Thetownend.com

The Opponent: Crewe Alexandra

After another encouraging away performance on Tuesday night, its back to the County Ground for more of the same. What I found quite pleasing, aside from the performance and the never say die attitude, was the amount of Pikey fans on Social Media that actually complemented our style of play, some predicting great things this season for their feared rivals from Wiltshire. Its all encouraging at the moment, perhaps the Town End may even manage a song or two today?

Crewe first developed in the 1830s when the Grand Junction Railway opened a station in a rural district of Cheshire and choose the site for its locomotive works. The settlement grew rapidly beside the bustling railway station and Joseph Lock, the GJR's chief engineer, helped lay out the new town. The company provided the town with many amenities, including Christ Church, Victoria Park, a gas works, public baths and most importantly, a cheese market. However, the dominance of the railway industry meant that Crewe suffered badly during recessions. Although the locomotive works has lost its importance, Crewe Station is still one of the largest in the north-west and a major interchange on the West Coast Main Line. One attraction of the town is its magnificent Lyceum Theatre, a fine Edwardian building which has undergone major refurbishment with the auditorium being restored to its original splendour. On the outskirts of the town is Crewe Hall, a rather splendid Jacobean mansion built for Sir Ranulph Crewe in 1615. Extensions to the Hall were added in the 18th century and following a fire in 1866 which almost destroyed the building, it was repaired and reoccupied in 1870. The Hall is now a luxury hotel and restaurant.


Last Time Out – Tuesday 19th August: Crewe 2 Rochdale 5 – Att: 3’742. Emergency striker Matt Done scored a 30 minute hat trick to leave Crewe pointless and -5 Goal difference after 3 games in League 1.
Starting XI – Garratt, Ray, Dugdale, Tootle, Leigh, Grant (Atkinson), Haber, Waters, Molyneux (Oliver), Ness, Turton

They have served us both –  Peter Abbott, Ashley Westwood, Jimmy Thompson, Gareth Whalley, Tommy Armstrong, Billy Bodin, Peter Coyne, Keith East, Tony Grant, Anthony McNamee, Teddy Ware, Gary Roberts, Alan Navarro, Frank Handley, Paul Edwards, Liam Dixon, Marlon Broomes, Fred Chandler, Alex Downie, Patrick Noubissi, Greedy Bastard Alan Sheehan, Maurice Lindley, Mark Gardiner, Tommy Weale.

One From The Past – August 6th 2011 - Swindon Town 3 Crewe Alexandra 0 Att: 8’248. A little over 3 years ago we gathered to witness (well most of us) the beginning of the turbulent reign of Paolo Di Canio. It all started well, a comfortable 3-0 home win with goals on the day from Callum Kennedy (pen), Oliver Risser and Aden Flint. Looking down the team sheet, out of the starting 11 and six substitutes, none of them are now at the club. Starting for Crewe that day was Nick Powell, one of many future stars off the Crewe and Dario Gradi production line.

The Odds –   Swindon 8/11  Draw  12/5  Crewe  4/1   Fancy a game with goals? We do have the ability to leak a few it must be said. 30/1 at Ladbrokes for a 3-2 home victory.

The Son Says – Today’s prediction came via something called Facetime. Don’t ask. A comfortable 2-0 is expected.

The Prediction –  I remain rather positive with the start we made to the season and I hope I remain as positive in January when the pitches have cut up and our passing game is not quite what it is now, much like last season. 3-0 win here, 2 goals from a rejuvenated Andy Williams and a Turnbull header sending the majority of the 6’912 home happy. 123 from Cheshire.

And Finally – In the late 1930s Rolls-Royce opened their factory to produce Merlin aircraft engines for the RAF, this factory later became the production centre for Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. Over the years ownership changed several times and today the factory is owned by Volkswagen Group and only builds Bentley's, the Rolls-Royce brand name having been bought by BMW who built a new factory in southern England.

COYR COYR COYR COYR

Missing game today due to family BBQ. Piss poor planning on the wife's part.

I reckon we could hit a few today
8000 with 175 railwaymen
Town to win by 3 goals

I would Imagine the bookies will have this as the banker home win. Cant disagree. 3-1 to us.

My first game of the season tomorrow and looking forward to seeing how we shape up,  particularly (hopefully) a reinvigorated Andy Williams. Can he return to his best form, running at defenders? Let's hope so. COYR!!

Fucking hell, Patrick Noubissi, who signed him?
2.0 win

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

Nil Nil.

7458

189

4-1 Swindon, Williams, Smith (2) & Byrne.

7895 (151).

Nice one SR, thanks.

Town 2 - 1 Alex

A bit pedestrian at times and we might struggle a bit linking defence to forwards without Mas.

We never see enough long-range rockets, so we'll be treated to a scorcher from Gladders.

Are you feeling alright? This is almost positive coming from you.

We must be close to hammering some team with the amount of chances we've been creating so why not today.5-1 two each from Williams and Smith and Yasser completing the mayhem :D

Kiss of death but I have never witnessed anything but a home win over Crewe - and I am in attendance today - at least 3-0. You heard it here first. :nod:

No chance there'll be 8k attending, more like 6,500 tops.

Just bought my ticket online and I've never seen so many empty seats. If it's over 7k I'd be shocked.

How many topless then?

2-0 Swindon, both from Williams.

6,798 in attendance with 92 from Crewe with reduced trains hindering many who might travel free from the railway town.

And 94.9db for the DRS tannoy.

4-1

7002

189

Smudge X 2, Williams and Yas

My heart says we will win comfortably, my head says that Crewe's pointless run must end soon, heart says 3-0, head says 1-1!!

Bollocks to your head

3 0 Smith M, Louis T and Turnbull 7127 138 from Crewe and hoping to actually to be hear team news, subs and injury time announcements with perfect clarity from the DRS

0-1 defeat 7,056 crowd with 115 from the lesser railway town.

Somebody got out of bed the wrong side

C'mon.....I'm hoping we can kick on with a win.

2:1

Crewe will play nobody up front and park two buses.

3-0 to us today, i've also never seen us lose at home to Crewe, and i think we're going to put our chances away today and keep a clean sheet.

4-1 win, crewe try to play like us which will fall into our hands I think

4-1 the popular concensus and I go along with that after watching the last 2 games

I think Gladwin might score today,worth a pound

I'm going 4-1 too, pairs for Williams and Smith. Probably be somewhere shy of 6,500 today, but no doubt the official figure will be around 7,200. About 220 folk from the other Railway town.

Having learnt my lesson in predicting an easy win a few years back vs Macclesfield at home I never predict a Town win any more :)

actually at 5/2 Gladwin is not worth a pound!

I'm taking the wife and her record of watching Swindon at home is woeful. 2-3, 2-3, 0-3. All under Andy King, mind.

So sorry in advance.

She wasnt your wife then was she?  In fact is she your wife now or is that just a figure of speech.  Im clutching a straws here, but will be blaming her later if things go wrong.

Really looking forward to today. We've played some excellent stuff in the 2 games I've seen. Its very early days yet and it could all go tits up but this team will hopefully grow and get better. The defence looks suspect but that's the price to pay for playing youngsters and playing high up the pitch. The defenders though will get better and in my opinion I'd rather that than some has beens who are only getting worse.
I hope we win because I want to see us continue this strategy. Its great football, players increasing in value and hopefully will stabilise the finances slightly. Also, if I was a youth team players I'd be busting a gut. Similarly if I was a young player for another club I'd be here pretty quickly if asked as I'd feel I'd be given a chance.

Woot woot, first game of the season and the excitement has finally kicked in.

Shit. Mrs audrey is attending today as well.

Her record last season was Walsall (1-3) and Chelsea (0-2)

Woe, woe and thrice woe.

My wife isn't attending. Her recent record is Scunthorpe at home and Portsmouth at home.

Flashheart, your woman needs to make her lucky stew! Quickly I say!

15/2 first goalscorer with Paddypower. 12/5 anytime.

Paddypower have Will Randall at 5/1 first goalscorer and list Jacob Murphy (13/2) in our squad though :/ Turnball at 33/1 could be worth a go...

In the grove supping on strongbow.

3-1 win today. Smith, smith and Gladwin.

4-1 (Smith, Byrne, Williams 2) - 7020

I had a chicken soup earlier, that oughta do it. No need to bring out the big guns.

Foderingham, Thompson (C), Branco, Turnbull, Byrne, Kasim, L Thompson, G;adwin, B Smith, M Smith, Williams

Belford, Barthram, Leland, Hollands, Marshall, Berker & Waldon.

Foderingham; N Thompson, Turnbull; Byrne, Branco, Smith B, Kasim, L Thompson, Williams; Gladwin, M Smith

Subs: Belford, Barthram, Lelan, Marshall, Barker, Waldon, Holland

Tom Holland is one of the under 18s apparently..

Thanks Geoff :-)

Loungo? Wasnt L Thompson straight red carded so a 3 game ban?

Like the look of the starting 11 though!

It's only a three-game ban if it's violent conduct, which it wasn't, hence Louis being back for today.

Didnt know that, thought straight red was always 3 game ban! Good to know

Remarkable.

Venturing into the Town End for first time in many years. 3-1 for me. Michael Smith with two and one from Gladwin. 7,300 there.

I know, I'm original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8f2mW1GFSI :D

Favourite. Song. Ever.  ;D

Isn't he a historian?

I thought he was an actor?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Holland_(actor)

7,301 now with you paying ;)

I look forward to STFC player working well today, working through the entire game and not dropping in and out at all.....

You mean keep dropping out as its been doing since 2pm every 2 or 3 mins :(

That's Tom Hollander, the chap from Rev and In the Loop?

Ah you mean Simon Foster (Tom Hollander's character) from In The Loop...love that film.

This is a young actor.

PA working loud and clear. Scoreboard still broken and no hand towels in toilets again (well we need something to moan about.

Crewe have brought their fans in a minibus today, might struggle to break 3 numbers!

For the first time in as long as I remember the DRS PA system is working with new speakers along the roof of the stand .. To the extent you can't hear the person sat next to you ... People can stop worrying now.

Has the PA system ever worked properly in The DRS? I know it did for the first couple games when built. Now if Mr Power could repair/replace the scoreboard!

Well the PA system certainly comes across loud and clear on the radio...

So far I've heard at least three different voices shouting 'FORWARD!'

Urgh.

Sounds as though we're waking up a bit now.

We sound lively.

sounds all too familiar

Get in Kasim!

Get in!!!

Yessss get in

KASSSSIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMM

My favourite Iraqi to ever play for Swindon!

Sounds like a worldie!

HOOFUCKINGRAY!!!!!!!!!!

Weathered the storm and are bossing it now.

Williams very impressive.

HT 1-0 we sound totally on top at the moment.

Good. I'd love for him to get back to his best.

Should be 2 or 3 up, created some great chances. Crewe are fucking woeful

Started a bit slow, lots of passes going astray.
We got better as the half went in and created some decent chances.
Yass had a good chance as did Louis & Brad Smith.
Quality goal from Yass, and have to say Williams & Smith have played well together.
Only concern from the first half is that we are only 1 up & whilst Crewe have offered very little one mistake could see them back in it.

Possession Swindon 64% Crewe 36%
Shots Swindon 9 Crewe 0
On target Swindon 5 Crewe 0
Corners Swindon 2 Crewe 0
Fouls Swindon 6 Crewe 6


Nice stats, could do with converting a few more chances but that shows how one sided it is so far.

Keeper has made a couple of good saves for them but our attacking play is amazing, as a unit they look as if they have an almost telepathic understanding .

Brad Smith looks like a different player today, very deep and reluctant to either make runs or run with the ball. We are a little lopsided as a result.

M Smith not really in the game so much today, to the delight of a number of individuals sat nearby, whereas Williams has looked sharp and effective. Definitely high on confidence. Gladwin playing so far forward at times that we have 3 biggish men up front and Crewe can't pick any of them up.

Kasim's free kick was lush.

Zebroski (Newport), Caddis (Brum) Rooney (Lootun) all ex Town players on the scoresheet by half time today.

Lets hope that Storey, Devera, Hollands and Brezovan off the bench can all get on the scoresheet today too :D

Smith header off the bar.

Are we safe from relegation yet?

Do we get to take the ball home if we get over 60% possession?  (I know we are at home).

For another week, perhaps.

Still 62% possession according to the BBC. Also 10 shots to us and still 0 for Crewe.

Classic 1-1 written all over it. Hope I'm wrong though !

Hmmm.  My thoughts exactly.  Cue a torrent of 'why cant we convert our chances'.  Which to be fair is perhaps a good question.

Crewe are definately coming back a bit in the last 10 mins.

Been wondering that myself.

Although if we get 1 more today then we'll be joint top-scorers (With 4 other teams, as things stand)

Williams 2-0.

Yessss Andy Williams

WILLLLLOOOOO!!

Your wish has been granted.

That's a relief.

Chuffed for Willo.

Bless the chicken soup!

