Thetownend.com

The opponent:  Notts County

So it seems the dust has settled on a rather dismal effort against Brentford. Paolo tried to get one more signing in, rumoured to be Gary Madine (I wonder how many Twitter followers he has lost since?), but technicalities seem to throw the proverbial spanner in the works, so it looks like we will have to go with what we have got until January begins, of which really should be enough to keep us there or thereabouts. Time will tell.

On we roll to the birthplace of Boots the Chemist, Raleigh Cycles, HP Sauce (The HP stands for Houses of Parliament) and today’s opposition, the world’s oldest football club, Notts County, formed in 1862. I still reminisce about my Chopper, (insert own joke here), and a bacon sarnie with a bit of HP really does hit the spot, so I am thankful to Nottingham for that, if nothing else. Now its fair to say Nottingham has history, and lots of it. We all know about Robin Hood and the legend of Sherwood Forest, but what if we dig a little deeper? Nottingham can proudly call itself the inventor of Ibuprofen, which could well be useful after coming home from Nottingham’s Goose Fair, which has existed since at least 1284! Urban Nottingham itself has a population of around 620’000, and is one of just 8 core cities recognised by the government. Interestingly, we could have been playing SNOTTS County today, as in 600 AD, a Saxon King named Snot (really), named the place ‘Snotingaham’, I can’t understand why they ever changed it to its current form. One of the noticeable cities that Nottingham is twinned with is Harare in Zimbabwe, home to ageing dictator, Robert Mugabe, perhaps that’s why Nottingham has the highest rate of gun crime in The UK.

Despite the age of The Magpies, most neutrals away from Meadow Lane would see that they have spent many years living in the shadow of their neighbours, European Cup winning Nottingham Forest.  They have had their troubles in recent times, financial problems (remember Sven and Sol Campbell?) has seen the club owned by a supporters trust, who then sold the club to supposedly rich Arabs, Munto Finance.  Further monetary difficulties saw the club sold, for a nominal fee, to Peter Trembling, who then sold the club to some crazy fella named Ray Trew for £1 after the club had been served with two winding up petitions from our old friends, HM Revenue and Customs, due to demands for a late PAYE payment of around £500,000. Mr Trew still owns the club now.

Nottingham has some famous sons and daughters, in fact there are so many I could start a thread on them alone, they include, Hi De Hi actress Su Pollard, political podgers, Ken Clarke and Ed Balls, Boxing’s Carl Froch, Botanist Robert Darwin, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Footballers, Jermaine Pennant, Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone, the list is endless.  Perhaps one of the most notorious Nottinghamian residents in recent history is everyone’s favourite doctor, Harold Shipman.

What are they saying about us? –   Brilliantly thought out title “Score and Attendance v Swincanio”

“Can't understand why the guy isn't vilified more due to all his Nazi leanings. Seems the attitude is that he's just a mad foreign bloke”

“Seems like he is a one man show there!!
Notts County 2 - 0 Swindicanio
Di-canio getting fired after this match    
We all live in Hope”

http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=402&fid=17&sty=2&act=1&mid=2113750022

Notts County Last 6 – DLWDDD (Notts County currently 8th place on 31 points)

The Threat – French Striker Yoann Arquin currently leads the way with 6 goals, Fat bald lag lee Hughes has 5 to his name so far this season. New signing Chris Iwelumo will be looking to make an impression on his debut too.

A Warm Welcome Too – Another member of the talented (allegedly) but lazy club, Alan Sheehan. I am sure the travelling red army will show plenty of appreciation to the left footed one, who so far this season has seen 3 yellows and 1 red card.

The irrelevant stats - the Magpies home form has not been great so far this season, having won 3, drawn 2 and lost 4. They have scored 13 times at home so far this season and have conceded 12 at the same time. It would seem they concede most of their goals in the 2nd half having let in 10 in the last 45 minutes but only 2 in the first half.

Head to Head – (At Notts County) We have Won 6, Lost 16, Drawn 6

The Odds –   Notts County 8/5    Draw 11/5   Swindon 13/8 (Paddy Power) Correct score odds may be worth a look, fancy a repeat of the Stevenage performance with a 0-4 score line? Just the 80/1 with Tote and Paddy Power or a 0-0 bore draw is 10/1 with Bet365. First goalscorer odds are the normal suspects, Collins and Martin anywhere between 5’s and 7’s, or if you really want to waste a few quid, Sheehan is 25/1 with Bet365. Think I will be going for half time draw/full time Swindon at 11/2 with Coral.

Sid Says – I thought he was limping a bit this morning but he seems to have walked it off during the day and happily wandered towards a 1-1 draw.

The Prediction – With County’s form at home being a bit naff and our away form being better than average so far this season I will stick my neck out and go for a 2-0 Town win, with goals from Ritchie and Collins, 5’922 in attendance with 912 making the journey to Nottingham.

And Finally –  Shin pads for football were invented in Nottingham in the late 19th Century. In 1865 a group of youngsters attached to St. Andrew's Church on Mansfield Road, Nottingham, formed a football club and since they played on the Forest Recreation Ground, the town's racecourse, they called themselves Nottingham Forest.
Hacking of shins, tripping and elbowing were allowed and the goalkeeper could be charged out of the way of a shot even if he was nowhere near the ball. Forest were the first team to wear the shin guards, invented by club player Samuel Widdowson in 1874, whether they lent any to County is another matter all together.

COYR COYR COYR

 Quality stuff.

Many years ago I went to the Goose Fair, in my minds eye, I saw something like a forgotten pageant of "Olde England", what I got was something like Edwards at the bottom of Westcott Place, only bigger.

 Now 14 year girls get shot on the way home, and not with a bow and arrow...don't think I'll go again.

Notts County's home form is worse than ours so no doubt we'll lose today

Wish I was going today.

Think I would be happy with a draw.

Let's just hope we don't give Sheehan a chance from a free-kick within 5 yards as he'll doubtlessly find the top corner. Arquinn's a former trialist isn't he? Must have a chance a scoring too then.

Looking forward to this one and a new ground to tick off.

2-1 Town (Ritchie & Martin; Arquinn)

2-0 Martin, Ritchie

Great stuff Rosso.

3-1 swindon, Martin getting his first goal.

Oh yeah, meant to say...good write up Rosso.

I've just had a barney with my 4 year old who was trying to wear his 'favourite' yellow pants.  I made it very clear to him that:

(a) those are not his favourites; and
(b) we don't wear yellow on a Saturday anyway, under any circumstances.

Suitably chastened, he's now wearing red.

Now that's parenting!

by the law of superstitious football supporters Iwelumo is guaranteed to score after Reg slagged him off foe being crap, we just have to hope that its only the consolation in a 4-1 away win

Thanks Rosso, looking at their home form we should get something today but it's certainly not a given. Heart says 1-2 head says a draw.
The Old Goose fair used to be even bigger than it is now but had the traditional Boxing,Naked ladies, freak shows, but like reg said it has changed over the years like most fairs but still think its worth a visit if you've never been.

As every time I do not make a prediction we lose, I'm saying 2-1 Swindon. Sheehan will probably score from a free kick, then take his shirt off and get his second yellow, being sent off in the process. Ritchie and De Vita with the other two, presuming De Vita's playing.

Closest game of the season for me, so a late start for a change.  Hoping for a great performance and the usual away day atmosphere, oh and 3 points!

Yep shouldn't have done it. I'll hold my hands up if necessary and shoulder the blame.

Well done Ardiles, your actions this morning may well have saved us from a guaranteed defeat  :)

Yeah I have a feeling the stats will reverse today as well as we have won 5 of our last 6 on the road. Here's hoping it's 6 from 7 though.

Dont often beat Notts County away but form suggests today will be the day, so lets be confident and go for 2-0 / 2-1.

Bollocks, if he were a decent parent his son wouldn't have yellow clothes in the first place ;)



As for the game, hoping that their poor home form & our good away form continues & that we come home with 3 points

Indeed.

To say that yellow pants should not be worn on Saturday suggests it's OK to wear them on other days of the week. Very irresponsible if you ask me.

What if they are his favourite pants to soil himself?

Oh and 1-1 today!!

I've got a good feeling about this. 2-1 Swindon COYR

There's an awful lot of optimism for this one.

Me too

1-3

Arrived in Nottingham, fair few town fans already out and about!

Hoping for a 2-1 win

3-0 defeat with 6,686 fans with 952 Swindon fans there.

2-1 defeat.

1-3 the town today de vita hatrick

2-0 loss.

Form always seems to get turned upside down in these games when there should be an obvious outcome (e.g. Leyton Orient taking away our unbeaten home record).

Just got in the pub, (The Riverbank) which is just found the corner.
Plenty of Town fans about, feeling strangely optimistic.

interesting...unless he just wants to go to Hooters.

I have a feeling that Rafa will get a game instead of Roberts today.

Just arriving in the city now. Anyone know a good parking place?

m
We parked right next to the ground, just behind the away stand.

Don't know if they will still have spaces now

Will have a look, thanks

..as soon as I get this damn tracksuit off!

28th April 1987.
3-2. What a game, and what a goal by Calderwood !

Town: Fods, McCormack (C), Ward, Devera, McEveley, Ritchie, Bostock, Ferry, DeVita, Collins, Williams

County: Bialkowski, Kelly, Sheehan, Leacock, Liddle, J Hughes, Boucaud, Bishop, Zoko, Iwelumo, Judge

Williams starts.

Thank God Bostock is in

Was not expecting that

Great to see Williams back. He's quality. Confident with that team.

Reading the County teamsheet makes me feel like a dyslexic man with a speech impediment.

Agreed. The guy stood next to me jumped up when Calderwoods goal went in and smacked me in the snout

That would be a penalty no?

 Subs: Bedwell, Archibald-Henville, Flint, Roberts, Storey, Martin, Hollands

I think thats a pretty solid team and a good bench too, plenty of good options to change it in there.

Oh and like others have said Williams is a surprise I just hope hes not been rushed back too soon.

Fuck me - we aint half got some good players for this league

I would honestly call that our best side.

Me too. Best team we could have put out today. Let's hope the result is good.

Tough game, but strong team and happy to see Williams back. Take a point today.

oh jolly good, STFC Player is cutting out constantly already

I bloody despair!

worse than usual for me, anyone else?

Notts Co. commentary is OK for me, with the added bonus of not having Alan Mac commentating moaning

no Alan Mac today anyhow

yes mate-and what's even more annoying is the County commentary is perfect!

Collins misses sitter

Picture just sent to me by the Flash of Meadow Lane today.

[url width=900 height=268]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/jjedmunds/photo.jpg[/url]

yeah I am listening in to the County coms now and there is no break up whatsoever.

oooooh Sheehan close great save from Fods

same.

as an added bonus, the commentary is very good.

Its not too much to ask is it....good commentary and a solid non breaking up sound.

if other teams can do it why can't we?

Best I've heard this season

he's got a lovely accent too

Agreed, this is what I imagine ALL football commentators sounded like in the 1960's and 70's. Much better than the Swindon one.

Sounds more Derby than Nottingham accent to me.

Looks like county are dominating

Hanging on at the moment-Sheehan causing problems with his deliveries,surprise

sounded like a good chance for Williams

And to actually commentate on whats going on is so rare.

Best commentary I have heard online for years.

Good chance for Williams then.

Another good chance for Swindon from Collins, deflected wide.

This sounds like a belter of a game

bugger.

Fuck sake...

Another corner to us. We are coming back in the game more now.

Somebody is about to feel silly :)

Well behind on the commentary here.

Sounded totally against the run of play.

balls

[url width=200 height=217]http://i.imgur.com/TVh4I.gif[/url]

Thats the problem with listening to World player, there is always a huge delay.

Its OK, we are good at coming from a goal down...Oh.

the official STFC twitter credited the goal to the wrong team, what sort of amateur would do that...

Its a Nottingham thing.

Notts fans singing "fuck off Di Canio" oh how we laugh at the originality of that song, not heard that one before.

 ::)

Yesssssssssssssssss! Nooooooooooooooo! Offside goal Collins,

Brentford 2 Sheff U 0. Its not all bad.

Grrrr, stupid correct Lino

goal disallowed

[url width=264 height=178]http://i.imgur.com/UP2AP.gif[/url]

Apparently the ref is a real homer and hardly giving anything to us.

bollocks to this I am going for  a smoke

Sean Morrison scores for Reading...

fair play to him

Ha the Notts commentator just called Ritchie "Guy"

Hes realy looking buisness for them now.

Wierd one for town loanee Chris Smith at Northampton today who are playing away at the Pox.

Smith not on the bench even yet Northampton have only 6 players on the bench, he must be injured, thats a poor start for his loan spell.

what the fuck was that alarm

His cakes are done.

45 mins up

We sound unfortunate to be 1-0 down at half time.

I can't work out how the Swindon coverage cuts out and the Notts doesn't, surely it's the same system ffs

We do, the best chances seem to have fallen to us yet we go in behind at the break.

Their keeper is playing out of his skin.

According to the BBC I've just scored against my own team. How can that be?  I'm not even there :hmmm:

Good  game, let's hope we win it.

Here's something from Louis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Z1bjdFbfY

[url width=555 height=368]http://www.magicmonkeys.co.uk/games/files/sealofapproval.jpg[/url]

Another shocker of a referee.
Bostock gets booked for his first challenge, Collins gets wiped out from behind by their centre half who gets little more than a warning.

In fact their back four seem to be immune from seeing yellow, having committed a string of fouls.

Suspicion of handball by Judge in the build up for the goal, which wouldn't be a surprise as he has down it 3 or 4 times. He is also very good at falling over.

Collins goal looked very tight, although to be fair it's hard to tell from here.

We do look dangerous, and wouldn't be surprised if we go on to win if we can get the next goal

Bostock<-->Hollands

Sensible.

Very sensible. Was hoping he may make that change.

glad it's not just me. fucking annoying

Mine hasnt cut out for about 5 minutes.  Maybe they've solved it.

As soon as I say that, it ditches twice in a minute. 

Referee sounds like our usual bunch: out of his depth.

The ref we had against Villa really showed up the poor standard of our week-in week-out ones.

The inevitable Collins substitution. Martin on.

This is only just happening on the player.  You can see the future.

just switched back to stfc commentary- cut out immediately!

Just got in. Have we been bad or just not taken our chances as usual?

That was Stuart Attwell.

i have to say that i've quite enjoyed not having to listen to chris wise

The latter best I can tell. Keeper has made some good saves though.

Well he's got better then.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Mistake-prone-referee-Stuart-Attwell-axed-from-Premier-League-duty-for-an-unspecified-time-article865866.html

Hollands is more physical than Bostock so 1/2 hour is a long time for him to be careful ! We've got to keep this tempo up. United being beat by QPR !

Wish we had him today, we might have scored already.

Agreed.

Seconded.

Edit: Thirded

I think the word "loan" may be used in the post match interview.

and "embargo"...

Their keeper sounds like man of the match to me, and I've only been listening for 15 minutes

Superb save by County keeper

According to the Notts commentary, we've been on top for the whole half. Just no goal. Dammit.

this sounds like it'll be one of those games that once we get one we'll get 3 or 4

Ive got a bad feeling about this.

Or we just won't get one. I hope you're right.

Bloody hell. Referee seems crap, and Judge seems a prima dona doesn't he? Even the Notts commentators are saying he dived, and then Iwelumo gets shoved and the ref ignores it.

Roberts coming on for De vita

Judge us a diving cheating cunt of the highest order

815 Town fans at the game today

6,383 crowd with 815 Town fans there.

well done lads

Afternoon chaps! Just arrived back in to have a listen. So, time to equalise!

We aint going to score today

did he just say the Jimmy Savile Stand?

Jimmy Sirrell I expect

i thought that too!

@Official_STFC advice on complaining about player:

If you are experiencing problems please email [email protected] and cc [email protected]

Frustrating day, keeper won it for them it seems.

Arse. Arse and thrice arse.

Down to 8th-cue Radio Swindon meltdown! County's 1st home win since Sept and their first against "promotion rivals"

Very disappointed with that

But we are still only 4 points off second. If only we could find consistency...

Agreed,but the case for plenty of other sides too.

Think I might vent my annoyance by writing a complaint letter to the people who provide the player service.

I listened for about half of the second half and it cut out at least once a minute.

I fucking love a good complaint letter.

Not the first time that's happened this season, but we need to start putting away our chances.  Disappointing that we seem to be stuck in this pattern of only getting something out of a game when we score first as well.

If it's that bad, write a letter and demand a refund for the months where it's been shit.

If they say no, raise a charge back against them via your bank.

If everyone on here does it and backs each other up (by stating the service is not acceptable) they won't have a leg to stand on. Plus when they start losing money because of it they will do something about it.

"In Paolo we trust"-I hate that."We trust Paolo" is the vernacular.

Hope we didn't play too much hoofball today. Bring back the tippy tappy stuff. At least we were winning doing that and it looked better to watch.

has he been interviewed yet?

