Thetownend.com

Very important game tonight and hopefully,back to winning ways. 2-1 win with Williams and Luongo settling a tense affair in front of 7102

4-1 win

Am gonna go for 2.1as we need to get back to winning ways
6867 with 150 from yawksher

More court cases, talk of managerial approaches, nervous team and unsettled crowd,  in form opponents.

It's going to be a fun night. More misery I'm afraid.

close defeat

Time to put the recent nonsense behind us and get back to winning ways.

difficult game, difficult circumstances. need to arrest the blip before it turns into a slump, which as we know is one step away from a crisis.

oh bugger , I said crisis. shhhhhh

Expecting to see Branco brought back in tonight based on Bradford's front 2

Expect Kasim to be dropped tonight.

2-0

Draw 1-1.

I'd rather Swift was dropped and we reverted to a midfield of L.Thompson, Luongo and Kasim.

I agree, We need to revert back to a midfield that attacks the CH's through the middle, Gladwin and Swift don't supply that as well as Luongo and Thompson.

Oh and be a lot more positive from the off might be an idea

I wonder if Cooper will be tempted to try the 3-6-1 formation again?

Expecting another defeat but I'm still going in the hope we can find last month's form.

I know that it is "just another game and still a long way to go", but my gut feeling is that is going to be season defining

Any win will do.

Scruffy 1-0 please.

You need to finish with a catastrophe  :)

I reckon we were in a blip after Scunny, but now a slump, maybe only the beginnings of a slump.....best way to arrest a slump, get back to basics and try and get a point.

Think we'll draw but hoping for the form to return and a convincing 3 points are forthcoming.

0-0

Need to win dont care how it comes as long as we get the 3 points - tough tough game tonight though, but hopefully we can put out a strongest team with Mass back in the team to help with creativity

Bantams fans seem confident of all 3 points. Come on town, back to your best please!  :toocool:

Morale boosting 6-0 please.

I'd take that now.

1-1..

If we play to our best we'll win, there's no doubt about it. Unfortunately it's been a while! Keep things simple at the back and play our game, we should come through unscathed. If Bradford don't have the ball they can't smash it 50 yards.

I wonder if Bradford will try and kick us off the park like they usually do? Play them at their own game again I say!

Except for Branco. He often seems determined to get himself sent off as it is.

Any win will do, we haven't lost 4 in a row since Wilson was in charge back in 2011 just before he was sacked and PHart was appointed..

There are three possible outcomes for this game

1) We win, without conceding, by two goals or more. Game on.

2) A scoreless draw. Some TEF'rs share a packet of razor blades amongst themselves.

3) 2-1 repeat from the weekend followed by any automatic promotion chances fading into a vague hope that we may make play offs as we struggle to stay top 6 for the rest of the season.

I've stuck a fiver on outcome 1.

Another narrow defeat and suicide among the TEF ranks

This.

Got to think that looking at the results Bradford have had recently then the players must surely be up for this one............

Seppuku along County Road

He got Sheehan sent off at their gaff, although Sheehan was asking for it a bit.

Confident tonight. 2-0 with goals from Hylton and Luongo. COYR

Anyone know if tonight's game is being streamed?

All I ask of the players of STFC tonight, it's all I ever ask in fact and I don't think it the slightest bit unfair or unrealistic is...

Don't - play - like - wankers.

That is all.

2-0 Smith, Williams

Isn't the answer to this question always no unless we're on Sky??

Just win you cunts.

Seconded

Luongo back in then.

TOWN vs Bradford: Foderingham; Branco, Thompson N, Turnbull; Byrne, Stephens, Thompson L, Luongo, Gladwin; Smith, Williams

Kasim dropped

Foderingham; Branco, Thompson N, Turnbull; Byrne, Stephens, Thompson L, Luongo, Gladwin; Smith, Williams
Subs: Belford, Barthram, Kasim, Swift, Toffolo, Obika, Hylton

Probably to speed up the midfield!

AI just don't feel comfortable with Branco

Got to play him really when we are going up against 2 strikers like Stead and Hanson, got to risk it otherwise they will bully the defence all game.

don't see the sense in dropping Kasim to move Stephens into midfield myself

tinkerman tinkeths. not the right thing to do for me.

exactly

I think it's because he wants Branco at the back. in which case he has to drop somebody from midfield.

simply drop Stephens then, I'd much rather a midfield trio of Kasim - Thompson - Luongo, wouldn't you?

