Thetownend.com

The Opponent: Brentford

I was hoping to start this thread on a positive note, following a sound thrashing of 8th placed Walsall, the only thing that has changed from that is that we didn’t dish out a thrashing, but I do remain positive. Of course there is an element of disappointment that we failed to take the 3 points but a grounding sense of reality tells me a couple of things. Firstly, we are going through (yet another) period of transition, on and off the pitch, the different methods, on and off the pitch will take a bit of time to adjust to. Secondly, we are still in a bloody strong position, At the start of the season if someone told me we would have lost Di Canio, Ritchie and ended up with new owners, as well as being 3rd in League 1 come March, I would have laughed at them, but here we are, we have a strong squad that have a winning mentality. Tonight, we need the boys to deliver and avoid defeat as a minimum. We are good enough to win this and I don’t think there will be many sterner tests than this, apart from Doncaster and possibly Wilson’s lot, should they turn up on the day.

Brentford away was my very first Town game on my travels, I can’t for the life of me remember when this was although I would hazard a guess at it being towards the end of the 90’s, and I have made the journey 4 times since and in the past it has always been up there as one of my favourite away days. It’s a nice easy journey (although the Chiswick roundabout and the M4 may slow the progress of those travelling from the west), and it has always had the feel of a proper football ground, although I could understand not everyone agreeing with that.
I’m not sure if it is still the case but Brentford is famous for being the only ground in England that has a pub at every corner of the ground. The surrounding land was formerly owned by the Griffin Brewery, hence Griffin Park. If you are feeling thirsty, get there early and have a pint in all four. They are the Royal Oak (a small locals pub), The Griffin (serves Fullers real ale), The Princess Royal & The New Inn. The New Inn is the favoured pub for away supporters, well it was, so don’t blame me if you get ten ton of shit kicked out of yourself. Interestingly, Griffin Park was used as one of the venues for the Olympic Games in 1948, and in front of 20’000 black and white folk, Italy narrowly edged past The USA by 9 goals to 0! Coincidentally, these Olympics were then known as “The Austerity Olympics”, much like last years £9 billion spent on London 2012.

Founded in 1889 to serve as a winter pursuit for the Brentford Rowing Club, the club moved to its present day home in 1904. In 1920, it was a founder member of the Third Division South. during the late 1920s and 1930s, the club began to make real progress. In the 1929–30 season, the side won all 21 of its home matches in the Third Division South, but still missed out on promotion. They are the last of six teams in English football to amass a perfect home record, and the only one to do so over a season of 42 matches or more! Although I doubt there are a great deal of Brentford fans that can remember this proud time in their history.

Brentford Last 6 – WDWWLL (Currently 6th in League 1 on 61 points)

The Threat – Same guy as last time. Clayton Donaldson has now bagged 20 goals for the season and one of the other strikers turning out for the Bees tonight will be former Swindon Town loan target Bradley Wright Philips. To be honest, when I hear his name it now reminds of a turbulent few weeks in our clubs history which is much worse than just being thought of as either Ian Wright’s kid or not as successful as his elder brother. Cue the BWP last minute winner.

The Irrelevant Stats – So far this season the Bees have played 18 league matches at home, they have won 10, drawn 6, and only lost twice. It will take a bloody good effort to get the 3 points from this game. They have scored 29 goals at Griffin Park this term and have let in 17, keeping 8 clean sheets in total. Although Brentford may be unbeaten in their last 6 home games, our away form is none too shabby, with 3 consecutive away wins.

A warm welcome to – Jonathan Douglas. Surely if Dougie wasn’t a footballer he would be a proper bonafide traveller?

Head to Head – We have met in the league on 75 occasions and just have the upper hand having won 31, drawn 18 and lost 26 times.

The Odds – Brentford 13/8   Draw 12/5    Swindon 15/8   It seems 1-1 is quite a popular scoreline with the bookies, 5/1 generally being the price. Adam Rooney seems well priced at 7/1 and rather oddly, BWP, who has managed 1 goal in 22 games, leads the way at 9/2 to score 1st.

The Son Says – A level headed and rational decision from the boy. 3-0 victory.

The Prediction – As much as I would love to share my lad’s youthful and refreshing optimism, after a day of shifting hundreds of bags of rubble, weighing nearly 3 tonnes, it really is a struggle. But, I think we have enough in the locker to sneak a tight 2-1 victory, goals from A.Rooney and A.Williams, 6’699 (1’210 Town fans)

And Finally – It was announced yesterday that Brentford have handed a 2 week trial to a Spurs Centre back, the brilliant but childishly named Will Ekong.

COYR COYR COYR

I'm going..

Mr Rosso, nice write up as usual, but where are the comments on what they are saying about us :hmmm:

2-0 Williams, Collins

Going, 1-1, haven't seen us win here....! yet!

They've got a really good home record and we're pretty good away so a draw looks nailed on.1-1 but will be hoping for a win to keep us in the hunt for the automatic spots

Anyone planning on paying on the gate want a terrace ticket tonight? £19 rather than the £21? My mate's bottled it with man flu.

Think it will be a draw personally but hoping we can nick a goal and keep the good away form going

2-1 Town, Ward and A Rooney to score

Haven't Brentford lost the last 2 matches?

Would be more than happy with a draw tonight. Unfortunately I think we'll lose 2-0.

Lost 2-0 at Carlisle and 1-0 at Stevenage.

Last 7 games at home they have won 2, drawn 4 and lost 1 (2-1 v Tranmere)

The former player curse will trip us up tonight. 1-0 to brentford with Douglas scoring.

Would happily take a draw down there...1-1 with A Rooney scoring for us in front of 5492 with 1426 Town Fans. Going down on a minibus from the mighty RWB and a session on the beers! C.O.Y.R!  :pint:

2-1 defeat

http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=104270

Brentford fans' thoughts.

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

They don't seem too confident

Christ some of the the bees fans are on even more of a downer than some of ours.

Losing a couple of games on the bounce (plus I suppose the cup thrashing) seems to have really made some of them give up on the season. Odd considering their position and relatively decent form.

Reading between the lines it sounds like they have changed the way they play football to a more negative, direct way of playing which hasn't gone down too well, and also with the recent defeats, which won't have helped matters.

Sorry if this has been asked! Are there tickets left?

Yes, and if you want a terrace ticket I am selling one for £19 rather than the on-the-door £21

£19 to stand on a terrace behind a goal?

Around 300 on the night I believe.

I might need some Damart underwear for this one!

No hint the game might be off of anything? Sounds awful conditions there.

It's bitterly cold, but that has more to do with the wind than anything else.  No snow at all.  As long as the pitch has been covered, it will be fine.

Hopefully that terrace will offer some protection from the wind.  It will be brutal viewing conditions otherwise

Brentford have said the pitch is playable and they are expecting the slightly higher temperatures this afternoon (4 degrees!) to help.

It will horrifically cold tonight. Love trips to Brentford, should be a good turnout from us and hopefully it is another impressive performance like Coventry.

Wrap up warm girlies

It's a belting day down here by the way. Cold but sunny. When the sun goes down it's going to be freezing mind.

The terrace will be warm enough

I'd take a draw. Setting off at 4 so hopefull of a decent parking pace. It will be good to visit a proper ground after the sterile shitpit that was the Ricoh

 1-3 to the mighty swindon town , goals from williams , rooney and flint , well done to everyone who's going


Let's fucking stuff these fucking cunts

Ex Swindon target Paul Hayes won't be playing tonight as he has just signed for Creepy on loan.

Will need to be a bit smarter in front of goal, if we are we will score a couple. Think they will also score two though. 2-2 with Williams and Flint getting ours. Not going tonight so those who are have a good one.

Anyone else who's going tonight secretly hoping for a postponement?

Hate freezin' me bollocks off!

Anyway, if it all goes ahead - 1-3 - Flint WILL score

7205 with 1561 from the champions

I have a bad feeling about this.

Could well be a very heavy defeat.

Erm, you are couple of weeks behind mate...

