Thetownend.com

The Opponent:  Preston North End

How the legend of Thor began. Thor, also known as the Thunder pants, was considered to be a son of Fjorgyn (Jord) and Odin by some, but among many tribes in the poorer parts of Lancashire, Thor actually supplanted Odin as the favourite god as he enforced compulsory beard growing and the eating of Greggs sausage rolls dipped in the cheapest white cider Patel’s stocked. He is considered to be the protector of all Preston, and he wields the mighty mini hammer, his pink truncheon. His battle chariot is drawn by two giant whippets, and his violent bowel eruptions cause the lightning that flashes across the sky. Of all the deities, Thor is the most “barbarian” of the lot, hobo-like in appearance, rather smelly, boss eyed and lives by the rules laid down by his mentor, White Dee from Benefits Street. The day Thursday (Thorsdaeg) is sacred to him as it has now been his Giro day for nearly 30 years. Due to his inability to find work, the benefits agency point him in the direction of the numerous Preston Foodbanks to feed his wife Sif, daughter Thrudd and 27 stone mistress, Our Elsie, who lured Thor in with her renowned Kebab, Pigeon and Gravy Pie.

Thor was considered a good-natured, careless, simple soul, always practicing his own personal hygiene version of Ramadam, and never tired of trying his great strength, legend says that Thor once bench pressed 350kg of smack before it was distributed amongst the ‘charming’ estates of Moor Nook and Brookfield, via his Grandmother. He could shoulder giant tasks with the greatest of ease, especially with his 22” neck and he could slay bulls with his bare hands, despite having 6 fingers on one and 3 on the other. More recently, Thor proved his strength to the repressed folk of Preston by braving the great hurricane of 2014 and stupidly battled through winds that wouldn’t even blow one of his many King Size Rizla’s over. Once the Thor household managed to steal the identity of someone with a debit card (Mr A. Ademungo from Ghana in this case) they finally opened their very own Youtube account to show Thor’s powers off, but like the rest of the UK, the Prestonians worked out that Thor is simply several sandwiches short of a picnic, more of a loveable bear type creature that’s studs and leather on the exterior but more Donnay and Lonsdale on the interior. And so the Legend of Thor ends. As scary as afternoon tea at an old people’s home and as sexy as Giant Haystacks in a thong.

Last Time Out –  Jack O'Connell scored his second goal in two matches as Rochdale ended Preston's eight-match winning run. The 20-year-old defender, on loan from Blackburn, headed in Scott Tanser's  lofted free-kick before Ian Henderson doubled Dale's lead from six yards out.

Winger Mattie Done then scored his ninth goal of the season after Preston keeper Jamie Jones spilled the ball. Joe Garner missed the chance to add a consolation goal for Preston after his late penalty was saved by Conrad Logan. Victory propelled Rochdale to fourth, while defeat now leaves Preston five points adrift of leaders Brizzle.

Starting XI -  Jones, Wiseman, Clarke, Huntington, Buchanan, Welsh (Browne), Kilkenny (King), Humphrey, Gallagher, Robinson (Davies), Garner

They have served us both –  Jimmy Woodman, Billy Wareing, Ray Treacy, Billy Rose, Dick Rowley, Tommy Miller, Fola Onibuje, Jay McEveley, Harry Lowe, David Lucas, Alan McCormack, Andy Lonergan, William Kirby, John Kelly, Jimmy Kelly, Jake Jervis, Wally Holmes, George Henderson, Arthur Hetherington, Lee Holmes, Arthur Beadsworth, Frank Becton, Tom Bradshaw, Marlon Broomes, Jimmy Chalmers, Leon Clarke, Tom Devlion, Fred Fenton, Steve Finney, Freddie Fox, Simon Gibson, Tommy Green

The Odds –  Swindon 17/10  Draw 21/10  Preston 8/5

The Son Says – Are we going tonight? Probably is my reply, digging out the thermals again. 2-1 victory.

The Prediction –   Preston, like ourselves, will be looking to bounce back from a pointless weekend but I feel we will pass them out of the game, despite their best efforts to kick us off the park. 2-1 win, Obika x2, 7’210 with 688 from Lancashire.

And Finally – Preston has the highest density of traffic lights in The UK. I found this summary from a Preston local, it kind of sums it up nicely really. “The place is filled with aggrandising freaks, witless bozos, the smelly, the one eyed, and assorted pond life. If there was a part of the world that needed carpet bombing, this is it”.


COYR COYR COYR COYR

COYR!

Inexplicably optimistic for this one. 2-1

Still laughing at possibly the most entertaining matchday thread start for a long time.

Im going to plump for a 1-0 with a scrappy Obika tap in.

 :)

2-1

Taking in my first match of the season! Think we'll win it 3-2.

No idea what to expect, except that they will rough us up. Just hope we have a decent referee!

Draw 1-1. Might need some layers for the first time tonight!

2 2. 1 nil up at half time courtesy Michael Smith only to concede as per usual within first 5 minutes of second half. Obika to grab another but a late PNE equaliser means they take a point back up the M6 with them. Leaving 523 Prestonians happier than the rest of the 7156 crowd

Expect this to be a game full of goals, so I'll say 3-2 to us with a Jack Stephens thundering header to win it! Hopefully be a few bums on seats for this and we'll break 8k, but can see 7300.

Looking forward to this one.

Be in the pub by 6 so come KO I reckon we will win 5-0 after they have 2 sent off in the first half.

It's like a whores doover before the City showdown - well, it is my cup final  :starwars:

Is there any way to get a bet on Nathan getting booked tonight?

I am not sure why, but fully expect them to try and kick lumps off us and as said elsewhere hope we get a strong referee.

Take any sort of win tonight but not entirely confident as no doubt they will try to bounce back after the Rochdale trouncing.

 :hmmm:

Is that nasty old cunt Kevin Davies playing?

1-2

Garner to do his usual collapsing to the floor under any hint of a challenge routine and win at least one pen, followed by goading of the TE.

Gladwin tore them a new one last season. Along with Brentford and orient last season their behaviour was disgraceful. Horrible team. take any result tonight.

Had a dream last night that I killed Wes and hid the body by plastering into my conservatory wall a la Fred West.

Not sure what that means but it can't be a good omen.

Sure it can be a good Omen.

It obviously means that Wes is being placed behind a wall.... a wall so resolute that he will have barely a save to make.  ;)

It's fine! I had a dream last night that Mass ended up telling the Socceroos that he had to play in the Derby and flew himself home and got back in time for the City game...

(http://i.imgur.com/6u66Fy5.gif)

Get the stew on the stove, FH.

Up against history tonight apparently.

We haven't won on a Tues night since Apr last year and Preston have a 100% win record against us on Tues nights.

We haven't scored in the first half against them since God was a boy

Guess you mean at home?

Indeed

I had a sneaking feeling that our recent Tuesday night record was a bit grim, so did a bit of research, and whilst it's not too clever, there has been the odd win or draw since PdC Div 4 season...when it was old skool.

I say old skool, as I've always had the feeling that the CG under lights, gets a bit of atmosphere....think back to Danny Wilson and turning over Soton and Dirty Leeds.

We even managed our 1st Prem win under lights...

My theory for the drop off, is reduced crowds, midweek, and the poor quality of the lights nowadays.

Have you allowed for a full moon.

My first game since Brighton. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing!

The lights are very poor, in fact I am surprised that we have not been reported to the FA/FL over their quality! 

Foderingham; Stephens, N Thompson, Turnbull; Gladwin, Luongo, Kasim, L Thompson, Toffolo; M Smith, Obika
subs: Belford, Barthram, Bell, Rodgers, Reeves, Williams

Only 6 subs named due to FA youth cup game at Christchurch.

Nathan Byrne is out injured - no more detail than that from the club

Oh dear. Gladwin right wingback?

Barthram really isn't rated by Cooper is he?

He doesnt seem to be.

I don't know, considering Gladwin has played well in the wing back role before, and is very flexible Cooper may well just prefer using him.

think we might get stuffed tonight - i certainly don't hope so - but without byrne where is the real  :eek:
attack

3-1 defeat, bryne will be a big miss and i think preston will push right on us and make it extremely difficult to play.

Love to be proven wrong

The thought of us losing and Thor aka Colonel Cockrocket gloating afterwards is too unpleasant to comprehend. 2-1 Town and it doesn't matter who scores,just fucking score

Well it sounds lively.

Armchair football for me tonight. Watching Madrid, listening to bbc Wiltshire.  :pint:

Ooh, did Preston sell their 300 tickets?   :sherlock:

 :tumbleweed:

Just got home, nothing much happening?

Neither here nor there, apparently.

Preston have the bus out by the sound of it.

Madrid 1 up

Some neat play by town. Not really testing their keeper though.

Crowd looks low.

Just in, anything happening?

Quiet on here tonight.

HI TAILS!

your facial hair looks fantastic x

Not much happening. Only 1 shot for us on target so far. Preston look dangerous on counter and numerous in defence!

Just in from kids football practice.

From the thread so far I haven't missed much.

We are largely controlling it but still not bothering their keeper much. That said we had two great crosses into the box, low and hard, but it just evaded our forwards.

Preston had two clearer chances, both at Fods, and a free kick just wide but probably covered.

Preston are defending well in numbers and looking to get down the sides of our back three (not much success so far, thankfully)

Sam Morshead‏@SamMorshead_·47 secs47 seconds ago
Luongo feeds Smith and only a brilliant low save from Jones stops him from scoring

Just posted to make sure the internet wasn't broken :)

sounds like Toffolo has had a good game.

Toffolo sounds like hes playing better than bell has been, more of a threat

Man's gotta do......

Obika has done nothing.  Feel sorry for Williams to be honest.

"Score in a minute.... "

Obika getting no service. May as will try Williams running.

6600 odd with 319 from up north

Att: 6,646 with 319 from Prezza,  yes that's 319 Thor  ;)

6,646 (319 from Preston)

Poor from us. Poor from them.

Coxy scores for reading

Have preston had many away games recently because that's quite shit for them I would have thought despite it being a Tuesday.  We took more to chesterfield last tuesday and they usually take more than us

As our mate Thor put it, maybe they are " running scared"!

It's a rearranged fixture so hardly surprising

Prepare yourselves swindonians, the thrashing is due to begin any minute now.

Hooray he's back!!!

Was still expecting around 500. Thor posting here may be why there isnt the extra 150 odd there

Saved for later  ;)

Dave Hockaday as co commentator makes a dull sounding game sound shit.

Was hoping we might get some Cellino stories but apparently all under nda. Which is a shame.

Get the fuck in..........

Golazzo!

Correct  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Fuck yeah!

In a way you're right...

Get in willo!

FUCKING HAVE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

ANDY WILLSSSS!!!

Thor spit on as usual . . .

 :oops:

Get the fuck in!

 :yay:

Hertford boy

That'll do.  Look forward to hearing from your Thor...

FT 1-0 fantastic result. 'ave it...

Great result.

You're a lucky charm as always, Thor. Many thanks!

Massive win. Well done Town.

Great result

Cheers then Thor, you hovis swilling, whippet fucking, cunt.  :smugfu:

Great result and a clean sheet, very happy!

You fat ugly dirty northern cunt - your boys took one hell of a beating

I'm shit at plastering anyway - so maybe it was a good sign after all

Well thats made me rather happy.

Meanwhile in a Swindon church tomorrow...

Chaplain: Oh Thor...
Congregation: Oh Thor...

Chaplain: Oooh you are so big...
Congregation: Oooh you are so big...

Chaplain: So absolutely huge.
Congregation: So ab - solutely huge.

Chaplain: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here I can tell you.
Congregation: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here I can tell you.

Chaplain: Forgive Us, O Thor, for this dreadful toadying.
Congregation: And barefaced flattery.

Chaplain: But you are so strong and, well, just so ... super.
Congregation: Fan - tastic.

ME TOO GK

Nice.

Their match day thread reads like ours Saturday, fickle, fickle I say, all of us.

Shitty have a thread on this match on their forum, must be getting worried!

Love to smash their unbeaten run.

This.

League table looking good.

They're even obsessed with our low attendances. City, as we know, are huge. I can't think of another city similar in size that gets attendances to match theirs.  :)

Preston are the same physical side, who, especially in Garner, likes going to ground early when they are hardly touched.

Bar a few scares, I thought we controlled the game, and in the second half, we looked like the only side trying to win the match, with Luongo dominating the midfield.

Great header by Williams.

And to finish...Thor, Thor...What's the score??!

And it's all gone quiet over there......great result, sounds like we had to grind it out from what I can glean from the SSN updates. That's certainly not a bad thing to be able to do when required.

Not a good game but a thoroughly deserved win.  PNE should have gone ahead in the first minute and had another decent chance beaten away by Wes in the first half, we seemed to struggle to create anything despite plenty of possession.  Second half and it was almost one way traffic, their keeper was forced into a few good saves but when Williams came on we seemed to have more pace and energy.  They should have been down to 10 for that two footed challenge in the second half, Grayson must have know it as they subbed the guy straight after.  Gladwin on the right showed a lot of skill and left his defender on the floor a couple of times, no bad performances but we just seemed to lack pace and pressure even when we were dominating.  Never saw Thor, guess he's committed hari-kari right now - the bigmouthed cunt.

 :beers:

big win. thought we played well and were patient; players and fans.

roll on cheltenham and then welcoming that huge 32 year old, champions of wales and gloucestershire club from down the m4 to 'london'.  ???

Right, just back.

Preston will feel a little unlucky to lose. That had a couple of early chances, were well organised and got men back. That said, if your intention is to sit back and hope to nick it on the break then maybe they can't be too pissed off.

We had a lot of the ball bit didn't do much with it in the final third in the first half. As the second half wore on we were starting to get a little bit of space. And Williams introduction gave us an edge that Obika didn't really provide - not a criticism, more Williams running can hurt opposition later in games, whereas Obika will struggle to make as many chances for himself in that way.

Thought the defence did pretty well. Don't fully agree with Cooper in that there were solid - there were a few occasions where we were exposed as Preston broke but they played a shit ball and cocked it up.  Also didn't see Turnbull playing the ball in the same way Cooper did, he made a few sloppy passes. But to be honest he and every one of them gave 100% back there. Can't do better than that.

I though Tofolo looked pretty decent, good in defence, not quite quick enough to beat his marker going forward. Fair play to Mas who was puking up after taking codine to deaden a back he pulled a muscle in when picking up a water bottle! Wasn't playing at 6, was back in the team by 6:30.

Lastly I'm sure we all share Power's frustration at there being just 6300 home fans there to witness this game. Not sure what else the club can do, I know every one of us that could make it did...

Make no mistake, that was a great win against a  very good Preston side.

They were all over us in the first 15-20 minutes and probably shaded the first half.

Second half was a complete turnround where we dominated and carved out some good chances - and this without our main supplier, Byrne.

No complaints with Nat getting MOM, but Luongo was fantastic in the 2nd half - he will be a huge loss against City.

Thought we defended very well, all in all, and it is nice to get a 1-0er.

Bring on the Slave Traders!

That was a big, big win....and deserved. PNE looked a bit more cultured to me than last season other than the cunt who should have walked for the 2 footed challenge. I can see why they're up there and we've beaten a decent team. first half evenish. We had more chances, they had the better chances. The second half was pretty much all us. Luongo was superb in the 2nd half. Gladwin had a good game and showed an excellent bit of skill in the 1sh half. There is a very good footballer in gladwin who shows it in patches. Tuffollo looks good going forward and takes a very good corner. Will be interesting if we can get Branco on the en d of those corners.
Had a shit day at work but Town have yet again put a big smile on my fat chops.
The only dark cloud is the crowd.

I think I must be the only Swindon fan in the stadium that thought the ref got that one right. Didn't look that bad to me !

The board - all two of them - really need to look at the problems we get in getting a decent crowd on a Tuesday evening, especially when we are playing a northern team.  These are the games they need to put on some special offers, bring a friend for a fiver or something like that.  From just the seats around us there were 11 people missing, but they are season ticket holders so were counted in anyway!!  Perhaps go back to the £10 and free burger than a previous chairman tried!!!!  (only joking)

I believe the club can only offer a limited amount of those sort of offers, Ronnie. Some sort of Football League rule.

Wasn't aware of that, save the offers for a mid-week game then.

Correct,  I think it's restricted to 4 games, although I don't see what business they have in telling clubs how to be competitive in their pricing of tickets.

Despite all our possession, at times we seemed a bit lacklustre and off the pace.  I honestly couldn't see us scoring and then up pops super sub Andy Williams.

On balance, I think we deserved it, but I don't agree we were as dominant from start to finish as Cooper said after the game.  Wes made a couple of good saves in the first half particularly.  

All in all a very good 3 points.  Disappointing crowd again.  I can see Bristol City being the only game that gets above 8,000.  Why won't Lluongo be playing against City?

He's been called up by Orstralia

Correct decision I thought. Got the ball before the man, and got very little of the man.

Power very disappointed with the crowd on the radio. Personally, I think it is entirely down  to the summer McCrory effect, no push on STs and those people not coughing up matchday prices. Next year will be different, but we'll not see much improvement before then.

It's a shame that it all has had a lasting effect because that was good to watch this evening. First time I have ever seen a Town side with all of the centre backs willing to charge forward with the ball. Thompson may have had more success than the other two, but at some point this year, there will be a famous galloping centre half goal. Positive tonight for Gladwin and Toffolo, given one was out of position and the other on his full debut. We missed Byrne's pace as an outlet, and Gladwin is a completely different player, but he used the ball relatively well and tends to use his tricks to good effect. If we do lose Mass, there will be healthy competition for his place between Gladwin, Reeves and Rogers.

Assuming that was after the game? did he say much else?

Pathetic crowd with a pathetic support end of.
Pisses me right off.
Sadly will be the reason this fantastic team is broken up......end of rant.

He said that he'll have to sell it crowds don't improve. I sense that we're being let down easy for a big departure.

He was very positive about the performance, and said that Sherwood, Calderwood, both Trollopes, the Don and Bodin were there and all were complementary.

He also said the City game looks like a midday kick off, but the police may compromise on a 1.30. Power frustrated as early kick offs reduce corporate sales.

Sad that this talented side are not getting the backing of the Swindon public, I have a feeling we will cash in on Michael smith in January if the attendances do not pickup between now and mid January. It must be very frustrating for lee who is doing a great job but does not have a bottomless pit to fund it,we should be getting 7500 plus at the moment

I was a bit fearful of Preston tonight but after a good opening 10 minutes where they probably should have scored from a header, they didn't overly impress me.

It was a tight game that was likely to be settled by one goal and thankfully we got it from a deflected Gladwin cross, Williams with a powerful headed finish.

I thought luongo was excellent second half and probably would have got my vote for man of the match, nobody stood out. I thought Toffolo was good, made a couple of good defensive headers and tackles and put in some good corners. Better than Bell! I thought Turnbull played well too. I like how each of the centre backs are comfortable bringing the ball out of defence. Stephens especially, however he kept letting the ball go over his head for some reason which was irritating.

Crowd pathetic for a big game. Our fans need to stop making excuses and get back to the county ground and support this side.

Gladwin frustrates me, he seems to be slow on the ball, or want to stop when recieving it, I think he slowed us down at times tonight. He also never wanted to put a ball in the box first time, the one time he did, we scored. There's a player in their, but fucked if I know what his best position is.
I liked the look of Toffolo, I think having Byrne back will help him too as it'll free up space on his side of the pitch.
Turnbull's best game for us in my opinion, both Thompsons outstanding too,
A good night over all, I just wish we could hit the 8000 mark, and get some kind of atmosphere going, it's silent until we score at the moment.

Gladwin's bit of skill first half was worth the entrance fee, such a talented lad. That said their left back kept falling for the old lollipop step over that he did basically every time!!

Also I don't think kilkenny's challenge was that bad, booking probably right. Ref hardly had anything to do tonight!

link please

I thought the ref was excellent tonight really let the game flow it is really frustrating the lack of consistency the ref Saturday was supposed to be the top Football league ref and was awfull

But will next season be any different?  I can only see crowds improving if we get promotion to the Championship.  If we don't, then we'll inevitably lose players and alot of people will continue to see us as a club with no ambition, happy to plod along in League 1.

I really don't know what the answer is.  It doesn't seem as if the 6 and 8 game packages have made much difference.  Also, there's a fair few season ticket holders round by us who are regularly missing games.

Gladwin seems to split the fanbase slightly.  I agree with Quagmire amd find him very frustrating  and too ponderous at times.

Please keep up Jo. It has been discussed for weeks.

Power is doing a great job. Swindon fans are not. That was the least atmospheric midweek win that I have witnessed in years. It's quite bizarre how we've had our best start to a League One season for a while, yet nobody seems to give a toss.

Fantastic win tonight and a solid defensive display after the sloppiness of Saturday. Gladwin is a Frankenstein's Monster of a footballer; a sewn together mish-mash of styles, talents and flaws that result in equal measures of quality and haplessness.

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Ugly win.

If we cannot play the way we like, we have very little else to offer but just keep with the same gameplan....tonight that was enough and I thought we just shaded a game against a good solid organised side.

If people don't buy season tickets, going stops being automatic. You have to justify the cost every week. If a group stops buying season tickets together, then getting the group together for matches becomes more difficult too.

People didn't buy season tickets this year because of the ludicrous and painful High Court dispute, the prospect of Jed McCrory as chairman, and the fact that we simply didn't have time to sign players and have a push on tickets. There was zero enthusiasm at the very time that you need to have it.

Next year, I think it'll improve with a real drive on season tickets - like Fitton and Watkins' 6k target. Inevitably, some will be lost forever though.
I

It was good so see Coops out on the pitch tonight and walking round with the players, giving the crowd a clap - he obviously does have some passion!!  Sadly, a lack of passion could easily equate to a few missing off of the gate - people don't need too many excuses to stop coming to the CG it would seem!!  However, I do think some people are missing the point regarding the attendances.  We keep being told the country is doing well and our problems are over, once you step outside of the M25 the reality is different, many people are still struggling, sadly with a mortgage, wife and kids to support footy may well be well down the list of priorities for a guy to spend his wages on.

Agree with the two previous posts...

Good to see Lee has joined the forum too...  Hi Lee (Kant) :D

I've said for years now the biggest hindrance to the club is its own support. It was embarrasing last night. What more do the club have to do? The ones not going will be the first to whinge when players are sold because they can't be bothered to support their team. The flipside to this is at least the City game will bring a good crowd. We really should be pushing 12 or 13 thousand but given the completely unwarranted apathy Swindon fans seem to have to their own team it will probably be less.

