Thetownend.com

Miles away from my trusty laptop so that's that.

We will stuff 'em. 2-1, Double Joy for Obika.

Will never forget that game a few years back, 5-4 or something crazy.

COYR COYR COYR

3-1 Swindon.                   
                                     Fods
                                   
                Branco        Thompson    Turnbull

                                  Stephens

      Byrne              Kassim          Thompson    Toffolo


                              Obika       Smith

Bench- luongo,reeves, gladwin,Williams,bell,Bartram,keeper.

We're going to lose and it'll all be Shaw Rosso's fault.

Smith with a brace and Kasim with a free kick winner in a 3-2 victory.

setting off soon for a rather rare sojourn to see the mighty Reds, but I'm going for a rather nervy and scruffy 0-1 with Byrne scoring with a header in front of 887 Town fans

Bit of a cliche, but this will depend on which town turn up, last saturday's town will see us win 2-0, the FA cup town could see us a bit desperate again.  Remember going there for an evening game and winning 2-0 (?) - and who can forget the Nicky Hammond game!!

I've only seen us win there once, 2-0 on Boxing day 2004, 2 draws, and 2 defeats, 4-0 in November 2000 was one of the worst away performances i've ever seen.

But, expecting much better today, going for a 2-1 win with Smith scoring the winner.

I can't remember that one ?

Draw.... Ala the Sturrock equaliser a few years back.

One win in 11 this century, I'll take a point.





[EDIT] At their place.

I think it will be a draw,  we will have a player sent off in dubious circumstances and the City forum will explode in a storm of self righteousness!

Forget last week, this is our proper Derby (well it is for me) so we better not lose :)

Draw. 1-1

This game is a proper test of our credentials....you'd expect the shit after the Lord Mayor's show.

Last week took care of itself in terms of motivation....this week it'll be Posh who'll be flying, because of the new stand, boost in crowd numbers and presumably atmosphere.

Top 2 contenders, can usually grind out some sort of result from these difficult circumstances, so a draw would show back up to last week...

Weather miserable, pitch probably a bit shit. Good test today.

To be fair I think the pitch will be as good as ours i.e. near perfect.

They are on a surprisingly poor run at the moment aren't they? I would still expect a very tough and close game though as they all were last season.

That said...

2-0 Smith, Williams - a more generic goal scoring pairing you will not find anywhere in the League.

Just on the A1 10mins from Peterborough. Any pub recommendations?

If you like Real Ale, charters (the boat) right next to the ground is decent.
Another good real ale pub (near the train station) is the Brewery Tap.

The are the usual weatherspoons & Yates pubs in town

Cheers posh. Brewery tap it is.

Currently in the Palmerston Arms. Stone good beer here.

3-1 defeat with 8,754 there and of that 568 Town faithful present.

2-0 defeat and huge meltdown on here.

Foderingham; Branco, N Thompson, Turnbull; Byrne, L Thompson, Stephens, Gladwin, Toffolo; Williams, Obika
Subs: Belford, Bell, Luongo, Kasim, Reeves, Barker, Smith

No Smith?

Smith Luongo Kasim on bench. Strongest bench in division.

Carrying an injury.

The usual selection surprise !

Apparently only about 200 Swindon fans today according to my posh mate, who isn't really posh!

Gladwin hits post from 20 yards out.

Seems bizarrely low for us....usually take loads there.

I don't remember us ever taking less than 400 there ever for a league game, even on a Tuesday night game.

AGAIN-PLAYER ALMOST INAUDIBLE,BORO COMMENTARY LOUD AND CLEAR

Mmmmmm another drum.

Keeps cutting out a lot on the Swindon comms...as per normal.

Sheff U losing.

Branco, sort yo'self.

Sounds like Posh are coming back into the game much more this last 10 mins.

Preston beating Shitheads.

Preston 1 up :D

PMSL

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Preston 1 up

Fucking soapy tit wank

I can hear the meltdown on OTIB commencing from here

Kindly restrain from multiple hand clapping emoticons when referencing a game not involving Swindon.

Thanks .x.

It's clear to me that Preston must be cheating.

There can be no other explanation.

Get in! Willo!

Get in Willo

Goal! Williams off the post

Yessss Williams!

Fucking yessssssssssssssssssssssss. Williams

Yay! 2 points from top  ;)

Too soon.


Yippee, though!

Wooooooooooooooooooi

Fucking love it if it stays like this

City - Preston still 0 - 0 on the sky sports score centre?

1 point shirley

GET IN!! Buzzing for Willo, needed a goal when starting.

