Thetownend.com

I will have a go this week!!
We could really do with a win to get a bit of positivity back before the big one Saturday!


Wellens press conference quotes:-

Wellens on R Hunt 🗣: "He won't be fit and he has had an epidural today." #stfc #efl

Wellens on recruitment 🗣: "When you go up a league you need to get your recruitment right. We are probably two or three short at the minute and the squad is a bit threadbare." #stfc #efl

Wellens on free agents 🗣: "Supporters have to understand that there are no supporters coming in and we don't have someone able to pour millions into the club. The chairman is doing his upmost best and these signings are out of the money in his own pocket." #stfc #efl

Wellens on Odimayo 🗣: "We brought him in for next to nothing and he's done really well. He is very coachable and we will probably give him a new contract that reflect his performances."

Wellens on form 🗣: "Little mistakes are costing us a little bit. We stay upbeat and know we will come good again. The experienced players need to step up a little bit more." #stfc #efl

Wellens on referees 🗣: "I'm losing the will to live in terms of referees. I watched the next day when Pickford brought down Van Dijk and they still didn't give a penalty despite VAR. These people are inept. You won't hear me talk about referees for the foreseeable future" #STFC

Wellens on Sunderland result 🗣: "I thought other than the way they managed the game we looked comfortable in the game and I was happy for 60 mins. We defended well and made a mistake." #stfc #efl

Wellens on Salford rumours 🗣: "I've been offered four jobs since I've been at this club and it's wrong of me to take my attention away from Swindon. The most important thing for me is Swindon Town football club." #stfc #efl

Should be one we are winning - but confidence of players and fans have taken a knock. 5 losses in a row would be hard to take.

Got to junk the first half formation for good - it’ll do a job for 44 mins and the inevitable cock up will ruin it all.

Might as well go for it from the off.

I think other than maybe against Wimbledon, it's difficult to say we've played badly. Asides from shoddy defending but we looked a lot more solid against Sunderland - only to be let down by a cock-up.

We've obviously not played well enough in some, but still not 'badly'. Cut out the silly mistakes and we'll be looking toward the top half of the table again.

We look more dangerous with our wingers, and Baudry and DJ haven't earned the right to starting places. Short of options up front - maybe start with Tyler's industry and be prepared to throw Hope on with him if we're chasing the game.

                            Kovar
Caddis       Odimayo       Grounds    Donohue
                           A Grant
   Stevens      M Smith      Payne      J Smith
                          T Smith

Subs: Fryer, Curran, Baudry, DJ, J Grant, Hope +1

Come on then ITKers.

Which jobs has he been offered?

 Blackpool, Bolton, Doncaster & Salford!!!!

Crikey, is Hunt pregnant?

After seeing Hoddle on TV yesterday I reckon he is :cry:

No time like the present for a minimum 4 point haul from the next couple of games.

A visit to the scene of our last away win back in February.
Some great memories from last season, including from behind the goal that night as Jordan Lyden’s header seemingly made its way in slow motion towards the back of the net
The pandemonium that followed is what makes (or made) it all worthwhile.
Don’t miss the long walk to the ground from the town centre.
Will miss the all-dayer beforehand.

I doubt that this will replace The Fields are Green in the pre match music selection, but it should.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viTIHBeQ6mk

A point would be great

We can't afford two defeats this week but I would take a defeat tomorrow if we won on Saturday rather than the other way around. I guess two draws would be acceptable as it would be progress on the road

                        Kovar
Caddis       Odimayo       Grounds    Donohue
                   A Grant    M Smith
J Smith          Payne                     Stevens
                          T Smith

Subs: Fryer, Curran, Baudry, DJ, J Grant, Hope

I think we will go with this, have DJ on the bench and bring him on 2nd half and if fit I think Hunt will still get the nod over Caddis.

We look far better as an attacking unit when playing Stevens and J Smith as out and out wingers, although I still prefer them playing inverted and cutting inside.

Swindon should have enough to beat this lot. Even though on their forum they seem to think we should be a walkover.

The last time we lost 4 league games in a row was January 2016 being beat by Peterborough, Rovers, Pox and Bury in L1 under Williams in the relegation season.

Hunts not playing. Had an epidural today

puuuuush


what's the issue?

Giving birth to some free agents

I think it might be Odimayo at RB and Baudry partnering Grounds still.

We'll see.

Blimey that takes me back, cracking tune cheers Wobbly

Indeed, though this might match their style of play better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyz0VXtlBAY

Ah, got quite a lot of their stuff on vinyl  :)

https://youtu.be/Qxqq5vahHKk

Well, if we're doing a Bauhaus retrospective, have to include this belter

https://youtu.be/duR7mRzx-M8

I had an epidural on my prolapsed disks and was up back to normal the day after...bloody lightweight.

Yeah but that was just for your back, from the sound of it Hunts carrying twins!

As long as one is a midfielder and one a striker we will be fine.

My arm came away and wasn't reconnected for 6 hours  ;)

I looked like ET  :)

Bloody cissy! put a plaster on it!

Draw. 1-1

2-2. A first from Odimayo and T Smith - although could really do with a W before the weekend.

Assuming Caddis is still not fit, I worry about Baudry again but perhaps up against a super direct team, he can just focus on his defensive opportunities. And given it's land of the giants, I'd play Hope over T Smith.


              Kovar
AO.  Baudry  Grounds   Donohue
         Smith  Grant
J Smith   Payne   Stevens
              Hope

1-0 win.

Cobblers have had a poor start with 1 win and 1 draw from the first 6 games, scoring 5 and conceding 11 goals.

They have lost their last 4 games in a row only scoring once in those 4 matches and conceding 8 in the process.

Definately the sort of side we need to be taking points off.

Pinch a 1-2 win late on tonight I think.

Northampton haven't had a 0-0 draw in the league since March 2019 vs Grimsby.

Swindon Town haven't had a 0-0 draw in the league since April 2019 vs Cambridge.

Got 0-0 written all over it then!

2-0

Ah, the old name a score but not to which side ;)

We'll lose.

Come on mate, if you are going to post stuff like that at least do it in the Facebook group stylee.....

Wheel loose!

We will crush them 1-1

COYR

2-1.

Weal loos.

If I were predicting a Swindon win I would have gone for 0-2  :D ;)

Didn't Wellens also mention in his presser when he was talking about the players he had lost, chose his words but I thought he said something about his budget being 50% lower than last season ??

Well, I am having a £10 on him today...its time... 6/1 Second Half...  :D

12/5 odds for anytime was poor....

This is the quote according to Total Sport Swindon (assuming they've quoted him accurately)

"We’ve lost 12 players from last year and have managed to bring in 11 for 50% of what those 12 left for."

That's (subtly) different from saying the budget is 50% lower.

Said the 11 in are at c. 50% of the cost of the 12 out (both including loans).

Got to say, I’m glad to hear it. Responsible, I reckon. Surviving should be OK and that’d be a result.

Make sure your lad bags a hatrick!

But of course we've also paid improved terms to those who remained from last year.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkyeCiBXgAAfVYT?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

4 changes.

Hope deserves his chance. The others haven’t pulled up any trees. Bit of height. Good to see Caddis back.

Is Donohue injured?

Looks like Grounds to left back. Odimayo in the middle with Baudry. Hope in for Tyler Smith - big chance for him in his preferred position. Smith and Stevens wide. Shame if Donohue is injured. Looked better on Saturday.

I count four players in that squad that were there for the 1-0. For a promotion winning side, that’s one hell of a turnover....

I like Tyler Smith, but we do seem to lump it over the top a lot with him in the team.

Still think he and Pitman could be a partnership. Pah, Wellens, what does a League winning manager know that I don't..

Surprised how confident the Northampton commentators are about beating us tonight, all saying they fully expect Cobblers to get an easy win.

Urm....havent you just lost 4 league games in a row yourself?

Misplaced arrogance of a team with no form against a team with very slighty better form or do they have a very valid point?

Who is T. Holland please?

Around the time we played them in Feb they thought they were going to win the league and then their form fell right off so they clearly get a bit carried away.

Tom Tucker Holland (yes really!), youngster.

Thought it was Toby..

Ah yes you are right, Tommy Tucker was a few years back :) Toby is a midfielder.

Our Tangerine B team down to 10 men after 50 seconds. Is that a record?

Keith Gillespie after 12 seconds is the fastest but that was after coming on as sub, from  KO its Kevin Pressman 13 seconds.

Yates has been dropped to the bench and their fans were overjoyed

A goalie?

Yep for handling outside the box from KO.

Crikey, we're running on fumes already. Any more injuries and we'll have to get Saturday's game postponed.  :headhurts:

Running on fumes and the only fit “senior” player to miss out, DJ, is the one we were generally most excited about at the start of the year. 4-0 win.

He has looked the most unfit of the lot tbf, and poor

DJ started last season very slowly after his injury, he has the skill to change games but he has not looked as fit as he should and his consistancy will always be an issue. But, he can turn a match with one great peice of skill.

Hes a good option off the bench though.

DJ is getting a rough time. He did plenty of running on Sat and arguably was more affective than Payne for the first 45 mins.

He has the ability to do something special and is a confidence player. But getting hooked at HT and benched can't help his confidence.

He is also better at 10, where he played last season. But Payne seems to be the go to there, probably because of work rate.

DJ is our most threatening and creative player even when he's at 80%.

Grounds! Grr.

He has been making a few silly challenges in the last couple of games.

Grant and Stevens making mistakes so far, Town not in the game yet.

Payne good long ball to J Smith but he slips in a good position going forwards.

we look ropey so far. no shape

FFS 1-0

0-1

I'd count that as Baudry again, slid straight past the ball; way to easy before that as well.

Decent save by Kovar but it falls to the striker 5 yards out for a free header.

grant could have done better in the build up too

Nice pull back from J Smith to Payne but his shot is weak and goes out for a corner.

Hes been very poor so far.

Not a lot of quality on show here yet.

Missilou has gone in hard a few times already on a couple of our players.

Missi lou. Sounds like someone from a William Faulkner novel!

Frantic from both teams with little quality on show.

piss poor

I want to say that I saw the Kovar save and wondered if that would be the catalyst to give the lad confidence. Just as I thought that the ball floated into the net.

We look off the pace.

Caddis looking like a fish out of water at left back so far.

Or a Dick Dale tune.

Baudry sells Odimayo a short pass but wins it back.

headless chickens. terrible viewing.

misirlou


https://youtu.be/V4eEqN4HY7Q (https://youtu.be/V4eEqN4HY7Q)

Good cut out by Baudry.

1st decent move, shot straight at the keeper.

Smith to Payne who shoots from 20 yards but straight at the keeper.

God, Hope is useless in the air yet we are still humping it up to him.

With Grounds’ experience at LB, why didn’t we start like that?

Makes more sense to me, with Caddis at RB and Odimayo at CB.

Baudry needs experience alongside him to hold his hand...

And with that we swap to Caddis at RB and Grounds at LB.

Everything In Its Right Place.

Wasteful, should have hit the target. Good chance.

Great play from Caddis and M Smith before J Smith snatched at a shot over the bar.

Great move by Town, Caddis long ball from RB to M Smith who finds J Smith but he shoots wildly.

Still look poor at the back but any time we pass the ball we cut through Northampton but instead seem to be constantly going direct.

Chance for them high and wide shot from a good position.

Yep, we need to play to our strengths. We know what Wellens wants better than our new team does.

