Thetownend.com

lads lads lads

They’re on a shit run. Well win 3-0

This is how to start a match day thread.

We will win.

My first in the flesh game for over two years.  It's been mostly shit on Ifollow so hoping for a stunner live.  Probably be 0-0

Same here, more or less. Back in Swindon for New Year and making my probably one game of the season. Hopefully a good one.

First Town game for 3 years, taking my two boys, it'll be my littlests' first game. Instant loss right there... :P

Win win win today. 2-1 Woolery and Anderson to finally score after missing missing and missing the target in the last 3 games.

Fucking day tripping glory hunters....

We are due a 3-1win . . . .  so it will be 1-1.

Oh my fucking head. Keep the noise you fuckers. Have a friend with us today watching for the first time so let’s hope for a win. Which I feel we will get. Happy new year one and all.

We have a 70.7% win ratio at home in 46 games with 26 won.

We haven't beaten them at home since 1985, 5 games at the CG without a win.

They are in 7th place, their last 5 games being LWWWL, the game against Grimsby on Saturday which they lost 2-1 at home they had 66% of the possession and 30 shots of which 10 were on target, with 15 corners to 0.

Exeter try and dominate with lots of long balls into the box for top scorer Jayden Stockley to get on the end of, which he has with 15 goals so far this season accounting for half their goals so far, if he doesn't play due to transfer then he will be missed badly as their next top scorers have only 4 goals.

Fingers crossed he will not play.

Nelson will only play if Swindon have arranged a loan extention or a perm transfer and will be a big loss if hes not playing.

I can't watch the game today, it will be my 3rd game I have missed this season, the other 2 being Cambridge and Woking both at home and both ending with home defeats against rubbish opposition.

Sorry but I don't feel the optimism that you all do, 0-2 defeat in front of 7,311 fans with 945 from Excetera.

Exeter preview of the game.

26 isn't 70% of 46...

We're good enough to win this, 2-0

Just took figures from swindon-town-fc didn't bother actually checking :)

I'm shit at maths so I don't even know to work it out (unless I google it) but it is so obviously wrong

It's 56%

I think I took the "not lose" ratio, not awake yet anyway so didn't even check it!

4th official? Blimey better get my skates on!

:D I did notice that!

It's just too good to be true

😁
Hope he's a home lovin man

Hope we smash em, living in Plymouth for a number of years has given me a dislike of Exeter. 3-0

Nelsons playing which is good news

Same X1 from Mansfield. No Stockley for them.

Martin at CB is very hit and miss if he gets the nod for them.

New guy on the PA today, can't pronounce any of the players names and keeps correcting himself. Pretty embarrassing!

4-1 today att 6809

Town are by far the better team in the early stages, no real chances so far though.

Conroy having a great game in midfield, his passing has been impressive.  We are still the better team by far, pretty much controlling the game.

We are going to regret not hitting the back of the net when in so much control..

outside the box

0-1

we've played pretty well today, 0 shots.

says it all

What a cock up

Bleddy peno, seemed tight that one. Been largely us. Got. To. Put. Those. Chances. Away ahhh.

Come on Town!

Shitty ref in a shitty league.

Exeter Pen, against the run of play.  We have totally controlled this game so far, but as Batch says, very few attempts on goal.

Same old same old..

Game over

having seen the replay, probably on the line so correct decision

If we don't turn this around the knives will be out for Wellens, 3 points out of 12 over the christmas period is rather poor form. We could start slipping into the lower end of the league again.

what chances, one threatening shot

 :pint:
Ey, Conroy had an absolute belter just miss from about 25/30yrds?

sorry 0 shots on goal

Nelson fucked. iandolo on

You said zero you cunt. If that'd gone you'd been wanking yourself silly. We all would.

Anyway on the peno. Vigs awful pressured pass behind Sid(?) and he had two Exeter lads on him. Didn't even need to pass there. Was a tight decision but the fuck up that led to it probably warranted it being given anyway. Happy New Year  :pint:

 ;)

Another year of good fortune :cry:

Bit of a nothing game, fucked about at the back and it cost us. We've been a mess since.

We don’t create anywhere near enough chances. Therefore aren’t going to win many games of football.

Only fun so far is the PA guy who clearly hadn't read the team sheet before trying to read it out loud. Didn't even try to pronounce Iandolo when he came on.

Otherwise it's been really quite crap.

Swindon play all a bit too predictable at the moment. Only way I can see us scoring presently is via a set piece or an Exeter mistake.  Same old boring football unfortunately. Hopefully Wellens gets to sign a few players over the next month so we can see if they make any difference.

You know there isn't any chance of that don't you.

But it didn't, and you full well know the point I'm making.

If we lose this game and a couple thereafter Wellens would have gone 6 games without a win.
LP will see the gates falling and pull the trigger, Wellens might need new players but will he be here to sign them?
He needs to win some games and fast or we'll be back in the lower end of this league,

We've gotten in some dangerous positions and put some good balls into the box, albeit with nobody on the end of them. If we had a striker that had a nack of being in the right place, they could have had a couple today. There may be 0 shots on target, but it's not Brown-esque.

Good God you're a tiresome cunt.

I know but thanks for the complement.

OK children, break it up.

Lets focus on the football.

So, has Conroy moved to centre back, Taylor in midfield and Iandolo lefy back?

Was Nelson injured or was it punishment for giving away the penalty?

Is Doughty anonymous again?

Have we just been slow and ponderous and then losing the ball before being able to take shots a la Williams era? Or are we getting the ball and hoofing it to noone?

Jesus Anderson. it was on the penalty spot ffs

Too many touches according to the radio

Should have hit the target at least.

Conroy is CB

Nelson is injured

doughty is doing ok but not top form

who?

0-2, cracking strike tbf

The players in general. Exeter playing one touch football, we're not.

Do we look like scoring 3 ?

not really

art 6755

Taylor off.

twine on

Taxi for Wellens.

Scored 2 goals in last 5 games. Not rocket science, we need a goalscorer.
Being more direct and not being afraid to shoot might be an idea too.

Why oh why are we so in consistent.  :-[ ::)

Liked of seen young lad pryce again.

Are we creating chances and just not putting them away? It seems like we haven't created anything in the last few games.

Not my choice for the job & wouldn’t ever give a manager whose previous job resulted in a relegation the job in the first place, however this is what game 10 & Wellens hasn’t had a chance to bring in anyone yet.

You want us to change manager again? Already?

Perhaps 10 game managerial contracts are the way forward

Taylor off? he shouldn't be out there from the start. His legs have gone and we only pick him incase we get a free kick. Looks like the new manager bounce is well and truely over. New balls please.

Porous at the back
Stagnant & uncreative in midfield
Lack upfront

Clear the team needs a massive overhaul

Now you’ve mastered punctuation, could you make a start on grammar?

we've created a couple of chances here and there, we don't seem to be able to create much clear cut.

we've done alright against Exeter to be fair. the first was avoidable, the second a bit standoffish but a good strike

defended in numbers put bodies on line.

but you need something more up top regardless

One small glimmer of light,piss stains losing 3-0 to Janners

your good

Perhaps they could rotate the pitch 90 degrees so it looks like we're attacking more often?

Not my choice I wept when his name came out and for the same reason. He qualified because he managed to get Oldham relegated?
I'm looking at what he's done with what we've got and I don't trust him to bring anyone in.
10 game contracts are the way forward for STFC reduces payments to sacked managers which is where most of our playing budget has gone over the last 5 years

(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/science/2017/04/21/PIA21445_fig1_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqBL8UcbD8RdQJL1AsIPSYBYNSPcZXvJM_yG21-lWyS0g.jpg?imwidth=1400)

So, what happens if we get a good manager who has a good start?
He’ll be gone after 10 games?

Oh & if STFCs choice of Manager actually made you weep I suggest you need to rethink your life priorities

I keep refreshing in the expectation that I will see we have scored!

Not all of them make me weep, just the ones that we get because they're cheap and no one else wants them.
i.e. everyone signed by LP in the last 5 years.

power out then.

Not just yet he's going to be needed, in appointing another manager, before this season's over.

God help us then,,,,,

That's it another defeat, still the window is open now, so we can get some kids in on loan.

One win in 5 now, lose the next game and that's it, LP will give wellens the payoff and sell Vigs to plug the loss.

Will you two please fuck off and wank each other off in private?

(https://i.imgur.com/sLJYM6E.jpg)

Was not in the box.

We need a goalscorer. Still a massively unbalanced squad with no out and out goalscorers. That was supposed to be Richards I suppose, but he's become old/crocked over the summer.

You want to watch don't you. Still we'll do a better job than a team put out under LP.

+500

Monsieur Grenouille Rouge!

Even if we had an out & out goal scorer, do we create enough chances?

Thought it was borderline at the time. I guess those kind of decisions are more difficult to call in the "Live moment" by the ref. If the player has forward moment, it's always going to go in the favour of the forward. In any case he was last man, the build up to it was a fuck up so 80:20 in their favour. Had the ref called it "correctly" then that may have produced a different outcome.

As you and many of us say - we still need a goalscorer. Buggar.

I see Newmarket Dread, Sir Dread Ken and Christian Cockslut have all sent their text messages in to BBCWilts  :suicide:

Fuck this division.

Well, this day tripper isn't planning the next trip just yet. When I was a regular I saw us get out of this division twice and we looked nowhere near as organised as we did then.

Keshi the brightest spark on an extremely dull switchboard, still got booed when they announced him MotM. He did miss a decent chance but was the only person who got anywhere near having one really.

We didn't look like a team which much of a plan, which is the most worrying thing. Squad not really set up to play the kind of game we seem to want to play (constant through balls down the wings with no wingers and our two big signings were centre mids?) so much to do in the window.

Anyone who watches that week in week out has my full sympathy.

I concur

We do need to improve our creativity, sure. However, there were a few decent crosses sent in the box today but nobody was on the end of them. I think a more predatory striker will have a nack of being in the right place and getting on these balls.

Alzate out for a fair while, back injury. Oh joy

Wellens PM highlights;

Alzate back fucked so he's gone.

Sounds like Woolf might be sent back. Maybe just in the heat of the moment of post match.

Agree with his honesty and hopes we've got some money as well as wheeling and dealing in the window.


Good luck to Alzate. Decent player there. However it's a freed up loan spot straightaway.

Jak McCourt sounds half cut!

Well, I thought we pressed well and controlled a reasonable amount of the game in the first half. At least up to their goal. Not that Exeter weren't a threat, especially with their pace up top.

The problem was we weren't creating much at all for all our effort. As Onemoredave pointed out on Twitter, we did employ the tactic of trying to chip it to our forward line quite a lot. No guile in attack.

Again the start of the second half we looked up for it, only for it to peter out into a disappointing non event. They added a second, we somehow wasted a 4 on 2, and Anderson couldn't hit the target unmarked from about 10 yards.

Richards got 45 minutes, but he may as well have stayed in Northampton. And I'm not blaming him, the service to him was largely piss poor.

So a shit return from Christmas. The squad is what it was when Brown left. Wellens has introduced a bit more energy and a more settled team. But the same problems exist and will do until we change personnel.

Sigh.

Right foot looks on the line, which is in the box. Tight. My first reaction was 'outside' too.

We looked OK in the first half until we got into the final 3rd (if you see what I mean) but not enough movement from the forwards so we never looked like creating chances. We were just crap in the second half. How many shots on target? 0 or close to?

Although it would help if he managed to keep up with play. At all.

That was our home form laid bare. Could have been any of the games this season - look good for 30 minutes, create not much, let a goal in. Second half - repeat and sigh.

Doughty did nothing, Anderson flatters to deceive, Woolery gets no service, Knoyle a bright spot, Bayo is better coming on as a sub, the rest are just about OK - nothing more.

Why I keep on deceiving myself things are getting better and turn up at the CG again, I’ll never know.

No more, though.

  Pretty much as expected today, PV called it.  Well I remember the last time Exeter won at the CG in a league game.... a festive fixture 40 years ago.

 I know people keep on about the mythic goalscorer, and it would be good to have one, but you don't actually need one to win games as Grecians showed today... they lost theirs and it made no difference.  What is more important is that goals are contributed from around the squad... defenders chippping in etc, that's as much if not more of the problem atm.

The Macc game becomes highly interesting, lose and we'll be back closer to the drop zone than PO's, still with a decent gap, but we do need to maintain that psychological edge that there are at least a handful of clubs, who are worse than us... and Macc would be one, and a chance to right the 100% losing record at Moss Rose.

Adebayo was unlucky to be taken off given the lack of service. His body language isn't great, but we seem to make exceptions for Doughty to be a stroppy tart...

They need to sort out a system and some players to fit it pretty soon

He didn't get great service but he did little or fuck all with what he did get. Richards looked no more likely to score but at least he was prepared to press or chase down 50/50s, if Adebayo didn't get the ball straight to him he didn't look interested. I suspect he may be one of those in the category where Wellens was saying "Think they're better than they are and need to start getting their heads down and showing it in games" (paraphrase)

Not read back
Lots of decent possession in the first half but no cutting edge.
Soft pen for them, what the fuck Vigs was doing passing to Nelson god only knows. Put your foot thru it ffs.
Only one result after that, despite Anderson's glaring miss.

Puts the bollox of play offs to bed hopefully, if we signed Man City we still wouldn't make it.

3 points out of 12 in the festive season  :suicide:

That was just 90 minutes of full back knocking it down the line due to having no help in the midfield. It was turgid and dire, just as bad as the baddest times under brown

If I turn up at the county ground and Dion Conroy is lining up in midfield I’d be tempted to turn around and leave. He offers less than nothing in that position

McCourt needs to stop shooting every time he gets the fucking ball. I feel that might be one of the ‘not following instructions’ that Wellens was in about

However bad we were second half, Exeter looked very accomplished and should have scored more

He did one man of the match worthy piece of genius that may have gone unnoticed.

He was stood unmarked next to the touchline, just in their half, arms aloft for the ball. And threw his arms down in disgust when he didn't get it.

The ball was in our right back position, being pressed by Exeter and with most of the team between him and the ball. Beckenbauer would struggle with that pass.

Still, at least he puts in the effort even if the quality isn't there.

you fuck off :technobabble:

we need 5 more wins to confirm our league 2 status. Its going to be close we could drop further down the league to our lowest ever position. Sadly there's nothing that can be done unless the club is taken over. I do think we'll have another change of manager soonish as this help deflect from much deeper problems. Our director of football will be our nexxt caretaker manager.

Piss poor, at least Wellens didn't try to gloss over the fact.  He kept saying we looked tired anda bit lazy.  Four games in 11 days, forgive me but didn't all the other clubs have the same problem. At least he was honest. Left back isa problem, Iandolo gave the worst performance in a Swindon shirt in a long time - and there has been a lot of bad ones. Couldn't find a red shirt with a pass or throw in in 60minutes of footy, just hit the ball aimlessly and hard. Nice to see the trolls out and about again.

Well obviously not every time, but he does have a decent shot and we do need goals from other sources, so I think he should be encouraged to shoot, OK be judicious, but not worry too much when a few fly over the TE.

I'm with Red Frog, you only pop up when we're shit. I long for a promotion push just so that we don't hear your repetitive negative shit.

As for the game we lack Power at both ends of the pitch, the fact I don't remember our last headed goal speaks volumes and as a team are far too light weight. We all know that we need a centre back (probably 2), a left back and a powerful striker as a minimum. With Alzate gone we also now need a creative midfielder. Quite the shopping list unfortunately and again highlights how poor Browns summer recruitment was.

Hopefully puts the bollocks of relegation to bed too?

 Tbf, being 7pts from the POs before today, playing the team in 7th was hardly "play-off bollox". Had that been a favourable result we'd be just 4pts behind Exeter. Still, it's a crazy tight division as we are only 10pts from 4th and 12pts from 23rd. If there are those that believe we can go down then there is also an equal to slightly better chance of us getting in the POs, at current.  

In any case we're a mid table L2 side and that's likely where we will stay for now. Maybe a similar finish to last season (9th/10th), or maybe a bit lower than mid (16th). Essentially this is us bottoming out. We aren't so shit that we have "No hope, Bob Hope or Viv Hope". We will pick up the occasional win. Form says it all really;

We win, we lose, we draw. So we'll likely win v the Silks and be on emergency dial - 999.

The incoming of players really will define our season if it is to get better. Don't think it'll get worse. We've already seen flashes of it. We seem like a slightly shit version of an inconsistent MK Franchise from around 10 years ago. You just never knew which side would turn up. This is very much the current case for the Town.

It's never fucking easy is it.

On current form you'd expect another 6 wins before May, further add in some draws to make a Luke, and we should be OK.

Certainly playing to avoid the worst ever finish should be an aim for the season.... at the same stage in 83/84, we had 32 points, so we've still got that point to play with.  We won a further 7 that season, but 8 defeats rather than a a couple of extra draws confirmed our lowest ever finish.

Made the effort to go to Northampton but the Jack Daniels fucked me today and fused myself to the sofa.

Don't really feel it was a bullet dodged strangely..

Once the first went in I feared the worst....we haven't got a goal in us at the moment.

Window open...but I'm expecting some underwhelming signings ...hopefully enough to keep us in the football league though.

What should our transfer strategy be now.

Hopefully we've got enough in the squad to stay up, maybe!

So do we still spend to chase the (surely out of reach) playoffs. Or save the cash for next season?

My first Swindon game Reg...Boxing Day 79.

As I mentioned above, it's looking (pre transfer activity) like we may end up on a "perfect middle" of 15, 16, 15. That would give us 61pts. Unfortunately I don't think there is a TPPW season where 61pts has guaranteed POs  ;) Possibly 64pts somewhere but the 66pts find the other day was a surprise. Anyhow, even for the optimist in me, I'm realistic that 61pts would see us somewhere in the middle. If the table stays tight we could end up 9th/10th. If it slackens we may finish 16th. However the transfer activity could change that slightly.

more like we draw, we draw, we draw, we lose :) if we could have scored in the first half it could have been a different result as Exeter were average, 2nd half we looked shit, hopefully do some good business in Jan and build a squad for next season instead of leaving it until the end of July





 

To be fair to Iandolo, he isn’t a left back, just a second/third choice central midfielder, who hasn’t looked too bad on occasion in there from what little I’ve seen of him. If it wasn’t for the fact he has a left foot, I’m sure he’d be back at Maidstone and may well be there or thereabouts this time next year.

I don’t think it’s fair to judge Wellens until he has his own squad, or to be more accurate, a squad he wants - which means giving him some backing in the transfer market. If we don’t do that, we’ll just continue this slow, dreary, demise.

Problem is we will not likely sign anyone for 4 weeks and deadline day anyway- then it will be the leftovers which is why we sit 14th in the basement division.

I honestly cannot believe how Lee Power is getting away with all this- under Seton Wills/Diamandis(yes he was a crook) our league position never sunk as low as it has now - and the fans rightly hounded then out.

Ask yourself this- Lee Power has no accountability to anyone- no other board members and the media are so scared of being banned they will not speak out.

We probably won’t get relegated this year- but if our league position continues to worsen we sure will be within a couple of seasons.

