Thetownend.com

7th in League (Joint 6th on points)
3rd round League Cup
1st Round Fa Cup
Area Semi Finals Johnstones Paint Trophy.

I think everyone would take that.

Which is what baffles me, sitting in the crowd and reading some of the comments on here its like we are in a relegation battle. To bring in almost a new team, losing big players I think its remarkable how well we have done. Think the successes in the league and cup over the last couple of seasons has hit a few town fans hard.

There are 40 other teams in the football league who would happily swap places with us.

League and 2 x cups are great. But not reaching the 3rd round of the FA Cup is very disappointing.

Macclesfield humiliation notwithstanding, I'm utterly delighted with how the season's gone so far. It's been way, way better than anything I would have dared to hope for at the end of last season.

The only thing that was disappointing gir me was the way we got knocked out

It's gone quite well. I've been more Impressed with the Off field stuff, and the on going plans. Don't get me wrong the season has been pretty good, but it could have been better so far, with a little more, err something, whether that be luck or belief I don't know, whatever happens this year, I think we'll be a force to be reckoned with next year for sure, once all of the wrinkles have been ironed out.

 We're doing OK, kind of in our natural position. Still work to be done to maintain that because recent years have shown that it's easier for us to go down than up.  That should not be derided as an achievement.

The reason some people are disappointed, I think, is that they see the home form and cannot fathom how the away form is so shite.

With half decent form on the road we would be well amongst it.

On the other hand, without the home form we would be in amongst the dead men

I'm also very happy with our position as it stands, and would have taken it gladly during the Summer.

For me, the disappointing and sometimes frustrating aspect of this season has been the inconsistency the team have shown at times. If we could consistently maintain the form we know that we are capable of then we could be a force to reckon with in this league.

A perfect example is the difference in performance of the Notts County and Walsall home matches, only 4 days apart but a chasm in difference in performance, even taking into account that the two teams set up very differently against us and are obviously of differeing quality.

However, all that being said, it's all part of supporting a lower league team, and if it weren't for the lows then the highs wouldn't seem quite so sweet.

We usually have a blip around winter time

Happy and mildly chuffed so far. I wasn't looking forward to this season at all but (up to the Macc game)  I'm enjoying it more than last as I had no expectations.

When you think of everything the club has been through in the last year it looks like we are in a solid position which we would have all taken back in January.

However, I really can't believe that we've gone from a solid team defensively into utter utter shite.

I want my money back :)

I think it's been a good season so far, barring what happened Macclesfield, and hope it continues.

After the upheaval in the summer anyone had said we'd have beaten QPR away, had a top 4 club visit, be two teams from Wembley and would be on the verge of the playoffs I'd have thought them mental.

Unfortunately, although a mid table finish would be a pretty decent season, particularly as we are still hamstrung by high earners, its really difficult not to start to raise expectations. Its not really fair on the youngsters. But I can't help it.

So a much better 3 months than expected. But now I expect more, or I did.

The Macclesfield result/performance was probably the kick in the nuts reality check that I needed.

I'm losing interest to be honest. I know literally everyone else in the world will disagree but even when we're at our blistering best I find the patient passing game so fucking dull. I'm not saying we should go full on Paul Sturrock, just that I find the style boring. The little atmosphere we ever managed to create has finally died too.

If it wasn't for the fact my mates are all fucking retardedly fun I wouldn't bother going any more.

Nope, don't totally disagree (assuming you are serious). Watching the best passing team in the world (Spain) bored me rigid in the world cup. Tippy tappy flicky fanny football.

Think I'm a bit old school. I love a bit of the blood and guts mixing it up in with the footy.

But I wouldn't quite go as far as you in that I think when we are being incisive, attacking, its a joy to watch us carve open teams.

I do think quite a sizeable number of the crowd think we overpass at times in the name of keeping the ball without risk. There was quite an audible sarcastic cheer as we worked the ball back from the opposition half to Belford.

