Deal or no deal? (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON TOWN: Deal or no deal?

6:00am Saturday 4th February 2012 in Local By Gary Rose

PAUL Mooney and Kane Louis face a nervous wait to discover whether one of them will be handed a professional contract with Swindon Town, after the Samsung Win A Pro Contract finalists completed a week of training with the club yesterday.

Defender Mooney and striker Louis spent the last five days with the Town players and were put through their paces by boss Paolo Di Canio.

Now they must wait to find out if either of them have done enough to convince Di Canio they are worthy of a pro deal with the promotion-chasing Robins, with the club announcing the winner on February 25.

“Training has been good,” said 19-year-old Mooney, who currently plays for Welsh side Rhyl Town in the Huws Gray Alliance League.

“On Tuesday and Monday we just used the gym so it was frustrating a bit not to be able to kick a ball and prove myself, but I enjoyed it. All the lads are a nice bunch of lads and it all went well.

“Paolo always guided us through the training sessions. He is able to pick up on 1,000 things but that is clearly what has made him so successful, and he is brilliant to work under.”

Mooney started the competition as a midfielder but was converted into a defender as the competition wore on.

“Although I’d obviously like to play my natural position it has been good,” he added. “I am still learning to be a centre-back but Paolo has been helping me out and I have appreciated that.

“Now it will be a nervous wait to find out if I have done enough, but it is all experience.”

Louis, meanwhile, certainly made an impression in the final of the Samsung Win A Pro Contract competition, scoring two goals after being switched to the Swindon XI side.

The 21-year-old has been working for a removals company after being released by Brighton a couple of years ago, and he admitted winning the contract with Swindon would mean everything to him.

“We met Paolo on Monday and he explained how he runs the club and how he wants the team to play,” said Louis.

“The last few days of training has been very good. It has been very technical and specific and I have enjoyed it.

“I have just tried to do my best and show as much as I can. It would mean a lot to get this contract because it has been a long time since I played full time football and since then there have been a few ups and downs.

“Without football I don’t know what else I could do, so it would mean everything to win a contract with Swindon.”

The remaining two finalists, Tyron Amory and Chris Smith, will be given their chance to impress by training with the club for five days from Monday before Di Canio chooses his winner.