Where are the trust in all this- again in the days of Diamandis and even up to last year they were very vocal now the silence is deafening

Did you drive to that one?  :)

I feel as pissed off as anyone with recent results and inconsistencies,  however, , the question is what is the defining factor ?,  not sure if I am correct but to me the answer is - Lee Power.     I am not one of those shouting for his head (yet), but he appears to be the common denominator.   Hated Flitcrofts style of play, but how can he be so different at Mansfield ?, 17 undefeated,  couldn't get fuck all right here.  As said on previous posts,  is Power pulling the strings ?, is he throwing his weight about behind the scenes,  has already shown what he is like,  banning members of the press when they say things he doesn't like.   We cannot afford to keep him if we wish this club to progress,  on the other hand,  we cannot afford to lose him. Don't know the answer,  but hope we can turn things around bloody soon.

Brilliant post and correct on every point

apart from the Brown one, obviously

Umm Brown isn't at Mansfield

Sorry,   been that many poor managers ! Brown & Flitcroft included !.  Thanks for the nudge,  have now corrected the post !.

I'm sure you mean Flitcroft rather than Brown.... and I know the outers and haters have a loud voice on here despite the evidence to the contrary.  But if you compare 24 games in where Mansfield are we'd won more games than them, they do have 6 more points than we did courtesy of the draws, which is where they're doing well....managing to dig out a point here and there, which we couldn't do.  The bit extra was probably made up having the 10 game end of season and then a full pre season, in order to sort out requirements for the campaign ahead.

As regards Power, at least his sustainablity model which although has reduced our league status to a mid table Div 4 outfit, has averted the previous financial crises, to the extent that we can look at say Exeter as a sustainable Trust run club, and think there's no reason why it couldn't happen here. Exeter are presently some way ahead of us in playing terms, so it would be preferable to be mid table Div 4 with a fan's run club, than mid table Div 4 with an owner.

At this stage it doesn't really matter whether you think Power is the devil, or plain unlucky.

The only questions that matter are
- is there someone better equipped and willing to take over/help out
- would Power let them

We can but guess.. Power decides.

Completely agree with the above. Lee Power is the common denominator and his continued absence from games speaks volumes at how interested he is in the club.  He also must be fully aware that sections of the fanbase are blaming him?

Like The Flash, I was too hungover today so gave it a miss, so can't comment on the game specifically.  However after initially feeling we were turning a corner under Wellens, 3 points out of the last 12 says differently.  Power needs to back him properly in the transfer window and quickly.  None of this watching players move here there and everywhere and then us panicking in the last 24 hours. If he doesn't, the situation is not going to improve.

It won't be long before season ticket renewals will be out.  How many current ST holders won't renew when they can't see any light at the end of the tunnel under the current ownership?  The FA cup game attendances should give a bit of an indication.

3 points out of the last 12 says differently.  Power needs to back him properly in the transfer window and quickly.  None of this watching players move here there and everywhere and then us panicking in the last 24 hours. If he doesn't, the situation is not going to improve.

Alternatively LP could dispence with the services of Wellens and appoint another manager. Another new manager bounce should see us close to survival and 50 ish points. No need to sign anyone in the window just get a few kids on loan.

I’d save it for next year. Too big an overhaul needed.
Vigs, Knoyle, Dougherty
After those three is there anyone worth keeping? Woolery perhaps now he’s fit

I agree with much of what you’ve said- but we badly need someone at the helm who:

1) is accountable to a board of directors
2) actually gives a toss about the club
3) can engage with its fanbase

Really can’t see many ST holders renewing under the clubs current direction.

My biggest fear is we drop out of the league within a couple of seasons and looking at our league finish season on season since 2015 this horrible prospect is feasible.

I think it’s time the trust called another fans meeting this cannot be allowed to carry on.

1) would be good but is something that doesn't happen at most clubs.

2) I'm sure he gives a toss as ultimately it's his investment he needs to protect but I'm guessing you mean a fan of the club. something which would be good but again is very rare amongst other clubs.

3) It's funny how this pisses off fans. I couldn't care less how much he engages with us. he could be as distant as ever and bring success. everyone seems to want a mate chairman like Jed (without the dodgyness) Did black engage with us? Power probably does more q and a radio sessions than chairmen of other clubs.

The situation is shit. again it looks like we are writing off a season at the half way point. there is no quick solution though. the only way we have got out this league before is through spending and like most other clubs in this league we don't have the money to invest

Yup. It wasn't very good.

For me Conroy gave the most disappointing display as holding midfielder.  Many misplaced passes,hardly anything creative, lethargic, giving the ball away.  Better when he went to CB his true position.

One howitzer shot in the first couple of minutes, though.

Conroy has had a year off injured, was a poor performance out of position, but it's going to take a fair while to see if he can get back to where he was before injury.

would Dunne (or Smith, or McCourt) do better in the screening role? Suppose TD will sit in there when fit again.

Your last line is apposite.... this is the problem. Power has always been honest about being here to make money, and the need for the club to be self funding beyond that, known as sustainable.

It is possible to run a lower league/non league club like that and with some shrewd management sometimes have the odd decent season.  But people need to adjust their compass as to what is likely and achievable.... it is a policy which with attendant errors has reduced us from a natural Div 3 club, to our present status as a natural middling Div 4 club.  You can see it in our league position and the fact we haven't beaten a side in the current top ten apart from 9th placed Tranny, when helped by a sending off.