Based on what exactly? They've scored once in their last three games

I think we may struggle tonight based on the fact we're short on numbers at present. The squad needs a refresh.

Doncaster and Sheffield United's games tonight have been cancelled. Lets get our points on the board.

Nope. This is what football is all about - standing up, proper ground, freezing cold = bliss. Just hope the result is as well.

nah, football is about all that & then losing

A feeling in my water!

P.S. And the fact that we are carrying injuries, our strikers appear out of form and we are moving to a new system.

Going to this one. Leaving on the 4.30 train. Having a few tins on the way.
Hopefully have enough by kick off the beer jacket kicks in.
Fooking freezing but I don't give a fuck. 1-0 Town

I think it was the "heavy" that I was struck by. I see that as being at least a 2/3 goal margin and Brentford are struggling for goals at the moment.

What better way to build confidence that to put one or two past one of the top teams? Could ring true for either side I guess.

It's written in the stars of footballing law inevitability that BWP will score tonight.

I will attempt to disrupt this law by countering it with another one. £10 going on BWP to score at any time.

Got the feel of a hard fought 0-0 for me this. A win would be great with the 2 above us not playing now, just not sure where our goals are going to come from at the minute

2-1 Town - winner from A Rooney with 5 minutes to go !!

going to leave very soon - see you all there !!!!!

Two pairs of socks packed and I'm even going to take a hat - the first time I've worn one in 10 years! See you all there  :bye:

Got an oap ticket going for a £10 if someone wants it save paying on the day. Let me know via pm if anyone interested. Heading towards the Griffen Pub.

Cheers

I'm doing my normal Tuesday routine.

Pub at 6, Home in time for KO then order a Dominos.

Excited for this, think it should be a good game.

COYR

Would love to be going tonight. Being at the other end of the country can be a pain at times! I'll either be playing 5-a-side or at home with Player. I'll gladly take a scrappy win - all about the points at this stage of the season.

I was going cant now due to family illness, not sure if it will be a blessing or not yet. I suppose I wont have a hangover tomorrow like the rest of the London pissheads having a halfday ;)

That was some pub crawl being planned!

I'm sat at Heathrow, not long landed from São Paolo. I've inherited a stinking cold and feel like shit after a long flight with hardly any sleep. I managed to meet Sheffield Wednesdays newest recruit on the flight, a 17 yr old from Palmeiras youth team, Calcao or something his name was.

4 lads are en route from Swindon to pick me up and then head to the game. I think this has a Draw written all over it.

Difficult 2-1 win for us I reckon. Wind could play havoc with Brentford's increasingly long-ball based game, but it could help them too. Keeping the faith and will be listening avidly to player thisevening.

She didnt stab you for missing the last flight then

was going-fucking snow put paid to that!village is cut off.

She had time to calm down and all worked out fine in the end. I thought I was done for!

Been at Twickenham all day, which isn't far away, and the weather is cold but fine

No reason to call it off

Only one change from the team Saturday, Adam Rooney in place of Collins.

Problem is that means Ferry on the right side of midfield again. :(

[url width=250 height=270]http://images.goodstuff4u.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/orig/RyQJ3QoKCtsAAFl2@ns199/2.gif?et=mOmD8QAsKYAuX8YdjQTKDA[/url]

I think Wes may have already done this with that wonder save from Leon Clarke at Coventry.

STFC Player is being an utter cunt tonight of course after I'd been saying it wasn't that bad :crash:

Cutting out every few seconds?... Mine too

Ferry on the right again, piss off!!!

Oh yeah. Not done it for weeks :crash:

Did you see the Washbag article on this today?  I'm always quite impressed about the amount of thought they put into their tactical analysis on there.  When I watch football, I tend to just see a bunch of similar looking blokes running about, seemingly at random, with names written on their back in too small a font for me to read.  I cheer when the ball goes in at the right end and mutter obscenities when it goes in at the wrong end.

Worst performance of player so far this season for me, constantly cutting out every 10 seconds or so.

Does any one have a radio link ...Cheers

 PLAYER is sooooo inaptly named :badmood:

Even more annoying is the fact that the Brentford Commentary isn't cutting out

fuck me its like listening to Norman Collier

Corner to us

COME ONNNN YOUUU REDSSSS

Just what happened at Coventry :hmmm:

Yeovil 1-0 up on Creepy

DAB radio, best thing I've acquired in a long time.

STFC player is shite.

This is fucking torture!

Chris Tanner said on twitter t'other day, Switching player to "Old Style" cuts out the delay.

Which it does however he didn't mention how often it will now cut out!

It's such a awful service.

This

now some alien voices have infiltrated it and its fucking gone completely!

to those not on twitter, this may be of some interest:

Sam Morshead ‏
Town setting up 4-5-1 at the moment. Rooney wide on the right, Williams alone up front, Ferry in middle three.

Cracking sounding support tonight, makes you proud.

I have a fire in myself, not going out...

Anyone else getting some weird beeps followed by a bloke saying something?

Flint header good save according to Sam.

My DAB player can't even pick up BBC Somerset let alone BBC Wiltshire!

And Player is utter fucking cock.

Player keeps cutting out every few seconds. Ridiculous. Listening to the Brentford commentary for a bit before I have to go out.

Fuckinghell, Player is shit !!!!!  (Even shittier than normal...)

Yeovil 2-0 up!

Are the club tied into a contract with the company providing Player or the football league?

I can't believe they offer this awful awful service week upon week,

Messi scores for Barca, comeback is on...

Bloke is the techie for BBC Wilts. "Cleared" then "Connected ... searching" or something. Guess they are trying to sort out the breaks.

Dongs losing at home

Swindon commentary back on now, no breaks so far

I'm usually within range of BBC London, but I can't get any DAB signals at the moment.  Is this likely to be because I've done something stupid, or are there funny atmospherics at the moment or something?

Brentford commentators saying Swindon fans are quiet. They're the only fans I can hear...

I think the whole League are tied into the deal, every clubs website seems to have the same look and facility

Donaldson misses

Fuck knows how I get BBC Wilts up here then !

Wind's in the wrong direction, obvs.

Milton Keynes 2-0 down.

I thought that was it. Though some teams are far superior arn't they. Sure someone mentioned Bournemouth's is great.

Ferrrrrry

Get in there! Ferry!

well done simon

Goal machine Ferry!

Feeeerrrrrryyyyyyyyyy

Goal machine

fuck yes. sky told me we'd scored before player

Marvellous

GET

Oh Gary Roberts, hits the post.

THE

How many has he got this season? Must be more than he's got for us in 3 previous!

Woop woop get in!

FUCK

IN!

His 5th.

should be 0-2 Roberts hits post

Oooh it's that Soimon Ferry!

Poor old Gazza.

Wow! Just log in and we go 1-0!

Roberts you twat!!

2-0 would of been very nice but oh well.

Ditto! Summarise for me then please chaps.

Tense, slightly boring, then Ferry scored thanks to some good work from Rooney, then Roberts hit the post after what sounded like a defensive blunder, then DOuglous poked it 3yrds wide.

[Nev]
Franchise, it's Franchise!
[/Nev]

Barca draw level, Messi is on fire!

Cov 1 down at home

My bad.

Excellent, although 2-0 would have given us a bit of breathing space.  How are we sounding.  I can't put the radio on now until the second half (superstitous rubbish)

Bournemouth 1 up

Dongs pull 1 back

Ritchie goes off and Bournemouth score

2nd in table as it stands (fate tempted)

Thank you! I just read back through the last few pages, but your summary was better!

Really?  Was he injured or just substituted?

Williams goes close!

H/T

Williams took ball round keeper and had it cleared off line

0-1 HT

h/t decent first half

He was playing up front :eek:

Sounds like we could have been more than 1 up. Hope we can hold on!

 :-*

Injured apparently

Sky commentator at the game said we were comfortable (and that was before the goal).

Good half. This 451 is working well by all accounts

Paul Hart was right all along.

Gone, but not forgotten.

But he played 4-3-3...

