Thetownend.com

After the last few weeks of negativity surrounding team selection, tactics, results and the general meh that's crept into the fan base, it's now down to the Play offs. I am 100% sure that we will see a re energised team on Thursday and also see the mainstays of our earlier form back to their best.

We might all be complaining after Thursday's game; that Cooper got it wrong, that players didn't look up for it, that our defence is dogshite...... But until then, let's spend the next few days optimistic.

You never know...........

(http://replygif.net/i/976.gif)

I predict that this will be a short thread.

There is nobody left in the playoffs we haven't beaten. There is nobody in the playoffs in shit hot form. We have as much chance as anyone.

There is not one single 'form side' in the Play Offs.  We have nothing to fear from any of the other three.  Add to that that Preston go in to the campaign gutted and demoralised, and we're not in a bad position at all.

Then add in to the mix the Manager's strategy of resting key players; a strategy he has stuck to so faithfully that he has ignored the effect that it may have on other clubs (even if they were involved in promotion/relegation themselves).  He has been focused on STFC, and nothing else.

This gives me some confidence.  We're not drifting in to the Play Offs without a purpose.  The Manager knows exactly what he's doing.  If it goes wrong he will hold his hand up, I'm sure.  But I have a feeling that his approach may produce some results.

And nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, even mentions us as potential winners - and, to their shame, a few on here as well.

Glad Franchise are out of the way TBH, the other 3 are all meh

I do find it funny that we've had our best season for god knows how long? yet most are fans are more negative than when we went into the Play Offs with Kevin MacDonald in charge.

Couldn't agree more on the Franchise sentiment. I think they were more than capable of picking themselves back up if they failed to get 2nd yesterday. Preston on the other hand.....

However you view this seasons play-offs we finished where we did.

I think to a man or woman, all on this site probably would have taken a play-off place last August. The last 46 games, no matter what went on in each of those 90 minute gladiatorial battles counts for nothing. Poor reffing, bad tactics, injuries, suspensions, good & bad luck, weather conditions, team selections you name it, means nothing now.

It is down to initially the next 180 minutes of holding your nerve. Putting out your best team for each half. Each half is in effect 90 mins. There maybe two different teams for both halves but hold our nerve we must.

Strangely I think we could win this up at Brammal Lane. They will have to come at us and take the game to us which should give us opportunities. 2-0 as has already been suggested be to much of a mountain to climb at the CG IMHO certainly based on current form.

It's there for us to take if the players want it badly enough.

Before Preston losing to Colchester yesterday, I was saying we'd lose in the final. Franchise at the moment are unbeatable and have sussed us out this season. Now they're not in it, I think we have a massive chance, we can beat PNE and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even get there as they'll be gutted at not getting 2nd.

I think its because supporters find it easier to identify with teams/players who are visibly giving it their all, even if they're not up to much. By contrast this team plainly has the ability but little of the heart, probably because it lacks any real leaders.

Whatever;  this thread and the comments so far are right.  With MKD out of it, this is a playoff group with teams struggling to find any real form or self-belief.  Any team, and set of supporters, that show some resolve and unity have a championship spot there for the taking.  Why don't we try to make that team us.

So, will Cooper 'go for it' as he has said - which to me means 2 up front - or will he play Beaker on his own with Gladwin just behind?

The Blades are set up to counterattack - not very good when forced to make the pace.

If Gruffalo isn't fit, play Randall there not Gladwin.

Got to be Stephens/Turnbull/Thompson as the back 3.

Midfield 5 of Byrne/Kasim/Luongo/Gladwin/Randall

Beaker/Hylton or Williams up top

It also shows both sides of pressure too. Preston have an impressive strikeforce, but it miss-fired yesterday. Colchester more limited but fighting for their lives, did what they had to.

IF IF IF we can get past Sheff U, bring on whoever.

Not now I'm here!

But yeah, this would be my starting XI (based on what we know about injuries etc):


With Willo coming on ~70 mins for Hylton as he hasn't done a full 90 yet, Swift coming on for Randall moving Gladwin out to the wing and Swift sitting in behind the strikers leaving an emergency sub or possibly changing Obika for Smith to try and allow him to find form for the home leg.

would be happy with that team. Wouldn't be surprised if he played 3-6-1 though.

It also wouldn't surprise me if he did a back 3 of Thompson, Ricketts, Turnbull with Stephens sitting just in front of them as a T shaped back 4.

