Thetownend.com

So Wimbledon took my 100% win record but i'm still 9 out of 9 unbeaten.

This week I have just got in from a night out pretty smashed therfore we should win!

Back in my Plymouth room meaning luck has returned.

2-0 Town.

COYR

3-0

2-0 Town - hope I can make it.

This should be a comfortable 3-0 win. I just hope we don't see a Hereford/Bradford performance, in which case 1-1!

Looking forward to watching a game after missing the away games.

2-0.  Feeling confident today, hopefully we can put the chances we create away this week!

4-2

Flint, Ferry, Ritchie, Murray

My lucky trackies and away shirt are dirty today. Worried.

1-1 draw.

2-1 defeat.

It's still early - get the washing machine on !!!!

3-1 town today......

6-1 town .flint 2 ritchie ,ferry,connell 2

I think we'll win comfortably today. 3-1

2-1 (Connell & J Smith) Att: 7,429 (lucky to get any from Aldershot with a so called 'boycott' they are having from the best circus around!)

Going to win 2-1, with it being 1-1 until 90 mins, and us all still havin no idea where Benson is, then all of a sudden Di canio calls for a substitution then from no where Benson runs from in the crowd onto he pitch in a WWE fashion, smack talking on the mic, crowd going wild, taking on 7 players and smashing it back of the net, running over to the corner and sacrificing a bantam to show his unity has always been to us not Bradford.

What's the weather like?

Windy  COYR 5-0

Ta corner, spose I'd better think about getting my arse into gear

Tricky conditions makes me think it will be a stinker of a game but still confident we'll etch out a win. 1-0 for me with a goal from Ferry.

Our Swindon v Aldershot match preview: http://thewashbag.com/2011/11/23/match-preview-swindon-v-aldershot/

does anyone know if you can buy student tickets on a matchday ?

Always confident at home. 3-0 Town.

no you can't.

6-0 win for Town.

My first game for a couple of months if I make it in time.

How things have changed since that 1987 Freight Rover Semi video within the review. I love the way that Macari was allowed to fully come onto the field to rearrange the defence after Digby goes - and the mullet on the fan who shoves the ref at the end is a work of beauty!

Them was the days

This. The run has to end at somepoint

3-0 town and Ritchie to be on the bench

3-1, De vita, Flint and Murray


COYR

If its not today it will defiantly be against rovers in 2 weeks time. Today however scrappy 1-0 win. I think Aldershot travel quite well.

Blowing a gale in Highworth. We never play well when it's windy.

Tougher than it looks I reckon...

They'll score, but we'll score more. 2-1 after going 1-0 down, McCormack header a late winner.

10-0 Town.

6-1 home win

3-1 home win. Crowd 8.5k with Aldershot bringing 800. 

Cold and windy.  Gloves and scarf time.  I've got a feeling we're going to draw again.

Kind of game we need to win if we're going to keep pace with the pack.  Still waiting for the likes of Cheltenham to hit a sticky patch.  A draw today will feel like a defeat...but I'm fairly optimistic of a win.

Gutted not to be able to make it today as I'm moving into a new flat.

The sort of game we should be winning really. Will be interested to see who PDC plays today, hope to see J Smith back in the starting lineup.

3-1 Town in front of 7,862

Definitely the type of game we need to win to go up. Definitely the type of game we struggle in.

But not today. 3-0 town. 7432

Swindon Town: Foderingham; Caddis, Flint, McCormack, Ridehalgh; Ritchie, Smith J, Ferry, Gabilondo; Jervis, De Vita

Just realised I'm going to get regular updates on BBC Radio Surrey this afternoon...excellent news.  Sports coverage merges with BBC Radio Sussex so you do get interruptions for Brighton, Crawley & Farnborough updates...but can't have it all.

Sprinklers on at the CG, let the conspiracy theories begin.

1-0 to the Town, probably an own goal by the Aldershit keeper.

 

Sounds like we've started quite well.

Poxford 1-0 down. :D

plymouth 3 up after 19 mins!!!!

'Aldershot' local radio seem to think it's only a matter of time until we score.

Afternoon all.

25 Mins in and it's the first time i've heard De Vitas name I think..

Morcambe 1-0 so we're up to 6th.

Come on town make your shots cout.

Plymouth 4-0 up

And it's Half time.

Has Benson signed yet? Whose on the bench.

Not many goals in the league, although Crawley are a goal down. Need a win today to cement us in the top seven.

Well that was a bit shit.

Aldershot have (unsurprisingly) come with the sole intention of trying to frustrate us and so far have succeeded.

That said, Jervis should have scored late in the half.

