Thetownend.com

See this is now listed as on Sky+.
Could be embarrassing.

Scary to think if they win they'll be 7 points ahead with a game in hand.

But my thinking is Bromley and Harrogate are more likely to be in a relegation battle come end of season.

Sounds a bit defeatest but I'd take a draw here and a win v Morecambe.

We can win mind. Of course we can.

You mean to take the other relegation spot ??

Every EFL game when there are no Premier league games for the international break is on Sky+ btw.

It's been mentioned before, but our next 4 or 5 league games against relegation fodder like ourselves are crucial.

I mean I don’t think we are the point where this match in isolation is a must win game…but…I certainly don’t think it’s hyperbolic to suggest the next months worth of fixtures are must pick up a decent amount of points games

'Players' section? FFS  ;D

Move please mod

Totally right. There a lot of games to be played in January-April.

But psychologically now is the time.

Hoping this season's 100% "international break" record continues.

I guess Cotterill has been called up for the Wales U21s?

And with King  off to York thats 2 players we dont need to pick.

Hopefully Ollie has seen enough from the rest of the players to actually play our best side which for me is still.

                           Bycroft
McGregor   Sobowale     Wright        Cox
                          Ofoborh
          Clarke       Kilkenny         McGurk   
                Glatzel             Smith

Not sure I’d play Sobowale CB in a back 4 (although I’ve advocated for it in the past), him and Wright looked a bit lost at sea in the brief period we played that against Gillingham.

Think if we go back 4 then I’d want to see Wright and Delaney/Hall try and build a partnership that isn’t chopped and changed, unless fitness dictates it.

Yes I only put Sobo at CB while there are doubt about fitness of Hall/Delaney.

To shoehorn McGregor in with Sobo at RB I would maybe play with just 1 striker in Glatzel/Smith with McGregor in his natural RW position in front of Sobo.

I think Holloway wants to play 3-4-3, which does suit our squad better than four at the back.

               Bycroft
    Sobowale Wright Delaney
McGregor Clarke Kilkenny Longelo
       Drinan Smith Glatzel

It's not quite what I'd pick but I don't hate it. Ofoborh in for Drinan seems like a more fan friendly selection but I think Holloway really wants to make three strikers happen.

I think you are right in that 3 at the back restriction. Longelo needs to pull his socks up though. Personally against lesser teams I'd like to try:
                            Bycroft
                Sobo Wright Delaney Cox
                          Offobohr
                 Clarke             Kilkenny
                          McGurk   
                      Smith Glatzel

 But having looked at it written down there's no width and I cant work out how to fit in McGregor.

Think Holloway will stick with 433. If that’s the case this is how I’d line up.
Harsh omission for McGregor but don’t think he fits in at RB and without a RWB or RW role not sure he gets in…

                     Keeper
Sobowale - Wright - Delaney - Cox
     Clarke - Ofoborh - Kilkenny
      Glatzel - Smith - McGurk

I won't be told by anybody that the above lineup isn't good enough to be at minimum mid table mediocrity at this level.

We shouldn't be near a relegation battle. We are, but it's very self inflicted.

Must win. Getting scary now.

Concur.
It’s not a squad that’s going to pull up any trees but it’s one that’s capable of treading water in this division

Booked my ticket for this, first game of the season for me. Must be mad, but at least it's only an hour away.

I hope its warmer than last season...that was freezing.

Town actually froze solid on 90 minutes and somehow held on....

We played a Tuesday night game there in 2018 where there was snow on the pitch and the stewards were coming round at half time regritting the terrace. That was cold. Both teams were awarded dubious penalties and we ultimately lost out to a goal from Kayden Jackson.

The last 5 mins of that game will live with me forever.  Horrific.

That said, I'm oddly optimistic about Saturday.  I have no idea why.

Its on sky sports +

Because we always win on international break weekend?

Far too early in the season for any game to truly be a must win, having said that, if we don’t those alarm bells will only get louder and louder.

If we somehow do manage to find ourselves ahead in the 90th minute, hopefully we’ll fare a lot better than last season

With only 2 wins in 15, I'd say it's a must win.

I'd be "ok" with DWD over the next 3.

Anything less is a bit of a disaster. I suppose Accrington is the preferable one to lose if you had to pick one.

We must beat Morecambe at home though if we don't win the other 2 -which we won't know when we play them.

Getting to the stage where every point if vital now. Truly are starting to think we're likely to go down. Stringing a few positive (league) results together would calm a lot of nerves.

Ollie Clarke needs a scan on his ankle.

Ffs

Says we are over budget already

Which begs the question how poverty the original budget was before Morfuni added more to the pot

Buggest budget since PDC days my arse

He was just starting to look decent as well.

Absolutely scandalous if true given where we are in the league. Surely that makes Jamie Russels job untenable seeing as he keeps bringing in all this dross? (There are some decent players granted)

If you imagine our higher earners are probably (based on their careers to date) Hall, Clarke and Delaney there's not a lot of value there with their minutes played.

Tshimanga probably costing us a fair bit considering the back and forth on his wages as well.

I'm fairly reliably told Will Wright is our highest paid player

Well he, to be fair, is earning it!

Will Wright has been an excellent signing to be fair. I'm pretty sure he didn't expect to be dropping down a league to be fucking about with the likes of Accrington and Morecambe.

Undoubtedly

soapy tit wank

Er, so more outs coming then. Um, to make space for loads of quality January signings obviously

Ut oh. This is going one of two ways isn't it

Ut oh. This is going one of two ways isn't it

RE: highest budget since di canio, wouldn't actually be surprised if this was true, but only in the sense of raw numbers alone. I believe the moment you start taking into account inflation and the further increase in players wage demands beyond that, we're probably operating on some of the least competitive budgets since PDC left.

Simply put, a case of lies, damned lies and statistics

Having seen improvements in the Gillingham game, I'm looking forward to seeing the game on Saturday. Accrington are on a bit of form and personally think a draw isn't a disaster. With that said, a good haul of points from this game, Morecambe at home and then Colchester away would see a much more relaxing Christmas period for the average Swindon fan.

If definitely didn't include transfer fees and severance payments!

Honestly, if this is the biggest budget since dicanio then those running the door should be ashamed

Again, biggest budget since Di Canio is probably true.
The Di Canio period was 11-12 years ago.

I doubt there is any industry that’s had a wage freeze for 12 years…

 got to win this one in my view. Cannot see it happening though . Probably end up with a 2-0 defeat this weekend.

I've got a weird feeling will win this then somehow lose to Morecambe

It's the Swindon "way"!
Just hope we don't get another Holloway selection fuck up!

He's done "the run" where he claimed if they didn't make cutoff they didn't play.

Got a keeper decision to make too, but you can't keep chopping and changing..

Smith was on the naughty step. But presumably a storm in a teacup.

Very interesting selection indeed

Bloody hell. I forgot about that.We might start with 9!

These fuckers need to win this one.

Looking at who is available I think I would probably go with this line up, 433/442 flexible formation. With McGregor and McGurk both being more creative and have Ofoborh and Kilkenny sitting deeper and McGurk having a more of a free role as a wide attacker when attacking and filling in as a midfielder when we are on the defensive.

                          Barden
Sobowale     Wright      Delaney        Cox
                  Kilkenny       Ofoborh        
McGregor                                         McGurk  
                Glatzel             Smith

                           Barden
Sobowale     Wright      Delaney        Cox
                 
           Cain     Kilkenny       Ofoborh         

            Glatzel                    McGurk   
                           Drinan

Interesting Bob, Cain has only featured in 1 Holloway match day squad so far, the Mickey Mouse cup game with Spurs. He hasnt even made the bench in the other 2 games.

Drinan vs Smith is an interesting one too, Smith is obviously the better player but Drinan recently has been putting more of a shift in.

Smith seems to be a bit mentally unhinged at times though and has the red mist appear so is a liablility, but he does know where the net is when he is given a decent service.

I’d still look to with this but I guess Cain in for Clarke as he’s injured…

That's exactly what I wrote down just before you posted!

Pre match mithering in The Commercial Hotel.

They are serving Wobbly Bob here, literally.
Straight in at 6% which still equates to a greater level of effort than what the current ownership are putting into running a successful football club.

Our hosts provided a free cuppa on a cold night last time.
Sadly the kindness doesn’t extend to beer tokens this time round.

So, cuddly Accrington, can’t imagine anyone disliking the club.
Yeah, the chairman is opinionated which might irritate some.

Looks as if the club is still up for sale.
It’s been over a year I think.
Possibly more on the radar of the local butcher, baker or black pudding magnates as opposed to shiny glitterati from across the pond.

I wonder if in years to come there will be a couple of cheeky scouse scallies in a tv ad asking “Swindon Town, who are they?”

Wouldn’t be a surprise as the club slowly fades away before our eyes.

Incompetent or nefarious, doesn’t matter. They have to go.

Anyway, there’s a game today.
Didn’t think much of the performance last week.
As it stands, a team that creates one, maybe two big opportunities per game and doesn’t take them isn’t going to win many games.
Can’t see a win today.

Positives, must look for positives.
Slim pickings.
A full week on the training pitch to do some sorting out.
Might take a few games for Holloway to get back into it.

Friendly locals, nice town & a few beers < pain in the arse journeying, time away from home & defeat.

Can’t believe I’m considering how to make another trip here in 2 weeks work. Absurdism.

Give yer head a wobble Wobbly, let sanity prevail.

Saw the very fine Skids supported by Spear of Destiny in London last night.
Still minded to hope that one day this charade will come to an end & we will find a liberator.

Great minds ;)

As ever WB your musings are always a highlight on an often crappy and depressing day for football, please keep them up.

Give me a goal scoring mentalist over a hard working barn door billy.

Playing then as a two upfront would probably yield decent results if you had say McGregor & McGurk on the wings.

Don’t think anyone plays 442 anymore though…

X2

Accrington on a run of just 2 defeats in the last 9 games with 6 of those being wins, that included a great 3-0 win away at Chesterfield last week.

We have only played Accrington 14 times previously what with their 46 year sojourn out of the Football League, Town have won 5 of those meetings and Stanley 7 of them with 2 being drawn.

Town have won 2 of the 7 games played at the CGTheir version with 2 being draws and them winning 3 times.

Its always a difficult place to visit, small and compact and often very cold and in front of a meagre crowd often well under 2,500.

Accers utilised the loan market more heavily than us with 6 loans from nearby Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers,  Burnley, Man United, Everton and one stray from Southampton! the Man Utd one being Sonny Aljofree the son of (the disliked) Hasney Aljofree ex of our club.

Stanley must be easily favourites for the win today, but if Ollie picks wisely and the players play to the level they have shown in glimpses then it will not be an easy game for Accrington Stanley (who are day(sic) - exactly).

Against my better judgement, I'm here in Accrington - just the 5hrs to get here.

Thanks to the Townender website, just seen that I'm 13 away games without a win - losing 11 of those. Happy thought for the day.

Lspod devotees will also be fully aware that the curse of Max will be in operation today i.e. no chance of a win.

Bloody hell Bob, London last night, Accrington today - do you get free rail travel ??. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Club should subsidise you for your loyal support.

The senior railcard has made a difference.
Trying to keep it as cheap & cheerful as possible, but something will have to give in the not too distant... and gigs  are much more enjoyable than football at the moment.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcftERKWIAALfW7?format=jpg&name=medium)

Well, it’s what most have been calling for - except no Sobowale. WTF!

Not quite sure on how that's going to line up, who's LB/LWB?
I can't imagine Delaney, Wright or Minturn there

I would think the line up will be this. Butterworth and Glatzel swapping sides through the game with McGurk in the more attacking CM role.

