Thetownend.com

The Opponent:  Rochdale

The unbeaten run continues, 9 games in and everything is good.  A game under the lights is always something to look forward to, especially when it seems like an eternity since we last had a home match. Rochdale currently sit 12th in League 1 with 17 points, we really should be thinking about 3 points here.

Some of the notable folk from Rochdale in the past makes interesting reading.  The 19th century saw several notable characters. Lancashire dialect poet Edwin Waugh (1817–1890) was born and raised in the town. The aristocrat and poet George Gordon Byron was Lord Byron of Rochdale. Rochdale also has a proud liberal political heritage, as shown by such people as John Bright, one of the first Quakers to sit in the House of Commons; Samuel Bamford, the radical and writer; and Rev. Joseph Cooke, the inspiration behind the Methodist Unitarian movement.  Among Rochdale's residents have been several musicians, including singers Gracie Fields, Lisa Stansfield (born in Heywood) and Barb Jungr, and bands Autechre, Tractor, the Chameleons, the Mock Turtles and the Cassandra Complex. Good Charlotte drummer Dean Butterworth also hails from Rochdale. Broadcasters John Peel, Mark Chapman, Liz and Andy Kershaw also have links with the town, Peel having lived there for a period of time and the latter three having been born there. Actors Colin Baker, Anna Friel and Bill Oddie were born in Rochdale. Don Estelle, who was born and brought up in Crumpsall,  and lived for much of his life in Rochdale and was buried there in August 2003.

Last Time Out – Saturday 18th October – Rochdale 1 Gillingham 1 - Rochdale were left to rue a string of missed opportunities as Cody McDonald's late goal earned Gillingham a point. Peter Vincenti's header put the hosts ahead midway through the first half, with Vincenti and Ian Henderson having chances either side of the break. Gills' Stephen Bywater also saved twice from Michael Rose, and the visitors were rewarded when McDonald scrambled in seven minutes from time.
Starting XI -  Logan, Bennett, Eastham, O’Connell, Tanser, Dawson (Lund), Rose, Allen, Vincenti, Done (Andrew) Henderson.

They have served us both – Kevin Amankwaah, David Ball, David Cole, Stephen Darby, Simon Gibson, George Guyan, Jack Howarth, David Lucas, Ray McHale, David Murray, Arthur Radford, Alan Moore, John McClelland, Chris Jones, Tom Heaton, Ashley Grimes, Mick French, Charlie Comyn-Platt, Trevor Churchill, Bill Atkins, Tope Obadeyi, Alan McLoughlin, Harry Martin, Benny Jones, Derek Hall, Richard Green, Kevin Dearden, Jimmy Collins, Herbert Chapman, Bill Armstrong.

One From The Past –. January 22nd 1983: Attendance 4’425 Swindon Town 4 Rochdale 1 – A Paul Rideout hat trick and a late Howard Pritchard effort made light work of Rochdale, featuring in the team that day was Andy Rowland.

The Odds –  Swindon Evens  Draw 13/5  Rochdale 7/2

The Son Says – A couple more days at school then we have a couple of weeks of moaning and arguing with his sister to put up with, such joys. 3 – 0 win this evening.

The Prediction –  I think we really should have a bit too much for Rochdale, 3-1 victory, goals from Kasim, Williams and Turnbull, 6’677 in attendance with 111 from up North.

And Finally – The first seven series of the BBC school drama Waterloo Road were set in Rochdale between 2006 and 2012, and filmed on location at the former Hilltop Primary School in Kirkholt, which closed in July 2003. Most of the out-of-school scenes in the series were filmed around Rochdale, and many of the pupils' homes seen on television were council houses in the Kirkholt area which were mostly built in the early post war years.


COYR COYR COYR COYR

No mention of the Co-op....up until 1985, STFC was run on the Rochdale Co-op system of one share one vote.

Very tense about later today.....we've already seen one STFC  undefeated record go this season at Crawley...Dale have to win soon....I'm now wishing that Elliot Benyon hadn't written himself into Town posterity, for his last minute back post header, as it made fuck all difference and would have got a defeat out of the way.

I once met a bird from Rochdale....it went wrong straight away, when I thought her accent was Yorkshire  :)   norverners all sound the same to me.

Easy 2-0 victory

Think I'm right here, but have we ever lost to Dale?

Think we are their major bogie team.

Be a good game tonight - 3-1, Smudge, Mass, Williams

Under 7000 unfortunately

Strange place Rochdale, good away day though. Score first we win, If not draw.

Hopefully,the curse of the ex player doesn't strike again with Michael Rose who was decent before we signed him,crap when we signed him and decent again when we got rid. 2-1 Town Smith and Turnbull

Conditions are going to be pretty horrible so for that reason alone I think it will be tight: 2-1 Town.

1-1

Heading across for this one.

Think it might be similar to the Oldham game.

Rochdale are a good footballing side and cannot be underestimated.

They have won away at Crewe 5-2, away at Crewe 3-0 JPT, away at Crawley 4-0, away at Orient 3-2 and put 4 past Walsall too.

Tough game.

1-1 draw with Smith scoring a penalty, 6,223 there with 129 from the Dale.

It is proper windy as fuck in Swindon at the moment.

Weather will put a few off...lets hope a win is in order.

We've never lost to Rochdale.

The fact that they have Michael Rose and Calvin Andrew in their squad worries me more than it should.

Can I go for 'match postponed due to weather' ? We used to often have games postponed when it was windy, as it was deemed unsafe, as bits of the stadium might blow down.

Oh yes, the old Shrivenham Road 'Aldershot Military Tattoo' Stand. It could stand up to the rigours of 4mph winds but if anything stronger than that was forecast, the game was off  :nod:

My big boy's introduction to a life of misery tonight. Or more likely, a bored and whinging interruption to his Clash of Clans progress. In my dreams, this is a 7-0 rout with the CG singing hilarious chants which don't leave me having to explain the meaning of any new words which will subsequently be endlessly repeated at deeply inappropriate moments.

In reality, probably a 1-2 defeat with my boy incanting "You can stuff yer Michael Rose up yer arse" for the rest of the week.

Nervous times.

I presume that there is little chance of the match being postponed because of the wind?

Is Rose LB? Hopefully Byrne would have him on toast.

Feeling confident. 2-0 win. Luongo and Smith.

Goal machine  Calvin Andrew is with them too. Surely he will be saving his yearly goal for us? so we are going to have to score 3 to win. 3-2 Smith, Obika and Reeeeeves 6579 watching of which 136 from Dale

Good reasoning and the scoreline I'm going with too. Reckon Williams'll chip another over a stranded keeper, Obika will tap one in from two yards, and Byrne will score a scorcher.

At the risk of looking a total fool later, even the ex-player curse isn't enough to make Calvin Andrew a threat.

Tope Obadeyi.....he came to mind the other day but I couldn't remember his name. Never before have I seen a player to blessed with attributes from god in terms of strength, speed, athleticism, etc. but have such a little idea of how to play football. If the man had an ounce of a clue how to play football he'd be dangerous.

Crazy fool. He is a shoe in now to score.

From where I am on top of OT hill, it doesn't seem too bad, and the forecast is for the wind to ease during the evening..

Home at last....crowd should be nearer the 7k+ mark given the efforts to attract more support and its been a while, disappointing if not the case. Nailed on victory just can`t quite decide if they will score probably not so 2-0 / 3-0.

 Agree....horrible game.

For a variety of reasons, our lads are going to be under pressure tonight.....reasons being, first home game for a while; opponents Rochdale, who many think will be easy, but as Venkman has pointed out are impressive on the road; an enforced rejig at the back; potentially somewhat tricky conditions.

