Thetownend.com

The last match day thread I started was Crewe, lets see if my luck continues!


2-0 to the town, Our season was kick started last week!

I get the feeling we're gonna drub someone soon but just don't think it's today. With their attacking options low and our defence stretched.........heart says 3-1 head says washout zip-zip

 You'd imagine Sturrock would have too much nous for di Canio, despite his illness, so an interesting head to head. Sarfends record at the CG used to be as ghastly as Scum and Soton, until mid/late noughties, when they cashed in on our shitness, and scraped a couple of wins.

 This could work in our favour.

kicking on now with a 2-1 win

2-1 Swindon

No flint? Big problem.
1  -  2

This is so tough to call. We won't keep a clean sheet but may just edge it...

Defence is poor with or without injuries!

1-1 . Too many unsettling injuries to be any more optimistic.

1-1

2-1 defeat.

Bit worried about our defence today but now look more dangerous up front, for that reason I'm going with another 3-2 .

2-1 to Southend. Sturrock jr to score the winner.

2-2 I rex.

don't think we'll lose this one, feeling is edging toward a draw, i would absolutely love a good 1-0 win though

2-2 with defensive frailties still on show but decent in attack. Crowd of 7500. Kerrouche and Connell each to notch one.

Hopefully we get an early goal, because games against Sturrock sides are usually awful.

Sturrock's tactics, compress the mid field, get as tight as possible, make it a game of few chances.

It will be close whatever happens. They might be too disciplined for us.

Where does it say Flint is out?

I'm going for ridiculously optimistic 4-0

Kerrouche, Magera, Connell (2)

Magera's injured as well OST.

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/9241684.Free_transfers_set_to_ease_Town_s_injury_problems_/

It say's he's believed to injured.

I say it will be 3-1 town today

Ritchie, Connell and some random player from the back from a set-piece  :hmmm:

If Flinty is out i believe they will score at least once probably from a set-piece.

It could be the same kind of game we had last weekend with us hopefully outscoring them by the odd goal.

Well that was ridiculously optimistic then!

OK. 4-0, Kerrouche, Connell (2), Ritchie.

I've just seen the stuff about the injuries  ::)

We all pointed out that starting a season with only 3 centre-halves was risky, and already it might bite us on the arse. 1-1 draw might be a decent result.

Too many players injured 0-1 defeat 6,875 crowd today.

If Risser could come in and produce a reasonable performance at Centre back today it would be a massive massive boost for the club.

indeed, he's no CM from what i've seen

Going to go with a 2-1 win today, will be a tight game against a Sturrock team.
Connel will score and Gabby off the bench scoring.
Got to hope Corr stays on the bench, but the fact Sturrock is starting up front should ease all concerns for our defense  :clap:

I'm not going to pretend that I know much about Southend's set-up but we've got to build on the Rotherham win and make the most of our home advantage (if there is such a thing).

Southend's results aren't too different from ours so we might cancel eachother out. No Dickinson and Harris could work in our favour though.

with flint out injured and our general inability to defend from the flanks I'll be suprised if we win this one

If its a game of few chances I feel that we will not get the result we want. Think the Rotherham game showed that we create a lot, but need a lot before scoring. However, we don't need to give too many chances away before conceding!

Hoping for a 3-1 win.

1-2 southend as we have no defenders.

Would love to say we'll win this, but hink it's going to be an uneventful scrappy 2-2 draw

Would have been reasonably positive after last week if we didn't have a number of injuries.  On that basis, I can only see a draw at best and the negativity in me is saying we might well lose by that odd goal again  :(

Score draw methinks.

4-1 town

I've been thinking 1-2 all week because of how well ex-players seem to do against us combined with our defensive injuries and frailties.

However, Football never ceases to amaze...so I'll go 2-0 to us with Ritchie (again) and De Vita off the bench to score

I'll be very interested to see the starting line up today. PDC never fails to surprise me!

I'm sure we'd all like to see Kerouche and Connell up front, with Ritchie and Gabi on either wing. Never can tell though.

Can't see us getting a clean sheet. Hoping we can scrape a win but I think it'll be 2-2.

Defence to step up in Flint's absence and keep a clean sheet.

1-0 Town, Connell to score.

1-0 Southend, Coughlan to score from a set piece!

woke up this morning ,thought it was sunday but felt good because we had beaten southend 4-0  switched t v on and relized it was only saturday decided to cut down on the john smiths smooth from now on ,come on uuuuu reds

2-0 cruise to victory, Kerouche and Connell

Missing my first game of the season today as I'm away on holiday. Hopefully we can build on last week and put in a good performance and come away with a victory. Am going for 2-0 town. COYR!

4-2 town connell (2) mccormack kerrouche

As per Gary Rose's Twatter:

Lanzano; Caddis (c), Devera, Risser, Kennedy; Ritchie, McCormack, Ferry, De Vita; Connell, Kerrouche.

Substitutes: Smith P(GK), Abdulla, Esajas, Smith J, Storey

So presumably Gabilondo has said something out of turn?

Out of the players available to us, that's pretty close to the team I'd have gone with. Probably would've had Gabilondo or Esajas over De Vita, but he did show glimpses of decentness last weekend.

Good experience for Storey making the bench, meant to be pretty highly rated.

I'm glad Connell's starting and I'm glad Risser's in the team. (Simply because he seems like a great bloke and I really, really want him to come good and show is what he can do.)

finally risser in the position hes made for  ;)

In New Zealand at the World Cup. Just back from the pub after watching England win.

Let's hope we don't have our very own Wilkinson today and we win 2-0!!

That defence doesn't fill me with too much confidence. Fingers crossed eh.

Zero defensive cover either. What's happenend to Cibocchi?

Picked up a knock in training by all accounts.

If fit, I'm sure he'd have started over Risser.

Her we go then-Come on Swindon  :clap:

I'd have put Abdulla in for Ferry but now i've said that, Ferry will score and make me look stupid :)

How have we started?

It's gone 3, so I'd say yes, yes we have started.

Don't think there's many listening to the game today.

Well this is all very quiet.

Indeed

Risser off for Smith, anyone know why?

Calf strain, radio reckons...

Riser off for Smith on 15 minutes!

Either groin or calf according to the radio.  Turning into a sicknote

Smith in at the back or a reshuffle?

McCormack is playing CB i think

Free kick to Southend on the edge of the box, over the bar

We need some defensive cover ASAP. Rissers fitness is not looking good so far this season.

Oh dear. This is not sounding good. From what I can judge McCormack has pushed back.. Lanzano has been booked for a what radio said could have been a red if more central. We did hit bar early doors though.

Think we need a new striker if you ask me

Risser is calf

Crawley getting beat 2-0

Sounds very quiet at the CG

Sounds very quiet on here :D

Kerrouche and Ritchie sound lively

our first goal is going to come soon, lanzano's not filling me with much confidence. sounds a bit dodgey to me

Kerrouche has already hit the bar earlier, I must have missed that

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal J Smith

yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-come on Swindon

Marvellous.

I'm happy.

Lanzano sounds as dodgy as fuck. If not dodgier.

Smith! Bloody hell

Fantastic...... Come on!

Dodgier than fuck?!  That is dodgy.

Rotherham stuffing Dag and Redbridge 3-1

creepy crawley losing as well would be nice to see burton score

So far so good.

We haven't played that well to be honest, but then again neither have they.

Lanzano made one fantastic save, but has had a couple of over enthusiastic moments.
The defence (considering who is in it) haven't done too badly. Kennedy has been left exposed a few times when he's had two men to try & mark.

Smith's goal was an absolute beauty, and overall the midfield have done ok.

The front two have looked lively without being too threatening, both have worked very hard.

