Thetownend.com

I don't think I've ever made one of these. Finishing work early and heading up to this one for some reason. Heres hoping I can be the next SirWillSugg and we go on an uncanny winning run from this thread.

3-1.

2-1 win and rather smug press conference from Flitcroft afterwards

0-2 and the usual bollocks from Flitcroft afterwards. Microwave, ffs.

I've decided to go to the Cheese Society cafe and take the kids to the indoor play rather than scort back from Lincoln for this.

therefore we will win 3-0 and crown ourselves as 3rd place shoe ins

They've drawn 4 of their last 5 away games 1-1, i'd take that.

0-2 and we're told things are improving

Can't find any reason to expect anything other than another defeat. I'll just be watching to see if there are any signs of trying to do things differently/better.  

Trips to the CG are just a tedious, mind-numbing chore.  On the other hand, I'm looking forward to the trip to Barnet on Monday.

0-3 defeat and under 6k there.

not going. could go but dont want to- never thought id feel so disenchanted with it  :no:

imagine this will be the lowest Saturday attendance for a league game in a long, long time.

My expectations are at absolute zero for this game. In the past when this has been the case we have often done OK. Don't think it will happen this time though.

0-2.

That must be the first time I have ever predicted a defeat.

 :badmood:

I’d love it if we won, but just can’t see it.

I’d be happy if we can avoid defeat.

Like PF, I’m more looking forward to Barnet on Monday

Conditions will be fun if the wind keeps up. It's difficult to see beyond a defeat. Going in hope rather than expectation. Not sure what flitcroft can do until transfer window.

Serious question.Is having the best away record in the league an achievement of note?Dismal home form to continue

I wouldn't bother to go out if I didn't have a season ticket, but it's a game of two halves and let us hope the second half is a lot better than previous ones at home.

ooooh vigs dropped. any insight from the radio?

Taylor on bench too. knoyle in

James Dunne. Sigh.

Iandolo at left back. God sake

What's the team then?

Swindon Town XI vs Notts County: RCC, Robertson, Lancashire, Preston, Knoyle, Dunne, Linganzi, Anderson, Iandolo, Woolery, Norris

Subs:Vigs, Purkiss, Brophy, Taylor, Goddard, Gordon, Mullin

#STFC

Both of these.

I would prefer Brophy at LB at least he will try and prove something.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSTKc95W4AA2W2N.png:large)

Oh no this looks bad butmust hope for the best

Wonder if he thinks its an efl trophy game :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Vigs on the bench, well I never.

And to add insult to inury iFollow is "experiencing technical difficulties" ffs.

:D

Should be 1-0 Linganzi tap in from Iandolo FK....disallowed for offside.

First 15 mins, we are much more up for it today, RCC can't kick to save his life and Iandolo is not a left back and never will be.

Offside, although looked questionable from where we are.

Oh and their keeper looks dodgy, dropping lots and missing his kicks.

just saw the Ifollow replay, looked offside to be honest

Looked onside to me watching too.

Yellow for their centre back with Woolery clean through from 22 yards dragged down.

Norris free kick saved down in the corner, should have done a bit better but at least he hit the target.

Just after the kick. Tight but I think correct

Woolery has the beating of both centre back for pace and is really up for the challenge.

Very tight, hard to tell from that angle but it was close.

Oh and why the hell are we kicking the ball high and long against such a strong wind? get it on the ground.

Were the players dropped more at fault than the rest for the last defeat? Or is it a case of injury, discipline and/or prospective buyers in the offing?

Norris is just not good enough, his control is awful today.

Only Flitcroft can answer that one.

Absolutely dreadful.  Making little attempt to win the ball.  Woolery might as well be up front on his own.

Not sure Knoyle is any better than Purkiss but Robertson seems to have tightened the defence up a bit.

For a side in 2nd place in the league County are poor.

Woolery is the best player on the pitch as long as we play to feet or in front of him.

 Notts County in my acc

No way we will lose now.

