Thetownend.com

... We all love Fitton etc. but maybe its time to start putting Malpas name into songs etc.

Any song where we would put the managers name in a song its now "Fitton". Yes totally acceptable last year, Absolutely. I'm sure Fitton appreciates it etc, but I am also sure he wouldn't mind if we sang Malpas name for the simple fact it shows we back his choice as well.

Now I know it was only 1 game yesterday but personally I thought the football as fantastic except for Hasney's hoofing!

Some people (well our group) tried to get a Maurice Malpas sexy football chant going however... as usual Town fans are apprehensive, just what is it going to take to get Town fans to back Malpas? The guy has never been given a fair crack of the whip.

The atmosphere all in all was shit yesterday for the type of game we had, I think it's time to start backing the manager.

People say Malpas never signed anyone. Ok he signed a couple players but Nalis looked quality yesterday and Casal will come along. The players we lost out on were decent players and goes to show what type of player he is trying to bring to the club.

Still agree about singing WE ARE FITTON'S RED AND WHITE ARMY though!  ;D

I appreciate most people on this forum DO get behind Malpas etc.

No One game doesn't make a season however we didn't look like relegation fodder.

FUCK YOU SKY SPORTS!

Well done Gary, shame you're about 7 months too late with this post.  MM should have got the fans backing straight away, the bloke took over an average, not exactly high on confidence squad.  I have to say I'm a bit embarrassed to be associated with some of Town's "supporters" who treated MM so badly in his first few months as manager.

It's not all a bed of roses, but MM has got Town trying to play the game in the right way which, at this time, is good enough for me.

His name is all wrong for chanting. He needs to change it.

Flipping hell, that's two of your posts I totally agreed with in 4 days.
Spot on Jan.

Yep 7 months late but its a new season lets get behind the team! It's a new start. I always say to my uncle who says "maurice who" "we want an experienced manager", i always tell him "look at the players he brought in", "do you go to games?" I will reserve judgement until mid this season. Malpas has not done bad and I have a lot of time for him after speaking to him a couple of times, got his head screwed on and knows his football.

Maurice Malpas Red and White Army

Why would you want to make something up when that is so easy?

That's fair enough Gary, but unless Bin Laden was appointed as manager I'd expect our supporters to give the new man in charge a fair go, which on this occasion many did (and some still do) not.  Anyone who says "Maurice who" is clearly short of a bit of football knowledge, and can't be bothered to do a bit of research into the fella's career. 

But the actual sentiment of your post I'd agree with "M&M's red and white army" would go down a treat and would hopefully mean a lot to Mr Malpas, but like I said it is 7 months too late.

Thanks Dell, well sometimes you have to forget about the 80% bollocks, don't you?

I didn't hear any singing for Fitton during the game, it is usually around the ground last season ok there was no singing of Malpas but I think another couple of games like that and it will probably start to filter through hopefully.

i admit i wasnt happy with Malpas last season, but the way we played saturday and the type of players hes brought/trying to bring to the club has made me really warm to him

I fucking agree 100%, back the team, the board and especially the manager, as Jan says we were an average team playing average football but now MM has us playing football as I want it played, on the ground, quick slick passing, get the wingers in the game on both sides ideally and scare the living crap out of the opposition.

Good times ahead hopefully.

JPC - But couldn't you see in some of the matches towards the end of the season that Malpas was trying to get us playing more attractive football.  Truth is if Cox didn't go through his lean spell we'd have had a good end to the season.  Leeds, Leyton O, Carlisle, all matches we lost, lost and drew, when we should have got more.

I'm not getting overly excited as I still think consistency will be an issue but we're improving, hopefully we'll be in with a shout come next spring.

WE ARE BIG MO'S RED ANDY WHITE ARMY.

The way you suggest singing it'll sound even gayer that "iffy onura's red & white army" from a few years ago.  Fucking mega shitstabbing effort.

but we also had alot of shit though mate, walsall at home especially

I expect we would have sung his name yesterday if we had bloody sung anything.

Lets be honest the County Ground atmosphere is generally side and quiet. On the rare occasion we do make some noise it usually fast clapping, or something that turns into fast clapping.

With (hopefully) a packed away end at Cheltenham next week he'll get his name sung....unless we are losing!!

DV, come on, we arent usually that quiet for the opener!

Was talking about this a lot on saturday, and Gazza I agree 100 per cent. Swindon supporters do seem to have trouble accepting managers that are not either household names or ex players. King got a lot of the same treatment, but it didnt seem to impact on the atmosphere the same way it has with Malpas.

