Northampton Vs Swindon Town Official Matchday Thread

[Abrahammer]

I see that the picture of Paolo on the pitch has been removed from the official site 

I'm slightly obsessed with it, reckon I've looked it 20 times already today.

It captures exactly why we all love him.

[sonicyouth]

One of the most euphoric experiences ever as a Swindon fan when McCormack put that winner away and a well deserved win even if our performance wasn't up to par yesterday. The comeback in the second half was excellent and highlights the strong mentality that Di Canio has instilled in the team - so many Town sides in recent years would have capitulated after Northampton's goal and with all decisions seemingly going against us. Really proud to be a Town fan, proud of the team and proud of the manager.

The changes prior to kick-off were surprising but if Gary Rose's suggestions that Ferry and Flint were those who had been ill during the week then understandable. I was impressed with Devera who slotted in well and showed a lot of composure so very comforting to see that if we lose Flint or McCormack through suspension/injury we've got someone capable of stepping up. Although Risser didn't have a poor game he offers us so little in comparison to Ferry and Smith probably had his worst game of the season yesterday, much of which can be attributed to the fact that he's built up such an excellent understanding with Ferry.

The referee was simply atrocious - no consistency in his decisions, very easily swayed by the crowd and the players and allowed Northampton to get away with so much time wasting. The penalty was absolutely nailed on but I didn't see the the incident very well so won't comment.

First half performance was very poor and we allowed Northampton to dictate how we played, we couldn't keep the ball in midfield as we desperately missed Ferry but Foderingham made a series of excellent saves that kept us in the game. It could be argued that Murray was profligate in front of goal but it's heartening to see him get into these positions, his movement reminds me of Parkin and Cox.

I presume the half-time substitution of Magera was forced due to injury but it allowed Connell to prove his worth with an excellent finish, as others have said I am confident that he will score goals given a run in the team but I imagine Benson will be ahead of him in the pecking order. Our performance in the second half was quite dominant at times but we also allowed Northampton back into the game too often - a lack of discipline putting us under pressure. However you'd never have known we only had 10 men the way we played after Risser's dismissal.

Northampton are nowhere near as bad as their league position suggests, definitely not the worst team I've seen this season.

Foderingham - 8/10 - never looked like conceding aside from the penalty and kept his calm despite getting sparked out
Caddis - 7/10 - reliable and energetic as ever but he really needs to learn to stop arguing with the referee as he will just pick up needless bookings
McCormack - 9/10 - solid at the back and made some excellent challenges, a number of lung-busting runs with the ball that left Northampton bewildered and a great finish for the goal - when can we call him a bonafide centre back?
Devera - 7/10 - calm and composed and reassuring that we've got cover for that spot
Kennedy - 6/10 - average delivery and wasted a number of crosses
Ritchie - 7/10 - poor tackle for the penalty but recovered well
Risser - 6/10 - selected to break up the play, win headers from Boothroyd's long ball tactics and keep it simple and he just about managed that
Smith - 6/10 - fairly anonymous and not helped by much of the play bypassing our central midfield prior to his substitution
De Vita - 8/10 - best I've seen from him so far, great ball to McCormack for the winner
Magera - 6/10 - showed a little more than he has in recent games but made little impact
Murray - 7/10 - perhaps should have scored one of the chances he had and looked absolutely knackered at full time

Connell - 7/10 - great control and finish for the goal
Ferry - 7/10 - allowed us to keep possession and play a bit more, used the ball well which is something we lacked with Risser and Smith together
Flint - 7/10 - same as it ever was from Flint

Fantastic numbers yesterday but atmosphere was quite flat. Possibly because of the allocated seating? There was only about half a dozen people around me joining in songs.

Foderingham is the key to our automatic promotion chances. The board need to just throw money at Palace and Wes to keep him, bollocks to the budget!

[dave_bambers_right_sock]

Yesterday the fitness levels could be seen.

Even with 10 men we were still playing for a win and our legs still looked fresh.

Connell's goal a great finish and Macca's (where did he come from ?) again a neat finish past the advancing keeper.
Macca to me was MOM.

..........and then the goal celebration that keeps on making me smile. Never have I ever seen anything like that.

Thought Di Canio spoke well on the Northants Radio and my Cobblers Mates were gutted to lose in the way they did but complimented Swindon on the attitude and fitness.

