Thetownend.com

So yet another must win game if we want to get into the play offs, so it’s another guaranteed loss/draw with all the teams above us slipping up.
Oldham have picked up since the departure of Paul Scholes, winning their last 3 games, so will have play off hopes themselves and a win for them will see them climb above us in the table.

If we play like we did Tuesday I am confident we will win, but if we play like we did Saturday then that really will be it for our very slim play off hopes.

I’m going for a 2.1 win, with a late Doughty winner with Anderson getting the first.

I'm confident we will win as our late surge for the play offs continue.

3-1 to the Town. Woolery to remember where the goal is and score twice and one from Anderson.

I'm also confident we will win so we can keep the delusion of playoffs going right until we spectacularly collapse against Cheltenham, they are our nemesis

 What's the Boundary Park pitch like this season.... Wellens reckoned its poor state was one of the reasons for last season's relegation?

 At the start of the week I said how these were two big games coming up for Wellens.... he passed the first test impressively, a point at Rodney Parade in the circumstances an excellent outcome... but this is harder.  Can we maintain that level of focus, with our nice top half perch riding on it?

Doesn't look too bad!

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/oldham-athletic/11682625/oldham-2-0-tranmere

I am in Manchester tonight staying over morning so could divert to Boundary Park tomorrow AM, but think I will just come home!  :D

Go to Oldham, you will be kicking yourself if you don't and we get a positive result.

Wellens will be desperate to put one over his former team.

They have won their last 3 games all 2-0  against Grimsby and Tranny home and Col U away.

Oldhams home form is almost identical to Towns away form w9 d5 l6 our away form is w9 d5 l7.

The Latics recent form is DLLDDLWWW.
Swindons recent form is WDWLLDWWDD.

Town have been hit and miss in away games at Oldhams cold and windy ground.

In our last 12 games there dating back to 2003 Swindon have come out as victors 4 times, Oldham 4 times a 4 draws with no side scoring more than 2 goals in any single game between the sides.

Their fans are rightly very confident of a win after winning their last 3 games on the bounce since Scholes decided he didn't really like working there.

In the home game Taylor was sent off for a foul in the last minute of the game in a dull 0-0 with probably only 3 of that side likely starters for tomorrows match in McCormick, Woolf and Anderson, add to that Conroy who was on the bench that day being the only other likely player to start from the matchday 18 back then.

A game Town dominated without scoring, Oldham had an incedibly slow defence and the ref was terrible and Oldham came for a 0-0 which is what they got.

Tomorrow will be very different.

Swindon 3-0 Oldham with Anderson, Robinson and Woolf scoring in front of 4,351 with 475 hopeful Town fans there.

Even the Oldham fans on their forum say playing good flowing football on their pitch is unlikely this season as its in a terrible state.

I love to see fans of other teams on their forums getting things so wrong.


How about DWWDD for Swindon....hmmm changes things a bit doesnt it.

Depends on how you define better? 2 sides we have beaten in recent weeks and we have won 3 of the 4 games played between the teams this season. If judged on football quality then we would win hands down in the "better" stakes.

My word there more in fighting and arguements between their fans on the forum than most I have visited ever.

Vigs is back in the squad tomorrow

I hope he doesn't play him, McCormick hasn't put a foot wrong since hes been playing and didn't go off sulking when he wasn't picked but happily sat on the bench for 20 consecutive matches.

Vigs 7 clean sheets in 29 games, McCormick 7 clean sheets in 12, says it all for me.

Exactly this, it does boil my piss when footballers become petulant wee shits, something about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

So where has this jump from going to a funeral to being a shit come from? People dont die to order.

Vigs only let Wellens know about the funeral the night before by text. People don’t die to order but funerals usually take a while to organise, Vigs May have known about the funeral for week or two and could have mentioned it beforehand. I think that’s why he may be considered thoughtless.
Back to today’s match; 2-0 to keep the slight chance alive for another week.

Need a win = Doughty must start

Pre match interference with beer selection in The Shay Wake.
I resign!

