Thetownend.com

The opponent:  Crawley Town

Possibly the most irrelevant matchday thread ever......

Where on earth does one possibly start? I mean sometimes coming up with a few paragraphs is a fairly straight forward task. The first thing I want to offer you is a phone number - 08457 90 90 90, this is for The Samaritans. Mrs Rosso is not a massive football fan, she humours me from time to time, but all in all she would rather be shopping or gossiping on Faceache. After watching Sky Sports News and reading Paolo’s statement, she turned to me and said, “What an absolute fucking mess”.  5 words that sum it all up just about perfectly.  We have had some fantastic posts on the forum over the last few days, really well thought out, well balanced, and all of the posters want the same thing, the long term stability and success of our football club. I hope and pray that the next few days give us the answers that we need, and possibly some assurances from whoever it is that is running our club. On a personal note, I have met Paolo a few times, as have many of us, and not only is he a decent and funny guy, but he really does give a shit about our club. He has made supporting Swindon Town become interesting again, embracing the stay-aways and showing them that the Paolo Di Canio brand of football at Swindon is really worth watching. If this is the last game, and the last thread that coincides with the reign of Di Canio, I for one will be gutted.

Today we move on to Crawley, famous for hosting Gatwick Airport in the outskirts and err, Gatwick Airport. In the 5th century, The Saxons named the area Crow's Leah, meaning a crow-infested clearing, or Crow's Wood. The name has evolved many times over the years but has had the name Crawley since some time in the 1500’s. Around 110’000 people are lucky enough to be able to call Crawley their home. For those making the journey today, if you have a little bit of time to spare, The Crawley Museum is located in Goff’s Park, which shows many interesting relics, including Stone and Bronze Age items discovered locally, and a fetching pair of Steve Evans Y-Fronts, recently found buried under the centre circle at Broadfield Stadium..

Crawley has a fairly decent list of notable folk, including penalty missing pundit, Gareth Southgate, Olympic Gold decathlete, Daley Thompson, Arsenal and England Woman’s Football Captain, Faye White, and half decent boxer Alan Minter was born in the West Sussex town back in 1951. Back in 1976, band The Cure were formed in Crawley. The football club have had somewhat of a meteoric rise through the divisions it has to be said, in 2004 they wrapped up the Southern League Premier Division title, and some 9 years later they find themselves just outside the play-off spots in the 3rd highest division in English football. On the flip side, Crawley are also a team who have had their own share of financial woes. Although they had been in administration in the late 1990s, trouble began in March 2006 when the club's players and staff were made to take a 50% pay cut and the entire squad was put up for sale; Crawley went into administration in June of that year. It was revealed by a local newspaper several days later that the Chairman, Chas Majeed, was an undischarged bankrupt and therefore banned from holding a high position within the club. Majeed later resigned from his post but remained on in some capacity. This ended up being the beginning of a rather turbulent financial period for the Red Devils. Interestingly, ex Reading Boss Steve Coppell is listed as the Director of Football at the club.

What are they saying about us? –

I really could not be bothered to join up their forum, I remember last season it was a secretive one so anyone who has access to their site can translate if they wish. However, I did manage to find one Crawley fan on Twitter, I don’t think the other has signed up for it as yet.

“Olly Dawes ‏@OllyDawes
Heard this one before!  @crawleytown: our groundstaff do not anticipate any problems and say Swindon should definitely go ahead”



Crawley Town Last 6 –  WLWLWL (Currently 11th on 41 points) The last 3 defeats have been against Tranmere, Bournemouth and Sheffield United, pointing out they tend to struggle against higher opposition.

The Threat – Nicky Adams and Billy Clarke have both scored 10 goals each so far this season. Hope Akpan has also chipped in with 6.

A Warm Welcome Too –  Well I was planning a hello to Gary Alexander but the striker who turned out for us some 13 years ago, was a deadline day loan move to AFC Wimbledon. In his time with us Gary made 37 appearances and scored on 7 occasions.

The irrelevant stats – The Red Devils have a fairly poor record at home, having played 12, they have lost 6 and won 6. Oddly enough, their biggest victory at home this season was 3-0, and their heaviest defeat at home is also 3-0, a score that Crawley and Swindon have become well associated with!

Head to Head – We have met on 5 occasions and have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1.

The Odds –   Crawley 2/1  Draw 21/10  Swindon 13/10 – First bet I had to look at was a 3-0 victory and you can get a generous 22/1 in several outlets, must be worth a punt! Andy Williams is at 6/1 with Bet365 for the 1st goal, which seems fairly decent compared to other outlets.

The Son Says – Well, he has only just got over the disappointment of his hero being sold to one of our rivals and now I break the news to him that Paolo may not be hanging around much longer. Not happy times, but a scoreline prediction of 2-0 was softly spoken through his red and white tears.

The Prediction – 3-0, no messing, in front of a whopping 3’342, at least a third from Swindon. Goals from De Vita and a Williams double seals the 3 points. Its after the game I fear.......

And Finally –  In the unlikely event of you reading this Paolo, please don't go.

COYR COYR COYR

Hope Akpan's gone. Went to Reading.

We will thrash them, 2-1.

How did you even remember to do all this with the ongoing shit! Qudos to you.

Most excelent Mr Rosso........keep them coming.

YOOOOOU REDDSSSSS! A galvanised Paolo will lead us to an emphatic 3-0 away win!

I think they have a 10 page thread about us going bust. Their matchday threads rarely get to 5 pages.

As for the result, fuck knows what mindset the players are in. Will we even have a manager? I'm going for 5-0 to either team  :)

With the STFC news changing rather often it can be a bit of a pain in the arse, but I have not shirked my duty to face up to the harsh realities of the financial situation and the implications it has upon the matchday thread.

3-0 Town, PDC to hold his scarf up high at the end if the game and through a series of complex hand  gestures commit his future to the club

Seeing a match day thread is a relief and brought back some normality. 2-0 win with Ritchie  ( scrub that ) Williams and Collins getting our goals. Not been to their place before and we need to be in good voice for the Town fans watching on TV.

I don't envisage a win.

Was just thinking the same.

The last few days is bound to have affected the players.  It's how they respond that matters and also whether Di Canio is there.

3-0.

He has been learning mime from Marcel Marceau and will be appearing in full whiteface paint mime gear and performing the stuck in a glass box mime to signify his current untenable situation.

On the nearly funny side, Sky are lapping this shit up and Paolo has managed to usurp their best marketing guru's (who usually bring out such wonders as "It's payback" when the tope 4 play each other in the PL), bringing our game to the fore.  You can almost imagne an army of PR guys convincing him to stay until after the game if he is going.

I have a feeling the players will be up for this, at least ours have been together for a while, depends on how many new signings turn out for creepy, I therefore predict another 3-0 win for our boys (De Vita,Williams,Collins) Att: 4368 (842)

1-0 Crawley, just to round the week off... probably.

brilliant as always rosso , well done mate . Shit week gonna be turned on its head with a comprehensive 1-4 victory for paolo's team with williams 2 ,  de vita definately getting 1 and a defender( probably ward ) getting another. Gooooooooooo Swindonnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Going to the White Hart on Crawley High Street. Getting pissed and going to sing my tits off!!!! Sky better not pick me to vox pop, it would get messy.

After all this shit we still win 2 - 0 (McCormack, Williams)

He quits when he wants.....he quits when he waaannnts........

Fuck me,If it was ever the time to show support and turn an away following into a home game it is now.
Paolo will be gone with anything less.
He needs passion in his life.
He has huge respect for the away support.
We all need to get there however we can and show the man the same respect.
Fuck the egg-chasing and show up or he'll be gone by Monday.......

