Swindon Town vs Wigan - Official Matchday Thread

[leefer]

BRILLIANT STUFF!

I saw the match on telly with my dad-in-law. Many norwegians got to see the game cause it was also sent live on Viasat Sport in Norway!

BRILLIANT STUFF!

I celebrated Alan  Connell's goal so hard that my daughter (2 yrs old) started to cry... and had to be comforted... 

 

[Notts red]

Just read through the 41 pages so not much I can add except we got into the Arkells around 2.45 by which time the stewards were'nt even checking tickets and I didn't even need to put my season ticket into the machine as the turnstiles were just open because of the amount of fans still outside. Great, Great day !

[Hammer]

No you're right, I didn't. That's because I'm a fan of a lower league club and therefore it's a given

I would've have liked a bit more of a reply but you're probably fishing. I'd place my personal Scrooge McDuck sized fortune that if we got Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or a Manchester club away you'd be front row centre.

My original point was not geared towards "effort and pride" because as I alluded to, that's all Swindon Town fans can grab on to most of the time.

Again, I stand by my point.x

Yep. Here goes and you can have bit more of a reply. And no, I wasn't fishing. If you wish to stand by your point of wishing "a major player away from home so we can get as much money as possible" then, fair enough, even though I may find it negative and irksome. You are alluding purely towards financial gain at the expense of, and without any reference to cup glory, progressing further in the competition or even attempting to win a trophy.

Going back to 1969 I don't recall Danny Williams and the lads, or even Town fans, saying anything similar to your original post. They accepted any draw and just got on with it. If I have missed something then thank fuck their hopes were dashed upon drawing Coventry City (away 4th round) and Derby County (away 5th round). Had we been drawn against a "major player" eg Liverpool, Man Utd or Spurs, then we would more than likely have been eliminated. Our historic day would not have come about. Todays fans would probably not be making their way to the "Don Rogers Stand".

I was making the point that it is a sad indictment on society, especially regarding younger folk, that certain elements of football have lost their perspective, where money, financial gain and materialism are given priority over everything else.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that as a loss-making club in a shit division there is added urgency in considering all revenue streams, but, not at the expense of everything else. Talking of prize money, tv revenue etc is fine yet when it replaces talk of cup glory and achievement then surely something is not quite right. We are a fucking football club not a PLC trying to maximise profits for it's shareholders.

I don't get your point in stating that I'd be front row centre at Arsenal, Liverpool etc. Maybe I would. Just as I will be at Forest or Leicester. Just as I will be at Crewe and on Good Friday at Morecambe. Or were you just being presumptuous ?

Perhaps you should have worded your original post a little better. I want to watch my team play at the County Ground, just as I have done since 1968. If by renaming it as the Honda Stadium or WHSmith Bowl, with associated sponsorship, suits you better to fulfill your wish of "getting as much money as possible" then we will have to agree to disagree.

Again I stand by my point which I hope I have illustrated further for your satisfaction.x

[DiV]

football may have changed a bit since 69.

we arent going to win the fa cup this season. we need to make as much money out of it as possible and use that to progress the club.

I dont want us playing in L2 any longer than May this year. L1 as we know is also utter and shite and we dont want to stay there do we?

In the long run we'd have a better chance of progress back towards the championship having made a large amount of extra revenue from big pay days in the cup competitions.

In recent years after big pay days at Old Trafford - Exeter, Burton and Crawley have all progressed their clubs. Two of them currently above us in the pyramid as well.

[Hammer]

football may have changed a bit since 69.

we arent going to win the fa cup this season. we need to make as much money out of it as possible and use that to progress the club.

I dont want us playing in L2 any longer than May this year. L1 as we know is also utter and shite and we dont want to stay there do we?

In the long run we'd have a better chance of progress back towards the championship having made a large amount of extra revenue from big pay days in the cup competitions.

In recent years after big pay days at Old Trafford - Exeter, Burton and Crawley have all progressed their clubs. Two of them currently above us in the pyramid as well.

I don't doubt that football has changed since 1969. Yet if we were to adopt a defeatist and negative attitude, one based purely on financial resources, then what excitement would be left for the fans ? The whole nation was enthralled on Saturday because L2 Swindon beat greed league Wigan. The headlines weren't "Swindon Town win £67,500 in fucking prize money and progress to the next round".

I don't know the intricate details involving financial dealings made by your aforementioned clubs. They may have their own stories to tell.

On the flip-side 2 teams (Southampton and Southend) seem to be doing rather well at the moment. Both have relatively recently been in the financial deep shit. Remind me when they both played at Old Trafford in a cup competition.

Money doesn't guarantee success or even provide security. Ask any Plymouth fan. No, money isn't the key, it's all about financial planning and the "management" of financial resources. I trust our Board implicitly in that respect. They knew what they would be taking on, they knew that they would be operating at a loss and the recent acquisitions of Benson and Foderingham suggest they are prepared to fork out money with no guarantee of a good cup run.

Let them worry about the financial side of things; as mere fans we should be looking forward more to glory and success.

[Hammer]

I celebrated Alan  Connell's goal so hard that my daughter (2 yrs old) started to cry... and had to be comforted... 

Scandinavians and long dark nights just cause problems.

[Dozno9]

Hammer, if it wasn't for the fans worrying about the finances of out club we would still have Diamandis knocking around. Whilst I agree in principal with what you say if we are to go out next round I'd rather cash in whilst we can.

I don't think Southampton is a good example btw having being taken over by the Liebherr family (Markus), one of the ritchest families in the world (3 billion euros).

[tj2002]

Managed to watch all of the 2nd half on a big screen in a backpacker hostel in Cambodia after streaming the 1st at a shitty internet cafe next door. Superb team performance, a great advert for lower league football and the result was thoroughly justified. Shame about the draw, suspect we'll go out to either side but great to still be in the cup!

[Bob's Orange]

Back home after a great weekend in England. Topped off by Saturday. Thought we showed Wigan far too much respect in the first half and they had the ball when they wanted. Although, penalty aside, they never looked very dangerous or had any cutting edge. What did interest me in the first half was the way we stopped Al Habsi distributing the ball out short to his defenders. Clearly in the Premiership, teams will work their way up the pitch from the back and Connell and Murray/Ritchie pressed so high up that Al Habsi couldn't play the ball out short and was forced to belt it forward, clearly something they weren't used to, which I think disrupted them a bit. After they scored, we had a great spell of play and Connell's deft header was no more than we deserved.

Second half, we upped the tempo and got much more posession. Ritchie and Caddis down the right were both superb and I thought our left hand side combo of Kennedy and De Vita was more dangerous than when I had previously watched us. I was thoroughly impressed with Connell up front, who ran himself into the ground. Benson came on and won everything in the air and showed intelligent hold up play, running and passing. Connell and Benson have the potential to form a formidable partnership in this league. They already seem to have a 'connection' playing with each other (the bit of interplay head tennis on the left hand side springs to mind!).

At the back, well we didn't really have that much to do to be honest. Wigan without Roddallega were a bit powder puff. I liked the look of Ben Watson for them in midfield, but thought Simon Ferry was the more productive player.

Overall a great day out, hopefully Forest/Leicester will be equally as enjoyable!

[jimmy_onions]

Another final final point from me...

Enjoyed the time wasting in the corner by magera towards the end....I absolutely hate it when teams do that to us...most be the most frustrating thing to experience as a footy fan, so nice to have the shoe on the other foot for a change...

[Bob's Orange]

http://www.thefa.com/video/FA-Competitions/FA-Cup/2011-2012/3RP/Swindon-Town-2-1-Wigan-Athletic

Some highlights here (apologies if already posted)

[dave_bambers_right_sock]

Here's a few clips, the first 2 are just as the final whistle goes apologies for the shaky bit of camera work
the 3rd link is a quality bit from the Townend
Going to be watching these for a while

[DiV]

I don't doubt that football has changed since 1969. Yet if we were to adopt a defeatist and negative attitude, one based purely on financial resources, then what excitement would be left for the fans ? The whole nation was enthralled on Saturday because L2 Swindon beat greed league Wigan. The headlines weren't "Swindon Town win £67,500 in fucking prize money and progress to the next round".

I don't know the intricate details involving financial dealings made by your aforementioned clubs. They may have their own stories to tell.

On the flip-side 2 teams (Southampton and Southend) seem to be doing rather well at the moment. Both have relatively recently been in the financial deep shit. Remind me when they both played at Old Trafford in a cup competition.

Money doesn't guarantee success or even provide security. Ask any Plymouth fan. No, money isn't the key, it's all about financial planning and the "management" of financial resources. I trust our Board implicitly in that respect. They knew what they would be taking on, they knew that they would be operating at a loss and the recent acquisitions of Benson and Foderingham suggest they are prepared to fork out money with no guarantee of a good cup run.

Let them worry about the financial side of things; as mere fans we should be looking forward more to glory and success.

Southampton are being bank rolled to fuck. Southend arent doing well at all?

I am looking forward to more glory and success but that glory and success is more likely to come with more money behind us. Which is what my last post was all about.

We signed Benson and Foderingham after the 3rd round draw had been made, yes?

[Peter Venkman]

Southampton have a combine estimated net worth of £3 BILLION!

Only QPR, Spurs, Man City and Arsenal have more wealthy backers than them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_football_club_owners

[Peter Venkman]

And to put this in context our illustious backers have a combined net worth of approx £550m.