paul Edwards, although seeing a lot of the ball, was struggling to create an opening, and Perez had barely been troubled in the Cambridge goal.
That changed in the 83rd minute with a bit of Graz magic. The striker collected a Steve Robinson pass and fired a low, driven shot from the edge of the penalty box, which zipped home off the wet grass.
And seven minutes later, after good work and a cross from new face Wayne Carlisle, on as a sub for David Duke, Graz got his second with a spectacular scissor-kick that went in the top corner. Perez didn't have a chance.
Afterwards, Roy Evans said he was, unsurprisingly, delighted with the win - and added that Graz shouldn't have scored the second. I didn't get it either, first time around…
Staggeringly, over in Cambridge today fans are being told the side was the better side in the first half, and that they had enjoyed their best away performance of the season despite the result. I can't imagine how bad they must have been so far.
Meanwhile, Dave Hanley's match report is now up over on Rivals.net.

The Cambridge fans would prefer we didn't make any flood jokes, but since they do go on a bit about Town's dodgy past, forgive the log if it adopts a bit of a nautical theme today.
So, it's ahoy and avast to John Bird's Cambridge side at the County Ground tonight. They're looking to shiver our timbers with their less-than-silky brand of route one "football" - there's an entertaining story in tonight's Adver about how one hapless midfielder was substituted in a reserve match for passing the ball sideways, twice.
A win for them tonight would certainly create a bit of a splash - they've not been enjoying the best of seasons so far, and rumours suggest Bird could be forced to walk the plank if results don't start going their way soon. It's hardly surprising - most managers adopt the long ball game to ensure success, ala the "Crazy Gang" of Wimbledon through the late 80s. To bore your fans and lose is just a little too much.
But, for now, form suggests Town should fish out the three points tonight - we did the double over them last season, with Danny Invincible bagging a brace in the home 3-1 win. Perhaps even more relevant is the fact the U's form away from home seems holed below the waterline - they've lost all but one of their away matches this season.
The U's are thrown a lifeline by the return of former York striker Colin Alcide. Shane Tudor, a winger who was signed on loan yesterday from Wolves, could also feature.
Let's hope Town can fire a broadside at the water people tonight, and get back on track after Sunday's disappointments.
(Phew - thank goodness that's over)

Adver's back up and running, although I'm fast losing the desire to go back over Sunday's debacle (not least 'cause I've gone and got myself into two blazing rows in the post match gloom on the rivals.com messageboard).
Anyway, to be brief, Graz calls for Town to bounce back on Wednesday night against Cambridge, to show that Sunday was really an off day rather than the return to last season's form it so horribly looked like. Danny Invincible is left to rue the what-ifs, after coming top of a pretty poor pile to win the man of the match prize.
Meanwhile, Dave over at myonlyswindon.com is reporting that there were 13 arrests on Sunday - remarkable given the level of violence I saw after the match, and after the reports of trouble around the ground and near the Arriva garage pre-match. He also comments on the low turnout - a good 2,000 less than some were hoping for. Did the Cardiff fans' reputation keep some people away? Having seem them in action, I'd certainly have thought so.

Only three points, only three points... nah, still not working.
With the Adver's site as effective as a Bobby Howe defensive header at the time of writing, we're left to ponder yesterday's defeat among ourselves. Swindonshaun makes some good points over on the Rivals.com site, although I think he's a little harsh on our Bobby. He was, after all, no worse than the rest of the midfield - even if that was very, very poor indeed.
At least, unlike Swindonshaun, I don't work in Cardiff...

As Roy Evans says, we made them look good. And it's worth noting that, despite what some of their number claimed pre-match, there are a lot of thugs in the Cardiff support. There was trouble before and after the match, despite a huge police turnout. And, at 6pm, the sirens are still sounding up and down the roads nearby the County Ground. What an unpleasant afternoon.

Swindon Town 0 Cardiff City 3
Somehow this Annanova report makes us sound a little better than we were in the flesh. Certainly, it would be hard to express in words how disappointing today's performance was. I'm not going to try - maybe tomorrow, after I've repeated the mantra "it was only three points" a few times, things will seem better...

Oh dear. Those Cardiff fans on the Stratton Bank are going to get a little wet tomorrow... although the BBC says it's just going to be cloudy. Place your bets... let's hope a good Swindon performance dampens their spirits, whatever the conditions.
Certainly, Cardiff fans sound like they're expecting a tough match.

