Thetownend.com

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnker wanker John,
Waaaaaaaaaaaannnnnker, wanker John,
Wwwwwwwaaaaaanker, wanker John,
Wanker John McGinlay

Lose 3-1

2-1 defeat with 6935 there 535 from Notlob.

2-0 defeat and much unrest from the fans after Williams' performance on the radio last night!

1-3

2:0 Obika double.

Big day out for me in Wiltshire, Swindon game, tapas in old town and a pub near the station to watch the England game.

avoid the Swindon and England game & it should be a blinding day out :pint:

Fuck knows.

I'm going though.

Haha. Know what you mean mate! Glutton for punishment me!

1-3 defeat. Would assume Bolton will be direct and press us which we cant deal with usually

A rare outing for me today, looking forward to the game, reckon a score draw. 2-2.

Anyone know what site I can stream this match on? Apparently being shown in Australia! Going for a 2-2 draw

I'm taking my stepdaughter to her first match, hope it's worth watching.

She'll be hooked for life!
But take a colouring book along just in case.  :)

3-0, Delfounso and Norris getting on the score-sheet, marking the binning of a resurgence that will see us climb the table.

Maybe.

3 1 defeat. We learn nothing. Branco bullet header for us and possibly for them. Nate dog gets caught for a free run on goal. The third will be big and branco look at each other and someone nips in and scores.

If Bolton are shite we will draw 1-1, if not they will win.

There will be hardly anyone here, as those that could be bothered to go will have forgotten it's an early kick off

Obika injured then

. Yep, an unspecified injury.

So no strikers that can score then :(

Anyone have a good link to be able to watch this ?  Cheers  :pint:

Vigouroux; Rossi-Branco, Thompson (C), Thomas; Furlong, Kasim, Murray, Goddard, Ormonde-Ottewill; Delfouneso, Norris

SUBS - Henry, Brophy, Rodgers, Smith, Evans, Iandolo, Twine.

Any web links for this?

Optimism, STFC style.

Ooops.  :-[

stream2watch.cc/live-sports/football/swindon-town-fc-vs-bolton-wanderers-fc-live-stream-08-october-2016#

FYI it appears to be an american news channel!

Not got a link but watching it on Bein sports 3 on Mobdro app if that helps

or 'hesgoal.me/news/10355/Swindon_Town_FC_vs_Bolton_Wanderers.html'

good lad, that and the radio i think should do that trick

your initial link is now the football, and english!

yeah i realised! GO ME!!!

bit stampy on Murray there

just a touch!

Impressive posession football.  Still waiting for the cutting edge.

we look very open at the back against their top 3 :'(

Madine very much in the Davies mould I see

Story of our season so far. Not sure where a goal will come from to be honest with Obika out (again!)

haha fuck me, Norris said the little fella hit his leg before he shanked that... he did no such thing. He's fucking gash.

I really want to like Norris, I really do

Fuck me.  I'm starting to think that 'Get it Forward!' bloke may have had a point all along.  (First game of the season for us.  I'm understanding what rest of you have been on about.)

My six year old has just told me - for first time ever at football - that he's bored.

I always thought James Henry was a good player even at championship level. I might be right, but it would appear his forte is not 1-1's

Also, what purpose does BOO serve?

To antagonise the fans.

Also that if you tell enough people that you're a professional footballer maybe, just maybe, someone may believe you.

If he scores, or has a blinder, from here on in I will resort to being fickle, obviously.

To be fair to Norris it's the best I've seen him play. Just don't give him the ball in the box!

Not sure if that's encouraging or damming mind

I'm not sure we've had possession in the box

OK, don't let him shoot then.

Why? What has he done wrong? Or is it just that Rodgers and Barry aren't playing so someone has to take the abuse? Ok, I don't get to see many games, living abroad, but whenever I've seen him he certainly hasn't been worse than any of the others.

Seems to me that whoever plays left back for Town is automatically going to be labelled useless. Even Bodin and King used to get slated by the boo boys!

:D

When defending seems to be in the wrong positions, and when attacking forgets he's got a left foot and pace...so uses neither.

Plenty of pretty possession, very slow in the final 3rd. Can't see where a goal is coming from to be honest. Couple of chances for them, good save from Vigs.

It's been OK today, comparatively

haha you're a ray of sunshine aren't you batch :D

I'm not surprised your 6 year old is bored Ardiles, it's hardly inspiring. I'm not getting any enjoyment out of watching Swindon at the moment, it's not just the results, it's just so dull and frustrating. Some of the players just aren't good enough, others seem to be going backwards. If I didn't have a season ticket, I'd probably take a little break from it.

It was tongue in cheek.

To be fair, I don't get to many games these days for numerous reasons, so I haven't seen much of him.

And the defence depletes further. Thomas off injured. 

Another injury, we do seem to stack them up!

we got the ball in the box...norris on his heels

Oldest is playing Fifa17 while I'm watching the Town game. He's playing Chelsea vs Chelsea, pretending the Chelsea white kit is Real Madrid, as he couldn't find them on the list of teams :D  :clap:

Chances Keshi Anderson scores, given him being linked over the summer?

Attendance of 7023

Own goal - 1-0 to Bolton

What the actual fuck was BOO doing there?!?

Sums it fucking up. Vigaroux has been superb and gets beaten by an own goal.

Boo boo from boo

Good finish though. Shame barn door Norris hasn't got that touch

great save from Vigs , Then :suicide:

Fuck me!

Harsh on Vigs too, who's played really well!


Sent from my iPhone

You've got to feel for Vigouroux there really.

How many away fans in that I wonder

Genius.

Same shit different game power outttt and take that idiot williams with you. :suicide:

Going down.

And that's the nail in the coffin

Fuck me, that was dreadful.

expect that fine from the FA soon

Well all over. FT 1-0.What shite that looked like via the stream. No idea of how to score and a dodgy defence aside from Vigs.

Fuck sake Branco. Twat

We're in trouble.

No end product whatsoever.

Not good enough.

That branco is fucking useless why oh why do they play this idiot for.

