Thetownend.com

Good luck town, let's get some goals!

Cambridge have so far W2 D3 L9 F12 27 P9 currently 2nd from bottom. After getting back from a round trip to Hereford on Saturday morning and hot footing it to SN1 then watching a toothless town fail to take Mansfield apart i’m Hoping for something more positive today. 2-0

I’m going to watch this on Ifollow. No idea why as the last game against Crewe was dire.

Tonight is kind of a must win for Brown. Fans are starting to lose patience with poor performances and results and on paper this is a ‘gimme’.

Could be another turgid game, luck will be on our side and we’ll scrape a dull 1-0 win.

1-0 win (penalty)

Don't know if I'll bother watching yet. A combination of (probable) tiredness and not looking forward to it enough to bother. I probably will end up spending a fiver, though.

There are no mathmatical must win games in October.

This is so a must win game though ! I think we will win in a scrappy but comprehensive way

True enough, it is a must win in the sense that we don't want our present safe mid table perch to become threatened.

We've a run of horrible looking fixtures coming up, and it's all very well and good not lookling like a struggler, but you do have to win some games and atm we're not.  A lose tonight and I'll be looking for a dusty alarm bell, sat in a cupboard since Luke.

Is that in the same cupboard as the goal music button, and Milan Misun?

Misun is in the Arkells oubliette, previously occupied by Juan Cobian. The only positive about our lack of goals is we don't have to listen to goal music.  One of the good things about having a tight wad as owner is we're never likely to be handed out little plastic flags to wave or clackers... presumably to clack.

Not able to make it to Swindon tonight but was considering watching it on that i follow thing. Not used it before - is it any good?

The attendance tonight could be a shock to the system. We’re only getting around 5,500 home fans these days and a Tuesday night game doesnt exactly appeal.

I thought Mansfield’s turn out was piss poor on Saturday and we had a few more home fans wanting to abuse Flitcroft and Lurch.

Expecting a win tonight - based more on hope and the law of averages.

When it works it's fine, but whether or not it works is hit and miss.

I have only watched it once, for the Crewe game, which was dire. The service seemed ok though and more than adequate for my needs.

This.

Also, buy through a VPN and it'll cost you £5 rather than £10. You can then watch it without using a VPN.

I'm not attending, I've lost a bit of hope at the moment, and I don't like evening matches anyway.

Hope it's a good game and a win for us.

The last time we had a sub 5000 league gate at the CG was  a Tuesday night v Huddersfield in March 2008.  It was early days under Fitton etc with Malpas as manager, part of the reason for the modest gate may have been we had over 10,000 Town fans on the previous Sat v Leeds.

Fitton and Co had their campaign to sell season tickets, which although not directly achieving the objective did increase the gate figure for a game as season tickets could be counted even if not present, further they became transferable, technically not the case previously.

I think we'll have to get used to the idea of our modest advantage on gates with many of the other clubs in Div 4, being eroded away as fans increasingly get used to our reduced status, and don't like what they see.

I find it a bit hard to believe anyone, other than maybe 4D, would turn up last Sat because they wanted to abuse Flitcroft and Futcher.... there's plenty in our own set up if that's what floats your boat.

I'm not abusive  :)
Just decided that game would suffice, the added spice being an ex manager coming back. Should have guessed it would be a nailed on draw, but thought there would be some goalmouth activity.

Does anyone know whether I am able to watch tonight's game on ifollow (ie from the UK in a "non-midweek international" week) ?

Yea you are

Cheers.  Good news.

150 mile round trip starting in the rush hour not on for me.

Hope it's a decent gate in the circs

5 - 0. Raptures.

More like a bloody rupture.

That's what the modify button is for!  :pint:

Must win game tonight. Can’t afford to drop further points from the playoff pack. Hopefully we score an early goal to calm any nerves. Otherwise I can see it being 0-0 or Cambridge nicking a 1-0 win. Will be interesting to see who starts tonight.

Indeed. May I ask StefTroll, who is Hristian? Asking for a non-existent friend? :)

well, it's a settled team I suppose. Conroy in for Nelson

Richards still playing

Has Brown got a big lawn that Richards pops round and cuts twice a week, no other reason he is still in the team!!  Let us hope he defies logic and gets a couple tonight!!

doubt he's got time what with his two jobs

On paper, 2/3rds of that defence, all of that midfield and half that attack should be too strong for Cambridge. As we know, paper isn't where the game is played. Come the fuck on Town, everyone would absolutely love a damn good thrashing (even the trollolololol types). Put these fuckers to the sword and give us something to only have a less than 10 page thread about :)

Up to you stand in for PV tonight Bamboo?
Short and concise over loquacious and verbose.  :)

Fuck it I'm feeling positive and they've got no fit strikers in their lineup (Barry Corr and Jabo Ibehre both out).

3-0 Town.

You'd think it was about time for one of our rare master classes, where we play like we did at Yeovil.
If it does happen tonight then when,surely Cumbridge are there for the taking.

Richards? Again?!!

Hahaha, I don't know if I can do short and concise.

