Swindon Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge - Official Match day Thread

[Langers]

We were shit, they were shit, the game was shit.

Still not worrying yet, early days and the Leon Clarke talk is promising.

Flint MOM again, Connell was livley when he came on, must warrant a start on Sunday.

The rest were anonymous.

Ref was a cunt.

[SuggWillSugg MBE]

here you go then chummy:

[url width=799 height=362]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/1kinkytom/leon.jpg[/url]

i really think he'd be amazing in this league - as was said by someone when we were first linked he's better than davies who scored loads for chesterfield last season

should be fit, what with training for warnock at a premier league intensity

£1.8 Million?!

We don't have that kind of money do we?
I'd have thought a couple of hundred K's maximum? Unless of course it's a loan..

[Batch]

£1.8 Million?!

We don't have that kind of money do we?

You do realise football manager is a game, not a scouting network don't you?

(Thanks KT).

[STFC4LIFE]

You do realise football manager is a game, not a scouting network don't you?

(Thanks KT).

I don't see what the problem with his wages are

[Gnasher]

Just back. Can't be arsed to write much but special mentions for Risser and Ritchie who were completely shit. I'm begining to think we might actually struggle this season.

[Crispy]

'It seems people have a very short memory. Look back to how Swindon started the 1985/86 season under Lou Macari with 6 points from the first 8 games, firmly in the relegation zone and 14 points off the top. And then what did we do..? Oh yea, we found second gear, third, fourth and fifth and blitzed the League finishing with 102 points.'

Before my time, but keep the faith.

[Keroooosh]

Just got back, depressed.

Risser and Bodin not good enough atm, ferry and connell have to start! Would like Kerooooosh in for de vita as well if clarke hasnt signed by then. Ritchie wasn't impressive either IMO.

Lots of work to be done 

[Rodney]

Just got in.  We didn't deserve to lose, but we didn't deserve to win.

Ref was appalling. Risser, Bodin and Ritchie did nothing.  Midfield huffed and puffed, but no end product.  Defence solid but stop hoofing long balls.  Caddis did surprisingly well at CB.

Please Paolo, Connell must start on Sunday.  The ten minutes after he came on were the only time we looked like scoring.

If we go a goal down on Sunday I'll be very worried....

[london_red]

Think r4e summed the game up pretty well. I was obviously very disappointed coming home last night as the result and much of the performance wasn't great, but it's incredibly early in the season and in the cold light of day this morning I'm trying to be objective about it.

Daggers never looked like scoring apart from the penalty, and their keeper made one great save from Easyjet in the first half and we were unlucky not to bundle one over the line in a goalmouth scramble towards the end. Result could have easily gone the other way and that would have tempered some of the criticism.

As for our performance, it is League 2 and so expectations must be appropriate but it was a shame that even with time and space the first option was to launch it upfield. This obviously meant we struggled to create chances in the first half as Bodin and De Vita were never going to win those sort of balls. This however will be less of an issue if/when Connell gets more game time and we sign another striker.

Once Connell came on it got better, he seemed to have more of a presence and be able to win the ball and turn his man a few times. We also started to play the ball through the midfield a bit more, particularly the wide men. With two good wingers would like to see more of that. Easyjet in particular looked very skilful, and combined well on occasion with Kennedy (who I thought had a very solid game).

At the back Smith didn't have much to do but commanded his area well and dealt with what he had to. Flint was a beast again and our best player. Unfortunate we didn't have a CB on the bench when Comazzi had to go off, don't imagine that will happen again. PdC is learning as well. Caddis coped manfully when asked to fill in but does need to be told to ease off in the box. Was lucky not to give a pen away in the first half before he eventually did in the second.

McCormack had another good game, always looks busy and gets involved in the play. Risser is a bit of a worry, although maybe he's taking time to adjust. His pass completion stats for the two games I've seen must be about 10% though which is not good for a CM. Wouldn't mind seeing Smith or Ferry in for him on Sunday.

There were a couple of times when we seemed to have players almost running into each other when attacking, but again this is only the first couple of games these have played together, as the next few matches go by you'd expect their communication and understanding to improve.

Kerrouche also looked lively when he came on, and was unlucky to be booked after he chased down a lost cause and put in what looked to me like a good tackle.



All in all a crap result but not a panic-level situation by any stretch. Think di Canio needs to work out his best team and with a bit more of a presence up front (Connell and Kerrouche/Clarke please) and a few more games under their belt there are still signs this could be a good team. Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Batch]

Thanks for the reports. All sounds a bit Cheltenhamesque.

[MichaelPook]

Didnt go but sounded very much like Cheltenham - I dont think its as bad as we think - a bit of luck and a goal can make all the difference but we most certainly need to start scoring some goals away from home.

Clarke isnt a striker I particularly rate (due to his attitude) but should score easily in League 2

Be interesting to see how Sunday goes - Derbys never go with the form book - we really need the 3 points now

[Nijholts Nuts]

London Red's sysnopsis was spot on. One thing I'd like to add though is that Nathan Thompson is not good enough. He was toothless going forward and got caught out in possession too many times, he didn't combine well with 'Easyjet' and was, along with Caddis the biggest exponent of the hoofball. I don't like Da Vita either, he's done nothing to earn his starting place, his was absent and innocuous throughout his performance.

When we got the ball down and started playing it along the ground we looked such a better side. A lot of people were getting annoyed at us passing it backwards but IMO, that's ok. We should have
one of the best midfields in the league and hopelessly kicking the ball over their heads to strikers on the small side won't earn us too many points.

[Luci]

Not going to write my views as they've been mentioned already but Connell must be in the starting XI Sunday if we have any chance of beating the pox.  I'd like to see Risser dropped for Ferry too.

Easyjet looked handy though - would like to see more of him provided we learn how to play the ball on the ground.

[welshred]

I didn't go to the match, just listened on the net. However, every single time the name 'Risser' was mentioned, it was generally followed by 'gives possession away', 'plays a wasted pass' or 'fucks it up'.

The guy is supposed to be our captain. He's been a massive disappointment so far base on the expectations we all had for him.

[slinky]

I didn't go to the match, just listened on the net. However, every single time the name 'Risser' was mentioned, it was generally followed by 'gives possession away', 'plays a wasted pass' or 'fucks it up'.

The guy is supposed to be our captain. He's been a massive disappointment so far base on the expectations we all had for him.

I've been to all 3 games so far and Risser is indeed a concern.  He goes missing for large portions of the game and then when he reappears he wastes possession.  Given that he is the captain I will assume Paolo won't drop him?  I'm hoping it is just a case of him taking time to settle in but haven't seen any evidence of him getting any better.

Good news on the striker front with Clarke back on the radar.  Let's hope this comes off as currently we don't really look like scoring.