Thetownend.com

Here we go, guys.  Someone’s got to get us out of the Charlton rut.
Not good news re Lyden, so what’s tomorrow’s team going to be?

                 Fryer
Caddis Curran Conroy Iandolo
         M Smith Palmer
Hope           DJ           J Smith
               Pitman

I like that as a starting XI.  The bench will be very important, though.  I think Wellens will want to get some more minutes out of Grant, in prep for Saturday, and we could see the forward line being juggled a bit in order to test out partners with Pitman, as we need to start to build some understanding at the edge of the box. Jonny and Hope are a good wide pair.
No doubt there will be some whinging about Iandolo remaining at LB, but there aren’t too many options at present.

I'd imagine that the STFC XI will look something like this... we may have to use our three allowed substitutions carefully to protect the players who we want to come into contention for Rochdale at home.


GK - Joe Fryer (if signed before 5pm today) / Archie Matthews

RB - Paul Caddis
LB - Massimo Giamattei
CB - Dion Conroy (for 60-70 mins?)
CB - Taylor Curran

DM - Matt Smith
DM - Matty Palmer
AM - Toby Holland

RW - Jonny Smith (for 60-70 mins?)
LW - Hallam Hope
FOR - Brett Pitman (for 60-70 mins?)


With Kaiyne Woolery not re-signing in time for tomorrow's game, you could see 2nd year scholar Harry Parsons replace Brett Pitman once he's knackered. You don't want Jonny Smith playing much more than 60-70 minutes really, but not sure who'd replace him given that you wouldn't want to risk Payne/Jaiyesimi/T.Smith ahead of Saturday. Perhaps young Luke Haines or Anthony Cheshire on for Conroy after an hour to help him continue his return to matches.

It's a good chance for one of Matty Palmer or Matt Smith to make a mark and force their way in to the side for Rochdale. Keen to get my first proper look at both of them.

Think that's more changes than we'd be allowed to make - believe you need to pick four outfield players who played in either the last league game or the next one. So think we're likely to keep Iandolo in the side and one of the centre backs, maybe Tyler Smith too. Would guess at:

Kovar

Iandolo
Caddis
Odimayo
Curran

M Smith
Palmer

Hope
DJ
J Smith

Pitman

Good point - swap in Kovar for Fryer in my team and we should have the four. I think the first-year pros will make up the bench.

Interesting.  How exactly does that work?  Does Pitman coming on as a sub against Charlton count as 1 of the 4? And how do they “police” the appearances in the next match?

I would go pretty much with PP's team, we simply do not have the amount of fit players to replace every single starter from Saturday.

WBA will have an ex Swindon and Cirencester youth teamer playing for them in Owen Windsor a striker we had for a while 2 years ago.

I know Wellens won't take it seriously but he will still want us being competitive.

Be a good chance for Palmer, Smith, Hope and J Smith to show what they have to be in the starting line up for Rochdale and a chance for Pitman, Conroy and Caddis to get some needed minutes on the pitch to improve their fitness.

From the Blackpool local rag.

Thank you Blackpool.  I understand what they’re trying to achieve, but that’s pretty complex. Makes tomorrow’s selection a real challenge. 

Those two goals at Anfield on Saturday have gone to their heads :(

In fairness, their other goal (ie not Yates’ pen) was a cracker!

Even the penalty was a good one and even though they eventually got well beaten they had Liverpool on the back foot for a while

Well that's just fucking outrageous. How the bloody hell are we supposed to field four players who started for Blackpool against Stoke City or Plymouth, or who are on the list of 10 players at Blackpool with the highest number of starting appearances in first-team fixtures? Just bias, pure and simple that.

It works, the other way round, though.  Blackpool have to field four players who previously played for Swindon.  Easy.

Not if they have to have played for us against Stoke

TBH it needs a bloody lawyer to see who qualifies and who doesn't going by those rules!

Its great that the EFL make it so easy to follow.

You get penalised less in the FA Cup

For such a Mickey Mouse competition the fines are way out of all proportion to the importance of the cup.

More so at this point of the season with player fitness issues and with Covid constraints, the EFL should have just waved the rules certainly for the early stages of the competition if not got rid of the thing all together.

It really is crazy.  I bet every team is using these games as pre-season warm-ups. Or at least trying to!

And how do those bloody rules work for an Under 21 side?  I would assume that not many of their players would meet the requirements.

So if he starts Palmer and hope, then that’s half of the qualifying players needed?

Add in pitman and then I assume one of baudry/conroy, and that’s met the bill hasn’t it?

It’s a bit of a convoluted rule, but it’s not *that* prohibitive

They don't apply to the U21 teams. Everyone knows the rules don't apply to PL teams

Everyone except me, then.  Unless you’re saying that PL teams ignore all rules as a matter of course. Bastards!

Well - here we go, then.  WBA’s “Under 21” side has magically changed on WBA’s Home Page to “PL2” and “Under 23”.

“ALBION’S PL2 SIDE SET FOR SWINDON TEST IN EFL TROPHY

Albion Under-23s will take on Swindon Town at the County Ground in their first group game of the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night (ko 7pm).

The young Baggies have been drawn into Group E of the competition, with Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers the other two teams competing with Albion to make it to the knockout stages.

Deon Burton’s men will make their return to the tournament, which allows under-23s teams to gain experience against Football League opposition, after a season away from it.

They are in the Southern Section of the competition and will play their second group game in October, with their final group match taking place in November.“

Bastards! Cunts!  :D

They're the same thing.

I hope we have no injuries, no sending off, and lose 1-0. The sooner were out of this bollocks the better.

The result is immaterial TBH anyway as we still have to face Exeter and FGR in this competition so at least another 2 matches must be played.

At least the crowds can't get any smaller😁

Just make sure you don’t head the ball, donkey! :deadhorse:

yeah, but hopefully not 3 matches.


got enough midweek games and a squad that may have a soft underbelly outside the main men

True, but we don't want to accidentally get through. 3 games in this is bad enough.

I bet power wants to progress

Sending offs don’t matter as it’s such a pointless competition even bookings and sending offs don’t carry over.

Oh that's something, then.

Very much doubt it. It's all cost until you get to the final and an extra strain on what is likely to be an already overburdened squad. I doubt Power would be looking forward to funding an extra loan or emergency Jan signing to cover the cost of players injured in additional pointless fixtures

I’m inclined to agree with that. It’s pretty clear that to survive in L1, given the quality of many of the other clubs, we will need a bigger and better squad than last year.  We spent a lot of last season moaning about how shitty L2 is, and now we’re out of it we must raise our standards which means spending.  I don’t see these tinpot cup comps as having any relevance for us at all this season.

Where can we watch/listen

ifollow for watching £10 (unless IPTV has it, soapy tit wank)

bbc wilts for listening. not sure if online is blocked, probably as measure and proper cup are

I will have a watch later as its part of the video season ticket pass.

The result is immaterial but I am watching because I wish to see the new signings playing in a 1st team match for Swindon and because its my club of course, New signings Fryer, M Smith, Palmer, Pitman and any other players he dares play.

Although the game can be classed as little more than a friendly I still want to see the new players before they are thrown in at the deep end for the Town.

I'd like to say I'm boycotting it but as I can't get iFollow to work for games I have paid for, it's probably a moot point :)

Maybe iFollow can just tell that you’re not interested, and saves you the bother of sitting on your arse for 90 minutes watching meaningless crap. 
Oh, sorry, that’s daytime TV. :zzz:

You are assuming that he/we all wouldn't be doing that even if we didn't have a game? :)

I'll probably pop it on in the background while working later.  Couldn't we magic up a little possible Coronavirus outbreak before declaring all the players tested and free?

There is always that option, of course.  After all, 9 out of 10 cats does Countdown! :nod:

Do we get to watch this one on ifollow? 

It appears to be available to all, and the Mickey Mouse cup is not covered by the outside UK ban that the FA and EFL cups are subject to.

Do you really want to ??.

Not all that fussed, but it is the first 'competitive' game for me and I would like to see some of our new players in action.

I could just a easily choose to get some more work done instead.

I’ll watch it tomorrow. Hopefully without knowing the result.

Best keep off the forum then :eek:

BBQ this evening!

Socially distanced, I trust! :eekout:

Depends if eating alone :headhurts:

Now, a solo barbecue is a lonely place! 
It’s enough to drive a man to either drink or watching the Carabao Cup
(or even both).
:cry: :pint: :pint:

Exactly my view.

Is this an early kickoff?  Teams just been announced.

yes. 7pm

Will be interesting to see how Smith M gets on tonight with Lyden's place up for grabs.

Noticed that he was ready to come on in place of JL on Saturday but they put Smith J on instead.

An empty stadium doesn't prevent music being played it would seem.

That line up tells me that Wellens/Power could not care less about the fine.

anyone watching from abroad? is the game included or are you being asked to buy a match pass?

They’ve probably told the EFL to take the fine and stuff it unless The EFL agree to ensure Derby agree to pay us our £3m or whatever it should be.

Yep, it's loaded up fine.

Watched the Holland vs Italy game yesterday, it was evident how the fitness levels dropped off around the 60 minute mark.  Players bending over after a run, some laying on the ground a bit after losing the ball, generally obvious players were not match fit yet, plus some cramp.  If that's what it looks like at International level, I can only imagine how off the pace it will be at our level for a few weeks yet.

Thanks, the person had not noticed payment being reflected earlier in week.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhaDZpbWkAUEq9s?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

A stronger line up than I expected TBH.

Not a bad team.  Interesting that Kovar still between the posts and Payne stays in. Good potential up front.

I’m pretty sure we avoid the fine because we have 4 players in the 11 that were involved on Saturday.

The rules have changed a bit this season.

It could just be me and a hazy memory, but I don;t ever remember hearing Caddis speak before and, to me, he sounds like Macari.

Wellens sounds like hes taking it very seriously and wants to win it.

Ex Town youth player Windsor starting up front for WBA tonight.

With Odimayo playing tonight despite his cramp issues Saturday you’d hope that points to us having Baudry available for Saturday.

Wellens taking the tournament seriously and thinks we can go along way

The same Wellens who is playing Curran?

Only going on what he's said on BBC Wilts

I'm not trying to deny he's saying that. It's just that for me the team he's put out does not reflect that.

I think hes saving Fryers and Baudry for the league and not risking them, we have no other options at CB.

I thinks he's trying to mix & match

delayed kick off? crowd congestion

The ref needed a piss.

BBC Wilts comms are online on the BBC website.

Very good effort by Jonny Smith from a short corner. He looks great cutting inside from the right wing.

This game isn't showing as an option on iFollow for me - is that because its started, does it prevent you buying the match pass ?

Arsenal Smith pulling all the strings in midfield in the early stages - looks like he has a point to prove.

Is it just me or is the Ifollow footage very stuttery when the camera moves side to side? - seems fine when the camera is stationary but a little glitchy when it moves.  I didn't notice that last season..

I read that his preferred position is actually on the left side although he's happy as a no10 or on the right wing

He does look pretty decent playing in the defensive midfield position, favours his left foot and drifts wide left often, he does hit his passes with a lot of power.

Once you've logged on select the 'Next Match' drop down option from the Ifollow tab. you can then select listen or watch from there

Caddis looking fitter too.

Curran lucky to not give away a penalty, huge hole in our defence between Iandolo and Odimayo.

A couple of players (Ferry was one) immediately reacted to the overweight picture of Caddis by saying he'd be ready for the season.

1st chance for Pitman, nice turn but couldnt get the shot in from a Caddis cross.

Only the Rochdale game is showing under Next Match, there isn't a drop down option !  :badmood:

Click on Matches at the top of the page, then the Live Match Centre button underneath the score, then click the Watch Live Now button and it'll take you to the payment screen if you don't already have a pass

Pitman wide from 20 yards, J Smith should have hit the ball earlier though but kept the ball well.

Palmer looking good in posession but not so good chasing the ball down, hes playing a bit deep to have an impact.

Hope looking a bit off the pace.

Pitman looking lively and certainly not like he hasn't started a game this year.

Was just thinking that Palmer does not look out of place in Midfield, athough I agree his closing down when we haven't got the ball is less visible.

0-1 to baggies.

Caddis should have been closer as he broke and Curran made a half hearted attempt to tackle, Kovar no chance.

oh

I don't see a future for Curran. Its somewhat of a mystery that we gave him a 3 year contract in the summer.

I'm calling this early, Curran is not going to play much in League One, and if he does we are in trouble.  He's well below this standard.

Caddis look every bit an unfit player right now.

Iandolo - I'm trying to like him, but he still looks suspect against an Under 21 team.

Going a goal down, not important, the way it was conceded is more concerning, he had too much space and time. Curran isn't good enough.

Riddick beat me to it on Curran

Just got to put up with him until Donohue is in the building in a couple of weeks.

I'd only be worried if the back 4 plus the midfield two was what we would start most games with.  Caddis will get fitter, Palmer and Smith won;t be played as a midfield two very often, if at all, outside this type of game.

I don't think Caddis looks unfit as such, hes bombing forwards a lot, but he looks not match sharp.

Curran is miles off being a starter in a league 1 team, as is Iandolo.
We really need our centre backs to stay fit this season, or get another in. Also Donohue signing can’t come quick enough.

he's not long come back from injury. he'll be fine (caddis)

He's not terrible, in fact, with the ball he can sometimes look quite silky.  It's almost as if he gets caught watching the game and loses where he is on the pitch at times.  It then creates a sort of rabbit in a headlights approach to defending at times.

I think Matt Smith has played at least as well as Doughty did on Saturday so far, Palmer and Smith do not compliment each other though.

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/

Iandolo sometimes looks like he is playing in slow motion, or is so confused and doesn't know what to do and just stalls.

He's playing in energy conservation mode - little bursts, but he's allowing himself a break at times.

Curran is our 6th choice. Hopefully we ship him out on loan, especially if we bring another one in.

Good effort by Pitman inches past the far post from 15 yards.

As I typed about Caddis, he strolled off to have an argument with the ref and couldn't be arsed with going back to right back so played midfield for a couple of minutes.

inches wide that from Pitman. good move

I suspect he’s writing himself out of Wellens’ plans!

Indeed. We are not going to have the biggest squad but will have 7 CB's potentially. Obviously we have injured players to take care of but carrying 7 in a squad seems bizarre.

was he ever in Wellens plans

Caddis is now right wing, bless him.

Who signed him, was it Brown or Wellens?

Wasn't there some weird conspiracy about some Power and Curran relationship.

Caddis shoots wide from a similar position to what Pitman shot from, with a shot further away from its target though.

caddis should have hit target

another useful move

He must have been signed up for some reason.  Perhaps he’s Power’s love child! 👶

Yes you can put it that way!

BTW. anyone listening to the commentators would have a totally different opinion of the game than watching it.

Agreed. The unfortunate sods who only have the radio.

I agree.

They're bizarrely negative. We're in complete control. WBA are good in transition though.

it's, er, it's alright I suppose

What are they saying? Curran world class?

It's not a good ball, it's a terrible ball!  What are they watching.

You need to have a word with your mate😁

Yes we aren't playing THAT badly at all, we have created a few more chances than on Saturday so far. And Payne, J Smith and Caddis are doing well down the right wing.

odimayo is defending better today.

not sure he's going to be a ball player though

He doesn't listen to me, but I will pass on your thoughts!

Hes playing alright TBF but hes up against players of a far lower standard than Bonne and Aneke.

No, it's more the shape of play they seem oddly at odds with.  They seem to have applied about 30 seconds of the game to develop a theory that Caddis and Iandalo were dominating the wings.  Earlier they mentioned how we were not creating anything, literally within a minute of us creating a very good opening.  It's really odd little things that I cannot compute with what they eyes are seeing.

It dosen't look like he's going to miss any games! What's happened to Steve white

Not just me then. First time I heard the radio commentary in years at the weekend and they were pretty awful.

Good effort from Payne from 20 yards, easy save though.

HT 0-1

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking this.

Kovar is the most dominating centre half on the pitch for us right now, that's the issue I think.  Odimayo looks a better prospect than Curran but he's still not a confident, dominating centre half.

He looks every bit as good as Benda so far to me, great distribution and pace and good handling.

Palmer and Hope have not impressed me much so far, Matt Smith looks very promising though and we need to get teh ball to Jonny Smith more often.

I think we look decent at times going forwards. West Brom are playing defensively with two banks of 4 and just trying to hit us on the break a lot of the time, which is always going to stifle creativity.

We're poor defensively, but I really think that's to be expected considering who's playing. Having somebody like Grant or Lyden would make a difference as well.

I’ve thought Palmer has been very good. Always available for the pass, distribution finding his man, grown into the game. That last move was totally down to him. Play him next to grant would be a great combination

We have had 71.1% possession!

9 shots to 2

And a passing accuracy of 84%

Exposing Curran and Odimayo behind a midfield that strays from position so often is probably a bit of an education for them.

Think that;'s the issue today - Palmer and Smith both look like they;d fit in well with Grant.  When they get on the ball they pass it well and move well.  What they also do is get attracted to attacks at the same time and leave the midfield wide open.  Behind them you then have two defenders who do not look overly confident in their ability to dominate.

Kovar has that certain something about him, like Benda did.  I have no idea if it is well placed yet, but he certainly fancies himself.

Agree with this..

He started really poorly but has grown into the game but I think hes playing way too deep, I would prefer him in a more advanced role like Doughty plays.

I would swap Hope and play Payne wide left and push Palmer into the attacking midfielder role and bring on Grant to give the defence more protection.

Yep. Complete domination but lack of sharpness in the final third and a young, very unproven CB pairing struggling (although AO is doing OK.).

Yes which is why I don't understand why the commentators are saying we dont look very good.

Exposed at the back with 2 very inexperienced centre backs, but still creating decent chances, its not that bad surely.

I think Andrew Hawes is being led a bit in that regard.

I don't think there will be any desire to fix the issues tonight, for all the words of taking it seriously, this is a training session.  A chance to get match minutes in some legs.

Andrew Hawes is pretty bad regardless of who is with him. He regularly gets lots of simple things wrong like player names. Don't rate him at all.

I think we will see DJ coming on for Hope or Payne at some point today.

  :nod:

The tempo of the game is enough to see its very much this.

is Caddis limping or waddling?

Quoting myself as Hawes confuses Hope with Smith somehow, idiot.

0-2 massive holes in the defence again at CB.

2-0

oh dear.

very sloppy defending

Palmer held the player up okay there, then when he and Caddis crossed paths neither took responsibility to put their foot in.

Possibly because we are treating it like a friendly again, if i'm being generous.

There is definately little urgency at the back.

Caddis is the player to watch to see how seriously we are taking this.  A minute or two back he trotted off up front.

Just remember our run to the title last season started with a shit result in this competition against Plymouth and everyone thought we were doomed.

Great low cross by J Smith (not Iandolo).

Lovely long run by J Smith.

Grant coming on.

Palmer off for Grant.

Town nearly score, good cross from Hope then a good one from Iandolo.

Grant dominating already, Curran is not good enough, full stop.

Hope going off for DJ

I think Tyler Smith on for Pitman/Payne will be Wellens last throw of the dice today.

Tyler Smith on for Pitman.

Nah, I think it's all about minutes in legs.

Hopefully RW's notepad says..

Wednesday:
Find loan moves for Curran and Iandolo, they both need some game time at NL/Lge2 level.

Tyler Smith 1-2

poor and porous

it's not all bad, but not creating much clear cut - nearly but not quite on several occasions

soapy tit wank, guess who is behind on the stream

Great timiing!

Header at the far post from a DJ cross, nice goal.

Don't you fucking dare equalise.

1-3

WTAF is Iandolo doing there!

No one near him.

smart volley but defending shite

 :D

2-3 Caddis

Curran is shocking.

Hartley going on about the defence being a worry.

Fuck off. Look at who we are playing.

What is co-commentator dribbling on about - more worrying than the weekend in defence?  Yeah, I suppose, if we dared to use that defence as a line-up in a league game, I;d wave the white flag and give the 3-0 default defeat.

More food for thought for RW then.

We are playing with some urgency now.

I am sorry but Curran and Iandolo aren't good enough.

Matt Smith needs some work - talent, but he needs to build that match experience, he's a bit all over the place trying to get involved.

Did they mention Mark McNulty?

Honest question, is Hartley just there as a favour so that he doesn’t miss a game?

Leeds under 21 and Villa under 21s have conceded 7 tonight. We are the only side to be losing to an under 21/23 side. We aren’t exactly playing Barcelona.

Yes they did saying he was linked again.

Yes quite probably.

Another Agombar.

I think FH meant our defence/midfield

Curran has just taken a catch for England against Australia.  
Two places at once - fucking Superman!

Ah you mean who we are playing in defence!! My apologies FH

Has to be.
Commentating is a tough job but he’s going to grate on me if I have to listen to him every game for the next couple of months.

I Know.