We are dominating at times but wasteful in the final third, especially Caddis. The goal came from Connell's hard work to keep the ball in play, cracking strike by Smith.

Keeper looks dodgy and they should have scored with a header at the - you guessed it - back post where 3 Sarfend players were queuing up for the cross totally unmarked. Moshni hit the bar.

The front 'four' are looking dangerous today. Ritchie having a superb game in particular. Not wishing to curse his luck but Devera looking much more comfortable at the back today, Risser looks like a crock so we definitely need more defensive cover ahead of 2 games this week.

And finally Sarfend can fuck off with their cunting drum. Drum wankers!

2 - 0 coyrs

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss come on :clap: :clap:

I love Kerrouche.




FACT!  8)

Fantastic.

Fuck me Lanzano sounds dodgy. How long before he costs us a goal  :crash:

Get in Kerooooosh

Keroooosh!

RED ARMY

Just snuck out of a boring party to check the scores, very happy indeed!

Burton just got one back - Pox 2-1 Burton

Only 3 points off the play offs now  :D

Ooooosh

Bratford just equalised against Rovers

Crawley 3 down

Att: 6852.

Sounds like McCormack is having a blinder.

burton scored again this weekend is getting better and better  :clap:

Ferry subbed  ::)- Abdulla on

Sounded like Ferry was having good game...

make that 4

crawley losing 4-0 welcome to lge 2 assholes

Clarke for Chesterfield

clarke has scored for chesterfield

Will dent their confidence a bit, shame

Leon Clarke scored for C/F  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Or make them more up for it

5 nil against Crawley

5.0 morecombe

No, surely not

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

What a signing Aguero is going to be for Man Citeh.  Hatrick today, could make it an interesting season in the prem

Lets hope Steve Evans is not turning the touchline into a circus for the Titians

I hope Clarke bangs them in for CF, can only be good for us.

We are above the Pox in the league now!  :D

Rovers 2-1 up against Bratford

im really enjoying this weekend

Hopfully the B'muff fans will be giving that twat Mitchell some stick

Brighton just gone 1 nil up at Shitty

Moses Ashikodi just scored for Kettering

Was watching that earlier, but went tits up. Been losing shit loads of channels recently, new LNB required I think

Blimey, 6-0 Crawley

Crawley 6 down :D

crawley down by 6 now two hattricks for morecombe

hopefully we can heap more misery on crawley on tuesday

One more wont do us any harm, c'mon Connell

what a pity, i expect the entire Crawley away contingent are already on their way back on their tandem

2-2 rovers

hopefully we can get another

All we have to do now is learn how to win away in the league

Pox drew FT

That will do

get in town

wooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :D happy with that result

Well played Swindon :nod:

Happy with that :pint:

Change my regular 2 nil victory prediction in the league and we go and get one.  Typical.  Well happy though.  Chippenham winning 3 nil as well.  All is well.

Evidently too busy focussing on their cup final vs us next Tuesday.

Whoops.  Steve Evans - nil points.

Good game good game.

McCormack dealt with everything in his new role, great team performance all round.

Played some really nice stuff and hopefully this is the start of the wheels setting in motion.

Been at work, just got back before the final whistle. From what I gather, we played fairly professionally and thankfully things are looking much brighter. Glad we were able to cope with all the defensive players being out injured, and obviously delighted to see the Crawley result. Let's hope they don't bounce back too strongly on Tuesday!

Good.game

Just got back, overall good performance.

Still looking dodgy in defence but that's to be expected considering the players out, and of course Risser going off, they did miss a few chances where we rode our luck a little. Mcormack deserved MOM in my opinion, did very well coming on for risser.

Lanzano had a good game, and made a fantastic save in the 1st half, does look a little dodgy sometimes but better than Smith for sure.

Kerrooosh was good again, always working hard but does fall down as soon as he gets the chance.

I thought Sarthend were lucky defensively with some last ditch interceptions othewise it could of been alot more.

Vita worked hard just like last weekend, Ritchie is full of confidence and is clearly enjoying his footy atm.

Fantastic strike from Smithy who had a solid game with some nice passing alongside ferry.

Ferry played well but looked knackered just b4 he came off.

overall a good performance, with some very good on the floor attacking football, but obviously you do have to worry with our lack on players at the back.

Well played Town! Bragging rights for me- nice to be able to wipe the smiles off smug Southend fans faces. Now let's fuck Crawley over for a perfect week.

Thought it was game over when we had to put McCormack at CB. However, he was probably MOTM. Outstanding.

It was a comfortable performance. Still a little suspect at the back though. Not the greatest performance in the world, Southend made us look good and had all but given up in the last 10 minutes.

Devera was much improved which was pleasing, still think he has more to give though.

Didn't understand Smith getting MOTM. Thought he went missing for large parts and when he was in the game he was throwing himself into (and missing) tackles.

Very impressed with Kerrouche yet again. The guy just does not stop running. Seems to be linking up well with Connell too.

Anyone else still got the radio on?

is Flint done then? Paolo doesnt seem happy with him right now.

The Town End was fucking brilliant fun today. Great little remix on the We Are Paolo's Red and White Army chant.

Great game, a really professional performance.

Whilst it was a shame Risser was injured, Deverra and McCormack were outstanding at the back. What a strike from Smith after good work from Connell and Di Vita to get the ball. Keroooooosh worked hard and deserved his goal. Ferry was excellent. Once the second went in we killed the game and took a couple off ready for Tuesday.

The ref was soft and let a lot go in out favour :)

This was the first game where we looked much fitter and sharper than the opposition. When Blair Sturrock plays 90 minutes I guess it means they had injuries too.

It's not Flint's fault. I can't understand much else ;)

What the fuck is Di Canio on about?  ???

this is how I translated it.

Flint was injured with some bone problem - that apparently is long term and has always been there but its the first Di Canio has heard of it? or its been bugging Flint but he's been playing through it for a month.

So, Flint has spent the last 5 days in bed resting, or not at training anyway but said he was good to play today.

Di Canio wont play players who dont work for 5 days then declare themselves fit.

Even if you've got a broken leg you turn up to training, you dont train your legs obviously but you do something else - you keep going. That not his opinion but that of experts.

I think...

So is he pissed off with Flit for not turning up to training , or just explaining why Flint didn't play?

Please not anther spat Paolo

I was listening to the radio but had no idea what Paolo was on about for most of the interview.

All I really got was the fact that it wasn't Flint's fault  :hmmm:

I think Di Canio has quite a flamboyant way of talking (as do most Italians) which makes it sound like he's having a go at someone when that may not nescessarily be the case...or something. Who the fuck knows?

I listened to that - couldn't work out what Paolo's point was, whether he was unhappy with Flint, or with the injury situation, or if he was just making a point about training (badly)

Just in, poor side Southend.  Thought we coped well in defence and they only had two chances, one of which hit the bar (we had one as well).   Very impressed with McCormack today, thought he played a stormer at centre back.  Caddis was good as well, overall impressed today.

Good to see him constantly talking to players too.

I was also confused with what he said about Flint. Was he unhappy that he was lying in bed instead of working his non-injured parts of his body? Seemed that way.

Yes.  He said he should work on other parts of his body.

He apparently could have played but Paolo said no as he hadn't done enough work this week!

I think he was more unhappy with whoever advised Flint? But he stressed it wasn't Flints fault.

But who advised him to lay in bed? Must have been his missus  :D

I thought it was an entertaining game today; we played good football for most of the match and dominated far more than the scoreline might suggest.  However, we did have a few dodgy moments where accurate shooting from Sarfend would have seen us concede and also one where Lanzano pulled off a top save.

The defence wasn't too greatly troubled and like others I was very impressed with McCormack, though Risser had looked dodgy in his 15 mins cameo.  Devera looked a lot more confident today.

