Brentford v Swindon Town Official Matchday Thread

[Batch]

What likely changes are coming that we're not already expecting?

Which of the following do we think won't be here come Feb? I'd go for (in order of likeyhood):
- Ajose
- Pritchard
- Wes
- Ranger (one for the courts, but even if innocent will he behave)
- Thompson(s) (Not Nathan on recent form!)
- Kassim
- JMac

I'd imagine the line will be drawn just above or below Ranger, but who knows. Could come down to who we can shift that is out out of the first team/on loan already (Cox, Benson, etc...).

[adje]

To be honest I'd have thought a midfield boasting McCormack and Douglas would have dominated (physically) ours. Is that what happened?

MaCormack played RB-but their no 4 was the dominant midfielder for me.Worst Ive seen Luongo today

[herthab]

Brentford reminded me of us under di Canio. Get the ball out wide as quickly as possible and hit it into the box. Well drilled and organised. We were second best.

[Ardiles]

To be honest I'd have thought a midfield boasting McCormack and Douglas would have dominated (physically) ours. Is that what happened?

Short answer: yes.  They passed the ball neatly in midfield and got it forward quickly.  It's been a while since I've seen an opposition side dominate us in terms of possession like that.  Not a yawning chasm - and we did threaten ourselves - but the better side won.  They are top for a reason.  Hardly a masterclass from them, but they did what they needed to.

[kerry red]

Which of the following do we think won't be here come Feb? I'd go for (in order of likeyhood):
- Ajose
- Pritchard
- Wes
- Ranger (one for the courts, but even if innocent will he behave)
- Thompson(s) (Not Nathan on recent form!)
- Kassim
- JMac

I'd imagine the line will be drawn just above or below Ranger, but who knows. Could come down to who we can shift that is out out of the first team/on loan already (Cox, Benson, etc...).

Can't see Kasim or JMac going or either Thompson. Ranger is out of our hands.

Pritchard will go for sure but probably not Mason. Wes will go if the money is right. And, if so, Ajose will be signed permanently.

I'd settle for that scenario plus a couple of more loanees incoming

[@mwooly63]

Ranger may well go, at her majs pleasure,
Pritchard too if spurs get the right offer.
Not so sure about Wes, was poor today and wouldnt have impresed anybody waching him.
Kasim and N Thompson form has been so up and down of late cant see anyone taking a punt on them.
Really cant see power splashing out on Ajose either if am honest, can see a loan or 2 coming in tho

[Riddick]

Don't see Pritchard going. He's 20 and would think spurs will want to keep him and see if he's good enough next season, especially with Sherwood now in charge.

Can't remember the last great game Wes had for us, he doesn't seem to influence games for us anymore.

What we must do is get defensive players in. I've had it with Hall, he's weak for this division and seems out of position a lot. With Ward getting on as well we need to think about this area seriously if we are to progress. Need forward cover for Ranger. Nobody else can do what he can do. Would rather lose Ajose/El Gabas and get a Ranger back up player in. Storey can play as first choice with him if we have 2 up top

[Langers]

Just back.  Frustrating game.  Lots of enterprise, but we're just not promotion class in the areas that matter.  Lots of hot & cold performances.  And not a great game from Ranger who, I thought, looked as if his mind was elsewhere.

I'm not going to lay in to anyone because we did OK against a strong Brentford side.  Have seen a lot worse, to be honest.  Losing 3-2 away to one of the top sides in the division is no disgrace but, sadly, still gets you 0 points.

Sums it up nicely for me, thought we could have had a penalty at the end.

Would love us to sign up Ajose as he looks dangerous every time I see him play. Defensive mistakes cost us again, would like to see us get in another CB in January.

Fair play to the Town fans that travelled, 1,000 for an early kick off on Boxing Day is a good turnout, pretty decent atmosphere as well.

[Honkytonk]

Listening on t'radio, it seemed like a cracking game. Well done to everyone who made it.

Centreback obviously a necessity in January. Captain Caveman is apparently waning, hard as he tries. Cooper's comments on the game were interesting. Obviously a fair amount of stuff he's not allowed to talk about at the moment, what with change of owner and Ranger and January transfer window and so on.

[TheMajorSTFC]

Well done to all the Town fans who could make the trip. I thought they could score every time they attacked - had a complete lack of confidence in our defence (including Wes) and it was our downfall. I didn't think they were great but they did what they needed to do to win, and looked a good-organised side with a bit more experience than us. That being said, we played the game the right way, took the lead twice and played some good stuff - but got sloppier as the game went on. The ref was poor, missed some kick outs (McCormack on Kasim?) that if seen on another probably would have been red. Don't like Brentford or their fans after last season, and that won't change after today - they were very quiet until they took the lead and even then they were still quiet. We move on and hopefully a couple of reinforcements, whilst keeping the majority of the squad together, in Jan will see us have a solid 2nd half of the season. C.O.Y.R!

[@mwooly63]

Didnt hear Coopers post match interview.
Seeing McCormack and Douglas today reminded me of what dont have anymore - someone to shout and gee up players. Ward doesnt do it and neither does anyone on the current team

[london_red]

Not much to add to what's been said. Call it experience, cynicism or what have you, but Brentford know how to win a game better than our kids do currently. Was impressed with their number 4 and the way they pressed forward in possession. We'll get there, but are still learning.

Miles different to Sheffield at least, and thought particularly first half we looked really good in spells against a decent side.

Imagine the outs and any ins during January will shape what we should expect for the rest of the season. Good to have plenty of points on the board already though, we'll have some massively tough home games in the second half of the season.

Very enjoyable Boxing Day game of football yesterday anyway, and a really creditable turnout and atmosphere from our fans. Had a good chat with some Brentford fans who were full of compliments in the pub after the game - at least until a loon with a crutch hastened our exit by singing 'in 1969..' non stop for about half an hour 

[RobertT]

I enjoyed the game, it must have been a good one for a neutral to watch.

On the plus side, we continue to look a really good side on the ball.  IN the 1st half we had some really good spells and could have opened up a good lead.

On the down side, we look weak in central defence in terms of nastiness.  Both centre backs are of a similar ilk and we need someone in there willing to put their head in where it hurts at times, a Gittens/Taylor if you like BUT........they are exposed by our inability to close down out wide and while someone mentioned the fullbacks, they are too often having to worry about the opposition fullbacks overlapping so provide too much space fro crosses.  If you let a team put as many crosses in as we did, they will eventually get one right.

Still, we will probably win a few more than we lose this season, depends on who we can keep, who comes in and whether we can find a way of getting a couple of wins against the lower teams away.  If we can do that, we might still push on, but if we continue to struggle to get results away we'll probably finish mid table.  Great viewing though.

[Reg Smeeton]

Still, we will probably win a few more than we lose this season, depends on who we can keep, who comes in and whether we can find a way of getting a couple of wins against the lower teams away.  If we can do that, we might still push on, but if we continue to struggle to get results away we'll probably finish mid table.  Great viewing though.

Very fair assessment...it's those few wins that are crucial, and hopefully they'll come sooner rather than later.  The precariousness of our position is shown by a comparison with the Shitheads, who have, so far, had an abysmal season, yet we've lost the same number of games as them.

Unless, the we can improve on the road, and given the fact we've only beaten 1 top 10 side at the CG, we could be looking at these 6 home fixtures as our best chance of getting to 52 points.

Crawley, Dongs, Bradford City, ColU, Shrewsbury, Oldham.  It never quite works out as easily as this, but without something on the road and lots of games against current top 6 sides at the CG to come....these 6 are pretty much must win games.

[otanswell]

at least until a loon with a crutch hastened our exit by singing 'in 1969..' non stop for about half an hour 

Jacko? Haha