Just seems we dont have enough confidence in ourselves to back a man who hasnt done things at other clubs.

A big problem was that Malpas didnt make the team play as well as they were under Budgie and Williams, but that is no longer true. The team are playing excellent football, and Malpas has been able to sign some excellent players. What Malpas has to prove now is that he can get the team to compete away from home.

We have to start backing Malpas because at the moment we just seem to have lost so much fire in our bellies as supporters. Everyones noticed it, it started with the Cheltenham home game which was dead and hopefully its going to end now. You could pass it off last season because the season finnished so early, but not any more, theres no excuse. That was the deadest opening game Ive ever watched at Swindon. Its not just an atmosphere thing, there just wasnt that much enthusiasm or passion for the team. I found it pretty sad and embaressing to be honest.

This season isnt going to be much fun unless the fans start to geniunely accept Malpas. Just seems too bitter a pill to swallow for some supporters, especially some of the younguns.

Its enough of the 'We are Fittons red and White army' for me, Im going to sing we are Malpas' red and white army tuesday.

Mo, Mo
Mo, Mo-Mo, Mo
Mo, Mo-Mo, Mo
Mo-Mo, Mo, Mo Malpas

Mo Limit

Thats a really good point.

The atmosphere was pretty crap for an opener.

This should be a season where the atmosphere is better than previous seasons, mainly because a lot of the town enders have moved to the DRS, which has been historically quiet in recent times. When the TE is up for it they are really good, unfortunately it hardly ever happens. For some reason I found it pretty difficult to get in to it yesterday. I think the trip away next week will hopefully ignite some passion.

Was i at the wrong match!....i thaught the atmosphere was decent if not brilliant,it will get better...as omeone who drives around scotland with work regularly i know that MM has a good reputation and we were lucky to get him....honestly because hes highly regarded north of the border.It would be good to get the town end and intel chantimg together ie...we are Sturrocks red and white army was brilliant.

I agree but saying that we were fully behind Macari, Ardiles, Hoddle & Muckmarn when they were appointed but not MM whereas MM has more 1st team games played and more international caps than all of those players with the exception of Ardiles...who has 8 more caps, just because he wasnt as well known in England.

As for the atmosphere, I was dissapointed with it from the TE but Tranny hardly sang anything at all so there was no "fan banter" at all, they were one of the quietest sets of fans in years so it wasnt hugely surprising that the atmosphere was a bit flat.

Macari, Ardiles, Hoddle & Muckmarn weren't my true era :D

I was in the south stand and the Tranmere fans were a lot louder than Swindon. Even at 3-0 they still mustered more chants than us. But its got nothing to do with Tranmere really.

What about Luton last year, that was good?

Malpas might have the caps, but he isnt a name, not to your average Town fan.

Our atmosphere was pants, when we sang "Maurice Malpas sexy football" everyone just sort of looked at us....

Real fans dont support NAMES.....they support whoever is the manager....and in the Town End i didnt hear the Tranny fans sing once.I do think one Big signing could have been the icing and couldve got us close to the magic 6000....but ime very happy because i look at Luton,Bournemouth etc and realise how close we were to oblivion as a footy club.....bring on the rangers.

Agreed

Considering it was the first time in about 5 years we start the season at home, I thought the atmosphere was very quiet. Pre-match in the pub was great with that new season optimism which was in full flow at The Town End when we went 2-0 up. After 3-0 it all went quiet! No interaction between The Town End and The DR Stand either which I thought was odd. A few of us tried to start a 'Maurice Malpas Sexy Football!' chant but nobody seemed to want to join in. So all in all, the last half hour of the game was played in a very strange atmosphere considering we were 3-0 up against a team that many of us would have been happy to get a draw against!

Lets hope we can raise the roof against QPR!

I think it's more to do with the fact his name doesn't really fit into any songs

  This is one of the reasons why expected a morgue yesterday...namely TEnders moving elsewhere, which is bound to dilute noise. Apart from teh nursery I don't think I've ever heard a song from the DRS and certainly never from the Arkells.

 The TE was better than I thought.....the problem (if viewed as such) is that the emphasis on season tickets and cheap deals for kids, means more family types.

 It's just as well, as your typical lad...namely 16-26, these days probably sports a ManUre tattoo and just watches games on the box.

No way. Town fans have never accepted him properly.

to the tune of the Adams family...

When Fitton came to save us
he gave us Maurice Malpas
He looks like uncle fester
from the Adams Family
doo-do-do-doo Mal-pas
doo-do-do-doo Mal-pas...