                        Bycroft
McGregor          Wright      Minturn         Delaney       
       Cotterill       Ofoborh        McGurk   
    Butterworth        Smith              Glatzel     

It’s gonna be McGurk at LWB isn’t it.

I can’t fit that formation into a 343 or a 433

Presume it will be one of McGurk/Butterworth/Cotterill, all of which is a bit of a worry.

Longelo goes from Starting LB, to not even on the bench, did he fail the running test?

You could well be right but I can’t see us starting with McGregor & Delaney as FBs but we’ve seen stranger selections / formations

Interesting side. Not sure all of those were the ones I'd expect to have aced the infamous run...

So how do I watch our creative players battle to the inevitable 1 nil defeat?

I’ve decided it’s gonna be a 3142


   Minturn  Wright  Delaney
                Ofoborh
McGregor Cotterill Butterworth McGurk
             Smith Glatzel

For me that looks right but so far Ollie seems to prefer starting with 4 at the back.

He was just saying on t'radio that he likes to match up some teams formation wise, and Accrington normally play 3412 so that would make sense.

You never know. It’s either gonna be something outlandish like that or more likely 352.
Both McG’s either side at WB.
Cotts & Butters joining Ofoborh in the middle three.

Bizarre. Kilkenny dropped, no obvious left side, Cotterill in. Happy to see Ofo,Minturn Glatzel and McGurk tho.Ah well, we'll see. COYR

Kilkenny dropped is weirder than Sobo being dropped for me, both should be in the first names on the teamsheet IMO.

We will see if Ollie has struck a masterstroke or made a grave error in his judgement.

At least the bench is pretty strong again to change things if it doesnt work.

Turn on Sky Sports +.

Sky have us lining up 343

Obvious 3 CBs
McGregor Cotterill Ofoborh Butterworth across the middle
Glatzel & McGurk either side of Smith

Its fairly attacking but also that defence doesnt inspire me with confidence, but I guess Ofoborh can sit in front of the back 3 to help them out, still would prefer Sobo for Minto and Kilkenny for Cotterill.

But I guess Ollie has his reason behind this line up.

Rather hoping not to pay for sky sports.

Only otherway really is dodgy firestick mate.

I always have & always will prefer a flat back 4 made up of two full backs & two centre halves.
The midfield& attack you can tinker with, fine; but I’d always start with a base of a flat back 4.

I concur totally on that.

Has anyone on RW asked Holloway who failed the test?😉 One must assume Kilkenny and Sob. Can't think why else they were dropped

Probably as close to our best 11 we are going to get between now and January. Absolutely no more excuses now about looking at players, he's had a chance to watch all the games so far. Had match free weeks to get on the training ground so let's hope today is the start of a turn around

 going against the tide, 3CB is the way to play in my opinion .

Which is odd as that's three who will happily run themselves into the ground on the pitch for 90 minutes.

Chance for them and Bycroft just gets a hand to it, slow to react.

Wright should have dealt with that before it got to Bycroft

Bad goalkeeping from Bycroft there. Lucky not to give away a penalty.

Shows how far from grace we have fallen when Accrington Stanley is being described as a tough assignment by the commentator

2 great corner deliveries from them.

Very poor by Butterworth on the counter.

Minturn and Delaney are playing really wide CB's so far, they need to pull in a bit tighter to Wright. Massive gaps at the back for them to exploit.

Town win their first corner.

1-0 Smith

Route 1

Great cross and header.

Brilliant cross from McGregor

That’ll do nicely.

If it works, carry on....

So simple
So effective

Ball well won by Ofobroh and finds Glatzel but his pass wasnt good enough to find SMith.

Jesus Christ, what the fuck was Bycroft doing there!!

Shot straight at Bycroft, saved.

Another chance for them but the header was missed.

Does anyone know what formation we are actually playing btw?

Both McGs are over on the right.
Butterworth wide left.

This could finish 6-5 the way both teams are defending and both keepers have started

When will everyone get it into their heads that L2 players aren’t good enough to play out from the back.

McGurk with a fuck up bringing the ball out and Accrington have another shot.

1-1

Straight in from the corner? no a slight touch at the near post.

1-1 got a feeling there are going to be a lot of goals

Of course.

Pathetic defending

We've conceded from a corner. Never

Aljofree returns to haunt us. We look awful at the back.

1-1

We are still so shite at defending
Bycroft is a liability

Another defeat incoming on the 1st 20 min

Holloway needs to channel Di Canio here and sub of Bycroft.. he’s all over the place currently

Normally Wright is our saviour, hes been very poor so far and Delaney and Minturn no better. This could be a cricket score.

I’d substitute Bycroft, he looks ridiculously nervous

Defending has been gash all round, not just Bycroft

Jesus our defence is all over the place at the moment.

Goal aside this has been risible.

Absolutely this.

2nd to every ball

Wallingford to deep

Butterworth is appalling

Mcgurk has he touched the ball?

Poor defending all comes from not trusting what’s behind them

I think we have the quality on the counter attack to cause them problems, but that relies on our defenders winning the ball and keeping Accrington out.

No it doesn’t.
Poor defending all comes from having shit defenders.

We are all over the shop

Poor defendering mostly comes from being a bad defender, and bad tactics

Far too big of a gap between the 3 central defenders so far

Cotterill hasnt won a single ball yet, and hes being beaten in the air by a player 6 inches shorter than him.

Don't know how this looks on the tele but we are fucking shite

Pretty much that!

Bycroft miles away from that corner, if it swerved in a little more and thats another goal.

We have 3 6ft+ Central defenders and are still losing the headers

I am sorry, I have seen nothing to change my mind, Cotterill and Butterworth are not good enough.

Too many changes imo it always bites you in the bum

Decent save by Bycroft but it wasnt a difficult save, pretty poor finish by them.

1-2

Blimey, we have been absolutely dreadful. Deservedly behind.

Another set peice.

Utterly useless in the air. The one thing we should be fine at.

