Brentford v Swindon Town Official Matchday Thread

[Reg Smeeton]

Spot on reg. we have good enough attacking players to win 3-2 more often than lose I reckon!

It's going to take some conviction from Cooper to go this way...we've now been to 5 of the top 6 and got 3 points, we've still to go to the bottom 5, but Cooper will be haunted by the fact we've got nil point at the 3 strugglers directly above them.

Avoiding defeat at Bradford would be good, so will Cooper go back to bus parking again, or go for it?

[Red Frog]

It's going to take some conviction from Cooper to go this way...we've now been to 5 of the top 6 and got 3 points, we've still to go to the bottom 5, but Cooper will be haunted by the fact we've got nil point at the 3 strugglers directly above them.

Avoiding defeat at Bradford would be good, so will Cooper go back to bus parking again, or go for it?

As our defence showed again today, bus parking isn't an option. We can only attack and hope for fewer cock-ups another day.

[Ardiles]

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.

[Reg Smeeton]

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.

I don't think too many people really see us as contenders....with the likely changes in January, staying up will be OK.

[Paolo69]

I don't think too many people really see us as contenders....with the likely changes in January, staying up will be OK.

We still have hope but definitely need to improve at the back. That was still a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch than the trip to Sheffield though.

January doesn't look good at the mo but the summer looked worse and we're in the top half. Ce la vie.

[Ardiles]

I don't think too many people really see us as contenders....with the likely changes in January, staying up will be OK.

Any team in 7th place at the end of December is a contender, to be fair.  I share your view that we are unlikely to go up, however.  Cooper has a very interesting job on his hands.  Very few of us would expect it all to come together in his first season, but there is something there to work with.

Even though I know you called some of our most dire seasons correctly in the past before anyone else did, I find your 'staying up will be OK' assessment this time around unduly pessimistic.  We should be aiming for a top half finish this season, no question.

Edit:
OK, take your point about the likely changes in January (which I missed first time around).  We'll see.  I have a feeling that Power may have a few more aces up his sleeve, so all may not be lost even if we do lose the likes of Wes and Pritchard (who incidentally, was very hot & cold today.  Lots of nice runs, but distribution could be so much better.)

[Reg Smeeton]

Any team in 7th place at the end of December is a contender, to be fair.  I share your view that we are unlikely to go up, however.  Cooper has a very interesting job on his hands.  Very few of us would expect it all to come together in his first season, but there is something there to work with.

Even though I know you called some of our most dire seasons correctly in the past before anyone else did, I find your 'staying up will be OK' assessment this time around unduly pessimistic.  We should be aiming for a top half finish this season, no question.

From where we are atm, it would need a McMahon style 96/97 collapse to put us in trouble, but there is the doubt thrown up by what players may leave or not be available, and the number of potentially difficult home games, alongside continuing poor away form.

[THE FLASH]

Just got back....very proud of the Manager and squad, gave the fans good value today.

Ref wasn't great but for both sides......two pens for both teams missed.

I enjoyed it but Meh....never mind.

Well done lads..... Unlike the Blades....that's the way to lose.

Enjoyed capt caveman fucking up for our second goal.......

Can't see us getting anything at Bradford, I'm giving that a miss..... Hope the lads prove me wrong...

Made me proud today and the fans sung well...

[Ardiles]

Made me proud today and the fans sung well...

I had a Celtic fan and a Rangers fan with us today...both of whom remarked on the atmosphere in our end.  It wasn't even the biggest away following we've had there, but the 1,000 odd who were made themselves heard.  (Wasn't hard, mind, given the near silence from the other three stands.  Maybe they all had hangovers?)

[Benzel]

A bad spell cost us but not much to grumble about overall.

[@mwooly63]

A bad spell cost us but not much to grumble about overall.

We never pushed on after going one nil up and we could all see their 3rd coming so why couldnt Cooper. Subs came too lttle too late.
Decent away day tho. Griffin is a nice old boozer.
Cant see us getting anything v Bradford but you never can tell which town will turn up.
Roll on NY day and Crawley

[adje]

please tell me NGuessan was injured!Bringing on Gladwin was a big mistake.I presume he was on for his build but then proceeded to get nowhere near any high ball that came his way.Sorry to be critical but if Thompson wasn't injured,why wait so long to bring him off-he was shocking as was Byrne,Brentford must have broken the record for the amount of crosses delivered in one game.For a team at the top of the table I thought they were pretty poor and If just 3 or 4 of our lads had played well it would have been 3 points.Dont think anyone was worth more than 6/10 today.Disappointing

[Ardiles]

We never pushed on after going one nil up...

That, sadly, is the Swindon way.  We rarely do.

That said, Brentford didn't really let us.  Their passing in midfield was very tidy and they held possession for decent periods.  Personally felt that 3-2 was probably a fair reflection - but that with the willingness to get forward that we were showing, an equaliser at the end was always a possibility.

[sonicyouth]

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

We've all known for months that Ranger's court case could see us lose a striker and that he'll be prone to causing problems.

We all know that our best players will ve sold regardless of who is running the club.

Anyway, I'm surprised nobody is crucifying Cooper for giving the players a day off yesterday.

[Batch]

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