Yeah, I suppose I would.

Super sub?

SY for manager!

Filipe Morais, James Hanson and Andrew Davies all out for them tonight

I can see the logic, but Branco has too much of the Jerel Ifil about him for me. Brilliant one minute, howler the next.

I also don't like the idea of being so lopsided playing Gladwin instead of Toffolo. Darby is a v good defender, as we all know, but he is slow - Toffolo could get in behind him.

Good to see Mass and Louis  back.

Just f*cking win.

I don't care who plays as long as they actually play well.

Bradford are not a great side (in the league) but we just lack a bit of confidence, an early goal could change that.

your first sentence also describes our captain

^ This

The opposition coms are worse than ours for cutting out. < That's the first time in several seasons that's happened.

good start. more pace and purpose in passing

Bradford coms were commentating on how Byrne is raw because he came from a non-league side.......

Williams misses a sitter apparently.

Shitty 1 up

willo :facepalm:

Yesssssssssssss 1-0

Get in Luongo

FUCK YEAH!

Swindon 1 up.

MASSSSS......IVE!!!

Close from Gladwin....corner to Town.

Willo hits the post.

BLOODY HELL WILLO

Williams misses a one-on-one

Willo :doublefacepalm:

Wish Preston would slip up

Yesssssssssssssss 2-0

Luongo 2-0

City coms..


That was before we just scored.

Shitty two up....all the contenders winning

Except,most significantly,MKD!

Fingers crossed.  Hope this is a corner turned.

We missed you, Mass.

Normal service resumed (so far).

Bradford seem like they are coming back into it a bit in the last 5 mins, Burke sounds handy.

HT 2-0

very good half indeed. should be 3 or 4. Bradford only really showed anything in injury time.

where was this type of performance Saturday?

We might just sneak into the play-offs!

HT 2-0 that will do.

oh and Luongo has been the driving force, obviously.

They were sat on the bench. No surprise we are getting more Chances with someone injecting pace from midfield at the heart of the defence.

Poor Willo should have at two and Mass a hat trick if Smith hadn't been greedy.

Not sure we have had such an easy 45 all season, totally dominant.

Could easily be 4 or 5 nil.

Luongo has made a big difference, but our general play as a team has been much better tonight.

Coops seems to have picked the more athletic and taller players to combat Bradford tonight, bit less tippy tippy stuff.

Bradford have upped it here. got to weather the storm..

Started a bit slower this half.

2-1

FFS 2-1

Thompson dropped a bollock there.

skipper fucks up.not the first time

Not been at his best lately has he?

Ball originally given away by Luongo and then Thompson cocked up.  Row fucking z it should have been in.

Now Bradford are back in the game.

Luongo nearly had his hattrick.

donny pulled one back on shitty

well,someone earlier described Branco as "Ifil-like",unfortunately Nathan is also.

Both Branco and Nathan seem to make one silly mistake ever game they play, sometimes it is punished and sometimes they get away with it.

We've gone from being in complete control to looking decidely shaky.  The ball is continually being given away.

It's the swindon way >:(

We don't seem to be able to play well for 90 mins any more, it's either brilliant in patches or nervy jitters and panic.

midfield not working at the moment., putting pressure on back 3

We need Agombar.

Sounds like we got away with a handball.

It's sounding a bit fucking inevitable  :badmood:

I was just thinking that, we sound like we are struggling.

3 mins injury time

Fucking hell this is horrible to listen to.

Just hoof it anywhere away from our fucking goalmouth will ya?

FT 2-1

Thank fuck.

never in doubt ! :pint:

Get in !!

hahaha. the ref is a cock. yellow, red no yellow ..

Does doing the double over them make us a better side than Chelsea? That's how it works isn't it?

kind words from Branco

15 points clear of Doncaster in 7th place, that looks good.

Thank.

Fuck.

That was a long old second half. Glad I didn't listen to it. I couldn't even bear to read the posts on here, I just knew what would be happening.

Any way... :banana: :wotjump: :harshfunny:

Am I right in thinking that everything is back to normal, we're definitely going up and all is right with the World? Can anyone confirm this? Reg?