PDC interview:
- Disappointed because we dominated for most part of the game
- Conceded 2 shots all game
- Created upto 20 potential chances, with only 4 with good delivery
- This time last year PDC said we would win league. This year he says we are at best middle of the table
- PDCs system gives them chance to win matches but it relies on individual finishing
- Every game we create 7-8 clear chances, but we don't consistently score from them
- Notts Co goalkeeper having a great game wasn't the reason we didn't score. He made some good saves, but we didn't have anyone who had the quality to beat him.
- Sometimes we will win 4-0 or 5-0, but it depends upon whether we score the first goal. Once we score the players grow in confidence.
- Consistency is why we can't stay at the top of the division
- Wanted to see Hollands and Martin's body language. He wants loanees that want to join the cause. Today he was unhappy with both.
- Our system and fitness regime is the right way to go
- Today we should have had a minimum of a draw ('Because I'm being generous today')
- Disappointed that when the players lose energy they lose confidence.
- Wants to get 50 points asap to make the rest of the season comfortable. The rest of the season will be used to try to develop players for better things next year
- The 2 week break will help. Players are a little down. They have a weak mentality and couldn't rebound from Brentford game. Will enable Hollands and Martin work on fitness and understand what PDC wants
- Was after a top striker. Couldn't make it happen.
- Unfortunately we are going to find ourselves losing games 1-0 as we have forwards that are developing rather than foxes in the box
- McCormack suspended for Doncaster after yellow card today
- Complained a little about referees in last two games. Not making excuses, but some of the decisions were poor.

Fodderingham:
- Only gave them a couple of opportunities to score
- We didnt score from lots of chances we had
- Thought that Judge hand balled before shooting. Great finish which he had no chance with
- Frustrated watching the ball down the other end against Brentford and Notts Co and us not scoring. We'll work on improving over the next coupld of weeks
- Break will help us clear our thoughts and work on the training pitch
- Don't like people taking the mick and saying he looks like Jahmene of X Factor.

Williams:
- At first thought he'd be out for a couple of weeks
- Slight discomfort today but didnt affect performance
- 'I need to be more clinical in front of goal'
- 'I need a bit more composure'
- Didnt really do enough after going 1-0 down
- Ran out of steam in last 20 mins. Delivery and position in front of goal needs work
- Season has been a little up and down. Xmas could make or break us

Listening to PdC's comments I am getting more and more concerned that he keeps on about us finishing 14th or so. That as far as I am concerned opens the door for the players to think that is a good enough position to be in which is sh*t man management. I am quite happy to be proved wrong!

Also,

I feel sorry for those who have to listen to the BBC commentary team for every game and the banal interviews afterwards, they are really beginning to get on my nerves.

 :no:

We must take our chances. Can only see play-offs at best for us this season. We're not consistent enough to challenge any higher. This period of games against the teams in and around us hasn't started very well.

1. I don't think the players listen to the post match interview
2. I don't think Paolo says the same things to them as to the media.

Just a hunch.

As others have said in the past, need to take his interviews with a pinch of salt. He has an automatic promotion challenge budget and that's what the board will expect. He's just playing down expectation. You don't spend half a million on a couple of players to finish mid-table in this division as he well knows.

Hollands and Martin not fit?....then they shouldn't be playing and why the fuck have we signed them if they are not fit. fed up with loanees coming in who are not up to scratch....also where the fuck is Miles Storey.... give him a run i say,rather have a fit young hungry striker looking for goals than an over weight striker who it appears needs help with his diet..Paolo's words not mine.

Remember everyone saying Austin wasn't ready,whatever happened to him.
Still think we are in a decent position in the table and it is still up for grabs..really strange as we have a plus 12 goal average but it seems that we are not scoring enough.

Did you not see his comedy cameo on Tuesday night?

He will get regular games when he is ready and as Di Canio has rightly pointed out that isn't this moment in time. He will ease him in and he will improve.

Fit or not fit, out of the strikers we have got none of them have had a season as prolific as Martin when he was in League 1 before so you can see why he was signed even if he won't be completely sharp right away. Hollands is also a very good player for this level (history suggests better than Ferry when fit) and I am sure he will prove a good addition.

Bit harsh to lay into the loan players so soon after joining us. Give them a few more games before judging. I think both look OK.

Storey was wank the other night.

Chris Martin is class. He just hasn't played first team football in fucking ages. Couple of weeks of the Di Canio gulag fitness regime and two or three first team games and I'm sure he'd be on top again. Never seen Hollands play, but by the sounds of nearly everyone's mmmmmmm'ing on here, he seems like a good loanee. Again, just needs time to bed in and get fit.

I think this 'mid table finish' stuff is Paolo doing a bit of the old psycho-mologyism. I do think Williams is right about the Christmas/new year period though. This year I think it'll decide our season. Hopefully him and Collins will get their goal-scoring heads on.

It was an annoying defeat to take today, but not a bad one seeing as we had over 4000 chances on goal and their keeper apparently remembered he's there to keep the ball out of the net.

(Note: There may have been fewer chances, but with Player stuttering I couldn't tell.)

Storey isn't the solution.

The more the season goes on the more i'm inclined to think mid-table is probably where we'll end up. That's if we don't go a decent run in the next 2 months. We haven't had a sustained good run yet but then again neither have many of the teams above or around us aside from Tranmere.

Maybe not but unless we play him we won;t know one way or the other. Last season we played Murray ahead of Bodin which benefited Ipswich. This season we've been playing the useless Rooney ahead of Storey and now possibly martin - neither really benefitting Town.
If you're going to play someone up front then I'd rather take a punt on Storey and see whether he can do it rather than players from other teams that you're never going to sign or are fucking useless.

How can you possibly say playing Martin won't benefit us? Once he gets fit he might start banging them in, and earning vital points for us.

Oh, and had we won today, which could quite conceivably have happened given the chances we had, then we'd be one point off an auto spot and saying how great everything is.

Midtable would be ok with me. Consolidate this season and push on next.
The last few years seem to have all been promotion pushes or relegation dogfights. League One's fine for me, better than where we were last season.

agreed

Sounds like a frustrating game, their keeper had a blinder going by twitter/player.

Ah well, it's a very tight league and we are still only 4 points from second. Long way to go yet.

And I also agree with Herthab.

Is mid table acceptable considering the outlay,hype and ambition? competitive division this year but play off minimum for me or a season of disapointment otherwise

Frustrating was precisely the word I used to sum up this afternoon; unfortunately it's becoming that way too often, especially at home.
After the first 15 mins or so we dominated the game and I think we can consider it poor luck to come away with nothing, but to be honest we didn't create nearly enough clear cut chances with the amount of possession we had and the time spent in the opposition half.
Notts were a pretty mediocre team but did a job in stifling us.
I thought the performances were generally better than Tuesday night and can't really fault the effort.
Up front we did seem lacking - Collins doesn't have the pace and Williams doesn't seem to have great control of the ball on many occasions, whilst Martin didn't really get into the game today.
I didn't  think the ref was too bad today - a few puzzling decisions but he generally let the game flow well and was probably generous in letting Bostock get away with a 2nd yellow (although his first was soft).

Three year plan though isn't it? If we are still there or thereabouts in March, I'd agree that it would be a disappointment if we missed out on the play offs, but expecting consecutive promotions is wildly optimistic.

promotion was the aim prior this season getting underway

A lot of our fans expect miracles. When we win we are the best team in the world, when we lose we are doomed for relegation. We have very fickle supporters. A top half finish is a good season this year especially with the calibre of clubs in the league. Divisions are getting harder nowadays.

I think we'll be lucky not to go down

A shout at promotion was and is what this season should be about. This is what the board and manager stated publicly. If we just miss out then fine but mid table is not good enough for many reasons.

Would like to agree with the consolidation angle but unfortunately it does not always work out like that. All it takes is a bad start/injuries/manager moving on and another season disappears too quickly and the hoped for promotion is but a dream!
 
Always been of the opinion that if it there to be taken then run like hell with it as success can be very short lived as all of us Town fans know too well.

OK then,i will take your word for it rather than giving him a chance.
You know best.

What a strange day?  Had a cracking time in Hooters & a chat with Phil King (top bloke).  Unfortunately left the ground frustrated again!

We didn't really deserve to lose today, but didn't do enough to warrant winning.  I remember their keeper making a couple of decent saves, but on both occasions he parried the ball & no-one was following up. Wes also made a great save 2nd half. 

The goal came following one of our attacks, we were caught out & their player hit a great shot from 25-30 yards.  Macca was poor today, his distribution was wayward & he kept overhitting everything.  More worrying was how tired we looked in the last 10-15 minutes, knackered.

I'm still upbeat, last season we were rising up Div 2, although we've had some poor performances recently, we've also had some good ones, I still reckon we'll finish top 6!

I can't honesly remember the last time he had a really good game? 

Hopefully the two week break will do us good.  Maybe Di Canio will give the players an extra day off somewhere within that period?

why so sensitive?

he has been given chances this season and judging by comments on here his performances have been mixed - di canio obviously thinks he isn't ready for the rigours of first team football every week and he certainly knows better than either of us!

if two players who scored 33 goals between them last year are struggling, i can't see how storey is the answer.

i think we need to be careful not to place too much pressure on the lad, he's only started 1 game in 3 seasons and yet people are demanding he starts the next match after a couple of games where we didn't score.

Storey is young and inexperienced hence why he doesn't start.

He scores two goals against premiership opposition and people think he's the saviour to our problems. Not the case. He will get his chance but needs to wait patiently.

:nod:

For me, would like to see Di Canio give Collins and Williams more game time together as apposed to subbing Collins after 45-60 mins because he hasnt scored a goal.

Must be frustrating for Collins knowing that he only has 60 minutes to impress or he will be subbed.

Strikers feed on confidence

I just can't believe that anyone would think that would be 'OK'. The Board have not let Di Danio spend lorry loads of money just to 'consolidate'. Fuck that. If we finish in mid-table it will be a complete and utter abject failure.

Just back in.....

Well that was shit.

Awful game ruined by a shit ref who seemed to fuck off both sets of fans.

Just a few questions for the useless cunt:

# why didn't the third official get involved in the off the ball elbow?

# notts county goal clearly a use of the arm.....did it again a few minutes later.....why not booked?

And for the Notts:

# why wasn't Bostock sent off for that dreadful tackle after being already booked.

Fucking useless.

Only thing he did right was in not giving Iwelumo a free kick every time he backed in.....which meant his game was pretty fucked all match.

I thought we created enough scrappy chances to get a draw.....we didn't deserve a win but didn't deserve to lose.

Absolutely.

Collins and Williams played well 1st half, looked dangerous and were linking up well.  Collins can count himself unlucky not to have 2 in the first half, the header called offside and the great save from Pole keeper.  For some bizzare reason Paolo thought it wise to take off the lively looking Collins and bring on the woefully unfit Coldplay, who was so far off the pace with an accompanying touch of a rapist.  Not knocking Martin but he shouldnt be playing until he is fit, the 2 weeks now should sort that out.

Frustrating today.  We were completely on top 1st half, thought we knocked it about well creating a few openings.  2nd half we had a lot of the ball but only had 1 clear chance, the Ward header and we generally lacked any ideas.