I mean who are WE playing in defence. IE, Curran and Omniomniom

He looks lively and his passing is good, his positioning is a bit off but he has pace and can dribble too.

He looked better when playing on the left side of midfield 1st half though.

Promising.

Indeed! I’m a bit slow and have been drinking!

Rumour is his dad is putting money into the club?

Jeez the WBA player coming on looks about 6 foot 6.

DJ is not back to his best yet this season.

Is it 4-3 yet? How has Pitman looked?

Pitman looked like a player who had not been on a football pitch for a long time, BUT, his instincts look good.  Tough to tell, but I think he will be a good player for us.

Jonny Smith is going to be a key player this season I think.

Good run out this.  Some more minutes in the legs of key players and a few fringe at best players doing their case serious harm, just in time to avoid us thinking we can rely on them.

Shown a few of the players that need some more work on the training pitch.

All in all, best outcome for us I think.

FT 2-3

We didnt play badly we just look shit at the back with reserves playing at times, many positives though IMO.

;)

Two games two defeats...anyone panicking yet? But there's some right mongs having a field day on Facebook.

I am not concerned.

Zero points and (hopefully) zero injuries.

Perfect result.

If we were expecting to start with that defense then I would be worried. But we won't be, so I'm not. The co-commentator really seemed to ignore all context. I noticed he also didn't seem in tune with why so many people object to the competition.

Come on then Duke.... spill the beans.

Hes on a couple of thousand game run i think

For those wondering how Curran gets in the team...

https://www.racehorsetrainers.org/find/trainerdetail.asp?RecID=1755

https://community.betfair.com/horse_racing/go/thread/view/94102/31534049/sean-curran---very-interesting

Ifollow coverage has stopped and BBC Wilts online is still broadcasting their holding message! Will have to miss Wellens post match interview then!

Currans Missus, sister or someone coincidentally with the same surname not happy on twitter with those noting the deficiency in our defence.

positives: minutes into caddis, pitman, and to done extent Grant, kovar.

negatives: Johnny smith was feeling his leg 10 minutes before the end. ran ok.

the obvious is that while that defence would not start by choice, it's a worry if we have to dig that deep.. I'd hope Broadbent would help out first, but something not right there.

iandolo summed himself up. one minute he puts a good ball into the box, the next he's passing it to the opposition. if only he could get consistency.

we could have won, but who cares. Actually I'm glad we didn't

Trying to take the positives from that.
Only when we wanted to chase the game did we look threatening.
The back line apart from Caddis looked suspect however it’s not like they will feature this Saturday, we’ll definitely not two.
Tidy in places without threatening.
Jonny Smith an upgrade on Isgrove however early days to make a true assessment. Pitman visibly not ready.

Well it all starts Saturday and I’m not going to be that concerned from the last 2 games but definitely need a few additional players in.

BBC sounds was evidently expecting the normal KO - I got to listen to the first half before the holding message kicked in at 7:45

Unfortunately - that means it'll stay on 15 mins late!

it'll be talk of the town later... or maybe in internet live now?
------
edit: ok, just saw suggs post

Wow Wellens not happy,  it seems with power not getting players in he's asked for three weeks including Woolery

Wellens:

- poor result against young team
- front play at times was bright
- midfield lacked legs and energy
- defence - don't need to say much, 3 shots 3 goals
- we need players, that's a promoted side, the inner belly is soft.

-we need players in, don't know why we've waited so long..

- not many shone against young oppo
- they didn't have many attacks but when they did we were all over the shop.
- expect to have better experience, better quality... we did putting balls in, their centre halfs did will
- pitman - half yard short but couple of weeks hell be fine
- wants to sign Woolery, he's sat at home and I'm trying to sign him... read into that what you want.
- tired of waiting for players.
- strong squads have finished outside playoffs, you need a squad to compete. Wycombe outliers.
- no idea if Bogle money finding down
=========
he's sounding really frustrated guys.

I'd listen to that in the talk of the town of I were you.

And now he wants 2 midfielders. It was one after Sat. They are all playing themselves out of the team.

Did he sound as pissed off as that looks?

Ive never heard him that pissed off before

Woolery had a tour at Tranmere yesterday then

Obviously I don’t know the ins and outs, and without knowing what our budget is, my first thought is Wellens needs to be a bit more realistic with regards to transfers.
Power has always made sure our wage budget is affordable and we don’t overspend. So when we haven’t had any income for 6 months, what is Wellens expecting?
I can’t imagine Pitman, Grant and Fryers are cheap, so he’s clearly had a bit of money spent on wages already.

I agree.

First time Wellens has rubbed me up the wrong way.

He's always said how well Power has backed him and now all of a sudden he appears to be criticising the recruitment? Not great before the league has even started.

I was going to say, someone needs to let Wellens in on the secret about a worldwide pandemic pretty much ripping up the clubs income.  In all fairness though, I think he knows how to play it with the media.  Hep spent most of last season saying we were short.

I didn't hear it, but he does like to play games.

He might have just been saying stuff for any agents that might be hearing and trying to ask for too much.

We have a manager who is a winner, of course he wants more and better players, he wants to challenge

Rob Hartley said it made the hairs stand up on his neck and described Wellens as prickly

Same as, quite frankly he came across as a right tit in that interview

Hopefully he’s just having one of those days

Hartley was a rare positive tonight - I always enjoy him on the comms. Hopefully a mainstay for the time being so we don’t have to suffer Hockaday!