Fuck this shit, we will win. emphatically. 8-0. boom.


I spelt emphatically correct first time too. Proud.

Not around for this today. Recording and going to watch this evening. Good luck Town!

P.S. Please don't make our club look even worse on live TV! Also, please don't resign live on TV Paolo!!

Listen you whipper snapping, tax dodging, disgraced ex match day thread composer & alcoholic. You used you spell checker didn't you.

FWIW, I do envy you uni types having seen all the jack and danny at my eldest son's place and the price of a beer in the uni bar.. :cry: :cry: :cry: If I only had my time again.

Siege mentality today from manager and players alike.

Battling 2-0 win for us today.

I will be at work :-(

Agreed.

Appreciate not everyone can or must come

We really owe it to PDC and to our beloved Club to get off our sofas, man up and make a lot of noise today

I have a hunch we'll be seeing Macca on the right wing.

Either way, let's fucking smash them.

2-0 Williams Ritchie...errrrrr....Ward


Edit: Also think Alan Mac may well play right mid.

I think the players will come out fighting. 2-1 to us, De Vita and Williams.

Ill be tuning in for kick off, no earlier. The last thing I want to see is a bunch of ex footballers with vague or no connection to Swindon giving their opinions on something they no absolutely nothing about.

Much as I'd like to see our standard 3 goals against them i'm going for 1-2. They will score first and their fans will start goading us then Collins and Williams will score in the second half causing us to celebrate like we've won the league.

Half of our fans will be late into the ground due to having to collect their tickets and the chaos that will ensue but this late kick off plus the turmoil with Paolo and the club should lead to some very vocal fans. Can't wait to get on that terrace, today will be a significant one with emotions running high.

 COYR

Was planning on being sofa bound for this one but if I can swing it with the family I'm going - as already stated now is the time to show our support for the man, this game more than any.

Let's do it for Paolo.

A whole afternoon on the Stella will also be a major contributing factor I predict :nod:

That is what i was alluding to  :pint:

_{* Other strong Continental lagers are also available as are dubious German digestifs}!

Oh yes, just read it again - see what you're saying :nod:

Hope someone at Creepy is aware that the town fans are likely to show up in force now and open more than one window selling tickets - I predict mayhem!

I'm pretty sure you pay at the turnstiles.

But your point still stands, as many turnstiles open as possible please!

It was the day we played Crawley that helped us go up.
Tensions were high and people wound up.

An away win was needed a big one at that.
It had to be done without some bloke called Matt.

The game kicked off with Swindon in blue.
The town fans were cheering, they'd all had a few.

They promised a victory and didn't reneg.
Everyone was smiling, even Reg.

First Williams then Collins hit the back of the net.
Crawley were playing as though they'd only just met.

By the end of the game records were broke.
This was the day Swindon really awoke.

Truly united they then steamed ahead.
Winning for Paolo and a fella named Jed.

While many were worried if the club would survive.
This was the day Swindon really came alive.

I like that.

I'm flying in the face of my usual 2-1 defeat prediction and going for a resounding 3-0 victory.

Would love to see De Vita on the left and (an in-form) Roberts on the right.

That's awesome, well done FH  :clap:

"WHEN PATEY LEAVES, WE'RE ON THE PISS!"

Love it - Where did you get that from??

My head

That is brilliant - seriously.

8.5, You could be STFC's official poet laureate

We still have the second best squad in this division, we still have the best manager in this division, and we're still third placed in this division with the best attack and defence.

Time to get out from in front of your TV screens, get down to Crawley and show the players and manager and vultures at Sky who'll be looking for us to crumble we're all still united behind Di Canio and this fantastic team he's assembled and shut up whatever misinformed rubbish their pundits try to spout about us.

We're going to smash them and show the rest of the league there's just as much life in this team without Ritchie.

0-5 town.

Three nil, to the circus team

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

Ive got a good feeling about this the players as much as anyone will not want PDC leaving. I think they will be rampant. I hope we get a great following and they bust the crawley fans ears. I can see a few goal celebrations heading PDC's way. Unity and all that.

Would love to be there, but having gone to Orient on Tuesday (christ that seems a long time ago), I can't do it in terms of cost and family stuff.

In any case, we're far more likely to win without me there with my away record!

Fair play to those that are able to go, especially those who've made the decision late based on yesterday's events.  Sing up for all of us.

Just looking foward to watching some football without worrying about this off pitch drama. The obligatory 3-0 win tonight.

This should be a part of every matchday thread, our very own haka. Bravo Flashheart.

One important thought, is Mrs F knocking up the Alsatian Casserole today???

No stew today I'm afraid. Might see what I can rustle up as a contingency plan.

Last season you had to get a ticket from some portakabin thing,  it was all rather amateur

Good to get back to football matters today.  Comfortable 2-0 win for Town

Looking forward to this, decided last minute to come. 3-0 town, because if there is one thing that I need this week, it's some kind of consistency.

And nicely done Flashheart. We had a poet and we didn't know it!

Nice poem.

Here's mine.

Let's fucking stuff these fucking cunts.

decided to avoid the forums last night, thinking things had settled down.

holy fuck was I wrong.

3-0 to Town today, looking forward to watching it online.

Flashheart, you've been one upped.

Sam Morshead will have that in the adver as his own on Monday.

2-1 win  Williams & Martin.

nice poem , heres mine
lets's fucking stuff these fucking cunts
and everythings fine

we sing , we cheer
lets's fucking stuff these fucking cunts
and drink lots of beer

for paolo , lets win
let's fucking stuff these fucking cunts
then break out the gin

im nervous , im itchy
let's fucking stuff these fucking cunts
and forget about matt ritchie

wasn't going until 9 last night , now on the beer train and wanting to give some fan power love to PDC    :beers:

Can any one of you...
suggest where we might view
our beloved team
perhaps upon a stream?

Anon

I sense a theme.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in Crawley,
we shall fight on the seats and stands,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our goal, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the pitches,
we shall fight on the training grounds,
we shall fight in the forums and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this club or any part of it were subjugated and starving, then our fans beyond the seas, unharmed and guarded from the Football League, would carry on the struggle, until, in Paolo’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Apologies to Winston.

Now if you didn't mention Winston on the end of that a majority of the younger members of The TEF would have given you full credit for it.

Couldn't help myself ... felt a need for disclosure ;)

OK, here's my effort.....

JUST WIN YOU CUNTS....

WIN!!

Thank you.

Is anybody going out in town to watch the game or do you know where it is being shown?

... and a stream for fans beyond the seas?

Where are you watching it sonic?

i've got a Sky account i use and a proxy.

Guess i'll have to settle for bet365's live stream then.

Searching the net for alternatives i found out that norwegian channel TV 2 Sport Xtra are showing it..
You get that where you are?

I think this goes down as a must win game yet has little to no significance with regards to league position and points.

Anyone looking for  stream just use firstrow.

Same here and would have swopped Orient for today if I possessed a crystal ball, but cannot make it as on a pre-booked night out. Do not normally get that nervous about games anymore but this has be far more critical than position/points matter and I will take anything on offer.

http://www.firstrow1.eu/sport/football.html

I expect we'd have got to Crawley a damn sight quicker than it took us to get across London to Orient as well?!

we only have the most basic channels, TV here is awful. I guess it's the same in Denmark but with more potatoes in throats

Was one of the best footy nights of recent years when the circus rolled into town and spanked Creepy in their own back yard ;D

Come on boys, same again today although would take a point here and continue our unbeaten run...

I'll be down the pub to watch this one, no doubt full of plastics watching fulham v man utd on the other channel, me in the corner watching the mighty reds.

 :pint:

Get your act together sy even I get that channel

when did you move to Norway?

Massively behind the pace here obviously, but does anyone know if it's being shown in the Legends? (And no, I can't make it to Crawley otherwise yes I would be going, obviously)

I haven't

Don't forget that there is egg chasing on at the same time as well.

Bit pissed off cos there is no chance I'll be able to watch it down my local boozer, will have watch it at home

Ritchie on the fucking bench-thought bsome people may be interested

He's probably not learnt everybody's name yet. No surprise.

Perhaps we can get him back next week on an Emergency Loan

Anyway, I'm off to Old Town to watch the game and get slashed

It's an appalling snub to our god-like hero and we should march on Dean Court, pitchforks at the ready to demand they cast a statue of him in bronze in the centre circle by way of apology

Makes no odds now, but I wonder if Ritchie would still be with us if Burnley had sold Austin last week?

I too had thought that.

I must admit I'm surprised Burnley have managed to keep hold of him.

Amazing how he is suddenly fit now the window is closed eh?

Brentford are losing, Tranmere down to 10 men.

Doncaster losing 2-0 to Bury too.

Despite a crap week i'm looking forward to this game. Hope that Roberts now proves why he's been such a good player in this division now. The way scores are going at the moment, a win could make things look good.

Lets be positive. PDC stays. Move goes through. Three loans come in as agreed and we continue to fight for promotion!

Brentford 2-0 down

I wonder whether Williams could be used on the wing with a Collins and Martin partnership? Until we sort some wingers. Guessing Rooney will be involved again for the next week atleast?

Tranmere 1 -0 down

Franchise down to 10 and 1 down to Bournemouth.

Edit:  now 0-2

Damn wanted MK to win that one (hurts to say that!)

Hope bournemouth bottle it at some point but doesn't look likely at the moment

I'm struggling to find the words for how big this game against Crawley is. Win and we can look forward to what could be a much better week. Players in, Paolo stats, new owners in.

Lose and the negative atmosphere continues.

In other news ... BWP on the bench for Charlton. McCormick started for Oxford.

Some interesting HT scores from the Conference North -

HALF-TIME CONN Oxford City 6 - 0 Hinckley Utd
CONN Corby 1 - 4 FC Halifax

Goals galore in that league!

Team announced. Roberts and De Vita out wide it seems. McCormack playing RB with McEveley on the left - surprised to see Thompson drop to the bench.

Great to see Navarro in the squad.

Only 6 subs today, squad looks a little thin all of a sudden. Only missing L rooney, devera and Troy i think, going to need to get those loans sorted!

Cant even have a full bench, bloody tinpot ;)

No Storey either.

Plus Storey & Louis Thompson

Why is Luke Rooney not on the bench?

Just got tickets from the hut thing. Not very busy at all but plenty of town fans around so doubt it will stay that way.

I read somewhere (could be shit) that he's been training with the youths. PDC clearly doesn't want him anywhere near team, same with cox.

PDC making another point by not filling the subs bench either, he does like to make his point.

Couldn't it be part of the Rooney/ Pack deal that neither can play until the deal is done? Seeing as Pack didn't play today either.

Danny Wilson is getting his makeup done in the tv box.

He was in the gym (yes a DV STFC gym story) the other day with the youths and Paul Benson

Brentford 3-0 down. Game over

Would have been very surprised to see Rooney involved. PdC has clearly stopped thinking of him as part of the squad a long while ago. So, not really any other option left than to have an incomplete bench.

Exactly it's just a "I need to sign some players" statement

Ha, Pox concede late in the game

Timlin with the assist

Could some kind soul please post up a stream or two so those without Sky Sports don't miss out?

http://www.firstrow1.eu/sport/football.html

England beating the sweaties well too.  Let hope the good results keep rolling in.

Theres a few listed here too

~~~~~> http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=188382&part=sports (http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=188382&part=sports)

Was that Banbers interviewed quickly on Sky Sports?

It was!!

He had his 5 seconds of fame!

Paolo nota talkin abouta da press release, only talka bouta da players anda da game!

Sky sports doing there best to dig out some juice though!

Paolo mentioned 4 players with a virus in the pre-match interview on Sky. Hope that's not too much of a problem.

Ha, 3 minute interview with Paolo, 10 questions, 30 second interview with Barker, 2 questions.

Any idea why Sky are showing this match?

You're only there to watch the town....

Once you kill the ads this is good for streaming:

http://www.stream2watch.me/live-tv/sky-sports-2-live-stream

Fucking bell !!

Any stream work on an iPad?

COYR

thanks for internet link.  do you have to download the thing or can you just get it by clicking on something on the page.

am wary of downloading viruses and that front page looks full of potential tripwires !

thanks !

Roberts has had 2 touches and lost the ball both times so far

Pitch probably didnt help the second one mind...

Good effort by Collins

All I can hear are Town fans.

More Red seats than fans in that ground

Jay Mac needs to be on form today, Dumbaya is a big threat

thought it was a half past kick-off, oops

Roberts looking ok so far on the right...

any advice re the front row 'to download or not to download' question ? thanks !

which Rooney is that on the bench?

Good stream here: http://www.firstrow1.eu/watch/166672/3/watch-crawley-town-fc-vs-swindon-town-fc.html

Adam.

Adam

The Football League is full of shit...

Full of shit, shit and more shit ...

Nice shiner for Ward, I wonder if Paolo did a fergie? :-)

Fuck off to the Football League!  Haha love it

any chants of sack the boards yet?

PDC, we want you to stay!  Fans doing us pround by the sounds of it!

Flint....Off the line

Cleared off the line!  Flint dominating their penalty area!

Miller is now Scottish

Nice bit of play from Roberts.

The pitch is fucking shocking, tinpot pitch to go with the tinpot ground.

Town fans in great voice.

thanks !

doesnt work for me - just get page full of flashign adverts and stuff saying 'or download speed is poor click here to improve performance'

which reads eerily like the porn spam one gets !

any tips re this download or not download business ? thanks

 Town fans in fine voice

And that bloody bell again. The guy with the drum must have stayed at home though.

Is this a library... Great voice from the town today..

Looking good - game is there for the taking.

I'm watching here http://cricfree.tv/sky-sports-2.php

http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/index.html

Scroll down, lots of links. None of them require a download.

We're going to get one from a set piece. Write it down.

Good effort by Williams.  We are dominating set pieces at their end, that could be the key to winning the game with a pitch like this methinks

That one's a good 3 minutes behind play!

never seen a game on Sky with so many dugout shots

Ward and Flint having a field day in the air.

Get up you pussy

Fuck keeping the ball on the deck, if we play hoofball we will win easy

Flint looks excellent.

i like his new hair too

It's the best one i've found so far! And bet365's page is down for maintenence, timing or what

Fuck off. Never.

Fuck off Pen!

Poo

Great.

Fuck sake.

Come on Wesley.

Cheating cunt

FFS McCormack.

McCormack never got near the ball

Completely against the run of play.

1 nil to the referee

...and the FL paper call us cheats

Clear pen

Never got the man either

Fuck. Cheating cunts.

McCormack's been spoiling for that since his little knock on Sparrow who then did him back.  Stupid cunt.

Edit: may not have been Sparrow

So, was it a foul or not? My internet is too slow to stream.

stuff the fucking bell up your arse

looked like he caught the player on the ankle and was miles from the  ball

I don't think it was, no but I can understand why the ref thought it was if that makes sense

Exactly how I saw it

If it was on one of our players I'd be screaming for a pen. Minimal contact but all McCormack's fault regardless.

We should have put that corner into the front post!

Agree

A challenge that didn't need to be made, although there was no contact & an obvious dive.

Alan Mac needs to keep his cool.

We haven't been good at coming back to win games, although we have been much the better team so far

Second penalty he's given away in 3 games.  Made it much harder for us now. Idiot.

Agree with this too

That was never a penalty even though Macca wasn't close to the ball, totally against the run of play too, wankers.

Adams went down like a pussy though, granted

It was one of those where sometimes its given, sometimes not. Luck of the draw really - shit challenge from Macca though.

getting pissed off with that fucking bell  cunt

All their play is down the left, McCormack needs to keep calm and do his defensive duties.  Looks to be trying to make up for the lack of Ritchie instead.

Unfortunately the right thing to do in the modern day game

They are a bunch of moaning whinging cheating scumbags.

Some surprising results today. We really could do with the 3 points. Come on lads!

Too many long balls out of defence. Despite the dodgy picth we need to establish our passing game.

Can we try something different for the next corner please?  Getting tedious.

We have looked like 2 different teams either side of the goal

Our passing is poor today, probably the pitch but you can't blame it all on that.

Have we had a shot that's troubled their keeper yet?

What a bunch of diving cunts.

That wasn't penalty at all..  but Swindon playing bad.. just so many long launches.. no passes at all

Everything after the first twenty minutes just seems like a continuation of the shit week we are having

Pretty sure I heard a cow bell earlier and one of those clacky things you swing round.  Shocking state of affairs.

We aren't getting any of these second balls.

Probably Collins shot on the turn which actually hit the keeper.

That said, looking at the stats Crawley have only had one shot so far.

It's very similar to Tuesday night, shit pitch, struggling to play football.  Hope it's not going to be a repeat in that we fail to score.

Crawley looking stronger in midfield at the moment and we keep giving away cheap fouls.

And that was from the dodgy penalty.

Saved Wes

McCormack's passing has been utter, utter shite.


And how the fuck was that onside?????

What a save.. amazing Wes

Someone shoot that bell ringer.

Foderingham is fucking ace.

It was all going so well... we've been shocking since their goal. Paolo needs to throw some tea cups it would seem.

Miller completely anonymous in that half. McCormack is getting run ragged by Adams and we're looking too susceptible to balls over the top.

At least Wes has turned up.

Up to the goal I thought we looked ok.
Since it we have looked very average.
Agree with other comments about Alan Mac, he has had a poor game so far.

I'd replace him with Thompson tbh.  

Bring Pack and Thompson on

Should have been 2 goals both as a result of Alan Mac bombing toward and then finding himself out of position.

Rafa has been pretty quite and needs to get into the game, Ward faultless as per the norm

never a penalty
Adams dived  or rather fell on purpose - there was no contact
ref couldn't decipher it
shit

?

Worst 45 ive seen from us for a long time, though Crawley no better.  Pitch is awful but far too many passes astray. Macca out of position too much - we need Nathan there.  I have feeling this is going to be one of those days like the home defeats we've had this season

I would bring Thompson on but for McEveley and swap a poor Macca to left back, Miller has been missing but I put that down to the pitch in the main.

Even Ferry hasn't been able to make many runs on that surface.

We offer nothing up front with Williams and Collins getting littler service, Roberts looking lively but his final ball is still poor and De Vita wants the ball and looks good but we arent getting it to him enough yet.

We need to change the long high ball a bit 2nd half and just make our passes reach a Swindon but pass long and low not long and high.

We don't look like scoring at the moment though, I would be tempted to bring on Martin for either Collins or Williams who both look out of sorts.

Joke

Its a good job Adams is a donkey or we would be struggling badly with the amount of ball hes been getting.

Hmm, flint's attempt to push up and play offside when he was in crawley's half was a bit worrying.

Adams getting a LOT of space on the break which is worrying.

Not looking good.

Martin on for the second half?

I would say yes.

That was more of a penalty than the first

Very risky indeed.

thought it was a pen.  Typical Alan Mac challenge

A. Rooney coming on  :eek:

An Adam Rooney sighting!

IT LIVES

Double sub is it?  A Rooney and Misun?

Rooney for Collins
Thompson for Jay Mac

Rooney instead of Martin strange?

how far is the sky go feed behind?

Jay Mac not happy.

McEveley looked like he was in tears.

I'd be crying to if I'd put in a first half like Jay M. Useless cunt.

God I wish could turn the fucking commentary off :crash:

"5 goals in 5 games"

Do your research

I must be watching a different game to the commentators, they make Crawley sound like Barcelona.

They have had two shots in the whole FUCKING game

Penalty!

stick on pen

Thanks ref!

I can't watch.

Jesus!! Rooney pen!

Come on now Adam...

Yes!

Another dodgy penalty.

Haha, keeper didn't even move.

foot like a traction engine.

I was convinced he'd miss!

Never a pen :D

Nicely stuck penalty. Well done Rooney!

Well taken by Rooney

thank fuck for that

this

Are you guys stuck with the Arab commentary?

get the fuck in!

i've got Sky commentary on, it's probably worse than the Arab one

This is all fast and furious now.

http://www.viplivesports.eu/football/131113/1/crawley-town-vs-swindon-town-live-stream-online.html

English commentator on his own if you want a change.

Both not Pens IMO, maybe he was trying to even it up after the first fuck up

good decision by the ref.  goalscoring opportunity denied.

He likes a pen this Ref, expecting him to give one against Thompson there

rooney looks up for this.

Looking pretty useful is Rooney... right up to that effort :D

PDC needs a Boca Jrs style scarf.

Fuck, what a save

Cracking save from their keeper.

Hell of save.  Great ball from Alan Mac

What a effort from Rooney, great header

What a header from Rooney - Fantastic save.

Much better second half by us so far.

Their keeper has made 3 good saves now.

Their keeper has made a "Foderingham"

Stunning save

Is this not time wasting???

Managers who wear shorts with manager coats are knobheads.

Barker, Mcmahon.

and in February too, it's p much a "look at me aren't i hard" statement

Rooney making all difference. Actually making runs unlike Collins was

gotta wear the socks high too

its a mindfuck trying to watch this around the side of the ads in middle of the screen ! but even so i can see we're playing much better :-)

Not tried closing them?

That Connolly likes to fall over doesn't he

No ads on:
 http://www.firstrow1.eu/watch/166672/1/watch-crawley-town-fc-vs-swindon-town-fc.html

This ref really is shit isn't he.  He's got most things wrong today!

Turn the ads off. Look for the little x and then make the pic full screen.

Typical FL ref.

Great cross by Roberts!

Yep, fucking awful.

Rdv has played well today.

Seems intent on making the game all about him.

Looks very assured on the ball.

This ref has been smoking crack.

Miss by Williams -- he knows he should have done better

Roberts booked. His passing is crap.

That wasn't worth a ywllow for Roberts.

Martin on. Roberts off

Ooh!  Very attacking from PDC. 

Ooooh! 3 up front

Martin on, Roberts off.

Martin seems to have lost that puppy fat

Of course it was

Rooney gone wide right by the looks of things.

Maybe that could be another income stream, Paolo could run a Chub club for dieters

Ref you dick!

Good effort from Beetroot juice.

Pineapples for him later

Isn't he just? Inept fuckwit.

lovely punch to the face for Ward

Ref obviously thinks the TV cameras have turned up solely to watch him.

Another game unbeaten.

Will be interesting to see what Paolo does here...

Ft.

Now the warm up act is over, let's see what tonight's main attraction has to say for himself.

Will take that. Disappointing not to win but glad we picked up in the second half. Need to beat Colchester now. 5 points from these 3 games is ok.

Looked to me like Paolo was in tears at the end.

He's going. He's crying as he's waving to the fans

Is that a goodbye wave from Paolo?

Looks like he's going.

McCormack MOM?  WTF?

looks like PDC is going from that at the end

So long Paolo and thanks

Looks like it.  He gets to resign on telly.  

I think Di Canio has made his decision.  I really hope he doesn't decide to announce it live on Sky though.

He's gone. I hope I'm wrong Barry.

Bloody hell. Don't do it Paolo.  :cry:

I wonder who we will get in to replace him

Exactly, based on the first half alone he was probably the last player you would have given MOM to.

As others have said, it did look like a goodbye wave from Paolo

From Di Canio to Hockaday... Get ready for the transition

;)

Goodbye Paolo and thanks for the ride.

let's not jump the gun here folks.

Gutted

He's gonna be even harder to understand if he is a blubbering wreck

Thanks for the memories Paolo

I'm a big fan of Tisdale personally.

Was that Norway Red on BBCSwindon?

Agreed Wes or RDV, did Creepy have anyone of note?

How long did he spend out on the pitch after the game?

Hugged every player, clapped the fans and then wandered off. Not overly long but not quick either.

Not very long, Sky are bigging it up that it was a bye bye.

No scarf antics etc.

no, there's another guy from Kristiansand who has posted on here a few times

Not overly long. You can read him like a book though, he wears his heart on his sleeve as we all know. If he doesn't go I will be gob smacked.

RDV, Fodders, Flint or Ward were more deserving of MOM for me today.

Perhaps I'm in denial but Paolo's actions didn't seem too different to that we've seen a number of times.

Looked very emotional as well.  I've never seen him like that at the end of the match.

Definitely. I would have given it to Flint.

Here goes...

Here he is!

Aaaaargh!  The fucking stream has switched to fucking boxing.  Keep us posted people!

Who is managing Banbury at the moment?

Gone blurry with a virus first half but much better second half.

One of the Steins.

Not goodbye!

Perhaps just emotional at the level of support shown towards him today?

He said as much?

He would never announce it live on sky.

he ain't going anywhere

chillax folks!

He is off, it was a clear goodbye at the end :( really sad

Hope so

Just saying thanks to the fans. Statement is clear, just wants to praise his players.

"Was that a wave goodbye?"

"no no no"

He said it - Hope its true.

He said his actions after the game wasn't to say goodbye

Really dodging the questions about being in charge

Does seem to be a man of his word so let's hope so.

PDC: 'I was very proud of the players once again today. What we have achieved so far is amazing.'

"Will you be in charge for the next game?"
"I want to talk about this game"

It's the "so far" that makes it promising.

PDC: 'Now we will see what we can achieve and move onto Colchester on Tuesday night.

The last bit was interesting, sounds like he wants to carry on but never said as much either way.

Still up in the air.

Just showed the post match salute to fans again. Seems no different to what we've seen at most away matches

Hmmmm not sure what to make of that interview. Head says yes he's off, hope I'm wrong.

Never a penalty mind

i hope i'm wrong that i hope i'm wrong

its going to be up in the air till the FL make their decision etc etc

all we can ask for is for him to not make a hasty decision... and fingers crossed thats
what we seeing here...

Fair play to Danny Wilson. Remember Paolo wasn't very complementary about him when he was reviewing videos of the 09-10 season.

I'd imagine there's going to be an important meeting between PDC and the new owners this week. We'll soon find out how much they want to keep him.

may be a silly question but at away games, how often do you get the scarf waving at the end,
and how often just the regular wave ? [eg this is 2 'scarfless' games in a row]

I think he's had his ego suitably massaged tonight.

i watched the game on a stream
not sure it was Sky but the commentator mentioned debts of £13m at least three times
bluddy liar
they still don't warm to us for some reason

I hope that he will wait until he has talked to the new owners before doing anything.

IF they don't give him the backing he wants, then he has every reason to go.

But ultimately they gave the ok to sign the three new players it was just those wankers at the FL that said no.

If he does go, at least he didn't do it live on TV

Can't say for sure but I can't recall a scarf over head away this season at the 7 I've been at

Pretty much how I feel too.

Maybe it was the way the light was reflecting but he really looked like he was in tears to me. I was 100% certain at that point he was going. After the interview I'm 50/50.

well thats a relief !   so its only used for home games ?  interesting :-)

Good point - he does like to feel loved :nod:

Depends on the result as well.

My thoughts exactly.  

I was also wondering whether there was any Board representation there tonight?

The Town fans were fantastic tonight. Well done all that took the time to go along.

Agreed. That is what he should do, but we are talking about Paolo here.

Paolo, ti amo.

Apart from that fucking bell I only heard Creepy fans twice but Stfc loud all through.

what an odd question from Chris Wise

He's going nowhere

I think maybe with Paolo, people confuse 'passionate' with 'irrational', which he definitely isn't. After that interview, I certainly think he will talk with the new owners at least.

yarp.

What was that?

Did he ask him what his favourite cheese was?

He'd be daft not to really.

hahahaha

"even Nathan Thompson was very white in the face today"

hahaha - even Nathan Thompson was white in the face. Naughty.

after trying to draw a comment from Paolo on his future he changed tact and asked if it'd be his last interview with Paolo

Wise: Is this the last time I will be interviewing you?
Paolo: I hope not.

should have replied "I don't know, are you getting sacked?"

Indeed, and he certainly isn't that.

Laughed out loud at that.

Going back to the game, have I correctly understood that 4 of the players played with a virus?

yes

Paolo said before match and after that 4 players had a virus - was praising players for their attiutude and dedication in those circumstances.

I read somewhere yesterday that Andy Williams was sick

even worse, he's dead

No, he means the Swindon player Andy Williams.

Gary Roberts had a good game I think. Otherwise it was a bit shit really. Game never got started. Rooney did decent when he came on

Almost forget I watched a game tonight

I think Rooney looked handy when he came on. I didn't feel too confident with our defence.  A bit difficult to comment on much else because my stream wasn't all that great.

When Roberts was asked if he thought PDC was going he said no, but quickly backtracked to er, I don't know, I hope not. I haven't got a clue.

