Swindon v Wigan pre match chat and matchday thread

[bathford]

I agree with the creative management theory myself.

No way Marcus would have allowed that to happen.

Now a chance to clear a few out, get Twine & Palmer up to speed and a bit of dead wood out with hopefully someone in who can    pass / shoot / think / catch the ball.  

[Batch]

all the best rapidflyer.

must be impossible not to take it personally.

I'm as guilty as the next man for slating players, especially when frustrated.

[bathford]

Believe me, I don’t believe any thing worse than frustration is driving these comments.

Your son clearly has ability, as you state, he has proved that.

It’s very very interesting to have the perspective of a family member on here. It gives all of us an insight into a players mind set and how they cope with things. I may be wrong, but I believe this is the first opportunity we have had on this forum to here things from ‘the other side’.

If you could look past the unfounded insults and stick with us it would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[DiV]

Smith is your classic ‘luxury’ you need to give him the ball, you need good players making good runs around him to create space and give him something to aim for.

Our side isn’t doing that for & he isn’t good enough to that all for himself.

Very similar in that sense to DJ and Anderson.

[BambooToTheFuture]

Shame that RF. You've given a great account and insight continually which you never had to do.

J. Smith is a good player and certainly good enough for this division. He'd have flourished as a very good squad player in our 2015 side. Things are very different right now and for sure frustrations will lead to obscure or weird judgements of certain players. Unfortunately, as a current loanee* at Town, this includes your lad.

For clarity, they are quite wrong in their assessment. I now fear what I feared and laid question to on here earlier last week... many have concentrated on loans that fans might want to send back but I was always more concerned about the better ones being recalled. I think this may happen. If anything it will have been a learning curve for Johnny and (I beleive) Matt Smith. These two both deserve to be playing their football in much better managed squads. If he does get recalled, I wish him all the best.

Keep ya pecker up pal.

[Quagmire]

Whilst J Smith may have done well in previous loan spells, all of the clubs mentioned have been in League 2 or below, maybe he just isn’t ready for League 1 football yet.
He has frustrated me more than any other player this season, maybe because I expected more from him, it doesn’t mean he’s bad player, but maybe he just isn’t quite up to this level.

[Samdy Gray]

Sandy if you going to make a statement base it on the players real progress not just because he has not fitted into a Team that has struggled with injuries and gave away stupid goals through defensive mistakes.

That's all well and good, but I'm a Swindon fan and can only judge him based on Swindon performances. In a different team that wasn't bound for relegation I'm sure my view would be different. I certainly haven't made him a scapegoat - I think all players have been equally culpable for the position we find ourselves in.

I know he's your son and you'll defend him whatever, but he and the rest of the squad have just not been good enough.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I don't like mistruths in that thread even if that is a word... so he has played for 3 good loan teams prior to Swindon, and made a big difference in everyone, top scorer for Oldham last year, won promotion to Lg1 with Tranmere the previou year and scored 10 and made7 assists for Fylde Afc in the Conference the previous year to that. Sandy if you going to make a statement base it on the players real progress not just because he has not fitted into a Team that has struggled with injuries and gave away stupid goals through defensive mistakes.

So blame him, let him be your scapegoat even though Wellens never got the players he wanted, then gets head hunted for a fee .. and then injuries which have meant that virtually in no game has he fielded a starting 11 nor, I dont think he has had the same team selection for 2 consecutive games.

There is a lot of great supporters on here who know their football and players well, and understand the game !! so I say to them "Thank You" and great interacting with you, Jonny only knows how to give 100% and he will, and has done, in every game he has played in, but you need in play tactics to work also.

I am dropping off this forum now as I understand supporters frustrations can overflow , and I will always back my son 100% because he is an Honest player and looking at some of the comments just frustrate me as the players performances do the other way around... Personally, there is a really good core at Swindonand I don't believe they will drop down to Lg2 but the players coming in will strengthen in the areas needed.

I'm sorry if my post upset you but I would love Jonny to sign for Swindon Town as it's already been stated he's exciting but also a luxury player and what's I've seen he's not yet ready for the championship so wouldn't be surprised if Bristol City sell him.
As others have stated it's great to hear the players side of things and it will be a sad loss if you leave the forum.