So, Boundary Park, lots of different ways of getting to and from.
All of them awkward.
Survived a walk through Chadderton on a Tuesday night once.
The out of tune squawking of "when the blues...", always a joy in the land of dark satanic mills, spires and minarets.

Are these the only ones that we have played in all 4 divisions?
Coventry as well maybe?

Hopefully something in the air of Greater Mancunia agrees with the players.
Quietly confident of them giving a good account of themselves today.
Enough for a win. Don't know. Hope so.

He wasn't that good when he came on half was thro the 2nd half on Tuesday, seemed to upset the formation. Not sure who would be dropped to accomodate him, unless Carroll faisl the fitness test then its a no brainer.

Bennett, Anderson, Woolery and Rose have all played really well the last few games.

At the Spurs v Huddersfield game on Pritchard watch.

Have to say, the Spurs stadium is mightily impressive.

As for us, 1-1 today. A good performance but probably not enough.

The best American Smokehouse I ever had was in Oldham, a place called Jacks American Smokehouse and Grill.

Well worth a visit if passing, superb smoked meats and sausages with cornbreads and all the sides, far better than the generic shit like Five Guys.

We have played them in  all 4 divs, but Cov we've played in all 4, + Div 3 S and the old Southern League.

Wimbledon too?

A full house then.
Hopefully the more recent umbilical link with Coventry will help generate some upward momentum for us to get back to the same division.
Can't see them gaining the heights of the top two divisions any time soon.

No.  A common mistake.... never played Wimbledon in Div 2

That was my only thought I couldn't remember if we swapped divisions and avoided each other, as we did with Nottm Florists for a long while. We got close to Sheff Utd too in 81 they came up from Div 4 and we were relegated.

It does seem a bit odd, but in fact we haven't played Wimbledon, in old or new form that often.  Sadly we've played Franchise more  >:(

A good chance we'll renew acquaintances next season.... I know they've a new ground planned, but no idea how that's shaping.

https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2019/march/new-stadium-update/

 :)

No chance of a new ground for next season then.... shame Div 4 gets less interesting when you hang about in it too long.

Apart from Bradford City, the other 5 who might join us next season, has still got plenty of candidates.

So maybe another trip to Kingsmeadow next season, not one of the better trips to London.
That could be offset by the return of Leyton Orient, one of the better away days in the capital.

Looks like it, have to wait another year before its completed. That is unless the real Dons can escape relegation.

Kingsmeadow is without doubt the smelliest ground i've been in.

For me it was Slough Town, we had a friendly there many years ago, the fairly close proximity to the shit farm did it no favours.

Just landed in Oldham after a sojourn in Shaw.
There might have to be a delay in kick off to allow for some additional refreshment to be taken on board.

Could be struggling for the bus fare back to Manc Central, so might have to be a case of "doing as in Rome" and approaching the locals and asking kindly. They don't look particularly amenable.  :(

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4COAtdW0AEt80c.jpg:large)

Only 6 subs and Doughty starts in place of the injured Carroll. Must mean an injury to Taylor.

What has happened to Smith?

why only 6 subs?

surely putting a youngster would be worthwhile, unless they didn't travel

6 subs? We cant have that many injured surely.

Only 6 subs? Didn’t think we had many injuries. Surely there’s a youth teamer to warm the bench.

Glad to see Doughty back.

Lancashire and Toums training on the pitch but not picked for the bench, interesting.

Could be some of that as they have had a couple of days in Burnley using their trianing ground, but why not pick Toums or Lancashire even if not fully fit to at least make the number up.

I’m doing a Flashheart today. Birthday meal, local wine and wifey driving me home to 3 points.

COYR!

Have to have at least 1 home grown player on the bench, if not 6 subs.

Wanted to see Rose and Doughty together as this could be the first choice engine room for next season.

Hopefully two left footers won't be problem, or could Bennett drop in alongside Rose?
Line up looks very positive.
In general, not sure there is a need for two "holding" midfielders at this level.
Have to follow the fads from further up the food chain I guess.