He's taken so much stick, pleased for him.

It would be 10-0 by now if I had Stew.....

Oxford 0-1 Pompey.

Williams deserves that, he's worked hard.

Yes willo!

Yes Pompey!

Hehe!

 :D That makes them bottom

Oh no! Now I feel bad..

Oh no you dont.

Imagine if we had Storey here eating FH's wife's stew ...

Shame it wasn't one of our ex players...but you can't have everything :D

Nah, I don't..

Wes has only made one save all match. 

Get rid...

Stop being greedy! :)

6,513 there today. That's pretty poor.

Storey isn't even an 'ex' player, that would have been poetic.

Maybe he got the assist though?

Very true.

:D

Unfortunately not.

Very very poor

Afraid not..he came off a little while back..

Quite surprised to see Fleetwood top of the table...even though its early in the season, I tipped them to be bottom 4 or 5 pre season.

FT 2-0

Game over, 2-0 very good solid win and performance by the sound of it.

Felix Magath must be concerned about his future tonight after that awful performance at Derby.

Did the Crewe fans enjoy their shot I wonder?

Perhaps our friends up the A420 could employ him?  ;)

Check out the League 2 table guys, down at the bottom are the Scum . . . . Chortle chortle

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Gotta be better than Appleton ;) . Appleton will walk...how the fuck that man keeps getting jobs and is so highly rated is totally beyond me.

Performance dipped a bit second half but Crewe never really threatened and we deserved the second goal. Superbly calm finish by Williams but credit to Branco for winning the ball.

I think that we could really dominate at home this season and teams will struggle to compete with our midfield and attacking play. Away from home and the defence is still a concern, Turnbull the only one of the back three to inspire confidence and looked commanding throughout both home games so far.

A bit more strength in depth and we'll have a bloody good season.

"Utter dull rubbish" says Flash on the radio. What the fuck?

Home to Brighton and Cov in the next week has something to do with it I would guess, like a library there today, more atmosphere in outer space!

I think it's supposed to be a joke that The Flash sends in the same text every week.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Pretty regulation win against shot-shy opposition.  Crewe defended deeply and we showed a lot of patience.  First 15 mins poor, last 30 of first half we were excellent but never really picked up the pace after the break.  Best game I have seen Williams play in a long time, two things worry me though - Brad Smith has pace to burn but no real end product and is Nathan Thompson really a centre-back and playing in the middle of the 3.  Got away with it today but will get caught out against a bigger pacier attack.

I don't get oxford, they're pointless..

Wheeeeey!

Baddom, tsch.

(http://i.imgur.com/mQvif.gif)

Aren't they managed by Michael Appleton though? That can't be right, although he might have already left for Palace I guess.

This is glorious.

(http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j478/thingsrichardosmanis/gifs/points-resize.gif)

That one, not so much :)

Strange game. The atmosphere was like a morgue and had the distinct feel of a friendly.

It will be a miracle if Crewe stay up - they were truly dreadful.

Without playing well, we should have had 5 or 6.

Thought Williams played well, Smith works his bollocks off and is much improved.

yet again Kasim is just pure class.

Brad Smith was poor today - overhit crosses and seemed to lack confidence to try anything but the safe, simple fashion.

Will  be more of a test next Saturday against Coventry

Comfortable. Didn't have to use too much energy and came through unscathed. We were patient and got our rewards. Played Town. Played.

I'm not going to dress is up, that was a piece of piss, and while it took us 20 minutes to get going we could have had at least two or three more.

Crewe by contrast were shit, though they did have a shot. Just the one.

Can't tell much from this game, but we did enough. Need to be more clinical and Brad Smith needs to spend the week practising his crosses.

 Very enjoyable game if you remained patient and enjoyed our excellent passing, as I did

Very easy game today, Crewe were piss poor and likely to go down. Saying that good to get job done, sometimes need to just do basic things easily. Kasim was superb, Williams looks much better than before. As for Bad Smith, he's had a shocker today - couldn't do anything right from the 1st minute, given a chance though may be ok. Fancy us to win Tuesday

Crewe were total shite. Their no 25 was the laziest fucker I've seen on a football pitch in a long time. We played a lot better at Crawley and lost. After the first 20 it was one way traffic. Great free kick from Kasim to put us 1 up and nearly repeated it in the 2nd half. M Smith, I thought was really good today and I couldn't believe the 2 bellends behind me who said he was shit and anonymous. Brad Smith was useless today but surely can't play any worse. Williams remembered it was a contact sport and looked more like his old self and had a decent game and took his goal very well. Should have had a penalty in the 1st half and definitely should have been booked for his reaction to it. Nate Dog should have been booked in the 1st 15 as well. Must have been the 1st time for a while there were no bookings and the ref wasn't a complete twat.
The tannoy was working in the DRS other than for the safety announcement where I couldn't hear a fucking thing.
I dream of the days where we heard fuck all in the DRS.
Lastly, congrats to the piss stains looking as though they are headed where they belong. 

