Thetownend.com

I'm gonna say 3-0. Goals from Kerrouche, Connell and Jervis.

Crowd of 7,104

0-1 and disappointment all around

Their home record is awful conceding 17 but away only 5 with 3 of those at Shrewsbury, a team good going forward like us.

5-1 with a 7,053 crowd.

Fucking hate hereford

4-0 Jervis 2, Ritchie 2

2-0. Kerrouche and Ritchie.

5-0. Not over confidence as I think we'll lose the next two away games.

Have a bet with one of my customers in Hereford so we better win or I'll not be able to show my face for a while like I did with my Oxford based one's. 5-1 

3-1. Even I'm confident today.

I've had a bad feeling about this game all week, no idea why.

6-0 Ritchie will score 4 and Jervis the other 2

7400 att.

0-0

I'll go 2-0.

win by at least 3 goals

Hereford are on a shit run with only 1 league win and 3 away draws and are 2nd bottom, cant string 2 passes together and are one of the worst teams in the league.

Therefore I predict a 1-0 defeat because they will come good against us as all the shit sides do.

6,414 crowd with 184 Bulls-shitter fans.

There should be no excuses for anything other than a victory.

Hereford have 14 fit players and their gk coach in net. If we don't win this, we have issues.

They're shit so we'll lose, 1-2.

Wonder why Dean.


 :D.....memories are made of this,i wont be there due to 30 odd stitches in the wrong place :eek:3-0 Swindon with a brace from Kerrouche and Jerky Jervis with the other.

In an ever changing world, it's good to know there are some constants....

You had stitches in Oxford? :D

Close 2-0 win
Ferry and Jervis scoring

I reckon it will be a win, but probably by the odd goal.

Don't suppose they will bring many, probably 200 ish

2-1 defeat.

I fully expect us to destroy them so I'm going for 4-1. No doubt it'll end as 0-0

Ferry will not play  :no:

they will bring at least 500 they hate us  ;D

Looking at their defencive record away from home I can only see a narrow win. But I doubt they've been down to 14 players for all that time.

3-1

4-1 Town. Hereford always bring a decent following to us - agree more like 500 than 200.

Given their away record and the likelihood that they are going to be defensive I'm going for 1-0 with a frustrating afternoon and a late goal from Ritchie.  I'm usually wrong however so we will probably stuff them 5-0.

Definately my last game at the CG so am looking forward to a 3-0 win.

Remember the first time I saw us play Hereford - they were the plucky underdogs in an FA Cup game which I think we won 3-1? We should have the same expectations for today's game - there's not excuse for anything less than three points.

I'm predicting 1-1.

They have an average home gate of about 1,600 no way will they bring 500 to the CG, they don't give a fuck about us and most wont pay the expensive entrance fee, I can't see there being more than 200 max.

Popped a cheeky 15-0 into the prediction league.

I never knew about Russell Hoult being a naughty boy, lets hope he gets back ache today from picking the ball out of the net a lot of times today.


And I thought Graham Rix was bad!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article29516.ece

Our match preview: http://thewashbag.com/2011/10/07/match-preview-swindon-v-hereford-united/

3-1 and we hit the woodwork 3 times and miss a sitter  :doh:

4-0 win.  One will be scored after Hoult gets distracted by a Rockette warming up on the sidelines.

A comfortable victory today.

4-0 De Vita with two, Connell and J Smith

3-0

Swindon Town v Hereford: Lanzano; Caddis (Capt), Devera, McCormack, Cibocchi; Ritchie, Ferry, J Smith, De Vita; Jervis, Kerrouche
From Twitter.


I think we'll win.

2-0 Kerroche scoring both.

1-1 caddis for us

Full team -

Swindon Town: Mattia Lanzano; Paul Caddis (Capt), Joe Devera, Alan McCormack, Alessandro Cibocchi; Matt Ritchie, Simon Ferry, Jonathan Smith, Raffaele De Vita; Jake Jervis, Mehdi Kerrouche

Substitutes: Leigh Bedwell (GK), Alan Connell, Ahmed Abdulla, Liam Ridehalgh, Lukas Magera

3-0 win.

Yay, Juddy is on again.  If you're at the match can we have a nice looud chorus of Juddy is a wanker.  Thankyou.

Would like to think we can hammer these fucker-but will go for 2-0 Swindon
     COME ON YOU REDS :clap:

Who is the commantator?

GOAL!

De vita!

Yes come on :smugfu: :smugfu: :smugfu:

Woooooooooop!

Gabilondo will be fed up

Get in.

I stand by my earlier tweet - wouldn't have picked De Vita today!!

Great start though and fair play to the lad. Let's have a few more!

Well played Raffa.

Much as I'm a fan of Gabilondo, I can't complain about De Vita keeping him out of the side at the moment.

Town signed De Vita to score goals so it's good that he's chipping in.

YOU REDS.

Boo. Constable puts Pox ahead against Wovers.

Has there really been nothing worth mentioning in the past 10 - 15 mins?

Coming to life a bit now... Karrouche just wide after great work by Caddis, and then a chance for Jervis defended well

I had a piss.

Did it smell of sugar puffs?

No, of piss!

Southend goal, Timlin assist (of sorts)

According to the Twitter site, it seems we are all over them but can't score.

2-0. The Algerian is on fire.

Kerrouche is on fire!

whoop whoop

Yessssssssssssssssss 2-0 come on Swindon ;D ;D ;D

Kerrouche is on flames!

I'll admit, I'm a little bit in love with Mehdi Kerrouche.

Just had a txt from the CG, apparently that goal was awesome, fact.

The man on sky said it was a quality finish.

Although he did sound like he was on a phone from 1953 so wasn't the easiest to hear.

We are playing very well and passing the ball brilliantly, could be a few more goals in the 2nd, fingers crossed.

if we can learn to do the same away, we're going to have a good season. Its a bit of an if at the moment though.

Anyway, lets enjoy the lead/win!

Keroooosh!    :clap:

Ifil sent off for Kidderminster.

2-0 half time, very pleased with that so far, more to come? we can but hope, we need to learn to kill off teams when we are dominating.

Kettering? ;)

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live/tables/cc_league2.html

8th based on current results.

Solid performance from the Town.

Have passed the ball well, without really creating that many chances.

By far the better team,  without really having to get out if second gear.

