It's been worth waiting for (From This Is Swindon Town FC)

SWINDON TOWN: It's been worth waiting for

6:00am Tuesday 19th June 2012 in Sport By Sam Morshead

IF you weren’t quite sure before yesterday, Paolo Di Canio and Swindon Town mean business in League One next season.

The triple signing of Andy Williams, Gary Roberts and James Collins was well worth the wait.

Let's be honest, the media and the fans can be as guilty as each other when it comes to impatience during the close season.

The modern day desire to know what’s happening before it’s even happened can lead to unnecessary panic and pandemonium, in pub conversations and on online forums, if a club is perceived not to be acting quickly enough in its business off the field.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather my team took its time and assembled the kind of calibre on show at the County Ground on Monday afternoon than chanced its arm on players based on You Tube clips and dodgy references alone.

As has already been said by many, these signings are a real statement of intent - written in bold type on headed paper - underlining Town’s ambition ahead of the coming campaign.

Between them, Williams, Roberts and Collins tick most of the boxes you could ask of players in the third tier.

In Williams you have a goalscorer who netted 17 times for a 17th-placed Yeovil last season, while Collins was one of the brightest young talents in League Two last term and Roberts possesses a wealth of experience at Town’s current level.

What’s more, both Collins and Roberts were the subject of interest from Championship clubs before they opted to sign on at the County Ground. That, my friends, is something to truly take note of.

While other teams are shedding key men like dead skin (Shrewsbury) or grabbing the nearest available player as though they were a teenager at a school disco (Preston), Swindon’s approach seems considered and ultimately constructive.

How refreshing it is that Di Canio has not only admitted his faults in the transfer market last season but also adjusted his strategy.

Make no mistake, League One will be no pushover, and Town will do well to match the likes of Sheffield United, MK Dons and Doncaster.

But right now it seems like the Robins are building in the right way - with more to come before pre-season if Di Canio is to be believed.

So next time, remember the old cliches.

Patience is indeed a virtue. And good things... well, you know the rest.