Thetownend.com

My dad's a Devon man and Exeter would have been his closest team. But this would be a good place to pick up a win, it'll be tough but I have a sneaking suspicion we'll rattle em. 2-0 town.

Predicted a win last week and stick to my guns.

We revert to type and get overrun - 3-1defeat

Brave... we haven't won a league game at Sid James's Park since 86. Then a nice 3-0.... a repeat would provide a certain symmetry, Yeovil 3-0, Argyle 3-0

Lingy played for Exeter that day, Lou was obviously impressed enough to sign him.

The big sporting event in Exeter tomorrow is the egg chasing, when the Chiefs take on Herman Munster. I'd hazard a guess if the capacity had not been reduced Devon and Cornwall OB, would not have allowed it to happen, what with the potential for Limerick, Waterford hurling rivalry overspilling on to the streets as we'd have probably taken 700,, some of whom would be Power loyalists.

Only the second league game I won't have gone to so far today, the other being Morecambe when I was in Spain.  That surely means a win.

Shame I can't make it today, only a handful left before I leave for France, Notts County should be the last I get to.

Hopefully Woolery can become an Exeter specialist.

The awful weather will make it an interesting, probably dreadful game. I'd be happy with a point

I see Exeter Chiefs are playing Munster at 3:15 in the Champions League egg chasing. I wonder if that may negatively affect the volume of crowd? Will certainly be interesting in the City centre!

2-0 loss today.

2-1 Town

Realistically,  think anything we can get out of this game will be a bonus.   Seems the more that Twine is played the more people rave about him,  I like him but feel up until now he has had too limited game time.   Is it time to throw him in at the deep end ?, we've got to take the gamble sooner or later, only problem is,  is that would Power sell him on at the first 'average' offer ?.
Anyway back today's game,  fair play to all those travelling in this weather,  especially those without tickets.
Hoping for a result,  Assuming he gets the chance, maybe a Twine hattrick, Got to keep the faith. C'mmon you reds !!..
 COYR COYR

Pre match proselytizing in George's Meeting House.
Too many rugger buggers in evidence today.

Maybe not that surprised to read that Exeter have never played above the 3rd tier.

The visit here back in March should still be fresh in PB's mind.
Hopefully he won't end up as the clot in the clotted cream.

A contrast in continuity today as well.
We might have 3 or 4 of the same starters from the last game.
They could have 6 or 7.

A steady draw would be very good.
Completing a Devon double would be excellent.

Is that a permanent move or a temporary work secondment?  Whereabouts?

And walking around Exeter certainly gets the circulation going.
Who the hell put all these hills in.  >:(

Exeter sit currently in 2nd place having lost just 2 games in the league so far (a 3-0 home defeat to Lincoln and a narrow 1-0 away loss to old manager Tisdales MKD) scoring 22 goals and conceding 12 in the process their league form this season is WWDWLLWWWDWD with their home form this season WDLWWW.

Their leading scorer so far this season is yet again Jayden Stockley with 8 league goals, (defender) Pierce Sweeney with 4 and the 2 well travelled players Jonathen Forte and Nicky Law on 3 each.

They have just one ex Swindon player in their squad, Lee Holmes the former Swindon loanee back 13 years ago.

The only Town player who has played for then is James Dunne who had 3 season with Exeter when they were in L1.

Luke McCormick will no doubt be barracked by the Exeter fans with songs about him being a murderer as he always has to face when playing them.

Over all in games between Swindon and Exeter Swindon have the upper hand with a 58% win rate with 40 wins 29 draws and 26 defeats.

In matches between the 2 sides at St James Park we have a 46% win rate with 14 wins 16 draws and 19 defeats since our first match there in 1920.

Exeter have only beaten us 3 times in the last 17 matches there although the last one was last season in a 3-1 defeat early in Browns reign.

Rumours are that Doughty and Nelson could return to the squad giving Brown a full compliment of players for the first time in his Swindon career what with Conroy and Woolery coming through Tuesdays game, whether any of those 4 will start is a different matter. Woolery must be eager to start having scored against them in both fixtures last season for us.

We have been so inconsistant this season with some great wins on our travels at Yeovil and Plymouth yet some awful defeats such as the ones at Crewe and Lincoln.

The weather down this way today is wet and very windy so that will probably mean that our outlet of long balls from McCormick may not be ideal and we will be forced into playing it on the deck all game.

Exeter fans on their forum are super confident with almost all of them predicting a very very easy win for Exeter, with 4 goal wins mentioned. The last time home fans were that confident was the Yeovil fans and look what happened there ;)

For a localish club I have never been to Exeter for a game.

We're gonna kick ass today

I work in a ski resort in the winter, will be the 14th year I've been doing it.  I'm up in Val Thorens, highest resort in Europe, working in the highest official Guinness pub in the world.

You aren't missing much, been there probably 10 times to see Town and Town reserves play, the away end was one of THE worst in the league with about 3 or 4 steps and no cover, as of 2 weeks time they have bought one of Barnets old stands to go behind the goal, its about 6 steps high but now has a roof will increase the away allocation from the currently measly 350 while work is done to about 1,200 afterwards.

Oh and because its an international weekend I understand that the game is availble to UK followers on iFollow for £10 today, no VPN needed etc etc.

The last time I went to Exeter for a game v Town (in fact the only time Ive been to St James Park) was for a midweek game, can't remember if it was a cup or a league game,  but one thing I do remember is pre match drinks in a pub in town, drinking Flowers bitter,  went down ok, but gave me the shits for days.

Used to love a pint of Flowers Original on draught, never affected me like that.

Theres a pub about 50 yards from the away end called the St Anne's Well that always serves a good beer and accepts away fans, could have been there.

Id normally be happy with a point. Now, though, I find myself wanting 3 points, away to the team in 2nd, to make up for recent shitness.

....and probably the tallest person there!!

I always thought Flowers was rank... probably decent in its original form, but was Whitbread by another name.  An early example of corporate take over of a traditional small English brewery, the sort of thing that nearly finished ale in England, until the CAMERA fightback.

I wasn't going to bother watchin Tuesdays mickey mouse game but I am glad I did, we played as well as we did at Yeovil, the defence looked quite solid with 3 instead of the normal 2 CB's considering it was Conroys 1st game in weeks and Romanski was the ages of the back 5 were 22, 22, 21, 19 and 18 and they played better than the back 5 defence under Flipflop which averaged nearer 34 last season.

Not sure if PB will risk 3 CB's again or go back to the 2 as normal, could be harsh on Iandolo to drop him as well after he ran Plymouth defence ragged putting in lots of crosses.

I also doubt Woolery will get a start even though he looked sharp and fast and eager when he came on.

Tough decisions for PB to make today, Exeter are certainly beatable as Lincoln showed down there a few weeks back but most fans would be happy with a draw really against a side in 2nd place.

Wins (even in THAT cup) breed confidence and even the defeat at Crewe and the draws with Northampton and Oldham we played some good football but with no end product.

If we can improve the quality of the ball into the box (as Iandolo did Tuesday) and actually taking a shot when we can then we can beat any team in this league.

Ah, we get a lot of dutch folks in, some of them have a good few inches on me (oo, er).

The last pint of Flowers I had on draught was probably 1988 TBF.

Now I know where the "Kinky" comes from ;)

 :D

We had a week in Roermond in Limburg in August and my word some of those Dutchlanders are bloody tall, something in the water, has to be!

There were other brews which I didn't much like... for example Courage, used to drive past the Reading brewery on the M4, and it looked like something you'd find in Port Talbot, connected to the petro chemical industry.... tasted like it too.

Why I've always had a bit of time for Arkells, the brewery looks proper. They've managed to go with the times, yet still kept some tradition.

When I lived in Pompey, it was Brickwoods territory, I got there just in time for the Whitbread takeover, it used to be reckoned that Pompey had more pubs per head of population than anywhere else in GB.  Brickwoods had a house style of building,  often there seemed to be a pub on every street corner.  

I did like the days of the 60's, when you knew where you were in the country by the pub signs of the local brewers who all had their patch.  On leaving Pompey, you'd enter Gale's of Horndean going east, or Gibbs Mew up towards Sarum.

Used to love a pint of Bishops Tipple when it was brewed by Gibbs mews, until Waddys ruined it.

