Thetownend.com

The opponent:  Macclesfield Town

The beauty of the FA Cup is upon us  :) I don’t know why, but when I think of Macclesfield, I think of a typical northern shithole, rocketing unemployment, White Ace bottle fed to toddlers, Ter wife knowing her place and row upon row of crumbling terrace houses.  But take a closer look and you will find that it would appear to be one of the more affluent parts of the grim north, and a Conservative stronghold for many years, with disgraced Tory MP Sir Nicholas Winterton having retired as the local MP after 38 years, something to do with dodgy expenses and slapping  Labour MP Natascha Engel’s arse, when questioned about the accusation, he simply replied,  "I'm quite a normal person. Will I slap a colleague on the back, Will I slap a colleague in friendship? The answer is – it is certainly possible”. What a guy!  On the flip side, it seems that they have their own share of knuckle draggers, with The Macclesfield Express main story being “Macclesfield gran takes on yobs – and gets them banned from town”, sounds much like Cheshire’s very own Supergran.

As well as around 52’000 people, many celebrities from the world of sport and television have chosen  to become ‘Maxonians’ or were born there,  such as perma-tanned antique shifter, David Dickinson, Lanky striker beaten by STFC a couple of months back, Peter Crouch, legendary cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew, Walsall born Noddy Holder, and one of my personal favourites, Mr Methane, the world’s only performing flatulist. For those of a more serious musical persuasion than Slade and Johnny Fartpants, Ian Curtis, lead singer of the fantastic Joy Division hails from Macclesfield and was cremated in Macclesfield some 32 years ago. Another member of Joy Division, Bernard Sumner also came from nearby Alderley Edge. For the punk that still lives inside many of us, The Macc Lads, who are the self proclaimed "rudest, crudest, lewdest, drunkest band in Christendom" come from Macclesfield, I guess there is a clue in the band name. Anyone that can knock out a tune called Turtles Heads gets my vote, and with a vocalist called Muttley McLad and a drummer simply known as The Beater, you get a combination of foul mouthed hard punk that captured the imaginations of a lost generation.  One of Macclesfield’s most recently famous products is Olympic Hero, Ben Ainsle, he of the dodgy beard who I witnessed bringing home the gold a few months back in sunny Weymouth.

Macclesfield have one rather famous fan, Dwayne Johnson (WWE Superstar The Rock), who once pulled the name of Macclesfield Town out of a hat on Soccer AM to determine which team he should follow. Hopefully we will leave him feeling ‘rock bottom’ tomorrow come 4.45pm (like he’d give a shit)

Macclesfield  Last 6– LLDDWW (Currently sitting in 7th place on 24 points in the league the scummers will be calling home next season, The Blue Sq Prem/Conference/Call it what you like

The Threat – Matthew Barnes-Homer, perhaps he is a Simpsons fan? So far this season the lad has scored 11 in the Non-League, and another 2 in cup competitions. Being outsung by the expected coach load of fans, some Macclesfield fans are hoping to bring up to 100, making for a cracking atmosphere at the County Ground later today. Fair play to those that do make the journey, sounds like they can afford it.

The irrelevant stats – Nearly half of Macclesfield’s goals are scored in the last 15 minutes, hopefully something PDC is well aware of. So far this season Macclesfield have scored 26 goals, with an impressive 15 of those coming away from home, although they have managed to concede 25 goals, with a not so impressive 19 of these being conceded on their travels. Macclesfield also have 3 players with double barrelled surnames, must be local Maxonians.

A warm welcome too –  Anthony McNamee, The former Town winger is likely to want to impress against us. I always thought it was a bit unfair calling him a one trick pony like they did at Watford, he could do a step over to the left as well.

The Odds –  Swindon 2/7    Draw 9/2    Macclesfield 15/2 (odds from SkyBet, Betfair are looking at around 10’s on an unthinkable away win).  Anyone fancying young Miles Storey to continue his recent rich goalscoring form by scoring first, shop around. SkyBet are offering a not very generous 4/1, but Paddy Power are offering 13/2, which is the same Paddy Power offering 500/1 on a 10-0 victory for the Silkmen. In case you wondered, Bet 365 are offering 33/1 on a McNamee opener!

Sid Says – I think he is a bit depressed at the moment, as he predicted 3-2 to Villa on Tuesday night, and he has been off his fodder this week. After a bit of encouragement he wandered towards a not very optimistic 2-1 to us.

The Prediction –  Potential banana skin? Yes, possibly, it would be disrespectful to think they will just roll over but I really do believe we have enough to win 5-0, with a Rooney and De Vita double, and a late pile driver from Ritchie, to send the majority of the 5’889 crowd home looking forward to tomorrow's draw.

And Finally –  A local legend attaches to the famous flight of 108 steps from Water's Green to St Michael and All Angels Church in Macclesfield. It is said that anyone who can make it from bottom to top without taking a breath on the way will have a wish granted. The cynical, however, might wonder if any such claim was based on a quick stop in the pub where the trek begins!

COYR

Been busy Rosso :) Good stuff. looking forward hopefully to the start of a good FA cup run. Not taking anything for granted because we know all about cup upsets. Hope we go for it from the off and I'm going with a 3-1, Collins, Ferry and who ever takes the penalty we get.

It seems the KOT has rolled a 7, the king is dead, long live the king and all that. Probably attending a Tongan version of Dragons Den full of scantily clad tribeswomen, the bastard.

Great stuff, you need to do the matchday thread every week.

YOU HAVE USURPED THE THRONE OF TONGA.

THE KING IS MISSING.

Cheers Senor

With KOT or without KOT, we will win this league/cup anyway

Good one Rosso.

We'll be too strong up front for them, 4-1 with Storey tearing them a new one.

A few days after a rip-roaring cup tie against Prem opponents, I would expect the crowd to be less than half what it was for the Villa game and for the atmosphere to be pretty flat (going by past experience). The general expectation will be that we should sweep them aside 5-0 whereas in reality they will be a very well organized side who ill 'set their stall out' and be more than happy with a 0-0. All of which will lead to a fairly ugly encounter which we will edge with a couple of late-ish goals.

