Thetownend.com

COME ON TOWN!!!!

Im dead up for this. rargh

No no no no. It has to be "Swindon Town vs. Northampton Town Matchday Thread". It's the law.

Dave are you pissed?

Im setting a trend.

And no, sadly not.

I thought I had some surprise income for some drinking tonight, but I'm mistaken and won't have it until tomorrow.

Oh well.

wanna pint?

Can we please fucking win today? I'm bored of losing..........................
I'm yet to see us win yet this season!!! I couldn't make the Tranny game, due to being away!  >:(

COME ON TOWN!!!!

haha i cant. its litterally a get there 5 minutes before kick off jobby for me today

I might be able to pop in. what time will you be in the merlin?

I'll be asleep through this one, way past my bedtime.

Just thought I'd add to COMEON'ness like.

RAAAAARRRRRGGGH.

I can feel a stanard home performance coming on  ie concede 3 goals and be shite.

530 ish
530 ish maybe a bit before

5.30

ill be leaving in a bit, got to get some petrol and ill be on my way

Today will be the first time I've not been to the pub before football for about 3 years :(

how come?

right see you lot in a bit...

Just as a girl of questionable looks can appear more attractive when viewed through the prism of alcoholic intoxication, so too can your team.  Have you properly thought through the implications of watching a game sober?  It could spell the end of a love affair.  Be careful!

Brez & Peacock both fit and playing, Pooky playing, Timlin playing left back

I thought fatbury said he was cooking tonight though? Is he going to be doing impromptu flambes on a small camping stove at the side of the pitch?

So the lack of faith we have in Akinfenwa and Casal means that this is what it has come to, square pegs in round holes?

He might do OK there I guess. Other than Saturday has he played fullback in his career before?  

I thought he said the cook would be rocking ?

I'm guessing that Northampton would be reluctant to let Akinfenwa play at left-back for us :)

Taaaaaaaxi!

Akinfenwa, Amankwha, aaaagh.

akinfenwa and hawley both out aparently

Thank fuck for that.

We will win 4-2.

Great, so if we were to win we'd get....

"Yeah, but Northampton had both of their first team strikers out injured."

I believe some are stupid enough to say/type this.

We are going to win this one aren't we.

Swindon win is 7/5 on Coral, and a 2-1 victory is 8/1. I will have both of those as singles thank you.

Course we are. We haven't lost a midweek home game since March 24th.
Except QPR.
Clutching at straws... but I think it may change for the better tonight.

Can't go tonight due to work, first home game I've missed in 3 years :(
So Im gunna sly it on this site and will be relying on you cunts for updates  :D

I am going to be running late so we will score twice in the first ten minutes before I get to my seat - we will actually convert early corners to goals because I am not watching.

We will concede just before half time and spend the whole of the second half sefending desperately before........holding on for a 2-1 win! YOU REDS

Some how i completely forgot we were playing tonight! It's quite exciting finding out you can go and watch a football match about an hour and a hlaf before it starts. No build up, no worrying, just excitement! Also a bit of a shame as i was really excited about watching my second team, Man U. Maybe i'll stay home in the warm and watch that instead? Hopefully both my teams will win tonight! :D

Tonight's referee is Andy D'Urso so hopefully should be pretty good from a refereeing standard unlike that twat at Southend.

64 minutes to go

Wishful thinking.

Who can remember the Andy D'Arso totally inept display at wycombe away when Mooney scored the equaliser with the last kick (head)............what a prick!

I am in Paris tonight and will probably watch the Man United game........either way we cant lose.......win and there will be a much welcome three points..........lose and surely Malpas is on his way!? I will be checking the texts!

Where does this assumption come from that MM will be sacked if we lose tonight?

In fairness this assumption has been there for the last 6 or 7 games/months.

Its the same team playing that played against Southend apart from McNamee replacing Yinka Casal.
Woop Woop

Yup here it is..... copy and pasted for y'all pleasure.

Swindon Town: Peter Brezovan; Jack Smith, Sean Morrison, Hasney Aljofree (Capt), Michael Timlin; Jon-Paul McGovern, Lee Peacock, Michael Pook, Anthony McNamee; Simon Cox, Billy Paynter

Substitutes: Phil Smith (GK), Lilian Nalis, Barry Corr, Kevin Amankwaah, Craig Easton

 micheal timlin is starting at leftback tonight. :eek:

JCP90210 called it a few hours ago.

Northampton's line-up.

Frank Fielding, Jason Crowe, Mark Hughes, Chris Doig, Danny Jackman, Ryan Gilligan, Abdul Osman, Luke Guttridge, Andy Holt, Karl Hawley, Leon Constantine.

