THE song choices of John Goddard and James Dunne during their initiation dinner on Town’s recent tour of Portugal stood out as I watched them back, cringing through my prised fingers.

The former Woking man opted for Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, while new recruit Dunne went with Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’.

Little did they know the importance of the words they were singing at the time and how poignant they were to Swindon Town’s current plight.

Goddard in particular, having endured the calamity of last season, could not have belted out a more apt song, with fans’ emotions boiling over to the point of turning nasty on the final home game of last season against Scunthorpe.

However, this is a new dawn, a fresh start, a clean slate, whatever you want to call it, the club, the fans and the media are keen to draw a line under what conspired to Town’s downfall.

Both on and off the field, Swindon Town got it completely wrong last campaign and chairman Lee Power was man enough to come out and hold his hands up, shouldering a large chunk of the responsibility.

Of course, change had to come and as a result, Luke Williams and Ross Embleton departed the club. Harsh on a duo that had their arms tied behind their backs during their time in charge and were undermined by the arrival of Tim Sherwood, no doubt, but a necessary move.

There could be no remnants of what can only be described as a disastrous campaign, and with that in mind, the old guard of Nathan Thompson, Jonathan Obika and Yaser Kasim followed suit.

With their departures, came the worrying stat that within two years, there is now no member of the current playing staff who were part of the side that guided Town to the play-off final against Preston North End.

The longest serving player at the club has now only been here for two seasons. However, that is in the past and new manager David Flitcroft is intent to leave it there as he sets about forging his own legacy.

What that will be has not been written yet, but having only been at the club for exactly two months come kick-off at Brunton Park on Saturday afternoon, Flitcroft’s prologue is a strong one.

The reason Power brought in the 43-year-old Lancastrian is already clear to see.

With Town’s chairman taking a sizeable step backwards from proceedings, having not been involved in team affairs since the formal unveiling of Flitcroft in June, a manager and all that comes with that title was needed – something many fans had been crying out for during Williams’ reign.

With Flitcroft, not only comes the experience of the job and the league, but also the contacts, friends in the right places, former players that will follow him to the end of the world and back.

As a result, Flitcroft, with his knowledge of what is required to get out of League Two, set about building his team from a standing start, with 10 recruits through the door at the time of writing this.

Now, here is where Dunne’s song choice comes in.

It is not going to be an immediate fix. Town are not going to romp to the title with a record points tally, although I would be more than happy to be proven wrong.

It is going to take time for a completely new side to settle, no amount of singing in Portugal is going to quicken that process.

Should Town fall behind against Carlisle early on, fans must be patient and stick by the team as they try to figure out this new terrain.

A line has now been drawn under last season and everyone must be singing from the same hymn sheet, whether that’s with Goddard, Dunne or even dressing up as Robbie Williams with Chris Robertson.

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