Thetownend.com

Will he be gone before?

I like to hope so, but unfortunately i think he will still be here.

I was planning on going to this, however may not bother spending my hard earned dough.

Anything apart from a defeat will be a good result imo as Northampton seem to be quite a consistent side.

Oooh, waits for the inevitable "we're not playing Northmpton today" posts.

FWIW I expect him to still be in charge for 2 game, where we will win one (Tues) and lose one (Sat). The man will survive a bit longer on this, he seems to be made of Teflon.

I wont be going lost interest for the 1st time ever.

I was not going to go to this but have decided to go, if we lose I might even shout for his name out, never done that before to any Swindon manager in 40 years.
I would like to see him go now, but DV is probably right they will wait until the Tuesday match at least.

Thats what i would expect from thisis!

Jeffreys winding them up again, its quite funny

buggger if you were going i was going to be nice and buy you a pint

As much as his time is up sacking him 3 days before a game wont do anyone any favours as we'll have Byrne and Williams as caretaker managers and they are the devil.

As I said in the other thread we need to do a clean sweep get rid of everyone and have a whole new back room team in before the next match. We can afford to write games off this season, we need all the points we can get.

That said Tuesday for Malpas in my opinion is must win. Sucks in a way that we've got 4 matches in the next 2 weeks.

If we dont win Tuesday I expect Malpas to be gone with our fans up in arms and Byrne and Williams are put in charge again as caretakers.

even if we lose on tues and he gets the boot on weds thats 3 days before the next game is it not?

just sack the fucker now i say

I think it shouldn't matter either way.

People are making excuses for Fitton as to why he shouldn't go.

Fans should either want him gone or not.

Would prefer he went

I know Fitton is a businessman so it maybe a case of needs must, but Malpas was hired on the following basis: "Discipline, loyalty and stability", which leads me to think he'll be here for some time yet.

I'm undecided!!!! :bye:

As much as i'd like to get a win on tues night,right now given our home form i'd take a draw from the
next 2 games.Just to stem the tide.Unfortunately,this is unlikely.I've checked Northamptons away form
and whilst not great,they do score and concede in every away game. Scored 7 conceded 10

Evidence suggests that Fitton and the boards policy so far, is that we're unlikely to see a clean sweep
of the current management and coaching staff,however desireable it might be.

It's decision time Fitton,we can't keep going on week after week with this.

Ok, honest question if he was sacked tomorrow.

Who would want to see in charge for the Northampton game? and who would you expect to be in charge for the Northampton game?

Taking into account that 2 days will not give us enough chance to bring in a new manager and most, if not all people want Byrne and Williams gone with Malpas.

Bob Holt should be caretaker manager.

Would have to be Bodin then wouldn't it, he's the only one left if the First team and Reserve team managers are gone. Must stress, that is on a very short caretaker basis!

Bryne would take charge, this as a long term option would be disastrous though.
We need someone in charge with a bit of charisma and LUCK.

If Malpas went tonight the reality would be that, yes, Byrne-Williams-Glanville will take charge for Northampton which I wouldn't have any problems with as it's a short term solution. Byrne was only in charge for so long last time because the takeover wasn't complete.

If they all went then Paul Bodin would take the reigns.

 As I've said before, where is the evidence that AF will do anything other than install Byrne and Williams if he does sack MM.

Thinking about this, Fitton has coaching badges doesn't he? Lets go Graham Turner on this :D

or Barry Fry :)

Well that depends. If we end up with them as caretaker managers again and they do as well as they did last time then they probably would get appointed.

 I think it's more likely, that we'll look to get a couple of loan players in to stop the rot.

 

Maurice malpas is the evidence reg. He got the job over byrne last time

but then we'd received compensation from Plymouth for Sturrock, Blackley and Summerfield.

this time we'd be appointing off the back of paying off a manager, which I assume would effect the budget for the finding of a new manager.

