Thetownend.com

The games are coming around quickly, back to the CG tomorrow. Hoping for a win, thinking it'll be a 1-1 draw. I'm very tempted to go to this  :nod: Do you fancy buying me a pint FLASH?  :)

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That’s a very Reg-ish prediction!

At the moment I think we’ll win every game, so I’ll go for a 3-0. Doughty (pen), Go on Go on Go on x 2

7512 with 407 Cobblers

Only because I may attend, if I don't then we'll win 4-0.

Well, you know what to do then.

Keep a-fucking-way!

Does a hungry dog eat Tripe!?

Always.... Calnes Oliver Reed and I will be going on the bus as usual. Message me if you want to meet up...

Isgrove and Anderson doubtful.

that's a blow as both Isgrove and Anderson (by all accounts) have been excellent so far.

I'll be tuning in on Ifollow, looking forward to seeing this new STFC which has started the league so well.

Gotta be a win, these are the sort of teams we fucked up with in previous seasons. Three vital points there for the taking, ,  let's just do it, 3-0 for me.

That will be a big loss. Imagine if they don’t play then it will be the team that finished the Exeter game.

First home league game for me after being at the Exeter game. Hoping a 2-0 win

Highlights how we still need more bodies, we should hopefully still have enough to get past Northampton who have not had a good start to the season.

I’m still counting on Wellens’ fondness for fake news.

This

This has crossed my mind as well.

2-2. 6,809 (230 away).

Could well be some kidology there. Wellens will be aware of scouts watching us and so far a lot of them will be saying "stop Isgrove and you stop Swindon".

Or he might just have a knock. Hopefully he'll be on the bench at least.

They can bring May in and push Doughty forward to cover Anderson and not lose too much. Twine for Isgrove is a fucking massive difference though and shows how light we are with DJ and Yates unavailable (something Wellens is on the case with).

Fingers crossed at least one of them makes it tomorrow.

Wouldn’t change Doughty’s position under any circumstances, he’s been brilliant exactly where he is. Hopefully at least one of them is fit then only change is Twine replacing the injured party (it there is one).

Was thinking of going tomorrow but I have not been to a home game for quite a while.
Best listen to the game at home, with a couple of beers as I don't want to be classed as a "glory hunter"
 3-1

A little off topic but relevant for tomorrow night for me anyway. Can you upgrade a season ticket from junior to adult?

If not just wear short trousers and a cap.

In all honesty,  if it's for the Don Rogers stand no one generally checks them anyway.

Just go! Have a pint or 2 before and witness it first hand!

What like Terry Scott in the Curly  Wurly advert

Exactly !!!.

Really? I have heard them all now.

Quick question, how good is the online season ticket for live matches? Obviously living abroad I can’t get to matches but what I would like to know is it reliable and is the quality good?

When it is working properly, the quality is excellent.

Is it always working properly? It's a bit hit and miss. It is not uncommon to go for 15-20 minutes with sound and picture but no comms, for example. It is working as it should through most of the duration of most matches.

Sound and no comms is the best. The BBC commentator is awful and regularly gets the players names wrong.

Bring back Vic

Can you buy the game on ifollow tonight without a VPN seeing as its a Tuesday night game? Or is the VPN still needed?

No need for a VPN but it's £5 for people "abroad" and £10 for UK based. If you happen to be "abroad" now but home tonight, you can purchase the game for £5 now and watch it via the UK tonight.

 Difficult game to read... could Cobblers poor start be due to the financial problems in the background and the players not liking Curle's methods  :hmmm:  If so a poor performance tonight could see him gone, or they may have just been unlucky and the players will put it in tonight.

As regards our chances... Wellens has said he's some players, who'll need managing so may welll struggle with 2 games a week, so squad depth will be tested.... at the outset, it looked as if we were a bit thin here for an auto campaign, so we should have a better idea at 9:45

We’ll score early for a change and win comfortably. Then I can enjoy the next few days knowing we’re top of the table and looking forward confidently to getting the Cheltenham monkey off our back. 4-1 tonight Doyle, Woolery and Isgrove with the goals

Totally agree. These midweek games are going to be key as 90 percent of our starting line up are very prone to injuries so looking after them like Wellens has stated includes games like tonight. Be interesting to see our starting 11

Nervy 1-0 - Doughty Pen. 6400.

2-1

Late Town End turnaround.

Interesting to note the number of ex Town in their ranks. Jordan Turnbull, Andy Williams, Harry Smith and Alan McCormack (injured).

I feel the need to go tonight  :)
My record since the Preston debacle has to be broken.

P4 W0 D1 L3 F0 A9  :no:

Group of volunteers needed to barricade 4D in his house from around 6pm please!

  :)

Should miss the game tonight as I'm working, but there's slim chance I could make the second half if I get done early enough...

I concur, I have lost count of how many times he mistook Anderson for Woolery and several others too.



Hes mistaking everyone today, awful, hes been as poor as we have as a team!

It's about time we had another doughty pen, along with another doyle strike. 2-1.

Thanks. I'll see if I can find a quick and easy VPN to download

Back home after 12 days away at the Lake District and for Gazzas wedding so should be able to watch later so back to being an "internet forum poor man's Jonathan Pearce" again, normal service should be resumed.

Having tried to get updates on a couple of games with just the TEF for updates is a bit frustrating so I will endeavour to post as many updates as possible (probably to the chagrin of many posters!).

That will be greatly appreciated!!!

Comfortable win tonight. 2-0

Happy to oblige.

 :eek: I can't even compute that.

I chose my words wisely ;) I could not honestly compare myself to anyone less annoying!

Cobblers fans not holding out a lot of hope for tonights game.


After their start of 1 draw and 2 defeats in their first 3 league matches and 3 defeats in the 1st 4 games.

1-0 defeat at home to Walsall, 1-1 draw at Port Vale and a 2-1 home defeat to strugglers Macclesfield, with a 3-1 defeat at Swansea in the LC too this season.

Tonight will follow the Swindon way, after all the optimism and positive start, a Northampton side out of form, 0-1 to Northampton and a sub par performance from town!

Easy to be critical of a radio commentator, but it’s one of those jobs that’s going to be a lot harder in practice than in theory (especially when it’s not a full time job, as I believe is the case of Mr Hawes)

Definitely should win this one, so I'd have had us down for a disappointing draw or even narrow defeat in the past 2 or 3 seasons. This evening, think we'll win it either 1-0 or 2-1. Look at my reckless optimism, carried away with the first 3 games!

Arthur Hunt.  ;D

Think Andrew Hawes is freelance as heard him on Talk Sport a bit at the weekend.

Not as inexperienced as I thought either! From 2008

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3172128/BBC-radio-presenters-suspended-after-mocking-disabled-people.html

Edit, beaten to it!.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3172128/BBC-radio-presenters-suspended-after-mocking-disabled-people.html

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/3745624.outrage-at-albion-pundits-disabled-jibe/

That’s harsh after 2 wins in 3 league games!

I meant to put perennial strugglers :)

Still haven’t scored in the first half yet (Chelsea u21 doesn’t count). Would love a quick start, 2-0 up inside 20 and control the game from there

You could have just typed "4D is going"  :)

I am stuck in a meeting all day, so can't even sneak an Ifollow App watch in my office.  On this basis it will be a stonking 5-0 win, I will attempt to avoid the result but then realise that the only way I get to watch the full match later is by clicking through at least two places where it tells you the damned result.

Macc are only a point behind us, so if they're strugglers  :hmmm: ....  anyway I jest, they've appointed a new gaffer.

Saw McMahon and thought wtf, but apparently a young fella Daryl, formerly at Ebbsfleet, alongside Steve Gritt, as experienced head.... Gritt and Curbishley seems a lifetime ago.

Are you going to the game tonight Reg ?

I did think I heard Andrew Hawes muddling Anderson with Woolery twice in one half.  I don't know half the players early season but that was a specsavers moment  :).  Not too sure how surefooted any of us would be as live commentators, even with some practice.

Andrew was a London Red in the glory days of the early nineties when he had a decent head of hair.  He went on to author a slim volume, "Swindon Town Miscellany" (2010, Pitch Publishing) full of trivia, facts and stats.  A sort of random and entertaining offline version of Reg.  A decent stocking filler if still in print.  

Any news on Isgrove?

Do you want someone to hold your hand  :hmmm:

No, just wondered if you fancied a pre match tipple in the Eastcott Hotel.