What a load of shit.
Actually thought Branco done okay up till the stupid sending off.

Can't see things getting any better any time soon.
Branco now banned for 3 on top of the other non stop injuries.
Oh for an emergency loan  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

As has been said before we need a manager not a 'highly rated' (by whom I am not sure) coach
Oh and Branco is a waste of a shirt

Time for that panic button now I reckon

absolute cows piss

We are just a little fucked aren't we?  Didn't see anything to suggest we have the balls to put a run together from that lot, which is what we are going to need if we are to finish above the relegation zone this season..

Without Vigs today it would have been 4-0, we are poor, nothing up front and a strikeforce as toothless as a budgie without Obika playing there, a midfield that cannot tackle or pass without Doughty too and Branco is a fucking idiot when we are alreadys hort on numbers at the back.

I have patience but I am sorry its time for Williams to move aside and get a man manager in who can kick this shower of shit up the arse.

Powers fault selling our top scorer and then bought someone who cant score money well spent lee. :clap:

Didnt one of theirs get a yellow for an elbow?we get red

We were shit, but it's October for fuck's sake. It's WAAAAAY too soon to be talking about relegation, but I;m sure that won't stop some of you.

Power has some decision making to do.

I don't think we can try and pretend Branco didn't deserve that.

Worse still, it was predictable he'd lash out.

Admirable spirit flashheart but you cant blame people for thinking relegation

I still think we have enough quality players to stop us being relegated but we need someone in who is a man manager IMO who can turn lazy underpeforming players into a good team, I don't think Williams is that man.

Not talking about relegation, talking about having a squad of players or a manager that can keep us out of the relegation positions.  I don't see anything there that will help us do that bar Vigs, Thompson and perhaps Murray.  Doughty yes, and Obika yes, but how available are they going to be for us. Apart from that we have this lot until January at least..

We certainly do have players good enough to keep us up but they are always injured or banned

The longer current regime stay the worse it will get. Confidence must be in short supply in that dressing room.
And am not sure we do have the quality or the quantity at the mo.

Makes for some shit viewing

Yes, actually. It lacks critical thinking. There is PLENTY of time to improve if something is done. Being shit now DOES NOT mean we will be shit for the rest of the season.

And I hope the players and manager don't think it's WAAAAAY to early to be thinking about relegation, otherwise we are fucked..  They need to start pulling some shit from somewhere pretty soon, because it won't be long.

I think we have individuals good enough for better than that.

Rumours Williams has been taken for a meeting straight after the game.

Rumours here that Luke Williams has been taken in for a meeting after their 1-0 defeat to Bolton. #stfc

But it also doesn't mean we won't.

Barring injuries and silly suspensions I agree.

I didn't say that it doesn't.

I hope that Williams doesn't get sacked, as I still rate him as a coach, as do many others.  I just hope he gets put back to doing what he does best, rather than being the manager.

I didn't say you did.

I don't think he will be sacked just moved sideways and downwards a bit as Power rates him highly.

I could do with my Acca coming in to cheer me up a bit :D

Branco was fucking stupid, that pissed me off no end. What a fucking moron. After a good performance too. Cunt.

We're 6 points adrift of the playoffs.

If people can stop thinking about it emotionally, and bear in mind that things can, and often do, change quickly in football then that's nothing. Ling turned us from relegation certs (according to some), to contenders in a very short space of time. Maybe the new manager (if there is one) will do the same. Or maybe not, we just have to wait and see.

Tim Sherwood in perhaps (he says in jest)

Critical thinking may lead to some people thinking (a) we have up until now shown any sign of stopping conceding unnecessary goals (b) our strikers have yet to show any sign of regularly finding the net (c)our discipline has shown no signs of improvement (d)the manager/coach has shown no willingness to change a system thats not working.Of course this could change but you cant blame some people for thinking it may not.

Embleton:
-Hard to take way goal scored and Branco sending off
- Defended aerial threat well
- Silly sending off. Shows its let it get to him.
- Not acceptable for one of more senior players. Didn't answer question about whether he will be fined
- Felt we were scrappy and untidy with possession
- Build up play didnt allow us to get players into position
- When ball went in box then we didnt have the conviction to score
- Frustrating we have lost Obika to something simple when he turned and went down in training
- Obika knee problem but not fully diagnosed yet
- Thomas knock on the hip. Iced it at 1/2 time and then got on bike but couldnt carry on in 2nd half
- Bolton got away with the odd nudge and push. That's their game
- Last few weeks have been difficult with 2 games per week. Now we have a clear week we can work on what we want on training field
- Embleton talking to press as Williams was talking to players and chairman
- Talked about excellent performance from Vigs

i'll raise you with Paul Tisdale  

I don't criticise for people that think it may not change. They're right. It is possible that it may not change. We might go down, but then we might also go up.

The lack of critical thinking part comes in when people act as though it WILL NOT change.

If Embleton is taking the interview, then the rumours about Williams being called in are likely true.

I think Flash that yes, of course its too early to talk of relegation mathematically and squad wise, everything could change in January, players can click. There will be a long way to go still and a lot of points to play for.

But viewing what's being currently presented on the pitch this season feels like a lot of other seasons we DID get relegated. There is absolutely no goal threat. Norris and Delfounso were hopeless anywhere near goal. At least Norris actually did something when he wasn't near the goal I suppose.

There isn't an Ajose to bail us out. We have Obika. Good player yes. Goal machine no.

We are too easy to create chances against.

We keep giving away silly goals.

I just don't see how its all going to change. Perhaps Norris will do a Fjortoft. Perhaps Doughty will be the key to unlocking the opposition defence. Perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps.

I really don't see Houdini being able to magic us into a cohesive unit, let alone Williams. In the meantime, I'm worried for us. Very worried.

how many did Bolton bring

From the little I've seen and from what I've read, we're relying on enough opposition teams playing a way that suits us and enough of our better players staying fit. With the change in loan rules I'd say we're in need of a fresh approach, unless we want to face a pretty high chance of relegation.

