Thetownend.com

Is it too soon to think this season could be something special?

... shortly before the point of no return?

Yes

After we piss on the shitheads home and away I will start to believe!

When 8,500 home fans turn up every week and still in the mix after the Asia cup.

Well if they turn up every week this month they'll be extremely disappointed as we're away for most of it :)

I think the foreplay is making Flasher a bit moist...

Defeatist!

Ha ha fair enough though, if you can't enjoy these kind of times, what's the point?

How dare you, I'm not prejudiced against defeats, as a Town fan I'm quite used to them!

Looking at our November fixtures, if we're still in the top 6 in December I'll get very excited. Then if we do good business in January and keep everyone (although we probably will have to sell one player at least) THEN is when we can officially get excited.

I've had a buzz of this could be a very special season for us since August...

Oh, so you're 'quite used to them' now, are you?, after they've been forced upon you. I bet you won't be inviting them home for a cup of tea though, will you?

Next month will be a massive month for us.

No, but I've got rid of the "No dogs, No defeats" sign in the window. One step at a time ...

It's difficult to imagine JayBox getting any more excited than for Newport away....presumably Plymuff, might prove an anti-climax....

A repeat of our last cup game there would be welcome.

Hahaha. I was very excited for today, too!  :clap:

My next game is Yeovil, can't make it on a weeknight, got too much work on  :cry:

I'd imagine we'll sell this out, so get your tickets early and don't rely on a mate to bring them to the game  :)

Bought them when I bought my Orient tickets... Terraces all sorted! :pint:

Yep. Going mob handed to Yeovil with Mrs Audrey in tow to keep us in line.

Open terracing - hope it doesn't piss down.

Should take plenty to Yeovil, can be a good night in that old shitheap of a ground. Think the last time we were there was when it was on the tellybox under Kmac and beat them 2-1 (Pretty sure Collins scored, but that's about it).

If anyone's foolish enough to go by train and hasn't been before, don't expect to be able to walk to the ground, or indeed into town, as Yeovil Junction has about as much geographical correlation to Yeovil town centre as Swindon does to Ox**rd. Kind of vaguely near but not really.

I was there for that. An Andy Rooney pen too if I remember rightly.

January

I don't think any of us should get excited at all. It appears that we're actually not very good...

http://leytonorientforum.co.uk/topic3841.html

yep we are completely average

Ah. Well, that's that then.

Hopefully we'll avoid relegation at least.

The first time we got relegated from Div 3...we had 20 points after 10 games and were top of the league. The young side started to struggle as autumn turned to winter...maybe the extra point at this stage could make the difference.

Fuck me, Reg!

Hahahaha. I knew you'd find a stat somewhere Reg.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/fpalm_zps8cb186fa.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jamiethon/media/fpalm_zps8cb186fa.jpg.html)

(http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-become-a-fabulous-killjoy.png)

TBF if you can't enjoy times like this then theres little point being a football supporter.

I'm well happy.

Lets see how we get on when we hit the inevitable bad patch.

Anyway..we will win the JPT ..

I thought I was Mr Buzzkill today. Of course Reg would beat me to it.

One fucking day Reg, that's all you had to give me. Bastard.

Completely agree Flash, nice to see another believer!  :D

As a football fan you are allowed to get excited after one win.

On the other hand, depression can set in after one defeat.

But what if we draw  :cry:

I think the rule, as a Swindon fan, is boo and be depressed unless we win.

I'm thoroughly enjoying our run, but extremely wary that it probably won't last as the fixtures pile up and injuries / suspension kick in. As has been mentioned, we don't have amazing strength in depth. It is extremely pleasing to see just how quickly Cooper seems to have learnt from his mistakes though. Some of his tactical naivety from last season has gone and he seems a lot smarter.

Still a long way to go and we're far from perfect.. It will be interesting to see how we deal with a bad run, which will happen at some point. I thought we'd be near the bottom this season so I'm just chuffed I have (so far) been proved wrong, big time.

Sometimes, even when we win!

Bumpdity

Long way to go...

March/April is the real 'getting excited' part. Its nice to be where we are, but, well, remember Orient.

Of course.

But we have just beaten the teams that were in 2nd and 1st place (we lost to franchise..... away).

When (the poster I forgot last year as well!) starts to do the stats on points per games required for automatic and playoffs. At what point in the season should these come out? Are we on target compared to previous years at this stage?