Get the fuck in

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ktgSR2gLEQ/UoctR8YcKOI/AAAAAAAAPCQ/hq0tpTxcGeI/s1600/thumbs-up.gif)

Lovely jubbly!

Woot!!

Willo!!!

To be honest,most games are still 0-0 on sky at the moment.Fault I think

All the League 1 scores are showing as 0-0 on the Score centre - Must be a fault

Ah yes, bbc as it stands table wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jm-_5CjY34

Yeah must be, BBC site is fine.

Good pass from Toffolo for the goal, I've been impressed with him at home games

HT 1-0 I am happy with that.

Toffolo looks to be getting better and better. Don't miss Brad Smith at all any more.

Doing great so far with our best players on the bench watching!

Has OTIB gone into meltdown yet?

Who cares

Yeah they are gonna appeal on the grounds that we wore them out last Week!

Wankers

Happy days thus far.

I feel obliged to remind myself of the Franchise game though.

C'mon Swindon!

Some half time entertainment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVzwoqde15g

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

Stats look good

3 fouls?

Don't tell u know who

Get in Beaker!

2-0

Get in.....this is fucking marvellous

SUPER JON

Feed the beak!

I'm liking this

(http://files.sharenator.com/beaker-s535x333-332130-580.jpg)

Anyone else starting to believe ?

Fucking brilliant. Keep the ball lads.

get the fuck in. loving this

Highest scorers in the Football League, three strikers in or approaching double figures before Xmas.... Crumbs, it's all rather exciting.

One game at a time...3 points closer to the safety target of 52 (hopefully)...

don't sit back town

Exactly, keep pressing them.

Just seen we've scored a second  :D Good Obika has finally scored again, under the cosh now though.

Let's smash em and get Fergie the sack!

incredulous I am

The Rat-faced assassin

Luongo on for Galdwin

Nice sub to make! Hope he's not knackered.

I see Matt Richtea has scored for Boremuff.

Close by them, just wide with Foders well beaten.

Kasim on for Louis

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

(http://new4.fjcdn.com/comments/3463229+_cf6bee67dae87fba6ec4314bba6a9135.jpg)

Leave JJ alone. He's ace. He's big, bald, cuddly and helps me with my computers  ;D

Has player just died on everybody else?

seems to have done.

Mine is fine mate, keeps cutting out but thats normal.

(http://i.imgur.com/QMATKV4.gif)

back on 74 mins, 0-2.

Use the old player, much more stable and up with play.

^ Actually had the same gif lined up for my original reply.

Jake Jervis scores for Ross County?  Didn't realise he was playing up there?

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

(http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/god_damn_right_breaking_bad.gif)

Sounded like we got away with that then.

We're living verrry dangerously...

Fuck...off the bar from Posh....riding our luck a bit.

this is stupid town. why do we panic so fucking much

I hate this part of the game.

Yeovil equalise against Notts County

Because: Swindon Town.

Is it still 2-0?

just?

Every result but the Franchise one going our way really.

Looking like Franchise will overtake everyone and go top if they can win their games in hand.

Yeovil 2-1 against Notts County now

I've been trying to ignore that.

2 mins to go.

(http://media.giphy.com/media/DUuyU3KyYGLNS/giphy.gif)

Long way to go...and they're still in the Cups.

We can now rest our players.

1-2

No please no.

Arse,  Arse and thrice Arse.

2 mins added time.

Oh FFS

7,182 attendance today.

Hold on you bastards!

B City lost ha ha

Blow the fucking the whistle

I like this.

THIS !!!!

Is that our fault?

We are living very dangerously.

Phew!

FT.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

Obviously !!

Yeah they wouldnt have lost if Wade Elliott played.

YES! FT 2-1

FT, great result.

Yes! Great result

Great result!

(http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0xykyUo831r8bfvxo1_500.gif)

Thank god for that! Superb 3 points

1 point gap...

Fantastic!!

that was close at the end

Just brilliant.

We win = fucking fantastic.
Shitty lose = Hilarious.

If only it wasn't the team now directly below us that beat City.

Get in town !!   :pint:  :beers:

City are the team directly below us.

The bastards just love to make us suffer don't they...

Fair play though. I would have been more than happy with 7 points from the last 4 games and we got 9.

And the Slave Traders lost...

Happy, happy days  :pint: :dance: :banana: :lock: :dancer: :wotjump: :harhar:

GTFI

9 points from the "month of death". Not too shabby

As for City....PAAAAHHAHA

Fantastic 3 points.  Well done Town!  9 points out of 12 against four teams at the top.  Can't complain at that.