Some of our fans annoy me more than any performance or referee has ever done, bloody hell there are some wasted blowjobs at the county ground

First half was excellent free flowing football we should have been 3 or 4 up and they should have been down to 10 men.

The 2nd half however was nothing short of a car crash. We gifted them a goal, no idea what Thompson was trying to do but he's a liability at the moment and costing us a goal a game and is really not a captain. We completely lost control of the game after that and it got very nervy on and off the pitch. We need someone to take control on the pitch and shout at people, when Andy Williams is the most vocal player in your team you know there's a lack of a leader.
We just aren't any good at game management and that goes for Cooper too. He didn't have a single sub warming up 2nd half, Gladwin was fucked for the last 20 but there was no sign of a sub until stoppage time, he just left us to hang. He really needs to learn when to make subs and change things.

I'll take the 3 points though and hopefully we can build on this now.

Also Michael Smith needs to be benched, he's just a passenger at the moment and his close control isn't good enough for the way we play.

Wasted blow job?  :sherlock:

Nicky Ajose doesn't sleep apparently

For 40 minutes we looked absolute class, lost a bit of concentration just before half-time - they changed their formation to match us after half-time and we never really got to grips with it, put us under a lot of pressure and deservedly got a goal which fortunately turned out only to be a consolation.  Main talking point must be the worst referee see at the CG for many years, absolute class when he sent their guy off then realised he had only given him one yellow.  The bloke was a twat of the highest order!!

Should have been in the mouth not in the appropriate baby making area..

I base this largely on hearing that we should drop N Thompson and that Wes is overrated

And that Gladwin doesn't deserve his place in the team because he doesn't try for them


 :suicide:

We bum fucked Bradford in the first half, Williams and Smith missed sitters which would have made the 2nd half a non event.

Again, another retard referee who clearly belongs at pub league level. Their number 3 should have been sent off; Bradford were allowed to kick the shit out of us but any foul by a Swindon player resulted in a yellow card.

2nd half you could see Bradford had a bollocking, but we were in no danger from their lumps into the box until Thompson gave them a goal, quite possibly the most criminal goal you'll ever see.

The ref then decides to get just about every decision wrong, including sending off their player for his first yellow. What a twat.

Luongo was class again, but my motm was Branco who won everything. Turnball and Stephens didn't have the best of games when it came to defending.

Good win, but more nervy than it should have been. We can beat Crewe.

That guy was Stephen Darby, Swindon legend

First half we were back to our imperious best. Bradford tried the 82ers approach of kicking anything that moved in a red shirt.

Fucking Luongo was just about unplayable and scored 2 wonderful carbon copy goals.

could and should have been way out of sight in the 1st half (where have we heard that before).

2nd half and along comes the now customary defensive howler and we go all wobbly - although TBF they didn't create much even if they looked dangerous.

We didn't play as bad in the 2nd half as some others say.

Great call from Cooper recalling Branco who was superb. Smudge seems right off the boil at the mo, but I'd stick with him.

Fantastic 3 points against a very savvy team.

How the fuck did Creepies beat us?

But was a right twat tonight....

Only 6800, awful

Yes, just realised that!  The ref was still a cunt of the highest order though!

Very good first half with Luongo not only scoring two well made and taken goals but also running the show. Their no 3 somehow avoided red but was as bad a player as I've seen down here in years.
The second half though the Bradford players realised the ref was a totally useless cunt and took advantage by breaking up play any way they could and Williams and Smith were arse raped by their centre halves anytime they went near the ball. They got a goal from one of the most stupid defensive bits of play of this or any other year.......even by our high standards. Folks you've got to see it on TV to believe it. There's a reason why Row Z exists and sometimes you need to hit it and Nate Dog should have done it.
Bradford for all their fouling were a decent side and this has to go down as a good win but in the second half defensively again we were all over the place. We really are a shambles at the back.
Also I didn't think we'd ever see a worse ref that the Donny one but this one must have been stoned. How both Thompsons got booked fuck knows when their players were getting away with all sorts.
Anyway, three very big points and hopefully onwards and upwards.

3 home games in ten days is too much for some people financially, a crap performance on Saturday and it all adds up to a poor gate.

And he's a long way from being a Swindon 'legend'.

I don't think the Ref was that bad, but with the number of bookings he dished out first half it was enivitable that he either had to slow the pace of dishing them out in the second half or we would have seen a red card. He didn't help himself. Although they did foul persistently, I don't think it was a dirty game.

