Thetownend.com

Not convinced about him at all. Poor tactician, no charisma and does not seem to be able to get the best of out of players/attract players to the club.

How long should we give him?

34 seconds

TBH it doesnt matter how long we give him, its how long Mr Fitton gives him, and he was Fittons choice so I would say that even with a long run of defeats Fitton will stick by his man.

Don't be a cock all your life. The players don't give a toss. Malpas tried to shake things up at half time. MALPAS IN!

FFS here we go. Give him at least 10 games. Remember last season? Everyone moaned after 3 or 4 defeats and then we won 3 of the last 4 and he was god's gift. Give him a break.

yawn.

the bloke is doomed for sure.too many dont like the bloke and are on his back already

shocking line up tatics etc easton not starting nalis awful timlin not much better

 I would say that lose the next 4 or say 3 defeats and a draw at Hereford and he'll have to go.....6 defeats on the spin used to be the club's all time worst record, when King managed to crack it, when we went down.  Now that season it wasn't exactly a surprise what with a squad of loan players and lads from the Prem rejects trials.

 When you get a run like that, the manager nearly always goes.

 Happened to Sam Allen....5 in a row at the start of a season did for Bob Smith

  That poor run did for King.

  Some like Bas T*dd, just do a runner.

   I'm thinkling that Ian Holloway might be worth a punt....

nalis and timlin were superb first day of the season.timlin was probably the worst player on the park today,but will improve.nalis did ok second half after a dire first.
i would like to see easton starting though

Easton didnt do that great when he came on, still not match fit I dont think.

I'd still start him next week though! Even if he isnt match fit we should still be able to get a good hour out of him

Didn't we lose 6 in a row early on one season under King and still finsih 10th though?

 You're right ISOB...that after a good start Parkin hat trick....etc.

  The 6th game in that sorry trot was v Cheltnumb in  the infamous debacle...what saved King's bacon was beating Northampton with a goal by Jonnny Jackson.

  We then lost teh next 2 and again King was more or less doomed when we gave ColU a 2 goal lead, including the worst ever free kick concession, when the ColU player stubbed his toe on shooting the ball barely reached Bart Griemink, who let it through his legs, but there was insufficient pace for it to cross the line some fella, maybe Mcleish nipped in behind to tap it over the line.

 We somehow salvaged a point through Eric Sabin  :D and Gurney biundled in a corner.

And King lived to fight another 3 years. I'm just putting the point across that maybe MM should be given a bit of time.

It feels that way doesn't it, but if we get the results he will be OK. It's not fait accompli yet, it's in his own hands. It's just harder with constant sniping, especially this soon into the season.

 It's a fair point, King got us to the PO's the following season.  But the 6 game thing is a sort of bench mark figure...there can be reasons for defeats, even when you've played reasonably well.

 The then Board stayed with King partly becasue they had no money for a replacement, once he went it ws always going to be Iffy or Reeeeves. Probably Reeeeves if he hadn't broken his leg.  I get teh feeling that AF and co, wont want to be associated with abject failure...but a few results here and there is acceptable.

Could be worse. Could be a Spurs fan.....

You could be right Reg. If by October we have only won 2 or 3 more games then maybe look at it. But for now there is no point.

I've already had a go on thisis article and usually Bart I tend to try and ignore your negative pointless posts, but tonight I'll take a stand.

Please do us all a fucking favour and take your negativity and stick it where the sun don't shine.  I long for the day when Swindon fans actually spend their time getting behind the team and manager.  For years now we've been a divided club because of this and that but now we have a good board a good squad and a good manager.

yes the first half was absolute shit, but MM and DB did well in making the double substitution and we could/should have got back on level terms.  Why we have to have this constant "I'll give him time" when we win and "Malpas out" when we lose comments I really don't know.  I just wish they'd flippin stop.

All this crap is really begining to pee me off.

STFC til I die!!!!!!!

Amen jan.

for the record I don;t mind people having objections to any aspect of STFC but ffs have a point, an agenda, a flippin alternative, but all this MM out, when should he go kind of thing really isn't helping matters, it's almost as if people want us to fail.

the worrying thing today was people got nasty early on.malpas is on a hiding to nothing for absolute certain.the defensive weaknesses that wont disappear will not see the pressure cease imo.people are laying in wait to slate malpas,along with jpm,paynter,and aljofree in particular.

i wouldn't be surprised if colchester are near the top come the end of the season but that doesn't matter to some who think we should win every game

I know I have no right to an opinion as I didn't go to the game today or listen to it on the radio/net. However, what I find disappointing is the apparent lack of a reaction from last weekend's performance/result at Cheltenham.

The next four games suddenly look really tricky, and this will really establish how good MM is at motivating the team, picking the right players and adopting the right tactics. He needs to get tough on the lot of them.

and considering we are woeful away from home, the next 3games are away :(

I personally think it's a knock on effect from the whole you just can't lose a game anymore, there must be a reason, there must be someone to blame etc.   It's like the whole Sky Sports News thing of the more you big them up, the more you can knock them down, and then someone has to take the blame.

The truth is today we were not at the races (I hate that expression) but second half we did alright, I'd hate to be MM or DB (who tbh I never used to like that much, but he's grown on me) as they must be scratching their heads tonight over that first 45.

Today people turned on the team not Malpas. But in the second half we gave it a go and most people got behind them. I don't think it's a case of winning every game either. It was frustrating today as it was last week but people look for a scapegoat and the manager is always the first port of call.

Pumbaa I think you do have a right to an opinion, whether you go or not, but it's the extreme opinions that I question.  After sitting through that first 45 I'm glad I didn't have access to a computer, but that's just the emotion of seeing 45 mins of shit.  What I hate is the fuckers in Spain, Bradford and anywhere else on the planet who seem to post 100% negative shit all the time (not on this site btw) when they haven't seen a minute of football,  Tbh I'd be the same if we were playing gash and some bloke in NZ, Australia, Chile wherever came on posting "yeah get behind the team, they;re playing well etc", you know 100% positivity, I'm rambling now, talking crap, but I hope you get my drift.

Also I'd just like to add something that I;ve thought for some time now **clears throat**

[/glow]

Thank you I'm glad I've got that off my chest, I bet there are some of you out there that wished you'd come up with that. ;-)

i heard malpas get stick when he came out of the dug out

There's no buzz is there? New owners, bought in a few players into a squad which wasn't bad last year, especially if you consider all the management changes throughout the club. Yet fans seem to be stuck in a cycle of negativity.

