Thetownend.com

Harrogate 1 Swindon 2 att: 2,380 (430 away)

if ever we needed a win it is now, with Mansfield next up.

But I think it's going to be a draw

They’ve lost 5 out their last 6 at home if we can’t win Saturday we really are in free fall🤣

But we've only won away once  :(

I just realised I could stay another night in Bradford and go see town on Saturday in Harrogate. Nah fuck that, I’m coming home.

You could always drive back up on Saturday!

But we’ve had a free week on the training ground to work on our defensive frailties and tactical awareness😁

We won't win.

Dont think we will draw either!

Me and Mrs Pooh are making the long journey for this one.  :headhurts:

I must be mad, but had planed it a while ago, typical that we are on such a poor run!  :cry:

Just have to drown my sorrows after.  :pint:

Bloody genius. Never thought of that. 🤣🤣

Win

I cant see past a loss up there, its fucking depressing that I am even contemplating not getting a win at the smallest league club who seem to have a budget in excess of what we have got.

Its embarressing TBH and utterly frustrating that we seem to be being bled dry financially by a coven of football vampires who all want their part of the club and the money that goes with it.

Anyway the Trust will have access to the accounts soon and all will become more clear :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Such a frustrating club to follow. Look how well Pox are doing, even with off the field issues and smaller crowds  :no:

Oh we are frustrating but none of us signed up for an easy journey, this is more like us all signing up for a trip with Scott of the Antarctic. If we wanted an easy ride we would all be Liverpool or Man Utd fans.

But, for whatever reason, be it geographical, historical or family/friends we have all ended up here.

Just gone outside the top 7 and might be in League 2 for some time as Captain Oates didn't say.

To which Scott replied "Great God! this is an awful place".

Think that would do wonders for a fair proportion of our fan bases blood pressure! I suspect that a lot of people would be considerably happier if they didn't support STFC and supported someone like City instead, it supposed to be fun!

But thank you for the Scott of the Antarctic reference, reminded me of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxXbpHeIrUc

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change my allegiance for anything. 

Very few people would/do.

With that said, one of my good mates from school, who was a Man U fan (because his dad was a Liverpool fan) now supports Reading off the back of trying to create a bit of rivalry with me. Living in Scotland, I was one of the rarer Swindon fans and I think it actually stopped me being bullied as one of the very few English people there at the time! Being in the Prem kind of helped also, as we were seen as not being utterly terrible! :)

I’ve had some truly fantastic times following STFC - not just the games themselves. By and large it’s been a hoot.

Just hoping we can at least get on solid ground before I pop me clogs.

You can change your Woman but not your football team.
Always knew I got it wrong 🤣

Starting to think this more now.
Getting more miles on the clock and once again the loyalty card overtaking the enjoyment.

My lad back this weekend and at least not driving up to Harrogate on my own.

We have indeed had some massive highs and also the deepest of lows, none of us would change our allegiences now, if anything happened to the club I would not support a phoenix club I would stop watching football all together.

I am not interested in glory hunting Premier teams in the slightest.

Swindon Town football club is not a choice, its the closest thing to a religion, being with thousands of like minded fans on a matchday always hoping for a great result but more often than not getting an utterly disappointing one. A togetherness, a fraternity or a family.

If you aren’t enjoying it, why do you persist with it?

Well put Mate.
The same, it’s a religion that tests loyalty to the limit.
I always try and put the club on the map. Have stories that bring tears of laughter amongst friends.
How can you turn your back on history and memories? - You just can’t.

Loyal as fuck.
 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

What a surprise!

‘ Wayne Hatswell on injuries:

Good question. I have just come off the training pitch, but it looks like we will be light tomorrow. I don't want to say personell, but we are going to have to draft a few youngsters up for the bench. We lost Ty, but we have got Khan back. Clayton, Cain, Uwakwe, Ward are all long term. One has just fell out, so I need that confirmed.’

It’s a fucking disgrace.
Competitive budget - absolute bollocks.

Ward is an odd one, claims of him being injured but it is sounds like he was recalled due to not playing and the deal was for him to play when a players is sent on loan, had a shaky start but never been given a chance again despite our issues on the left

https://twitter.com/WorthingFC/status/1724819559260344439

Why aren't we recalling Aguiar?

We'll win this one. Young at the double

We can’t until January.

I don’t think there’s even an agreement that he can be  recalled in January so he’s there until the end of the season

Over the years, often been asked who I support and the reply is always the same, Swindon and England. Have to say the England support has been more of a problem!

Not even a free drink in the gluepot  ?.

What an enchanting name for a boozer :pint:

This.

Clem Out.

What happed to fans transparency🤔

….with the rest of the Chancers.

I am sure the Trust will have a very detailed set of Trustworthy accounts.
Not a chance.

Flash would have to get his wallet out first. The Titanic's seen more daylight.

Why didnt Flynn do the interview anyway? Any idea?

He pressed the 'assign assistant' button.

it's quiet. Assuming everyone is traveling to Yorkshire!

I've woken up uncharacteristically optimistic. We're going to win

Hope you’re right Batch. We’re well overdue.   Safe travels.

Predicting a win today

I predict a riot I’d we lose today and at home next week to the Stags.

Really cannot envisage a win. Safe travels to those going!

I think its time to go four at the back and start defending properly. Nothing to lose by trying it out imo.

Agreed. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

About to head off.
Have to question your sanity sometimes.

Right back to the Power feeling right now with the Club.
All emotions from anger to sadness because in all honestly I think it’s going to get worse before better.

A win today a crumb of comfort masking the bigger picture. Today the bench will once again be a testament to the ownership of the Club.
No more excuses because it’s bullshit,

I'm not convinced Flynn has that in his 'locker' to be honest. With that said, sending Hatswell to do the presser is a break from the norm so maybe he'll spring some surprises.

The 2pm team news will be interesting. I wonder which player the new injury that Hatswell announced yesterday was. Given Shade's absence, the short term purchase of Kokolo was necessary, although quite what Genesini has done is anyone's guess. He could just be terrible in training, who knows.