Colin Calderwood not impressed by Town so far on the CobblerComms.

he’s not the only one

J smith clean through ball hits his heel

Absolutely, why have we changed from being a good passing side as we were in the first few games to being a long ball team in the last 3 games, pointless lumps up front to Tyler and Hope.

We have just stopped playign to our strengths.

Jonny Smith!!!!!!

Great pass from Matt Smith. Jonny through and trod on the ball when 1 on 1 with keeper!

Straight down other end and Rose wastes an opportunity - Phew!

2-0

0-2

Big holes in our defence.

2-0 straight through the CB's again.

This is bad. We're all over the place.

Awful, awful, awful!

2-0

Baudry at fault there again I am afraid.

Baudry again, fucking hell.

Dog shit.

Shocking

Baudry was only a detail in that collective fuck-up.

we are fucking shit.

I'm lying in a darkened room all day saturday

Don't any of these fuckers wear studs anymore?

That’s  me done.

Night folks

This is embarrassing at the moment, our defence is all over the place

We are making Northampton look a decent side.

We’re going to get pasted on Saturday.

What the fuck has happened to no touch Stevens?

I’m waiting for Bamboo to say we are worth a bet at 12-1 to turn this around.

Here’s hoping he is right.

Kovar makes a wrong choice coming for the ball, nearly costs us.

Taylor will have a field day against our defence on Saturday!

Kovar came out of his area in slow motion!

Odimayo playing like he did in the first game. Clearing to the middle of the pitch instead of putting out into touch.

Not posted for quite a while, have paid the tenner to watch tonight.

Christ we look awful at the back. Long old season on the basis of this with our squad.

Stevens shoots from wide, saved.

Since halfway through the Peterborough game we have gone to complete and utter shit. Not only do we look woeful at the back but we look completely toothless up top. Payne, Smith and Stephens all gone to shit. Grant hasn’t fucking turned up yet this season and even Matt Smith is anonymous tonight.

Not really any positives from Swindon so far TBH.

Kovar comes out and doesnt get near the ball.

As worrying as our defence is, I'm just as concerned at our seeming inability to score - 5 hours of football now since our last league goal.

Since Fryers went off injured....

Northampton free kick taker having a fit at his own players, poor header well over the bar from them.

We really are.
Fucking shadow of last seasons team.
This defence looks troubled at every attack.

Defence wins championships as our American cousins say

I think every player in our strongest back 4 on paper is injured.

Hunt - Conroy - Fryers - Donohue

 :suicide:

Our heads have visibly dropped since the 2nd goal.

Good chance for Matt Smith poor finish inside the box. He should have scored.

Goes to the other end and they miss a great chance.

Should have been 3-0. Poor from Northampton

Fucking boudry again! Fucking lucky there

Great move leading to Matt Smith trying to pass it into back of the net.

Then a break down the other end. Should have been 3-0

If we get 1 back then confidence may improve and anything can happen.

Payne the only player to show any quality for me today.

Jonny Smith cross to the keeper

The question I have is WTAF is up with Baudry? Last year Wellens was touting him as the best defender in League 2, which, by virtue means that he'd be at very least solid at League 1 ... So far he is anything but.

He needs dropping, but unfortunately we don't have to man power to do so, it really speaks volumes of Curran that he still isn't considered despite the current CB shit show.

Hope misses a great chance.

Hope - side netting

We've regressed to where we were last time we were in league 1. In Kovar, M Smith, J Smith, Stevens and Odimayo we've got a lot of inexperience and the senior pro's look like this is a level too sar for them.

Town looking much better the last 5 mins but its too little too late.

Looking a bit better then. Beginning to get going at 45+1.

HT Northampton 2-0 Swindon

Changes needed.

A concerning half. Hopefully we can be Peterborough in the second.

A frustrating watch. Still in the game though.

Well, that was shit. Not even deserving of half time ska.

The answer to that is pretty simple - he has been found out at a higher level. There was always going to be a couple of surprises who struggled to step up.