That was dog turd of the highest order. Absolutely no positives to take going forward. We have a very poor team with little going for it.

Anyone who thinks things will miraculously change for some reason is deluded. Williams has stated time and again he wont change the way we play.

Can't ever remember having such ineffective attacking play. It really is piss poor - worse than last season, for sure.

A combination of hoofball and muscle is all that's needed from poor teams to beat us.

Would it be a miracle to change the manager? It happens all the time.

I guess that's it, whether you believe a new manager can turn it.

Personally I don't think we have the personnel up front. Depends if we stick playing the same way, something drastic has to change

A couple of weeks ago I'd agree with you, but without an overhaul in January I think we're done whoever is manager.

We have a surfeit of midfielders but, yet again, we are desperately short of defenders and strikers. Nothing seems to have been learned from last season.

Defensive cover consists of a wingback and a midfielder - square peg syndrome. The squad is unbalanced.

Of course another manager could turn it, it happens all the time. We were toothless up front before Ling arrived as well.

Of course I'm not saying they WILL turn it around, I don't have a crystal ball. But I just don't see why people are so quick to object to the idea that a new manager COULD turn it around.

When talking about a poor team, people are often quick to say they players are not good enough or lack passion or this or that, only for a new manager to come in and get them performing well. Suddenly previous comments are forgotten as if these players that were supposedly shit or whatever become good players all of a sudden. It happens all the time.

 :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: Booooooooo,how does he get picked?here's some news Boo is never a footballer,all the others keep getting injured why can't it be him.Boo is crap,no physical presence,slow,unskillful,short,match fit,awful,shocking,bad,shit,dopey,high on Laughing gas,a laughing stock and also picked in the starting line up.After hid performance at Oxford away i thought we would never see him again. :headhurts: :headhurts:If he was at the other end he would miss the fookin goal.

Not all the time. Occasionally, perhaps. But the change needs to come from Power.

That's not the context I was aiming for.

I wasn't trying to say it works out every time, because it doesn't. Rather that it is common in football, which it is.

No, it's not. 4 home defeats in a row, with little sign of anyone scoring, and little intensity. I was sat at Shrewsbury last week thinking how poor they were, and yet we were just as bad. We couldn't score against 10 men for nearly an hour in the week. I know you can't get to games, but it really is dire watching it...

Twitter:

#Swindon - 12 pts in opening 12 lge games. Same amount #Robins had after 12 games last season. #stfc sacked Mark Cooper after 13 in 2015-16.

I didn't say that we're not shit. You've missed the point.

Today was truly awful and for the first time I now believe we need a change. I have nothing against Luke Williams and i'm sure he is a good coach but he is not a Manager.

We are playing at home and we create nothing. The only two shots we had were two tame free kicks.

How did we start the second half with 10 players ?. Poor own goal which should have been dealt with and top it off Branco's stupid decision to get himself sent off.

Williams didn't change anything, made one change which was forced. With the exception of Vigs and Thompson the team was poor. I would have taken Boo off at half time, no let me change that he shouldn't be starting ahead of James Brophy and what does Tom Smith have to do to get a game.

No passion, no movement, it's boring. no wonder the crowds are dropping.

Very disillusioned.

I think you'll find that up in the level that Sherwood moves around in their contracts are not necessarily paid up in a lump sum. They are more likely to be on a permanent paid leave type of situation until they get another job or the contract expires. If the contract is paid up then at a % of the remaining value to shift them off the books. After all if you relieve your manager of his duties and say pay up his £5m contract & two months later he walks into another multi million pound job, you'd feel pissed off. So as heartwarming as it would be for some I can see Sherwood only occupying a seat in the directors box not the dugout. I do acknowledge your post was in jest (before a forum meltdown).

That was shocking again.  If power is the one who gets the players in he has shot us in the foot before we even kicked a ball this season.  At every level you have to be able to compete physically.

We seem to be trying to reinvent football.  Where you don't have to be able to tackle, you don't have to win headers or defend.

Bolton manager would probably have said just wait for free kicks and corners, we will score easy as its like men agaisnt dwarfs.

Every ex pro on radio says you have to win the right to play football.  That means be up for the fight doesn't it, that means being able to stand up against physically strong teams.  Do power n Williams not see the MASSIVE deficiencies in the squad they put together.

Defensively we are shocking. Boo can't defend he just doesn't know how. Brophy the same. Barry the same.  We have no defensive midfield's at all.

All fans wanted a experienced strong centre back in the summer , someone who could simply defend. We also wanted a midfielder who had bite about him and could tackle. We got neither.

Inept recruitment, inept coach, inept performances.  To early to say we going down ? With no change its inevitable.

Yes agreed to early to say we're going down but on current form we'll have 46 points. However, I think it's not to early to say we're not going up either.

Good points although we did get the midfielder you described,he's just not playing!

We obviously miss Doherty but don't see him as a ball winner. He's not like a Steve Foley or Darren bullock  :-)

Many thought this would be a difficult season in which we'd be involved in a relegation battle, and so it has proved.

At least so far today the sides below us aren't pulling up trees.

There's no evidence that Luke can succeed in this battle, as there's also no evidence that Power will appoint a proper boss.

We may well find ourselves bottom of the pile fairly soon, as we'll be entering the next 3 games with no available centre backs, and no player with more than a goal to his credit this season.

No, it has not. Behave Reginald.

We look mentally shot, spineless and weak, and have done since about February

I think Luke is out of his depth Reg.  But I can't believe that with power being a former player how he has no idea what qualities a squad needs to be able to compete.

Does Sherwood not sit next to power and say " sorry mate but you mucked up your recruitment big time"

Sadly the Latics look to have joined us on 12, but will need another goal to go above us.

Of course you're entitled to your opinion, but I can't see anything other than this being a difficult season, which will mean being involved in a relegation battle.  I'm unsure if we have enough to win the battle, as things stand we don't.

It's not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of your previous comment being nonsense. It's October. We could still go up. Nothing has been proven, that much is a fact.

Seems nothing is to change luke williams stays in charge see you next week.