0-0 HT

County are pretty poor considering where they are in the table, we have edged the first half which isn't bad considering we were kicking against the wind, Norris should be subbed off now we have the wind behind us and bring on Gordon for pace, County look scared when we run at them.

Not a good game but end to end at times.

Is anyone else having trouble with ifollow?

I usually listen on my phone app but it keeps saying "to access this content please upgrade your account"

And unfortunately that's not the Flitcroft way.

The fact Notts County are 2nd in the table again shows what an absolute rubbish league this is.

Let's hope we can use the wind to our advantage in the second half.

I get that message sometimes. Try logging out and in again. No problem with the video today so far.

1-0 Norris

Exactly this.

Woolery 40 yard run and nearly scores.

I would bring on Brophy for Iandolo and also take off Anderson who has done nothing except setting up the goal for Norris.

Got away with that, Stead couldnt finish from a cross, should probably have been 1-1.

We need to pressure this keeper Ross Alan Richard Frank Fitzsimons he looks very shakey.

Good free kick from Iandolo saved by the keeper but he couldn't hold it.

To enhance this point, Luton are losing 3-0 at Port Vale where we won not that long ago.

So far today our 3 centre backs are coping well with a County attack that is huge but with little pace or control, offering little or no threat at the moment.

Norris, even though he has scored is having a shocker today.

Woolery on the break nearly gets a foot on a through ball just deflected wide.

County used all their subs already, we need to bring on a couple IMO.

Iandolo has looked far better further up the pitch today, his free kicks and corners have been almost as good as taylors have been, certainly of late.

Grant of County being a twat hitting Woolery round the back of the head as Woolery is subbed, probably because Woolery moved slowly, should have been booked.

Purkiss and Mullin on for Knoyle and Woolery.

5 minutes of injury time met with a massive groan.

Awful high tackle from Dunne, lucky to be on the pitch.

Preston knocked out clearing the ball, should be ok.

6,238 there.

County putting us under a lot of pressure, the first time all game TBH.

RCC great save at the end.

FT 1-0.

Get in

Good solid win, County pretty crap to be fair, we didn't really look like losing today.

Luton battered 4-0 by Port Vale.

What a fucked up league this is.

It's a funny old game

Thanks for the updates PV. Much appreciated.

Very strange. I would've been happy with 2 points before those two games and we've ended up with 3...

Having watched last two games on IFollow, what a gulf between 1st and 2nd at the top of Div 2.  A good result but reminded me of Sunday League games I used to play in on the CG extension.

We never really looked like conceding playing with 3 at the back, Robertson had a good game, as did both Preston and Lancashire.

We need a left back, Iandolo is not a left back but when going forward and dead balls he looks handy.

We need a centre forward who can pass, hold the ball, win headers and shoot, Norris is not that.

We need an attacking midfielder, Anderson runs around a lot but is not good enough.

We need a tough tackling and not petulant defensive midfielder, Dunne is a liability and cannot pass or tackle without conceding possion or a foul.

Woolery looks good when we play to his strengths, as we did a lot more today.

County are no more than an average side, they offered no threat until the last 5 mins, and when they did we were equal to it.

Good win, obviously buys Flitcroft time.

You are always very welcome, its hard to get a view of how the game is going unless you can actually see it happening.

Good win that although County sounded average at best. Hopefully something to build on.

County were crap, but we've lost to plenty of crap teams at home this season. Credit to Flitcroft, been worried that he seemed inflexible and incapable of changing things, well he certainly changed things around today and it worked, impressed with that. It doesn't mean we're wonderful all of a sudden but the team dug deep today and that is a big 3 points, if only to show the team and the fans they can win at home. Clearly we need to follow that up by beating Forest Green in a couple of weeks though, then maybe we can start to turn things round. Impressed with Woolery, Iandolo, Charles-Cooke and mainly Flitcroft today

County's No 10 was an annoying dirty git, their no 2 and no 7 looked like they'd had an argument with the kit man who'd issued them bollock-wreckingly tight shorts in revenge and no 7 in pink boots and a kit that looked a couple of sizes too small looked like the fat gay hairdresser off Benidorm.

 looked like the fat gay hairdresser off Benidorm.
[/quote]
 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Enjoyed that.