OR..
It will still be a flat atmosphere with the crowd being a fraction of what it was on Tuesday with expectations of an easy victory. BUT as one of the Macc Lads who posted on here informed us, they appear to have a manager who is a bit gun ho and they may will have a bit of a go. Fair play if they do, it will make for a far better game and will suit us down to the ground.

Either way I am going for....

2-0 Williams, Ritchie

Edit: Meant to add - Absolutely ideal game for Storey to get 90 minutes under his belt.

9-0 win with 42 macc lads turning up in a crowd of 6,102.

Like that.

3-1 Swindon :D

Very informative Shaw Rosso and a good read,keep it up.As for the match,they'll be up for it and it won't be easy but i'm still confident that we'll win 3-1 with Williams,Storey and Ferry on the scoresheet

Hope they go for it and don't just shut up shop as it could turn into a very dull game. Lots of goals please

4-1 with Benson, storey, flint and de vita scoring

My boy has just told me he dreamt we will win 7-0

Could do with finishing it today. A replay will only add to our busy fixture list.

i bet shaw rosso did a sex wee when he saw nobody had started a matchday thread :)

we will lose 2-1 in front of a crowd of 4,500ish and paolo will blame the embargo in his postmatch interview

2-1 defeat.

We'll smash them 6-0.

I've got a good feeling about this.  2-1 Swindon COYR

Just two legs makes McNamee only half a trick pony.  :deadhorse:

3-2 Town

Hmm, we'll probably get booed off at half time and struggle to 1-0 win. Either that or we'll smash them 5-0!

I'd just like to see us win again (having missed the away victories!)

Giving this one a miss.  Full of cold and shattered from having 4 kids sleepover last night for my son's birthday.

It will be good to get a win at the County Ground, but this has the potential for us to slip up if we're not careful.  In other words, I don't have a clue what the score will be!  :)

yep, the juices were flowing

Looks like you've upset our northern friends

http://fansonline.net/macclesfieldtown/mb/view.php?id=97551 (http://fansonline.net/macclesfieldtown/mb/view.php?id=97551)

Both their fans seem quite upset about that.

[url width=480 height=360]http://i.imgur.com/XabQf.gif[/url]

No mention of the macc lads?  :no:

I thought I went quite gentle on them, guess its just SMALL CLUB SYNDROME

I love the way their forum took the name David Dickinson and changed it to David XXXXinson, at first I thought they had something against him.

Tut, read it again  ;)

Jeez, they're all a bit uptight on the Macc forum! Thought you'd rightly identified their town as the exception to the dour northern towns that proliferate up there. Very humourous preview.

5-0 Town, first half romper stomper, more muted display second half. Benson (2), Ritchie(2), Collins. Att. 5,888 (58 Macc)

i won't be so generous if by some miracle we have to go there for a replay :)

Not able to make it today. Therefore a 10-0 town win. Or we'll sneak it 1-0

Gutted!!  Woke up yesterday with ominous signs of impending flu, and last night and today it has struck home!!  So won't be going today, got to get myself fitter for Tuesday!  Good luck lads, going for a 3-1 win.

Not going today due to work commitments, although I'd still love to be there, if there one I wasn't going to fight to get off it was going to be this one. Probably be about 8-0 given this.

Town: Foderingham; Thompson N, Flint, Ward, McEveley; De Vita, Ferry, Archibald-Henville, Roberts; Williams, Rooney A

Strong team, hope Rooney bags a few

Troy in midfield eh, wonder if he's started puking yet

Eugh, hanging. Hope the match makes for easy listening.

Well written article once again. Fuck the King of Tonga, Long Live Rosso!

I predict "Town Will Tear them Apart Again". 4-0

McNamee starts for Macclesfield

This thread hasn't got a lot of activity. Can't work out if this means a low gate because not much interest or that most of the people who usually sit on here and don't go have decided to given the low prices.

i doubt it's the latter given most of us who post on here during matches live too far away for ticket prices alone to be a consideration

Sorry Chalky, I was venting my tumble dryer! Wonder if you'd mind if I disappear to hang a couple of cabinets up? I'll try and get back to contribute to the 80% bollocks later.

As it isn't a league match commentary is on BBC's website today.

Can see exactly how shit STFC Player is before being forced to use it on tuesday again.

Flint is highlighted in red in the line up on the OS - Is he captain?

Correct.

ferry is captain apparently

No idea why he's in red then - very random. Not an omen I hope.

Stupid twats have turned it off. Back to Player it is.

Perfect.

I forgot about the FA Cup when I booked the Mrs 40th meal (pre FA cup draw).

Worst still, its her actual 40th on Tuesday....humph...missed birthdays and valentines days for footy before but can't do it on her 40th. Why did it have to be Sheff U :(

Anybody else's Player not working?

Here's a BBC Wilts link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football-20140709

Cheers fella.

My player working now

[url width=300 height=225]http://i.imgur.com/mmEIb.gif[/url]

alan Mac has done his homework

"he had a little loan spell at Watford"


6 years, if i recall.

Loved Alan Mac as a player. A commentator, not so much.

I'm going to turn this off for a bit - We usually score when that happens.

It is nice hearing the commentary as things happen for once rather than about 5 mins later.

All sounds exciting

Watching Rovers v Sheffield Utd on tv. Rovers 1-0 up

does anyone else find Chris Wise's voice a little grating?

I do. I can't stand listening to him anymore - he always sounds to me like he's supporting the other team.

I'm listening to the Macclesfield commentary today. Bit drab but then the game sounds pretty drab anyway......

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_SA
It's not been great. In fact it's been pretty awful. I imagine there'll be a salon's worth of hairdryers being thrown around dressing room

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_SA
Town are so far off the levels they achieved against Stevenage and Aston Villa it's ridiculous. Let's hope it improves after the break

https://twitter.com/SamMorshead_SA/status/264756597761388544
https://twitter.com/SamMorshead_SA/status/264756672776531969

Pretty even game to be honest, we just shaded it based on chance.

Raffa should have scored from the free kick & their keeper made a good save from Williams but we have by no means looked 2 divisions better.

Based on his performance so far I think it was probably good that Troy was ill last week.
He has broken the play up ok in midfield but looks a bit lost when we have the ball.
Problem is we don't have much of an option for centre mid on the bench.

