Newport v Swindon Town FC Official Match Day Thread

[Reg Smeeton]

Well, you can't be too tough after that, great effort considering the conditions and opposition.  It's a shame we fucked the first half of the season up really.

Going into last night we'd played 40 games, so let's consider what it looked like after 20 games... we were 12th on 27, now 10th on 59, so we've added on an extra 5 points from that first half, which has gained us 2 league places upward.  That feels about right, an improvement, but not by enough to fully get in the mix.

You can probably say atm that we messed up by being unable to beat Yeovil and losing to Crawley at the CG..... both may be going to the Conference.   Crawley have to go to Yeovil, and host Notts.

[Peter Venkman]

A few comments from the Newport forum about the game....

Their Number 10 (Anderson ?) was immense tonight a ripped us apart with his pace .
We just looked laboured and predictable and the long throw ins just summed us up .
Lucky to get away with the 0-0

We looked decent before Matt went off, after that we lost all our shape and were woeful.
That's two games on the trot that we could and should have won but inept tactics and performances let us down badly.

I thought Saturday was dour, but after we lost Jamille Matt, and Joss Labadie, tonight became dire, no shape, and apart from the defence, we looked bereft of ideas, and were very lucky to get a point!

Fair result tonight. Ball just didn’t drop right for Amond, Azeez was giving it everything but Swindon were so quick to close down he didn’t a second on the ball. And we should have had a penalty for handball. Darren Ferguson was at the game... wonder who he was looking at? Swindon no 10?

Taken in isolation the 2 draws v Tranmere and Swindon are 2 good points gained. Clearly not what we need now but two of the better sides in the division. Swindon in particular passed it about well last night and have serious pace and good options up top.

My main takeaway was that if either of those sides think they’re good enough to win promotion from Div 4, they’re deluded. Two strong, physical, direct but ultimately limited teams without any variety or nuance to their play. They’d both get hammered week-in, week-out in Div 3.

Lucky to get a draw in my opinion, so definitely a point gained. Felt like a training match atmosphere-wise, where the 3,300 crowd figure came from I've no idea. Felt a lot less than that.

Tbh I thought the pitch looked a lot better last night. I sit Bisley side and looked pretty good - is there a bare ish patch, Hazel Side, about 40 yards in front of dugouts ?? Considering Swindon knocked it about well enough.

And a report thats pretty biased in favour of the home side, concentraiting on only the Newport positives and almost entirely lacking basic school level punctuation, would some new paragraphs kill you?

https://medium.com/@MarkVickery4/county-forced-to-accept-battling-draw-ecddd15ab492

[Peter Venkman]

You can probably say atm that we messed up by being unable to beat Yeovil and losing to Crawley at the CG..... both may be going to the Conference.   Crawley have to go to Yeovil, and host Notts.

You could also say that we got 1 more point playing against a team fighting for their league future than the higher placed Exeter did at Macclesfield who were lower in the table than our opponents where on Saturday.....food for thought?

[Reg Smeeton]

You could also say that we got 1 more point playing against a team fighting for their league future than the higher placed Exeter did at Macclesfield who were lower in the table than our opponents where on Saturday.....food for thought?

Macc have lost 2 in 10, whereas Yeovil before Sat had avoided defeat twice in 13.

We know from long experience, it's the sort of thing that happens.  Of course, the fact that over a long time of supporting you can see certain things are likely to happen doesn't mean they will.... however it does add to the interest.

[Peter Venkman]

It is certainly going to be an interesting run in, our own play off hopes are still alive right up to the point that its mathematically impossible, which could well be the last game of the season.

[Reg Smeeton]

It is certainly going to be an interesting run in, our own play off hopes are still alive right up to the point that its mathematically impossible, which could well be the last game of the season.

The problem is and why it's not really worth thinking too much about, is the mathematical imposibilty stuff, relies on outcomes which are highly unlikely, hence we could now be in a PO slot had we beaten both Yeovil and Newport.  However that would have given us 4 wins on the spin, the sort of thing we haven't managed this season.  Of course, as mentioned above because something looks unlikely based on experience, doesn't mean it cannot happen, but there does tend to be a discernible reason for these outcomes and in our case, you can see we're not good enough and haven't been good enough to mount a proper campaign for playing at a higher level, throughout the season.... hence midtable.

Wellens has earned the right to have a go next season, and if he is provided with the necessary support by Power, perhaps we can start to move upwards.

[Paolo69]

The problem is and why it's not really worth thinking too much about, is the mathematical imposibilty stuff, relies on outcomes which are highly unlikely,

Interestingly this type of reasoning didn't seem to apply earlier in the season when we were 8 and even 10 points above the drop zone. We were constantly being told to think about things then (even though there was little possibility of us going down). Is there a reason why the same reasoning doesn't work when looking upwards rather than downwards?

