Paul Merson has given an interview with the Official web site in which he says he quite understands the frustration the fans are feeling over his tenure as manager.

He said: “We were simply not good enough at Swindon. The two biggest attributes in football are heart and enthusiasm and the players did not show of this on Tuesday evening.

I blame myself for that. The fans were right to criticise me; they’re not silly, they can see things and I totally understand and accept their frustration. They want to see passion and hard work but this has been lacking all too often.

The players that we have here now are good enough to get us away from danger and we are working hard to put things right. I accept that players can’t play well every week, but in our case too many of them seem to have an off-day at the same time.

The most interesting part of the interview was the last statement: “I have had a long meeting with the Chairman and know exactly what is expected of me in these forthcoming games, so we will all pull together and look to move away from danger.”

There are many ways this might be interpreted, but the most likely is that he has been told that we must pull away from the relegation zone quickly or else. Dare I say it, but this sounds like the dreaded “vote of confidence” from the Chairman.