Thetownend.com

So need to bouce back from sunday.

2-0 win.

Still think Ferry is due one too.


Think Paolo might rest Ritchie too..


Either way I think we've got enough to win this one!

COYR

I've been wondering if Ritchie might be rested. Wouldn't surprise me to see Rooney and Holmes on the wings, with Connell and Tehoué up top. Who plays at the back is anybody's guess!

Let's get three points ffs.

Please....

Winning 1-0 with a 98th minute own goal will do me, just need 3 points tomorrow.

3-0. Alan Connell first scorer.

2-0, Connell and Flint. Not my favorite team so Really want to win this one. Think Tahoue will partner Connell up front and wouldn't be surprised to see Flint on from the start. In Swindon early for a few pints and hopefully get the three points to make it a great day.

Big game, and fancy us to finally win a local derby (Cheltenham doesn't really count). It's a Connell and Rooney day.

Cheltenham doesn't count? Ground to ground it's closer than oxford or any of the bristols

Nobody cares but you Dave and a few Cheltenham fans.

Caddis and Benson were both rehabbing again today, so doubt they will feature.

If Ritchie doesn't play its because he's been dropped rather than rested.

Without Benson I think we will struggle to score.
 

Been out down Royal WB tonight, got in after  :pint: with my Rovers mate...he thinks 1-0 to them and I think it's a slippery game, however due to our home record I believe in the team so will say 2-1 Swindon....Connell and Holmes...10,784 attendance....C.O.Y.R part 2 of The Annual is up and running!!!

If we lose this game, then i think SWS should only start match day threads against the lesser teams of this division.

The major games of this season (Oxford home, away, and JPT final) we have lost them all !!!

I've got a bad feeling about this. 2-1 defeat.

Bad feeling without Benson...

1-1

We desperately need to get over the Wembley defeat and put a few more points between us and Torquay, so today is a must win.

Oh dear, Mr herthab won't be very happy with you  :no:

With Ritchie himself admitting that he's not played that well recently and that he misses Caddis I don't know why Di Canio doesn't stick him on the left and put Holmes or Rooney on the right to freshen things up a little bit. Or whoever does play wide, get them to swap around during the game. Maybe he will do - you can never 'second guess the gaffer'.

2-0 Holmes, Tehoue

2-0 goals from Ferry & Risser.

2-1 defeat

0-2... poor(ish) form continuing

0-1.

Draw.

Flint in for risser.

I think I'm being afflicted by the general doom and nerves of seeing several sub-par performances over the last week and my immediate thoughts are that we might slip up.

But my optimistic head says we'll put on a performance like in the Torquay game (ignoring first 15 mins) and get another 2-0.

BTW is Benson definitely out today?

I can't see us conceding but I can't see us scoring without Benson either! So, 0-0.

I guess he'll start Connell and Talulla up front but we might be better with Connell up front on his own and Homless just behind him. Then we can play Ritchie and Rooney on the wings.

I bet the boo boys are out in force today

I don't care what he thinks. :D  I just say it as I see it  :thumb:

4-0 home win.We always bounce back

3 games in hand of Torquay and a point ahead so it won't be a disaster if we don't win and i think we'll run out of ideas and draw 1-1.Whats happened to Miles Storey?if he was at Crewe he'd probably have played more than a handful of games

18 players have scored for us this season, with 11 of those still at the club/able to play a part today, so to say we can't score without Benson is bollocks.

As to the hyperbole about this being a "must win game", really? I mean, seriously? Of course it's not a fucking must win game, or a must not lose game, it's another game with the possibility of stretching our lead or remaining top by a single point, 5 points clear of 3rd (As it currently stands) and with a couple of games in hand on the 2nd place team.

All the games at this stage of the season are important, but if we lose there's enough points left to play for.

" Must win Game" my arse.

I do think people should have a bit more faith in the team I have to say. As DRS said, we do tend to bounce back after a defeat and I don't think today will be any exception.

Agreed, we've won 13 out of the last 15....Win today and one of our games in hand against Barnet on Tuesday and we'll be in a really strong position.

We all have our opinions.  Just because you don't agree with it, doesn't mean it is wrong.  Grow up FFS. ::)

My justification for my comment is that we have been playing poorly for over a month (yes we won a few dodgy ones, e.g. Shrewsbury) and after losing Sunday the players must be on a downer.  Now Torquay are a point behind us (yes, I know we have games in hand), that puts more pressure on the players. Not to mention the injuries to Caddis (seems to be the biggest influece), now Benson (arguably our best scoring striker) and Matt Richie off the boil for quite some time now. That's the reason I believe winning today IMO is a must win.

It's not a glass is half empty view, but my assessment of the current situation.

 COYR

Ha ha, you was correct  :clap:

Fucking horrific hangover.

Best be a win today then, 2-0.

So, because I disagree with your opinion I should grow up? Oh dear.

Please enlighten me as to how this is a must win game.

If we lose, does that mean we have lost the chance of the Championship? Maybe lost the chance of auto's? Is our season over? Will there be no way back from a defeat at the hands of the gasheads?

Let me help you, the answer to all the above is no. Which means that today's game is not a "Must win".

It's one of my pet hates when people exaggerate the importance of particular games, so apologies if I'm being pedantic.

(But it is definitely not a must win game) :D

You're right. Just because I don't agree with your opinion, doesn't make it wrong.

That fact that it's wrong makes it wrong.

It's only rovers, 3-1 .

2-0.

Must win.

4-3 Rooney, Connell and Ritchie double.

Must win game.

Agree with herthab. No game is a must win game unless the title is depending on it. If we lost today and won the rest of our games this season, we would win the league. Must win game? Load of bollocks

Funny fuckers.....

:D

I think "must win game" should be rephrased to "could potentially be a very important 3 points if we won" game. Oh, and swindon 2-0 rovers. Its about time we got something out of those cunts.

 :D Couldn't help myself.

If we can just be serious for a minute (and I know herthab's only playing devil's advocate) it really is a must win game.

I see it more as a 'Must not lose' rather than a 'Must win' game

Learn how to quote Flash, FFS!

(And I refuse to loosen up. I am English).

It's this fucking iPad.....

I just wanted to be the opportunity of asking you to grow up :)

See....it's done it again...

You shouldn't play with new technology at your age, only going to be one winner....

Would take a point, but we're more than capable of winning this. Those saying we can't score without Benson need their heads checking. We weren't bottom at Christmas with 0 goals scored.

Holmes, Rooney and/or Ritchie to have stormers, and 12,408 there to watch us earn a deserved victory!

This is a must win game. If we don't win it I'm going to self harm, well have a few pints. 2-0 to the Town. Where are these crowd sizes coming from. I thought we'd be lucky to get over 8.5k. 

JW said something about 12,500 earlier in the week (was in the Gazette). Rovers will bring more than most, and the club have been positive about sales all week.

Good news. Even more people to see Rovers lose, can't be bad.

No help needed.  My answer is correct, IMO, so let's agree to disagree.

Can't make it today but hope we stuff 'em.  Back four for me would be Devera (RB),Flint & McCormack (CB) and McEveley (LB). I'd be tempted to play Rooney in the mid-field with Ferry - still remember his game for the Gills earlier in the season at the CG when he looked the most accomplished creative player on the pitch. Ritchie & Holmes on the flanks with Tehoue & Connell up front.  I hope Paolo has been feeding the Orient loanee raw meat for a week - we could do with someone his size being mean & angry up front to unsettle the gas defence.

No matter what team we put out I am confident that there will be a dominant & aggressive display today. I don't see this team as being disheartened after Sunday's result - after all, you could argue that Chesterfield would have been in the right frame of mind when they played Sheffield United last Wednesday and look what happened there!  Besides, we owe McGhee for that result at the Withdean when we should have gone to the League One play-off finals instead of Brighton.

So I'm going for a fairly solid 2-0 win, with a 10,000 plus crowd to cheer them on.

Today's the day we need to put what happened last week behind us and there is no better way to do this than with a win.  2-0 swindon  COYR

Agreed  :spoton:

STEVE GROW UP THIS IS MUST WIN EN UMSSSS TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I would definitely start with Flint today, he had their centre forward in his pocket last time, kept drawing fouls from him and wound him right up, well, until he scored at the death anyway.

So sub Flint with five mins to go then.

Works for me.

2-1 Connell to get em both

Just hoping for some passion today. In the stands and on the pitch.

Contrary to popular belief, it will be a stroll in the park today. 4-0

And desire, we can't forget the desire

We need a good moment

Leaving now. Hoping the players aren't too shy today

And to be strong in the body and the legs.

come on the town  lets bounce back with a stuffing i can rember what magee said about the town a few years ago so come on lets stuff them  6-1 ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

I hope he puts the music on and starts moving his body ;)

I expect my players to behave like lions

Foderingham; Devera, Flint, McCormack (capt), McEveley; Ritchie, Ferry, Smith, Holmes; Connell, Murray

Subs: Benson, Bostock, De Vita, Risser, Rooney

Tehoue had an incident with Di Canio in training.

Bye bye then

Tell us more?

Where did you hear that then

Just said on the radio

Sometimes you have to wonder if PdC cuts off his nose to spite his face with all these training ground spats - these sort of things must happen every week at every club.

Why does it always have be so personal to him

What

All 3 of them?

3 spats = 3 players no longer playing

Is this really in the best interests of the club

Have you seen the table lately?

But is that because of or in spite of?

For a player who must have given his various managers a hard time, PdC sure seems to be a tad intolerant

Good, I'm glad he is intolerant. If that's what it takes to get us promoted, then so be it.

More of the same please Paolo

100% disagree.

If the player cant abide by the rules and standards set by the manager, then he should fuck off.

Have to agree with Flashheart here,Had DW been the same last season we may not have got relegated.If players cant do as their told then good riddance. We had to way to much of that last season and then they break away to little cliques.I say well done to PDC for keeping the squad together and not letting anyone disrupt it.

Not heard what is the cause this time but the previous 2 were out on their ears for being lazy sods.
PdC makes loud and clear from Day 1 that there's no place for that in his squad.
We were all crying out last year for the lazy buggers to be cleared out.

I think one of the problems with the spats is that it costs the club money. We must have lost out on the Leon Clarke front. We have Kerrouche being paid for doing nothing. We also have agreed Tehoue's loan until the end of the year - If he isn't going to feature because of a spat, then that is wasted money.

This year it probably doesn't matter too much as success on the pitch has resulted in the club's coffers being nicely lined. However, are we going to have the same success next year? What if we are mid table in L1, having been knocked out of cups as per normal? Think the money issue might become more pertinent.

When you add spats to the mistakes that have been made with Esajes, Lanzano, Comazzi, Gabilondo and maybe Cox, who are all drawing wages. It must be a considerable amount of dosh.

Don't get me wrong. Am really enjoying the success and the passion. Everyone makes mistakes, but the key is to learn from them. Has DiCanio? I'm not sure.

As much as I don't want to see us run as before, I couldn't give a monkeys if a little money is wasted. We'd lose out one hell of a lot more financially if we don't go up.

And how is PDC to know a player is going to act a cunt anyway?

Di canio is a difficult character so it will undoubtedly lead to disagreements with certain individuals. As long as we top the league i don't really care.

Always forwards he falls out with - lets hope Connell and Murray got their shooting boots on today.

Put the call out for Bodin

PDC:
Missed the first bit, but:
- Looking for commitment
- Players determined to change attitude
- Will play the same as they did at Oxford (I hope not!) in making lots of chances
- Ambition to gain promotion by Easter Monday
- Caddis is recovering. Tried to bring him back for Cup Final, but now are being more careful

Let's hope Murray doesn't and we offload and bring back Bodin!