Can I do a running, alternative live audio commentary? In fact... haven't got time now but here's an idea. Why not every week, someone do a running alternative comms. Totally optional of course but would be a laugh, never know, we might even have one or two that are better than Hodgetts & Hale.  :hmmm:

...Aaand we're underway in this delightfully moonlit evening at the County Ground. Can town secure 3 useful points or will it be agonising despair?

Cambridge go close and its a corner to them.

Cambridge having the early attack. Another corner to them.

Poor crowd!

Please no. In reality Swindon will be playing shite but the posts will sounds like we are playing like Barcelona or Brazil and that we will be a premier league club in 5 years. Prefer someone who tells the truth and says what they see.

Anyway come one Swindon !!!

A third Cambridge corner. Cleared and it's a free kick to Town. Didn't see it.

Oh Fuck off.

Cambridge with corner no.4. It's mostly them at the moment. Town not quite up to speed yet.

Free Kick Town just inside Cambridge half. Followed by a shot off target. Not much happening atm but the game starting to come to life slightly. 10mins.

fucking hell.

Dave fucked up big

0-1

1-0 Cambridge. Same old shit

offside but 2-0

though Alex my son thinks he may have been on

Ohh  fuck!. After Town had an effort blocked (Keshi I think), Cambridge first real shot to test Vigs and its in the net 0-1. Lambe. Buggar!

Well fuck my old boots!!

Sloppy start being out played. Giving ball away too easily, deserve to be 2-0 down.

Fucking shambles.

doughty injured

Should be 3 down

it's not that good

This is bad. Really bad. Could be 4.

Adios Mr Suntan.

Doughty looking for injury to escape shitness.

Same old poor performance.If we loose this then we could be sucked into a relegation battle by Dec.

2 in 2mins. Well I think my impartial commentating is over. I can't comment on this. Brown scores for them. Brown's Team can't score for him at the moment.

Disastrous start.

Aye as it stands we are only 7 points of relegation. Let’s hope for some miracle come back

Brown out FFS. Enough is enough.

Was lucky to get the job after turning us from playoff hopefuls to midtable. Has to go now

It's going to be one of those 6-4 type games isn't it? Just atm it seems like it could end up 0-5...

My god

As expected, very poor crowd, dreadful atmosphere, players don’t look up for it. Awful 15 minutes, first goal sloppy pass, second goal awful defending with one centre back playing offside and the other 5 yards behind him. It can only get better...hopefully.

No. It's going be one of those 0-3 games.

Here come the turncoat cunts. I agree with you genuine ones on here but there's those fuckers always waiting in the wings. It's like they enjoy being able to post about us losing.

Did you read the second sentence?

Town End booing Lancs every touch.

fuck me, the town end are booing Lancashire's every touch. he responds with a thumbs up. marvelous

6-0 are biggest home loss. Hopefully it won’t come to that

Probably GWR... the supporters voice. Cunts.

Not surprised, why PB starts every game with 9 men because 2 are well past it beggers belief.

If i didn't care, this would be hilarious. We're that bad.

Booing him is bound to improve him tho.  :doh: No one booing Dave though after his almighty fuck up for the first?

well said.

why do we care. whhhhhy

Who's on for Doughty?

Dunne.

The other scapegoat.

On the basis we've struggled to score for however many games, this game is already over.  I actually don't know where we go from here.  

Embarrassingly poor. Just like the Bury game.

How did it come to this

If were stick to the 5 year plan then down, we are that bad. It was OK PB and others saying we're only 3/4 points off the playoffs but where are those points coming from? Our form points to the other end of league 2.

To put this into perspective, Cambridge haven't won a league game since September 1st. Luckily for them they're playing us.

Aye as it stands we are only 6 points off play-offs.  Let's hope for some miracle come back.

Aye and Cheltenham who are second bottom have a game in hand 😫

There's still an hour to play. Could be an atrocious hour. Could be meh. Could be awesome. Wouldn't wanna be caught in bad weather with some of you lot.

Booing a guy that nearly had to retire through injury, but has worked his way back. He’ll know he’s near the end. He’s literally fighting for his livelihood.

Stay classy Town End.

Bunch of cunts.

Back to the actual match. Two sucker punches/a mad 3 or 4 mins and we've been punished. Just before the 1st Keshi had a shot saved and we'd just got into the game. Then madness ensued. Since then we've had a fair amount of chances. 3 on target and 5 off. To their 2 on target and 2 off. Fucking get a goal Town and we might be able to throw doubt into their minds. A goal for us before HT would do it.

Done has dunne alright since he came on tbf.

I did say we should never have appointed Brown.

Sooner he goes (and takes the useless Lancashire with him), the better.

You are one boring cunt.

fucking hell

Brown never brought Lancashire with him Processed Meats.

PV did great ball-by-ball coverage.  :hmmm:

2-0 HT. Fair reflection of the game so far. Cambridge could have been 4 up.

Big half time team talk. If Town don’t come out all guns blazing then I think Brown has lost the dressing room.

I think it was last week that I lost confidence in Brown. Now I'm getting annoyed that he's still fucking here.

That was dire. Some glimmers of hope, but still no goals against what looks like a very poor defence.