Fuck sakes, that’s so so so shit!

What the fuck was that

Bycroft is reflective of where we signed him from. He’s a bottom of the National League/National League South keeper. He’s weak and error prone but occasionally flatters to deceived with the odd decent save that most keepers would save like that one just then. His distribution is also not far off being as bad as Ward’s was.

The rest of the team are the same and reflective of our league position, they look exactly what they are which is a relegation threatened League 2 team. We are going down on this evidence!

Absolutely shite defending all round.

Genuinely cannot recall the last Swindon side that were decent in the air.

Absolutely atrocious. Considering we seemed to sign about 300 defenders, we can't defend.

Fucking horrendous so far

Going down, going down, going down.

Fucking hell.

Yes, the latter especially for me looking neither a footballer nor athlete so far.

Great, another direct from set piece goal conceded. We are so shit at times!

He's 'more than a number one' which in hindsight I realise must have meant that he is in fact a number two. Or more.

I still don’t know what formation we are playing.

Why can we not win a header in our own box?

I actually disagree. I think they both have something, but the fucking awful team set up and style of play does absolutely nothing for them

Today's line up is as bizarre as the line up at Franchise, yet it's very different. Not sure Holloway has a clue.
 

McGurk and Bycroft in particular have been terrible

Amazing support today.  Sorry, Town.  You can't keep serving this rubbish up & then expect people will still keep coming back.  Almost every one of us today has a 400 mile round trip.  Be better.

That should have been 3 after a bad mistake by Delaney.

Someone explain to me why Cox has been dropped from Lwb, to play butterwoth there? It's just mental.

How has Kilkenny been dropped? And why hasn't Bycroft been.

Just shit management.

That gap between us and about 16th/17th is getting scarily big.

New manager bounce lasted a long time didn’t it, that was my main hope for survival to be honest. We just look like a team destined for the drop.

Butterworth with a yellow for kicking the ball away, clown!

Agreed(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20241116/3ed9807092fc5be828a4894e829e986b.jpg)

Stupid yellow for Butterworth kicking the ball away

Delaney is constantly being beaten in the air by someone who is 5 foot 8 today.

Early days & I know he’s been injured but up there as one of our worst defenders of all time

Minturn with a fuck up bringing the ball out and puts us in trouble.

God this is shocking today.

Other than Wright the defence is useless. Delaney and Minturn are all over the place.

We fuck it trying to play out every fucking time.

Just lump it to Smith ffs.
What’s the worst that can happen? We give the ball away? It’s what we are doing now but by going to Smith we would at least lose the ball 70 yards away from our goal

As he gets fit I hope he improves but so far hes shown little as to how he has managed to play 200 league games.

Another corner

Another where our 6ft+ Defenders are nowhere near the ball!!

This is abysmal. Genuinely abysmal.

How has Glatzel put that wide!

Should of scored

Glatzel misses a near sitter with a free header and puts it over the bar.

That’s easy, it’s Wright, Minturn and a passenger at the back
Ofoborh on his own in central midfield, you cannot convince me otherwise.
Two outnumbered wide men, one of which seems to be stealing a living.
McGurk and Glatzel who seem to be anonymous out of possession and poor with it.
Then Smith up top, losing headers against much shorter men.

Jesus fucking Christ Glatzel. I'd have scored that

Dear me. We are shit.

We have brought Glatzel down to our level and beat him with experience

Bloody awful miss from Glatzel

What has happened to Glatzel. He seems to have lost all his finishing ability. Is this what a year working with Gunning and our coaching setup does to a player?!

Should have scored that. That was an absolute sitter.

Yeah,I don't get it especially after Holloway said he would never ask Drinan to do wing back again. What's the difference I wonder?

Obvious ain't it? It's the only weapon we have at the moment

Cox hasnt looked fully fit yet but he can put in a decent cross and is way better than the alternatives IMO. Even if you get 45 mins from him surely its worth it.

I’d be making at least 4 subs at half time, tbh.
Probably all 5 if it wasn’t for the fact Sod’s Law means we’d get an injury 37 seconds into the second half if we did 5 half time subs.

Mcgurks chance to shine and show what he can do.....

He's been awful and has shown me nothing!!

 Looking pretty bleak at the moment

Like many decent players over the past couple of years he's been shitly managed I think

TBH mate only Ofoborh has impressed me this half, you could take all the rest off.

Bycroft got lucky again. He spilled that.

We are so so lucky to be still in this game. They could have 4 or 5.

But they haven't.

Not over yet. Ollie needs to sort this out over half time with subs. Sobo and Kilkenny must come on.

I think almost any gk would of dropped that one tbf, not easy to keep hold of a ball when you get knocked out the air with your feet 5 foot from the ground

I don't even know who you could keep on, I'm not convinced anyone has been half decent. You could being off anyone and there can't be a complaint from them.

Midfield has been non-existent, attack has had no supply and the defence has been shocking.

We really need to stop trying to be something we are not. A good footballing team.

Flat back 4. When they have the ball either look for the wingers or go long to Smith.
Stop dicking about with it at the back.

I'm struggling to remember ever seeing a team run around and harry like Accrington have so far.

Seen first 15-20 minutes before slowing down but they've kept it up almost that whole half. Incredible fitness levels.

Back to a 4 second half please. Sobo, Kilkenny on. Butterworth and Cotterill off

Any chance we can play with a functional defence at any point?

I know we don’t have any full backs, but surely it makes more sense to play a player that can play wing back at LWB, rather than someone who is supposed to be an attacking midfielder.

Any teams looking at us will know there 1 gameplay.

Launch it in the box and wait for the goal to come.

Could not disagree more. The reason players like Cotterill, Butterworth, McGurk and Glatz are struggling is because we are not trying to play enough football. It's smash it down the channel or look for smith all the time. We don't have 11 players to play that way. They would be better trying to play more football, keep possession and control the game.

I assume Gunning and Bognot do most of the coaching in training rather than Holloway?