This

Smith misses from 10 yards

Bulger takes out Holmes - yellow

Sounds like a fairly bright start.

Rovers sound like a dirty bunch so far.

sorry for asking a probably obvious question but I've been busy of late - is Benson injured, rested or dropped?

injured

fucking dirty wankers taking both our wide men out and all they get is a yellow fucking joke.

Connell really doesn't do himself any favours ::)

Alan Mac make up your bloody mind whether Ritchie is injured or not.

SSP scores

We're battering them.

Are Michael Appleton and Sam Parkin twin brothers separated at birth I wonder :hmmm: :sherlock:

[url width=466 height=300]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48304000/jpg/_48304982_sam_parkin.jpg[/url]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Michael_Appleton.jpg/225px-Michael_Appleton.jpg

remember, rovers manager was in charge of the brighton team that kicked us off the park
in the playoffs back in the day...

i think appleton is a dead ringer for Voldemort meself...

Connell hits crossbar from 2 yards!!

Oh, Alan

As I said earlier...

It's clear what Rovers tactics are, kick shit out of our wide men.

As for Connell, he tries hard but misses too many easy chances.
Anyone who says otherwise either doesnt go to games or is blinded by their desire for Connell to start games.

Shrews one down  :D

Much happening in the game? Stats on BBC make it look like we're all over them.

West Ham losing 2-4. I really hope they won't try to tempt Di Canio away in the summer...

How's the game been? I just got in?

Can't really understand what Di Canio see in Ronan Murray...

Well I didn't enjoy listening to that one little bit. Frustrating as fuck. Still, the table doesn't look bad at all.

Winning run had to end sometime, not a disaster tho!

Still in a great position.

Sounded to me as if Swindon huffed and puffed but created very little.

Must admit, I was working while it was on, but didn't get very distracted by the football!

2nd half sub and second half hattrick at Pompey for Charlie...

This wankfest over connell has to stop. Top of the league and we are booing decisions? Murray and Connell were both shit today and both rightly subbed.

Which will just lead to a Billy Bodin wankfest!!

Not sure he is the answer. Is De Vita? Is Tehoue?

Bodin more so than those two I would have thought.

Connell and Murray were both shit today.

Would like to see Benson and Storey up front next game, think Benson's hold up skills and Storeys pace would be a good match IMO

Dissapointing result. Back four solid, McEveley was very good defensively as were the centre backs. Smith was energetic in the middle and until the last half hour, used the ball very well.

Going forward, it just didn't click. There was not one spell where we had concerted pressure, we lacked penetration, but Rovers sat deep and defended well. Connell should have scored - but to bring him off impulsively when he miscontrolled in front of the Town End was wrong. We missed his link play after that. Benson was off colour, Murray was Murray...  if we don't have Tehoue then we need Bodin back.

They came for a draw and got it. We need to get all 3 on Tuesday.

It was about the 5th time he did it.

We played well today I thought, the back four were solid all game, the midfield played well. we really need an austin/cox/parkin type up front to put away those chances. the ref and the lino were absolute dogshit today. but it could've been worse. still top of the league and going up as fucking champions

RDV
- Strange game
- If we'd got one we would have got more
- They increased in confidence as game went on and we were glad to get a draw in the end
- Connell's chance wasnt easy as he was of balance
- Didn't really create much in the end
- Found it frustrating in not being able to break them down
- Other results went in our favour. Should still be happy
- Back training with strikers as from Thursday. Strange at first
- At moment its likely he will be played as a striker, but doesnt care as long as he helps the team
- Its a team of great quality

Well said Walcot. No team can win every game but fuck it as we haven't scored for one game let's stick a youth teamer up front. No pressure son.

To quote a popular DMR phrase "Get a fuckin grip".

Agree both were shite, but Connell always looks slightly more likely to score and works harder than Murray.  Personally I would have taken Murray off first.

2 points dropped today.  Rovers only looked remotely threatening in the last 20 minutes or so.  Umpteen corners again wasted.

Interesting how opinions differ.  I thought McEveley looked slow and indecisive at times.  Unfortunately my opinion on Holmes remains the same as following Wembley.  He doesn't seem able to get past his man and again, crosses were poor.

Two away games on the trot now, we need to start picking up points on the road again. The concern is our lack of firepower up front.

We don't really have strikers that scare the opposition. Benson is a poacher - that is great, we have link men in Connell and Bodin, but he's fallen out with Kerrouche and Tehoue, both quicker, penatrative strikers. Agree with the post above. Get Storey involved.

Im basing this on more than one game. Connell is an impact sub IMO, Murray has done virtually nothing, Teehoue likewise although hasnt played much. Id just like to see Storey as he is a different option.

Either way we are going up as champs but hey ho just my opinion

All over them first half, should have been leading. Didn't quite click second half.

I can't argue with Di Canio making the first two substitutions when he did, and who he brought on/off. But I thought switching holmes to the right was a mistake. Holmes was puttting in some juicy crosses from the left, and linking up well with Mcevilly (Whom i thought was much better than on sunday). Moving him to the right took him out of the game, and we lost any resemblance of shape and balance.

Connel was absolute gash today. Not just finishing, but all round play. Not Murrays biggest fan, but he was the better striker.

Rooney looked shit. He does the same thing every single time he gets the ball. If he's still like that in 12 months, get rid. He'll never learn.

Rovers are a horrible fucking thuggish team. Id hate to watch them every week.

If Paolo was the Mrs I think we have had a lovers tiff this week. Look this is just my opinion, nothing more. I still love him but the things that have annoyed me recently
   1. I was a bit annoyed two loan players walked straight into the Wembley team
   2. Another falling out with a player. He needs to show more maturity.
   3. Taking Connell off first. He wasn't great, should have scored and the decision should never have been booed. But at least you knew he was on the pitch.