Are you sober and clean

Jekyll and Hyde performance from Town tonight. When I saw the team, I feared the worst. But from the first minute our passing was much more pacey and while not 100% accurate was with purpose. Swindon were back. Not going to prattle on too much tonight, but Willo missed two sitters, once a header my gran could have scored, and she's dead, another one on one after a defensive cock up that he somehow blasted onto the bar. But he was probably my man of the match, more on that in a bit.

Star of the half was Luongo, whose skill and running always looked like it would cause a lackluster Bradford problems. And indeed it did with a two goal haul. The first a run into the box and a nice finish, the second an opportunistic  finish after Williams misscontrolled. So we should have been 4 up at the break, but 2-0 was still a good lead. There were a couple of minutes at the end where Bradford looked like they had something but nothing came of it.

After half time it was a complete role reversal. Bradford upped their game massively, and we looked nervous and vulnerable. If we could have weathered the storm I was confident of a win. But a good ball into the box should have been cleared by Thompson right in front of goal. But he seemed intent on trying to play it out - got robbed and the ball was in the back of the net. Good player, yes, right back playing in a back three costing him form - probably.

We never really recovered from that. Bradford continued their momentum, and our midfield couldn't cope, exposing our back three. Gladwin was fucking useless. Luongo was still good but far far less effective. He and Thompson (L) didn't really sort out providing enough cover. Byrne was lively but never offers defensive duties. I actually nearly forgot Stephens was playing in midfield, he was that anonymous. You get the point.

That said, while it looked like Bradford could unlock the defence, a Wes slip aside (thought he was very average tonight) they didn't really get a serious effort on goal - offside shot aside.

Thought Coops should have changed it mid way through the second half. Smith was not much cop, Gladwin poor and Stephens anonymous. Williams should have scored two, but his work rate and desire to win made him my MOM over a fading Luongo.

Special mention to the special ref, who cumulated a craptastic display by showing Darby a second yellow and hence a red, then realising he hadn't booked him earlier in the match.

Excellent win though. Winning is more important than performance right now.

As shaky and nervy as the second half may have been, did Bradford create a chance after they scored?

No. The answer is no.

Great 1st half and thoroughly deserved the 2-0 lead. Second half they were always going to put us under pressure they are a decent side after all. We gifted them a goal and at that point I half expected them to go on and win but we coped pretty well and not nearly as desperate as some of the posts I've read have suggested. All in all a good performance and a well earnt 3 points against a good in form team.

:fishing:

Before city slate our attendance on otib, they took 208 to donny tonight  :)

Atmosphere was piss poor tonight. Second half was only 4/5 of us in DRS singing. 3 points nevertheless.

And Barcelona at Man City free on the telly would have wiped a few hundred off

2nd half wasnt that bad. It probably seemed so when comparing it to the 1st half plus Bradford had to come out and go for it a little which they tried to do.

Nathan will never reach his full potential until he learns to cut out these dreadfull mistakes which he makes on a regular basis. Tonights was absolutely shocking, hopefully he will cut these out as he matures more as a player.

Branco was a beast tonight and put in a pretty much faultless performance, MOM for me. He will probably have a right stinker on Saturday now.

Wes seems a bit touchy tonight. Yes it was a shit atmosphere but not noticeably shitter than normal.

His distribution has been pretty poor last couple of games and that stupid goal kick to Thompson routine on the edge of the box was getting some groans as it just seems to put us under unnecessary pressure. He's always struck me as having a hell of an ego so just don't think he's good at receiving any kind of criticism.

Can someone remind me where the person who used to run the chippy over the road from the CG went to. I thought it was near Iceland in Gorse Hill, but the only chippy I could see near there was shut.

The one over the road was OK, still did the £2 special, but not quite as good IMO.

Wes is probably just pissed off that Nandos is closed at this time of night.

Game of two halves as a cliche..

Should of been going in three or four up.Willo (who played well) really should of buried that one on one.

Second half disaster....

Gladwin had a Weston Super Mare the defenders went to rat shit.

Superb football ,quick breaks, only for us to knock it back and forth along the edge of the area until we gave it back to them cheaply....Gladwin guilty of this and Byrne ran up his own arse a few times...sometimes we need to just fucking go for it, we did it once and got a corner.

