DAN THE FAN: Can Town win anything with kids?

Due to a long overdrawn court case to see who owed the club at the start of the summer, Town’s quest for new additions has been seriously affected.

The only new additions to the squad at present, has been midfielder Anton Rodgers, signed on a free transfer from Oldham.

And defenders Josh Lelan & Brad Smith on loan, from Derby County and Liverpool respectively.

Hopefully by the season opener on Saturday, Town would have secured a couple more deals.

After Jordan Turnbull’s inclusion in the clubs team photo, the signing of the Southampton defender seems a foregone conclusion.

After losing a big chunk of our backline over the summer, that area of the team has seemed to be the clubs main focus.

It was been reported in recent weeks that Mark Cooper also has his sight set on re-signing Jack Stephens after his impressive spell at Town last season.

With Cooper looking to play a 5-3-2 formation this season, three quality centre backs will be crucial in playing this system.

Last season we saw this formation a few times, but with the lack of width and pace in midfield after the departure of Alex Pritchard, the manager’s hand has been forced into this system.

Mr. Versatile Nathan Thompson has done a good job as a wingback in the past, and is well suited to this position.

Town will need to strengthen on the other side with Nathan Byrne’s form being inconsistent since his arrival last summer.

On his day, Byrne’s pace and skill with the ball is brilliant to watch, but this isn’t seen often enough for him to play a key role in the side.

After being consistently linked with Liverpool wingback Brad Smith, Town finally completed the youth loan deal yesterday.

With that deal now sorted, Smith should play huge part of Cooper’s side going into the season.

Midfield is Town’s most talented area of the pitch, Massimo Luongo and Louis Thompson were both key last year, and will be relied upon heavily this season.

Defensive midfielder Yaser Kasim has been looking good in pre-season, and will also be important over the next nine months.

Town’s biggest surprise package in midfield this season could turn out to be Ben Gladwin.

The 22-year-old has impressed in pre-season and has the tools needed to become a key player for Town, it’ll be important for the manager to give the former Reading man time on the pitch to help him become a better player over the season.

As well as recruiting new defenders, Chairman Lee Power has insisted the club have been on the look out for Nile Ranger’s replacement.

Currently Andy Williams, Michael Smith and George Barker are trusted with scoring Town’s goals, but with Barker still in the infancy of his career, a new goalscorer is needed asap.

Our lack of attacking options is why a lot of fans find the decision to let promising striker Miles Storey leave the club an odd one.

Hopefully Miles has a long run of games on the south coast, and can return to us next season a better player.

With Town's squad still being assembled, it's tough to predict how this season will be judged next May.

Obviously as a fan you want the club to improve every year, but i'm stuggling to see us improving on last season's 8th place finish.

At this moment in time, i would predict a finish of 12th place, but that could easily change if the club can re-sign Jack Stephens, and find Nile Ranger's replacement in the coming weeks.

When Town faced Leeds a couple of weeks ago, the average age of the squad was just 20 years old.

Let’s hope Alan Hansen’s famous remarks 18 years ago can again be proved wrong, but this time by a youthful looking Swindon Town.

Follow me on Twitter @danwjonson

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