I wonder how the people that think "we are in crisis" were feeling this time last season? I know a few people (Gerry Stilton for one judging by his tweets) look back on the last administration as some sort of golden age, but at this time in 2012 we were in a very similar position.

 - 6th in the table, with 6 points more than this year but having played 2 more league games, (won 8, drawn 5, lost 4 GD 11 compared to this years 7,2,6 GD 9)
 - Progressed one more round in the FA Cup, but obviously hadn't played anyone of Chelseas class.
 - Out of the FA cup in the first round to Macclesfield at home rather than away
 - Out of the paint pot in the first round to fucking Oxford

Were people reaching for the panic bottun then?

Quite an interesting comparison, that.

The football we play is better this year, but the defence is much, much worse. That's my only concern really. With the ball we are brilliant and a pleasure to watch but without it, particularly the back 4, we are causing ourselves too many issues.

No need to push the panic button just yet, but I think reinforcements are needed.

Are people reaching for the panic button now?

I don't think so.

Contrary to jayo, I have enjoyed our style of play this season more than our style of play under Di Canio (or Sturrock).

I'm happy with the season so far and there are far more positives than negatives around the County Ground lately.

The style of football is more or less what I had expected. The results are better though.

Maybe just the bottun.

Frustration is probably what most feel rather than negativity.
Before last season kicked off I didnt expect us to be around the play off places but settling for a consolidation season in the top half of the table.
Well we were better than that and if the season hadnt fallen apart in Jan I reckon auto promotion was on the cards
Now that was frustration.Yeah I know we made the play offs but should have gone up auto ( guess thats how Tranmere fans looked at it and Lorient are at the mo )
If I had been offered todays position before the season started I would have taken it - bar going out in rd1 of the FACup again.
Honestly didnt think we would be where we are now.
In many ways this seasons start mirrors last years - and lets hope thats as far as the comparison goes

Out of interest, who apart  from Stilton as you mentioned thinks we're in crisis.  I'm not sure you should be using him as an exemplar.

Not many. Though a few people have had their moments. Weren't you making comments along the lines that Cooper had to win at least two of the next four games or his job would be on the line only a couple of weeks ago, because we'd lost two on the bounce?

All I'm trying to point out is that the form now is pretty much the same as the form at the same point last year, and as I've lost count of the number of times threads have ended with several people inisisting that we were nailed on for promotion last season until Black took his ball home and the one I'm not allowed to refer to emptied his pram and left, I thought people would be a bit more positive than they are.

I see, I said after the 2 defeats that Cooper needed a couple of wins in the next 6 to be Ok. I was referring to league games, although Malpas got sacked for losing back to back FA and JPT games after a 3 game undefeated run in the league (inc 2 wins), I would have expected Cooper to survive a loss say on pens last night.

PV game provided a win, so another win and a couple of draws over the next 5 games would be OK.....it'd help if the draws were away.

In relation to last season, I think the feeling was that after turning down $ for Ritchie and assembling a large squad of players with fair experience of Div 3 upper echelons, we were going shit or bust for promo. This season it's more about maintaining current status, after a difficult period...nowt wrong with that, but it doesn't quite grab the attention of the average fan or potential fan so much.

The answer is simple. Don't bother going you miserable git.

There's nothing I like better than my team showing up the opposition as a bunch of cloggers.

Taking the piss is tops

Or carry on with what I have been doing which is getting smashed and jumping around like a teenage girl at a Westlife gig.

Pretty fair summary really!

I expected us to be in a relegation fight so I'm happy.

The fact that Mark Cooper is our manager and we are in 7th place is pretty good in my opinion. Big credit to Lee Power for the side he has assembled - Ranger and N'Guessan on free transfers was superb business. We have a good side, defence has gone dodgy but I blame that on the change to 3 at the back. Surely Flint can't have been that much of a loss?

Once seeing the standard of our side I expected a play off push, but predicted mid table. Hopefully we will get through the winter months unscathed and see where we are.