Um bongo goals superb and a fine save to deny his Hattrick.

Ref was utter dogshit, inconsistent and weak....shit for both sides...loved the time when he kept telling the Bradford midfielder something who lost his temper in front of the Don Rogers..."Fucks sake ref, what do you want me to do!?".....his shambolic display summed up by the red card that never was...Sunday league at best!

We got the points we needed so I hope we kick on now and smash Crewe. I just hope we learn to kill teams off quicker.

Yarp

We can do this

Well if Cooper finally comes up with a Plan B

My Plan B? Occasionally, just occasionally, get Wes to kick the ball downfield quickly after a fast collect and not fanny around. We have been so studied by the opposition that they just won't expect it...

wes made comments on twitter about the away atmosphere created by some of our fans tonight. I agree. jeering our own goalkeeper after a bad pass. this is one of the best keepers we've had, admittedly not his finest performance distribution wise but he is OUR keeper ffs.

looking forward to getting some games in with a lot of midweeks ahead. I am very quick to point out the mistakes that branco makes so I would like to say how nice it was to see such a solid performance from him tonight. when a team goes long he was superb to have. touch wood he gets a run of games with some consistency.

a massive win tonight and how shit the table would have looked if we had lost. lets hope we back this up on saturday.

So are we back in with a shout of promotion again then, or are we still destined to miss out on, or fail to win, the play-offs?

We need a good, sustained unbeaten run to get right back in there.  I think it's that simple.  Obviously still in with a shout...but the blip/slump has to have ended last night.

Not been opened up yet, who is running the one near the CG now?

I noticed he came off and went straight down the tunnel at the end and didn't applaud the fans.

Good to get back to winning ways, albeot a bit nervy towards the end.  Although a few people have commented Bradford didn't create many chances, it always felt like there was the risk of another defensive error or a dodgy deflection to give them an equaliser.

I honestly can't understand why Cooper didn't utilise the subs, a couple of our players faded badly, Luongo included.  It was particularly noticeable that we had tired legs out there after they'd made a double substitution and two fresh pairs of legs.

The second half was pretty much how I had expected the whole game to be - tough....so first half was a complete surprise - Bradford couldn`t get the ball and Mass was outstanding. Left wing is a problem area especially as Gladwin is totally right footed so not a position he should be playing regularly. Good to get back on track against Bradford.....it will be decided over Easter me thinks...can`t wait and feeling quietly optimistic....why not......best half of football last night I have seen.

COYR

14 wins will do it

thanks.
some Chinese people, don't know who. still can't complain for £2 mind, chips were good, not bothered by the sausage - maybe my memory of the previous tenents sausage is rose tinted.

wait let me rephrase that....

Just a thought about Gladwin, thought he was relatively poor last night, left wing back is not a position for him and I think that for a big man his total lack of speed and energy is slightly concerning in that position.

I spoke to Robin's (the previous owner of the Frying Fish) missus on Saturday, and the purchase was eventually due to go through yesterday, so they hope to open at last next week.

The delay's been due to red tape from the surveyors, to solicitors.

Buying a chip shop is like buying a house....

I've got a couple of people behind me who spend the whole game finding fault and criticising, whether it's players, or tactics, or the fact that the scoreboard isn't working, or anything else they can pick at. I don't want to come over all 'Happy Clappy' and God knows there were things to moan about last night, but surely at the game we should be supporting the team? We can dissect everything after the final whistle, the 90 minutes should be spent enjoying it and encouraging our team.

(Now where did I put my rattle and bobble hat?)

coterillitis strikes

http://www.swindonlinksport.com/2015/02/25/parkinson-heavily-critical-of-towns-antics/

But with chips. And battered cod. And jumbo sausages. And pickled eggs...

Really? I find that completely surprising.

I thought it would be more like along the lines of buying a fully armed Apache attack helicopter  :sherlock:

It's brought the 'real fan' statements out on Twitter again..

It's all about finding a plaice called home.

Parkinson has alway been a whiny cunt and a bit of a prick

Football not fucking fish!

Like Jon Stead didn't collapse to the ground everytime he got touched.

How is Kasim going to get back in the side?

Unless they ditch Gladwin on the left and bolster the midfield.

They looked so much more fluid and pacey last night

and rightly so. Fucking dismayed with the shit being shouted out around me.

Everythings been covered. First half we tore Bradford apart and probably should have had 3 or 4. They were awful, dull long balls forward to Jon Stead, late challenges, petulant swipes at our players. How they finished with 11 men I'm really not sure.

Second half Bradford decided to play football and they were half decent, if a bit toothless. We seemed determined to let them back in it but showed a bit of grit to get the 3 points.

Referee was absolutely clueless.

Just saw Parkinson's comments.

"Honest" "Professionalism". Is he serious? Is it professional to leave a leg in on your opponent? No. Bradford would do well to admit they were beaten by a better side. Twice.

I'm already looking forward to the matchday expert analysis when we win at Ashton Gate.

they accused Branco of faking injury up there too. Meredith their number 3 had about 3 final warnings from ref last night. If anyone deserved 3 cards last night it was him not Darby. Still at least it gave us a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the tool that is Alan Sheehan when Parkinson saw sense and took Meredith off at half time

Oh yeah, forgot about the punch to the stomach up there Branco faked.

Phil Parkinson has always beem a cunt anway.

good work, clever, you are a bit of a brain sturgeon when it comes to fish puns.

Cods hake, floundering soles

In my opinion, Luongo, L Thompson and Kasim is still our best central midfield trio, when playing together.

Kasim has a habit of slowing the game down. On Saturday, we had him, Gladwin & Swift all doing the same and arsing about with the ball with no impact.

With Luongo and L Thompson in the middle with their directness and pace, it suits Kasim as he can play the "Pirlo" role.

So, that would  mean Stephens reverting to CB - which is a waste of his talents.

Kasim hasn't performed anywhere near his early season form for ages now.

 :doh: :D

He was CB on Saturday, was excellent and rightly got man of the match.
He doesn't strike me as a natural midfielder, he's good at going forward at times from defence however.

Parkinson is still bitter about that famous night we won at Charlton  :toocool:

Probably doesn't help that he has Stephen Darby in the changing room to remind him about it every day :)

Also, soon after we won there 4-2 with an Charlie hat-trick the following season, he got the sack.

Morrison and Ritchie scored that night... charlie with a brace...

But yeah, he's probably still pissed at that too..

Wasn't that the season we got relegated?... Incidently, McCormack and Benson both started for Charlton that night..

The following season they were to become big players for us, of course.

Haunted by the Town  :pint:

That's one long bender....about 4 years now...the hangover will be awesome.

:D

Great first half performance.

Second half highlighted that Cooper would be an even better manager if he was bold enough to change the system when the opposition are on top. There is enough ability in the team to do it easily, eg be a bit more sound defensively with a 4-5-1:-

Nathan T : Branco : Turnbull : Toffolo (on for Smith)

Byrne : Louis T : Mas : Stephens : Gladders

Williams

Our weakness is the space behind the wing-backs, especially when we get caught in possession.
   

Just seen the highlights.

Fuck me....what was Thompson doing for their goal!?  Didn't see that from my shit perch in the TE!

Worth pointing out that Luongo set up their goal, so that's 3 goals and 2 suicidal backpasses that led to goals in two games!

To be fair to Mass though the goal at Oldham was as much Branco bottling it as well as poor back pass.

I thought Luongo was just trying to get a get in on the stretch, rather than play a deliberate dodgy back pass. will have to find the highlights later

Bradford highlights

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

Mass was definately stretching for a tackle/interception and not passing, the defending by Nathan was appalling though.

Can we be fair to Branco too? Pretty sure it was Turnball, although had he brought him down he would have almost certainly been off.

Spot on Pete

I am all for the pretty passing football but in that situation Nathans first touch should have been put it into touch.

Surely they can't be told that in every single situation they have to pass it.

Branco's performance included some very good hoofs at just the right time.

One other thing about the times when we mess up passing it in our half - that must account for so many of our bookings as we end up chasing down an attacker and lunging in

Yep. There's has to be a time and a place at times. 6 yards from your own goal when you've done all the hard work by getting your body in front of the striker is definitely one of those times. Nath's been a revalation this season but I'm sure he won't be pleased with that one.

Wasn't it last season he was a revelation, and has become a little bit error-prone this year?

He makes mistakes, they all do. He does a hell of a lot more good than harm on the whole though.