Lock up your scarves, and board up those windows - Cardiff is coming to town. Or should we? The Cardiff City "are they hooligans or not" question is the keenest source of debate ahead of Sunday's big match at the County Ground, rather than the football.
That makes the Adver headline today - War Cry - just a tad inappropriate. All we need now is Frankie's "Two Tribes" blaring out as the teams appear, and we'll be well set for a fine old square go (actually, Town's official site reports there's going to be some kind of operatic thingie beforehand, which sounds like it alone could drive normally peaceful people to violence, but there we are).
But what of the football? Of course, Cardiff fancy themselves as the sleeping giants of Welsh football. Ex-Wimbledon supremo Sam Hammam has taken over and brought all manner of crazy gang-style hilarious antics with him. Sadly, that hasn't included any sparking league form this season - it's not been disastrous, as some people claim (no worse than, say, Reading - ho ho), but 17th isn't where a team that has spent millions in recent months wants to be.
There has been some turmoil behind the scenes too. Ex Carlisle manager Ian Atkins was thought by some to be Cardiff's best signing of the close season, when he arrived to be right hand man to Alan Cork, but only two months into his new job he was sacked. Various big names have been linked with the post - the latest is ex-Coventry boss Gordon Strachan.
The Bluebirds will arrive at the County Ground with an interesting problem. They put out a reserve side on Tuesday night in the LDV Vans Trophy, and won 7-1. Gavin Gordon bagged five, and now there are a fare number of Cardiff fans wanting to see a few changes in the first XI. In the Adver, Matt Heywood expresses surprise that they've not done better, and names two players - Peter Thorne, who we know all about, and Graham Kavanagh, ex of Stoke - as their two dangermen. Indeed, he rates Kavanagh as one of the best midfielders in the division. There's a player by player profile and form guide too.
Alan Reeves is quite entertaining in tonight's paper - alongside his Wimbledon war stories he predicts that Danny Invincible will be off dying his hair in preparation for the arrival of HTV's cameras at the County Ground.
On that subject, Danny will be fit - provided the colour takes - but Sol Davis and Eric Sabin are still struggling to regain fitness, and will not figure in the squad.
Comments?

Well, I laughed.

LDV Vans Trophy: Colchester 1 Swindon 0
Colchester squeezed through last night in a dull 1-0 draw in front of a small crowd at Layer Road. Roy Evans chose to rest several first team regulars, handing starts to Paul McAreavey and Nathan Edwards, and recalling Matt Heywood and Jo Kuffour to the first 11.
U's manager Steve Witton had been expected to put out a strong side, and did. The game was won with a Kemal Izzett strike early in the second half, after Town had lost the ball from a throw-in.
You can read the Annanova version of events, or go for a longer - and pretty balanced - Colchester fan's view. Meanwhile, in the Adver (and how I wish they'd get rid of those Java bits on their pages...) Roy Evans says he's pretty happy with the contribution of the younger lads - "they've shown they can play at this level," he says.
Now our thoughts turn to Sunday's big televised game. With Cardiff running out 7-1 winners against Rushden & Diamonds - and that with a team that was completely different to the one playing on Saturday - it looks like we might have plenty to think about. Gavin Gordon got no fewer than five goals in the rout...

LDV Vans Trophy: Colchester v Swindon
Teamtalk claims Jo Kuffour could get a recall for tonight's game in Essex, despite Grazioli and Invincible doing so well up front for Town. Jo, of course, scored only a minute or so after coming on against Reading.
The BBC also says Jo could start - replacing Graz - and adds that new on-loan winger Wayne Carlisle is likely to make his debut.
One interesting point from the extended interview on Wiltshire Sound last Friday was that Carlisle hinted he'd be happy to make a permanent move to Town, if things went well. It'll be interesting to see how he fares tonight.
Meanwhile Colchester are hoping to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat away to Blackpool, inflicted only by a 90th minute goal from the home side. Midfielder Dave Gregory is likely to be missing after injurying a knee at the weekend, but otherwise United - level on points with Swindon in the league - are expected to field their first team.
You can read the Adver's preview here - it recalls Razor's debut against Colchester in the league earlier this season, when he scored with a blistering free kick to win the match 1-0. But the paper also points out the Us have enjoyed some good recent form in this competition - they reached the final a few seasons back.