I'm torn as to how to predict today, our form is knickers and we really need to turn that around. It could be that we bang in 3 goals before half time and attempt to hold off as we run out of options on the bench, but I don't think that will happen.

Harking back to the conversation you had earlier in the thread, you do it because you love your club, not due to insanity. I’d much rather support Swindon with all its bullshit than follow a Prem club whose biggest problem is that they only managed to sell 10000 shirts in Torquay over the course of a season.

As awful as our situation is right now, like you I’ll always support Swindon as they were assigned to me the minute I popped out of my Mum in PMH 37 years ago with my umbilical chord trying to throttle me.

‘Like you’ refers to supporting Swindon, by the way. Not the manner of our birth 😁

The perennial problem is that any prospective new owner isn’t guaranteed to be any better than the recent incumbents.

God, we’ve had a succession of them.

We've had no midweek game, so that should help us, although saying that we had no midweek game prior to Aldershot, and we all know how that went.

Hopefully the mystery injury will be someone who's not a first team starter like Kinsella. Will be pretty disastrous if it's Kemp

I don't have much faith in us, but going to go with an optimistic 2-1 win

Pre match wouldn't swap following this shit around the country for all the tea in Yorkshire in The Winter Gardens.

The novelty of coming here wore off pretty quickly after the first visit.
Misery guts Yorkshire folk are not exclusive to Harrogate.

Probably won't be time to visit Major Tom's Social, but will be sitting in a tin can later.

Have to admire those who can marry up the match going experience with a clean & honest presence in the boardroom.
Football club owners are just custodians who on occasion do take their duty of care seriously but more often than not , over time, pure self interest is likely to win out.

The club or at least the essence of it belongs to us.
It's ours. We own it. All of us.

With luck I've got maybe 20-25 years left before shuffling off this mortal coil.
Keeling over in the midst of an added time winner in some bleak northern outpost would be a good way to go.
Don't yet have a "do not resuscitate if game in progress" card.

So, a must win game today if further ignominy is to be avoided. A draw would stop the rot though.

Stick with it folks, the good times will come along again.
Until that happens might have to be a case of take your protein pills & put your (tinfoil) helmets on.

a loss today equals our worst ever league 4 run doesn't it (5 in a row). or maybe it beats it. LSP mentioned it, I can't remember

A pint of Wobbly Bob on the go, so it must be time to add very little to the Charlie Austin debate.

I think that Austin is pretty much a necessity in this instance of the team.
Might not have been the case had Flynn been backed properly in the summer, in which case Charlie may have ended up taking more of a back seat.

There have been ups & down but overall the contribution has been good, albeit he should have been pushing double figures for league goals.

We've missed him after he's been subbed more often than not. The offensive threat v Stockport more or less disappeared after he went off.
Coincidence? Maybe.

There have been numerous occasions when made for Charlie crosses have landed on the wrong head or an opposition head occupying the ideal Austin position when he's still making up the ground from midfield or has been removed from play.

The unexpected emergence of Young has masked this to a degree, otherwise we would be properly in the shit.

Assuming that Flynn has to err work under certain restrictions in January then bolstering the midfield to ensure Austin can operate in the final third & within the extended lines of the 18 yard box only might yield some results.

To my limited mind the second coming was never going to tarnish the legacy & that remains the case still.

Tbh, a few of those crosses have, indeed, landed right on Austin’s noggin - and he’s fluffed most of them.

Yeah, that was the reference to should be nearer 10 league goals.
The misses have been the most disappointing aspect so far.

Will be interesting to hear his thoughts on this second spell.
Hopefully a prime target for LSPOD in due course.

Would like to see him stick around in a coaching role.

Yes,that is true

Yeah we have lost 4 in a row on 4 occassions in L2/Div 4 IIRC so we would be record breakers, best start to a season and most consecutive defeats in the same season, bizarre.

Second highest scorers yet only 2 clubs have let in more.

Fucking contrary us!

Bloody hell, Bradford 4-0 down at HT away at Notts County

They are in freefall. Similar to us recently.

....and with a "competitive" budget I would think!

I’ll be honest - I’ll gladly take a win (obviously) but I’d somewhat settle for a draw purely because sometimes it’s better just to stop the run of defeats at all costs even if that means sacrificing a winnable game for a more defensive approach

…but…most of all - I’d just like to see us try something a bit different today. A tweak in tactics, a change in formation, just a player doing a slightly different role - just something.

I get the competitive budget blah blah blah small squad blah blah blah but that does not mean we can only play one way with one formation. There is at least a degree of flexibility in this squad.

fair DV, fair

100% agree.

Oh I am sure they have a way bigger budget than we do but Hughes utterly wasted it in the Summer, gonna be difficult for Graham Alexander to rectify that outside of the transfer window.

Ironic that Alexander was sacked by a team whose most potent attacking threat is on loan to Swindon to then be hired by a completely different team whose most potent attacking threat is on loan at Swindon.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_ODUc-W0AAqgDH?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

Hopefully we dont have to chase the game and bring some subs on.

minturn for brewitt.

I really really want Minturn to succeed. But I think that's harsh.

That bench is a joke. ffs. nothing against the kids whatsoever mind

Odd that Brewitt isn’t starting but is on the bench.

That bench is fucking shocking.

Guessing Brewitt has a knock, as poor as he’s been over the last few weeks Minturn has shown he’s nowhere near up to it yet. Odds on Minturn giving away a penalty today?

That bench though, wow. We’ve been property screwed over by the ones supposedly in charge.

I’m game for Tom Brewitt target man up top!!

Worst ever ?

We're being taken for a ride, again.

Maybe we are changing tactics. Going from defending badly to not defending at all

This.

 :D

We got any under 10’s strikers available?

Give it everything lads seeing as you have next week end off!

Applying some flexibility is down to the manager in our current plight.

Not seen any inclination to do that as yet, apart from some positional tinkering v Aldershot which ended in disaster.

Agreed that that there is some scope for change but it's not a massive amount of wriggle room available at the moment.

Overall we've not played atrociously badly in recent games & have still been creating chances.
Would expect to see the (not so) trusty 352 in operation today.

Rightly or wrongly some managers are unwilling to change regardless of circumstances.
Crossing the white line, blah blah blah these players are still capable of replicating early season form if they do what they are told.
We don't know if that is or ever was the case.

There’s always Hubbard to come on if we end up flinging high balls into the box!

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Not too familiar with the youth players, but am I right in saying that none of them are strikers?

Assuming the injuries stay the same, once you take Young and Kemp out of the squad, the line up starts looking worrying let alone the bench

no way, they'll be all out to impress so they don't have to play Tuesday 😁

Hatswell doing the "pre match" interview🤔

I forgot about that shite😁

In terms of matches played it must be there or there abouts.

Only Ward (58 league games) and Brewitt (49 league games) have played more than 1 league game.

Minturn and Kinsella starting. No striker on the bench. Same formation we’ve used all year.

I fear it’s another defeat.

that's from yesterday I assume

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMjbnYIa8VQ

where's obodo?

Possibly

School Residential trip

Well people have been saying that Brewitt has been playing as if still concussed since his return.

I have full trust in Minturn.

That bench is on Clem though.

Brewitt dropped to the bench presumably because there had to be an adult on the school trip for insurance reasons and Minturn doesn't count?

😂

Ward GK, Genesini RB/LB, Brewit CB, Hart CB, Hubbard MF, Brown DF, Dworzak MF.

Who do we reckon we'd of put in the midfield if we hadn't stopped Khan going on his internationals? Worrying to even think about

Minturn holding midfielder maybe🤔

RHM injured?

I know Shade is away on international duty, but where are Cain, Clayton, McEachran, Hepburn-Murphy, Ben Ward, Devine, Uwakwe and Kanu?

Again…..🤔

Mostly known to be injured, a couple presumably new knocks. Or resting for the big one on Tuesday night.

All injured, the amount of injuries at the moment are ridiculous, add Abodo to that list too.

Shows the down side of having the small squad that Flynn wanted.
Even with the two more he wanted (assuming Kolkolo isn’t one of them) we’d struggle to fill the bench

He is not capable of playing that role, not ever.

soapy tit wank.

actually not even sure you are joking!

Flynn is on record saying he wanted a squad of 24, I'm pretty sure. He's never said he wanted this.

Flynn asked for 23/4 didn’t he. We never got close to that and he revised that downwards when it became obvious he was getting nothing. It’s no exaggeration to say that the bench is Southern League standard. That lot will have exceeded expectations to have a full career at that level.

come January Clem might be on the bench

He should start selling a slot on the bench to fans.

I feel depressed already looking at that and the game hasn't even kicked off yet.

Fuck off Clem you bullshitting cunt.

No we haven’t. Mansfield at the CG next Saturday.

Which one of The Blazin Squad are we going to bring on if we're chasing a win then?

don't give them ideas.

wait, we've done that already. Agombar, Curran, Marsh

I assumed he meant we've got no chance next week.

would be peak Swindon, lose today then beat unbeaten* Mansfield

*possibly

I've heard people say would be peak Swindon to win this one a few times lately.....but we keep losing.

I like the idea, sponsor a sub, get on our subs bench for £1000 sponsorship, double it if he gets to make an appearance, sounds a bit like Taylor Curran.

I assume he’s got his weeks mixed up and is thinking about Dec 2nd where to my knowledge (well my calendar) says we have no game (FAC 2nd I assume)

Hopefully we’ll land on top of them so they can break our fall.

I imagine they'll want Young back!

If you take the 11 playing, add Ward, Brewitt & Genesini that’s 14.
Add the 8 players missing & Kanu or Wakeling and we’re up to 23 hence the couple short (Kolkolo having only just joined) so not that far away from the 23/24 he wanted.

The problem has been keeping enough of them fit

Who is our number 43? I thought he was about to pick up a flag with the other kids waving the players on

Just seen it's Hubbard

They've got a fucking crocodile in their line up! That's not fair!

White socks for a change of luck? Or kit man left the red ones behind?

We can use them to surrender after 20 minutes.

Who was the striker at Harrogate who was going to Wrexham on deadline day?

White socks, nice.

No Dirks in the starting lineup though.

Harrogate comms

Swindon like to score but also like to concede

I mean we do a lot of both but not sure we *like* to concede

Oxford reject in goal for them today.

Our away kit (this season) isn’t even white.

Must be last seasons away kit stock but as to why we are wearing them?
Unless we forgot our socks and they are Harrogates away socks?

Armstrong. The Thor lookalike.
A preferred target for a few on here.

That’s him, presumably he’s injured?

Lively start by both teams but not much quality so far.

Lovely run by Young but his shot goes wide.

good play from young, surprised he got that far too get the shot in

Mahoney with a solid stop.

Austin looked pissed off he didn’t pass

Odoh is a bit of a handful. He looked good for Rochdale last year against us too.

that was close.

Bit of a low rent Manor Ground this with the number of separate stands.

The angle (from the tv camera) definitely make it look a cross would have been better than a shot

Exactly what Hawes just said!

Kokolo wins a corner.

Low corner to Young but his shot is blocked for another corner.

The end behind our goal this half looks like a bombsite.

Great chance for Young but he cant get a shot off.

FK for a foul on Kinsella 30 yards out.

good little spell for us this

Another corner to Town.

Kokolo hits a 35 yarder over the bar.

Kemp keeps trying to release Kokolo who has a bit of pace about him.

Having some degree of threat down the left helps our balance a lot

Kemp with a  great chance but gets the ball mixed up under his feet on a bobbly surface and it goes out of play.

Either Kemp's had a mare there or the pitch is less than flat

oh kemp

Very poor by Austin there.

Austin not looking particularly happy. or svelte.

I saw a pic pre game of the pitch, its got an awful surface and very bobbly.

We really need to win this. We don’t look like a team that’s enjoying its football.

I share their feelings!

Young is looking very lively today.

Whats a great save with his feet by Mahoney.

One of the best of the season

we've been the better team yet Harrogate have had 2 great chances they Mahoney has done well to save.

if this was us missing I'd say we'll get punished for not taking them. let's see if they holds in reverse

1-0 Young great shot.

yes!

Beaut from Young. Will be goals in this, both sides look a lot better going forward

Fantastic finish from the edge of the box curled into the top corner.

Christ! Where was the keeper?

Picking the ball out of the back of the net?

Great finish by Young, makes Mahoney’s save all the more important

That was never foul by Kinsella, he won that well.

Any contact was hand on stomach yet the Harrogate player goes down holding his face, fucking knob.

UGM being more disciplined today

They're puma so they're ours.

Before that he was back pedalling and ended up slightly left of centre, which left the opening for Young to score

Maybe it’s part of our third kit we’re going to use in the FA Cup

For such a good goal it was a typical Young goal. He’s a great scorer of great goals.

Nice bit of pressure from Town.

If only he could take the easier chances too, he would be a truly great player.

Harrogate look hopeless, but that doesn't mean I'm confident we'll go on to win this.

Or know when to pass to a strike partner

Another save by Mahoney.

I dont blame a striker for taking chances though, the best strikers are greedy.

Hopeless but could have scored three times.

Their forwards look alright to be fair.

This is 2 very average teams so far, we have taken our best chance but Harrogate didnt manage to take their 3 good chances.

Harrogate are a bunch of diving twats.

Austin is having a mare today so far.

Don’t want to jinx it, but think Minturn has been very good…..Then I jinxed it as he let the striker break through!

We'll need at least 2 more

Great finish from Young. We need this win.

Corner to Town.

Could do with a second

3 mins added.

Shots on target Harrogate 3 Swindon 1.

My non-expert view on Minturn is that he commits very early in defence, which means thundering tackles and good interceptions, but also the occasional absolute ricket. A more experienced defender would be wait for the attacker to commit more I think.

I think thats a fair assessment.

Similar first half to Colchester, could be more up but still glaring holes at the back. Assuming we are able to hold on to the lead well into the 2nd half then the timing of our one real sub will be all important, hopefully the bench doesn’t cost us.

Agree with that assessment 100%

HT 1-0 to Town.

Rode out luck a bit, scored a great goal and Mahoney made 3 great saves.

Kinsella looking better today, Kemp and Young lively, Austin off the pace for me.

Bench is very weak sums up our competitive budget eh

Very drawn to the ball - which as you say has its + points and it’s - points.

Maybe, the 8 players out injured doesn’t help either

tight game, great goal by Young, but equally - big saves by Mahoney

Had a look at their bench for comparison and it's three very experienced players (captain and vice captain aged 33) and then kids.

One moment of quality in that half and it's 1 0 us, so that's good

...which suggests that for all our nice movement, it is Harrogate h
that have looked the likelier for the usual reasons.

A big second half coming up.

we've had 1 shot on target
they've had 3.

I'm not complaining, but for me it wasn't as dominant as Colchester.

Kemp’s been quiet.

Those cycling stats on ifollow at half time suggest we've put in 16 crosses in a half. Of which er.. four have connected.

I'm sure they also have injuries.

My view of that half. Sumptuous finish by Young. After 20 mins, I sneaked a bet on him to score first. Khan pick of our lads for me,something like his imperious best. Minturn adequately replacing Brewitt. Still seem to be a bit gung ho going forward leaving gaps but that's our style I suppose and Flynn seems to be sticking to it but thankfully Mahoney keeping us in front. Kinsell should never have been booked for that but how did Kokolo get away with the shirt pull. I know ref played advantage but thought he'd give a retro yellow. Then Kinsella fouled far worse than the one he was booked for and the Gate player gets away with it. Another inconsistent ref!
If Austin doesn't make 90, little bit worried.

Hutton crossing has been loopy whilst kokolo more frequently driving them in with power, neither tactic working.

Has UGM changed boots? Didn’t he have orange ones in the first half?

Perhaps Austin's wearing his, would explain a few touches...

Austin is awful today, I would get Brewitt on in midfield and push Kemp up front. Nothing is working for Austin so far today.

Austin has been shit for weeks.

Agree RE Austin. Been fucking awful for a while. 2 goals in the league from open play. Everything just bouncing off him or he’s just two steps behind play. Immune from same levels of criticism as others get also it seems.

Blinder by Young x Kemp. Simply have to hang on today, cannot cave in away from home again.

Ball in a tree, lovely stuff.

Suits the stand which looks like its made from old Amazon packing boxes.

Got away with that, poor shot by Odoh almost clean through.

Black Sheep Brewery is ace. Black Sheep named after one of the Theakston family who went and did his own thing.

Neither beer travels well, but is gorgeous in N Yorks, especially in Masham!

Minturn's shirt pulling is going to backfire on him, he does it so obviously.

Black Sheep beers arent too bad, Theakstons better but neither are as good as Samuel Smiths from Tadcaster IMO.

is FBT fucked?

he's up...

Agreed but I'd be tempted to push UGM in there

Everything about Minturn just screams ‘I should have had a season long loan in the National league last season’

He looks capable but inexperienced (which is exactly what he is)

Never particularly keen on that.

Interesting, Samuel Smiths have won hundreds of best beer awards, Black Sheep hardly any. At least none are as bad as John Smiths! :D

1-1

Cocking cock.

He might get that next year! 😢

That been fcucking coming.

oh ffs.

it's happening again

The collapse starts here.

I'm assuming we're knackered in this half as per usual because we've been shite so far.

Odoh is a handful. Few lucky bounces there, but if you invite the pressure, you make your own bad luck.

It was coming

Best look to the bench and make a change.....Oh.

I can see us losing this 3-1 now

Was Rochdales best player last season too, he scored in the 4-4 draw too.

Yep

It’s a good job only 2 go down in this league

Actually more like a fucking prolapse than a collapse.

I have thought that perhaps Brewitt could well play in front of the back three, reads the game and is a good footballer. Might be an option.

Austin playing over 60s walking football.  Get him off.

Why? So we aren’t alone?

Credit where it's due, excellent er... defensive read from Austin there.

Now would be as good a time as any to try it

Good tackle from Minturn

We definitely need to do something different, and I'm not sure that 16 year olds are likely to be the solution.

With a lesser keeper than Mahoney we would be 4-1 down now.

