What has happened to this skilful Swindon Town midfielder?

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After being released by Conference side Luton Town in 2013, the future looked bleak for former Tottenham Hotspur starlet Yaser Kasim. The Iraqi midfielder was picked up on a free transfer by Swindon Town. The previous season had seen The Robins finish in sixth place in League One. They were denied a trip to Wembley by Brentford, who beat them 5-4 on penalties in the Play-off semi-final. As a result of this near miss, influential squad members from the campaign were sold in the summer to bigger clubs; most notably Alan McCormack to Brentford. Kasim was chosen as the suitable replacement to fill the hole left by McCormack.

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At first, Swindon fans were a bit dubious about the signing, after all he had just been released by a Conference side. Yet 18 months later, he was named the greatest Swindon Town player of the 21st century in a fans’ poll – quite a remarkable feat given some of the talent the fans at SN1 have witnessed over the last 16 years. So, what made Kasim stand out above the likes of Charlie Austin, Sam Parkin, Simon Cox and Matt Ritchie?

Swindon Town and flair are two things you wouldn’t necessarily associate with one another. Kasim however, has it in abundance. He produces wonderful moments of skill to not only get out of sticky situations, but to create spaces in tight areas of the field. He also does the simple things brilliantly, whether it’s playing a simple ball to keep his side in possession, or skipping past a challenge effortlessly. It was this concoction of features in Kasim’s game that made him stand out almost instantly for Town fans. During his first season, he played 45 times; a stat that speaks for itself in terms of how crucial a member of the team Kasim had become. Swindon finished the campaign narrowly outside the Play-offs in eighth place.

The next season started brilliantly for Kasim and the rest of his team-mates. By 30th December 2014, Town were sitting in second place next to the big-hitters of MK Dons, Preston North End, and arch rivals Bristol City. A factor to this successful start was the sumptuous style of football manager Mark Cooper had bought to the club. It was a style perfectly tailored to the likes of Massimo Luongo, Nathan Byrne, and most importantly Yaser Kasim. The incisive, yet elegant style of play accentuated Kasim’s attributes perfectly, so much so, he started to attract the attention of his national side, Iraq. A team very much unknown in the football world, however Iraq had their chance to perform on a big stage in January 2015 as they had qualified for the Asian Cup. This tournament has proven to be a turning point in Kasim’s career.

Kasim entered the tournament full of confidence after a successful campaign. He arrived back on cloud nine. Iraq finished an impressive fourth place, with Kasim among the nominees for player of the tournament. He scored the decisive goal against Jordan, as well as picking up two Man of the Match awards and returned back at the County Ground as the new hero of Iraqi football. As a result of his impressive tournament, Kasim found his social media popularity go out of control. With over 18,000 Twitter followers, he has nearly double the amount of Jordan Turnbull; the next highest in the Town squad. Even Swindon Town pages became flooded with Iraqi football fans, desperate to talk about their star man.

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Kasim didn’t appear the same player after that tournament. All of sudden, he became a lackadaisical figure in Town’s midfield three, with consistency becoming a clear issue in his game. He started to go missing in matches when Swindon simply couldn’t afford him to. It’s no surprise that Kasim’s bad turn in form coincided with a slide in Town’s performances. After being second at the turn of the year, they finished the season in fourth place; ten points off the automatic spots.

Swindon were convincingly beaten 4-0 in the Play-off final by Preston, giving their fans time to reflect on what could have been. One of the main issues was what had happened to Yaser Kasim? Some were happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did play a whole tournament’s worth of football in the middle of a hectic club campaign. It would be tough for any player to cope with that schedule. Yet Massimo Luongo; Australia star and Swindon player, managed to cope with it. Not only did he beat Kasim to the player of the tournament gong, but he continued to play well once he returned back to the County Ground. Some fans were not so forgiving of Kasim. They thought his new-found fame had gone to his head, and that he was ready to move on to another club in the summer.

As the summer transfer deadline passed, Yaser Kasim was still a Swindon Town player. The big names of Massimo Luongo, Nathan Byrne and Wes Foderingham had all secured their moves away from the club, yet Yaser Kasim remained. His third season at the County Ground has been his most disappointing yet. A mixture of inconsistent form and injuries has restricted him to a handful of good performances. His latest injury stint has seen Swindon draft in QPR midfielder Michael Doughty on loan. Instantly, he has brought the spark back into Towns midfield, with four goals in ten games. With Doughty’s immediate success, Swindon fans seem to have forgotten about their once “star midfielder”.

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As the the 2015/16 season enters its final quarter, the summer transfer window slowly edges closer. Will Kasim be able to turn his fortunes around at Swindon Town, or will his three year stint at SN1 come to an end? An injury-free run and some match winning performances may be all that he requires. He is certainly a supremely talented footballer; only last summer he was attracting the interest of Wolves and Swansea. However, it remains unknown which set of supporters will be chanting “Yaser Kasim, Yaser Kasim, the greatest Iraqi that I’ve ever seen” come the start of next season.

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