Small crumbs and all that.

I really want Roberts to be good but bless him, I don't think he is.

Sat in McDonald's in Crawley. Workmanlike performance on a shit pitch with another crap ref. Missed Ritchies creativity

I think he's staying for the moment. It all depends on what happens when he talks to Jedward and his mates.

Did ok tonight.

On train back now. Missed first ten minutes (bloody TFL), but we were definitely shaky in first half. McCormack should not play at right back, and I don't much rate Jay Mac tbh. Ward and Flint were solid, and Wes saved our bacon yet again. Penalty was a shite decision- you could see the Crawley players were testing the refs opinion on diving. Their player who went down could have shot, passed, or moved inside two or three times- was obvious he was just waiting for some contact to go down.

Ref was a prancing fool in general.

Second half we were much higher tempo, some much better play, particularly after Thompson and ROONEY came on. ROONEY is utterly different to the last time I saw him. Positioning is much better, pace better, awareness better. He is vaguely credible as a wide player (minus his skewed crosses, a couple of which were pitch related)

Speaking of the pitch, it was awful. I played rugby at secondary school on better.

All the town fans on the train/around me in the ground feared the worst after the wave. Glad to hear it was just your usual Paolo.

Chorus of Wilson is a wanker as we walked out under the commentary box was good fun.

I now look forward to getting into London Victoria and having a McDonalds.

Agreed. I think he wants those three players signed on Friday and no later, so it's a threat to the new consortium to get the ownership sorted and pronto. Could be tricky when the Football League's involved.

He did ok and also when he came on in the last home game.

Is that a typo, or a surreal terrace chant?

I like to think it may have been a subtle dig at his dull zombie like personality.

Sadly I'm not sure many football chants could be termed "subtle".

Not been back long.

Another game ruined by an awful pitch.

Poor first half, much better in the 2nd, Rooney made a huge difference when he came on.

Ref was a complete turd, I think it went to his head that he was on TV.

Town fans were unbelievable today, outstanding support. Where there even any Crawley fans there?

Yes, that cock with the bell !!

And someone who kept letting out loud shrieks.  Did anyone else notice that on Sky?

I try to put a brave face on it. I think many of us do.

But the emotions of the last few days and the sheer relief of Paolo's interview with Chris Wise make me realise that if he did go, it would be much harder to take than any other manager leaving that I've experienced. We're still not out of the woods yet but I reckon there's a shitload more emotion to come and it will be Paolo orchestrating the joy (and occasional anguish)

Yep

only watched on tele but well done town fans magnificent support , thought the sky boys made too much of di canio  clapping the supporters at the end as he does this every game ( albeit with a tear in his eye) . On the pitch ,  i thought mceverly was crap  , dont particularly rate him so maybe others will tell me if im being unfair , roberts was okay just wish he would cross quicker cos when he did we should of scored .Agree with what others have said re the ref , wanted the headlines . MOTM was never mccormack  , i would of personally gave it too fodders just for not doing anything wrong but flint was also a shout . in conclusion , Difficult game on a difficult pitch in difficult circumstances so am happy with a point . Time to get drunker .

My phone's better at making up chants than I am, THE SHAAAME.


That may have been me, recovering from a cold/sore throat and my voice kept breaking awkwardly...

God awful pitch - probably a draw a fair result, though have to say Crawley's penalty claim had more substance to it than ours did. 

Got bored with Sky almost wetting themselves over whether Di Canio was going to resign live on tv. He maybe be an emotional man but Kevin Keegan he is not...he's far more calculating and ruthless than that.

The tears at the end could have been taken two ways - either an emotional goodbye or overwhemed at the 'don't go' support from the town fans who could be heard for most of the game.

As for Crawley I can't take a club seriously who can't build stands high enough to stop balls leaving the ground. I made it at least 5...

........first half and then 5 second half . Fuck, if people think we are tinpot then they are piss pot

Was it really that many...I lost count

i did too , to be honest .

They seem to think they're a rugby club. I shouted 'conversion!' Every time a ball went out. (I apologise if you were stood near me)

Just remembered, I was wondering if anyone knows the guy with glasses who wore a tweed cap in the standing section tonight? Looks a bit like the bald guy from Gadget show. Remember him from Torquay boxing day last season.

He seems to enjoy winding up the stewards....

I confess to almost feeling a bit wibbly lipped at the prospect of PDC going. I don't think I even felt so upset at the prospect of losing Hoddle or Ardiles.

I only just started following Swindon in the Macari days I don't remember too much about him leaving so can't comment on the emotions of that!

Yes. Doesn't deserve grief from our fans.

 he was pretty objective and fair to be honest , he seemed to have alot of respect for paolo and stfc .


not too sure if i meant objective  :pint: :pint: :pint:

Just finished watching a recording of the game:
- Thought we were awful 1st half and not much better 2nd
-  Thought Crawley defence took about 5-10 mins to sort out each of our 3 different partnerships up front
- Great save to deny Rooney a second from his bullet header
- No creativity in midfield nor on the wings and no quality up front
- Lots of huffing and puffing but no magic spark
- Great save by Fodderingham at the end of the 1st half
 
Not sure whether Paolo is gone or whether its a power play. Wouldn't be surprised if Spencer isn't the driving force behind the statement and Paolo's recent behaviour

Didn't hear the Chris Wise interview

Well we couldn't do much more than we did today (Support) and that was being vocal all game.

I have this virus as well and feel even worse now, but just had to show my support for PDC tonight so made the trip.

Nice to say a few words on sky in support of PDC...............Just hope he waits until the takeover is complete, it all goes well and we move on again together, that's all we can do now.

 :clap: :clap: - STFC Supporters. My Man City mate watched the game, said it was crap but said the pitch was awful but praised our support and said we did our Club proud tonight.

That folks is good enough for me and the Pox lost.

Sounds like 'Ultimate Support Saturday' was a bit of a damp firework.  After all the hype, they took something like a third less than we took to Orient on Tuesday evening.   :D

But well done to those who went today.  You rose to the occasion and did us proud.

Awful game. Not much quality from either side but we got a result on an awful pitch again. Got a feeling Paolo will stay for now. Think he still has the desire to take us forward. Great away support again. Well done to those who made the trip.

They are and will always be tinpot. Shit away following always have had.

how many swindon fans was there  duke ?

What was up with McEveley when he got subbed. Looked like he was in tears in the dugout shielding his eyes. Commentator said he was a bit pissed about being subbed.

he looked gutted  but  to be fair he was shit . To be fair to him, he might of picked  up an injury  or he had the virus

699

 :ty:

I thought rdv was our man of the match. Looked to deal quite well with the atrocious pitch better than most.

Poor game.....dont like the floodlights there,better floodlights at the Oasis.

Did Fods have a save to make...maybe.

All round poor performance from both teams.

For me Ward stood out.........glad i went and a point at both Muff and Creepy is no mean feat.

UP THE TOWN.

 You were there so kudos to you . Ward looked great until the end  when he looked like he was running in quick sand .Fods made at least 1 good save ( i can remember )  and looks so comfortable its untrue

Yep,they all looked like dabs floundering on a sandy beach at the end...good point though for me.

McCormack, McEveley, Miller, Williams, Collins were all shite, and we still got a point! Roberts looked better than normal.

Looked a definite penalty... if it was a dive, McCormack was still an idiot for giving him an opportunity to do so - stupid tackle. Should never start ahead of Thompson, who was great when he came on.

Hope everything is sorted soon so we can push on, we missed an opportunity today with other results going favourably.

Watching back on FLS.


This bell is even more fucking annoying!

I can't believe there was only 699 there apparently, the away end looked packed to me and the side stand. Definitely over 1000 from what it looked/sounded like to me

699 or over 1,000, we still out sung them.  It goes to show how quiet they were when other than us singing all you could hear was that fucking bell on the TV!

BTW, my Mrs was amused with some of the songs from her armchair at home!

Both pens looked soft IMO.

I reckon the ref saw the replay and evened it up in the second half.

You could see the pitch cutting up early doors but that's lower league football.

Am I right in thinking that Martin now goes back? Disappointing for me.

We pressed but I am satisfied with a point.

Watched the match in a pub split into three. One side full of pissed up egg chasers, one side plastic Man United 'fans'.....two of us watching one screen with no sound....joy! But they did organise this specially for us.

The Town fans sounded brilliant on the TV. Not sure any Crawley were there aside from the knob with the hell.

Both penalties were incredibly soft. Ours moreso that theirs. Pitch didn't help our cutting edge up front but we were looking a little lacklustre anyway.

It's going to be an interesting week. Hope we can pick up 3 points on Tuesday and get the takeover/loan players in this week.

The football league is full of shit.

No way a penalty - the guy tripped over the ball with his left foot and the only contact with Macca was when he fell on him; I don't think he dived but he milked it when he fell so cheated in that respect.

I was shouting at my TV screen for Nathan to come on throughout the first half - Macca isn't really a full-back and gets pulled out of position too often.  It was a good job the guy he was marking was fairly crap.  Possibly Nathan not started as he was one of the virus sufferers??

Both pens were soft. Each of them was a 'sometimes they're given, sometimes not' kind if penalty. A draw was a pretty fair result although we could have won it with Rooney's bullet header - that was a brilliant save in fairness. I think Rooney could be a very good player for us given the chance. As is so often the case though, the majority of fans have written him off on the basis of virtually no evidence. It happens time and time again. It happened with Ward who was being written off after one game and its happened for as long as I can remember. Some people never learn.

TBF it's not the fans that haven't given him a chance

No of course not. There's plenty of people on hear who have written him off though. That's my point.

Edit: meant to say, 'have written him off when he hasn't had a chance to show what he can do'.

FWIW I thought he looked pretty good during his cameo - claims to be starting matches based on that

I thought Rooney has looked pretty decent when he has played but often only had brief cameos - thought he showed more in a few away games (Shrews, Bury and Stevenage) more so than at home.  To be fair, its been the good form of the other strikers that has kept him out rather than any shortcomings from him.

I would start him at Colchester.

Macca also caught his left foot...

You can see it here (40:39)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qmrj1/The_Football_League_Show_2012_2013_03_02_2013/

Problem is every time he's done well he's done it off the bench - the few starts he's had has been where he's developed an over the top negative reputation (a bit like Roberts, who while not setting the world alight, does not deserve to be abused by the fans every time he makes a mistake).

I don't think we should get carried away. Williams and Collins is still our best strike-force despite that showing in the first half. In terms of what Rooney adds, he always seems to create a few very good chances for himself - I think he drifts into dangerous positions better than any of our other strikers - the problem is his finishing which has been inconsistent to say the least (though that applies equally to all our striker TBF).

I've always liked Rooney, really pleased with his display last night. Also pleased for Roberts who was good for the most part, although he did frustrate me at times with some lazy passes, on a pitch like that you have to make sure the ball is getting to your man and don't sell them short.

There's was a soft penalty, fortunate. Ours was a fabricated penalty, god knows what he saw. When Sky said the ref had given 12 penalties in 24 games I'm not surprised.

But our second half performance was not vintage, you don't get vintage on a ploughed field, but it was good enough to deserve the draw. We upped the tempo and tried hard to force the game to our advantage.

Key save by Fods in the first half, he's won us 2 points in the last 2 games.

With Ritchie gone and Martin seemingly off, Ronney and Roberts have a big big chance now.

The game never really got going but I felt we were the better team. Fantastic support by all that were there, really did the club proud! Couldn't hear Crawley sing at all, except one guy trying to start something that quickly filtered out!

Really hope Di Canio doesn't go!

Oh and I managed to get myself on Sky  :D

Neither penalty was a penalty. Their guy was falling before Macca made contact with his back foot. Macca though was fucking stupid to make the challenge. As for ours, never in a million years.
I'm not a fan of Rooney's but he changed the game for us and looked really sharp and maybe deserves a chance. We also looked a lot better when Nathan cam on.
All in all a good point. MOM for me was either Flint or Ward.
From making the worst debut in my time watching Town, Ward along with Fods have got to be the first 2 names on the teamsheet.  

You get vintage traction engines/tractors on ploughed fields, at steam rallies etc.

Looking back at the classic Eastoe/Moss/Anderson period vid clips last week, yesterday's pitch would have been viewed as a decent surface, by those standards.

If, as seems increasingly likely, we're in for a period of Osbourne stylee austerity, then we may have to get used to again having a shit pitch.

To be honest McEveley was poor-couldnt understand the switch from the Orient game.DeVita was in my opinion by far our best player and Roberts-still poor for me Im afraid.Dont get the "wont miss Ritchie" camp.

Has anyone actually said that? I must have missed it.

Also Wes made a cracking save in the 1st half, down low to his left and kept us in the game!

Watched this on mute in a pub in Frome with the Fulham game (and commentary) on in the rest of the pub. Was with a mate watching Man Utd so kept getting distracted from the main event... Met another Swindon fan too wearing one of those half and half scarves from Wembley wasn't sure what to make of that. Nice enough bloke though.

Missed their penalty as they hadnt switched over from the rugby, replays looked a bit soft but can't complain too much. Thought we came back into it well in the first half and there was only one team in it second half, fancied us to get all three points but will happily take the point away from home cliche etc but its true
Thought our penalty was pretty soft too but will never complain about crawley being hard done by, ridiculous little club sooner they get back to the pub leagues the better.

Noticed Sky cutting to film our dugout at least five times per half - no idea what they were saying but imagine they were loving the drama.

Thought Rooney looked decent. Fair play as always to those who travelled  :nod:

may be bravado but Ive heard several people say we have enough quality to compensate.

I've seen a few people on Twitter saying that he's overrated and won't be missed

I think that is indeed the bravado that Adje is saying.

He will be replaced but yes he was a good player, its our fans trying to look on the bright side of the deal I think, no one would actually genuinely think that though because Ritchie was an integral part of the team, but we can replace him, but it won't be with a similar player as there is only one Matt Ritchie.

But we must move on because he is not our player now.

We do have to move on but just for the first post-Ritchie game I would like to say we certainly missed him yesterday , whether the whip on the ball from free kicks and corners, the quality of his short, linking game or his sheer hard work covering back

Fans always say this when players leave, but I'm not overly concerned by Ritchie leaving. :D

Whilst he was probably our best player, he is one of a number of real quality players we have. The squad is fantastic in my opinion, which is probably why I don't think we'll feel the loss. Certainly not as much as when say Cox or Austin left. This is more similar to when Paynter left.

The money recieved here was shite granted, way below what we surely could have got had we been able to afford to wait etc. but I was far more gutted at Caddis leaving as he was the driving force of our team. Still gutted about that, he was a proper Paolo player, epitomised the Di Canio way for me.

I think the defensive cover he gives is vastly underated as well  as his heading ability when the ball is pinged out to him on the wing. Unfortunately he was sold with no real viable options currently in the squad. RDV, Roberts, Rooney x 2, Storey? None of them in the same league. We were weak down the right side yesterday with Roberts offering no cover for Macca and macca having a bad game.

It's Martin who doesn't look the full ticket to me.

We've effectively paid the fucker to get fit.

If we were to go all Football Manager, the team for me atm would be: Fods, McCormack(LB), Flint, Ward, Thompson (RB), Ferry, Miller, RDV, Williams (RM), Rooney, Collins.
Subs: Bedwell, McCevely, Navarro, Roberts, L. Rooney, Benson(is he even still here?) and whatever youth teamers we have to fill the bench out)

This is bearing in mind our injuries atm: Flint would go to the bench and be replaced by Devera, Storey could well be given a start or two over Collins, TAH, well he would be an option comparable with Flint. Reckon he'd do well if we played 451, with him as a defensive midfielder.

Disclaimer: I do not expect any of this to happen. I'm just trying to get across the limited nature of our squad atm. For all other fans moan about our huge squad, excessive spending etc., now all those loanees are gone and we have a few injuries, we're on limited resources.

Benson's gone to Cheltenham for rest of the season.
That leaves us with 16 fit pros including L Rooney who won't play again while PdC is here.
I'd have McEveley in pref to Macca at LB if he plays like he was before his injury and maybe Macca back in midfield?
We certainly don't have a large squad!

