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Full title  ;)

Exeter 2-1 Swindon att: 5,021 (away 511)

A bit low on Town fans😀

Exeter 1 Swindon 2 Att, 5,250 with 950 away fans

0-0
Att: 4,777
MoM: Wollacott
1 twazzock with a drum in the "Thatchers Big Bank"

Just hope they have POTD.

Piece of piss. 1-4

A defensively set out point.

Another tight game, with Town’s impressive away record - 2-2.

Rain forecast late afternoon, zippy surface, under lights but only 5.5k with the floaters and plastic scouse preferring the warm, sadly.

Not good news on Joe. It's a fairly significant injury. He'll be out for a number of weeks.

Brandon Cooper has a knee injury which Garner admits could be season-ending. It sounds like Tomlinson may not come back either.

Barry will spend one day a week back at Villa to treatment, but will spend the rest of the time with Town.

Is what it is - not much we can do about it. Baudry was excellent on Saturday. Can imagine a revert to 3-5-2 with back line of hunt JOB baudry odimayo iandolo

It’s not bad still but another injury and we’re a bit fucked

marvellous 🙄

I can't even recall cooper getting injured.

That's a pretty brutal development. Suspect we'll now sign Egbo on a short term deal, at least he's been around the team so hopefully a useful body. Probably pushes Iandolo back to LWB and gives Conroy/Baudry a route back into the team so not disastrous but leaves us looking thin.

and weaker. hunt, cooper, job and Tomlinson we a good unit

1-1 draw in front of 5,781 (915 Swindon).

I had thought that Tomlinson could be recalled with the Peterboro’ managerial change and playing well, so the injury gives them that opportunity I assume. Cooper gone is a blow, perhaps he was carrying the injury hence the loan?

Looking a bit thin in overall quality depth once again, will be interesting how Garner lines us up tomorrow night.

Can't see us getting anything with the latest injury/ban crisis. A point would be excellent

3-0 loss

The loss of McKirdy and a lot being asked of Baudry/AK/Conroy - A couple coming back from injury, and is AK fit?

Was totally out of the football loop this weekend…..why is McKirdy out? Yellow cards mounted up?

Yep, two games for tenth yellow card.

I also wondered about odimayo, couldnt see a mention of him being fit or not..

I thought Odimayo had cramp rather than an injury

How many of them were for fouls?  :sherlock:

Should be fit (hoping).

0.25

I'll take a point.

If ever there was time for some free agents, it’s now. Real shame to hear about Cooper and Tomlinson, to add to Barry.

All 3 big losses and a challenge with stability.
However all about the squad.

We are looking very light in squad depth. Possible team (532):- Woolacott, Hunt, O'Brien, Baudry, Conroy, Iandolo, Reed, Aguair, Williams, Payne, Davison Subs Ward, Odimayo, East, Parsons, Mitchell-Lawson plus 2 academy players. Total lack of impact players on the bench and assumes Conroy is ready to play 90 mins, unless Odimayo is recovered from his knock on Saturday. Think Aguair could do with a rest, but no option to replace him. Hunt also better in a back 4, but with Tomlinson injured, it forces a back 5 unless he continues with Hunt at LB which imo didn't work great on Saturday. Given the circumstances a point would be a great result for us.

Tempted to go.

Get battered and win 1 zip...like away at Charlton all those years ago.

Another new GK as well.

Well, seems like Grounds will play so there’s a good chance of a handful of cock ups and a pen.

An email received from ECFC states "It's looking like a decent crowd with over 5000 tickets sold in total so far...".

anyways thought they got more than that. oh well

Ian is going to score an absolute thronker tomorrow.
Accidental cross-shot from 35 yards, wide left.
Wind assisted (naturally but not by The Flash).
Scrapes in off the bar and post.
The initial move will come from Jonathon Grounds being massively out of position and slipping over.

Conroy to come on last 10 mins and nearly score an own goal.
Reports afterwards will claim he's "done a Jermaine" and taken a taxi home.
Both the Adver and BBC Wilts' Shawwwn "I'll find a negative in anything STFC related even after a 70-0 win" Hodgetts, will get themselves in more of a lather than Randy Marsh!

Jam. Before. Bloody. Cream!

I often wonder what your preferred substance of abuse is!

Got to be speed imo

You were doing so well. :)

Never mind that rubbish, recommend the pulled pork. Before. Crackling and apple sauce bap in Red Square beforehand. Bleddy luvverly tis.

Was glad to be proved wrong on Saturday after I predicted we would lose 2-0.

Today I predict we will lose 2-0.

Or whatever causes one to type lots of long winded drivel  :)

Injuries will force a 5 back line i reckon.
Midfield equally light and with lack of forwards will revert to a 532.
Just can’t see Payne ready for 90 minutes either.

Going to be a tough one this and will need to grind out a result.

Finally, something we agree on.

I'd be tempted to stick with the 4-3-3


                      Jojo

Odi     baudry/con  obrien   hunt

    Aguiar    Reed    iandolo

Payne       Davison   williams

 

Sounds like somewhere everyone Moscow.

Butter?

I was quite impressed with Exeter in the reverse fixture, especially Jevani Brown who looked very sharp.
It's a huge shame that Tomlinson and Cooper are injured and McKirdy is suspended as we looked like we were gelling as a team and now with so many changes (aware Tomlinson didn't feature on Saturday) I can't help feeling the sticking plaster isn't quite big enough.