More Macc fans here than the 38 from last season

Looks like Collins is going to be on soon.

I would guess to replace Rooney

Decided not to go down today, couldn't justify the cost with sheff utd on Tuesday, sounds like I haven't missed much!

Hopefully we improve in the second half, although any scrappy win will do!

Sounds thrilling :-D. Did we expect anything else after Tuesday? Getting through is all that matters

Might as well be the first to say it. Get M'Bargo on  :crash: :crash: :crash:

Wow, only 5 pages, nobody gives a shit about this match do they?

Chris Wise is awful and has an annoying voice. Alan Mac is pretty bad too, which is a shame because he's shown some good insight in previous commentaries. Also Player is still 5 minutes behind- first half hasn't started for me yet.

'Yawn' I'm going to play Football Manager.

39?

I'd give it a miss to be honest

I see the FA Cup kit has alternated the red/white shorts again. Who will be the first to suggest we go back to our 'more traditional' red?

6,408 (139 Macc)

I'm going for some food.

Lets hope we score.

I think that is a very healthy attendance, for a not particularly attractive fixture

300% better attendance from Macc

Austin scores for Burnley

Pox ahead, would love to exact a modicum of revenge against the fuckers

fucky doodle, world beater apparently

oh cock

omg

Oh dear....

oh dear :eek:

down to 10 now, Flint

For fuck sake

Not looking likely to be a consideration now. 10 men and 1. 0 down. Flint off again.

This could be disastrous for our budget.

red for.....who?Oh Flint

Oh my word :eek:

golly gosh

Flint again ?

Oh well - let's concentrate on the league  :D

Off outside to suck on a Windsor Blue, when I get back we'll be level

Well that was a successful trip to the kitchen.

Lose a goal and a man.

As much as I'm dissapointed that we are losing, I do love the FA Cup.

And as for Flint, what is he doing!?

according to alan mac winning the ball

ho ho ho

[url width=500 height=274]http://i.imgur.com/ca0cW.gif[/url]

Storey time?

Louis Thompson on for Arch-Hen

Is your keyboard a bit sticky? You seem to have too many letters.

GET THE BALL IN THE FUCKING NETS YOU CUNTS :crash: :crash: :crash: :crash:

More like too many fingers

I was actually referring to my unintentional prediction that Flint would get sent off.

But you're 1 up. Fair play. Sounds like you deserve it.

Just got in, what the fuck is going on?

 :no:

Come on Swindon

i think player has just died

Paolo thinks he is ready for the Premier League ? If we win 2-1 then I agree.....

I look forward to the meltdown on his interview, on twitter and on here.

 

    

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paolo may well be ready
We are not  :cry:

I like a bit of 90s nostalgia-us losing to non-leaguers

Just need a bit of snow

Is it over yet?

Talking of losing to non league, Hasting's are 2-1 up now on Stortford, didn't they inflict one of our most embarrassing FA cup losses of all time?

for fuck sake.

It is now

this is painful listening oh shit

Yes

Oh gash

It pisses me off that getting knocked out The FA Cup doesn't piss me off more, I'd be livid if this was in the league.

Dear oh dear oh Fucking dear :no: :no:

HahA oh dear

Fuck it. As I said earlier, this coyld affect the budget and make the um bongo harder to lift.

Oh and fair play macclesfield

i thought the prize money for this was already budgeted for?

Ah well. We can concentrate on the league now

 :sofa:

Never liked the People shirt anyway

Surely we budgeted to get past round 1

All over... FT

Shaw Rosso, king of the MDT's  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

ah, misunderstood

we didn't lose today because of the embargo.

Hi chaps. Just arrived in time to get depressed!

Fingers ready for the Paolo resignation.

No no not at all. Sounded like for 70 minutes we weren't up for it but Macclesfield were.

I feel sorry for the poor sods who went. Methinks everyone will be in at the crack of dawn for a 10 mile run in the morning. He wont be happy..

Without doubt the biggest upset of the 1st round :cry:

  :jawdrop:

Well done Maccelsfield.  I'd take the magic of the cup and shock results that come with it even if today wasn't our day.
Our Cup record against higher teams remains  ;)

Oh dear me, this always had the potential to be  an issue particularly with a hangover from Tuesday?

If I'm honest, I'd rather have 3 points on Tuesday, but with our current home form, that's highly unlikely.  1 win in 7 is a bit of a worry.

Was Flint a straight red?  And the money  we spent on Archibald-Henville is really beginning to feel like an absolute waste even more so, as it's part of the reason we're under embargo.

looks like our players are doing an Aljofree and are scared to play at home???

Anyway, the embargo wont be resolved any day soon, think we budgeted for the third round!

Oh dear doesn't sound great at all today! Always had the potential to be tricky tie but as an FA Cup lover I'm gutted to be out! Oh well on the beers!

Paolo's going to fine the players for the performance

He said the "E" word

if i understood that correctly, Paolo is blaming the club for causing the embargo and therefore losing us the game today...

Pretty sure he just said they'll be at Liddington at 7:30 tomorrow morning...

Not happy with Flint "I cant give him a brain"-or something like that!

yup

Pretty sure he let slip "bollox" then  :D

 For most of our history we would only lose to a non league team once a decade..now it's every time we play one. So I'm past caring, and just accept it as a bit of an inevitabilty....

 We could do with something special on Tuesday....a win would be massive

Which would make him a reprehensible dick. Although he can be difficult to make out exactly what he means.

This is more important. 3or 4 nil would be the perfect apology.

Embargo M'Bargo Embargo M'Bargo SHUT UP PAOLO, enough about EMBARGO!

Don't blame him. Flint's a fucking idiot. Gutted for Louis Thompson. The rest of them can go fuck themselves

That was shit. Wasn't going to go today, but found myself in the town center at two so thought fuck it. Wish I hadn't bothered.

Rooney just doesn't look fit or with it. Roberts and ferry were too ponderous. TAH is never a central midfielder in a million years. Williams was wank, as was de vita.

For all we were shit going forward, we coped easily with macclesfield. Can't really do much about the goal except say fair play to the lad. Not sure if the ball moved or if wes was unsighted, but he looked as if he could have done a bit better.