Anyway on to the game. Preston came out all guns blazing, but after their 15 minute show we pretty much dominated the rest of the game. Turnbull was excellent, Gladwin embarrased their left back without being particularly great (bar his sublime skills), Toffolo very impressive & the midfield were as solid as always. We were extremely patient, as we had to be due to the way Preston lined themselves up, and we got our reward with a great goal from Williams (remember when we hated him?!).

That Garner is a diving little shit and their number 7 looked quite lively (despite his inability to cross hte ball). Having said that, the defence dealt very well with both. Very pleasing to see, bring on City!

See the other thread Ronnie, and I'm inside the M25, but completely agree with the rest.

Fantastic win last night and best defensive performance I've seen this season against a very good side, who will no doubt finish in the top 6. Thought we edged them last night on chances created and Andy Williams took his goal very well. Some of the build up play this season, especially in the second half shooting towards the town end, has been brilliant.

I am frustrated like the rest of you with the crowd and wish we could pull 7500 more often. I think you'll see a big crowd for City at home as a couple of mates who've bought the 6/8 game deal will start with City and pick and choose the rest of the season, and a couple of others who are waiting for Xmas to purchase them. Hopefully we'll get some better gates, but with teams primarily coming from up't north the away followings won't be great, except from Slave Traders 1982 LTD. Fully appreciate it's difficult price wise if you have other priorities but people are missing out on what could be a excellent season for us!

Looking forward to Cheltenham away on Saturday, first time I'll have been and a day on the beers in the FA Cup.

How far off the pre-fitton crowds are we?

We increased crowds through low prices, then investment and a mental manager. Now those days are gone and  things are normal, are crowds back to normal to match?

The thing is to those of us that go we see the great football despite being 'normal' again, we understand that as much as we'd love a rich investor that things appear to be running without the danger of implosion off the field.

People who came because of the cheap prices/buzz factor. They'd maybe see it too if they gave it a chance.

The n match ticket bundles have them that chance without paying the stupid match day prices. But they haven't come back.

Don't think there is much more to be done now. So come January...:(

Third time I've travelled from London for a Tuesday night game and the third time I have had travel 'issues'. This time was my own fault as I got on the night bus at Vauxhall bus station going the wrong way!!

Such a retard! Got home at 1.20, pretty knackered at work today, the 3 points make it worth it though!

http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?/topic/165704-swindon-v-preston/

Audrey's found a new friend  :)

First game I've seen this season last night, so I was very disappointed when they announced the team and Byrne wasn't playing. That being said, I thought we looked relatively solid, apart from the first 15 minutes when I thought we were going to get beat.

Stephens seemed to miss header after header - like he just misjudged them and they went over his head. Nathan Thompson is about a foot smaller than Stephens but consistently won the ball in the air against his man. Just goes to show that its about timing and not height.

Gladwin's end product (aside from the goal) was mostly poor. Either overhit or chipped into the keepers arms. But he's new to the position, and in general did ok.

Williams took his goal very well. Headers like that aren't exactly what he's known for. Also had a great run and shot moments after the goal. Obika was very quiet throughout. Smith held the ball up fantastically, and although he had two great chances that he didn't take, the only reason he didn't score them was the keeper making 2 great saves. He's certainly improved a great deal since I last saw him.

Midfield three looked solid as usual, some great breaking runs in the second half, specifically from Mass.

All in all I enjoyed the game against a good side. We deserved to win and I'm glad we did. Was really disappointed when I heard the size of the crowd, and I must admit, until we scored, the atmosphere in the DRS, and the whole ground in general (apart from the away support) was really quiet. Games under the lights used to get a decent atmosphere, but last night was really dead.

I guess I'd be considered one of the 'lost' fans as last night was my first game since Brighton in the cup. Basically, It's down to time and money - my wife won't let me do my other interests AND football, so I had to choose. Now winter's almost here I should have time to attend more games.

I've asked others who no longer go and they site a lack of ambition and the cost of a match ticket as the reason they no longer go. So without going back into debt I doubt there's anything Power can do to get them back, other than the team stay in the top 2 all season.