Fuck yeah!

For positivity/have a laugh, see here:

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=55708.msg1326164#msg1326164

Fuck yeah!

What's the chances of Louis making it for Thursday?

It's been totally silent - speaks volumes

Don't think we will see him again in a Swindon shirt

If he's in it'll be for the final.

did he do the lap of honour yesterday ?

Yep

we finished 8 points above them,both teams are on a shit run but ours is partly due to "weaker" line-ups,theirs is not.Therefore it is reasonable to belive we will prevail.QED

would add that I would be very,very surprised if randall starts in either game

Unbelievably, in the 8 games we have played against the 4 relegated teams we have amassed the grand total of 7 points out of a possible 24

hey audrey,youre in the wrong thread-this is the positive one!

11 I think.

6 points vs Notts.
4 points vs Orient.
0 points vs Crawley.
1 points vs Yeovil.

Still not great mind.

The whole season now comes down to who is motivated and plays to the best of their ability in the last 3 games of the season.

We know we can beat any of these teams with ease when we have motivation and application. This comes down almost as much to the management as the players, motivation and preparation are vital.

The last few games have been almost meaningless so lets start afresh and hit them hard with our passing pressing game as we did at Rochdale and stay focussed at the back and we can win.

Even a defeat in the first leg is not beyond us overcoming at the CG.

Ah, I was using Colchester instead of County

Conversely in matches vs the other teams in the top 7 teams we have taken 15 from a possible 30.

3 points from Shitheads scored 1 conceded 3
0 points from MKD scored 1 conceded 5
3 points from Preston scored 1 conceded 3
3 points from Sheff Utd scored 5 conceded 4
6 points from Chesterfield scored 6 conceded 1

Which isn't too bad.

To find the positives in the negative - maybe seeing ourselves as underdogs isn't such a bad thing.

Most people, including our own fans, thought we were in for a relegation battle at the start of the season, only for the players to race out of the blocks, as if motivated to prove us wrong.

Maybe, after seemingly coming full circle, and being written off once more by our fans and those outside the club, the players will come racing out of the blocks again, and find a second-wind in their desire to prove everyone wrong!

I know he has not set the world alight but I presume Miles Storey's loan has ended at Newport so could/should be added to the squad.

I'm imagine we could.... but he shouldn't be included.

Wait... This is the positive thread.

Miles Storey to come on in the 89th minute and score the winning goal.

FUCK YEAH!

Blades fans are under the impression Fods is injured and wont play and our 3rd choice keeper will.

HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS!?!

Football fans baffle me.

What I was thinking, too.

Fods didnt feature yesterday so must be injured  ::)
Ty sent off so cant play
Simples

It really doesn't take much effort to sort out information these days, is it?

A couple of clicks and hey presto, an answer.

Simple s

Yeah but they are straw clutching

If you want cheering up, take a dip into the Blades forum.

Thought our lot on here were miserable, pessimistic old cunts.

Wow you're right. All that pre-emptive wrist-slitting has made me more optimistic than anything else in this thread.
http://www.s24su.com/forum/index.php?threads/playoffs-support-the-team-or-dont-go.39627/ (http://www.s24su.com/forum/index.php?threads/playoffs-support-the-team-or-dont-go.39627/)

Their fans could be our 13th man if things aren't going their way!

Blades arent the only ones

How amusing, after seeing them all turn up for their victory parade last week :)

Are we assuming PNEThor died of humiliation?

Totally agree.

We are the best football side in the playoffs. FACT.

We have the quality in our young lads to pull out a special goal from absolutely nowhere. FACT.

We have the best manager in the division for doing what he has with the resources given him. FACT.

Our lads must now be ready to give it their all after playing out a slightly uninteresting, mediocre end of season. FACT.

We are on the up after scoring 2 goals to come from behind in our last match. FACT.

Preston are dismayed at missing the no. 2 spot yet again. FACT.

Sheffield were absolutely taken to pieces at the CG earlier in the season. FACT.

It's about sodding time we won something at the new Wembley. FACT.

COME ON YOU REDS.

Is there anyone in Don Rogers stand that would be able to help me with a banner for the home leg? I can buy and paint it, but I'll be in the Town End sorting out the giant 12th man shirt.

I'm tempted to buy 6-8 meters of red fabric and write "THE FUTURE'S BRIGHT FOR THE SWINDON RED & WHITE" or something like this in giant white letters.