Left at half time so can't comment on second half.

Woolery was the difference between the sides in the first half.  Pace, strength and work-rate are a potent combination in Div 4.

Great result. Pleased for the players and even more so for the home support.

Always good to win, but it is that bit sweeter given the context. Unfortunately not long to bask in the afterglow, as a difficult fixture on Monday.  We know this season that we struggle to back up a Saturday in the mid week, Flitters made a bit of use of squad today, but will now need to decide whether to stick with 3 at the back, or revert to the so far successful away shape.

Sorry to disappoint you but, granted, if we do go on a 22 game losing run from here, we could be in grave danger of relegation. So keep your chin up.

Anyone would have thought that a solid, professional 1-0 home win was just what the doctor ordered. But never mind.

To be fair, I don't think there was anything negative about Reg's post and he didn't even mention the 'r' word...

A decent day. We win, scum and traders lose. Decent performance today. Felt we comfortably won although a bit tense in the last 10. A really good save at the end. County were crap but so were Colchester and newport. I don't think there was any stand out player. It was a good team effort. Woolley is like a learner driver in a Ferrari. If he could get some control he'd be a good player. Happy tonight though. Now, do I go to Barnet? 

Well after waking up his morning and thinking the game was at Meadow Lane, I got ready for the match. Ready to leave my humble Derbyshire home at 1pm thought I'd check the other fixtures. It was then I saw Town were at home. Call me a conspiracy theorist but this was the first time this season I had worn my Town shirt, and we won. AT HOME! Hmmm, should I now try and wake up every saturday that Town are at home, think they are away and then subsequently put on my town shirt?

Any way, a home win. Is a home win and long may it continue. Although Flitcroft is on borrowed time, I think he is only a L2 Manager. Even if we somehow gain promotion Power should have the nous to get rid end of season and look for a L1/Promotion chasing/Upcoming manager to stabilise ourselves in L1. Then in his words, "go all in" again, to try and achieve a Championship place and put things in place to sustain that. You may think i'm getting ahead of myself but we really need to manifest these kinds of visions and I certainly hope Lee Power has at least this kind of minimum stability. Our position affects his position and subsequently how much money he can make out of us, as a business. Come on Power, give us your 3/4/5 year vision for the club and how you look to achieve this.

I'm off for a beer but I hope DF has the lads in tomorrow morning and ready for new years day. Will be interesting to see how the Barnet result goes, if it's favourable then despite the break afterwards we should go on to beat FVR (yes, even at home). It would make the Luton result look like an untenable nightmare at the office and would set us up for the remainder of January.

fantastic win. the thought of Iandolo as left back had me face palming, but should have realised he would have been wing back with Robertson in the team.

Did Preston get knocked out, or was that an over exaggeration?

anyway wasn't there, hope it's some sort of turn around and not a flash in the pan.  But very well done indeed Town.

Aka when DV bets on Notts County and Luton.

I had hoped Luton might have had their Christmas party before Boxing Day... looks like they had it celebrating tonking us.

Luton's stuffing now means we've conceded the least goals in Div 4 on the road, but the most at home. Crazy.

And to quote a socialist luvvie Catherine Tate, ‘Oh the fuckin nerve of it’.

Deserved to be slated on Boxing day and deserve rich praise today. TBF if we had lost 1 or 2 zip but battled like that I wouldn't of been as angry.

This is where Power is wrong ref fans wanting to win every game pissing over the opposition with free flowing fancy Dan football as he signs players for £1M a pop. We want displays like toady, week in, week out ...win or lose.

Battled tooth and claw for everything today.

Absolutely. The crowd started getting behind them when Woolley chased and blocked their defender. Regardless of score today they worked hard as a team.

No doubting the commitment and effort today but the distinct lack of quality, patterns of play and the general treatment of the ball as a hot potato really is dreadful. Please, please, please bring us some new midfielders in January.

Woolery looks like a rough diamond. There is a serious player in there.