Special mention about the Aldershit #4 (guttbucket I think), he is the most whiney, moaning apology for a footballer I have ever seen, and his delayed dive after he was fouled by Smith was truly pathetic

personally thought we played quite well myself, without making many chances. I think they are there for the taking and if we score one we'll get a few

Afternoon chaps! Just finished turfing my lawn and expected to come in to a cricket score! Not happening I see. What's happening? Connell not even on the bench?

Back from the Trafford Centre for the second half.

We playing well?

This half, NO

Jervis went down - No penalty

New boy about to come on for Gabilondo

1-0!

JErvis!

Fucking come on!

Here we go, now lets cause some carnage

Get in!

At last!!!!!

As soon as I tune in, Murray comes on and sets up a goal. No need to thank me.

Oh! Went to make a cuppa and we score!...Yippee!

Interesting to note that when we were all slashing our wrists at defeats at Burton, Cheltenham and Burton, look at the table and where these teams are.

Oh and well done JJ!

Pox 2 - 0 down and down to 10 men!

Yes, but when we played Cheltenham they were truly awful. They must have improved since then, as both sides looked pretty hopeless that day.

I meant Shrewsbury, not Burton twice!

Jake Hyde, who has scored twice for Dundee, ex Town?

Yupp, the same one.

Aldershot score!

Aldershot equaliser ruled out for a push on Flint. Need to be careful at the back, 1-0 is not a strong lead.

2-0, Jervis

:D

Disallowed for a push on Flint................And Jervis scores! 2-0

Aldershot score but dissallowed due to a push on Flint


Jervis scores at the other end for us, get in!!

Jervis scores!

And I'm feeling....BOOM BOOM....Glad all over

Cibocchi on and DeVita off

Jervis injured. To be replaced by Magera

Sky says OG

Given that we're only just onto six pages, I'm guessing the game's been pretty uneventful?

Not a lot going on in the 2nd half. Just the goals and one or two pot shots since I tuned in at 4.05pm

Correct

I got quite excited when I thought I heard that Ben Hur was playing for Aldershot but apart from that and the goals, not much worth talking about.

We only seem to post a lot when we are losing.  :)

We have actually created some chances in the last 5 minutes... just that nobody has posted them! Keeper made a good save from Ritchie, and Magera had a chance

FT 2-0

Good save from a Magera free kick, and that's time. 2-0. Lovely.

Full time, 2-0, thank-you very much.

3 points, another clean sheet and Pox lose.

Enjoy the weekend  :D

Comfortable win. Only trouble they caused us was for 5 minutes after half time.

Caddis never stopped running and was my MOM. Jervis had the best game I've seen him have.

Smith and ferry were great today, smith was my mom.

Caddis needs to know when to pass, he'll go round two defenders and then try and take on two more, great energy today though.

The Swindon-love on the local radio over here is almost embarrassing.  Summary is basically...shouldn't really be in this division anyway, odds on for promotion, PDC has resources at his disposal that Holdsworth could only dream of, big crowd, quality runs right through the squad (with particular reference to Ritchie and Magera), thoroughly deserved win.

And I had a text read out.  Go me!

Hooray!!!

dire game, created a few chances and another 3 points, the ref and one of the lino's were fucking awfull, best part of the afternoon for me was the aldershot fans in the merlin, we're aldershot we do what we want :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: and some on here thought our lot were bad COYR

We all see games differently but I thought Jervis was dire in the first half, couldn't jump and hardly won a thing, different animal after he scored though!  Caddis would also have got my vote for mom.

Good win, comfortable and Benson on the way...great time to be a Town fan, Col U next week should be interesting!

Just home from the game now.  It was an OK game, we created plenty of chances but again failed to be clinical with our finishing.  Aldershot were very poor and didn't show much at all.

What are other people's views on Gabilondo? Playing on the left he can't seem to get round the outside to get any crosses in and when he cuts inside he usually runs into traffic and ends up losing the ball.  Would like to see him switch with Ritchie for 5 or 10 minutes every so often just to give a bit of variation and to see what he is like on the right hand side.

Efficient job done today. Gabliondo was very poor in my opinion and the balance was alot better when he was replaced.
The thing i like is that at times we look like we have a extra gear to go up

Shit first half, much better in the second. Caddis was my man of the match, followed closely by McCormack.

I heard one twat to my left shout that Jervis should fuck off back to Birmingham. I thought that was his best game for us!

Is Kerrouche still injured?

I thought Jervis was absolutely awful first half, filled me with dread whenever he got the ball. For a man as tall as him you would expect some physical prescience but all I saw was a donkey who couldn't control a thing. Although he was much better in the second half and it was a fantastic finish he seems too easily knocked over, seems a bit "Pericard" to me the way he can only pass the ball backwards, should be running at the defence alot more.

That paragraph  makes me sound like a moaning old bastard after he practically won us the game, but I suppose that's the best thing about attackers: they can score even if they aren't in the game.

Did what we had to and beat what was put in front of us.

Job done.

PDC said Kerrouche was fit but probably wouldn't play, guess he's being saved for Col U

I thought Jervis did alright today, held the ball up well & finished well too although he could have done better with the opportunity he had just before half time.

Devita looked lost upfron but was much better when he switched wide. So glad Smith was back in midfield although he was late on a couple of his challenges which could have been nasty had he made contact.

Back 4 did well again with highlight for me was Macca's run from the back and him running rings around every Aldershot player.  Shame it couldn't have been rewarded with a goal.

I like the look of Murray, seems to be a very intelligent player who reads the game well and great set up for Jervis's goal. He's a small lad but his pace will cause problems with some of the defenders in this league.

Ritchie had a better game today and him & Caddis won quite a few balls for us today.

Aldershot well they were just a team of giants who will win games because of their physical presence but they are purely a long ball team which we dealt with today.

Not a classic today but teams like this will fustrate us and these are teams we need to beat and not let fustrate us

My thoughts...Aldershit came to 'park the bus' but once we went ahead we were comfortable.

We should've had a blatant pen when Jervis was pushed in the back, but on the who the ref didn't have a bad match.

Richie was shite, and should've been take off. I lost count how many times Richie got to the edge on the penalty area, and cut in for the shot to be blocked by about three defenders. He was so predictable.

MoM for me was Caddis, with Flint and McCormack not far behind.

Very professional league two performance from us today. Did what was needed. Looked like we were going to score in the opening 15 minutes with us playing with a very high tempo, but became a lackluster affair after then until half time. Caddis was my man of the match, made some absolutely brilliant runs down the right and Ritchie looked back to his old self today. Magera looked decent when he came on, think he will have a huge part to play this season.

Got the lucky trackies and away shirt dried in time too.

Enjoyed today....Flint outstanding,the rest of the team did well.

What did i like today...the crowd.7,500 was brilliant.

I thought Mccormack was the better of the two center backs today. Also thought we were lucky there goal was disallowed and our second wasn't.

Decent performance though.

And what the hell did Holdsworth think leaving the house dressed like that this morning!

What local radio is that ?

BBC Radio Solent ?

The Undertaker!

He was trying to outdo PdC in the fashion stakes !!!

Thought Aldershot were the poorest team I've seen all season - however it had the potential to be one of those classic games where we would draw against when we should have beaten them.

As it happens a fair result. The ref was pretty decent I thought (by this league's very poor standards) and why on earth did Flint win MoM? He was decent enough, but... Aldershot hardly provided our defence with the hardest opposition this season.

Lastly, at the end, the Townend exit doors were closed because some chap appeared to be in a poor state medically, I might be wrong, but if not I hope he's ok.

No, it was BBC Radio Surrey.  BBC Radio Solent covers the southern half of Hampshire up as far as about Basingstoke.  The northern end, where we are, gets divied out to BBC Radio Berkshire or BBC Radio Surrey, depending on where you are.  Farnborough, Aldershot and Woking all covered by the latter on a Saturday...which confusingly shares some of the broadcast with BBC Radio Sussex so you get a bit of Brighton and Crawley thrown in as well.

Okay, ta.

Cheers.

Gonna have a look online for some snippets of what was said.

Fair play to Holdsworth. Pays us alot of credit in this interview. He talks about coming to the County Ground like it's Old Trafford.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aldershot/9648664.stm

BBC stats show we only had 35% possesion today - don't know where that info came from, although we did seem to give the ball away a lot but I have rarely seen a Swindon side with so much room on the pitch as we had today.

Well pleased with that today - we really ground out the result.

Like most teams that want to get away from here with a point Aldershot came to spoil and time waste, hoping with every passing minute we'll get more frustrated.

Despite fluffing two chances in the first half Jervis took his goal well, fantastic delivery from Caddis/Ferry, I forget which - Scotsman all look the same to me, hopefully he'll gain more confidence from this.

Special mention must go to Aldershots number 4, whattaprick. Never stopped moaning to the referee for ninety minutes and I haven't heard a yelp as comically girly sounding as he managed (when he went down after Smiths nudge) since Walters turned out for the Town.

Ritchie needs to once in a while play the easier ball, even if that does mean rolling it 4 metres to Caddis/Ferry, I forget which - Scotsman all look the same to me, when they're overlapping. He doesn't need to cut in and run into traffic every time.

Gabilondo needs to improve his memory, my Gran always recommended eating more Celery, because for the first 15 mins he ran with purpose, head up and straight at the full back, who promptly filled his shorts - producing a couple of dangerous crosses that caused mayhem. After that, he seemed to forget what to do and began running with his head down straight at the corner flag, which didn't promptly fill its shorts as it was simply made of plastic and cloth and had no working bowels or anus.

Also certain fans need to lighten up a bit when someone starts singing "You're just a shit David Kerslake" to Paul Caddis - after yet another exhausting run with no end result. It was a freaking joke you morons, riffing on an in-joke about Caddis' brilliant approach play, a la David Kerslake, but no end product, a la Dean Hooper. I like the guy, he's a fantastic player and a brilliant captain... it was just a jokey thing people...

Job done, winning ugly this week, it was a pleasing sight...

He was 'disappointed' though - he made that clear only one or two times :)

We wondered why it was disallowed. Pretty uneventful game really, most importantly 3 points and yet another clean sheet. Flint my MOM, he's been a brilliant signing, commanding every time I see him. Wes didn't have too much to stress him out, really hope we can sign him

I don't see how Ritchies performmance can be described as utter shite. He worked his socks off and whilst I agree he didn't really find the killer cross or path today his overall effort and link up play with Caddis made his performance far from shite in my opinion.

Far more worringly I heard a rumour that Rocking Robin has been sidelined by the Health and Safety Mafia.

as i was walking past the townend at full time he was on a stretcher, think he was a steward as he had high viz coat on, didnt look good mind

Why is Dean Holdsworth so obsessed with us and PDC? Weird.

Poor game, good result. That's promotion form.

That would explain why an ambulance went racing into the CG about 10 minutes after the final whistle.  Strange though, I thought there was always an ambulance on standby by the Arkells at matches.

You saw the same as me then. I totally agree. The space that Aldershot gave us was unbelievable particularly in the first half but we failed to punish them.

Fairly comfortable win today with our back line looking ever more impressive.

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

 

Poor first half, much better second half. Caddis was briliant, Jervis had his best game for us. Solid performance and the 3 points, can't ask for more.

Saw someone on a stretcher at the back of the townend, it may of been that a steward gave his coat rather than it actually being a steward on the stretcher.

How can they say we have crap support ???

Aldershot were putting up a fight until we scored, they seemed to have no plan B whatsoever though. They were trying the bullyboy tactics especially their number 4.
Not the best of games compared to recent weeks but 3 points all the same. Thought our supporters were quieter than normal.

Sorry but how on earth does having 4 sides to a ground constitute "far inferior facilities" than one with 3 sides?

Was a poor first half, as I posted at half time Aldershot had come to frustrate us, and largely managed to do that in the first half.

The first goal coming early in the second half meant that they had to come out a bit more, which made more of a game of it.

And for what it's worth, I thought Jervis had one of his best games for Town. He put in a lot of work in closing down their defenders.

It was a definite push on Flint for their goal, but I've seen referee's ignore them many times.
As for our second goal, I was surprised that having disallowed their goal for a push, that the referee didn't do the same for that one as there was definitely contact from Jervis on the defender.
Maybe the ref had got fed up of that prick from Aldershot who was constantly moaning & whining at him all game.

I thought Ritchie did OK to be honest, he is a bit greedy at times but based on the goal against the Pikeys he is always likely to pop one in. Most teams are now focussing on him to try & stop him playing as they recognise that he can be a big threat.

After today there can be no doubt that a Smith/Ferry combination is the best in the middle, although it did make me laugh today when Smith was caught in possession and it brought a bit of a groan from the crowd. Had of been Risser he would have got dog's abuse.

So true

I want to know when that gobby Aldershot fan who said there would be a sea of red and blue ! Is going to post? 300 odd, what sea was it mate, the dead one?

I've bumped the thread back up for you :)

Haha, it makes good reading watching that place is going into meltdown. Wilder under pressure now... apparently it started kicking off between him and a pox fan. It's all falling apart for them now.

Edit: Just saw the other thread.

Delusional doesn't even come close to covering this.  Over the years, we have consistently attracted better crowds than Oxford United...and we still do today.

And anyone want to swap our town centre home for a soulless, pub-less, plastic, 3-sided hangar next a sewerage facility?  No.  Glass houses etc.

Inferior facilities like a fourth stand, for example?

Funny how we haven't had any scum on here lately. Weren't they all telling us what a liability Paolo would be and how great Wilder was due to his experience blah blah. Oh what a difference a couple of months make.

What a complete twat.

Mind you that is the post of the night and made me laugh.

Poxford - Know your limits - No bottle.

Another interesting point is that we have had 10 clean sheets in 19 games so far this season and now have the best defensive record in the league. Long may it continue.

Funny how some pox fan was saying that Wilder was the best manager in the division, a proper manager, not a showbiz accessory or something similar. Tee hee...

Hello Gents - Just thought I'd add my thoughts from today...

What an absolutly shit game, both sides were very poor - us more so, our tactics were awful and it was obvious we were after a 0-0 draw and if we'd got it, you'd have been hard done by.

I think you deserved your two goal win, and all I can say that is if you play that badly and win with that amount of ease, you're up already!

Well done and best of luck for the rest of the season.

The chap who dons the outfit sits a couple of rows in front of us and was in the stand at 2.45pm.  We wondered whether he'd given it up or something.

Anyway, an ok first half performance with a far better second one.  We made it harder work to get the win than it needed to be.  Aldershot offered very little, but managed to frustate us sufficiently through the first half.  Jervis and De Vita didn't work as a pairing and it was only when Gabilindo was replaced and De Vita was shifted we looked more threatening and broke the deadlock.  After being fairly pants in the first 45 mins,  Jervis looked a different player after scoring.  

Good to see Smith back in midfield and Ferry being his usual busy self.  McCormack was my MOM, just shading it over Flint and Caddis.

Soneone wondered why Ritchie wasn't subbed, well he was going to be.  Magera was ready to come on, no 10 was put on the board and he was being beckoned, then Jervis went down.  There was then a few minutes of faffing on the touchline and when Jervis signalled he needed to come off, the board was changed.  Although there was still an element of greediness, he was a threat today.

The linos were both crap, it was almost as if the ref had told them only to watch out for offside and he'd call anything else.  Another stonewall penalty wasn't given and I have to be honest, I didn't see a push for the disallowed goal?

Another 3 points and on we go.  Just a shame all above us bar Morecambe won as well.  The Christmas period could be key in terms of fitness levels and depth of squad.

Thanks for the comments.

The 'park the bus' scenario was examined in some depth in one of our blogs a couple of days ago.  (A few other Shots related items on there as well.)  Fair to say it was expected, I think.

The Washbag: Can Swindon Catch the Parked Bus? (http://thewashbag.com/2011/11/24/can-swindon-catch-the-parked-bus/)

All the best, and see you in March.

In fairness, that's a pretty obscure reference. I'm old enough to appreciate what a good player David Kerslake was. I also like to think I have a pretty keen sense of irony. Had I heard that song/chant though, I would have been thinking "what the fuck???" So I can understand people getting the hump with that.

I'm going to expand on that a little. A lot of people who go now, never saw David Kerslake play so when they hear "You're just a shit David Kerslake", they have no reference point so have no idea whether that "you're just a shit David Kerslake" thing is ironic or not.  They can only go on the fact that it sounds pretty derogatory.

To conclude, I think that's quite a strange thing to sing/chant.*


*based on the fact that it's almost 20 years since Kerslake played for us.

Agree with all that, OST.

Kerslake was a fucking good player for us. Why someone would sing that within earshot of Caddis, let alone expect him, or anyone else, to get it is beyond me.

Smart Arse irony. Not fucking funny.

No probs. Thanks for the three points x

There is not a better attacking full back in this league than Cadds. We should show him love not give him moronic chants.

A very forgettable game but 3 points and another clean sheet and no bookings or injuries. We're also 4 points above the yellow filth who appear to be imploding and before x mas as well - a nice early gift for us Town fans although we are apparently shit fans in a shit ground according to one of our yellow brethren.
We were pretty ppor today and that is a sign of a good team. I thought the left hand side was bollox today. Ridehalgh had his worst game in a Town shirt and wasn't helped by Gabilondo who was also very poor. Something is wrong with Ritchie, whether he's had his head turned or started beliieving the publicity but he's a shadow of the player we know and love.
MOM for me was Caddis - yes he overplayed it a lot but his energy levels were amazing. Also a big thumbs up to McCormack for that tackle and then the run in the 1st half.
Also a special mention to their no 4 who thuoght he was a latter day Billy Bremner - what a cunt.

Just seen todays stats on the bbc site 65% possession to our 35% that can never be right ?

Hate to say it, but Richie looks like he's playing for himself at the moment.

Fantastic player and decent bloke that he is, I think PDC needs to explain to him that he'll get his move eventually, as class will always shine through. Someone will make us an offer we wont want to refuse if he keeps doing what he was doing, but that is not going to happen if he's a greedy fucker and isnt playing as part of the squad.

If he thinks he's going to get a big move playing like he is (not overly pissed off with him myself, just think he could do a lot more for the team rather than always seeming to be going for the world class shots and passes all the time) he's kidding himself.

I suspect PDC will already be well on top of the situation, judging what he had to say about Jervis and Flint in the post match interview today;-)

Can understand a really good player having an off day but agree that something is not quite right regarding Ritchies recent proformances. After the transfer window came and went This week I was expecting to see the old Matt back today but he still looked like a player with a lot on his mind. Still think he is right up there with the best players in the league but just not in the last few games.

Apologies, apologies people, somethings been misunderstood here, I obviously wasn't clear in my post. I didn't 'chant' it out loud at full volume and all happy clappy, I was merely singing it to a chap who sits next to me, who knew who Kerslake and Hooper were..... It was a comedic device in which to highlight Caddis' frustratingly poor final ball whilst praising his skill and industry.... I suppose what pissed me off was the guy in front turned round and glared at me. All fucking up on his sensitive high horse, "How fucking dare you say anything slightly derogatory towards one of our players",  "Well, thats not the attitude thats going to get them playing better", "We don't need fans like you". etc etc.

Yeah a bit like what you, and OST have just done.

My season ticket seat is waaaaay up in the DR, so it wasnt within earshot of the player, but perhaps you could circulate guidelines on how many rows up you're allowed to sit before you can voice an opinion, just to save the ears of our players.... do you think we have to sit higher in the stand if its a winger or full back that's getting the comments?? But perhaps we could sit a bit closer for a midfielder?

I'm 38, not a little obnoxious kid who's gonna yell in players faces. I just get browned off that you can't seem to make any kind of comments or have any opinion on the terraces anymore, its soooooo fucking annoying when you can't make a comment to your mate about the deficiencies of players in a light hearted way without drawing angry stares....  >:( >:("Oooh.. that sort of talk isnt gonna make him play better" >:( >:( "We don't need fans like you" >:( >:(...

I nearly crashed the car when Paolo came out with "Before, Aden Flint was like a man from the cave. Now he is very intelligent".

You serenade each other during the game? What a nice idea. I must give it a try ;)

Not much to say that hasn't already been said. A pretty dull game of football but 3 well earned points, and it is hard to be critical when PDC is getting the right results.

We are better with Smith in the middle of midfield. I agree with previous posters that we are becoming a bit predictable and our wingers should be switching sides during the game.

For a big lad Jervis can't jump and struggles to hold off defenders. Looks good when he is facing the right way though. It would be interesting to see him having some crosses from the byline to attack - but again that will only happen with wingers on their natural side.

It is good to see our players having the fitness to run for the whole 90 minutes.

All in all, happy days.

Bit confused with the criticism of Caddis final ball when his crosses last week and this week led to goals!

 8)Caddis always gets the ball in, its ritchie who dnt n is the gready one. He hasnt been at his best for a while.

Just the 12 years!

I once got odd looks from some young fans infront of me when I stood up to cheer the Chief as he came on for Chesterfield against us - in the last game of the season a few years back now.

Very odd firstly that I got those looks and secondly that I was one of very few who stood up to give him the ovation he deserved when he came on.

He did tag onto the end of our lap of honour though. Chief, Chief, Chief!

I agree, his crossing can be superb, I just meant that it must be frustrating for the guy when he does such excellent approach work and then undoes it all with a weak grass-cutting cross, which he did a couple of times on Saturday. His dead ball delivery is excellent also.


Not if your singing voice is as bad as mine.... aaahhh I see it now, the penny has dropped - the guy in front turned round and glared because of my awful singing voice, not the content!!!!  :D

Caddis will be the one we struggle to hold onto come January in my view,he played really well yesterday and his defensive game has come on big time.

It's amazing what a bit of extra fitness and belief can do for a player. Caddis is showing the kind of potential that was there last season. He is just unstoppable at the moment.

Caddis must be one of the fittest footballers I've seen at Town, the miles he must clock up during 90 minutes is remarkable. Disagree about his end product as well, although I never saw Kerslake.

I also thought Gabilondo wasn't as poor yesterday as others have said - at times he looked quite threatening and put in a couple of excellent low crosses across the 6 yard box. However the team looked far more balanced when De Vita took his place on the left.

I agree. I think we'd do well to hang on to him. Any scouts turning up to watch games, and possibly Richie, probably go back and say, "Richie's good, but their right back is incredible."

We have to hang onto everyone really.

Ferry, Caddis and Ritchie probably in that order.

I was chatting to one of our players who genuinely believes Ferry is good enough to play in the Championship, right now!

Agree DV, if our aim is to get promotion then there would be no logical reason to sell anyone just for a few bob

Suggest you can also add Flint to that list

Oh and I've realised that yesterday's game was quite exciting compared to say, mowing the lawn  ::)

We need to sign Liam Ridehalgh in Jan too if possible. Best left back we've had in a while.

Worst town player on the pitch yesterday (grumble grumble whinge whinge)

I personally don't think he's any better than kennedy, but i've only seen him yesterday and against bradford so am more than happy to admit i'm no expert on the lad.

Agree Ralphy, we do look strong in every position now. Used to worry in previous seasons whenever we had to use our subs but now we have a much stronger squad it's quite often like for like. It also keeps the competition for a starting place at a high level.

I think Ridehalgh is better positionally and probably a bit stronger than Kennedy but doesn't quite have the same threatening delivery.

Yesterday highlighted to me just how important having decent pairings actually is.

Ridenhalgh was having his poorest game yesterday until devita went back on the left.When you add the pairings of Richie,caddis.Flint,McCormack and Ferry and Smith it's quite clear that we are very close to be able to name a regular starting 11

Suppose it's a good thing that we pick up on the fact that a player has had an off day. Last season we were more surprised when any of our players had a good game and stood out !

True. To be fair, the wind was a lot stronger out on the pitch than it seemed in the Arkells. The disappointing thing yesterday was that we clearly could outplay them with the ball on the floor, but seemed to spend patches of the game with it up in the air.

(Oh yeah, the boys couldn't finish their chips so I got some after all!)

Good on you Wiggy, it's what dads do best !

Posted by my friend on facebook:

http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/league-two/2011/11/24/paolo-di-canio-waits-for-the-spotlight-to-fade-at-swindon-town/

Oh yes, I'd forgotten he'd come back for a while. Wasn't really the same Kerslake though was it?

I'm sure quite a few scouts have been mobilised with the aim of watching Ritchie, plenty of them will be going back with glowing reports on Ferry, Caddis and Flint... Its going to be tough keeping them here in January.

If a Championship club comes in with a bid for one of them I'm pretty sure they'd go. With agents promoting the chance to probably double their wages, it'll be too much for them to turn down. Any club loyalty goes out the window - the agents make damn sure of that.

Saying that, and it sounds obvious, players cannot go without a firm bid being made by a club - I think it was Matt Le Tiss who said in his biography that all the praise he got for showing loyalty by staying at Southampton for his whole career was pretty much unfounded, it was more that no other club ever made a proper bid for him...

Fingers crossed, that Jan comes and goes with little or no movement.

I think, more than DeVita offering a significant improvement over Gabilondo, the balance was better because deVita isn't as good in the middle as he is on the wing.  By bringing on a striker and pushing deVita out wide this gave us more in the middle and hence an overall improvement.

also agree that chances were created before the change - I've not trawled through the whole thread so don't know if its been discussed already but Jervis should really have had 2 or 3 goals in the first half.

Good points Arch though many players in the higher leagues have clauses in there contracts meaning they can talk or go regardless of the bids by any club....i believe we were silly enough to give Morrison a similar clause meaning he could leave for a certain fee to Reading.
Lets hope those days are gone for our players now.

didn't go yesterday, weekend away....

Glad to get the points but are the BBC stats really correct and Shiots had over 60% of the ball?

I'm sure Tottenham and Chelsea put in some serious bids for Le Tissier back in the day?

Its up to the player ultimately but if anyone is going to bash club loyalty and pride into their heads its Paolo Di Canio.

He's stressed he wants to build something here, long term (in football terms, so at least 2 years or something) I hope thats rubbed off on the players.

On the subject of Morrison is he getting any games?

Hahaha Sean Morrisons last league game was for us against Oldham on the 8th of January (his birthday as it happens) this year.

He's been out on loan at Huddersfield where he played 0 games. He's played one Carling Cup game for Reading.

Now, if I were a footballer i'd rather be at Swindon playing games then being at Reading earning more money and doing fuck all.

To be honest though, if he was still here he wouldn't be in the team, in fact I'm not sure he would get on the bench in front of Devera

Yeah I thought that as well and was surprised by Le Tissiers claim. I always thought he never wanted to move as he was a bit of home town lad and never wanted to be too far from the Channel Islands.

Reading through the last few pages, I do think that Ritchie is overrated by some fans. Don't get me wrong, he is one of our best players and one of the best players in League 2 but he has always been inconsistent for us and to be honest I wouldn't be as bothered about losing him than I would Ferry and Caddis. No way would he cut in in the Championship.

Althought at times suspect defensively, going forward Caddis is superb and a big part of our play, more than I used to give him credit for. Ferry would be the biggest loss, quite simply we have no one who could even slightly replace him to a good standard. Smith/Risser are like for like but we have no one who is a ball playing midfielder like Ferry. The only thing that will prevent him playing at a higher level than League 1 is his shooting and lack of goal threat.

If Ridehalgh had Kennedys delivery we would have one hell of a player on our hands, he is much more solid at the back than Kennedy so hopefully we can keep him for the season. Saying that, he put in a decent cross for our 2nd goal yesterday but he does hoof quite a bit.

Very glad we cut out the diagonal ball to Gabilondo that we failed to pull off several times against Huddersfield. It was good to see him in the side but he faded, I think it's time Esajas is given a start.

I think Caddis and Ferry look good enough now to slot into a higher division team straight away, I think Flint is acquitting himself well in a very physical league but is still work in progress, he'll get better and better.

Speaking of failed ex-Town defenders, is Ben Tozer still the mainstay of the Northampton Town impenetrable back line these days?  ;)

Good sensible post till the last line......all players want to earn more,except the ones with there mortgages paid etc...that is why they are PROFESIONAL....its the main reason why they play footy....now if you believe most play for the love of it then carry on thinking that.

It is the reason Devera is here sitting on our bench most weeks rather than getting player of the season accolades at Barnet....and the same with Grimsby favourite Connel.
Both see it as a step up with better wages...just as Morrison did.

At no point did I say I believed most play for the love. You're quite simply reading things that arent even there.

How many times do you hear players that go out on loan from Premier/Championship clubs say that they are looking forward to playing games as there is no substitute for playing.

That said, they are in the position that they are getting paid as a Premier/Championship player even though they are playing at a lower level.

It's hard to impress the manager & force your way into the team when you are not playing

Haha i'd completely forgot about devera!

But rarely do players turn down moves to bigger clubs in higher divisions paying more money.
I'm sure he thought he could cut it there. I didn't, but can't blame the lad for trying.

Bear in mind as well some players like the thought of having a promotion on their CV as it makes them look better and for some I think playing in a winning team also plays on the mind and don't rule out the PDC factor as well that helps to attract players so hopefully it may help keep them.

I suspect though that unless teams started offering silly money then we would not entertain bids for our best players, out of interest how long has ritchie (18 months ?) / caddis / ferry got left on their contracts

Ferry signed a 3 year contract with Caddis at the start of last season.

We do seem to have a damn good 'spine' to the team now don't we.  Up front seems to be the only area which is not settled and the PDC is still tinkering.

I like to see a team that you have the confidence to know that the keeper, back 4 and midfield mostly pick themselves, but your also confident that if one gets a suspension or whatever you're not completely fucked.

The player we really need to keep at the moment is Wes - hopefully to the end of the season and beyond.

One thing that annoys me, Gabilondo is right footed and can't cross to save his life with his left. Ritchie is Left footed, but is ok on his right.

Sometimes I would like to see Ritchie on the left and Gabilondo on the right, just something different when teams decide to stick 11 men behind the ball.

Must, must, must get promoted this season else I fear we will lose that spine (Caddis, Flint, Ferry and Ritchie).

Agree Valo, wiggy mentioned at half time yesterday about swapping Gabi and Ritchie, lots of teams use this tactic effectively but we hardly ever have.

Sorry I have watched him home and away and this lad is decent. Granted probably his most average game yesterday but is a better tackler than Kennedy and defends better as well.
Taking nothing away from Kennedy as he appears to be improving.

The side almost picks itself at the moment, probably the only positions up for debate would be left wing and the forward positions, although if Kerrouche could stay fit Imo he would be a shoe in also.

I have a few Northampton Mates up here and they are not impressed with Tozer at present.

Even more worrying is they are dreading playing Swindon.

To be fair to him yesterday he had no protection in front of him for long parts of the game.  As soon as Gabby went off he got a lot better.  Going forward he has a good cross but the connection with Gabby was none existent, they kept getting it wrong, mainly because Gabby kept coming onto his right foot.

I made this same point yesterday.  After all Gabilondo is a right winger so playing him on the left he has to go against his natural instinct to go around a player on the outside and instead cut inside as it is clear he hasn't got a left foot.  I've seen Ritchie marked by two players also which further strengthens the argument of switching during a game as it would play havoc with the oppositions tactics. 

Sorry, but nothing is more exciting than mowing the lawn....

in summary, we need to genetically splice Ridehalgh and Kennedy to make a super left back

Who would then be far too good for this league, sold to higher division team and we are back to square one.

Ridehalgh is the the superior defender of the 2 and that's the main thing I look for in a full back, he isn't a mug going forward either.

We covered Di Canio's tactical approach on the wings a few weeks back - http://thewashbag.com/2011/09/08/town-tactics-form-vs-formation/

Our match report for STFC v Aldershot - http://thewashbag.com/2011/11/28/swindon-2-aldershot-0-an-unhappy-return-for-the-shots/

Agree 100% MacPhea - whatever the weather, mowing the lawn has to be the best way to spend your time;-)

Kennedy jus tweetd hes injured.

The process has begun !

Does anybody know how the person on the stretcher behind the town is ?

Fucking freezing probably.

 :D

Therefore, I give you (and not for the first time)...

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