Good tackle Minturn.  Ramsay looks good for Harrogate.

Accrington fans getting their £5 extra worth, 2-0 up on Wrexham.

What a great break and run by Khan….until he got in the box, where he had no idea!

I know its a bit schadenfreude but :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

ANTOINE VAN DER BREWITT

Can’t even begin to think of that outcome 😖

Austin off for Brewitt, about time.

Minturn to midfield. Hmm.

I cant see that working well, personally.

Good turn and chance by Kokolo in the box.

Stop him giving a late penalty away perhaps?

Young overhead kick goes to Khan and wide.

3004 there.

Nearly a 1000 more than average

Kokolo looks threatening

This is the most I've seen us improve after the first sub in a very long time.

And then gets a yellow!

The lesser spotted Anton Dworzak

Kemp, Young, Mahoney and Kokolo the only ones who can take and pride from their performance today.

He enjoyed some time in the 8th tier last season....Hell of a step up.

The only L2 players on view in red

UGM's been ok?

What a miss

Mahoney MotM.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

Mahoney MOM

That was never a Harrogate throw in

Think that gives Mahoney MotM

That Falari has missed about 40 chances today.

That should shut up the Mahoney critics. what a save

Critics?

Hes not been as poor as a few but not had a good game IMO today, but him and Khan would be the next down the list top to bottom.

Soft as fuck.

He has had a lot of critics on the socials, but for me hes our most consistant performers, we are lucky to have him.

foul my arse. keepers always get them

Home comms think that was a clear foul.

I didn’t see it tbh

Conference standard

That should've counted. Very poor from their keeper

Been a bit wobbly last few games but today back to where he has been

small number of noisey fans calling for ward to start

That's my position, it's not a foul on any other player anywhere else on the pitch, but I'm not fuming it was given because they almost always are.

I mean Young was stood near him but don’t think he did anything illegal to hamper the keeper.

I thought it was the right call. But I didn’t want it to be.

Why?

It looks like Harrogates floodlights are as shitty as their stadium, candlelight anyone?

How did we end up in a world where Minturn and Dworzak are anchoring the midfield in a very important league match?!

Young backing in to keeper and had hands up in air.

Christ UGM!!

I thought he was just following the flight of the ball and the ‘keeper was weak

Wouldn’t speak too soon, we had 2 lights out on the SB/Arkell’s corner pylon, if any more go we might need some candles for home games.

FT 1-1.

Meh.

More dropped points. We are so average.

Inevitable scoreline they’re shit at home likewise us away🤣

Really?

I would have taken that looking at the team sheet and bench!

Disappointed though after going 1-0 up.

Pleased in the end not to have lost!

Unfortunately, looked more solid when Austin was taken off.

Well, honestly - I think we’ve been robbed there.

If this was the Premier League and VAR that decision to disallow our second goal would be front page news for the week.

Not the best performance & not the worst result but think we’ve been robbed of 87th minute winner*



* not necessarily true

Shite. Equalled our worst ever losing streak in div 4 but not beaten it then. Some miracle.

Not true in the sense scoring in the 87th minute doesn’t mean we’d hang on and win the match but absolutely true in the sense we’ve been robbed of a goal

League 2 refs are not good enough, no shock.

Got to question the manager this time I'm afraid. It was obvious for at least 15 minutes that Gate were going to score before they did. Why leave it til they scored to make the change?

Given our squad and given our run, I thought we did well to draw.  

But objectively getting the point was almost entirely down to Murphy Mahoney.

Harrogate were nothing special (liked Odoh and Ramsey) and were also on a shit run but were the likelier to score in both halves.

2 very poor sides on show today, we had a few good performers and Odoh and Ramsey the only 2 players in a very poor Harrogate team that would make our side TBH.

At least we didnt lose, thats the best I can say, oh and a great goal from Young.

Don’t know, but maybe Brewitt couldn’t manage more than 20 mins (illness or injury)?

a point is better than no points

young scored a great goal.

But let's be honest, we'd be disappointed with a draw if we were Harrogate and missed those chances. I say missed, Mahoney did excellently.

I might start hiding behind my sofa now ahead of next weekend.

That's how I saw it, the change made a huge difference. A sub or injury break would have been a welcome interruption.

Yeah,Mahoney clear MOTM again,closely followed by Khan for me. Kemp poor first half but much better second. Substitution of Austin improved us but too late. Although Young robbed of a 2nd goal. Pointless change( unless injured) Dvorzak for Kinsella,who I thought did a decent job

Yeah, I get that and I can somewhat take them getting decisions wrong that are grey so to speak - it happens.

Sometimes even if I don’t agree I can at least take a good guess as to why the ref has given it but for me. The cross has come in, Young’s eyes are on the ball. Keeper is behind him. Keeper try’s to catch it and spills it as he comes down on top of Young who has made no obvious attempt to try around and / or deliberately back into the keeper to force the fumble.


Then again I’ve only see it twice (real time & reply) from the TV angle but saw absolutely nothing in it.

Mansfield are no great shakes, they have only won 6 league games in a row now, pah, easily beatable! Stockport have won 10!

RHM and McE scans are clear.

Will come down to discomfort whether they play next week

There was nothing in it. Perfectly legitimate in my eyes

I don’t think he’s played against since the infamous no :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkrZoohWmVg&pp=ygUYYWRlbiBmbGludCBzYXlzIG5vIG5vIG5v

Is a red card in front of the Town End too much to ask?

No it’s nearly Christmas!

Drawing with Harrogate is shite

Can’t see us winning another away game this season and take away Kemp and Youngs goals we’re relegation fodder
Sooner Morfuni fucks off the better

Harrogate were one point behind Swindon before and after play, that's where we are, mediocre.  A draw was a safe punt even if Harrogate don't draw many.

Shows how far we have sunk tbh

Rumour is they have a higher budget than us which wouldn’t surprise me either

I think that Yeovil have a higher budget than us.

Yeovil have a huge budget, they have had a recent takeover and Cooper has been told he can buy whoever he wants this season. They also have an average attendance of nearly double what Harrogates is this season.

We're doing well then!🙂

A decent enough effort to grind out a point against fellow mid table candidates given the current run of form.

I'll leave it to others to examine the bigger picture of where we, as a collective, think we should be or would like to be with the half way point approaching (in an ideal world).

I'm not sure if I'm encouraged by a point at Harrogate, or worried by 2 points from 18.

Finding it hard to put this game into context tbh.

Mansfield and Accrington away (on a Tuesday) don't look like easy games to me either

That's why I mentioned Yeovil (National League South), could well be back in the EFL within three years.

Just a question for anyone who would be bothered to answer. Would you still follow Town if we went out of the league or would it be the end of your association?

The key question for those games is whether Austin starts, he is playing in sort of midfield, but even with Minturn and Dworzak in midfield without him, the Town looked more solid and more on the front foot.

Was chatting to an ex Yeovil player who was released end of last season yesterday actually, said he enjoyed his time there

Austin is diabolical. Time to retire.

Sick of repeating myself week after week. He is living off his past. Like playing with 10 men. Every. Single. Week.

If it’s in your blood you will never stop following them.

Time to come off the bench rather than start, can help out defensive headers or be an attacking threat in the last few minutes.  It was obvious how the Town improved after he was subbed.  Flynn has to make a key decision.

Honestly. If it meant clearing out the boardroom, resetting the finances and us winning games and flying up the leagues - I’d be all for it…

I know it’s not an exact sciences but teams coming back into the FL from the NL seem to be better shape for a spell out plus there are less financial restrictions

Same here,do you think it would be disastrous?

Yes, I'm just trying to assess whether  it would be the disaster many seem to think it would be. For me personally I'd get to more games down here in Kent! Rather we didn't tho

The fact that this is even up for discussion just shows how far we have fallen

I would rather be fan owned at least we would know where the money was going and could sustain L1 football look at Exeter

Yes, would still follow.

Five clubs in L2 that haven't experienced non league yet.
Staying in the league is paramount.

Nothing would actually end my association with the Club, I'm stuck with this shower of shit for evermore, for better or for worse God help me. However, I certainly wouldn't be able to continue to invest financially and emotionally in the Club if we dropped into the National League under the current ownership (I'm struggling to do it now) New ownership giving genuine hope for the future would be a different matter though... Whatever level you're playing at, all you can ask for as fan is hope and we don't have that under this bunch of utter charlatans...

I really feel for Austin, because there is absolutely no way he was/is expecting to be playing 90 minutes most weeks at 34 years old.
I can’t imagine he particularly wants too, I can’t imagine Flynn wants him to be either.

Unfortunately, the budget has caused us to have no other choice.

Fair comment

follow, yes.

season ticket, not so sure. might pick and choose and do more away. might do a few away and a few home. might end up caving and getting a ST - hard to say until push comes to shove.

I have a feeling full time non league football isn't for me.

As above, fucked if I'm buying a season ticket if whichever cunt took us to non league carries on with "putting right the wrong" platitudes

I mean a season ticket would/should be cheaper in non league. I'd be more likely to buy one.

Not if the likes of Clem are here mind. But if we were in non league fan owned Id absolutely buy a season ticket.

I wouldn’t invest as much time / emotional energy. TBH I’d probably tune out until/if we picked ourselves of the floor - which the way throngs are going I may do at the end of this season.

That was possibly one of the worst games, atmosphere wise I've ever been to! :crash:

If it wasn't for Mahoney saves we would of lost that game.

Spoke to a certain loan players father after the game (I'm in the know for a change), Championship clubs are eyeing him up, once he has been recalled.  :cry:

.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNre0xOPLVE

Sell and then loan back for the rest of the season would be nice.

Fingers well and truly crossed on that one.  :hmmm:

You've kemped that secret

I'm still young at heart!   :wink:

100% stick with the club, whatever level we plummet to. If we could guarantee new ownership, then it would not necessarily be terminal, as others have demonstrated.

I'm not saying my four month old daughter is already the leading football analyst in the family, but she has just got a cocktail of shit and vomit all over her new Swindon kit.

Which is a shame as she's meant to be on the bench on Tuesday.

A team without quality v.s. a team without confidence.

No dribbles forward from FBT and very few from Dokes - by design or fear?

Austin's legs have gone.

Minturn equipped himself really well.

Kokolo was a threat.

Kemp and Khan nowhere near the level we need them to be at.

Young's goal superb and his endeavour is exceptional. Got a bright future at Bradford from Jan

Dworzak, bloody hell. Like Morgan Roberts last year - harsh to write him off but not at the level.

Also - given a decent number of STFC fans made the trip, must have been our quietest away crowd for ??. Not a single chant other than 'Jakey Young' after the goal.

ah, I see.

I described him as a massive punt when we signed him.

I thought he was done after the mini dought after his blistering start


but he's come back and keeps on scoring.

young has been amazing, his stock won't be higher in division 4. I can't see a single reason Bradford won't either recall him or flog him to someone with deeper pockets.

my only hope with Kemp is the mk can use him to write off Twine money. A bit hopeful I know

I heard a "Charlie Charlie Austin" when he was subbed.

not that it negates the point

Just in.
The bench an embarrassment and insult to 9,000 average gates.
split in the fanbase and anger setting in.
Cracking goal and Mahoney kept us in it.

Pushing Minturn into Midfield (in fairness had a reasonable game) just summed up where Clem has taken us.
January one big massive judgement day.

Don’t get yer hopes up!

I think we all know in our heart of hearts, exactly what's going to happen in January...

If we were fan owned we'd have every penny of revenue genuinely being spent on the club, which I'm not confident has happened since Black sold up and in the non league we'd probably have the largest budget or top two or three minimum.

That doesn't guarantee success but it would be a lot more fun than what we're experiencing at the moment. Plus we'd be paying less per fan in ticket money for the privilege.

I'm not advocating for it, as I'd rather we got our shit together in this league and not go down....but its interesting to see people say they'd not bother when the experience would be a thousand times better than this shit.

Mate - starting to think this.
A few decent lads in the services that go everywhere, all now saying the same.
About time for transparency from these chancers.