Cracking hit from the Notts fella for their goal, didn't think it was a handball in the slightest from intial viewing.  Thought Notts looked solid and unspectaclar but they got the job done.  I suspect their fans are encouraged that they won with playing all that well.

Wes made a couple of nice stops.  Ritchie again didnt really influence the game from the wing, every time he had the opportunity to beat his man he cut back inside, he must of had 5/6 long shots today.  

Fans were pretty quiet today, decent turnout but it was all rather subdued.

...I'll add the shops are useless too! Too many pikey shops my missus tells me.

I'm not sure how we lost that. If Williams had shot instead of passing it, we'd have won the game.

Martin and Hollands shouldn't be anywhere near the first team until their fit. Roberts shouldn't be anywhere near the first team full stop.

Bostock should have gone, but the ref was useless for both sides.

Horrible drive home in the pouring rain.

Agree totally with this. Dominated the game but didn't create enough clear cut chances.

Iwelumo's a complete donkey but fuck me he can win a header. I think we've only got Sheff Utd to worry about otherwise we're as good as the rest so 2nd should be the aim. If Notts County are a promotion rival then happy days - class will out.

I don't think many fans think he's a saviour. Its more a case of giving him a crack  instead of taking loan players from other clubs. I'd hate for him to be released without knowing whether he could do it or not. I'd love to have kept Bodin as well.

Awful game, any first time fan would have thought it was 23rd v 24th. No chance of either side bothering the top places on that performance. Oh and any county fans reading this, pressure to  ditch the drummer and tom hark. The two of the lamest things in football.

Agree with the first part but the 2nd part is utter shite. Sheffield United (big club, weak team) aside, what calibre?

It's the worst League 1 I have ever seen. If we don't finish Top 6 then it would be a poor season, the board/manager made it very clear the aim was promotion at the start of the season and rightly so. Shocking standard.

Chalkies_shorts - should have kept Bodin? Don't be silly, his form at Totquay shows he was rightly disposed of.

Just seen the BBC stats - according to that Notts had most of the possession and 11 shots to our 9 - was I asleep for most of the match as my recollection is that we dominated possession (though didn't do much with it) and surely Notts's shots could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Re Storey, i resent him being behind Rooney, but Martin is a good player. It's the bench for Miles, as far as I'm concerned. He scored some good goals against Villa, but looked worse than Kyle Lightbourne on tuesday.

Our inability to capitalise on pressure and score it's costing us.

At the start of the season I'd have been happy with a top 10 finish. Now I'd probably still be ok with that - but whoever said the division was getting harder, fucking rubbish. Maybe its getting harder to get out of - but the quality this season is poor. Going back seasons the Bristol City team who could never get up would rape this division. I think our play off teams of recent years would give it a bloody good go and all....

We've had inconsistent results, inconsistent performances due to inconsistent team selections. I know Paolo likes to chop and change (and I'm more than happy to let him get on with it) but even last season the majority of the team picked itself. Foderingham, Caddis, McCormack, Flint/Devera, Ritchie, Ferry, Smith, De Vita - thats 8 out of 11 players that must have played the majority of our games last season.

I dont think Paolo knows our best team and we dont seem to have any strong partnerships. I mean how many different centre back pairings and strike partnerships have we had this season?

There is nothing special in this division - the two teams who find a bit of consistency and go on a bit of run (most likely through Christmas and New Year) will be the two that get automatic promotion.

I also think confidence and momentum is an underrated quality in football - some of the players who helped us win L2 but were then moved on, in theory you might class as a inferior players to what we have replaced them with but think our momentum, confidence and team spirit might have seen us do just as well if not better.

Agreed

Regarding League 1, i dont think there are any standout teams like the previous 4/5 years but its certainly more even meaning the promotion places are probably there for about 8-10 teams.

Really? Haven't noticed the overall standard being much different to previous years to be honest. Ok so there's hardly any "big names" in here this year. That doesn't necessarily make the standard any worse though.

Perhaps we should look forward a year if we do get promoted.

Would the investment still be there to get competitive in the Championship or will we, or for that matter any of the teams that do get promoted, become the new Peterborough - bouncing up and down between Championship and League 1.

Franchise and Bormuff, I reckon for top 2....Brentford, Preston, Sheff Utd, Doncaster in PO's.

Fuck me I feel horrendously hungover, FANTASTIC night out in Notts.

Shit game, shouldn't have lost although their goal was a great strike. Bostock should have been sent off imo and Collins looked lively until he was subbed (harshly).

Looked knackered in the last 10 so hopefully the two week break will rest them up for the christmas period, 2 wins on the bounce and we will probably be back up to 4/5th, not the end of the world people

Years ago, I spent quite a bit of in Nottingham....a Saturday night might consist of a bit of a crawl around pubs on Slab Square. Yates's was a favourite, it was quite cool and trendy back then...judging by the one in town, I don't suppose that's now the case.

Fuck knows where we went last night although we did start with a bar crawl and we ended up in a pretty big club (no idea what though!)

A lot of good looking uni students though! Top night out.

When i went out in nottingham a few years back me and ralphy ended up in a stripclub in the middle of an industrial estate about 5 miles out of town. Was bizarre seeing the strippers stood outside having a fag break and not wearing coats. 8)

So you reckon that's the season over with then Reg?

For us, far from it, as PdC said we've to get to 50 points asap, then go from there. After 20 games in 10/11 our home form was better than this season.

It's just that your assertion that the top 6 would be MK, B'muff, Brentford, Sheff U, Preston & Doncaster rather suggested that we would not be making the play offs this season :hmmm:

That's how I see it, the last 2 times we've reached the PO's but slipped up, we've had 2, 20 goal strikers up front....Parkin/Mooney, Paynter/Austin....although not strictly necessary as last season showed, we do seem a bit short of a regular goalscorer...maybe Martin might get his arse into gear.

To be right up there considering we've lost six and drawn five shows how tight it is this season. A side or two will put a run together ,I hope we are one of them.

That sounds like the Black Orchid Tans, a revolving dance floor? I took a Sunday league team up to Notts for the weekend a few years ago, they loved it and most of them got laid more than once. Two of the lads were  a bit young to get in the clubs so they went back to the hotel early both nights, When we left we all had to chip in to pay their room bill for in house movies  :)

This is the poorest League 1 in years. If you look back over the past 5 - 10 years you'll see the calibre of teams that were playing then compared to now. With our budget we have to be looking at the PO minimum and we're on course to do that. It's wide open this year.

Another opinion based on nothing other than size of club. Brilliant!

I had a decent night out in Nottingham, got back home about 3pm this afternoon...one of those frustrating games where we created a lot of chances but couldn't stick it in the back of the net! I thought County's back 4 were awful so I was surprised we didn't grab an equaliser! Anyway hanging still, 3 days off work to recover and a little break from proceedings over the next few weeks to recharge the batteries! I think we need to go on a run between now and New Year to get some consistency and try to get in that top 6 at the end of the season!

Midtable wouldn't be a total disaster, I do think these comments from Di Canio are about trying to temper fans' expectations more than anything though.

We're still close enough to the teams at the top that a decent run over the christmas and new year period and we'll be right there. No reason that couldn't happen with the squad we've got.

What are you on about? I said the calibre of teams not clubs. Go back a few years and you'll see what I mean. There is no stand out team this year.

http://thewashbag.com/2012/11/26/notts-county-1-swindon-town-0-an-increasingly-familiar-scoreline/

Link to my match report for the washbag. Utterly frustrating defeat. Wouldn't have scored if we'd played another hour!

Not sure what you mean by a "stand out team"? Tranny have been top for the last few months. Plus just because a league doesn't have a stand out team doesn't make it a poor league. It means teams are more even so makes it more exciting i would have thought.

I didn't say anything about if its more or less exciting. My point is teams in this league in years gone by have been far stronger than this years bunch. We'll soon see about Tranmere, they've had a good start I agree.

Do they? Based on what? I thought it was pretty similar. No reason why the standard should be any lower than normal IMO. That's why i thought you were referring to the size of club. Apologies if i misunderstood.

 
We will indeed, and obviously i'm still hoping they slip up. At the moment they are obviously the stand out team though.

Wouldn't have scored if we'd been there now and county had gone home on saturday to be fair.  Forgot to mention the stewards were good, had a fag at half time and with 15 mins left ( lucky fag that didnt work) So top marks to them even if they were convinced i am in eastenders?? Programme very good also, bar not so good, how do you manage to run out of lager before the half time rush?

I have been meaning to ask Del?!

 :clap:

Shut it dr evil ;) I have no idea, i've never watched it in my life. I got asked for my autograph in ireland last year some kid was convinced i was dom joly.

A cheap shot and can't help feeling you've just picked the first bald guy who's come to mind. :-) Could have been worse though.

At least Dom Jolly is from Swindon I suppose, even if he is a bit of a twat. Are you one of those thespians who doesn't like watching themselves then?

Joly was born in Beirut, lives near Cirencester and regularly takes the piss out of Swindon on Twitter.

Julian Clary and Mark LeMarr aren't averse to the occasional dig at Swindon. Cunts.

Can never understand why 2nd rate comedians enjoy taking the piss out of Swindon. From an outsiders point of view (I have lived in Swindon 16 years), Swindon is distinctly average, it has its good points, and its bad, like 90% of the UK, it has plenty of nice folk and its fair share of plebs. Surely if you wanted towns and cities to abuse there are much more deserving places than Swindon?

And then of course there was The Office ridiculing Swindon constantly. Seemed to recall a transfer to Swindon from the Slough office was much derided. Gervais is from Reading so maybe a case of getting one over on us.

Can't understand why people get defensive about a town.

I'm not defensive of Swindon in the slightest, more bemused as to why it seems to be such a popular place to take the piss out of.

Because it's grey, dull and boringly generic.

But it's OUR grey, dull, boringly generic town, and others have NO RIGHT slagging it off.

Because some of us are proud of its heritage and history...and get pissed off when some jumped up twat takes the piss.
Its the reason why people get defensive about there own footy teams....exactly the same.

I'm only British/White/from Swindon/working class/whatever because those are the circumstances I was born into. I can give myself a little credit for being educated but I was still very fortunate to be born in a country where that education was available. To be upset at jokes about any of these would be akin to me being upset at jokes about the colour of my eyes.

And I had the option not to go to football matches so they are nothing alike at all.

Swindon is just one of those towns that has become synonymous with having the piss taken out of it. Not a lot wrong with the place aside from that new traffic system round where the old police station was

In all honesty Swindon is a shit hole, but in a good way.

I actually quite like Swindon.

Plenty of countryside to enjoy. Granted the nightlife isn't all that but I'm rather partial to choosing a local and sticking with it anyway.

Still don't understand the need for some to be so defensive though.

it's all bollocks anyway, find me a town of the equivalent size or larger that doesn't have really shit areas, a badly developed town/city centre, identical shops and some nice bits.

some parts of Oslo look really grim but are massively popular with hipsters because it's a "cool" area...it's all relative.

I agree that Swindon is  average, but there's more to it than that.

Take the very bottom end of the social scale first.  Purely an observation on my part (& I have nothing in the way of evidence to back this up), but I get the impression that the very worst of Swindon's deprivation is probably not quite as bad as the worst that other towns/cities of a similar size have to offer.  Penhill, Pinehurst, Park South...most wouldn't chose to live in this places if they could afford not to, but I just don't see them in the same light as some of the more deprived areas of other cities.