Doughty and Rose could be awesome but as you say less balance with both being very left footed.

I still hope that Toums will come good and would naturally fill in the defensive role that Carroll currently fills with some great and some poor performances. I have a feeling Toums isn't going to fit.

Ah the substitution thing is because of there being no homegrown players in the squad, which the rules are there has to be 1...filled by Bancroft, Henry etc lately. Why one youth teamer didn't travel today though I don't understand.

Oldham unchanged for the 4th game in a row having won each game 2-0 with this line up.

Ex Town targets O'Grady and Lang up front for them and ex Town loanee Giles Coke on the bench for them.

Looks like they need to turn the floodlights on at Oldham.

1-2 town

The pitch looks almost as bad as Newports did on Tuesday.

Swindon attacking their own fans first half.

Exeter winning already

Robinson wins a high ball and finds Anderson who volleys it wide from 20 yards.

Poor clearance hits Robinson who cant quite get his shot in, corner to Town.

Poor corner by Bennett.

Lots of mistakes defensively by Oldham already.

That's a bit rough :)

Very poor pass from Doughty puts us in trouble at the back.

Corner to them.

:D

Scramble in the box but Town clear it.

Free kick to Oldham just outside the box.

0-1

Poor defending by Town LMc cant quite stop it entering the net.

Long cross not cleared at all easy header but hits the net 2nd chance.

All Swindon so far except for in our own box where a mistake has cost us dearly.

Free Kick to Town 30 yards out central, Anderson to take it.

Poor free kick.

Game being played at 100 mph at the moment in midfield.

Another free kick to Town just outside the box on the angle.

Another poor free kick, the ball comes back to Bennett who crosses it and Robinson cant make enough contact and its saved.

Oldham have a shot from 20 yards, easy save for LMc.

koiki had to do better for the goal

Anderson makes a decent break but cant get his shot in.

Ref having a good game so far, letting most things go if there is an advantage to the attacking team, thats a rarity.

Carlisle losing.

Still all Swindon putting them under pressure but we are taking too many touches in and around the box...as always.

Woolery lovely turn but he skyies the shot over from 25 yards.

Town must have had 70% of the possession so far.

Good cross by Anderson finds Bennett whos header hits the post.

Oldham struggling to cope with Anderson, Woolery and Bennett.

Bennett 30 yard shot deflected wide.

Knoyle wins another corner.

Poor short delivery.

Doughty yellow card.

Robinson having a good duel with Clarke today, Robinson has the beating of him 99% of the time.

Nice cross by Koiki, good attacking play by Town again.

Still all Swindon but we can't get a decent shot in.

Town coping with the pitch much better but its like its been ploughed before the game, awful surface.

Swindon pinging the ball about fully in control of the game, Rose playing really well, Doughty good going forwards but poor defensively at times.

Woolery wins another corner.

Come on boys, a scuffer will do

Doughty so close to getting a shot on target but its charged down in the box.

60% possession and 6 shots to their 1. Come on boys.

Koiki loose ball almost cost Town as they hit us on the break.

Controlling the game but too sloppy with the simple passes..  Unless we come out with a different gameplan in the 2nd half I can't see anything for us today..

Bennett should have scored

Another shot by Bennett well over the bar.

Pen to Town.

Doughty to take it. Robinson brought down.

No clever shit Doughty

Gtfi

1-1

Well deserved.

Beautifully taken penalty by Doughty.

Robinson’s pace got us that.

HT 1-1

Easily in charge of the game but offering nothing in front of goal yet, one silly mistake at the back has cost us again. More of the same 2nd half but with more chances created please.

Clarke has struggled with his pace and control all game but ironically it was Edmundson that gave the penalty away.

Over all though everyone playing quite well so far, Anderson, Bennett and Rose playing really well.

Conroy's passing has been good and both him and Woolf making good breaks as are Koiki and Knoyle, fully in control of the game so far.

Actually looking again, it wasn’t so much pure pace as poor defending, letting him get goalside.

