Swindon v Yeovil pre match chat and match day thread

[Pax Romana]

We lost that game in the first half.  Yeovil were clueless at the back and toothless up front.  We got into countless good positions and couldn't produce the incisive final pass or the clinical finish. 

We won't go up.  Yeovil will go down.

[Reg Smeeton]

Which at least beats your expectations as the season commenced.

I think the recruitment in January showed a bit of step change.  If we repeat that in the summer I think we look well set-up to make progress.  Broadbent looks a very good capture for example.  Robinson, despite putting his boots on the wrong feet today is certainly a top half of this league type of player.  Koiki is a step up in a problem area for us, and assuming he sticks around for a full season I think he will be a big plus for next season.  Wellens has identified the weaknesses in the squad and does seem to be starting to get some juice out of the attacking players more often that not.

Clearly a lot depends on retaining the right ones and adding, but Wellens is gradually growing on me.  By and large he seems to make the right types of calls and while we still have an inept second half in us like today, we also have the first half and the previous couple of games.  The foundation is better - we find ourselves in trouble less often.  If we were 10 points better off when he took over I think we'd be pushing on now, instead we were just a bit too far behind and it's hard to build the confidence in the players to sustain it in every game.

Reality is, at the start of the season it looked like Power had recruited for mid table, in the vague hope that Brown might have enough nous to add some value... there was a stat about his time about Sarfend which suggested he tended to finish higher than budget might predict... that soon unravelled.

Wellens when coming in said in that blog interview.... "hello we could be in trouble here"   to that end he's done ok to steady the ship and in the Jan window, reinforced that secure mid table slot.  That's all it is... we're still on course for our 2nd lowest finish ever, and it feels about right.

 Under Power we've got steadily worse, so as regards what the summer may bring, let's wait and see, however it will ned significant strengthening if a serious bid for automatic promotion is to be mounted.

[joteddyred]

Carrol and koiki are fucking awful

I don't understand why Carroll is getting game time in front of permanent midfielders.  He's rubbish, gives the ball away constantly and spends the game moaning at his team mates.  Offers nothing imo, which probably means he'll be bought on a permanent deal.

Their equaliser was always coming.  Disallowed goal and a couple of good saves from McCormick and still we didn't take heed.  Subs far too late as well, changes should have been made earlier when there was still time to make an impact.

[@mwooly63]

Their equaliser was always coming.  Disallowed goal and a couple of good saves from McCormick and still we didn't take heed.  Subs far too late as well, changes should have been made earlier when there was still time to make an impact.

THIS

[RobertT]

Reality is, at the start of the season it looked like Power had recruited for mid table, in the vague hope that Brown might have enough nous to add some value... there was a stat about his time about Sarfend which suggested he tended to finish higher than budget might predict... that soon unravelled.

Wellens when coming in said in that blog interview.... "hello we could be in trouble here"   to that end he's done ok to steady the ship and in the Jan window, reinforced that secure mid table slot.  That's all it is... we're still on course for our 2nd lowest finish ever, and it feels about right.

 Under Power we've got steadily worse, so as regards what the summer may bring, let's wait and see, however it will ned significant strengthening if a serious bid for automatic promotion is to be mounted.

I wouldn't mind betting we are in the top 7 form wise since the Carlisle home defeat where Wellens essentially let the existing staff pick the team.  We might even be sneaking the top 3 or 4.

[Quagmire]

I don't understand why Carroll is getting game time in front of permanent midfielders.  He's rubbish, gives the ball away constantly and spends the game moaning at his team mates.  Offers nothing imo, which probably means he'll be bought on a permanent deal.

Their equaliser was always coming.  Disallowed goal and a couple of good saves from McCormick and still we didn't take heed.  Subs far too late as well, changes should have been made earlier when there was still time to make an impact.

There is no way you have watched the last 6/7 games.

[Cookie]

I wouldn't mind betting we are in the top 7 form wise since the Carlisle home defeat where Wellens essentially let the existing staff pick the team.  We might even be sneaking the top 3 or 4.

Wellens reign minus Carlisle is 21 games. The table since then would have us 5th with 36 points. A season on that form is 78 points.

Edit: That doesn't include the Yeovil game.

[RobertT]

Carroll likes a tackle and can pass from time to time, so is a better Dunne.  he's in to break the play up.

[joteddyred]

There is no way you have watched the last 6/7 games.

I can assure you I have, well the home games anyway.

[RobertT]

Wellens reign minus Carlisle is 21 games. The table since then would have us 5th with 36 points. A season on that form is 78 points.

So, a little more than steadying the ship and settling for mid table.

The squad is not the best, but I maintained we should have been a play off contender.  It's hard to judge, but that stretch suggests Wellens may have achieved that if he had the full season.

[RobertT]

and if you look at the games in isolation, most of our drawn games we could have won - we were generally the team with the upper hand but didn't execute well enough.  Most of the defeats were narrow - poor performances maybe but could just as easily have been draws.  Very few of our wins have been streaky backs to the wall smash and grab efforts.  So, you look at the form, the change in the team structure, and how we are playing vs. the opposition and there are more positives than negatives.  e could be doing better, it's unlikely we could have been doing too much worse, and we've been doing well enough to grab a play off spot at least over a full season (under Wellens).

[Reg Smeeton]

I wouldn't mind betting we are in the top 7 form wise since the Carlisle home defeat where Wellens essentially let the existing staff pick the team.  We might even be sneaking the top 3 or 4.

Joint 5th with 37 points along with Tranny.   Problem is when playing catch up you need a bit more, the likes of MKD, FGR, Carlisle, are on 34/35 but were much better off at the time of PV away.

[Reg Smeeton]

So, a little more than steadying the ship and settling for mid table.

The squad is not the best, but I maintained we should have been a play off contender.  It's hard to judge, but that stretch suggests Wellens may have achieved that if he had the full season.

Wellens isn't culpable for not being able to bridge the gap... he's done OK, to steer us to the mid table.  I don't think it possible to speculate how next season might look until we know its make up and how we recruit. For example Salford are now top of the Conference and they'll have a budget way in excess of ours, further the  likes of Eastleigh, Leyton Orient and Wrexham who are in the mix, spent more on agents fees in player recruitment over the last year, which does indicate a bigger budget.

[FreddySTFC!]

Carroll likes a tackle and can pass from time to time, so is a better Dunne.  he's in to break the play up.

I agree with this & I do like Carroll but Diagouraga is a far superior player. I can only assume he doesn't fit into Wellens' style of play as he is fit now & didn't even make the bench today (behind Dunne & McCourt in the pecking order.

[Flashheart]

Every team needs a Carroll type.