Thetownend.com

Fans urged to stay patient over Town’s style of football
           
           


  FOLLOWING their latest miserable away day, Swindon Town manager Mark Cooper stressed that the Robins’ fans must remain patient as he and his players look to develop a certain style of football.

           

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/11030952.Fans_urged_to_stay_patient_over_Town___s_style_of_football/?ref=rss
           
           
           

How many games have we played so far this season?   :sherlock:

There is no style

Good things take time, anyone who expected instant success this season is retarded.

I agree. I would call it a method

Can those that attend games say whether we have got worse, stayed consistent or got better as the season has gone on? Injuries aren't helping.

Worse. But, to be fair, to attempt some sort of free flowing passing game was always going to come apart at the seams when vital players are missing.

And, also, Ranger is integral to it

That covers 90% of our fan base.

It was a thing of beauty to watch quite often at the start of the season and reasonably successful.

For a mulitiude of reasons it's nowhere near as effective these days. Injuries and opposition teams becoming aware of our style and adjusting accordingly are big reasons.

No reason why it can't be a successful style/method in the long term though.

I don't know whether its the style that we are trying to adapt, but a lot of the time we seem so bloody lethargic almost to the point that it looks like players aren't trying very hard.

I know I am not alone in this, but I wish we would step it up and play with a bit more urgency at times. At 2-0 down on Saturday we were playing with the same tempo, when you'd think you would want to get the ball into dangerous areas to try and get back into the game.

I admire Cooper for sticking to trying to get us playing nice football, but it doesn't have to be 100% of every game. It was so easy for Leyton Orient to press us and get the ball back from us. Why not try a few balls into the wing/wing back areas, in Murphy and Reis and with Smith up front surely it makes sense to get the wingers in behind and some dangerous crosses into the box? We didn't do this once on Saturday.

No it doesn't

Looking briefly at the Adver comments under this article, it looks about right for there.

Took Brendan Rogers a while to get Liverpool playing a similar system, a year or so later they have gone from also ran's to 4 points off the top of the Premier League and playing some of the best football I have seen, breathtaking at times. I know we don't have a Gerrard or a Suarez, but we don't come up against a Kompany or a Vidic.

Give it time, if it doesn't work, try something else.

Graham8181 says...

I love writing stuff on this site but saying the same thing every week is getting very boring so it just boils down to 2 words now - COOPER OUT

Own up, who is Graham?

How long is a piece of string...I'd estimate that it might be at least 5 years before we start to see any real gains from the project,that's if it's done properly, and we have to take Power's intentions on this being the case.

I'm saying Tans.

Or it could be the Flash...

I still think Cooper is a good manager. At the start of this season being just outside the Play-offs with a decent chance at getting into them (which, whilst I'm not expecting, we've still got a good number of games to still have a chance) and getting close to the JPT final would be a result I'd have grasped with both hands. To expect Cooper to deliver in his first season after being dumped in at the deep end after Kmac left is just ridiculous, and I'm frankly surprised we've done as well as we have.

If we can get Pritchard back on loan next season, some options at centre and full-back, a striker to replace Ranger if he goes away, and Luongo and Kasim hit the ground playing like they were at the start of the season instead of like they have been recently, then we should be in the Playoffs next year.

It's a combination of poor pitches, teams knowing how to combat our style of play and loads of injuries/suspensions. Oh and the reinforcements we brought in in January were the wrong type of players. We needed experienced lower league players, not more untested youngsters.

Yes, but surely you realise the seasoned pros cost, and so we have to gamble on Conference South types, and loans with the odd younger league player who costs a small fee.  The hoped for improvement in these  players just doesn't happen overnight, and Cooper is right that the fans need patience.  Unfortunately, when we see season tickets sales and attendances for next season, he might realise that many don't have much.

We'll have the likes of Archibald-Henville, Cox, McEveley etc off the wage bill next season so I think we'll be able to get a better calibre of player than we have this season.

We have to shave 600k+ off which troy accounts for less than half (source: podge).

I suspect there won't be budget increases on players.

There'll probably at least one player sale in the summer.

Yeah selling Wes/Nathan might free up budget. Shame if we do though.

This is my understanding as well....the extra has been funded this season, because we have no choice, but once those costs have gone, the money wont be there any longer.

Just a shame Pritchard isn't ours, we could make a fortune on him. Luongo at 400k isn't looking like good business, I don't think we'll ever be able to sell him at a higher price than we paid.

He is in very bad form, yes...but I think we have seen enough from him to suggest that if on form then he is someone who could certainly be sold for a profit down the line. Very short sighted view.

Footballers age.

Good job he is 21 and not 31 then.

Chang's right, anyone who saw him at the start of the season can see he is a class performer. Just hope the last couple of months are only a blip.

Remember we owe Spurs a large chunk of any transfer fee, so to see profit on the 400k we played is pretty unlikely when you also take that into account.

Do we, how much?

You can't aimlessly plod along with the same style of football if it isn't working which away from home it clearly doesn't, as we've all said all season we need a plan B but Cooper just hasn't had a clue where to start.
This squad is crying out for couple of proper wingers to offer some width when passing through the middle doesn't work, in fact in recent weeks our outright refusal to cross the ball has really started to piss me off especially against Colchester when they were down to 10 men. Good wing play can be 'pretty' as we, I challenge anyone to say the Caddis, Ferry & Ritchie triangle wasn't good to watch.
People draw comparisons with Swansea and their change of philosophy but a new stadium and a cash injection is ultimately what got them where they are now so I don't think any comparison can be drawn.
The main problem as I see it is the patience side of thing is a bit of a misnomer as we aren't actually really building for the future, with this approach of short term deals and maximising loans we are likely to have a substantially different squad every season and we're either going to get lucky one year and challenge or end up with an Iffy like season and see all the loan deals turn out largely useless.
Also I've seen nothing to suggest there has been any shake up of the youth system or a change of philosophy that will suddenly mean we being our own players through more regularly.
It just feels more like its a case of get by with a bit of luck and favours rather than a strategic vision.

One final thing is that if Power is going to run everything except the coaching side of things maybe we need to look at the head coach side of things rather than an old fashioned manager type. Is Cooper really upto it on the tactical and technical side of things, I'd say the jury is out on that......

I think the project is to find cut price players, hopefully develop them and then sell them on for a profit, with a healthy cut  for the owners/managers/scouts/agents etc and some to go back into the club.

That was exactly what Fitton and Co were aiming for as well. Except for the agents of course. In fact I think it's pretty much what every Football League club claims to be doing. It's getting it right that's tricky.

I think the majority of Town fans have been patient. Most realise its a period of transition and is not a normal season even by Town's standards. I've seen some cracking football but also some real fucking dross, unfortunately the latter is more recent. I can take transition, I can take losing, what I can't take is not giving it a fucking go and this has happened too many times this season. The side to side stuff is great when you've got an end product but it bores me shitless when it hasn't. The system would work if we had a defence like AC Milan - we haven't and we play at such a slow tempo it is easy for the opposition to get into shape.
Its a laudable effort to stick to this style but all decent sides can mix it up if they need. Hopefully, once we've got the big earners off the books we can reshape our squad with some seasoned veterans.
Also, we can help ourselves by stopping gobbing off at the ref. "Oh ref they won't let me play my pretty football". Grow a fucking pair, stop gobbing off and getting banned. 

Town fans won't be patient because a large majority have a misplaced sense of entitlement and expect far too much from far too little

Started well and faded.

Mid table is certainly acceptable. Shame ref JPT.

Get some of the milkers off the books and add to the reasonable core.

The start will be a test for Cooper he needs another good one.

It seems to me that it's not us fans who have to buy into this 'style' it's the players.

If you're getting tonked away from home most times it wouldn't be that surprising if the players dont give it 100%.

And is not 30-odd games enough for the players to get what is being asked of them? If it is seen as a longer term 'style' how can that really work if we have to change our loan players every season?

Seems muddled thinking to me

Nah not me, i dont really give a fuck

My only gripe is the attitude some players adopt, jesus they would be off after 20 minutes under a certain recent manager!  Unfortunately for me the excuses are wearing very thin now, even if we are not very good (despite some really talented players) if the motivation is lacking then you end being woeful.  

I don't think that's necessarily the case. Some fans, agreed, have expectations way above what should be reasonable for a team like ours with the resources we have. Those fans, the mong element, (and we seem to be over-endowed with them - see the Thisis site for a few examples) will always believe that we should be up the top of the table, buying players left right and centre and selling them on (just like that) when they have a shit game, sacking the manager after a couple of defeats or, low and behold, if we don't play the way they think we should be playing (basically hoof it into the box at every opportunity) or even if he's not a big enough name for them.

However, having seen some fantastic performances earlier in the season, I think the expectations were raised for the rest of us and rightly so. We've all seen what this team is capable of. Ask Harry Redknapp.....The frustrating thing is that the players, for whatever reason, aren't capable of putting in consistently good performances. Is that down to youth and bad luck with injuries, the weather, terrible referees, etc, etc,.., as Cooper keeps telling us, or crap management and tactics? A bit of all that I'd say.

What style are they actually playing?  From reading some of this all we need to do is move the goals around to the touchlines,  it'll be end to end stuff then. Tippy tappy football is good, if we convert it to attempts at goal, was it one shot we had at orient? Need some more players with a shaun Taylor type attitude, I remember the game where he had his head stitched and bandaged, straight back on and still got stuck in. A lion.

That's actually a good question, I do wonder if some of the players actually know what they are meant to be doing at the moment. The likes of Luongo and Kasim have been played all across midfield in our numerous different formations and their form has steadily declined as their position has become more and more blurred.

Was in the Kop on Sunday...heard a few depressing shouts of 'get it forward'. Just like being at the cg at times!

I take it you've not watched much of Serie A this season? ;)

I've said before that I think any manager coming in last summer would need two years to put any kind of new system in place. Same with Moyes at Man Utd, same as Mourinho seems to be claiming at Chelsea, only we had a heck of a lot more upheaval, and a lot less cash to spend,

The difference between this calendar year and last is Ajose and Mason (or lack of either).