You really don't understand football do you.

Thought we could have put a few more away today but a wins a win. 100% win record on Matchday threads. Bring on the Barnet.

Alright you're a tory, we get it.

I thought the midfield and forwards worked really hard to get back behind the ball and protect the centre backs, the whole game, so unlike versus Luton second half. Seems to prove it's been a mental problem, not a physical one, so I hope the covering can be repeated in future games. 

Enjoyed that yesterday, and a little bit of a buzz afterwards.

Iandolo, possibly his best game for us. Looks much better suited to a WB role.

Kept an eye on Dunne, much better from him.
Was quite vocal as well and helped Knoyle (who also had a decent game) through.
Not sure about the challenge towards the end, didn't look great, but hate it when a player suddenly springs to life after lying prone on the deck for a couple of minutes.

We do have the 2016-17 Norris back, but hopefully he can recover some of that zest from early season, prior to the injuries, but 10 goals from 19 appearances is still pretty good. He does look to be carrying some timber though.

So that's one bad half from the last six.
Two clean sheets in last three games.
Half of the league games won so far.

#positivespin

Well that was the most fun I've had on a football Saturday for ages. Me, SiPie, Iffy's onion bhaji and our mate JS stayed in the pub and got pissed. The only annoying part was losing my bet for Notts County to win.

I got up and said right up until 2.30pm that I was not going to watch after the shit served up on Boxing Day.

But then I remembered we have family round on New Years Day and can't watch the game then so decided to do it, and I am glad I did.

We controlled the game for 85 mins, County only giving us any threats in a mental last 5 mins otherwise we looked solid at the back, RCC looked solid made a few nice saves and caught a few crosses, the only poor part was his kicking into the wind first half.

Again when we hoofed it we looked no better than any Div 4 cloggers but when we kept it low the pace of Woolery had their defence scared shitless, I like what Chalkie says...hes like a learner in a Ferrarri, when he gets to grips with control and finishing he will be a major asset and a class act, but we have to keep using his strengths as we did yesterday and at Crewe.

The back 3 of Robertson, Lancashire and Preston looked solid all game against 2 big forwards, nothing got past them, vastly better, build a team from defence, if you don't concede then you don't lose.

Knoyle grew into the game but looked no better than Purkiss TBH but hes young and that was only about his 4th or 5th game so too early to judge.

Iandolo cannot defend but is a threat going forward with his rubber ankles, his dead ball deliveries was almost at Taylors level yesterday but don't play him in a back 4, ever.

Linganzi played ok, he still plays 1 good game in every 3, 1 poor and 1 average, no consistancy but when hes good hes very good.

Dunne, played much better yesterday but he is a liability, he cant tackle without giving away free kicks and he did go in to hurt the County player near the end and should have been sent off, hes not good enough and never will be.

Keshi Anderson, he set up the goal but he did nothing else all game, he did nothing in the last 3 or 4 games, he needs to be sent back and play Gordon who has more pace and control and finish.

Norris, scored a good goal but did nothing else, lost all his challenges with the centre back, his control is utterly terrible, he could come good but I don't think hes fully fit, yes he has 10 goals but aren't 7 of them penalties? we need a target man who can win headers and has control but knows where the net is when needed, dare I say it Akinfenwa or Hylton but that won't happen, Billy Kee would be ideal but he won't be for sale.

Lets see how we perform tomorrow before we get too carried away but I was very impressed with the way we looked a different team than Boxing Day by changing tactics and game plan and a few new faces, well done to them and Flitcroft.

Oh and County were one of the poorest sides I have seen right up till the last 5 mins, but was that because we made them look shit?

My word no wonder Forest fans call their fans Notts Clownty, they are a set of very bitter fans.

Losing to a "crap" side is inescapable in this league. Mop up the bitter  :)

I think he's a bit better than that. Oh, and you forgot the Royal...

Heard somebody mention in the ground yesterday that Vigs was dropped as it would have been his 100th game & there's an extra fee involved if we'd played him. Don't know how true that is mind.