To find that odd good season, we will need to give Wellens/Hunt and Jewell a bit of time in order to build something... I would say look at it in January 21 and if no obvious signs of something then have a rethink.  Unfortuately football doesn't work like that, as last year we had a gaffer doing a decent season and as a consequence he was headhunted by a bigger fish.

Wellens in yesterday's post match mentioned about trying to convince players we're a big side in this league, but clearly just saying it doesn't work.... you have to show it by spending. Most casual observers of football would probably assume that Town were bigger than FGR, yet if they could look at budgets, owner ambition etc they'd realise it isn't the case.

What we have left for this season, is to see whether there's any sign of shrewdness and native cunning from the DoF and coaching staff, and little goals like could we really get a point or better at Moss Rose, could we perhaps win a home game, comfortaably by more than a goal.  I'm sure a few others will arise before May, but there's still the Glos/Wilts, Somerset mini league to resolve and the carrot of a possible first win at Whaddon Road to look forward to at the end.

Listening to the after match interview with Wellens I had the sense of deja vu. Players not playing to abilities, players thinking they are better than they are, no sharpness, no commitment to the cause etc. etc.. Could have been any one of the comments from the last three or four seasons. As the managers/squads/background staff have all changed quite dramatically in that time I am totally flummoxed to see a reason to the inconsistencies and ineptitude that I keep seeing, yesterdays game being a classic example.

Hopefully this transfer window chance that Wellens has of getting "his" team together and playing to the way he wants comes to some sort of fruition, but not holding breath.

Essentially it's blaming the players rather than yourself. No manager likes losing it's personal and hurts, so they have to have something to blame.... a top operator like SAF, would have been straight on the non pen.  

We know the players aren't very good etc, we know they are generally not fit enough for quick mid week turnarounds.  

There's no need to state the obvious, of course it's difficult to change all of that overnight, so small steps are the measure to see if the new management set up is having an impact.... normally under Power post window we get worse, so if we could even marginally improve for the last 20 that would be something.

Was surprised he got on Wolfendens case so publicly, it'll go one of two ways with that approach.

Sadly it does seem I "called it" :( we just can't seem to perform well at home and havn't done so for several years now, why the hell that is I don't know, are the players afraid of playing at home? or is it that we just play better when teams attack us and we hit them on the break? 3 games missed and 3 home defeats for me.

We should be dominating possession and shots in home games, yesterday it seems we did neither with Exeter having more shots/corners/on targets than we did.

We really shouldn't be losing so easily to sides like these/Cambridge/Woking/Bury/Carlisle at home and often with little effort.

Beaten by a cheated for penalty obviously outside of the box and a worldy that few keepers in the world would have got close to, our best central defender going off early as well compounding it.

Our problem is "fucking obviously" not scoring enough, we don't create many good chance and convert even fewer. Someone said that McCourt needs to stop shooting every time he has the ball, well if he shoots then thats something few of his teammates seem to be doing, so good for him I say. "You can't win a raffle unless you buy a ticket" as the saying goes.

We should be peppering goalkeepers with long range shots at this level, almost every keeper we have come up against this season looks unsteady with shots flying at them, so utilise it.

Also why do we persist in playing hoofballs from Vigs/Woolf/Nelson/Taylor upfield for our strikers to lose? Bayo or Richards on their day can win a few of them but they are not the type of target man that relishes on those balls. If we keep the ball down and pass and run we will do a lot better and we do look better when we do that.

Doughty in the last 3 or 4 games looks disinterested, his body language says he doesn't want to be here despite his huge amount of talent, constantly berating or arguing with his own players and going missing in games for 30 mins at a time regularly.

As I said previously if Bayo plays well the team plays well, several of the players are not good enough for L2 football, so many such as Anderson, Bayo, Doughty, McCourt, Dunne, Iandolo and others are so inconsistant, a few moments of brilliance and large amount of moments of madness. Yes I understand they are at this level for a reason but all show flashes of brilliance at times so its down to the manager/coaching staff to get the best out of them regularly.

Anyone that fully blames Wellens for this frankly is a bit of an idiot, he has inherited a team of underperforming players, he has not been allowed as yet to sign a single player himself so to get the results he has done already has been quite good, Brown couldn't get this lot playing well and most of them are his signings or Flitcrofts.

We are no doubt in the main playing a lot better football all over the pitch with better tactics, every team will have off days and it seems yesterday was one of those, the penalty incorrectly going against us and a great goal, fine margins.

Under Wellens in the League our form has been LWWWLDDDL (11 points 3 defeats) with the same players Browns record before he was sacked in his previous 9 games was LDLDLDLWL (6 points 5 defeats) so surely Wellens has got something right.

I will see what Wellens brings to the table with the transfer window, getting in players he wants and get rid of (much) deadwood inherited, then I would give him the Summer window to finish it off before I judge him. 2 transfer windows will be enough to accurately judge him, until then we have him as manager, Power will not get rid of him unless we lose the next 10 games in a row, which we won't I am sure of that, so petty bickering on here will achieve nothing, Power and Wellens are here for the foreseeable future and only an idiot would come in and buy us in the state we are in!