I never said he did. I suggested he take him with him when he leaves.

Pick of the team.  

Some chances but extremely disjointed performance.  No leaders.

We are progressively getting worse.  The senior players are not leading, the younger players are going to pot.  Dunne has at least added some energy but will probably get himself sent off, he has no brain.

Going to take a big turnaround to get anything here, Cambridge will pack the defence for 45 minutes.

Brown must be in trouble if we lose this.  Didn't he like to use some sort of data to show how we was getting teams above their expected position?  if so, he's created a team worse than the sum of it's parts.

I don’t care how poor someone is, you don’t boo your own players when they’re on the ball. Dunne has shown a bit of something since he’s come on but I’m a bit speechless at how poor we are. I’m sat in the posh seats about 10 yards from Power - anybody have any questions for him?!

Unfortunately its the experienced players who Brown refuses to drop who are the problem. Lancashire/Taylor/Richard. None of them justify being in the team but keep getting picked.

We have only won 4 games all season and the first two of those we were pretty fortunate.

Brown did nothing to justify getting the job in the 10 games last season we all said it. I think this team is lacking but its comfortably better than its performing at the moment. Have to look at the leadership and say why is that the case.

You can’t keep sacking managers

There is only one common denominator in all this- and we all know who that is

Tbh we finished that half the stronger side. All the stats in our favour except for two glaringly obvious and important ones. The goals. Yes we were slow to start and just before the goals we were coming into the game. 2 quick goals and sloppy errors and we find ourselves 0-2 down. Cambridge probably couldn't believe their luck. Since then it's been largely Town, Dunne came on and is doing fine. Did Doughty genuinely injure himself or was he looking to get an early bath?

Anyway, regardless and fans have a right to boo, but singling out our own fucking player and captain at that. A guy who thought his career may have been over and they treat him like that. Then you fucking wonder why players might be averse to coming to play here. Maybe it's fuck all to do with wages. You know some companies get a name for being shit to work for and people in the know keep away. Maybe amongst pro footballers, word has got around and they're told "Ya don't wanna go there, the fans are fucking toxic".

Sorry but anyone who singles out a player of your own team and boo's the fuck out of them is a disgrace. Too many pre match sherberts and got a little confidence. They're the type you find up and down the country, starting fights and then crying to the police saying "that man hit me." Can't stand those types of fuckers.

Mostly this to be honest. How many teams in the FL have a 37 year old LB and Striker?
The recruitment was piss poor (not sure if you attribute that to Brown or Power?) but to again have your first choice full back and striker as 37 years old beggars belief.

Would we better off playing some of the kids (who did beat Accrington 3-0 at the end of last season)?

I mean what a bunch of fucking putrid useless shit cunt wanky fuckstains

Needle is stuck pal. Try lifting the arm a touch. If you have auto arm it will do it if you lift it slightly.

That's not true, plenty of clubs do well by churning through Managers, look at Watford.  With short term contracts for most players these days, or enough money to buy out long term ones at the top clubs, building a club is a lost art now anyway.

Not saying changing Manager for no reason is a great idea, but getting someone who does things completely differently can have a positive impact.  No idea if there is anyone though.

The evidence I am watching is a team in full reverse, a result of the older heads being a weakness and the younger heads seemingly being bamboozled by changing instructions.  I think Audrey mentioned a few days ago that we quickly lost what looked like good shape and style form the early games, some of it probably by accident but plenty by design.

Most annoyingly, we are doing a good job of proving the Reg prophecy when I feel the individual players should have enough to be combined into a play off team.   Grrrrrr.

We have two midfielders we signed, not even on the bench! McCourt and Smith. Not saying i would pick them in the eleven but that says something about recruitment when we don't have proper players at LB or Forward and have to pick the not yet ready Twine/Romanski. Brown recruited this squad, not Power and you have to question if he got his priorities right.

Stats say we've had 9 shots and 4 on target, sounds like more than I saw on Saturday

A big, big half coming up.  Three points needed.  Men or mice?

Squeak

I've got 10. 4 on 6 off. Cambridge 6. 4 on 2 off. Anyway 2nd half. Let's at least go out with a fight.

The bloody irony of this is...if we somehow win this match, we go 11th and 3 points from the play-offs.

Conroy Booked, I think.

Dave has his attempt blocked. Cambridge player booked. Free Kick Town, comes to nothing.

Woolery on for Dave. Dave hadn't had his best game tbf. Come on Woolery, run at them ya cunt!

Have i mentioned that Brown's subs are complete wank!!! Richards survives, Adebayo still on the wing even though Woolery is on up top? Dont worry about midfielders, we can take those off, midfield never wins games.

What the fuck was that sub about?  Richards and Adebayo have done nothing, but he takes off Dave.

Dave had been shit and fucked up for one of the goals in all fairness.

Fucking spot on, taking off a midfielder rather than a striker when 2-0 down at home, utterly clueless. Why on earth is Brown going for it rather than trying to keep the scoreline down.

Yes, but we have six midfielders by the sound of things

well, it's better than the first half, unsurprisingly.

but it's still 2-0 so irrelevant thus far

50/1 FTW
12/1 FTD

Anyone fancy it. It's been all us this half. We. Do. Need. An Out. And. Out. Goalscorer.