Subs: Chris Dunn, Giles Coke, Adebayo Akinfenwa, Ian Henderson, Liam Dolman.

Remind me which cunt said Hawley wasn't playing?

Not going, not listening so I'll torture myself by sitting on here for the next two and a bit hours.

Akinfenwa not starting then...some good news I guess.
But then again, Leon Constantine is replacing him!

Ditto... Although last time some moron was on the wind-up and suggested we had scored.

fuck me, I'm stuck in a blimin' crappy hotel room in Leeds and my 3G is giving me intermittant coverage, so I may have to rely on sporadic looks on this website to know how the game is going.... make it concise for me guys!!!!!

This is the first home game I've missed in years, bound to be a glorious home win then   :D

Will do. Northampton just scored from kick-off!!! 0-1 ;)

soapy effin' tit wank  :D

Not according to the bbc.  They're saying its 0 - 0 after 13 mins.

yes, because the only home league I have missed this season is the first game when we beat Tranmere.

Radio just said Northampton player was through, Brez didn't get any of the ball, but ref didn't give a pen :D
Happy days.

Diving swine.

Cheers ref (just in case he was wrong)

McNamee just hit the bar. Damn.

Mac hits the bar-doh!

Darn. C'mon Swindon please. I've spent far too much time trying to convince myself and "winning is for losers".

Macca nearly scores again

Here's a crap, pointless stat... We're currently in the relegation zone... Orient beating Leeds.

But Leeds equalise. Malpas IN!

Sounds like we're still awful in defence. Whenever the Cobblers are attacking I get a bad feeling.

Why can't malpas sort the defence out? we seem to be playing ok but not great,

And Leeds take the lead-Malpas forever!

You can get pills for that

That's the spirit!

What's going on?

Fuck all.

That's an improvement though!

Granted.

Will the crowd still chant for Malpas's head if it ends 0-0?

I still think his times up...

just spoke to my dad who is using my season ticket, he says Pook is playing really well almost like a sweeper!

says its 50-50 both sides pretty average, macnamee got clobbered and since then he has done fuck all.

Hardly surprising, mind, given that he's only got one leg.

We need a TEF song about his one leg...confuse all around.

Big Billy Beauty!!

Rumour has it we've scored......

Oh my.

Why, that's marvellous.  Good show!

Woooooooooo!

Now I feel nervous!

[Polite applause]

my sauces tell me we have scored!

Ditto.

feed the billy goat he will score!

Pffft. I don't believe you.

more goals than you can shake a stick at!

Peacock hits the bar-we need at least one more!

Oooo Peacs just hit the bar. Sounds like our last two attacks were pure sexy football

Please don't let us rue these misses. PLEASE.

Shut it Pullen you curse.....

Goal!!!!!!!!! Coxy :D

Bloody bar.

Didn't they equalise in the last minute or so last year?

GET IN COXY!!!!

WHOOP WHOOP!

Get in  :)

Ooooooooo have we scored again!?

First home game I have missed in 3 years, and we're playing great!
You'll all be glad to know I'm going on Saturday however...

Yep 2-0

Northampton just missed a big chance. Yay.

cox gets number 8 of the season, bet is looking decent.

You do realise that all this cheering will wake Yeovil up, so please keep it down.

[quiet]notice how the thread has silenced since this comment[/quiet]

ssssssh

Conversation killer. Sorry.

Everyone scared to post just in case something ............. (bad happens)

Cheltenham losing.

We need at least another one

shhh if yeovil wakes they'll score

[whispering]Plus I predicted a 2-0 win[/whispering]

[under my breath]smug cunt[/under my breath]

Easton on for Peacock

[sign language]It's not over yet[/sign language]

6,653

[braille]Not until the fat lady sings[/braille]

Du du du du.... woo Hereford winning as well!

Oops  ???

[directthoughtimpulsesfrommybrain]I can't believe I'm missing this game [/directthoughtimpulsesfrommybrain]

[Jedi Mind Shit]Good point[/Jedi Mind Shit]

it'll be your fault  walrus(shouts)

Yeovil2 Crewe2-good for us

Yeovil now 3-2

[can't speak]both bets looking good[/won't speak]

YEOVIL WINNING 3-2

-...----..  clean sheet? -...----.

You've got me now. Well done. Bastard.

It was - Boo. The cliche is correct though, only our results matter.

:D Hooray.

Fucking Hartlepool come back again-not just us then

I just couldn't beat Jedi Mind Shit. But then who could.......

We weren't the first victims either. However, their fans aren't exactly thrilled about it.

However, it's now Hartlepool 5-3 Huddersfield.

Surely that must be it by now?

how long before full time (I'm radioless)?