The bragathon continues after Saturday's fine result. Neil Ruddock says the win over Reading was as enjoyable as any he had with Liverpool or Spurs (hmm - but how many derby wins did Spurs have while he was there? :-)). Meanwhile, today's Adver is drooling over the obvious gem that is Paul Edwards, who showed on Saturday that he could defend as well as he could attack on the break. And that, folks, is very well indeed. It's also good to hear Graz sounding confident after quite a long dry spell.
The Adver has put some highly entertaining pictures up from the match - including one of Jo Kuffour looking like he's being swallowed up by his shirt, and another of Neil Ruddock (no such shirt-too-big problems there) hamming it up to the crowd.

Whisper it, just whisper it, but this Swindon Town team could exceed all our expectations this season. I know it's early on, and we've a long hard winter to play through yet, but the way the side brushed aside Reading on Saturday was a performance bound to give us all - and the team - a lot of confidence.
As Dave Hanley's match report points out, this was a very poor Reading performance - he goes as far as to say even Swindon's performance wasn't that hot. But last season we got well beaten when we didn't play that well - it seems this term we're winning, bar the odd disaster.
Certainly, Roy Evans is happy with the win. Those who have Sky Sports will have seen him doing the punditry on Aston Villa v Fulham, still smiling and saying how good it is to be back in football management. He praised the squad as being "full of good hard working lads", and added with a grin that it was good to be back "getting the stick off the players".
Things are a little different down the M4 of course, but that's to be expected. Reading fans seem to feel that, for a side playing so well last season to lose 3-1 at home to their biggest rivals, "there's something seriously wrong".
Of course, we'd just tell them they weren't allowed to play well - and that's all down to a team given a new lease of life by Evans and Ruddock, the greatest double act since... ooh, any suggestions?

New signing latest Swindon Town today signed Wayne Carlisle from Crystal Palace on a three month loan. You'll find a fan site profile, with picture here, and a year-old player profile from Yahoo! here.
In brief, he's a highly regarded and very pacy 22 year-old midfielder who plays on the right wing, or right wing-back, and who has had international recognition with Northern Ireland at youth and under-21 level. He turned out 14 times for Palace last term, and has scored 3 goals in his 46 games in total.
He told BBC Wiltshire Sound this afternoon that he sees the move as a good way to "kick start my career". Wiltshire Sound will be playing a fuller interview with him between 6pm and 7pm tonight.

Well, after two Swindon Town free weeks (apart from a dreary propaganda war about the boardroom battle) Town are back, and with a bang. We're off to Reading's Madejski stadium for the big derby so many of us look forward to from the start of the season, and we've got to be nursing reasonable hopes of coming away with at least a draw. Reading are only a point ahead of us, with boss Alan Pardew voicing concerns that his side are not taking enough chances.
Their last home game was against Bury, and the away side snatched a late equaliser to take a point. That was followed by another disappointing result away from home, when Reading lost 2-0 to Colchester. Only a narrow defeat away to Premiership Aston Villa in the Worthington Cup on Wednesday could give the Royals a little more confidence.
But we've got to think we've got a chance, despite losing 2-0 in the same fixture last year (and losing 1-0 at the County Ground in March). For Town, Danny Invincible has made good use of the two-week layoff to get over an ankle injury sustained in Town's 1-1 draw with Northampton, and he's likely to partner in-form Grazioli up front. Although Eric Sabin is now back in training, Roy Evans has confirmed on the BBC today that he will not be in the squad, despite what TeamTalk was claiming this week. At least Graz and Danny have looked pretty handy up front since they've been paired up.
In midfield Matty Hewlett is struggling to get fit in time, but at the back Razor Ruddock, recovered from his groin injury, could step in. Mark Robinson is back playing football after his hernia problems - he got 90 minutes for the reserves midweek - but I'd be surprised to see him start at Reading. It will be interesting, however, to see if Roy Evans reacts to the news that Reading, in an effort to score a few more goals, are likely to play Martin Butler, Jamie Cureton and Nicky Forster - a three man strikeforce against what is normally a three man Swindon back line. The Reading Rivals.net site has more details of how they are likely to line up. I wouldn't like to see us relying on David Duke or even in form Paul Edwards managing to get back enough to help out defending the flanks.
Meanwhile, there are rumours we're going to announce a new signing this afternoon - check back here for any news, or keep watch on the pisspoor official site for more. One person it won't be is Ben Abbey, the former Southend striker, who was released after failing to impress during a trial period.