Right I have that off my chest and will no doubt be lambasted for it.

---------

The game was not as poor as the radio texts I heard on the way back would make out. We played very very well for 65 minutes but found it hard to break a defensive Rovers team down. That's how its going to be, teams coming to defend for 70 minutes.

Ritchie looked very lively and for once the opposition didn't seem to make special arrangements and double mark him. He had more space and looked to be heading back to form. Such a pity he got clattered and injured.

Ferry was excellent and Holmes and Smith did there job. We were very very comfortable at the back and Rovers were more gash than gas to be honest.

After 65 minutes the game went scrappy and Rovers started to look a bit more threatening, but not much. Its nearly impossible to be so dominant for 90 minutes so it was no surprise. We didn't fashion too many clear chances but hey ho, every game is a battle now.

Not sure PDCs up/down celebration at the end was the wisest move but it was funny.

All in all a useful point.

Sounds like Di Canio just doesn't rate tehoué

PDC:
- Should have won it through dominating
- Last 10 mins could have lost it
- Created upto 10 chances
- We were not unlucky, we were bad
- This was a banana skin and if we play like this we will only draw or lose games
- At 1/2 time he thought that if they kept going they would win
- Important to keep going and not lose belief.
- Need to maintain work levels and create chances
- Chance on Tuesday to extend the gap. So given other results he is happy
- Talked about confidence of Connell. He doesn't judge players by one mistake.
- I missed a bit then.....
- Talked about missing Ritchie. Still solid without him, but miss him attacking
- Ritchie injury: Bad challenge on Ritchie's ankle (Not sure whether he was on about Chesterfield game or today)
- Criticised Crawley for fighting in the week and the FA for unfair punishments against him
- Tehoue: Technical decision. He's not as good as someone else PDC picked (Connell). PDC has much better player at the club than Tehoue. Stopped short of saying that Tehoue wont play again or that it was a mistake signing him.

Oh and in other good news, Bristol City bottom 3 with 6 games to go.

We played well up until Ritchie went off, then we lost all shape. Rooney seemed low on confidence - Homles was a 1000 times better (on the left) based on that performance.

I'm not going to moan because we could be 5 points clear on Tuesday night and then the moaners would look a bit silly.

You won't be lambasted by anyone.  The day we stop holding the Manager to account is the day we might as well all clear off and do something else.

Sounds like a frustrating day.  But we're still in a decent position.  And we're not Oxford.

 :nod:

Whens Caddis back?

Just came back. First half we looked great, good in possession etc. I was looking forward to the second half attacking the Town End but it was a pretty boring second half to be honest! I honestly thought the goals would come second half, but we literally had no chances.

Holmes was good on the left. When Ritchie came off and we put him on the right, he was just awful. Their left back could read what he was doing ALL THE TIME, because unlike Ritchie, Holmes will NEVER cross with his right foot. He'd always have to turn and cross it with the second. So that eliminated any successful attack from the right hand side after Ritchie came off.

Thought Connell was OK. Not amazing, not bad. I thought Ronan however was poor, but still don't know why both of the strikers got such bad support. It's just unfair. They try their hardest, they make mistakes - it's life? The Town End tried to stop people slating Connell by chanting his name...

Joe McEveley? I'm still not convinced. Ciobocchi is good enough, I thought McEveley made some awful clearances and his crosses didn't quite work out, always not managing to clear the first man.

Personally I thought McEveley had a good game. He had a good touch and was a Steady Eddie. One thing he doesn't do much is bomb forward in support though he tried a few times in the second half.

Did anyone see Paolo and McGhee like 20 minutes from the end? Paolo was trying to get the ball, I think, and the Rovers manager kind of moved in his way and Paolo lifted his elbow? Had a nice response from the crowd. "He does what he wants"

Nnnggghhh... my two-penneth:

Need to see it again, but Connell's miss looked criminal
Murray is still awful (not his worst game today, but i really don't see what he offers - Bodin is far better)
Ferry was everywhere, and along with Smith played some decent passing stuff
Our crossing really needs improving, especially from set pieces... either over hit or straight at the first man
Rooney wasted a couple of decent opportunities to shoot/pass/cross by needlessly overplaying it
Holmes got some joy out of his marker today, looked promising (and worked well with McEveley on occasion)

It never really looked like we would score today (Connell's chance aside) but i guess a draw isn't the end of the world. Another solid defensive display, and some flashes of goodness in our approach play - just lacking that final ball and killer instinct.

Certainly not from me, totally agree with every word. The fact that some supporters won't have a word said against Di Canio is ridiculous.

Is the falling out you're referring to with Tehoue?  What's it all about?

Yes Tehoue, I'm basing my view on what was said on the Radio, that something happened on Wednesday in training between him and PDC and that he wasn't in the squad today (and unsure what happens to Tehoue next). Radio presenter wouldn't say much more than that as it was a sensitive issue.

Didn't hear PDC's interview after the game, but it sounded from reports here it was a plain "didn't rate him" from PDC...

Under no circumstances should PDC allow players to not tow the line.

We are top of the league and have played a cup final. That is, in part, because PDC doesn't take any shit from anybody. Our success is, in part, down to anybody that doesn't do as they are told being told to do one.

And people want to change that?

Discipline is different and I agree 100%.

What I am saying is that it appears he outcasts anybody who disagrees with him, which as a club we can't afford and could be considered cutting his nose off to spite his face. It seems from the outside to be a bit juvenile.

Maybe without that attitude we would be mid table, who knows. I just wish it didn't keep happening.

Meh, he was only on loan and looked pretty useless, it's no biggie...

I hopes that it continues to happen as everybody needs to be reading from the same page and anybody that disagrees can fuck right off. One bad apple can make the whole thing come tumbling down, as we well know. We have a squad of happy players that want to work for each other. It has to stay that way.

