AS Bristol Rovers’ small posse of travelling support noisily celebrated their 2-1 win at the County Ground on Tuesday, for their Swindon counterparts, the sound was probably drowned out by the ominous rumble of history repeating.

While the 400+ Gasheads revelled in having not only got one over on their rivals up the M4, but the perceived ‘karma’ of snaffling the three points – having had to fork out twice for the privilege of seeing the fixture – much of the Town support headed home with their mood as dark as their wallets were light.

In the space of 11 chastening days, a start to the season which could reasonably have been acclaimed as ‘promising’ has been largely swept away under a tidal wave of red cards, defensive blunders and derby timidity.

Cause for panic?

No, of course not. Not yet.

Not with barely one month of the season having passed and a surfeit of time and games remaining to put the red and white train back on the tracks.

Yet merely a cursory glance into the recent past does unearth a few reasons for concern.

It was almost at the identical time last season that Town embarked on a winless run of 12 matches that would leave their aspirations in tatters and Mark Cooper unemployed.

Coincidence? Maybe, but it’s not just those similarities that will alarm the County Ground support the most.

Rather, it is the worrying conclusion that lessons are not being learned from the mistakes being made.

Dominating possession without end product; handing opponents the initiative with daft defensive howlers; discipline self-destructing amid a hothouse atmosphere; injuries opening up the soft underbelly of a squad that, in some areas, is paper-thin.

Haven’t we heard all this before?

They were all themes debated at length last season – only this time without the predatory abilities of a Nicky Ajose to nick a point or three here and there to soothe frayed nerves.

As Luke Williams pointed out – albeit in a something of a disconcerting world-weary tone post-Rovers – he has been here before, having experienced a largely unpleasant conclusion to the last campaign, and can use that experience to plot Town course out of troubled waters.

And tomorrow’s away trip to Oldham, whose own form is hardly earth-shattering, would appear to offer the chance to right the ship.

Some red and white followers might be reflecting on that old Einstein saying however, that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.