This.

Agree with this. Cotterill stealing a living and offers absolutely nothing.

Are you kidding?
The reason those players are struggling is because the ball doesn’t even get to them. We start at the back & lose it there.

They’ve got more chance getting it from a Smith knockdown / hold up play than they do from Delaney or Minturn playing out from the back.

…oh and the fact their shite too.

+1

That was truly abysmal stuff.  I haven't watched much of the last month or so, glad I haven't.  Honestly, anyone who can take any positives from that is on something.  Nothing in terms of a plan, nothing in terms of talent, nothing in terms of defensive structure, nothing.   Stanley should be out of sight by now, it's only the fact it's L2 keeping us in this, and I imagine keeping us from being rock bottom.  We have got steadily worse over the past three seasons.  Managers can take some of the blame, but they themselves are just a symptom of the greater ills, as is the talent pool we seem to be drowning in.

I know someone is going to try and tell me Gltazel and McGurk are good players - they are not.  They have flits of talent, just like 90% of kids who don't make it in Premier League clubs having been in their Academies for a while.  The further they move from that safe environment, the worse they become, with many spending a few seasons at this level before drifting away.  They are just not designed for it, not their fault.  I can't imagine Glatzel enjoys this type of stuff compared to the 10 years or so of possession based skills development he would have had.

We are a sorry state.

That said, it is L2 and Accrington could let the mental side take over and start working to protect rather than press us, then a mistake could just as easily see us draw level.  Over the course of 46 games, we don't look like we can do much though.  You can't beat the odds all the time.

Why does Holloway keep changing formation every week and every half, pick a formation and stick with it get the players used to that position and coach them

Not sure we have played 3-4-3 all season and you can tell, we are all over the place and look way to open at the back and the defence is to open

Just about sums it up.

Minturn is certainly shite, should be nowhere near the team. Delaney hasn't looked much either, but has been out a long time.

But that's part of the problem with trying to play football from the back. We have Wright, but that's it. Sobowale should ne in that back 4, Cox should be there. Kilkenny should be just ahead to help them build.

When Ofoborh has had the ball he’s either passed it or drawn a foul

That’s as positive at it’s been.

I think you are both right.

We aren't going to be successful trying to play it out under pressure at the back because they are not good enough on the ball.  We are not going to get the best out of Glatzel or McGurk by humping the ball all the time because they have developed playing the game to feet.  Nothing about the team works together.  I mean, I have seen him a few times, what is Cotterill?  A ghost?  Ofoborh is about the only player that looks right for what we are doing because he is a bits and pieces plug of sorts.

Is this not what we were warned about, he doesn’t really understand league 2 and is just scrambling around hoping something works? That said with Bignot and Gunning as your 2 main coaches what hope do you have of implementing anything?!

Remember when people were saying it’s okay if we’re crap because Accrington Stanley and Morecambe guaranteed to go down anyway

Agree on this, the only player to have any credit that half.

This is my bigger concern, the setup and personnel is so wildly different to last week, it doesn't make it look like Holloway has much of a consistent plan. Reminds me of the random Gunning team selections (which it actually may well be)

Cotterill and Butterworth both still on the pitch.

Cox come on for McGurk.

Mcgurk off, Cox on

Hard to argue against honestly.

I can see why though, because the squad is dysfunctional, nothing works well together.  He is probably chucking spaghetti at the wall trying to see if anything sticks.  i honestly couldn't put together a team that looks like a team.  Again, I am sure some will debate that, but nothing is convincing me otherwise from my viewing.

Accrington inches wide from 15 yards.

They really could have six

They could, but conversely it could just as easily be 2-2 if Glatz header went in unmarked. Its still wide open but I am not optimistic.

Needless foul by Cotterill there, dont fucking push him try and win the fucking ball.

Bycroft fucking miles from that punch.

Fuck me Bycroft!

Ooh should've been in

Some more dyspraxia from Bycroft.

I don’t remember him being quite so flappy.

And then kicks the goal kick off the pitch…

He does seem to have gone downhill in the last 3 games.

Come on, you bastard Reds.

Yellow for McGregor.

We have nothing about us.

I can see nowhere back for us in this game.

Abysmal performance all round.

If we get anything from this, I'd be amazed.

Second to everyball, no attacking threat and shite at the back.

They should have scored 5

Their massive number 4 has beaten Glatz to almost every ball today.

Good recovery tackle from Minturn after Ofoborh gives the ball away.

Outstanding goal saving tackle from Minturn...

That should have been a goal as he shoots wide from 18 yards.

I can’t believe how poor we are. And what’s worrying me is we seem to be getting worse. No energy, no teamwork, no idea. Basically we are a pile of steaming 💩

This is fucking awful

Delaney thinks we’re playing on red today - doesn’t he?

Tshimanga on for Cotterill.

If anything we’ve got even worst this half.

Praise the lord. Can we send coterill straight back?

Just when you think we can't get any worse.....

We get fucking worse.

Can do absolutely nothing.

I've seen less shite on the tractors prepping for glasto carnival tonight than we're served up in a weekly basis.

Clock is ticking before the non league trapdoor opens up and if we play like this every week we're done. When I think back even three seasons and compare that team to this one, fuck me.

Glatzel yellow.

This is worse than anything pre Morfuni !

Abysmal
No game plan, players picked out of position- is Holloway picking the team or just doing the training for the crooks to select the side.
I’ve got a spare wheelie bin - I’ll bring it next Saturday to play in goal because it certainly won’t be worse than coco the clown 🤡 - what the f**k did Jamie Russell see in any of this lot or was he wearing blinkers he pinched off of one of Lee Powers racehorses?
Totally embarrassing- just fuck off Morfuni and bandits

He must be happy with the 3 then but it seems to me that we're just inviting them on

(https://media.tenor.com/cztgwwb7nSEAAAAM/trap-door.gif)

Messed about in pre season wasn’t he? Scoring a few, then moved into midfield for minutes  :hmmm:

Looking at the rain we’ve got the wind. We may as well just go total long ball now.