[stevenhawkinslaptop]We've got this in the bag...[/stevenhawkinslaptop]

2-1 own goal

Plenty of time to concede

its over we won 2-1

Fucking hell our clean sheet went - my prediction went... But fuck it we won!

HOORAY!

Is there a fucking time warp in Hereford? Or are you 10 minutes behind everyone just just because you're slightly further west?

Oh for fucks sake.  I had 2 nil in the prediction league.

Unlucky Rich.....

Meh... I'm always wrong... But I'm enjoying the victory far too much to give a damn!

Here's hoping the reviews are also positive.

Yes hope someone is really sad, and runs back really fast to inform us armchair doubters!

You mock but you know some will... and I thank them.

It was tongue in cheek, i've done it from local away games to here.

to the savoy for a pint!

[Just a guess]DV will be the first.....[/stopping guessing]

I'll guess Scot Munroe :D

There should be extra prediction league points on this.....

Swindon to win and 2-1 scoreline. Woot. Probably owe Ben a pint out of the winnings mind.

What a relief to finally win at home!
I feel much more confident about Saturday :)

But, but, but we have Maurice Malpas in charge so this cannot be achieved, right?

Its nearly 10 and no-one has said Malpas out yet.  Very strange.

That is reserved for losses and draws and the few that won't shut up aboot it :)

Happy with that. Shame about no Clean sheet.

Were you at the game Scot?!?!

Its the few that wont shut up I was expecting.  Im sure if you go over to the pit that is thisis they'll be someone on there saying we were lucky and hestill has to go blah blah fucking blah.

Hurrah!

I enjoyed that  :eek:

If you are right you jammy cunt......

That would be quite funny.

I'll kill DV for letting me down. I bet he's gone to the pub, the bastard......

yeah. plus i saw yeovil have a hizzy fit at a steward before the game in TE.

I quit......

I win!

I did and I was sober.

What fucking difference does it make if I want to stand there,its not in anyones fucking way nor is it steps.It pissed me off but as I stormed off It occured to me that I was being a bit of a nob really.

I havent read the whole thread but eh?

MALPAS OUT?

Ummm, dont where to start. We played well they were poor. We were always going to win that. Hopefully thats the corner turned but dont put your house on it. Gutted we didnt keep a clean sheet. Keep the Faith...

The emporer will never let you quit, you'll end up losing your right hand if you argue

oh and I never get back first because I sit at the top of the Don and it takes me ages to get out the ground.

Yes Malpas out!

making me stay till the end,at least when were losing after 70 mins its ok to go back to the pub. >:(

I actually enjoyed a home game for the first time in 2 months. Was not a classic. We did enough to win simply through showing desire passion and commitment. The fans were great and got behind the team. We started a bit cagey but we settled down and started playing some good stuff.

Cox and Paynter were superb. Pook played well. In fact everyone did pretty well tonight. Shame we couldn't keep the clean sheet but the win was the most important thing. Turning point? Let's hope so.

I had great fun today, me and my mate were enjoying trying to start a chant of one Maurice Malpas from the moment we went one up. Being the Don Rodgers stand, we failed miserably, but much amusement was had by all and I got my prediction spot on.

This has prob been posted already but I see Rovers beat Oldham tonight....

Smart.

Now who was the person who was banging on about wanting us to lose tonight?

They must be gutted.

Funniest bit for me was at 0-0 in the Town End. It all goes quiet then some random guy just stands up and starts singing "we are going up".

Bristol R 2-0 Oldham
Colchester 1-2 Millwall
Hartlepool 5-3 Huddersfield
Hereford 1-0 Carlisle
Leeds 2-1 Leyton Orient
Leicester 2-2 Walsall
Franchise 1-2 Stockport
Peterborough 0-0 Brighton
Scunthorpe 1-1 Southend
Swindon 2-1 Northampton
Tranmere 2-0 Cheltenham
Yeovil 3-2 Crewe

The ROCK is back!!!

Think IOB sums it up nicely. If we play like that at home all the time (as we should) then teams will have to play well to beat us and not rely on us fucking it up to gift them wins. Thought Pook was up for it from the word go and his attitude rubbed off on a few players. Fair play, you expect that from your senior players not a historically rubbish fringe player. Keep hom in for Saturday.

At times we were ugly and needed to be. We also realised that going more direct at the right time will work. We didn't have crazy ideas going forward but consistently hassled them enough to create good chances. More to the point, the front two had a brilliant game and Paynter gets my MOTM.

Only negative was that we still look frail at the back, but you're never going to sort that out in the space of a few days. What was important was the improvement, I was impressed with our centre backs. Timlin was good as well, if a bit suspect when he pressed the ball and it went passed him (sometimes slow to get back). But he did a solid job and was possibly the missing vocal link, perhaps another reason he's been put there. Smith had an off day but today was about the team and hats off to them.

Hopefully tonight showed if the players get stuck in the fans will and vice versa. Is it a turning point? I would not say so and get carried away, but that's the best I've seen us play at home for as long as I can remember.

I thought our worst player was Morrison, and best was Aljofree. He absolutely had to be.

I won't go overboard about the performance, which was just functional, but it was much needed.

The fans were superb.

i wonder how many people are disappointed we won tonight?

At a guess... 57.

Who the fuck was our number 10? He was ace.

Good performance tonight. More of that please Mr. Malpas.

Nobody in the ground. I think the people that didn't go are probably the staunchest of the anti-Malpas brigade.

thats the best i've looked going forward for a long time. pook was immense. timlin isnt a left back. on another day northampton could and should have had 3 or 4, but then again so could we. The crowd was ace, despite the low turn out. I hope this is a corner turned but im not holding my breath

Pook was actually very vocal too, did well.

Aljofree still doesnt fill me with confidence and Brez still flapped and needs some serious work on his kicking.

Fair play to all of them celebrating when they scored - least the team spirit hasnt gone.

I imagine you did look very scrummy Dave

Malpas got it spot on tonight was concerned with timlin at left back, pook and jpm put in a good shift. More of that please.

Smith was the worse of the full backs. Not being negative, just think Timlin did a better job, although he is clearly not a left back.

huh

I, like everyone had my doubts about Timlin at left back but I thought he was fucking awesome out there. Not one to back down from a challenge and one a fair few headers as well.

Played it well out of defence as well, good distribution. Although a few times he flew into tackles and they knocked it past him. Not always good to commit yourself as a full back. Sometimes just need to stand them but he really impressed me.

As DRS said, Pook and JPM really put the shift in tonight and played a bit of football as well.

Read your post again my ginger topped friend

haha. thats also true 8)

Absolutely dreaded going today - fucking love it now. It wasn't a great performance but we wanted to win. Peacock was MOM for me - Pook was not far behind. they won a lot of ball and generally were a real pain the arse. I thuoght this is where we won the game - not pretty but effective. Paynter had a great second half. Cox didn't stop running. JPM looked a lot better and my old friend Aljofree had a really good game. Brez generally did very well apart from one fuck up in the second half.
Overall, I'm well chuffed and I'm looking forward to Saturday now. 

Well well well. Pook and JPM were both ace today.

I'm literally speechless.

Totally agree with that. At last some battling qualities and hard work for a deserved victory. The midfield did their job well tonight! Well done all.

One slight negative, the defence still doesn't fill me with confidence. Aljofree and Morrison were both vcaught out a couple of times.

Not out the woods yet, but keep going like this and we will be.

Your buddy, the loud one who sits behind me and axs, was virtually silent all game, it was beautiful.

Then they scored and he couldn't keep the glee from his voice as he said "Couldn't do it, just couldn't do it!". Cunt!

On the bright side, fair play Michael Pook, he was ace tonight. Brilliant performance tonight, though on another day Brez's mistakes would've been punished.

As has been said by everyone else Pook was impressive tonight, certainly first half he did much to mask what still looks like a shaky back line. Bloody relieved Brez didn't go - looked to me like he got the ball, but wouldn't have sworn to it and was not at all confident he'd get away with it. Add to that their two misses faced with open goals and it felt like we were finally getting some much-needed luck tonight. Which isn't to deride the performance at all - they all played well tonight and proved that with something to sing about, the fans do get behind the team.

And to add to the "luck" point, we had two go off the angle of the post/bar and another one that if Coxy had got more on, he'd have slotted. It could easily have ended 4-3. And I'm not sure which way. But the better team by a good way won.

Can we start foolishly talking about the play-offs yet?

A BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG improvement on the last 7 or 8 games with lots of positives mainly in an attacking sense.  Paynter and Cox continue to link well and the midfield worked hard. Our defence is still a shambles and we desperately need to sort it out which I think requires a new centre back but at least they put their bodies on the line and showed some guts defending tonight.  Morrison is starting to look jaded but I guess needs must at the moment. You can still see that the rest of the team has very little confidence in the defence and so it affects other areas.

Oldham now becomes the most important match of the season as the players need to prove tonight wasn't a blip and that the tide has turned. If we lose to Oldham then it's back to square one.

Also I think tonight proved that a lot of the bollocks about our support being rubbish is exactly that, bollocks. The players put in a good shift and got support and appreciation from the fans as a result, that's exactly the way it should be and exactly what happened. There is nothing really wrong with our support and it's pretty much the same as every other clubs..... happy when your winning, annoyed when your losing.

Most of their attacks came from the sides of the pitch. I thought the centre backs did ok, especially considering how bad the defence has been this season.

Even Aljofree was trying to give others instructions. I also notice how he didn't do his lameboy stay down injured for a few minutes half a dozen times in one game routine.

I think Aljofree won just about every header going

Shambles is a bit harsh, but they don't inspire confidence. And unfair to pick on Morrison - he's done well for a young kid dumped in the deep end in an underperforming back line and didn't he get the assist for Cox's goal?

:nod: Yup

I agree but I don't think Morrison was especially good tonight and looks tired..........he was letting the ball bounce a lot and there was at times alot of confusion in the box as the ball went between players. Sort the defence and it's back to midtable this season

It's still hard to believe Morrison is only 17. He's been thrown into the deep end this season due to the poor form of the seniors and he's given it a ruddy good go. He's not the greatest and probably could need a rest from first team... But why change a winning line-up :D

Boo! I want to start the unrealistic play-off talk :)

I agree Morrison did look very jaded. Not bad but maybe a yard slower than he is usually.

He'll probably still play Saturday. I thought the defence was ok, the only two heart in my mouth moments were Brez run out (lucky the guy played the ball off Brez!!) and when their guy was through and I just saw Pook lunging in with a tackle, the ref giving a penalty, northampton scoring the penalty and our heads dropping.

Pook got the ball, fucking great tackle.

I'll leave that to the players again......I'm sure they won't disappoint ;) ..............with the comments that is not actually getting to the play-offs.

I was pleasantly surprised that the support wasn't negative - although I did think we were a bit quiet, maybe tense, but I was sat in the arkells - and the players responded. I thought we grew in confidence as the game went on, keeping it tight early on gave us a good spring board and it was a good time to score in the second half, so good I was still holding my weiner on my way back to my seat!

Brez was good apart from two drops late on, as soon as they applied a bit of pressure he found it difficult, but a vast improve nonetheless.

Timlin and smith both did well, smith's distribution let him down at times.

Thought Morrison played well, although they did have a few chances. Aljofree was strong in the air and they battled hard, good effort.

Peacock and Pook were immense - hats off to both.

JP and McNamee still not at their best, but McNamee showed glimpses.

Paynter and Cox worked tirelessly and got the rewards.

As for Malpas, fair play to you tonight mate, tactically we were spot on.

Same Saturday please!

I was in hospitality tonight, sat right behind Jerel and Fitzoy Simpson. To my left was a lady sat on her own, she was so animated and always standing up to the away fans - she kept me entertained all night!

To be honest, I was amazed that I didn't hear one negative word or chant against Malpas all night - which is great! I know we ended up winning, but purely due to the fact that forums, local papers and general opinion is current swamped with "Malpas Out" material, I couldn't believe that there was nothing from anyone around me after going in 0-0 at half time.

I'm hoping that perhaps people are learning that slagging off the team during the game doesn't help - and stuff like that should be left till after the final whistle. The other theory is that the majority of the fans tonight were the season ticket holders, and its the part timers who give most of the stick.....

Timlin and Pook were superb tonight, in fact the whole team were up for this and after 20 minutes or so the crowd got behind the team.
I thought Morrison did ok fatso pushed him around a bit when he came on, Aljofree who said they thought he played well, did he ever win a header, but effort could not fault him.
How the hell did that shot in the first half from McNamee not go in now that would have been some goal. Peacock hitting the bar in the second half, and Cox firing over from close range, it could have been a much bigger score line.
Thoroughly enjoyed the game, get in, and well played lads.

Or the players put in a shift tonight? Just a thought

So confused.

Pook - good game.

JPM - good game.

Timlin at left back - not bad.

us winning at home - bizarre.

I had to buy champagne in the pub to get over it.

oh, and woooohooooooooooo!

Didnt go tonight was driving away and got back too late...is Pook in for the long haul?
Like i said last night...hes got his head down and worked hard...hats off to him.

One game does not change anything.

We need another win on Saturday badly- we have some tough games coming up.

Fair play for tonight but malpas is definately not the answer. Ccannot see us going a winning run. Oldham will be the acid test.

Heard tonight that he has been told he had to get 6 points out of tonight and Saturday....

fucking cheer up you miserable sod, lets worry about Oldham on saturday.

fuck the fuck off you miserable cunting cunt.

Its true

3 points are always welcome- however 1 win does not mean the corner has been turned. As i said Oldham will be the acid test

Oxygen helps us breathe.

I can state the blindingly fucking obvious too.

Do you hope that you are wrong?

Bristol found them easy meat tonight, Oldham are nothing special nor are any other side in the division, Leicester apart.

rain is wet

i think a lot of the moaners stayed away tonight. unfortunately they'll all be back on saturday

no, I saw Bart there tonight.

Are you quoting a song from Carol King, Tapestry?

oh do fuck off Bart.

tonight was enjoyable,get pissed off after Saturday if you must but for fuck sake give a little credit when its due...

you ever come on here and do anything but moan Bart? Are you naive to think any of us think we're out of the woods yet?

Let's just enjoy this while we can, we'll worry about Saturday on Saturday.

It's a start, nothing more, but let's enjoy a win and an enjoyable evening at home, a rarity this season.

Please, until Saturday, fuck off.

In fairness Bart has a point. One win does not a swallow make (or something like that). I thoroughly enjoyed tonight - good(ish) football (for the 3rd division), fans behind the team, plenty of chances, 3 points etc - but it needs to be the start of a consistent run or we're right back on the rollercoaster. And I just want this negative shit to end.

Poor Bart, he is one of us dont you know!! 8)

if you ignore the moany parts of bart's post and the fact he wrote it, there's a point in there somewhere. i didn't go tonight but one win doesn't mean a jot unless we continue in the same vein.

no-one's denying it Paul, but there's a time and a place and immediately after our second home win of the season isn't it.

I'm still not cnvinced by Mo Mo myself eithe, but we won, so lets enjoy. It's the first thing we've had to be positive about in ages, so I'm clinging to it for dear life!

Difference tonight Sonic, you could see the players were up for it, so so difference from previous home games, Malpas showed he was the man definitely in charge on the bench. I believe this is a major turning point in the season.

I'd agree with all that to be fair and having read your post after mine, not for the first time thought "Yeah, that's what I thought". Equally, though, people (including me) are too quick to jump down Bart's throat even when he does have a point. But tonight will keep me happy till the weekend - a win and another performance like that on Saturday and I'll go all happy clappy!

dell: not sure about that, Saturday will tell us if you're right, but Oldham will be better than Northampton.

Pauld: I was dreading going tonight, thinking I couldn't stomach another shite game. But I'm glad I did - even if I did miss the first goal - it's games like tonight that no matter how bad it gets, it makes it worthwhile.

Passionate, half decent performance with players that give a shit, that's all I ask for.

If we lose Saturday we're back to square one, but we're better off now than we were this time five hours ago.

I also agree that sometimes people jump on Bart too quickly, but tonight his ramble is not substantiated. Similarly, while we're sometimes too quick to criticise him, he's too quick to criticise the club.

It doesn't matter if you think Malpas is worse than Andy King, Kim Heiselberg and Richard Dryden put together, we did well tonight. He needs to ackowlegde that.

He bores me, if I'm honest. It's too easy to critise, why not be constructive once in a while? He must be one unhappy son of a bitch.

I'll probably join him Saturday night, but not now.

Bizarrely, I was looking forward to the game tonight - don't know why other than I always enjoy the anticipation of midweek games, and the slightly odd experience tonight of doing a conference call meeting on the M4 on the way to the game (full hands-free, before the road safety crew kick in). Apart from that, agree with all the above, especially the bit in bold

Much better performance tonight. The main difference for me was the players were not hiding like they have been guilty of in the past. Each of them stood up and put in a ballsy performance. The crowd respected that and everything else fell into place.

Yup exactly. Was saying to bhaji boy on the way home that if the players do that and we lose to a better side, sure, we'll be unhappy at the result but at least the opposition would have deserved their win.

We've gifted some teams who have looked average to poor at our place with all 3 points. Stop doing that by playing the way we did today and things will get better, in the stands and on the pitch.

meh! we know tonight means fuck all ,but still...

slag em tomorrow ffs,tonight evreything briefly felt better and I found renewed interest..

I dont buy all this if we lose Saturday we're back square one stuff.

Oldham are a decent side and probably better than us, sure we beat them last season but they had all their strikers injured and had a midfield up front who didnt understand the offside rule.

If on Saturday, we lose, play shite, make sloppy mistakes and gift Oldham goals we'll be back to square one

If on Saturday we lose, play well, put the effort in and make Oldham play bloody well to get their win that to me will still be alright.

Sure we need to the points dont get me wrong but we arent going to win every game and I think deep down we all know and accept that. I just want to compete in all the games and at least give it go.

Although I only listened on the radio to the Southend match what made me feel good about tonight was at Southend we gave a good account of ourselves and we were always in the match. At 1-0 down we were always likely to score and we did. At 2-1 down we were still giving it a go and creating chances.

If some teams come here play well and out play us for their 3 points fair enough. As longs as we show the commitment, desire and effort we did tonight

Hahaha, that's rich coming from you.

Aciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid. *insert raving smiley*

1 comment after the report on the match on the thisis site.  Can you guess what it is?  Yes the old classic 'Malpas Out'.

I really do think some people on that site sit at home completly obssessing about STFC switching between that site, playing football manager where they've 'scored more point than malpas has' so clearly they know better and wanking.  Is that a life?

Now the Rock is back and cooking Oldham wont know whats hit them --- COME ON YOU REDSSSS

Pook played well but is still a cunt.

Did you knock one off when you got home?

I doubt he waited :)

Agree about the midfield 2, work rate was immense. pook was MOTM for me. I really dont rate Nalis, he's a luxury, and has been a large part of the midfield problem for me.  I'd much rather have pook in that kind of form playing. Even his distribution was good by his own low standards.

Paynter and cox worked their arses off too.

Defence was still a bit of a mess at times, but makes life exiting knowing we could conceed at any point from any situation

Pook was immense, considering his first touch was to mis-control it and draw groans from a load of idiots in the Don... well done to the lad.

JP's 2nd half performance was also brilliant. He played like the sort of player i love to see at the town, and it amazed me. More of the same please.

Its football ffs they are bound to groan

Is everyone going to ignore the fact that for the first ten minutes it was all northampton?

Yep. It's called blind optimism.

What did you expect? 90 minutes of complete control? ;)

No one knows if this is the "turning point" or a rare win.... Yet.

Ok, my thoughts....

We started very slow, Cobblers were better for the first 15 mins but we slowly but surely took control of the game and then dominated until late in the 2nd half when Cobblers changed their formation to 4-3-3 and then 3-4-3, then they started looking dangerous, up until that point they showed little threat. We were still not right at the back, I thought Aljofree had an average game but did well in the air, but thought Morrison did well, especially 2nd half. Timlin had a quality game considering he is a central midfielder playing left back.

Never thought I would say this but Pook was different class, biting in on the tackles and putting himself about, something we have been missing, MOTM IMO closely follwed by Paynter who covered every blade. Macca did OK but was snuffed out by their right back who had a decent game. Cox as well gave his usual 100% effort and could have had a hatrick, but his finishing was not up to his usual standards on the night.

From where I was sitting I didn't think it was a foul by the keeper, took the ball IMO, but it seems that everyone else seems to think it was a foul, so I won't argue the point, but then again I didn't think it was a foul by the right winger on Macca and everyone else around me seemed to think it was, so maybe my eyes just weren't working right last night!

Well deserved win on the night, but still not convinced by the defence or the Manager TBH, papering over the cracks is what I got from the performance last night, hopefully I'm wrong and we will go on a 10 match unbeaten run now.

The whole team chased and harried without the ball, and used it much better when they got it. Pook was immense, that tackle from behind looked a certain penalty, don't know how he got the ball. He made all the difference in CM, where Nalis has been weak and not energetic, and his passing was very reasonable. Where is Fatbury, they're not laughing now! ( Or are they?)
The first game I enjoyed since Tranmere, if only they would work that hard every week. Timlin played very constructively from LB, out of position but still better than the alternatives IMO. Only one game yes, but I have to credit Malpas for good decisions and performance.

Malpas did well yesterday, he should have taken Jack Smith off when he brought Corr on, Smith was definitely struggling and Northampton scored, luckily for us it was nearly the last kick.

For ten minutes of the Huddersfield game it was all us yet you quite blatantly chose to ignore that.

So yes, I am. Miserable fucker :D

haha fair point. Im not going to go overboard with how well we played though, we still defended like a bunch of spanners at times

I don't agree, and it isn't your generic groan... and it's only when certain players do it. Morrison already receives a bit when he doesn't quite connect with a clearance etc. MacNamee shanks yet another cross into the Town End, and it gets virtually ignored in comparison.

of course it was all northampton for the first 10 minutes, they're unbeaten in five and high in confidence and we're not... the fact we turned it round is even more impressive, no?

Still, Oldham will be a lot tougher. Like DV said, as long as we perform and work hard again, I would still see that as progress, even if we get beat... We have a really tough few games coming up, so anything we can pick up on Saturday would be a bonus.

I enjoyed the Dutch Tv crew they were my best bits of the night

???

I am illegal, i shouldnt be on tv as i shouldnt be here!
You fucking nutter.

Highlight for me was having a piss in the merlin and your standing in front of the mirror giving it all this "im a sexy cunt" bollocks.

Met Dell too, top bloke

Weren't they German?

Not in the loo in front of the mirror I might add.

It was nice to meet you too Tans.

