Northampton v Swindon pre match chat and matchday thread

[Audrey]

How the hell do you improve concentration? Nobody fails to concentrate on purpose. It’s just what some do.

[Flashheart]

Want passes that are 90% accurate that are more than five metres away from their teammate?

I've seen it often.

In L2!

[Peter Venkman]

Its not criticisms its observations of where we can and should improve things.

I think we are all pretty happy with how its gone so far this season, just look at pre season favourites HMS piss the league Gas to see what could easily have happened early doors, 3rd bottom and another home defeat with 6 defeats in the first 10 games.

Its just tweaking really that we need and not wholesale changes at all, but I would like to see us mix things up a little, as most have said we have some good players but TBH most are in L2 because thats their level, even though almost all have played at a higher level than this it doesn't mean they are good enough to play there regularly.

It could all click into place, it may not, time will tell.

As it stands I think we are all fairly happy with it so far over all.

[Flashheart]

How the hell do you improve concentration? Nobody fails to concentrate on purpose. It’s just what some do.

I'm buggered if I know, but I'm confident that pressure and confidence has a lot to do with it.

[Saxondale]

How the hell do you improve concentration? Nobody fails to concentrate on purpose. It’s just what some do.

Well what you do is

Oh look a squirrel!

Sorry what was I saying?

[Flashheart]

I can be quite a handy pool player at times. There were some nights you couldn’t get me off the table (you’d be on until you were beaten). On my night I was unbeatable. At other times, however, I was useless. I couldn’t even pot a ball that was sitting over the pocket with nothing else in the way.

I know what the difference was… those times when I was useless I was thinking about it too much. When I was unbeatable, which is usually when I’d been partaking in the consumption of certain substances, I didn’t think about the shots I was taking. I just took them. And they went in. But when I was thinking about the shot trying to make it perfect - I fucked up.

From my experience, I think that some of our players might be thinking about their passes too much instead of just fucking making them. And I think that is down to confidence.

So the moral of the story is to take a load of coke and E before playing football.

[DV]

I can be quite a handy pool player at times. There were some nights you couldn’t get me off the table (you’d be on until you were beaten). On my night I was unbeatable. At other times, however, I was useless. I couldn’t even pot a ball that was sitting over the pocket with nothing else in the way.

I know what the difference was… those times when I was useless I was thinking about it too much. When I was unbeatable, which is usually when I’d been partaking in the consumption of certain substances, I didn’t think about the shots I was taking. I just took them. And they went in. But when I was thinking about the shot trying to make it perfect - I fucked up.

From my experience, I think that some of our players might be thinking about their passes too much instead of just fucking making them. And I think that is down to confidence.

So the moral of the story is to take a load of coke and E before playing football.

I get that.

Not remotely the same standard as are current players (obviously) but I was much more likely to bury and blink and you’ll miss it half chance in the box than a one on one when you’re playing a guessing game with the keeper as to who is going to what and in which order.

As for STFC, nothing new. We lack balance, depth in certain positions and have no plan b & on occasions our game plan seems to be retain possession for the sake of it. This hasn’t change since last week or the week before or the week before.

[Batch]

My twopenneth.

The first half was poor. No dressing it up. We were slow to attack and were out muscled when we did. Having Simpson up top on his own was not working.

Northampton did take 10 to warm up, but once they got going they were comfortably on top. A post, a  soft foul on their goal  (I think) and Conroy stopped us going in behind. 0-0 was clearly flattering, but it still gave us a chance.

Second half we obviously improved. Give Simpson some credit on an otherwise off day but he took his goal well. And for 10/15 minutes thereafter we were playing very well. Knocking on the door it look to be a matter of time before another followed. Simpson should have made it 2-0 really, he got the reasonably well stuck shot on target, but straight at the keeper.

Northampton held on and came back in it, though we remained far better than the first half. The corner looked poorly defended, but to be honest I need to watch it again because the goal net/crossbar was obscuring a clear view.

That said, we still had one more golden opportunity to win it,  Simpson again showing the lack of finish that a Doyle or Yates would have buried. That's not to say he's not improved, just that today wasn't his day. It remains criminal to have one recognised striker in this squad, of that you will not change my mind.

But 1-1 away from home when we could have been dead and buried in the first half is a good point. We again showed glimpses of what we could do. And most of the first half showing that passing around without purposes is pointless.

Not sure which way the season will go, right now we'll be mid table I think. But we could easily go up with a bit of tweaking and a striker and left back in January. I am however convinced we'll be nowhere near the relegation battle, which is a massive relief.

[Frigby Daser]

Whilst a Doyle or Yates may well have finished the Simpson chances, I’m not convinced they’d have got there in the first place - Simpson used his strength well for both, just didn’t pull the trigger on the first, and lacked composure with the second. Gladwin also had a decent chance cutting back, which would have been similar to the Scunthorpe goal, but got crowded out too soon. The most frustrating thing is how close the team is to being a genuinely decent side - within touching distance - and I just think Lyden and Grant could be the answer. That allows Payne and Williams to play wide and avoid the acres of space that the midfield 3 vacated today.

Also, huge positive to see the grey Topman hoodie ditched by Garner today for a t shirt/gilet combo. As we progress towards winter, I’m anticipating full progression to socks.

[Flashheart]

It's almost as though they've not had enough time to gel yet...

[JBZ]

The 'it's still preseason' ship has since sailed

[Batch]

a fair observation Frigby

[Flashheart]

The 'it's still preseason' ship has since sailed

Not for me.

I gave it 10 games before the season kicked off. I didn't get any objections at the time.

[JBZ]

Absent any significant change in playing personnel, I suspect that the season will play out in a similar fashion. A finish in or around 10th place would represent a more than respectable result.

[TheDukeOfBanbury]

Whilst a Doyle or Yates may well have finished the Simpson chances, I’m not convinced they’d have got there in the first place - Simpson used his strength well for both, just didn’t pull the trigger on the first, and lacked composure with the second. Gladwin also had a decent chance cutting back, which would have been similar to the Scunthorpe goal, but got crowded out too soon. The most frustrating thing is how close the team is to being a genuinely decent side - within touching distance - and I just think Lyden and Grant could be the answer. That allows Payne and Williams to play wide and avoid the acres of space that the midfield 3 vacated today.

Also, huge positive to see the grey Topman hoodie ditched by Garner today for a t shirt/gilet combo. As we progress towards winter, I’m anticipating full progression to socks.

Great to meet you today Mate.
Want to see that flag 👍