Yeah, there is that side of things too, but the seeds of recovery were there to see.

i think long incesant drones of 'maaaaaaauuurrrrriiiccee' would be good

I am a big fan of inventive and witty songs, and it makes me sad that we don't have any  :cry:

Exactly!

his name is easily singable.
mal-pas-s red and white army.

just a bit of respect

he wants to play a certain way
maurice, maurice
keep it on the ground he says
maurice, maurice
he come over from motherwell
the fans up north they gave him hell
but we all love him
hes swindon towns manager
naaaa nana nana nana nana
na naaaaa na ananan nana
with coxy scoring goals for fun
and macca going on the run
his name is maurice
swindons manager

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUjRQfJ3f74

too that tune

  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_8woQ-HEA

 Yeah...how good is this...respect and that. Why couldn't next Sat have been Carlisle away.

I'll admit that when Mo Mo was announced, I wasn't excited. I wasn't gutted either, but I just felt that having created so much excitement through the takover, Fitton and co missed a trick by not making a Ling/Nijholt kind of appointment (would they have done any better? probably not, but I guess in appointing an old face it would have suggested that fitton was a man not only able to listen to the fans, but understand it's history).

Truth is, while there were times we still played cack under Mo Mo last season, he kept a steady ship when it could so easily have slipped away after Sturrock leaving. There was an initial slump, then some improvement and then a strong finish. Now, with some new players and time to instill his own tactics, we can truly judge him on his ability to manage at this level, and so far I like what I see.

Carry on like Saturday and he will soon have the doubters chanting his name - (can't really explain why we never took to him? The fact that he's unproven is not enough reason) - there will be ups and downs but I like how he's prepared the team over the summer, and I liked what I saw Saturday.

It feels odd fans not chanting the manager's name, it was like that under King - I really hope Mo Mo can bring us some good times... good luck big man!

Lets be honest. We had some pretty shaky games under MM's first few months of leadership, but even then you could clearly see he was attempting to change the style of play. We just didn't have the right sort of players. Now I also don't want to knock Sturrock because he done a hell of a job in difficult circumstances, but his football simply was non-exciting just result based.
 The win over Tranmere was the best attacking one touch football I have seen at the County Ground since the Hoddle era, and if we keep that up, then MM has 100% of my backing.

maurice maplas we're proud to sing your name
swindon town are going up again.

I'm a smug bastard at the moment, because I never had a problem with the bloke and took to him straight away. As Leefer said, it's about supporting.

It seems to me that a lot of Town fans took an instant dislike to him because he isn't a 'personality'. I predict that the very things they said they didn't like at the start of his tenure will be the same things they come to love about him. He's not very media friendly, so what? I want a football manager, not a comedian. He doesn't show passion like Byrne at games, good. I want the manager to be concentrating on the game, not behaving like a demented epileptic on the touchline.

Anyone who went to the games at the end of last season (Particularly the away ones) would've seen what he was trying to do. Maybe he should've stuck to the same style we had until the end of the season, but he's obviously a man with strong beliefs in how the game should be played. Anyone thinking that Bryne is really in charge (As some do) and MM is some kind of puppet, is a fool. Malpas is his own man. I've heard the players don't get on with him as well as previous managers because he's a bit distant and a disciplinarian, Great!! Make the players work and if they don't like it, tough shit.

I really believe that, given time, Malpas will be a successful manager for Swindon, it won't be plain sailing and there will be times when we don't get the result, but that's football. Too many Town fans expect instant success and get on managers and players backs at the first opportunity. Surely that's when they need our support the most?

I'm starting to ramble a bit now so I'll stop.

Hertha I feel like I should apologide for hacking into your account and posting that - but I can't remember actually doing it!!  That is 100% my view on this subject.

Tbh Jan, we usually agree on all things Swindon Town related.

It's minor things like The Middle East we don't see eye to eye on.........

Ha ha!!!  Quality comment!  Minor things indeed!

As you know already Steve I too agree 100% with your comments, as we have discussed in the past.

I would love it....love it (in a Keegan sort of rant) if MM becomes the most successful manager in our history, playing the best football in our history (a lot to ask but not out of the question).

I look forward to a long and fruitful first full season for the quietly spoken manager.

All very well, but:

1. He's Scottish;
2. He was crap at Motherwell;
3. Nobody south of Hadrian's Wall has heard of him and;
4. He has no personality.

All facts that can't be disputed.......

I realise you're fishing Pumbaa, but I have to take issue with point 2 and just say, who cares if he was crap at Motherwell?  Parkin was shit at Northampton, makes no odds.

