When MacDonald came in he replaced Paolo Di Canio, what was life at the club like under the Italian? It was very disciplined. People say heâs a bit crazy at times and I wont say heâs not, because he is! The difference is when MacDonald came in it was a bit more relaxed, the boys didnât feel under as much pressure. You had a bit of a run in with Paolo, what was it like to work under him? Was he a difficult character? He was difficult at times of course. Nobody likes getting told off, and if you werenât doing the right things heâd shout at you. But, he knew what he was talking about, he knew his stuff and he really knows his football. When I first came he was a major factor, because he was such a big star in the game, when I came in I felt he was a great manager who has the ability to go higher. Now heâs at Sunderland do you think he can bring success to his new club? Yes, I think heâll bring discipline, which is one thing I think football in general lacks. If he gets some quality on the pitch Iâm sure heâll get positive results. You mentioned his discipline was a big factor, what else would you say are his strengths and weaknesses? His strengths, Iâd say attention to detail, what he did with us was fantastic. With negatives Iâd say his man management, other people would probably say the same. When you go up against someone whoâs so strong itâs difficult, the way he tries to manage may be difficult with Premier League players. I think heâs learnt to calm down a bit though. Di Canio is known for being a character, what was the oddest thing he did whilst at Swindon? He did a few! Some of them I cant really say. What he used to do if we didnât play well is get us up early watching the clips on the TV. One time he showed us a demonstration of tackling, one of our centre-halves didnât tackle properly in the game, and he (Paolo) started slide tackling chairs up and down the room on the carpet! He was literally getting burns, which was funny, but a bit odd at the same time. You signed a new contract recently, is it good to be settled with Swindon? And are you enjoying your football at the moment? Yes, itâs good to be settled. Iâve been here for a couple of years now so it was good to sort a new deal. Iâm enjoying my football, weâve had two fantastic years at the club and Iâm hoping to build on that again. You had a few loan moves earlier in your career, was that a difficult time? Or is moving to get regular action something that young players just have to do? When youâre young you need to go and play games, thereâs no point in sitting on the bench. For me as a goalkeeper thereâs no better feeling than going out and playing games, even if that isnât at a great standard. Goalkeeping is goalkeeping, if youâre a forward and you play in the conference it might be a bit different, but in terms of goalkeeping youâre there making decisions, coming to catch crosses and youâre saving shots. Itâs really important for young players to do that and develop by doing that as early as possible. We recently saw Rickie Lambert, a player who made his name in the various divisions of English football, make his England debut. Have you got aspirations of making it to the Premier League and maybe representing England at senior level? Yes, definitely. Everyone wants to play at the highest level. Personally I have ambitions to play in the Premier League and to play for England, but sometimes it doesnât happen. Iâll give it my best shot, if it does come thatâs fantastic, if doesnât then Iâll keep working hard and wonât stop until I have to retire. Nile Ranger has recently joined Swindon, what sort of impact has he had? And how big of a part can he play in the teamâs season? Definitely, heâs a different type of player to what we had before. Heâs a physical presence, heâs good with the ball at his feet and he can score goals as well. He will be a positive on the pitch and give us another dimension. Obviously heâs had his problems off the pitch, but do you think he can put those behind him now and become the player he has the potential to be? Heâs still a young lad, only 22, people get on his back too quickly. Heâs done things wrong in the past, and heâll hold his hands up because he knows he has. Heâs willing to change, Iâve spoken to him and from what heâs said to me he wants to change his ways, try to fall back in love with football again and find that passion again. What do you make of his tattoo? I donât know where heâs gone with that one! He might have tried to do a Mike Tyson with a tattoo on his face. Thatâs something I definitely wonât be doing! Finally, the poll is open for Swindonâs FIFA cover, why should people give you their vote? I think Iâm the second longest serving player after Nathan Thompson and Iâve had two good seasons here with a promotion. Iâd like to think that the fans would like to repay that by voting and getting me on the cover. Wes Foderingham was speaking on behalf of Swindon Town FC and EA SPORTS FIFA 14, available to pre-order now from Game.co.uk. Vote for Wes to appear on the clubâs very own version of EA SPORTS FIFA 14 at STFCâs Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/13QThIj
Loved this bit, the man is just bonkers about his football! Finally someone to match the passion of our fans!