Good to hear we are two up.

Just so you know, I've finally joined the digital age and installed my new Panasonic 37" 3D LED, Freeview and Freesat built in. Connected the ethernet port so can now get the Footy League show on iPlayer. Not connected Freesat as I need a new mini dish, it's pointing at the ground at the mo, all rusted through

Chance after chance here... let's hope we take one soon!

Otherwise that might happen

Cuthbert scores for Orient.

Hereford score with their first shot.

How the fuck did we let that happen-COME ON SWINDON :badmood:

Oh dear! Bad one to lose or draw!!!

Fuck me we get some shit refs, but this one is probably the worst we have had

Magera on for Kerrouche
Ridehalgh on for Cibbocchi

Decent attendance: 7,456 (251 from Hereford)

Elsewhere, Accrington have pulled it back from 2-0 to 2-2 despite only having ten men... Desperate times at Plymouth

2-2

No fucking way

For fucks sake Swindon-sort this shit out

Dear, dear, dear, dear,dear!

Arquin of all people!

Useless cunts!

3-2! Ferry!

Yippee!!

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-come on Ferry ;D

Fucking ridiculous. Take your fucking chances swindon otherwise this will happen, Hereford are shit this will be a terrible result if it stays the same way

Relieved more than anything

he says, just after we retake the lead ;)

WTF, disappear for 10 mins and they get two? Get in Ferry

Won't be too bad if its 3-2!

NO MORE FUCKING GOALS PLEASE.

Oops jumped the gun a bit  :D

*..unless they are for the home team.

Clarke scores again.

Good day for Magera to get off the mark.

Oh dear-who long to go?

What a joke.

3-3

FFS 3-3

faggots

4 mins added time

SHIT

Oh.

Poor.

Fair play to Hereford.

Oh my.

Oh dear. Think I might go and get an HDMI cable, bye,bye

We cant beat even the real shit teams ?

We just cant kill off teams when we are in command.

Hereford had scored just 4 goals before today.

Flint back for next game. Sounds like 2 goals from crosses from Hereford.

Two away games coming up. Needed to beat the worst team in the division and failed.

We've drawn, it's done...

Crawley and Southend are both 9 points ahead of us now. Two teams we showed our class against. What a joke.

BBC Points West reporting we drew 3-3 with Barnet today.

Fucktards.

We may as well have done!

Bunch of cunts.

That's all I have to say

Unbelievable

Just shows how much of a fuck the BBC really give about the quality of their sports news.

Glad I went to work instead now

Word...

Was the third goal for Hereford as bad as i was told!!??

Here comes Paolo...

"Mama mia, i told them they were a big side and not to give away the silly freekicks"... how about you play your tallest, biggest, and best centre back you fucking moron.

He's testimg my patience, the fucking idiot.

Just got back and I just can't believe at half time we were in so much control and it turned on a lucky cross which went in. I hate blaming the Ref but this game was ridiculous, how he didn't give a penalty is frankly incredible Kerrouche was just pushed off the ball before he could shoot. That last freekick was completely the wrong decision the Hereford player was backing into Magera and pulling his shirt down. Still very annoyed, Hereford were poor. It is strange why Flint isn't playing

I did my best...

- We didn't play a good game
- In the first half I told the players I didn't like the atmosphere around them, we were too quiet
- We should have won anyway, especially after getting the third goal
- We shouldn't have given free kicks away like we did
- The players are very down, which should be a good signal as it shows we think we're better than this
- We didn't take chances and Hereford deserved to take something out of the game
- At the end of the first half I wasn't happy because the tempo wasn't high, we weren't winning rebounds, we weren't nasty enough to win the second ball
- Even early in the second half there were 5 or 6 players who deserved to come off
- Talked about Jervis being young a lot. He did well Tuesday but today wasn't good enough off the ball (not that he didn't work hard)
- 1st goal was a bit of a fluke. No challenge for the 2nd. Defender (Jervis) in the wrong place (for the cross?) for the 3rd
- We need to defend higher and man-to-man, instead of dropping deep when we're under pressure
- We have to learn a lot from today - it's a step back for our mission
- They played better than us and deserved their point
- Simon Ferry did well in the middle but as a team you have to realise you didn't play well when it ends 3-3 with a team second from bottom

I'm bored now.

Maybe because we have won the last 5 out of six without him. :hmmm:

Routine should have been the word of the day. And 2-0 after 45 minutes it was, the only downer being we should have had more with Jervis and Karrouche both guilty.

Hereford scored a lucky one in the second half and we totally lose momentum. That combined with our again exposed Achilles heel of being incompetent at defending  dead balls and we managed to undo what could and should have been 3 points.

Not sure who to be angry at really. Smith and Cibocchi looked to have knocks so had to be subbed. Not sure he took the right forward off either, but that doesn't stop us defending.

On the upside, Ferry's goal was a  quality team goal.

Fuckin' football.

Hmmm.

Feels like a defeat although that was quite possibly the worst refereing performance I have ever seen.

He wasn't great, but it was a long way from the worst I've seen.

Yes McCormack has played well but we've conceded two goals from crosses today some more height in the defence would of help.

To be fair we've been shit at defending dead balls all season, with or without Flint.

I feel like I've been kicked 3 times simultaneously in the nuts after those goals today!We played some great stuff again but it's a results business and being 2-0 up we should (emphasis here) have won the game!...The turning point for me was one shot Hereford had after about 60 mins that went into the Stratton Bank, it seemed to shock our back 4, we lost momentum, they gained it and 2-2 we were....did the right thing again getting 3-2 up but didnt do the hard work and see the game out!...I'm so frustrated feels like a loss, but it isn't!ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FML STFC

this isn't far off exactly how i feel

Well, well, what an absolute throwaway of 2 points.  2-0 up and coasting and then we have a stonewall penalty not given.  Su :Dddenly Hereford seem to sense we've taken our foot off the gas and pull a goal back from a set piece and we're all over the place.  It was inevitable they were then going to equalise, which is exactly what happened.  We then stepped up a gear got back in front and fucked it up again.  Stupid free kick given away by Magera and we're done again by a free kick.

Caddis and Ritchie didn't play particularly well today, but nobody had a really awful game.  Personally I would have left Kerrouche on, but the other subs were forced by injury, so couldn't really be helped.  Abdullah was disappointing and could have cleared the ball instead of faffingaround which cost the second goal.  The long and short was that we failed to put the game to bed, albeit the ref didn't help our cause in the second half.