 ;D

Didn't think much of them at their place either.
The crazy world of league 2 in 2017-18.  :headhurts:

So he's never gonna play again?

Possible, but I doubt it as some of the previous 99 games would have been during the initial loan in 15/16. We’d be stupid to put a clause to backdate appearances prior to a permanent transfer. That’s not to say such a clause doesn’t exist.

LP is not to everybody's liking but he's a shrewd man so I doubt it. It wouldn't surprise me if Vigs did go next month if the price was right though.

Not sure Notts "Russell King" County want to start chucking stones around in glass houses.

More likely he'l be moved on if there are any takers. Can't see any paying a significant fee for him.

can't see the point in having two seemingly able keepers. And I doubt Vigs wants to be there so...

I don't believe RCC is able!

Every keeper at this level is a shot stopper, you have to compare them on the rest of the game.

Did you see the Notts County game? RCC couldn't kick the ball to save his life, it was embarrassing to watch. Vigs is miles better at commanding his area and claiming the ball from crosses as well.

There is no contest as to which is better, Vigs is miles better. But we have a shit manager who can't manage characters or individuals so we are going to play on with lesser players in the team.

wasn't at Notts County, but in previous outings RCC kicking looked good..

both keepers have made mistake this season.

But I know Vigs can play better, consistently so.

I have no idea if RCC is at his peak, can play better or is going to slide.

As others have mentioned Vigs has been very ordinary this season, not got close to the heights of last season.  Don't think it's a coincidence that our better form this season has been when RCC has been in the team, was he not in goal for all games in the 6 match winning streak in October/November?

sorry if ive missed it elsewhere, but on the radio did flitcroft say that everton have been watching videos of our games and passing on advice?
anyone know what that's about?

I didn't hear that, but Flitcroft does have contacts high up. Maybe that has something to do with it? Or maybe they're thinking of sending players our way.

I'm just guessing, of course.

Not if they’ve looked at our videos, they won’t!

Personally i believe Vigs is comfortably the better of the two. But what you say is true. My problem with the above is ultimately its down to the manager to get the best out of the players. Flitcroft has one style and buys the players that should fit that style, which makes sense. He can't manage individuals as is seen in Vigs, its a weakness in his management. A good manager would get the best out of all the players. Take Goddard, we signed him on the back on a great conference season he had at Woking, he struggle in league one but certainly has ability, in some games he looked very good, i remember Charlton at home specifically. He should be a very good player at this level, he has the technique and skill to do what not many can in this shit league. Flitcroft isn't interested, no matter how hard he works. He makes positive noises to the media and fails to use them, much like Thomas (who would be right in amongst it now).

Its sad to me that we have a manager who is basically a bully and has little discernible interest in ball playing individuals, and just wants 10 runners, chasers, cloggers. If it gets us out of the league then fair enough some will say. This season is without doubt the worst i've witnessed in 30 years of following the town.

In my opinion last season was considerably worse than this. Total fucking bellends like boo and colkett. Sherwood etc. Williams being totally fucking clueless and dictator power letting it all happen. Last season was one of total fucking helplessness. We all knew what would happen and it did. Don't get me wrong I think flitcroft is a cliche pillock and the football has been shit but we are at least competing. I'm probably easily pleased but my expectation was top 10 outside play offs. Flitcroft had a hell of a job to lay the ghost of last season which was a total fucking joke and shambolic

If you go back 30 years which I make about 1987, we've had a number of sides way worse than this season's lot. Ok some of them were in a higher Div, like some of the McMahon offerings of the late 90's, the Admin sides of the early 00's.

You have to include context. McMahons dodgy teams played in what is now the championship, they would shit all over this team. How many worse sides have we had in Div 2?

League 2/Div 4? Or Championship/Div2?

Assuming div 4, I've only seen us here twice. Obviously the final edition of the PDC year can be excluded. Under Wise/Sturrock we had some average players, but we also had a few quality players that can turn a match too.

So out of those two teams, both of whom got promoted, this is the worst at this level.

But in relative terms, i.e. bad in context of the league they are in, I agree last years was worse.

The only manager’s head I’ve actually hollered for at a game was McMahon. You could see what was coming a mile off.

Luke was given no chance last season, what with Power’s way of doing things.

I did say some were in a higher Div, which should be taken into account, however take something like 97/98 McMahon side, latter season 3 wins in 25, only one at the CG , a comedy gold dire mid week game v Stoke.  Only scored about a dozen goals in that time, and only 2 once... a game about which I was reminiscing, with a TEFer of note in the week, away at Loftus Road with the late Alan MacDonald in goal as Fraser was wrongly went off.  The conversation was how sometimes laughter at the ineptitude is the only survival mechanism.

We used to run a sweep, what minute it would be for the first shot on target. It was usually deep into the second half if at all.  I'll take some convincing that McMahon's side would beat our present lot, especially if they could be convinced that playing at the CG was away in this case.

That side lost to non league Stevenage in the Cup at least when we did it this season they were a in the same league as us.

Conroy started the season over Robertson. Iandolo has started the past few games. Anderson has started most of the season since he's been here up front. Gordon and Elsnik get plenty of game time when they are fit. They aren't cloggers.

Think it's an unfair comment at best. I get the point - he definitely prefers a certain type of player but it's interesting that his preference of bigger players makes him a bully? We all know Vigs has an attitude problem - so not sure how this makes him a bully. Di Canio was lauded for this approach, and his was much more extreme. Does getting results make you less of a bully?

This will almost certainly be the lowest finish of my lifetime but I can think of seasons I enjoyed far less. Last season was a premium example. A team of ball players playing some of the worst, mistake ridden football I think I've ever seen.

Lots of good points here Tails.

Yesterday was the first time I'd seen us for a while. Back 3 still hoof it on every occasion, but beyond them, we actually played some pretty good stuff at times.

Vigs is clearly a rotten apple and it's certainly not DF's fault he's behaving like a prick again. He just needs to leave and have done with it. Think he'll end up back in London as back up for a L1 club.

I mean, I know the highlights don't paint a full picture, and theres no question we are more direct but take a look at this... Are we really that reliant on hit & hope? There's a few Town fans on Twitter who lament our lack of goal scoring / chance creation yet we are the top scorers away from home and last time I checked there was only 2 or 3 who've scored more overall. I get the negativity, I do... I walked out of the Luton game absolutely fuming but I just don't understand some of the hysteria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkLYJ7YGG-8

All our chances, ball is being played on the floor (bar the 2 set piece goals which we all know we are very good at)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtVqeUv0ns

Set peices again vital. But the deliveries (well, most of them) are quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkQOITt0bzM

Set peices... shock. But again, ball is being played accross the floor for the 1st goal and several chances we've had.

Which is why I, and some others, find the hoofball so frustrating. When we keep it down we look quite handy at times, but it still gets hoofed. Not only is it not pretty, but it also seems to be less effective. Although I admit to not having watched the last few games.

The problem is that whoever plays CB has no passing ability, so hoofing it is their only option. I presume the idea is to pick up the pieces further upfield and try and play our football from there rather than our own half.

If we had ball playing CBs we’d still be in Luke country.

Spot on, fella

I guess at lot depends on your age, but the pre-Macari Div 4 team we had was absolutely dire.

Just checked & in Jan 1984 we lost at home to Chesterfield 2-1 in front of a crowd of less than 4,000.
Our last home game of the season was a 2-0 home win (against Peterborough) in front of a crowd of under 2,000, we finished the season in 17th in Division 4.

So forgive me when I here the whining that this is the worst ever Town team for giving that look that your parents did when you had a tantrum as a kid.

We are four points off automatic promotion, with a game in hand half way through the season, some people need to get a fucking grip

Spot on !. Think time moves on so fast we forget about seasons with the likes of Beamish, Malpas and co. Or is it we're older and many youngsters have only been coming since PDC or Hoddle ??.  Seen many ups and downs since my first game in 1969, life is a roller coaster being a Swindon fan, hopefully we're now on the way back up.   COYR COYR