Look at Notts County to see how it could be a whole metric shit ton worse and thats WITH heavy financial backing.

We are in for a mid table season which with a few more new signings and wins then who knows?

Far too early to throw the towel in yet.

This 100%.

He was terrible after Sid went off though, looked completely lost. Not that Conroy was much better alongside him either.

oh yeah I get it was valid, just prefer it being done behind closed doors.

but hey, he's the manager and knows the players. hopefully it'll motivate him

Things have gotten worse season after season under Power and seeing as it is unlikely his approach to club ownership will change we look destined to be a L2 also ran for some time to come - hopefully not worse.

It’s difficult to watch our club diminish before our eyes while others with less than half the support look on the rise. How can Carlisle, for example, with probably a smaller budget than us cobble together a team capable of knocking on the PO door.

There is no doubt we should be performing better than we are and various managers seem incapable of putting a half decent side together with what must be a top half budget.

There is a distinct whiff of decay around the whole club. 5 years of decline has to lie at Power’s door and I reckon it’s his perceived ‘couldnt give a fuck’ attitude that has infected everything.

Is there really a great financial incentive for Power to have the club in L1 rather than L2?

We've had two tough seasons in division 4.

Flitcroft had a big rebuild to do, tough ask made tougher by his largely crappy recruitment and playing style.

Brown took what was left and for reasons only he'll understand bought a fuckton of midfielders.

I think Reg is right regarding realistic expectations. We can do what others are doing, but it takes time and a bit of luck getting the right man in.

Its way too early to judge Wellens yet. going to be this time next year before that should happen (assuming a mid table finish).

We can't buy the league. We are unlikely to get new investors in while Power is here. It's all a bit shit.

The club just seems to be going through the motions, every time I go back to see a game I'm reminded of why I could not be arsed with it since the Preston debacle.

There are some advantages to being Div 3, namely a better standard of loan player, who you can maybe pick up and flog on, like Luongo and Byrne.  Further bigger handouts from the FL.... this will be offset by being able to reduce the wage bill, by being Div 4 rather than 3.

Power does at least seem to get that maintaining our league status needs to happen for him to make any money..... he made the right call last season with Flitcroft, when a continuation of policy could easily have seen us doing a Chesterfield, and he moved pretty quickly this season when PB had taken us to a historic low position after a significant number of games and the drop zone beckoned.

I still maintain Power's been unlucky since the drop. He's made appointments that are solid on paper, and supported them. It'll just take sustained improvement on the pitch and the duldrums will be lifted. Whether Wellens' is the person to do that remains to be seen. He's been hit and miss so far.

I posed the question which nobody took up the challenge on, as to whether there is any obvious correlation between moving the training from Wanborough to Calne.... my gut instinct is there could be, but in the past when I've said about not being happy with shifting out to Calne, most on here decry it as making no difference.

It is partly the perception thing.... which Wellens touched on of players not seeing us as a big club in Div 4.  Wanborough being only just out of town, had decent facilities....  name boards saying Town training ground that sort of thing... it looked proper.  Remember Sturrock, post training he'd get the players back to the CG for a meal of stovies, a sweatie dish, he maintained it was important to keep them in touch with their base.

It of course helps then if there are community activities going on at the CG, in the day.... and if possible as in the past with things like The Study Centre, get the players involved.

These are young lads often living in London or similar, who probably only go to the CG for a few hours a week, and don't really get any sense of integration.... if you're someone like Bayo, or Olly Lancashire atm, it will soon be Doughty, it's just somewhere you turn up to occasionally to get abuse.

You seem to assume the club stopped using the training facilities at Wanborouh out of choice. They didn't, PGL decided not to renew the contract. So it might be you didn't get an answer to your "challenge" because it was based on a false premise?

Is Sol Pryce injured? Not even been on the bench past three games and not started since his debut brace.

Don't think so. He's been with the match day squad for the last 2 or 3 games.
One of the fitness guys has had him and Romanski running round the pitch beforehand.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him go out on loan soon.

Then your assumption would be wrong.... I know that is hard to believe.

I'm fully aware of the history, rather I'm trying to help Venkers in his quest to find a reason for the home form being so poor.

Possibly so, although his couldn't give a fuck attitude seems to be rubbing off on many supporters who are also at best ambivalent about the whole shit show, there are many number of posts on various forums Facebook etc saying 'I won't be going until things change' although unless you expect him to constantly put his hand in his pocket (which he isn't going to do) it ain't going to change unless fans invest in the club.

I know this is a skewed point, but the days of the community club are long gone and supporters need to adapt, clubs are wealthy (at least compared to you or I) peoples play things and that's just the way it is, which is acceptable to many whilst the team is winning , I am not sure that supporters have ever even heard Abramovich's voice), yet I don't see loads of Chelsea fans whinging that he doesn't do a monthly phone in. Its like a favourite bug bear of mine, namely when people moan that an owner won't spend 100's of K's on 'x' player then in the next breath moan like hell that burgers have gone up 5p.