Tehoue been sent back to Orient then?

Yeah it wasn't really about this articular player.

I agree we need unity BR, just seems...well...look its not worth arguing about really. We can presumably recall Bodin if we need extra bodies.

agree, we lacked discipline last season and everyone should remember what happend there.

Connell was substituted because he never recovered from that tackle hence why they were putting an ice pack on his ankle when he went off.

McCormack or Ferry were mn of the match for me today not sure why it was given to Flint.  It woud seem Tehoue has been picked up in training about his lack of effort.

Good 1st half ball looked over the line to me not sure why it wasn't given but we'll see on league show whether it did, that's  if they show it

Rovers fans completely comical giving it the big I am on the way out. Shit team that came to Swindon  for nothing more than a point

These are just players we hear about though,he has argued with a fair few but they have responded in the right way the others have not.I agree about  wembley batch but think he was right to sub connell

fair point. This must happen at every club, but the result is said player rots in reserves. With PDC its more spectacular and public and there is no way back for said player.


We'll have to disagree :) Well with the order the subs happened anyway. I don't dislike Murray but he was anonymous, and unsurprisingly dominated by a very big Rovers team.

Connell and Murrey were both shite. Why the fuck did Connell belt it all he had to do was pass it in to the net. Last Sunday he didn't need to welly it either. I can see why PdC keeps dropping him and I hope he does so again. Some twat a few seats along was giving PdC all manner of shit for subbing him. Holmes yet again saw plenty of the ball and did fuck all with it. Rooney looks a mere shadow of what he was. Ritchie was poor until their bloke clattered him and then looked like the old Ritchie.
The ref was a cunt.The albino should have got a red and not a yellow. How the fuck the ref gave a goal kick after the defender deflected Ritchie;s shot wide defied all the laws of physics. Its also the first game where outfield players could use their hands.
Unsure about McEveley. My MOM was Smith. At this moment I wouldn't be snatching anyone's hands off for the loan players but there's a few games yet.
I'd also like to see Storey given a game or 2 alongside Benson.
   

So tell me was McEvely poor or good-people cant seem to make up their mind

On another note, anyone noticed Chesterfield have been smashed twice since Wembley?

If only . . . .

 :hmmm:

I thought he had a good game he made a couple dodgey passes but other then that he was good.

He left me thinking we'd need better than him next season.

Wovers came for a point, and thanks to their twelve man the ref, got it.

McGhee is still a wanker.

Did notice in the new issue of FFT, which includes a four page spread on the Pox v Swindon derby, that Jay McEveley gets nominated as Barnsley's best player in the top 50 FL players.

I thought McEveley did alright today, nothing spectacular but then that's understandable as he's still getting used to a new team.  Let's be honest it took Caddis a while to settle in to the team when he joined us so people need to give McEveley a chance too.

I'd rather have McEveley in our team than Michael Rose or Alan Sheehan

Too many changes to a winning team. Cibocchi was playing well. Even Holmes, came into the team too quick. Bostocks appearance at Wembley was fucking rediculous.

That said, we battered them first half today. We ran out of steam second half, but if our fans had stopped behaving like spoilt brats, and supported the team then I am sure we would have got the result.

Murray is so one footed its difficult to believe a Championship team pays his wages.

Wonder if the Old Bill have got a grip yet? Huge mob of Rovers wandering around Town with no escort earlier.

Probably looking for a pound shop to loot. They're a real bunch of chavvy low life drug addicts and prostitutes.

Thought McEveley had a real good game.
Would really like to see Storey to start up front with Benson, feel he will be a great foil for Benson with his pace.

Some right proper bellends texting in to RS after the game today. Someone said that Connell was the worse striker ever to play for us !!

5 away games and 3 at home now. The home games you'd say we 'should' win. Plymouth, Northampton and Port Vale.

Was probably that Jakey Cook off the facebook page. Complete cunt.

Someone even said Benson is useless. Do these people ever go to games?

The txts etc dont bother me.Like spencer said it is the spoilt little cunts who are becoming a joke.There is a difference between holding the manager accountable and acting like a total fucking weapon

Benson is the least useless player  :cry:

He was a breath of fresh air when he came on.

Frustrating game, but a useful point, especially with Crawley and Shrews drawing.

Ferry was my MOM, closely followed by McCormack, we miss Caddis so much, you can see him not being there has had a huge affect on Ritchie as well. Did PDC say how long until he is back?

I though McEverly had a good game, would like to see him go outside the winger more often though.

Overall, glad that game is out the way as it was always going to be a tricky one, a very important week coming up, two very tough away game. If we can get 4 points then we are looking very good.

Another thing i am noticing is a massive difference in fitness between our loan players and the players who were here preseason

I heard mid-April mentioned somewhere.

Shit, not good if true...

We played well today for about 60 minutes. After the first couple of substitutions we seemed to lose our way a little though. Not entirely sure what caused it, but I think losing Ritchie was a big blow. Holmes failed to impress having moved to the right, and for all those slagging off Rooney tonight, I only remember him being given the ball out wide 2 or 3 times, and he did ok with little support from McEvely or others.

Not sure what to think with Connell. He's scored a good number of goals, and has some very good games. Today I was disappointed to see him go off, mostly because he'd offered a lot more than Murray (not that the constant abuse Murray received from some was justified).

At the end of the day, we put in a good shift against a physical side who came for a point and will be thankful to go away with just that. Paolo seemed pretty pleased with the effort the lads put in and I can't disagree. Go to Barnet on Tuesday, do the same, and goals will come. We're top of the league with two games in hand, and we're there for a reason.

Yeah, agree with all of that.

And I must stress. Don't play Holmes on the right. He's effective on the left, but useless on the right.

