2021/22				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Forest Green Rovers	15	9	4	2	27	13	+14	31	XWXW	7	4	1	2	12	9	8	5	3	0	15	4
	2		Port Vale	15	8	4	3	27	15	+12	28	WWXW	7	4	2	1	13	6	8	4	2	2	14	9
	3		Northampton Town	15	8	3	4	20	11	+9	27	WWWW	8	5	1	2	13	6	7	3	2	2	7	5
	4		Exeter City	15	6	8	1	25	15	+10	26	WWWX	7	3	4	0	12	6	8	3	4	1	13	9
	5	2	Swindon Town	15	7	5	3	22	15	+7	26	WLWX	7	1	3	3	6	9	8	6	2	0	16	6
	6	4	Leyton Orient	15	5	8	2	25	12	+13	23	WOXO	8	4	3	1	15	3	7	1	5	1	10	9

 

46 games to be played in the EFL so we are just shy of a third of the way through the campaign and teams are starting to sort themselves out.

 

Across the last eight seasons, only one eventual champion has led after 15 rounds, but all were top 7 at this stage and seven were top 5.

 

Current leaders Forest Green Rovers would not be promoted out of turn, but they have flattered to deceive previously since eventually making it into the Football League and it took several deep runs for them to get out of the National. Also they seem incredibly short priced to me and last season, they were pretty much top 2 for xP all campaign and finished 6th and look to have regressed from those numbers this time round and supporters are not particularly confident about their chances, which is odd, given where they stand currently. Exeter City are another team who are always around the playoff fringes, finishing 5-4-9-5-9 in the last five seasons , but tend to fade when the going gets tough, they also draw too many games for my liking and I could say the same about Leyton Orient, about whom I have some other issues, like they were ranked #24 for xP last season and it is a big ask to go straight from zero to hero. That leaves Port Vale, Northampton Town and Swindon Town from the group most likely to produce the champion and I would not rule any of the trio out, but it is the latter I wish to discuss today and who are both the most interesting and biggest priced.

 

Swindon were relegated from League 1 last season , losing a massive 29 games and had some huge issues on and off the pitch with a very unpopular owner and the club in total disarray, you can read the sorry details in this article on the Guardian website. This last pre season was delayed and, a couple of weeks before the start of the campaign , there were just nine contracted senior players and virtually no staff, with a high court battle ongoing over ownership of the club between Lee Power (in charge since 2015) and Clem Morfuni who had the backing of the supporters trust and previously held a 15% share. Morfuni eventually took over, but it originally seemed too late for this season, but in a typical Australian way, the new owner rolled his sleeves up and got working. He appointed an equally hungry head coach in Ben Garner, who is well respected within the game and who held major coaching roles at two Premier League teams, but who's first job as "boss" did not end well at Bristol Rovers. Along with a Director of Football in Ben Chorley and after the two appointments Morfuni said: