Thetownend.com

Should be sat in a pub in Blackpool making a weekend of it as we speak. Not this season.
Shame as there is decent ale to be found there if you know where to look.

Only been there a couple of times for the football.
Was falling out of love with the club during the McMahon years but good to be there to clinch promotion in 96.
I do remember Sam Allardyce coming across as a very bitter individual even then.

No idea how the team will do tomorrow.
We will cause them problems plus the added interest of Yates & Keshi in action for the opposition.
Not sure how much home advantage there is in these bcd times, even with a sparse crowd the atmosphere will still be like a friendly or for a trophy game.

Hopefully this will get included in the pre match music, but I doubt it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YexO3-acfw0

And a quiz question to finish.
Which Swindon manager has the most appearances against us as a player?

Can't remember who mentioned it but they traveled today and trained up in the NW.

Will need to play better than we did last week. Swindon have some injury problems apparently, but Richie W appears to be both a great organiser and motivator of players, and he seems to find the players he needs somehow, despite missing out on players to the likes of us with their smaller budget. As a player he had quality and he had attitude, and he made things happen. He got in the faces of the opposition. I expect a difficult game.
 
if we score early I think we will easily win!!!

Same team as last week, if Swindon do play football should be plenty of space for our front 3...

I think it will be a tough game, they'll be well organised and on a high after promotion, whilst we're still finding our feet.

My only forecast which I sincerely hope is proved completely wrong is that we won`t score many if any goals,probably one at most although I imagine Yates will be keen to get on the scoresheet against his old oppo`s.

Sticking my neck out here. Blackpool win 3-1, Hamilton scorer on 27 mins. Yes swindon beat Rochdale 3-1 but having watched the highlights rochdale were very poor.

I think we need someone to neutralise Jack Payne in their midfield.

We are at home, we have a good midfield, maybe we should let them try to neutralise us rather than limit our own flow?

And a quiz question to finish.
Which Swindon manager has the most appearances against us as a player?

Wellens might be a good call. Or Danny Williams - bet he was a  player for some lower-league northern team for years.

1-2 in front of 987

That means there will be 13 spare tickets.

Anybody got one for me please?

2-1 Payne and T Smith

Can't remember who mentioned it but they traveled today and trained up in the NW.

Defeat. 2-1

I think this will be the kind of game that Yates will be up for but I don't think he is the kind of player that will enjoy our press and he'll be nullified and taken off relatively early.

Well, the Adver had gone downhill.

After so many years in league 2 I'm well out of touch with league 1 players. I look at Blackpool's team and cant say I know any of them except the Swindon boys.

with that in mind on paper we will win this. 2-1 atleast.

I had a quick look at their squad. Bez Lubala was good for Crawley last season and Gary Madine could be a handful. I noticed that Jamie Devitt doesn't have a squad number, I wonder if we're still interested in him or if that ship has sailed!

As always with stats they raise more questions
 
In what part if the pitch was the possession? , how far out were the shots?

With the help of Rich Pullen from the Loathed Stranger podcast, we review Swindon Town’s new signings, pre-season form, style of play under Richie Wellens and consider what we can expect from The Robins on Saturday, in addition to picking out our tips for your Saturday flutter at the bookies.

1,000 fans will return through the turnstiles at Bloomfield Road this Saturday and it should be a good – if not a little unusual – atmosphere as we cheer on the boys against Swindon. It’s set up to be the perfect game for fans to return, with Richie Wellens, Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates all facing their former sides.

Summer signings

Following Swindon’s promotion to League One as champions, Wellens lost eight of his first team players of last year. In addition to Anderson and Yates, the latter who was on loan from Rotherham, they also lost Kaiyne Woolery, Michael Doughty and Danny Rose, as well as loanees Eoin Doyle, Steven Benda and Rarmani Edmonds-Green.

Wellens did manage to secure two of his key men in Pool-linked Anthony Grant who signed a new deal, and also make the loan of Diallang Jaiyesimi permanent. They’ve managed to strengthen this window too, with Akin Odimayo, Brett Pitman, Jonathan Grounds and Joel Grant amongst seven permanent new faces with a further four loanees – three of whom are named Smith.

Like Pool, they’re still two or three players short of a full squad and are reeling from having lost a few key men so will be hopeful of getting stronger as they go along this season.

Form so far

The upheaval of their squad led to an indifferent preseason. An 8-0 win at Nuneaton and 2-1 victory over Championship side Coventry were followed by a 4-3 defeat at Ashton and consecutive 1-1 draws at Melksham and Bristol City. They were also booted out of the EFL Cup with a 3-1 defeat at home to Charlton and went down 3-2 to West Brom’s U21 side before last week’s league opener against Rochdale where they won 3-1.

Swindon therefore sit top of the league on goal difference, so everything’s surely going well? Not according to Rich Pullen.

He said: “There’s one problem with that – Rochdale were dog poo. Everyone’s got Rochdale to go down (in their pre-season previews), and they played a similar brand of football to Swindon’s relegation team of 2017. It’s nice, but it’s not effective. Blackpool will be a better gauge to see how this side are doing because we are a few bodies short.

“The result was misleading because Rochdale are no good. Swindon played well but I would’ve hated Plymouth away on the opening day of the season and I saw some Blackpool stats – it looks like you got robbed in a way and Plymouth are a well-drilled team.”

Style of play

As we shared on social media earlier this week, Blackpool had three of the top four defenders in terms of the numbers of passes completed at the weekend, with Swindon’s Zeki Fryers – who was linked with Pool during the summer – in second place. The two sides play a similar style of football, looking to play out from the back and play a high pressing game.

Like Pool, they tend to play 4-2-3-1, with Grant and Smith in front of the back four, the main danger coming from the wings and one focal point up front. Also similarly to the Seasiders, they’re expected to try to play on the front foot and dominate possession, while also leaving space in behind for the opposition to potentially exploit.

“We go a little bit gung-ho in the first 15 minutes and if teams can get through that, they’ll have a chance of beating us. It’s clear that Critchley plays a similar brand of football to Wellens, so what are you going to do? You’re going to look at the division below and see who’s doing well, and try and get their players. That’s football.”

The game will therefore be about which side plays better and takes their chances, given both sides have similar styles and tactics. It will be up to CJ Hamilton, Sullay Kaikai and both Yates and Anderson – who will both be licking their lips against their former clubs – to take their chances when they arrive. If not, Swindon will create chances of their own and try to spoil the party for us in front of 1,000 supporters.

Danger man

Right winger Diallang Jaiyesimi recently joined Swindon permanently, having spent last season on loan from Norwich, and the 22-year-old has been outlined as The Robins’ danger man. He scored five in 21 league games last season and gained interest from plenty of clubs over the summer before opting for the County Ground.

“He’s a naturally good footballer. It was a bit of a surprise Norwich released him and there were lots of clubs in for him, but Richie Wellens is the reason he chose us. On his day he’s a nuisance.”

What we can expect on Saturday

In front of our own fans, albeit at a low capacity, it is set to be a tasty affair with the return of pantomime villain manager Wellens, in addition to Keshi and Jerry lining up against their former clubs. Both sides are set up to score and also struggle to keep clean sheets, so there will surely be goals.

“I fully expect Wellens to be booked or sent to the stands… it’s all about who winds up who the most. I’d expect a lot of stuff on the pitch – Keshi is a mischievous guy, he will wind up Swindon’s players. There aren’t many left from last season but those who are surviving will know what him and Jerry are about.”

“I don’t think Swindon will win, I would take a 1-1 draw all day long. I don’t think last weekend’s results will have any bearing other than motivation for both sides. No Swindon fan is thinking anything other than for one, if not both, of Yates and Anderson to score. Anderson has scored some absolute belters from 25 yards so if he scores it will be a screamer. Unfortunately for him if he wants to shush anyone then he’ll have to find a camera because none of us will be there!”

Previous meetings

The sides have only played 36 times, with Blackpool having won 12, drawn 17 and only lost 7. While we’re not often on the losing side, our most recent meeting ended in a 3-2 defeat at the County Ground in February 2016. We won 1-0 earlier that season, while the eight previous meetings between 2002 and 2005 all ended in draws.

Betting odds

Blackpool – Evens (SkyBet)

Draw – 13/5 (Bet365)

Swindon – 5/2 (888 Sport)

Our tips

Jerry Yates is 5/1 to open the scoring while Keshi Anderson is 6/1

Both teams to score and a Blackpool win is 10/3

:)

*Stands with arms folded looking unhappy* (mattress and bench in the background)

Hard to tell with the masks but looks like Donohue was getting off the bus, assume he’s just travelling with the squad to get him involved in the match days.

Unchanged.

Unchanged.

Weird that Curran makes the bench over Odimayo. And a bit of a surprise to see Palmer on the bench.

Odimayo injured according to Wellens, although you never do know if he's serious or not.

Baudry comes in for Odemayo.

Is there a way to watch this on ifollow? Can I watch this kn Swindon’s site or do I need to signup with Blackpool?

Thanks

Is there a way to watch this on ifollow? Can I watch this kn Swindon’s site or do I need to signup with Blackpool?

Thanks

Ah yes I missed that. Curran comes in ahead of Odimayo on the becnh because he is classed as a home grown player for Swindon Town.

Getting slack JJ😉

Is there a way to watch this on ifollow? Can I watch this kn Swindon’s site or do I need to signup with Blackpool?

Thanks

I know, I am slapping myself as we speak, kinky :)

I didn't say anything  ;)

Their back 7 doesn't strike fear into me. Their front 4 looks good, with depth.

Could be very open.

No idea how this is going to go but I’m feeling nervous.
Much easier when you are at the game. Take a point here.

The audios buzzing on Ifollow

Its your hearing aids ;)

Yes there is just buzzing at the moment with no audio.

That buzzing will go, won't it?

The attendance looks like the usuall EFL Trophy crowd, or a normal game at the Kassam!

Speaking of the Kassam, here are some Sunderland fans in the car park there watching from over the fencd

The home audio channel has Swindon commentary.

Have I just paid £10 to listen in Swindon?

you can watch them for £10

Fuck. Made the mistake of refreshing to try and get commentary, and now all I've got is buffering.
FFS  :crash:

Why is there no picture then? Get comms but no pic.

Yep, me too..

They have certainly picked out DJ for some "close attention" not all legal.

One of the last times we were up there they were dirty then too.  Dirty f***er Richie Wellens getting himself sent off for a nasty tackle on Sammy Igoe.  They have form.  ;)

Blackpool 1-1 STFC, Sep 2004 (http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MatchCentre.asp?MatchID=20050109)

They seem to have a defender called Potato?

anyone else suddenly fancying a walk up a cobbled hill with a bike to get some hovis?

anyone else suddenly fancying a walk up a cobbled hill with a bike to get some hovis?

Wrong side of the Pennines.

it's what's on the stream? it switched half way through

it's what's on the stream? it switched half way through

Swindon are miles better than what Plymouth were.

Change to the other comms mate.

I like Kovar, a lot.

How are Anderson and Yates getting on?

J Smith struggling with asthma by the looks of things. Or something else you use an inhaler for?

How are Anderson and Yates getting on?

Yates terrible miss unmarked in the box, well high over the bar. Typical Yates finish.

I like Kovar, a lot.

We look dangerous here and there but the last ten minutes has been all them. Interesting to see if anything is changed an HT. Playing lots of balls beyond their back line for Tyler but he’s only latched on to one or two of them.

We need a new keeper 🤦🏼


Sent from my iPhone

think we've gone long for the in-behind too often myself, but at least we've created some chances

Still got Blackpool comms, ffs

Change the audio in the settings.

Here we go, scapegoating begins... Benda took a few games to get going incase you forgot!

Near post Again!


Sent from my iPhone

We are still playing the long ball from defence too many times, the ball goes forward and seems to come straight back at us, instead of us getting the ball down and playing, which is what we do best.

Could really do with the commentator not saying "Thats a great goal" before the ball is in the net.

Esp when there's a 1 second lag with the TV pictures.

One thing that I think we are glossing over is the fact that this is our first away game under COVID protocols. I bet it’s been something a bit different and a learning curve for some.

Another factor might be that the home team is better.

Lost that fair and square with a wretched middle third. They're weren't great but edged us and took their chances, and we never really made them uncomfortable. Last 10 was very ragged and a better team would have hit 3 or 4. Even first 30 but we fell off a cliff after losing J Smith. Even though he wasn't doing much, he was occupying their FB Mitchell, who then grew and grew.

A Grant and Rob Hunt miles off where we know they should be. Kovar looks great with his feet but less so with his hands, so far, all though he did make one great save. J Grant, on that limited evidence, is a backup player - did very little.

M Smith, DJ and Payne great first 30 but all faded badly. Back four, Hunt aside, were OK enough. Fryers was actually v good. Probably my MOTM. Hallam Hope gave us a spark and was so unlucky not to score.

Need those reinforcements if we're going to compete more away from home. We're not flexible enough. We're desperate for a CM, as we all know. 433 away from home, with 3 genuine CMs needs to be an option. Keep the ball better, connect the back 6 and the front line more and give us a bit more control.

On another note, this piss stains lost again and are bottom of the league

Anderson was one of their better players i thought. Made more tackles in that game than he did in his entire STFC career

Anything said in post match presser?

Anything said in post match presser?

Cheers.

Did he say what was wrong with Jonny Smith?

According to BBC Wilts:

"up until their goal, very good - decision-making very poor in final third, have to have end product - J.Smith (enforced sub) massive loss, Stevens through the door on Monday will give blistering pace"

"Donoghue will sign Tuesday, offer for Matty Palmer wasn't acceptable".

Ah ok, be back next week then

Cheers.

Did he say what was wrong with Jonny Smith?

Jonny gutted... Had Asthma attack on pitch, first one ever in a match and could not breath, tried another inhaler shot but made no difference.  Chest infection suspected and  just been to doctors and  has been given steroids to open up Airways. I am gutted also thought he would bag a couple today.

Leeds lad coming in has blistering pace.

My Leeds supporting mate saw the interview and was surprised by this bit - thinks he's a good player but wouldn't have picked out his pace as a strength. Odd.

Oh well, first away defeat since January.
Chances need to be taken when they present themselves against big six teams.

A full length diving finger tip save of one that's heading into the top corner might do the keeper some good.
I'm sure he'll look at any mistakes, work it out in training, learn from them and be better for it.

Blackpool are a decent side.
I liked their marauding left back in particular.
Hopefully we get our own this week when Donohue signs.
A bit of a quandary and will be harsh on whoever is left out, but I'd stick with Caddis at right back at least until the team settles into this league.

But, I thought it was an unwritten rule that a keeper should never be beaten on his near post, especially twice in one game.

Jonny gutted... Had Asthma attack on pitch, first one ever in a match and could not breath, tried another inhaler shot but made no difference.  Chest infection suspected and  just been to doctors and  has been given steroids to open up Airways. I am gutted also thought he would bag a couple today.

Kovar is young and raw and shouldn't have been beaten twice at his near post (once was enough!) but I am sure they will work on that and it will make him a better keeper eventually.

Couldn't watch yesterday, but just caught up with the extended highlights.

The difference between this and last week was that we scored early against Rochdale. Had either of the chances to T Smith and J Smith hit the back of the net then it could have been different.

Kovar needs to look at his positioning - Noticed it last week a bit too. Working with a G/K coach will hopefully iron out the near post weakness (if indeed there is one).

We looked over run in the second half because we were chasing the game. Not overly worried about that.

Onwards and upwards!

I did watch the game live on ifollow and yours is an accurate summary. We were the better team in the first quarter of the game and had chances to go ahead. We didnt deserve to be behind at half time, but once they scored early in the second half, we didnt look like getting back in to it, as they played with a higher tempo and utilised their pace on the counter as well. Having said that if Hope scores with the shot that hit the bottom of the post and rolled along the goal line, it may well have changed the momentum of the game.

Overall Blackpool deserved their win, based on their second half showing, but we played well in spells and Matt Smith looks a tremendous prospect with a great range of passing. Jonathan Smith is also a big threat and the game changed when he went off.

Not too downhearted, as we have players getting used to the team, players coming back from injuries and 2 additional signings due in this week. Feel we will be OK in this league, top 10 with an outside shout of the play offs, which I think we would all accept in a higher league and having lost our entire strike force from last season.

Rochdale drew 0-0 with Pompey today so maybe last week we were better than many gave us credit for...

The difference in the two sides was CJ Hamilton, who ran riot for most of the game.  Blackpool didn't have too much else in the way of threats, but he appeared to get us rattled.

The difference in the two sides was CJ Hamilton, who ran riot for most of the game.  Blackpool didn't have too much else in the way of threats, but he appeared to get us rattled.

I thought their left back was the best player on the park.

The difference in the two sides was CJ Hamilton, who ran riot for most of the game.  Blackpool didn't have too much else in the way of threats, but he appeared to get us rattled.

One thing Rob Hartley said on saturday that I agreed with; It's been a while since we were outplayed and beaten. We've been duffed up by bruisers and been done with balls over the top but we haven't been out footballed for ages.

Burton at home on Saturday is an excellent chance to get back on track.

The worry was the presence of Michael Bostwick, the sort who has bullied us often in recent years... we've come across him 7 times in the last 5 years.... no wins.  Although he seemingly missed Sat's game so could be injured, he shows how Burton go about it.

We haven't played against Bostwick while Grant has been playing for us, I have no doubt that Grant will not allow himself to be bullied by the thug Bostwick, which is as you say something he has done to us regularly in the past, especially for Peterborough and Lincoln.

If Grant was not playing then yes he will bully us as is his only style of play.

I watched Burton v Villa in the LC in the week, specifically to get a handle on a Div 3 opponent.  I would regard Burton as being a fairly typical Div 3 type atm.  Big, strong and quite direct, it was only in the last few minutes that a bit of Grealish got Villa ahead.

In the game against Villa they only had 30% of the ball and allowed Villa 17 shots (2 of which went in) Villas reserves should have scored 6 or 7 with better finishing and Burton look exposed when up against players with pace.

Villa played mostly regulars, due to not having a game until tonight, just one kid on debut.  Until a few mins left it looked as if Burton would get the pens they set out for..... don't suppose they'll set up too different on Sat.  Therefore a difficult game, how we cope a good little indicator....

Villa played mostly regulars, due to not having a game until tonight, just one kid on debut.  Until a few mins left it looked as if Burton would get the pens they set out for..... don't suppose they'll set up too different on Sat.  Therefore a difficult game, how we cope a good little indicator....

Actually, I just took a look at the Championship table, maybe not.

In the game against Villa they only had 30% of the ball and allowed Villa 17 shots (2 of which went in) Villas youngsters should have scored 6 or 7 with better finishing and Burton look exposed when up against players with pace.