ROBINS ARE A SHER BET NOW!
Tim’s dream debut as Swindon chief
TIM Sherwood was all-smiles as he kicked off his reign as Swindon Town director of football with an impressive 3-0 victory against Charlton.
The former Tottenham and Aston Villa boss caused a surprise when he dropped down to League One with the Robins, but he’s made an immediate impact.
Head coach Luke Williams praised Sherwood after the Robins cruised past the lacklustre Addicks to climb out of the relegation zone.
“Tim identified some positional play to help us to stop giving opportunities away and he also gave the players some very clear and specific attacking moves,” said Williams. “It was a complete team performance.”
Elsewhere, Josh Morris netted his 15th goal of the season to help table-toppers Scunthorpe win 1-0 at Coventry and League Two pacesetters Plymouth triumped 2-1 at Crewe. Graham Westley’s Newport County beat Carlisle 2-0 to end the EFL’s only unbeaten record.
SWINDON TOWN head coach Luke Williams believes Tim Sherwood deserves credit for having an instant impact at the club following their victory over Charlton Athletic.
Sherwood was appointed director of football on Thursday and strikes from Lloyd Jones, John Goodard and an own goal ensured a winning start.
Williams said: “Tim identified some positional play to help us to stop giving opportunities away and you saw that we gave away very few opportunities.
“He also gave the players some very clear and specific attacking moves which again you saw in our play.
“We looked very comfortable defensively and we looked like we could create chances on the break.
“It was a very complete team performance.”
Williams was also quick to confirm that he is happy with the new set-up at the club.
“From a very selfish point of view it means I can pick things up and learn from someone who has managed at the highest level,” he added.
The first half was a fairly even affair with few real chances before Swindon opened the scoring two minutes before half-time in somewhat fortuitous fashion.
Sean Murray’s low effort was heading wide before taking a wicked deflection off Charlton left-back Morgan Fox. This completely wrong-footed Declan Rudd in the Charlton goal, and he could only watch as the ball dribbled passed him into the net.
It was 2-0 five minutes into the second half when Goddard’s right-wing corner was flicked on at the near-post by Matt Doughty and landed at the feet of the unmarked Jones, who stroked the ball home.
The Addicks offered little resistance and were impotent in attack with Lawrence Vigouroux barely tested by the front pairing of Nicky Ajose and Lee Novak.
Their best chance fell to Ajose in the 63rd minute, but his effort was deflected and easily collected by Vigouroux.
The impressive Goddard completed the scoring, superbly firing home after neat build-up play by Yaser Kasim five minutes before the end.
Charlton manager Russell Slade could only apologise for his side’s limp display against a team in the relegation zone at the start of play.
“It was a poor performance and we probably put in, collectively, our worst performance of the season,” he said.
“We had a few bodies missing and we had to adapt and change our shape a little bit, but even so we had experienced players in the side.
“We weren’t quite at it. We didn’t play with the intensity that we needed to and didn’t create enough opportunities.
“I can only apologise to everyone, and we will need to have a strong reaction from that when we play our next game.”