Also 3's an awful admission of lack of football knowledge.  Anyone who bought a panini sticker album in the late 80's early 90's should have no excuse for not hearing of MM, especially the Mexico 86 and Italia 90 editions.

But fish away.

Wow!!!!  Now that was a post and a half, I wonder what the lurkers will make of that outburst - food for thought.

Fair play Lumps.

This sort of sneering has to stop.

Supporting Swindon really isnt going to be much fun whilst this is going on. It was bad under King, but if we dont nip it in the bud with Malpas it could be much worse. I cant see how numbers 1 or 3 of those points make any difference?

performance lke saturdays will do maurice no harm at all.
i'm more concerned that byrne might have a heart attack on the touchline one day.the bloke almost bursts blood vessels over a throw in

Jesus wept, I was expecting a bite, but anticipating a minnow...... :D

This is the nub of the problem though. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of uneducated halfwits who think some or all of those four points, and really do believe them to be fact. How many aren't buying ST (or even attending games) because of it?

The question is how the hell do we more educated fans do something about it thats going to make a tangible difference?

FWIW, on the record, I agree with absolutely everything that herthab has said. All good point too lumps (albeit in rant format, sorry to set you off.....).Totally agree with Spencer too.

Post Lumps' post on the next Malpas story on the adver site.  That'll go down well over there!

0. Some 'fans' have an excuse, any excuse not to go. Their choice, but they could at least be honest about why they aren't going. The excuses have been coming since getting relegated from the championship - McMahon/King/Too expensive/blah blah blah. Fact is, they are fair-weather and will turn up when the team are doing well regardless of who is manager.

Sorry about that, started in rant mode and wasn't until I reached the end that the cogs started to whirr and I realised I'd been hooked.

Thought I might as well post it anyway with the little postscript to make it clear that the abuse wasn't aimed at you but at those who actually still hold those views. Most of them post on Thisis admittedly but a few lurk on here as well.

Mind you they've all been fucking quiet since Saturday!

I cant remember if I liked MM or not.

I think I liked him because he has no personality and because I havent heard of him (ooh shocking lack of football knowledge! 8))

I tend to like the people that arent liked as a matter of principle.

So yea, go Malpas!

I've probably still got 10 of Mo, and about 20 of Zico somewhere in my old man's loft.

Agree with Juddie's point that his appointment just felt a little bit out of step with everything that was going on at the club.  Not always the right way to go about it though, letting your heart rule your head.

Vital Swindon Town did our part to support MM by sponsoring him starting today!

Also, if you read MM profile on the OS then that puts it in to perspective more. We are quite lucky to have him and there are some people out there who should maybe realize that.

I see no reason why he should be getting stick. Avram Grant could be said to be of a similar nature as MM in the way he's quiet, possibly not dynamice enough, but Grant still got Chelsea within 1 kick of winning the Champions League. The football we are playing at the moment is the best we have seen in years. Consistency is the key. How would you compare this SQUAD to the one which last got in the play offs?

In all honesty we have a better squad than the play off season. Matt Hewlett is not in it for a start.

But having a good squad means nothing, the likes of Forest, Sheff weds etc all had great squads for several years before they got out of this league.

To be fair Wednesday only spent a couple of seasons in this league, and they might have got out of it a bit quicker if they could have got a few of that good squad out of the treatment room and onto the pitch a bit more regularly.

 Interesting point...the strength of 03/04 was obviously Mooney and Parkin, with Fallon as back up. You'd have to say better than Cox and Paynter...with Corr as back up.

 Eyeglue was a tricky winger although he didn't want to play there, obviously not in McManatee's class, but experienced at the level and effective.

 Midfield, for all his detractors and I was certainly one, Matty Hewlett had a decent season, again by then an experienced pro....Craig Easton is better, Michael Timlin who knows, but he's certainly started well.

 Lard boy showed some potential, is Timlin capable of being better?

  Migs gave us 30 odd games....he was class, but as we know injury prone...Nalis is as good but can he do a season?

 At the back we had a young Jerel for a bit and Matty Hoofwood and then Judas O'Hanlon...we're stronger this season I'd say....Rhys Evans had a good season and if MM could accept the evidence of his eyes Phil Smith is better.

 Full backs? Infuriating as he was at times I was a Gurney fan...you need a bit of thuggery on occasions...he could also play a bit.  He'd be better than J Smith or Amankwaah.

 Daisy at left back or sometimes Nicho......seems we have a similar problem, a weakness.

 Would be a good game if those two sides met....

Gurney scored the winner for WSM last weekend......FYI like.....

great use of nicknames there Reg

Sammy Eyeglue! ace!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: