It’s been a dreadful start to the 2025/26 League Two season for Michael Flynn’s Cheltenham Town, but could history be about to repeat itself once again?
The Robins are currently rock bottom of the football league, failing to take a single point from any of their opening five matches and have scored just one goal thus far.
You won’t have to cast your minds back too far to the 2023/24 season, when Cheltenham Town went ten matches without scoring a goal and had to wait until their 14th league game of the season until their first victory.
However, could history be about to repeat itself?
Cheltenham’s 2025/26 campaign so far:
Despite retaining both Ethon Archer & Jordan Thomas thus far, Cheltenham’s recruitment has focussed more on trying to add experience figures.
Players such as Ryan Broom, Lee Angol and James Wilson have all came through the door – whilst a delayed takeover appeared to impact their transfer window significantly with all signings being either free agents or loanees.
On the pitch, the Robins began the season with a narrow defeat against Cambridge United, followed by a 2-0 loss against Chesterfield. They recovered in the EFL Cup to beat League One side Exeter City but were thumped 5-0 by MK Dons just three days later.
It took until game four for Cheltenham to register their one and only league goal – which came through debutant Josh Martin in a 2-1 loss against Bromley. Defeats against Barnet and Cardiff City (EFL Cup) have followed, ensuring their poor start continued. Things don’t appear to be getting easier for the Robins either, with trips to Salford City and Plymouth Argyle (EFL Trophy) on the horizon.
So far, it’s five defeats out of five in League Two – scoring once and conceding 11 goals, which is the second worst in the division.
Injuries to key players such as Thomas and Robbie Cundy have also taken their toll for the Robins and have added further misery on what’s already been a difficult start to the season.
How does their current season compare to 2023/24?
Though it isn’t something to be ‘happy’ with, Cheltenham have at least scored a league goal this time around. Previously, it took them ten matches to get off the mark however they did have a point by this stage.
This is one more than they currently have. However, at this stage Cheltenham’s 2023/24 side had only conceded six goals as oppose to 11, had a point on the board and were a League One side rather than League Two.
Admittedly, Cheltenham could use their next five league games to rebuild form and prove the entire point wrong. However, there is currently a lot of clear similarities between the two sides and we all know Cheltenham’s 2023/24 season saw them relegated.
How much pressure is Michael Flynn under?
Naturally, football is a results-based business and as we all know managers are almost always the ones to make way when a side struggles for results.
Flynn is an experienced manager and is highly likely to have undergone a similar stint of form previously – suggesting he very much still could be the right man to lead them out of it.
However, the long-awaited takeover of the League Two side has now been complete and often that leads to a managerial change – with the new owners looking to hire someone they want rather than stick with what’s present.
New owner Mike Garlick has already publicly backed Flynn during his first interview since the completion of the takeover, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his job safe long-term.
Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Garlick stated…
‘I’ve been in football a long time, I’ve had other managers that have been beaten five times in a row and we’ve stick with them and turned it around – that’s what we’re hoping to do.
‘We’ve got to turn things around, I think Mike’s the man to do that. Let’s get behind him and make him do that.”
As an outsider to the situation, it is always refreshing to see an owner (new or not) publicly stand by their manager instead of cutting loose at the first opportunity, but Flynn himself will know the consequences of not being able to turn this around.
Similarly, the club under their new takeover are likely to be seen as an attractive outfit for managers currently out of work. For example, Jon Brady (ex Northampton), Steve Cotterill (ex Forest Green Rovers) and Rob Elliott (ex Crawley Town) are just three examples of managers that have experienced success and trophies during their careers and could have their eyes fixed on the role should it become available.
There is a positive light for the Robins to come, with them facing Accrington Stanley and Crawley Town next month and neither of those have won a league game either thus far. Those two matches are currently Cheltenham’s best opportunity of claiming their first league win of the season on paper, but lose them and suddenly the pressure is well and truly on.
Cheltenham fans, what are your thoughts on your sides’ respective start to the season?