Mark McGhee's comments here for anyone who's interested. Always come across as a pretty honest bloke IMO. I would point out that our lack of width in the second half was at least partially due to their attempts to break our wingers' legs though...

http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~2708149,00.html

Agree with a lot of that to be honest.
Not a Connell fan but Murray should have gone not him......to be honest i dont get the situation with Murray.
Still think we play much to deep which means the likes of Ferry and Smith do a lot of good work..but not in dangerous areas.....did Smith or Ferry have a shot on goal today or last week come to that :no:

Good point gained today and also just to say the work of Foderingham goes unoticed because he plays brill everyweek.
His positioning and kicking today was top notch.

Except when providing assists for Oxford...

Wes was shown great appreciation by the Town End throughout the second half.

Sha la la la la laaaa....

Though I noticed a couple of things,

When he kicks out of his hands he's out of the area pretty much every time. I know pretty much all keepers do this, but if we get a shitty pedantic ref could he get picked up on it?

Also he doesn't ever play the quick ball out. Couple of times Holmes was screaming for it early to break but Wes took his time.

Overall though I agree, he's been fantastic.

Like this bit

"We both want to win the game and I think you can feel the passion that he has for his team, for his club, and for results and that gets through to his players. I think he's brilliant and he will be great for Swindon. I think he will get them up and I just hope, for their sake, he stays and takes them beyond that."

I've noticed that about Wes, surprised none of linos have picked up on it. Thought it was a bit of a risk taking Connell off considering Benson was carrying an injury. Was thinking this morning that four points from today and Tuesday will keep us in a strong position,now important to get a win at Barnet.

Tuesday now is a must win game  :D

Must win you say...... >:( Not that it matters much but noticed on the BBC match stats that the game Was 90+4 minutes and the ref blew the final whistle on 93 minutes, what happened to " a minimum of four minutes " also was strange after the game seeing about seven police dog vans along with three riot vans by the burger van but not a single copper or dog in sight, waiting down behind the Arkells no doubt.

We just seem to have lost a bit of momentum which I think has been caused by the mass influx of loan players and tinkering to the team.

We will go up and go up as champions but might just have to be a tad patient.

I do hope so.

I agree we do miss Caddis' forward runs.
However, we have to give full credit though to our defensive line as, since Caddis injury we have not let a league goal in at home.
We have actually conceded the least 'home goals against' in the entire league all season (only 8 against :clap:)
Even better than Man City who have let 10 past (3 today vs Sunderland)

2 goals against us at home since 19th November last year makes me think we should be looking to Wes & our back line for player of the season.

I'm sure we will say " Bye Bye " to this division but might have to wait longer than over the Easter games.

Umm, the match I went to, there was a minimum of 3 minutes added time.

I agree...and noticed same thing at rovers away when gaibilondo was free two or three times and screaming for the ball...
Maybe he's playing to orders and being young doesnt feel able to use initiative yet ? Or maybe he just doesnt look...

I thought Rovers were fucking awful today.

Clearly the game plan was to kick the shit out of any or all of our flair players early doors, and it worked well when greasy cunt Paterson maimed Matt Ritchie. He was looking lively and back to how he used to play before that. The ref bottled the red card for what was clearly a deliberate and nasty foul.

Fair play to Ritchie for staying on the pitch for as long as he did. He was struggling like fuck and gestured to the bench at one point that he couldn't continue. He gave it a bit longer though and eventually ran it off for most of the remaing time. A real fucking pro :nod:

Agree with whover said earlier that the loan players are blowing out of their arses compared to the lads who've been here for a while. McEveley was a prime example. He did very well for about an hour, but was completely shagged out towards the end. Quality player though. Will do well for us if he's fit and wants to buy-in to PDC's regieme.

The striker problem has dogged us since cuntscab Austin left and its pissing me off that we seem unable to either spot or attract decent talent in that department.

Benson can't do it all on his own but even when not fully fit he's by far and away our most consistent operator up top.

Storey isnt the answer - yet. Ditto Bodin, which is why he was loaned out. Connell is frustratingly start-stop and Murray is fairly quick, but has virtually no end-product and is physically weak, so often gets knocked off the ball too easily.

I know I'm stating the fucking obvious - but it feels good to vent this shit, eh? - we really need to fix this problem quickly, if only temporarily for the last few games.

It's been obvious for 2 seasons, but we're still fucking around with dodgy loans and misfits who just don't seem able to cut it. We're scoring goals everywhere else, yet we're struggling for someone to dominate defences and convert chances.

I'd kill for an Alex Revell / Barry Corr style striker at the moment or someone who could batter defenders in that way while feeding off Bensons steady supply of flick ons and ferry's probing passes, let alone a usually decent quantity of crosses from the wings.

It's the only part of the side that is still making us all so fucking nervous.

Controversial, but you have to ask whether Kerrouche could do the job...

Not often I agree with you, Reverend, but a fit, willing and able Kerrouch would fit the bill at the moment.

Not sure what he did to offend PDC, but him shipping him out to the Pox says it all as the ultimate insult and nail in his coffin; he aint going to play for us again as long as PDC is here.

I've been thinking the same. I think it comes down to some give and take... we get a lot out of PDC. Passion, which has rubbed off through the club; An attractive prospect for players like Rooney, Benson, Foderingham; superb defensive record. But a by product of few signing two thousand players and being fiery is that some signings won't work and some will fall out with him.

Even thought I bemoaned our lack of striking alternatives earlier, just as crucial has been Nathan Thompson's absence. This was his moment. Of course he isn't as defensively sound as Devera, but he is our reserve version of Caddis. He would get forward, overlap and give us the transition between defence and attack we have missed recently. Sadly for him, it could be a career changing dose.of horriblee bad luck, unless he can, gets fit asap.

Jesus, almost had forgotten he existed!

Anyone know what injury he has?

Multiple puncture wounds to palms and feet, and abrasions around the forehead.

Shit son.

He's on fire

If anything thats worse than the "Multiple puncture wounds to palms and feet, and abrasions around the forehead..."