Get fucking excited for Christ sake. What's the point being a fan if you can't get excited at times likes this. Stop suppressing yourselves and let go - get excited.

Jesus wept, I don't know what's up with some people  ::)

Sorry I forgot to put that it's really fucking exciting! Just extra exciting when you can see the end in sight.

I got quite excited on Saturday when Smith scored :)

I don't feel excited. I'm happy and hopeful but excited? No.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-KZni9pI0

not going to lie don't see us getting automatic promotion however, we could do it in the play offs as longs as there are no pens ;D

Can't see us get automatic places but we could do it in the play offs

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=55251

Disagree.

Can see no reason why the top 2 isn't achievable if we keep the squad together

yeah but with teams like Franchise and Preston I'm not sure

We are currently second
In our last two home games we have beaten the teams in 3rd and 1st place respectively
We are equal top scorers
We have the second best goal difference (only worse by one)
We have just beaten the team in top spot without our two best players
We are playing outstandingly good football.

Nope. We've got no chance. Just can't see it  ::)

Other teams have a bigger squad. We don't have much cover. When the others are getting closer to promotion (and during January), they'll buy. We'll most likely sell in January. If we make it to the Playoffs, I'll be very happy to take my chances...

Enjoying it whilst it lasts, but most certainly expecting a downturn at some point this season, be it over Christmas or during the run-in...

We have had a great start to the season. Around March time for me when we get over the winter pitches

Our points total to date is fab with our budget

I'm excited already. We appear to now have a well run club that is operating close to within its means. Added to which our player recruitment policy couldn't be better - consistently picking up quality players on the cheap or on loan.

We're 4 points off the top, behind a club £25m in debt and losing about £10m a season.

I'd say we're winning, whether we're promoted or not.

I'm enjoying this season, but wouldn't say I'm excited. For some reason, 09/10 seemed more exciting than this, as did 11/12. Although we are playing more aesthetically pleasing football, for some reason it seems as if the issue of ownership is still hanging over the club and has taken some of the gloss off what we have done so far.

To be fair you are basing those seasons in hindsight, we're only little over a quarter of the way through this one, If it keeps on track, it will surpass both those, guarantee it, If not Paolo 69 will show his arse in Debenhams (if there is one in Swindon?)

Enjoying... yes....excited...no.

My excitment levels may go up more if we can stop making silly defensive mistakes.

As Jimmy Glass said...it was more exciting under Paolo but its much better to have a stable club behind the scenes, no madman in charge and playing better football.

Oi. I'm as optimistic as the next man but I'm not signing up to that (mainly as I think they're is a Debenhams in Swindon)! I might do it if Mick McCarthy does though.

When we get to 52 points i'll get excited ;)

There is one in Swindon!

I think a possible reason the seasons mentioned in 09/10 and 11/12 were so memorable in recent history is they had a couple of decent cup runs in them as well (09/10 - played Wolves in the Carling Cup and had a cracking day at Fulham in the FA Cup, 11/12 - City away in the League Cup & Southampton at home, then in the FA Cup beating Huddersfield, Colchester, Wigan and giving Leicester a game - all teams above us, and reaching the JPT final), where as this season we haven't made any real inroads into any of the cup competitions.

I think making the top 6 would be a fantastic achievement this season based on our budget but I'm seeing how we go up until our Xmas run of games before any excitement even starts to build.

 

Got to say I'm getting a little apprehensive  about an impending moustache

Or horse brass  ;)

Neigh

I don't quite agree with the worry that seems to be around about flogging our best players in January. Sure, I know that Power has said that, particularly if the gates don't pick up. However, on the other hand I have confidence in him to unearth another cache of lower league or loan gems that will slot right in. Where were we pre season and look at his track record in his dealings so far?

Imagine it would be difficult for Kasim/Luongo to move if they are away on international duty.

If we're still top 2 or 3 come Jan, Power wont sell

That is putting it very mildly!

Power saying he would sell players was a message to fans.

You'd like to think if we are where we are now he won't sell. The gates will naturally rise as the importance of each game rises.... But still, the fans do need to stop slacking.

I think this was discussed on the Washbag podcast. Promotion to the Championship is worth £5 - £6 million, so as a businessman, it makes sense for him to keep the players (If we're still on track for promotion that is). He'd have to sell 5 or 6 players to make that sort of cash that is a possibility.