"Both consortiums are offering trips to the promised land, but neither has given us tickets, transport or even a map," writes Dublin Red on the Rivals talk board this afternoon, perhaps best summing up the sense of confusion most fans feel about the ongoing battle to run Swindon Town.
Dublin's comments were provoked by an earlier posting from "Nathan" who claimed to have spoken to Town chief executive Peter Rowe at a recent supporters' club function (although he said the event had happened on 27 October, which is…er… clearly wrong). Despite not knowing which month it is, Nathan claimed Rowe had confided in him that our dynamic management duo of Roy Evans and Neil Ruddock would quit the club if the board were replaced.
Of course, even if Nathan's report was true - and, most would say, getting the month wrong ain't a great way to prove your credibility - it would still be no surprise to hear Rowe backing the views of his boss.
Some say what we need, in the words of Mrs Merton, is a heated debate. As suggested by members of the Supporters' Trust, let's get the chairman and a member of the rival consortium together for a head to head. That way, we get to hear both sides' propaganda, in one go, and we can make up our minds.
On the other hand, cynics might suggest that the fans are just pawns in all this, being played by two sets of rich businessmen. Next time we're really asked to get involved, it'll be to fund their dreams of higher division football and new stadiums through tickets, merchandise and debentures. Maybe we're the ones who are supposed to supply the tickets and transport, to travel to wherever they decide we're going.

Am I the only person irritated by the Adver's crass handling of the Roy Evans situation? The paper appeared to have wafer-thin evidence on which to pin their "Evans: I may quit" story on Friday, but today they've weighed in with another piece of spin about how fans want him to stay. Yet from reading their own stories it seems a complete confection by the paper from start to finish - Evans never said he would go, only that he would "reconsider" his position if a new board took over, as they might want to appoint their own man. Since the rival consortium wants Evans to stay, this seems unlikely. Or does the Adver know something it's not printing?

Swindon fans don't have particularly great memories of Colin Todd, the man who arrived last year in a blaze of glory, spent lots of money bringing in some dubious talent, and then high-tailed it to Derby within a few failure-laden months. Well, now Derby fans get to experience the Todd managerial magic at first hand.
Jim Smith hadn't enjoyed the greatest of starts this season, gathering only five points this season and sitting a rather less-than-pretty 19th position in the Premiership. But after six years at the club - and a few respectable finishes including promotion from the first division in his first season and 8th in 98-99 - he might have hoped for a little better than to arrive at work this morning and find our erstwhile manager sitting (metaphorically, of course) in the big seat this morning, drinking his tea from the mug marked "boss".
Smith was offered the position of "director of football" after his assistant was promoted - and while that's a popular title these days for people who don't want to be managers, our Jim was preparing to take his bow and waltz off into retirement without suffering the indignity of being bumped upstairs. So he turned it down, resigned, and a proud career in football looks like it might have ended rather sadly.
But, at least, less than a year after leaving Swindon in the lurch, Todd has the Premiership managerial status he craved. He admits he's got a tough job on his hands and no money to spend - which means he won't be able to lure Adam Willis (briefly captain under his rule), David Duke or Bobby Howe away from the County Ground as one Townie suggests today. Indeed, so bad is the situation at Pride Park that he can't even sign a player on loan until he reduces the wage bill.
And, given our glimpses of his tactical nous last season, Swindonlog confidently predicts he's going to struggle in the rather bigger Premiership pond without splashing serious cash. Wouldn't it be lovely to meet him the first division next year?

The battle for control of the club is getting increasingly messy - and worrying for the fans. Tonight's Adver bears the headline: Evans: I may quit, and is loosely based on a story on the club's official website.
In it, Chairman Danny Donegan threatened Roy Evans and Neil Ruddock would quit with him if he were ousted as chairman. "If Sir Seton Wills and his consortium is successful and I go then the management team goes as well," the site quotes Donegan as saying. "We come as a package and I'm delighted with the work of Roy and Razor since they joined us, but if I'm not here then neither is Roy."
This might be news to Roy Evans - despite the headline on the story, in today's Adver Evans is quoted as saying no more than Donegan's departure would mean "a re-think" about his own position.
Roy Evans told tonight's Adver: "I am backing the chairman to the hilt. He is the one who brought me to Swindon because I believed in the future he had outlined for the club."
So far, so bad. But then he adds: "If new people were to come in then they might have their own ideas about management. I just don’t know."
And that last sentence is the reason why I reckon there's a good chance Evans would, in fact, stay, despite the screaming headline. He seems to be saying there that any rethink might come about because the new board would want to install its own manager.
And what of the suggestion that Evans' and Ruddock's contracts are tied to the Front Garden development? Well, they could be tied to any stadium development - not just the Front Garden - or they could be given fully paid "normal" contracts by any incoming board.
Donegan's certainly done the right thing in appointing Evans, and now he's using the loyalty built up by that sound appointment to try and win his boardroom battle.
That's fine, and to be expected in what is clearly going to be an ugly battle, but I don't think we should necessarily take everything he - or the rival consortium - says at face value.