Bottom line, PDC only really rates Benson up top. The others he tries (often in vain) to keep hungry enough to produce something. He tries to instill confidence and self-belief in Murray and a sense of desperation in Connell, often to good effect in terms of the latter. Bodin must feel fairly unloved and PDC should just have asked two or three Orient fans about Tehoue before signing him - their fallout was highly predictable as soon as we all read the words 'lazy' and 'arse' on their forums. Benson has proved that you need proven league goal scorers to guarantee goals. PDC knows that now, in the same way he knows players with league appearances are a better bet than foreign talent with potential. Learning curve, etc.

Defensively we have been nothing short of stunning for the majority of the season. Assuming we at least crawl over the promotion finishing line, I'm sure we will spend most of what we have in the kitty on a striker. With what's left Paolo will no doubt bring in an experienced ball-winner/play-breaker/sideways passer in the centre of the park and decent cover at right back.

Play-offs next year and some Wembley revenge.

Thinking you may be premature in your ejaculatory prediction...I've heard  from a reliable source that di Canio to West Ham is a done deal, and that in the same way Sturrock recommended Malpas as his successor, di Canio has put forward Wilder as the man to take us forward on a necessarily trimmed budget. Nevertheless we will have to pay compensation.

That shouldn't be a problem, as it's less that we'd have paid for Constable...

Lucky I noticed the date before I burst into tears in front of my children.

Top post Reg.

Well, Paolo obviously wasnt happy.

Tehoue and Murray sent back. Caddis out for the season.

Is this a date related foolery or serious. Bit of an odd April Fool?!

April fool bollocks !

Pogo sticks are dangerous

[url width=50 height=100]http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa18/borgman72000/Smiley/pogo.gif[/url]

It was posted on one of the facebook pages - but now you mention it....

Yes, it most probably is...

Yesterday was frustrating. Thought we bossed the first half and (like last week) had Connell taken his chance, we would have gone on to win handsomely. McCormack made some superb runs forward and becomes our driving force in midfield, something I guess we have to do as smith and ferry in midfield aren't really these kind of players.

Second half, some changes which didn't do that much, although benson nearly scored with a very brave header (neck injury or not!!). I thought that the Rooney/Jay combination on the left showed promise a few times but Jay is way behind the fitness of others as he struggled to track back on occasion. Think he'll make a good signing though.

Rovers weren't great and their centre back, the albino, despite winning everything in the air was atrocious at the back!! (standard div 4 I guess).

For me Flint looked shaky at times, had they been anywhere decent, rovers could have scored twice from errors at the back. McCormack was good first half, my mom was ferry, always trying to create and be busy. Devera I thought did ok at rb but it's clear we badly miss caddis (as we already know)

Mentioned on the radio that he is currently back in Algeria following the birth of a child. Also, that he didn't impress when loaned out to the Pox.

Gutted about Kerrouche. He was fantastic away to Crawley.

Why oh why is Flint not pushed up on corners....we had about a million of them the first half and i only saw him in the box once near the end of the match.
Thought the defence played really well yesterday,just missing that creative spark to put something on a plate for the forwards.

Except the Connell chance when he hit the bar :doh:..if anything he connected to well with it.

The short corner thing frustrated the hell out of me yesterday. You've got the opportunity to chuck Flint and Devera into the box and time and time again we played a short one between Holmes and McEverley. Fine, try it once, but we're sacrificing an opportunity to get it in the mixer on a regular basis with no end result.

I have to say that yesterday in the first half we played as good as we know we can and the passing and movement was causing Rovers all sorts of bother. Connell should have taken his chance that rattled the bar but I was confident that if we continued the same in the 2nd we would have won the game comfortably. Sadly that wasn't the case.

In the second half we really dropped off. Our passing play was decent enough but unusually for us our fitness seemed to be lacking and we seemed to run out of ideas. Benson came on and did well upfront. I think what did for us was that we became too predictable on the wings and Holmes and McKevely seemed to tire a lot and they doubled up on us so that we couldn't get anything going. I think Bostock would have been a good sub yesterday. We needed something different through the middle of the park, something a bit more creative. This is supposed to be what Bostock offers and i'd have liked to have seen him given a chance to change the game.

The positives were that it wasn't particularly a bad performance. We just lacked the cutting edge. What worries me is our lack of firepower. We don't seem to have many strikers at the club that change a game. Connell and Benson are decent but they are easy to play against if the opposition has the right game plan. I have still yet to see what Murray offers us. Another nothing performance from him yesterday. Tehoue has now gone back so we're really short of options. I still don't understand why Bodin was loaned out again.

We just need to win our last 3 home games and we're up. If we win our games in hand we'll also win the league.

Thought Murray did well in the first half myself.

Call me old-fashioned, but seeing the season we are having I think it stinks that people single out certain players for criticism.

Not everyone can be a world-beater but each and every one of them has contributed to where we are today.

There's just no pleasing some people.

Should he also have asked two or three Charlton fans about McCormack before signing him?

McEveley had a decent game - I think he will become an importanr player for us in the remaining games.

Flint and McCormack looked assured.

Connell worked hard but was let down once or twice by lacking a bit of quality - he just needs a couple of goals to get back in the groove.

Murray was always going to struggle against their centre backs, but in general I don't rate him and would rather have Billy Bodin, Kerrouche or De Vita.

I still think Jonathan Smith could develop into an important player for us - he is great at breaking up play, just needs to be a bit more consistent with his passing.

A good point against a team who came to frustrate/kick us off the park.

Anybody know what's happening with Cox.

Is he out of favour or injured. Would it seem he is a dud?

Charlton fans said McCormack lacked ability as a central midfielder in league One. That may well be true.

They didn't say he was lazy.

I get your point. That fans often have one-eyed views of players who are leaving. But when so many talk about bad attitude, it does set off alarm bells in terms of PDC's high expectations. That's all I was saying.