I havent watched either goal/penalty again yet but you are probably right. Well deserved though and I am shocked its only 63% possession first half as I would have said way more than 70% at least, Oldham have only shown a little on the break we have passed them off the pitch so far.

That should say passed them off the ploughed field and not pitch.

Just watched both goal events again, yes the defending is awful for the pen and the defender could have walked for that, Koiki definately at fault for not picking up the scorer after LMc made the initial save.

How on earth do you even create a pitch like this? It must have a concrete bed.

Played really well, finished like donkeys.

Not sure we get the best from Doughty where he is playing but we could be two in front by now.

As we have managed to get the goal you probably keep going as is for a bit, especially as we have a stranglehold on the ball.

Great ball from LMc to Bennett who finds Anderson, the ball finds Robinson who hits a 30 yarder well wide.

Robinson had time to at least get that on target.

Woolery lovely break and then air shots in the box.

Koiki nice cross but nobody there...takes a deflection, corner to us.

Robinson header back to Koiki whos acrobatic volley is just over the bar.

When you look how Oldham have played you can see why Scholes bailed out early on, they have been pretty rubbish so far other than from set pieces.

Another good run by Koiki and a lovely cross but he can't find a Town player in the 6 yard box.

Comedy effort by Oldham for a scissor kick fall flat on his arse.

2-1 Bennett

20 yarder in the corner, well deserved.

Great goal..

get in!

Oldham have a chance easily saved by LMc.

Bennett’s been so tricky today. His best game so far?

Bennett has played brilliantly the last few games.

Today and Newport on Tuesday, both exceptional games for him, after his poor start.

Knoyle lovely cross onto Robinsons head but it glances wide.

Theo should have scored, his best chance today

Conroy poor defending sets up the striker but LMc is equal to it, good save.

Should have done better again. It was put right on his head.

Another good move by Anderson, Woolery and Knoyle ends with a good cross from Knoyle.

It worries me that Doughty is on a yellow and has his card marked..  I would consider making a change and bringing Dunne on as a more defensive option..

Definately should have hit the target.

Yes Doughty has barely made a tackle since his booking.

Woolery deserved a free kick there.

2-2

bollocks

Poor defending again by Town should have cleared it.

Koiki should have launched the clearance but didnt connect.

Koiki again

Town put the pressure back on Oldham and havent given up.

Not deserved but if you dont clear your lines that can always happen.

koiki is on for a hatrick..

Wellens bringing on a Town sub by the look of it too.

Oldham threatening Town more now.

He really worries me, hoping he is not going to be a permanent signing, makes too many mistakes and does not offer much, his control of the ball is terrible

Suddenly we’re sitting deep and giving them the initiative.

Get Dunne and House on for Doughty and Woolery go 2 up front.

Oldham another chance very close.

Dunne on for Woolery.

Koiki is having a second half to forget

Bollocks

Town looking a bit flustered.

No way to speak to the wife.

Fair play to Oldham, the first hour they were shit but have takent he game to us now the last 10 mins.

4064 (362)

you obviously don't go to all the home games then

Koiki definately a game to forget defensively, attacking hes done quite well though.

House presses them into a mistake, corner to Town.

McCourt aims at the moon with his shot from 25 yards.

What is the point of McCourt

McCourt has been shit since he came on, Dunne has done well.

he had a couple of ok games, bit with doughty, Dunne, Carroll ahead of him... not much.

was Smith a figment of my imagination

Dunne with a great chances but the keeper saves it.

House has controlled absolutely nothing.

2 mins added.

McCourt is shocking.

Sorry that should have said 4 mins added.

ft

FFS. that's probably that then

Ah well. League 2 FTW

FT 2-2

Yep play off dream over.

Still a chance, but I think it's finally time to say that that's probably that. I hope Wellens et al still give it all they have though, things can still change very quickly.

Failing that, at least we'll be able to start focusing on the club's survival next season.

5 points behind Exeter with 4 games left.

Time to start planning for next season.

We have the basis of a good team but we still miss a goal scorer.