Sort the away form out and we will be fine. Cooper said at the weekend that we may have to sacrifice some 'skill' on the road, so this Saturday will be interesting. The one sort of player we lack (mainly away from home) is a nasty fucker to sit in front of the backline and break up the game, Eustace would have been perfect, or even McCormack.

I maintain that Ranger's trial will have a big bearing on the seasons prospects and hope we will see him in a Town shirt again. Our style of play is not the same without him. It's a shame we don't put more crosses into him. Imagine him in last seasons side with crosses flying in? He would have been excellent.

You never know in football though, a few dodgy results and a rot sets in with the youngsters heads down and we are sliding down the league - I hope we won't see a certain Martin Allen in a 'fire fighting' capacity at some stage this season...

Fuck me, I agree with Chang.

Don't think Flint is, and three at the back doesn't seem to work. Surely we need another centre half, as, at best, Hall needs resting, at worst dropping.

The attacking football we played at Molineux was a couple of leagues above anything I've seen a Swindon team produce in years.

My only real complaint is knowing what they are capable of after that, and not, despite many flashes of sublime football, really seeing them recapture it over a full game with the same consistency since.

There's no denying the aspect of our play that involves Ward standing for 30 seconds waiting for an option, before turning around and passing it back to Foderingham, and then watching him standing for another 30 seconds waiting for an option, is simultaneously dull, frustrating, and largely ineffective, often resulting, when the onus is on us to win, in us wasting our own time, and I sometimes think if they could just step up the energy levels, as I know they are capable of, having seen them do it at Wolves, you wouldn't get that dead lull in atmosphere that hovers over the pitch every home game at the moment.

But then I see a team like Wycombe, or any other number of cloggers that have visited the County Ground this year, matched up against ours, regain a sense of perspective, and imagine what we could be watching instead.

I know Lumps mentioned it earlier in the week, but I've just been comparing where we are now to where we were after 16 games last season.

Same amount of points, but a place higher in the league and our goal difference this year is better by 1. Add to that a similar run in the league cup, the same net result in the FA Cup (is getting beaten by a non-league side at home worse than it is away?) but a much better performance in the JPT.

Obviously we went on a stonking run about this time last year, but we also faded badly toward the seasons end. All in all, things look fairly good in my opinion.

Just passed the half way stage and with a game in hand against Stevenage coming up we could be back in the playoff spots for the 1st time in a long time. I genuinely believe we can make the playoffs this season. 2nd highest number of home wins in the league. Desperately need to sort out the away form but I think we are slowly getting somewhere on that front. A big few weeks for Nile ranger which our season ultimately hangs on. Does anyone know how much he would miss once the court case starts, assuming he is cleared.

It's fair to say we have exceeded expectations to this point.

We have done well at home, although I guess the concern is that we have a potentially tough run of home games at the end of the season (Wolves, Preston, Sheff U, Brentofrd, Bradford & Rotherham).

In reverse, although our away form has been poor we do have some of the weaker teams in the division to play.


As you say, a lot also depends on what happens with Ranger, and if he does go down or leave, who we get in to play that role.

We don't want to be in the situation where we stick with Nile and he's sent down and the transfer window is shut. I'm wondering whether we will get a replacement in with this in mind, will clearly see what lee power is aiming for over the next couple of weeks.

I assume that's why he's been looking for a loan of Ngoo.

I thought we looked at ngoo whilst trying to terminate niles contract. Different to sticking with him  and him getting sent down but the same result. Cooper has come out today and said that they are trying to sign a no9 for competition more than anything so my worries have been answered. I think they should do a daily update on niles attendance

In a world where not plating by the rules is the only rule...

Universal pictures presents "Nile Rangers Day Off CCCVI - stranger Ranger"

This time the new improved Nile crashes his car avoiding a bad ass snail crossing the road..


Meanwhile over at SN1 Cooper is taking register "Bueller ranger.. Ranger.. Ranger... Anyone... anyone... Anyone ."