And then to the other end of the social spectrum.  It's basically missing.  Not just poorly represented.  It isn't there at all.  The most expensive suburbs in Swindon are comfortably affluent, but that's it.  There are no Clifton-style townhouses worth £1 million+, for example.  And this explains why there are basically no high end shops in the town - even when compared to relatively middle of the road towns like Reading, which has a good selection of the more expensive chain stores & restaurants.  (FFS, there isn't even a branch of Waitrose!)  And also why there are no private schools in Swindon.  There can't be too many towns/cities with populations around the 200,000 mark that do not offer anything in the private education sector.

So while Swindon is average, it's average with the top bits and bottom bits missing...meaning it's average and middle of the road at the same time.  Which makes it very easy to ridicule.  Town planning, architecture - they would be my biggest gripes.  But if you can see past that, there's nothing particularly offensive about Swindon.  It's just a bit bland, unremarkable, and quite big.  An easy target then.

As someone who has never lived there this is exactly how I would describe the town from my outsiders perspective

You've got to remember were in a league now where there are so many metropolitan sophisticated towns and cities represented.

Crawley, Doncaster, Oldham, Stevenage, Colchester, Walsall, Bury, Scunthorpe, Hartlepool... the list goes on.

Its understandable that people take the piss out of Swindon.

Its just another town.  Shitty towns abound over our lovely green and pleasant isle.

I think it's a myth that the piss is taken out of swindon more than other towns. Its just that we notice it as we have an interest in it. Agree with the average tag for it. Plenty of worse places out there for sure too. My main gripe is that the town has got so big without proper planning for the vast housing and all it brings.

Swindon has plenty of decent shops / facilities, but they are dotted about.

Calne, even though it's a small town has a couple of supermarkets, plenty of estate agents, charity shops and hairdressers, but it severely lacks a lot of stores and facilities that a town of it's size should expect.

Although Swindon is bland, I think it provides adequately for a town of it's size.

Always thought Milton Keynes was the butt of many 'jokes'.

Home is where the heart is

Agreed. And because the Adver runs outraged "National figure has a go at us and we rise to the bait to show we're as thin-skinned as a school rice pudding shock" stories every time

If you're an away fan travelling to the County Ground, chances are you'll walk down Manchester Road. If that's all you see of Swindon then you would think it's a shit hole.

Yep. Never having lived in Swindon, that is pretty much all I have seen of it as well (apart from the town centre), so i've always hoped that the rest of it is a lot better!

It's easy to see how peoples perceptions can be made from a trip to the CG.

Ditto, I've not even been into the centre.

Thats quite true to be fair. I now come in from the train from London and the walk to the ground from the stadium is hardly what one would call 'a thriving metropolis'

Its much worse in the winter after the game walking back to the station.

Or on a Tuesday night. That is never fun.

Can't get to midweek games but I can imagine!! At least there would be plenty of people about though.

Yeah, cos Manny road's like really scary isn't it?
Fuck me, I can think of loads of places in the UK I'd be worried about walking down at night, but Manchester Road isn't one of them.

To be fair, it's not just Swindon, alot of roads surrounding football grounds don't tend to be the nicest.

Or the newer grounds which are usually found in soulless leisure complexes. Wigan Athletic's ground immediately springs to mind.

Would much rather we had Manchester road to walk up to the ground than what Wigan or Reading have. The walk up when the floodlights are on is the best thing.

Manchester Road was a place of wonder for me. I've never lived in Swindon, and always walked with my dad to the ground down Queens Drive, so when I started coming on the train from Swansea/London and going through Manchester Road it was weird to see all these multicultural shops that I never knew Swindon had. I normally walk along Station Road if I'm in a hurry though- foot traffic is a lot less busy in run-up to KO. Seems that Manchester Road is a place of 'pride' according to the Adver. The comments on this particular article would put some of those on the Daily Mail to shame. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/8345169.Manchester_Road_is_a_place_of_pride/

And that walk up to the CG with the Floodlights on is the best. No feeling like it.

I used to live on Manchester road right across from the bus station. Pashas (is that place still there?) was my local late night drinking hole.

It was............ interesting.

The Manny Rd area is a ghetto and fucking horrible. Its still getting progressvely worse . Why anyone would judge a town on that area though is daft considering there are 200,000+ residents here. My mum grew up in Portsmouth St and said county road was for the well off in them days and the area around the county ground itself was nice. Its horrible now.

The building is still there but the last owner is on remand i think for Cocain dealing...empty and i think it is called Angelo's now.

And you moved to Bangkok.  Im sure that has areas like the Manny Road!

Fixed.

There is no equivalent of manny road because sex is readily for sale.

*Edit

That's not exactly true cos on the lower levels of Sukhumvit you get the Eastern Bloc hoes and the African hoes with MAHOOSIVE butslike bookshelves. Bangkok's equivalent to Manny road is lower Sukhumvit but it's a very different place. Great place for a late drink. (No, I am not into the whoring)

You have a point.  My bloody morals stopped me buying.  Curses. 

Curse your morals

I vaguely remember there being a butchers shop there for years,a friend used to be a delivery boy....a bike with a big basket on the front.

Crawley is a shit hole, but the surrounding area is home to lots of affluent areas.  Crawley is also situated smack bang in the middle of the London to Brighton line, and where other South Coast lines converge.  It has also boasted the highest employment rates in the past due to it's locality to Gatwick Airport.

Other than being home to a few young mums and chavs, I don't see why Crawley is despised so much or has such a bad reputation, other than Steve Evans used to be their manager?

I lived in Crawley for 14 years, and think it's a great place to grow up.  I'm firmly routed to the South East now, although choose to live outside Crawley.

Notts County are 150 years old today fact fans.

Old bastards.