Yay thats Regitivity®!

Tough one to take that, you cannot fault the effort and Wellens has us playing really well at times.  That's where you miss someone with the experience though, Koiki lost his position in defence in that game.  They could have had four goals through him.  He was a threat going forward but his starting position and tracking was all over the place.

Really should have won that, which considering their form is saying something, as well as how we played on cobbled surface.

Bennett is winning me over, may be worth trying to sign him.

If Dunne puts that chance a way we walk away with three points, wrong player to have ended up there really.

Oldham looked a real threat once they started playing though.  Could easily have been a 5-4 scoreline.

Spot on.

Good ref for once. Again, we pay for not taking our chances when we were in charge, just like Yeovil and Newport. Robinson the worst culprit, though neither Anderson nor Woolery could even work a shot. MoM probably Bennett for his first hour.

Should have won, could have lost. Not a bad result. It's the Yeovil, Crawley home games that cost us but things look rosy for next season.

First 2 games I thought Bennett was a total waste of place but hes got better and better and I would love him to sign.

Woolf has played really welll but I would like to see Broadbean alongside Conroy to prepare for next season as Woolf will be playing for Ipswich in L1.

I love Robinson he brings so much pace and strength to the side but his finishing is at times woeful and probably cost us 3 wins now after Newport, Yeovil and Today when he had some great chances to score.

Koiki looks a real handful going forwards but struggles defensively.

Rose is a great signing and we need to tie him down for next season as hes only on a short term contract until June.

 Well done to Wellens and the lads.... came through 2 difficult away games, and got the required to keep us tenth, had we lost today would have been down to 13th.  Need to keep going though as it would be good to match last season or better, which is still a possibilty, although with Whaddon Road on the horizon and 2 home games against poor travellers, it may be too much.

Credit to Wellens, he has found a way to make the front line look a threat and earlier in the season it looked more likely they were a threat to each other as nobody seemed to know where they were supposed to be playing.  he's also finding a tune from Knoyle going forward.  Will be an interesting post season to see how he develops the team, who he manages to in down, who he brings in etc.

Also full credit to Wellens for getting Anderson loking like a footballer.

First time I've genuinely thought season over. Need an Easter miracle with us winning both and either Exeter or FGR not winning either of their games.

Wellens is doing well though. Looking forward to seeing what sort of team he puts together in the summer.

it'll be interesting to see what he does with the forward line.

the front 3 cause opposition all kinds of problems but you wouldn't back them to score enough between them to take us up.

stick or twist?

think he's going to have to change it myself.

Same here. He's a good player, but we need a goalscorer.

I think he will focus on the Robinson role, but I am not sure it will be him.  Robinson is close to what we need, certainly better than others who have played there.  I would not be surprised to see Bennett signed and for the first time I'd be happy retaining both Woolery and Anderson.  The latter could be the one to be switched out if Wellens can sign two different types of forward.

I think we are a whisler away - we have actually scored a few in 2019 and seemed more secure at the back, most of the time.  Imagine the team we have had playing in the past three with someone like Thorne up top.

As we all know out and out goalscorers are rare at any level, I am sure if the right player comes up then Power will buy one but you will probably need to go down a league or 2 to get one we could realistically afford.

Conference South or North level maybe, who is still under 25 but willing to make the step up to league level.

They're not 'that' rare. Quite a few clubs have them even in this league. A 1 in 3 striker will probably do us as they'll get enough chances.

 Why bother, we paid a quarter mill for Thorne from a side who were just about to win the Prem. That sort of thing isn't going to happen.

 More likely would be a punt on something like an Elijah or Harry Smith, or both. Flawed players, but have shown something which perhaps could be worked on... further because they're flawed sort of thing we might attract.

I think we'll go for a proven league two Striker. Amond, Kane Hemmings... Someone like that.

Power's shown time and time again that he is willing to invest, despite what some would have you believe.

I would like us to take a punt on Danny Rowe of Fylde in the Conference.

169 goals in 4 seasons even though hes 30 you can't knock that strike rate.