Red card was never a red in a million bazillion years. Spurred us on though, Ferry missing an absolute sitter. The more I see him play, and as much as i love him, I don't see him every really going much beyond league one or lower championship.

Second goal was a fluke, unfortunatley for thompson, who looked bright when he came on.

In conclusion, fair play to macclesfield. They got the bit of luck you need to get results like that, which we know all about (Bensons offside goal against wigan anyone?), but I'd stop short of the fawning that Mcloughlin was giving them on the radio. They never looked like creating a chance, let alone scoring untill they fired two long range pot shots in succession.

I did think their center backs were outstanding though, as well as that hairy midget they had playing off the striker. Liked the look of him.

All the best to macclesfield in further rounds, we'll have to dust ourselves down and get on with things. One positive is that this does mean we can solely concentrate on league matters now, which should ease congestion worries and maybe help prevent the end of season slump in form we suffered last season.

i might have misunderstood completely, it's impossible to know.

he definitely mentioned something about "the club" apologising to the fans, the squad etc

In the last two seasons we have beaten plenty of higher league teams that made 5 or 6 changes, today we did the same as them and got beat. Quell surprise.

We need to rest players, and so I can see that today's changes were with Tuesday in mind (last Tuesday's exploits, this coming Tuesday). Would have preferred to win today at the expense of Tuesday myself. FA Cup 2nd round more important than 1 league match to me.

hes on about chihuahuas again

PDC:
- Win or lose is not important its the way we played
- Found today we are average in terms of desire
- This game proves whether you are a 'level player'
- Didn't take chances
- Very upset and will take some action
- Flint in trouble. Will be fined
- If you dont have inner motivation to win this game then the manager has to be straight with them
- I want to change everything!
- If we don't give our best straight away and we stroll around thinking we are Barcelona then we will lose
- Angry with Flint as he has been told so many times about not tackling from behind.
- Not all of them, but some have no sense of responsibility
- Everyone has to give 100% to play.
- Not going to fine all players, but will fine those who showed no bollocks!
- The performance was a stupid and pathetic reaction
- Told them at half time that they needed to give more.
- PDC will be first to arrive at training ground at 0710 tomorrow. Player need to be there at 0730!
- I'm not going to judge the referee. We know the rules. Every single day I tell the players not to dive in from the side or behind. There were 3 other players who could have stopped the player. Could have been yellow or could have been red. But we have to pay the price of poor decision making
- James Collins works had but he never scores! He hits the ball at defenders for a reason. Maybe he needs to move into space earlier?
- 'Some adults are not adults and they don't seem to understand what you think they should'
- Annoyed that some of the players didnt have the intelligence to try to help and encourage L Thompson. They were only thinking of themselves.
- Maybe they will understand if they lose money (Not all of them but some of them)
- If players dont react against Sheff Utd then we are in trouble and will be fighting a relegation battle
- PDC is now working double. He gave more details and info on Macc than he had on other teams!
- Today we were chihuahuas again but young chihuahuas.
- They have proved in the past that they can become rottweilers but then they become  chihuahuas again!

Players can't get motivated against supposed lesser opposition shocker. It's going to happen a lot this season, especially at home. Talking of which, our recent form at the CG is absolutely atrocious.

Fucking waste of an afternoon.

You may find that the result today was based on the shower of shit that was playing on the pitch. Thank you for the compliment though.

For forgot PDC says that the team need more bollocks...then stutter realising he shouldn't say bollocks on the radio, think for an alternative word but realise he can't think of one and then say bollocks anyway :-)

Your days are numbered sunshine.

Confirmed by BBC bloke - said the club should apologise to the fans for the embargo. Fuck off you cock.

:clap:

I have no idea how you're able to understand and type it all up, but i'm very glad you can!

Right. I left with 9 minutes to play and assume we lost 1 0.
What a sorry excuse for a team that was. How the fuck did we put 4 past Stevenage just 1 week ago.
Macclesfield put a shift in and we didn't. Rooney is abviously to good a player to have to compete with non league players and poor Archie was to slow and completly lost. Collins was no better when he come on.
The players are starting the old trick of talking a good game leading up to Saturday and then going missing on the day.
We were the conference side today.
The players treated the few paying supporters with total contempt.
Flint was unlucky, Ward done enough as did Williams.
The rest of you sorry fuckers have just ruined my weekend. You pile of shit.

Billy bullshit

They were before a ball was even kicked

That wasn't very good... really fed up of poor crossing from the wings, strikers not gambling on the crosses that do make it in, and Gary Roberts in general, who for my money is fucking useless right now. As is Rooney.

Red card was harsh... well timed, strong challenge that won the ball. If that sort of thing is a free-kick, let alone a red, then the game is poorer for it. Also, if Flint gets an early bath, the lad who left his boot in on Troy should have too... y'know, it being an actual late, dangerous foul.

I'm in a bit of a foul mood anyway, so this didn't help. Neither did the hundreds of tiny children in the crowd. I know we need to get future supporters, but if they can only make it til 70 minutes before going home, needing the loo every 15 minutes, and playing on a Nintendo DS, you should probably leave them at home. Plus it means I have to watch my language... and being lectured because one f-bomb slipped out at the ref isn't how I want to spend my day. If you take your little darlings to football, expect that they might hear the odd choice phrase or two.

Troy isn't a midfielder, and I felt sorry for him. PdC should have realised his mistake and subbed him at half time.

Positives: Nathan Thompson, Ferry (bar finishing), Ward looking more and more assured.

Haha who lectured you

You should have told them to fuck off.

Surely that's why there's a family enclosure??!

I'm starting my own matchday thread on tuesday

If they're doing a 10 mile run? Then I'll be there to jeer them again. What a waste of an afternoon.

I second this notion

Quite so. I take my kids to football. I choose to sit in the general areas rather than the family areas with them. I do so in the knowledge they may hear bad language. I tell them not to repeat it. It's called "being a parent"

I was concerned that after ten minutes we did not look right and the shape and balance seemed all wrong.

I could see that A-H was in the middle in the absence of Miller to "break" things up which he did, but he has no touch and his passing is woeful. Roberts on the right is a waste of time, McEveley is going backwards, Rooney no better than we already have in Benson (and possibly Storey) and Williams looks as if he is still trying to regain sharpness. Collins I have still to make my mind up about, De Vita flits in and out,

My view of the Flint tackle appeared that he got there first and their guy knew it and went down as if he had been shot, then plays on quite happily after some cursory treatment.

Their first goal was one of those that their player will hit another ten times and not get anywhere near the target but it was one hell of a strike, and as for the second I felt for Louis Thompson as he really tracked back well to win the ball then over-hit the back pass.

All in all not a good day at the office and our home results are becoming a bit of a worry.   :no:

Well, that was shite. The 3 players up front, Rooney, Williamsn and Collins were total wank as were Roberts and Devita. I had high hopes for Roberts and would certainly have chosen him over Holmes but he looks crap. Troy in midfield weas shite. Ferry got MOM but for me he was asleep for the first half hour and was then pretty much in the shadow of their number 19 who ran the show for them and was probably the best player on the pitch despite the fact he should have walked. The Flint sending off was a total joke - he won the ball cleanly and the ref couldn't wait to flash the red - very harsh. Ward and Nathan looked pretty good. McEveley got another stupid yellow, he really is thick. If PdC is having a go at Flint for being thick as shit he should include Jay in that as well.
Thier first goal was worthy of winning any game. The second was very unlucky on Louie who tracked back well and put in a great challenge.
All in all we were shit. someone else mentioned the quality of crosses and I agree we were crap at it today.
Fair play to Macc. I hope they go on to take a few more scalps. They wanted it more than us and they got what they wanted.
Sometimes you are the giant killer and other times you are the giant being killed. We've been both this season.

Thank you - Not sure that I get it 100% right though.

Well done Macclesfield,enjoy your day in the sun,we have had loads.

Now for Tuesday and i have no doubt the performance will be better.

Can't believe you left poor old Boo to his own devices. He was talking to himself on Whatsapp

Yep,i think i saw some dribble on his chin and a nervous twitch in the eye as he walked past with his head bowed low.

I was right behind that & it took a massive deflection off of Flint, if it hadn't i reckon that Fodders would have had it covered.

Thanks for that summary as always...how you can listen to di Canio, understand what he says and type it up like that is very impressive and most helpful...

Have to say getting bored of the "I want to change everything!" comment from him.

Only positive for me was Troy - not sure what match some were watching as he was very good in midfield and looked a step ahead of everyone else with some of his passing. Tough in the tackle and clearly has an eye for goal as he was unlucky with that strike in the first half. Very surprised to see him taken off and I would like to see him in that role on tuesday night. I was saying at the match that he and Oliver Risser would make a great partnership in midfield and as he rarely plays at Stevenage he should be recalled to give Ferry a well earned rest.

Flint is a very limited defender and was rightly sent off today against a non league outfit. League 2 standard and will surely be shipped out before long.

Troy was totally crap in midfield to be honest, if we had miller playing this would be a different result.

Just got home and pretty pissed off. Yes the players were shit, but come on Paolo shoulder some fucking responsibility! Listened to his post match interview and once again everyone's to blame except him. If we win he's quick to take the plaudits, yet a defeat? No, not his fault, nothing to do with him. I would respect him more if he held up his hands and admitted he fucked up. T.A.H will never be a midfielder as long as I've got a hole in my arse. If di Canio is such a top manager (as he regularly claims), where's the motivation? Yes it's easy for players to get themselves up for the big ones, but surely a top manager would get consistency from his team?
I still think PdC is the only man for the job, but fuck me he needs to improve in certain areas.

Troy was utter shite in midfield. He ran around a lot and had one good shot but did nothing else.

 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :headhurts: :headhurts: :no: :no: :no: :doh: :doh: :doh: :headhurts: :headhurts: :headhurts:

You are quite clearly fucking spaced out. T.A.H and Risser as a central midfield partnership?  If I wasn't so pissed off I'd be laughing my tits off.

Absolutely spot on, on all counts.

Pace, power, an eye for goal - what more could you ask for?

It would be a lower league Xavi and Iniesta.

£200k looks a snip for Troy.

Maybe....but the rest were shite.....the downside being they played in there right positions so while it is good to slate a player playing shit... him NOT being in his right position seems to me to suggest he should shoulder a little less blame than those in there rightfull positions  :hmmm:

:dontknowifbeingtotallyserious:

This is very true, surely if a gamble by Paolo did no pay off then Paolo must admit he was wrong rather than fans pick on a player thats playing in a very alien position to him, it could have paid off but apparently it didn't.

Definite fishing trip going on there. :clap:

Indeed

Troy was definitely a step ahead of everyone else with his passing. Which might explain why he passed to nobody / into touch so often

Troy has come in and out of the team like a fiddlers elbow....of course he has had a couple of stinkers but also picked up the MOM performance a couple of times also...the same goes for Flint.
For a striker(look at Williams and Collins who have been pants in some matches) you can get away with it even in losing.....a defender or a midfielder in Troys case today will always be under scrutiny after a loss.

I think the Risser reference gave it away.

To be fair, when it came to tackling and winning headers, I thought Troy did an adequate job today.

With the ball though...

Lee, most of the players were shit today and I was signalling him out for criticism to highlight PdC's errors, firstly choosing to play him in that position and secondly for not doing anything about it earlier. The guy was clearly out of his depth in midfield and it was fucking embarrassing, like Bambi on ice.

I know Herthab.
I am not having a go...just feel a bit for him after being dropped into the deep end as he was.
I like players who give there all.....he always does.

He was absolute garbage and whether he was out of position or not, a player signed for £200k should be able to pass a football and find a red shirt. He was comical and I am sure if it wasn't for the price tag he would have been singled out after the match and not seen for a while.

Collins worries me aswell for the price we paid. A decent grafter but doesn't show real quality enough. Villa tuesday for example he never looked like scoring or even troubling them.

League one player in not looking like scoring against a premiership team. Shocker!

He didn't look like scoring against a conference outfit today either.

A kid yet to start a match for us didn't find it too hard....

For the record Collins has scored more goals against Prem opposition this season than Storey.

Storey has also started a game

My point still stands - we look to have been shafted with the fees for Troy and Collins although he has at least shown some potential.

Your point doesn't stand at all so step down off that horse. Still early days for both players. £200k approx each is hardly the kings ransom and both have shown enough promise this season to think there's something there.

Troy's performance out of position today hardly covered him in glory but one swallow doesn't make a summer. Just like Collins' hat trick at Stoke doesn't mean he'll score every week. As proved.

I think they're all shit

Flint is having a bit of a bad run, but he has more then proven he is a capable league one centre back, and I don't think there is any need to overreact. I'm not too bothered that we played badly today as I think it may well be a one off after a long week and shit happens, if we play like we did against Stevenage and second half against Villa then we will probably win the league.  

Troy hasn't really had a consistant run in the team since he came back from the early season injury, he looked excellent in the first few games of the season. I think Collins is decent and has shown enough quality at times to suggest he could be worth the money in the long run.

The price probably was a bit steep for this level but its too early to assess whether we have been ripped off or not

Me too Flash. We lost. What the hell Supermario is on about I don't know. Fancy not over reacting.

Is it just me that doesn't give a fuck we're out of the cup?

All this analyzing is a load of old bollocks.

Home form at the moment is a bit worrying, but hey, we're all but in the playoff positions.

Get down the pub FFS

They have already proved today and in the league in general that they can't sustain those type of performances. They can only raise their game in the bigger type of game, I suspect they might win on Tuesday

[url width=400 height=225]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i14/marchtrpt4bhs/GIFs/panic.gif[/url]

Probably, a decent run would have meant we would have got out of the embargo, just for starters

Ahhh because no team has ever won the league after being 6th at the start of November?! I told your Supermario was mad!

Embargo, me arse.

i actually found it funny how crap we were today! own goal summed up our day really. and its a 3 hour round trip to home games for me.

Right.  Here we go.  Shit nothing game until the goal.  Very good it was too though no one was closing it down.  First half TAH was shit.  Defensive midfielder he may be at a push, but he misplaced every pass.  He got his boot in well often but then just passed the ball nowhere.  Turning circle and pace of an oil tanker.

Rooney was also really shit.  He was pushed off the ball really easily which he really shouldn't be against a conference team.

We had chances but just couldn't finish for toffee.

The sending off was questionable and the ref was against us for the rest of the game.  Flint got the ball.  A little later their little play maker type fella caught TAH late, foot way off the ground and somehow that was a yellow.  And a yellow for one of ours complaining.

Anyway, whatever.  We've upset enough teams during the PDC era in cup comps, at some point it was going to happen to us.  

Lets see a reaction on Tuesday and take away Wilsons unbeaten record.

Was this the first time we've played against a team with 3 players with double barrelled surnames?
I'm a bit dissapointed we're out but I'm pretty pissed with the way the majority of players did not appear to give a flying fuck.

Paint it how you like

We may as well pack up now then.

Yes, i did have a look and it would appear so.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone want to own up to being part of the 4 pissheads who made complete arses of themselves for the entire 90 mins in the Town End today? Row M, in the 50's I would guess. Absolute tools.

Paolo mentioned about flint tackling from behind, haven't seen it again yet but it didn't look like a tackle from behind to me? Thought it was a bit or a cruncher but not even sure about a foul. If Flint dont commit to those sort of tackles whats the point. John Paul Kissock their 19 was a busy little player but if Flints was a red his was too. I also wonder if Paolo wants the players fined for today will he take a reduction in his wages too because he had his part to play. Troy struggled with playing in the middle but is a player who would play anywhere if asked so not going to be to hard on him. We normally get a pretty good reaction after days like that so here's hoping.

Feel like I have but no option to overreact to certain posters overreacting to my post saying that people should not overreact, it's just totally OTT imo.

Two own goals in one game, unfortunate but we were pretty ineffective all over the pitch.

Not painting anything.

black

On a completely different note heard from someone who knows Charlie Austins family that a big deal is a done deal in January with Aston Villa and Newcastle favourites for what could be a 8 million plus deal. If the rumours of 35% sell on clauses are true then we might be due a very nice windfall in a couple of months time

Black, black, crawl on your hands and knees to your impending doom

Well that sounds believable and the figure would be about right so fair play to him and us.

Luvverly jubbly. M'Bargo will be most pleased

Thought it was 20% with 5% of that to Poole

Sorry meant the 8 million

I thought poole had their share when we sold him.

8m is a fair price, hes better than rodriguez who went for 7

Was thinking more of The Stones. But whatever suits you sir.

That was what I thought, but discussions I had last time I went to Poole suggested otherwise

Could they expect a payment if Austin plays in the Prem?

Won't trawl back....had a bad feeling about today and so it cam to be!

Fucking non league again....bollocks!

Roll on Tuesday night....big big game!

I just thought it was a straight 25% but what would a painter like me know?!

I don't get why people were having a go at Macclesfield for celebrating their opener like they did?

Fair play to them. Hope they get to the 3rd round and get a money spinner.

Had a bad feeling about today, and due to sheer loyalty, decided to go. How the fuck did Ferry get MOTM today? Laughable!

Just seen the highlights on ITV... still can't work out how a free-kick was awarded for Flint's challenge, let alone how it merited a red.

This, Having just watched it several times even in slow mo just can't see how it was a red. The ref couldn't get the card out quick enough.

Brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1D9wWxd2w

Absolutely awful performance, completely devoid of any creativity from both sides.

As for the free kick they scored from; with one player stood at the side of the ball and another 10 yards back winding up for a big shot, you could read it a mile off. It should've been closed down.

I don't think we got 2 million for Austin but for ease of purpose lets assume we did. That figure of 8 million give Burnley a clear 6 million. If we get 20% that is 1.2 million, 10% 600k. I would be surprised if there was a sell on clause with a sell on clause so to speak based of pure cash, I'm not sure the FA or FL would not allow that but hey who knows, however, Austin playing in the premier may trigger an extra wedge to Poole. If so it would not be much and remember we walked away from the deal orginally and Poole picked up the phone to us. The only real interest at the time other than town was Bournemouth and they had an umbongo themselves.

Bottom line is this. If Austin goes to a premier club for the sort of money bandied about we'll be out of the umbong ourselves quiete nicely thank you very much.

I know its just an example, but I was listening to Talk Sport a week or so ago and they had an official bod from Burnley on talking about Austin. He said they paid about £1M which was "a bit of a bargain". Weather that was the up front fee excluding add-ons who knows.