No, no, Paul Hart played 4-3-3, that's what he always told us any way :hmmm:

4-5-1 away quite often makes sense, it's just frustrating as hell to watch at home.

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_SA
Superb first half from Town. MacDonald has got this tactically spot on with three tight in midfield. McCormack& Roberts excellent


That'll do for me 8)

Decent first half but three good chances to them.

Talking about Bornmuff, I see Calamity James has been released.

Unless your name is Paul Hart and you claim its 4-3-3, when its not.

edit. Didn't see last page  :doh:

Probably can't justify the wages if they are making staff redundant

Cheats!

Best form of defence tonight is get another 1or2, don't want to be hanging on again . C'mon Swindon.

Crawley get one back at Yeovil

Dongs equalize

McDonald out...

I had half time tea and toast.

Player is still a bit jumpy at the mo.

Isn't going particularly well for him really is it.  I feel sorry for him, he'd probably much rather be with his pals at Griffin Park tonight.

Anyway back to Swindon Town.  We need another goal.

Brentford commentary just bugging up Thompson

Barca 3-0 up.  Turned it around

Bigging up

Brentford commentators reckon Nathan Thompson is the most accomplished right back they have seen for his age...

Interesting.... ;D

As long as they don't bugger him up

Tranmere 1 down

:)

Walsall 1-0 Tranmere

Nathan Thompson is bloody ace, that's why!

Walsall really chasing a play off place.

Could do with Creepy equalising

They seem to get lots of penalties.

Walsall in with a shout of the playoffs

My thoughts as well...

Orient are having a go too.

And they have!

Bollocks goal ruled out offside

2-0 walsall

Yeovil 2-2 Crawley
Walsall 2-0 Tranmere

Damnit.

McCormack scores! But given offside!!!

BWP on. Eek.

BWP on  :(

On the basis that he will score, we badly need a second now.

Arse. The dog wants to go out. Is there a pause button?

Actually, there is!

seconded....#inyourgrill

Pause or paws?

Not on FM radio

Nice one Crawley. 2-2 with Yeovil

I need to shower
In domestos.

How I feel. Same last week when we needed Bournemouth to win.

Oh wanky bums.

Damnit. Penalty.

FFS

Bollocks.

At least Wes wasn't sent off.

Few - just a yellow. Now save the penalty Wes.

fuck

Bollocks Wes lucky with just a yellow

Fuck.

Fuck Pen. Wes lucky with yellow

yesssssssssss :)

Grrrrrrrrrrrr. 1-1

That's why we needed the second goal

Did he save it?

he wasn't sent off

Indeed.

Bollocks. 1-1

Fuck sake.

Arse.

Why did you raise my hopes like that?

bollox

FFS. Hopes up.

Cunt flaps.  Come on Swindon!

ARSE CAKES !!!!

Hang on boys. need to regroup.

Come on Town!

eeeeeeek, off the bar. Phee-ew.

They've hit the bar.  :(

Dongs 3-2 down

Ffs come on Town

This is torture.

Was all us 10 minutes ago, now we're hanging on!

FFS !! Brentford hit cross bar!!

How did Donaldson get through on goal (i'm not listening)? Defensive lapses galore recently, which is strange and annoying given our record earlier in the season.

Cov 2 down

We need to wake up.

Fucking fuckity fuckity fuck. Come on Town, don't let them get their foot in the door.

Short back pass from McEverley

Anxious last 10 minutes-every game now!

2-1 Brentford. Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuunting cunts.

Oh fuck sake

https://vines.s3.amazonaws.com/videos/EE18E411-FCD6-46CC-9945-DAC8FB7945E0-815-0000004CB8701633_1.0.3.mp4?versionId=4jU7ahtfTJP046pxtiejCgg.WrX9pKC8

For fuck sake.

dont like the sound of how this is going...

How to lose a game in two minutes well done Town.

TITS.

FUCKKKKKKKKK

FUCK SAKE

gnar

Game over.  :suicide:

Wank.

Switched on commentary and we give away a penalty.

I've now switched off again.

Yet again failure to get the decisive second goal is going to cost us.  Can see us losing this now.

Fuck it all

yup. roberts miss proves costly

Hate football.

Another game with 2 conceeded :(

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!!

Brace yourself

Rooney (L) on for Roberts.

Up and at 'em

Defensivly we have gone to shit since he who shall not be named has left.

Come on, change it to 4-4-2, we need 2 up front.

(He says from his arm chair).

Another night when I question the absurdity of getting emotionally involved in a sporting contest that I have no way of influencing myself.

Ooops missed this, or was that a suggestion.

We really have been shit at the back since PdC left. Needs sorting asap, as our constant profligacy up front is more costly now we're sieve-like in front of Wes.

It happened

Amazing how different the live table looks now. From being in 2nd place, we are now not that far ahead of the 'Muff in the 'unlucky' spot!

I wish I'd never turned the commentary on, it's all my fault  :(

How did the second goal come about?  Actually, why do I even care, we're still losing.

What the fuck is wrong with our defence though and for that matter our forwards?

COME ON TOWN!

Fods keeps us in it...

Go Wes.

Oh this is fucking shit

Chuck Wes up front!

8 mins to get 2 goals (at least) !

Fucking Jay mac. Don't wish to beat a dead horse as I've moaned about him a lot recently, but FFS.

Jesus christ town, what the hell has happened in the last ten minutes?!?

So the TEF has gone from jubilation to meltdown in 2 minutes

Just like the team! :-(

Fuck knows what Brian from Eldene will make of it...

Miller on for Collins.

4, 3.5, 2.5......

Such is football...

Shouldn't we be piling forward in the last 10 minutes? They're gonna score again in a minute!

Collins on for Miller.

Come ON!

 :D

Which,with hindsight,we should have started with.

Bit late.

Can we not even make any chances now.

Why are we at the wrong end of the pitch?

YELLOW! Thompson booked for a pretty awful lunge, 86

Nathan Thompson - getting in your grill since 2012....

Pop out when were 1-0 up and come back and were losing 2-1? Fuck a duck

Flint can fuck right off.

Flint putting Fodders on trouble again then.

Donald?

5 added minutes.

Donaldson 'terrible miss' from a poor back header from Flint

Substitution a minute from the end - pointless!

Job done...

Can we get the ball up the other end please.

Really need to stop missing sitters. Especially if we're gonna let the other team score 2.

How can we suddenly forget how to defend? Sounds shambolic!

Yep, we were fortunate at Coventry that the chances we missed didn't end up costing us.

But to be honest, this has been the case almost all of the season

McEveley is out of form at the moment, and I can't help but miss the solid partnership of Devera and Ward. Someone show KMac some videos of earlier on in the season when we rarely conceded.

Game Over :( 2-1 loss.

Bollocks McBollock the bollocking bollocker of bollocksville.

Not sure we should be dicking around with formations, the folly of changing a manager I suppose. Easy to say, I'm not watching the game. Maybe we'll win our next 9...

FUCK

Lots of movement in the league table tonight.

Need the Umbongo lifted to freshen things up a bit.

Ft 1-2

Off to bed. Night all.

Ugh. Blew it.

Hate football tonight.

That's annoying

Well,didnt realise how much we would miss Danny Hollands

BOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!

Such a shame.  Hope the boys can turn this around for April when I'll actually be paying to watch them instead of watching Twitter updates with Master Chef on in the background.

How disappointing.

Be interested in reports from those that went. Sounded like we were in control for 70 minutes, and then went to pieces. Dont' think we're going to be as solid as under Pdc somehow.

Could have been worse, Yeovil threw away a 2-0 lead and Fods didn't get sent off.

edit: But what the fuck is going on with this embargo?

Not sure whether I can be bothered to listen to the KMac mumble.

Cock.

Master chef? Here's the reason we lost, Gibbons was watching the bad luck charm that is master chef. Fool!!

McEveley has been out of form since before his injury.  We played better without him.  Flint suddenly seems to be struggling a bit as well.  If Devera is fit again, get him back in.

5 points dropped from winning positions in the last 2 games and 4 goals conceded is not promotion form however anyone wants to dress it up.  I have a nasty feeling that this time next week we could well be out of the play off places.

Why the fuck are we still under an embargo?  Why are Jed and Co not getting it sorted?  We need some players in on loan desparately.

This'll be my first listen. He's was done and dusted by the time I got back to the car, and I went to Coventry.

I'm a secret scummer.  I've been watching master chef on loop for the last 25 years!

MELTDOWN

This was always going to happen after such a turbulent period against some of the better sides (and away from home). We're not playing badly under KM, we just need to remember that it will settle down after a few games.

So I propose those few games are now out of the way. We have an entire week before the next game, if we can get a point or three at Yeovil then we have two very winnable games at home thereafter. That would set us up very well for the April fixtures.

Too many people have given up already. Ridiculous.

I'm pessimistic, but its a bit early to write off Kmac isn't it?!

Bloody scummer!! They won in the last minute tonight and are now only 5 points from the play-offs.

Brian from Eldene?

Didn't hear him, must be his disciples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os82UYqssSc

I really hope you're right.  I haven't given up, but I feel less than confident and quite pessimistic tonight to be honest.  

I am not exactly pessimistic, but I really hope the club aren't in any way complacent abiut the need to bring in a few extra bodies.

KMAC

- Didn't think we deserved it (loss), better side in first half, feel we should have won, made chances to win 3 games
- We got a bit untidy and sloppy. We should have hemmed them in from throw for first.
- Pleased Wes wasn't sent off.
- second was sloppy too, we stopped passing for 10-15 minutes.
- Game went scrappy ......
- Dressing room talk was Wes got hand on ball...will look at it later.
- They got a bit of momentum and crowd behind them
- Went 2-1 and started passing again, went a bit more direct.
- Very disappointing, tough ask for any team to get promotion. we might have to go in the playoffs and meet them again.
- Not damaging we are still 4th, but disappointing
- Its the way football goes sometimes.
- Not given up on automatic promotion...
- Big game against us, but its a big game for them as well.
- Embargo - no news on it being lifted. Got 4 or 5 days to try and get it lifted - its frustrating but we were still the better team today

(apologies if NMH did this, he says he may not bother)

The KMac mumble:
- Didnt deserve that
- Better side first half
- Had enough chances to win 2 or 3 games
- Even when we went down we were the team in the ascendency
- Disappointing to get caught on break as we have spoken about it
- We stopped passing for 10-15 mins
- Scrappy part of game helped them and not us
- Talk in dressing room was that Wes got the ball
- It would be a harsh sending off for any goalkeeper.
- They got momentum after penalty
- Second goal was sloppy too
- Went 2-1 but then started to keep the ball better
- Made some chances but not the tap ins that we seeem to need these days
- Very disappointing to lose to a promotion rival
- If we have to go through in the playoffs we may have to meet them a game
- Its a disappointing loss but not damaging
- Its the way football goes sometimes
- Not ruling out a top 2 finish.
- If we keep making sure that we are the best team in most games then we will win more than we lose and will make top 2
- Yeovil big game for both. KMac thinks he has best team in the league, but conceded that other managers prob think the same
- Nothing to suggest Um'bongo will be lifted
- If it is then we will bring players in. Its frustrating that we dont have numbers to help the team out. But when you play like that what can you say to the team other than bad luck.

(RS said that McCory tweeted that umbongo will be lifted )
 

I'm not going to jump on his back, and i'm mostly an armchair fan anyway, but some of that looks a bit worrying to me...

Someones muscling in on someone else's territory

This board obviously doesn't have any ambition, the embargo might not be lifted again this week wtf?

My season ticket renewal will be judged on the next 2 weeks.

Does anyone actually know why we are still under embargo?  Do we owe money?  The takeover was completed nearly 3 weeks ago, so why are there still unresolved issues?  This concerns me.

He should do or do not...

I thought it was because the football league needed us to stick over a million quid into an account to prove we had the funds.

Which I would imagine the board did yesterday, So would expect we're just waiting for the FL to check their accounts.

We must owe somebody something. Can't believe we are up to wage cap again.. Wonder if its still the unpaid loan money (Coke, whoever)...

Yes master Yoda ! :-)

P.S. Its not so much fun as the PDC interviews

Urrrghhhhh.

See you all in a few days or so

Its safe to say you were the only one that understood his rants.

I don't think K-MAC is quite Malpas/Heart dull though. Footballs like that.

Some of the comments from Swindon fans on the radio are unbelievable. Fuck me, one defeat and everyone knew that KMac wasn't the right man for the job. Some morons even calling for him to be sacked.

I fucking despair with our fans sometimes. Get a reality check for goodness sake.

4/9 points could so easily have been 9/9. 2 pens in there. Lets not panic yet..

Over to NMH for Fods...

It surprises me that the FL allowed the takeover to complete if we owed money.  I would have thought their checks were stringent enough to highlight something like that?

We can't be up to the wage cap with our threadbare squad.  I'm concerned at the lack of communication from Jed and Co around why this has not been lifted to be honest.

Sorry mate. Turned it off. Early start tomorrow. Off to kip..Bieeeeeeeeeee !

Thought we played well in the first but didn't create that many openings and the signs of our defensive frailties were there. Brentford missed a couple of good chances although Wes was superb in coming out to narrow the angle for one of them. Mckeverly looks devoid of any kind of form, he can get a cross in but no where near often enough. Couldn't see what happened for the second but our general play was degenerating by this point anyway. I wonder if they were under orders to sit back and just screwed it up. Brentford pushed up a lot in the second and I thought we might hit them on the break but until we went long ball at he end we weren't looking like getting anything. Some might say the ref was bad tonight but I think he got most calls right, Brentford played for time and dived a lot - especially number 9 who looked like going down in the area anytime he got near enough. Douglas didn't look special but he was solid and efficient. Today was the first time in games I've been to this season where we were not the better team - at least for half a game.

Negative. They got on top 2nd half after making their subs. MacD did nothing to stop the shift of the game and you could see after the equaliser we weren't going to win. Again felt sorry for Adam Rooney being played on the wing. No logic. Miller doesn't do anything. We need players fast and we have been waiting too long. Apologies if he did at the half way line but I didn't see macD acknowledge the away fans at all and walked straight past looking at the floor the whole way

Just back to my hotel well that was disappointing in total control for three quarters of the game then we just got deeper and deeper . We desperately need another striker with a bit close control Williams just doesn't seem to be able to control the ball.great support tonight I don't know how many we're there but ther was not much room on the terrace.could not really see who's fault it was for the penalty Wes was a millisecond too late. the second goal was a awfull goal the guy had far too much time in the box oh well pissed off but still all to play for

Nearly 1500 I think.

From early days I have the horrible suspicion that there is no real money in the new board and until we are out of this embargo nothing will convince me otherwise and I fear that it may be too late anyway as time/matches are slipping away. If the new board are happy to be owners of mid-table mediocraties for next season then so be it, but it is not what the majority of fans were hoping for!

As for KMac I am not sure either, he may be well respected in the football community but appears far too acceptable of the lowering of standards that we would not have had under the previous incumbent, and seems prepared to adopt a meh attitude from the radio interviews as far as my hearing goes.

 :hmmm:

crowd was 1500 I read somewhere. Poor atmosphere though. I was sat on tier above which was silent and terracing never seemed to get going like recent away games

You may well end up being right, but what he says in public and what he does in private may be different things. Time will tell.

It was always going to be a major issue transitioning mid season when Black did one.

As for the new board, again we watch and wait. Difficult what to say much more given we don't know why the embargo is there...

Very much a game of two halves... unfortunately everything happened up the other end.

First half we were by far the better side and deserved our lead at the break. Second half you could see Brentford slowly working themselves into it, Collins went to warm up and I thought we were going to make a sub, 10 minutes later it was 1-1 and still no changes.

Thompson and Ferry played well. The formation put out on twitter beforehand had him on the right and Rooney up front. Looked more like a 451 with Rooney on the right and Ferry more advanced in the centre to me. That position seemed to work for him, so hopefully his days as a winger are over.