Ha ha, City are having a wobble  :)

We could go top next week if we win.

City play Posh on Monday, I think

They're still above us, by 1 point. PNE are below us

Shitty play Peterboro on the tele on Friday.

If they don't win, then we can overtake them next week...

Yep, on tv. Franchise are the danger I reckon.

Amazing result!! Fantastic. Was a it nervy at the end but my goodness what a good run against the top sides! (MK excepted).

Am raising a glass to Thor's boys too! :pint:

Preston - 3 points
Shitty - 3 points
Posh - 3 points

Wasnt expecting that tbh from that really tough run of fixtures. Fair play lads  :clap:

We got far more than 3 points against City

Damn right, we fucked with their heads big time especially that tools of a manager who took his eye right off the ball this week!

 :nod:

Coops:

- Good first half, poor second half.
- Expects a lot better, players gutted about the performance.
- Lot of work needs to be done.
- Smith injured shoulder in training, should be ok next week.
- Wants Toffolo for longer, should be sorted by Fleetwood.

Oh yes.

An away win and Cooper / the players are dissatisfied.. Thats a novelty. Last season we were happy with shots on targets away from home!

Great 3 points!

How good is our midfield? Stephens on this form can't be dropped, Gladwin got an assist and Reeves was still on the bench, as well as the usual three, this midfield is incredible for a League 1 side.

No yellow card - Yet another bonus.

On a side note -

Since Cheltenham stuffed us they have lost 5-1 at Stevenage and 1-4 at home to Wycombe  ???

And we've beaten City and Posh (away).

It's a funny old game.

That was far closer than it should have been.
We werw much the better side, but could easily have thrown away 2 pts at the end.

Still, another Derby win :)

The Posh chairman isn't happy. He's not blaming us at all though.

Well well impressive!

Couldn't get off my armchair at the end as my arse had gripped it but never mind we did it in the end.

Shitheads lost again....never! I bet Preston never opened em up either.

I think  it should be noted that we started without Luongo and Kasim AGAIN and won against a team at/near the top

Doh, brain freeze.

Also, only one more game until the yellow card amnesty.

Really? We need that!

Fantastic result today - keeps the momentum in the league going! Need to keep our foot on the gas and see where it takes us.

Was putting together a new TV stand in my new flat when the goals were going in - thought it was too quiet after we got the second and then I see 90+2 Peterborough score...please we held on and very happy with 3 points on the road!

Take that Fergie (Jnr)!

What was he saying?

Twitter @DMAC102

I apologize to Posh fans as I cant defend management setting up for a 0-0 at home,nor defend at 0-2 down waiting till 72nd Min to bring on-
Our leading goal scorer/attacking plyrs. Nor can I defend the players waiting till 0-2 down to start playing with attacking mentality, - I have given them all patience, nurturing support non stop but now time for different approach. Not good enough. My apologies!

Enjoyable game, decent performance and another cracking 3 points.

Stephens, Toffollo and Gladwin all excellent. So impressed with Toffollo, he can defend and is a real threat going forward, really hope we keep him for longer. Great goal by Williams, who impressed all game.

Looked fairly solid at the back, just a few sloppy passes put us in trouble at times. They also let us off with a hilarious open goal miss.

Bit of a disappointing turnout by town fans, but we did at least make a lot more noise than them. Even with their new stand (which isn't particularly impressive) they were very subdued.

And seeing city lost tipped off a cracking day :)

Fuck me his tweets sound bad.....

Blames Manager, Players! Selection etc etc...

City put in complaint after Thor gloats on forum!

If we can get through the Fleetwood game, relatively intact on cards etc, then we get a little break, during the next cup weekend.  I think in our situation that has to be a positive...chance to rest a bit ready for the busy festive period.

Aside from Fleetwood, I make it that we've played, beaten and lost to all the other 90 clubs, in some competition or other.

That's giving Accrington Stanley and Newport County, and AFC Wimbledon the records of the clubs they were previously.

He wasn't chairman when Coops was in charge was he?

Don't think so.

Sounds to me like Mr Ferguson is about to partake in the Managerial 'Hokey Cokey' :hmmm:

Your most optimistic post this season ;)

I think you are right, a few clubs like Liverpool and Everton we have only beat once in the last hundred years or so but they all count. Thats a pretty good record TBF.

But at least their manager and chairman didn't blame us/referee/sending off for them losing, they were gracious in defeat (in comparison).

I predict we will sell Luongo and buy toffolo in jan

Reg has been pretty optimistic all season - I think he must be coming down with something  8)

Rumour is that Preston's goal should never have counted, as it should have been a City free kick. Cotterill didn't see it but knew at the time it wasn't a goal. He's seen the replay 4 times now - it doesn't show the incident but it proves him right.

;)

Great win for us today. Really didn't expect to get the win, and to take 9 points from the last 4 games is more than I think any of us expected. The classic Town move would be to go and lose to Fleetwood. Let's hope we've got a bit more about us this year, and get the result, whether it takes us top or not.

He's since clarified the new approach didn't mean management, just players. Backtrack backtrack..

Even though he said...as I cant defend management setting up for a 0-0 at home,nor defend at 0-2 down waiting till 72nd Min to bring on- :hmmm:

Anywhooo...Posh fans not too happy..

Another woeful performance, Swindon declared after they went 2 up. Posh finally woke up with 10 to go and could have drawn with the last kick but that would have been unjust. Swindon as usual played Posh off the park in the first half and were unlucky to go in only one up. Maclean looked lively and managed to make the ball stick which was an improvement. Newell my Posh MOM - why doesn't he use that long throw more - it's a dangerous weapon?

Taken from http://www.theposhforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25521&start=30
Anyone found any better Posh forums? There's not that much on there really but it's the best one I've found.

Yeah he appointed him

He's a decent chairman

I like him as well. I have to say though, I am delighted with Power. I would venture that they are not that dissimilar, albeit McAnthony is a bit more 'flashy' for want of a better word.

And has a bit more cash to flash. Yes, I'm happy with what we have, it's going very well

I also like him.

I'm indifferent and waiting for my curry to arrive.

That should have been more comfortable second half after going in front.
First half we simply had all the time in the world in the middle of the park and they didn't press us.
What a result though. Would have taken a point today.

Some good last ditch defending second half and a easy miss for them but we still had chances and hit the post first half.

Get down the CG next Saturday. I am bringing 4 adults and hoping for a decent crowd that this team deserves.

Mom for me today was Byrne, just shading Nathan and Branco however it was an all round performance and pleasing that we did it without Pirlo, Mass and Smith starting.

Starting to believe.

At least they can accept defeat gracefully,  not like them wankers from down the M4.

This is very fortunate.  I could see a very healthy gate at home next Saturday - and all the more so if Bristol fail to win the night before.

Hopefully the free kid+adult Trust ticket initiative will bulster the numbers, lets be honest, Fleetwood isn't the biggest draw.

And that as well...

I know its a sad thing to do, but I have been over to OTIB for some schadenfreude. Quite a few posts saying they missed Elliott today, which is fantastic :)

Looking at online ticketing looks like they are situated in the SB end of the DRS
That section was limited availability before the shitty game ( when trust announced the initiative )

As usually near empty makes good sense

Which is why today's defeat is still our fault. Probably.

Surprised they not been blaming smoke bombs
Apparently PNE let 10 off just before they scored

(http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/bigboywooly/pnesmoke.jpg) (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/bigboywooly/media/pnesmoke.jpg.html)

What reaction did Cooper get from the Posh fans? Did he actually get a reaction?

If, for example, Malpas came back to the CG, I can't imagine him getting much flack. I wouldn't have thought Town fans could be bothered.

Was that the case with Cooper?

As far as I could see they both ignored each other.  Cooper kept himself quite reserved all game.

And the more they go on about it, the bigger the smile is on our faces !!

Nice to see him come over to the away fans after the game as well, which hasn't always been the case.

How many did we take today?

Hope they give you freedom of the City tomorrow :)
Back home the same time as a home game now that can't be right.

500 tops according to a mate of mine who went which is pretty poor.

No way we deserved to win according to ferguson. Anyone who went agree?

I don't think even his own Chairman agrees by his comments.

To be fair he always comes over to the away fans.
What a fantastic job he is doing.
Maybe Arsenal will make a cheeky offer :)

Total bollocks from Fergie Jnr.
Walking back with most of their fans and they said we deserved the win.
We were in complete control but seemed to take the foot of the gas and suddenly went complacent.

cracking game we played really well for the first 80 minutes before we started to sit back a little and it was a bit nervy at the end. I loved the open goal miss!!!  I thought Branco probably shaded my MOM award but it was a good all round team performance

476 of us. Not a particularly bad turn out but this team deserves more.

If Fergie said that then he's a twat. Even the P'boro fans in the boozer after admitted we were the better side.

(http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/bigboywooly/poshaway.jpg) (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/bigboywooly/media/poshaway.jpg.html)

Havent seen a figure for away fans yet but doesnt look a massive amount from that pic

It was close.  They had a number of good chances.  We were the better side, but had the game been a draw it wouldn't have been a total travesty.  From 2-0 up a draw would have been bloody annoying, but over the 90 mins I wouldn't have gone full Cotterill had the game finished a draw.