26 goals this season with just 3 of them being penalties.

Fylde turned down a £50k bid in January from an unnamed league club.

I have a feeling we will make an offer for John Marquis, Wellens played with him for a couple of years at Doncaster and Power is known to be a fan of his while he was at Millwall, still only 26 and out of contract in the Summer. He is the big target man we need who knows where the net is too.

I posted about Marquis....


At the time he couldn't get a game at Millwall, and their fans thought him a donkey.... Donny took a punt and he scored plenty.   Div 3 players of his calibre are going to be well beyond our capability...

According to many Bennett was way beyond our capability.

Who knows the pulling power of Wellens? and he is out of contract and maybe he fancies the challenge, who are we to say?

I think signing Theo is the most likely outcome.... he'll probably hope to get something a bit better, but he's not that great so you never know.

Theo will sign but not as first choice.

Bennett is on loan... Marquis has 59 in 130, Donny are in the PO's... he can expect to get a top end Div 3 club who spend a bit of money, an Ipswich might suit.

We definitely need an extra body up front for competition.... that was the first clear error of the summer recruitment, move on Luke and Mullin and replace them with a loan kid, never gonna work.

Never say never.

We as fans can only guess what goes on at clubs or what is and isn't beyond our capability.

Yes it may be pie in the sky but aim high and get knocked down.

I prefer to look at the Power patterns, and that is always to do things on the cheap.... now in Div 4 the likes of Accy and Wycombe have shown, it can still lead to success. More often than not it won't, but it is conceivable.

This season when we shifted on Luke and Mullin, and had just got the Flint windfall, I think the likes of Flasher might have thought Power had a bit of a name striker lined up for maybe a £150K or similar.... but no.

Nick Ajose, must be about out of contract at Charlton...  :hmmm:

Since, and including, Franchise, this is our form:

Won 5, Drawn 5, Lost 2, 20 GF, 11 GA.

Woolery, Robinson and Bennett have 4 each, Doughty has 3 and Anderson has 2.  Doughty missed a lot of those games as well, starting only 3, so 1 in 1 ratio for him.  Robinson, Woolery and Bennett have 1 in 3 records.

Wellens has built a way of extracting the goals from the entire frontline - the problem we've had is individual games and having given ourselves too much to do.

Anderson is probably one you would need a bit more from during that run, or you'd like to have had Doughty in the team.  I actually think, if we did end-up retaining that group for next season, Wellens seems to be able to extract what we would need from them.

The defence seems likely to be as is, with Broadbent replacing Woolfenden.  Give Rose a season or two and we have the making's of a good team.  If he does pull out a gem to fill the role Robinson fills then I think we could be in for a much better season in 19/20.

In fact, that form would have you on 60 points with 10 games to go in a season, you'd have 3 players with 12 goals each.

Ultimately, I am finding myself looking forward to watching games right now.

This, much more than I have in years TBH, probably since pre Wembley play off days.

the gf/GA has surprised me

The football we are playing under Wellens is better to watch than we have had in many years, far better than under Cooper, Flipflop, Brown and I would even suggest PdC even if we were harder to beat under him the style of football is much more pleasing on the eye.

I just truly wish we could cut out one or 2 errors at the back and that we could actually make the keepers playing against to be forced into making saves. Too many times we shoot but its wide, but its good that at last we are actually getting shots at goal even they are wayward.

We had 20 today, only four on target.

We are getting there though.

This is the best bit.

When Flitcroft arrived. I was willing to sacrifice entertainment for results. Now, having had a taster of a season under Flitcroft, I find myself wanting the opposite. The added bonus for me is that I think Wellens can deliver both.

Compared to earlier in the season, even only 10 games ago the difference is massive. For me Bennett has made the difference, hes always willing to take a pot shot and add to that a couple of long range goals from Anderson and Woolery its much better than walking the ball into the net or over passing as we have done so often in the last 3 years or more.

