New boss Mark Cooper has had to rebuild Robins post Paolo

Swindon Town’s new recently appointed permanent manager Mark Cooper will have to balance the books after the Robins paid to win promotion from League Two and then challenge again last season. Swindon missed out on a possible place in the Championship after narrowly losing to Brentford on penalties in the play-off semi-final and Cooper has had to trim his budget accordingly this season.

Steve Davis is expecting a very different Swindon Town wide when we arrive in Wiltshire this weekend, but the Alex boss says it will be another difficult encounter at the County Ground with the likes of Nile Ranger and the on-loan Tottenham youngsters’ Ryan Mason and Grant Hall around.

Alex boss Steve Davis told crewealex.net: “Swindon chased success and have found it difficult to sustain that. They seem to yo-yo with their financial situation. They seem to have a few years of hardship and cost cutting and then have money to spend.

“Perhaps the Di Canio era has caught up with them. They spent a lot of money to get out of League Two and then challenge at the top of this league, but it couldn’t guarantee them promotion again. They lost in the play-offs and Mark Cooper is having to pick up the pieces if you like.

“They loaned in a few players from Tottenham which will help their wage budget and they will be good players, young and ambitious to do well. Their team will be very different from last season, but still a difficult opponent, especially at their home ground.”