I think Reg is right, that they will allow a couple of loans before sacking him... Fitton will exhaust all options I imagine before anybody is clearing their desk.

We'll have to wait until January and use the money we get for Cox :)

Does that include 25% or more of the fans not turning up for games including season ticket holders - think about it - I dont think so.

 At the time AF said he'd been impressed by their work...clearly AF had a certain budget for manager, which was shown by the quality of applicant interviewed....that budget will be taken up by paying off MM.

Now I'm not privy to the bank accounts of our Board, and they may be willing to dip into their own pockets and fund half a mills worth of change, but nothing they've said or done yet indicates this course of action.

When MM was appointed, i remember Fitton being interviewed and he said that they weren't that far
away from getting the job fulltime.

Why do I need to think about it? I'm not Fitton.

You started your post before ...

I think ....

Oh well!!

It's true sadly but sort of understandably too.

However there are a couple of rays of hope. Fitton has said his aim is to get championship football. Now I don't subscribe to the "within 3 years" sound bite crap, but I do suppose he realises this will require some form of investment at some point. Maybe that time is now. Or maybe he is waiting for the stadium venture (which must be dubious under todays financial meltdown) or to finalise getting the club on an even keele.

It's all a question of desire by the board to make changes.Fitton so far has given no indication of this.For instance he could
have made changes to the coaching staff or appointed an experienced number 2 for Malpas.With no changes so far, that would suggest that he doesn't see this as a problem area.

The Byrne/Williams option looks increasingly likely from Fitton,should MM depart.Malpas in his post match interview made
no mention of loan signings as a way to change things around.In fairness he wasn't asked,but he chose to make no
mention of this,as a means to try and arrest our current decline.

1) Fitton has said he did not believe that a manager necessarily needed to bring in his own backroom team, and to do so would have been unfair on Byrne and Williams after they had carried us through the takeover period (as they would be out of a job).
2) Malpas had said he would look at the loon market in the near future if things didn't turn around. I think it was in the WDP or similar.
3) I'm not sure why I am numbering these point, and what point they make.

btw, the loon market sounds ace

Same team bar injury against northampton?

Maybe.

I'd start McNamee though and get at them.

Yeah timlin at left back haha seriously i agree about playing macca

 fB into central mid on Tuesday now....even DRS will turn out for that one.

Haha i would reg. I am actually going to follow your example and go for a walk

The defence is the issue. Apart from a left back, why do we need loans? Malpas has bought in 2 defenders and is bringing through Morrison (I'm for that, not moaning). He can't decide who his best personnel at the back are. Bringing in loans basically shows his failure to get the right players in the first place.

Yes some loan additions in other areas would be useful and I'd be for that. But the defence should be our priority right now. It needs sorting.

Nov 1  Scunthorpe (A) - in top form
Nov 15  Leicester (H) - in top form
Nov 22  Bristol Rovers (A) - we always lose this one
Nov 25 Peterborough (H) - getting stronger

Thank goodness we have four easy fixtures in November to look forward to!!

Apart from last season when we won, you obviously forgot to add.

 We've lost twice at Rovers in the league in the last 40 years.  Maybe you hope we'll lose this one.

Actually Malpas has brought in 3 defenders, I forgot about Kanyuka. That's terrible.

Cant be arsed to read the lot but is there anyone with a season tickets whos not going who wants to lend? :D

Borrow mine if u want, dont know how to get it to you though

Ill pick it up ,ive no work till wednesday.

if your serious let me know where and ill sort it :D

you'd have paid me in 2 games then  :D

Yeah no worries mate will pm u tomorow or do a tans and dan jackson love in thread to arrange it.

Given we don't know which applicants were interviewed, what they said/didn't say that ruled them in/out or indeed what (if any) budget they had for a managerial team, there's one hell of a lot of assumptions in there Reg. A few too many to be saying "clearly", for a start

I think it is a sensible suggestion to assume Fitton had a budget to work to when appointing a manager as all parts of the club structure has one.