If I recall correctly franchise shipped him out ahead of their return to League 1

Tyler Smith up there with Hope would be my change...let’s at least give it a go, we don’t have the defence for damage limitation.

Feck off. The side needs a proper good pick me up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sY8qTDMSFc

as poor as the defending and the general link up play. we did actually have the better chances j smith, hope and m smith could all have scored very easily.

just seems to be 1000mph chasing and no composure. thats how northampton scored, defenders jumped in and they dummy shot and cut inside. the goals in this team are hard to find, i can only see it coming from jonny smith.  

Kovar - No change
Caddis - Trying, slipping, caught upfield a lot
Baudry - Mistakes everywhere
Odimayo - Poor half
Grounds - Playing more advanced. Why?
Grant - Off the pace by a mile
M Smith - Some nice touches. Some poor. Labouring
J Smith - Fast. Struggled with ball at feet. Seems to panic or lose control when he looks up
Payne - A bit of quality. Head dropped.
Hope - Showed little
Stevens - First touch of a rapist

Who to take off? All of them!
Who to bring on? No bloody idea.

utter shite.

no control of the ball.

poor defensively

like the last 2 games created very little, last 5 aside.

useless

Baudry is almost single handedly responsible for our losses this season.  It looks more than just a step up in league, I honestly think that Covid has fucked things up for players and we are not dealing with it all, him particularly.  He is all over the place at times, fine the rest of the time.  Playing like an 18 year old having his first few outings - you can see the talent but worry he needs an older head telling him what to do and wake him up.  You simply cannot legislate for it, you can't expect to get through a game without a goal against as a result.

We are not world beaters at this level with the ball, but we have enough in the tank to match most teams.  You can't carry someone playing like this though.  This is where the gamble on players with dodgy fitness records isn't paying off, whereas it did last year.  Conroy and Fryers, or even Odimayo and Fryers with Caddis/Hunt and Donohue would be ample to get Baudry out of the firing line, but right now the option seems to be sticking Curran in, and that's even worse!!!!

I would push Hope out wide and take the totally ineffective Stevens off and play Tyler up front.

I’d bring Taylor Curran on. Theres a player there.

He comes on, we win imo

Horrible, horrible performance. Grant is a shadow of a player. Baudry is captain catastrophe. Stevens is like playing a sprinter in a football match. Kovar has done nothing well.

I've maintained positivity thus far but that was really worrying, and it's largely the experienced pros fucking up time and time again.

We've been absolutely terrible from the second Zeki Fryers went off injured at Posh.

Wellens is right in saying they need to step up

Spurs 3-0 West Ham

 :hmmm:

Looks like there are no changes to the side for the 2nd half.

I don't think Northampton are going to bring in Gareth Bale.

hth

Good! Wellens sent them all back out early! Get out there and turn it around or you don't play again!

surely DJ and Smith won't be long

Who else will we field? Youth team at the ready?!  :hmmm: :headhurts:

I got the goal notifications and I knew they would both be Northampton. Season looking more shite as we go.
Polar opposite to last season.

How the hell can you create a chance 3 on 2 and then waste it without a proper shot!

Getting angry here.

Very loose pass from Baudry to Grant.

did not play that 2 v 1 quite right. had to shoot though

long ball bollocks from us

All have been wayward, keep it on the fucking deck.

DJ coming on.

DJ on for Payne.

Jonny Smith! If only he'd played in the over lap or pick a pass.

I thought Payne was our best attacking outlet first half.

Good move by Town from Caddis to Hope but his cross is headed out.

Still shot shy.

I would still take Stevens off and get Tyler or Grant on and push Hope wide right.

Stevens has a cross shot easily saved.

Stevens can't cross

Hope cross/shot pushed over the bar for a corner.

hope doing better on right

Grounds great volley hits the bar.

Crossbar from Grounds on the volley!

Hes not a striker for sure.