I remember the Courage Brewery alongside the M4, never touched normal Courage but enjoyed a pint of Directors, but again we are talking 20 years ago before they changed it.

It's so easy to get caught out by a much loved traditional brew, which has gone corporate and so just retains the name, so usually an inferior product. In the early 80's, I'd go to visit the outlaws in Hertfordshire, and there was a decent country pub, just on the edge of Greene King territory.... a pint of Abbott was a treat.  Little did I know that within a few short years they'd swallow up Morland's and Morrell's amongst others, and become the major player.

Maybe wrong but I thought Bishops Tipple was made by Sheppard Neame in Kent ?.

Sorry, think I'm mixing it up with Bishops Finger !.

Very much so, my all time favourite beer was Ruddles County, not even sure if its still made but when Ruddles brewery was sold to Greene King it turned to shit.

Mixing your Bishops there!

Beer is beer.

Drink and be merry!

pretty much like most other beers they've got their hands on,  still enjoy a pint of speckled hen or golden hen, seems like they haven't got round to ruining them yet.  Doombar seemed to change ònce the yanks took it over a llittle while back but seems to be back to its best. Probably  played with the 'recipe' trying to reduce costs but realised their mistake.

Indeed.

There's no such thing as bad beer,  just some are better than others !.

You never tried McEwans Lager then?

It's 120 miles away! Is Stoke (125 miles) localish too?

My old geography teacher once asked in class.

"What's the difference between a pint of Watneys and making love in the bottom of a boat?"

"None, they are both like fucking water!"

I like how a matchday thread has morphed into a beer discussion. ;)

I've also imagined talking in a lilting Irish accent, on a weekend jolly, in the hope that our fixture will be the more important one today, involving European competition with an attendance over 10k.

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is a league where the vast majority of clubs have experienced the Conference.
And the longer we stay here, the liklier that a visit to Dover et al becomes.

#witheringonthevine

Only 26 miles for me, I am allowed to call it Local :D but yes I agree, many fans think of Plymouth as a localish derby too, it really isn't.

Some of the best wines come after the grapes are allowed ot wither on the vine before picking, such as Spätlese ;)

I'll bow to your superior knowledge on that one.  :)

The invasion of a city centre by lots of Irish people does add to the atmosphere while making it difficult to find a seat in a pub!

Exeter can be like that an Saturday afternoon I have found, I go there probably oince every 2 weeks or so as its my nearest city. Georges Meeting House is a nice 'Spoons, but I would also highly recommend "The Beer Cellar just round the corner from the Cathedral on South Street, small but nice beers.

Apparently it's been a bumper year for grapes in Blighty becasue of the hot summer, can't say I've ever knowingly drunk a commercial English wine... perhaps a good time to start.

The Beer Cellar is where I am now!
Good place. Sat outside watching the world go by.

A good day out beforehand always lessens the pain in the event of a crap performance.
Hopefully Woolery will play like a man possessed.
Last half hour from the bench maybe.

Er,  interesting selection...

3 at the back? Adebeyo dropped. Twine and Smith in...


Adver Sports Desk
‏ @AdverSport
2m2 minutes ago

TEAM NEWS: @Official_STFC v @OfficialECFC (3-5-2): McCormick; Woolfenden, Conroy, Lancashire; Knoyle, Diagouraga, Smith, Anderson, Taylor; Twine, Richards
Substitutes: Henry, Nelson, Dunne, McGlashan, Alzate, Adebayo, Woolery. #stfc
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes

3 at the back. Adebayo dropped. Richards and Twine up top.

Weird.

Richards must have some photos. How bad does he have to be to get the boot?

Ditto Lancashire

Interesting.... I thought PB would go with something a bit more basic, but he seems to have been suckered in by the meaningless mid week game. 

Common sense would say this probably isn't a game for such experimentation, and it won't end well.

Glad Smith is back instead of Dunne, he had a good game Tuesday, surprised to see Twine starting and always surprised to see Richards instead of Bayo.

Come too soon for Doughty it seems and I am sure we will end the game with Bayo and Woolery as the front 2.

Iandolo must have pissed in Browns tea after his performance on Tuesday to not even be on the bench.

TBH if you saw the game on Tuesday you may not be saying that, we set up well and the formation worked very well and I don't blame him for trying it again against the 2nd best side in Devon.

Incredibly bizarre lineup.

Agree. Its not that I particularly think (e.g.) Smith shouldn't be in instead of Dunne. Its just really odd that he's made some of the changes he has given they haven't really had a sniff until Tuesday.

Not saying it won't work, that freshening things up can't spur a squad on with competition for places. But find it odd.
----
Nice touch from Exeter, playing XTC over the tannoy :)

The biggest problem with Brown is he can't pick our best team. He makes fucking bizarre decisions and then spends the game trying to correct them, as he admitted the other week when he played Dunne right back and Iandolo for Doughty. Every fucking week i think he's finally going to get to the team most fans see as being the best, but no. Twine has done nothing to deserve being in the team, Richards has been horse shit for weeks, yet Adebayo has to sit on the bench?! Alzate has been our most creative player without Doughty, so yep, to the bench with you!

Hope this team proves me wrong today, but i don't see where the goals are coming from in that line up. Smith for Dunne in the usual 4-3-3 would have made sense, but playing him instead of Alzate when we have five defenders on the pitch, and now 2 deep midfielders with 2 forwards who don't look like scoring.

At least the formation gives Taylor a chance.  Brown has probably taken onboard the supply line this formation created on Tuesday.  Twine also looked sharp, much better at keeping possession as well, he gets fouled a lot.  The goal from Richards probably kept him in, would have preferred Adebayo upfront with Twine, but that is a strong looking bench.

I like that line up, id probably bring in Nelson and Bayo but other than that I think it looks strong.

One of our own in for a loanee.
A problem?

Plenty of options from the bench if things don't go according to plan.

But why does he have to get it wrong before he gets it right? It’s a recurring theme.

I have a large crop of grapes this year from my vines in my garden, they are all being made into wine.
The hot summer made a massive difference, as does making your own wines, compaired to commercial shop bought product.
English wines are excellent, often much better than continental and new world wines, but a tad expensive.
This has no bearing on today's game, which I have a feeling, looking at the line up will live or die dependent on whether we concede an early goal. Loyal supporter in me wants a win. realist thinks another defeat.

Think we should wait and see if he's got it wrong.

Good work.... do you have any recommendations of type, I really have no idea?  My instinct says that white is likely better than red.

White/sparkling is the normal 'good' English wine, but they reckon they even got good red from  this summer. So the bloke on radio 4 said anyway..

Happy with Smith coming in, not so happy with Abebayo not playing.

Bit of a stretch to call it a 'bizarre' line up.

Happy with Smith for Dunne, as he is a better player. Also no argument with formation change, although will be interesting to see whether it suits Taylor or not. At his age it's asking a lot to play the wing back role and  Landolo is clearly unlucky to miss out based on his performance at Plymouth. This is a  big chance for Scotty Twine but surprised Adebayo is missing out based on what he has contributed thus far. Brown is clearly a big fan of Richards and  hoping his faith in him pays off.  At least it appears a very strong bench with good options, with Doughty still to return.

I'm sorry but that line up has disaster written all over it.Happy to be proved wrong

I've got two demijohns of white wine from our white garden grapes bubbling away merrily.

I don't like Brown's starting lineup today, but we'll just have to see.  The bench is probably as strong as I can ever remember.

There's lots of English vinyards including e beckett's out side of devizes.
I feel I must agree with your instincts and go white for English.
On the Red wine front the more you pay for a bottle the better, those supermarket reduced from £8 to £4-99 ones are nasty. Many of the redwines arrive in a tanker and are flavoured and bottled in the UK! they are then sold as a country of origin wine, full of sulphates which is what gives you such a bad hangover.
Organic red wine is much more pleasant. But wines that are produced in the traditional manner and bottled at source (like the ones that taste excellent when your on holiday) are always worth sourcing.

is that their new stand opposite the tv cam?

Typical iFollow, no sound at all.

yup ifollow.. crap

Yes mate and behind the goal, the little terrace taken from Barnet.

There must surely be a legal obligation on ifollow to provide a certain standard of service? Especially considering we have not other options available to us.

LMC tries coming to get a ball that should have been kicked into touch and nearly costs us a goal.

Dont be silly! Thats common sense :D

Sound on now, all crackly though. Anyone elses the same?

ow my ears. but sounds on!

it's clear here tans

Working now

Awful high pitch squeel to start with but sound perfect now for me.

Corner to Town from a Knoyle cross.

Rubbish corner from Taylor.

Town havent got their passing game together yet, lots of missplaced passes.

corners 1
hit first man 1

Anderson shoots from 25 yards easy save.

Toums gives the ball away easily 25 yards out. Free kick to them.

Exeter playing a pressing game when we have the ball and getting crosses into our box at every opportunity.

Scrappy game from both sides so far, no player really standing out yet.

Exeter look most likely atm

got to stop Holmes. He's getting it too easily

Ex Town player Holmes putting a couple of good crosses into our box but both were well over the head of Stockley.

0-1

oh ffs. stupidly easy goal

Wow, awful defending. Special needs stuff

1-0 Exeter. Deserved

Long hoof from their own half, poor finish trickled into the bottom corner, should have been intercepted.

Game had been fairly even so far, Exeter created slightly more but we are not passing well so far today.

I hoped the win on Tuesday wod give us some momentum.  Clearly not! Rubbish defending.

Lancashire and Taylor couldnt decide who was going for the ball then Woolf couldnt get over to cover in time, soft finish.

Taylors last 2 corners have been a bit better but still nobody to put a head onto the ball.

Great cross from Taylor but Richards not close enough as it goes just wide.

Richards with a golden chance there.

Twine pushed off the ball, that was a definate foul just outside the box.

x2

Toums great pass to Richards who fluffs the finish with just the keeper to beat.

We're not paying badly despite the poor defending for the goal.

Anderson pushed off the ball, some poor reffing there again, hes a homer.

It's just not happening for him at the moment is it?

last 10 minutes we've played quite well

Exeter are little threat TBH, we look better than them now we are passing better.

nope

Another good Town move but Smith overhits the cross.

Exeter have no pace at the back at all, Taylor and Knoyle have the beating of both fullbacks all the time.

Toums coming into the game a lot more now with some super passing.

The ref is giving us nothing.

Taylor cross shot just over their bar.

Good cross from Knoyle but twine can't direct his header in the 6 yard box.

The commentator saying the wind is blowing into our faces this half, its pretty obvious we have the wind behind us from hos the ball is staying in the air when Exeter hoof it out of defence.

Twine wins a free kick 30 yards out.

Taylor hits high from the free kick.

Nearly a good pass from Anderson but Twine doesn't have the pace to get to it on the wing.

Knoyle cross wins us yet another corner.

Taylors corner was dire.

Richards cant control the throw in and it goes out for a throw to them, Richards playing quite poor again.

Lancashire long cross goes just over the head of Richards who can't jump inside the box.

Toums and Anderson controlling midfield now for Town.

Holmes their biggest threat up against Taylor.

Exeters keeper with some terrible long passing today.

Anderson brought down near the touchline 35 yards out.

Anderson good free kick, poor punching by their keeper who looks a flapper, good chance.

Great move by Town, cross from Knoyle cant beat the first defender in a great position.

0-1 HT.

Since the goal been almost all Swindon.

In control this half, cock up apart.  Exeter unable to play into the wind.  2nd half?

Goal aside, we've been the better team so far.

Exeter don't look much of a threat at all other than Holmes. Game definately nowhere near over.

Exeter fans booing their own keeper :D

We played quite well after they scored.
We shouldn't be losing.
But we are.


Their goal was shit, other than the finish. Big punt up field by the keeper. Over Preston (and his man) and Wolfie didn't get close enough to stop his man from a nice flick.

I would definately bring Bayo on for Richards and probably a bit later on Woolery on for Twine, Exeter can't cope at all when we run at them and Woolery will certainly do that!

Richards not doing much, they said his header went wide but I watched it again and he didn't connect with Taylors cross, the miss from Toums through ball though was very poor he should have done better from 12 yards with just the keeper between him and the goal.

Richards currently not repaying the faith PB has shown in him. Pretty decent half overall but not effective in either box. Against the wind in second half, expect Woolery, Adebayo and Alzate to feature if still behind after an hour.

That’s must have been one hell of a kick...

Oh DV, not a Preston joke, thought you were better than that...

Twine gave up for a second or 2 and then started running again and nearly got it, if he ran all the way he could have got to it.

Surely more to with him no longer being a Town player?

And the ref gives them a free kick straight away, whats a surprise.

Corner conceded.

Lancashire turns attack into defence with one easy 40 yard backpass.

Either I’ve been whooshed myself or
....senility?

Bad mistake by Knoyle giving the ball away and Woolf can't tackle but luckily Forte cant finish and hits well wide from the edge of the box, terrible finish.

Taylor nice cross scrambled away by Exeter.

Good cross from Koyle but Twine cant direct the header. Goes well wide.

Lovely move by Anderson and Taylor good cross knocked over the bar.

Twine off Alzate on.

Cross from Anderson headed well wide by Woolf.

great pass from Smith, Knoyle half volleys a cross shot off the outside of the post from 15 yards.

haha, what a dick I am. I meant Conroy. sleep required!

Taylor hoofs a clearance 40 yards up the pitch that the wind brings it back almost the whole distance.

Town still taking the game to Exeter despite playing against the wind.

Good cross in by Exeter and Stockley heads well over when it looked easier to score. He was falling backward as he connected.

I would only take Stockley and Holmes if we had a chance out of the Exeter side.

Anderson pulled back by Boateng, free kick 30 yards out fairly central.

Taylor hoofs it well over the stand.

Bayo coming on for Smith.

Woolery for Richards would be my last sub.

Not sure what Toums was doing there but that was an awful long pass!

Corner to them.

Headed out by Conroy, another corner.

2-0

Against the run of play.

Classic Swindon

fucks sake. that's how you do it. 2-0. game over

Brown subbed too early.  We'd been on top.

Struggling to defend a corner again.  Not good enough.

This is painful.

Give Woolery some game time for the totally inefective Richards.

Town had most of the possession yet no killer edge, scoring for me is more of a problem than defending, although we do struggle with balls played into the box still.

BROWN OUT

Disallowed goal by them.

lucky there

The manager’s got to go.

I woke up this morning and gave serious consideration - thankfully for only a few mins - to a 280 mile round trip today.  New ground etc.  Anyway, bullet dodged.

Woolery on for Richards....at fucking last.

Woolery wins a corner with his first touch.

If Brown's going to sod off to Hull, quite honestly I'd rather he went sooner rather than later.  Too many changes made today and not the right ones.  Doesn't seem to know which is his best team and perserveres with players who aren't performing.

Woolery wins another corner, hes done more in 5 mins since coming on that Richards has all game.

Woolery stumbles over the ball in the box from the corner and can't find a red shirt. Should have shot.

Wiltshire Sound raving about Holmes who was mediocre for us under DeCanio. Trouble is you cannot give someone like him a good whack anymore.

Taylor has been run ragged by Lee Holmes today.

Taylor is more one footed than Long John Silver.

He was poor in his 2nd spell but his first spell in 2004 he was brilliant, been the real difference between the sides today.

We've had one shot on goal all game, a tame one at that.

This is becoming the norm.

Andersons long ranger and Richards 1 on 1 with the keeper so thats 2.

Conroy and Woolf get in a spin and Stockley nearly capalizes.

Conroy leaves ball for Stockley to shoot.

And Norris scores again for Colchester.........

I really thought we had a good enough manager and squad to get out of this shitty division this year. I can’t believe we’re going to have to get used to the idea of spending a fourth fucking season at this level.

I have said it since pre season when I was shouted down by some, we need a goal scorer. You don't win games by not scoring.

We seem to want to walk the ball into the net ala Williams team, we don't shoot when we get the chance, no player is willing to pull the trigger. We get fairly good shooting chances in every game, often several, but we don't shoot.

Richards is not the solution up front, neither is Twine.

Time for Brown to change it up front from the start and get the players to shoot when they get a chance, Exeter have a weak keeper who flaps at a lot yet we still didn't test him from distance, especially with the wind behind us 1st half.