Somehow it feels as bad as a defeat and on that showing, we won't be turning round our dire away form at Accrington or Plymouth.  Too many continual team changes isn't helping string a decent run together.  No doubt several of the players who started today won't start next game.  And one last thing, is Flint still not fit or just out of favour?

This feels more like a defeat than a draw.

Today I hate football.

Me too. PDC's player selections are doing my head in. Most of his foreign legion are pants (except Kerrouche). Is Lanzano the worst keeper to ever play for us? I can't remember anyone worse in 25 years of watching Town.

Jimmy Glass?

Lanzano certainly races off his line a bit quickly and flaps at the ball.


I thought Cibocchi did OK today.

Rhys Evans ;)

I cannot believe Lanzano hasn't been mentioned he is truly a awful goalkeeper. He nearly always drops crosses coming towards him. Yes the defending for the goals were shit but they were all savable, with a half decent goalkeeper it would of been comfortable.

Edit: well he has been mentioned now, I would have Rhys Evans with open arms. We always seem to lose while conceding very few shots.... Wonder why?

Is this the first quiet call on the TEF for a new manager?

Lanzano fills fans and players with dread. He's shown himself to be an awful goalkeeper in his 6/7 games so far. Getting a keeper in this week would be a top priority for me if i was manager. Di Canio is the manager though so he's probably dreaming up ways of keeping Flint out of side and Abdulla in it!!

Correct but he has picked the defenders that have done ok recently.
No doubt you and others would have slated the manager for changing the defence if he had started with Flint and we had lost,.....he gets slated when he tinkers and he gets slated when he dosn't.
Sometimes it is up to the players to show some balls,2-0 up you should win v Hereford with a midget in defence.
Its a point,a dozen matches in i am happy if not elated with the start PDC has made...looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way to go yet.

Fucking spot on.

Bad day at the office, move on, next game.

Caddis at fault for 2 goals today but you morons still have a pop at team selection.Said it elsewhere but i am more fucked off with our fans than performances at the moment. i understand todays frustration but the same old cunts are here again ready to gloat. this place in my opinion has hit an all time low and is now on par with thisis

Are you on the blob?

Yep and just talked to a mate who went and he told me that Lanzano had no chance or was at fault for any of the goals?
I was stuck at home resting the stitched up groin ::),so cannot comment but he seems to think he had no chance with all three,so why knock him :hmmm:

That said i can understand people's frustrations,we have beaten the leaders easy in Crawley and Southend,should be beating Hereford.

Another forum account deleated. I give it 7 days.

Looks like DRS has had enough and deleted his account.

Caddis could have done better to prevent the cross for their second, but how was he at fault for any of them?

Unfortunately today's fuck up, puts the spotlight firmly on the next two matches....2 defeats and I'd suggest di Canio will come under a bit of pressure....we need to start picking up some battling points on the road, even if it's ugly. Accrington has all the the ingredients for another defeat....so a draw would be good.  Argyle, unless the impending sale gives them some sort of impetus, really shouldn't be beating us...Accrington showed even with 10 men enough to get a point from 2 down....

I see DRS's point and I agree with him.

If we win, people are happy. When we lose, the same people are quick to whine and moan. There's never any balance, it's either happy joy joy or slit your wrists time.

I miss arriba.

Dead right Reg,both matches will be real dogfights.

Reckon Boo thought it was shocking. Roll on the 29th we'll win then  ;)

Easily. Utterly shit. What exactly is he supposed to be good at?

You obviously missed the two outstanding saves he made at Exeter to give us the win....was he at fault for the goals today then?

Let's hope di Canio can find some rotweillers amongst his chihuahuas.

I'd rather have Evans and Glass than Lanzano.

I fucking hate those little cunts

Thats a shame....

Who's going to be the new agony aunt? I nominate DMR

Drs was wearing a snood today :D

I would rather have Evans than a Glass of Lanzano.

It is, but what kind of reaction did he expect to see straight after a game that we threw a 2-0 lead away?

It takes some people a day or two to get balance. Myself included.

I was there at Exeter and missed 2 outstanding saves ;) he actually did play alright at Exeter even though he was bouncing around like Tigger on steroids.

Not the worst Swindon keeper but well down the bottom of the list, Tony Warner was a fucking appalling keeper, Alistair Sperring was a different class of badness, Nicky Hammond was never much better than him, Richard Key...well out of his depth in league football.

We do need a commanding keeper at the back who has communication skills and can help organize the defence.

But I am with DRS its all either great or shit, theres no inbetween with our fans.

Agree. We cheer when we win and moan when we lose. It doesn't mean we don't all love the club. It's the same at every club in the world and always will be.

It's the dramatic swing between the two though. And the distinct lack of balance.

So can someone tell me what he did wrong today,was he at fault for the goals,was his kicking shit,because the reports i got was that he played really well at Exeter.

Caught before the edit  ;) I take my emotions to football, rather than take it out on the family. If we win I'm a happy bunny, but lose I'm completely irrational!

All I've seen today is questions of whether we need a new keeper and where Flint is.

Can't honestly see the point at all. He mentioned Caddis being at fault should be the main talking point instead, but from my seat in the DRS there were two shit set piece goals that I couldn't see who was supposed to be marking the scorers or what Caddis did wrong. Still its easier to throw a hissy fit, moan about "morons" and delete an account than explain yourself I suppose.

Anyway, if someone could write up a TEF charter on acceptable levels of criticism/praise I'm sure we'll all comply.

What a disappointing day.

We were pretty shit all game but in the first half Hereford were even worse so we got 2-0 ahead. I thought Kerrouche's goal was a pretty smart turn, and De Vita was better in the air for the first goal than either of the other forwards - why can none of our strikers time threr jumps?

I don't have a particular problem with the starting 11 but PDC's subs benches sometimes seem to lack balance. If PDC knew we might be a bit on the short side, surely have Flint on the bench to shore things up if need be. 2 strikers on the bench is a bit of a luxury when you only have 5 subs.

Ref and linesman on the arkells side were dire - the linesman could have helped the ref with the penalty decision, but when do they ever flag for anything these days?

Oh - and I thought Cibocci was absolutely shite.