That said, we can still put out a very good team for this division. If Payne can play the full 90 then that would be amazing, but I suspect he'll either be on the bench or start with an aim to play as long as possible and then be replaced by JML. Has Dabre been recalled from his loan at Chippenham?

Looking forward to the game, if we can keep it tight you never know, but Exeter are going to give us a tough game and I'll predict a 2-0 home win for the Grecians.

Take a point all day long. Battle bus setting off from SN10 circa 1630 hours  :beers:

Pre match plenty of clots but no cream in The Sawyer's Arms.

Vital 6 pinter today.
Biggest game of the season so far?

A win would be massive.
A draw would be excellent.
Defeat would leave Ex'ta as strong favourites to finish above us in the league.

Not seen us win here in 4 league visits.
Didn't realise that last win was in 1986 although they've not been frequent opponents since then.
Just treat the game as an Associate Members Cup tie and we should be fine.  :)

Should find out what the team is made of tonight.
Even without the wounded or indisposed should still have enough quality available to cause them a problem or two.

Anyway, thank you Exeter for Shaun Taylor but no thanks for TA-H and Ryan Harley.

I'm not sure that this is a typo  :hmmm:

I would go with a 5 at the back - simply because we are away from home and struggling for bodies - I personally prefer 5 away from home and 4 at home.

                 Jojo
                Baudry
         O'Brien     Akin
Hunt                            Iandolo
       Aguiar    Reed   East
             Payne
                  Davison

 ;)
All day to take in the sights & sounds.
Always a good away day.

I’d go for this too. The only “like for like” replacement is JML for McKirdy but for me he hasn’t shown enough. Sure up the midfield and give Payne a free licence to roam.

You may want to visit the new bus station

exactly.

Devon cream teas are shit Cornish cream teas

therefore

Devon is a shit Cornwall.

Looks impressive.
I'm guessing that JimmyQ & LL were in attendance for the grand opening, followed by a bit of bus spotting.

Was that historic hotel that burned down near the Cathedral ever resurrected?
From memory the site was still boarded up at time of last visit pre Covid.

I seem to recall that the current plan is to turn it into flats.

Still boarded up but plans to convert upper floors to apartments and reinstate pub and restaurant on ground floor. The company pushing for it has a track history of coming up with fancy plans and then doing nothing (had Oldway Mansion in Paignton but forced to hand it back to council) so not expecting much to change for another couple of years.

No Williams?

Cheers JBZ & thedarkprince.
Must be a bit of an eyesore in that area, will be heading up around there later.

In other news, not long landed in The Imperial up by the Uni.
Got stick in here a few years back from someone* who mistook me for Jurgen Klopp.
*once the confusion had been cleared up, found that he'd just been released from the local HMP that very day & might even have been a town fan.

Anyway, Jurgen Klopp looks nothing like me, but once the laser eye surgery has been sorted, for a fee I will be available to do some demotivational speaking at corporate events.

Can’t see AK featuring thus Conroy if fit.
Williams will start in front of Payne as not ready for 90 mins.

Bare bones but still quality in that 11.
Don’t have the depth.

Williams very rarely starts 2 games in a row, and I would rather start Payne than bring him on for the last 30 - expect them to switch on 60, but you could go with either way around I guess based on how each is feeling after Saturday - obviously that is the insight that the coaching staff get above us joe public.

What's the deal with Jonny Williams and his fitness? He rarely seems to play 90 minutes but is only 28 years old. Is he carrying some kind of injury or fitness problem that is stopping him playing at his best? I think I recall him playing 90 minutes for Wales last year but he always seems to get taken off for us or used as a sub. Probably nonsense but I do wonder if that's how he's ended up at a league 2 side when his pedigree suggests he should be much higher up the pyramid.

For 28 he's not played many games in his career. I get the feeling his body is fairly fragile which is why he's A) at Swindon & B) doesn't play the full 90.

Yeah you probably have a point. He has 240 career appearances (not sure how many are for 90 minutes) and 30 for Wales, over 11 years.

As long as I'm on this earth I don't think I will ever come across another human being who is fixated on bus stations like JBZ is and I'm pretty sure LL is still waiting for the book launch on its Swindon findings we are often told about without any specific detail😀

Nice reposte  :girlgiggle:

It's no coincidence that as soon as we started to stop rotating Williams and Gladwin they both started picking up knocks. They were managed brilliantly until we started falling short on players, no fault of anyones tbh but they were effectively 1 player until January

Leaving in a few minutes. Safe journey everyone, see you there.

Safe journey LL and stick to 70mph😀

It's what makes the TEF such an enjoyable experience :blowkiss:

Been winding the elastic band on the wife’s run around all day. T doubt it will get much more than 79 anyway.

With the price of fuel it's all about mpg now and keeping the revs down😀

So are we saying that Gladwin and Williams are effectively 0.5 of a player now due to their ongoing fitness and injury problems? This is going to sound really harsh and maybe unfair but it makes you wonder whether because of our situation in the summer we were really their only option? Assuming they might fail medicals/fitness checks. That said, they are a great calibre of player to have.

I think what he means is they very rarely played together - they usually were rotated with each other - therefore only 1 player was in the team.

If that makes sense?

Vic Morgan on Exeter comms tonight I hear.

Have a feeling we will go 532 and settle back to let them onto us and try and hit them on the counter.

Could be the return of Conroy alongside Baudry with JOB I think with Iandolo dropping back to LB and Hunt at RB.

Probably going to be Reed, Aguiar and East for that bit more bite in midfield and I expect we will see Payne ahead of Williams for at least the first 60 mins with Davison up top alone.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNWSROqXwAMrQkn?format=jpg&name=large)

SUBS - Ward, Odimayo, Payne, Mitchell-Lawson, Parsons, Cowmeadow, Fox.

CONROY IS MAGICALLY FIT AGAIN WHEN THERE IS SPACE IN THE TEAM

….that’s convenient

He needed three extra days for ultimate fitness😀

Reed and East together and three centre backs. Certainly showing Exeter a lot of respect.

Makes you realise the miles you put in and the risks.
Nearly taken out on the motorway fast lane with a lorries contents falling from the back.
One pedestrian gate smashing the underside of the car and a swerve preventing another that missed the windscreen and over the roof by a few inches.

Scary and once again lucky on the travels.

You reds…..

Sounds scary Duke, take care!

Safe journey home and respect for the miles you do following STFC

I hate the A303 and M5 but unfortunately not that many other fast options escaping the South West as I know too well!

Glad you made it unharmed though mate.

I think that is exactly why we got most of the players we have tbh and explains our season in a nutshell.

Yeah I'm inclined to agree. Let's be honest, we've had a bloody good season regardless how we finish it.

The drum

You did predict the drum would be there!

The picture is like its in standard def from the 1980s, really poor quality.

Iandolo and Conroy have a mix up and give awat a throw near the corner.

Its weird listening to Vic Morgan on comms for Exeter rather than Swindon.

Good defending by Reed there in the box.

Davison with a great chance in the 6 yard box but he cant connect.

Decided to use IFollow and what a pile of manure, buffering all the time, switched off and on three times now, picture abysmal, what a Mickey Mouse operation!

1st 10 mins been all Swindon.

The picture is a bit fuzzy compared to normal but I have never had any buffering at all ever with it.

Corner to Town.

Swindon much the better team atm.

Probably your internet as everything working brilliantly for me.

Wollacott got away with a moment of madness there.

Corner to them. Shot deflected wide.

0-1

1-0. Poor defending. Good finish.

Conroy again soapy tit wank.

Good finish pretty much against the run of play though until the last 2 mins.

At fault?

Hope Vic sounded pissed off when the goal went in🤔

Great chance for Reed but he lashes it over the bar.

He didn't, he said blow the whistle now ref and end the game!

Corner to Town.

Now that would be unforgivable! We have Chalkie White with Hawes this evening not sure what's happened to your mate😀

Charlatan!😡

Awful corner from East again.

Disappointing to say the least.

Hopefully this isn’t one of those games where we dominate possession and end up losing 3-0

Davison booked for persistant fouling.

Another corner to them.

0-2

Shocking defending.

It would be Grounds.

Good thing we picked all those experienced defenders.

Pathetic

2-0. Can tell this defence haven’t played much together. Two chances and two goals.

Looked more like Hunt than Grounds to me.

Jojo looks poor today.

May as well write this season off now. Too big an ask given all the injuries.

FFS. hunt didn't do well, as didn't Reed on first

Gone win 4-3. Back it.

I disagree I thought Hunt did a cracking finish.

Jesus Christ  :crash:

Nobody is consistent in this league. Sneak into the playoffs and we'll see - at our best we're one of the best teams in the division, and we only need it to come off three times. More hope than expectation though for sure.

Even missing Cooper and Tomlinson for me we miss Harry holding the ball up in attack and running at teams more so.

With him on the pitch we are always likely to grab a goal on the break, without him we look less of an effective attacking threat as thats not Davisons natural game at all.

What a miss by Exeter.

Jesus that was so close to another goal from the corner.

any chance of defending a fucking corner lads?

East is looking sloppy so far for us.

Exeter starting to find so much space in our defence.

defence all over the shop too

Is Odimayo not fit, or just not preferred?

he's on the beach isn't he?

I thought is was in from our end of the terrace. £3 for a coffee and bottle of water is the only thing to smile about so far.

Ref missed a blatant handball by the Exeter striker.

How do we change things at half time?

Fuck off back on the coach while no one is looking.

I’m assuming not 100% fit, having gone off on Saturday.

Yes, but found it odd Conroy has come straight in and Baudry started ahead of him.

Best advice possible!

Should have bloody gone to Wookey Hole instead.

The only thing worse than the defending of crosses is the co-commentator's pronunciation of Aguilar.

HT 0-2

No suprise defence is struggling with Conroy starting......

humph. reasonable start, diabolical defending of corners (not just the 2 goals) and midfield not working.

Reed's worse half of the season?

needs it switching around just to try and change things. 4 at back and an extra man in mid would be my change

The local Exeter prostitute?

Conroy is the first name on the team sheet when fit.

He’s been injured until today

And left some of the players there

Away support 9/10 for attendance but 0/10 for effort. Not heard a peep out of us all night including before we went 1-0 down. Extremely disappointing. I hope it will be better when we are shooting towards our fans.

Swindon were on top until they scored their first goal and then all the chances were with Exeter. 2-0 fair result at half time.

This game demonstrates why I don’t think we are ready for league 1 football next season unless there is a total overhaul of players and massive investment in the team. Still Garner has done a great job considering where we started the season.  

Worse than your spelling?

Gas winning 1-0 at Crawley right on our heels now.

Terrible...
Can't defend for toffee
Midfield overrun again
Davison not very good
No attacking threat
Will lose this 3-0 or 4-0

can't just settle for 'doing well'. we may not go up but you have to fight until you can't

never know when the next opportunity will come.

They have dragged us down to hoofing, I do not know why we persist with it

So your saying he would be on the teamsheet before Payne, Mckirdy, Reed, JJ ,

You are seriously deluded..

Conroy is so overrated......

Similar to a few losses I've seen this season. Pretty but ineffective between both boxes. Terrible in both boxes. 2 crap goals conceded, we just cannot defend set pieces regardless of the personnel. Shame because I really don't think they're that good either

I think it was sarcasm based on previous Conroy discussions

I think you've missed his sarcasm😀

Irrespective of who is in the side, we look shit defending set pieces. Missing coopers no nonsense defending and tommo as an outlet. And Iandolo’s endeavour in the middle. Is that cunt of a ref Keith Stroud?

Sorry for repeating you joe mezz!

It’s sarcasm, you moron.

He’s been fit for weeks but not even in squad.

Maybe I should have typed

CoNrOYs ThE fIrSt NaMe On ThE tEaMsHeEt

No, because thats makes my eyes go funny.

It takes longer typing that way! Have the players been sent out early😀

Glad I couldn’t be arsed to watch an expected trouncing.

Fuck me, if Sheridactyl wins on Saturday . . .

Let's don't look too far ahead :eek:

Exeter want it more than us.

Pretty passing only works to a point, you need a cutting edge and a foot in when defending, this has the feel of away at Orient to me.

Payne on for East who was poor (as pretty much all of them were).

grounds has gone off too

Quitting while he's ahead!

Probably injured himself celebrating in front of the Town fans which seemed excessive as he only played in front of any Swindon fans twice in his short career with us.

another shit ref...i can understand close calls and letting them play but when a guy is rammed from the back like he is in prison that is a problem!

Corrected for you!

Swindon defended a corner well. Fml.

Jojo isnt coming for much tonight, not playing his normal game at all.

We seem to go into games being very good or very shite. We need consistency.

We’re gonna win 2-5

100% agree with this.

You really are a miserable cunt. Stay in Greece.

1st 15 mins we looked very good and created chances, as soon as we conceded our heads dropped and even more so when the 2nd went in.

We are still passing it around but just not creating clear cut chances, and we still look shakey at the back.

Good cross from Ian Dolo there.

I haven't heard Sweeneys name mentioned he can't have anything to do!

Looking rather toothless this evening but at the same time not having the rub of the green.   Can’t see us scoring two unfortunately.

Great long pass from JOB to Davison but he uses his arms and the ref calls a foul.

Some poor decisions from the ref again tonight.

Great move by Payne but his shot is shocking. On his wrong foot.

JML on for Hunt.

Weird one. Don’t get that at all.

Not sure Davison has kicked or headed the ball when the ref hasnt given a foul against him.

No very unusual choice. Although Hunt wasnt having a very good game he didnt deserve to go off.

Going 4-3-3?

One of those games again where our radar is off and we’re not finding each other as well as we should be. 2nd to every ball too. Look tired/not bothered.

Exeter’s high and hard press would be ideal for McKirdy and Barry to find space behind, but theyre not here and Davison looks isolated. Would like to see Parsons come on and play along side him….ffs he’s gone with JML instead.

Awful pass back by COnroy, gives away a corner.

Most of our passing tonight has just been a bit short or a bit heavy and our first touches just too strong and we are losing things that normally work.

Its just one of those games where stuff that normally works doesn't.

Town is missing 4 starters that are quality for this squad.  2 strong defenders who are now done.  a winger that is out for many weeks and a striker that gets suspended every month. 

basically they are now starting over once again to find a combination that can compete. 

really sucks

AK on for JOB? WTF?

figures game is over may as well rest the best back.

wtf. is job injured?

Should have been Baudry or Conroy, or maybe kept Hunt on and then that wouldnt have been needed to go flat 4.

Awful defending by Iandolo who flattens the attacker after losing the ball. Yellow.

Ian Dolo has played well in midfield recently.

but you'll not convinced me he's a left/fullback

Saved by Jojo at the near post by his feet.

100%

Please don't get Davison sent off, we've got fuck all forwards already.

Gamesmanship by the Exeter defender against Davison trying to get him sent off.

Exeter players diving like its an olympic sport.

Garner masterclass, takes a CB off with 20 to go & brings a CB on…..WTAF

Chalky’s not much of an analyst is he.

61% possession no shots on target!

TBF thats more shots on target than I thought! :D

Its just one of those games that nothing has worked for us.

 :clap: :clap:

0-3

Time to switch off lads😡

Damage limitation now for us.

bag o shite.

laters

We set up defensively and concede 3. Great.

Pathetic Tuesday night on the road again.

If we had scored in the first 20 mins when we were all over them it MAY have been a totally different game, they were on the ropes.

As it was....we didn't and we deserved nothing in the end.

I’ll watch on in the hope of seeing JML show the merest flicker of talent, even just once.

"Swindon get battered everywhere they go" Sing a team who wet themselves when they take over 400 away

Who made the comment about Grounds….idiot.

And with that he gives away a free kick in a very dangerous position.

It's got 4-0 written all over it!

:D

We'll son the cunts at Wembley.

They may get a crowd above 6,000 one day. Conferencesque.

With our injuries I bet Mr Sheriden is starting to look forward to coming back next week😝

Attendance: 5,958 including 733 Swindon.

Their cup final.

So are their fans apparently. They’ve sold quite a few according to my Oldham supporting neighbour.

That's still shite though.

Yep, easily their highest attendance of the season.

1-3 Payne great goal.

That’s worth three.

Come on Crawley

A shot on target and we score a goal, only took 93 mins :(

If only they'd thought of that earlier  :suicide:

 :thumb:

I see there's 29 seats left in the DRS for Saturday. Looks like we've sold 11k already.

Looked like a team that had taken a gut punch of a couple of key injuries recently. Exeter were up for the battle tonight. We weren’t. It took Exeter 15 minutes to realise that, rather than stand off and let us have the ball. Once they got in our faces there was only going to be one result aided by the ref giving Davison absolutely no benefit of the doubt every time he went near an Exeter player.

Worried by our lack of options currently. Another test for Garner to work out how to look competitive with the players he has available. The central back 3 option doesn’t look to be the one that works for us.

Well, that was awful
Thought each of the substitutions weakened us.
JML offers absolutely nothing
Thought JOB struggled in first half but was better second. Not sure if he was injured, but Odimayo didn't do much when he came on.
Payne OR Williams for me. Tonight Williams either fouled or dived. Payne did little other than 2 long range shots
Davison was poor first half and worse second.
Conroy and Baudry were slow and flat footed

Small consolation but in such a tight league,every goal is important

Right.  Just completed the mammoth drive to Newcastle for work tomorrow.

Did I miss anything?

Nope, nothing new.

Only fuel has gone up another 10p a litre since you left home😀

Jesus.  Glad I filled up.  Hope the half tank I have left will last me for my next trip tomorrow night.  Newcastle to Cardiff.

It may get you to Leeds if your lucky!

Extremely harsh on Payne - he was a breath of fresh air.

We needed more backbone

Why oh why will Garner never pick Grant?

 :hmmm:

Cause he now plays for Scunthorpe :bye: :bye:

A disappointing evening

An extremely disappointing away day. A pseudo West Country derby where our fans and players lacked the passion to get anything from it. I can’t blame Garner for not starting Payne but I do wonder if he should have come on earlier. Payne, Williams and Iandolo came away from that match with credit but I think the rest were anonymous (at least to my eyes). We had a very good following in terms of numbers but the away crowd of about 250 at Tranmere made more noise. It almost felt as if both players and fans were resigned to defeat before a ball was kicked. At least there was no booing of our own players at full time. You do have to wonder if the long time travelling affected the players. Someone like McKirdy could have made the difference today. Often we probed without having that final spark of threat. Davison tries hard but the lone striker role is hard to fill, especially without someone to feed off his flick ons. I suppose there are positives to take from today: the pub crawl with Wobbly Bob, another away ground ticked off and the superb Kebab from “Best Kebabs” by the station. I can confirm it is the best kebab I have ever had in Exeter and I was reassured by the 5 star hygiene rating. I suppose the full impact of the kebab won’t be known for several hours at least for now it’s a 5 star review.

Not read back, yet.
After a couple more beers and a kebab, a witness for the prosecution, not the defence.

The performance was nowhere near as bad as at Barrow or Tranmere, but did raise the horrifying prospect of not being able to deal with Oldham on Saturday.

The whole vibe throughout was of a team & a set of away fans that turned up expecting to get beat tonight.

Do the Exeter fans back their team like that every home game??
Banker, any thoughts?

The redevelopment of the Town End maybe wouldn't go far wrong with mirroring a safe standing version of the Exeter equivalent?

Still all to play for, but Garner needs to conjure something a lot better than that on Saturday.

Got a bollocking waking the better half up when I staggered in. Took a colleague with us on the Minibus who hasn't made it into work this morning, god bless the band.   :beers:

Agree, Bob, it did seem a bit flat all round beforehand. There's a feel good factor about the place currently, a growing belief that this squad can achieve an auto place, you'll recognise that feeling. Bad luck Town losing so many key players, the battle I was looking forward to didn't really get going, stand out Town player for me was Williams and his endeavour. Glad for those who remained to see the late goal, I was stood right behind it, a fine speculative strike !
 
Yes, agree our crowds aren't all that. Unfortunately it's rugby country, and the football club has always had to compete with that. We'd kill for the Chief's average attendance, it'd then dwarf yours ! :)

My fatalistic view before the game came to pass. We huffed and puffed again to fulfil a fixture that I expect even Garner knew was not going to end well. Yep appeared the ref gave us sod all but that is not the real issue.

Has been said before and however you dress this season up and no matter how it ends we are four or five quality players short within the squad as it stands. Had we had those bodies to fill the gaps when a perfect storm of suspensions and injuries collide with an important clash with a potential promotion rival the outcome is exactly what we got last night, not the first time this season.

Sad thing for me was that as a team we didn’t play badly. A combination of individual deficiencies during the game up against a team who had already beaten us at our place was always going to not end well with the aforementioned weakened starting 11.

Lick our wounds and start again against at team fighting for survival managed by an absolute dog shyte manager who we have a grudge against, what could possibly go wrong?

I should've added a  ";)" in echoing a popular recent refrain after a match where we were both naive and soft.

A major difference between the sides last night was in how they played out of possession.

Even allowing for the fact that Payne's worldie robbed Exeter of a 3 goal margin, is it the case we have endured more 3 goal surrenders this season than we did in LG 1?

When he plays well he links and runs off those around him. He doesn't appear to have that zip about him at the moment, which is understandable. He couldn't get anything going and then went into his selfish spell when he tries to get the ball too deep back to goal with someone on his back and still tries to beat them. I think his goal came more out of frustration than anything else.

Where I said him or Williams, when we play well, the is decent link play involving Iandolo, Reed and Williams/Payne. Against Exeter it wasn't there.

Should partner Parsons with Davison on Saturday. Davison is lost as a lone striker.

Payne must start. Ditto Odimayo at RB with Hunt taking one of the CB slots.

Agreed. Having 1 up front hasn't worked all season when we have tried it.

I think trying Parsons was one of the things I would have done last night at half time.

went last night (didn't want to!) against a team with brilliant home form against a team struggling with injuries and suspension.

we looked very disjointed but just one to write off and move on. genuinely hate being stood next to our fans sometimes. truly embarrassing and conroy was getting jeered from minute 1. are people that thick as shit to see that he started due to injuries not picked over better players? with confidence he's a good league 2 player. not going to get that now for the rest of the season.

1. Yes, yes they are.

Fools on FB out in force again "garner out" "Williams is shit" "no plan B"(forgetting that it was "planB" that got us 4 wins out of the previous 5). Top scorer and half a decent back 4 missing and our most influential player edging back after injury. Don't know what they were expectin

Felt very sorry for Davison, outmuscled most of the time by Stubbs and helped by the ref who gave him very little. As co-commentator Chalky said Davison needs to be a bit more "horrible" in his attitude but that being said he would probably have got a red card based on the apparent "fouls" he gave to the Exeter players.  

He was wrestled the whole game and got nothing. As soon as he gave a bit back it was a foul against him. That completely limited us.

I give McKirdy and Williams shit for going down too easy but fucking hell it's clear we need too to get anything from any referee.

Well beaten yesterday though. The absentees were obvious, but no one really played well. O'Brien looked decent next to Cooper but with tweedle dum and tweedle dee next to him he looked lost.

I am usually well balanced but that was a fucking disgrace from some of them last night. Experienced defenders bitching at eachother and berating Jake Obrien. Tell you what, that defence we finished with last night was what we finished with last season, Maybe Sheridan had a point despite his downfalls he said they had no fight about them.

If we were 5th from bottom now with that defence we get relegated as they do not give a fuck

Think last night showed it’s probably a set back too far. Garner’s had to build a team, then rebuild it in January and then had his best 2 loanees injured. With top scorer suspended on top, last night was always going to be a struggle. Still think there are winnable games with the squad we’re not left with, autos have gone but a chance at sneaking a playoff space and then with 12,000 home fans you never know where we could get to. Still hope

It does seem that way,but statistically in League 1 we suffered five 3 goal defeats as opposed to just 1 this season.

I do not want to see Dion Conroy in a Town shirt again. His attitude is fucking appalling.

I heard if you criticise him three times DoB appears to defend him and claim he isn’t fit.

Who was bitching at who?

Is the chap called Steve who nearly got ejected by a female steward on the TEF?

I only half noticed in passing a little bitching between defenders last night and personally I can't therefore throw any stones.

However, I have really appreciated the defensive work and attitude of O'Brien and Cooper.  O'Brien in particular started with a bit of a stinker but they have got their heads down and blossomed. So if the club captain and also the senior pro returned and really were both bringing back some of last year's negativity, detracting from team spirit, that would be extremely disappointing.

:D

TBH I thought JOB was our best centre back last night after a poor start, Conroy and Baudry were poor/anonymous in the main at least JOB made a few decent long passes.

Thanks Adje.  Facts always trump impressions (certainly my own).

Trying to come to terms with that last night.
On one hand we are simply down to bare bones, East and JML need loan experience and are simply not ready. Ricky A just not ready to play every game in such a key position.
The 532 once again in my opinion bit us on the arse, clearly not allowing us to take control of the midfield, lack width and isolating a centre forward once the “forward” tactic is forced upon us.

Exeter exposed us, second half an improvement but was that down to Exeter taking their foot off the gas?
Damage limitation and only my opinion, maybe revert back to a 442 for Saturday, pushing Iandolo into midfield, switching Hunt to left and bringing in AK to right back.
Clearly without McKirdy and lacking width we looked so narrow and ineffective.

Oldham will be fighting for their life, by no means won’t be anywhere near the class of Exeter.

Reminded me of Orient last night, we defended poorly from wide positions which was disappointing having set out with a flat 5.
Glad we stayed to watch the strike from Payne but disappointing, just glad to post as my life flashed before me. My lad was shook up as the gate bounced over the car !!
Just makes you realise when travelling at high speeds you are at risk.

Keeping the faith, no need to start wrist slashing but could do with a win Saturday to keep that blind optimistic belief.
Without doubt there are better sides in this Division than Swindon. None however have had the shit that we have had to endure pre- season.

Genuinely cannot wait to see the back of Conroy and Baudry. They're simply not up to it and serve no purpose other than filling a squad position. Conroy having the armband is just insulting to the club. 

Unfortunately we don't really have anyone else at the moment though and this may be what finally derails our season.

I'm going to invite criticism, but I think Conroy is good enough for this level .

I am not claiming he's doing it right now, he's off form and low on confidence. And there are questions over attitude

Baudry is a bit long in the tooth. injuries and 34 years catching up

the pairing isn't going to cut it.

humph

Swindon lost to a better team. End of.

I have no doubt that Conroy could go to another club in our league or maybe even higher and be a valuable asset. He is a good player with some obvious quality.

However, he is not playing well for us and it doesn't look like he gives a shit either. I don't like to question anyone's leadership but when you're basically stood at pitch level you can hear them and he wasn't leading. I think it's probably best for both parties that he moves on (and I'm sure he'll come back to bite us on the arse!).

agreed unfortunately

Reminds me, what's Aljofree up to these days?

That's how I saw it.

Hope he wasn't brought off because he was injured? Or worse, because he was fed up of being shouted at by people who were blaming him when they were at fault.

O think that the nice thing about having Tomlinson, Hunt, Cooper and O'Brien as a back 4 was that they were all individually competent and covered eachother.

Conroy and Baudry like to anticipate to combat their lack of pace and need others to cover for them s lot more.

I'll call it, Baudry and Conroy's careers from here are retirement or downwards.

Baudry has spent the past two seasons looking like he is playing while high - obvious talent from a few years past, but off with the fairies at critical times.  There was a moment last night where he knew Conroy was to blame for something but couldn't figure out where he was to shout at him.

Conroy looks like an articulated lorry trying to play football.  I think the injuries have done for him - I imagine his achilies or something like that.  Even if he knows what to do, he can't do it and he is clearly playing with frustration.  Last night him and Baudry seemed to spend most of the game pointing at each other for not doing stuff or throwing their arms in the air.  Sorry, a good player, but done for.

I still think, even through the good results, our defensive shape in midfield and seeming lack of a plan at set pieces is exposing the defence far more than you'd like.  Having three defenders losing markers is a problem though (Iandolo has looked great on the ball recently, but he is forever looking over his shoulder and spotting the guy he was stood next two only a few seconds earlier).

He was brought off because the game was done and we need him for the future games.

I think everyone agrees that Baudry is seeing out the season, and even though I think Conroy is still capable, his attitude showed last night that he is done with us.  With that being said, that leaves us with Hunt, O'Brien, Akin and Iandolo as our defensive backline (possibly Tomlinson if he recovers) for the rest of the season.  Unless we are planning to blood some youngsters, that is it.  That is a long run of games for those 4 and not likley to be enough to get us over the line, IMO.

I wouldnt mind seeing Fox and Francis at fullback if the games are less meaningful by that stage.

Both have impressed me when I have seen them and they didnt do bad vs Colchester when they came on too.

I think Conroy is good enough for this level but maybe suffering with no proper pre season for a couple of seasons after his injuries and obviously this season when he was fit, maybe now it is so far in the season it is taking its toll a little bit.

I think we can see with the addition of the loans what needs to happen with our backline next season, with the loans we looked more solid.

Obviously we are suffering up front as well.

With the embargo being lifted end of the season then we will be able to sign a better class of player and maybe we will be able to pay a small fee for the right type of player which would help.

With a bit of luck we may squeeze a play off spot this season but unless we get either of the injured players back we may struggle against the better teams or those that just hoof it.

Completely agree with this.

Last night Conroy was awful- looked like he did not give a shit, did absolutely no leading or talking on the pitch either. Totally invisible as a captain

Pretty much this, I still wonder whether one of Conroy's problems are that he thinks he is a better footballer than he actually is. I know I have banged on about this, but at Barrow he kept asking JJ for the ball, then would turn pass it to a team mate who was either already marked or being closed down, then fail to tell the player being closed down that he was 'man on' it would then be lost and we drop ourselves in the shite, likewise against Man City Ward got dogs abuse after Conroy demanded the ball then immediately played a moving ball back to Ward in a worse position than when he started who then fucked up his clearance.

Add into the equation that he either doesn't give a shit or thinks he is better than us and combined with his injury record the positives don't outweigh the negatives as it stands.

He did this a few times to O'Brian last night and then gave him dogs abuse for not getting the ball away cleanly

I think he was a lot better than he currently is, which probably is very frustrating for him and hard to adapt your game. He's not old, but his injuries seem to have done an absolute number on him. I don't really understand the Conroy culture war that seems to have kicked off now (perhaps I would if I went to games and saw his supposed attitude) but it does seem like a parting of the ways is for the best. Hopefully he picks up, because god knows we'll need him to in order to finish this season well.

JOB was getting caught out of position countless times first half. Young and learning.
Noted a few times Baudry was furious with his positioning and not sure if that was compounding why Hunt was being pulled out of the position he was struggling to cover.

Our midfield last night was dominated from start to finish and nothing we could do or change it.

Damage limitation for me go 442 Saturday.
However AK clearly not fit last night, he was struggling massively.

Too many young players having to rely on and Payne gave an example of what we were crying out for somebody that could travel with the ball.
Exeter had pace and movement all over, we didn’t and had nothing available to change it.

Not read back yet but I see only 20 pages on this thread so won't take too long!!

Obviously Garner's hands are hugely tied at the moment given our injuries but a back 3 of JOB, Baudry and Conroy didn't enthuse and I had already written off the game as Exeter are a very good side. That said, we started the game really well and it was Exeter who were shaky, giving us the ball back at will. We didn't really create anything clear cut, but we did look to have a firm grasp on the game. Then unfortunately Exeter took a toe hold, and won a corner. Our achilles heel all season has been defending balls into the box and in Matt Jay they have a player that can consistently put in great delivery. A poor clearance to Exeter's best player in Jevani Brown and he said thanks very much. The second goal was even worse, a corner that somehow found its way all the way to Jonathan Grounds to basically side foot into the net. They should have made it 3 when Stubbs had a free header wide from a corner and also fluffed another half chance from a corner. We are whatever the opposite of commanding when crosses come into the box, even JOB who in theory should be commanding given his height and build seems to shrink and shirk. We definitely could do with a hard bastard defensive coach to sort this out.

Second half Exeter put cruise control on and let us try our hardest, I don't recall their keeper having anything to do as Stubbs and Sweeney just seemed to be able to repel easily anything we did. Davison was getting nothing from the referee, Williams was having an absolute stinker when not trying to buy a free kick and JML was as ineffectual as he's always been. The only bright light was Jack Payne, busy, industrious and created our only 2 'chances' in the second half. including a superb goal. Exeter decided to give it a go last 10 and good play between Brown and Jay gave them the icing on the cake.

Exeter are likely to go up automatically now, they look to be the best side along with Mansfield that I have seen this season. Fair play to Vic Morgan for remaining impartial on the Exeter Comms, I bet he was watching that game squirming and commentating through gritted teeth!!

Read back now. Noticed a few things of note that I picked up on and I think shows just how different people see games.

Jonny Williams - A few people on here said he had a good game, but I thought he was absolutely crap on Tuesday. It's always harder for Williams to impress me as I cannot stand the way he theatrically throws himself on the floor a lot of the times. Referees also seem to have seen through these antics as a lot of times he gets ignored and ends up sitting down on the pitch waving his arms about. Nothing really came off for him second half and I think if we had any alternatives he would have been subbed. The Exeter comms also stated how poorly he had played fwiw.

Dion Conroy - He has really split the fan base and whilst you have to applaud his loyalty to the club, there is an air of resignation about how he plays. He is probably one of the best ball players in the division but as a Centre Back that has to do the dirty work, and as captain to organise his team, I am not sure he is particularly competent. (I know Theakston used to bang on about that - where is he by the way?) I suspect Garner rates him because he is a good footballer but i'm on the fence as to whether it might be a good idea to keep him or let him go at the end of the season.

Jack Payne - A few stated they didn't think Payne was any cop last night in his 45, but I thought he was our only shining light in the second half. (the MOM seem to back up my thoughts) He got on the ball, looks busy and energetic in what was a losing battle. Good to see him come through 45 unscathed and he's going to be an important player for our run in.

Finally, some people on the thread need to take a look at the definition of the word 'sarcasm' in the dictionary. A few things going over people's heads!! :)

Fucking hell BO! You know you can't write posts that long on the TEF?! And a double post to boot!...You'll be getting accused of being on Speed and confusing Aud with incomprehensibly long paragraphs!

That's my job, fucking stay in your lane  :D

Also, I know this is a while back but I'm still trying to figure out your "ginger joke" :)

~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, gruel munching yet elusive Town fan "Joe", is thought to actually be the brainchild of viral sports media specialists "Sports JOE". No wonder no one has stepped forward yet to claim "Willy Wanker's Golden Hospitality Season Ticket"...

What was my ginger joke fella?

I do hope you realise that was all written with a huge chunk or sarcasm?  :)

The "joke" was from a survey. Definitely your writing style but I could be wrong  :sherlock:

Sorry to disappoint Kev but not guilty. Nothing personal but I generally can't be doing with surveys!

Oh I'm not disappointed ;) There's much more important things going on in the world and I'm not a big fan of them myself  :D

*makes mental note to post 10 census forms to BO*

You're awake early Boo normally a night owl😀

Cheeky cunt  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

It's usually called insomnia but I know the aesthetic of "Night Owl" sounds more appealing. It's delicious, you can have some of it if you like?  :)

Had to be up early - I'm playing for Oldham today!

#Bahamboula

You're having a good game at the moment! Cheeky cunt that's abit harsh😀
As for insomia I do get it a little myself and hate lying in bed looking at the ceiling!

I'm meant to be sabotaging the match so that the former Town manager can't go home smugly!

All in jest JQ  ;)