Spot on. And he's central to the way we've been able to play this season - we've played some terrific football and having ball-playing defenders like Nath, Stephens, Turnbull, even Branco is crucial to that. It costs us at times but largely it's been a delight to watch.

The fist was one of the best halves of football we have played.

The second was so different as to be almost unbelievable.

Our midfield seemed to be playing much too close to our defence for the second half. We also seem to fail to support Byrne a lot when he is in possession on the wing but surrounded. Leaving him to try and play himself out of trouble all the time is counter productive. Getting across and giving him a closer out ball must pay dividends.

The booing that has been reported wasn't heard by me (DR stand midway between the half way line and the TE) but I did hear some dissent with the slow distribution from Wes at times. On one occasion,  Nathan B was charging diownfiled pointing where he wanted the ball, Wes just kept it.....

I have a feeling N.Thompson is carrying an injury/not fit.

I saw it exactly opposite! I though they collectively left too much space between them and the defence allowing Bradford to counter quickly and a bit cheaply. Several times they were suddenly outnumbering us at the back but didn't capitalise. Perhaps Stephens was supposed to be holding, but with the others pushing forward its difficult.

That said its a difficult balancing act. Everyone drops deep and you invite more pressure. And besides, even if the second half was a tricky one I still felt we might pick them off .

Whatever, it worked!

What Batch said. Byrne and Gladwin do their defensive bit as an after thought especially Gladders who does sense danger quickly enough,Crawley first goal for instance. So if a team pushes men forward or break quickly like Bradford did then there are gaps.

Just a matter of adjusting when we push forward and where on the pitch we play tippy tappy

In the second half Bradford pushed their wide players directly onto our wide centre backs. This pulled their midfield up making a bit more space in the middle but allowing them, especially their shadow striker, to work off Stead and later Zoko. They also pushed a fullback up individually to make the overlap on the other side to put crosses in from deep.

Also people obsess with Byrne not tracking back but it is part of our system that he doesn't. We are intentionally lop-sided and it is the destructive midfielder's job to shield in this area - usually Louis. It is part of our gamble that he stretches them throughout the game.

Can we all agree that the first goal was lovely, though?  Nice passing, and an swift injection of pace from Luongo to create the space for the finish.  More on Saturday, please.

Fair point...

And this is Divy 1, if he didn't make a single error he'd be in the Prem wouldn't he..

Been strong for us...

Luongo didn't really make an error though, he was trying to win the ball and it didn't quite come off. NT seemed to think he had more time, I doubt it'll happen again.

Luongo made our first look so easy. It wasn't really. The second I thought Willo had miss-controlled and it luckily went to Mas. On seeing the replay maybe he meant it after all.

Quite. This isn't aimed at Gnasher, or anyone in particular, but it does make me smile when I hear complaints about league 1 players making mistakes. Of course they make mistakes. They are league 1 players!

Cos you never see a howler from a Prem player.

I think it's fair to say that there are more individual errors in a match the lower the league/standard.

I wasn't taking a pop at Mass. I was making the point that even our best players make mistakes yet they are rarely criticised (and rightly so). Now if Branco had made those mistakes I bet the reaction would have been different.

I've criticised Branco in the past.

He was absolutely superb on Tuesday. If he could consistently be 75% - 100% of that level of performance he'll be a bloody good player.

That's because football fans in general and Swindon fans in particular need a scapegoat. From where I sit it appears that Smith is currently the boo boys focus of disdain.

smith has not been good recently. haven't heard anything other than mutterings of frustration. not exactly a hate campaign.

Give it time...

I haven't heard much said against Smithy recently. Fods was the scapegoat on Tuesday, but Toffo and Gladwin have caused some grumblings recently too.

toffolo? other than an off form half on Saturday he's been superb. not heard anything but compliments about him .

I may have moaned about Gladwin myself. shhhhh

1st half v Crawley he was getting some abuse.

Yeah fans were screaming for Toffolo to be substituted against Crawley after about 20 mins.

Although they were screaming for him to brought on against Bradford.

He was a bit shit against Crawley. He got in some great positions but seemed to fuck up every time he got the ball. I think the Crawley RB went in hard on him early and he had poo in his shorts after that.

Where is Simon Ferry these days?

Dundee

Ah, cheers. I thought he was in Jockland somewhere.