No goals were Lanzanos fault yet he is getting he most abuse. A bit silly isn't it , caddis at fault for two yet receives no stick. Its not he end of the world, in January last year Stevenage were 18th and went up still. Everyone stay by Paolo and have faith !

Why doesn't Ricthie ever get to play on the left? Hereford right back looks crap and we could've taken more advantage on the left.

What a load of shit can't believe today's performance. Went swimming with my 9 month old, come back check the score 2-0 to the good, go for an afternoon nap, wake up and 3-3. Just not good enough.

Whats pissed me off more than today's result is Don Rogers Shop leaving the forum. One of only a few who's opinion I value.

Well if that is the case the lets get on Lanzano's back brigade need a reality check,far as i can see Burton aside he has done a sound job.
If he wasn't at fault for any goals today then the abuse he is getting is out of order to be honest.

Oh well each to there own i suppose.

No fucking way - are you serious trying to tell me us winning makes people happy and us losing doesnt?

The reason the responses and after thoughts are one extreme to the other is because our results are exactly that - one extreme to the other. Our results have either been fantastic or embarrassing.

Well I feel different.....

Lanzano was at fault for the first - I think if he got a hand to it (which he did) he should have been strong enough to tip it over - it really wasn't travelling that quickly....

The second and third - which I am sure everyone would agree were more or less carbon copies...either you need a keeper that will come and try to win everything and be big and imposing - or you need a centre half (like Shaun Taylor) who will come and win everything for you.....

Unfortunately we had neither today - and that for me is what PDC needs to sort quickly - we are good going forward and on the whole good at the back - but there is a glaring gap that if we do not sort out we will go nowhere in this division - there are too many teams who have a big man up front that we need to start dealing with....  

When we lined up for what became their third goal, the guy behind me said for fuck's sake, our smallest player is marking their no. 4, said it all really.  We are shit at defending deep crosses, Flint must play again soon.  Saw him arrive at the ground today in his new merc with personalised number plates, and what a scruffy fucker he looked!!

Who cares about the football? I got my new Simon Ferry chant going, that's good enough for me.

big fucker as well!


Which was....?

How does it go ?

Lanzano ain't a bad shot stopper, however he needs to.command his defence better

Inclined to agree, and the closest we have to Shaun Taylor at the mo(for the benefit of sheepshagger)

Fucking hell and people wonder why some are put off this forum!  I don't value anyone's opinion on here, that's the fair way of doing things.

I don't like Lanzano and feel we need a decent 1st choice keeper, but he isn't the reason we didn't win today.  

Our best Centre Half was sat in the stands whilst we struggled to deal with high balls into the box  in a strong wind, against big Centre forwards.

McCormack being able to stand in at Centre Half is a real bonus, but he should only be a stand in when the recognised players in that position are unavailable. He is just too short to play that position week in week out.

I'm a bit concerned about what's going on with Flint, possibly more so because during PDC's post match radio interview the interviewer didn't even touch on Flint's possible return to the 1st team, even when PDC had spoken about knowing we were lacking in height today.  Have they been told not to ask about him?

It's that shit Barbera Striesand song. We just sing the tune and say Simon Ferry instead of Barbera Striesand :D

Agree with sheepshagger.
I think I'm coming to the realisation that we are just a mid table Div 4 side. We're easy on the eye at times but so fucking naive at set pieces. A decent team would have killed that game off today - we aren't. We're great in patches but equally dreadful at other times. As soon as Hereford got the first we went to pieces and never got it back.
I'm not convinced we can string a decent run together. I've not seen a decent team in this league yet.
Football fucking stinks and I'm now hitting the ale. Back when pissed.

I like Flint, and when he has played this season he has generally been very good.

But if anyone actually believes that Flint coming back will suddenly result in us being much better defensively I think they must have very short memories.

Don't forget he was in the team that lost 4 on the trot earlier in the season, of which most of the goals conceded were from set pieces.

As for today, we may not have been fantastic, but we should have been capable of seeing the game out.

The foul on Kerrooooossh in the box looked a stonewall penalty from where I was, but I have a feeling the ref wasn't looking, and there was a clear push on Abdulla in the build up to their first goal. That said it wasn't the bald twat that conceded the goals

How much of our inconsistency do you think is down to the players ability compared with how much of  our inconsistency is down to inconsistent team selection?

Its a point thats been done to death (please no one delete and leave) but I think Di Canio needs to decide on his best XI and pick them every week.

Its one of the few things Wilson did well here. January-June in our play off season the team practically picked itself and looked all the better for it.

Makes a change

Okay, he was badly positioned for all three goals. He got both hands on the first two but the direction of the ball didn't change. A decent keeper would have pushed the ball around the post - even Smith.

Agree on a settled side DV, it's just what's the best eleven that's open to question

All I have to add is the Ref's a fucking twat! Night x

I am personlly 50/50 on his opinion. Sometimes I greed, sometimes I didn't.

It would be good if all the gylords who got in a pissy over the last 6 months would just come back and be cunts agin.

Cunts mke this forum wht it is.

My "a" button seems to be not working...

On a positive note, I beat rockin Robin at a game of slaps

I think its more to do with not having a leader at the back or in midfield. When things are going well the players look good, when things are going badly they look bad. I don't think any of us know what an average performance is from our players. yet. I don't think we've got anyone who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. For the oldies - a McHale or Kamara. We also don't have a dominant force in defence - Aizlewood, Taylor etc. After the first goal Hereford upped the tempo and we couldn't live with it.
The team selection leaves us frustrated but how must the players feel. If you drop from the team, you'd normally expect a place on the bench but that doesn't seem to happen.
I also have concerns about 3 loan players - and possibly a 4th as we need a keeper.
At this moment and maybe the beer will chill me, I'm having doubts about DiCanio. After each game its always about learning but we had him saying he'd train defending set pieces but we haven't leared. We can't kill games off. We've got a fucking massive squad - the envy of others in our league - but he has signed some absolute shite.
I think the spat with Clarke was pathetic - you signed the cunt knowing what he was like and at the first sign you've alienated him forever - same as Timlin.
Going public about diving may not have helped Kerrouche today or maybe its the fact he goes down all the time and rolls over a few times for dramatic effect.
Also, I can't see where the legendary fitness thing is coming from - Hereford finished far stronger than us today and they're not the first.
While I'm at it can they stop playing that fucking Italian music before the game. It was fun for a couple of games now it just irritates the fucking tits off of me.
I'm beginning to get a bit fucked off with the PdC circus.
Now its beer time and I can get my PdC beer goggles on again and dream of glory

This is  good point.