:D

This is what Fergie Jnr had to say:

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/fergie-says-his-side-were-unlucky-losers-1-6433935

The comments below the story would seem to agree that he is talking out of his arse.

Total bollocks. Bacon face jnr is deluded. We sat back and rode our luck a bit after we went 2 up, but we took our chances and they didn't. To be fair we could have had one or two more. Great days watching Swindon away, Posh didn't look a bad side so this is a great result.

Great to catch up with you again mate.
Hope to see you at another "northern" away game.
Good that you met another Leeds red as well today :)

There's passion, and there's passion......

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v490/jamiethon/oi_zpsad72e965.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jamiethon/media/oi_zpsad72e965.jpg.html)

Heh!heh!
 
Bacon Face  8)

The phrase, "Get a room" was made for moments like that.

It should be accompanied by this..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Fa4lOQfbA&list=RDk3Fa4lOQfbA&index=1

476 according to this -

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-1-swindon-2-fergie-copping-flak-from-all-quarters-1-6432609 (http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-1-swindon-2-fergie-copping-flak-from-all-quarters-1-6432609)

Thanx
Decent write up that

Attendance: 7,182 (476 Swindon).
Despite a new stand with cheap tickets

Good to see you too & cheers for the intro, classic town end networking.....spent the train trip back up here with my fellow red planning away trips for the rest of the season. Played 4 won 4 for me in 2014/15, happy days!

Think it goes to show that our recent attendance woes are not reallu STFC-specific, but part of a wider problem in football.  Prices are going up & up, but disposible income for most supporters is not.  Peterborough is a similar-sized place to Swindon.  No surprise to see their gates suffering as well.

Alan Swann
@PTAlanSwann
Chief Sports Writer at the P'boro Telegraph. Posh reporter, Posh fan, views are clearly my own, but probably shared by millions

Another embittered fucknut

that guy is a mentalist

That will be about 300 more than they bring to ours. Alan wont be one of them as he'll be banging his blow up doll In his mums attic.

That bloke is a right cunt, how hes head journo at their paper i don't know

Just seen Steve Claridge bigging  us up on the football league show,still a twat with that moustache but definitely appreciating what Coops is doing here

Adrian Durham was a Peterborough fan if I remember rightly. Sounds like this guys very much from the same school of 'journalism'. Best just to ignore him.

Let's light some candles and retreat to a safe distance to observe.

(http://i.giphy.com/k5AJKN45cSnny.gif)

What a grade A cunt this guy is.

He really shouldn't talk about support,  should he  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

And how many times have Posh yo-yo'd between the divisions - and they have had a fair bit of cash backing them.

What pisses off blokes like that from other clubs is that they can see what we've got and how we've done it on a peanuts budget.

As for the loan players, I could see some of them staying next season if we go up - whether still on loan or, maybe, even purchased.

Have we actually beaten anyone on merit this season? There seems to be some degree of jealousy knocking around.

Bit unprofessional for a Chief Sports Writer to be making comments like that.  Twat.

I see Cotterill was moaning again on the Football League Show saying City should have won and Preston came for the draw.  Hmm, thought they won?

Steve Claridge also praising the way we play and said you won't be wasting your money if you come to watch us.

When did local media football journos start having to be fans of the clubs they cover?  I never remember it being that way.  Exchanges between Sam Morshead and this P'boro Telegraph chap read like a tussle between fans of opposing sides.  Can't help feeling that some objectivity is going to be sacrificed.  The PNE correspondent for the local paper there makes no secret of being a PNE fan either.  In no way is this intended as a dig at Sam or Link Sport, but Andy Cryer's recent comment about Sam working for a 'fanzine' would be easier to defend if it wasn't written by fans.

He said something to one fan about does he even know who is really backing power and the club

next tweet was 'i wonder if swindon fans have heard of colin hill'

@PTAlanSwann: @rdhudson00 Do you even know who owns your club? I mean really owns it?

@PTAlanSwann: Wonder if Swindon fans have heard of Colin Hill?

Colin Hill is a property tycoon if that's the one he means. Probably bollocks as a quick Google on him reveals he was involved at Posh before the Irish dude days.

So is he trying to say that Colin Hill (whoever the fuck he is) owns the club?