It would also be useful to understand which positions in the league equate to "midtable".

Thank you! I'm always learning :-)

[Reg Smeeton]

Interestingly this type of reasoning didn't seem to apply earlier in the season when we were 8 and even 10 points above the drop zone. We were constantly being told to think about things then (even though there was little possibility of us going down). Is there a reason why the same reasoning doesn't work when looking upwards rather than downwards?

It would also be useful to understand which positions in the league equate to "midtable".

Thank you! I'm always learning :-)

It's a fair question and I guess the answer is that our recent history has shown more downward than upward momentum which induces that sinking feeling.

The period to which you aver, was probably the 9 game run in the autumn, where we had 1 win and only scored 3 goals.  That the looking downward feel was justified, was confirmed by Power sacking Brown, and then Wellens stating in that podcast interview after the Carlisle game.... hello we could be in trouble here.

24 team league.... 1-8 top third.... 9-16 mid table... 17-24 where you don't want to be.  We were 18th after 18 games.

[Dr Pierre Chang]

I think you should be referring to that line up at Meadow Lane, Reg. Brown knew non league was calling and set up accordingly.

Season defining, for me. Possibly even decade defining.

[Reg Smeeton]

I think you should be referring to that line up at Meadow Lane, Reg. Brown knew non league was calling and set up accordingly.

Season defining, for me. Possibly even decade defining.

It was a key win, along with Macc away.  Certainly Brown's midfield of Dunne, McCourt and Smith was "solid"

[BambooToTheFuture]

"We never get more points in the 2nd half of the season than the 1st half..."

So far we have got 31pts after 23 games and currently have 28pts with 15 available. I know we will end up on more.

As for form teams, while Oldham are on a "three wins on the spin" form, we are unbeaten in the last 5. A stat that only league leaders Lincoln can boast as well currently. Teams clearly have noticed we are a threat and are setting themselves up accordingly to engage damage limitation. They saw the 4-0 and 3-1 convincing wins. Point in case, with Yeovil doing a good job of keeping us from scoring a shed load (also Robbo being a bit barn door didn't help) and last night Newport set up purely for a point, with no real game except to lump it in the air and stall fluidity of the match. Credit, they managed to do it. They win no prizes though. We were the team trying to get in the POs, they were the team content with L2 mid table.

This is good. Teams are actually fearing us, they know we have pace and can't do a lot about it, other than park the bus or risk playing at us with an inevitable counter attack ending in us scoring. The mindset of some teams against us is not so much "how can we stop them"  but hoping that our front three are having a bit of an off game (see Theo).

I fully expect us to beat Oldham (another Manchester club ticked off for Wellens) and possibly shockingly so (to Oldham fans).

The way I see it, we could be in for final day heartbreak. potentially needing a win. Getting that win but also FVR & Exeter only needing a point. We'll finish 8th (joint 6th) on GD and we'll all be thinking of individual games where "if only". Yeovil will be fresh in the mind with that last kick equaliser and we'll be pretty fucking miffed.

The positive will be, we will largely have a squad gelled and ready for next season, a few tweaks and targeted new additions and should make for a great promotion campaign. Reg will be happy we have secured our Football League status (officially) and can then begin the cyclical process all over again.

All in all, a decent season. One many didn't expect to be as interesting in say November. We have a decent and developing manager in Wellens. Let's hold on to him for as long as possible. But first, let us give these last five games a real good go! C.O.Y.R!

[Matchworn Shirts]

Newport were shite, dreadful hoof ball mixed with cynical fouls and diving. A poor advert for the league when they are in the top half

[RobertT]

Going into last night we'd played 40 games, so let's consider what it looked like after 20 games... we were 12th on 27, now 10th on 59, so we've added on an extra 5 points from that first half, which has gained us 2 league places upward.  That feels about right, an improvement, but not by enough to fully get in the mix.

You can probably say atm that we messed up by being unable to beat Yeovil and losing to Crawley at the CG..... both may be going to the Conference.   Crawley have to go to Yeovil, and host Notts.

If we'd got the same points haul from the first 20 as the next 20 we'd be in the play offs.

[Paolo69]

It's a fair question and I guess the answer is that our recent history has shown more downward than upward momentum which induces that sinking feeling.

The period to which you aver, was probably the 9 game run in the autumn, where we had 1 win and only scored 3 goals.  That the looking downward feel was justified, was confirmed by Power sacking Brown, and then Wellens stating in that podcast interview after the Carlisle game.... hello we could be in trouble here.

24 team league.... 1-8 top third.... 9-16 mid table... 17-24 where you don't want to be.  We were 18th after 18 games.

Fair do's. Given this reasoning you presumably got caught out in the the early 90's looking at the European places in the Prem and all of a sudden we ended up going down, given our upward momentum at the time to that point of course. :-)

We've been mid table virtually all season then.

[RobertT]

8th place is just so far away