Payments to Norwich for Chris Martin and the payment to Shrewsbury for Collins I thought?

Well having got home from work at 4ish i took the plunge and went.......a draw would have been fair but alas it was old Swindon tonight.....dicking a team for a good hour then throwing it away.

Now i was suprised to see K Macs after match comments v Walsall.....went on the lines of oh well we conceded late.....thats football for you.

Well after tonight i would want to know why Rafa isn't getting a start and why Luke Rooney is getting on in front of him...very strange.

Anyhow i feel we have the right man for the job.....he is on a learning curve but the Honeymoon is now over.

Glad i went for the couple of pints in the Griffin....great away support...and a pretty good performance....we were mugged tonight i feel but good teams are capable of grinding out a result...Brentford are a good team and dug deep.

Thompson for me tonight stood out and Ferry was good again.


Edit....and the Muppets who kept singing Chelsea songs............cringeworthy.

Good first half, catastrophic capitulation second.

90 minutes of aerial bombardment from Brentford, an approach that failed for the first 45 when we tried to attack but became very effective for the second when we sat back putting our defenders under immense pressure. Total opposite approach to old regime where we always went for the throat right to 90 minutes whatever the score, and also the same approach that cost us against Walsall when in front.

I don't know if it's due to direct tactical orders from the top or if it's just something organic emerging from a noticeable drop off in fitness towards the end of games but it needs to be urgently addressed so we can kill teams off when on top like we used to.

Wes, Thompson and Ferry, all good shouts for man of the match. Though Wes was very fortunate not to be sent off after the challenge for the penalty (one lone act of generosity from otherwise abysmal Mr. Atwell) then went on to make 2 or 3 wonder saves to stop us losing by more while the defence crumbled in front of him.

Should have been 3-1 to us first half and 3-1 to them second. By which calculation a draw would have been a fair result but then that's football.

Really fucked off. Yet another game we should have killed off and didn't. We absolutely shat on them in the 1st half and the 2nd half shouldn;t have been needed. Whoever shanked the ball in front of an open goal just after we scored deserved shooting. We need a goalscorer and fast. If we had someone like McGoldrick playing for us, we'd be top 2.
Brentford got a head of steam up in the 2nd half but didn't deserve to win ..but they did.
I can't see us being top 2 unless we can put teams away and that doesn't look likely at the moment.  
I don't know what the crowd was but it didn't look that great.

That was a bit of an odd game. Fuck knows what happened at half time because we came out and stopped doing all good things that enabled us to dominate the 1st half.  We lost the battle in the middle of the back, we lost all our creativity and resorted to hoof ball.

Stand out for us was Thompson, especially first half he didn't put a foot wrong.

Biggest plus of the night is that Wes won't be suspended. It looked like a stonewaller penalty that should have been a clear red card. Admitally it was up the other end of the pitch so seeing a replay might tell a different story.

Hard to be critical really.

First half we were superb - chased and harried Brentford, passed the ball well and totally dominant.

Roberts should have put the game to bed minutes after Ferry's goal - must have been easier to score than hit the post.

Thought Brentford were shocking - one dimensional, up and at 'em approach.

Like others, thought Nathan Thompson was MOM - absolutely superb in the first half, followed closely by Ferry.

Feel sorry for KMac as he had the tactics spot on playing 4-5-1 - only to be let down by his players for a short spell in the 2nd half.

Goes to prove, once again, what a poor league it is this season.

Hopefully, any loan players coming in can freshen things up.

Did not realise we were playing tonight, would have been a good excuse to chip out the pub early.

Oh well.

Odd game where I feel disappointed but we didn't play poorly....end of auto though I reckon.....just not enough in the tank...

You have to wonder whether the owners really want us to go up. We have a half decent team but one which would struggle big time in the championship. I suspect that there is little appetite for the investment that promotion would require.

Very disappointed with that, a game we should have won, our chronic lack of pace exposed again. Were it for some better managerial decisions we would have won that, the substitutions were left too late, we should have changed it around the 60th minute but we didn't. Why bring on De Vita in the 88th minute?

The starting XI was wrong in my opinion too. Devera should have been in there for either Flint or McEveley, because A: the the other two have been shocking recently, B: we need more pace in the side. Also why is Miller starting? Put Ferry in the middle and stick Luke Rooney out wide, De Vita or Roberts on the other wing (neither deserve to play but we have no other options). Again up front we lack any options so Williams and Rooney seems the only option right now. If we don't get 3/4 loanees in sadly I don't think we'll make the playoffs.

It frustrates me that MacDonald has cut down on the training sessions because it's already showing in the performances, 2 games in a row that we've conceded late goals, what happened to our superior fitness? His management style also worries me, he doesn't do anything from the bench, he just stands there arms folded. Long way from being convinced that he's the right man but we've gotta give him a chance.

Well done to the travelling fans, fantastic again. Brentford's support is the worst home support I've seen this season by far, shocking.

Let's be honest, of our current squad how many are championship standard? In my opinion it's just Foderingham, Ward and Ferry, the rest are at their level. The difference between middle table and promotion with an average squad of players is the manager, we need 3/4 loan signings, MacDonald will struggle to get the best out of this squad like Paolo did.

I will post more after some sleep but for the second match running a cautious, sit back when leading tactic has cost us.

There was a 15-20 minute spell in the second half where we got well and truly turned over, I haven't see that happen to us for a long time and Brentford were very good after offering little up untill then.

We were excellent 1st half but didn't have one real chance in the 2nd and if it wasn't for the crossbar, shit finishing and Wes, we could have lost 5-1.

Summed it up when they brought on Wright-Phillips and our final sub looking to salvage something was De Vita. New players needed, and fast.

It could be worse, we could be Luton. They lost 2-1 at home to Hyde, yes Hyde.

We controlled the game for 60 minutes. As soon as they got one, we all but gave up. We resorted to hoofball and let them just keep the ball and see it out.

Couldn't see the penalty that well, but it looked like the right call.

We just can't seem to finish games of, were lacking a cutting edge in the final third. I'm just glad KMAC had a week with the players and hopefully we will have some loan signings before Yeovil.

This is perhaps the singularly most idiotic post ever posted on this site. And that is really saying something.

We never deserved to lose that game, as has already been said we should of been out of sight at half time, but how many times have we said that now this season?
Macdonald got it spot on tactically last night, certainly not his fault we lost and I still believe we will be okay.
As for the embargo, the board aren't at fault for that, people getting on their backs too seems a bit premature, they may or may not do well at the club, at the moment though, none of the behind the scenes stuff is their fault.

One other thing, can the counting when the opposing keeper has the ball in his hands stop? It's one of the gayest things I've heard at a football match.

AF of the Manure variety doesn't move from his seat unless they score or he rants at the ref. they seem to be doing ok. Just because he's the polar opposite of PDC why should everyone be worried.

He's 3 games in, 2 weeks in the job, taking over from a team he inherited. he's still getting used to the players, their positions and installing his tactics etc.

personally i think it's a breath of fresh air not having someone wave their arms around on the touchline shouting and moaning at our players.

But he inherited a team that were 'flying'...that's the difference.

If it is true, that he has cut the training sessions down then one has to ask why?

I heard, that as soon as he was appointed, he gave the players 3 days off.

Theyve got a week off now ;)

I said from the moment paolo left that it was ours to lose. We were top of the league.

I'm not pro or anti KMac. End of the day, every manager has their own style.

but we still are, aren't we?

don't forget brentford beat us at home too following a 4.1 win against Yeovil.

it's one result. it's going to happen. Brentford are now 3rd so are no mugs.

yes we should of been 2 or 3 nill up at half time but as PDC used to moan about, we've no clinical strikers. our only one who i believe would be doing a job is at Cheltenham.

Pretty much how I feel.

In the 2 games against Brentford we were at least equal to them. The difference between the 2 teams was Donaldson pure and simple. A diving, cheating, nasty goalscorer. Now where do we get one of these from as we've not got anyone remotely like that.

If we had di canio and the money he would have signed him soapy tit wank

Oh FFS! NO WE WEREN'T! We were third, and had just struggled to a 1-1 draw against Hartlepool at home.

It wasn't that long ago for christ sake. People insisting everything was rosey and we were flying towards the fucking leaue title when PDC was in charge seem to be deliberately misremembering things.

Brentford got him on a free transfer

I feel a little sorry for KMac, as he is onto a bit of a loser here. He is coming into a club basically at the top of league 1 with no staff, on the back of one of our most charismatic, succesful managers in recent history.

Its clear he has his own training methods, tactics etc but has to adopt them with someone elses players, (I am pretty sure he doesn't want to play Ferry on the Right Wing) with matches running out. Already some of our fans are moaning because he isn't on the touchline windy millering!!

I worry a little about the impact PDC had on his players on the field of play. Under him it seemed like our back 4 was under control, calm and disciplined as he basically talked them through the game. I worry that without him, players like Flint are going to go to pieces. To me Flint on the pitch seems thick as fuck, on Saturday he was chasing a nothing ball forward and it was clear that it was going to hit the corner flag so instead of letting it hit the flag, he stood right next to the ball for some reason, it hit the flag, bounced off of him and went out for a corner! His decision making is dreadful and I worry that without a leader, he is going to be a liability.

We have to give KMac time. This season we may or may go up automatically, we may or may not get in the play-offs. KMac is going to be challenged right enough and we have to support his way, through thick and thin.

We can only properly judge him after a pre-season, with his own staff, own players etc.

I'm still going to withhold judgement on MacDonald until the embargo is lifted and he is able to bring in some players. We've got very few options at the moment and even under Di Canio we looked (or sounded to me) as though we've not got the personnel to adjust when required.  The overreaction on Twitter last night doesn't need much discussion as it speaks for itself.

You almost certainly have more first hand experience of recent games than me, but I've got real doubts as to whether this is even physically possible.

Short of the whole back line being fitted with ear-pieces, I have no idea how a manager can "talk them through" a game from the technical area. I know PDC liked to shout and wave, but I'm not sure that how that translates into calm controlled instruction from half a pitch length away.

I'd go further.  I don't think it's really fair to judge a manager until he has had a chance to reshape and coach his squad to play according to his philosophy - and realistically, that will not happen for several months.  Unfortunately for us, we have less than two months to earn promotion this season.  Failure to win promotion would not be Kevin's fault (barring a complete loss of nerve etc.)  It would be a natural consequence of a very poorly timed mid-season boardroom fuck up.  It was always going to be a struggle after Andrew Black threw the towel in.


Glad I don't waste time on that any more.

Ardiles .... You are the voice of reason and probably the best poster on this place!

:clap:

I was saying it from the start actually :toocool:

Not only that but the complete lack of continuity behind the scenes has been an unfortunate complication. Unless I'm mistaken there are no technical staff remaining who worked under Di Canio so it's unsurprising that we've had a bit of a blip.

if Gary Roberts could replicate his wonder goals at tranmere we'd be fine. Should have finished last night to make it 2 nil, one of many chances he hasn't taken. No natural goalscorers in the team a la Donaldson for Brentford. Which is going to cost us. After all Simon Ferry seems to be our major goal threat at the moment. As to the increasingly panic stricken defence no matter what anyone might say this is the area of the team that Paolo got spot on so its no coincidence that without him the discipline isn't there. Without that protection in front of him Wes aint kept a clean sheet

Reading between the lines on Jed's tweets would suggest the money owed has been paid in full and the FL are just dragging their heels a bit.

https://twitter.com/MelvinLutherKin

Did he miss anything?

KMac out-thought Rosler - something the great PDC failed at miserably in the home game.

I saw plenty last night to feel enthusiastic enough about the rest of the season. The only thing I think he did wrong was not bringing on Collins sooner. We were getting pegged back and we needed someone up there who can control the ball and hold it up, which is what he did so well at Coventry.

I very much doubt that Melvin is a Swindon supporter.  Someone's on a wind up.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is indeed a Swindon supporter, given some of the dribbling fucktards that tweet and text BBC Wiltshire after games. Why they read these out I don't know.

Do you think all these wankers were calling for Paolo's head at the beginning of last season, you remember when we lost 4 out of his first 5 games in charge with a team that he'd rebuilt at some expense and had the whole pre-season to work with.

Twats

Some were.

Oh dear, lets hope he doesnt belong to a gun club

I agree with you that it wouldn't be physically possible for Paolo to magically organise the team from the dugout, but that is the view from watching the matches. Under PDC I never felt panicked overly when our defence were put under pressure. In the Walsall match, at times it looked like we were all over the place at the back, which didn't happen very often previously.

Lumpy, you are wrong I'm afraid.  If PDC did one thing that I haven't seen done so well by others, it was talk players through the game (shout mainly, and kick them occasionally).  He couldn't impact the moment,  nobody can do that once on the pitch bar the player or maybe someone close enough, but he'd get them focussed if something went wrong, that's for sure.

You yourself revert to his politics and that being the shaping of his style.  It did seem he was authoritarian, but with that comes control and purpose - people knew exactly what was expected of them, what they are drilled to do.   Repitition breads habit, if you are "dictated" to on what you should be doing in situations, you'll end up performing that way until real pressure is applied, at which point you need someone to bring back your focus to the new behaviour you have learned.  It may be something you hate personally, but it did seem to work on the whole.

That's not a slant at KM either, his background suggests he has a different style but it also works given time.  Getting beat 2-1 by a team who are at least our equals this season is nothing to hang someone out to dry over, we've lost to worse teams under PDC.  Changing formation is not a problem, it appeared to be working but for a defensive capitulation it seems.  This may be where in the short term we face some problems under new management, especially with players like Flint who reminds me a bit of Ifil between the ears when it comes to a footballing brain.  Maybe the key is getting Devera match fit and back in.

Most of the Brentford comments about us are saying how we are a decent side and looked very good, we just need a clinical striker.

HAS to be a priority when the embargo is lifted, with someone like Donaldson we would win the league imo.

Yeah I was just reading that PR and its so frustrating that had we made it 2-0 we probably would have gone on to win handsomely. Had Charlie Austin been in this team we would have been promoted by now! Sadly we keep talking about missed chances, which is killing us :(

Imagine what last season would have been like with Austin in the team. It'd have been finished by February.

I heard a few of the texts read out on radio wilts last night. Why hodgets is reading out texts made at the start of the second half when the game is over i do not know. Likewise why they air the views of utter spastics makes my blood boil. Can't those fucking twats read it first?

Fans sounding off about the manager already,comaring him to Malpas and having no ambition etc. Fucking arseholes.
Still licking the arse of Di canio who fucked off as he wanted more players and could see we needed them. That is not the fault of Macdonald is it? He's inherited the squad that the former manager got upset about. He needs time and tools to do the job with.

Robn, people keep making assumptions about what I think in relation to management style. I'm perfecly able to both not want an authoritarian governement, and accept that it's a management style that works in certain circumstances.
I can accept that a participative democracy is not the ideal organisational arrangement for a military fighting unit for example. And I can see that the situation at the County Ground when PDC arrived kind of needed someone prepared to grab the place by the scruff of the neck.

I've said before that the Paolo's approach was paying off. But that doesn't mean that another approach won't work as well. We've had success in the past under disciplinarians like Macari, and also had success under more facilitaive management teams like Ossie and Tony Galvin.

KMc just needs time to get his approach ingrained within the team. As I've mentioned before, PDC lost 4 out of his first 5 games, before his approach started working. KMc should be given that sort of opportunity to get his side playing the way he wants.

If Roberts had scored instead of hitting the post we would have won that.

Try and get a clinical striker in (very hard to do at this stage of the season) and we will be fine. All those saying the season is over etc on twatter/facebook can fuck off. We are in 4th place, 2 points off second, 5 off top with a vastly superior goal difference. Kev Mac got the tactics spot on for the game but is still getting to know the players so give the bloke time/a chance ffs.