De Vita coming on up front was interesting, its been a few months since he played up top if my memory serves me correctly.

Wouldnt mind seeing Benson/De Vita up front on Tuesday

Despite the miss Connell is still the best option apart from Benson up front.
The calls for Storey are ridiculous.

As you say that may well be true, but he's been fucking awesome in central defence.


As for yesterday, I thought that the last few mins apart we looked solid at the back & didn't look like conceding.

As for the Connell & Murray discussion.   
I thought that Murray had one of his better games for us, but he doesn't really ever look like scoring, which for a striker is a bit shit.

Connell works his nuts off, and gets into good scoring positions but just misses too many of them (to be fair it he was taking that many of them he would be playing at a higher level than Div 4, so it's what we should expect.) But to be honest, yesterday was one of his poorer performances for Town.  That said, I would pick him for the next game over everyone except Benson. 

Ritchie was very good yesterday, and Devera was trying his hardest to get forward to offer him support (especially in the first half).

I thought that Holmes did well in the first hour, he was getting crosses into the box, the problem was that their two CH's were winning almost everything in the air (hardly a surprise against Connell & Murray to be fair, as size wise it was a bit of a no contest). However, when he switched to the right, he was very ineffective.

Rooney didn't really get into the game, tried a couple of mazy runs, but seemed to hold onto the ball too long.

Ferry was, well Ferry I guess. He's all over the park & just seems to love playing football.
Johnny Smith is less talented, but perhaps a more committed version. His passing sometimes lets him down but works so fucking hard for the team that you can't help but like him.

As others halve said, I thought McEveley had a much better game, but really tired towards the end. Still too early to judge him but a decent pre-season with PDC wouldn't do him any harm at all.

Wes, another clean sheet & the best keeper we have had for years.



Paolo seems to be coming in for a bit of a criticism regarding freezing players out, but I guess it's difficult to know what else to do.   He can't send them off to the reserves (as we don't have a reserve team), and the last thing you need is them creating unrest in the dressing room.

The best thing to do with dead wood is to cut it adrift, which is what we have done.

We are missing Caddis more than I thought we would, although easily replaced in terms of his defending at the back his runs forward really do benefit the side and give us a great outlet. Devera just doesn't offer the same sort of quality going forward.

Although Cibocchi improved in his few matches before Wembley, I think the difference in class between him and McEveley is clear to see and we will do well to sign him permanently in the summer.

Would have been nice to see Bostock come on yesterday, I really like Ferry but he just offers no goal threat and that is why he's a League 1/2 player. Bostocks main attribute is his shooting and I would like to see him start on tuesday night.

We've got 4 games in 10 days (3 now). I'm sure we'll see Bostick and Risser during those.

In my opinion this "McEvely is so much better than Cibocchi " is total bollocks.Sorry

That's fair enough. The fact that he has come in and taken his place straight away, as well as playing 150+ matches at Premier League/Championship level speaks volumes however.

I'm not impressed by McEveley to be honest, bit slow and wuss about out 50/50 challenged.

Maybe not Storey to start but I'd much prefer to see Storey on the bench than Teehoue or Murray.

I saw that at the Stratton Bank end, pissed me off at the time.

Cibocchi had fought so hard for that starting spot. Feels wrong that McEvely comes in and takes it without having to fight for it. Thats not what we were about under Paolo, and its not what got us to the top of the league.

Lets not get too clever for our own good planning for next season? There is still a job to be done. Some people dont care if we win the league or not. Probably the same fans who didnt care if we got the 2nd automatic spot or the play offs in 2010. The mark of a loser!

Maybe Cibos foot is playing up? Seemed strange that he was left out the squad completely yesterday otherwise.

McEveley is a pussy. The amount of times he pulled out of challenges was unreal and one time it almost led to a goal.. I'd much rather Kennedy or Cibocchi although saying that McEveley's debut being at Wembley probably hasn't helped him.

Rovers were one of the poorest sides to come to the CG this season IMO. They came for the draw and they were set up to frustrate and kick us off the park.

We controlled the game, but sadly no end product. Again it looked as though Connell had a lot more time than he thought when he missed the open goal.

Big game on Tuesday and hopefully a result down their will set us up for a great Easter weekend!!!

I may be going mad, but looking at the highlights, didnt connells shot go well over the line?

I thought it was in, in real time tbh but watching the replays I couldn't decide and assumed I was being biased.

I thought it looked like it did too from the quick glimpse i saw on the football league show last night.

I thought the complete opposite from the football league show, not over the line.

Agreed from the Player highlights. Not over.

I was sure it was but then again i'd had a few drinks and was sure my kebab looked good too so that says it all about my judgement!!

Kebab's always look good.

What was the crowd?

The people in the stands watching the match.

He'll be available from next Monday, I've heard.

 :ty:

Forgettable game, highlight for me was the "You fat bastard" chant to the fat cunt in the Stratton Bank who promptly removed his jumper and started waving his belly at the Don Rogers stand.

Glad I didn't go. I can't stand that annoying Irene song - got to be one of the dullest in football  :suicide:

I don't think it was sung at all, or at least I didn't hear it. Bristol Rovers fans were very quiet.

They sang it a few times in the SB. It was quickly drowned out by Irene's a prostitute.

I sit near the Town End in the DRS and the noise from the SB was very faint. Guess the lack of roof means that the acostics in that stand are pants.

I concur

Just watched the BBC highlights. All Town efforts!

What is the Alan, Alan McCormack song supposed to be by the way? Heard it a couple of times.

Hello, hello. It's good to be back, it's good to be back.

glittertastic

Cheers.

1:23 of us battering their goal. Rovers were shit.

Just seen Connell's shot on Late Kick off, and I think it crossed the line. as I did on Saturday.

I paused it and it didn't.

I also paused it and it didn't.

sad cunts

I know

Completely completely agree