Trolling as ever right? Listening to that commentary duo results in you having no idea what is going on?

Spot on.
Wellens likes a moan, nothing wrong with that and he is clearly frustrated.
Let’s hope we can get a few more in.

Did you watch the game?

Genuine question.

I get that but it's not Football Manager. I think all of the players we have carrying injuries were signed by him. We're not short at centre back for example but our centre backs are injury prone players, Wellens brought in two of them.

Unless he knows we've got money to spent but are holding back on doing certain deals.

Im sure it'll be alright come the end of the window.

well, either he's been given a budget, has some left now isn't allowed to spend it

or he's being unrealistic.

no idea which

Kovar is the BIGGEST WASTE OF SPACE ever to wear the shirt, get that fuckshit gone.

Wellens cannot say he hasn’t been backed this summer, not a chance in hell we would have signed Pitman, Grant, DJ etc if that was the case. To some extent he also has a hand in extending the contracts of players like Fryers who have known injury problem, when we could have released them and looked for more stable replacements..

On the flipside really all we have done is replace players we have lost, so I can understand why Wellens is looking for the extra bodies to add to the squad depth.

We are normally pretty active towards the end of the transfer window, so I am pretty confident we will get those bodies in... fingers crossed anyway!

soapy tit wank

I think you've got lost along the A420

FUCK OFF CUNT

If you do not like my opinion, then fuck you. I will meet any of you cunts for dust up, any fucking time, and when I am done with you, I will shit in your mouth.

ANY MORE FOR ANY MORE >>> ?????

I like him - can we keep him?

Welcome to the forum, what’s your favourite cheese?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha more, please more

Is it walker :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Or is Dossy back

Based on his post match interview, for a moment I wondered if this was Wellens himself posting.

Jonny rolled his ankle , some swelling as the guy also stood on it...  ::)
Played on and was unlucky with that 1-2 at the end which Tyler was a few inches away but the benefit was more minutes in the legs.

Just like that he’s gone

Better to have loved and lost then never to have loved though

Doubtful for Saturday I would imagine

TOTT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08qx9bb

Knob cheese is the logical answer.

Brie. Soft and mild.

Well, drinking on a school night didn't go well lat night then it seems..

Just reading the player ratings for last night.

Curran got a 2.

Dont think ive ever seen a 2 before!

That's going to piss his missus off.

I missed all her tweets, anyone got a link?

2 is being generous, he was like Robertson all over again.

Where's that? The online version of the Adver has him as a 5, is he a 2 in the print edition?

Total sport website

Blimey, didn't mince his words did he?

Perfect for this competition.

The more I think about yesterday, the more I think it was a perfect game for everyone involved.  It was better than a friendly because the Manager actually seems to be annoyed at losing.  The fact we lost and exposed some frailties is also good - things we can work on that might have been ignored in a true friendly.  Then, for us fans, we thankfully lost and can get out of this shit excuse for a cup.

I didn’t bother watching but if the CBs were Curran and Iandolo only letting in 3 was a result.

4 or 5 league clubs got beaten by academy sides.

Curran and Odimayo at CB with Iandolo looking a bit lost again at LB, Caddis did well in spells at RB.

Odimayo will be ok as defensive cover, and Caddis will be good again when hes fit but the other 2 have no future in our 1st team, sorry.

True dat

I thought Caddis was very poor last night, very sloppy at times.

looked a bit rusty to me too

Caddis was on there to get through 90 minutes, nothing more.  He wandered around the pitch at times and was playing in little bursts of energy followed by long periods of taking a rest.  If that was a proper game, he'd have been yanked off, as it is, that was probably the expectation for him.  He's one of those players that gets fit by playing I think.

he said he'd rather play Saturday/Tuesday on loop than train

Caddis is fine. People are over reacting (shock) a little again.

Can't be easy being a full back when you have no protection from midfield, no wide player helping track back and Curran inside  of you. On top of which the aim will be to not be injured for the league game on Sat.

Think we have to Hunt LB  and Caddis RB for Rochdale. Iandolo was more of a concern for me than Caddis.

I agree, I thin Caddis will be RB with Hunt at LB on Saturday, the centre back pairing and Iandolo were bigger headaches.

Has anyone said he isn't? He was poor last night simple as that. It's ok to criticise players for a poor performance without thinking we want him out

Iandolo just isn't a LB.

I don't see him as a left winger which only leaves left midfield

Oh, Peter, you’re getting critical of Iandolo again.  The terriers will be snapping round your heels!
Can we just hope that Curran was only being played as a favour from Power to his mate?  I can’t believe that Wellens considers him worth a place in the team.  
It’s a bit like playing the whole game with 10 men. :doh:

We may have played better with 10 men😁

that's always been the problem.

he's got good technique. I just can't work out what his position is.

Iandolo as FH says just is not a left back.

I would rather see Grant at CB alongside Odimayo if it came down to it if Baudry and fryers are not fit enough.

I think last season he was showing signs of being a decent winger/attacking midfielder.

Ditto, going forwards he looks quite handy at times but defending is not the strong point of his game and never will be. He could well be ok with Hunt or Donohue sat in behind him allowing him to get caught upfield without having to track back so much, but not as the lone left sided defender.

It was unfortunate for him that he got his injury when he did. With the run of games he was having, he was beginning to have more of an impact.

The way I see it, and probably discussed this before, is Iandolo suffers from a few issues.  Firstly, he is strong technically, but not so great tactically.  The coaches will see his technique and think they can coach the tactical awareness into him.  Generally speaking, full backs are great positions to play players who are maybe a bit suspect tactically, or even with their technique.  A sort of hiding place in a team, and I think Iandolo has also suffered here because he is left footed.  He has never managed to convince anyone of what position he can play, has never stamped authority on what he wants to be I guess.  As a result, we try him out in positions - he's probably played four or five in his time so far.  He doesn't really get time to understand and learn the position.  Add in that he often plays alongside less experienced players, they probably have enough on their plate than to worry about coaching him through a game.  I think he is the prime example of a player who has suffered by not going out on loan.  We should have had him playing week in and week out, insisting on the position he plays as well.

My worry for him is it maybe too late now to coach what is needed in him unless we have an experienced player at left centre back.  He seems too useful to loan out and too unreliable to rely on.

Good analysis.

Due to the new government restrictions that no more than six people can meet up in one place, I have to inform you that the annual meeting of The Taylor Curran Appreciation Society planned for October will be going ahead as normal.

I would rather have Football Phil making a nuisance of himself at CB than risking Curran again.
Needs to be loaned out. That last night was a real concern allowing to get turned over virtually every time against untried 21 year old kids.

Aye, agree with this. I think this is why Wellens will persist with him because he knows there is a player in there. As previously said, PV and many others too, Ian is more of a player for a position advanced up the field. With any of Donohue, Caddis or Hunt behind him he can flourish.

In part and played right he would be quite the luxury player; the trouble is, can Town accommodate a passenger type of player, especially as we're not likely to be building a team around Ian anytime soon. Different player but Keshi was a similar example of this.

...and in a cost saving measure that has been deemed best for all parties, The Jamie Sendles-White and Harry Agombar Appreciation Societies will now also be booked into the same venue  :girlgiggle:

Unfortunately with Iandolo he’s gone backwards as a defender. He was scared to tackle or risk being on the receiving end of a tackle prior to his injury now he barely dares go in at all as he’s obviously very wary after a bad injury so not sure he’s much use at left back currently.

With guest speaker, Milan Misun.

Also at the same time!

Live entertainment provided by Callum Rice, have it on authority it will be ' Yinka Casal & The Ever Extending Entourage'

Oh biggar, scrap that as live performance has been royally fucked over!


Aye yeah, forgot to add that  :pint:

Iandolo is a utility squad man, probably quite cheap.  He hasn't played for about 9 months, so will need a bit of time to get back up to speed.

BTW, in the modern game full back is an important creative position, hence why 2 of the top 3 assist providers last season in the Prem were full backs.  TA-A is noticably not great defensively, Andrew Robertson  probably a bit better, but Liverpool were champions of Europe the season before using their attacking abilities and not worrying so much about their defending.

It helps when they have the best centre back in the world playing along side them in Van Dijk.
Iandolo has Taylor Curran.

Just for a bit of calm and context, the Man Utd u23/u21s/Reserves spanked Media City Ammies to the tune of 6 (six) goals tonight.

Good. Fuck those wankers.

Indeed, the sooner the "dream" dies for the Class of '96, the sooner Sky stop tossing themselves silly over them and they will just become another soulless non-league club.

On Wellens rant, haven't we just signed lots? Seems to me we have:

Benda vs Kovar - Poss worse
Henry vs Fryer - Poss better
REG vs Odimayo - Poss worse
Anderson vs J Smith - Poss upgrade
Rose vs M Smith - Surprisingly worse on what we've seen
Isgrove vs Payne - Similar
Doyle vs Pitman - Poss similar
Yates vs T Smith - Poss similar
DJ vs DJ - Same

That leaves Muskwe and Woolery to replace and Donahue (upgrade on Reid) to come in.

So, I get the fact that we have been forced to replace people who got better offers elsewhere and couldnt get certain loans back, meaning the promotion squad has changed. But presumably Wellens had a hand in at least some, if not all of the in comings?

I’d say Payne replaces Anderson and J Smith replaces Isgrove - both upgrades

Bit tough on M Smith when we’ve hardly seen him - I’ll wager he’ll end up way better

Tbh, in my opinion, it’s centre defence we need bolstering plus one extra striker.

Wellens has said that T Smith is a direct replacement for Muskwe, so presumably we're still looking for the replacement for Yates

My view from the 2 competitive games I have seen so far

Fryer is replacing McCormick as number 2 as opposed to Henry, so that’s probably worse as well.

True I was doing the NMK compare but yes fryer is almost certainly lower standard than LMc, will only really judge when we have seen him play "in anger" though.

Probably best to give him more than the 15 mins you granted Benda before saying he wasn't ready for the 1st X!.

Reg, out of interest how did you know PV had said that? I’m guessing it was best part of a year ago.

Do you keep notes of every opinion that is posted so you can reference them if needed? Or do you scroll back through 100’s of posts from a forum member to see if they got something wrong in hindsight?

To be fair to Reg I remember PV saying that about Benda myself, it soon became evident he'd spoken too soon and rightly changed his opinion.

I read what people say and have a think about it.

Fair play, wish my memory was that good

Is Broadbent injured?

He certainly was a few weeks back, not sure whether he's back in training yet or not. Although I suspect that's largely irrelevant if he doesn't feature in Wellens' plans anyway

Does he have a squad number?