So I'm hoping he'll see common sense and keep the lads together. But hopefully the 12k fans on Saturday was a good injection of cash. So if 500/1000 fans from that game hang around, that should put us back on budget :).

Do you think if we're 2nd or 3rd in January, that he'd actually significantly strengthen (and not sell any of) the squad?

No. Unless we lose someone like Smith or Stephens, or we get someone on loan for free with 100% wages paid of course.

We simply don't have the budget.

   Position/ Points                
   Champions   Runners Up   3rd    4th    5th   6th
2013/14   103   94   86   86   85   74
2012/13   84   83   79   77   75   74
2011/12   101   93   90   81   80   73
2010/11   95   92   87   79   77   71
2009/10   95   86   85   84   82   80
2008/09   96   89   87   84   82   76
2007/08   92   82   80   80   76   76
2006/07   91   85   83   82   79   75
2005/06   82   79   76   73   72   71
2004/05   98   86   79   75   72   71

Average Points per season required (rounded up)   94   87   84   81   78   75

Points per game required (based on average)   2.04   1.89   1.82   1.76   1.69   1.63

Highest points required   103   94   90   86   85   76

Lowest points required   82   79   76   73   72   71



Currently achieving 1.94 points per game, if we keep it up well reach 89 points. 

Those are good stats to see. Shows we could be on for POs at a minimum even if we had a blip or two between now and the end of the season...

 Still way to early, to be getting carried away, there are many potential pitfalls.

 Namely.... (1) heavy pitches.  Thus far, autumn has been generally warm and reasonably dry, so pitches have been mostly OK...you never know we could get lucky, but I read a long range forecast which predicted the coming winter would be the wettest on record...this has to favour hoofball outfits like Bristhole,  PNE and Blades.

 (2) away fixtures....we've done OK at home thus far, against top 6 teams, but have still to travel to Bristhole, PNE, Blades, Notts C etc.....ideally, you'd have liked to got the wins in the away games first, and have the home fixtures to come.

 Of course, atm we are capable of getting something in these games, but they will be a test.

 (3) January...well you just never know with Town. 2 years ago, we nearly made it through January intact, leading the league in Feb, before the wheels fell off.

 

Very good points. But you should remember that we are seeming better away from home this season ;)

It does feel different this season, though.

Can't quite put my finger on it but during the course of the game I really don't have the feeling on an impending cock-up is in the offing.

Last season I never really thought we'd make the POs and we were absolute shite in some games.

Garner injured for 4 months.

Poor old Rockford

Where've you read that?

They signed Beckford on loan for the rest of the season so hardly without a goalscorer.

It's crazy to think we topped the division, looking back. If I remember correctly, however, we had a dire March or April? I'm thinking April?

Similar to what Audrey has touched on, I don't really ever get the feeling we're going to fuck it up in true STFC style, these days. But then I've only managed to make 3 games, so what the fuck do I know :)

Yep....March/April, we had a run of 5 away games in 7, including games at Brentford, Donny, Blades and Dongs....lost the lot.

In March/April, it's often not so much wet pitches that cause problems, but grassless shit heaps like at Donny, where playing anything but hoofball, is more or less impossible.

Reality is that it is going to be very difficult for this young side, to maintain the current standard until the end of the season...to such an extent that it's probably best not to consider it as much more than a long shot.

Agree with you Reg, and that's without contemplating a January transfer window/tricky Xmas period to get through. I'd maintain I'd be extremely happy to be top 6 still come 1st February and then I might start to look at what's to come.

Franchise play Rochdale tonight. Currently 1-1 after 25 minutes. Come on dale!!

I've always liked Rochdale  ;D

This is stolen from a Cleveland Browns NFL fan, but it's a fairly apt response to the question asked


We're miles away from our car at the moment.

Rochdale 2-1 up now.

Yes! Come on dale!

Had bayern and Rochdale at 10/1 tonight. Shame it was just a single nugget :) mint result for town ATM, hold on boys. Rochdale were mightily impressive against us as well and there away form is brilliant

You well and truly jinxed that..

Unlucky

Ha should have waited!

Fucksake didn't realise I jinxed both games at the same time!

Or 2009/10 when we were 2nd with 6 games left with a supposedly easy run in and drew with Exeter, Wycombe and lost at Colchester.

A  2-2 draw suits us, so thanks!

 :D Prestons joe garner has been ruled out for 4 months and their other striker Robinson who has scored 4 in 3 has been recalled by Villa. Big old smile at that news!

0
They have Beckford on season loan though, but 2 out out of 3 ain't bad ;

 Half way through the season....survive January intact and we could be onto something.

Somehow typical STFC, to lose 2 key players for a month, to a tournament which I suppose very few even knew existed up until recently.

A curiosity....having now seen all teams, we've failed to win 9 games.....7 v teams in the bottom half, including 3 against teams in the bottom 4, but only 2 v top half sides.

That's the better way around isn't it, to take points from the top teams in preference to the bottom.

I suppose so....but it does show, that there are no easy games, just because sides are down the table.

Indeed. Even the champions elect have found that out.

Not too long to wait now until we can reference mini-leagues and six pointers.

Reg, If you haven't done so already could you analyse those results using the position the opponents where in when we played them rather than now.  It might read differently.

Perhaps pessism of being a town Dan has dulled my senses or maybe years of being let down when things are going well. Can someone tell me when to get excited...

I'm sure it would, it's really nothing more than an indicator, for example when we got beat by Crawley, they definitely weren't in the  bottom 4, however they weren't very good, yet we still lost.

What it indicates is that there are no easy games in this league...

Isn't that the Swindon way, as long as I have followed them we have consistently beaten teams we should lose to and vice versa - it's the Swindon Town signature season.

Not a very good example as if you had been there you would have witnessed the most one sided 1 - 0 defeat ever, it still haunts me leaving that stadium after absolutely dominating for 95% of the game and having 25+ shots , Crawley fans were coming out of the ground in stunned disbelief that they had just won that game with 1 attempt at goal and a very very dodgy penalty. So what it does say is you will always get blips that cannot be attributed to the opposition but how shit the referee on the day is plus how poor our finishing is.

......and even with 10 men it was still so one-sided as to be unbelievable. To say Crawley were lucky would be the understatement of the year. I came out of the ground stunned in disbelief as well!

99 games out of a hundred we would have thrashed them. Poor finishing, luck, dodgy ref, call it what you like......but it was an easy game that we should have, and normally would have, won but, somehow lost.

Fuck yeah!

I second the above..... Fuck yeah!

We, might possibly, actually, be a pretty good team right now. 1 point to safety. Fuck yeah!

I won't get excited until May/the job is done.

I dream of my first child entering the world with Swindon Town in The Championship... and one day when said child is older telling him or her tales of a torrid period between the years 2000-2014 when things were just batshit mental most of the time.

I have a dream...

I too was thinking about "the torrid years" earlier. Since the Fitton takeover, we've had two trips to Wembley, a promotion as (fuckin') champions, the enjoyable insanity of Di Canio, and now a team of embryo that likes to play football and wins away from home.

We may be in a lowly league, but its not been too bad.

It's all too easy to be excited...not enough of a challenge.

Of course, but we've also had those midnight exclusives and other assorted molehills that those outside of Swindon and OTIB will know nothing about.

So we're still 1 point from almost certain safety?! That's it, I'm cancelling the open top bus parade until it's certain.. Party poppers back in the loft as well.

I was thinking exactly the same when the commentators were going over our performance over last 4 years, which got me thinking to the up's, downs etc. since 1990.

He then mentioned that the last thing Everton won was the FA Cup in 1995, got me thinking I am not sure I would want us to get to the premiership and then just struggle to stay there each year... at least our way is interesting!

This is a happy thread you bunch of cunts. Stop talking about negative shit.

(your's the TEF SS)

Most boring thing in the world must be being an everton fan, same grounds/same teams for 100 years pretty much, never any excitement either winning or staying up on the last day, etc etc. spose at least none of them die by heart attack.

Our GD is pretty much an extra point though ;)

that's reassuring, so if we finish one point off top we'll win the league due to our superior goal difference? :hmmm: :(

Ahhhh very true! Fuck yeah!

Yeah why not. Mix it up a bit for a laugh

I nominate Aston Villa. I would happily bite my own bollocks off if I had to be a Villa fan. I'd actively support relegation if it meant I had a chance of being relevant again...

There was a list a few years ago, about how stressful are your team to your health, we were 2nd behind Notts county, no recollection of who were 91st and 92nd though, anyone?

First time I've ever agreed with Ironside.

To think the highlight of a Villa fan's last twent years is probably a Phil King penalty says it all really, no offence Phil. Mundane club, wish they'd get relegated really.

I'm senile now, but I do remember villa winning the European cup, I think Everton may have won the FA cup in the 80's, so I reckon , it's still Everton for dullness, aren't they the only team never relegated? ( although I have a vague suspicion Arsenal are in that boat also.)

Last twenty years I'm talking, or twent years as I like to say. Shit cup final appearance and a league cup final??? And that's about it for the muslims only city's top team.

Phil put in a match drawing performance against one of the Milan clubs (think it was Inter) just after English clubs were allowed back into Europe. I think it was the EUFA? Maybe they won? So long ago. On telly I think. Probably his finest game as a player and fair play to him.

If you cant get excited about the potential of Swindon this year then just kill yourself. I became a Swindon fan at the age of 8 when we beat the arse in the league cup final. We then spanked Italy's finest for a couple of years but after that it was diminishing returns. The Ardiles and hoddle sides were magic but what we have now has the look of a side that would get better with every promotion. Realise that some financial / personality clash shit will piss on my dreams but for fucks sake lets enjoy the moment.

Ampthill...............we are totally on the same page here.

COYMRS

Yes it's  page 9.

Not until Cooper does.

Everton won the league twice in the '80s and nearly got relegated '89 I think? They had to beat Wimbledon on the last day to have a chance of staying up. They won the FA cup in 1995 and were runners up a couple of years ago.

Hmm, bit drastic.

Yeah, but think of the money you'd save

 Up to second favourites to win the league and to get promotion for the first time this season..

If we can keep the present squad then why not.......?

An update, including our promotion/play-off rivals figures/projected figures:

Swindon Town- 51 points from 25
Points per game so far: 2.04
Forecast total points at current rate: 93.84
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 103.5
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 93
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 82.5

Bristol City- 51 points from 24
Points per game so far: 2.125
Forecast total points at current rate: 97.75
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 106
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 95
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 84
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Franchise- 45 points from 23
Points per game so far: 1.965
Forecast total points at current rate: 89.99
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 102.5
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 91
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 79.5


Preston North End- 45 points from 24
Points per game so far: 1.875
Forecast total points at current rate: 86.25
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 100
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 89
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 78


Bradford City- 36 points from 24
Points per game so far: 1.5
Forecast total points at current rate: 69
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 91
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 80
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 69


Sheffield United- 36 points from 23
Points per game so far: 1.565
Forecast total points at current rate: 71.99
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 93.5
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 82
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 70.5

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chesterfield- 35 points from 24
Points per game so far: 1.458
Forecast total points at current rate: 67.08
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 90
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 79
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 68


Rochdale- 34 points from 24
Points per game so far: 1.416
Forecast total points at current rate: 65.16
Total points with 2.5 points per game from now: 89
Total points with 2 points per game from now: 78
Total points with 1.5 points per game from now: 67

You can do all the number crunching in the world around points required but there are so many variables. Teams rarely accrue points at a level rate, they will go through peaks and troughs in form. Look at 2009/10, when we piled on the points in December to March and went 2nd with 6 games left and win home games we would have easily a month before, we drew. Leeds looked dead in the water after our 3-0 win but regrouped and got over the line.

Throw in injuries, fatigue, suspensions, pitches, postponements, cup runs (not us), loss of form, deadline day, managerial changes (2012/13 anyone), relegation threatened teams playing out of their skins and pressure is the big one. These can all de-rail teams or turn seasons around.

In our favour, we are out of the cups, have a youthful, exuberant squad and Power seems to have good access to the loan market. What will be interesting is how our style of play holds up at the business end of the season. It seems so ingrained in the players that it maybe key when the pressure is on that we keep doing the things that have got us to where we are now.

I can't envisage us playing Championship football. However, this is mainly due to the fact that I've never seen Swindon play a game above League One level in my life time...

I agree; but we will still end up with an average points per game after 46games. The forecast averages go some way to factoring this is with a predicted total based on varying levels of form.

I'm very uncomfortable with all the promotion talk. I'm heroically fighting against the thought that we could be playing Championship football next season and trying to keep my expectations at their usual, rather low, level. I've just got this feeling that, as soon I really start believing, it's all going to turn to shit.

Not me.

I am totally convinced we are going up this time - based on us being fucking good, while the majority of the rest are utter shite this season.

Perfect storm

I still reckon 2 of the 4 will fall away, and the remaining 2 will be promoted. I have no idea which 2 will fall. It could be any of us.

Secondary concern is if we are still in it with say 10 games to go, the pressure cranks up. And they are young. Will they crack, or will the naivety/arrogance of youth work to their favour.

Yeah that's the key, I can see all 4 still in a group and it going to the last game or 2, at least we have an easy finish....

Based on results this season, isn't that a bad thing?!

That's me too. I did allow myself a quick dance round the kitchen and singing of "We are top of the League" on Monday, but by and large I'm trying to ignore the table and just enjoy watching the football. I'll (probably/hopefully) be doing enough worrying about the table in March/April, if I start that now, I'll be a wreck before the Easter eggs are even in the shops

I was being ironic, we have a very hard finish iirc.

As Oaksey Moonraker pointed out form fluctuates , so teams who look crap atm, may not be in April and vice versa.  Take Chesterfield and Scunny who drew last night over the 90 mins.  Chesterfield had a major blip around the time we beat them 3-0, but are now a form team....Scunny after a poor start which cost Wilcox his job, haven't lost since October.

We're going well, but the obvious thing that needs to be addressed atm, is breaking down teams who park the bus at the CG....we're semi doing OK with this....but a return of 4 goals from the last 5 home games, could be improved.

ha! I have no idea what our fixtures are anymore. I thought we were away on Saturday until Monday evenings post match twitter put me right.

in our last 6 or so, we have Preston and city away, dongs at home + Rochdale away and Peterborough and Yeovil as well, orient last day at home.

I’m so excited, I’m considering booking my TEF tattoo now.

Its looking like its going to be a mad Easter weekend with Franchise on Friday and Shitty on the Monday. 

If you're having the Hitler moustache let me know!

I would never make such an idiot statement. I think it was 'thetownend.com' if we won the league. Think I'll do the 25% football, 80% bollocks slogan instead if it happens.

TBF, I said that before a ball was kicked this season and we all knew we were going to get relegated

Always the horse brass if you lose the bet ;)

 :flaccid:

It'll just fall off

Let's not forget that bushey did get his balls out, as promised. It's tradition for such promises to be kept.

Yeah sorry to burst your bubble but:

1. We're not going to win the league
2. No fucking way would I actually do that

Yeah, but they haven't got the balls like Bushey, Flash. 😜

Pussy

Another unwanted spanner likely to be thrown into the works, like losing the Bradford game, is losing the Walsall game on 21st March to JPT final....Saddlers 2-0 up with home game to come (their home form is terrible atm, so here's hoping)

April is already very busy....so you'd hope it can be stuck into the nearest Tuseday/Weds afterwards.

Meh...any team that gets promoted has to successfully negotiate some hard games and a busy schedule. If you're good enough you'll come through it. I believe we're good enough. We've certainly coped OK with the loss of Kasim and Luongo so far which potentially was a fairly big spanner in the perverbial works.

No matter how good you are, you need a bit of luck....fixture congestion comes into that category.  So far we've skillfully managed early departures from the cups...avoided postponements, although in recent years it seems Feb/March is when we get the worst weather, but another international break is looming on the horizon, the week after the Walsall game. Could the Convicts and Iraq really call up our boys again, assuming they're still with us?

Jesus, off to slash my wrists:-)

Remember to to go along rather than across....

Yeah but...... We're top of the league! Fuck yeah!

Fuck yeah!

Flashheart, can we make this "fuck yeah" business a thing please. I'm a fan of it

Fuck yeah we can!

End of Feb I'll get excited. I can't see us messing it up though.  Shown to win without Mass and Kas but even if they were sold think we'd get a loan back for this season.

Fuck yeah!

But then we'd have 7 loan players... So that wouldn't work, would it?

Already got one loan to cover for Mass - Swift

Lets see what January brings...I have never been as certain of promotion as under PdC at the start of 2013 so I am reluctant to get my hopes up as life supporting STFC is very cruel.

(http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/yes/grand/Clint_Eastwood_yeah.gif)

(http://i.imgur.com/7XeXnSo.gif)

Tuesday morning.

Bank Holiday Monday

How about Monday night?

Now.

Nah, not till we're 3-0 up with a minute to go at Wembley.

Even then...

If that's a minute of extra time, maybe. But if they've still to add on another 3-4 minutes, on last night's evidence the game could still end 4-4