Chants of "We're fucking shit" from the away fans

I feel like a disappointed parent. I've never loved my beautiful Club more than I do right now; and I've never wanted that Club to show me  something better more yhan now. This is awful.

Clem Morfuni...this is your failure. Own it, and deal with it. Now. Before it's too late.

We're never that good.

Loudest chant of the half.
Lots of very unhappy people.

The major difference between the teams today is that Accrington just have loads of energy and effort, they are chasing everything and constantly pressing us.

We look like we are playing with a hangover on a Sunday morning and listless like we just dont care about the game.

Yep. Drinan and Glatzel actually started to have some sort of partnership towards the end of last season.

But there has been no sign of it this season.

Much like the fact McGregor was not picked for weeks before Kennedy couldn't deny him anymore.

Lots of really bad decisions

So close to a penalty that.

Absolutely this mate, 1000%.

Is Ofoborh now in midfield on his own when we were already losing the midfield battle? So confused.

FK well wide in the end.

Mismanaged like so many others

When we dont have Clarke playing its absolute madness to not start with Kilkenny.

Why is Wright playing right wing?

Wow, that’s a great goal!

2-2

What a fucking goal that was...

As we were all saying, Butterfield the difference.

We do not deserve that, we've been wank all half

Great goal from Butterworth, didnt think he had it in him.

Fuck me
Something decent

Butterworth has done something….

Don’t rate the bloke at all but that is a nice goal.

That’s a great goal

Have that you Butterworth haters!

Fair fucks to Butterworth, didnt see that coming, especially from him.

Squint your eyes, and that’s Leo Messi!!

One swallow does not make a Summer ;)

Followed by another bizarre set of subs.

Never in doubt.

Good goal from butters to be honest. Just doesn't show enough of it

And you have to say "that's magnificent"🙏

Right, now let’s go get another one


(then concede 2 in injury time probably)

To escape here with a point will be huge!

Kilkenny on for McGregor.
Drinan on for Ofoborh.

What are these subs  :headhurts:

Random! Might work

To be fair ofoborh looked like he was running on fumes

So 4 strikers & now no right back 🤷🏼‍♂️

I was about to post that despite them having so many chances we were still well in the game as it was only 2-1 to them.

But I didnt because I thought it was meaningless in posting that!

No i still dont rate Butterworth but fucking hell that was a good goal, despite me shouting for him to fucking shoot at least 3 times before he actually did.

Corner to Town.

Kilkenny with a good effort thats blocked.

My point was this is the worst the club has ever been, even comparing to what we thought was shit x years ago. Bottom of the hill, travelling downward.

Makes you almost pine for Anton Rodgers or Oliver Risser.

Smith barged to the ground, wins a free kick 35 yards out.

Need to get something out of this spell as Stanley have really dropped off the pace.

Glatzel sitter again goes begging.

Glatzel header over the bar again.

Glatzel should of had 2 today

Rewatching the goal by Butterworth, Accringtons defence is like the parting of the read sea in front of him standing off him, the game is still wide open and Accrington arent as good defensively as they are offensively.

I think I've figured out our set piece defensive woes.

Tell Glatzel to attack the ball & try to score.
 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Long shot by them well wide.

Drinan finds Smith in the box but he fires it so high over the bar, great chance. Embarressing.

Still speechless from the Butterworth goal.

Smith had more time there. Another proper chance

Would love an undeserved winner!

Tshimanga is always falling over when he gets given the ball.

Tshimanga doing Tshimanga things

Tshimanga finds Kilkenny on the edge of the box and his shot is well wide.

Thought that last week, he backs in all the time but when the defender moves he just falls over

Kilkenny has changed this game

Cox tries a curled shot with the outside of his boot but its 10 yards wide.

Agreed.

He seems to do it constantly, its bloody annoying.

Accrington look a bit shakey defensively now. Gotta keep pressing them.
 
3 mins normal time left.

Ha seems Flynn is doing Flynn things

Goodness me.

Accrington thought they had a penalty! ref gives us the FK and a yellow for diving to their striker.

4 mins added time.

Cox wins a corner for us.

Good corner headed just wide by Delaney. Great chance.

Smith header saved.

FT 2-2

Probably didn't deserve the point over the whole game but since the subs we were the better team, happy with a point.

Full time. Take a point after the first 70 minutes!

Can’t say I saw that coming from Butterworth but fair play to him, cracking goal. Will take that point, something to build on

Well that's a good point at the end of the day but Holloway should be hounded for leaving out Kilkenny. We were a different side when he came on

Game changed once Kilkenny came on.

Let 20 minutes we looked the better side...

If only the first 70 were better..

You do indeed take a point given what went before.  You are not going to win many games over the course of the season playing as we do and with what we have cobbled together though.

It might help if that joker picked the right team to start with. How much more does he need to see?

Our opponents will be amazed that they did not take the  3 points.

Gash for 65 minutes
Better team for 25 minutes

Could have easily come away with the win.

Funny one where we could easily have won 3-2 late or been 6-1 down at half time. We're a bad, bad team but it's another point on the board.

So, those left out of the squad today, does that suggest that they are welcome to move into Non league as we are over budget and need to clear out before january?

I imagine we can be a bit better, but we are where we are for a reason - yes bad management is part of the issue, which starts all the way from the top.  The results are an output of everything put together.

Obviously four strikers is the way to go, we battered them after the Drinan/Kilkenny changes.

I’m going to ignore the fact that we should have been well behind before that 😂

Decent result considering we played 70 mins with one centre midfielder

Yep, that’s exactly how it works.
As soon as someone doesn’t make the match day squad we try & get rid.
Not like players ever come back into or move out of the match day squad.