Or at least a confident one. Richards is done and it's not helping Crazy to develop.

Adebayo booked btw. We miss the craziness of Nelson at CB.

5824 att

If Woolery scores PB must start him. But not with Richards. With Crazy.

Who the fuck is crazy?

crazy legs adebeyo

Unfortunately we're doing everything but the scoring. 2nd half effort is there. PB right to take Dave off and Dunne has slotted in ok. We just shouldn't be in this position. If it was 0-0 we'd be looking good to go on and win this. FFS I hate football someytimes.

10 corners,
16 shots,
6 on,
10 off.
60% possession.
We're bloody going for it.

Just get it in the bloody onion bag you sods!

Anybody who supports Swindon

and yet Cambridge have had the standout chance of the half bamboo

He’s been as bad as the rest the last couple of games.

😂

he's been shit.

now he's subbed for mcGlashen

Yeah. It's a strange game at times footy.

:D

We really don’t look like scoring.

Nowhere near that.

Stats are misleading. Any partial observer of this game would admit that Cambridge are worthy of their current lead.

When Spain lost 3-2 to England I’m sure all of the stats pointed towards Spain dominance but England were worthy winners of the game. Same can be said of Burnley. I bet they are always behind on the stats but have been good value for their wins.

People quoting stats on todays game are completely out of touch. Maybe one of the attempts was a real goal scoring chance. We have been grade A shit.

I can't believe we put up with this shit . :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I'm quoting stats in reflection that Cambridge have offered nothing bar once chance this 2nd half...because they haven't had to.

I think their keeper has been properly stretched making just one save. Any other 'shots' on target have been easy.

I may have forgotten one or two, but it's been a very forgettable game.

Like when they lost 5-0 the other day? I talk some shit mate but that's Top Trumps 120pts.

Indeed. I'd rather they stuck a 3rd in just so we can go and have a couple of pints.

It's always the hope that gets you...evn that's fading in some of us.

Bleeuuurgh. Not nice that. Six pints of Doom Bar please.  :crash:

What a load of shite, and I didn't even watch it.

That's got to be the end of PB, lets hope he takes LP with him. On this run of form we're looking at loosing our league status.

Excluding Plymouth game, I think that’s 6 games now where we haven’t scored a goal from open play (ie excluding freekicks). Surely changes have to be made for Saturdays game.

Decided to watch that on ifollow whilst I built up a massive file for CPS thinking it might make it more bearable. Building that file brought more joy.

Awful awful performance, Cambridge should have won by 4.

Wasn't in the Brown out brigade but the last 4/5 have been truly wank

that's 3 home games I've watched and barely tested any of the keepers.

Cambridge will be disappointed not to have added to their goal tally. Brown doesn't seem to have a clue to me, no lack of effort, but confidence seems so so so low.

Don’t worry boys we are only 6 points off the playoffs 🤣

*Loosening your belt will cause you to lose your trousers.

'If you can keep your head when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too...'

Time to start thinking about who we want next...

We are worse than last season.

Yes changes are needed before Saturday. Our 3 old cloggers need to be benched.Our manager needs to be retired. At this rate PB is going to get a worse record than Malpas. I know changing the manger doesn't always work and STFC are chewing them up and spitting them out with LP as owner but keeping Brown who's not working will see us looking at the drop.

Didn’t watch, didn’t need to. No point calling for Power to leave, he’s here to stay and there’s no viable replacement that we know of. We can only change what can be changed and that’s Brown. If Cooper can get something out of the squad at FGR, someone should be able to get something out of that lot.

Question is whether Taylor sees it as the right opportunity. I’d be 100% behind him.

I have my answer.

6 league wins from 25 games in charge and he came into a squad on the edge of the playoffs. Get the cunt sacked and let's move on. NO TO Taylor as well.

No one from inside the club. It never work for us.

That ranks behind the Lincoln game, awful.  Sorry Bamboo, stats don't win games.  We had two good chances all game, the rest were not a real threat, but Cambridge could very easily have had 4 or 5 by the end due to a plodding defence.

I understand the need to change something and go for it.  I also understand the fact Dave was up and down today and messed up twice for the goals, but there was seemingly no thought about structure when making the change.  Yet again, what little shape we did have then vanished.  As bad as Flitcroft in that sense.

Brown has offered nothing to suggest he knows a way out of this other than to keep rolling dice.  He's got players, not for the way he wants to play though, whatever that may be.  He's also left himself some gaps which make it tough to change the set-up.

It's a mess.  I'd wave him goodbye and give someone a chance to review ahead of January.  It's a shame really.  The first few games offered some glimpses of an emerging improvement, there are some players with a bit of talent, but the mix is wrong and we are changing our way out of form and into a complete loss of confidence.

One thing that's annoyed me most about Power's tenure was his unwillingness to change things in our relegation season. Had he made a change in time then we could well be playing in L1 right now. Instead, he faffed about and here we are. I fucking hope he doesn't make the same mistake this season. That's not me suggesting we're going down, more that we can still go up but he has to draw the line at some point.