Well thanks for the thought, but I don't do pre match drinking any more.... in fact that's been the case for a while, apart from perhaps the odd pint on an away day.

We will take that as a no then Reg or are you being even more obtuse than what's normal for you?

(https://media0.giphy.com/media/2yyJrGDvyajgGcx6fm/giphy.gif)

I have to be honest, I love the way we are playing at the moment but I do hate it when we get over confident as we tend to come off the rails when we as fans get complacent.

Northampton will be no pushovers, they have a massively experienced team and can mix it when required, as all Keith Curle teams can do, they have a fair few ex Town players in the squad in Alan McCormack, Jordan Turnbull, Harry Smith and Andy Williams who have all played in their games so far.

Apparently all their good attacks come through right winger Nicky Adams their recent (re)signing from Bury.

At the weekend they played with 3 centre backs behind 2 central defensive midfielders and with wingback/wingers and a target man in Harry Smith up front with 2 free running attacking midfielders sat behind him.

For the first 2 games they played with a 4231 with 2 defensive midfielders and Smith up front on his own.

Curle has been getting some criticism on their forum for them being quite defensive and setting out for a draw in games and trying to snatch it which invariably has failed so far so don't expect them to come at us from the get go.

They will try and get the ball out wide to Adams and lump the ball into our box - as quickly as they can for Smith to win it, stop the ball going to Adams and you stop their main attacking outlet.

They have collected 8 yellow cards so far to our 7 yellows and a red in 4 games.

Lets try and batter them with scoring chances and hopefully we will click and convert a fair few, I wouldn't be surprised by a dull 0-0 draw given Curles style of play and with them grabbing a winner from a set piece.

2-1 defeat with Doyle scoring with 6,943 there with 353 shoemakers there.

Going for a 2-0 win tonight; both goals in the second half.

The ticket office is forecasting a ‘bumper midweek attendance’. I take that as 7000+ and, if correct, shows there is a lot of latent support just waiting for something to hang on to.

3 points and a dominating performance, please.

I confuse Anderson and Woolery all the time from a distance to be fair

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ECblIDaXkAAaYXm?format=jpg&name=medium)

It appears Isgrove is so good we have named him as a starter and on the bench!

Markus Ifill? Any relation to Jerel? Position?

Keshi injured and academy player Ifill on the bench.

Different spelling.

EDIT.

His name is actually Marcus Ifil. So he could be.

Shoddy work by the Twitter feed to have 2 mistakes.

I think hes a striker.

No google result apart from a pic from 2017. Looks about 12 in that shot - along with the wonderfully named George Cowmeadow!

He’s not even 16 yet! Our youngest ever player if he gets on. 15 and 261 days!

Go on, son!

Anyone think Wellens is making a point

That should read twine on the bench not Isgrove.

No, Keshi probably unavailable at last moment and this kid is nothing more than bench filler IMO

Keshi is injured and Isgrove carrying a knock but passed a fitness test.

Hope we’re winning 5-0 with 10 minutes to go and get him on!

Not a bad looking line up compared to the 'doubtfuls' we were informed of earlier in the day.

...but that bench isn't strong if there's walking wounded.

I'm not a fan of the transfer prolonged transfer window.

Oh, Ye of little faith !!!.

 :)

The XI is brilliant but the bench is weak and Wellens has said it a billion times too.

How do you pronounce Isgrove?
Last week I heard it as is read Isgrove and Igrove silent S and same again at Exeter.
Is it "Is" or is it "I" ?

3-0 Town can't make tonight due to work commitments, but witnessed all 7 points being won and not the loss at colly

Not entirely convinced that May is good enough having watched him a couple of times now.

Would love him to come good in this side though to prove me wrong.

Well I've just signed up for a season iFollow pass, first time in five years. IF that doesn't jinx it... COYR

 :sofa:

I did a half season pass last year and its a damn good price if you can watch most of the games.

My mate is a Pompey ST holder and he says the same, I wait to be proved wrong and would be very happy with him coming good.

Thing is with Rose, Yates, Keshi and McGlip all to come back in it would look very different and Wellens has always said he wants a fairly small squad. 2 more and that would be all he wants.

Thought the same as you.
He has grown on me, not literally.
Think he'll continue to improve as the season goes on.

I like May but I don’t think he’s a defensive midfielder. His goal vs Chelsea’s kids was great. Also worth noting that he’s playing next to Lyden, who is excellent. Hard to stand out next to him.

Don't be surprised to see May in the 10 role this evening.

Isgrove makes the first real Town attack, beats his man but the ball just runs out of play for a goal kick, nice run.

May plays a hospital ball to Baudrey and forces Baudrey into a foul just outside our box.

Yellow for Baudry.

iFollow (or at least my stream) seems to be way behind live tonight. I'm getting phone notifications before I see it on screen.

Rubbish FK by Cobblers straight to LMc.

I think the problem is the lag on iFollow plus the lag on the front end software, I know iFollow can have a minute lag itself so the more interfaces it goes through will slow it even more.

Even with a delay its worth it though for me.

May again sells Woolery short with a pass as we attack down the wing.

Fryers gives away the ball easily in the LB position, Conroy drawn into a foul just outside our box.

Good delivery to the striker who heads accross our goal but its cleared by Town.

Doyle plays it calm and draws a foul as the defender flattens him, clever play by Doyle.

Town offside from the FK by Doughty.

Isgrove wins a 50/50 ball and nearly sets up Doyle but the keeper just gets a foot in front of him and clears it.

May tries to set up Woolery but he chooses the wrong pass.

Im not sure about Baudrey (sp?)

Every time I have seen him hes been our best defender but always looks liable for a mistake a game.

May getting every ball wrong so far, but I’m putting it down to ring-rustiness.

Formations seem to be cancelling each other out at the moment. Can't get Doughty or Lyden on the ball.

Woolery waltzes round their defence and finds Isgrove who plays a pass and gets the ball back but his shot is well over the bar.

Isgrove being double marked every time he gets the ball but has the skill to beat them every time he gets it but hes getting no room to run yet.

May is a complete passenger bordering on a liability at the moment. Yards off the pace.

Poor challenge by May, he does look rusty so far.

Not much quality as yet from either side, as Samdy says both teams cancelling each other so far, nobody getting a grip of things.

Who just headed the ball back from the DRS? Surely lightning doesn’t strike twice.

decent defensive header by Conroy.

Bad slip by Hunt puts us under pressure.

Turnbull being a twat and fouling then kicking the ball away, thats a yellow all day long.

Town make a good attacking move but the final ball from Fryers to Woolery is poor.

Lyden felled on the edge of the box in the middle, very close to being a free kick,

Northampton doing a job so far. Not letting us play through midfield, winning the 50/50s and the second balls.

Free kick given against Lyden for nothing not far outside our box. Not sure the ref is calling these correctly.

And winning plenty of easy fouls.

Superb defensive cut out by Baudry from a cross.

Conroy makes a nice run and almost sets Woolery away down the wing.

Doyle set up well inside the box by Isgrove on the angle but his shot is deflected for a corner.

I like that his first instinct was to shoot.

Famton hit Town on the break but we get the ball clear and we counter with Woolery...corner to Town.

May sells Doyle short with a bad pass.

Sorry, I'm here  :(

Northampton look composed but impotent. Very little threat.

Pretty poor game so far, we are having slightly better of the attacking moves but both teams are well off the pace.

Woolery makes a nice interception and finds Doughty who crosses onto Doyles back and he gives away a foul in the box.

Rushing us though. I think they’re playing a good away game.

Lovely Town counter with Woolery who finds Fryers who beats his man but his cross is weak and doesnt go 5 yards.

Isgrove is on everything

We are being pressured on the ball, they have a game plan of nullifying us and so far its working fairly well at the expense of entertainment.

Town have 3 stabs at a shot but none gets near the target, Isgrove, Woolery and Doughty.

Doughty cross to Conroy whos header hits the defender and goes just wide for a corner.

They've gone man for man in midfield. Pushing right up on Doughty and Lyden.

Doughty seems unwilling to pull the trigger when in a decent shooting position today, 3 times hes passed rather than shooting when he had the chance.

Isgrove pulled back as he finds Doyle with a nice pass, we were on for a nice attack there.

Hunt breaks down the right but his cross is hard to the back of the box and Fryers shot is chased down.

It's going to be a case of can we break them down and avoid being caught on the break.  First goal will probably open up this game big time..  if it comes.

Fampton are playing a typical Curle style, pressure us all over the pitch and force us into mistakes, its not entertaining but it gets you results...especially away from home.

Lyden good pass nearly finds May in the box.

Turnbull breaks with some pace and he gets a shot in thats well wide.

Hunt playing much further forward than he has in previous games.

Fryers playing poorly, again.

Lyden poor defensive error puts us under pressure, corner to them.

Lovely break by Woolery who finds Fryers but his final pass is a foot away from Woolery after a great run.

HT 0-0

We would be in control but we've been making too many sloppy mistakes.

Still an improvement on last years left backs..

Not as slick as previous games and struggling to create a little. Midfield has been a bit too stretched at times, May can only improve I guess as he’s 2 or 3 yards off everything both in terms of tackling and receiving the ball.

We're missing Yates' work rate up front and Anderson's energy in midfield.

If Isgrove runs like that when he’s injured... Best player on the pitch.

Dreadful old shite, that. The number of times we seemed unable to pass the ball a yard to our own player. Has a horrible feel to it, expecting to present them with a goal at any time.

Got to be better in the 2nd half, surely.

Several players not at their best for us today, Fryers, Woolery, May, Lyden and a times Doughty too.

Poor final ball in the box even though we have numbers up there waiting for the cross in.

Needs a change in midfield with May and Lyden not working that well together, we miss the pressing game of Anderson making the runs to help out an over worked Isgrove.

Unfortunately not many attacking options on the bench, still not been impressed with Twine when he has played along with Iandolo.

Nothing game. They're so negative. Keep pushing we'll knick this 1-0 but could do with Fryers, Woolery and May just focusing on their quality a bit.

Somebody sound the Keith Curle klaxon!

 :)

Northampton remind me a lot of Newport last season, not very good but playing as a team and breaking down any Town attacks and hoping to hit us on the break.

They aren't making many attacking moves that aren't counter attacks.

Not much quality all over the pitch but Isgrove is the best player by a country mile so far.

Town making a few good passes but still no end shot.

Northampton falling to the ground under the slightest touch.

Spoiling tactics by Turnbull who should have been booked.

Woolery with a lovely dribble in the box and a cross/shot is just pushed wide for a corner, best move so far.

Isgrove lovely pass to Hunt but his cross is defelcted over the bar, Town corner.

May loses the ball in their half and puts us under pressure but a nice defensive header by Hunt finds LMc.

Northampton diving all over the pitch.

Lines leaves the foot in on Doughty very high, nasty challenge.

Isgrove great cross, headed on by Lyden and tipped over the bar, good save.

May had a decent shot but its blocked.

Whatever wellens said at half time seems to have worked.

Lyden elbowed off the ball.

We have stepped up a gear for sure.

Isgrove has dropped deeper. Northampton midfield don't know what to do with him, which is creating space for Lyden and May.

Woolery lovely cross for Doyle but his shot is defelcted wide for a corner.

Yeah Isgrove has gone into a free role in midfield and Northampton cant deal with him at all.

Northampton are falling like dead flies.

Fryers off injured.

Reid on for Fryers.

Crikey, Reid looks unit.

Conroy super 50 yard pass but Woolery cant control it in a nice position out wide.

He is mahoosive, not a great defender but a super athlete.

May nearly gives away a penalty under little pressure as he was turned. Just outside the box.

Good counter by Doughty who passes to Woolery and they ball goes out for a Town corner.

Good corner by Doughty to Conroy and his header looked like it could have crossed the line but it was close.

0-1

Andy Williams

Offside surely

Fucking Andy Williams.

Williams 2 yards offside!

Rubbish decision, obviously offside after the touch by the winger.

Two bad bits of luck there. Looked like we had the ball across the line and Williams looked offside. Hope we can pull it back but this feels all too familiar.

For fucks sake  ::)

Insane decision. Absolutely mental.

Some very poor refereeing today IMO.

Well offside, lino saying he didn't get a touch by the looks of it - where is VAR when you need it..

How was there not a touch when the ball changed direction?!

Have to agree, that was as close to cheating as you can get.

Come on Town!!!!

It didn't look like it crossed the line to me..  Williams was well offside..

Lyden felled AGAIN by Turnbull a yellow at fucking last.

How on earth  can he give that poor poor very poor. :no:

It was hard to tell by the foot position of the keeper but it was very close.

May lashes the ball 10 yards over the bar from 12 yards...sums up his day.

May off Twine on.

I can only think the lino thought there as a physics-defying spin on it. Or he wasn't looking. Or is a bit thick. Or a massive cunt.

We haven't played that well but we do not deserve to be losing.

Northampton smash and grab.

We have goals in this team so lets find a couple and get the win we deserve on the 2nd half performance.

Isgrove great cross but Woolery cant control it in the box.

How long left?

We deserve to be winning. We've played pretty well but it's just the final touch or finish. If it's an annoying 0-0 you move on but to lose is so so unlucky.

7,203 attendance, 345 Cobblers.

13 mins.

It (the offside) looks even worse from the replay.

WTF the lino is on I don't know.

Yeah from the replay its totally obvious he gets a slice on the pass to Williams.

Fucking whinging lino.

Woolery wins another corner.

Reid 20 yarder inches wide with defelection

Isgrove nice corner, Woolery heads inches wide.

I resign from attending again  :bye:

Just one of those games.

The goal protests alone lasted more than three minutes.

Town unlucky here but Northampton have done a job on us.

Hopefully we can knick an equaliser.

Occassionally shit happens, today is one of those days.

We haven't played badly, especially 2nd half, but that was never a goal in a million years so essentially we were robbed of at least a point.

6 mins added.

Just in time for our traditional Whaddon Road meltdown

Twine dives in the box, he should have had a shot.

Woolery 25 yards well wide.

Northampton have shown experience and gamesmanship.

This is when we need a different option off the bench up front like Robinson.

Town free kick 2 yards out of the box.

Turnbull could have easily seen 2 Yellows tonight

Doughty shot inches over.

FT 0-1

Never a goal in a million years.

We weren’t great but how can that linesman miss that? He even had the penalty box for reference, fucking scandalous!

So frustrating.

Cheating bastards, my shitty run continues  :facepalm:

We should have done better ourselves.

But FFS. That lino is in the wrong fucking job.

14 shots on goal to their 1, 2 on target to their 1.  Sums up the game really.  Not clinical enough ourselves, and they score from their only shot on goal which was blatantly offside.

64% possession to us

To be fair there weren't many chances, seemed to be the same sideways stuff I saw against Mansfield without any shots.

Some of our fans do my head in. Some idiot shouting at anyone moaning about the offside saying we stupid be focusing on how shit we are.  I don’t usually bite but he got told to fuck right off.

Look one post above yours, then stop going to games.

That's because you were there..  No offence but please fuck off from attending town games for the rest of your life.  Thanks muchness.

(https://i.imgur.com/tP1baWZ.png)

Moments (frames) before their wide player knocks it on and Williams is clearly offside already... by some distance.

Just replayed the goal several times. If I knew how to post photos, I'd show you a screenshot with Williams a yard offside as the pass is played, and the lino failing to keep up with play.

This fucking division.  :crash:

Nothing wrong at all with that performance, particularly second half. Sometimes these games happen. I'd rather we were dominant and sometimes frustrated than not really control games. Would take that performance every week.

Knick a 1-0 or take the point and move on. To lose is absolutely criminal and completely down to the officials.

14? I must have missed 12 of those.

I was in the TE...Was it Offside?

I thought the DRS looked like a village uprising!!

Bollocks.  These things happen early in season.

Confident we will do something this year.

Breaking our jinx at Cheltenham on Saturday would be a good start.

Eurgh. Crap goal crappily officiated, but we didn’t really ever look like scoring unless it was a ball dropping to one of or players outside the box.
May had a really bad night, didn’t seem to have a touch or any positional awareness. Doughty looked a bit wasted that far back - I hope Wellens is banking on Rose to play alongside Lyden and release Doughty

I wouldn't say that, we were poor in the 1st half.

But dominant in the 2nd.

Missed Anderson’s energy

If May is going to be a regular he needs to get up to speed fast

Didn’t make their keeper work nearly as hard as we should have done. Yes Williams goal was a mile offside but we didn’t create enough to win.

We played well at times and passed the ball well and looked confident. At least we have a chance to bounce back ***(checks fixtures)***

Oh shit, Cheltenham.

soapy tit wank i saw that, i was sat just behind you. Dont get me started on the bellend that sits even further back

If anyone hears what Wellens says stick it on here for us..

Some cunts on the official FB page saying it was bad defending from us.

How? We'd sprung the offside trap, which is good defending.

Why have ifuckinguseless stopped transmitting the post match stuff? Wankers, they seem to want to.piss us off./

We need to both have a sweeper and play offside. Or we need to put those FB cunts in the bin

Always excited when I go to games yet always forget how poor the officials are at this level. Far too much influence on the result.

Northampton were organised and that's about it. Good away performance really.

We didn't quite do enough. Not a massive amount going forward. However there are promising signs. Will need to find a way to break down those sides who are going to come here and frustrate. Full backs were a good outlet towards the end especially Reid. Didn't do it enough.

Typical Tuesday night at home of recent times.

Bless my lad, he couldn’t understand when I told him I had seen shit officiating as bad as if not worse than that in the past.

Wellens was going to burst a blood vessel on the radio. Used inept at least four times. Highlighted the errors in other games this season that have cost us. Bemoaned the amount of games so far so early in the season. Felt a draw would have just about been fair. Had a fifteen year old on the bench who he is considering for the next few games, says he is really good with other clubs showing an interest. Still waiting on international clearance paperwork, Town have done their bit.

I won't go as far as somebody throwing somebody at the lino during the game. (As tempting as it may be)

But I hope he watches his decision back and feels a right cunt for it.

Crewe top of the league!  :eek:

This was outside the ground, I just snapped.

Anyway back on the 'goal' apparently the ref and Lino have claimed their player didn't touch the ball and it went straight through to Williams. That makes even more of a diabolical decision, how the cunt miss that right in front of him?!

Blimey. There is video evidence that shows that they are both objectively wrong.

That's why Wellens is especially unhappy. Despite the ball heavily changing direction they told him they didn't see the touch.

WRT Northampton, they’re going to need more than they showed tonight to get anywhere over a whole season.

Notice even the official Twitter called the goal miles offside. Presumably we'll get compulsory reeducation/a points deduction for that.

Ah well, shit happens. If we can beat Cheltenham then there can't be a better sign of us being on to a good thing this season.

Just had a quick look on Northampton's forum, and every mention of the validity of the goal agreed it was offside.

As it's blatant. What worries me more is how they've missed the touch! How can these people be allowed to officiate another game?

This frame shows their wide player with the ball LITERALLY AT HIS FEET.

(https://i.imgur.com/TlsbI8o.jpg)

First game of the season for me. Quiet first half, enjoyed the second until 3 mad minutes leading to their goal. From half way up the Arkells it looked like we had scored - looked like their keeper shuffled forward with his elbows onto the line. Otherwise it looked like we could play all night without scoring. Ref was a knob. but badly let down by both linesmen.

The officials' collective performance today has given me a stress headache, the back of my neck is still sore. Glad my boys weren't with me tonight as I was somewhat agrieved by the ref's basic lack of understanding of the rules. Fuck me sideways, that was just diabolical.
:blowup:

How can a keeper fall forwards with the ball, land on the line, and *not* have been in the goal with the ball?

It's mind boggling.

Just looked a few times. Ours never crossed the line.

The linesman is in a great position, but it looks like he's looking at the floor

He wasn’t up with the play as they broke forward which is partly why offside was not given, only partly maybe 20% if i’m Being generous.

Refereeing tonight was awful, however we did nowhere near enough and a draw would have been a fair result.

We really did miss Anderson tonight.

He's not disputing the fact Williams was offside, their claim is that the Northampton player didn't flick it on. How could he possibly miss that up with play or not?

It's one of those things where you just hope the bad decisions will even themselves out over the duration of the season, but FFS, that decision is still something the FA should be paying attention to... ESPECIALLY if the officials concerned are genuinely denying they got it wrong. I'd have more truck with them if they held their hands up and apologised. We're all human.

Anyway, moving on. It happened and that is that.

Shit officials or not, we were not good enough today. We got better in the 2nd half but we were poor in the 1st. It shows when we have just one of our creative players out. I am confident we will get more bodies in, though. We will do well this season.

That’s the 80 % 😘

First game of the season for me. Was excited to see us continue our great start to the season. Felt frustratingly familiar though. We were the better team but still not making enough good chances. A distinctly average team perform in a very average but organised way, score from basically their only chance....and the officials were fucking diabolical. Get us out of this fucking league please.

I didn’t notice just how far Williams (who was a total donkey all match, but you knew he’d somehow stick the winner in) was offside at the time (I just assumed it was marginal) but when you saw the town players react like they did when the Lino said something (probably that the other cobblers player didn’t touch the ball at all), you could tell it was a howler of a decision. It was under his fucking nose!

We were bossing the 2nd ha;f and looked like we’d make the breakthrough until Fryers injury which seemed to kill our momentum somehow. Very frustrating.

Oh well, on to some more punishment at Cheltenham Saturday.

Just watched the highlights, and from that we'd probably done enough to get a result, but there wasn't a huge amount of efforts so I guess the feeling on here of a draw stacks up.  The goal is a fucking disgrace, as bad as the crazy ones you see on youtube and wonder how on earth they can ever happen in a game.  I bet what has happened here is the linesman has somehow not been focused and completely missed the touch.  The ref has seen the touch but has no idea if the player was offside at the time so between them they can't figure it out.  Whatever happened the pair of them should be suspended from officiating.  If the ref stands by his claim after seeing the video he has no place being on a pitch ever again, what else would he have had to watch at that moment?  The linesman I can maybe forgive a bit, but he then has to get the nod from the ref it was touched - if he had gotten that and then still claimed it was onside, he too should hang-up his boots.

we lost. bugger.

that is all

It was a typical, flat, midweek performance from us. Probably no coincidence that we have lost all 3 midweek games.

No game changers on the bench and a lack of physical presence up front. We can’t just lob a cross into the box, it’s always got to be probing for an opening and when teams stack their defence we struggle big time.

It’s going to be a continuing theme at home and Wellens must come up with a plan for it.

A plan b would be useful, take a risk and go direct if you have to.

Disagree. We went too long for 15 minutes after the goal. We don't have the players to go long and it's not effective.

If we have that level of control and dominance in most games we'll win most games. That performance is fine.

I imagine we’ll be getting in trouble for the object thrown towards the blind linesman and Wellens will be getting in more trouble for calling them out as inept. Does my head in that they just get away with such woeful decisions and you can’t even criticise them, they are basically untouchable. Wellens is right when he says they all just stick together, he’ll probably get in trouble for that as well as it’s pretty much questioning their integrity.

Refereeing is at an all time low standard, they consistently find ways to sink to new depths.

As for plan B if we had Yates, Rose, Keshi and Norwich lad on the bench we’d have had plenty of options but we’ve been very unfortunate.

This. No point going direct when no-one is going to win it in the air. Wellens has said before about having a plan A but having planA(1), planA(2) etc. Don’t have to change the style, but can do stuff like pushing the full backs on more. We created chances at 1-0 (Doyle, Reid’s shot, and a couple good crosses in the box). Just wasn’t our day, wouldn’t be too concerned by that loss.

Indeed. How could they be allowed to officiate matches if they think their decision is OK? Either that or they are lying about it, both of which should exclude them.

I was with 4D last night.

I think sometimes it's a lack of a risky early cross or shot that we suffer from.

Exeter's goal came from a reflex shot which effectively hit the fellas boot and in to the goal on Saturday. We never seem to take a gamble.

Perhaps we need a big lump target man on the bench for a plan b then.

We were crap in the 1st half yesterday but dominant in the 2nd. Northampton had 10-11 men behind the ball but we were still going to unlock them at some point.

There wasn't anything wrong with the plan. The game was not on course to be decided by such an atrocious decision from the officials, until...

Wellens did allude to the 15 minutes after they scored and he wasn’t enthusiastic.

On reflection even this morning i’m still royally pissed off.

It is one thing to lose to a better side even when you play well. It is another thing to lose when you played absolutely shit and allowed a poor side to win. This is where it gets hair pullingly fucked offable. We lost to an average team who came to physically bully and deploy gamesmanship wherever possible aided and abetted by poor officials which in of itself is a generous assessment of their performance. While my money is on most attendees concluding we did not necessarily deserve to win we certainly deserved a share of the spoils all things being equal. There should be minimal ‘blame’ if you like towards the town, everyone’s ire should be directed at the officials and to a lesser degree the Cobblers.

Fuck me when you see the size of their team v ours it must be blindingly obvious to the ref that going down quicker than a cheap prostitute when challenged for the ball in a game that is a contact sport that something’s not quite right. If that is the Cobblers modus operandi for this season good luck to them, they’ll need it.

No. We created 5-6 clear chances off the top of my head. Lumping a unit on there and banging it long won't create more chances. Early, deep crossing and going long is proven to be the least effective way of producing chances.

 - Doyle's shanked volley from 8 yards out
 - Reid's shot just wide
 - Kaiyne's header wide
 - Conroy's header just kept out
 - Doyle's header just tipped over

I did think to myself last night that every time a tackle went in it seemed to be deemed a foul.

Didn't deserve to lose, but we didn't do enough to win. And when you don't do enough in a game, you lay yourself open to the whims of fate, in this case manifested in one of the most jaw-dropping displays of officiating shitness we've seen for a while. But there's no use whining about that, or about the way Northampton played. It's League 2, you get shit officials, you get shit football teams, if you want to get out of League 2, you need to be good enough to overcome that. We didn't do enough last night to do that, so we undeservedly lost.

We're 4 games in to the league - this is no more a sign of imminent catastrophe than being top of the league after 3 games was a sign we'd walk it. Roll over Cheltenham on Saturday and we're on course for European domination inside 5 years again :)

What we needed was you to stay at home :) Who was in charge of the blockade and let him through? Sack the blockade manager!

In all honesty I was jesting about being a jinx but I'm starting to worry now.

P5 W0 D1 L4 F0 A10 (4 out of 5 were home games  :()

I don't think I had a  run as bad as that even when I was a season ticket holder.
Flash did say if we scored he reckoned I'd have been on the pitch  :)

 As far as indicators go, last night seemingly told us quite a bit.... namely, the squad is too thin to address the key issue of poor home form, and so build a side capable of auto.  Still a bit of time to do some tweaking on this.

 On to Saturday, where we now have the unusual situation of going to Whaddon Road behind Numb in the league, they've never finished above us, when in the same league.  Could our underdog status help  :hmmm:

My first game this season - I thought we took time to settle into the game - they had the better of the first 20 mins. After that we started to control the game, and after half time they just sat very deep, and we struggled to break them down (although had enough chances to win).
Referee and linesmen were dreadful - a recurring theme over the last couple of years in our league is the number of games effectively decided by the capriciousness (or to paraphrase Wellens - ineptitude) of the officials. As others have said, there was inconsistency on treatment of fouls (how Turnbull didn’t get booked earlier is a mystery), and gullibility about massive blokes falling over in a draft (l thought there must be a team of snipers on the Bank at one point they way they fell over). The offside on the goal was ridiculous - from where I was in the Arkells the ball clearly changed direction significantly after the winger’s touch. Also on refereeing, did anyone spot what happened when Lyden went down over on the DR side second half?
More worrying was the fact that like several occasions last year we struggled to get shots on target - their keeper only made two saves (and McCormick none). It may be our style based on counter attack will work better away - although Woolery did get round the back a number of times second half - with some mixed quality final balls.
I’m not sure I agree with the “plan B” comments - which seem to mean hoof the ball to a big bloke and hope we get a knock down - against defenders the size of Northampton’s that is a low percentage option. They looked less comfortable when we were able to run at them with pace.
most of the new boys look better than last season’s equivalent - I thought Hunt looks a useful addition at right back, Baudry is comfortable in possession and Lyden looks fine in that holding position. First half I though May and Doughty were too close to each other - May got a bit further forward second half and did better (apart from his shot over the bar when he should really get it on target from there).  
We also need a bit more depth - as in recent years we struggle to play twice a week (midweek results were poor last season generally).
Overall I think we should at least be play off contenders - provided we can keep key players injury free.

(https://media3.giphy.com/media/3284GqbSEXgl2/giphy.gif?cid=790b76111993dc8fd759e2cb5c86f6f955a6cf2495f95dd3&rid=giphy.gif)

What is your point?

Correct - Thats been said many times,  Akinfenwa would be great !.

On the replay, it looked as though he might have been hit/elbowed in the face by their player. There wasn't much to go by in terms of footage, though.

Never heard of trolls Reg ?. 

Yes, of course, Norse mythology. Davis's apparent fetish with small naked plastic toys, didn't make that connection for me.

Bit concerned about the weekend. The ref might well turn Wellens into full GTA mode if he has a stinker - it's Trevor Kettle. Notorious for being one of the worst in the game and loves a Red card. I feel like I already know how the games going to pan out and it's only Wednesday.

Wasn't at the game last night as I am away on holiday,  did follow the game on the Internet and radio.
Sounds as though we had the usual shit officials,   but we did create changes,  the sooner we learn to bury them the sooner we can get out of this division.   On another day it appears we could have won this game,  had our 'on the line' been given,  ant the officials not been blind to their offside we would be clear at the top of the division.   As already said the result was a big disappointment but we weren't completely overrun.
There will always be odd results during a season and hopefully this is just a blip in ours.    Onto the numb and three points will blot this out, hopefully upwards and onwards.   Anyone know if this is pay on the day ?.

  :) :)

No pay on the day, get your tickets by Friday

Oh Shit,  Thanks,  probably saved me a wasted journey then.

Cheltenham sold out! 1500 all sold

When will we get over the desire for a big lump up front for when things don't seem to be working? We created enough chances to win last night. Having a massive, immobile lump up front and seemingly trying to change our whole system and approach because it's a bit of a frustrating night is a weird obsession of ours (and England fans c. 2006).

Obviously, we've got more chance of scoring by continuing to do what we're been working on for weeks in training and by playing in a way that suits our recruitment profile than we have playing in a way that doesn't suit our players and doesn't suit the way we try and play.

No chance then, will have to rely on PV.

Home tickets available still?

As I mentioned during the game we seemed reticent to shoot from outside the box, Doughty especially guilty of that, on at least 3 occassions he was in a good position just outside of their box with space in front but he chose to play a floor pass into the box/wingers.

We all know he can shoot with power and accuracy from distance but he just didn't pull the trigger.

Is that because thats how he has been told to play or was it his choice?

We only had 2 shots from long range yesterday and they fell to Woolery and Reid, with the greatest respect thats not eithers strong point of their game, Doughty though it is a strong point.

With Doyle in the box picking up on any saved shots if the keeper fumbles it then surely that would be a good option, but somethign we didn't use yesterday.

1st half we were an average L2 team up against a side set out to stop us playing, 2nd half we grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and took it to them but couldn't find a way through, partly due to poor final ball and partly to not taking risks, no options on the bench to change the way we play hindered us IMO.

The ref and lino need to come out and admit they fucked up to gain a bit of respect back, Northampton conned the ref and kept diving and shirt pulling all game, typical Curle tactics, but they got more than they came for as they set out to spoil the game and stop us scoring and grab a 0-0.

Lets hope it doesn't affect the players too much and come back with a win at a place we never win at that would be a massive fan morale booster.

Agree to a fashion, however as you say when we are creating chances and not putting them away we need a plan B.
I'm not saying we need a lump of lard stood around for 90 minutes but iñ the later stages of a game,  a strong muscular poacher would be good for the over the top balls.   At least if a lump on the run can't score they always look good for a penalty when brought down.

I will be here with my usual reporting :)

Oh yes, see if going in with the oppo changes our fortunes. Worth a try. If it works, then you can get a season ticket in the corner of the Arkells.

or in with the wheelchairs.

Is he operating as a tout as well as everything else now? :)

If the price is right.... :D

It's about having options to find a way, to win these sort of games.  It was no surprise to see Cobblers come and try and spoil and hope for a mistake, at least the mistake this time was the officials and not one of our players, but that's not much solace.

It's not about options to win a game. It's not about a plan b. RW has said this. Every top side in the country believes in the way they play and makes tweaks to a system and a philosophy (push FBs further forward, rotate midfield options) if they're pushing.

Do Man City or Liverpool, or Norwich and Sheff Utd in the Championship last year, get frustrated so go direct for the last 20? No, they believe in doing what they're good at doing, and the players they have specifically recruited to play that way. We created 5 clear-cut chances in the second half - score one and everyone moves on happy.

Crossing from deep and long balls are statistically proven to be the least effective way of creating chances.

1.1 v 0.2 in xG. I'd take that performance every single home game this season because we'd win way more than we'd lose.

Is the porta cabin still there? I could get a deckchair on top of that  :)

I understand your point you are trying to make and in some instances you are right but the pattern of the game last night tells us different. Not all fans think you need a big lump because we want to hit it long,i wanted a big lump on last night to get on the end of the 15 plus crosses that were put in the box. Tyler Reid for example put 3 great crosses in but we didn't have the height to bother them

Then the mistake is crossing too early. They're not good crosses if we're not built to score via high, early crosses.

A target is just one option.... in Div 4 it's a fairly obvious one. Comparison to the likes of Liverpool is ridiculous and falls down on a bit of analysis.  Their front 3 hardly missed a game.... yet they still got a dozen goals out of Shaqiri, Sturridge and Origi, their options.  These clubs can afford to carry 6 or more options up front. Clearly we can't, but do need something, that can change a game.

First time I've seen the new side and many positives.

No idea why Isgrove is playing in league 2, not just a tricky clever player but he ran his socks of from first to last (any with an injury apparently). Fryers was frustrating (almost as frustrating as Hockaday continually calling him Fryer) continually giving the ball away when in good positions. Hunt was the better full back last night and I liked the look of Reid when he came on.

Lyden and Doughty look a good midfield pairing and Conroy and Baudry (one mistake aside) look a good defensive pairing who are comfortable with bringing the ball out from the back.

Doyle worked hard up front but nothing really fell for him. I expected him to be taller in all honesty. Kayne remains speedboat with no driver. He has absolute pace to burn but more often than not will end up not being able to do the basics. (mis-controlling a pass out of play, or getting to the byline and chipping the ball into the Townend are 2 that come to mind).

I don't think we played badly last night, just missing that bit of nous in our play to unlock a well organised team. I think Anderson was missed and hopefully he'll be back for Saturday.

Positives from last night, I thought Reid did well when he come on and some of the passing and interplay was very good, all except the final ball. I'm with Panda Paws, we should've scored and shouldn't shit the bed because it failed last night. I know it was a familiar story but I reckon we're better this season and win that game 8 out of 10 times in similar circumstances. We'll see I suppose but I can't see us getting another forward in now so something we'll have to put up with.

Normal rules don't apply at Whadden Road but one thing they won't be doing is sitting everyone behind the ball so there should be more opportunities. We played well last night and don't need to change anything, WellensBall is the best stuff I've watched from a Swindon team in a number of years and last night changes nothing.  

or we need a target man for those situations? It's ok to have both. We can even have one that fits in with our style

Absolutely, a target man need not be just a big slow bully, but being able to bully defenders and hassle them into mistakes is a bonus, somebody who can head a ball and hold the ball up though would be a massive plus point.

Its just something a bit different to change things when its not working playing the way we are, there are many good target men that are not your typical big man up front, Hylton, Collins, Ranger etc they dont all have to be Akinfenwa or Akinde style.

Our bench last night looked really weak and we badly need a few more players that can make an impact off the bench and change things...even if its slightly changing it.

It doesnt have to rely upon a massive hoof out of defence as some people are suggesting, it can just be a more subtle change of plan.

Panda Paws has it spot on. There's absolutely no need to go looking for a lump of a forward so we can play it direct when things aren't working. The second half showed that we can tweak the system.

1st half Northampton controlled it because they had two men on Isgrove the whole time. May was the point of the midfield three and was pretty woeful. Doughty and Lyden couldn't get out of our half to play the through balls we've been seeing in the first few games which has torn teams to shreds.

2nd half Isgrove dropped deeper (presumably because Wellens changed it, but maybe it was injury related) and the Northampton midfield didn't know what to do. Doughty got forward more with May sitting in, but the dynamic also changed when Twine came on. That created more space and we started playing it through and created chances.

We missed Yates' work rate because I don't think Doyle was busying himself enough to bother what was at times a back 6. And if we had Anderson too, the pace with him and Woolery would've given Northampton something else to think about.

If we keep to our 'style' we'll win our fair share of games this season.

I'm not sure too many people are suggesting hoofball as such, but rather if your crosses have to be low to pick out player's feet, nothing wrong in having someone bigger and decent in the air by way of a change.

As things stand, we don't look like a serious auto contender. Still possible for a bit of tweaking before the window slams.

Isgrove is class! But it was clear to see he wasn't 100% fit last night, I don't think it was his best game for us (that's not to say he played badly at all) but he was different gravy at Exeter. I feel he is going to have to be managed very well this season to get the best out of him.

Based on?

Who does look like a serious contender? How do they differ to us, other than in your opinion?

We're four games in FFS. You can't make that judgement yet.

Agreed.

Can we introduce a rule that stops people quoting the negative one? It would be a real help for those of us that have him on the ignore list.

This

I wish.

I did have a look at the options to see if such a thing can be done automatically (I share your pain), but couldn't find it. I will have another look when I get a chance. Or maybe another, more tech-minded admin can have a butchers...?

Last week Richie Wellens ranted at the ref, this week the lino is in the firing line.

Have a listen here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07l5csp

TBH if anyone has any member blocked for whatever reason then they should be spared the agony of having to see the blocked ones posts quoted period, until they have a change of heart to unblock them.

I agree.

I've just had another look and couldn't find anything. I will bring it up with the other admins. It might be something that will take Barry to poke about with stuff, if it's even possible.

The 3 I've eyes on atm are Bradford, Plymuff and Newport, Exeter probably come into the equation as well.  Bradford, have Donaldsson and Vaughan up front, who if staying fit are decent for Div 4... Plymuff have got Lowe i/c, who went up last season with Bury, they've a strongish looking squad, not over reliant on loans.  Newport are hard to beat, Flynn is still there which is something of a surprise, they could be this years Accy.

If folks are going to not only block/ignore Reg, but then also block/ignore discussions that involve him, it's going to very quickly unravel the whole purpose of having a discussion-based forum. I find his trolling (as opposed to his more sensible posts) as irritating as anyone, but I'm sure there's plenty of people find my contributions just as irritating*. In the main, even where I don't agree with him, he does try to back up his opinions with coherent argument which can sometimes sway opinions or at least force you to think about why you don't agree. The trolling is annoying but crunchy with the smooth and all that and it doesn't merit a move that would IMO undermine the discussion based nature of the forum and turn it instead into an atomised Facebook-style echo chamber. We already have the Cheltenham Whinger's Facebook group for that.


*mods, you may need to start a whole separate sub-thread for people who find me irritating to say "Yeah, I do"

So, how can one make any judgement (positive or negative) based on only 4 games?

Why not... last season we were 15 points off the final auto slot, that's quite a lot..... which meant we needed to see significant strengthening in the summer, hand on heart do you really think we're clearly better off in all depts, particularly with what we ended up with last year?

Fair does if you do... but 3 things strike me, 1. last season Wellens lamented having players around the squad he can't use, we still seem to have that.2. Loan players being your better players, therefore too dependent on them... our 2 up top are both loans. 3. players with questionable injury records.... we've already seen a couple of loans go down, and Rose and McGilp are yet to get a run of games since Jan.  This leads to having to draft in kids for the bench, adding to the impression there's nothing much on the bench that can change a game.

Nope. There is a paid feature mod available apparently but SMF doesn't support that functionality natively.

How on earth would that happen? Can the rest of us still not talk about stuff?


A bit dramatic? Some people only want to avoid having to put up with a certain person's shite. I know there are some people that no longer bother posting because of it.

When people disagree with each other on platforms like this, they are often asked to just ignore each other for the benefit of the other members. This is EXACTLY what some people are trying to do, regardless of their intention.

Even having this discussion irks me, he's going to be lapping up the attention, and this discussion may not even be taking place if there were a more effective system of ignoring people.

I post my observations because this is an STFC football forum.... there is no intent in any of them beyond objectivity, and will happily discuss with anyone the matter in question if views don't agree.  Personally I'd never ignore someone even if I don't agree, completely defeats the object... a bit like the bullying of posters like JTR so they no longer feel able to contribute.

I'm sure I don't actually need to spell this out, but given Reg is a fairly prolific contributor, and lots of people don't ignore him, you'd kind of get two versions of the TEF - one with Reg's posts in and the replies from those who didn't have him blocked and a "Reg-free" version. Which I appreciate is kind of the intention, but actually then if the posters who haven't blocked Reg have made sensible/brilliant points in their responses (unlikely, I grant you, more likely to just be the standard bollocks :) ), then those would be lost as well to the Reg-free posters.

I just don't get why people find an opposing opinion so infuriating that they can't bear to even see it tbh

I don't ignore anyone, I just might skip or skim read some posts  :)

You ignored pleas not to go to the game last night! :)

Why?

I think you've missed the point. We don't want peoples' replies to be omitted. The problem is that we can still see what reg himself has written when people quote him, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid by having him on ignore in the first place.

I don't see the point of ignoring people on a forum, the whole point is opinions and if I come across a poster where i don't generally agree with their opinions or am not really interested, i scroll past.

Ignoring or finding a way not to quote a poster is all a bit dramatic if you ask me.  If it pisses you off that much, why are you logging on in the first place.

I used to be part of the FB group, the constant drivel on there started getting on my wick so I binned it off, my life is much better without it.

I think a few posters just need to chill out, cheer up or grow up tbh.  If you don't like it, scroll on (as many will probably do with this post :D)

I am not sure it did though. Again, i am not saying lump it forward i am saying that like Panda rightly pointed out Wellens wants to play a certain way. At times it looks like that way id to get it out wide and get crosses in and in my opinion having more of a target man to switch those crosses up when we are chasing the game would help rather than Scott Twine ending up under crosses

It's a bit like when we went up from Div 4 under Sturrock, he could bring on Lukas J, just the sort of thing we could do with atm, a kid, but good big un, raw but willing and clearly heading for better things.

On and seriously every single thread becomes the same. If you can't read regs comment and not feel the urge to reply then there is something wrong with you.

I personally find the whole everyone reacting to his comments more tiresome than his posts

Adebeyo would be perfect  ;)

Because why the fuck should anybody be perturbed because of one person? AND, because the option to put people on ignore does work to a degree, but it can be improved. Which is all that people are asking. Nobody is asking you or anybody else to change the way you use the forum. If you don't like the function, fine, just don't use it. Nobody is making you.

People moaning about people moaning about people! LoLz

And another thread gets side-track thanks to a certain individual... if only there were a better system in place to help prevent  it. Surely that would be better for everybody?

Fancy an admin hoping to make things go more smoothly. Fancy that, whatever next?

TBF, I held out a bit of hope for Bayo at first, and as a kid being asked to play the leading role, didn't think he was totally useless, however he didn't like heading the ball much. Had he been one of our own, then yes.

If only there was some individual who was empowered to pull the irrelevancy out into a separate thread ;)

Not this time. He's getting enough attention as it is.

I just discovered that Mathieu Baudry is a cousin of Sylvain Wiltord.

Agreed. People could actually ignore posts they don't like without even using the ignore function.

If only it were that simple. It just does not work that way in reality, though. Humans are, well... human.

Regardless, theakston only asked about changing/adding a feature.

The best way of eventually ending the jinx is to go regularly, not when the need to scrounge a pint arises. :)

As for the game. Panda Paws is spot on.

I find it amazing that anyone could find Reg's meanderings more objectionable than, say, Christian Kostiuk. I never even used to ignore Ironside, and he was proper sinister.

I ignored reg in real life yesterday. Well, I said hello but was sort of in a hurry to get home to have a shit and a shower so didn't stop to chat. Sorry Reg.

It appears that anyone offering a view which does not accord with the current consensus that promotion is a certainty is to be regarded as a troll.

You've gone all lah-de-dah. Time was you never used to bother going home to have a shit, now look at you

Bollocks. There's a difference between posters saying "We're only four games in, hold your horses" and deliberately fishing for a response.

Never did find my wallet, or my clothes.

No problem,. As I said you looked like you'd just got in.  To the head that is.

I don't know Reg (or anyone else on this forum for that matter) and have no agenda.  I regard his posts as falling within the former rather than the latter. If it is trolling, it's pretty pedestrian.

Ben not bothering reminds me of when he put pics up of his student accommodation  ;D

Most do fall within the former. Equally, sometimes he deliberately looks to push people's buttons e.g.



He looks for a reaction, gets the reaction he was looking for then whines about "bullying" etc. Classic trolling.

Fine, if it irks you so much do something about it, whatever, i didn't say you shouldn't do anything and i certainly didn't moan about it.  The people moaning about people moaning had already started by other people much earlier in the thread lolz!  Ironically the thread was sidetracked by people moaning about it..

An Admin you are, and a very good one at that, albeit at times condescending, but there really is no need for the sanctimonious response to me posting my thoughts.  Hence my stance that some posters need to chill out, cheer up or grow up - that covers a high percentage of the posters on here, including myself - i'll let you decide which one is relevant to me.

Blimey, everyone is a bit shitty after last night's game.  ???

Can't see anything trolling about suggesting being below Cheltenham in the league might take the pressure off the team and help us break the hoodoo?

Yesterday was my first game of the season. Northampton had lost 2 and drawn 1 before yesterday and yet they were pretty comfortable.  Our squad is currently a bit thin and several of our players have dubious injury records, which could make it thinner still.  On that showing, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say we don't look like auto-certainties yet.  But obviously we hope we will be.

Personally not seen Reg complain about bullying.

Seems like some posters play the man not the ball when it comes to Reg's posts.  

And genuine question, why don't the people who are quick to jump on JTR for negativity, put her on ignore too?  That way she won't feel bullied off this forum and can post what she likes and the people who don't like it won't see it?

He has this consistent thing about us being underdogs to Cheltenham, seems to trigger lots of people, the more it sets people off the more he does it.

He's a habit of straw-manning people as well, and telling others what they think. Oft favoured repertoires of an internet troll.

Bollocks, we've never won at Whaddon Road, why is that?  I don't know, so we have to clutch at straws, in this case Numb go into the game higher in the table, therefore I wonder, has this happened before  :hmmm: 

Just perhaps, they'll start as favourites and not be able to deal with it. You of course see something that isn't there, rather than trying to engage in a discussion about why we never win at Whaddon Road

Throughout the summer I've been looking at signs of intent to develop a squad capable of auto, now we're nearing the window slamming shut, it looks thin to me.  However, it is as it stands, and time to do something about it, how is this in any way controversial?

I'm not the only poster pointing this out....

 
Is this trolling whatever that means  :hmmm: or stating the bleeding obvious?

You alright poppet? xx

Mum, is that you?

Jesus. Neither of those things are trolling you precious snowflake cunts.

Edging a bit on the unoptomistic side of the fence is just realistic being a swindon fan. The last 20 odd years did happen to the rest of you yeah?

That may be true- I still take the view that, as trolling goes, it is at the gentle end of the spectrum.

I honestly didn't realise until i listened to the LSPC that we had never won at Cheltnum.  I knew we hadn't for a while (hence the hoodoo) but didn't realise that we had never (ever) won at their place.

Quite bonkers really..  I wonder if there are any other teams (bar the recent new additions to the EFL over the past few years e.g. Salford) that we have a similar record against, having played them, say more than 10-15 times..

We are in terms of results against them.

Get a grip people. Reg isn't trolling. This is trolling.

Ells on Sunday, December  6, 2015, 21:29:13
Ironside on Sunday, December  6, 2015, 21:31:15

Here's our bogey team record... but a lot of cup games on there....

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/StatAttack/TeamLeagueTable.asp?Type=WorstRecords

On the default settings of 50+ teams that is actually all of the teams we've played 50+ games agains. So even though oxford is on that list, it's still our 6 best record against teams we've played that often.

There really is no comparison between Reg and JTR - the former at least puts his points across in a reasoned manner and appears win, lose or draw. JTR will simply spout pure negativity and is only seen when we lose. This was quite rightly pointed out by several TEF’rs last week which led to the toys being well and truly thrown out of the proverbial pram.

With regards to last night - it was pleasing to see the reaction from the fans at full time. A similar performance last season wouldn’t have received that.

The match has been well covered although I think the previous poser who claimed we created 5/6 clear cut chances is pushing it slightly. Never the less, as others have stated we will win more than we lose if we play like that regularly.

Another forward as an option off the bench is a must for me - I don’t expect a seasoned veteran but I’d be happy with a talented kid from the top flight. It isn’t Twine’s fault that he finds himself in his current position, but he simply is not good enough and offers nothing in terms of physical presence. I’m confident Wellens thinks the same and we will see another addition in due course.

But JTR is a longstanding poster, who clearly cares about STFC, if she can't come to the TEF to have a bit of a moan about a performance, then it's a poor show

I have just looked at posts by who I assume is JTR.  Again, were they that bad?

I don’t think it matters if someone has been a member for 10 years or 10 days...if they are constantly posting negativity then they have to expect to be picked up on it from time to time. It’s not to say they have to stop - if it really offends individuals then they can simply use the ignore function (as has been well documented today ;))

JBZ - it’s surely no coincidence that this was noticed by several TEF’rs  :hmmm:

Bogey teams as a term only really applies to a few, and in our case number one is Chelsea, but it doesn't mean much as it's a long record mostly based on cup games when they've been higher and only 4 league games.

Numb are in a class of their own, and that it's so recent and so weird, is what grinds most people's gears. Crawley is a bit odd too, as at first when they had Evans as gaffer, we'd beat them, which was the sort of reverse Evans bogey in action, but since that early success, we've quietly gone about struggling to beat them.

Ok, I may have missed the some of the context which will not have been apparent by just skimming some historic posts. 

To repeat my previous observation (in a non-troll like way) I get the impression (as an infrequent poster) that any view that might suggest that we may not have it all our own way this season is unwelcome in this forum.  That strikes me as somewhat 'unhealthy'.

But it's the content of the post that should be picked up on, rather than the poster.  In this case JTR wasn't happy that Yates had got red.

You will find plenty of regular members making negative observations when there are negative observations to be made. Myself included. I can only think of one member in recent history that was 100% positive and he was criticised as much as those that are 100% negative. (I forget his name now). *Edit. Gillman, his name was Gillman. Or something like that. Come to think of it, he was lambasted more than the likes of reg are.

Most members here are balanced, they will be critical when they see fit, and give credit where it's due. Most will just say it as they see it, whereas some seem to have an agenda regardless of how well (or otherwise) things are going.

JTR was in a category of people that you would barely see until something negative happened (like a loss). To be fair, she was far from the worst offender in that regard, but it was still very noticeable. At least to the people that noticed it.

Looking on the bright side, if Bury get slung out then only team will be relegated from L2.

 :)

It wouldn't surprise me if once Yates is back we play a Diamond midfield and two upfront, firstly i think it might entice some teams out a bit with effectively one less in midfield plus i think then Yates can be the player chasing everything down and Doyle can go find some space like he is good at. I also think then we may see Doughty slightly further up the pitch and one of Isgrove or Anderson in behind the forwards.

Only for home matches as i think our current system is made for playing away.

But can you see the £5k a week (allegedly) Doyle being left on the bench? Wellens said from the start he wanted 2 upfront. Doyle is not a lone striker.

I thought it was just 3 down from Div 3.  Hence playing into Oxford's hands as they've lost the last 2, and are sliding.

Absolutely. He’s a journeyman forward on loan from another League 2 club. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the look of him, but as with any player at the club he certainly isn’t beyond being on the bench.

5k a week soapy tit wank, that certainly isn’t being paid by STFC!

Exactly. It's all the ad hominem - tackling the player, not the ball - and the agricultural nature of some of those tackles that can make the forum a bit nasty at times. Sure people can go if they don't like "robust debate" (sic), but why should they have to?
Is it a coincidence that there are virtually no female posters on here anymore?

What are you suggesting - a sexist membership?  ???

They all went when I stopped posting so much. I'm a sexy sexy man.

Ok, noted - thanks for this.  I appreciate this is becoming a bit tedious (and i am boring myself as I type this) but, just picking up on one point, you mention instances when there are negative observations are to be made.  Who decides when those instances occur?  

NB - My holiday finishes at the end of the week so, thankfully, I will return to posting a few times a year.  

Most often after a poor performance I reckon. Although hopefully we won't have too much of that this season.  ;)


It's subjective, of course, and the 'balanced' members will often disagree with each other over stuff. Regardless, it is still clear that there is a pattern of consistent negativity (or positivity) in some members.

According to Bradford we are picking up the majority of it.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that we're paying c. £3k a week for a player at this level. That's a very solid L2 wage, but far from the top earners in the league. Maynard at Mansfield on 4-5K  week for example.

Yeah, apparently its 3 down and still 4 up from L2.
Then 2 up from NL and 1 down from L2 to bring the numbers back up to 72.

Will be interesting to see what happens on Friday.

Bolton look certs and should get further sanctions for the unilateral no show yesterday.

What. The much more mentally tougher of the genders not being able to handle the relatively sedate pace of the TEF. I'm not having that.
A recruitment drive is needed
The signing of the Bulgarian keeper might have enabled Reg to get a few of the Sofia, Plovdiv & Varna babushka reds to sign up.

Hopefully everyone's metaphorical gussets will be adjusted and comfortably in place in time for Saturday.

[quote author=StfcRusty link=topic=57858.msg1509345#msg1509345


And genuine question, why don't the people who are quick to jump on JTR for negativity, put her on ignore too?  That way she won't feel bullied off this forum and can post what she likes and the people who don't like it won't see it?
[/quote]




100% agree,  surely that's what this forum is about.  

Whatever the Adver hunks calendar committee might have said. The anti-democratic bastards.

That was fucking rigged.

Blimey guys, I know I can ruffle a few feathers at times but it seems like a bunch of you are in need of a damn good fucking  :pint:

And back to the match....

...I thought we looked pretty good, so much better than the last 3/4 seasons, but still with some work to do.  Like any L2 team we could do with a 15/20+ goal scorer, and Doyle and/or Yates may still prove to be the answer (early days as as think was mentioned earlier in this thread but hopefully this time not sparking a trolling debate as to whether or not it is too late to say early days).

I thought Reid looked pretty interesting in the 30 mins he played - built like a brick shit house but has got some pace and skill and his shot was a cracker pretty much going in but for the deflection (I wouldn't have wanted it to hit me for a deflection!).  Looked safer at the back than Fryers, though of what I have seen of Fryers he looks more than useful going forward, so nice to have that kind of FB problem.

Looking forward to Numb - keep the faith.  Just remember how truly shit we have been in recent seasons - aside from the fuckwit lino/ref, last night was not the depression inducing, passion lacking tedious performance we got used to pre-Wellens.

And am not a happy clapper - just fucked off with the last few seasons (nearly didn't renew ST, only saw Town win ONCE last season) and looking at this season with a bit more optimism than previously.

So the linesman rang Wellens to apologise for his 'big error'. Thanks for that, big help...

Fair play to him. At least he was big enough to own up to the error. Most people would just duck their head

I agree. Whilst its not going to get out point(s) back at least he's held his hands up and admitted he was wrong.

Completely agree. Shows an admirable strength of character too often lacking in these CYA days.

But I hold my hand up for being a jinx and get told to never set foot in the CG again  :)

Are you still here? ;)

Apparently the Lino rang the club to apologise for his error on Wednesday....

I did see Wellens have a phone gesture with his hand, I guess he was saying you'd better watch that back and ring and fucking apologise.

Sent from my CLT-L09

It will probably get Wellens off the hook for his inept comments as well

But no apology from the ref ??

Why would the ref apologise?

He's the man in charge and just as guilty as the liner.

Subjective, he’d like all refs depend on either Lino to advise, if they flag he whistles, if they don’t he won’t.

Yeah ref wasnt at fault when guided by the lino.

The blind bastard :)

He doesn't ultimately make the offside decisions though does he?

He clearly spoke to the Lino and presumably asked him, 1. Did the player touch it and was Williams offside?

Evidently the lino didn't think so to 1 or both and so the ref has to go by his word (which was wrong).

Can't blame the ref here, he's been let down by his staff.

Still doesn't stop him apologising for an inept dickhead on the line.  Everyone in the ground apparently saw it, why couldn't he ?.

The ref was well placed to see the diversion of the ball to Williams, he shuold have asked the Linesman if the play was offside in that situation.  There are only two reasons the linesman could have for not giving it - either he wasn't looking, or he thought the ball went straight to the player from the first pass.  If it's the first, he should never be allowed to officiate again and should say as much himself.  If it is the latter, he needs the ref to tell him there was a touch, in which case the Ref is at fault.  They talked, so they both can take the fault, plus they originally stood by their decision.  Shocking officiating either way.  Fr all it's faults, this is why we ended up with VAR, because people cannot be trusted to focus for 90 minutes.

Also the 4th official should have seen it given his proximity to Wellens who clearly did.
I often think the 4th official’s only role apart from dealing with substitutions is to wind up the benches and take abuse from coaches. They should be proactive in this type of situation where the change in trajectory of the ball made it obvious the player had touched it.