Even so I agree 20% of profit, which I don't think is unreasonable, would be sweet. Even if Poole are due some. I think that's a realistic figure, because if memory serves (and it may not) its a similar figure we got for Cox (but he didn't generate much profit->Forest).

One little point to add, maybe I am being overly optimistic for once but this time last season we had dumped 'Uddersfield out of the FA Cup 1st round, thrashing them 4-1 at a time when they were 7th in this league....they went on to gain promotion to the Championship at the end of the season.

No knee jerk reaction needed yet despite our poor run of home results of late.

All I ask is that Paolo look at himself and question whether his motivational skills are quite up there yet because we do seem to have problems raising our game against so called lesser teams and that he himself never does take the blame when often I feel it COULD be his fault. But thats the difference between being a good manager and a great one, which Paolo certainly has the opportunity of becoming in the future if he can accept that he is not yet the finished article as a manager.

You make a mistake in selection or tactics, you hold your hand up and admit you were wrong, you move on and learn from the error.

And I'm sure I read somewhere yesterday where Di Canio was quoted that he learns from his mistakes and this is what makes him a good (he probably said great) manager. So we shall see. It's a 'must win'* game on Tuesday

*Just for herthab - the first of the season 8)

But they had to sack the manager responsible for the debacle....

Yes but not until 3 month after the game :D were they still reeling from the ignominy of the defeat after all that time?

It definitely popped Udders veneer of invincibility...unbeaten in all games up to that point, lost 2 or 3 more under Clark, and that was enough to sack him. It was Napoleon who said something about preferring lucky generals to good generals, and Grayson certainly lucked out when he came up against a Danny Wilson side in a PO final.

Apparently the deal that took him to Burnley was £1.2 million with add ons raising it to £1.5 million which included promotion to the Permier league etc so i doubt we have got any more than the original fee of £1.2 million.

The rumours bandied around Burnley are that they will accept £10 million bids for him in January, I heard from a few sources that we had a sell on clause of 20% profit and that out of that we owe nothing to Poole as it was all settled after his transfer to Burnley as the football league do not like double move addition clauses after several problems in the past where these structured deals have not worked out as planned.

If indeed this is the case then if Austin goes to a top flight club for £8 million then we will be due just under £1.4 million and if they do hold out for the full £10 million then that figure is likely to be nearer £1.75 million.

I hope Burnley stick to their guns and don't sell him on the cheap! lets face it they sold a worse player in Rodriguez to Saints for £7 million and 'Uddersfield sold Jordan Rhodes for £8 million and this season Rhodes so far has only scored 5 goals in the same division that Austin has scored 20 goals for.

There is no doubt at all that Charlie is THE football league scoring sensation and Burnley can command a massive fee for him of which we will see the end of that fucking embargo once and for all.

He could so very easily have blended in and have become a run of the mill Championship squad player after the move to Burnley.  It's to his credit that he has pushed on.  He's clearly a better player than the one who left us.  If he does fetch £8+ million with the next move, we will basically double fee that we were expecting.  As I think I said around the time he left, Charlie Austin served us well and owes us nothing...and that would be even more the case if we had another £1+ million coming our way by way of a sell on fee.

Just think. If we got another million or so, PDC could piss it all up the wall on more luxury players that get a handful of games before falling out of favour! (Someone had to say it)

One of the (as yet) unticked boxes on PDC's CV is the one that demonstrates he can develop a player.  Take a raw recruit, and build him in to something better.  Move him on to the next level.  Without the ability to do that, his managerial career will hit the skids or, at best, plateau.

Too many of our players this year are 'doing OK', when initial expectations were much higher.  Collins, Troy, Gary Roberts, Navarro, Miller...some of these players have got to find another gear - and it's PDC's job to facilitate that.  If Collins and Roberts (for example) end up going the same way as Connell and Rooney (L), the alarm bells are going to start ringing.  Less focus on loan players and embargoes; more on the development of the existing squad members.

Having seen others clubs overpay for Rhodes and Rodriguez I can't see any sensible manager paying £8m for Austin when you get better value for money abroad

Austin will not go for £8million. I personally don't think he can cut it in the premiership, but has surprised me this season in the championship.

Ironic that the only predicatable thing this season is DiCanio.....Normal team service resumed by Tuesday...probably obvious but I am now officially a member of DiCanio gets on my tits club. Which is something I can`t really believe especially after Paul Hart, Malpas etc....

Ardiles is right

Absolutely spot on Ardiles.  Unfortunately Di Canio currently doesn't have the patience to do this as yet and up until now has been afforded the luxury of discarding players that could have been developed and replacing them with others who so far have offered nothing more.  Jonathan Smith is a prime example of this imo, was reasonably young still and enough ability to push on with the right support.

I don't think the new chairman will give as much leywey, but I'm not sure Di Canio will then change his focus on developing players he's already got.  He's probably more likely to have a paddy and quit!

No he isn't...we've left the pay some money for potential policy behind after buying Ritchie, Caddis, Ferry, Flint and ending up in Div 4, for the short term, let's get a big squad of Div 3 journeymen in, and hope that's enough to get us up this season policy.

The likes of Miller, Roberts, Navarro, Williams, McEveley, all fit this bill. TAH and Collins are perhaps the 2, who we hope might develop, but going to tribunal, was always going to muddy those particular waters.

PdC remit is solely to get us up this season...

Serious foul play. FIFA Law 12.

 A player is guilty of serious foul play if he uses excessive force or brutality
against an opponent when challenging for the ball when it is in play.

A tackle that endangers the safety of an opponent must be sanctioned as
serious foul play.

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the
front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force
and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play

"one of the unticked boxes on PDC's CV is the one that demonstrates he can develop a player".In my opinion that is unequivocally correct.

I don't think it's in his job description....let's take the earlier case of Huddersfield as an example, they wanted to get up...Clark failed so was sacked, despite always getting to the PO's hardly losing a game last season, and Rhodes developing into a very decent asset.