The Wrexham match, due to be played this Saturday, has been re-arranged for Tuesday November 27th, kick-off at 7.45pm. Oh, how we have missed those freezing cold Tuesday nights high up in the Nationwide, a wind whipping in over from the Old Town...

Aha. Today the Adver reports that its report yesterday (when it quoted Clive Puffett as saying the High Court had ruled in his favour) is, in fact, a load of old balls.
It's one way of dealing with this lull in Swindon Town news - print any old claim one day, print a glorified correction the next - but it leaves the rest of us bewildered, frustrated, and feeling generally pissed about.
At least BBC Wiltshire Sound appears to be keeping tabs on it all - Ed Hadwin has done a good job of explaining what's going on, and what happens next. Maybe the Adver should tune in - he had the skinny on what's going on at the weekend, before Puffett's initial claim was printed.

After the non-stop on the field action of two games a week over the last month or so, it's suddenly like the close season again - sitting and waiting for the games to restart, while watching the boardroom struggle rumble on.
According to the rival consortium looking to take over Town, the High Court has ruled that Danny Donegan and Ian Blatchley are no longer directors of the club (which leaves us directorless). Therefore, the AGM date of 7th November, set by them last week, is not valid, and one is likely to happen much sooner.
That's not true, however. The High Court has not ruled anything of the kind - it has simply said there's a case to answer, and the date for a full hearing has yet to be set. That will probably happen today.
So, for the moment, November 7th stands as the d-day. The rival consortium is claiming it can overturn the existing directors, but they seem pretty confident that an agreement reached between them and Sir Seton Wills - majority shareholder and rebel consortium backer - stops him voting against them.

Meanwhile, Matty Hewlett still doesn't know how bad the injury he sustained on Saturday is. It'll be a few days before the extent of the damage is known.

Away from the football... the early-season break will allow Swindonlog.com to undergo a few nips and tucks. Put simply, the log's had far more visitors than I expected, and I feel it should have a little more to it.
Among the features I hope to add to version 2.0 include a little box to allow you to decide if links open new windows or not, and the ability to comment on each day's entry in a comment book style thing. There will also be some permanent links to useful sites for Townies and visitors alike.
Is there anything you'd like added? Go on - it's going to be a geeky old weekend, so drop me a line at gaffer@swindonlog.com if there's anything you'd like added, or if the log somehow looks a little odd on your computer...

Another Saturday, another dodgy prediction goes down the pan. I think we all expected three points against Northampton, for all the reasons outlined on Friday. The fact we only came away with a point, and that we were lucky to get even that, rubbed a bit of salt in the wound.
As the Adver's match report points out, both sides had chances to win the match, and Town should have bagged all three points long before Alan Reeves brought Jamie Forrester down in the box. All sides agree a penalty should have been given then.
But it wasn't, and some fans reckon it was two points dropped, rather than one won. After the match, however, even Roy Evans was admitting Town were lucky not to lose the match. Aside from our good forture with the ref's mistake, Bart Gremink certainly had to pull off a couple of excellent saves in the second half to keep the Cobblers out. Nothampton fans reckon only "Swindon's bad finishing and appalling refereeing decisions kept the score at 1-1".
Looking ahead, Evans says the postponement of Saturday's home match against Wrexham is now a blessing after Matty Hewlett and Danny Invincible both picked up knocks. It means Town get a good period of recuperation before an important sequence of matches which sees us play Reading away in the league, Colchester away in the LDV Vans Trophy, and then Cardiff in the big televised match the following Sunday at the County Ground.
And let's not get too upset with our draw. The Robins are still only two points off a play-off place, and it could be a lot worse. Take, for instance, our next opponents, who despite an expensive squad and definite first division pretensions could only manage a draw against lowly Bury, at home. And they were a bit lucky to get that as well, say some (well, the Bury manager, at least). That's got to be cause for smiling this Monday, hasn't it?

Rivals.net: Detailed match report
Evening Advertiser: Pictures from the match