Might be worth trying Macca on the right wing with Thompson in behind him?

What makes you think Luke Rooney won't play for Paolo again??

PDC only had 6 on the bench rather than Luke Rooney, so unless he was injured that seems to imply that he wont play him

I would give that a go, I think he would be pretty effective in that position.

The reason we had 6 subs is because a lot of the squad had a virus.

Luke Rooney will be a 'Nam on 8th and Pack will be here. Quite where PDC will be we don't know.

McEveley would never be my first choice-McCormack has done really well at left back from what I've seen

I still think Chelt and us have an agreement that neither Rooney or Pack will play whilst the deal is still up in the air.

what happens if the deal falls through I don't know. (However I don't expect it too.)

the thing that puzzles me is why would cheltenham let pack go [and prefer rooney !] when theyre pushing to go up ??

Heard on the Radio Friday Pack is training on his own away from Cheltenham so doubt he will play for them again?

How is he supposed to practice passing or tackling then?

He's out of contract at the end of the season and we've agreed a fee for a permanent transfer so saves them needing to go to tribunal to set fee.  They also have another player who plays a similar role to him who is thought to be able to do a good job for them.

minor detail, Paolo will sort those issues out once he starts with us.

it's like riding a bike...

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :suicide:

To clarify, I was joking.

Ahem, not by everyone. :toocool:

Fair play. So many people do it though. One bad game and the player is shit and shouldn't play for the club again.

I take it you will you be watching SBXLVII ?

You're right about not giving players a chance.

I'll have to be recording the SB as I'm so fucking busy next week, I can't stay up or I'll collapse at work at some point tomorrow.

I like the story of David Akers that sky showed in their preview show, so I think I'll be wanting a SF win.

See the Huddersfield incarnation of Roberts, there is a good player there somewhere.

I'll be recording it as well, there's no way I could stay up and watch it all. I have a feeling the niners will sneak it because if Kaepernick. I reckon it will be close though.

Yeah, it will.  Sunday dinner at the Harbaugh's will be difficult next week!

This, very good yesterday.

Looked pretty impressive when he came on last night, decent awareness and looked a lot sharper than when I have seen him in the past. To be fair to him he's shown flashes of quality in the previously as well, like his piledriver away at Carlisle. Hopefully he'll be given the chance to impress again on Tuesday.

The person that disappointed me most against Crewe was Williams. Thought he offered nothing. All I remember was a weak header to the goalkeeper and snatching at a header and putting it miles wide.

Ditto what people have put on here.  We look toothless up front but the pitch was not condusive to passing football, so our strikers saw very little of the ball.  Rooney looked a threat - good move by Paolo bringing him on as prior to his introduction strikers were not getting on the end of crosses.

Class moment in the first half as de Vita surged onto the ball, and someone shouted "Go on Ritchie!.... Oh."

De Vita is a different player.  Confident, tricky, quick.  Another one who started off dodgy but has gone on to prove he is extremely valuable first teamer.

De Vita has been class from the off, but then I'm a sucker for a first touch. That said, he is even better now, and also more effective.

I think it's hard to be critical of anyone of the players based on that performance.

Not because they were not poor (as some of them obviously were), but virus aside the pitch was fucking awful.   It was obvious from early on that the players (from both teams) were struggling to stop quickly & turn.

He must have been one of the one with a virus cos as he seemed to completey lose his pace and extreme high workrate.

Danny was MotM for me.

He was one of the few who seemed to be able to control the ball (in awful conditions). Thought he got knocked off the ball too easily though at times - I might be being hyper critical. I was really looking forward to seeing the game as I don't get the opportunity to go to matches anymore (for a variety of reasons) so was disappointed that the performance (and the pitch) didn't match my enthusiasm for the game.

The player i'd like to pick out for special mention is Ferry. Of all the players, he looked like the one fighting hardest for the cause. He remains the beating heart and soul of the club on the pitch for me. Reminds me a bit of Leon Brittan in terms of size, style, commitment and generally being underrated outside the club. Would love to do a Swansea and take him with us from the 4th division to the Prem!

Foderingham or De Vita were probably MOTM in terms of actual footballing performance. De Vita's balance in all conditions is incredible (at Bournemouth it looked like he was playing on a different pitch to everyone else), and Foderingham was a cool head who pulled out his obligatory excellent save (though it looked easier on the replays than in real life).

Thompson and Rooney obviously changed the game second half. People probably think i'm getting carried away, but I think of all our current squad Thompson is the one i'd predict to be a regular starter in a Premiership team one day. It sounds ridiculous, because he's come from a position of such obscurity in our youth team/ reserves, but i honestly think as a RB he's got the sort of game that can be taken further up than someone like Caddis, and is probably (along with Fodders, particularly because both have youth on their side) our most saleable future asset (just a shame it's in a not very lucrative position!)

As for everyone else, Miller laboured in the conditions, Roberts worked hard but still has issues with his decision making when in good positions, Ward remained resolute in the face of trying to organise a first half defensive shambles from the players around him, Flint improved from a nervous start, Williams must have been one of the ill players because their RB was catching him up on open ground when normally he'd have coasted past them and Collins struggled as a lone striker essentially in his absence.

Mcormack, who's had a torrid time defensively this season, should never play RB again, and Mceverly just looked like he didn't give a shit. He's always looked like a mercenary to me. We have a bit of a history of them at LB with Rose and Sheehan preceding him. I know some on here rate him, but defensively he hardly ever puts in a tackle. He just stands up to the winger and lets them put in a cross. He's the polar opposite of Thompson who actively seeks to win the ball.

All in all, we've still got the basis of an excellent team, and if we get in the 3 we were linked with in the emergency loan window, we're back to being the second strongest squad in the division IMO and on course for playoffs/ maybe more, assuming Di Canio is still here (if we get those 3 in I take that as a given).

General criticism of McEveley is fair enough, but giving him stick for a performance when unfit and playing in terrible conditions is a bit harsh.

Agree. Still don't think I've ever seen him put in a performance as good as Thompson, McCormack, or even Kennedy from last season. Never really impressed me has Jay Mac.

Haha, that was me.

Just heard that McCormack won the sky MOTM!Deary me

Genuine or taking the piss?

From the disappointed noise afterward, it sounded a genuine mistake....

Strange...the Adver gave him 7...and Flint 5....are they on drugs or do i need to start taking them.

A fair rating for Flint who looks like a real bomb scare of a centre half at times and McCormack is and always has been an average League 1 player. I the like the bloke but he is fairly limited at this level and always prone to silly challenges - isn't that 2 penalties he has given away in 3 matches?

Thompson has surprised me but offers very little going forward.

Blimey. So that's three of our back four who aren't much good then. If only we had a better defensive record. Oh!

You were at a different match to me then........Flint certainly wasnt brilliant but 5..... :no:

Certainly not a 5 if youe are giving Alan Mac 7.

And to be fair to Alan Mac he came here as a mdfielder so he has done brilliant in my eyes....our goal average is down to the defence and to knock three of them certainly is a bit of a puzzle.

Thompson is very good defensively (better than Caddis), I wasn't knocking him, he just doesn't offer the same going forward. Flint can be solid but at times looks like a donkey, may be harsh on him the other day but I thought he was dodgy first half. McCormack was superb last season just looks average in League 1 to me and always prone to a mistake. Might just be more so recently.

Ward and Devera - fucking superb.

I think McCormack's relative speed, his aggression and willingness to intercept combined to make him a great find in the central defender role last season, but this season as he comes up against wilier players, those qualities read "rash". 

It was however his cross that set up what was so nearly a winning header by Rooney after a gloriously timed back heel from De Vita. 

We have got a thin squad at the moment and full credit to Alan Mac for his versatility and attitude as we can't afford to play any perfect team at the moment.  Thanks to PDCs positional change, Alan Mac produced a worthy second half after being given a bit of a first half roasting by a relatively average winger and is exactly the kind of battler we need at the moment - compare Rose and Sheehan!

I can confirm it was a joke, including the disappointed noise.