Ferry showed he's too good for league 2 and Ritchie was excellent for most of the match.  Smith looks like he'll be a good back-up to McCormack and hit a cracking strike for the first goal.  Was again impressed with Caddis; some his final balls were a bit wayward but I think he contributes so much to the team.

I thought DeVita looked a bit out of it and for someone who should have been playing wide drifted into the centre too much I think.

Connell put himself about well and looked good.  Kerrouche is a bundle of energy and put himself in some great positions but must improve his finishing.  He must have missed about 5 good opportunities before finally putting one away.

If we play like this every week we should soar up the league but I guess consistency is the key to success.  I still think we need to convert more good chances.

Came in on the end of the interview and wasn't even sure who Di Canio was talking about.  Thought he mentioned the word 'bump' a few times, but could have been 'bone'.  

On to the game,  which considering we ended up with a fairly makeshift defence, I thought was a pretty good performance.  Although Southend weren't particularly good, at times we played some really neat passing football, which was nice to see.

As mentioned, McCormack probably just shaded man of the match, but there were a number of others not far behind.  Ferry looked more the player of old and would have been nice to see him finish the 90 minutes.  Considering, Devera has been out of the picture, I thought he did well and even De Vita looked better.  Caddis and Ritchie really are too good for League 2 and we'll do well to hold onto them both until the end of the season.

All in all, we seem to be playing with renewed confidence and as more of a unit.  Just need to start picking up points on the road now.

As an aside, the level of injuries this early on in the season is a worry.  Is it because players weren't fully fit when they got here and can't cope with the training regime?

Also, why has that flaming board not been sorted?  It was a farce everytime a substitution took place because nobody could read the numbers.  It was like it last week as well.

McCormack was excellent at the back, Devera his best yet (although as Jayo pointed out, he was only playing against "No Goals" Blair). Decent performance but some work to do still (Southend were rubbish). Step in the right direction.

Apparently worse goes on at B'mth. Their scummy chairman got on the PA half cut at the the end of the game and offered the North Stand out. I'm only hearing this 3rd hand by the way

Where are you, where are you, lets be havin' you.

Excellent if true!

edit: tehehe
http://www.courtoffside.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79898

lanzano is going to get caught out sooner or later with his walkabouts
caddis looked solid at the back, but didn't have his best game in terms of delivery
thought kennedy played well
devera had his best game in a town shirt
feel sorry for risser, not sure if he was rushed back or not. mcormack did very very well slotting in at center back. i wouldn't like to rely on him back there though - if he comes up against someone with a bit of a physical presence he'd come off second best i feel
Ritchie was alright. not his best game for us, but full of effort.
de vita started brightly but faded
smith too had his best game for us. used the ball a lot better than usual. top notch goal too
ferry was boss. we have something really good down the right hand side, with him ritchie and caddis. they link up soooooo well, epitomised by our second
kerrouche was decent
connel ran around

paula abdull didn't do much of note when he came on and, other than having a really bizzare running style, neither did storey.

think we were fortunate their zlatan lookalike went off at half time, as he was their only real outlet and without him they offered nothing. we NEED to learn how to defend balls into our box too.

all in all, a solid performance. i won't get carried away with things, but it's encouraging

I kept thinking he said that Flint had a bum problem. I listened to the whole interview but don't think I understood a word of it...

The overall impression today was a very positive one. We looked solid for (almost) 90 minutes and for the first time that I've seen us this season we've clicked. My only concerns were the keeper and the defending at the back post again. Player by player...

Lanzano - makes me nervous as hell and needs to tone down his eccentricity and enthusiastic kicking but looks a pretty decent keeper. Better option than Smith.
Caddis - solid performance as ever, combines so well with Ritchie. The weak link out wide in terms of delivery though, he seems either reluctant to cross and instead looks for a pass back to Ritchie or he wastes the final ball.
Devera - close contender for MOTM, looked confident and assured at the back and dealt with everything that came at him.
McCormack - my concerns at him being moved to CB were unfounded, fair play to him for adjusting to an entirely unfamiliar position and doing so well. However, I think he might have looked a little worse had he been up against Harris (or a forward who isn't Blair Sturrock).
Kennedy - better defensively today, was left a little exposed at times but coped well. As with Caddis his delivery isn't always the best and was wasteful at times.
Ritchie - drifted out of the game entirely second half but gave his usual performance. If his form continues I think we'll struggle to keep hold of him in January.
Ferry - my MOTM. Not sure why he was substituted again - 4th game in a row? - but showed the sort of form that earnt him so much admiration during the play-off season; won the ball, used it well and popped up all over the place.
Smith - great goal but still not convinced, seems like the game passes him by most of the time and always throws himself into tackles late.
De Vita - looks a far better option out wide, appears to have been given a bit of a roaming role by PDC.
Kerrouche - took his goal well. I thought he gave the ball away too easily at times today when trying to run at a crowd of players but his attitude is superb.
Connell - his effort to keep the ball in play led to Smith's goal. A true professional.

Abdulla - much the same as his debut, will slot into the team well if required.
Storey - if you combined O'Brien and Blair Sturrock you would get Miles Storey.

At times we looked shaky in the second half and couldn't hold on to posession when we should have done which invited unnecessary pressure, a team with more up front may have punished us. Defensive cover is desperately required regardless of Comazzi's availability on Tuesday night and McCormack's performance as a makeshift CB.

Crawley is going to be tough on Tuesday, particularly after their loss today. Did anyone else notice di Canio praising Evans on the radio?

Special mention for their number 7 (Grant?) who repeatedly attempted crunching tackles and finally connected with one. Subsequently vanished from the game and fell over spectacularly just in front of the DRS to get a free-kick.

Ta for that Batch, it's just a shame no one took him up on the offer. He said at a fans forum during the week "If you don't like the way the club is being run, go and watch Southampton instead" Grade A cunt

Sorry to go on about B'mth in our match thread

Great we got the points without playing too well

Bournemouth are gonna 'do a swindon'

Clarke scored today. Long may it continue.

I noticed on the BBC stats that Morecambe only had 2 shots on target but scored 6. How does that work?

Is that the same chairman who told fans to 'go and support Southampton' if they weren't happy with his regime?

EDIT: Just seen what you said above, apologies for the repetition.

Also wanted to mention the noise in the Town End today, thought it was bloody brilliant.

Did they 'retune' "Oxford fan on a piece of string" or was it my ears?

WE are Paolo's Red and White army..STFC...

Really good today, back to being the engine room.  :clap:

was sung in a different key yeah, think it was yoofs who started it - i hate that chant anyway

Yeah, well done Town End today...it wasn't not exactly full, but there was consistent noise...you even managed to drag a load in the DRS into songs too...the atmosphere was so much better today, probably because the team were comfortably better that Southend today, and we played good football for long periods of the 2nd half.

That's the one

I'm unsure if you mean this in a good or a bad way?

Storey - if you combined O'Brien and Blair Sturrock you would get Miles Storey.

You sang in a different tune! Good effort all round though.

On the attendance front, 6800 ish, that's not too bad given the relegation, prices and the fact we've had a few home games in quick succession (if you include Saints in the Carling Cup).

I think he's just compared a teenager making his 2nd appearance for Town to two players in their mid to late 20s. I just ignored it.

not a great game, but we deserved it, although i did think southend were fucking awfull, need to train on defending set peices, nearly got caught out a few times in the first half, ferry again superb but yet again subbed :sherlock:devera still looks nervous, where was flint, think we are starting to settle now, cant wait for tues against crawly, this will be the test COYR, on another note i noticed pox had 8000 at home today :hmmm:

I would have thought the point was, he makes intelligent runs in the channels like Sturrock did for us (yes, he fucking did - just a shame no one else picked up on them and it and filled the box) and he's quick like O'Brien.