Ultimately football is a business now, do I like it, not particularly and that's probably why my interest (not just in Town but the game generally has fallen through the floor in the last 12 months.

Power owns an asset of sorts and what he chooses to do with it, in real terms, has extremely little to do with us all, its bleak but that's life sadly. Probably the greatest opportunity to retain the clubs community soul was lost first when St Fitton of Hungerford buggered over the fan shareholders and then extinguished when Jed took over as possibly one of our weathly fans could have got the club for a song but chose not to (we hear about these wealthy people but I still don't really get how a man of little brain without two pennies to rub together managed to get his act together but no one locally could?)

Happy New Year!

Sir Jeremy of Wray that pissed Black off.

I'm sure there are better (and worse) prefers to be had out there. Just got to see it through.

Don't have a problem with fans complaining though. it's natural

 OK Venkers, I've looked at the numbers, we moved to Beversbrook in June 15.... so since then we've had 3 and half seasons there, which has produced a home record of P 82, W 30, D 20 L 32.

 The previous 3 and a half at Wanborough produced a home record of P 82, W 48, D 18, L16.

 Is that enough to be considered significant  :hmmm:

I personally think all the players should live within a few miles of the club they play for and train in or around the town too.

But thats just my personal opinion and I am sure some fans will say thats old fashioned and so 1990 but its just how I personally feel, I expect I am pretty much on my own though.

I think players need feel part of the community but then others will probably say that a large proprtion of of fans aren't based in or close to Swindon so why should it matter with players?

It's a Calne thing isn't it, I haven't seen a victory in five years  :-[

Aren't our home results over the last few years just down to us being a bit shit? The stats just reflect that the playing staff is of a lesser quality than they were over 3 years ago?

I'd guess an analysis of how home form vs away form has changed over that period would highlight whether the dip in home form was down to that - or to the factors Reg & others have suggested.

It is highly likely.... but why is the playing staff of lesser quality, is it simply to do with ever reducing wage budgets.

Yet the away form, even this year, is above average.

Maybe the current players just cannot deal with the Cauldron like atmosphere of a packed Country Ground?! ;) I think it's a combination of everything.

In the period since the move to Beversbrook the away form reads P 82, W 25 D 19 L38.   In the 3 and half seasons prior to the move P82, W 32 D18 L 32.  The away from has dipped, but not as much as the home form.

Maybe the less talented players have been set up to defend and counter rather than attack to win.

Those figures would be interesting if it's done by manager over those years
 

Isn't the home form poor because you have to have that bit more skill to break down teams that are defending? To do that you need a player or two with a bit of 'magic'.

When away from home the opposition take more chances and are vulnerable on the counter. Therefore you don't need as much 'magic' to unlock the defence.

The obvious correlation is that our training no longer matches the high standard of an Italian who carved out a decent career for himself at the top level.

HTH

Taken a couple of days to muse, aided by flying back to the USA.

We seem to have a squad of not quite right players.  BY that, I mean, they are ok, sometimes they even look good for this level, but very few of them really fit a position, really have  anatural home that beds together as a team.

Taylor - not a left back and certainly not a holding midfielder.  Good set pieces, effort but he can't defend without running in reverse and we can't get him in the right positions up the field often enough.
Iandolo - not a left back - good crossing but how do you get him into that position?
McCourt - he doesn't seem mobile and doesn't seem to fit the defensive role, but he has some moments of creativity and can shoot, but again, he's not got enough to be left up the pitch
All our forwards are not quite forwards in different ways - we have a few pacey players but none of them seems comfortable out wide and none of them can play upfront on their own.  I am coming to the belief that someone at Fulham knew that Adebayo didn't have a natural forward position and trying him at centre back must have been to see if letting him just attack the ball would be better - he doesn't know how to play both ways.  Anderson - I can't think of a position you play this guy in any team at any level.  Woolery - he might work as part of a front two with a big lump of a forward to play off, but without that, again, he has no home in a team.

When you go through them all, it's tough to put together a team and formation where you have all eleven players, or close, in their optimum positions.  I think we have eleven good players, just no way of making them into a good team.  The big question is whether it's a few people in specific positions that make it come together, or whether you end up having to let someone like Anderson go because you can never figure out how to use him without detracting to from the team shape.

The main thing to remember about the majority of our squad is they cost little or no money to aquire.
whether they can hold a position or are good at this or any other level is irrelevant.
We need 11 players to pull on a shirt each week so the club can sell tickets for games.
Nothing else is required.

I think Adebayo is an out an out forward, just not the prolific goal-scoring variety.

Other than that, yeah. The rest seem to be more attacking midfielders/wide forwards of some obscure flavour. I'm sure they can be found places in the right team somewhere, just not as strikers. I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of them end up finding a home in Europe (and doing well)

The only one we really have in that mold is Richards, and he's past it/injured.