Clearly this is why PdC keeps going on about the embargo, he's not looking to develop players, but wants to continuously recycle them in pursuit of points....it worked last season, and he hoped it would this.

maybe Reg, its a fair comparison but the box remains unticked in his managerial development.Surely the embargo is a sign that the board's expectation is that the manager "develops" the players he signs into the required standard to gain promotion

Maybe it's not part of his remit to 'develop' players Reg, but I don't think he always gets the best out of  his players either and that certainly should be part of his job and something which Martin O'Neill for example has been consistantly good at over the years. Macari also excelled in this respect for for us. You can't constantly 'recycle' players as you put it. It's not sustainable.

Rule one in football: you can't do shit without the ball so go get it back. If that's a red we might as well all pack up and go watch netball. Poor little number 10, was that tackle a little hard for you.

Agreed and others have mentioned the inability to motivate the players for the games against 'lesser' sides.  The ones which we invariably end up losing.  That to me links into not getting the best out of players and is an issue.

With the embargo and change of chairman the Board's mantra changed to accepting that promotion might not be happening this year, but next year, after the embargo has been lifted, because Patey and the money men have fixed it.

middle section or the left right side?

He does get the best out of his players, just not on a consistent basis. One bad loss and people forget about all the times we have played very, very well.

I reckon maybe he puts them under too much pressure at times. I can think of no other reason why a professional footballer at any level would not be able to pick out a simple pass to a team mate.

Was very annoyed yesterday but calmed down not long after the game. They were awful and we were even worse. The home form is very concerning. We can step it up against the better sides but what is worrying is that the games at home which we have lost have been against average sides where we have been dreadful.

Hopefully Paolo putting a rocket up their arse will see an improved performance on Tuesday.

 If Austin goes to a premier club for the sort of money bandied about we'll be out of the umbong ourselves quiete nicely thank you very much.
[/quote]

Is this the same "one greedy b*stard" Austin who "we f*ckg hate (you)" ?  Surely some of our fans wil be far too disapponited by his disloyalty to Burnley if he moves that they will have no choice but to lobby the club not to accept any sell-on money as a matter of principal.  

Good luck to him. I hope he does really well

I guess it depends in whether Burnley refuse to sell him in January & he throws his teddies & lobs in a transfer request to force their hand.

I wish him all the best in his career & hope he goes on to be a top premiership striker, but it won't alter the fact that he left us in the shit mid season.

On another note do we get £ if morrison plays in the prem?

Starting for reading today

Wouldn't have thought so...his price was set in the buy out clause...Reading met it, so end of story.

Could be an Franchise v AFC Wimbledon 2nd round game if they both get through their replay. :clap:

Reg is indeed correct, buy out clauses don't normally have such an addition it is triggered purely by meeting the initial clause fee with no other additions.

This tie nearly happened a few years ago like this, but Franchise bottled their replay.

You've part of my post there mate. I certainly have never thought that way about Austin for the record thank you.

Well...yeah...but that's a manager's job is it not?? Of course I haven't forgotten the Villa performance or last week's 4-0 win at Stevenage (or wins v Stoke or Brighton or Bournemouth or.....whoever). I also have not forgotten the fact that he's complaining that the squad is not big/good enough and yet we have players out on loan who he has signed. He's saying the strikers aren't good enough but he signed them. It's ridiculous that he seems to expect a constant conveyor belt of players coming into (and going out of) the CG. No other manager has that luxury (well, apart from Ronnie Moore at Tranmere of course and his mega-bucks budget ::)) so I don't understand why Di Canio thinks he is any different.

And as you rightly say, he does put them under too much pressure at times. That's not the way to get the best out of players. Neither is publicly criticizing them. People can say "Oooh, I don't care what he does or says as long as we get results"..but no one should underestimate the damage that is doing in the the changing room and at some point it will affect results (maybe it has done already - who knows?). That to me as a massive no no. You just don't do it - not in public

I have no axe to grind with Di Canio - ultimately all I want is for the team in red and white to be winning games - and there is no doubt in my mind that he has the ability to go all the way to the top. There are certain aspects to how he goes about his job which are unsustainable in my view though and will prevent this from happening unless he changes. He says he learns from his mistakes so we shall see.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Mbongo is lifted as to how far the Board will let him go with bringing in new players and at what point they use the 'N' word. That will be a pivotal moment.

Sorry fatbasher, I meant to use your quote about the money side of things only - which is welcome news for us. I wasn't implying that was your view abut Austin
I did want to raise the point though that some (quite a few judging by the reception Austin got back at our place) will probably be happy to take the dosh regardless of whether Burnley want him to stay in January and does that mean we are any less "greedy" than him.

Having just returned from a weekend in London on the beers the only sour note was our FA Cup result. Just seen the goals, decent free kick/unlucky own goal but by the sounds of it the performance was utter shite? PdC threatening to fine players, Flint sent off and us going out of the cup with a whimper...hope we respond on Tuesday by doing over Wilson's mob! C.O.Y.R!

Bollocks.....

I wanted a trip to Barrow.

The right side... Confess

Nah, we were in the middle section, although row M was our row :)

Good, so were you the one that said "good" when they sang we might aswell go home?

That would have been Jayo

Jayo, i tilt my hat off to you. Is he the one who wears dodgy wooly hats? Bounces around like a flea with epilepsy?

hahaha yeah

Fair play to your lot for trying to keep the atmosphere going in the Town End, and for helping my 7yr old learn Ferry Ferry, you got a shit hair dooooo to his teacher/classmates/mother/grandmother  :)

Keep it up, Gary, one of the aforementioned drunks, is hard fucking work.

What exactly did they do? For the record I wasn't at the game.

They lost 2-0 at home to Macclesfield and our fans went into meltdown, again.

after ten minutes, if there is only 3 of you singing most people would get the hint. There was a woman with them too, every couple of minutes she would turn round and say "why aint you fucking well singing you dicks", what a bird :) all of them were absolutely wankered, should never have been allowed in.

The best bit was when they sang slurred "we're the left side" (they were on the right).

I know, and they thought it was funny. It was the "We sing when we want" that did it for me. Plebs of the highest order.

Cunt.

It only took 700 odd posts , but finally I have been called a cunt, thank you young space hopper

We have the magic roundabout, is Jayo Zebedee?

That would have been good, in Furness.

Ha ha! That was wheely good!

With Flash talking about bollocks and barrow = buster gonad