Port Vale Vs Swindon Town Official Matchday Thread.

[reeves4england]

Just saw the goals on the FLS. Nice finish from Magera! Looked like a fair enough penalty decision, and neatly tucked away by the flaming Algerian.

[Boeta]

very solid away performance.

caddis' defensive positioning/marking in the 1st half was all over the shop, but in the second half vale didn't look create anything dangerous despite having lots of the ball

gabi had two or three superb runs in the first half, and worked very hard in the second. we really could have done with him against bradford last week to open the game up. behind him, ridehalgh is an excellent defender and they were never a threat down that side of the pitch

good to go into a couple of cup games with a well deserved league win in the bag

[fatbasher]

I have also just seen the goals on BBC FLS iplayer. Nice play by Gabilondo, who I have always thought should have more opportunities and agree with a previous poster that he could well have unlocked the Bradford defence. Nice finish by Magera also. Cool calm and collected penalty by The rrrrrrrroooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh.

Embarrassingly have a look at Timlin's miss for Southend V the Scum on 58.49 mins of the show. Cupid stunt, I bet he got some stick for that.

[leefer]

He played well again though setting the winner up....and he seemed to enjoy the winner a little more than his team mates.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

I have also just seen the goals on BBC FLS iplayer. Nice play by Gabilondo, who I have always thought should have more opportunities and agree with a previous poster that he could well have unlocked the Bradford defence. Nice finish by Magera also. Cool calm and collected penalty by The rrrrrrrroooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh.

Embarrassingly have a look at Timlin's miss for Southend V the Scum on 58.49 mins of the show. Cupid stunt, I bet he got some stick for that.

That was amazing. one on one with the keeper and it ends up going out for a throw in 

He did play a nice through ball for their winner though in fairness.

[Summerof69]

Can't see why Palace would want to end Foderingham's loan when its going so well. Chances are that they'll extend his deal with them in January and with us to the end of the year.

I believe that as he's been signed as an 'emergency loan', the maximum he can be loaned for is 3 months. It's interesting that Palace are letting him play in the FA Cup next week, meaning he'll be cup tied, so they might be open to offers.

[Bogus Dave]

Whats palace's financial state like? I know they had no money recently, but not sure if they've been rescued

[suttonred]

Whats palace's financial state like? I know they had no money recently, but not sure if they've been rescued

Jordan was bought out last year. They're not exactly flush, but not in danger of going under as they almost did before the buy out.

[The Professor]

Just thought I'd add my comments about yesterday's game.  Prior to the game I had concerns that Port Vale, having lost a few recently, would offer a physical threat & prevent us from playing our game. Whilst we didn't show the fluency that I saw at Burton, Cheltenham or Macclesfield we were the better side. Gabilondo was a constant thorn in their right side & they never looked at ease against his pace or trickery.  His shot early in the first half deserved a goal & brought an impressive save from the Vale goalie. At last we saw what I was hoping for from Magera - a physical presence to supplement his subtle flicks & lay-offs & he deserved his goal. He also won us the penalty & Vale didn't ever look certain against him. Ritchie & Smith didn't have their best games but were competitive as ever.  Smith's distribution was somewhat haphazard but he broke up Vale's midfield passing & never let them gain the ascendancy. Ferry played well without being outstanding & was always available to take a pass or hustle the opposition into either making a mistake or pass back to defenders.  The result was that Vale never really got a grip on the game to threaten the Town goal with any real prospect of scoring.  Foderingham did everything that was asked of him & looked very assured.  I reckon he must be thinking that League 2 Football is a breeze playing behind this defence.  Flint was dominant & Caddis & Ridehalgh were solid in defence & able to get forward to add a threat down the flanks. However I was yet again impressed with McCormack.  His reading of the game is top notch & his play is another reason why our defence is proving solid. He showed some crucial tackles, timely interceptions & then played some good passes out of defence to initiate further attacking moves. His move back into defence has been highly significant & he looks like he was borne to it - I'm reminded of the time when Cloughie made Dave Mackay's switch from midfield to defence.  I may be over-egging the pudding but he could be that influential to our season. All in all, a very satisfying day out in Staffordshire.

Finally, a word about my fellow Town fans - your support was magnificent.  Well done.

[THE FLASH]

Well done all who went.

I eagerly await the match on Tuesday night.

Was Crispy kicked out?

[fatbasher]

That was amazing. one on one with the keeper and it ends up going out for a throw in 

He did play a nice through ball for their winner though in fairness.

That don't count..............

[RedRag]

Nice report, Prof.

Even though the parallel drawn between Dave MacK*nt and Alan McCormack is astute, talking about that useless tub of lard as a decent defender for those who frequented the County rather than the Baseball still grates.

MacK*nt 's comic rating of his importance as a player ahead of Stan Harland was the beginning of the end of the golden generation.

Being a canny Scot, he saw what he was doing, sold Rogers and jumped ship a few days later to ensconce himself where he could take credit for the great Clough's work.

I hope Alan McCormack stays around and develops as a defender because he's becoming a great 6.

[The Professor]

Hey, Red Rag - I share your views of the legend that was Mackay.  Frankly, he was a disaster at Swindon what with breaking up that great team.  Getting rid of the 'Don' was an act of sacrilegious vandalism.

However I do think that McCormack is doing a great job in defence & I hope he continues to influence the development the relatively inexperienced Flint & Ridehalgh for the benefit of Swindon Town.

[RedRag]

Fair play to you too for being one of the 500-600
.
I need to "get over it" when it comes to MacKay.  I quite like to keep the flame going though - not the only one to judge by the John McGinlay posts.

Alan McCormack's transformation from an unpretentious, tough tackling midfielder into a key central defender has been inspirational (or lucky given that PDC had to take some gamble due to injuries/supension).

Good tackling takes judgement, timing and a little attitude and he has brought that to defence.  I was really concerned about the aerial nature of defending at first but he is good at general defensive headers.  Not yet sure about one on one defence against big strikers but even if he's no Flint, just being in the right place to challenge can be a whole lot better than the alternative.

Glad to hear these good performances continue and yes you may be right as to his importance to developing others and the campaign as we wouldn't have come away with so many points lately had we been conceding as earlier

[the washbag]

Our STFC at Port Vale match report is now up on the new look 'The Washbag'...

http://thewashbag.com/2011/11/07/port-vale-0-swindon-town-2/