Don't get too worried about the £400 k.
Power was Luongo's agent I am led to believe.
Reckon £400k would not have been parted with and would include add ons etc.

Notwithstanding that Jed done us no favours.

Is that a picture of Ward and TAH on your avatar by any chance ?
They were seriously terrible Saturday and we got exposed  by pace.

What? Didn't realise Power was his agent.

But the difference is that they will build on what they have. Our team will be dismantled as the loanees go back and Are replaced by new loanees which may, or may not, be as good but will, again, take time to settle into this 'style' thing.

It seems we will be in a constant state of upheaval on the playing side

The only regularly played loanees have been Pritchard and Hall. Hall isn't very good and, while we would miss Pritchard, losing ONE decent loan player isn't abnormal.

Indeed, as I said before I think the real danger is that some of the core contracted players are let go and replaced with inferior replacements.

TAH and JMac are presumably gone unless they take massive pay cuts. We may be tempted to cash in on someone if an offer is forthcoming. We still need to remove 600K off the wage bill - and that's assuming season ticket sales meet expectation.

It could all be OK of course.

That's probably the first well thought out and rational post I've seen on the matter! I totally agree with you as well, I've prepared myself to face seasons of midtable, with the odd decent season and the odd shit one. I also think our fanbase will be stripped back to it's 'hardcore' element in the next few years as it was in the King days. 

Think this post is spot on.

Players aren't on long contracts any more, so the slow building model won't work.

Spot on.

I understand some of the criticism against Cooper, but the rest is knee-jerk / following comments made by others / just plain stupidity (delete as appropriate)

While I expext the loanees will change either within the season or post season (you would expect the good ones to go!), what if Swindon stick to the football model and just replace the loanees with new faces that actually fit in with the model we want to play.

Surely that can work for us.

But according to Cooper the reason for our inconsistency is that we are squad of, mainly young, players who are just getting used to what he wants.

If this is the case every season with a large turnover of players how will the 'style' ever bear fruit

The core of young players that we are trying to build around - Fods, Byrne, Thompson & Thomson, Kasim, Luongo, Smith - are all contracted to us. The only two who have featured regularly who we are unlikely to see next season, or receive a fee for, are Pritchard and Hall. Neither of whom will be sorely missed depending on who you listen to.

Alex Smith or Michael Smith?

There is Reis and Barker as well don't forget.

Hope you are right, cos I can see 1 or 2 of those you mentioned being sold in the summer.

Anyhoo, it's all part and parcel of following a lower league club

None of us know how the squad will look come the start of next season.

Exactly and we wont be hobbled by PDC's contracts next year

Michael. I've only included players who have been first team regulars but I agree that Barthram, A Smith, Reis and Barker are clearly all signings with the next year or two in mind.

If we do lose some of the key players then I doubt it'll be on the cheap.

If anything hopefully this will make our squad more settled and balanced next year without this burden.

If you think about it, this season has been very transitional with all the off field changes and the last ebb of the PDC players coming to the end of their contracts.

Of course who knows what the future holds but I'm reasonably positive about us becoming more sustainable.

Despite his current role as scapegoat of the month, I was impressed when I saw Reis at the start of the season, and I think he'll be good next year.

As I've said already, next year will be one where we challenge for promotion, and will be the real test of Cooper/Power and what they've assembled.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record I think going forward having winger options is a must to offer us that 'plan B', there's no point to the signing the likes of Smith if we aren't going to offer him the more direct service at times. Similarly history of this league dictates that you need a core of 4 or 5 experienced pro's to really get anywhere at this level so that is something that clearly needs to be addressed as young players need that leadership alongside them to keep them in check. I just hope Power can see this and will allow some flexibility in the model if some form of success is seriously on his agenda.
What worries me most however is like I said previously there still doesn't seem any kind of focus on the youth system so I fear that our approach now is ultimately just a short termist of the Di Canio days but in a different way.

Reis scapegoat of the month. Really - I thought it was Harley

Reis at least looked like he was bothered on Saturday and tried to make things happen.

I expect we just took over his registration and there is a 400k sell on

I think he will be the March scapegoat (11/10) despite the penalty, February belongs to Harley. Jay Mac is 6/4, Darren Ward 12/5 and for those that fancy the outsider, Massimo Luongo at 12's.

I thought Reis looked a real handful at the start of the season, if we can accomodate his obvious abilities on the wing then Smith/Ranger/N'Guessan could get some fantastic service. Fingers crossed the lad is given a chance.

Can't see JMac being scapegoated. At least he shows some enthusiasm for the job and he has improved a load this season

Agreed, although not everyone does.

Can't argue with this at all. If only he could deliver a ball into the box (bugbear of mine, I know he's 'only a left back') he'd be a top player.

Alright you cunts, maybe we should have a scapegoat of the month vote so we can have one person to all agree on.

I nominate that dozy bird oop north whose womanly wiles entranced our mellow young striker

Paul Benson for me.