These are the sort of games where if you are going to do something in a season, then you grind a win without necessarily playing well....so far this season we've shown good battling qualities, so there is hope. On the other hand if you're not really going to do anything, then you have one of those seemingly inexplicable performances where most players seem just a bit off their game.

That is where experience comes in, knowing how to manage a game when things aren't quite working....a big ask for our kids.

Sunny, warm and a gentle zephyr!

Sounds like an Audrey moment to me. Name change required to Calvin Andrew Goal machine if he scores tonight.

Relax everybody. I had stew today.

I'll back him to score at anytime - that'll even things out.

Well thank fuck for that.

Stand down the panic buttons lads.

At least I didn't "do a Bushey" and involve my balls in the whole affair.

Phew, Mrs Flashheart saves the day........again!

I hope FH did the washing up

 ;D

Vous rentres dans une ambulance Wiltshire?

Also I've fucked everything up by putting £15 on a Swindon win at 2/1. Sorry guys.

We are 2/1 to win at home? Sounds like great odds!

Hills have us odds on - albeit only just! Where did you get those odds Jayo?

Gonna be a really, really tough game tonight. We need to get a grip on teh game early. I imagine Rochdale will press us hard early on so we will probably have to be patient and hit them late on.

I'll go for 1-1

I don't understand why people make up bets/odds and then only say they've had a small stake.

Might as well say you had a grand on.

Bet365.

Sorry me being a bell. It's evens.

3-0 Swindon!

Hmmm. I'm no expert, but this wind isn't going to help us tonight..

I've just walked up the hill towards old town (stopping at Christchurch to pay respects) and it's bloody windy! (And cold!) going to be tricky tonight unless this dies down.

Forecast was for stongest gusts between about 3-5, then easing off a bit by about 8.....still breezy mind, just not so strong.

Interesting article about Rochdale....seems a bit dodgy to me  :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-29705681

Reg you from old town way? Where is the best boozer? In the plough at the moment, some old guy listening to 50s music on his iPad, not you is it?

Nah...plenty of choice, although not the busiest time of day.  The Hop in Devizes Road does some nice beers and is intimate, or you could try Los Gatos, a tapas bar, also now in Devizes Road having moved around from Wood Street. Los Gatos, has strong Flammable Ben connections....and he's often to be found around this time outside the Vic, having a fag, or maybe today inside as it's a bit blowy.

Post match...the free chip butties in the Beehive attract an interesting collection of fat ba fans, but I guess you're heading for the station

The sky has got worryingly black

Its called dusk ;)

I'll rephrase

The clouds in the dusky sky have got worryingly black

:D

And now it rains

Looks like it is dying down a bit now , just about to set off hoping for a decent performance to make up for Saturday 2 -1 Town

Kasim at CB then.

Rodgers instead of Reeves is a little odd.

Someone please tell me what radio station are covering the game tonight?! Many ta's

Rodgers over Louis and Reeves is a strange one but trust Coops to make the right call. Must have something to do with the balance in moving Kasim. Rodgers better suited to a holding player than Reeves maybe?

Louis may have knock according to BBC wilts

what is the team then?

Fods; Byrne, Stephens, Kasim, Turnbull, Bell; Luongo, Rodgers, Gladwin; Smith, Williams

Foderingham; Stephens, Kasim, Turnbull; Byrne, Luongo, Rodgers, Gladwin, Bell; Williams, Smith

subs: Belford, Barthram, Toffolo, Reeves, Thompson, Waldon, Obika

Loved Kevin Morris one of the best blokes I ever met, always had a cheery word and was always singing whenever I saw him.

RIP Kevin, gone but never forgotten.

that line up might confuse Rochdale? :-[ - hope it doesn't confuse us!

Kasim at Sweeper instead of Nathan.

Can see the logic in that. Didn't Migz play a few games at sweeper for us fairly successfully?

He did.

Sounds almost all Rochdale so far.

player shite again

Rochdale coms are perfect.

Was just thinking this myself.

The opposition team's coms always seem to be fine on player. It seems to be more a problem with BBC wilts than a problem with player.

Anyway. We're not sounding too good.

Morshead reporting an unconventional formation from Rochdale which, on the evidence of commentary so far, we're struggling to deal with.

if it's any consolation (it won't be) my radio sounds like two daleks commentating via DAB. guess it's the weather.

Hopefully Michael Rose gets exterminated.

World class play from Andy Williams according to Chalky White.

The Rochdale coms...although not cutting out at all...sounds like hes sat in his car commentating.

Crewe 1-0 Posh

And Bostwick from Posh sent off for seriouys foul play giving away the penalty.

not that he's at all prone to hyperbole...

Get in!

I swear Andrew Hawes just said Don Rogers scored?

Well in lads!

Woooooooooooop!

I did sound like it, I guess the 'An' bit may have got lost in the exitement..so maybe Ton Rogers?

Bad miss from Henderson for Dale with just Foders to beat.

 :)

Rose the wanker is coming on for Dale.

Please don't give away any free kicks just outside the box.

Half time 1-0, quite happy with that, Rochdale sound like they have threatened us as much as we have them.

Rochdale coms' think they've gone to pieces since our goal.

Interesting words from Andy King.

haha, the man, the enigma!

People used to say Paolo didn't make much sense. Neither did Kingy to be fair

He didn't sound very impressed.

Certainly not at our best. Not all quite on the same wavelength. They've largely kept a decent shape and made it hard for us, although we should have had a penalty to go with the goal. Kasim skewed a clearance and it fell for them...luckily they missed the resulting sitter. Gladwin has had a great touch all night, but can't pass for shit so far. Would like to see reeves come on for him.

too much flicky fanny football

FFS

mother
fucker

FFS again.

Arse. Simple headers x2.

Just not playing

FFS.

fuck me stfc player is awful

Shite defending.  Being beaten by a team whose game plan is hit a long ball over the top.  Unfortunately it's working.

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_  20s21 seconds ago
Some home fans starting to turn on Town. They haven't had to deal with that all season, let's hope it doesn't last long.

 :doh:

I blame Andy King

...who in turn has just blamed Jerel Ifil.

i had a stew today for fuck's sake.

Bell off, Obika on.

Smith Williams and Obika on the pitch...

Can't say we aren't going for it.

bosh

Get in! Smith

Now for a winner.

Come on!!

Halle-bloody-lujah. Go for the win Town!

Like I said!!

Got any left, if so heat it up

Wes hoddle

FUCKING SCORE YOU CUNTS

Get it forward! 

Down to 5th as it stands

FFS

FML.

Bollocks. 3 headers ffs.

cunting hell

Rubbish.

Some Practice defending crosses coming on I hope

7th Now

Cooper out.

Well the experiment at the back without Thompson seems to have been a failure. Can we get Branco/Turnbull/Stephens in there for Sat and keep Kasim ahead of them.

Now we are 7th!

Make that 7th

At least it wasn't Andrew. But bugger.

7th now.

Rose with two assists, tans will be chuffed

Now wait for the backlash from people...

So how many points do we need to avoid relegation?

Bollox :crash:

Will be interesting if Cooper actually accepts the blame today as he massively fucked up. One suspension at the back and so he decides to decimate the midfield to attempt to cover it.
There was no urgency from start to finish and the game was devoid of any quality.
Worst thing is Rochdale are a terrible team but managed to score 3 against us mainly by smashing the ball long and wanting it more!

One is not amused.

Fuck me.  Even the Queen's getting in on it.

That was fucking dire

Completely spot on! Deciding to put our most consistent midfielder in defence after we've just signed a defender said a lot for what Cooper thinks of him. Reeves should have played rather than rodgers and if they were concerned then play kasim defensive mid like last season.

No idea what position Byrne played tonight. Great going forward (just needs to learn when to shoot and when to dribble a bit more) but never got back. May have been a tactic but again left us exposed.

We were poor tonight but still created chances to steal a win. I guess thats a positive but at this level conceding 3 goals to free headers is unacceptable.

Move on to saturday where 3 points are a must for momentum into November

Shocking defending for all 3 goals, long ball caught us out every fucking time. Perfect away performance from rochdale id say -played to our weaknesses.

Saying that, we still created some great chances and could have won it ourselves. Movement was abysmal tonight, cant play passing football if noone fucking moves

That was a fucking horror show from start to finish.

As much as I've been a great admirer of Coops, he must shoulder a big slice of the blame for this one.

One player out and he swaps and changes everything -  no wonder we were all over the place.

Saying that, the defence - if indeed we actually had one - were awful.

Is it just me, or is Stephens nowhere near the level he was last season?

I felt sorry for Gladwin who had an absolute mare - every single thing he did he fucked up.

And WTF was Fods doing with all the long balls to Byrne the Giant after fucking about for what seemed ages just standing there in midfield with the ball.

Bell had a good first half and looks  a tidy sort.

Byrne was up to his usual good standard.

Thompson missing and the subsequent shifting around of players cost us completely tonight. Why so many changes?  Will be interesting to see what Cooper does now on Saturday.  Unfortunately this is where the lack of depth in our squad is a problem.  Still no excuse for the inept defending though.

Poor crowd considering we haven't had a game at home for a while.  I don't imagine anyone who turned up on the night will be rushing back either.

Wrong starting eleven , kasim was was the big miss in midfield especially with glad win losing the ball time and time again . Having said that when we went 3 4 3 we looked like winning it but for some worldly saves and poor decisions with the final ball but you cannot win games defending like that we were all over the place at the back.

To be honest we were fortunate to be 1-0 up at half time, Rochdale created probably the better chances.

That said all three goals conceded were shit. At least the last one was from a decent corner.

In truth we never really got the passing going, it was a disjointed, scrappy affair. But it wasn't boring.
When it went to 2-2 it looked like we might nick it as we finally got a bit of momentum. We nearly scored then they went down the other end, won the corner and...

There were a couple of chances where the ball was begging to be leathered, but we tried to take it closer/pass it (Byrne).

Fods turned into Hoddle in the second half, not only bringing the ball out so far that even Neuer would have got a nose bleed but pinging a couple of good passes. Which is in contrast to some of the first half where he disparately wanted to play it short, but with no option just stood there instead of hitting it long.

Hey ho, perhaps we didn't totally deserve to lose, but we probably didn't deserve to win either.

And BTW, I never realised we had so many bellend fans.

First, there was a major knobhead in the LEGENDS bar berating the young barman cos he poured his Peroni into a non-Peroni glass - stating some old bollocks that the Peroni glass was integral to the taste and he didn't want to pay £4.50 if it was in a Carlsberg glass.

Now, I know the attitudes of the older generation(70+) are a bit ingrained but I don't really want to hear some ancient fossil bang on about how Fods is a 'bit of a darkie' and Luongo is a slitty eyed Jap

Fair play to Rochdale. they looked like they had more players on the pitch than us today and gave 100%. They were in our faces and played the ball behind the wingbacks at every opportunity and it worked. 3 headers and it looked to me that their players didn;t need to jump for any of them. We were dreadful - total bollox. I'm not sure if anyone came out with any credit. Smith took his goal well but was shite but no worse than most of the others. The midfield was non existent. I like gladwin but he had a shocker and Rodgers looks very lightweight. Bell looks like a bit of a defensive Onion Bhaji.
Overall a bad day at the office but hats off to Rochdale.    
Some of our passing was total toss and our movement was shite as well

Dale came and they played ...and played well.

We weren't shit (thank you mongs in the TE) and deserved a draw.

Kasim at the back!? No thanks...waste for me.

Great saves from the dale keeper....we will play worse and win.

It's October end and we have lost two games......I would of taken that in July all day long.

Been out for a meal tonight so missed all this.

Where's that next bottle of fucking wine?

Can't be bothered with a full write up but even though we lost it was an entertaining game. Rochdale didn't come for a 0-0 anyway and took all 3 points thanks to our inability to defend crosses into the box.

Byrne mom shaded from Luongo for me. Bell is a bit of an enigma and I swear smith was trying to control the ball when he scored. Bitty performance all round really. I like the look of Reeeeeves, seems keen and energetic. Fods made 2 exquisite passes second half as well.

Hopefully we improve on Saturday.

This.

But add to that the fact that Cooper has to be responsible for the complete shambles at the back and midfield. None of the defence knew what they were doing and we were lucky not to be punished first half. Kasim might be able to play sweeper, but he's not a CB in a month of Sundays and was constantly wrong positionally meaning that it was chaos all around him.

I don't often chip in on football threads, but that really wasn't very good at all.  Sorry for the strong language.

Cooper got his team selection and tactics wrong...... reeves should have started and Kasim is wasted in defence, as we had no control first half. But Cooper cant take the blame for  Stephens / Turnbull  shambolic defending on corners which ultimately cost us the game. Gladwin after playing well saturday struggled big time tonight and didn't take his chance to to cement a place in the team.

I will not accept your apology. Your language is simply too... too... gosh-darned rude!

Now look what you've made me do!

Didn't he pick them ?

Gladwin has the most sublime touch. His passing and decision making tonight was way off sadly. Shame as I'm certain there is a fantastic footballer in him.

It's not really Cooper's fault that at 2 corners 2 individuals (I couldn't see who) didn't pick up their man, that is individual players fault and they should take responsibility.

Their keeper pulling off as good a save as you will see all season was just as much of a reason we didn't win (I think the Obika save was at 2-2 but my mind is a blur)

First time I've seen Bell, 1st half ok but totally clueless 2nd half and I haven't seen anything to suggest that he is a better option than Brad Smith. As I say first time I've seen him so he turn into a world beater for all I know.

It's frightening how brilliant Bryne is becoming as attacking force, we could be a bit fucked if we lost him for any period of time.

The corner their third goal came from wasn't a corner, the Rochdale player blasted it into the side netting, nobody got a touch.  Also, the corner their second goal came from was needless.  Turnbull could have easily passed it back to Fods.

I wrote a long rant then it closed. To summarise:

Kasim can't play cb- won't attack the ball in air and can't play the line
Bell can't cross- can only pass when in good wide positions. No touch whatsoever
Byrne can't pull the trigger, wants to walk it in.
Turnbull can't header and is slower than ward.

The few positives:

Wes literally saved us on quite a few occasions
Byrne was class going forward just needs to shoot when 6 yards out
Williams never stopped, if it didn't come off he just went again and again and his pace was a threat.
Had more than enough chances to win the match and should have.

All of this, fair play to Rochdale stuff can fuck right off. We lost that tonight from abismal defending from set pieces and not dealing with the long ball.

Knobhead, or mentally unhinged?

Paying £4.50 for a pint?  What a plum.

Which is our weakness and they exploited it all match, good tactics id say. They always looked a threat

It was so bad last night even the scoreboard lost the will to live.

It did that first game of the season too. I think there's a direct correlation between fans moaning and the scoreboard going 'Ah, fuck it'

So having had time to digest last night, a few points I thought of.

It was refreshing to see Rochdale setup so attack minded away from home. Certainly helped produce an entertaining match.

Rochdale's tactics of allowing Wes to have the ball for as long as possible was interesting. However they nearly paid for this when Williams made some great runs, 1 where Wes picked him out and nearly put him through on goal. Wes's passing was inch perfect last night.

Nathan Byrne is fast becoming my favourite player, putting in consistent performances game after game. If only he had a left foot!!

Kasim's corners with his left foot were pretty good. He also had some immense pieces of skill last night. Him and Luongo work so well together, this showed in the second half with Kasim stepped forward more.

I really want Gladwin to come good. His touch is absolutely sublime but his passing and decision making were off last night.

I like the look of Reeeeeeeeeves, Rodgers less so, but he took his goal well.

We can't seem to defend crosses. Rochdale's first goal was pathetically easy.

All true, but how much of this was due to so many square pegs in round holes.

Hope Coops will dwell on the set up last night with Saturday in mind

Some good news. My man on the inside informs me repair work to the scoreboard will commence this afternoon. Although why they just don't confine it to the scrapheap and invest in a more modern one is beyond me. Surely if done correctly a large screen can generate an income via match day advertising?  And I don't mean by Jeds half arsed attempt last season.

For those that can bear it again

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pxEzSUzFPGY

I blame Andrew Hawes - we were running late getting to the game and had the radio on in the car, in time to hear Mr Hawes inform the listening public at large that Rochdale had never beaten Swindon. We looked at each other, my lad said "Oh, no, curse of the commentator" and we briefly discussed whether we should bother finding a parking space, or just head straight home as we were clearly going to lose. Nothing to do with dodgy selections, piss-poor defending, the ref's inability to differentiate between a corner and a goal kick or their Matt Lucas-alike keeper having a blinder, it's all down to the curse of Wiltshire Sound!

Poor performance last night from us - defence was poor, Kasim isn't a sweeper and pinging balls to Nathan Byrne every time doesn't work. We looked more threatening when Obika came on and changed formation to 3-4-3. Logan made some good saves to prevent us getting the lead back at 2-2 but to be considered top 6 challengers I personally think we have to beat teams like Rochdale, who I take nothing away from, at home. I said on many occasions last season we lacked urgency in homes games, and I thought that had changed, but it seems we slipped back into an old habit last night. On to Saturday...

from the highlights jordan Turnbull might have some questions to answer when it comes from marking up at corners. Whereas Amari Bell never looked like having the ball fully uner ghis control for our opener and never seemed to have a clue where man he was marking was for theirs

Out of interest how many of these do you think there were lsst night.

Well, Kasim was a double whammy - a loss to our midfield and no great shakes as a sweeper.

Then Rodgers gets the nod to replace Kasim. Gladwin comes in for Louis and we end up with the worst of both worlds - a suspect defence and a diluted midfield upon which our offensive play is so dependent.

Reeves should have started if Louis wasn't fit for 90 minutes.

The fact of the matter is we have insufficient defensive cover

But none of those, apart from Kasim,  are Square pegs in round holes. They all played in their normal positions but just aren't very good replacements as not one of them can match what is provided normally.

I agree Reeves should have started but I'd have had him in place of Bell after last Saturday. Rogers just doesn't provide what Kasim does as he doesn't have that innate ability to find space and provide the angles. Kasim needed a Kasim to pass the ball to last night.

As you say, we just ran out of defenders.

Surely the Norwich loan defender could have got us out of a sticky situation?

I'll chew that one over and get back to you.

I know commentators are saying we have been found out, but the fact is that we lost last night not because of our style of play but because we defended very poorly.

The style still produced goals and excellent chances and we can only hope the defending will improve.

A good win Saturday and last night will soon be forgotten.

Is Thompson (N) back on Saturday ?

The same was said last season after a bad game. It also happened under PDC. The Washbag are one of the prime culprits.

I don't think it helped that Rodgers came out and said it last night during his post match interview

No. Cooper did say that the toffee fella will be involved in some capacity on Saturday

Don't think there is too much to worry about. We were bound to lose at some point and October/November is normally when unbeaten home runs go when you have made a good start. The performance levels were there, it wasn't a lethargic disinterested performance but bad defensive errors.

Will need to ensure we pick up plenty of home wins as we can't expect to win away all the time. Looking back to 09/10 season it was about this point of the season Austin and Paynter clicked and their goals his our defensive frailties. It's the results between the clocks changing in October and March that determine how well your season goes. We are ahead of last season in lots of ways so there should still be optimism

Rochdale were like a better Yeovil basically. Stifled us very well, pinged balls over the top for their two workhorses to chase. Ultimately it was individual mistakes that cost us. Byrne was fantastic but to keep constantly putting the ball to him was predictable very early on (although he still caused them some trouble). Bell struggled again, and that ended up with us being a bit lopsided. Obika and Reeves helped us pick the game up and we really should've won it after that. Their keepers made some fantastic saves and they've absolutely snatched it at the end.

You're gonna be the victim of a few smash and grabs. The real downside to this is that the patience the fans have had (sort of) will completely disappear v Colchester when they park the bus on Saturday.

I'm not massively worried, we all knew this would happen and we still did enough to win the game. The biggest disappointment for me was the crowd. Under 7K when we're 3rd in the league is fucking dreadful. We were getting more than that under Hart when we were shit and bottom.

Always lower on a Tuesday night with ppl working shifts etc
Plus the weather was awful no doubt putting a lot off travelling.

Expected higher myself after no home games for a month

Auto two match ban for two red cards

Don't think it was a smash and grab. They had their tactics spot on letting us have as much possession as we wanted in our half, pressing and pinging balls into the space behind our wingbacks. they worked hard, were organised and are a decent side. They've got a good manager and make the best of what they've got. Their away record is decent. For me personally, I give the opposition credit.   

Yeah, Keith Hill is an OK manager but looks like Worzel Gummidge and I didn't particularly enjoy him and his assistant winding up the old folk in the Arkells.

Seems he could actually be a bit of a cock

Should have worn your crowman outfit, Audrey. Would have kept him quiet.

Spot on Chalkies. Summed up what I think to a tee.

They've won 5-2, 4-0 and 3-2 away from home and I don't think this is down to fluke.

when Wes had it, he had the ball for about a minute before doing anything with it. When their keeper had it, he immediately launched it to their left winger, which worked, almost all the time!

There is a limit to how much credit though, we had the chances to win the game 2nd half by someway without doubt. And they scored direct from 2 corners so that doesn't affect their tactics of pressing etc. With thompson/branco playing instead of kasim CB i don't think their tactic would have worked. It would then have been interesting to see if they continued the long ball or mixed it up.

Football is great isn't it:-)

Think it was a 1 match for the red card and 1 match for 5 yellows

A few people criticising Wes for holding the ball, walking too far with it etc... when the real issue was that the 10 players in front of him were standing still, marked, waiting for somebody else to give him an option. When our lot did move it opened Rochdale up - the ball through the middle to Williams wasn't the only occasion they left a chasm for us to exploit. Problem was we didn't.

That was my first game of the season. I'm now thinking twice about the 400 mile round trip for the City game.

What an odd game to choose for your first of the season....

To clarify my point about Wes, it wasn't actually a criticism of him holding onto the ball too long. As you say, there was little movement in front of him and lumping it forward aimlessly was clearly not going to happen. This improved in the second half as Reeves and Williams actually ran and created some options for Wes.

Hills view:

"It was exciting and I enjoyed the whole game," added Hill. "I enjoyed watching the opposition as well.

"It was a great contest and I must admit going into the last 15 minutes, when it's two each, I don't know what to do.

"I'm half thinking, 'what the hell do we do here?' Because they're an unbelievable side.

"It was a really good game to be involved in and I really, really enjoyed it."


Seems he thought it could of gone either way as well.

It was the first game where I've been within 150 miles of Swindon, so it made sense.

This is good to read. Glad it's not just Town fans and players that are excited from our play. Just need to tighten up at the back and only then can we possibly go up.

Town fans weren't excited where I was sat....