Joel Grant coming on.

doing ok, but not really creating much.

grounds had a great strike

Grant on for Stevens.

Surprised how awful Stevens was tonight.

correct sub

Town showing a lot more this 2nd half but can't get a shot in.

Great cross from Caddis

Easily his poorest game for us so far.

DJ booked for tackling

Ball just bounced off him

Why the fuck didn't Hope shoot sooner.

the BBC Northampton commentary is very reasonable.

can't get a fucking shot away

A lot of pressure but no end product. Might be interesting if we could scramble 1.

Tyler on for Hope.

Polar opposite performances from Town, but we still can't buy a goal, we are shot shy.

wrong sub. yes Smith on, but just go for it

Smith for Hope?

Really? Only person to have chances and put them under pressure this half.

If Pittman doesn't come back firing we're going to be in trouble away from home

Wellens getting very frystrated at the ref there.

Agreed.

Better defending by Baudry.

Thought Baudry was going to give away a pen then

Decent save by Kovar.

crossed into box  - we don't have anyone who can attack them

Penalty to Town.

We have won a penalty! It's a midweek miracle.

Tyler felled in the box.

Tyler to take it.

Good dive by Tyler

1-2 Tyler!

Keeper got both hands to it but it still goes in.

Nailed on.

That might make it interesting!

Come on YOU REDS

That was at least as blatant a pen as any of the 4 we have given away this season!

soft.
nearly saved
but game on

Corner to Town.

Northampton look nervous now.

Foul on the keeper.

They level out throughout the season!

Should have been 2-2 there.

WTAF.  :crash:

Still a few to make up!

Chance for Tyler but he can't get it on target! just wide.

It was defo a pen, but it was also defo a dive

Should have been 2-2 really.

OMG!

fucks sale Tyler

He was making sure the ref spotted the foul ;)

Definitely, but you need to be careful, as Payne found out on Saturday

Tyler crosses and goes a few inches away from the goal.

This is where we miss Doughty

Such a shame we don't have a partner to play up front with Tyler.

very unlucky not to be level. much improved second half ..

but .

nobody you feel will stick the ball in the net regularly

Gone very scrappy

We have looked far better with DJ in the attacking midfield role even though Payne was probably our best player 1st half.

Grant has slotted into almost a sweeper role in the centre of a back 3 since the last substitution.

5 mins added.

Grant scores but there was a foul on the keeper.

Not sure their keeper actually ever had the ball securely in his hands

keeper was lucky there.

I thought he has definately been a weak link for them, we should have got more shots in.

J Smith fouled but the ref didnt give it.

2-1 ft.

Didn’t deserve to lose but poor defending cost us.

FT Northampton 2-1 Swindon

A game of 2 halves, 1st half we were shocking, 2nd half far better.

Hmm.

Second half just raises the frustration for me. Take Baudry out of the equation and we don't lose this game, it's a real issue and Wellens needs to make a decision.

awful start and such a soft centre defensively but we deserved more. Horribly frustrating and Losing to bad teams is so annoying.

Player wise Matt smith was MOTM by a country mile. T Smith a real bright spark too. On the other end, Grant looks a shadow of his former self and Baudry needs dropping asap.

Since Zeky Fryers went off injured against posh we've lost every game. Big big miss.

Baudry is getting worse.

Better second half but total lack of quality in the attacking half.

Tyler Smith needs to be playing with another striker.

Jonny Smith and Stevens seem to be going backwards.

I am very worried about us the way things are going.Staying up is going to be a challenge if we continue like this.

First half errors cost us.
Central defence with Baudry shocking however second half should have pulled it back.
Northampton were there for the taking.
So so disappointing.

Grant might have aged suddenly. He is 33. We don't have a lot of choice re Baudry at present with only 4 fit defenders. Assume Donahue is injured.

Starting to think we can’t play Stevens and Jonny Smith together.

No Baudry = Draw or win, sad because he was good last season.