I could of course be wrong (for once)

I enjoyed that today and we looked like a team rather than a collection of individuals. McCormack was MOM for me. The good news is that you could put forward several names for MOM, always a good sign. Devera looked like the player we'd hope he'd be rather than the bag of nerves we've seen. Kennedy looked better at the back but his delivery was a bit off today. Caddis had a great game. Lanzano looks as though he's going to be the opposite of Smith and come off his line for everything- got a bit lucky today. Ferry had his best game this season for us and Smith scored a great goal and added a physical presence in the air as well on the ground where apart from one challenge his studs stayed. DeVita had a great first half but looked to run out of steam. He's got a great touch and good vision - I'd like to see him play in the hole if we ever lined up that way. Connell also has a great first touch and fantastic play for the 1st goal. Kerrouche is a latter day Chalky - chases everything. Connell and Kerrouch must be a right pain in the arse for defenders - always looking to drag them out of position and chasing every lost cause. Great team goal for the 2nd as well.
In the first half i thought we'd finally got a ref who realised it was a contact sport - he was excellent. In the 2nd however he'd left his brain in the changing room.
All in all a good win and we go above the Scummers so the normal order is being resumed.  

I probably have totally the wrong end of the stick but could it be construed as him having an issue with the in house medical team as in Kate Cady?

i can offer nothing with regards pdc's take on flint's injury, the reception was going in the car by then so paolo and interference wasn't a recipe for understanding the sentiment

reception in my car was crystal clear and i couldn't understand a fucking word he was saying

I never can. It makes me laugh.

Yes, I vaguely picked up on him being not at all happy with the diagnosis. Although when he said it was not Flint's fault the interviewer asked him straight who's fault he thought it was. He then just went rambling on again and didn't answer the question.

My radio signal was pretty bad, but all I heard Paolo say was Aden had a bum probably and had problems with poop. I think what I heard was far from the truth

haha thats what i htought i head  roo

I definitely heard 'poop' mentioned. We're gradually piecing this mystery together. ::)

Just back,long drive home from Scotland,good result and from the messege i recieved from a mate at the match it could have been four.
He also said the crowd was brilliant so well done all,the Merlot is about to be taken to task.

Keep it going Di Can.

L2 goals to be shown on sky sports news shortly

It sounded like Di Canio was saying Flint had a bone problem.  Maybe something has been misdiagnosed nandd has shown up in an x-ray? dunno just guessing

Spoke to Boo on the phone earlier, he was well happy as you can imagine(could have been beer goggles) Don't think he will forget but remind him to get my ticket for Barnet on the 24th  :pint:
Bet it was cold up there

Excellent. That's 4 yes'

apparently jonathan swift scored our 1st...

PdC's interviews remind me so much of Ossie's.When he was on the radio after games, four of us would sit in absolute silence in the car and still have 4 different versions of what he said. Give me that over 'one word' Hart any day though. Love it!

I thought I heard that correctly.

Most comfortable i've seen us all season, good value for the win.
Southend looked pretty crap and not very fit at all.
A lot of their players looked slightly overweight, including Blair Sturrock.

Nice to have a ref that let the game flow, I hardly noticed him today, so must mean he had a good game.

Good little run of form building, just in time to play Crawley, who got fucking hammered today!

McCormack was immense at the back today and i feel that his presence there helped bring the best out of Devera today.  When Risser went off i was worried about our backline but McCormack restored my faith and made some crucial interventions to snuff out a rare Southend attack.    

Ferry had an excellent game today too and that pass was fantasticly finished by Kerrouche which did the whole move justice.  

Connell worked hard today but he was clearly marked out the game because whenever he got the ball there was 1 or 2 Southend players on him all the time.

J.Smith slotted in well to midfield and capped the game with a great goal.  His 2 footed tackling still worries me though.

Fair play to the ref today he really let the game flow and i think he's been one of the better referees we've had in a long time.

I got back from Scotland last weekend and can confirm that autumn started up there in mid August.  I'm not joking.

I got back from Scotland yesterday. It was pretty warm all last week. I was in the southern bit mind you. Only 10 miles north of Berwick.

Same as me,in Otterburn and then onto Edinburgh,forgoton how nice the border country is around Northumberland.

Capello takes a right pasting in the press for being unable to speak English properly after every England game .... How long has Paolo been in the country?

Great game, I can't remember the last time we secured a 'routine win' at home.

McCormack was fantastic at the back, brave and committed - really got in where it hurt!

Ferry was outstanding and brought other players into the game intelligently, I did think the team performance dropped when he got subbed.

Kerrouche and Connell looked to have struck a basic understanding up front, so happy with that!

Other players also turned in their best performances so far - Kennedy, Devera and De Vita.

I thought Lanzano looked ok, he's definitely gonna provide some excitement this season. I think he performed better when playing the sweeper role during the game, but he did make a top drawer save from Sturrock - when he decided to play in goal.

Fantastic goal from JSmith, he has a sweet right foot, the proverbial traction engine, you knew it was in from the moment it left his boot.

On the whole, well pleased with that.

All sounds very promising, well pleased with that

Devera was MOM for me. Won everything in the air and his heading was a lot more direct than in previous games. The team really look like they're linking well now, which has to be down to keeping a fairly consistent 11 now.
Went straight to McDonalds over Asda after the game and right behind me in the queue were De Vita and Lanzano. They couldn't of even showered and they must of left the CG straight away.
It's a disgrace...some of those burgers have over 600 calories in them...think they're going to have to do running in the morning.
Can't wait for Tuesday night now.

I don't think Paolo's grasp of the language is the problem... he's just a bit mental.

Yep, t'is a fantastic part of Britain  :nod:

I'm driving 500 miles to the Isle of Skye in November for a wedding. Should I take snow chains and/or a sleigh with huskies ??

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, the players do look fit as fuck.... as I think someone else in this thread said the Southend players looked a bit porky and just couldn't keep up with the tempo and intensity that our boys were working at.

Right at the end, game won, Southend corner, eventually cleared all the way back to their keeper - Alan Connell sprints the full length of the pitch chasing the ball down like a possessed wild man. Fantastic.

A flask would be my advice.

it's the work we do when we don't have the ball, as you say at the end, that shows this most.  we gave them so little space and closed them down quickly all the time.  our inability to do this over the years has been one of our biggest downfalls, lets hope we reap the benefits and make it one of our strongest attributes from now on

Sour grapes from Southend United fans?? Average at best soapy tit wank

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?68066-Swindon-Town-2-Southend-United-0

When we played Rotherham I thought there was a distinct difference in the two teams regarding fitness and today it was very apparent. We always looked like we could step up a gear and cruised to an easy win in the end.

We got to 2-0, got the cigars out. Job done. Even had chance to take a few off with Tuesday in mind and still control the game. Keroosh had an ice pack on his ankle after the game. Hopefully a precaution.

that is all bull shit, apart from them being bad

Kerrouche got fucking crunched. Had a good view of it up in the DRS.

Want to echo the praise for the Town End today, fantastic and it was infectious and spread around the ground. thought once we had settled after the re-re- shuffle we played a good high tempo passing game. Well happy tonight.

Don't worry the Scum sponsors have been doing promotional tickets to get the fans in to watch their shite.

Unrest at the Pox ...... Total wankey fans and always have been. Full of shite.

We are Paolo's Red & White Army STFC.

Enjoyed today and a team are going to get spanked at Swindon by a few goals this season.

Went straight back to work after the match so am only just home to post.

That was a really enjoyable game today - a team with no defenders against a team with no strikers. The ref let an awful lot go which helped the tempo of the game.

Special mention for the Town End today, that was the most consistent noise we have had for a few seasons (and a real plus point is that the Arkells seems louder this season as well). Ther STFC chant was proper intimidating - much more of that please.

Devera was my MOM, with Ferry close behind.

Lanzano is a bit nuts. Kerrouche goes down too easy. Kennedy was a lot more disciplined today.

Really enjoyed that today.

Not our most fluent performance this season, but well worth the win, and more importantly a clean sheet and Southend didn't really have too many chances.

McCormack, in an unfamiliar position, was outstanding - has been v committed in every game I've seen him in this season and showed it again today. MOTM.

Devera had by far his best game for us, hopefully that's more his level of ability and he's just taken a few games to settle.

Thought Ferry and Smith controlled the middle of the park really well, and Ritchie was always a threat as usual (would still like him to stop going for a shot every time he gets a yard of space though)

Would be more than happy if that was our regular strike partnership this season as well, Kerrouche looks class and runs and runs, Connell's movement was good didn't really get a sniff apart from a few long range efforts though. Seem to work well together, would be good to see them get a run of games to build up an understanding.

As others have said well played the TE today, especially in the second half - great atmosphere.

And the icing on the cake hearing the Crawley score as I was leaving, after all Evans' talk about di Canio last week he's made himself look a right cunt. Again.

With a bit of luck we can pile on the problems for him on Tuesday.

De Vita impressed me today, won headers consistantly. Something Ive accused him of wimping out of.
Glad Devera showed some form today. Hopefully his nervous bedding in period is over.
McCormack, fantastic performance, switching positions during the game, well done.
Kerrouchi, great effort rate and a good goal.
Connell, lots of good touches.
J Smith, great competitor after he came on. Great goal.
Kennedy did better than Caddis for me (again) dangerous balls into the box.
Risser, shame about the injury, looking good at centre back.
Storey - good pace. Never seen the lad before, but looks very promising.

Fans - cracking atmosphere today. Southend were threatening to get back into it 10 minutes after it went 2-0, but the fans really put down a marker today. Vintage.

Give em a chance, they haven't even got to one page yet

Just got in from a monster 13 hour shift so gutted i missed the game. Cheers for write up on the game people.Seen a few different mom so that's a good sign

Storey does look like he's bulked up a bit - compared to how he looked during his brief cameos last season

I liked this gem:

'we lost to a badly organised Swindon side who played Alan McCormack at centre half for most of the game. Enough said. '

Essex cunt

In all fairness to him .... defensively we do seem to be an accident waiting to happen, inspite of which keeper/central defensive combo we go with.

Depends on how long we have to wait for though...think i could handle a few more matches :D

but he suggests we went out there with mccormack as a 1st choice cb, doesn't even mention he started in midfield or that the player he replaced back there is a midfielder who was asked to play there due to injuries and a suspension.

it's just spin to try and focus on something else other than the fact they were crap

Was a good game and a good performance by us. We deserved it as from the off we offered a lot more than Southend did going forward. We played some really good stuff on occasions on the floor with slick passing and Southend couldn't keep up with us. If we did this for 90 minutes we'd beat a lot of teams this season.

Defence again looked pretty dodgy when defending set pieces and crosses. With the makeshift backline we had though I thought we did well. McCormack was outstanding coming in at the back. He didn't put a foot wrong there. Devera had his best game for us since joining and Ferry isn't coming back to his best again with regular football now on offer. Lanzano needs games and I feel he'll come good in time. His moments of madness are probably down to him still settling in etc.

Oh and great goal from Smith as well. Sweet strike that. Kerrouche impresses me more with each passing game.

Pleased with that win and onto Crawley next. It's pretty clear that our pre-season work on fitness is starting to bear fruit now the season is a month or so old. We looked a lot sharper than Rotherham and Southend and our players just keep running and running. 2 tough away games next but bring it on.

Agree with your overall point, although it seems to me that Risser is probably more CB than CM anyway.

i did nearly use "" or italics for the word midfield but chose not to.  :)

Sorry, it was meant as a flippant remark as his brief appearance was pretty uneventful. I thought he ran around a lot with good effect at times (like Sturrock) but had the pace and occasional promise of O'Brien. Hopefully without the ability of O'Brien.

Not much too add as most has been said,

their number 6 who was taken off got crunched someone, Ritchie I think and lost it.
Him led down in the penalty area punching the ground after not getting the pass to him was one of the funniest things i've seen at the county ground.

and I fucking hate teams that bring a drum.


But I am 2 for 2 in my match day threads!

I think they were too embaressed to use the drum after a while.

When we got going, their fans sat down and gave up. Hee haw. No point them even trying.

I thought the Town End and Alan McCormack at CB were the surprise packages yesterday.

Loved the We are Paolo's red hot army with the "S-T-F-C !" rejoinder and seeing off that irritating drum was commendable.

As well as being treated to some last ditch and crunching tackles, Mac wasn't bad in the air and with Devera having his best game for us I thought we looked quite good at the back - albeit not difficult with Blair to mark and generally one of the poorest performances at the CG by a visiting side for a while.

Good judgement by PDC to give Miles Storey some playing time and "rest" Kerooosh too ahead of Tuesday.

Bloody good win, lets hope we can go a few matches unbeaten and form more momentum

I'm not sure Kerrouche is capable of resting. I imagine he runs to the supermarket. Runs around the supermarket and then runs home again after. I think he's like a real life version of that bloke Jason Statham plays in that ludicrously shit film, Crank.

A very comfortable win with some cracking individual performances, well happy.

McCormack Man of the Match for me for such a composed, committed performance as a stand in Centre Half.

Ferry was excellent and we look far less coherent after he went off. Great pass from him for the goal, I was calling for him to shoot, glad he didn't.

Southend's injury problems definitely affected them badly, they offered very little going forward. They would be a very different prospect with Corr and Harris upfront and I'm glad they were missing today. Sometimes everything just goes your way.

 :D

Just one point I wanted to make. The Town End was good yesterday but yet again the clapping ruined half the chants. The "We are Paolo's red and white army" just got so quick you couldn't keep up so some people just gave up and tried to keep up with the clapping but even that was a task. Really wish half of our fans grasped the concept of timing as it will be so much better if they did. The support was there though which was great to see.

Which is why the new STFC part is even better as it keeps the space between the 'we are paolo's red and white army's'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgE3Rsb1YPQ

nutter

Enjoyed the game yesterday, we deserved the win.

Thought McCormack did brilliantly at CB and Devera had his best game for us. I stil worry when balls come into our box. Kerouche was brilliant never stopped running.

Another promising performance and let's hope this momentum continues.

No sign of FL Show on iPlayer yet :(

This is what upsets me most about our relegation...there are Mickey Mouse clubs like this in the league above.

We don't belong here.  It's all wrong.

I watched it earlier? Through the PS3 though, dunno if it'd be different.

Oooh err will give Firefox a try, Opera has just had a big update so could be incompatible at the mo

Did the trick, ta Mr Reeves

Actually now that you mention it I did have a problem with Opera trying to watch the FL show a couple of weeks ago - very annoying when I opened up Chrome (hours) later and found it worked!

I just watched it too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mfmt9

Try that link, I use Mozilla and it works fine in that.

Sorted. Smith's goal, very nice, the TE had a very good view

indeed, people around us were screaming for a pen, i said it was never a pen, it fell to smith and it was one of those you could see it was open for him so i scread FINISH IT, which of course he did clinically

Anyone watched the interview with Sturrock on Player ?? He's sweating heavily and slurring his words slightly. Doesn't look a well man.

Brilliant goal by Smith, top top quality finish.

In the highlights the lad Izak Reid at Morecambe looks so lightening fast like Alan O'Brien but with a good delivery on him, hes one to watch.

Sturrock I think is not that well, didn't he have a bit of an alcohol problem? or so I seem to remember someone saying.

Well Parkinsons disease does that to you.

I think he was very pissed off that his old club had brushed Southend aside.

Yeah I know. I wasn't implying he was drunk.

It's very sad to see him like that.

Coverage on League show was shite...

Thats all....

One thing that occurred to me yesterday was that even including the Oxford game - where although we lost I think we played pretty well - our home form has been excellent and would have us up near the top of the table.

Need to try and get something from these two away games this week to give the side the confidence they can do it on the road as well, and things will for me at least be looking much more promising than just a couple of weeks ago.

Was a bit disappointed with the attendance on Saturday, it was 500 up on the Rotherham game but almost 1,500 down from our opener against Crewe. Was expecting the live sky game to be down but thought it would of been back up around the 7,500 Mark. Our home form has been good with some nice football being played so does that mean unless we are up in the top six we should expect less than 7,000 most home games ? I know the match day prices are high but do you think the club would of expected bigger attendances and if so will they drop prices to achieve the numbers they have in mind ?

If part of raising prices was to up the predicted figures so that they could get away with a bigger wage bill under the cap thing leauge 2, then are they allowed to lower it?

Is that even how the wage bill cap works?

To put this in to perspective, we beat the attendances of most League 1 clubs.  Comfortably.

My thoughts on the game -

Apart from a couple of occasions where Sarfend hit the bar and Lanzano made a good save (which was from our inability to defend properly, which is still a concern), it was a comfortable win over a poor side (missing key players clearly)

Lanzano - still undecided. He made one top class save to tip the ball around the post but his wandering outside the box is going to get him in trouble, I get the feeling that he is going to come and flap for a lot.
Kennedy - Works hard up and down the left hand side but for me doesn't have the same quality as we have on the right. When he gets it right he can put in a lovely cross. Didn't happen enough. Worked hard.
Devera - Much better performance. Grew as the game went on and his performance was encouraging and an improvement on the last time i saw him
Caddis - I like Caddis. His workrate up and down the pitch is excellent and some of his play with Ritchie is tremedous. Did waste a few crosses but he shows good desire and I thought he played well.
Ferry - Goes about his business quietly in the centre of midfield. Thought he played well and some of the triangle stuff with Caddis and Ritchie down the right was a joy to watch
Ritchie - A class act. Southend couldn't get close to him and he was excellent. His interplay with Caddis is a real plus.
McCormack - Superb at the heart of defence. Never felt worried when Southend went forward. Probably my MOM
Risser - not on long enough to form an opinion. Hopefully he comes back strongly after injury
Connell - Ran about a lot, worked hard but didn't really do that much for me.
De Vita - Did ok however he's wasted on the left wing. Drifted inside a lot and meant that the left side couldn't be exploited when the quick break was on. Would have liked him to 'hug the touchline' a bit more.
Kerrouche - An enigma. Works bloody hard and at times looks unplayable. Tends to go down a little easy sometimes for my liking but wins a lot of free kicks and tormented Southend at times. Fast becoming a fans favourite.

Subs - Abdulla - Did ok, nothing startling. Still young and learning the game and an able replacement for Ferry/McCormack
Smith - Was susprised he got MOM. He wasn't anything special (unlike his goal), didn't do anything wrong.
Storey - Seems a fast player and runs like Charlie Austin. Not on long enough to form an opinion but good to give the youngsters and opportunity.

So overall, 3 good points. Southend were murder and didn't pose much of a threat. My only 2 criticism would be that we still look dodgy at the back at times (especially on crosses) and I think our left hand side isn't being utilised as well as it could be. At the moment the right hand side is way stronger than the left and this seems unbalanced. If we can get a left winger (Gabilondo, Esajas) working well with Kennedy (or Cibocchi) as well as Caddis and Ritchie work together, we could reak havoc at home.

It's still 6,500+ home fans,  which seems pretty bloody good to me, especially as it's the third home game in a short space of time.

Lets see if the price reduction for Barnet brings in any more, although I suspect the next two results will have more bearing on the attendance.

The club submits their budget forecast to the league for them to check, then there is a bit of discussion until they agree on the final figures. Then they do the same thing all over again in December, so if you've played silly buggers with them they can fix it at that point.

I'm not knocking the numbers but was trying to understand the drop from the Crewe game. Those extra supporters who attended that game have not come back for either Rotherham or Southend. I was thinking after our last home game on sky the gate would of been higher Saturday. Like you say we are pulling in crowds that compare to div1 teams so still very good. Is the wage cap something like 55% of attendance money? The noise on Saturday was the best for a long time so if it stays like that 6,500 will be fine.

The wage cap is 55% of club TURNOVER not just from gates.

Yeah of full turnover, but I guess that the ridiculous £25 ticket price was to get our budget forecast up for what must be turning into quite a high wage bill.

It's a very low wage bill. If you were still about instead of sulking off you would of seen we £500.000 better off on wages than this time last year

No doubt it is lower than last year but that doesnt mean it is necessarily a "very low" wage bill. In fact Id expect its one of if not the highest in the division.

Wray himself said the cap was the reason for the £25 ticket prices so we obvously dont have a lot of room for manouevre.

Didn't Wray himself mention having about two pennies to rub together left in the budget. Something like that.

Not sure what happens with the Clark situation in regards to this?

I know we have the supporters club fund raising but do we raise money by outside methods? Years ago the club used to hand out scratch cards to fans and then you were classed as a selling agent. For every winner you had in your batch to sell you were given a percentage of that amount. Think the highest winning amount was £1,000 does anyone else remember or sell those type of cards ? A lot of people I know used to sell them all over the county so would imagine it made a small but useful difference to the clubs funds.

It's what usually happens, that the dawn at the start of the season, might bring some fresh enthusiasm, and a decent gate, then a dodgy start knocks gates down.

The fact that our gate stands up against most of the rest in L1 and 2, just shows that lower league football is heading for a spot of bother in the banker's recession. Social habits change....I never thought I'd see the day that decent pubs and working men's clubs were shutting by the dozens, as I'd always assumed that the working man, needed to go out and drink as he'd always done....

Much the same with football...I'd always assumed, people interested in football would support their local team, as they'd always done...but sadly not any more. We're heading for Spain/Italy situation where most people follow one of a big 2 or 3 clubs, making the odd investment in a bit of merchandise.

It really irks me to see local people who are obviously into football spending the whole of a Saturday in the pub spending shit loads on beer with their Man.u, Chelsea, arsenal shirts on watching sky score centre on tv, I just don't get it ! But when you suggest they come to a Town game they normally reply:" I ain't watching that shit "  and "why do you go and watch that shit" suppose it's called being a supporter.

I agree totally but there is another point here which most lower league fans seem to miss totally.......

These Man Ure/Cheskli/Arse fans etc DO support thier team, many of them have grown up supporting these teams even if they don't live anywhere near the town/cities that they follow.

That doesnt mean that they dont actually support their own teams, because they obviously do, even if its from afar or in a pub etc, its still THEIR team.

If I lived in Manchester and one of my Man Ure supporting mates asked me if I wanted to go along and support my local team (lets say Man Ure) I would categorically say no I don't want to watch them because they are not my side, even if I lived there.

Why is it so different with the armchair fans supporting other clubs?

We need to get them supporting us from an early age, at school, give them incentives to follow us (as well as bigger sides which is inevitable) but a lot of these youngsters dont want to follow a team that arent doing well, this has always been the case........wel since the 70's anyway.

We as fans of Swindon need to spread the word and make sure that these fans of other clubs come along every now and again to games to see what its like at the CG/Away games, even if its just to put a few extra pennies in the coffers at home games.

We wont ever understand them supporting bigger clubs because this is OUR club, but we would all love our club to be successful and all they have done is tagged on in the past to a successful club and stayed with them, if we become good then maybe some of these fans will come our way? you never know!

Fact is we had two home games in a week,people without a season ticket will pick and choose abit.
Two home games and a match v Crawley in ten days :eek:.....although people like to go it just cant be done by many :no: :no:

Has anybody else noticed what our terrible local paper has done tonight?  Named Matt Ritchie as star performer on Saturday giving him an 8, whilst they gave McCormack a 9!!  Also each player has a small pic by their name, but two of them just have a pic of their ears!!  And to think we used to moan about the EA years ago - it was far better than today's offerings!

Its just a fashion accessory to those sorts of people.

I agree with Notts Red, it was a dissapointing attendance. You are looking at less than 1,000 home fans on walk up, which is rubbish. Hopefully the fans take up the ticket offers in the next 3 games to show the board what an error they have made.

To say our attendances are good in L2 is fool's gold really. We want to be aiming at competing with clubs at the bottom half of the Championship.

If we were in the bottom half of the Championship then perhaps we would be? Very few teams would get 5 figure crowds in League Two. FACT.

Absolute bollocks.

I'm sorry, most armchair fans, aren't real fans. They're fair weather, plastic, glory-hunters who have no idea what it's like to trek halfway across country, sit in the cold, drink shit coffee, eat a crap pie and then drive home for 3 hours after you've lost, feeling like shit. That's what a fan is. That's what support is.

Watching a telly does not constitute being a supporter. Some cunt who sits in an armchair, who bemoans a loss for 20 minutes to his other plastic subscribing mates, with no idea what football is really about, is not being a supporter. It's just a social tag that allows them some sort of sense of belonging. They appreciate football, they enjoy football, they might have some affinity with a club, but unless they're from the area, or have been attendees on some level on a regular basis, they're simply not real fans. They're not even fans.

When one of my Premiership supporting mates starts talking about "their" loss at the weekend, I want to punch them. They're clueless lovers of televised football, who's opinions are almost completely invalid. Television fans only regurgitate what the pundits and commentators say. They didn't see the game, they didn't see player x running off the ball all the time. Or player x working the channels to make room for someone else. They saw a 16:9 rendition of something that's only a shell of what you see in the flesh.

We are a long way off 5 figures for normal games. I was comparing it to games last season when we still managed to get 8400 against Leyton Orient. We never dipped below 7000 from February onwards despite falling apart on the pitch. Over 8,000 for McDons and Notts County despite being basically relegated.

Theyve killed the home walk up numbers with the prices and negated any Di Canio effect.

Very true....followers is a better word than fans.

Well if you live in Australia and you support Swindon i would say you are still a fan surely?

And Russia ... and Thailand ... and USA ... and China ...

I find that the television and plastic football fans tend to be the loudest. They're also the creepy ones who say bizarre things on radio phone-ins.

I mentioned this on TEF years ago but there was a kid at university who supported Southampton and Manchester United while being a replica shirt wearing season ticket holder at Plymouth and also followed his hometown team of Bournemouth. The guy had a lot of love to give but it bugged everyone (none of our business but it was irritating).

Also, there's a guy at work who has Sunderland AFC everything. Mugs - gold chain - mousemats - wallets - wears the newest shirt on dress down Fridays (!) etc. I asked him once whether he went to the game and his reply was "Oh no I haven't been for 20 years! Why go when I can watch it on Sky or on a feed down the pub".

Each to their own. I've spent the last 5/6 years going to football matches as a neutral. When I go to St. James' Park, Stadium of Light, Gateshead International Stadium and so on I don't experience anything close to what I feel at Town games.

I agree,watching the Town eclipses any other matches i have seen....and i have seen plenty.

This quote made me laugh.

There are a lot of good points raised, but the "I want to punch them" was quality :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I'm in agreement with a lot of this.  If I meet someone and they tell me they're a ManU/Chelsea/Arse fan, I pretty much switch off from their views on football, whereas if they told me they supported Hartlepool/Donny Rovers, I'd be quite happy to talk to them about it for ages.

I also like the sound of player x with his running off the ball and working the channels.  Does anybody know if he is available?

Huzzah for be a purist eh fellows! I only support Swindon because my dad did. Luckily for me he supported his local side.

In fairness, I know plenty of "glory" supporters who talk a perfectly good game.

Deary me, aren't we all full of self importance, footballing martyrs. Live and let live lads, some people prefer to watch their football on TV, some prefer to go out in sub zero conditions watching far inferior quality of football paying a month's TV subsription for 90 mins of mind numbingly boring football. That's life, different strokes for different blokes.

Seriously lads, there's more important things in life that work you to the point of wanting to hit people.

I guess it's easier to follow or support man.u etc now because they are on the telly nearly every week. It's strange as both my brothers both over 40 support man.u they both really like their football both playing and watching, one has been to old Trafford about 3 times and the other probably never. I've often tried to get them to come to a town match but they immediately think the standard is shit so now I've just given up asking them. We can watch a live game now pretty much every day of the week on tv which has killed off much chance of getting the new fans to come along. It's seems more fashionable now to watch a live game down the pub with your mates than to support your local team.

I find it funny that the one of my best mates I was in a band with in the late 80's and another really good mate from the same period are now Manure fans despite having never ever shown the slightest interest in football all the time I knew them back then.  In fact they found my interest in football plain weird.  However sometime during the mid 90's they decided they've always been 'football fans' and always loved Manure.

Suffice to say we now avoid the subject for fear of me getting a little tetchy.

I think the guy who works in my office in Andover and 'supports' Man Ure has a less weighted opinion than mine. He has never been, knows fuck all about anyone past the first eleven and makes bullshit comments and takes the piss out of us. He can royaly fuck right off.

That might be a purist view, an arrogant review maybe but arm chair fans of top prem clubs simply support a company, a PLC who give them fuck all recognition. How about the odd pre- season friendly in the home counties, oh no they're in Asia/America/Africa*

* delete as appropriate.

When you sit in the pissing rain amongst 200 fellows, 250 miles from home then I'll listen to your opinion. Offer me your views on Rooneys hatrick from the comfort of your sofa whilst sporting a pair of slip-ons and I'll be off.

 :D

Sorry Leefer there's more. This subject really winds me up.

these queens park rangers are showing many threats upon the newcastle utd goal sticks in this week's scheduled fixture between the two sets of players.  luckily for me i can sit and view this from the inside of my own home and the popcorn is free...

seriously though QPR are looking great going forward, SWP is electric tonight

I see armchair fans as fans and people who go to games as supporters. They are there to support the team, can't do that from the pub.

I actually feel sorry for the 'Sky Sports Generation'. I see them strutting round the streets of Colchester in their Chelsea shirts or walking round Exeter in their Tottenham shirt etc.

From my perspective, supporting a team is about identity. It's about where I'm from and who I am. It's a part of me. And it's about supporting the team of the place you are from. When I first started going to away games having just passed my driving test, we would set out, five of us in a battered old Capri or Cavalier or whatever, heading for Bolton, Carlisle or some other some other distant northern outpost.

We would not have admitted it at the time but it was probably the first time we'd been anywhere that was not part of a school trip or with our parents. We still talk about what went on on those trips even now - blown spark plugs, getting lost, run-ins with other fans, getting pissed and so on. Through that, you form a bond with your mates and your team which is unique and will never be broken. I go to games now (home or away, it doesn't matter) and see people who I may not have seen for 10 years but I stop and have a chat and it's like you last saw them a couple of days ago, such is that bond.

If some bloke who has never even been to Liverpool, wants to go down his local pub in Farnborough in his LFC replica shirt and sit in the corner and watch 'his team' on TV then that is of course up to him but I just think it's very sad. He, and a whole generation are missing out in a way they will never comprehend. It is so utterly soulless and they have no idea. I would never be able to explain to them what they were missing out on nor would I try.

I agree with your sentiment Barry but thats not what I am getting at, they wont follow us because they arent interested in our team, they "follow" (changed from "support") their team because its their team.

A lot of these wont contemplate going to a game involving two teams that they have no interest in just as I wouldnt want to go to a game that I was not interested in.

This isnt about who is the best fan, who covers the most amount of miles in shit conditions to watch their team, its not about who can talk a good game or who can see where tactics are going wrong on and off the pitch.

Its about their team being their team, we cant change that, we at best may be able to get them to follow us as a second team but they will never support us before their first choice team that they chose, however long ago that team was picked out of a hat/won most games on tv/won the cup in 1988 etc etc.

They just wont support us, end of.

Calm down, I am not saying that armchair fans are right, I am saying that we cant change them and shouldnt expect to ever change them.

I hate armchair fans as much as the next "proper club" supporter.

What a superb post, sums it up perfectly.

I agree in principle about arm chair fans. God knows I know enough of them. One of very few Swindon and Swindon only fans at school, with your standard mix of top 6 sides.

But those friends of mine that do support your Liverpools, Man Ures, Spurs etc all make the journeys up every now and then, now that they're of an age where they can do it for themselves and also all know a fair bit about football in general.... So I'm kind of split... and to be fair to them they make the odd Town game each season... We usually fucking lose though when they do!

Just remembered an example of the arm chair fans that do annoy me though... On the way to Daggers last season, started chatting to a few West Ham/Villa fans... turns out they were all from Hereford, didn't go to Edgar Street because they are shit and asked us who other than Swindon we supported! I stopped talking to them at this point, they seem amazed that we'd follow someone like Town up and down the country. Twats.

Thats the bit that does my fucking head in. Once you declare yourself a Town fan the standard response is " so who's your proper team" or "what Prem Club do you support". A proper fan wouldn't ask such a dumbass question. Like most on here I'm proud to be Town and Town only. 

Hi Town Fans. 

Thought I'd support my local team a bit this year seeing as Di Canio is the manager.  Actually went Saturday but it was a bit shit, wasn't it?

Tsu-nami, Tsu-nami, Tsu-nami!  Best fans in the country.

Yeah we've just got a point to go champions league fourth.

Loyally supported them through thin and thin ever since Keggy Keggle's days.  This could be our year.  I expect most of you glory hunters support Man U or Chelsea.

Pardew's ok for a cockney.  He really knows his stuff.  Great friend of the family actually, he's just running through a few basics upstairs with my wife now.

Best nil nil I've seen on telly ever [didn't watch the Toon when they drew 0-0 at home to Swindon - pre prem etc]

So proud of my black and white shirt.  Shame about Joey's name on the back (I'm a bit of a hard man and really hate the mackems, the derby to end derbies)

Wor Jackie, eh?

And as most people would agree, it doesn't really matter that we are a division 4 team. If we were as good as Barcelona winning wouldn't mean more than it does now. In fact being used to and expecting success might even lessen the novelty!

I think people who can't understand this don't really get football.

I work in Coventry and most of my colleagues are Man U/Liverpool/Newcastle fans. Not a single Coventry fan amongst em. A couple don't support any team but watch whatever game is on TV and talk about player X doing so on and so forth, it reminds me a little of that episode of The IT Crowd. Whenever I'm asked who I support nobody has the faintest idea what division Swindon are in, nobody even knew Di Canio was in charge.

I guess some view me as a fairweather Town fan as I don't go to many games anymore but moving to the Midlands has rekindled my interest and now I'm able to afford (sort of) watching us again. I started following a top flight Norwegian team a little while back, primarily because they were my girlfriend's local team - despite her total lack of interest - and also because of their previous ties with Jan the Man. I go to games whenever I'm over and try to watch most matches online - all Tippeligaen matches are streamed online for a monthly subscription fee - but I'm not sure I'd say I support them.

Supporting a team is about sticking with a side through relegation, financial problems, near misses and players like Aaron Brown.

Doncaster away in September 2005 is what being a supporter is about.

Last season I lost count with the amounts of times my wife would say as I walk through the door looking pissed off after another defeat " it's no good you will have to find another team to support " getting beat most weeks last season wasn't fun but just knowing times will be good again is plenty enough of a reason to keep me supporting the Town.

So memorable for a number of reasons. Mainly bad!

You don't choose your football team. The same way you can't choose the colour of your eyes or the natural colour of your hair. You are born with it, if you aren't then it isn't real. End of!

I wasn't born with Swindon Town in the blood, I had to find it myself.

Well said. If you don't experience the lows, how can the highs (however fleeting for us in the last few years) possibly taste as sweet?

That's arguably the most stupid comment you've ever made.

There have always been many people who crave the reflected glory of picking a major team to follow. It's just so much more visible these days

I realise that football attendances below the top level have declined over the years (since I started going in the late sixties anyway) but that's a change in society with many more alternatives to absorb peoples' leisure time, as well as the change in the family dynamic where the male head of the family was the breadwinner and was thus 'entitled' to his entertainment .

 Televised football was also a rarity, so you had to go to games if you wanted to see the game, and travel (as OST mentioned) was more challenging, thus more people stayed local for their fix

In today's overhyped, over emotional, insecure world where folks are desperate to belong, of course we're all going to notice the plastics  - I don't remember seeing replica flat caps or overcoats, at best it would have been rosettes and rattles.

Each to their own I say. I have non-match attending friends with opinions on the game that I respect, and some others. At least I'll go out and meet them to talk about it though, I don't have to belong to a clan/tribe to do that.

I might have started to sound like talktalk there, sorry about that.

Sorry but thats pathetic, everbody has a choice.

Even though I was born into a 3rd generation Swindon supporting family I never felt the need to follow Swindon, I chose to.

I wanted to watch live football and back in the 70's if I wanted to watch games then I had to go to the CG. There was the rare England game live on TV and the FA Cup final and WC but that was pretty much it.

You can choose, I was born into a Leeds supporting family, but I chose to support Swindon since the age of 5

None of my family had any interest in football. I'm not that bothered myself.

Some are born into it, some aren't.

I married Swindon Town.

Before I  met my Missus, I wasn't a supporter of any club. My local team was Gillingham and I went to some Gills games (Ken Price anyone? Fans running onto the pitch at Priestfield during a Town vist and lumping the ref?).

When I met She Who Must Be Obeyed, she was (and remains) a season ticket holder. When I was able to visit Swindon on leave, I got taken to some games, standing in the Town End, having a whale of a time, even when Swindon lost. SWMBO and her friends used to wax lyrical about the prowess of Dave Bamber. I didn't see him score for ages so made a declaration. When I was at a game that Bamber scored in, I would be an official paid up fan/ supporter whatever you want to call it. He did and here I am, 27 or so years later Swindon Till I Die :beers:

I was thinking about this. Put Storey in a pair of trousers too short for him, a tweed jacket and flat cap and he would be Freddy Starr doing a Norman Wisdom :D

Are you Talk Talk in disguise? Are you Talk Talk in disguise?

DV's point is a load of old hyaena offal. Take me. It took a stupid idea for a stadium relocation to get me hooked. Bloody Diamandis.

what is really annoying is the scandis, both the danes and sweedish all support an english side, usually liverpool, arsenal or utd - i don't mind it too much as they tend to support their local side too.  the annoying bit is that over the last few years i've seen more and more chelsea fans pop up from the two nations, guys in their late teens, early twenties.  they've all obviously chosen to support them since they started winning stuff. i hate it.

i do have one sweedish mate who is a hammer though so he gets a little more respect from me.

He sounds like a right tool to me

you've hit the nail on the head there.