I’ve seen it posted there were 374 town fans there today

I’ve seen nothing to suggest Holloway is competent, nor capable of getting anything out of the shit squad Russell had assembled. I will be utterly amazed if we retain our league status

I'm not that stupid - Holloway did make a comment about we would see this weekend who was in his plans - hence my comment

This is embarrassing shit from the manager. Fucking idiot

Has he lost the plot 😀 blimey

''Ripped their ears off and ripped their faces off...''

Besides the training ground stuff, I thought he was totally correct.  He had to exorcise the Kennedy-like passive play.  The first half was as he said, pathetic, Kennedyesque.

Some people call it "charisma". I call it instability

If we stay up, I will call it inspired. From now on, you either compete, communicate, and perform or be dropped.

aah we didn't lose then, be nice to see a few wins at home in the next few months

Oh yeah,I'm quite willing to/hoping that I will change my mind. I would have liked him to be asked "why did you drop Kilkenny and play Cotterill" to be honest

''I need a portaloo...''

''I'm not going to do a Barry Fry and piss in the corners of the pitch''

''...It's cursed, it's a graveeeeyarrrrrddd. I need to get my wife to talk to them. Watched this thing on YouTube...I gotta try summfenn...''

''I almost hand my hands out and around their throat...what areeee you doin...''

''Go an win ya 'eader...ya little herbert...oo do ya fink you areee''

''Like a golf club, polish it put it back in. Polish it - put it back in and everyone gets a bit shinier''

All genuine quotes. Fucking madness. But at the end he just laughs and says ''how's that? That's gonna be a belter innit?''

He's not funny and yet it's all just a fucking joke to this complete prick. We know it's kind of how he is...but this feels like Ollie on acid {or maybe some other per diem?} x500. People can call it passshunn, but no sorry this is just another narcissist hell bent on getting over 1k games. Just a toy for him, like he gives a fuck. That was a horror show from Holloway but he forgot Halloween has finished. I'm expecting him to turn up dressed as Widow T-wanky next week...it is perpetual pantomime season here after all.

Ffs, how to put a bad spin on a result the team should never even got anything out of bar 20mins. Maybe had he started with Kilkenny things might have been somewhat different.

We're fucked.

We all know the answer to that one…

I'm sorry but this appointment is a decade or two, too late.

Is it because it’s part of his loan deal, just like Freckleton ;)

It’s not part of the loan deal we have to play him
…but every time we do it knocks £££ off of our contribution

It'd be nice to hear it from the mouth of the equine

Well I'm sure GG would know...

Good point & an entertaining game.

Their set piece deliveries were excellent.
Some good clearing headers amidst the mayhem but average L2 players can't withstand quality over 90mins.

Speaking of quality, what a goal by Butterworth.
One of the better individual efforts of recent seasons.

Seems to me that Holloway is experimenting on the job in an effort to find the best starting 11.
We'll need to see a settled side sooner rather later.

Constant chopping & changing is a sign of a side in the shit, which is where we are.
Still some hope as we haven't seen 6 or 7 keepers yet.

Just listened to Ollie's post match interview. He is what he is...some people don't like his style and probably never will. Apart from the random comments about the training ground being haunted though, I agreed with pretty much everything he said...

Personally don't really care what shite he comes out with. It's about the results.

It'll get on my tits eventually if results don't improve.

But at least he started by talking about football and not dressing up the performance

I don’t think I’ve listened to a managers post match interview since Di Canio.

Don’t give a fuck what they do or do not say. Just win some bloody football matches.

I like to know that the manager is thinking along roughly the same lines as myself which Holloway is. Kennedy on the other hand was on another planet (some will say Ollie is on another planet of course, but that's different ;))

Yeah, that's fair but so far his team selection has been shocking. A game we could've won with a better starting 11 in my book

That's not true, you listened to Jody Morris I reckon🙂

Fair enough & maybe 10 years age I’d have wholly agreed with you but now a days I think everyone in football is a bit more guarded with the media & wont always say what they truly think.

Lovely goal by Zinedan Butterworth.

Lionel Butterworth. Sounds like a Fast Show character

You don't have to be insane to manage Swindon Town, but it probably helps.  Remember Exeter City and Uri Geller?

"Where's me washboard?"

Say what you like about Ollie but I would have thought that the absolute last thing he is, is guarded...

Hopefully the Hungarian coach is ok, all things considered the game should be abandoned.

They are treating the coach on in the stands under a white privacy tent at present...which never seems like it's great.

Relative and all that. Life is bigger than any football match

Fair criticism. The two missing that stood out were Kilkenny and Sobo.

I guess he's still finding his way to a starting 11, but he better find it soon

Not great but have seen us play worse. A point away from home from a team above us, will take that all day long, small steps and all that. Morecame home on Saturday is a must win though.

You’ll all be calling it what you like if he pulls it off. Equally you’ll all be calling it what you like if he doesn’t. 😉

The crux of it is will he fuck off before he’s told to fuck off or will he fuck off in his own volition if it looks like he won’t. In that case, break glass and call for Gav.

'Ave ya seen it?

When your 89th in the football league almost any result we get will be against a team higher than us. Can't believe I'm typing that out. Everything about this scenario we are in is disgusting for this club

Not read back

Baffling team selection. If that was Kennedy he'd be getting slaughtered.

Let's stop being silly now. There is no universe where Cotterill starts ahead of Kilkenny.

We aren't good enough to be leaving out players like that. The same goes for Cox. Why on earth is Butterworth starting ahead of him at left wing back? it's all well and good making the change at half time, but you are fixing a problem you created in the first place.

Bycroft. I am sorry but I shit myself whenever the ball goes anywhere near you. I want him to succeed more than anything but he is like a grenade waiting to go off. It just causes panic. Barden has to have a string of games. A goalkeeper is essential in January to keep us up if neither of these 2 step up.

Any selection is great if it works, shit if it doesn’t. If he can change the mindset of the whole squad it should really matter who he picks.

 :hmmm:

#BookOfClemente

Havent read back.

Would of taken that at halftime for sure.

They wanted it more than us in the first, just not strong enough.