9 games left, in 4th and people are despairing. Fuck me get a grip

Pessimism can get to fuck as well. I've got no time for those people.

This is how I see it too.

But - we do need to dip in to the loan market, to give KMac some extra options.

This is MacDonald's first stint in management, but still a better start than Paolo (losing 4 of the first 5).

I'm still erring on the side of optimism, I like what he's trying to do.
We've played to nice stuff under him so far, Coventry being a prime example, and only 2 days into his tenure. Compare that to Hartlepool and Bury games before and the difference was clear to see.

I think if we're patient with him and give him a few years here we will see the benefit.

Added to the fact that Kev has come in when we have played 3 very difficult games.

Away at Cov
Home to in form Walsall
Away at Brentford

That's a very difficult start for any manager and we have played well in each of the 3 games so with a few loan signings we will be right up there

We also musn't forget that whilst we had the good wins under PDC we also had the bad losses - Pox, Orient, Preston, Colchester, Brentford, Macclesfield.

Ha ha - litterally in the last 30 seconds all his tweets have been deleted. Imagine he's been getting some grief. :smugfu:

Hope not, he may be watching  >:(

Don't disagree with any of that.  My earlier post was referring more to the underplaying of what PDC did do on the bench.  It doesn't need someone with "passion" arm waving at all.  What he did do though, was constantly relay "orders" onto the pitch, more so than any other manager I have witnessed.  To some extent he took away decision making from the players, left it basic - follow my instructions to the letter, and I'll shout at you if you forget or I think you need reminding again.  I can see how a player like Flint may struggle if that goes in the short term.

For all of our Managers, Ossie is the god for me.  How he managed to change the playing style so dramatically over one summer is beyond me - not just a change in formation or pattern that you could see, but transformed long ball chasers into silky passers as well.  I still don't understand how he did it, or how he couldn't then make a top career as a Manager from that start.

I've got a big problem that I actually quite like MC K MAC or whatever he's getting called, and my natural feeling is to be quite optimistic in the face of all the negativity. The problem is that I've felt the same way about a few of our managerial failures. I'm sure I can find a post of me sticking up for the Malpas appointment somewhere.

So I've learned to completely ignore my natural judgement on such things, I'm not going to slate him, I'm not going to stick up for him. I'm going to wait and see what happens.

What is there to be negative about when it comes to KMac?

He is 3 games into his Swindon career - his background is nurturing young talent.

The poor home form has been there all season - apart from a purple patch of a few games.

We comprehensively outplayed Coventry and pretty much did the same to Brentford last night without getting what we deserved.

Gone is the hoofball which was all to prevalent at times under PdC.

PdC uses shock effect as his main managerial weapon - something which may work very well in the short term, but is not, I think, an enduring way of managing as it almost, by definition, needs a rapid turn round of players to maintain that shock.

Over an extended period of time I honestly believe KMac's approach will prove to be more beneficial to our club.

Saying that, I don't think that would have been possible without Paolo turning around the club from what it was.

For that alone, we should all be eternally grateful

Question 1: How many points did we get in the 3 games before Paolo left?
Question 2: And the 3 games after that?
Question 3: Were we really 'flying' when Macdonald took over?

Answer 1: 5 points, including a draw to bottom of the table Hartlepool.
Answer 2: 4 points, including a lucky draw against Preston and one of the most pathetic performances at the County Ground I've seen this season.
Answer 3: No.

To be fair to bottom of the league Hartlepool, they've only lost once in 9 games

Which is why we should support our team instead of moaning like girls for the time being.

I do think there is an air of unreasonable expectation about us this year. We expect to win, we expect to go up, we expect to be champions.

If we had gone up last season into any other league we’d just be happy with middle table/staying up – but we are not. As a club we have this expectation that we are championship size, which whilst I agree with, I do think I question whether we are ready for it or not.  Take a look at the other teams that came up with us.

We are undoubtedly one of the best teams in this league but don’t underestimate the size and impact on the club/team that the whole Black/Ritchie/PDC saga has had.

I see it as after the Tranmere game, his coaching staff had taken charge and he'd helped them prepare. So yes he left us top of the league. Let it go Lumps, it's all you talk about.

Spot on.

Haha. I'm the twat in the bottom left corner.

If that pic was one person wider I'd be on the very left, 2nd row from the back :(

I love all the anti Paolo things on here....only Swindon fans could slag a man who took us to promotion and top of the league.

He fucked off for many reasons which is old hat now.......personally i would love him back here tomorow....thats not to say i wasnt there supporting K Mac last night because i was.

If people are not happy with K Mac so fucking what....its there perogative and opinion.

Being a Swindon fan dosn't mean you have to love your manager....if K Mac does half of what PDC did he will be doing just fine....untill then i hope he gets on with the job in hand with success
.

Go on then Leefer, I'll bite

What anti Paolo things?

How do you feel about Steve McMahon?

I think it's only Lumps that i've seen, going on and on and on like a pair of nuns knickers.

People can have their opinion if they aren't happy with his appointment etc but tough shit, he has been appointed. Writing him off after 3 difficult games is ridiculous, people need to give the bloke a chance. Just because he isn't jumping around on the sidelines like a nutter doesn't mean he won't succeed. It's also not his fault that he can't make any signings as some have said on other sites :doh:

I honestly cannot believe we keep having this exact same argument when it's quite simple - criticism of his actions does not equate to a lack of recognition for his achievements. There's a significant portion of people on here who are disappointed with the manner of his exit but do not underestimate what he did for STFC.

Can we please just move on? It's becoming incredibly tedious now as it's the EXACT SAME argument each and every time.

You move on.

I agree.

I moved pretty far on. You just boycotted games, I left the country.

I didn't even really do that because I hardly ever went anyway.

I am moving into a new flat a few weeks.

Cool story bro.

I went last night and didn't enjoy it at all, it was great to see a few old mates in the griffin etc however we seem to have picked up a hell of a lot of fucking pricks in the last eighteen months. Yes I moved about the terrace to get away from fucking idiots shouting complete bollocks but they seemed everywhere. And to the bloke who wouldn't get out of my way when going to the toilet even after telling him I had just had a major operation you were lucky your mates saw sense and fucking moved you.
Was so excited this time yesterday on the train on the way up, now feel totally flat

There has been an undercurrent on here for a while, of people who wouldn't be too unhappy when Paolo went because he wouldn't be pissing them off with his rants and wouldn't be upsetting the primadonnas in the squad.

Think it would take a miracle for MacDonald to get us up from where we are atm....his job really comes into play next season when we'll need something of a rebuild...

There's times I genuinely wonder if you have really just been a wind up merchant all along.

Agree with this, we seem to have a larger proportion than most clubs of utter morons.

On a completely unrelated noted, I was quite impressed with Brentford's pitch, especially considering the cold weather of late. One of the best ones we have played on in a long while.

Are you seriously suggesting that from 4th we dont have a chance of either automatic promotion or play offs?

I suspect that this may have been due to the period when we were 'Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town' which may have attracted some support?

I agree with Reg. We're in a very poor run of form results wise (Coventry aside), have a difficult run in, especially away from home, are still officially under embargo meaning we can't strengthen a severely depleted squad & are generally going through a transitional period both on & off the pitch. Anybody who wasn't a Swindon fan and is able to see the situation from an unbiased viewpoint would I'm sure agree that if KM does somehow manage to get us promoted it would far surpass anything that PDC achieved during his time here. And that is coming from one of PDC's biggest fans as I will back him to the hilt on the majority of things he did whilst he was here both on & off the field (without wishing to antagonise) or run over too much old ground!!  

Yep, you're right

After sitting 2 points from the auto's with 9 games left, promotion would indeed be a fucking miracle.

With all due respect you're probably missing my point. Whilst the use of the word miracle was probably overstated the odds are certainly against us now. The balls no longer in our court and as I said on paper we've got a difficult run in. You won't like my opinion on where we finish but I genuinely think it'll be outside the top six and I'll be fucking overjoyed if I'm wrong.   