And Rushden

God, he is a cunt, even had a whine at Lineker over twitter. How unprofessional.

http://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/385195492914634752

That's it right there in the perverbial nut shell - rocket science it aint. Some have tried to suggest that the people of Swindon and the surrounding area are particularly apathetic towards their team but that is not the case IMO. Peterborough as you say is a good example of a town similar in size to Swindon with dwindlng support, another one is Colchester. Their crowds have only broken the 4,000 barrier 3 times this season (and then only just). I know they are struggling but they would not be much higher if they were around the play off places.

With regards to Alan Swann - come on, own up - who pissed in his half time tea?? What the hell is that bloke's problem? Embittered twat? Slightly!

STFC have shown and continue to show, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with having several loan signings if it is managed properly and you have a long term strategy i.e. you know what you are going to do when a certain player goes back to their Club and you have some one else you can bring in to replace them. If you don't have a direct replacement (I'm thinking of Pritchard), you need to be able to modify the way you play, which we've done. In this day and age, you need to be as creative as you can with whatever tools are at your disposal to make your team as competitive as possible within your financial constraints. Power and Cooper have done this admirably.

I agree with you Audrey - This has to be the luckiest Town side ever. Every game we have won this season seems to have been down to luck. Quite incredible.

Fair play to Claridge. I don't quite have the psychcotic dislike for Claridge that some seem to on here, he generally gives credit where it is due. I will be watching the FLS shortly with interest.

Perhaps he was trying to liken our situation now, to theirs under Hill. It may not be based on anything other than a hunch on his part. Lets be honest, he may be a tool, but he's not the sharpest tool.

Worked in the past together

http://m.dorsetecho.co.uk/sport/4088122.Takeover_at_the_Terras/

I don't think it's fair to say we've only won because of luck this season. We haven't had as much bad luck as we did last year, especially re:refereeing decisions, but I think saying we've won because of luck detracts from what Cooper and the lads have done this year.

Saying we are 'reliant' on loan players when we've just got Stephens, Toffolo, Bell (who didn't play yesterday), Turnbull (who didn't play yesterday) and (technically) Louis Thompson is a bit rich.

Which is precisely what we're not, hence why we are using the loan system effectively.

The most startling revelation in that piece is that Colin Hill and Lee Power live together.

'Then yesterday I called Colin Hill and Lee Power, at their home in Switzerland. And they are coming down next week to spend Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday here reviewing all documents and meeting with officials, with a view to investing quite heavily into the club to take it forward.'

Could be 2 + 2 with the Colin Hill link. Many boards will have unnamed people having some influence in the background. I'd rather that (if intentions are good) than a chairman venting against the manager on Twitter. Let's presume Darren Ferguson is keeping a little file together for a constructive dismissal claim.

I've some misgivings about Power (supposedly stoking it up in the tunnel last week, for instance) but on the whole, what is being done on the pitch is fantastic and we don't appear to be bleeding money as we have for years. Built on loans? Rubbish. We get loanees in, have a chance of buying them, and go from there. 3 loanees in the starting XI and 4 in the squad - pipe down Mr Swann. I wouldn't bet against Stephens and/or Turnbull signing permanant deals in the summer. Toffollo may have more of a chance at Norwich.

As an aside: Two very good assists for Miles Storey for Pompey yesterday. I wonder if we can call him back and loan them Barker?

Everyone's doing it now, the clubs going to hell in a handbasket!!!

The Peterborough fans i went with yesterday all said we were much the better side and well deserved the win, they were really impressed with Nathan Byrne, especially in the first half.

I was sat a few rows behind Lee Power and he really celebrated the goals, especially the 2nd, great to see the passion he has for the club.

(Thanks to my Dad's friend for the corporate day out, free ticket, free meal, free drinks and a good Swindon win to top it off, a good day out).

Let's hope so. Power's past association with him and Cousins is one of the reasons I was one of those who was a little wary of him at first. There's quite a good summary of Hill and Cousins' serial involvement in "failing football club as property development opportunity" schemes here

http://portsmouthsbluearmy.blogspot.co.uk/2013_03_01_archive.html

NB it rarely goes well for the clubs involved, although most had troubles before Hill and Cousins arrived which is how they got their foot in the door in the first place

Considering we don't own the land the ground is on and that land is protected, I'd be surprised if they aim is to make a fortune by developing. Power's strategy so far has been to concentrate on the team, so once again, this would suggest another direction.
Not saying that the motives are purely altruistic, but whatever the reason that Power is here I can't see it's to make money on the ground.
(Watch this come back and bite me on the arse).

It seems we can't win. In the PDC era, we were slated for overspending, a fact of course that we ended up paying for.
Now when we have a great team from spending very little, that's wrong too.
Jealousy.
Fuck the lot of them.