No doubt, Wellens has improved things, and it isn't really his fault that it isn't enough.  However, at no stage this season have we really looked like getting into the mix and as such have been playing without pressure.... that will be the challenge for next season, can we grind out some wins especially at the CG v teams with poor away records, who largely look to spoil.

It seems like it should be an easy thing to resolve, but we've failed to beat 8 of the bottom half of the table, only beating Macc in the opener and Morcambe since. 2 to go.

It’s nowhere near as good to watch as coopers team was

The first half of that season was fun, the wheels did come off a bit towards the end though, we looked poor approaching the play offs.  The we had the oddity of the Sheff utd games followed by Preston.  A full season in 3 games!

I have to disagree on that, I didn't enjoy that season much at all, yes we played some good football at times but most of the time it was negative backwards passing trying to keep possession at the expense of creating chances, and we hardly ever took a shot from distance.

As Rob says towards the end of the season we played rubbish. The MKD and Shitty games as well as the Preston league game and the PO final were some of the worst I have seen a Town side play.

I liked this comment on the Oldham forum. Hit the nail on the head for me.

I thought they knocked the ball about well, Swindon teams generally do. but they aren't clinical enough in either box to go up.

Hindsight is wonderful but their fans only see us twice a year. What is more over recent seasons the teams have been very different every season since power took over.

 Why bother, we paid a quarter mill for Thorne from a side who were just about to win the Prem. That sort of thing isn't going to happen. Are you 100% sure?

 More likely would be a punt on something like an Elijah or Harry Smith, or both. Flawed players, but have shown something which perhaps could be worked on... further because they're flawed sort of thing we might attract.   So, a guess then? In other words you are assuming Power, Jewel & Wellens will be happy with any player they think they could improve? Every player at every level has a flaw do they not? This also include loan players, something which you have derided in the past. Now, I know you’ll need to take a lie down because I have questioned your post and invited to do something against your natural personality trait, which is to respond to being questioned.
[/quote]

Yep.

If only we had an Ajose/Cox/Parkin/Austin

Fucking hell. You click the Quote link and type your reply. How difficult is it? How is it that this is completely beyond you? FFS

Please don't bracket Ajose in the same class as Cox, Parkin and Austin. All three were all consistently excellent in a Town shirt, genuinely the real deal for us. Ajose did well, don't get me wrong, but in a context - he was a small puddle in a desert, so we were very very grateful to see any kind of liquid, and it's easy to get carried away, but he was no oasis.

Ajoae has been shit at Mansfield, their fans hate him.

As Panda Paws says, i wouldnt mind us going in for Padraig Amond

Ajose will come across as shit at any club which doesn’t have the patience to give him 90 minutes 40 times a season. If you do, as we’ve seen first hand enough times, he will knock in a fair number of goals. Of course, the system also needs to suit him. But our top scoring forward sits on 5 from 42 league games. That is why we have failed to hoover up stacks of easy home games, and that is the main reason why we are going to fall short again. So we have got to give him serious consideration.

You’re right about the system. Problem is it looks like Wellens likes 1 up front with a ‘liquid’ 3 backing him up. I reckon Ajose needs to the ‘little man’ in a conventional 2 up front.

Best thing is, though, Wellens seems to know what he wants, who he wants and how he wants to play.

The lone, high scoring striker is a rare beast.

Wellens has said several times he prefers to play with 2 strikers but currently at the club we don't have 2 strikers that can play together which is why we have played almost every game with a lone striker.

When you consider we have the same Goals Against as Bury(50),who are currently in 2nd place,then it really is the lack of an effective striker that has cost us this season.

I would look at someone like Paul McCallum at Eastleigh,25 years old,scores for fun at lower level sides.

If you look at Nation/South/North level all of these would fit the criteria of being under 25 and all 20+ scorers (in all competitions) this season.

The following is League goals.

Jamie Reid - Torquay aged 24 and 28 goals
Kabongo Tshimanga - Oxford City aged 21 and 22 goals
Kurt Willoughby - FC United aged 21 and 17 goals
Tyler Harvey - Truro aged 23 and 18 goals
Paul McCallum - Eastleigh aged 25 and 25 goals
Macauley Bonne - Leyton Orient aged 23 and 23 goals
Daniel Udoh - telford aged 22 and 19 goal

All young and with decent scoring records in lower leagues.