Now that budget, if past selections are to go by, would have been fairly substantial as I doubt Wise, Poyet, Sturrock would have been cheap. I'm sure Malpas was a cheaper option than those named, especially considering that the support staff were already employed by the club.

There may well have been bigger names that applied/showed interest, but Fitton chose Malpas, rightly or wrongly.

I wasn't arguing that they didn't have a budget when appointing Malpas, more against the implicit assumption that it was small and Malpas was only appointed because he was the cheap option. Fitton's shown in the player signings he's made that he's prepared to spend if he thinks it's the right signing and there will be a decent ROI and I think the same applies to the manager

 Being a simple soul, I just went on the data released at the time that Micky Adams, Martin Ling and Dave Hockaday were interviewed along with MM. It was also stated that one candidate ruled themselves out on financial grounds.

 

on that note Brighton have gone longer without a win in the league then we have!

Since when did speculation in the Adver count as "data" being "released"?
Yup, remember that. Although it wasn't quite phrased like that iirc. And I'll reply the same way I do every time you drag this up - the way I read that, it was "clearly" implied that the problem was not so much the candidate in question's personal financial demands as that he wanted to spend his way out of the division. And you can drag out what I said the last three/four occasions we've revisited this one as to why I agree with Fitton that that's the wrong way to go about it, if the reasons aren't self-evident.

You're building a house of assumption on a very thin sand of "data" here Reg, but I admire your persistence

 I don't really get the point you're trying to make....it seems to me wholly reasonable, that if it's stated in the Adver, x and y were interviewed this is likely to be true.

 As regards the candidate who priced themelves out, whether because of personal gain or needing funds etc, it does suggest a budget.

 

But it wasn't stated as fact, merely as "among the candidates believed to be"  type of thing. And irrespective of how it was phrased, have you read the Adver at all? :)

No, it suggests a clash of philosophy. As I keep saying Fitton's made it very clear he wants to build a sustainable Championship side, not buy temporary success at the cost of long-term instability. That doesn't mean he's not willing to spend, but that he wants to spend in the right way. And a manager who comes into interview saying "Right, I'm going to want x million to buy a new centre half, new midfield etc etc" is not going to chime with that approach.

Playing devil's advocate, what evidence is there to suggest Fitton would appoint Byrne and Williams as the management duo should Malpas go?

All these arguments are based on assumptions. They may appear sound, but they are assumptions. Unless you've heard directly from Fitton you're not going to get this evidence.

Fittons strict budget went when we got cox and mcnamee

To be fair, I don't think anyone's argued it's anything more than an assumption that they'd be appointed permanently, or indeed as caretakers, but unless there's a replacement already lined up, they'd be the obvious choice as caretakers. In which role they actually did very well last time round, something people keep seeming to forget when they slate Byrne for waving his arms around and shouting and Williams for, erm, not waving his arms around and shouting

Northampton won three games in a row when they beat Yeovil today.  Adebayo Akinfenwa scored his 8th goal of the season. They should be full of confidence on Tuesday evening.

Paul,

I'd add to that that the character of the candidates also seemed to play a big part in Fitton's
choice.The working relationship between a manager and chairman is crucial to the success of
any club.Fitton rightly,places that as of paramount importance.Just because things haven't
worked out with Malpas,doesn't mean he isn't a decent guy.

That's one hell of an achievement in one day. They'll be knackered come Tuesday evening :)

:nod:

It was mainly aimed at Reg's question about evidence Fitton wouldn't go for the permanent appointment of our current assistants.

I've just got back from the pub, and only browsed the thread. But in the unlikely event that I'm not signed up to play on Tuesday, can I thief a spare season ticket off one of you cunts which can't be arsed to go? (there seemed to be a few of you)

I've got the urge again, first time for a few years.

Swindon are narrow favourites to win the game.

Swindon 6/4          Draw 12/5          Northampton 7/4 

In my own constantly optimistic way, I reckon it's worth a tenner on the draw.