Grant is worrying me a little as well, again, I am hoping it's simply the fucked up pre-season with him, but he is a yard off it.

We are a nearly team right now, but you can't keep chasing games or have to get 3 in front to stand a chance.

I don't agree with that, not in the 2nd half. We made opportunities and they were lucky we did not get more.

With the younger players I can’t help but think the sloppiness from the senior pro’s is contagious at the moment. The experienced players should be leading by example but instead are the common denominator in most of the goals we concede.

We saw a relegation side tonight.

We'll have to improve a lot if we're not to join them.

Northampton were very poor indeed.  Like us.  Another 6 pointer lost, after a very limited but decently organised Wimbledon.  Too many singling out Baudry as if he is the reason for our losing 5 from 7 in the league and the rest.  It's down to Wellens to harden us defensively and that means the whole team.

I counted 6 gilt edges chances in the second half that should have resulted in a goal.

There were several others that with a better pass or decision might have made a chance.

That's what I mean about lack of quality.

We can huff and puff as much as we want, but if you can't put the ball in the back of the net then you ain't gonna win.

Try Grant at the back?

Im starting to think we cant play.

BTW - I'm not listening to the radio, so someone else needs to summarise Wellens comments today.

I would of rather sold Hope and kept Twine and done all they could to keep Woolery as he's done nothing since leaving

If you mean we were not clinical enough then I agree. But other than that, we were good going forward in the second half.

I think Doyle's movement (and obviously his finishing) fitted Wellensball perfectly.

Tyler Smith was causing problems but he froze when clean through.  Good movement though and a good attitude.  Not an easy environment for our younger contingent.  Matt Smith mom, not for the first time.

Not up to your standards...

After the first 15 we were very good
Lost the game in both boxes - should have scored 5-6
Baudry needs to simplify his game and just worry about defending
Ref has cost us again. Not getting anything. Nothing wrong with the disallowed goal and their second was a foul
They're a horrible lump it team
Too soft centre - would like to add a free agent CM
Donohue should be OK for Saturday. Right now first choice back 4 is hunt Conroy Fryers donohue and we had none of them

Can't really do you justice. Something like this:

Box-to-box we were brilliant, but a very poor first 15 minutes and not enough edge in the box
Said he wouldn't talk about refs, but their keeper just dropped the ball and the ref whistled
Their second goal came after a foul
Baudry is overthinking things, letting balls bounce, needs to get back to being a defender
Need a midfield player - Doughty's a big loss.
People know Swindon have a soft centre right now, we need to find a free agent
Park open-topped buses full of fans behind the open end at Oxford
Donohue's tweaked his groin - could be ok for Saturday
No rhythm in team selections right now

Thanks chaps.

Think this is where Grant isn't as good this term, Doughty was such a good player for us and he made Grant better, Grant was undoubtedly brilliant last season but he was able to do what he did best, he seems to be trying a bit harder to do more at the moment.  Opposition teams can close him down more now as they don't have a Doughty to worry about.

Hope was a mistake by Wellens this evening, really played into their hands, T Smith terrified them and they dropped deeper and deeper, he should have levelled things by rounding the keeper instead of just trying to beat him with a shot but he was the real difference between the teams once he came on.

Wellens is still learning, we know we're playing a different back 4 every game but hopefully we start T Smith on Saturday and get them worried about us a threat rather than them knowing we'll offer a couple of chances without them really trying.

DJ is obviously being worked on as a CM for the time being, he actually did OK but I would have liked to have seen him take it on once or twice and drive at them.

Had a Cobbs mate round to watch, he's hating the way they play and was convinced we'd at least equalise.

Makes Saturday feel like a really big game, not what we need at the moment at all.  Hope it doesn't end in fans looking to pick a fight with the club again.

So we weren't good enough in either of the boxes and we're too soft in the centre? That'd be not good enough everywhere then?

The plain, hard facts are - out of our last 11 competitive games we’ve won 2 and lost 9.

