Mid-Month Catch-Up
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Swindon’s first-team squad had just finished their first session of the day and the first training session since the 4-0 win over Scunthorpe on the weekend. Godwin and coach Scott Lindsey had been putting them through the paces with some physical training.
Today was the day that owner Clem Morfuni would attend the training ground in order to have a catch-up with the manager about progress and so Godwin left Lindsey and goalkeeping coach Steve Mildenhall in charge of the second session of the day which was just after lunch time.
“Morning, Neil!” said Morfuni as he embraced Godwin, something that the pair had begun to do more often as their relationship grew working together.
The two asked each other how they were getting on personally. It had turned out that one of the directors had left Morfuni’s building services company in Australia but that it hadn’t really impacted the business. Godwin was reasonably steady away.
“So, Scunthorpe - what a result!” Morfuni said with a big smile on his face.
It was a terrific win for Swindon, even if the side in question were knee-deep in a relegation battle to not go down to the National League next season. The emphatic scoreline had pushed Swindon to the top of the league for the first time this season.
“I’ve got to say, you keep impressing me more with every month here, Neil. You’ve been tremendous with developing and restoring confidence in this group of players that ultimately, you had to play, you’re pushing expectations to a point that I didn’t see achievable at the start of the season and we have had one hell of a cup run.” Morfuni explained, his smile still beaming.
“It’s been a great year so far. We’re just working hard to not let anything get out of our hands, really. The FA Cup run is an exciting thing, too. I’m really looking forward to that trip down to The Den next month.” Godwin said.
Next, Clem Morfuni pulled out a file from his briefcase which showed graphs and calculations all over.
“I am just mesmerised, not only with our performance on the pitch, but the balance sheet too. Since you arrived, we have made a profit of almost £1.7million for the season.
“You have been bringing fans through the gates in their thousands, season tickets went through the roof just by knowing you had arrived, the FA Cup prize money as well as making us appealing enough to be shown on TV a couple of times - excellent work.
“I’m a businessman, of course I realise that not being able to sign players does make the figures look better. I will be putting together a transfer budget depending on how next season looks because we will resolve the transfer situation. I realise that financial performance doesn’t have much bearing for you as it does for me, so you just need to work with Ben Chorley [the DoF] and see what kind of players you want to look at next year.”
“Thanks, Clem. It’s good to work with someone as professional as yourself.” Godwin said.
“It is for the previous reasons that I would like to extend your contract by an additional year until June 2024, we can only really look at increasing your wage by £100 a week at this juncture, but we will add a 15% wage rise on promotion, so it will reach around the £1,850 per week mark at that stage.” Clem offered.
“I think I am earning enough to be happy at the moment. I realise that you can’t overstretch budgets at this stage but I would be very happy to accept. I appreciate your belief in me and I really look forward to continuing this partnership with you.” Godwin smiled as he stood up to shake Clem’s hand as a formal sign of acceptance.