There's no way of knowing if it would be a better experience...it could be better but it could easily be 10x worse. Ask fans of Torquay... Southend... Hereford etc...

We don’t have to get relegated to get a decent owner. Clem’ll be gone soon enough then it’s fingers crossed we don’t get another tosspot off the tosspot conveyor belt.

My hopes summed up...

I wouldn’t be so sure Clem will be gone soon enough🤣

Firstly, with respect to those clubs, we are not them.

Secondly definitely in Herefords case, they were still under the same shite ownership when they went down I think. Phoenix club seems to be doing ok. They're traditionally a non league club anyway.

If we can shift the hangers on it'll be a start. But yeah if we get another Jed/Power its just a reoccurring nightmare.

My point is, you seem to be convinced that we'd have a much better time in the NL... My point is that it would depend entirely on who the owners are. With the current shower in charge it could easily be (and probably would be) far, far worse...

Fan ownership would make the club more sustainable in the long run as the club would have to live within its means and wouldn’t be able to rely on a owner to bankroll the club.

Realistically under this model the best Swindon could realistically achieve would be anywhere between a mid table league 1 team to a top end league 2 team.

I guess that’s a slight improvement on where we are now but I’m sure most fans would want Swindon to be near the top end of league 1 or even having a few seasons in the championship (all be it fighting off relegation). This will either take heavy investment or some brilliant recruitment.

It would break the current cycle of being passed around wronguns and used and abused at least, and could then vet any future external investment, I think that's what happened with Portsmouth .

Going back to the here and now.. does anybody think any manager we could realistically have would be doing a better job than Flynn right now?

Nope.

Maybe, but not by much. I think a more pragmatic manager would probably work better with this squad, getting us to defend in numbers and relying on a moment of magic from Kemp/Young to win games by the odd goal. It wouldn't turn us into promotion contenders though, and we definitely wouldn't have had the incredible start to the season that we had.

Interesting to listen to the Harrogate commentary, where they praised Swindon for being attacking & forward thinking, but did highlight that it left us open and vulnerable at the back.

The concern here is that it feels like a playoff winning team can keep a game tight & grind out a result when needed, with the best will in the world that's not us.

I guess perhaps the long term goal with fan ownership is to get the club steady, debt free, living within it means and thus making it a better & viable business for a genuine business people to invest in (rather than outright buy & take full control) Even a 51/49 thing so the fan ownership still has the deciding vote on decisions because let’s be realistic here fan ownership isn’t going to suddenly given us competitive budget and war chest of cash for signings.

Unless the authorities are going to make serious and significant changes to the financial regulations in football then fan owned clubs are never going to compete.



I mean Mad Gav would probably have us winning every week but other than that.

In all seriousness: I don’t think Flynn is the problem here and a I don’t think a change would see much difference.


 However I will say I’m not entire convinced Flynn’s dedication to plan A & only plan A is all about the squad depth. Part of me thinks even if we did have a bigger squad and we did have more options to change things up we’d still play exactly like we are now and any subs would just be like for like - which would obviously help from a fatigue point of view but not from a doing something different point of view (a criticism fans of his previous clubs have with him) but that can’t be proven one way or the other currently.

No. When you don’t have funds you need to build  longer term aka Newport. I think Flynn needs January and next summer to sort the squad out. You only learn about individual player characters in adversity.

While I have a whole lot of sympathy for Flynn given the situation, Maher at Southend has shown that it is possible under even worse conditions.

I too think this FWIW, our lack of a plan B is a major downfall in Flynns management.

We do, but some are still convinced the rest of Clems competitive budget is going to come out and save us.

I don’t think he has the ability to go plan B with the squad we have tbf

IMO it wouldnt be too difficult to go 4 at the back 4 of Dokes Minturn Brewitt and FBT and push Hutton and Kokolo into defensive winger roles then take Austin off and put 3 in the centre of midfield with Young up front, or any version of that.

That way both fullbacks should have extra protection from the wingbacks who are wingers and it allows us to be able to defend as a 4 unit at the back and yet the wingbacks/wingers can still get forwards and bolster the attack.

Just how I see it though.

Fair enough. Wouldn’t be too disappointed with that in tough away games

I would certainly consider it if we are protecting a lead, which we seem to fail frequently doing.

Agree. He’s been dealt a bad hand but isn’t playing it well at the moment. There was no need to change when we were playing well, but it seems we’re intent to try and rediscover our swashbuckling style rather than be pragmatic. I’ve not seen any rigid, defensive toughness in our formation all season. How hard should it be to go five at the back, with two men sitting in front when we want to hold onto a lead? But no, we play 3-1-4-2 and tell the opposition that they need to play one pass to open us up.

Would tightening up at the back detract from the one thing we are reasonably good at - attacking. If it did we’d have the worst of both worlds. I’m presuming that if Flynn thought we had the players capable of seeing a game out by being resolute we would.

Yesterday’s game showed up, yet again, how easy it is for the opposition to fashion big chances with a fairly simple, one dimensional approach. Even when we were pummelling sides we were still offering up chance after chance.

Chickens were always going to come home to roost. My question would be - is our present approach the one which  Flynn set out to play from the outset? Seeing as he missed out on a succession of CBs who to my knowledge weren’t in the marauding style, I suspect not.

4 at the back should be fairly easy. I'd be tempted to drop Hutton and play Dokes at Right Back.

I'd go 4-2-3-1 but even that means we're struggling due to lack of fit players. Would work well if we had proper DCMs of even just Cain fit right now.

Mahoney

Dokes
Minturn
FBT
Kokolo

Kinsella
Khan

McEachran
Kemp
Cain

Young.


Reduces the reliance on a clearly smoked Charlie Austin.





Unfortunately by the time Cain gets fit or we get the chance to get some proper DCMs in, Young will be gone.

I understand what you are saying mate but strong defences dont lose you games, as long as you have a semi capable attack then you can grab a goal a game easily, but if you dont concede then you cant lose.

Strong attacks can win games but if you concede lots then it puts way more pressure onto the attacking players to score even more goals.

I have always believed that make a strong team defensively then you will win more games than you draw and you will draw more games than you lose.