I've seen some mention 'stability' when it comes to changing managers. How would keeping on Brown help where stability is concerned. Today was woeful. We're getting worse. Should we keep a manager whose performing awfully for the sake of 'stability'? Fuck that.

No, I think it'd ruin him. He's too nice to be a manager right now. He's passionate yes but it's like Joe Hart passionate. Causes a loss of focus. We need calm. Question is, who would you choose to take over PB.

I think he desperately needs the transfer window.

Yeah i'm not a fan of sacking managers. But Brown must be on a tightrope, with one end being untied. The Crewe game showed me how bad we were, and we arent getting better.

We’re winning away, we’re winning away, how shit must you be? We’re winning away. Sums the game up really doesn’t it.

I doubt me and the lad will be back this side of Christmas TBH as a combination of work commitments and general malaise combine to dampen any urgency to get out to SN1. My optimism of Brown being an excellent appointment has not turned 180 so still holds, his acquisitions however are not cutting the mustard.

The players are responding to Brown’s management by producing half arsed performances like that.

No effort when we don’t have the ball, no desire to compete and physically weak.

They’ve given up - as have I.

Oh, and as for stats.

One reason we had the possession we did etc is because they allowed us to. 2-0 up against a team that can't score against a woeful Mansfield that were a man down for 45 minutes +. It was easy for them. Cambridge could just let us faff about with it and try to score from the break, which they nearly did several times.

Yep cos LP fucking off right now and leaving the club on the brink can only be a good thing!

Fuck me

I also doubt the severity of Doughty's injury. I reckon he's just thought 'fuck this'.

Unlike other times when we've reached a point where I think a Managerial change is right, I don't think very many of the players need to shoulder much responsibility here.  Someone else mentioned it, I don't see see players drifting, not putting in effort.  I see three older heads who are not good enough anymore, despite their past efforts in two cases.  The rest seem lost, not knowing what we are trying to do.  Those ants that run in a circle until they die because they lost the leader, that's what we look like.  You can't say those ants are not trying to find a way out, they are just lost and working themselves into the grave.

He has to go after that. It should have 4 or 5.

I agree with Rob. I genuinely don't blame the players for the majority of this. They haven't got a clue what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to defend or attack, and it's not their fault there's blind faith in the three pensioners.

What do we achieve by not getting rid? How does it get worse? What happens Saturday if he goes that is worse than the last 6 weeks?

Where do you think we're heading with LP in charge, are you still buying into the 5 year plan? Another 6 to 8 weeks of this and we'll be right in the brown stuff (pun intended). Our form isn't playoff's its conference, how bad does it have to get before you face facts? As for the club its on the brink now!

Completely understand what you're saying RobT. I just felt we were the better team 2nd half but purely because Cambridge didn't need to be. I think PB did make the right changes to try and go for it but something isn't right and it does seem that he is losing some of the dressing room. An insistence to play ALL of the older heads when most are underperforming are his worse calls to date. As you say there are some players in that team and even tonight I looked at it and thought, yep there are some weak links but we should have more than enough to beat Cambridge. In fairness the games result hinged on the madness in minutes 11 and 12. The alarming thing is, it would've likely ended up a 0-0.

I'm torn tbh, because I think this team is good enough to come good. With 2-3 January additions. I also think PB is good enough too but when in a negative environment and if players decide to not perform then that's compromised.

One thing that doesn't help though is the dickheads in the Town End constantly booing Lancashire on the ball. It was akin to Joey Beauchamp returning here for Oxford. Totally unnecessary. Lancashire did not deserve that and I hope one of the players has mentioned it post match.

Ahhh, bloody football!

I did actually mention this was the reason why we had more of the possession etc. 2nd half, because Cambridge didn't need to have possession. They knew at 0-2 the worse they could ever come away with was a draw.

But what was our XG?

This was my feeling too. 0-2 down 16mins in. Nahh fuck that I can go and get a hot chocolate and a nice soak. I'm sure that's not his mindset but if it is, then we are a little fucked because MDs commitment has been top notch to date. If PB has lost MDs faith then yep. Not good.

Would we be likely to go after Sam Ricketts and give him a go at the job, if the inevitable were to happen?

Has Brown’s post match interview started yet?

Minus something.

Well that was gash  :suicide:

Wake, you mean surely?

Point missed

Unless there is some billionaire itching to get there hands on the club right now then the middle of season is the wrong time for boardroom chaos.

We aren’t on the brink, behave. Well unless you are oblivious to when the club has genuinely been on the blink multiple times in the last 30 years

Don’t get me wrong I want Brown out now, LP can wait til the summer

I genuinely think Dunne was man of the match for us tonight, that’s how bad it was. For all the huff and puff, corners, possession, shots, we have zero end product. We could be playing until tomorrow and we still wouldn’t score. And worryingly this was against a very poor side - but unfortunately we are a very poor side as well. We gifted them 2 goals through rank bad football. The older heads as everyone keeps harping on about are a problem - Richards is gone, Lancashire is just poor and Taylor cuts a frustrated figure who knows his best days are behind him. But the younger players are just as much a problem - Anderson just runs with the ball like a headless chicken  and you know damn well he’s gonna lose it, Bayo seems to have an uncanny knack of timing his jump just right so he doesn’t win a header, Conroy just isn’t match fit as far as I can see. It could have been 4-0 to Cambridge tonight quite easily as they missed 2 sitters near the end and they are an awful side. Very concerning as nothing positive to take out of tonight (or Saturday for that matter). All that said, our “fans” are a disgrace booing Lancashire during the game - by all means boo as much as you want after the first half or at full time but not during the game. If you’re that frustrated, this should be vented towards the chairman or even the manager.

Crowd given as over 5,800. Do we believe that?

notable match highlights. adebayo won a header on 30th and 60th minutes. progress. (neither went in desired direction)

waste of time tonight. don't know where to start so won't bother

All I've got is...Love In The First Degree by Bananarama.

#...the judge and the jury,
they all put the blame on me.
They wouldn't go for my story,
they wouldn't hear my plea#

Very fucking apt.

 Well I've dusted down the alarm bell, it needed new batteries, but otherwise fine. 

We're entering new territory here, as our FL status has never seriously been called into question a third of the way through the season before, so in that sense a bit tricky to get a smell of it.

That there's only 2 down has to be a big help, that Macc look to be a strong candidate even this early is another, but who are the likely rivals, for the other slot  :hmmm: 

With that in mind, it does seem a bit early to ringing the bell.... but we're now approaching a historic record of shot shy games with 1 goal in 6 for any Div, having already created a new record for Div 4. Of more concern is losing to teams like Crewe and Cambridge who you'd expect to be down the wrong end. Throw into this that our only 2 home wins could easily have been lost, and we haven't actually looked like winning a game at the CG since.

What a load of turd. That they are clearly trying is very worrying.

Not sure where we go from here. I really don't.

That fucking "hmmm" emoji Reg! Every bloody time  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Ahh fuck this lads i'm off for last orders!  :pint:

Just heard a bit of Brown's interview. Says he's got a cut on his foot that needed 3 stitches.

Anyone got a link to listen back?
All I got was Bananarama. Btw, if so RE: Doughty then I take back what I said, however I did say MD doing something like that would be out o character.

Powers the one who has to go. We would be better off as fan run like Exeter.

I’ve said it before Lee Power will take this club out of the football league

We need to go back to first principles and understand we're in a battle to stay up.... Brown ought have enough nous to realise this, and adjust accordingly, so we need to go to Notts and ColU looking to grind out a point, and hope for a bit of good running.

Notts after a bit of a bounce under Kewell have lost a couple, so their confidence won't be high. Today was a a must win from the point of view of our midtable status, but Notts is a 6 pointer, they're right in the Conference mix, if we lose they'll be 3 adrift of us, so we get dragged right in.... a really dour 0-0 would do just fine, so pick a side that is most likely to battlel in a defensive formation.

When Doughty went down the tunnel he had his boot off and you could see his sock soaked in blood. No idea how it had happened but seemed like it was around the time of the first goal, as I am pretty sure he was off the pitch being treated when Cambridge got their second.

OK sounds good to me.

Fucking Town End were shameful, fancy chanting "what a load of rubbish!" at the end - It wasn't that good lads!!!!

He was and then we nearly went 3-0 down while it took ages for Dunne to get ready.

:)

I have to say the booing at the was quite significant and for quite a period of time. Even during our last couple of relegations I don’t recall such numbers venting their frustration. 

What was the goal music like?

Yeah what a bunch of cunts they should have sung the only way is up,oh the irony.

They played the Benny Hill music when the half time "score as quick as you can" comp was on.

Does that count?

This will do.....

We've had this conversation loads of times.  The attendance is the number of tickets bought, not the physical attendees. 

I didn't bother going and couldn't give away ticket.  It still counts in the attendance.

It's somewhat tin-pot forever changing managers but it often works, even if just for an initial bounce.  I'd get rid of Brown right now.  Agree with earlier comment re no internal appointee. 

We need a Martin Allen type,  zero finesse but some balls.  It's reasonable to assume that at least one of Macclesfield and Morecambe will be as good as down by March.  We don't need to do too much to stay above one more team.

Hearing about the direct targeting of individual players by the crowd is depressing.  Booing players always makes things worse unless the player(s) are patently not trying.

 

Does that have to be registered?

I know fancy not being prepared to come on in the 15th minute.

Fucking shambles tonight. Fans included. Time to panic? Probably.

I believe fans have a right to express their dismay through booing etc. The current state of our club is a disgrace which could be avoided.

It's an appalling situation to be honest, I can't believe any fans are content with the current position this club is in. It's like groundhog day. Horrible to see.

No goal in open play since 22nd of September which is 6 games (I don't count the crap cup). That is a really worrying stat and something clearly needs to change, Browns summer recruitment just appears scattergun and he doesn't seem to know how he wants us to play or set up. With this in mind it's probably time for a change as a manager should at the very least be clear what he wants in is own head.

No one ever needs Martin Allen.

Is he still here ??.

It is, but it only takes some success on the pitch to put it right. A few wins and it'll be positive again as it was a few weeks ago. I just can't see that happening under Brown.

I can't find myself blaming Power for this, asides from the fact we should not be in this league. He made what most would agree were reasonable appointments in Flitcroft and Brown when they signed and supported them reasonably well. There is no fucking way we should be playing like we are with this squad. No way.

It'd be great to have hindsight.

He needs to make a decision in time this time though, he can't allow it to drag on like he did with Williams.

assuming power didn't change the budget mid recruitment, etc, I agree.

I still can't believe we didn't address the striker situation. if that's browns call then he deserves all he gets

absolutely, but booing 1 players every touch with 70 minutes to go is well out of order imo

No idea who got man of the match but got me Dunne probably deserves it. I don’t rate him but he came on and tried to take the game by th scruff of the neck. Our defence is a shambles currently. Lancashire is public enemy number one but I think that’s slightly harsh. Yes, he is limited and makes mistakes but I don’t think booing him during a game is suddenly going to turn him into Franco Baresi!! If anything Conroy was worse last night. I thought Knoyle played well enough and he is probably our most consistent player.

Anderson is the most frustrating player, great at running with the ball but 9/10 times gives the ball away trying to play killer passes. Richards looks like a shadow of a footballer and Adebayo seems wasted out on the wing with diagonal balls fired across to him. I don’t think the strikers are being properly utilised.

Brown has a tough job now. We have probably a month or so to see whether we are going to be a play off contender, or we are going to continue to slide perilously down the table.

I would be interested in what would be the members  present team selection to try to halt this dangerous slide. Mine would be:

                                            Vigs

Knoyle                             Wolfenden                  Nelson                 Conroy


Anderson                             Smith                     Dave                                 Dunne

                                  Adebayou               Woollery

Normy that is one awful left side of the team you have there!!!

Vigs
Knoyle Woolfenden Nelson Taylor (I really dont see any other options, Romanski doesn't look ready)
Toums McCourt (Two holding players to help cover the full backs)
Alzate Anderson Doughty (narrow attacking three with the width to come from Knoyle/Taylor)
Adebyao

Make no mistake, we're now in a relegation battle.... Macc do look likely, but Morecambe have had a few results and their current form is probably better than ours, so we can't rely on them.

Cheltnumb look dodgy, and may have made the classic error of getting rid of the old hand Johnson for a newbie Duff, who's yet to win a game; Spireites did it last season. Numb though have the get out of jail banker 6 points v us mind.

I know you said type but Allen currently has Spireites 19th in Conference 3 points off the trap door.

Of course the irony here is that we had a perfectly good Allen type Div 4 gaffer in Flitcroft, who the majority wanted out

Because you get a bit more wriggle room in Div 4, I reckon give Brown perhaps 3 more games to show he understands our plight and shows he can do something about it.  However, the worry is Power will just bump up McDonald , and hope to limp over the line as he failed to do in 16/17

Interesting chat with a mate of mine this morning who is involved with football down here and knows a lot of the London ex pros, including Power.

He's not sure Brown will go yet. Power loves him apparently. Said if he does go, Ben Chorley would be a shout to hold the fort.

I think Ben Chorley, be it permanently or as caretaker, is a safe shout (when the time comes).

The scary thing about this is that Browns reaction seems to be "Well, we'll keep working hard on the training ground". That says to me that he thinks the way we are shaping up is completely fine and doesn't need to change.

0 goals from open play in 6 games would suggest to any competent manager that SOMETHING has to change, surely?

On the subject of managers I still think instability would be a nightmare and also I really can't see who'd do any better. I like the young new manager approach but that is just as risky. Sam Ricketts at Wrexham is doing a decent job and is probably realistic. Garrard at Borehamwood another with Town ties who very nearly took them up from the Conference. Will we pay compo though? Probably not.

oh..I forgot our 1 was a free kick. thanks Tails

Don't think Bayo up front on his own would be the answer.
He needs to change those teflon coated boots pretty soon.
One positive contribution last night was to beat his man in the box then get booked for diving.

Still, if he carries on in the same vein then Fulham might be more inclined to sell him to us!

I didn't go as away with work.....cannot describe how low I felt as the second goal alert buzzed on my phone.

Really sad state of affairs.

Need a turning point and fucking quick...

We literally can't get worse. All we can do is carry on as bad, and never score/win again, or we can improve. There is no risk in getting rid of Brown right now.

Michael Flynn would be my preferred choice of realistic options. Ricketts is only 3 months into his first gig. Garrard would be interesting at least.

I prefer garrulous and voluble ;) glad I missed it, got a wedding Saturday so will miss that too, haven't read any report but on results alone it seems that Brown is no longer up to the job.

+1 to Brown out camp.

(http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/n4M6ANG.gif)

You do it then cunt. I say what I see, if you don't like it don't comment or read it or how about put your own warped negative opinion to even it out? simple.

Phil Brown subs remind me a bit of me playing Football Manager, just chuck on more and more strikers in the hope of finishing a chance rather than actually trying to change the flow of play in any way.

It's a pretty miserable situation at the moment, not one that I'd like to be trying to sort out. Squad is very unbalanced, and we can't do anything about that in the short term.

Need a striker from the Austin/Cox category

We also could not handle Cambridge's high pressing last night. We had no answer to it, asides from some very precarious passes around the back. A mistake waiting to happen.

Simultaneously, they had all men behind the ball by the time we got close to their area. It was clueless all over the pitch.

All teams do through bad patches I think we'll agree. we've seen that King team not win in 10, and call in Coppell to help for example.

But the thing nagging away at me is those first few  games. we created loads of chances, scored few of them. I thought this was a good sign at the time, goals would come.

but on reflection, if doughty hadn't scored those penalties we'd be looking at a Reg level doom scenario. Alarm bells should be ringing.

But as I said, King managed to turn it around... anyone got super Sam's number?

Constanza? :)

You can always turn things around when you’ve got a 20 goal a season striker wearing number 9

yeah, I know DV. we need to wait until January and hope we get very very lucky from non-league/loan market.

this summer's recruitment looks like a colossal fuck up to me

I think Adebayo can hit 15+

Just need to build the team around him, play to his strengths and keep his confidence up.

He might, but its a hell of a risk to expect it from a young and inexperienced player. He's looked well out of sorts the last 2 games too.

Being on the left wing won't help that either. For me I'd go 4-4-2 and stick him up with Richards.

Confidence maybe?
Parkin, Cox, Austin hardly seasoned pro’s on arrival.

Would like to see him and Woolrey in a 2 man up top.

Yeah that probably plays a big part (confidence that is). I can't see a Woolery/Adebeyo combo working myself, nothing would stick. But hell, stranger things have happened. And sticking with what we have ain't working.

Agree

I think we need Taylor in the team, I think he still offers something, he does have that never say die attitude, and last night it was only him and Vigs that was prepared to make their voices heard, even our captain seemed to retreat into his shell.

Let bring it back to basics, go 442 give Woolery 60-70 mins up front with Adebayo, Dave & doughty in the middle with Iandolo and Mcglashan supporting with width and Nelson & Wolf at the back, it cant be any worse, if we are not going to score lets at least try and get a point by being solid.

I really hope Keshi get's dropped though, he fine when he is running but he runs into too many dead ends and loses possession to often.

I think if Brown went then it would be a case of starting all over again with a manager wanting his own players, current players not good enough, causing problems, not fitting style of play etc etc and we cant keep having a big overhaul we need some consistency, although the longer this winless run continues the more you wonder about Brown and his future here....it cant continue into December surely

If Anderson could find a red shirt with a pass every now and again I think he would be a good weapon. He is pacy and quite tricky but the number of times a good run ends with him losing it is frustrating.

I've given Anderson the same assessment, but I don't think we have anybody better, certainly not carrying the ball forward.

from the little I've seen, I do think Smith is a little unfortunate (sounds familiar :) ). McCourt may as well go on holiday until January

We are a bit stuck formations wise - the midfielders we have are all central bar McGlashan and maybe Iandolo.  The front players are all set-up to play off someone who isn't there and we have a left back who is not really a left back and can only really perform when he doesn't have to worry about defending (even last night he was targeted and lost either the header, the player or put the ball into touch reaching for a header).  It is all a bit squiffy.  I think the squad can really only play 4-5-1 or 3-5-2.  That means we have to work out the best starting eleven that will work as a team and get it gelling.  I don't see Alzate and Anderson working together for example.  neither is really much good out wide and both are too likely to go down a blind alley to play together in the middle of midfield and could not be relied upon as the central forward.  Richards is never going to work in the 4-5-1 with his current legs and style of play.  He might work in the 3-5-2 with the right delivery and partner.  Lancashire would probably have to play in the three man defence and that is a problem, something is just not right with, I do think he is broken somewhere and it is not his fault.  So then you think you have to go with 4 at the back and that exposes Taylor..................messy.

I've stated it before my ideal starting XI would be;

Issue with that - the Exeter game showed the back three didn't know how to work together.  Taylor doesn't have the legs to play wide without another player able to back him up unless we play a team using the same formation (Plymouth never doubled up out wide).

Hence the need for an out and out LB/LWB and a striker. The two positions most of us have highlighted from the off. We need those two positions sorting in Jan.

xi v x against Mansfield wasn't quite enough.

with xvii in your ideal starting xi, I reckon we could turn the tide ;)

soapy tit wank, alternatives hence / "or". I know, I know...I have form ;)

well, Tuesday was shit.

But it should be noted Cambridge have drawn with Lincoln and Mansfield this season.

er, I'm really trying to find one positive here..

It really was, wasn't it?

My first game since the Forest Green League Cup match and little has changed... Something needs to change, and fast.

Called in to Phillips fish and chip shop  in Gorse Hillfor our tea tonight.  Robin informed me that apart from his football special offerings Phil King had obtained an order for him to supply the Cambridge team and officials with their supper after the game.  Had to be delivered to the team coach at 10pm.  Pity he hadn't delivered it before the game, they may have been as slow as us for the first 15 minutes!

They wouldn’t have eaten it before the match. HTH