If someone can say they'll sort it, I'll get on it this week.

Please, please, please do not use that slogan. Intentions good but that sounds cringey as fuck.

"or something like this" is what I said ;).

I need to find something that's positive and could possibly inspire some sort of fight in the fans and the players. Ideas welcome, mate!

I was thinking about it just being COOPERS RED & WHITE ARMY but if ends up leaving in the summer...

Ideas:

SWINDON'S RED & WHITE ARMY
COOPER'S RED & WHITE ARMY

In honour of many of our fans why not..

'Swindon Town..... Get it forward!'

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Jay,

I have just ordered another 18 rolls from the link that you provided.

More than happy hand them out to people who are next to me.

Legend. Cheers mate!

This is the time we get a win at Bramall Lane after all the years of going there and getting beaten. I really feel we are the best footballing side of the four teams left and now is the time our players will get back to our pre Christmas form its all or bust now for these players to go out on a high and I feel we are going to do the business in these play offs.

No doubt about it Sheffield be a tough game but I think our layers if we can play our natural game and take the game to them with high intensity and pace we should get a good result up there.

None of the teams are playing well and they blow hot an cold but are good in cup contests and will bully us as I would imagine that would be their tactic and to counter attack us. Our forwards are going to get back to their preseason best and do us proud by banging a few in over the two games and take us to the final.

Tickets bought for the away and home games and i'm expecting us to win.

I'd settle for a point Thursday.

Oh, wait....

I know Sheffield have said no balloons or any of that paper banner stuff...(why the fuck who knows)
but could we take the 12th man shirt?

I'd imagine Orient said no smoke bombs, too . . .

We could try and do stuff, but I'd rather not get the 12th man banner taken off us as it's not mine.

It's all fire-safety related.

"Swindon Town - did your missus call my pint a poof?" There you go.

Is it poof or pouf? I was always confused by this. Thought the French connotations of pouf was always a nice double hit.

Ooh - Cooper on SSN this hour.

Wonder what insightful message he has for us wizened old farts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVJ-W6LioB8

Isn't a pouf one of those big round footrest things, like an overgrown cushion on casters?

512 sold so far for Thursday.
On GS now so expect to move a bit quicker tho can't see us taking 2500

I'd be surprised if we take anywhere near 2,000.

Meanwhile

Swindon (A) ticket update: North Stand now SOLD OUT (950 tickets), 1,200 tickets remain in the uncovered Stratton End #twitterblades

This is depressing. Our fans can be so fickle. A lot are probably basing this decision on our last few results.

The 512 was before the store opened today so online and phone yesterday only - not bad really.

I reckon 1800-2k.

It's a first leg midweek game quite far up north right after a bank holiday weekend. It's kind of expected.

They've only been on general sale for an hour you whiney tart :)

Positive posts only... please!

I positively can't see us taking 2500  ;D

Oh. Fair point. Forgot about that. I just bought mine and got on with it. We should have a better idea of how many we'll be taking tomorrow morning then.

Shame it's an ALL TICKET game :(

Every game of sheff utd is all ticket, until around 24hrs before when they announce pay on the day available.
So never say never

Anyway, can anyone think of a good banner slogan?

I'm going to get a 1m tall x 5m wide (or bigger) banner to write something on to roll out at the front of the Town End at the start of the game.

This sort of thing for those that can't imagine it:
(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03199/bayern_3199788b.jpg)

I'm not thinking anything antagonistic (cause STFC don't want to be associated with any particular movement), something literally just supporting the team.

RED & WHITE ARMY
COOPER'S RED & WHITE ARMY
THE TOWN END

etc etc

Harry Agombar - He's one of our own.

Just get fucking promoted  :doh:

THERE'S ONLY ONE HARRY AGOMBAR.


Hahahaha. I'll paint out that exact emoticon.

On the flipside, the central 5 blocks of the DRS have almost completely sold out (blocks 4, 5 & 6 have sold out). T2 and T3 are both nearly sold out and the central blocks in the Arkells arent far off either.

Season tickets are still reserved so not necessarily sold out yet.

Rip off Al Davis...'Just win, baby!'

Toffolo will play. Smith and Hylton will be the front 2.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32591168

Would have been easy if it was against Franchise...  "Batter 'Em!"

This can easily work in our favour(and the other 2 sides in the PO's).

994 away tickets sold as of 10 mins ago thanx to miss Scarth

Looks like 1500 going, then

OUR SHIT KIT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!

"We are the red and white army" would work, and is simple.

Or "Swindon Town will never die". Fitting given how close we've come at times.

"thank fuck we'll wear red at Wembley"

'Just like 2012'  8)

We are mauve
We are black
We aren't ever coming back
La la la la...

We are the red and white army gets my vote.

Cool I like SWINDON TOWN WILL NEVER DIE because of our rocky history.

I'm happy to go with whatever everyone wants. The above will be cheaper too... less fabric ;)

Yep.

 :nod:

Well if I can't have my choice will plump for this  :beers:

Shall I start a forum poll so everyone knows about it and gets a say?

G'warn then.

This ain"t no,is a double negative.
Why not have . "just win you cunts"

"Better by far...AGOMBAR"

Here's a poll on the two most popular options mentioned above: http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=55746.0

Looks like Clough is getting his excuses in early and seems as if he is content if they just don't lose the first leg.

Negative vibes from Bramall Lane

Got a feeling it aint going to be close - we'll either bomb them or get bombed

Where'd you see that then?

Here's one: http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/sheff-utd/sheffield-united-blades-rebuke-play-off-rivals-over-claim-1-7245556

#SUFC and #TwitterBlades on twitter are interesting searches.

Total Sport. Said if they can't win make sure they don't lose.

Hardly the sort of thing his old man would have said

http://www.s24su.com/forum/index.php?threads/clough-were-a-work-in-progress-not-a-failure-without-promotion.39670/

In fact looking at the entire forum it's clear they're not a happy bunch.

This was particularly harsh:

COOPER ISN'T EVEN WORTHY OF THIS POSITIVE THREAD!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32592146

Wow. I thought I was a premier league pessimist, but I now know I know nothing.

I think you've missed the point. He's not saying he expects them to go up, he's basically saying all the pressure is on them.

*Edit. Or maybe I've missed the point of your post?..... Need more tea,

He talks about just wanting to "still be in the tie" come Monday night. WE SHOULD BE 5-0 up on agg come Thursday night! FUCKKK YEAHHHH!!

Oh brilliant. Can we do anti-Yorkshire?

5-0? 5 bloody 0? That's noothing, lad. When I war a nipper, we'd've beaten 'em 10-0 wi' no boots and 'oles in oor socks 'n' all.

He's trying to re-underdog us with his mind games after Clough tried this sneaky trick to lessen the pressure:

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11683/9837923/clough-were-a-work-in-progress

yeah, well tomorrow we should go and show Clough that we're the real underdogs. That'll learn him.

Well, I'm glad we're playing the Blades out of the 3 available.

Proper football club and fans and really shouldn't be rubbing shoulders with the likes of us in Division 3.

They don't come across all "Billy Big Bollocks' just cos they're a big club (like some we could mention).

Hoping for 2 helter skelter games - and may the best team win. Although I wouldn't complain if we were complete shite but still win.

Think we have a slight advantage over Sheffield utd. Being at home second leg obviously a plus but I think the tinkering with the side lately also gives us a better chance.

We go into this basically from scratch and the last few games have just been like a mini pre season. Our fans writing us off I think already have been too hasty.

Some of them most definitely do. There were plenty on their forums giving it the 'We shouldn't be losing to teams like Swindon' bollocks when we beat them 5-2.

Like any team's fans, some are OK, some are dicks.

This map makes me shudder for next season we just have to go up COYR

(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/UnitedEngland/332AC8E7-BAA8-47AA-8549-0276DFECA218.png.jpeg)

That's just horrid.

The Pikeys and those nasty cunts at Millwall as the only southern opposition, what a prospect!

Please please go up!

On a positive note, does anyone have a number for someone at SAS Travel I can call? I want to ask if I can chuck the boxes of streamers in their coach while I go for a pint!

Let's all do a Uri Geller and send positive mental energy to the team from now until the end of the game tomorrow....

DM Sal66

Fuck off Bristol City
Swindon's going up
Flint said no, no, no
We said yes yes yes

I love how it rhymes  ;D

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew1wsnnWQOw

We're having this tomorrow. There's not one town fan i know going into it limply. It's our chance, our time and we're fooking having it! !!

There's Sarfend now!

Nice piece from jan

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/23/swindon-jan-aage-fjortoft-