Look at Stockport, they were decent but not outstanding going forwards, no flair players but they played as a total unit in defence and attack, the defended very well, much as Gills defended well without ever excelling in attack too yet both easily beat us in the end.

Get the defence right as a priority for me.

I was always taught build your defence first. It is akin to the foundations of a building.

Exactly that.

We also seem to have more than our fair share of permanently injured players. Never known so many players who can only last  one game or so before they break down again.

Had similar thoughts last night.

Wouldn’t be against a 4411 next week.

Dokes, Minturn, Brewitt, FBT

Hutton, Khan, Kinsella, Kokolo

Kemp
Young

I mentioned this before if you go back 30-40 years there seemed to be less frequent or long term injuries. Maybe the old muddy pitches were better on the bodies!

That works too actually. Hadn't considered Hutton in a midfield 4.

Literally my post a couple of hours ago :)

Completely get playing players in their correct positions, but not sure I fancy minturn and Brewitt as the middle 2 - not that there's any other options really

Do you think you get that long these days? Squads seem to be very ethereal, we seem to need rebuilding every 6 months now.

Maybe we can tie a core down. I guess time will tell

I mean if Clayton is fit & match sharp he’d slot in at CB or if any of our other left sided players (Ward, Uwakwe, Devine) were fit they could go in at LB & you place FBT inside.

Apart from RHM are all our injuries lefties? Clayton, Cain, McEachran, Uwakwe, Ward, Devine, Kanu(?)

We are just a parody of our earlier season selves now.  The grunt and grind of the middle of a league two season has set in, the legs are worn, but we keep trying to be something that quite clearly does not work.  It's tactical suicide.

At least yesterday we reached the stage where we didn't even bother with the charade of Hutton and Kokolo being called wing backs.  Neither of the showed the slightest bit of interest in defending, so we really played with two wingers and three defenders.

The Harrogate commentators thought we were mad.  Pointing out we left nobody back for corners and we'd be ripe for a simple ball counter attack, which happened while they were describing the opportunity.  It's essentially that obvious to teams how to play us - everyone can see it before it happens.  We have made it easy for teams to know what to do when playing us.

I've given Flynn a lot of slack given the squad building issues, but if he continues with this, it will be the ruin of him and us.

We do have 11 or so players good enough to play football at this level, we can still be an attacking team, but we have to be cleverer about how to do it.

We played alright for half the game, and like a school kids team for the other half.

Agree on the CB thing, we have no other fit players, and yes I was thinking the same about our "lefties" yesterday and how so many are injured.

Also though we probably have more "lefties" in the team now than I can ever remember, add to the list Young, Kemp, Kokolo, FBT and Kinsella(IIRC) who all use their left as their dominant foot.

Any younger fans thinking times are depressing now take a look at the crowds we were getting back in the early 80’s.

Looks good to me.

That 1681 at home to Darlo our lowest ever league attendance.
I remember standing in an empty TE that game.

Sky Bet are offering 150/1 for us to get relegated.

Could be worth a fiver.

Went to most games that season really depressing times.

 :clap:
Swindon 'till I die (whatever league they're in) !!  :clap:

That 880 away at Chester must be the lowest league crowd we’ve ever played before. Can’t be certain but I think I was there, too!

I was there and remember it well.
3-0 win with Gary Nelson scoring 2 and I think a young Lee Dixon played for them (not 100% on that bit). Bloody freezing cold standing on the muddy bank that was the away end.
17 at the time and travelled on an Eagle Motors supporters coach.
Shame that nothing these days likely to be one of several lasting memories (except permanent concerns over our future)….

It wasnt that empty :) I was there that day in the TE too! lovely sunny day IIRC but you could throw your programme at the person next to you and not be able to hit him.

I was there too, about 150 Town fans on a very wet midweek evening. I went to every game home and away from 1982 right through until the Premier season when I failed to get tickets for a couple of games. I hated the Premier season TBH but loved the trip to get there.

It was very cold and very wet, not too muddy bank though that I remember but not a good away end, mud at the top of the bank and terraces underneath, we stood near the goal.

 I was 17 too it was 2 weeks before my 18th birthday. And yes Lee Dixon did play for them and Andy Holden the ex Oldham player as well.

I thought we put a shift in first half.

But like so many recent games we fall so short in the second.

Got away with it at the death ala Rochdale last season.

However, the rot has been stopped.

Hoping for a miracle on Saturday....they need to go down to nine men and we stick nine across the back...cling on to another draw...three of them makes a win! :)

I will be at Accies for the easy three points the following Tuesday!

If games finished at half time

No surprise there!

We must be bottom of the 2nd 45 table.

10th surprisingly. 6 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses - same as our normal record!

Our last 3 games we were winning in the 1st half, gone on to lose 2 and draw 1.

.

So we've scored more in the 2nd half!

Which is a bit perverse.

Something like 55% of goals happen in the second half for football generally (I assume as defenders tire/games get more open) so it's not a huge surprise. Our ratio is more first-half heavy than many.

We have however *conceded* two thirds (66%) of our total goals in the second half, which is a huge outlier compared to 55% on average.

So basically the numbers tell you our defence goes to shit in the second half, whilst our attack doesn't change that much.

Assuming this is correct:
https://www.soccerstats.com/halftime.asp?league=england4

1st half : F 17 A 11 Pts 34
2nd Half :  F 20 A 21 Pts 24

So yeah, but the against ain't pretty

https://x.com/adversport/status/1726639706061062314?s=46&t=sUQ-fFgelrF5oqTmo-D8tA

Given our total points and our league position, that would say to me we typically see out games we’re a few goals to the good (Crawley) for example while we lose the tight games, mostly by leaking goals rather than poorer attacking output. It all goes back to the lack of bodies as well as lack of experience defensively which has been hidden amongst the small squad size. We don’t have those nasty players defensively who can see out a 1-0 ala Gillingham did at STFC

the split is more that we won more in the first 8 of the season (4 wins)

2 wins in last 10:
 Swindon 2 (8,  82) Newport 0
 Swindon 2 (25, 64) Grimsby 1 (69)