Total shite, gutless, typical Town performance. I was willing to give Luke until X Mas but we'll be down by then. Bolton were fucking crap but managed how many one on ones.
The positives - Vigs was excellent. Furlong looked good on the right. I felt sorry for Delfonesco who I thought put a good shift in but fucked up when put through by Branco.
The negatives - BOO was shockingly shit and i nearly ruptured the veins in my neck when he did that shitty little back heel in the first half following good work by Murray. Branco is a stupid unprofessional cunt. Our defence is still laughable. Norris offers nothing. Tactically what the fuck were we doing. The two strikers were running the channels and I suppose Goddard was to fill the gap.Talking of Goddard, I thought he was lucky to get a yellow, it looked way over the top and late to me. There is no leader on the field.
Both teams were there for the taking. We've now lost to 4 ordinary to crap teams at home. There has not been an exciting game yet at home. The crowd against Rochdale will be interesting.Most people I talk to about Town are pretty much going out of duty with no expectation of a result or being entertained.

Does Boo ever even try to beat his man?

Yes but in all the wrong areas of the pitch.

I was impressed with Murray, particularly in the first half. Overall the game was shite. Don't understand the level of stick Branco gets and I'm not talking about his idiotic sending off. Both he (Until the red mist descended) and Thompson were our best outfield players.

I enjoy watching possession football, but it needs to be played with pace. Ours is too pedestrian too often and easy to counter. No panic from me yet, but it's worrying times....

Ok, its not panic stations yet.

We need a new left back/ wing back Asap and ideally a Centre half

Also kasim needs to pull his finger out his arse. Hes never gonna get that move to te championship he wants playing like that.

Also a mew manager wouldnt go amiss  8)

STFC could exist in a different quantum universe, where we win the Champion's League, just that it's not very likely.

In much the same way as your belief that we could go up.

Haven't read back.

Out til 3am in Belfast...up at 5:45 to get early flight to get home to see game.
It was a wasted effort.
Thought we played better than usual in large patches but still shite in the final third.

Bolton were truly woeful and we just didn't have the nous to beat them.

It's depressing because there is zero light at the end of the tunnel.

How can/will it change!?!?

Shit...depressed and fucked off.

as some have said, its not panic time yet which is very true, BUT how much longer will people put up with the frustrating boring football, going on Todays att not many

Just seen the highlights... that is some shit own goal

What's Alex Henshalls problem with Swindon then?

I was pretty hacked off at full time but given time to think about it, I don't think it's through lack of effort from the team. There is something just not clicking which sadly seems to be up front. Norris and Delfouneso work bloody hard yet nothing comes off. Norris needs a goal to go in off his arse and Delfouneso has clearly become tired of the midfield/defence as he starts to make a run, then check, only for the ball carrier to release it. This needs to be resolved as I reckon he makes runs and works bloody hard (his block on the keeper in the first half case in point)

I also feel sorry for Nathan Thompson and Vigoroux who deserve a lot better. Despite Vigs making 4 fantastic stops I never thought Bolton were miles better than us. We need a bit of luck, perhaps we'll get it at Wimbledon next week?

Nigel Pearson left Derby today. Would have him here.

 Given that we'll likely have no centre backs and no forward that has scored a goal playing at Wimbledon, we're going to need some luck to get owt from this game.

Yeah, that's what everyone said in the season after our play off defeat to Millwall and we all know how that turned out.

12 from 12 is relegation form, fact!

It's not bad luck that's losing us points. It's a lack of tactics, discipline, professionalism, movement even at throw ins, dead ball ability to clear the front man, in fact clearing the front man on any cross would be good. It's essentially the basics. As it stands, we're fucked.

I was only able to see the first half today.

The performance was ok and I thought we had a fair chance of getting the win. BOO was poor though.

Boy, this division is utter dross if Bolton are good enough for 4th place.

It feels very much like last season: under pressure manager, downward momentum, pretty good first team hit by significant injuries, anticipating earliest exit from FA Cup. I've no doubt Power will act before the end of the month if Luke can't turn things around.

Hey ho. Such is life as a Town fan.

Do you realise that losing 4 home games on the spin is pretty rare in our history?  Even seasons like the Prem season and 10/11 debacle we didn't manage that.

You get a season like 99/00 when we were truly terrible due to flogging off any player we could and the groundsman's mower, we managed 5. However a similar season in 73/74 we didn't even manage 4.

The last time we've managed 5 was last season, it cost Cooper his job. If you're not pressing the panic button yet then fair play, but last season at the CG was historically poor and this season looks no better. I would expect an announcement on Monday that Luke has gone. It's what happens. Something has to change and usually it's the manager/head coach.

Do you mean gone as in gone or as shunted back downstairs?

If he is relieved of his 'manager' status, surely he cannot retain input re coaching.

Lexit must mean Lexit.

fucking hell - how often do you watch town play ????

I don't know if sometimes people deliberately ignore the point or are simply unable to comprehend. Fucking hell it can be hard work at times.

Given that Luke seemed reluctant to take it on, and Power had to convince him....it could be the case that he goes back to his previous role, if agreeable.  Don't think any Town fans have it in for Luke, in the way of a McMahon or Hart.

We've just lost to a club £180 million in debt.....  :(

Rumour had it earlier that Cotterill was off to STFC.

He didn't fancy Shrews, though. He got City promoted using 352 . . .

. . . and a shedload of dosh

Cotterill, of course, has applied for the job on several occasions. We're pretty desperate for some knowhow, so why not?

It's just that people extrapolate from what they've seen - and so far it points to a similar to, or worse than, last season.

Of course, there is always the possibility of a Lazarus-type rise a la Barnsley, but believe me, things smell really bad.

why is it some people keep saying this league is full of dross and moaning that "how come we get beat by shit teams", fact is WE are shit and make up the so say dross, people need to realise we are not as big as some like to think we are :badmood:

Tbf, it's not just us. 3 or 4 teams, expected to be at the top, are down with us.

Millwall, Charlton, Gills are all proper shite at the moment. Strangely, they all have major injury problems.

One of the frustrations is that when you're not much good playing a side that isn't much good it should be possible to at least pick up a dull point.
We've had a couple of games, today and Rovers spring to mind where we should have been able to see out the game for a draw, and fucked up near the end.  We just don't seem to have the required professionalism.

Not sure anyone has asked why we get beat by shit teams, more observing that so far this season we've not seen a good side and the division seems to be made up of a load of shit teams this season.  

We are very much part of it, we have some good players, we also have some that aren't up to it really.  I don't think anyone thinks we're bigger than we are either.

It's frustrating, most games we're a mistake away from losing, we've not been outplayed at all but we don't have to be.  Looking at other teams we only need an extra 10 or 15% more from a performance to get over the line really but at the moment the team is so low on confidence we're almost wondering where the next goal is coming from let alone the next win.

I said very early in the season the rule change with loans will fuck a load of teams up and those able to keep their first choice 11-14 players fit will be the ones at the top end of the league.  It could all change at any moment for any number of teams, unfortunately without a goal scorer it isn't going to change for us any time soon.

Obviously we miss JSW, Jones and Doughty hugely but for me losing Jordan Stewart just when he was looking to kick on has been a big loss, he offers something completely different to the rest of our forwards with his intensity and his full bloodied desire to get goals, he puts defenders under pressure and he's fearless.  We need some of that right now.

Because this league is full of dross, us included.

Show me a post that has said we are too big to go down, or where anyone says we are in a false position.

From what I've seen this season the standard of football has been poor. Even the teams that have beaten us have looked beatable. The teams that have been promoted from this division in the past couple of years or so were way better than anything we've come across so far this season. PDC's third division STFC team would have been at or near the top of the table by now.

Thing is FH, it's all very well sitting looking at the bare facts from afar and just looking at the stats logically and going "Naah, way too early to be panicking" (and ordinarily I'd agree with you, I get just as frustrated with the doom mongers who declare we're down before August Bank Holiday) but we are pretty abject right now and have been for some time. And neither the players nor the management show any sign of being able to change it. In fact the management have declared they're not going to change it, pretty much come what may. So you start to look at what inevitably unfolds in front of you, you know how it's going to end and they still keep doing the same things, making the same mistakes, and about the only thing that changes is that we start to get worse not better and you think "Shit, it IS only October, but we could still be sitting here watching them deflate out of games in March and nothing will change". Like I say, not normally one to hit the panic button but this season, this team (at least the way it's currently structured), stinks already.

The management could be replaced though.

Incidentally, I've seen people mentioning that Power wont want to sack Williams because of his compensation for a 5 years contract. Which is fair enough....

Except he may not need to sack him to bring in a new manager. His job title is head coach, not manager. Think what you may of Lee Power, but he's no dummy. This was actually widely commented on at the time of Williams' appointment.

This. A very good summary of CURRENT status. If people aren't concerned about what we're seeing at the moment then they need a reality check.

Yes, or "persuaded" (ordered) to change. Think the most likely outcome is bringing in a manager and Williams reverting to head coach as you suggest. But something does need to change -  as it stands, we're on a hiding to nothing.

People slag off power, but at the end of the day he saved this club.

With regards to todays performance Vigouroux & Thompson were both outstanding. It's a real worry when, as well as being our best defender, NT is also one of our best attacking threats, his late surge in the 2nd half was largely borne out of his own frustration at our midfielders lack of attacking thrust & drive rather than a natural desire to drive forward himself. In all fairness Murray had a decent game & at least takes risks with forward passes that naturally don't always come off but the general build up is waaaaaay too pedestrian & allows sides to regroup & get back into their two lines of 4 or whatever system they operate on the day. Delfouneso & Norris both put a decent shift in but have no telepathy or general understanding. At the point of a goal kick in the 2nd half, when it was clear Vigs was going long, they were approx 25-30 yards away from each other!! Neither seems to have a specific role & I would much rather see Hylton alongside one of them (& I've been an advocate of giving him a run alongside a big man well in advance of his impressive couple of games at Guiseley). Final word must go to BOO who was fucking atrocious in the first half & should have been replaced by Brophy at h/t. I hope there was a genuine reason he started in front of him today (for example Brophy was still getting over his recent illness & wasn't fully fit) as they are poles apart in terms of footballing ability. His own goal really was the icing on a fucking shit cake.

He may have saved the club, but at this moment in time his attitude and management ideas is definately killing it, how much longer can this go on ?.

A touch over dramatic - we're not looking down the barrel at AFC Swindon ffs.

Agreed. It's a case of fine margins so far. In a sea of general crapness we're marginally more crap than most of the others at the moment. Looking at yesterday in isolation, it wasn't the worst performance and without the o.g. would have been a good point.

Hopefully there is some succession management plan in place if Williams needs to be moved sideways.
Loss of face / ego issues might make it difficult to revert back to previous role so maybe bringing someone in alongside might be the way forward.
Can't see a sacking as the model, at least in it's current form, would have to go out the window as well.

I wouldn't say that would of been a good point wobbly but it would of meant three games on the bounce unbeaten and something to build on.

At half time I felt a bit of buzz...'Bolton are shit and we can do em' seemed to be the shared opinion.

We played very well in three minute bursts.....Boo was appalling and I was expecting him to be taken off at HT for his own sake. It didn't happen.

Tempo is something that needs to be looked at. We play risk free, keep the ball football and still fucking lose....
When we zip it about and commit it feels we might score. Then it seems we all get jittery at playing high risk and slow it all down again. Several times it happened yesterday....overplay saw us miss a number of shooting chances.

I feel Fonz hasn't clicked with the way we play. He's not a bad player but is making runs that a more direct team would gobble up....instead by the time we have taken six touches and looked up the pass usually is played behind him, it happened in the first half when he obviously wanted it played in front of him, so he could shoot across the keeper, there was a delay and it trickled a yard behind him.

Norris is trying and sarcastic whoops when he takes or makes a good touch and pass does not help.
I really want the poor fucker to notch.

Towards the end neither pushed up and the Bolton last man was four yards back and mopping every ball up.

The final third is shit at the minute and needs some real attention....I don't know where the next goal is coming from.

Who the fuck is going to come here and manage under this model?

Unproven, 'promising', desperate, jobless and cheap would be the criteria....

I don't think my point was clear. I have no confidence in anyone turning the front three into something that can score enough goals based on the current style/system.

Of course a new manager could change the style/system and that could change. I could win the lottery. I'm talking about demonstrable  shite current situation.

----------
When Ling came we had 1 up front, he had Ajose and Obika to pair up. This season...er.

The thing that gives me hope is that the midfield should be very good at this level. Its not being so yet but its still early

It's clear that Norris and Delfouneso don't work so I'd be tempted to only play one and bring in someone like Iandolo (Jesus we are thin on the ground aren't we?).

Our best chance from yesterday was when Delfouneso charged down their keeper. A number of times Delfouneso would start a run and then check only for the ball to be played as if he was continuing the run. Pretty frustrating all be told.

We can all moan about Williams, Power, the system, the players, the results etc, but the bottom line is that for fans it's fucking boring watching Swindon these past 18 months.

Even if we'd won 1-0 yesterday it would still have been turgid shite. Can't remember the last time I got entertained at the CG

Next up we play an AFC club. I'm expecting to see a difference in the attitude of their players, compared to ours.

 Although given our list of missing, you'd hope the XI picked might display a bit of siege mentality.

Swindon Maniac=agreed

The home games last Jan/Feb into start of March were entertaining, when we had comebacks against our relegation rivals, Blackpool, Crewe and the Sarfend game.  These were what kept us up.  It was at the start of Luke's time....defending was terrible, but spirit was OK. It started to fall away again after another debacle on Sky to Wigan, enabled them to secure a first ever win at the CG.

I wonder if Peter Odemwingie would be a shout to solve this crisis up front, can't see Power paying the wage though..

It's not necessarily the personnel, Delf looked sharp enough. Ajose would have struggled to get a goal yesterday.

That's the thing though, that's the type of game we'd have won if Ajose was playing yesterday. The cross along the box in the 2nd half which somehow managed to evade three players had an Ajose type goal written all over it. Neither Delf or Norris have a killer instinct in the 6 yard box.

& Delf looked shattered in the 2nd half from where I was sitting.

If I think of how the players did on an individual basis yesterday, apart from BOO, they did OK. Can't think of anyone else who was horrendously shite.

That being the case it's the 'team' that's the problem not its parts.

Changing manager but not the system would not do much to improve things because the entire club from the U-10s to the first team are being coached with the 352 tippy tappy style in mind.

Delfonso, runs around a lot, but to little effect.  He doesn't make the runs of a striker. Little point in playing both him and Norris.  Hopefully Jordan Young will be back fit soon and get some game time, 20 mins off the bench here and there.

The point being that any striker would be living on scraps. Even if Ajose was there and managed to put away 100% of all chances he had, we would likely still have come away with a point. Delf tiring is irrelevant, it was clearly his ability I was referring to. The lad has something about him.

People said that before Ling arrived.

I can see your point in that we aren't creating many clear cut chances.

Delfounso to me looks like a player that wants to run onto through balls. We seem to delay passing to him quickly;

Yesterday was the best I have seen Norris play outside the box. Inside it/attacking it though he looks dreadful. In fact he was the opposite of Ajose. Ajose would attack the ball when it came in, not just stand there.

Either way the current net combination is offering close to zero threat. That's based over the season so far, not just yesterday. Admittedly I've not seen them away from home.

So if they don't fit our system, surely its a personnel problem. We bought the wrong players.

Ha ha ha ha ha. Hold on. Ha ha ha ha. What a dipstick talking to yourself.

Or maybe the manager isn't good enough?

We would likely have won that game if he, or a player of similar ilk, not neccesarily quality, was playing. That game was very much a 'first team to score wins'. Bolton were poor as were the last three sides to have come here & won. The overall quality of League 1 is awful this season & our league position speaks volumes about the system we're operating as we have the players to be competing far higher up the table imo.

That doesn't help. Can't see Power replacing/sideways moving the golden one any time soon though. But the pressure is mounting so who knows. The rings of "Power, this is shit" from the TE and DRS said it all.

I just don't think we have enough goals in us. Not just because we we are playing badly, but because they don't look up to it.

If a new man comes in, tightens us up, changes us to be more direct it might be enough.

I think a tweet yesterday summed it up regarding the similarities of replacing Austin with Benyon. It has been like that so far.

We all want Norris to do a Fjortoft.
We all want Delfouneso to come good.

Nothing in their previous goalscoring record suggests that'll happen

What do you mean it doesn't help?

It may well be that the current manager is simply not up to the job.

I spent some time yesterday going back through match threads from this time last year. There were quite a few comments lamenting just how ineffective Ajose was..... 

In other news, Pox 0 Wimbledon 3 at half time

It was just a flippant way of agreeing with you. I have no confidence in Williams and his coaching by numbers methods. I've been pretty pissed off with his/our lack of addressing our defensive frailties since the playoff season (yes Cooper was in charge then).

I do have sympathy of the constant dilution in quality of his squad though. And he and Embleton can certainly see what's going wrong as proven in the radio post match interviews.

That doesn't change my view on the strikers, I think both things are broken

Hahaha, imagine getting stuffed by AFC Wimble...oh

Actually, I think we'll get a point there. Don't know why.

And rightly so. But we knew he could score goals at this level, and thus it proved. He has a 1 in 3 record.

What bit of Norris (~1 in 5 - not as bad as feared) and  Delfonsou (1 in 10, or 16 goals in 8 seasons) makes that a fair comparison?

The midfield are going to have to do a hell of a lot more in the goalscoring department to compensate!

Some views from Bolton

Wow, you must have some serious time on your hands. Anyway that's nothing we didn't already know, Ajose would often be totally ineffective throughout games but pop up with an important goal or two. It"s what good strikers do. Charlie Austin was very similar in his 1st season, whereby there was a marked improvement in his all round game by his 2nd season, effectively why he kicked on & Ajose hasn't.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/the%20point_zpstbsnc4d0.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jamiethon/media/the%20point_zpstbsnc4d0.jpg.html)

What exactly are you disagreeing with there?

This is great news. I hope Wimbledon up the pace in the second half.

You know we're playing them next week, with no defence?  Could be anything.

It's slightly annoying that Jake Reeeeeves has been a stand out player for them, but we let him go presumably to keep Anton for the Brendan link.

Oxford fans complaining about playing 442 and going direct.

I thought that was the guaranteed way to win matches in League One though?

 Just looked at the (cough cough) highlights. Branco, who jogged, hands raised in a pathetic offside claim whilst letting players run in behind looked like a player you'd see at mannington rec on a Sunday morning. Shocking! Diabolical!
Looking at the other so called highlights shows how God awful the defence is. Like a knife through butter. All over the place and too weak by the looks of it. Will be lucky to stay up playing like that.

To be fair to Branco, he did OK for most of the match. Though the knife through butter was true a fair few times.

edit: and having watched said highlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSyOAoGchX8&feature=em-subs_digest

he really is being a lazy git at 56 secs  and again 1:09 straight after, so I see your point.

And what was BOO even trying to do.

That Branco challenge truly deserved the red. Brainless.

I think few of the players played poorly as individuals with Boo, Norris and perhaps Furlong being exceptions. There's just no team cohesion.

Batch, I think it was you that drew parallels with Danny Wilson and I've thought the same thing. I think Power is likely to act quicker than Fitton did though.

Looked like Thompson was shouting at him afterward as well.

I have, not for a while though. You already know my thoughts on the forwards :)

But the midfield has that "should be good, it'll be fine any minute now" feel. And last time I was in the 'let Wilson sort it out, he knows what he's doing' camp, and I was wrong.
----------
Power took out Cooper in similar circumstances. I'm reckon there was more to that than meets the eye for a couple of reasons, not 100% results.

We'll see if he's consistent. As Reg sometimes says, the next couple of games will be critical for him.

I reckon that was for losing the ball while trying to beat his man in a stupid position..

Something that Thompson is an expert at

Qualified to criticise :)

He has cost us a lot of goals this season. Thought he was probably our second best player with Murray yesterday though.

In totally unrelated news, the Adver is running a headline about clowns being spotted in parts of Swindon ...

What my 3 word post beyond your comprehension, dipstick!

No, but your nine word riposte is beyond mine?

Don't care what they say, I'd be more embarrassed if Swindon played like Bolton (and yes, I did notice they won.)
Constant shirt grabbing, falling over, relying on the fact that half the squad are about 9 foot tall - fuck off did they win that game on merit. They won it because they are just a more effective kind of shit than we are.

Say what you like about "the Swindon way" but it isn't based on persistent fouling and trying to get people sent off. Watching town lose every week is pretty abysmal but at least we put some moves together that looked cohesive and like football.

Our defensive policy seems to be watching while teams launch it forward and whilst our defence runs around like small children trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue.

I'd happily swap our style for Bolton's if it  got us up to 4th.

It's not like we are lily white is it. We've conceded penalties, had man sent off for a forearm smash, but most annoyingly we've been booked many many times for gobbing off - inexcusable

Flasheart - were you at a different game to me BOO was fucking shocking - first half taking players on in our third of the pitch but didn't do it the other end when he needed to and attack their full back. Back passes in his own third putting other players in trouble and too easily beaten time and again. He's simply not good enough nor is Branco who to me has cost us a lot of goals since he came back in. When he has one on one with a player he is always square on instead of sideways on and too easily beaten. The only two players who showed anything on Saturday to me were LV and NT the rest were fucking shit.

You need to read it again, I said Boo was poor

I have toi admit I think BOO is one of the poorest left backs we have had in a while, his style suits going forward much better than defending.

Hes a wide midfieler or even a winger but even then his delivery into the box is at times attrocious and his short passing at times is extremely poor too and panics when players take him on.

There no doubt he has potential but he seems to play one good game in every 6 or 7 at best.

I've said it before but he reminds of Byrne in his early days, only not as good.

Every single game I've seen him in, he's been awful. He can't run, he can't cross, his passes are normally backwards and slow, he can't defend, Saturday was the first time I've seen him ever win a header. What does he offer? Brophy is inconsistent but at least he gets the fans going when he runs at defenders and he has the pace to make something happen. BOO has a perfect crossing opportunity then cuts on to his weaker foot, often trying to then cut back on to his left foot again. You get taught at primary school age that you should only have to beat your man once!

I hate moaning at players and I always try and give them the chance to prove themselves but I just don't see anything in BOO at all. I hope he proves me wrong.

But are the players told not to cross the ball into the area just in the hope there's someone there but to keep possession until there is a pass on?

The very definition of tippy tappy.

Aren't the vast majority of goals scored from crosses - hopeful or otherwise.

Do you know that for certain or it that what you are guessing based upon what you see?

If it is indeed true then that would explain why we have so few scoring chances in each game.

No idea but the fact Brophy will run at his man and if he beats him he'll put a ball in (usually slowly and across the floor but still, it's a ball in). Same with Furlong and Barry (or at least they are far less hesitant).

When your wingbacks are your main outlet and one of them is BOO you're in trouble. Their right back gave him space and I think this was deliberate.

Watching the highlights a few things;

a) what the fuck is going on in that defence, how many times did Vigorous dig them out of the shit but never seemed to get a pat on the back or acknowledgement for his efforts, doesn't really look like a cohesive unit even in terms of basic team spirit;

b) linked to that Branco seems permanently about 5 yards behind the line going either forward or tracking back;

c) their finishing was shit!

I also watched the second half of the England game and they seem to have the same problem with lots of passing, little progress and little end product!

Just guessing. The number of times we decline to cross and instead pass it back and then sideways across the pitch obviously looking to slip a man seems to happen too often not to be a planned.

No, it's exactly the opposite - they're proven to be the least effective way of attacking.

If anyone can be arsed . . .

http://thepowerofgoals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/time-of-possession.html

Or buy Fonz and Norris a latter day Pericard and Dossevi or Thorpe and Cureton.

I know Murray has some assists since signing but yet again the standard of our set pieces was consistently bad, one of the corners Murray put in during the second half was one of the worst deliveries I have seen (although he looked at the pitch so may have slipped). Granted Bolton had a large, physical side but corners can be such a good weapon.

Back in the good old days, when we got a corner, a cry of 'come on you reds' would sound around the CG expecting something will happen. When we get a corner nowadays, you can hear the collective shrug of the shoulders as we know we are going to arse it up.

Sadly mainly for the opposition!

Still williams and embelton hasnt gone what a joke our club has become.

Two wins and we'd be mid tablek nocking on the door of the playoffs.

Its bad on the pitch, I can't see how it'll change. But I think expecting him gone this month is a bit unlikely to happen.

Just watched the highlights. Yet again Branco looked hilariously out of his depth and capped it off with an awful sending off. I hope the club throw the book at him for that, and then his p45 at the earliest opportunity. Also, he never seems to run anywhere?

I may be pissing into the wind here, but I'd imagine the fans of the other clubs clustered with us at the bottom are also questioning their tactics and/or manager.

Millwall fans are bemoaning their hoofball style, Charlton still blame their Belgian owners - despite spending big money. Gills are on Edinburgh's back despite retaining Dack and recruiting JET.

Franchise are struggling at home, as are we, and Coventry fans are worried whether they will exist much longer.

My only hope is that my view we have decent players, poorly managed, will come good(ish) in time.

You'd like to think that our financial self suffiency would be valuable going up v a basket case club £180 mill in debt, who'd been under a transfer embargo for a year or more well into the pre-season and had shown their problems by not winning since August.

But no....

I actually thought that I'd get home to discover a thread about Sheena Easton.... :(

I have a feeling that they are looking for a new manager so Williams can go back to being a coach.

Can't imagine Power wanting to pay off a five year contract

Depends if Williams believes he can get a job elsewhere.

How can he stay and be told to coach in a style he obviously will not believe.

I'd tell Power to fuck off and cough up me contract.

None of us have got even the slightest clue about Williams' terms should he be given the boot, but I'd put my life on us not owing him the balance of his contract should it happen.

Is it actually a five year contract or one of these rolling ones that actually only give a years security and notice but sound long when they are signed, didn't Pardew have something similarly stupid at Newcastle?

A lot of unsourced bollocks gets thrown at Power but he has shown himself to be fairly astute in business terms and is thus unlikely to have signed anything silly, especially if it costs money (pure speculation on my part).

Almost everything is supposition and I do feel some sympathy for Williams as the squad he has been given is so unbalanced.

What's he supposed to do with no CBs available and not even a youth team striker to chuck in. He's been given a host of midfielders who have to be stand in defenders and strikers.

We still don't really know if he had much input in the forming of his squad or whether he was handed the players and told to make do.

Tbf to Luke if he's survived today, then he shouldn't be judged on next Saturday and probably the Dale game, as we appear to be unable to put out anything like a competitive side. Maybe by the Walsall game we might have 1 centre half.

I suspect when Luke suggested we could be derailed by injuries, he knew something of the history of some of the players we have at our disposal, and taking a wing and a prayer attitude was correct.

I've known a couple of short term emergencies, where Jimmy Quinn and Dave Mitchell, have turned out at centre half, because they can head the ball. Dear old Dave had to mark Les Ferdinand at Loftus Road....Les had a brace within 25 mins.

It was often the case that a centre forward would go back to centre half as a late career move....Maurice Owen and Andy Rowland being examples.  My suggestions would be Norris v Dons....fuck all use up front anyway could be the making of him.

No doubt Luke wil go with someone like Anton Rodgers.

Here's what Power said on Williams' appointment.

“The reason we have taken a bit of time over the appointment is that we both wanted to make sure that he was ready and comfortable to take on the other parts of the job that he hasn’t had to do up to this point – mainly picking the side and dealing with the press.

“If either of these jobs had detracted from the quality of his coaching, we would have looked at going down a different route but he has taken to the role in his usual calm, controlled manner and been totally unfazed.”

Seems like it's affecting him now.

Is it though. He seems calm and his observations seem spot on.

Its his ability to change it that's in question.

YES

I'd chuck Kasim back there. Been useless in the middle but he's proven he can tackle. Worked for Alan McCormack. T Smith deserves a shot in the middle.

Back in Feb, we had a similar situation at Port Vale.....Luke went like this....


   Vigs

Barry Nathan Doughty Boo

       Kasim

Balmy Rodgers Robert

  Obika Hylton

Quite possibly the weakest Div 3 line up we've fielded since the formation of Div 3 in 1958.  Surprisingly we only lost 1-0.

Saturday may be even weaker.....


              



   

Won't Lloyd Jones be fit for Wimbledon? Sounded like he wasn't far off last week.

                           Vigs

      Kasim Furlong Thompson

Brophy Murray Goddard Smith Boo

               Delfouneso Doris

Shudders!

Is there a recall clause on Hylton?

No boo

Actually Boo for ballboy

It will be Liverpool's call. After the problems with Stewart and Wiliams last campaign I'd imagine they'll take the conservative route.

I'd go...
                   Vigs
 Furlong Norris Thompson Brophy
Smith Kasim Murray Rodgers Goddard
                Delfonouso

I'm surprised more hasn't been said about Kasim. He's been absolute dogshit. One of the worst culprits for slowing the game down, constantly gives the ball away and his free kicks are abysmal. Quite honestly it's a shame nobody came in for him when he was itching for a move.

Jones, Doughty, Sendles White, Obika, Stewart, Thomas, Jordan Young + Branco are we up to last Octobers injury list yet?

Sounds like Alan Mac is a little disgruntled with the Under 18s.
Too much like the 1st team?

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/u18s-mcloughlin-disappointed-with-towns-performance-in-rovers-defeat-3357028.aspx