As for other Cobblers and Pox fans having a go that is football and having a Manager like Paolo. If he is yours you love him and if he is against you then you loathe him. Imagine Steve Evans doing that at the CG in the last minutes then you have the answer.
Great way to start of the New Years Eve celebrations.

He wouldn't make it past the dugout, fat cunt 

[THE FLASH]

I haven't had a look back so i will just give my comments first.

had a good run up from Calne stopping enrolee to pick up the Southmoors massive on the way.

Nice cheeky pint in the TGI and served by Michael Buble...sweet.

Bit bemused by the lack of flint in the line up but did a little dance when i discovered that Jervis was missing. End of loan?...i fucking hope so!

The Pies were just like our first half performance....shite.

I thought that we were pretty piss poor in the first half but did have a couple of chances to notch and missed them...we do need a finisher and i wonder if Benson realises the weight on his shoulders?

Fodders is huge and i have never been so confident in a keeper since Digby joined us.

the black lad up front for them was a real thorn in our side and impressed me (not afinfatwat).

It was an obvious pen that you could see from space and i was a bit miffed that the crowd blamed the ref...it was as stonewall as you will ever see.

the second half was eventful to say the least....connell proved an instant hit as the cobblers had a taste of their own medicine, he badgered and chased them and his goal was superb. i like this lad and i hope he keeps working hard and gets a few more goals for us, however, he didn't have to play that well to improve on Mageras shift, i have made up my mind now...he's not up to scratch.

We got more into the game but i must admit i thought it was going to be torquuay all over again as they broke up play put the boot in just as a typical adie boothroyd side does (we all remember our match at colchester in the play off season!?).

conn ells goal came at an important time and i thought if we got one we could get another but when Risser was red carded (again thank fuck he's missing for a few games) i would of settled for a point.

mccormicks goal was roy of the rovers stuff and i went fucking mental....!!  This match is up there for away days for me , although fucking Crawley over was sweet!

PDC shouldn't have run on the pitch like that and will probably end up with a deserved ban, If Wilder or Evans did that at our place it would be fucking chaos!  BUT ...you just got to love the cunt......Did we really have Paul Hart in charge of us last season or am i dreaming!?

roll on tomorrow!!

You redz!!!

[Family at War]

Nice cheeky pint in the TGI and served by Michael Buble...sweet.



I thought it was Pete Docherty!

[blinkpip]

Who was the Steve Evans look a like giving abuse to Ritchie during the first half? Good seeing our fans backing up Ritchie.

[Notts red]

Looking back on last year I remember when super Mac got an injury time winner and the Town fans going mental with Paolo joining in. Only seems like yesterday 

[npton]

Great game. Think there are a few cracks in your side that need papering over though. WOuld have looked very different if Berahinho had slotted home that open goal chance in the final minutes

[tans]

Thought today may be a decent time to do my first post.

Yesterday I brought a couple of family members with me, both being Rushden & Diamonds/AFC Rushden fans, they were well up for a Swindon win, I've never seen a 'non Swindon fan' sing so much. Was great to see, singing 'down with the Oxford' and 'that's why you're going down' etc was sheer w

elation. The team spirit shone through, not only with the character of turning the game on it's head, and getting a 93rd minute winner from an unlikely source (McCormack) BUT the celebration too!! Northampton & O****d fans are all kicking off about it...but I'm pretty sure if it was their manager it'd have been fine.

I've not felt like this about an away day since Charlie Austin rounded the keeper at Southampton in the playoff season.

Happy new year all.

Finally decided to post then

[npton]

Thank god though for people like Di Canio. Football wold be much poorer without such characters. It was a top game all in all, who says League 2 is boring!!

[nevillew]

I thought it must be something like that. It's almost impossible to follow Paolo's interviews.

Paolo,It's Paolo.   (FACT)

[npton]

Paolo,It's Paolo.   (FACT)

The man is a total nutter. Says that he is faster than loads of your players ha

[sonicyouth]

Shitty quality but this pic made me happy

[url width=900 height=705]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a251/jehst/P1030291.jpg[/url]

[stfctownenda]

Who was the Steve Evans look a like giving abuse to Ritchie during the first half? Good seeing our fans backing up Ritchie.

Just posted about this in the Fans Debate thread, thought there behaviour was embarrassing, great the way the other fans around chanted 'one Matt Ritchie' as the abuse he was taking from those clowns was awful.

[pericarp]

Had we not been relegated last season, would we still have appointed Paolo?