As a club if we need to sign a big player (or parkin) or appoint a big manager to get some positivity round the club then we're fucked. I know support is in a two way thing, but the continuing spiral of negative reinforcement around the club seems to be unbreakable. A comfortable home win in front of a few thousand new season tickets on the opening day of the season would have probably put a bit more optimism around other clubs, but it doesn't seem to be the case for us.

So if we're playing the blame game, then you lot, us, the fans (well apart from me, I don't go to games), are higher up the list than Malpas and DB and JPM.

Well that's what my psychic brain is telling me. I can feel the negativity from the pub.

And will people stop pointing out that they have a right to an opinion. You give your opinion by writing out what you think in the very same post. Someone saying they disagree with you isn't the same as them saying you can't have your opinion.

FB said "So if we're playing the blame game, then you lot, us, the fans (well apart from me, I don't go to games), are higher up the list than Malpas and DB and JPM."

That is so true, it's beautiful in fact, I wish I had written that, in fact I will re-edit a previous post and take it as my own, just because I can.  History will be re written.

Bloody hell Ben. Must be the beer  ;)

Are you lot being sarcastic? Have I said something silly?

No mate, that was a really good post dude!  Honest, swear on my niece's life. it's hit the nail on the head for me!

why? he's playing a pretty straightforward 442 that pretty much all the teams at this level use. nowhere near on par with king's crazy tactics... he's got a style of play that allows for the wingers to really get in the game.

utterly irrelevent. king had charisma, sturrock had no charisma.

i'd argue that he's managed to get the best out of macnamee, a player who was going nowhere at watford but is an absolute star for us. likewise, he's continued to get ifil playing at a consistently high level. otherwise, i wouldn't say anyone is underachieving particularly...

as for attracting players to the club, did he sign macca? not sure. anyway, aside from missing out on jones and betsy what has he done wrong? we've bought in some decent players - timlin, nalis, marshall. who do you think we should sign? what signings would make you happy?

I've noticed that Bart is fucking good at asking questions and piss poor at answering them.  He's a flippin shit stirrer, of course imo.  And I don't understand why any STFC supporter would want to be such a thing.  There is no point in supporting a club if all you'll ever do is be negative about it.  There's no point in enjoying a past time, which going to football is, if you'll only ever be negative about it, there's no way you'll enjoy life if you're only ever negative about it. 

Some people don't have a life to enjoy though i guess Jan.

Fair enough. Even with not attending games at the moment I still like to think that I have a vague idea of what's going on, and like to try and make a footballing point maybe once a week. I was a bit worried with that one though, very much a post based on feelings.

To expand a bit, there's the obvious negative shit stirring posts with no substance, like Barts OP in this thread and the general thisis fodder (although it's not as bad as people make out sometimes). But it's not just that, we're all guilty of it. Even after a win the conversations/debates on here seem to revert to the negatives, we're all so stuck in the "things are bad" mindset that it's the default topic. People who are doing there best to be positive still seem to feel the need to defend against the negative points before they're bought up, it's like it's just expected now.

I reckon that even if there were no anti-malpas or just shit stirring posts on here, people would still defend Malpas and the Management in their posts. It's become a habit, and a clear indication of the underlying negativity I was trying to point out in my first post. In fact there are probably a few threads kicking about which could be used as examples of it happening.

This is a bit of a Bart post to be honest, because I have no solution at all, or even anywhere to place all the blame. The booing brigade are an easy target, but it's naive to say it's all down to them, it's a problem which has spread itself through the whole fanbase. Shadowy mental cobwebs left over from the era of the greek is similarly easy to blame, but I think it's something which goes deeper than that.

Fuck knows, maybe a tidy promotion season from league two we can celebrate without the Sketchy Management Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. It did sort of take the edge off the party last time.

To sum up, it's become a bit endemic and I have no sensible suggestions on how to solve the problem.

Right, no more essays. Don't encourage me. Maybe a university type could do a proper write up on group psyche or something.

I think back to the Springbok before the QPR match (and the play offs) a few seasons back, I think that's the last time when I felt 100% positive about the club, the pub being swarmed with town fans all singing "We love you Mooney..." over and over a real optimism was there, despite the financial shite, but since then the club has been over run with negativity, home matches are awful, people seem to be so against just getting behind the lads.

I really feel like going into the ticket office and asking to transfer my ticket back to the town end, just to try and add a voice to the atmosphere, sacrifice the view, the half time pint, the comfy seats (JJ in the enclosure have exec seats - nice).  Just to lose my voice every home match again.

Jesus I sound like a knob tonight.

Spot on, and thats where the anger should go.

give him atleast the season.

if we go down who gives a shit, that promotion season in league 2 was the bollocks.

After a post earlier about Paul Sturrock I went on to the 606 site, Jeez he's a manager under pressure, the Plymuff fans are not happy with him at the minute.

They're in a mess... Earlier this evening Jermaine Easter had a transfer request accepted aswell.

I watched Plymouth on TV earlier - they were dire. Sturrock's post-match interview wasn't inspiring either.

sturrock? inspiring? buhhhhhhhhhhh?

they were pretty shite, looked about as threatening as a kitten with a spork

Yeah but PS was Jesus Christ compared to Lucifer Malpas.  Come on fellas remember what a meadow of joy the CG was just 1 year ago?   What superb football he had us playing, the prossies he sent round to entertain the fans, the wonderous 5-4, 4-2, 7-3 victories, the endless comparisons to Brazil 70 we had to endure under his leadership?  Those were the days eh. 

Also cannot believe some are saying Martin Ling is the new messiah, that bloke has had a dreadful record since the turn of the year and is as popular as Nick Cotton in the East end at this moment in time.

I'll be a condesending knob jockey and point out this time last year we were still unbeaten  ;)

Were we?  As stupid as it sounds but I think I've been more entertained
so far this season than I was this time last season, by the 23 Aug 07.  Did we not get knocked out in the 1st round of the carling cup last year?

Andy Reid knocked us out in the 1st round.

so we had been beaten then?  Sorry I feel like I'm being the condescending kj now!  I didn't mean any offence by calling you that earlier DV!! Although thinking about it, I'm not sure how that couldn't be taken offensively tbh.  No matter how it seems, we're all on the same side aren't we.

ok, this time last year we were undefeated IN THE LEAGUE.

Jan, I dont take offence to anything on here. I have my opinion and I believe them to be right....and some of the opinions on here I think are completely and utterly retarded (as do most people I'm sure)

As people seem to view me as 'Im always right' type poster (which is fair enough I am always right  ;)) I do put it on just a little bit more just for the hell of it.....

I'm just a wanker as well....

you forgot to mention the fact you're just a wanker as well dan :)

Yeovil was our 1st defeat last season in the league in early September. I don't think Malpas will be here at christmas. If we perform like we did in the last 30 mins at cheltenham and the 1st half today, in most games he will be gone and it will be a relegation dog fight. 1st half today was a spineless, abject performance.

Sorry, I'll edit accordingly

A fucking top summary FB. The whole STFC shebang is steeped in negative shit that has clung on since the greek era.  Fittons arrival should of seen off all the negativity - he's paid off our debts, brought in capable players and management on and off the field - so why is the negativity hanging around?

Only my opinion, but I believe that we're suffering from a lack of leadership. No disrespect to Fitton or Malpas, but after so many years of shit I think they could both be more inspirational in how they see our future. I don't want them to make hollow promises of a return to the prem and years of milk and honey but, equally, I don't want to hear about us having to lower expectations and be grateful that we still have a club to support (although I'm eternally grateful for all that) but I want to believe that the fuckers who run the club know what they're doing, where they want us to be and how they're going to get us there.

All the current talk about Malpas is bollocks. A couple of bad results this early on in the season means jack shit. The bloke is either good enough to do the job or not. The players will collectively drop him in the shit without a second thought if they think he's a cunt, and Fitton will cut him loose well before he risks loosing his own honeymoon-period of popularity.

I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. I think the negativity goes further back than the greek era, if (as fans) we were a difficult girlfriend, then we'd definitely have trust issues. All the promises of Terry Brady spring to mind, bringing in Colin Todd as manager and promising the world. Didn't get us very far. And the repeat with the Roy Evans fiasco.

You can probably take it further back to McKnob, but it's fair to say that huge chunks of soul have been ripped out over the years to the point where the fans sort of do it themselves. Investing any emotion into STFC at the moment is sort of like trying to restart a relationship with a bird who always goes back to being a crack-whore, whatever she promises you.

I think I disagree about Fitton and Malpas being inspirational. It's difficult with ifs, but I think that if Fitton had come in and promised magic beans to climb up the football league then I'd be much less trusting with him than I am at the moment. The sensible down to earth talk was a bit refreshing, but I have to admit that I'm still not completely trusting, there's always the bit at the back of your mind which thinks we're going to get ripped off agian.

I sat in the Don Rogers Stand yesterday (in the middle halfway up) - I did not hear ONE anti Malpas comment. It was very quiet in there for the first half, second half one of the best atmospheres for ages.

For me the only people who are putting pressure on Malpas is a lot of Swindon fans who want to get in the pros and cons of him leaving.

Can anyone who went to the game yesterday honestly say they heard a chant or comment of MALPAS OUT?

I heard nothing directed at Malpas, mainly the players and in most cases deserved.

The ref got all the shit where I was sat, it was brilliant. I love seeing normally sensible, quiet people getting shouty and sweary.

Yes, the culprits were sat in row O, seat 88ish.

Is that you?

haha, no.

Why is he a poor tactician? Didn't he try and change things when he saw they had gone wrong? Sturrock had one game plan and was awful at doing anything different. Wise was much the same. King didn't use tactics because he was amazing. Did you make this point when they were around? No you didn't.

Sturrock had little charisma. Did you point this out when he was in charge? No you didn't. Although I still think someone like Andy King with his bags of charisma will be far better suited to the job than Malpas.

Malpas has bought in quite a few players: Nalis; Kanyuka; McNamee; Timlin; Amankwaah; Casal; Marshall; Cox on a permanent deal. In other words, I don't agree with your tossbag comment.

Your only relevant comment is that he is not getting the best out of the players, based only on the 3 games we've had in the league this season. I'm not convinced you've really put any thought into your post at all.

yep.

si - you just repeated everything i already said. damn you

No Malpas out chants heard in the DR where I was sat.

Maybe the more 'mongish' element are in the TE?

leave him alone!! HES MAGIC!!!

There was one resident in the DR sitting next to my mate going on about their being plenty of National Express buses able to take him back to Scotland  ::)

Maybe, but that hardly constitutes a chant does it?  ::)

the arkells had individuals shouting stuff at malpas.

1 bloke i fucking hate, sits bout half way between the dugouts and the town end, just before the 1st wall, he has his little boy with him aswell bout 7/8yr old and the boy starts shouting his mouth off like the dad, cunts

Erm, no, oh wait yes, it was a one man chant.

To be honest though when have we ever NOT had individuals shouting random stuff at someone, usually (but not limited to) the manager? Is there a smilie for "storm in a teacup"? If not, fB, could I commission you to make one?

agree paul.but the last time i heard similar abuse directed at a manager was at kingy.
"fuck off malpas"."you clueless cunt"."you dont know tactics you fucking jock wanker".i heard those 3 comments clearly.and there were others i didn't catch entirely.

Yes, those who do dislike Malpas certainly do so with a passion, but for all their vehemence, they're still a very small minority. As others have said, tho, that will change quickly if we go on an early slump and he can't turn it round. FWIW, I very much doubt Malpas spent all week in training telling the players they absolutely must lump the ball up to our 5ft winger so he could use his aerial presence to outleap and outmuscle the 6ft+ defender marking him. Or taking Brez to one side telling him to faff fatally when faced with a seemingly easy chip/lob

If we got rid of Malpas who do we replace him with?
Ling? Just to keep the fans happy. In my opinion there's no-one out there available, with maybe the exception of Holloway that could come in and do a better job than what Malpas is doing.

If Fitton got rid of Malpas the replacement, I believe, would be similar to the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo at Franchise. I think the appointment of Malpas has shown that many only want someone they've

1) Heard of without referring to wikipedia

and

2) Was a great player in England or any other big club.

Or Ian Holloway.

As well as being a clown, Ian Holloway just isn't a realistic option. Too expensive.

I'd disagree slightly and say people want proven lower league managers with some promotions and/or good achievements on their CV.

Sturrock has about 5 or 6 promotions under his belt and Dennis Wise got Millwall to a cup final and to just outside the Championship play offs.

Malpas under achieved with Motherwell.

Thats what people will look at....

I will argue that people didn't have a clue what Malpas had done before he joined Swindon - the "who?" factor is definately a reason why many have refused to let Malpas settle... and that it was to their dismay that his record wasn't great at Motherwell, despite the troubles they were having there at the time.

Dennis Wise's appointment was complimented by Gus Poyet and helped create excitement... and Paul Sturrock took the job because it was the first job offered to him - his spell was a mess behind-the-scenes.

 There only so many manager's jobs going around....Holloway's stock is low now, having been responsible for Leicester going down...no club above L1 will touch him.

 I'm sure he'd jump at STFC if offered....

See though Rich what many people forget is that Dennis Wise came here on the back of supposed investment from Bill Power, who wanted to take over the club. I have no idea how much money he was willing to put in, but that's why Dennis came. We all know what happened next, and Dennis went elsewhere. The compensation basically paid for Sturrock and co. We were spoilt. History suggests we are more likely to appoint an Andy King, than an Ian Holloway. When we have pushed the boat out it has invariably either gone all wrong (Todd, Evans) and left us in the shasta, or they have buggered off at the first opportunity.

Malpas is a more modest appointment and I do think that his "way" needs time to bed in. The football looks better, if not a bit lightweight at present. What the club doesn't need is the likes of Lee Peacock gobbing off in the papers about training methods, and slagging Malpas off to anyone in the Old Bank who'll listen to him.

I have no doubts that Ian Holloway would accept a job like Swindon. The Leicester gig has left him with little choice!

Good points Michael.

Conclusion - all this Malpas Out stuff is a little silly... for now.

i reckon he would too.and i think he will get the job when the inevitable happens.
people have made their minds up about malpas already,and only a big upturn in results will shut them up.i cannot se it happening myself,so think he's on borrowed time now.
also people will say wise and poyet were big names and they got us results.sturrock did well considering all the shit that was going on in the boardroom.now with the club on a sound footing fans will demand results on the pitch.
i said i'll give him 10 games until i decide what i think, and i hope he can get some decent results quickly

can anyone name an unemployed manager with a proven record in the lower leagues?

i can't.

Steve Cotterill?

lou macari

Holloway did quite well at Wovers and got QPR promoted.

This needless speculation, 3 games into the season, is somewhat tiresome.......

Macari would be a fair shout - even without the history he has here already.

Realistically who would you have more faith in getting promoted, Malpas or Macari?

Really?

we wouldn't get macari.i was answering sonics question.
i hope we wont need to get a new manager at all for a few years.what i want,and what i think will happen differ alot mind

 Denis Smith......

 

Feck off :D Times aren't that hard to have a scummer in control.

 Just answering SY's question..

 Holloway is a gashead, should that rule him out of the equation.

the present boss is part of the problem but the board set a target of the championship within a couple of seasons.with the current squad of players and the board not willing to back the boss with money to buy players we have no hope.  if we cant compete with mk donuts what chance do we have. sorry but the board may be our saviours but if they dont spend the dollar on the team its more of the same. pillocks like peacock aint going to get us into the championship. malpas has got no chance of taking these players and the club forward.

Clubs have shown that overspending is a recipe for disaster. If we can't get promoted without spending more than the club can sustain then we're in the right place in the football pyramid.

If you can't accept that then go and support a bigger club.

 macari was an inexperienced manager and was given money to spend on players within the budget and pulled off miracles when the club was in a similar position. if malpas believes the current squad are good enough to take the club forward then hes the wrong man for the job and were in trouble.

There's a big difference between Oxford and Rovers for me Reg... But a fair point.

i blame the poor performances totally on the manager, not just this season but last season aswell.
We have a good squad for this league.

Brezovan, Ifil, Easton, McNamee, Cox, are up there with the best in the league in their positions

fair point but i dont think cox and mcnamee and maybe more will be here next season or maybe sooner.

Are you counting Easton's position as on the bench?

One thing I definately don't agree with that, he should be starting.

the only chance we have of keeping them is if we get promoted, will Malpas deliver that?

dont realy know if our best players will stay at the end of the day if the right offers come in you cant say they wont be sold cox has already stated he wants to play at a higher level and for a bigger club. no i dont think we will be promoted and i doubt malpas will deliver it. at the end of the day if the board dont give him total backing then hes a gonner.

he is getting backed.whether he is the man to get the best out of the means he is working with is debatable

Presumably you credit the excellent performances against Tranmere and QPR to the manager as well then, JP ;)

Thinking about this today, Malpas has to be given some time. He has had the players doing well - we've all seen it against Leeds and Forest last season and the 2 matches above. If he can get them playing that way consistently we'll all be fucking happy, wont we?

Changing the subject slightly, someone mentioned earlier about Peacock gobbing off about Malpas and his training methods in the Old Bank. If that is true it is so fucking out of order. Mind, most of our players think they are untouchable demi-gods, swanning around the Old Bank and the Apartments like they've just won the cunting champions league final every Saturday night. While performances are so shit, someone ought to remind them that they are playing 3rd division football, and that they're all pretty shit at it.

A new bloke started at work today with the surname Malpas.

It must be an omen an it can only mean one thing, it MUST mean that MM will get us promoted as champions this season and win us the Euro champs cup within 10 years.

The omen can only be that one thing FACT.....

So shove it where the sun don't shine Bart.

Scunthorpe pissed this league a few years back with one of the smallest budgets.

It amazes me that some fans seem to think we have a divine right to be successful.

How long did it take arguably bigger clubs than us to get out of this league? Bristol City spent a small fortune, as did Swansea, both spent more than a couple of seasons here.

We lose a couple of games and people start wanting a change of manager........

Init.

We are only 3 players short of a squad capable of doing well in this league-trouble is they're all defenders.The only criticism I have of Malpas is he chose the wrong left back to augment our squad

our defending this season has highlighted how good vincent actually is.we miss him badly.
how long till he is fit again?

What I have seen so far, the likes of Colchester & Tranmere, I would say we have a better players than both. What I heard about Cheltenham the same comment there.

We probably do need one or two more, but we have a squad here at the moment who are good enough to be on the fringes of the play-offs.

A bit of luck going our way, like the disallowed goal against Colchester in our favour and belief from us fans and the players and we could be back on track in no time.

we have better players than most teams in this league, yet we dont play like it, thats down to the manager

 I'm not sure many think we have a divine right to success....OK, AF stated the aim was CCC in 3 years, so I think people expect to see a bit of progress, for which to be fair, there has been some evidence. This is what makes it all the more frustrating then when we slip back into the kind of basic incompetence that we've had to watch all too often in recent years.

 Fans aren't fools, progress can indeed be slow, but we'll need to see something in the next 4 or 5 games that shows it's happening or the management team should go.

 

Maybe, but he has my full support whilst he is in charge.

Us supporters have a major role to play ... we didn't do it in the first half on Saturday, when we did in the second we watched a different team.

the 2nd half was down to the fact that Colchester sat back with their 2 goal lead, i cant see we wouls have played like that at 0-0

I thought it had a lot to do with the changes the manager made at half time and the referee making so many bad decisions it actually gave us momentum.

no it wasn't.it was due to the players upping the tempo and taking the game to colchester

the players could only up the tempo cos they sat back

I think Marshall would have done a good job of upping the tempo anyway. I'm yuet to be sold on his skill but for pace and enthusiasm you can't fault him.

 TBF this fans have a major role to play thing is a bit of cliched old bollocks, our players couldn't have asked for better support at Cheltnumb....about a third of the crowd was STFC .....16 corners many in front of our end and the keeper not tested once.

 Same sort of thing on Sat 4 or 5 corners early on, keeper not tested once.  Wasn't until Marshall put one on Kanyuka head that we created anything....how long before the basic competence he got at part time Eastleigh disappears?

 An ex STFC player long of my acquaintance always told me, he had little idea of a crowd being at a game, such was the focus needed on the job in hand on the pitch.

colchesters game plan didn't change from the first half.ours did.malpas saw a peoblem and tried to put it right.colchesters original game plan had worked for them and it remained the same second half.

i thought Marshall looked exciting, but i think we have to realise one time he will beat 3 men and whip and great ball and the next 3 he wont even be able to control the ball

I can tell you that is total bollocks.

 Quite right, if we play with both Marshall and McManatee, it will be exciting, which is to be commended, but we are so open in midfield, we'll always be in danger of shipping goals....it's a big gamble.

for what its worth, at HT i would have brought marshall on for J.Smith, and Easton for JP, gone with a back 3 of Kanyuka Ifil Aljofree, 3 in centre mid, Timlin Nalis Easton, Mcnamee and Marshall wide with Cox and Paynter up top

Apart from his error, Jack Smith was one of our better players!

we'd be fucked down the flanks with that formation.macnamee and marshall offer nothing defensively.reg has already highlighted this.with our players 4,4,2 looks the only formation we can play

but Colchester didnt risk pushing forward to much in the 2nd half with their 2goal lead

If we play McNamee and Marshall, Smith and Vincent surely have to be thefull backs as we can't risk Casal and Amankwaah (Given he hasn't played yet, but I think he's a more attacking option than Smiffy)

Two wingers are a bit of a luxury though. Unless you feed them you will always be outgunned in the midfield, evidence was there to be seen in the first half. When you have two wingers who cant defend either, then you will be exposed at the back.
I think it is a formation that Malpas will only use when we are chasing a game.

he didn't change the formation.just the personel.we then had two players going at them from the flanks,cox dropped a bit deeper at times and was starting moves too.
agree playing both is a gamble.but not as much as playing both as wing backs.that would be crazy imo

 When you play with a 3, then at least one of them has to be able to distribute, PK looks Jerelesque in this dept, which is why I'd prefer Morrison, who looks to have the rudiments

 I'd imagine that Amankwaah will come in for Jack Smith on Sat....Vincent if fit, and Aljofree will be restored in the middle.

No he didnt change the formation, just moved the ball to the flanks quicker instead of the long punt up to Paynter looking for a knock down.

One tactic I cant understand, are defending free kicks in our own half or corners. We bring everyone back, then hack the ball out, and it just keeps coming back. Why bring back McNamee and Marshall leave the greyhounds upfield to harass and maybe even breakaway. They certainly aren't going to win the headers in our box to clear.

 I'm impressed that you can tell me of private conversations I've had with an ex player. :notworthy:

I think you took that the wrong way. I was talking about personal experience of playing in front of a crowd.

Giving you an example Reg, do you think the Tranmere goalkeeper was just crap at kicking the other week, or do you think the crowd got to him with their jeers, I know what I think.

  .:rain: :rain: :rain: :dog:........:football:

Not sure what you are trying to say there?

don't head the ball near a wet dog?

hes not roy walker

I think he was very poor defensively but good going forward. Seeing as we can't keep a clean sheet, I'm more worried by the defensive aspect of the game.

The worrying thing is none of the players are positioning themselves well or marking players correctly:

Their first goal - Nalis fails to pick up the man and he runs through and hits the ball from the flick on well. Had Jackson decided to square the ball there was an unmarked player where Jack Smith had gone awol.

Their second goal - Nalis is trying to chase down two players because McGovern has decided to stay in the middle whilst Smith goes back into our box and marks nobody. Regardless of his mistake, you can see a pattern here, Smith is out of position an awful lot. The other thing about that goal was Kanyuka lost his man completely, so when he gambled he had no pressure on him and Brezovan had no chance. Ifil was also to blame as he wasn't tight to his man. It simply looks like we don't know who is marking who, or are doing a bad job of it at least.

Their third was another terrible bit of defending. Peacock hasn't pressured his man and his managed to play a great ball over the top. Ifil and Kanyuka have let a man get between them and Brez had a howler.

Malpas needs to work these basics out with the players very soon or we risk even losing to teams like Aldershot and Hereford. I think Reg is spot on when he says another 4 or 5 games and we need to see progress. If I'm still seeing these kinds of errors 10 games in I'm going to be a very worried man.

i reckon most teams at this level once they come under preasure they tend to crack and lose their shape and tend to hack it out and lump it to the strikers. unless they score and get a lead they face the chance that sooner or later they will be on the recieving end most teams seem not to be in total control of how they play us included.

I think we've got a capable squad that should do well in this league.

The best teams in this league can mix it up. They can play football and out play teams, they can play direct football and make it effective and they can also scrap for their points if need be.

Under Sturrock we were very much a battling team with a hint of football and effective direct football.

Under Malpas we appear to be a football side who can out play team but our direct football is rubbish and we dont battle enough.

We were harder to beat under Sturrock because we played a much more determined and battling game plan. If we were going to get beat we wouldnt go down with out a bloody good fight.

