Thetownend.com

Will take a point

I think Port Vale and three games in 8 days have broken us. We'll have a patched-up defence which will sacrifice creativity for solidity, and will be even more tired and leggy than we were at Burslem. We won't start improving again until after Bradford, unfortunately. 1-2 at best I fear.

If Donohue is back, play Cads at CB.

New contracts cannot be signed until January 1st so they need 24 hours clearance, Donohue will be available from Jan 2nd.

think tomorrow he's  going to have to, stick in the likes of Curran, (is the lad Haines injured?)

Such a tough game against the most in-form side in the league currently. Home sell out, injury crisis.... Anything here will be a miracle.

Personally would do anything but play Grant at CB - assuming we have no reinforcements (i.e. Donohue), I'd play Curran alongside Zakuani and change the way we play. Don't rely on the CBs to start our patterns, go a little longer and dominate the midfield with Grant, Lyden and Doughty.

I think RW will actually go with Grant at CB, though, and then Rose and Lyden.

Also swap Isgrove for Woolery.

Benda

Hunt
Curran
Zakuani
Caddis

Grant
Lyden

Isgrove
Doughty
Yates

Doyle

If Donohue is back, play Cads at CB.

Is Broadbent injured?

Is Broadbent injured?

Although I do agree with PP, it'll be Grant back there with Zakuani.

I don't think Wellens will risk it with Curran and I think the majority wouldn't argue with that.

I think the fact that Haines has been recalled yet Romanski has not tells us he won't be at Swindon next season.

Thinking about it Grant has to play centre back, we need someone that can run with the bail out of defence like Baudry and Fryers, it’s a key component of how we play. A young lad on their full league debut isn’t going to do that so there is only one option to be honest.

agree there, though loathed to lose Grant from the middle I don't see much choice

Calf injury I think

Driving down, any idea on parking arrangements?

Here you go mate...hope you have a safe trip and come back with 3 points  :)

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=58017.0

Here you go mate...hope you have a safe trip and come back with 3 points  :)

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=58017.0

Pre match am I drinking enough in The Mannamead.
The area is called Mutley, but a bit early for the locals to be driving around in their Arkansas Chuggabugs.
And who the hell put all these hills in.

Today's fun fact is that our NYD away record in the football league is P13 W5 D2 L6. A lot of those results could have been degree of hangover dependent.

Not really had one of those season defining games yet, that are common in promotion seasons, like a backs to the wall against the odds victory. Maybe this is the time?
Hopefully the team can be strong enough to fend off impending Jannergeddon.

The area is called Mutley, but a bit early for the locals to be driving around in their Arkansas Chuggabugs.

Probably lost on a large element of our fan base.

Was the Swansea 1.1 draw on New Year’s Day? When we were down to ten men for most of the game and scored a last minute penalty. That was ace!

The area is called Mutley, but a bit early for the locals to be driving around in their Arkansas Chuggabugs.

Probably lost on a large element of our fan base.

Not lost on me  :)
https://youtu.be/hw3CE04LGiA

I wonder if my fav’s the Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel made it in the Boulder Mobile?

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENM0ib6XkAEWpZ1?format=jpg&name=medium)

I thought it was the Boulder bros, Slag and Gravel  :hmmm:
 
Sorry you are right , just checked.
Not as good as the Ant Hill mob though.
1-1 btw

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENM0ib6XkAEWpZ1?format=jpg&name=medium)

In the Getaway Car...

Wheres Zakuani? His instagram has him on the team coach at Home Park

Well that's a left field starting 11! Could be 3 at the back even... though not likely.

I don’t think Zakuani can play 3 games in a week, he was posting how stiff he was after the Cambridge game

We never score from corners

Bring back big Shaun.

Look dangerous up front but sloppy at the back.
DJ having a decent game, Isgrove too. None too impressed with the back line though. Letting them get too many crosses in.

All square so all to play for

Perfectly summed up. I doubt this will remain 1-1. Fear for us at the back with this makeshift defence and Grant on a yellow. We'll be doing very well to take something from this game but with our fire power we are going to cause them problems as well.

Has Doyle gone off the boil ?

Has Doyle gone off the boil ?

And with that, he’s replaced by Doughty.

Has Doyle gone off the boil ?

Steve White > Dave Hockaday at radio commentary.

Steve White > Dave Hockaday at radio commentary.

Ha, a solitary Muff fans runs onto the pitch to stand in front of the Swindon fans and gesticulate..  We really have wound them up..  What a muppet..

This is a big test of Richie's managerial ability and of the players' collective characters...

Away to a decent side in front of a big crowd (albeit with a decent away following as always) with several enforced changes.

1-1 Yates...would be delighted with that.

Massive couple of weeks ahead which will define the season.

Hmmm.

Need to show we know how comebacks work.

2 points clear at the top.
6 points clear from 4th.
11 points clear from 8th.

:wotjump:

Wellens: Zakuani hamstring went in training yesterday. Maybe one new face before Saturday, but far from sure. Donohue’s not fit for a while so we’ll monitor the situation - we’re not signing him up yet.

:wotjump:

Wellens: Zakuani hamstring went in training yesterday. Maybe one new face before Saturday, but far from sure. Donohue’s not fit for a while so we’ll monitor the situation - we’re not signing him up yet.

Wtf were they doing training yesterday? Time off, surely.

I'll have my own personal open top parade if we get anything positive tomorrow.

 :toocool:

Got to love that ginger frecer after his post match interview.

:wotjump:

Turned into a lap of honour of my street. A poor turnout but I enjoyed myself.

Bloody hell :) But this is really nice to see. Long may it continue. Happy people are good people to be around. We all have reason to be glum at times but certainly this has given me some kind of hope.

Back to normal form tomorrow ey Reg? 😉 E-I-E-I-E-I-Ohhhhh...

Are we allowed to be excited yet?

Nothing abnormal here.... always say a win should be celebrated and contrary to what some on here say, think some wins are more important than others... and this is one such.

Turned into a lap of honour of my street. A poor turnout but I enjoyed myself.

Highlights.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/league-two/11899327/plymouth-1-2-swindon

A very nice afternoon out. The kid who ran out on to the pitch provided some additional and unexpected entertainment. Will be interested to watch the highlights as I couldn't work out how Woolery managed to help Plymouth thwart a scoring opportunity.

If he kept running into the goal net instead of trying to head it down he would have scored.

Enjoyable day out - I've never seen us win at HP until now.

Great day out.

Thought that Rose did very well and a debut for Luke Haines.

Looking forward to Saturday.

If he kept running into the goal net instead of trying to head it down he would have scored.

Ha, a solitary Muff fans runs onto the pitch to stand in front of the Swindon fans and gesticulate..  We really have wound them up..  What a muppet..

It was McGilp not Haines.

As for the match we are just very good in an attacking sense, no other team creates as many good chances as we do. The fact that we can effectively shield our defence through our domination of games in forward positions speaks volumes. Teams are very scared of us especially when we counter attack, Woolery came on as a sub today and their right back couldn’t get near him, must have been pretty demoralising for their lad.
Vale just seems like a blip now, a big chance to make a statement to league on Saturday that we are good even when Doyle doesn’t play. We will still create chances so hopefully Yates is able to step up to the Doyle role for the game.

Aged about 12, God knows where his parents were.

With regards to the little rotter who ran on the pitch; him and his dad cut in front of us in the queue to get into the spoons and someone else in the queue called him out on it and it got a bit heated and I remember someone saying “what kind of example are you setting your son?” - next thing we know he is running on the pitch!!

I've watched the Doyle crowd dive a couple of times now and it gets better every time. Absolutely no doubt where he wants to play his football.

I'd be surprised if Plymouth dont end up in the play offs.  They've been a good challenge in each of our games.

I thought Plymouth looked a very good side and that made it an even bigger win. They weren’t fresh defensively but looked very dangerous going forwards.

I thought Plymouth looked a very good side and that made it an even bigger win. They weren’t great defensively but looked very dangerous going forwards.

They were having a lot of joy with the ball over the top in the first half, resulting in a few one on ones with Benda. We seemed to suss this out towards the end of the half, nullifying their attacking play.

When Telford hobbled off they lost a bit of momentum and  we got a grip.

Yep that helped us too. Their other tactic was to try and get the ball out quickly to the flanks and overload our fullbacks. Caddis stood up to it but Hunt struggled, resulting in their goal.

Agreed. They were strong in every department except finishing. In the end, what has set us apart this year has been our - actually mainly just Doyle’s - ability to find the touch that gets the ball across the line. Without our loanee strikers, we would look very like Plymouth.

Yeah it was a great game. Two very good sides. We have our weaknesses as do Swindon. I don't like it but Swindon showed why they are top of the league. Yet we were always in the game an could easily won or drew the game. On balance Swindon are a more complete team on today's evidence. But with a few well chosen recruits we won't be far away.

We marginally lost to the league’s top team and top striker, on another day we could have just as easily won.

We witnessed a good contest between two closely matched teams. We knew at the start that they had a lot of firepower and we don’t. That was the only difference.

Two even sides. We just can’t put chances away or fail to work the keeper when we get in good positions. If we add a finisher or two , top spot is within our reach.

We're not far off a great team, just need players with a bit more oomph and a desire to find the onion bag..was missing today, we could have won that if chances were taken.

Doyle did very little today except score but there is the difference. We faff around and yet again have little idea how to score.

Let's be fair, Doyle missed (or had saved) a 1 on 1 chance in the first half and then fluffed one off his knees after he'd scored too. So he scored 1 in 3.

We could have been 3 or 4 up in the first half with the chances we had

We lost, to a good team, far from a disaster, particularly when you consider that we’ve been in very good form of late.

A great 1st half of end to end football. A shame the 1 on 1s were not capitalised otherwise Argyle would have been out of sight. The 2nd half was dogged by the wet weather and the hope of an unforced defensive error. Argyle were poor 2nd half with little ideas on going forward. For me a striker is desperately needed who can run/look for the run and finish. J Grant and Rudden as per previous game posts were very poor. Swindon were tightly packed and looked dangerous when they went forward. They are deservedly top of League Two in my opinion, but their time wasting was textbook.

We just competed toe to toe with the top team in the division and could have shaded it ourselves, IMO. Well done Argyle!

I thought the difference between the sides today was that they were more incisive when they came forward. Sharp passing and movement at times opened us up too easily at times. We had chances one on one but we do lack someone with the ability to stick them away. I thought their number 27 was outstanding especially in the first half.

It was only Swindon Town's keeper who stopped them getting a proper slap

Midfield was second best all afternoon

Our midfield today looked average

the main difference for me was that Swindon had more pace and movement when going forward.

Swindon deserved the win.

1st set of Plymuff fans comments from their forum.

Yeah think Gnasher has their fullbacks mixed up. Caddis was caught out quite a few times first half.

Swindon were better in key areas and deserved their lead although there wasnt much between the two sides and if we played the game again there wouldn't be anything in it. The key difference was the finishing and until we solve it we will not be competing for the automatic places.

A just result I feel. Swindon created the better chances abd had more near misses. If our failings in front of goal are not addressed this month then it will be the play offs with automatic promotion a step too far I fear.

Yes, the longer it went on the more inevitable a Doyle goal seemed. Again, we were well on top in the first half and should have been ahead at half time.

I text my mate before it started bet Doyle scores winner today then scores against us for Bradford in February ! Half way there!
Think it's stupid players can be loaned to other clubs in same division

Swindon provided a very stark demonstration of the difference between ruthless and toothless when it comes to forwards. Rudden, Grant and Clarke just don't cut it, I'm afraid. The better side deservedly won.

Either team could have shaded it, a draw may have been fair, but once again we have been punished for our lack of quality in their penalty area.

Swindon will go up and we will play many weaker sides in the coming weeks.. no need to panic.

Swindon were the much better side and wanted it more.

We can look at the performance, we can look at Swindon’s performance, we can break it all down but it comes back to chances & taking them. We could have had 3/4 goals in the 1st half despite playing quite well but not as well as we can, which in a way is promising. Get someone with a bit of composure in the final third & we’ll be absolutely fine.

an entertaining match which we should have won before half time.everybody knows we need a finisher

The fact is Swindon had key players missing and still beat us. That shows you where this current squad are. We have improved since August but it's been gradual progression.

Swindon an excellent side and fair winners although I think we deserved a point.

Disappointing result but Swindon deserved to win. They're a good side and we're not quite where they are yet, although I felt we actually gave up in the second half and didn't believe that we could defeat them, which was disappointing.

We can't play a passing game as good as Swindon with players like Canavan and Wootton in defence, and they are most certainly League 2 defenders at best. Despite their recent good form, playing against a good team like Swindon is a stark reminder of their limitations

The difference between the two teams was not really the overall team performances, but there was a gulf in class between a couple of their players and ours. Jaieyesimi (27) was the best player I have seen this season, home or away and Woolery, their substitute, was also excellent. Doyle showed our forwards how to get in front of the defenders to score their second goal.
Sarcevic had two good chances when one on one with the keeper in the first half but fluffed both. Clarke had two chances late on but also missed out.
On the other hand Swindon could have scored two more late on with very easy chances.
No complaints from me. I would have taken a draw at half time.

2 average teams, one street wise one not, still enjoyed the game.

Swindon have a (borrowed) goal scorer and we don't, Swindon took their chances and we didn't.
Antoni Sarcevic didn't deserve to be on the losing side.

Thought Argyle played better today than they did against Stevenage and a draw would've been a fair result, but you don't draw or win these close games without being clinical as Swindon were.

I find Argyle fans moaning about time wasting strange.
Every team does it, including Argyle. Let's not be hypocritical about this. At Forest Green we were terrible and cynical in the way did it. Palmer does it in many matches especially when we are winning.
It needs to be stamped out of football totally. Until then l find this topic is werid because it sounds like we sore losers.

The goal celebrations and discussion with the Swindon bench took at least 4 minutes but only 5 were added on.
Every throw in and free kick was initially placed in the wrong location (deliberately) by Swindon with a subsequent discussion.
The referee should have issued a card to the keeper when he continually placed the ball in the wrong spot at one point

Swindon bossed the centre of the pitch and made our CMs look very limited. So much so the when Mayor came on he was in there too. Wouldn't mind getting their no 27 down here.

Swindon are nailed on. Jaiyesimi (sp.?) was outstanding,
and their number 11 gave Wootton a torrid time.

Today Swindon sucked the life out of the game and argyle just fell in to a daze. However the referee never seemed to have any interest in trying to quell the gamesmanship... Has the substitution rule about leaving from the nearest point been abandoned?
Also when the entire Swindon team go into the crowd how can he only book the goalscorer, and then after much deliberation and comedy pointing he booked the sub. Time-wasting can be reduced by actively stopping the game time (either the ref clearly indicates or remove time from the ref) however this won't stop the momentum stoppers, the player falling to the floor and the like... Don't know the answer to that but it is a football problem because it happens at all levels.
Ultimately argyle failed to impose themselves on Swindon so they did what they liked.

A very frustrating and disappointing result, Swindon were there for the taking and we let them off the hook. Make no mistake about it,

Swindon are bang average but huge credit to them for making better use of the loan market with Doyle, Yates and Jaiyesimi streets ahead of the rest of their team. Simply put, if we had Doyle we would be top and they in our position.

The better team won.

Some big overreactions to a narrow defeat against the L’s top team & striker.

et Swindon has key players missing today. Second half we didn't really trouble their keeper. They had decent second half chances including the run by Woolery on the left and the ball accross to Doyle where they should have scored.

Swindon deserved to win, but Argyle could still have pinched a draw with just a little more quality from the final ball.

As for his overall performance, their number 27 ran rings around him as they dominated the midfield. He put in one of his pedestrian plodding performances that were all too common last season.

That was a great game between 2 good teams.

It was Swindon manager, Richie Wellens introduction of their number 11, Woolery in place of number 9, Yates in the second half that proved critical. Woolery exploited the space between our right wing back Byron Moore and centre back, Wooton.
Unfortunately it took us a while to counter that, by which time the damage had been done.
We created plenty of chances, but again, the lack of a clinical finisher has cost us valuable points.
Swindon bossed midfield, despite the introduction of Mayor in a central role in the second half.

The other Lowe mistake was putting Edwards in as CDM against the excellent and stronger Jaiyesimi. Most of the attacking moves for Swindon came through him.

Swindon won that at a canter and deservedly so.

Thoroughly deserved win for Swindon whose Midfield/Forward play was way ahead of ours

Their no 27 had an immense game. All this tomfoolery that we should have been 3 up at half must have only watched one end as Swindon could also have had 3 or 4 in the first half. Will RL secure a decent striker to get us up

Poor performance.Swindon were much quicker going forward and our players are incapable of shooting quicker,they always need one more touch on the ball rather than just shooting at the goal

The new stand thing was bizarre. I got the vibe that they genuinely believe that it will push them on to the next level? I suppose we'd be excited if the CG got a new stand...

But it looked shit. The outside of it was like a garden centre. Inside, the roof only covered the top tier, has pillars and the bottom tier was ridiculously packed together and everyone in it got soaked during the 2nd half. I was looking over and it didn't look comfortable at all, not sure anyone over 6 foot would have much room. The corporate facilities are supposedly very good and I guess that's what they're going for. 9 million though? I'd have expected something better.

Still, considering the rest of the stadium is almost a classic identikit bowl it does add a bit of character. Just didn't see the hype myself. Plymouth fans were pretty good though, as was their team until we stepped it up a notch in the 2nd half. I'll be surprised if they don't comfortably finish top 7, maybe even higher. DJ was immense for us, they shit themselves whenever he got on the ball. Same with Woolery when he came on.

Loved the little lad pitch invading and wasting his own teams time. Good kid!

I read somewhere it cost 8 million?

6.5 apparently?

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/plymouth-argyles-amazing-new-grandstand-3061170

In that case they're been well and truly shafted!

Dunno, it will be the internals where the cash has gone, externally it all looks very mid 20th century.

Has there been a better keeper for Town than Benda when it comes to one on one situations? I’ve lost count number of times he’s bailed us out now.

Who was our skipper yesterday?

I remember Sir Wes was pretty good on several 1-on-1 situations. Brezovan was a great stopper and likely had a good share of 1-on-1s too. Digby would've had his fair share as well.