Afc Rochdale v Swindon Town Matchday Thread

[Flashheart]

The budget is quite reasonable. What's been invested in terms of transfer fees is actually quite high,there's not many teams spending 500k+ in this league.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Surely it's self-evident that the overriding cause of the problem is the quality of the players compared to the Luongo side.

We spent decent money on him, Byrne, Smith, Obika etc yet, in comparison, we've recruited from the bargain bucket - young cast-offs, those that have lost their way and lower quality loans.

If we actually did pay £400,000 for Vigs, which most people doubt, it shows the folly of spending such a large chunk of your budget on a keeper at this level.

[FreddySTFC!]

The budget is quite reasonable. What's been invested in terms of transfer fees is actually quite high,there's not many teams spending 500k+ in this league.

That's very true. Vigs was 400k, Obika 200k, Goddard 150k, Norris 150k & Stewart 50k (these are all reported fees) so that's £950k spent on players. Although I'd like to know when LP mentioned about increasing the budget by 500k whether he meant on transfer fees or wages because there's very little evidence to suggest that the players we signed during the summer would be commanding this sort of amount through wages. He must have meant transfer fees surely??

[DiV]

With undisclosed fees, percentage of next sale clauses and various performance/appearence clauses, not to mention how much is paid upfront/installments...no one has a clue what we've spent on players or recieved for players.

For example...Vigs, 400k could be have been a lump sum paid upfront, so actually 400k or we could have paid £1,000 upfront and the other 399k could be based on him winning the World Cup, producing a Hollywood blockbuster and Aliens landing in Niger....

[Batch]

no, they were undisclosed. 400k could mean ' up to' over 'n years/appearances/caps', or not.

so far the model has only worked off the back of a deal with Sherwood for some v spurs players. well in my eyes anyway.

 'worked' could also mean staying up, and to that definition  I suppose it hasn't failed yet. but that's not progress most fans would enjoy

[Wobbly Bob]

BOO is fucking dreadful. Surely TS has realised this by now.

BOO is an interesting one. Widely acknowledged as having his best game for us against Charlton then very poor yesterday and giving away a penalty in almost comical fashion.

He clearly has some ability and can get a good cross in without necessarily having to beat his opponent, which under normal circumstances is a commodity that should add some value.

During the first Eastleigh game, Williams could clearly be heard encouraging BOO to take his man on.
I think it's a confidence issue, maybe afraid of stick from the crowd and so looks to play safe, don't know.

Has he improved significantly since last season? Haven't seen much evidence of it.
The supposedly top of the range coaching of these players doesn't look to be enough on it's own at the moment.
Williams and mainly Sherwood have to somehow get inside these players heads to get the best out of them.
Yesterday there was no lack of individual effort but something is lacking in terms of overall team play.

[DarloSTFC84]

Out of interest, was the previous Rochdale game in the League? Seems weird to have played them twice, before we've played everyone once?..

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

BOO is an interesting one. Widely acknowledged as having his best game for us against Charlton then very poor yesterday and giving away a penalty in almost comical fashion.

He clearly has some ability and can get a good cross in without necessarily having to beat his opponent, which under normal circumstances is a commodity that should add some value.

During the first Eastleigh game, Williams could clearly be heard encouraging BOO to take his man on.
I think it's a confidence issue, maybe afraid of stick from the crowd and so looks to play safe, don't know.

Has he improved significantly since last season? Haven't seen much evidence of it.
The supposedly top of the range coaching of these players doesn't look to be enough on it's own at the moment.
Williams and mainly Sherwood have to somehow get inside these players heads to get the best out of them.
Yesterday there was no lack of individual effort but something is lacking in terms of overall team play.

I have been of the opinion that, overall, the players should be good enough to keep us up - recent performances have tempered my view somewhat.

What is painfully obvious is that whatever the merits of the players, the organisation of the team as a whole is a shambles. I can see no evidence of Williams being a turd polisher extraordinaire, let alone setting up the team.

This is where, hopefully, Sherwood makes a difference. But if he is to remain at the club for a significant amount of time and not just a short stop-gap to help out a mate, then it makes no sense to retain Williams.

Maybe he's here just to mentor the golden child but it is a strange scenario for sure.

[Pete]

Out of interest, was the previous Rochdale game in the League? Seems weird to have played them twice, before we've played everyone once?..

Yes it was and it does seem strange. We've played them twice in a month. I can only remember this happening because of postponements not the fixture list.

[Reg Smeeton]

Yes it was and it does seem strange. We've played them twice in a month. I can only remember this happening because of postponements not the fixture list.

Historically the fixture list would always throw up some anomalies. It's never been like in Spain, where you play all the other teams once, then start again in repeat order.

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Don't agree with the budget comment. Out of interest what do you think it is?

Around 1.5 million. Thats what it was last season. If it's higher than that with the dross we have signed then thats even worse.

[THE FLASH]

As a psychologist (yes I mentioned it again - if that annoys you I'm sorry, but deal with it) I am very much of the opinion these problems go a lot deeper than an individual feeling the players just can't be bothered. But:

1.) Fans have been calling out for this amazing, experienced defender without naming names, other than Al-Abd.l, for a long time. Where is this player going to come from?

2.) No one moaned about the model when Pritchard/Gladwin/Luongo were here. It's clearly not worked this season, but the plan was clearly the same. Who should we have signed?

3.) We've now got a squad who are if anything, terrified. Are there youth teamers who deserve a run out?

1. Thats their job isn't it!? We as fans just identify issues, in this case something you can see from space.
If the club needs advice on sales in the food industry, I'm your man!!

2. The signings are now proven not to have been good enough. Again, how is this our job to decide!?

3. Experience steadys the ship and provides leadership.
     That costs and cannot be sold at a profit won't happen.

It would be a long shot for this model to succeed in promotion.
You have to get used to staying up and selling players....that's the long and short of it.
The staying up bit isn't looking likely at this stage and fuck knows who he can sell! Vigs!?
Sustainable? Yes but that's the only silver lining but with gates nose diving and even hardcore fucking it all off, what would a plan for league 2 look like!?
It makes more depressed than I already am.
January will see what Power is made of.

[Pete]

Historically the fixture list would always throw up some anomalies. It's never been like in Spain, where you play all the other teams once, then start again in repeat order.

I think it was about 1979, we played oxford home and away in two weeks. Cant remember why. But we did the double over them.

[Reg Smeeton]

I think it was about 1979, we played oxford home and away in two weeks. Cant remember why. But we did the double over them.

Yes.....   may have been postponements the winter of 78/79 was quite harsh by British standards.  Loved that side, would have fancied it to have won the PO's, if they'd existed also would have gone up under 3 points for a win.

The contrast in quality between the likes of Kammy, Ray McHale, Roy Carter, Animal Williams, Ian Miller, Mayes and Rowland, Steve Aizlewood, and what we've got now is brutally stark.

[Peter Venkman]

Yes.....  may have been postponements the winter of 78/79 was quite harsh by British standards.  Loved that side, would have fancied it to have won the PO's, if they'd existed also would have gone up under 3 points for a win.

The contrast in quality between the likes of Kammy, Ray McHale, Roy Carter, Animal Williams, Ian Miller, Mayes and Rowland, Steve Aizlewood, and what we've got now is brutally stark.

Still my favourite Swindon team ever. And yes the winter of 78/79 was very harsh, I remember 10 foot snow drifts all through December.

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