Yes I know Hylton had a good record but TBH he was never given a decent run in the side anyway.

That’s cos he was useless. The bandy legged fucker!

Time for Wellens to prepare now for another season in L2 and get rid of the dead wood.

Lancashire, McGlashan, Richards and Robertson all should be freed, Taylor is retiring so thats 5 experienced level wages freed.

I have a feeling Toums, Smith, Vigs and either McCourt or Dunne will be freed, choose to leave or made available for transfer.

The rest have something to offer and should have contracts renewed or at least be told they can fight for a place next season.

McCormick,  Knoyle, Doughty, Anderson, Woolery, Conroy, Broadbent, Rose, Curran, McGilp.

I would try and sign Robinson and Bennett on permanent deals, both of which I feel would accept an offer.

Maybe get Koiki and Carroll in on season loans, Woolf will be playing in the first team in L1 at Ipswich and I don't think House has impressed enough to warrant another loan.

I would probably also try and get back Sid Nelson on a permanent deal as it hasn't worked out for him at Tranmere and he has loads of potential.

We also have Twine, Henry, Iandolo, Romanski, Edwards, Bancroft, Matthews, Young and Pryce who could play a part or maybe go out on a long term loan to see how they progress.

With Wellens/Power/Jewell connections I feel 4 new signings would be about right and compliment what we have along with a couple of young loanees coming in too.

You’ve got 8 or 9 leaving but only 4 coming in. Reckon we’ll need 2 or 3 more than that.

Don’t think Twine or Romanski will step up and I haven’t seen any of the other youngsters to form an opinion - apart from Bancroft who at least is built for L2!

Thats why I said 4 permanant plus a couple more loans.

It's going to be interesting.... my feeling is that Wellens has been preparing for next season for a while.  He has said that he would like to keep a lot of this squad together, and I take at face value on this.  Reasons; they know his requirements, good for squad morale etc. Further he said that players not presently involved could still feature if they're good pros.

However it all comes back to Power and the budget, he needs to show some intent, building sides on the cheap in the vague hope of perhaps finishing 7th, isn't good enough.... we should be aiming to win the league....

I dont agree with the cheap bit. It's more complicated than that. You need League one capable players to get out of L2, and it's not easy to attract them. We're with 95% of the others fighting for promise. Power has shown he will shell out for that, and large sums I.E Woolery of the current squad. Seems like we have a foundation of decent players for once, so I'm highly optimistic, we'll add what's needed to get out of this hell hole.

Sadly spending the odd fee, on a player who Power hopes might have a sell on value, isn't what is required..... the investment needs to be through the squad. It's true that we're in the same boat as most in this league, but you don't need to show intent by spending massive amounts.

Power has more or less trimmed the budget year on year, as we have slipped down the pyramid, ok it fits his model of sustainability,  but we need to turn this around while it is still possible.  It will be interesting to see if there are any signs of proper intent in the summer.... there certainly weren't last season.

Intent for me, would be say signing Theo, and the another credible forward, for competition or to come off the bench, or even sometimes play 2 up front.

The defence calls Doughty and Diagouraga to the witness stand.

Both showed intent, it's just that we signed another 3 or 4 for the same position and forgot we needed a front man.

Guilty as charged, the summer recruitment never looked like a serious bid for promotion.   Perhaps the reason for recruiting midfielders was a fear about the fitness of T and D.... as to whether Toumani has gone full Nalis, or perhaps with a pre season under his belt might have something to offer next season we'll have to see.

We don't want to destroy the squad to much by letting to many leave, some on them like Dunne will be a decent squad player at this level and with those that know Wellens and how he likes to play can do a job at L2, We don't need to clear the decks but we need to add some more quality and with about 5 leaving anyway as either not in Wellens plans or retiring it will give space in the squad.