We’re in a world of shit.

Don’t care about last night.

Just win on Saturday you bunch of cunts.

currently relegation fodder. We may yet turn it around, but lack of goal threat + leaky doesn't take a genius to come to that conclusion.

it's possible fryers and Lyden may make a difference. But how often are they actually fit

As stated by others, it is difficult to see where the wins will come from given current form.  This season was always going to be different proposition and most level headed supporters will have acknowledged this.  However, it didn't occur to me that things would be this bad, even though div 3 is a step up from the EFL basement league.

I've had chocolates like that.

It says a lot that our best defender is a young kid who most of us thought would be backup. Odimayo alongside Grounds on saturday is a must with Baudry benched. The second half performance was way better and with an instinctive striker, we could and should have won that match

I think that's a worry, no instinctive striker unless Pitman gets up to speed when fit.

Tyler Smith will get a few though

At least Donohue should be good for Saturday, as Brocklesby says, has to be Odimayo and Grounds in the centre.

I get that Wellens will probably want to be patient with Baudry, which should really be applauded, but how long does he get?

He is costing us points. I know he's not the only one not playing well, but we are losing points directly because of him on an individual basis. And it's not just at the back. Towards the end yesterday he picked up the ball and a simple pass could have seen us on the attack.

Alas, he passes it straight to one of theirs. Attack halted.

FFS.

Far to early to hit the red button, but Wellens needs to sort the fuck out.

Baudry wont get dropped. It wasnt long ago RW was saying he was one of the best defenders in league one

I still think we'll be fine when we get players back and settled. Will see where we are after 10 before starting to panic. Missing our first choice back 4 plus Lyden ahead of them is really hurting us right now. A solid defensive performance and we win that last night.

I wouldn't be so sure. He named his 1st choice back four last night - Baudry wasn't one of them.

Thanks for that, Forrest Gump :)

Keep having to remind myself of this, how many we are missing, but we do need to see some kind of turn round soon. That and that actually just staying in business still has to be the main objective this season.

Kovar still worries me. Seems he was signed for his ball control rather than his goalkeeping expertise. Over half the team last night are playing their first few games in competitive football.

I can well believe the budget is less than last season’s - at least, what’s actually been spent anyway.

S. Ireland would be a welcome addition

I'm not worried - I'm annoyed.

We showed in the second half that the atrocities in the first half were avoidable. So just don't fucking do it.

Absolutely this.

What was highlighted last night was that DJ and Smith T. are must starters. Only one out of Smith J. and Stevens can play - I’d go for Smith.

How about Odimayo in CM? Caddis must be number one RB. How long for Lyden?

Agree with one of Stevens and Smith, it just isn’t working playing them together.
Wouldn’t want Odimayo in CM, he seems to be our only half decent defender right now. I’d also drop Caddis if both Hunt and Donohue are fit.

the thing is. when Stevens and Smith came on v Sunderland we looked better for it.

Can understand why we did it. it just didn't work

I would definitely play Caddis if fit. He is technically class and offers a lot getting forward. He’s also a great organiser and experienced body. I think he understands the Oxford rivalry too so would be really up for it.

#

Double this.

Schoolboy stuff again undone us and then when we had a go in the second half we couldnt get the thing over the line.

I thought Caddis was our best player last night...obviously im in a minority.  Surging forward and some great passes...pace will always be an issue.

last night will stick in the memory of an opportunity lost.

That one on one with the keeper?!...arrrggggh!

Caddis over Hunt for me as well.

The goal threat was there but the execution wasn't.

Liked the simplified version of DJ when he came on.

Maybe worth starting on Saturday with the team that finished last night?

Caddis started wobbly on the left, but grew into it on the right. He takes up since good positions and can pick a pass.

I agree, 1st half early doors he was left back and looked way out of position all the time, he then swapped to his natural right back and played really well for the rest of the game, made some good runs and passes. Hes definately our best RB.