Swindon Town v Franchise FC Official Matchday Thread

[leefer]

Luongo was a fucking good buy-and just because we are on a bad run,that fact remains unaltered

Didn't say he wasn't...but the fact remainds Cooper...well Power has spent more on players than most other teams in the division....just reminding Sonic that is hardly being cash strapped.

[adje]

.

It was obvious we needed a second goal to kill the game.  It didn't look like coming, so why not change things?  Instead he waits for the equalizer before taking  Kasim off (who struggled throughout) and bringing Murphy on.  Why not bring N'guessan on at that point and throw him and Smith up front together?  It was worth a bloody go.  Franchise were pretty shit defensively.

fair point.

[Shaw Rosso]

Cooper -

Dropped to deep, Kasim tired.

We tried to win the game and left ourselves exposed

We should have killed the game off but we are not quite there yet, should be sat here with a few more points.

We haven't thrown the towel in (play offs) but we have to be realistic, finish as strongly as we can.

Wolves great game for the players, sure Wolves will travel in their hordes. Desperate to give the home fans a dominant performance.

N Thompson tweaked his groin, out Tuesday. Murphy loan extension not yet discussed.

Planning for next season, see who is available.

Message to fans, we are were we are, not quite right yet, 8th in the league and we need to finish the season strongly to be ready for next season.

[FormerlyPlymRed]

We arent good enough for play offs and we will finish mid table. Not looking forward to the raping we will by wolves on Tuesday but will be there anyway!

Would have bit your hand off for mid table at start of season, cheer up all its the weekend! 

[Shaw Rosso]

A nice bit of attractive passing football had many convinced we were going up, the same people are now showing what unrealistic expectations they had.

[sonicyouth]

So we spend £400,000 on one player...some teams dont get that to spend on an entire squad....not forgetting the money payed for Smith it has got to be over half a million...not bad for a lg 1 team you reckon havn't got the money to push on.
Hardly cash strapped compared to other teams.

Admire you Sonic for your sticking up for your team but passion often fails to see the real story.

I'd be very surprised if the initial outlay was anything close to £400,000, far more likely closer to £100,000 but you make a fair point. I'd be interested to see how our overall budget compares to Orient, Brentford, Preston et al.

I still maintain my belief that if we hold on to the core of players this season we will be much stronger next season and with the young players gaining experience we've got an excellent platform to build on. Fewer squad players, fewer loanees and some more experienced individuals will make a massive difference.

[1989Monkey]

Cooper -


We tried to win the game and left ourselves exposed

I clearly watched a different game to Cooper as cant remember us having a shot after they equalised!

[Shaw Rosso]

I clearly watched a different game to Cooper as cant remember us having a shot after they equalised!

He was referring to the stage in the game when we were 1-0 up and playing reasonably well.

[joteddyred]

I don't really care who is in charge. We haven't got the money to build a squad that'll sustain a promotion/play-off push and that's the sum of it really. We're a lower league cash strapped club who have to rely upon unproven or inconsistent players. Shit happens. This season has panned out far better than most predicted and it's unsurprising that those who predicted the worst last summer are now the most vocal in their moaning about our supposed failure.

And no, I didn't go.

Yes, I did think we'd struggle this season and it did start off far better than I expected.  Now, however it's pretty poor and not particularly good to watch.  I think the majority of people who've attended recently would agree with that.  You only had to look at how empty the Town End was today to see how many people have lost interest.

If we lose or draw by giving it a real go, so be it.  That hasn't been the case for weeks at the County Ground and that's my issue.

[Batch]

I don't really care who is in charge. We haven't got the money to build a squad that'll sustain a promotion/play-off push and that's the sum of it really. We're a lower league cash strapped club who have to rely upon unproven or inconsistent players. Shit happens. This season has panned out far better than most predicted and it's unsurprising that those who predicted the worst last summer are now the most vocal in their moaning about our supposed failure.

And no, I didn't go.

I'm sorry Sonic but personally my views of today's game have fuck all to do with my expectations at the start of the season. 'Its better than expected' isn't a defence of todays performance/tactics. FWIW I'm behind Cooper, I just have a different opinion to him on what we should have done today.

[ronnie21]

Two words to sum the game up . . . . fucking awful!!

If we are a passing side why is it we cannot pass to a team-mate?  Very poor decision making, poor atmosphere and a poor performance. Cannot accept what Cooper was saying, I thought we were second best up until we scored, last 20 minutes of the first half we were the better team, not in it properly after the break.  And to those who were comparing Smith to Cox or Parkin . . . . no contest!!

[Reg Smeeton]

I don't really care who is in charge. We haven't got the money to build a squad that'll sustain a promotion/play-off push and that's the sum of it really. We're a lower league cash strapped club who have to rely upon unproven or inconsistent players. Shit happens. This season has panned out far better than most predicted and it's unsurprising that those who predicted the worst last summer are now the most vocal in their moaning about our supposed failure.

And no, I didn't go.

Good points...it's a shame we couldn't have hung on for the point today, because we've got a lot of losable games coming up and getting to 52/53 asap has to be the aim, as long as Cooper can do that he's done OK, and should be here next season.

[sonicyouth]

Good points...it's a shame we couldn't have hung on for the point today, because we've got a lot of losable games coming up and getting to 52/53 asap has to be the aim, as long as Cooper can do that he's done OK, and should be here next season.

Oh good. Reg agrees with me.

[1989Monkey]

Yes, I did think we'd struggle this season and it did start off far better than I expected.  Now, however it's pretty poor and not particularly good to watch.  I think the majority of people who've attended recently would agree with that.  You only had to look at how empty the Town End was today to see how many people have lost interest.

If we lose or draw by giving it a real go, so be it.  That hasn't been the case for weeks at the County Ground and that's my issue.

Someone that talks sense finally!

[Batch]

Here's how I saw it.

Plus points: From the goal to the end of the first half we were in control of the match (but struggled to create that many chances). The ref was good up to the 80th minute when presumably he needed to up his fuckup count (but was at least the same for both teams).

What is increasingly blindingly obvious is Smith can not play as the loan striker with much success. He tries hard but can't hold up/win the ball. That's OK if the midfield join in the attack to some extent, but he became increasingly isolated and moreover the options up front for the midfield to hit were non-existant.

Sometimes this is fine, but the opposition today were shit at the back. Really shit. So we tried to push Luongo as the forward midfielder but he was fucking woeful at that, seemingly tuning into trouble at every opportunity rather than put a simple pass wide. Because that's the way we play.

Which is what frustrates me. Because while it is all well and good having a way you want to play sometimes you have to adapt. I've no idea why we didn't stick two up top and bring Luongo deeper again. It may not have worked, but how will we know i we don't try. Particularly given CG pitch is understandably not in top nick, passing through the middle is hard..

In what Power described as a "must win" match, Cooper seemed content to let our attack fizzle out and let the Franchise attack us with no outlet up front.

That said, they didn't deserve the win either. It was a hell of a strike for the winner.