I've got a spare ticket for Tuesday, if you or anyone else wants it, can get you in at the gate on the night.

I wasn't going to go because I was supposed to be working in London, but now I am as I'm in Swindon after all  :)

Actually, that should probably be  :(

you better wear an eye patch ben and bring a drum!

All assumptions correct.............. :doh:

How do we always lose to Bristol Rovers? We have beaten them 3 times from the last 4.

dont let the facts get in the way of a good whinge

Lambert broke part of my decking..................well i was listening to the radio, hoping the promotion party would start and then that scouse twat scores a corker and i kick the fucking lot all over the garden .....

It could of bIt could have been worse - you could have been standing in the Rovers end when he scored. That was not fun.

the way we have been playing, Hawley will destroy us on tuesday

I can see Malpas pissing off our fans even more... and managing to get a result to save his backside for another week or two.

We need to win this, things aren't looking pretty at all!

Hope he does piss them off tails

Cox will be wishing it was the Cobblers he signed for come Tuesday......

I hope we show the same battle we supposedly showed at Southend.

....and I really hope the fans are up for it. Get the first goal for a change and it might just happen.

It really is time for everyone to stand up and be counted. From the boardroom to the fans. Stop moping, stop accepting defeat and believe even if its only for the first five minutes till we find ourselves a goal down.

Town end will be quite empty. I'll imagine it'll be difficult to get anything going in the there. I'll be surprised if there aren't many making the effort though, just depends whether people will join in. I think the TE is starting to wake up slowly, still pretty dead though.

I'd like to see the DRS get some decent chants going. Even the youth up in the corner (I have no idea if they still watch from there, or at all) were louder in previous years than that whole stand has been this year.

Mission:impossible where I sit, 2nd block from TE. I think the average age is 102, it's like Arkells overspill.  Chelsea have their pensioners, we have the Don Rogers Coffin Dodgers(tm).

I still try from time to time though.

Well Batch I'm in the same block towards the back. The only time anyone gets excited is when they have a go at each other. It really is a toxic environment. It is bloody unpleasant to be there and I expect a few fans to be right at each other soon. Its been building over the  season and its going to bubble over soon.

It did last week, a few people got abused for leaving early

Jeeesus! I'm going to try and find a Spurs messageboard to cheer myself up a bit

Yet when we really were shit we all got behind Iffy....

I dont know why

As you said it was shit players also he was thrown in the deep end. Malpas has played at the very top level and was a decent defender yet cant get a decent unit here. Think alot of people cant get their heads round that

It wasnt the chavvy cunt and his even more chavvy son in the drs?

I nearly chinned the fucker the other week

Swindon Win
1-0    13/2    
2-0    9/1    
2-1    17/2    
3-0    20/1    
3-1    18/1    
3-2    28/1    
4-0    80/1    
4-1    50/1    
4-2    66/1    
4-3    200/1    
5-0    175/1    
5-1    125/1    
5-2    300/1    
6-0    600/1    
6-1    500/1    
6-2    750/1    
   
      
Match Draw
0-0    8/1    
1-1    11/2    
2-2    12/1    
3-3    66/1    
4-4    500/1    
          
 
Northampton Win
1-0    13/2    
2-0    12/1    
2-1    9/1    
3-0    33/1    
3-1    25/1     :doh:
3-2    33/1    
4-0    100/1    
4-1    80/1    
4-2    100/1    
4-3    250/1    
5-0    400/1    
5-1    300/1    
5-2    450/1    

          
          
          

Even STFC CEO mentioned the betting this season on losing 3-1!!!!

I'll have a quid on swindon to win 6 - 2.

Agreed, and also Iffy along with previous managers had the 'advantage' (if you can call it that) of the off-field shenanigans, there was more lee way given because the whole club was fucked. Malpas doesn't have that excuse.

