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How do you solve a problem like Swindon Town? What tactical mentality should the Robins implement next season?

Swindon Town this weekend celebrated the 25th anniversary of reaching the promised land of the Premier League. With good reason, the 1992-93 campaign is one of, if not the, most celebrated season in the club's history.

Fraser Digby, Nicky Summerbee, Paul Bodin, Colin Calderwood, 'Ooh' Shaun Taylor, Micky Hazard, John Moncur, Craig Maskell, Martin Ling, Steve 'Chalky' White. The entire XI are icons in this corner of Wiltshire - even if you were not even born before 1992, you know their names, and you know their characteristics as their legend is passed on via word of mouth and nostalgia-driven social media posts.

They were led by player-manager Glenn Hoddle, who brought continental football to a provincial English town, a free-flowing, nice to watch 3-5-2 where Hoddle, even at the age of 36, was influential as the sweeper.

They say a week is a long time in football, 25 years is a long time anyway, and a lifetime in this sport, especially for those connected to the Robins. 

Swindon are not a Premier League-bound team anymore. The class of '93 were 'honoured' this weekend by a 1-0 home defeat to third-bottom Grimsby Town and Saturday's match confirmed the inevitable that Swindon will be in the fourth tier next season, far from the first.

The football, too, is a far cry from those heroes of '93. Both during and post Flitcroft's reign, it has been unfashionable, unenjoyable and unsuccesful. 

Despite the emotional flame that forever burns with the team of the early nineties, there was not been a warmth towards a modern day Town playing carpet football.

Even during the 2014-15 season where Swindon looked good for automatic promotion until around Christmas, but still made the League One play-off final, a large section of the supporter base still resented the 'Tippy Tappy' style of Town.

It was beautiful when it worked, but was on occasion an accident waiting to happen as Wes Foderingham's sweeper-keeping, and the desire of Nathan Thompson, Jordan Turnbull and Jack Stephens to play out from the back led to a sloppily-conceded goal more than once or twice.

Key players like Foderingham, Stephens (end of loan), Nathan Byrne, Massimo Luongo and Andy Williams departing the County Ground followed by poor recruitment led to Swindon narrowly surviving relegation the following season, and a second poor summer of transfer work played a huge part in the Robins being unable to escape the drop the campaign after that.

Relegation led to louder calls from the fans to abandon passing football for a more pragmatic style. 

Chairman Lee Power abandoned his philosophies to answer that call, and David Flitcroft was appointed to get Swindon back to League One, by hook or by crook.

Unfortunately for Power and the club's fans, Flitcroft was and is not pragmatic, just poor. He was not defensively-minded, 65 goals conceded in 44 games tells you that. With two games of the League Two season remaining, Swindon, a side chasing promotion all season, have only conceded one fewer goal than the team that was relegated this time last year.

Pragmatic football, when it is done properly, works, and it is not cliche to say that it tends to be the solution in League Two more often than not. The likes of Luton Town have proved it is possible to get promoted out of the bottom professional division playing nice football, but there is no getting away from the fact that they are the exception, rather than the rule. 

When it comes to more defence-minded football, Swindon find themselves in the exact same situation that they did back in April of 2017.

Getting out of League Two by any means neccessary will be the crux for most, but when an adult ticket alone to watch Town at the County Ground sets you back £23 a week, is getting value for your money important as an entertainment spectacle? Are the three points value for money exclusively? That, of course, is a question answered on an individual-by-individual basis.

The question then is where do you go beyond it? The Tony Pulis or Sam Allardyce-esque argument is that once the team has reached a level they are ok with, do you risk losing it in the hope of further progression, or rest on your laurels?

Alternatively, Swindon can re-claim an identity born out of Hoddle thinking and become a spectacle again. 

Attendances are down at the County Ground - not all, in fairness, due to how to the 11 men in red kick the leather around, but Flitcroft's style without doubt did not help matters in that regard.

The Premier League has changed beyond all recognition since Swindon's solitary season in 1993-94, with the astronomical TV deals increasing the gap between the top two tiers and the bottom two more every year, leaving clubs like Swindon, who got there too early, far behind.

Town are therefore unlikely to break the mould and reach the Championship, without returning to League One in the near future, anyway, with teams like Yeovil and seemingly Burton going back down soon after making the Championship.

Returning to a situation of being part of the League One furniture, but being fun to watch, might be the best route to success before making a charge for the Championship, and hopefully beyond.

Either way, it needs to be enjoyable to be a Swindon Town fan again.

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