Hmm, I watched a different game last night because I thought Pook was average at best.  We absolutely deserved a win, and by more, but there were still clear signs of problems at the back and lack of ability to get on the ball and control it when we were in front.  Aljofree is really beginning to annoy me now because Peacock had to take on the responsibility for rallying the troops when needed, or to dish out some organisational advice when that was needed - often to the back 4.
Nice to feel like a win was always on the cards though.

Rob I  agree about Aljofree, he is not captain, cant agree about Pook, we haven't had a midfielder who has been prepared to roll up his sleeves all season, every successful team has a battler, do you remember Nobby Styles?
Loads of work to do I agree, but after five home defeats it was one hell of an improvement and on the very optimistic side, lady luck has still not come to our aide yet this season, with a bit of luck it could have been five, soon an opposing keeper will drop a bollock and those shots that keep hitting the woodwork will go in.

Hang on... I don't recall Pook being anywhere close to being a 'battler' before last night.

Pook is in last chance saloon at Swindon, with all respect he has to roll his sleeves up because no other fucker wanted/wants him!

He's done well and I applaud him... But let's not pretend he was an essential cog in the midfield in the past.

Oh and Happy Birthday Michael Pook!

Not getting carried away with him, but last night he was not average ... he has done exceptionally well to come out and play after not being involved, not even on the bench for 12 games this season.
Maybe the kick up the arse he needed, heres hoping he continues in the same form.

pooks always been a battler.just the passing going astray and dwelling in possession of the ball has let him down in the past.
i deffo think he is a bit underated by some fans but am not convinced either that he is an upper div 1 quality player.at the moment we aint that so good for him to have played well last night.
he's too good for non league imo.

Who scored then? Can't be arsed to trawl back through the thread.

Cox & Paynter.

Giles Coke for Northampton right at the end.

Oh. Good lads.

Except for that Giles numpty.

Cheers.

I thought that it came off Jack Smith's left boot? Well it seemed to from were I was sat in the DR stand - that and the look on Smith's face as he turned away. Suppose I'll have to sit through 15 minutes of cat/tree filler on Points West to find out for sure.

He got some good, important tackles in and has a good engine. We aren't kidding ourselves, we know his limitations in playing the ball. But credit where credit is due.

I'd give Timlin MOM though.


Agreed, he and JPM did all the talking/organising. They did the captains job one might say.

Good to hear that Timlin did well at LB.

Credit must surely go to MM for this as it seems as smart move from him.

Timlin did a lot of the talking and went over to the bench for instruction a lot.

True. So what we are saying is everyone talks, except the captain!

its good to talk

I noticed a few times that insructions got passed on and players were there seemingly bewildered - at one point Peacock was holding shrugging his shoulders after being given instructions seemingly bemused.

I mus tsay though I was surprised with the sub at the end we are winning the game want to close it out and MM brings on Corr for Macca and moved Paynter to wide midfield where he immediately drifts in field, surely as he had 2 defensive options on the bench it would have been better brining one of them on for a few mins to to ensure we stayed tight.

Crdit where it is due though, before the game I was not impressed thinking of Timlin at LB, but although not fantastic he done a decent job there playing in an alien position to him.

To me it seems logical that Malpas brought Corr on to counter Northampton's tactics. They'd not long gone 3-4-3, by bringing another striker on means they have to drop a defender back in to mark the extra man.

yeah, but we've got to have a moan about something havent we?

We won.

I'm happy.

End of.

Getting well pissed off with this. Aljofree seems to get it on some sort of status thing. But he only concentrates on his own performance.

Why is Aljofree automatic captain? Its a piss take.

I did enjoy last night though. We actually looked a bit up for it.

Evening Advertiser had Aljofree as mom, don't disagree with it although I thought there were several candidates last night.

Pook and jpm for me, aljofree didn't clap the fans again but fuck him.

I think for me personally Timlin just shaded it but I think part of that is due to the fact he was playing out of position.

Pook & Paynter ran him close though

Paynter got my MotM, as I stated earlier. Mainly because he had an all round good game.

I think it's great that different players have stood out for different people. At least the award didn't go to someone simply because they were less crap than the other players.

Some quality debate on here today. I hope the players read this shit and realise that we'll back them every time if they do their fucking job!

I don't know how the advertiser gave MOM to Aljofree. He had a much more consistent game by his own recent rank standards, but MOM? As what others have said, he's quiet as fuck the whole game and deffo looks like he's playing for himself. All this petulant shit about not clapping the fans after a match just makes him look like a cunt. He needs to fucking grow up and put the barracking / abuse behind him. Fucks sake, surely those actions alone should lead to Malpas ditching him as captain and to give the armband to someone who looks like he gives a real fuck about the TEAM. The Cock would wear it with some fucking pride, no mistake!