Iffy was only given so much lee-way because he used to play here. No other reason

Ace cheers dell but I'm not sure I can make it now. Super lame. I think someone else was asking somewhere.

tans was.

iffy got backed for more than the reason he played here.yes that was probably the main factor.but he inherited a side in trouble,got us almost out of it,and at times there were glimmers of hope.
malpas has taken a fairly decent side backwards, when all the backroom worries have been sorted.his signings are poor, the defence is shocking,and other key players have become dire.
i'd take iffy over malpas for sure.(not that i want iffy back)

iffy got us safe then fucked up again, yet no-one has a bad word to say against his tenure

Brez and Peacock doubtfull

let the anti Smith stuff start...

It certainly dosen't help when the 2 keeper's keep getting swapped around....Peacock will be a big miss though

When Malpas does get replaced we will need someone that has decent contacts as you do get the feeling he is going to have to wheel and deal come January to avoid relegation.

How about Jamie Redknapp or Alan Shearer for their 1st managerial appointments to again experience bringing in an experienced No 2 with them (Ok I'm dreaming again)

I'm confused as to why Ifil was dropped in favour of Aljofree though, one is quick and has been one of our best defenders over the years the other is slow and has been at fault a few times for goals.

Ok Aljofree adds experience alongside Morrison but how many games has Jerel played now so isnt exatly a novice....and bringing back Pook smells of desperation to me - a player that the manager clearly does not rate due to him leaving him to rot in the reserves since the start of the season and transfer listing him - Pook is really going to want to help save MM job isn't he ?

Firstly,  yes they do

Secondly, it was a totally different situation.  he inherited a shit team with low morale packed with uncommited loanees.  We sold our best player

I could see what he was trying to do by injecting a bit of pace and power into a pedestrian side.

WTF makes you think Jamie Rednapp would be a good manager?!

what stand dell?

So the "Nationwide" derby is only a day away, stupidly I'm looking forward to this game, not sure why though as I don't really fancy our chances.

Don Rogers right on the halfway line.

cunt :D

if noone has it ill take it off you? pm me

You'll be there to witness the start of the turnaround then Tans!

Many years from now we'll be able to say: 'Yes, I was there when Sir Maurice got the Town back to winning ways. We beat Northampton 4-1 and never looked back. Successive promotions followed, then European glory and all masterminded by MM, who thoroughly deserves the life-size bronze statue in the CG carpark.'

I need to lie down........

I fucking hope not. There's no way he'd get sacked if all that happened.

He's got his coaching badges and he does want to move into managment one day apparently, he had a great playing pedigree and has played at the highest level with England, he would instantly command respect.

His father isn't exatly a bad manager is he ?

I know this dosen't make him a good manager but what makes anyone a good manager ?, sometimes it is about the people you surround yourself with (coaches) and the respect you instantly gain with the players wanting to play for them and as a young manager you learn as you go along.

In our situation it may be too big a risk going for someone unproven though, I'm undecided really I think my top choices would have to be Holloway & Billy Davies though

You were saying that all day Saturday and it didn't work then.

It's got to work eventually though..........

it will now im going! 8)

does anyone want to meet in the merlin beforehand as ill be on my tod

Derby County last season!

I'
I'll be in the Merlin before the game, as will a few others no doubt.

Somebody will probably talk to you.....................

pm me your number please steve

I might be able to chip to the merlin for an early one but will probably have to go early. Let me know what's going on.

Hertha, I've had a little flutter on 4-1 to the Town, if it comes out I'll give you my stake, as my inspiration! :D

Except I'd disagree that Redknapp would command respect

I'll be in the merlin beforehand but I'm going to pretend I don't know tans.

 :cry:

fucker..

its ok herthab will speak to me 

I'll speak to you if I can make it. You owe me a pint.

Wahey, i keep saying ill buy you one if i ever meet you anyway

You don't want to start that game tans.........

I never said that.

haha


expect some dirtier texts than drs

what time does the merlin open?

all day innit?

I can't make it now anyway. :(