I think people are assessing the success of the 6 and 8 match packages far too early. People were never going to snap them up at the first opportunity then use them on the next 6 or 8 games. They'll wait until pay day, or until Christmas, then cherry pick the best 6 or 8 games over the rest of the season. For me, Rochdale and Colchester are not in that category, and Preston was a rearranged fixture on a Tuesday night.

Look at the Major's post above as an example, people waiting for the City game to use their first ticket, then picking and choosing after that. If I was able to get to 6 home games this season, that's exactly what I would have done.

By way of comparison, here are the attendances from the 03/04 season when we reached the play-offs with the likes of Parkin, Mooney and Hewlett tearing the division apart.

http://swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Results.asp?Season=2003-2004

Average attendance of 7839, but plenty of gates below 7000, particularly early in the season.

Im a big fan of the 6/8 match plan.  You are right though I cant get to games at the moment as Im busy, Ill go when I can which will be around christmas / new year.  They have my money for 1 adult and 1 child 8 match ticket though.  Where it gets included in the budget I dont know. 

Interesting

I'm one of the 'stay aways' I suppose, but unfortunately I cannot justify going to Swindon every week.

If they carry on with the 6-8 ticket option next season I'll be amongst the first to get one. I really hope they push those and the season tickets as well - with the stench of McCrory off the club and no high court madness, the uptake should be much better.

Part of the problem is the amount of people like me who have to travel a good distance for a 'home' game. I have no idea how much advertising they do around the town, but perhaps the club could be doing a little more to encourage more locals to not sit at home and watch Sky but to get out and support their home team on a Saturday or Tuesday.

The team Cooper and Power have built, and the football we're playing, deserves a better crowd.

Highlights are up (all 58 seconds of them...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dIbDjn90tc

You were sayin'....

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_ 45s45 seconds ago

Seebeck 87 Ltd are to challenge the decision to grant ownership of Swindon Town to Swinton Reds 20 Ltd after appeal approved.

Oh FFS.  Why has this taken so long to surface again?  Just go away McCrory, get the message.  Noone wants you anywhere near our club.

appeal applications always take time. Annoying that it was approved. The judge ruled fairly heavily in Powers favour so this just seems like a massive waste of time.

Probably a case of he has not got the money to pay so it is either appeal or go bankrupt

OH FUCKING BLOODY HELL

Appeals aren't free...

after the goal is the first time ive ever seen a linesman trap a ball rather than jump out of the way of it.

also the most feminine trap ive ever seen  :D

I travel from London and the train times have got later and the journey longer. There used to be a 2228 and 2234 arriving in London about 2345. Now it's 2339 arriving 0001 meaning I miss the last fast train to Hitchin adding almost an hour to get me home at 0130. If I didn't have a season ticket there's no way I'd be doing that!

Mind you that"s a fast train.
Swindon to Paddington in 22 mins.

If only! Can't type on phone sometimes. I remember a train scheduled for 53mins in the early 90's not stopping at Reading. 1hr 22m seems ridiculous when there's not so many out at that time of night.

Someone told me it gets slower towards the end of the day as the freight and the mail are out and running, that and most of the staff have gone at 10pm. Its 55 mins in the day usually.

The last railway travelling post office in the UK was on the 9th January 2004. Post doesn't go by rail anymore unfortunately. Hence the increase in the number of Royal Mail lorries on the motorways in the last ten years. Sad.

I liked it when you could hitch a lift on a late mail train, and slump in amongst the sacks....always good old boys on board.

They're called hobos, Reg

Recently there's been engineering works between Swindon and Didcot meaning there's only been one line open for trains in both directions. Not sure if that's still on going. And that was why the 22:28 started terminating at Swindon and everyone having to change onto the 2234.

I've given up using the train on Tuesday night games because of the 2234 being consistently late and missing connections.

Having experienced it first hand this season, I am glad our next Tuesday night home league match isn't until March!!

Still going on as of last week