Anderson and Alzate both can dribble but neither want to shoot when they have a good opening in front of them.

We don't score enough goals, simple.

Really? Should never have been given the job given his 10 games last season. For whatever reason he got another chance. The squad is not balanced, a lot of new faces and options in midfield but lacking that forwards and full backs. Overall the team looked better than last year though. Unfortunately Brown is not getting out of this team what he should. He picks the wrong players all the time.

We have a good enough squad, albeit maybe lacking goals upfront.

Brown's record with us is ATROCIOUS. Really bad. He could be forgiven for his record last season but he's no excuses this season. It's too soon yet to get rid but you have to wonder what Power's thinking. Where does he draw the line?

FT 0-2.

Brown is beginning to grip my shit with his weird starting XIs - Richards and Twine? WTF?

We’ve got a good enough squad for the POs - but not a good enough manager.

Get rid.

Totally agree with this.  Talks the talk, but is failing to deliver.

A manager knows they're in trouble when they lose the TEF.

Don't like to be right but that was a shocking team selection in so many ways.

32 yrs ago, my parents moved to Swindon.  They could have moved anywhere.  Damn you, parents.

To be fair, they never asked me to fall for the local football club a few yrs later.  That was all my doing.  But if I could have a quiet word with my younger self...

Yep. I think most (not all) of us here are quite patient and reasonable. When the TEF starts to turn, it means the manager is really not doing well.

We obviousy don't see what what goes on in training and don't know about fitness level but some of Browns starting teams have been a bit weird, he doesn't seem to be playing his strongest side and his tactics at times seem to be holding us back.

I still think and hope he can turn it around but as FH says his record with us is pretty shit.

I will give him 2 more games now he has a full fit squad and if Hull come knocking I would take the money and run.

Pre game I was 100% behind him, I thought we had enough about us to get a result, now I am no more than 75% behind him and each game that will go down until we string together 3 or 4 wins in a row, or 3 wins and a draw.

pretty spot on.

If only :) :)

Simple thing is we aren't quite good enough. I know Exeter are one of the better teams in this league, but surely we should be aspring to the same.

My opinion is we aren't quite good enough up top, especially with Richards misfiring. And the defence while improved from the start of season isn't good enough to compensate. On his own Alzate doesn't look like being the creative influence we need but hopefully Doughty will help out there. Its like a not quite complete squad.

AS for this game, Exeter were better with the wind behind them second half. But the fact is we should have been level at half time, and could have been 2-1 up. You can't waste the chances against a well organised team.

The pressure will start to build on Brown a bit now. Especially if we lose to Mansfield. But he may not care too much if the Hull takeover goes through.

nailed a 114/1 six game accumulator but Town screw up the enjoyment as usual.

We’ve suddenly got so crap as an attacking force (last week’s training game aside). Has Brown lost the plot? We’re not a million miles away from competing but we seem so mid table this season. We need Doughty back ASAP.

Time traveling glory hunter
(got a spare seat?0

I always put our score first as its the most important ;)
Exeter may be one of the better teams in the table but we more than matched them most of the game, they are nothing special, and thats why defeat hurts so much. They really are not that good, they just have Holmes and Stockley, a decent crosser of the ball and a decent striker who will get you 25 goals a season, which I have said for ages we need.

Richards should be sent out to stud and release his wages for someone willing to run and shoot.

Tbh, none of us were really expecting a win today. Woolery looks ready to start and should start in place of Richards. Lancs is a liability hopefully Nelson will be in place of him.

I'd drop Lancs, Richards & Twine for Nelson, Crazy & Woolery. Maybe if Doughty is ready he can replace Smith.

I'm not going to band the wagon like some and start saying PB needs to go. If anything we don't know what PB and Power have planned for the transfer window. Obviously we need strengthening up front and at LB but other than that it's actually a matter of the lads bringing it all together. Which they can do. We're a bit like MK Franchise when we used to play them in L1. Inconsistent. One game great another dire. Yet it is L2 and it's fucking difficult.

I notice the one post wonders of StefTroll and Processed Meats were back with their usual bollocks. Joined by another, suddenly bashing Brown. It's as if they wait for a loss and pounce. Many slate Reg for being negative but at least he gives his opinion some substance. Even if he does enjoy a little trolling on occasion.

Anyhow, we lost a game we expected to lose to a team in 2nd. Frustrating as it is because yet again there wasn't a lot in the sides. Someone like Simon Cox wouldn't have been a bad addition to this team. Any kind of goal sniffer will do. As we keep saying, chuck Bayo in the middle ad fucking drop Richards for a bit.

Once the impulse reactions have settled down, look at the table and a win and can put us joint 8th with Forest Green who lost for the first time in the league.

Quite annoying that.  Nothing much between the sides bar defending really.  We switch off too often and get punished as a result.

I had hoped that the change in formation would help Taylor but all it did was show his form to be reality, not good enough anymore.  Him and Lancashire together is a recipe for disaster, and an obvious outlet so often ruined.

Very frustrating knowing the players are, as a whole, good enough, but the sum of the parts is somehow less.  Smith was looking composed, I thought, and taking him off opened up the midfield making us less structured and it gradually got worse thereafter in possession.

Brown has to take the blame for us underperforming.  To be this far into a season and not seemingly knowing the best way to set the team up is a worry.  He must see the issues with the three elder statesmen in the team, yet he persists in fitting them in.  He is juggling players with no obvious benefit.

Adebayo showed to me why he is better wide today, he gets very lost in the middle.  Woollery is looking sharp though and the first 60 minutes today Anderson looked good.  Maybe you stick Woollery upfront and play those two off him either side and let them roam.  Drop Lancashire, revert back to a four and possibly see if Iandolo can play left back, risky though.  None of our back three looks clever enough to play the system is my worry, and Taylor is just giving so little bare the odd free kick.  You can then get Alzate back in with Diagarouga and Smith behind him.

The day we begin starting games in awe of Exeter, and lose sight of the reality that we are in Division 4 - that's when we're finally doomed to a future of nothing.

I honestly thought that Brown could be our ticket back (at least) to League 1.  So disappointing.  Are Hull sure about this?

Yep. I’ve been supportive of him as, overall, the ‘spectacle’ has been better. The last half dozen games, though, has got us back into Flitcroft territory.

His stubborn reliance on both Richards and Taylor, trying Dunne as a FB, and today’s team selection have made my mind up.

Lumber to the Humber, Brown.

I'm being a dick (shock) but may I present to you exhibit 638a: Luke Williams  :soapy tit wank:

I can only assume they have a raffle at Friday training to sort out the team selection  :(
I know nothing and have only been to the first game of the season, but laughed out loud at today's team selection.
Time to go.............

Attendance 4,506  330 Town fans with several hundred in the home end according to the Exeter forum.

Exeter fans views...

Why should employing one useless fuckwit excuse another

But they had the quality to put it in one net, and keep it out the other.

We looked nice on the ball if occasionally a bit pedestrian with it. But I maintain we are missing a bit of quality to make us contenders.

The playoffs are still a realistic and achievable aim. But I am so disappointed I'm nowhere near being confident of making them.

I'm referencing the length of time Power took to sack Luke Williams....too fucking long. Think PB deserves more time as he's better than Williams. On measure, if Power has learnt anything then PB probably has until about December.

Fell asleep for the first goal, played some neat stuff but zero end product. Richards would have put away one of his 2 good chances last season, just seems he’s gone to me. Nelson has to play if fit, desperately need Doughty back and although I’d prefer to see Bayo in instead of Richards, he did nothing when we came on.  Anyone who thinks someone approaching his 37th Birthday is going to do a job at wing back is dilluded and that includes the manager!

Lincoln who are pissing the Div, have Akinde as leading scorer with 4, the same as Bayo.

And they play as a team, Exeter who are not a good team (as we aren't) have Stockley who has 9.

if we had a striker who had 9 already then we would be in the top 3 too.

And anyway Akinde is on 5 ;)

It's a sad state of affairs when Iandolo is being tipped ahead of Taylor. Of course in a role higher up the field this could work but not as a straight swap as Iandolo is not an out and out LB...trouble is, neither is Taylor.

We need a LWB.

YouTube for Brown

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1EeCxBJbAfo

Brown-

Difficult to accept the performance on Tuesday arguably better opposition v today's unacceptable performance. (they lost to Oxford you fuckwit, they're crap)

Our underbelly of the team got exposed by a solid div 2 team. Lack of aggression up front, blah blah. Kept the same formation and only 3 changes from what worked Tuesday...

Its not about systems, you can play what you want to play but you have to make it work and we didn't do that.

Consistency - babbles something about an "underlying cancer" last year where we had 9 players in the changing room. Babbles something about Exeter and budget and not being a young team any more. Goes on about Tuesday again...

We pass the ball better when teams let you pass around the area when  they are 2-0 up. Talks about it being rubbish as we couldn't get the end product with our passing - it was abysmal. Talks of Ricco not putting chances away after doing so well Tuesday. Talks of Exeter pressing us in final third which was good for them.

Doughty "very close", Nelson still has niggle.

Reiterates final third rubbish - shooting, passing, crossing...

You've got to keep experimenting until you get your best 11 out there. Exeter have done that over the years, and we will keep doing that until we get it right..
-------------
er, I'm not overly impressed with that.

A big positive today was making the 17:24 out of Exeter.

We are currently scoring exactly the same number of goals on average per game as we did under Williams(1.1) also conceding the almost the same (1.3 compared to LW 1.4 per game).

PB win ratio is 29% and Williams was only just under 27%.

Thats not great, thats not even average under any circumstance.

We are so close to a decent side as several people have said but we can't defend very well and we can't score, the 2 major parts of football.

‘Got to keep experimenting’

Jesus wept. Any old cunt can keep experimenting until, by the law of percentages, he hits upon a winner.

He’s supposed to be an experienced manager. He should have his own ‘way’, recruit appropriately and coach his methods into the players.

What a tool.

4 league goals, that's the currency that interests me.

Atm you'd have to say that we're pretty much about where expected after the pre season sqaud building.... not as strong as last season, 3 fewer wins and 5 fewer points at the same stage, and not really replacing Norris and Mullin, creating the impression that scoring could be a problem.

However, in Div 4 you just need to find a winning run and it can change quickly.  Morecambe who looked a very good bet for relegation are now 4 points adrift of us, after 3 wins and a draw in 5.

Although were in a poor run of form, we don't yet look like a side that will get involved in the Conference trap door scrap. The home game after Stags, v Cambridge, may become significant as Mansfield are hard to beat.

 :nod:

https://youtu.be/LQiOA7euaYA

We're 13 games in. There's no way he should still be experimenting 13 games in.

Points in case, two key players Nelson and Doughty we are currently missing. They are massive for us. Those two back in, reinforcements in January and it could all be different. Richards certainly needs a rest. Taylor knows he needs a rest and at least comes out and speak to the media. If this is the worse it gets, then better things are to come.

Experimenting - Isn't that what the training ground is for?

I think PB means in the sense of players being injured/suspended. Tbh he sounded flustered and probably wasn't thinking straight. More likely just as pissed off as us. I don't know why but i'm certain he'll get it right...a stated a small run of wins and things could look very different.

Ahh fuck it, i'm off for a beer  :pint:

I agree, we should have some flexibilty in formations, being able to go from 433 to 451 to 352 etc but not experimenting.

Today, again, he picked the wrong starting 11, which 99% of fans who have watched the games recently can see.

But part of that could be because of fitness/formation/training/moods of players/management, we don't know as there are a lot more factors than just picking your best side.

What does bother me is the constant playing of Richards, Lancashire and Taylor who all play below the standard required too often, lack of consistancy in 3 of our most experienced players yet he still picks them.

The players, whether they are told or its of their own volition choose to walk the ball in rather than shooting too often (all the time) or they looks to draw a foul from defenders giving us free kicks around the box or penalties, most referees have sussed that out and when we do win a free kick it is 95% of the time a rubbish shot by Taylor. He must have a success rate of about 1 in 20 this season with his 2 goals.

Richards can't head, can't shoot, refuses to jump, has no pace any more, he looks tired and disinterested this season.

Lancashire played a bit better today but was at fault for at least the first goal with his indecision at the back, as he has all season.

Brown please just drop under performing players and bring those in who WANT to play.

That's the bit I wasn't impressed with.

He does spot the same issue we do too. But fixing them isn't easy.

The bloke is a massive idiot.

He failed in his 10-game or so stint last season. He failed to sign the right players at either end of the pitch in the Summer. He has failed to make a good start to this season. He is failing now at winning enough football games.

Get rid.

Come on then, whose your chosen messiah

Jesus of Nazareth

Now that, is, the $64k question. As I see it it does beg the question given the budget is there another manager who can make a silk purse out of a sows ear?

Come on then, whose your chosen messiah


Not Brian?

Jebus

There's no way with our current  chairman we'll ever did deep to get a quality manager. Another promotion from within the club or a freebee unwanted manager. I don't want to sound to negative but Mid table Div 2 is where we're staying if we don't drop out of the league.

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I (we?) can excuse Browns atrocious record at the back end of last season. Not his team, not playing his type of football.

He has been given the summer to change that.

It comes across like he’s just flinging shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. He doesn’t know his best 11 and he doesn’t know his best formation.

13 games in and despite the changes we are no better off results wise.

That alone should be enough to put him under pressure. We need a consistent team selection and formation which doesn’t include Richards (past it) or Twine (won’t make it)

Will be interesting to see what the clubs ambitions are. I’d like to think mid table div 4 is not it.
Things need to improve soon otherwise we need to consider a change of management (not Taylor)

If he were to go, I’d love us to take a punt on Luke Garrard.

I think we know that.... Power is happy enough to be a FL club, Div 4 is just fine. 

The next game v Mansfield who are undefeated on the road is very difficult, you wouldn't really expect more than a point at best, it will be the Cambridge game that becomes important just about must win.

A retiring player/manager, or an up and coming manager from the lower leagues.

We've been down the experienced manager route twice now and it's not worked. Experienced managers that have the ability we need will not want to manage a 4th tier club. Unless we throw a fuck-ton of money at them, which isn't going to happen. There's a chance of finding a real gem in the untried manager option.

Thing's are really not looking good for Brown if we're having this discussion already. He's still got time to turn it around but it surely won't be long before Power's breathing down his neck, if he isn't already.

Having said that, it was only 4? league games ago that we looked so good against Yeovil. Some were (rightly, in my opinion) talking about the autos. At that point I was thinking we were looking good but lacking consistency.

 I do think these discussions are a tad premature.

I think PB has been in the game long enough to be able to cope with and understand 'impulse fan reaction' straight after a loss. My angle is, last season we were pretty shit and just missed out on play-offs. This season we're a little bit better than shit. Tbf to PB, he hasn't had his fully fit first XI available to him yet. It looks like now though that it is about nearly there. If Sid, Doughty and Woolery are fit then they must play v Mansfield. It'll be as close to his strongest XI he'll have been able to have fielded. The midfield effectively picks itself. Can't see Richards starting v Mansfield unless he gets on his knees and takes PB. Defensively he needs to drop Lancs for Sid. Not anyone else. A three of Sid, Conroy & Woolf should be enough. With Knoyle and Taylor/Iandolo (yep I know) on the right and left defensive flanks respectively. Midfield three of Dave, Doughty Keshi (free role), Crazy and Woolery up top.

6pts from Mansfield and Cambridge...suddenly those calling for the noose on PB will be a little more positive. One would hope.

I'd still give him until December (ish). If we've dwindled further then his position may be more untenable. Right now though is silly. If we've improved and challenging POs/Autos then go into Jan and reinforce the squad at LB and FW. The argument from some would be 'why bother if we're playing well?'. OF course there is nothing worse than a complacent player. Signing are needed right now but even if we are playing well...bring signings in to keep them on their toes. Anything but midfielders...we have plenty of them ;)

Wrongly, if you were talking Autos.

Fed up of getting in ‘managerial merry go round’ managers.

Someone fresh every time

Fresh managers are far more appealing to me.

It could be disastrous, but it could also be magical. You're very unlikely to get magical with a merry go round manager. Mid-table mediocrity is far more likely. That's why they're managing at this level at all. Experienced managers at this level have already proven themselves to be not that exciting.

PB is hardly a 'merry go round' manager...he's managed 5 clubs. His first, Derby is forgivable. Too big a job for a new manager. Then Hull, Preston and Southend. Experienced and not so fresh, yes but certainly not a manager to hop in bed with every chairman going. Could even discount PNE as that was spread over a seasons end to first half of the next.

So he's had 5 clubs over nearly 14 years. Incidentally Flitcroft has had 4 in 5 years.

John Coleman won Div 4 last season he'd been managing for near on 20 years and 950 games, many non league and a spell in RoI.

 I don't think we're quite in the situation yet to take a punt on a newbie.... there's nothing wrong with Brown that a few wins in a row wouldn't put right.

I concur plus first time manager kinda have to make it work for the good of their careers.

If/when we sack Brown he’ll get another job based on what he did with Hull 10 years ago...

I’d look towards Michael Carrick or Gareth Barry...

Probably reaching though...

Back to todays game, Abysmal performance, second best on the 50/50's, static and waiting for the ball to bounce whilst they nipped in and claimed it, unable to pass a ball in front of one of our own players - rather pass behind them and possession lost.  Anderson tried hard, several others anonymous!  Yet again we faced a team who were far better organised than ourselves.  To me it was summed up when Taylor actually got a good cross in, Adebayo rose to head unchallenged from six yards only for Conroy to jump in front and the ball came off the top of his head and over the bar.  I do feel Brown will be coming under a  lot more pressure with performances like that.

Sacked from every one though right?
Not many occupations you get that many chances

Alot of damage done in the Williams debacle season.

Players shit, easy to beat and fan base either fucked off and never came back or stayed and ripped into one another.

I suppose now we are competing but I expected more from this season rather than last...I was worried about another slide then...thank fuck we avoided that.

I was a bit baffled by the starting line up but I'm sure we would of all scoffed humble pie if we had got a result ..but..we didn't and conceded the now boring early goal.

I'm not against PB yet but he does seem loyal to certain players who are just a yard off the pace. Needs to be ruthless.

Twine should not have been taken off when he was. Getting him to link up more with Anderson (our best plqyer), and encouraging him to shoot more was our way back onto the game at 1-0.

---------------------LM/LV--------------------------

Knoyle------Wolf-------Nelson------Taylor

----------Diagouraga-----Doughty------------

Woolery-----------Alzate---------Anderson

-----------------------Adebayo---------------------

Probably my current ideal line up, at home at least. Replace Alzate with Smith/McCourt/Dunne for certain away fixtures or if we're up against it.

Barry's name has been circulating for a couple of years. Doesn't he have connections to Power? When does his contract with WBA expire?

His connection was Brad Barry...who...got a job here due to a connection with Power, right?

Football is hardly a mirror to regular employment in terms of being sacked and you know it. Most managers end up getting sacked or they 'leave by mutual consent'.

PB was manager at;
Hull for 4 years
Southend for 5 years.

Not many managers in Professional football can say that these days. Across all divisions.

Also you say he's living off his Hull success, yet his most recent club Southend, he took them to the L2 Play-Offs twice and winning them on the 2nd time. He also narrowly missed out by a point of getting them in the L1 Play-Offs two seasons later. In his time he won 4 manager of the month awards, largely in the L2 PO winning season. So to say he's had no success in recent times is behaviour akin to some kind of doryphore.

I know you haven't been for some years and you're a new father... but that doesn't really account for a complete loss of reason.

No more reaching than Hasselbaink at Northampton, Kewell at Crawley, Davids at Barnet, Sheringham at Stevenage etc.

Paolo Di Canio at, errm Swindon Town...

Man Utd's assistant manager is more reaching than an out of work ex pro.

...and I very much admitted either of those suggested would be a reach.

Hes not the messiah hes a very naughty boy.

As I said yesterday I am not ready to sack PB by any means yet but hes had 25 games and yes we show a lot of improvements in football than under Flipflop but we still can't defend and we can't score.

How many times does Anderson or Alzate, or even Twine/Richards/Smith et al get into a good shooting position just outside of the box then either try a short pass to a player ahead of them who has 2 men marking him, or dribble past the defender and lose the ball as they close us down rather than shooting.

We are shot shy.

Yesterday Taylor put a few better crosses into the 6 yard box that Exeter couldn't deal with but Richards and Twine were a yard or so behind the ball, neither at going to attack crosses, dare I say it, even as Norris and Mullin did last season.

For me, its too early to even think about sacking PB, by a long way, but if Hull came along with a compensation package of £100k+ then I would not stand in his way.

Last season I watched 80% of the games under Flipflop and I have seen 95% of the games under Brown and the actual football being played by Town has improved 3 fold at least.

Under Flipflop it was dull long ball stuff without much of an end result and we couldn't defend

Under Brown its entertaining but without much of an end result and we can't defend.

I still think if he drops Richards, Taylor and Lancashire and replaces Richards and Taylor with new signings and uses Lancashire as a sub then I feel we will be better, much better.

Also, how do the BBC state that we had just 1 shot on target when both Richards when he was clean through with just the keeper to beat and then Anderson from 25 yards both made the keeper make a save? sometimes I think the BBC make up figures in the lower leagues.

I’m ready to dump him now - 25 games is more than enough, especially when most agree the squad is fairly strong.

If it is to be done, it needs to be done soon. The January window will soon be upon us and any new fella will need to see what he’s got - and what he’s not got.

Do I think Power will sack him? No.

He has 19 months left on his contract, there is no way he will sack him.

Williams had a 5 year contract, still sacked him. But yeah, cant see it.

I think it's a bit early to push the eject button too.

it's not like it's irretrievable. just looking highly unlikely today

Exactly.

If Power opted for change which I don't think he will, unless the wheels completely come off, then he'll just stick McDonald in as caretaker and give him the job if there's a bit of a bounce... one of Richards or Taylor might step up to full time cone carrying.

The way people are harping on its as if we are bottom of the league. We are mid table. 4 points off play offs. There’s hell of a way to go this season.

true, but on recent displays this will grow to 7 and so on

The fan base aren't over reacting, they seen a slow steady decline of STFC under our current ownership.Yes we've still got a club to support but will we be saying that if we're non league? Further more our form under the current management has been poor since he took over from Flipflop, where's the run of form coming from! Even being only 4 points off the playoff's?
The people who post on here could see that that was the wrong team to start with before a ball was kicked, then we get the wrong subs to compound matters. My biggest concern is that if/when PB is shown the door our confidence is shot and the LP continues his run of appointing cheap available managers who can't turn this around. Or maybe the idea isn't to turn it around?

We're as low as I've known us to be since I started going in 1989. It's not good enough.

The decline though is only to be expected, Power has always been up front about the need for sustainability, and the budget he inherited having to be reduced. So we're now about where you'd expect, a mid table Div 4 side who could have a shot at the PO's.... if we could get a decent run of say 6 wins in 10 games that sort of thing.

The summer recruitment confirmed this perception.  What we need to avoid is a proper slump.  Atm we're on a run of 4 league games without a win... by way of contrast last season under Flitcroft, 3 games was the most without a win, it was that which had us in a PO slot, when he bailed out.

Currently we don't look an outfit in complete freefall, but the next 2 games need to yield at least one win.... of which the Cambridge game is a likely must win.

This in a nutshell.

Yes, a couple of wins would put us back in the mix which would make us happier it is true, but we need strikers who can strike and defenders who can defend and currently that is not happening with any consistency. I thought we could get something from yesterday's game only to be disappointed yet again which is becoming the norm, and that concerns me.

Ken has highlighted my fears though. We are one bad management appointment away from the prospect of non league.

Also, if sustainability in division 4 with an outside chance of a playoff spot is all we can expect under Power, he needs to go.

May I remind you he also said (03 December 2013)

Well, 5 years are nearly up...

If moving the club forward is mid table div2 with no wins in 4 games then forward it is.

Clearly mid table in Div 2 would be progress, we've only been in the second tier, for a few short months of the 21st century.

We have the third highest average gate in League Two.

Despite playing at that level and without the bigger away support of away followings in League One, we still average higher than TEN clubs at that level.

All with above average admission charges

Most of us would expect higher than mid table League Two, hypothetically having a crack at the Play offs.  A great deal higher.

But many of the sides we're competing against, will be spending beyond their means or be funded by wealthy individuals.

Look at Oldham, on the same points as us.... recently the players were threatening to strike due to unpaid wages and HMRC have sniffed around.... they're almost certainly spending money they haven't got, in order to be at our level. Personally I'll take being financially stable in Div 4 above being financially unstable in Div 3.

There is an element of our fan base who think we're too big for Div 4, based on history.... but we're not that sort of club any longer.

I think we can agree that we all want (a relative level of) success, it just seems that a huge proportion of the social media twits would rather see us lash money up the wall and ruin ourselves than be more self sufficient.
I argee things are not too good, but they could be worse and a bit more of a balance could be struck to try and get us back to League 1

We shouldn't need to overspend to at least be challenging in the playoffs in this division. We're a big fish in this small pond.

I suppose we aren't that far away from them, though recent performances make it feel like we are.

A couple of good results needed starting Saturday. I think we are at a critical juncture already, one that's hard to turn around if it goes the wrong way.

I think Brown had Diagouraga and Doughty presented to him and gambled they would be worth blowing most of his budget, because after they came we struggled to get a centre half of any level for a while.  It left him with slots uncovered and relying on players like Taylor who he was gambling had another full season in the tank.  Unfortunately Doughty and Diagouraga have not been fit or available at the same time so far reallly and Taylor has not been the player of last season.  He has basically handcuffed himself with formations by having so many central midfielders and not really much out wide of note.  On top of that he was probably banking on Richards being enough up top, but he is another player who is now looking like he is either spent at this level or a victim of the necessary formations.  I like players like him but I do think his career is over, his general play looks slower, not just physical, but also in thought.  That quick instinct carries players like him and it doesn’t seem there.now.

Never been sold on Brown, but with all that being said we are not far away.  Only Lincoln looked better than us and we are always in games, even when losing.  If we can figure out the best team and get them largely playing together in most games we should easily be good enough for the play offs.  The past few weeks have seen too much trying it out though.  As an example, I like Alzate, but yesterday bringing him on in the position he played was a poor decision, it unbalanced us.  He had to come on for Anderson in the formation we were playing, but Anderson was playing well.  Needs to quickly sort out the best way to play, we should then be ok.  If he doesn’t then I won’t lose any sleep over his departure.

Absolutely correct.

This is neither arrogant nor " an element of our fan base who think we're too big for Div 4, based on history" which is an absurd remark, even by Reg's standards.

Over the long term a club's league position pretty accurately matches their fan base.  Saying that we should eventually end up back in the first/second quartile of Div 3 is simply a reflection of our relative size as a club.  

It is no different to Villa fans saying that sooner or later they will end up back in the Premier League.  It only becomes arrogant if you expect it as an autometic right.

If PB is stubborn and keeps pick the team he did against Exeter, plus making the wrong subs, then 2 more defeats and we're sh1tting ourselves. I just can't see us getting a run of wins, because we haven't since PB's been incharge the odd back to back win/s but no 3/4/5 wins on the bounce. Why should anyone think that will change now? Yes we're only 4 points off the playoffs with a long way to go but were only 3 straight defeats off the relegation battle with a poor run of form. I can't sugar coat the state our club is in.

You're falling into the trap.... look no further than the Prem. take a season like 16/17 Sunderland and Chelsea's average attendance were both 41000.... Chelsea won the league Sunderland relegated. It's about how much you spend and how well it is invested.

If, the differential in Div 4 was huge, then yes, you'd expect that club to get up.... but ours isn't that huge, that it makes much difference and something other clubs can  compensate for by owner investment or borrowing.... hence we have a middling budget for Div 4 and are in a middling position.

to compare Chelsea with Sunderland is a false comparison as the relative importance of gate revenue in the premier league has become minuscule compared to its importance in Leagues 2 and 3.

Gates are readily ascertainable as are season ticket prices and holders.  How much owners are putting in or how much other clubs are not being run sustainably compared to STFC is, with limited exceptions, hypothetical guesswork.

Power's fanbois claim he has made us sustainable.  We find that out only when he leaves.  Hypothesis for now.  (even if Oldham and a few appear worse off).

When Andrew Black left (all too suddenly) he did write off sufficient debt to have made his funding of Wray's adventure sustainable. But when did mid table in League Two come to be regarded as satisfactory?  Gates will drop and so will opportunities.

Power does appear to been very good for STFC.  If he has achieved what his fanbois claim, then he has been very successful.  Transitionally.

But Gates and League tables are not speculation.   STFC is a League One Club.  Sure, it has no right to be there.  But if it is suggested that a chairman should be targeting mid table League Two with a shot at the play offs that would be a deriliction of ambition.  In my view, a club that is underperforming in relation to its success is ideal for takeover.

Blind optimism may be worse but a lack of ambition doesn't lead to success in many spheres that I know.  Unless we are talking about success for Power and NOT FOR STFC, eg re cuts from ground acquisition and development and player transfers.  Power is interestingly showing no signs of moving on or looking for owners who might have the ambition to take us well beyond mid table in League Two and has never shown any ambition for STFC beyond sustainability.  

thank you Red Rag.

Gates and budgets in Div 4 tend to be reasonably similar, unless you get a Pompey type down there, couple of years back when they won Div 4, their 16,000 average was just about double the 3rd nearest.

So last year, we were 5th highest, Chesterfield 6th, Spireites also had the 6th highest budget... they're now 3 points off the drop zone to Conference North. I'm sure they've fans who think they're too big for the Conference, who probably thought last season they were too big for Div 4.

Div4 is decided purely on budget. That’s how PDC got us up.

Terrible manager but loads of ££££

Disagreeing with everyone today.  Sorry.

PDC:   PDC was a rookie manager.  He made mistakes, some of player choice and some of man management. He was fortunate to be cushioned with money to correct his mistakes.  However, I don't recall any of our League Two players under PDC as so much above League Two level (Ritchie and Fods aside - both acquired before his arrival).  What did seem to happen was that PDC produced sides that were very drilled and relentless.  PDC's coaching may have been basic but it worked supremely.  Players and crowd seemed pretty motivated too.

Phil Brown:   W4 D5 L4.  Mid Table.  Not good enough for me.   Plenty of interesting  insights above.  I do remain happy however waiting to see how things actually do pan out going into and, if necessary, over the holiday season.

My point was tongue in cheek.

I rated Di Canio whilst others feel his success was based purely on the financial backing he had.
If that was the case the League table would go in budget order ever year, it doesn’t. Money doesn’t equal success & I don’t think Di Canio gets the credit he deserves for the job he did here.

If that sort of shot in the arm the club desperately needed at the time then and again now

I think the old fashioned, been round the block manager has had his day. The Cowleys at Lincoln, Nathan Jones at Luton, Harry Kewell seemingly revitalising Notts County, Michael Flynn at Newport, Matt Taylor at Exeter and others. All young managers doing well.

Sure, Reg can point to Accrington’s gnarled old fella but he is the exception. The club needs a fresh impetus not the old school musings of a fag end manager.

Absolutely right and if Brown goes, Michael Flynn would be right at the top of my list.

Sam Ricketts doing a great job at Wrexham, Tim Flowers at Solihull, Luke Garrard... lots of potential in the bottom half of L2 and the top half of NL.

That sort of manager, who's at that sort of level would be brilliant.Add in 4 or 5 non league un-polished turds and I can see where your aiming. We need a shock to the system not more, bargain basement, forward to the conference types. We're a long way off from LP championship in 5 years plan and its not looking good for this season either. Only a radical change will save us becoming an established Div 2 side.

Flynn is doing an extraordinary job. That team, on paper, is NL at best.

Rubbish.  It is not rational to challenge a generic point by citing selected individual examples that contradict it.  By that absurd logic you could dispute that men are generally taller than women because you know some women who are taller than some men.

There is a clear and obvious pattern of increasing catchment areas as you progress upwards through the divisions.  Yes  Burnley are in the premier league and Sunderland & Portsmouth are in Div 3; the correlation is not absolute at any given point, but it is still the major factor that determines a club's position over time. 

There is a reason why Swindon fans have higher expectations than Morecombe fans but less than Newcastle fans.  It is not that we have fallen into any traps, it is that we can count.   

The players we have are good enough. We are in October and the manager is changing formations,dropping our best performers while sticking with the obvious weak links. Taylor 7 Lancashire are costing us week in and week out.

You defeat your own argument here..... the correlation is not absolute at any given point, but it is still the major factor that determines a club's position over time

Perhaps a factor, but not a major factor

AS you say there is no correlation intra Prem as budgets are skewed by money from other sources... exactly the same happens in the FL. In the Championship budgets are skewed by parachute payments, as well as owner input, in the FL occasionally the same can happen as when Wolves bombed a few years back, you would argue that their immediate return was down to crowd size, yet Wigan have been in the same boat, and get modest crowds.

The season we were in the Prem, they averaged < 2000. They achieved on the back of Whelan pumping in money.

They've recently been sold to Chinese from HK for a tidy sum. Another similar club would be Fleetwood funded by Piley, their 8 mill state of the art training facility, te sort of thing Power might want at Highworth but we're a long way from seeing it happen, despite us getting bigger crowds.

You'd expect us to do better than Morecambe and we are.....

Let me try and explain my argument again.... in today's football, there are potential sources of income, of which gate money is one... for lower and non league clubs, a happy cup run can on occasion make a significant short term difference. Lincoln and Exeter being examples.

The differences in budget caused by gate money, can also be offset by owner investment, like the case of Bormuff.  The season Black pulled the plug it was the Cherries promoted, despite us averaging 2000 more at games.

Power's investment, was in purchasing the club, with the aim of it running on income from gates, and any other windfalls from sponsorships etc. we compete against some other clubs who have a similar policy, but many who are funded to a similar extent by owners or loans taken out against say ground assets etc.

So to look at say Saturday's game and think as you seem to be doing... oh it's only Mansfield, long recent spell in non league we get bigger gates therefore we should be beating these is ridiculous.  We know their budget is bigger than ours due to Radford's money.

Power has brought us to level where we are sustainable, should be able to avoid the Conference trap door, and may have a shot at a PO place with some good running.

aaaaha, the Adver have quoted brown's 'experimenting' post match. I wondered if I'd misrepresented him:

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/16982837.phil-brown-admits-he-doesnt-yet-know-best-swindon-town-xi/

"You've got to keep experimenting until you get the right XI out there. I think Exeter have done that over the course of the years, not the last 10 games,'' said Brown.

"Where we're concerned we're experimenting until we're getting the winning formula.

"We're hoping that the emergence of Kaiyne Woolery out of the treatment room, hopefully could be the answer. The system is to get two strikers up there. We'll keep on trying to experiment.

I think what people are trying to say is that we base our expectations over a long period of time, not just the current status of the club right now.

Although the success at any one time of a football team is down to a large number of factors, the one factor that we can look at and use with a fair degree of accuracy is attendances.

Over say a 50 year period, a clubs average attendance may go up or down by around 20% depending on the league you play in and general success on the pitch, but you're almost always going to get a maximum and a minimum. It's not just the extra money through gate receipts that make a club more successful (although obviously it helps) but a club with a higher attendance is more likely to attract a wealthy owner, or get taken over by a foreign consortium. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but over the period of 50 years I think its the most accurate factor we can look at.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/10881263/ultimate-league-reveals-liverpool-are-englands-top-team-followed-by-man-utd-and-arsenal

Have a look at this article - the majority of clubs are 20 places (or less) than their average position and I think we can see that the clubs near the top have large attendances and that decreases as you go down the list. The list has our average as 48, or in the upper echelons of League 1 so I think its realistic to say thats where our expectations lie.

As I say, there are a number of other factors which can have a dramatic effect on performance, but over a long period of time, you base your expectations on an overall success and ours certainly is not mid-table League 2.

 A good effort at reasoned argument... however it confirms the point we're a club on the slide.

Putting us in line with the likes of Blackpool, Luton, Pompey, Cov, Notts and Charlton  Noted  basket case clubs to some extent.

The likes of Blackpool and Cov, while still having massive issues, at least managed to bottom out to the extent a bit like our current status, of getting to middling Div 4 and then have a shot at the PO's and be successful in going back up.

Our slide at least seems to have bottomed out for now.... at the time of your survey we were rated 66, Spireites 68. I'm sure their fans would be very happy to aspire  :) to that middling status now.

A point on Matt Taylor - at the moment is he probably still the best crosser on the pitch, I think he is more suited to a wide midfield role where he does not have to worry about getting back into position as quick as he has a full back behind him to cover, sadly I'm not sure we have anyone, and playing him in 3-5-2 surely puts even more pressure on him to get back

We need experience on the pitch though so dropping all 3 of the old guard is unlikely...maybe keep Taylor in the team and drop the other 2.

I think was Reg is trying to say is that it doesn't matter how big something is, it's what you do with it that counts.

Michael Doughty was running the official instagram account - he looks a bit porky.

He always looks a bit porky (I wish I looked that porky).

 :)

The return of your old mate Flitters on Saturday, Reg. Where would victory rank in your all time STFC achievements? I know it's wildly optimistic to expect anything more than a point but just look at last night's result for evidence that miracles do happen.

4-3-1-2 for me. Gets the best out of Anderson with Adebayo and Woolery up top.

Midfield 3 of Dave, Doughty and Alzate

CBs a problem with any 2 from Conroy, Sid, Wolf - all deserve to start.

This is a difficult game to call.. of course conventional wisdom would say a home win is unlikely and a draw most likely, given Stags have drawn all away games, and since we used the get out of jail card in the first 2 home games, we haven't looked like winning at the CG.

But the spanner in the works is Flitcroft.... Brown is still using many of his players, how will they react  :hmmm:   I see 2 options, they'll be motivated feeling that he deserted a sinking ship, and want to show that maybe they'll be worth coming back for in the window or summer, for an improved contract, a la Preston.  The other option is that they'll be weighed down by the pressure of feeling they have to justify the Flitcroft outers and haters, by showing up his inadequacies and winning handsomely, in a display of sexy football.  Sort of thing that Glenn Hoddle felt compelled to do against John Beck's Cambridge some years ago.

I'll make a more specific analysis, nearer the weekend, when things like the weather forecast, and injury synopsis after the behind close doors game comes to light.

As to the rating of a win... it'll be just like any other at this stage of the season after a poor trot, a relief and to be celebrated; nothing more. I'll leave the emotional contortions to the outers and haters.....

We'll win, I'm coming back for this game. How much is it to get in these days?  ???

Would love to be at this but I have the luxury of the late December tie against them...I think it'll an even juicier affair and winning away there is always nice on a frosty December evening.

The pressure ramps up.....

Leaving bug around 11:30ish!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=swindon+town+home+tickets

:)

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2017/apr-2017/home-tickets/

Where are you heading to in town? Vic coming?

Just reading back on Brown's interview, I found the following comment interesting:

you’ve got three centre-halves there against two strikers and we couldn’t get it past those two strikers and kept playing it back to a goalkeeper (Luke McCormick) who was hurried and under pressure from the start because of the fans.

Not sure what he means that McCormick was under pressure from the fans, was he getting stick ?

Controversial ex-Plymouth player at Exeter, what do you think!

McCormick was booed every time he touched the ball.

So, you think we'll win then? The players will either be motivated to play well to impress Flitcroft in the hope that he'll sign them in the Summer, or they'll play sexy football and thrash them to show up Filtcroft's inadequacies.

Not like you to be so bold Reg.....

The Exeter fans appeared to spend more time singing about him being a 'murderer' than supporting their own team.
Whilst I in no way condone his actions, the song "it should have been you" was rather cretinous

The clue is in weighed down by pressure... you can tell a bit about how things pan out in football by listening to Brown, for example he notes how Exeter have departed somewhat from Tisdaleball, and are now more direct, we know from experience it isn't easy to get young usually loan players to perform sexy football consistently in the muck and nettles of Div 4....further he points out how McCormick was affected by the crowd on Sat.

I suppose one grain of hope is that their players might feel some pressure, given that Flitcroft's defection was because he perceived them a better prospect than us. maybe our lot can tap into that.

Generally Stags don't do well at the CG the exception being when they had a decent side under Peter Morris in the mid 70's, but typically their first win since the only other in 38, was because we kindly gave them Ray Clarke, who did the damage  :(

PM me 4D

Gotcha didn't associate that, forgot he was ex plymouth