Bit of a dull game such was the ineptitude of the opposition.

Great free kick (although Sam suggests it was poor keeping) and calm finish from Williams. Kasim is the coolest footballer and Williams looks a new, hungrier player. Brad smith had one of those days where nothing went right.

Brighton and cov will give us a much tougher couple of games but good to get 3 points on the board.

Considering this is a 46+ game season and we have a threadbare squad, I'm over the moon that Crewe got whatever they were trying to do all wrong resulting in Swindon barely needing to break a sweat.

Very happy.

First game of the season for me. Crewe seem to get worse with every season, god knows how they're still in L1. We did what we had to do but you always felt a more committed Swindon side or one with some of the quality players we had last year would have managed double figures today. Not complaining though as we're supposed to be battling it out with the likes of Crewe at the bottom.

Kassim and Williams played well today. First time I've seen Brad Smith play, so I take it he's better than that? (that being totally shite).

Thinking back to the game, they had one shot off-target, but Wes was well employed with aimless crosses - did fuck one of those up but got away with it.  Atmosphere on and off the field was crap, no bookings and the ref quite anonymous (perhaps that's a good thing!).  Our trainer not employed and theirs only on once - he did indicate to the bench the player injured was ok to carry on and was promptly subbed seconds later!  There are no doubt bigger tests to come, a couple of decent players in and we could be in for an interesting season.

brad smith seems to lack some self confidence. Very rarely did he bust a gut to get to the byline (probably as his crossing is shite) and more often than not just kept it simple. Once he tried he smoked his man, only for a covering player to block. He'll come good, given time.

Smith was a totally different player today compared to the Scunthorpe game, quite strange. Some awful crossing in general today, both sides guilty of it. Did we ever put a corner directly into the 6 yard box?

Little point putting a ball into the six-yard box. They were marking zonally and had plenty of bodies in there. So much so at one point 10 of theirs were behind their penalty spot and the other was inside 18 yards. The space was outside that.

Smith will be fine,not sure he is totally fit to be honest.

I don't think we can read too much into today at all. Crewe were as anonymous as any side I've ever seen at the County Ground. There was never any attempt to close down or mark Kasim, even though he was the fulcrum for us. He played well, for a man that was challenged as much as he might be in a light training session. Great free kick though.

People have spoken of Brad Smith's crossing - I thought we didn't use him enough today. Turnbull struggled to turn and knock the easy ball to him, preferring to stay on his left foot and knock it back across the defence or into Kasim. I liked how B Smith ran at the full back on occasion, and whilst his crosses were wayward at times, they were no more so than Byrne's, hit with far more pace and intent than Byrne's and one of them should have been put away by Michael Smith, when he hit the bar. I'm confident we will get a good season out of him.

Byrne was ok, but again, he was left in acres of space for 90 minutes and his delivery was poor. He needed to try and hit Williams and Smith first time. Instead, he would tend to slow play down and knock it back to Gladwin or Kasim.

Overall, we just seemed to do enough to get over the line. We sat at 0-0 and 1-0 for too with little urgency or pace to our game. Those additions will be interesting because they'll define how we get on, at least for the first half of the season.

They had 2 men on Kasim pretty regularly.  They just weren't very good!

It doesn't count if they just look at him. He had all the time in the world!

Brad Smith will become a decent player just give him some time.
Pleased we have him.
Same as our other Smiffy can't fault his attitude.
We are in a good position, better than I expected but need a few more squad additions.
Relax the future is bright and Red.
Loving my Oxfordshire existence, loving the A34, the M40 and depression in the OX.
FA cup please.

Pox's usual MO is go top at Christmas and then plummet, I wonder if they are of the opinion that reversing the tactic might be more successful instead... :)

Nope this is their peak this season I reckon.

First time in Oxford's long, illustrious history they have lost 8 league games on the bounce  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Just been told that the No. 3 for Crewe was plucked from non-league obscurity - Pewsey!!  A few more performances like today and him and a few of his team mates could well be heading back down that road!

Is it?

*Chortle vigorously*

But given they have been a league team for less time than they have been a non league team, they may well have equalled it or better as a non league team. 

Think he got somewhere close to the final of our first Samsung thingy.
Made his professional debut against us as it happens in 2012.

Good to see they have wiped the camera lense for the Football League Show coverage this year.

Wasn't able to go today but at Gillingham Brad Smith was very under used but when he was every single cross was extremely dangerous, really should have scored a couple from them so I guess we should just right off today's reported performance as a bad day at the office.

Re Oxford. I think they are in the process of getting shafted by the new owners whose only interest is the development opportunities in turning their kip into houses.

And Appleton is in the process of getting his win percentage down even lower!

The perfect storm!

Well that was like a pre season run out and awful spectacle.

Two good goals ...Williams was very good from where I was in the TE...saw it go in as it left his foot.

We will play better and lose this season...maybe at Crawley we already have!

 If I were a Crewe fan, I'd be worried. Awful...

I agree with Flash - that was probably one of the dullest games of football I have seen for a good long while. Glad the crowd was so low - not a great advert and at £ 25 not a great price. If that was a silver game what will a bronze serve up. Oof it was painful to watch. Crewe were there for the taking and we couldn`t take them.....glad Williams scored.
Brad Smith needs to work on his crossing skills coz he doesn`t have any presently.

Onwards and upwards....

Two further points that I think have already been made.

1. Williams doesn't look like a gutless chicken any more. Actually tried a few tackles yesterday so hopefully that shows his confidence in injury recovery is up.

2. I criticised Brad Smiths crossing, and rightly so. But it should also be pointed out he frequently took up good positions that provided us with width and another attacking option. Occasionally he looked slightly reluctant to make the run or take a player on but he has good pace and could be a real asset when he gains confidence and settles in a bit more (even based on yesterday's performance :) )

Maybe I am mistaken but didn't we win 2-0?

Very little in the way of highlights on the FLS, but that finish from Williams was cool, calm and collected. Not the type of finish you see from someone lacking in confidence. Let's hope he's back to his best.

Ref your Brad Smith comment totally agree and one other point though was often the balls to him yesterday went behind him instead of in front that would have given him that extra yard.
It will come though I am sure,

The need to hang on to our playing assets is even more evident now.

We have the basis of an extremely good side which I think will only remain if we get promoted this season and another 2 to 3 players will see us give it a real good go.

This, and If anyone comes to games expecting blood and thunder football from the kick off  they are not going to get it very often.

Quite right.

That was an easy a win as you could imagine and we should appreciate the fact

It wasn't that bad, it wasn't as good as the Scunny game but Crewe came with absolutely no ambition for anything other than a point.  Sadly i feel it is comments like this and the one on the radio which will not help build up attendances as the waverers will just listen to it and say "no thanks".

I actually quite enjoyed it, I guess some people don't like the 'pedestrian' pace and patient approach and others do. Based on attendances though, I guess more are not in favour?
I do think we missed an opportunity yesterday to up the tempo  little and rattle in some goals rather than "just getting the job done"

Duke, do you know the old guy sat in front of you, very loud chants of come on you reds and generally telling the players to hurry up when taking corners. He's going to be a real pain in the ass this season I reckon, along with an old git up by me who seems very angry.

I'm surprised (well, not entirely) at some of the negative and critical comments about our performance yesterday - we beat Crewe comfortably and professionally without taking any risks which is vital with such a small squad at our disposal currently. Yes, it wasn't edge of the seat stuff but it didn't need to be. We got 3 points and kept a clean sheet. Job done.

We won 2-0. Without ever really stepping above 2nd gear.

Id rather a dull win than a frustrating defeat. If we cant be happy with 3 points we are screwed.

We clearly didn't play to our capabilities, which is good.

With 46 league games plus X amount of cup games why push yourselves beyond what you have to when teams like Crewe come to Town with zero intentions of competing?

Swindon left the game with 3 points, no new injuries (crucial given our squad size), no yellow cards and no red cards.

Perfecto.

Do you mean the old fella that sits in the very front row of the Arkells?

'Get it up,  Swindon' is his favourite, and very frequent, pearl of wisdom

Nah he's towards the back of the DRS. I applaud his efforts to create an atmosphere but reckon when the chips are down he's going to be ultra loud and negative.

That was one of the most comfortable Town games that I've ever seen. I know that we're only 4 games in, but if I was a Crewe fan, I'd be very worried.

Kasim and Williams were our stand out players. Byrne and B.Smith got in the positions but lacked that final ball into the box.

Still undecided about going on Tuesday?

Tis only 12 squid.

Get yer arse down there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HASLIuN3Rlc

shocking highlights, doesn't even show Branco's tackle

My cat could've edited the highlights better than that.

It is pretty poor. Did they get the work experience kiddie to do it or something?

One man Propaganda machine me...

I'm tempted to pull an Orsen Welles style 'War of the Worlds' newscast when we play the shitheads.

Forget the £25 price tag....Flash is a cunt and I'm not going cos he says its poor (I am but that's not the point).

Ha ha that will be Podge. He is harmless enough.

It's just incredibly dull to watch. Slick, passing football is sublime to watch if it is at a good tempo, with players running off the ball. Slow, ponderous football is not entertaining. It is a myth to state that "passing football is entertaining". There is a certain type of passing football that is. What we play is low risk, possession at all costs football. Our players rarely a) break into a sprint, or b) venture too far from their position in the formation. It is static, slow and, so far as entertainment goes, a long way behind the successful sides of Di Canio and Wilson. The atmosphere suffers as a result too - there is a reason you wouldn't go to watch a training session!

That is fair comment but it does take 2 teams to make an entertaining game.

The Scunny game was a joy to watch for the simple reason that they fancied their chances and had a go.

You only have to watch some of the CL games when one team parks the bus. Even Barcelona are boring to watch jf it is just them against a packed defence.

The Coventry game will be worth the money cos, again, they will have a go.

It is a bit curmudgonley to blame our team cos the other one does not want to play

You're seeing what you want to see. didn't we get relegated with Wilson playing "fast football". And didn't we finish just outside the playoffs last season playing this way?

Agreed.

I was happy to get the points but Crewe were pish and offered nothing....

It was just waiting for us to grind it out...and we did.

It wasnt shit, just a poor match.... Seen many like that before and will see many more I'm sure.

It can be dull to watch and frustrating. But yesterday we created a number of chances, and so I don't class yesterday's game in that category.

The ones that wind me up at where we continually piss around with it when we need to chase the game

I found us dull to watch under Di Canio so it's all personal preference really...as long as we're winning

I like the style of play. The only criticism I would offer yesterday was we didn't get the ball forward quickly enough and that was probably due to Luongo being out as he's been carrying it forward really well. It wasn't the greatest spectacle yesterday but a clean sheet, no cards no injuries and another game under the belts. with 2 more games in a week it was a great game to have. Also from a purist point of view some of the stuff Kasim does its tempting to knock one out. He's got fuck all pace and can't head the thing but the way he makes space and passes is a lesson for the other players. I also have a feeling Gladwin will grow and grow.
The piss stains are moaning about having a young team, well we've got one and we're 6th in Div 3 not last in div 4.
I hope the fans get behind us but I doubt it. £25 is a lot for Div 3 football and I don't think power has done a lot wrong but the 3 tier pricing is fucking stupid. We really need some stability to grow the fan base again. Talk of police not being paid, the tannoy not working don't help as it helps lapsed fans justify their decision.

Love this, so true, and to think that none of us had heard of either of them prior to them joining is amazing. If anyone says they have, they're lying...or they're related to them. I wonder if Tottenham realised Kasim's true potential, not for a second suggesting he'd get in their first team, by the way.

There is only 1 team in league one with a 100% home record...

As I said, the successful Di Canio and Wilson teams: when passing at pace works. It didn't work all of the time.

Crewe didn't help matters yesterday - a side who want to play and play at pace themselves will help towards an entertaining game and I agree, Luongo will also help. Gladwin could turn into a real find too - very impressed. Yesterday was a bizarre one-off, so bring on Tuesday.

If people are getting sniffy and complaining about the style and nature of a comfortable 2-0 win, things are clearly going pretty damned well.

Those of you who don't like the way we played/are playing, just cast your minds back a few short seasons to the abomination that was the 2010-11 season - we couldn't buy a win between the 3rd Jan and the 7th May - The detestable Paul Hart and his equally detestable '4-3-3'. Elliot Benyon, Thomas Dossevi, Vincent Pericard.........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhh!!!!!!.....please, no more!!!!!!

When I think of that (I wish I hadn't actually, it's made me feel rather ill), I will gladly take performances like Saturday's from now and for the rest if eternity 8)

Bump.......great post, but before breakfast out of order :)
Exactly. Playing this with a budget cut from £4.8 million I think Cooper deserves credit.

Agreed IMO and batch's point. The most frustrating game for me last season was Blades away when Chuckles did nothing and likewise the players did the same AND after a goal down....

This season we have made NO 'real' signings, Power has cut the cloth deep accordingly and Chuckles has dished up a good display in every game so far (including Crewe....'get the job done' performance').

I'm satisfied that we will finish in the upper reaches of the league and that's a good result for us....lets hope for another good run in the JPT.

El Cooperino seems to have taken on board what a lot of us thought last year in away games - if we're going to get beat trying not to lose we might just as well go for it

Very true although our new model should mean that we don't need to overhaul our squad every summer as the individuals will improve every year.

Williams could prove to be as good as a new signing if he keeps up his form from Saturday.

The thing with a game like Saturday is that it would have been easy for us to over commit & chase a second goal, make a mistake and give away a sloppy goal.

We didn't do that, stayed patient & eventually got the second goal.

One other thing, I don't know about anyone else but most of the crowd around us in the DRS were patient too, can't recall many shouts of "get it forward" and lots of appreciation for the players keeping the ball. 

Maybe the 500 or so missing fans are those that want us to play a more hoof game & are vocal about it.

Nah. The missing fans were just away for Bank Holiday.

There will be between 9 and 10,000 Saturday

We played well against poor opposition. It was a shame the deliveries from the wings weren't up to much but the central pairing in midfield more than made up for it.

61% possession, 12 shots and 8 on target vs. 1 shot not on target for them. We worked some good moves and did play some direct balls. It was only a bit dull because it was so one-sided.

Has anyone else noticed how more comfortable we look at the back with possession now Ward isn't in the side? Branco isn't particularly assured but Turnbull, Thompson and Lelan to an extent can turn without taking 20 seconds to do it and pass it confidently. We've looked to move it forward with a bit more intent in the two home games so far instead of passing it across the back three/four/five

Who the fuck is this Michael Reeves who appears to have taken over from Sam as STFC reporter on the Adver?  Wouldn't believe anything he says as he believes Dany N'Guessan is forming a decent partnership with Willo and gave him a rating of 6 fro the game!!  Obviously colour blind!!!  Anybody know where Dany is now?

I suspect some poor sod who was told on Friday at 5:30 he was covering the Town game.

Pox just signed will hoskins, decent signing that. Would have had him here

2 league goals in 3 years...hasn't played a game for 18 months.   Maybe you're mixing him up with the other BHA, Will (Buckley)

Nah, Hoskins is the Brighton player, ex Rovers too, has been plagued with injuries.

Would tear up L2 if ever fit. Big if, too.

He would have been a decent signing if he wasnt permanently on crutches.

troy style

Isn't that Will with Sunderland now?

Yeah cost 2 mill+....I don't really get how Tans and PlymRed think Hoskins could be anyway good enough for us. The scum have scored 1 pen in 4 games are bottom of the table, so have to take a punt on someone without a club....we, despite our problems are in a bit better shape.

Still better than Barker :D

Rather hoskins than waldon or barker

George may yet surprise us...no management/scouts/DoFs get them all right, but so far our lot haven't done too badly.

Crewe where terrible but was very impressed with their  number 17 Billy Waters,behind Kassim was best player on the pitch only 19 product of their academy lads got a bright future.

The tubby one on the right hand side of their forward line? Looked ok, and had a decent run in the second half.

Hoskins is an out an out punt. He was on trial at Barnsley but nothing happened. Out injured since feb. Looks like a total gamble from the worst team in England, I'm guessing relatively well paid too. Only 1 year deal so will either be inspired or an injury plagued failure.

He he.

Just re-read the report in the Adver, he gave Brad Smith the second highest mark on the team - I think the majority of us agreed that Saturday was not Brad's day at all!!  N'Guessan scored for Aldershot, wonder how long it will take him to get pissed off there?

I think u will find that's a different n'guessan

Joseph N'Guessan I believe...wasn't he at Stevenage?

I bow to the more knowledgeable TEF's amongst you, would he be a relation to Dany?

N'Guessan it probably is