You realise I was joking don't you - Just checking like.

We have spent though, Luongo, Byrne, Smith and Obika = 1 million. Doubt many are remotely close to spending that amount in our division

Spot on. Fuck 'em.

Another great three points on the road- becoming almost routine at the moment getting points away from home at the moment. Very good run since that Cheltenham game. Being out of all cups could work in our favour; similar to Liverpools title challenge last season we've got a week to prepare for each game at the moment and even a weekend off before the xmas/new year pile up.

Always eventful following town, really enjoying this season- long may it continue!

Franchise v Rochdale is an interesting one on Tuesday, hoping for a draw or away win.

Ironically, that's far more in terms of actual transfer fees than we spent under Black's ownership*

*I realise of course that we spent/spunked up shed loads of money on wages, agent's fees and (probably) signing on fees.

Depends how you look at it though. Louis Thompson 600k brought in helped. Also, we will make huge profit on the majority of those players.

And that, Mr Wray, is the difference between spending and investing.

I thought Byrne was a free transfer signing!

I think it was '6 figure' fee wasn't it? Clubs are so cagey about fees these days.

I thought that, but someone on another thread found a link to say it was 2 or 300k, possibly the same type of deal as the Mass one though.

At the time my understanding was a free - with a sell-on clause!!  Spurs could do quite well out of us!!

I'm sure we paid for Byrne.

Doubt Bournemouth and Brentford see it that way.

My understanding re Luongo and Byrne was, deal is worth x figure but we don't pay that up front. So, with Mass, if we sell him on then we have to give Spur first 400k of any deal, plus, presumably, a % of the rest.

If true it's an excellent way of us getting decent players in, however it does means we'd need to sell him for a LOT to make any decent cash for the club.

I'm sure you're right hertha - certainly hope you are anyway! And as you say, from what we can see Power seems to have done a good job here to date (hedging my bets slightly as there may be stuff that's going on/gone on we don't know about - the dodgy stuff usually only comes out when the parties concerned have done a bunk!)

Which in itself is also a good way of ensuring we get decent value if and when we do sell on rather than being tempted to cash in for (relative) buttons

Absolute bell -end,although I do agree totally with his view about Lineker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7zylLrVeUA

8 minutes of highlights

that Peterborough reporter is still at it...

Alan Swann @PTAlanSwann  ·  21m 21 minutes ago
You shouldn't be allowed to post on Twitter until you have 100 followers. That would stop 90% of the Swindon fans currently trolling me

on another note, it isn't just opposing fans he likes to insult:

Alan Swann @PTAlanSwann  ·  2h 2 hours ago
Football fans who claim to know their club's wage budgets are deluded idiots. Clubs like to say they are lower than they really area

He is a shit journalist, working on a shit paper.

The only reason he has a job is because he writes controversial bollocks in an attempt to wind people up.

Don't feed the troll, just feel sorry for the sad fucker that his only joy comes from watching a shit team & trying to belittle clubs that are better than his

Nice footage that, shame we can't do something similar. Was it meant to have commentary?

Isn't that just what "journalism" has turned into?

Hope there is a good turnout next week, needs a good home attendance

Or Rotherham who are amusingly into the relegation zone.

Cock, I missed Audrey's post and have duly been whooshed.

CARRY ON...

We weren't very good at clearing the ball, judging by that, 6 or 7 times we put ourselves under pressure by people failing to put their foot through the ball.

Watched FLS last night and 2 well taken goals by us. Also, echo some comments on here about Steve Claridge giving us praise - even said to go along and it wouldn't be money wasted!

Hopefully we get a gate of around 7500 next week and continue the winning run!

That's fine, Posh.  But I think I'd prefer it if you got off the fence and spoke your mind next time.

;)

Think Posh may have enough about them to do City next week.

Gutted that I'll miss first home game of the season Saturday - bleedin' families!

Yeah, don't sugar the pill!

But in that time we've made over £1M in transfer fees received and reduced our wage budget by more than half.

As for us getting slated, we always will. We are a relatively big club in this league with a pretty active fan base. If we were playing this sort of football in the league above, where we'd be small fry, we'd be getting praised even more so. To be fair, a lot of journo's and pundits are raving about us and that's probably grating on a few people. Teams at the top will always be shot at. It's pure jealousy.

Me too. Are we related?

The football quality I have seen via internet / streaming only has looked great and a pleasure to watch.

What surprizes me is the ability that Mark Cooper and the backroom staff have in taking unknown loan players from Birmingham and Norwich, getting them to adapt to this style of play within a couple of weeks and performing.  