The fact that he is out of Wellens plans yet Curran is in his plans rather suggests the stories regarding Currans position have some weight to them.

Someone with the name Eddie Broadbent on the FB  said   " He had an op on his foot in July unfortunately it opened up which has delyed recovery as it needed packing out and stitching again"

Have they ben announced, the official site is woefully out of date on that topic?

That’s pondering the ponderables!

Its all 'on paper' and we are up a league, so just for fun. Insufficient data.

Benda vs Kovar - Worse. BFG was flawless IMO. No idea on Kovar yet but tought act to follow
McC vs Fryer - Worse.
REG vs Odimayo - Poss worse
Anderson vs J Smith - Poss upgrade
Rose vs M Smith - Worse, but more likely to improve and be fit
Isgrove vs Payne - Similar. I think Payne has more goals in him, less skill
Doyle vs Pitman - Worse. Doyle v Doyle would be worse too. You can't have a season like that in l1
Yates vs T Smith - Poss similar
DJ vs DJ - Same

Broadbent hadn't been issued a squad number at the start of the week, could still happen though I suppose, once he is over his op

Not against Carlisle away he wasn't!

Are the squad numbers anywhere, they aren't on the official site nor Wiki? I go back to the issue that if Broadbent has been omitted and Curren included something is going on. I wonder if this harks back to the falling out Broadbent had with Wellens as noted in the podcast.

They have started to add them on  the official site, but they have not purged old players etc.

For example Conroy has shifted to 4 on there from 26.

I think the only unknown one at this point is Donohue (Not yet signed) and Fryer, not yet confirmed. The rest we have seen or are listed there. Broadbent is still 5. He has not been omitted and is still recovering from injury. 100% still ahead of  Curran when fit.

There you go then, I have goldfish/selective memory. I'm sure it wasn't his only less good game. A point I made with people writing Kovar off after 2 games, even though I can't think of anything he could have done beyond that Charlton one at his front post.  LMc played a bit at the start of the season while BFG bedded in too.

Ffs guys! We are where we are.  Kovar must be seen as what he is - a young player with next to no experience, starting out on his professional career.  Not every young ‘keeper is going to be oven ready (thanks, Boris) and we’ve got to allow him time to grow into his role.  That said, every goalie needs a functioning defence in front of him, and Curran seems to have a sign on his head with a big arrow saying “goal this way”.  If our defence doesn’t tighten up then we’re going to see Kovar exposed several times in every game.  Personally I think the signs are pretty good with Kovar.  He certainly came well-recommended, and it’s totally unreasonable to be comparing him unfavourably with BFG, who we all have agreed is truly exceptional.

^^^ nobody is disagreeing with that ^^^^

in here anyway, the FB trolls were

The BFG took time to settle as well. People remember him from the last couple of months but he was not as assured when he arrived or in his first few games.

Kovar looks exceptional to me. Good frame, great feet and distribution, superb confidence. He has had little change with the goals so far and hasn't really faced a typical game yet to judge his worth at claiming crosses etc.

More than happy at this point with the lad.

I did say that and in his 1st game he looked dreadful and thanks for bothering to search back to prove a pointless point totally unconnected with my post.

I have on many occassions actually admitted I was wrong about my original assessment as KT rightly says.


I have therefore did something that you have never ever done in the history of the TEF.....actually admitted you were wrong.

Thats all I need to say.

He wouldn’t be at Manchester United and still be at Manchester United if he was shit.
That should be a decent enough reference. I know a few who actually go and watch them and they were amazed he didn’t go on loan to a Championship club.

I think Kovar with the ball at his feet looks calmer and more composed than Benda, Benda looked very good but I think from what I have seen so far is that Kovars distribution is quicker and better.

As for shot stopping and commanding his box then I would suggest Kovar looks close to the same level as Benda, both big, decent handling and come out to claim crosses with ease.

I do think Kovar will get better with a better defence in front of him when Baudry/Fryers/Conroy return.

Have to agree.

Me too.
I’m just going to start a new Rochdale match thread, so does it make sense for this discussion to continue there?

Just a tip that matchday thread starters are judged on their results, and you're not off to a flying start. Just so you know, with great power comes great responsibility.

Thanks for that.  I’ll have forgotten your encouraging comments by the time we get automatic promotion. ;D

Unfortunately Iandolo lacks a football brain and will never progress any further.
At best a squad player and out of depth at this level.

Absolutely, shame as he has showed promise in the past but never realised that promise.

Squad left sided utility player, nothing more.

Kovar is going to be immense,FACT!

I would love that in 6 months time we will all be saying "well hes better than Benda was" and that is entirely possible.

:clap:

If we find ourselves in a position where we are considering Curran playing in a game, I'd pop Fryer in goal and move Kovar to central defence.

I remember Colin Heath on loan. He was from Manchester United and he was terrible.

Is it actually necessary to go on like this about the lad? He is 20. He was clearly brought in last year as a development player. He has played two inconsequential games this summer. He is obviously not ready for League 1. But he must have some potential to have got the new contract. Can we not just leave it there. Perhaps not everyone understands the damage we can do by targeting players like this.

:eek:

You're right. It's bloodsport for the poor and sedentary. I've removed the comment.

Does the amnesty on bullying stop on retirement? Cos that David Peach...