We dont have that quality under Malpas. We are easily out battled as shown at Cheltenham who on paper are much worse than us. They battled hard and we didnt.

We arent hard to beat under Malpas.

Thats the problem with Malpas he isnt expirenced at this level. Most managers and even fans know full well its not very often you get out of this division by playing total football.

Sturrock on the other hand has spent years in the English lower leagues and knows the style needed to get promoted.

A fully fit easton will go a long way to solving any lack of battle we show

Spot on Si. It's not individuals as such it's the organisation of the defence as a whole. The difference between us and teams like Colchester is that they are solid and organised and we are not. Regardless of how good you can be going forward or how good your players are you simply cannot go very far in this league without organisation.

I think right now I'd change to a 4-5-1, using McNamee and Marshall.  Having the 3 in the middle should allow them their freedom and hopefully an extra man in front of the back 4 should begin to help them and settle them.  It dissapoints me how little Aljofree appears to be able to LEAD the back 4, so letting one midfielder sit deep may mean they can take on that job.  Nalis behind Easton and Timlin.  With Paynter on the bench we have the option to open up a bit more but with the two wide mean given the freedom their game clearly needs, we should still create enough chances for someone of Cox's quality to convert, and one of the central midfielders will be a little more off the leash to join in.  Basically the defence is our weak link right now and this change could lead to us being a little harder to break down by simply playing the numbers game + someone else being around to sort them all out.  Can we clone Culverhouse?

I noticed at the tranmere game how shockingly we looked defensively, J Smith was caught a few times in no mans land with his defending, it was only some shocking finishing from tranmere that kept there 1 goal to that. Luckily that day, our offensive play outshone, and papered over that.

Havent been impressed with Aljofree for a while, and beggining to think the man is a waste of space personally, Hes got a turning circle of a 4x4 towing a caravan.

Most importantly, our central midfield partnership of Nalis and Timlin do lack geniune pace, so its easy for the opposition to breakthrough, and put pressure on our fragile defence. I noticed againsy QPR and Tranmere that they play very flat, I would drop nalis a bit deeper, to allow for his lack of pace, plus it will give him a bit more room to put his foot on the ball, and pass it a bit.

And I agree with Si, hes spot on.

I can see that being worth a punt away from home. At the County Ground though there's the danger that it'll give out a negative message and the crowd will get arsey before they even kick off. Maybe against the bigger clubs like Leeds and Leicester you miht get away with it? I just can't see us starting with one up front at home to the likes of Hartlepool.

Last season Aljofree worked well alongside Ifil, but this season I'm not sure he has started that well, and with him playing at LB on Sat I think it showed his inefficiences, I would be tempted to drop him but who do you replace him with ?

Ifil & Kanuka I don't think they are an ideal partnership and at 17 Morrison isn't ready yet to play a full season, so that only really leaves Vincent who I think alongside Ifil will be good but MM has been reluctant to use him there.

I also think that Nalis is a bit of an unsung hero, he was sitting there and a lot of play has been going through him, once he went off on Sat we did seem to lose all control of the midfield...coincidence perhaps ?

II think we didn't have much control of the midfield at any stage but that it got even worse when Nalis went off because Peacock came on and he still looks miles off the pace.
 

Agreed, except I don't think we looked worse with than without Peacock.

Nalis is very comfortable on the ball, but him and Timlin do not work well when we need to get the ball back/track the opposition. Too many times the oppoition midfield have got the 'wrong' side of ours when they are attacking.

We couldnt do much worse away, so 4-5-1 has to be worth a shout.

Especially on saturday where 0-0 would be a good result.

McGovern in the middle?

I think McGovern isnt too bad at right back to be honest.

4-5-1 might leave a place for Peacock in the middle?

I'm hoping that's a counter-fish  ;D

nah, I honestly think hes alright there!

You know who should play right wing in a 4-5-1 though?

Got to be Cox, big man Paynter in the middle.

If we were Reading he'd probably take that, but I bet he's big headed enough to get annoyed at the prospect of playing right wing for us at this level.  He can and has played in that position and looked good at Reading, and if given license to attack along with McNamee on the basis the 3 midfielders generally leave 2 holding, 1 for definite, then it could work.  I just fear Paynter doesn't have the mobility to work the entire line.  Either way, I think 4-5-1 is the way to go, away at least, for the time being, until our defence settles in together.  Malpas is cleary getting them to be more creative, given them more license to use what nouse they have and keep the ball on the floor and use our strengths in attack wherever possible.  The problem is this opens us up a bit more than when we had two banks of 4 dedicated to stopping first.  Ardiles encountered the same issues after the PLay Off farce, confidence drained and although we still looked good we couldn't stop teams.  If we can use 4-5-1 to steady the ship a bit while not stopping our new footballing philosophy, then confidence may grow and then we can revert to the more open style.  To me, we don't look to far from a decent team, and if we could just find a confident experienced centre half we'd probably be ok right now.  Maybe as he fits in Nalis may provide a lot of what is needed but he hasn't played many games with the defence as yet and out of pre season friendlies some of their more nervous attributes are showing which he won't have seen.

"our new footballing philosophy"  I like that Rob sums up what's trying to be achieved well.

Its defence and the right side that we have problems i would not be suprised to see a new formation but would rather see us try a settled defence for a few weeks.

On the subject of malpas my mate reckons he is just a chancer who is going to get caught out. I am inclined to agree if i am honest.End of october will be interesting when it comes to getting the second payment for season tickets

Spot on.

4-5-1, at home? You have got to be taking the piss. Our midfield are out of sorts, but it'll come good.

No, away it would be fine.

no way should we play 4-5-1 with the players we have.

We should play five at the back with an old fashion sweeper who can read the game and marshal the defence. Trouble is we don't have the player who could handle the job, Williams a couple of years ago certainly could have. So its back to 4-4-2

I see where you are coming from,  and if we are struggling for league form in a couple of months then maybe. Personally I'd rather see us fix the problem playing 4-4-2. As I think Arriba was saying, the players we have should be able to do this.

The worry I have with 4-5-1 is that we won't be effective as an attacking unit, we will soak up more and more pressure and eventually they will score one. I realise we aren't doing much else at the moment anyway, but too early to fiddle just yet.

 It's individual error which is costing us....tinkering with systems is all very well but we've a number of players who are just not very good.

  Improving them, if possible, is like the alchemists search for  the key to transmuting base metal to gold.

 This is the kind of thing you'd hope MM might be good at....

I also think that with 451 we'll end up losing width. With the midfield playing a narrow three and the wide players expected to break into three up when we're in possession, I can imagine that three up ending up very narrow as well. It seems to happen to every other side. Even a player like SWP at Chelsea, who naturally plays with chalk on his boots seems to drift in when he's in that fluid 451/433 formation and doesn't have a player inside him to force him wide.

That wouldn't be so bad if we had full backs who could get up and down to provide that width, and maybe with Casal and Amawanka(sic) we might have that, but they're not fit at the moment and I can't see Aljofree and Smith filling those roles.

I disagree about not panicking now though. Weve got to do something.

Its very likely we'll lose on saturday which will mean 4 defeats from 5. If Hereford then beat us we could go bottom of the league.

Cant believe we payed so much money for Casal, I was saying the exact same thing about McNamee and look at him now. But Reg, I still think the front 6 is decent (apart from JPM on his off days). Defence is a bit of a worry. But overrall I think its the players focus/determination/attitude on the pitch that is the problem.

Disagree about casal i feel sorry for him really as he has been having to cover aljofree and morrison for the games he has played.

I hope for malpas sake we turn the corner because as i stated if we carry on and not win many games the boards hand may be forced by the amount of people not signing up for the second half of the season ticket

Agree about Casal there Don.

disappointed that a large number of our fans booed the side off at half-time today away from home after what was a dull, not poor, performance.

malpas seems to have the knack of getting the side to improve in the second half.

if we could sort out out 1st halfs we'd be sorted

Without being there, I'd say it did well today - he made changes and we won. That's good in my book.

I'm enjoying reading Moocamp at the moment :)

thought we was very poor, as were MK, Easton on the right still doesnt work for me, altho he won the pen, he offers no width and everything tries to go down the left and as we know away from home McNamee hardly gets a kick, Marshall looked very impressive again. Hopefully all the people who knock Brez will take note of Smiths howler today, totally missed the corner!

...but made 3 really good saves.

Malpas got it spot on today. Franchise took off a defender and added an attacking player when they were on top. Most managers away from home would have thrown McGovern on and gone 4-5-1 to see the game on.

Malpas didnt and threw on Marshall whos pace and directness caused them problems stretched the 3 defends and won us the game.

im not saying he was shite DV, just it seems when a player is out the team everyone seems to think they are brilliant and are faultless, smith comes in and like brez made a howler

bot for what its worth id still be starting with Brezovan

Smith is not faultless but Brezovan has been pretty poor thus far this season. IMO.

We were not very poor at all today.  Away from home we worked hard and got the result and showed some real positives in the 2nd half.  How Smith can have so much criticism amazes me!  If it wasn't for him we would have lost that game by 2 or 3 goals.  We are league one, mistakes are going to be made, any player who is consistently good at this level won't be at this level on a long term basis.

For god sake we beat the franchise away from home, certainly not the easiest away game we will have this season.  Just enjoy it and stop trying to find little faults!

Well said. I think some people look at things too closely and are overly critical as a result instead of just enjoying the moment.

The first half was utterly dire though (for both teams)

Totally agree about the first half, very dull but certainly nowhere near as bad as the first half v Colchester last weekend! :o

we was as bad, its just MK were not as good as Colchester

Malpas in!

We didnt create much, neither did MK but saying we were as bad as last weekend is rubbish.  It was just a bit dull.

Agreed Lady....Franchise have been bigging up all week,it was a great result,they wont get beat many times there...ask Norwich and Northampton and its great to hae a player who looks like scoring a pen when he puts the ball on the spot.

first half was like a pre season game.

best bit was when Phil Smith threw the ball out for no reason, every one stopped...saw no one was injured had a drinks break....then MK gave us the ball back....odd

aljofree saw that and 'pretended' to be injured i think

Hasney was looking round, realised no one was injured, and must have thought shit we wont get the ball back, so he goes down, quality

I know your mummy and daddy know youth players, so you get inside info, but your actual opinion is worthless. I suggest you don't comment on anything in future unless mummy or daddy has fed you the info.

I wouldn't be too hard, quite a few know people/players within the club, but some haven't the general world weariness we have to keep it quiet. Put it down to youthful exhuberance! (or an expiring contract)

Yes the first half was dull, but that's because we took all the pace and sting out of the game, passing it square, across the back 4 and back again. Frustrated the hell out of them.

I thought that overall it was a superb away performance. And I loved it that we didn't just hoof the ball clear when under pressure, instead playing out through Nalis, who was class.

O'Hanlon was dreadful after his howler. Good chanting there.

Also, the terracing on the upper tier is a great idea, shame that these new age football fans prefer the padded seats downstairs.

i didn't see him quoting any so called info in his post.
makes his point valid enough for this thread i reckon.

Eh? So his opinions are worthless because he knows some youth players and is nice enough to tell us some of the stuff he finds out?

TCP can be a bit of a knob at times, but posts like that are 100x worse. If you don't like his opinion about the game then put your own across. Stuff like that is just weak.

Cheers,
fB (president of the JCP fan club)

Yeah, he's OK.

By the way Jesus ... what does the P stand for?

(Phucking perhaps?)

 :boat: :fishing:

You are right Ben. Apologies to JCP. I am sometimes an obnoxious drunk..............

sometimes ?

I agree with that post entirely. Our gameplan won us the game. We went away from home and tried to play differently to what we do at home, in the hope we'd nick some points. That's exactly what we did and it's given us a rare away win.

Malpas got it spot on yesterday and that should be recognised.

Yes. Other times I am just a twattish drunk.....

Its good being a twattish drunk, I'm like that most days at some time. You only realise how much of a twattish drunk you were the day before when you wake up in the morning and read some of your comments on here or other sites, or your family and friends ask you about certain things you spoke about the night before and you cant remember bugger all.

In praise of Malpas, a lot of people (myself included) couldnt believe McNamee for Marshall. But it turned out McNamee was injured, and Marshall (despite being very right footed) caused loads of problems for them down the left and put in a great cross that resulted in a penalty.

Great to see Easton back in the side and working his arse off as usual. Typical 90th minute box to box run to win the penalty!

On the downside - the defence. But overrall Malpas got the key decisions correct and we came out with a great win.

I'm a righteous drunk.

i was surprised at the macca substitution but thought it was right to bring marshall on as an impact sub. considering the heat yesterday, how hard macca had worked and that he's asthmatic then it does make sense.

I was surprised at the McNamee sub......

.....I didnt realise he was even still playing!

ive made my mind up about Malpas and i dont want him here anymore, we had a shocking display against Leeds so what would u do? work them hard on the training ground? punish them? no they watch the leeds game twice then get the next day off!

you want malpas out because he let them stay at home on a Sunday?

If you pop it on a Post card and send in to Fitton, I'm sure it will be dealt with in a prompt manner.  Who are you employing for us?

Personally, I would find watching the Leeds game again a lot more painfull and hard work than a mornings jog and some 5 a side.

no they had today off

I had Monday morning off.

should be fresh for Saturday then, I predict a 2-0 victory.

Malpas has probably so many picked holes in the game and let them go away to think about it. Overloading people with information is normally not a good thing.

If Malpas make the team improve within the next few games, such that I would be able to see something there for a promotion push (in the next 2 seasons), then I will let the bitter disappointed of Leeds go. If I can't see enough of an improvement then I will consider that Malpas' time may be coming to an end. No need to panic yet, as long as something changes. I really thought the franchise game was just that at the time, but evidentally I was wrong.

Our Directors are just as disappointed with the Leeds game as the fans.

i agree with si.the stats i read yesterday are not great reading for malpas as he has had a fair chunk of time now.we look better upfront and at times the midfield.but our defence and keepers are not performing.i dont know why.but malpas and williams have loads of experience so should be addressing this.
i'm still backing malpas for now and hope he can sort things out.

I am of that persuasion too.

Those stats didn't make for great reading but I am happy to draw a line under last season and start afresh this season. So then, how long into a season is time to judge? I'd like to think that after 10 games I'd have an idea of where we were at, but maybe 15 is a better barometer - we would have played over half of our league opponents by then.

Obviously 45 points after 15 games would be ideal, but to be honest I can't see Malpas pulling that off.

You reckon?

I think he can do it.

seroiusly 10 games is a good enough marker imo.if we dont improve in the next 4 games then i'd sack him

I would sack him monday but i am pissed off

A lot of mention about lack of confidence here and I am not going to argue. I've also noticed the players on the pitch having more and more of a go at each other when things go wrong. Rather than simply lay blame where we all perceive Malpas/Byrne to be destroying this, I offer my thoughts on how things were previously.

Relegation to league 2 was a bitter blow, the whole fanbase and team at a low ebb and nothing could really get much worse. However, the installment of Wise and Poyet brought a sense of excitement back to the fans, I'm sure the players felt the same excitement. This immediate excitement puts an up on everyone at the very start.

One thing Wise was very good at was bigging up his team and his players. He wanted the fans to know we were good, he wanted the opposition to know we were good (and probably put the fear in them) but best of all he wanted the players to know they were good. Christian Roberts looked a changed player under Wise - in fact he won the player of the month at the start of the new season. Brezovan looked an amazing acquisition, but even though he has learnt more English, has looked shakey ever since. People have put this down to his injury. If it is purely down to that he should see a (sports) pyschologist. In my view, the confidence he had was down to Wise.

Of course, we lost Wise and Poyet to the team that stuffed us on Saturday. Sturrock took over, a manager with a proven record outside the Premiership, a manager who many fans hold in high regard. Whilst Sturrock wasn't as exciting for the armchair fans not in the know, everyone else felt a sense of relief. Everything was going to be ok and Sturrock would take care of us. I'm sure the players felt this too. Sturrock made us and the team breathe a different kind of confidence, he brought in a lot of his old boys, players he knew he could rely on and players who knew they could rely on him. There was a great team bond, even through the off field saga.

The difference with Malpas is that he's been up against it from the off. An unknown manager in England, the fans and players didn't know what to expect. I suspect this initial uncertainty mixed with the blow of losing their old boss hurt the team spirit. Confidence is probably getting lower after a poor run at the back end of last year. I fear the players were looking to install the confidence amongst themselves when they mentioned our 'outside playoff chance'. I know nobody wants to build up false hope for the fans but any mention of playoffs is just that. Really they wanted Malpas to big the team up in a way Wise would have done.

Cox is definitely our most confident, cockiest player who blows his own trumpet all of the time. But this serves him well. The bloke makes mistakes, he's human. But he bounces back. The rest of the team don't bounce back with him a lot of the time. Perhaps Malpas needs to make us a bit cockier. You can inspire anyone to complete a task but everyone has a setback. Natural confidence will only make you hold strong. When your task is 3 points and you have a wobble, you want everyone to rally up and hold strong. Malpas's problem isn't motivation or inspiration, we don't seem to have that winning attitude (except for Cox).

By and large our team isn't remarkably different now than it was last year or even the year before that. The same core is there. These players know each other by now. They should be thriving on team spirit, buzzing at the prospect of impressing (at the moment) increased gates. If I see a change in this, it will be the biggest change of all.

Possibly the longest post I have ever written. My one line summary is it's mostly bollocks, but I loves you all. Well the posters I have met in the real world, the rest of you are cunts.

I can't be arsed to read all that.

I suggest you go back to the secret bit then

i was kidding, i read it really.

what secret bit?

i was going to say good post si until the last sentence.
 os i'll say what the fuck was all that shit about?  you fucking clueless cunt instead.

Good post but bit like a suicide note

I forgot about Iffy. He got them to watch Any Given Sunday. It didn't do anything except kill a couple of hours. But the players enjoyed the popcorn.

is that the american football thing with the girl whatsername?

cameron diaz. thats the one. good ol' google.

inspirational indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk

"That's what living is, the six inches right there in front of your face"


Hee hee.

Confidence is a very tricky thing to find. Especially if you're looking for it.

i saw a man leaving the CG in a white toyota yaris erlier that loooked alot like ian holloway

Holloway doesn't drive a yaris. 

Bollocks - I don't believe for a minute you could get a Yaris to look even vaguely likely Holloway

I imagine most Yaris drivers looking like Holloway, more so white ones.

Could you get Holloway to look like a yaris though?

Ha ha, maybe it had a picture of his face on the bonnet, with massive wing mirrors which looked like his ears?  And it ran on gas.

This sounds like a photoshop challenge.

Ah, but can you make the Yaris have a west country accent?

someone please do this a bit of wee would come out from laughing

And talk bollocks about badgers. Maybe instead of a SatNav

better than the bollocks are manager came out with at the begining of the season saying we have a strong defence.