In the PL you might get wy with picking plyers from the squad to combat formtion, prticular plyers etc but in Div4 you might struggle.

Lets have a few weeks of settled first eleven unless we really have to change.

fucking fluff

He was badly positioned for the goals because each time he started to come forward, thought better of it and retreated so he wasn't balanced properly.  He is just a bit too eccentric for my taste.

Oh yeah, and it was nice to meet Notts Red today.

I think that's entirely understandable.  Wasn't at the game today (getting regular score updates brought to me by the wife) so haven't commented on the game itself.  But one thing that did occur to me after getting the final score - and it was for the first time this season - is that we may just need to give Paolo a second season to learn the ropes.  I'm still hopeful that simply by having greater resources at our disposal than is normal for this division, we'll have an advantage that will eventually tell and that we'll go up.  And, of course, there's also the possibility that our hastily cobbled together squad will suddenly click after 3 or 4 months of acclimatisation and storm the league during the second half of the season.

But...there's a chance it may take a little longer.  Failure to go up this season will, in a number of ways, be inadequate.  But there's also a chance that PDC may take a full season to learn the ropes...and then have a cracker in 2012/13.  I'm biding my time...and, unless it's clear his temperament just isn't right for the job, will not be calling for the axe if we narrowly miss out this year.

That's my current thinking, anyway.

New keyboard time

Paolo said after the game that he was forced to change things around once Smith had to come off. My argument would be  the choice of subs/squad. If Flint was at least on the bench then surely it would be a case of moving Alan back into the centre of midfield  and Flint straight back into the centre of defence. I know it's easy to pick up on these issues now but it doesn't make any sense to me not to have Flint at least on the bench.

Not being able to defend set pieces - or see a game out has been happening to us for years. Its certainly not a new thing Di Canio has bought with him.

I'd like to think managers have tried to sort it out in the past but sometimes all the coaching in the world wont stop players switching off.

As you (and the whole forum probably no) I am a firm believer in the experienced, captain defensive leader. Comazzi was supposed to be that player, he done ok at it but not brilliant. McCormack has come in done well in some games and badly in others. Our defence looks decent last time we were here with Adi Williams and later on Jamie Vincent at the heart of it.

Please no one delete their account and leave but you just have to look at our defence pre-greer, with greer, post greer to see how much that leader is needed.

McCormack could be the man to lead in midfield - but in order to do so he probably needs to have a regular partner. Again, our play off season - the team was made up of partnerships. Greer/Cuthbert, Amankwaah/JPM, Ferry/Douglas, Austin/Paynter and even to a lesser extented Sheehan/Ward. This season all we have is Caddis/Ritchie.

I still think Timlin is capable of doing a job for us but obviously something went on there.

Sometimes Di Canio clearly speaks before he thinks. Not always a bad thing but the whole diving/small dog thing seemed like something that didnt need to go public.

Same.  I'm disappointed and frustrated, because we were coasting along at 2-0, should have ben winning by more but failed to put the game to bed and paid for it.  The situation not made any more bearable by the fact that prior to today's game, Hereford had scored a grand total of 4 goals!

Cheers Wiggy, nice to meet you and your lad too. Whilst in the CGH today picking up a shirt I was wondering how many of you would of been in there as I wouldn't have a clue. Also agree with Chalkie about squad rotation. It seems that players are going from starting for a couple or more games and doing ok to not even being in the match day squad and vice versa.

I wonder how much of the squad rotation thing is Paolo trying to justify having so many players.

On the bright side I have 4 bottles of Thwaites Tavern Porter to drown my sorrows with.

Paolo also said that at corners and set pieces the players should be man marking and not zone defending, to me that would suggest we are lacking in height if playing against bigger opponents as it would be very difficult to pick up all the bigger/ taller men. Joe is probably at present are biggest regular defender and he isn't exactly big.

Exactly, he should have been there for cover purposes.  What if Devera or McCormack had picked up an injury?  I'm feeling a little bit like CS in terms of the PDC circus.  Di Canio needs to get over this alienation of players and pick the team that are best suited to the opponents.

His comments after the game about having a biq squad and being able to make changes for the next game worry me to be honest.  The squad is too bloody big and gives him too many options to chop and change.  

Anyone know where Kennedy was today?  Is he injured or another victim of being dropped from playing literally every game to not even making the bench?

Kennedy was sat in front of me with his LA flat cap on, he looked like he was going onto the X Factor tonight !

Do you sit in the Arkells?  I find it quite strange the players who aren't in the squad don't all sit together?  Nathan Thompson was behind me right towards the back of the Arkells.  Aden Flint was further forward behind the executive seats.  I'm sure in previous seasons, they've all tended to sit together?

Agree Jo, sounds like he is quite happy to keep rotating the team/squad around so although some of us find it frustrating it doesn't sound like things are going to change anytime soon. I am fully behind Paolo by the way but am just wanting us out of this bloody league.

On the subject of Flint, again, before the game Vic was saying that he spoke to PdC about Flint playing and PdC said he will play when he sees fit and will not rush him back(!) into the side and that he hopes to turn mcCormack into a centre back full time.

He (PdC) also said that he does not think that Ferry and McCormack can play together in midfield.

Make of that what you will.

Yes I sit in the Arkells on the edge of the posh seating. ( quite often in the seats, their padded ! ) a lot of the players sit around this area aswell, Phil Smith was sat near Kennedy but not with him so get your point. Apparently Both Flint and Kennedy were out training with the youth team this morning. Kennedy looked a right chav today.

I still think of the candidates for the job in the Summer that PdC is still who I want in charge.

Look at the others that applied.......

Buckle, setting the world alight at Wovers....NOT.
Uwe Rösler...bought some big names at Brentford and has so far achieved fuck all and they also had a 4-0 home defeat in the week.
Dietmar Hamann.....languishing in 17th place in the Conference with Stockport.

I don't think PdC is doing a bad job, yes he infuriates some with his team changes but we are still in with a chance, all we need to do is tighten up defensively and we will be away as we arent bad going forwards.