I've seen 4 squads take us up to Div 2, under 4 different managers...and this just doesn't look or feel like a Div 3 promotion winning side. As I said doesn't make it inevitable...but this will need a miraculous turn around.

Yep. Fucking miraculous it would be Reg!

We still have to play Sheff Utd, Doncaster and Yeovil.....I would say its "game on all still very much to play for".

Every team near the top currently has been dropping points at home and away.

Whilst I agree with the above, I do also think that this is a weak Div 3, so it may not be as bleak as we think.

We've got a tough run in. We're off form and we've lost our most creative player our manager and his fantastic (and under appreciated) backroom staff. We're short of players and still can't sign anyone.

KMac as far as I'm aware has only bought in Mark Cooper and keeps playing Simon Ferry on the wing.

We're in a good position but I don't think it's all rosy and time to be happy clapping...

Cautious.

Yeah id agree with that synopsis. All depends on if we can sign anyone decent i guess. At least at worst we're at the right end and wont be in godawful L2 next year though.

Exactly my point. Anybody who wasn't a Swindon fan and was betting on the outcome of automatic promotion from League 1 would read that overview and probably discount us, especially where their own hard earned cash is concerned. Sometimes you've gotta take the rose tinted specs off and admit that there are other sides more handily placed than us at the moment. I'm not saying KM & the squad are incapable of taking us up but from a neutrals perspective we wouldn't be on their betting slip!!

4th in the table with the prospect of the embargo being lifted in the next few days, I do not feel its the time for doom and gloom merchants to be sounding their death knell to the season with 9 games left to play.

Possiby the weakest League 1 that I can remember as well.

Oh and 2 defeats in 17 games aint so bad is it?

Yeah the embargo is always just one day away from being lifted...

But it'd be a miracle JJ.

There's only 9 games left to catch up 2 points. How can we be expected to do that?

I personally think it's unfortunate we have had change both on and off the pitch at the wrong time of the season. If this was October/November i'd be thinking "great a chance for KMac to settle in and then in January he can bring his own players and build his team etc". But we don't have that time now. He's come in (as well as the new owners) at a time when results is the only thing that matters. That's not ideal for any manager. Not only that but he is trying to impose his tactics and style on a team that  has been used to a different style for the past 18 months.

Training sessions and tactics will be totally different and that will have really affected the players in terms of focus. Then there's the matter of the embargo. We're short on bodies and can't even sign anyone. It's easy to slag the new board off and say they should be sorting it but they were left in the shit when Black left as it appears we weren't paying bills.

Will it affect our chances of promotion? Of course it will. Can we still do it? Yes of course. Are we seeing the affects of PDC's sudden departure? Yes certainly. I'm not sure what all of this will mean come May but it's very frustrating for the fans that the changes have taken place now as opposed to 4 or 5 months back when we would have had a great chance to get things built and really mount a challenge. We saw the difference in 06/07 when Wise left between finishing 3rd and top. I think this will see us finish in the top 6 at best and miss out on the autos.

Stop with your happy clapping FFS. The season is over, cant you see that?

Sorry.

Are we safe from relegation yet?

Just... :D

can't we all just get along?

Not if the Football League can help it...

This is a strange one isn't it ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPMmC0UAnj0

No.

I'd disagree we are off form. At home, maybe, but that has been the case all season.

Every side in the top 6 can be said to be off form to some degree - not one side has managed to pull away.

And if you did get to Brentford yesterday you would probably agree with me that I'm amazed Brentford are in the top half of the table let alone 3rd.

Let's not kid ourselves that any of those around us are any better - cos they aint

Any way, much more important events

There's white smoke apparently!!!   :pint:

Not really.

We all have no idea what's going on. Club making the right noises but nothing seems to be happening.

What are you implying?

3 wins in 10, suggests otherwise.

I'm implying that DV could be onto something....namely we keep hearing the umbongo is about to be sorted, then it isn't.

What's strange, I suppose, is that the new board have apparently put £1.2m into a fund as part of FL ratifying the takeover and if this is so, why hasn't it been used to pay off what is keeping us in m'bargo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuTi3f6CrgI

There's a lot going on which seemingly makes little sense.

We don't know if it has or it hasn't to be fair. We know we have paid Shrewsbury their installment for Collins so that would suggest it has been used. Think people are jumping the gun a bit here.

ah right, so the new board clearly don't have any money and are here to fuck us over.

Here's a thought. It's a little bit wild so bear with me here, but.....

Maybe they're just waiting on the FL?

Jed did say that the embargo was in the hands of the clubs solicitors, and they never rush anything.

So the FL+solicitors=delays.

I'd guess 5 mins in the home end at Upton Park, Millwall or Leeds would be about long enough to give a bit of perspective on that.

Singing Chelsea songs and calling the ball boy big ears sums up some of our support.

I'm pleased to say I've got no idea which songs are Chelsea's and which aren't.

If that's the case, and the club are champing at the bit to sign some new players, would have thought they would be told to pull their fucking finger out

They were literally just singing "Chelsea, Chelsea (repeat)" It was painful.


Hence the 'most' in my post  :)

Jed was interviewed pre game on Saturday and when asked about the transfer embargo he just said "its in the hand of the clubs solicitors" thats all he would say.

I'm starting to wonder if the appearance of visible fitness issues in our squad is down not to a new training regime under K-Mac, so much as a side-effect of him inheriting a small squad he isn't able to add to, while Di Canio almost always had a large squad he would regularly rotate (and add to)?

Personally I think Macdonald has done as good a job as could be expected under the circumstances. The fact is he inherited:

-Huge expectations due to our position in the table
-A small squad still recovering from the loss of it's best player (something Di Canio didn't have to deal with very long before he gave up).
-A set of fans who offer fantastic support away but suck the life out of the legs of players at home (is it just a coincidence, the correlation between our relative success home and away and the support of our fans, or something more?).
-The job of a hugely charismatic manager who'd built up a cult of personality amongst the fans it would be impossible for any manager to replicate.
-The expectation of some of those fans nonetheless that he should be able to replicate it and if he doesn't he's an empty, passionless husk of a football manager.
-A time frame in which it is impossible to stamp any real authority on a team
-A transfer embargo.
-An incredibly tough run-in.

In the confusion of the last 3 months, I think some of our fans need to take all this back in and regain some perspective on what he's working with here. This is not the team Di Canio had at the turn of the year. However, relative to the standard of the division, it is still a decent team with a good chance of promotion. All we can do as fans is be united behind the team and give them the best chance possible.

Good points. Easy to feel negative due to the manner of last nights defeat, but it's worth bearing in mind that with a few effective loan signings could reinvigorate the side and give us the lift we need.

That's the whole point though. By the time the embargo is lifted the loan window will be practically shut, thus reducing the quality of player available. We've known since PDC was still in charge that 2 or 3 quality loan additions would put us in with a big shout of automatic even with the loss of Ritchie, but here we are, 3 or 4 weeks down the line & we still can't sign anybody. Irrespective of who's fault it is it doesn't change the fact that from a fans perspective it's fucking frustrating.

whilst i agree with you that people are overreacting big time [as always].... KMac applied for the post, knowing what was known abt STFC, and thinking he could do a job.

Now if it turns out you cant do a job becos you're crap, you've basically fucked that football team/town over in yor misguided bigheadedness that led you to apply for the job.

So from that perspective, if he doesnt get it right, one can lay into him.

Eventually...

PDC is an almost impossible act to follow

Oh wow. So if you do badly in a job, any job at any level, you've fucked over your company and all your employers for being so arrogant enough to even think you could do the job in the first place.

That's a good one. I like that. I'm going to use that more often.

Yes it was incredible wasnt it ? What was the name of the 'right back' that he changed from a dodo into a swan ?

Good old clayton sent off last night...two bookables the first for?......yes! Diving!

Where is Ardiles? Not seen him in a while.

Probably on some beach in Argentina puffing on a camel....cigarette that is.