Thetownend.com

After a turbulent trip up to Franchise FC, negotiating numerous traffic jams and an overly tight schedule, arrived at the very impressive Milton Keynes.  Looks a nice, if somewhat emotionless town, and the stadium is nice in a sort of incomplete and building for the future way!  That is, for those who haven't seen it, it looks have finished, with their being a lot of space left for possible expansion - much like a business...

Unfortunately we stuck with the 4-5-1, and unfortunately King moved Smith to the left wing and stuck Hewlett in the middle which I was afraid he would do.  However, the system worked and for the most part we contained Franchise, although we were guilty perhaps of playing too high up the pitch.  For the goal, Duke was at fault, and I imagine he'll hold his hands up to it.

Our goal was very well worked, and a good finish from Smith.  We looked a constant threat in the second half, and perhaps King could have gambled and changed to a 4-5-1.  Instantly when he took Roberts off the crowd booed the decision, but for anyone with half a footballing brain King was obviously resting Roberts who is just back from a long lay-off.  However, the timing perhaps was a little unfortunate as it followed several bright moments from Roberts.

The penalty was a little harsh on Lewington, and I was surprised it was awarded - he was about 3 yards from the ball when Ifil crossed the ball, and it hit his arm, which was in fairness by his side.  So perhaps it is justice than their 'keeper, Baker, made a good save down to his left to keep it at 1-1.  I am confused as to why Parkin did not take the penalty, but no doubt it will come to light.

A good result at a difficult ground, and with Bristol City losing today we're still well in the hunt.  Come on Town!!!  A very positive performance to build upon.

R.Evans - 6  Solid, some dodgy kicks and never looks confident on the ball.  Perhaps could have done more for their goal, but overall was okay.
S.Jenkins - 7  I've decided love him.  He's shit, can't handle a ball, but he clearly cares for the cause and is a good tackle.
M.Heywood - 5  Some very bad clearances which went straight up in the air, and struggled against their pacey forwards
S.O'Hanlon - 6  Not his best performance in a town shirt, but made some good tackles.  Lucky perhaps not to be sent off in the first half.
D.Duke - 6  At fault for their goal, but on the most part played well and was good going forward.
C.Roberts - 8  I love the Welsh chav.  Was good, and looks close to his best, but I prefer him up front, not on the wing.
G.Smith - 7  Not his best position in my opinion, but did well, took the goal well and unlucky not to have a hat-trick, hitting the angle and unfortunate to have his penalty saved
M.Hewlett - 7  Solid, good performance, broke up play well
S.Miglioranzi - 8  Class act, but for keep him away from defensive areas - needs to row Z it quicker sometimes
S.Igoe - 4/7  Absolute bollocks in the middle did absolutely nothing, but was effective down the right although some of his crossing lacked the required quality
S.Parkin - 9  Brilliant performance.  What a goal it'd have been when he rounded 3 defenders and just put it over.

Subs:
B.Howard - 7  As Roberts replacement he was always going to have a hard time of it, and being played out of position in the middle was not ideal.  Did look promising.
J.Ifil - 9  Should have started in my opinion - would have coped with Franchise strikers better with his pace and tackling.  Made some superb saving tackles towards the end.

Walrus what's got into you, I was expecting pure vitriol but no it's all rational stuff.  :shock: :?

thats a bit harsh on smith isnt it walrus? only 7!

Agree with most of that but Hewlett!!!???What a useless waste of space. Persistently gives the ball away,cant tackle his way out of a paper bag and that shot!!Easily the worst player in our entire squad let alone the team.Smithy and Migz have been doing well in my opinion but Kingy just has to play him whatever.Also thought Roberts looked fat and slow.Smithy was superb and Parky worked hard as usual but its so frustrating to see him win headers with noone to get on the end of them.That effort that hit the bar would have been goal of the season.Thought Jerel played well when he came on.Our big problem at the moment is we just dont seem to have a leader on the pitch .Cant help feeling we've blown it now.

I said end of our season was against bournemouth, had a little hope afterwards but now i do think its true.

hewlett sucks!!!!

Nice post, surprisingly cheery as well - did you take some of my prozac this morning? ;)

Today has to go down as the most surreal 'football' day ever. I keep thinking it's Saturday but it isn't, their ground was weird, their fans seemed strangely unreal and I went to Burger King for lunch because there was nowhere else around on the retail estate of doom. It was very weird, not to mention the cringeworthy pre-match entertainment :/

As for the game, after the first twenty minutes I was devoid of hope, thought we'd be 2-0 down by halftime and was ready to jump off the back of the stand, we soon got back into the game a bit but Smithy's goal did come slightly against the run of play. Their opener was certainly Duke's fault, he should never have let Small get away from him like that and should have been stronger but Evans could have done better as well, nevertheless as jim/santini will doubtless point out - it's what happens when you play someone who isn't a left back in that position.

Second half was much improved and we probably deserved to win, Smithy hit the bar in a Van Basten-esque moment, we created chances but failed to find that final ball on so many occasions. The penalty was undoubtedly harsh but Smithy could have taken it better, I was surprised Sammy didn't take it myself as he's after the 'record' or whatever. We should have murdered them but we lack the ability to kill off teams - Stockport away, Torquay at home - which is vital really.

In my eyes, a few things cost us three points today:

- Negative tactics. Why go to a team like Franchise when you need a result and play 4-5-1?
- Substitutions. Why put two strikers on the bench then later bring on a defender for a midfielder, only to put another defender in midfield? Possibly the most pointless substitution ever.
- Lack of quality on the wings. We simply are incapable of putting in real quality crosses for the frontmen to get on the end of.

Sadly, King has to be held accountable for all of the above and I think he truly lost the plot today, I won't comment as to whether I think this is the season totally over as I've never really believed we were in it and I still don't really. Football is a frustrating hobby.

Evans 5 - Can't kick a moving football, can't throw/release the ball quickly. Poor.
Jenkins 6 - Steady but didn't do a great deal, made some decent runs down the right in the second half.
Heywood 7 - Solid, dealt with balls over the top and on the ground with pacey forwards very well.
O'Hanlon 7 - As above.
Duke 5 - At fault for first goal, struggled to regain composure thereafter but showed some decent moves later on.
Roberts 7 - Of all the players on the pitch, he put the best crosses in and he should be playing up front alongside Sam.
Hewlett 4 - Ineffective as ever, wasted posession on many occasions.
Miglioranzi 7 - Showed some neat tricks, used the ball well, can't shoot.
Smith 7 - POTY? Probably not, but must be runner up. Real quality but could have taken the penalty better.
Igoe 6 - Doesn't cross the ball well enough to make a decent winger, lacks physical presence but can use the ball well on the ground on occasion.
Parkin 7 - Worked his bollocks off but had little support, unlucky not to score.

subs:

Howard 3 - Did he fucking do anything apart from piss about with the ball?
Ifil 6 - Looked solid, composed and tried to get forward.

P.S. I gave the girl in the ticket office £40 for two adult tickets and forgot to get change because I found her so cute. >_<

today kinda summed up swindons season for me. had the better chances etc... and had the lucky penalty given and smith misses it. so close but yet so far for swindon again im afraid.

Evans 6 - didn't have to much to do in all honesty?
Jenkins 6 - average performance....
Heywood 6 - had me worried at times but also had his more better moments.
O Hanlon 7 - good old seano. played well, defended better than heywood.
Duke 5 - at fault for first...rubbish defending. not the best performance.
Migs 6 - could have done more but made some decent passes in migs style
Smith 8 - consitent again on the left. penalty wasn't the best though. good save. hit the bar too..unlucky day.
Igoe 7 - thought he was getting forward well at times but also just stood there sometimes.
Hewlett 7 - got in to tackles at times. at times just ran like paula radcliffe!
Parkin 8 - decent as always, should have scored.
Roberts 7 - did well..should have also scored twice i think!?

Ifil 8 - very strong when he came on. got in to tackles
Howard 6- didn't really notice him... so didn't do much obviously!

Has anyone actually thought of putting Duke onto right midfield and get rid of the waster Igoe, Duke IMO looked ok going forward today. Nicho slot into left back. Get Hewlett out of the midfield and put Howard onto the left and bring Smithy into the centre and for goodness sake put Roberts along side Sammy.

Sorry to let you know but Bristol didnt lose today. They post postponed their games.

Rhys- looks like the break did him good, improved kicking and caught/collected anything he came for. Bit of a soft goal- 6

Jenkins- worked very hard, good cross for the goal, wound their winger up a treat, got forawrd well in the second 45- 7

Heywood- generally solid, no aerial battles to win really, sucked out of position a bit- 6

O'Hanlon- as above really, but needs to offload the ball quicker at times- 6

Duke- was utter shit. At fault for the first goal, went down easily, kept giving it away, dwelt on it too long, didn't get forward- 3

Roberts- thought he was immense in the second half, they were scared of him, despite a lacklustre start. A bit selfish at times, shouldn't have come off- 7

Igoe- when he ran at them directly he was great but he didn't do that enough- 6

Migs- thought he was sublime in parts and worked very hard, lovely touches and creates time, I assume he was hurt because he was our best player until subbed- 8

Hewlett- what the fuck was that? Was he playing?- 3

Smith- not enough pace to play out there and poor crossing improved as game went on. Tireless effort, felt sorry for him- 6

Parkin- this guy is fucking class- 8

The subs were at opposite ends of the spectrum, Ifil was fucking immense and Howard was a joke.

Thought that perhaps a draw was fair? We dominated the second, they ruled the first. All I can say is that everyone could tell Smith was going to go to the keppers left and that needs addressing.

The woman who was having a go at me for shouting at Duke can do one, if she's reading. He was terrible. I thought King got his changes wrong too. Gutted.

look you see you give smith 6 why? he was our best player! i dont care if he missed the penalty!

He failed to convert a single pass or cross for an hour. And missed a penalty.

but he scored and hit the bar. i dont blame him for the penalty because there was so much pressure on that spot kick! our whole season depended on it!

I said our season was over after we conceded 3 goals in 10 minutes to Stockport  County, seems I wasnt wrong....

I thought our season was over after we conceded 2 comical goals at Wrexham in August.......the manager seemed to think that Grant Smith was a left back.

if only howards demi chip had dropped in off the bar early in the first half that game, we'd probabaly be promoted by now :-))(

 Good point.......I'd forgotten that one, would probably have turned our season, and led to BH getting his first call up to the England squad.

It's taken a long time but you're learning the truth.

Howard is the most skillful player atthe club (ie he can do the most tricks) and he wants to make sure everybody knows that.

There is a time and a place Brian!

Never a truer word spoken.  He's the best midfielder at the club in my opinion, and yet he's left out the side which seems madness.

It all seems a bit doom and gloom considering we got a point at a relative fortress on Friday.  A result at Hartlepool and it'll all get very interesting.  Even a defeat at Hartlepool would not be disasterous, and with two home games against Walsall and Bristol City coming up, it is a little premature to write our season off just yet.  I just pray that King considers Roberts and Miglioranzi fit enough to last 90 minutes soon, and keeps the excellent partnership of Smith and Migs in the middle.

no our best midfielder is smith! howard would be good if he lost some wait and actually put the effort in.

You really are fucking clueless

go dave!  :D

Must be very patient....

I mean best in terms of ability with a football - the only player who comes close is Miglioranzi.  Okay, I'm biased as I'm probably Howard's biggest fan, but surely we agree he should be on the left wing and not Smith, who is better employed in the centre?

i agree with you there. without holmes howard must play there. i dont want hewlett in the centre and i think smith is better in the centre as well

You're not biased, you just don't know what you're talking about

To disagree and debate with someone's opinion is very enough, but to rubbish someone's opinion on the basis "they don't know what they're talking about" just makes one look like an arrogant twat, to be honest.

Look at Ronaldo at Man Poo. Fantastic tricks but needed a bit of guidance to teach him where/when/how to use it. As he's progressed, he now seems to utilise his skills when needed, and does actually look to cross the ball (which was the main problem). It's a similar thing with Howard; until he matures as a player, there's very little point in playing him, despite his skill. I would play him now our season is over though, he needs the opportunity to prove himself on the pitch, and I think he needs to show King what his best position is.

Summary: Howard is skillful - not the best player though; needs to be played now our season is over; needs to be developed into a more mature player.

Its also like Joe Cole, at the start of the season he was all tricks and not doing the business. A good bit of guidance from jose and he pulls off a match winning performance yesterday and has been chelsea's best player for the past few weeks.

Hewlett should be in the Rezzies-permanently.Has there ever been a more ineffectual central midfielder at this club?Not in my 40 years as a supporter.

 Gary Emmanual or Bobby Howe.

Remember Bobby Howe's televised match winner V Watford just after McMahon's departure?"HOWEITZER!!!1".Take the point about Emanuel though!

I liked Bobby Howe, He was good player.

same  :)

are you all on drugs?

yes they are doing a 2-for-1 offer down the park

:soapy tit wank:

Although well know for his shitness there was a period where Howe looked quite useful. It lasted for about 8 games and one game I remember him playing pretty well was Port Vale away (in the snow I think) and we won 1-0. Then he got injured and was back to shitness.

"Bobby howes sexy football"