Improved in the second and like Acicies, fluffed our chances.

I didn’t think yesterday was a must win but our current run of games is definitely a ‘must pick up a decent amount of points’ run.

A draw to start with, not great but could have been worse.

The team selection was a bit weird - not a team I would have ever picked or I’d ever call our best XI & truthfully I’m still not entirely sure what the formation was. We had an obvious back 3. Ofoborh is CM. Smith upfront. McGregor & McGurk both appeared to be on the right hand side. Butterworth was wide left.

Bycroft looked nervous as hell, every time the ball when near him. I don’t think he connected cleanly with any punch although on occasion he was not helped by some atrocious defending.

We looked a lot better after the changes. We finally had a bit of urgency & some purpose going forward. A bit more clinical & we win that.

Holloway just about gets away with a pass for that just because he’s probably still making judgements on players. I can the comparison with Kennedy & how he’d get pelted for that - Kennedy also had pre-season (…and 3 months of the season) to work out his best XI & formation.

Holloway needs to find his best XI & formation this week though! We haven’t really got the time to dick about with it anymore.

How good a result this draw is depends what we surround it with in truth.

Butterworth’s goal was absolutely sublime. The flick by Smith, Butterworths feet leaving 3 defenders for dead including one on their arse, the calm finish - only thing he did but it was quality.

Butterworth goal has to be a contender for goal of the season. It's so, so good. Let's hope he can do a bit more of it

Scored a belter v Spurs kids as well. A lot of potential there...

Pretty much spot on with all of that.

This has been said at every club he has played for but none so far have managed to get a trick out of him with any sort of consistancy. We are the same, some touches of great skill but mostly he is not involved in the game at all.

The irony if he wins GOTS and we get relegated to the NL…

We wont get anywhere with Bycroft. He projects his nervousness onto the defenders in front of him. He's an okay shot stopper at best but anything that's in the air, he falls to pieces.

I idea of relying on him in a relegation battle, fucking scares me. Is he the worst starting keeper in the league? He the worst i've seen so far. He's making mistakes every game that's costing us points.

Kennedy only had 1 formation and way of playing regardless of the players available, the opposition, or the stage in the game.  His inflexibility was a big part of his downfall.   I do like that Holloway isn't afraid to have a go and change things.   Hopefully it will work more times than it doesn't.

FFS you’re even speaking like him now!

Not going to massively disagree with what you’ve said but I think we could have prime Petr Cech back there & our defenders would still be panicky & shit.

Bycroft probably doesn’t help in that regard but there is no one it’s entirely his fault.

I was sceptical of Clem when he took over still am. It was pretty obvious he didn’t have the resources or acumen to run the club. Some were completely sucked in hook line and sinker. I just don’t see things in black and white.

A David Lucas type keeper (the first season version) would do us wonders right now instead of Bycroft or another young punt.

Town had one in Luke McCormick but chose to let him go [ok, Town offered him a contract renewal but it was likely half a water biscuit and some haribo}. Was a GK that you could rely upon if the younger or initial selected No.1 wasn't up to scratch.

Oh to have a GK pairing equivalent of both Steven Benda {the younger option} and LMc {the experienced head}.

Think the best potential young keepers since then has been Woolacott and Travers - but the latter was mismanaged whilst on loan here.

The other experienced one who I'm surprised Town didn't look to retain or at least offer a No.2/Coaching role was Lee Camp.

Im not, Lee Camp was fucking crap

He really wasn't. We're talking during a season where 7 {seven} keepers were used. Kovar, Trueman, Matthews, Fryer, Woolacott, Camp and Travers. There's 4 loanees in that I think - due to a certain manager named John, not having a clue how to manage a player. Most of them left because they wanted out of his bullshit straightaway. Camp being a senior keeper with a pretty decent career, came in during that goalkeeper crisis {which really needn't had been one} in the March. Can't really pin him as being ''...fucking crap.'', whilst I respect your opinion on that, you must remember that it correlates with probably the joint worse manager in Town's history; so any player recruited during that time possibly gets a free pass.

In any case, I listed him as a decent No.2 to bring in, and out of that list of keepers from that season...I would say he was 2nd after Travers. Travers left unfortunately, and then Woolacott but Camp actually had the most clean sheets out of all those keepers {2 or 3, I think}. The only others to have clean sheets were Travers and Woolcott {both one a piece}.

If Camp had come into a relatively decent set up at STFC {in hindsight, if Wellens had brought in Kovar and Camp, that might have helped with Kovar's development and Camp could have stepped in when it got too hot for Kovar...or he could have kept McCormick to mentor a young keeper}, along with the possibility of it leading to a coaching opportunity - he likely would have thrived but under Sheridan, I think it would be difficult for anyone to really thrive too much.

He was truly shocking.

Lewis Ward was better than either of them

Stanley away to the Wombles tonight. Hopefully the Wombles can see them off and do us a favour. A sad reflection of our current status looking for and hoping for that kind of outcome.

Not even sure they are our relegation rivals any more if they win.

7 points is a big gap when you are struggling

Should of stopped at Kovar Bamboo......he was fucking awful (for us), game in, game out....he lost us at least 12 points that season!! Then plays in a European Final....mad.

It was definitely one that Wellens got wrong. I do think Kovar was impacted by the environment, which certainly didn't help under Sheridan. He should never have been utilised as a No.1 at that stage of his career. Certainly character building for the lad if nothing else. But it highlights the dangers of having a strategy that hopes they reveal the next Given, Talia, Foderingham.

Right now, I'd take a consistent ish Rhys Evans. From memory, at the time with Town he had broken into the England U21's. Seemingly a lot of promise for a young keeper, who must've only been about 22 when he left Town? Does he still coach locally?

I'd happily have Lewis Ward over the shite we currently have.

I'd take Lewis Capaldi right now. There must be something in the water.

I see Accrington drew 2-2 with the Wombles tonight having been 2-0 up

97th minute equaliser!