[theakston2k]

Not really surprising the match is off, we played Tuesday night so wouldn’t have covered the pitch after that and Wednesday/Thursday would have been needed for pitch repairs so wouldn’t have been covered until the surface prep was complete. Covering is also last resort I’d imagine as it’s really bad for the grass, too long without light and it starts dying off. Once the frost gets into the pitch on the DRS side it takes ages to thaw as barely gets any light. so unless we get undersoil heating this has and always will be a problem, it’s nothing new we’ve always been susceptible to a surprise frozen pitch postponement.

[BambooToTheFuture]

Covering is also last resort I’d imagine as it’s really bad for the grass, too long without light and it starts dying off. Once the frost gets into the pitch on the DRS side it takes ages to thaw as barely gets any light. so unless we get undersoil heating this has and always will be a problem, it’s nothing new we’ve always been susceptible to a surprise frozen pitch postponement.

Cassidy & Co have (or were) been using the heat lamps for a good while now I beleive.

[DiV]

Not really surprising the match is off, we played Tuesday night so wouldn’t have covered the pitch after that and Wednesday/Thursday would have been needed for pitch repairs so wouldn’t have been covered until the surface prep was complete. Covering is also last resort I’d imagine as it’s really bad for the grass, too long without light and it starts dying off. Once the frost gets into the pitch on the DRS side it takes ages to thaw as barely gets any light. so unless we get undersoil heating this has and always will be a problem, it’s nothing new we’ve always been susceptible to a surprise frozen pitch postponement.

When was the last time we had a game called off due to a frozen pitch that completely took everyone by surprise also on a day where it hadn’t even frozen over night?

[theakston2k]

Cassidy & Co have (or were) been using the heat lamps for a good while now I beleive.

They aren’t heat lamps they are lighting rigs to provide artificial light in areas of shade to help the grass grow. Even if we do have some and they give off some residual heat we wouldn’t have the number of rigs to keep an entire side of the pitch above freezing.

[BambooToTheFuture]

They aren’t heat lamps they are lighting rigs to provide artificial light in areas of shade to help the grass grow. Even if we do have some and they give off some residual heat we wouldn’t have the number of rigs to keep an entire side of the pitch above freezing.

It's a similar process used in hydroponics and whilst that isn't exclusive to deterring frost, heat is used to accelerate growth. In order to create an consistent micro climate. Often those lamps do bash out quite some heat too.

Possible that there wouldn't be enough to cover the whole side but you rotate these throughout the day/night. A place I used to work used a similar but cheaper technique in accelerating a warmer season with growing bulbs. You place plastic sheeting over a field and this heats up the ground more than it would be naturally. A bit like a very large cloche. The two techniques are different and for growing grass you wouldn't want to "suffocate" the surface but both do the same thing in terms of preventing ground from freezing thus accelerating growth.

It might be a case of being told/ordered/instructed not to use them (or other methods) due to the cost as I beleive the rigs are hired/hireable at short notice.

Anyway, as DV says, it really hasn't been that cold over a sustained period.

[theakston2k]

It's a similar process used in hydroponics and whilst that isn't exclusive to deterring frost, heat is used to accelerate growth. In order to create an consistent micro climate. Often those lamps do bash out quite some heat too.

Possible that there wouldn't be enough to cover the whole side but you rotate these throughout the day/night. A place I used to work used a similar but cheaper technique in accelerating a warmer season with growing bulbs. You place plastic sheeting over a field and this heats up the ground more than it would be naturally. A bit like a very large cloche. The two techniques are different and for growing grass you wouldn't want to "suffocate" the surface but both do the same thing in terms of preventing ground from freezing thimus accelerating growth.

It might be a case of being told/ordered/instructed not to use them (or other methods) due to the cost as I beleive the rigs are hired/hireable at short notice.

Anyway, as DV says, it really hasn't been that cold over a sustained period.

The things cost a lot to run and I’d wager that is money we don’t have, undersoil heating or hover covers that pump in hot air are the only things that are fully effective at preventing frozen pitches.

Anyway Newport’s match is also postponed for a frozen pitch and isn’t a million miles away so it’s not like our postponement is an isolated occurrence.

[BambooToTheFuture]

Anyway Newport’s match is also postponed for a frozen pitch and isn’t a million miles away so it’s not like our postponement is an isolated occurrence.

Nice edit. See we're slowing coming to a very adult agreement here. Via two different angles admittedly but it's nice to see. I like progress

I'd say Swindon's landscape is a little more protected from elements than a more exposed place on the south coast of Wales, that Bristol Channel sucks up a good brunt of prevailing winds.

But aye, both of those games are off and we can do nowt about it, although Rovers and Forest Green aren't