This is just a knee jerk reaction to what should have been a comfortable home win, which it actually was looking like before our Jekyll & Hyde defence took over to spoil that.

I fully agree with DRS when he says that its all or nothing with our fans, look at the positives as well as the negatives and accept that we are an average 4th division side, but that we arent too far from being a good 4th division side challenging for promotion.

I think Paolo will lead us to promotion This season but we will have to accept plenty of frustrating times along the way.

Oh and Hereford have gone to Wimbledon, Wovers and Cheltnumb and come away with draws, even if they havent been winning they havent been losing that many away from home.

Under Luggy squad members who weren't playing were regularly sent to sit around the Arkells to sit in amongst the fans to chat/sign autographs etc. Quite a good PR move.

Kennedy did look happy enough and was signing plenty of autographs for the kids.

Just finishing my second bottle now.  I love a good Porter.

 :pint: another two to go.

Donkey -I also have some cracked pepper crackers and some Roquefort. Diet not going well today!

That suggests to me that the players either haven't been trained in how to defend from corners or are not doing what they've been fucking told to do.
Tucking into the cider but still pissed off.  

Sounds nice, sod the diet.  I now wish I had some top cheese.  Just the beer for me (a Very Nutty Black to finish), although there is a packet of Monster Munch in the cupboard...

Too early in the year for me.  I'm seasonal when it comes to my beers...barely finished with my summer IPAs at the moment.

But I agree with your central point!

I'm worried we are going to sell Ritchie in January!  Someone tell me this wont happen please!

Pickled onion I trust ?

Co-op were selling the variety pack for half price, so in fact I have a choice of the onion, beef and the spicy.  I'm happy with any flavour of monster munch.

And Ardiles, I always like my beer dark...I look forward to Bath Ales making their Festivity every year.  However, on the hot days, I will go light.

Gona have a rant  :)

I think we are suffering from Paolo's nievity as a manager.  Hes made loads of mistakes player wise.  Hes signed players that now he doesnt rate.  Hes also cocked up in my view by not bringing in a english keeper whos been there and done it.  He is also in my opinion not helping certain players.  We have a bigger squad than any other team at our level.  We have quanity but not quality.  But what ever 3 sides you could make up should have beaten a piss poor hereford.  This IS a crap league.  He has to many players , to many options.  He should have bought a player he believed in and stuck with him.  For me Flint is the best centre back we have.  Gabilonda is so obviously right footed yet the guy never gets a go in his natural position.  Di canio talked of 25, 30 crosses a game we would be putting into the box.  But our wingers cut in and shoot.  So the strikers get nothing.  If they do look to cross more often or not they have to cut back onto thier natural foot and the moment is gone.  I want STFC to go up, and i see it as total failure not to with our budget against the rest of this league.  I dont think we have a hope in hell of going up at present.  Our balance is wrong for me.  He has no idea what his best team is.  Under Ardiles years ago i think we went 23 games with the same starting 11.  You dont have to change for every game. You have to put together the right 11 and let them off the leash.  Di Canio needed a English assistant manager who would tell him, " NO Paolo,  if your gonna make this work you cant do that".  Am season ticket holder, will keep going, but we should be getting a hell of a lot better.  I actually think we should win this league with the players we have.  Also when we were promoted out of this league before our top scorer got 12.  You DONT need a 25 goal striker, be nice but not essential.  What is is a sold team, that doesnt let in goals and you just nick one.

In that case I may have to pay a visit and get some. Shame they aren't as big as they used to be.

Simon Ferry

Should have taken a touch before spanking that one over the bar but had a decent game today.
I'm liking DeVita more and more each game.

I cant disagree with a word you said.

Though, I have had a £50 bet with my mate that Paolo wont field the same starting line up in 2 consecutive matches before the new year, so I hope the tinkering continues ..... But I think it will kill us!

Paolo, it's Paolo.

I think you're all being paranoid and that PDC will change the team around in December, we'll go on an fucking massive run to the end of the season and finish second and in doing so, he will only make 2 changes; Smith for Lanzano (Injury) and Smith for (Who ever the fuck wants it bad enough) due to a suspension.

I rest my (very) drunken case from ashore.

Fnar fnar, try pushing that back in the closet ;)

On Ritchie, I was sat right next to a Cardiff scout today not really letting on who he was making notes on but talking an awful lot about Ritchie. Also Know Fulham were at today's game looking at Matt. Doesn't mean he is going but definitely in the spot light of a few bigger clubs.

On the subject of todays game but not to do with it directly...I was stood in the queue about to buy my accy and plym tix when this absolute c**t walked in, jumped the queue, slapped his season ticket down and demanded to be seen to because it didn't work. One of our other fans politely reminded him there was a queue and that he was having the same problem and to basically say wait your turn for an extra few minutes...this other fan of ours erupted at him f'ing and c**ting at him in front of about 3/4 women and their children (5/6 of them)...I have never been so infuriated it was disgusting to hear and quite frankly we could do without fans like that supporting our club!

If anyone else was in the ticket office @ that time what did u think or am I misreading things?

I think I went to a different game to almost everyone else. That was the first game I've seen this season so I think I was seeing it from a different perspective as I was comparing it to the dross of last season.

I'm as disappointed as the next man at the result and how it came about but as I left the ground I felt there were far more positives than negatives to come out of the game. The football we played in the first half and for some of the second was a delight to watch and as Mrs Taylor said, we've not played like that from front to back since the days of Hoddle. It was a joy to watch. Someone said, 'we were pretty shit all game'. I'm sorry but that is just totally and utterly wrong. Peoples' views get coloured by the result and they forget all the positive aspects.

I liked De Vita and Cibocci far more than I thought I would. In fact I loved them. Ferry was also tremendous and I liked the look of Kerrouch and Jervis. All the players though, looked comfortable on the ball and generally passed to a team mate with pretty much no aimless 'lump it down the field', type balls that we've seen so much of in recent years.

Yes, there were negatives, of course there were. Lanzano does not fill me with confidence and I think he certainly should have done better on the first goal. We definitely need a big, commanding keeper as a matter of urgency.

I would also agree that PDC fucks about with the team far more than he should. Smith should never have come off for Abdullah (who did fuck all when he came on).

We were so much better ability wise than Hereford it was ridiculous. But we have to play higher up the pitch, put the opposition under more pressure and of course finish more chances. It was like we were saying to them today, "Well, we're pretty much mullering you but we're pretty sporting chaps so we'll give you a chance". And we sat back instead of pressing home our massive advantage.

Di Canio certainly has his faults but I think its great credit to him that he's got a brand new squad of players together and got them playing like that.  At this point and based on what I have seen today, I trust him to rectify the areas where are clearly defficient. If we carry on playing like that and improve in areas we need to improve, we will win a lot more games than we lose.

Oh yes, Flint needs to play IMO. McCormack has done a great job but playing a sub-six foot centre half week after week is pushing your luck.

I am genuinely bemused by all the negativity because the way I see it, we are very close to being a very decent team indeed.

Edit: Just listening to Il Douce's interview and I think he said Smith was injured, hence the substitution. My bad.

Edit: Or did he say that? Fuck knows  ::)

Hes made mistakes player wise :hmmm:

He should win the league with the players we have :hmmm:

So he hasn't made mistakes players wise then surely?

Arguably our top performers thus far this season (Ritchie, Ferry, Caddis, Flint) were all inherited.

Just like any manager in the history of football Di Canio has made some good signings (Kerrouche, Connell, Smith, De Vita) some ok signings (Devera, Comazzi, McCormack) some bad signings (Esajas, Clarke) some dunno yet signings (Risser, Gabilondo, Magera) and a few what the fuck signings (Atiku)

Either way, our squad should not be sitting 13th in League Two but also despite how good I believe the squad to be - we are still missing 1 or 2 players of a certain type.

I don't think so.

Smoth was 100% injured, could see for miles. Would have taken Jervis off instead of kerrouche. My view of goals concedededededededededed

1st - lanzano had a horrific starting positioning. expected a cross and caught out badly. left back should have possibley stopped the ball in, but lanzano has to take the blame
2nd - caddis should have been tighter, but neither cb should have allowed matey boy such a free header in the middle
3rd - decent ball in, but lanzano was NOWHERE. not majorly to blame though, one of our players should at least have twatted it away. just shit defending.


shit game. we expected them to do a barnet and all credit to hereford, they looked a decent side. not falling for the bullshit and bluster, di caNIO has underwhelmed so far. and anyone who denies is a scoundrel and a liar. I am concerned at how he seems to alienate players from the squad. wiling to give him time to learn about the job, although do think that will end up kicking off next season in this division

You might not.

I still think our defence needs a leader. I still think our side lacks a good old fashioned captain to.

I also would of left Kerouche on and took Jervis off for Connell and not Magera. Haven't seen the goals again so not sure who if anyone was to blame for their goals. The last one was a great ball into the danger area and would of caught a lot of teams out. we did play some really nice football today at times so I'll take that thought into the rest of the weekend instead of feeling crappy.

Duce...it's Duce  :)

Yesterday wasn't his greatest game so hopefully they'll back off a bit.

Rather than playing pretty football, we need to learn how to win by any means , whether that is more direct, more defensive, more counter attacking, whatever. Just need to start pushing up the table

For me it's 3 steps forward and 2 steps back at the moment. 3 points off playoffs with a team that is no where near playing to their potential isn't too bad. Our players are continuing to improve and the odd hiccup here and there shouldn't send us spiralling into meltdown.

It's all a big learning curve for players and manager and I'm quite enjoying this season tbh.

Whilst Lanzano was at fault for the first... how a foul on Abdulla was not given is beyond me.

I kind of agree. My main worry, based on no fact whatsoever, is that the resource advantage we have this year may not be around next year. Will the board continue to fund such a massive squad - then again, do we even need one I suppose.

As Leefer (I think) said earlier, there is a long way to go. But at the 1/4 way stage I'd give PDC a 'C' for attainment and an 'A' for effort.

As good as Mccormack as been at the back he isnt a defender and the other 3 are all relatively small, we need a big brute of a bastard back there to be able to sort out set pieces and get his head to the ball and get it away from our fucking goal!!

Would still like to see Flint back in defence as well because although he was in the team when we lost 4/5, you would hope that the team is 'bonding' more now and actually improves. Results unfortunately havent and I think Flint should be back for the Accy game!

Lanzano has me on the edge of my seat all game, dont feel confident with him in goal even though he did play well against Exeter and wasnt that bad yesterday.

After this shit result, whats the odds on us winning at Accy and Plym?  :hmmm:

Heh! heh!



My bad Reg 8)

Having seen the goals today I thought only the first goal Lanzano could have done much with. It wasn't the goals that worried me about him yesterday. It was the rushing off his line trying to catch/punch the impossible. In keeper terms he's young and will learn, but thats not good for us now.

On team selection I'm still not sure having Flint on the pitch would have helped with the goals. It should do, but we conceded a lot like that when we did play him. What was strange was having 2 strikers and no centre back on the bench, neither Fint nor Comazzi.

Jervis looks quite mobile and runs the channels quite well. Also a bit slight in physique and got knocked off the ball a couple of times. I wouldn't have changed the Kerrouche/Connell partnership myself.

Not sure why we brought in the left back. Not seen him play enough to conclude anything yet mind.

Pissed off. We drew yesterday for the same reasons we lost to the scum.

Defence needs sorting fast or we have no chance of getting out of this league.

The ref did favour them, but that is no excuse. We lost our way at 2-0 and stopped taking the game seriously. But to concede that third goal is just rediculously poor and sloppy. We are not losing away games by some kind of fluke. We are poor at the back and we dont score enough goals to overcome that.

Fans also poor. The STFC thing ruins 'we are Paolo's Red and White army'.

Need to win at Accrington to get some direction back into the season.

I must admit I did not enjoy this game as much as others but then maybe it was because i was expecting to much as i knew Herefords league position. The atmosphere was not that good even when we were two nil up and to some extent i think we alienated the ref even though he had shocker. Rather than cheering for more goals we seemed to be more focused on getting on at the ref, it did seem very negative despite being two nil up.

Ritchie had one of the worst games of the season for me. He got clattered early on by their left back at it seemed like he hurt his back and from that point on he seemed very quiet up unitl the end where he had a thunderous shot saved and he perked up a bit.I just wondered if he was worried about comming off and finding it hard to get back in the team as seems to be the case for others.

Magera was and is totally pants in my view he seems like one of those players that frustrates the crowd with his play and by the amount of free kicks he concedes. Jervis although he did not score did enough for me to win my view that he is a decent talent and showed a good first touch. I do however agree that if a striker was to come off then it should have been jervis instead of koruche and would have brought on connell instead megera.

Caddis i thought had a decent game and had some good runs down the wing. I could not talk about whether he was at fault for any of the goals as I was sitting too far away for that, likewise with Lanzarno.

Devitta I also must mention as i thought he had a good game, certainly one of the best ive seen him play and he took his goal very well

I do agree that Flint should have been in the squad by now and partnering devera and not comazzi who i think looks dodgey at best and have macormack there to fill in if necessary. I take the point that even when flint was at the back we did not have a good start but he was one of our best players and a lot of the times he was partnering comazzi and not devera who i think is now showing a decent run of form and does not deserved to be dropped.

I must agree that i think di canio is trying to be too clever in this league and that smaller squad with more quality would have been better but as someone has already mentioned it is dicanio's first season and i think we will have to be patient. With our budget and gates it is only a matter of time before we are seriously competing at the top i just dont know if it will be this season. A bit peeved that some of the dross he has brought in are with us for at least two years.

Just one other thing i forgot to mention. Their second goal should never have been allowed. The push on Ahmed was horrendous and it should have been a free kick. Certainly on par with the penalty decision that went against us versus macclesfield. Also I wondered if the refs have now got it in for us due to comments about players diving.

Gonna have to change jobs soon, the grief im getting from the poxford lot is terrible at the moment!!!!!

Our match report: http://thewashbag.com/2011/10/10/swindon-3-hereford-united-3-rampant-bulls-frustrate-town/

Thought Saturday summed up our season really. Unable to convert extended periods of dominance into the required 3 points. Undone by a few defensive lapses, particularly from set pieces and balls into the box.

Positives - Some of the football we played in the first half was magnificent. The interplay between Ferry, Ritchie and Caddis (nothing between the two Celtic boys for MOM in my opinion) particularly was of a very high standard indeed. Becoming more impressed with J. Smith and De Vita all the time - the latter particularly in a new position. First time I'd seen Jervis and thought he brought something to the table.

Negatives - Same old story, our defence which barely gave Hereford a sniff seemed to break down on a couple of occasions. After some improvement again marking on crosses seemed to lapse. Surely an issue which can still and hopefully will be addressed by the coaching staff.

Not sure I agree with all the criticism of Lanzano, he's a bit flappy but far from the calamity some people seem to be making out.

PdC needs to find a way to keep that first half performance going for 90 minutes but overall despite the disappointing result some confidence must be taken by the quality of our play for the first hour.

Watching the second half crap sucked the life out of me.
this team, no matter what starting 11 he puts out, is mentally weak.  We had a poor hereford side on the ropes without getting out of 1st gear.  Then threw it away.
This sqaud is expensive and if we don't get promotion and we wont, the cost of this season will haunt us for a long time.
This of course is only my opinion and I'm not privvy to any facts not in the public domain.

couldn't really bring myself to read this after the game, too annoyed. Felt like a proper kick in the balls, but then Hereford deserved it with the way they attacked us in the second half. We simply shat ourselves. We were complacent, too, which is unforgivable.

I can understand the logic in the team selection, with PDC persisting with McCormack, but after Saturday maybe it's time to nudge him forward alongside Ferry and bring Flinto back in. Although I thought Smith and Ferry looked tight in the middle. I'd maybe switch Ritchie and de Vita, as it can be predictable at times. Both players deserving to start, but think some teams may wise up to us at times. Would defo have Gabilondo or Easyjet on bench, a proper quick winger would have murdered Hereford IMO.

Not convinced by Lanzano at all. My sphincter retracts every time the ball gets pumped into the area.

I think we're really close to being a good side. Really close.

Fair bray Donkey !

Just realised it was my man Yoann Arquin that scored their 3rd.

Judging by the highlights those are three poor goals to concede.

yep, for all the nice interplay at the back, of which there was plenty for about 70% of the game...counts for nothing if you are going to concede like that...

1st goal - you have to ask wtf was lanzono doing
2nd -Guy completely unmarked, but well placed  header
3rd..hmm, can't argue with that I suppose, I guess the only point is giving away the free kick in the first place. YEah, cheers Magera, how you ever played for the Czexh republic is beyond me...hopeless.

The foul on Abdulla still makes my blood boil.

I think you need to look at the current Czech side.  I believe the term is 'transitional phase'.

A cumbersome forward giving away a silly free kick, shock horror

Easy to forget the crucial part he played in Ferry's goal, also nearly scored a great goal with an effort on his left peg shortly after coming on.

I've thought he's looked fairly decent, I just wish he stop dropping deep, he needs to be in the box.

I thought he looked quite impressive when coming on, something we have lacked in recent years. Puts himself about a bit, has a good left peg on him, should win more headers, brilliant pass on him, did well in the ferry goal.

Spot on. Magera will be a top player for us. Like any player he needs time to gain fitness and confidence. Think that Magera/Kerrouche is the front two we'll end the season with.

I agree.  There seems to be something about him that I am not yet claiming he is a failure.  I want to give him more time before i make my mind up.

A good centre back and a good goalkeeper away.

So pretty close.

Just think of Fjortoft, he didnt set the world alight at first, then look what happened .....

Exactly what I said to my old man yesterday

I haven't been overly impressed with Magera yet but one thing I noticed on Saturday......he does seem to find time on the ball and make it look easy, which IMHO is one the signs of quality. If ya know what I mean.

He's not really been fit yet until now either.

So whilst not yet impressed I have a feeling he could be a big asset. We'll see.

Based on 3 goals from 4 shots and other games this season we must have the most goals conceded per shots by any team. I can't remember a game this season when I thought our keepr played well like Brez against Swansea. It seems that other teams get a near 100% scoring record per shot against us.

Fucking Oxford fans coming into my office today gloating. Hereford score 4 away goals this season then go and score three against Swindon. Cunts.

Yeah but even Si Ferry scored and he never scores

Oxford fans can say what they want. We're not all that far behind them, and theres the best part of 7 months left of the season. They could still end up 25 points behind us for all anybody knows.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3861669/A-day-in-the-life-of-Paolo-Di-Canio.html