These are young lads are playing with such a desire to make things happen for Swindon...Bloody amazing especially when we had many poor loaning signings previously.  

Coops must have the Midas touch ..........

What's with Power these days?

I thought he was limited to 90 days in the UK - seems to be here permanently at the moment.

Finally been able to get on TEF after the weekend.

Well that was quite a game. Good old Swindon though, keeping consistent by letting them back in it.

Looking at the highlights though, if we keep defending like that there is always the chance we won't be in the top 6 in May. It's the brutal honesty. We have so many gaps that are going to be exploited in the new year.

But anyway... I'm looking forward to Fleetwood because what with the STFC-Trust initiatives we should have a good gate. Not to mention Claridge's comments... which were quite nice. Not sure how many fans stay up until gone midnight to watch the STFC highlights but don't already regularly attend. But it's a nice sentiment.

I'm trying to talk a mate into coming, but the conversation always goes:

"Want to come and watch Swindon on Saturday?"
"Yeah, sure. How much is it?"
"It's £23..."
"Oh... I think I'm busy that weekend..."

476 to Peterborough is pretty feeble for a team second in the league. I was hoping we'd have around 1,000 there.

We have had a lot of high away attendances over the last month or two though. The only reason I couldn't go is because of finances.

We're now approaching the time of year, where attendances traditionally drop off; namely the pre-Christmas period.

Historically this used to be mid December, but with the modern trend for business to try and milk the festive period for all it's worth, now begins in mid November.

Also historically, you'd get a bumper gate for a Boxing Day fixture....something which no longer applies to STFC, courtesy of the  FL vendetta.

How many years has it been now? Was talking about this injustice with a friend last night, bloody ridiculous we haven't had a game on boxing day for years.

8 years

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MatchCentre.asp?MatchID=20070124

Yeah, that's a shame. I'm tempted to move my ST into the Town End for the Fleetwood game. I miss it in there! And now there are no cup games for me to go in the TE...

Besides, I feel like I am out of place in Arkell's...

(http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Swindon+Town+v+Bristol+City+Sky+Bet+League+zEjrNJPXu44l.jpg)

Which one is you?

You have 3 guesses.

You can't see him because some dick is blocking his view with a flag

That is a severely shiny head in front of you.

Yeah... that was the case. This was after the final whistle so I wasn't blocking much.

I only waved it about when we scored, when the entire ground joined in on songs or at the start/end so I was hopefully not getting in too many people's way.

Ate you the Where's Wally lookalike?

 :clap: You got it in one! You win this:  :sheep:

Thank God for that, I thought it was a cyst in his armpit!

Just tracked back following my inebriated musings of Saturday night. So far as I'm concerned, the Yokel halfwit down the M4, Fergie jnr, this two bob bit Posh journo and the like, they can all go forth and multiply. Power and Cooper doing a top job: for starters, the blueprint they are developing seems to be the best chance we have of a sustainable future on limited means. What's more, it's bringing results and I'm struggling to think of when I've seen us play more attractively in the last few years (wild claim but maybe even as far back as the early 1990s?). Games I've seen this season, at times we've carved teams apart through the centre and down both flanks. Difficult to do away, but haven't yet seen us put it together for a full 90 mins which is great, indicates further room for improvement.

One other point, anybody who went on Saturday notice how quick our players disappeared down the tunnel at full time? They did acknowledge us but were away and gone within 60 secs of the final whistle. If this is some sort of sign of heightened focus, then great. Probably, though, more a case of the manager rounding them up to give them a bollocking for almost snatching a draw from the jaws of victory. Either way, am one happy punter up here at the moment and here's hoping we continue to prove the doubters wrong.

I don't think the guy on the left is impressed with your singing.

That's Arkell's for you. A lot of people were unimpressed with me tbh... how dare I wave a flag and sing at every opportunity at football. I even tried to start "We are Arkells, and we never sing. We never sing, we never sing... we are Arkells, and we never sing." Which got a few chuckles.

Step aside, Lee Evans.

He did retire a few days ago. Maybe he heard about this?

I didn't have the sound on as I was at the gym but on the FL72 show on Sky Sports last night they had a short focus on our team and how young it was. As I said, didn't hear what Prutton and the presenter were saying, but it was surely positive.

Do they post clips online of that show? I don't have Sky Sports unfortunately.

I'm not sure, we don't have sky either. Sorry.

Just had to google to see if they host highlights online and someone has asked "What does FL72 mean?" in a forum.

The best response is "Fictitious Lies and a number your uncle made up."  :clap: