Thetownend.com

Have we got a game on today?

Town 5-1 Stanley att: 6,553 (107 away)

Town 3-1 Stanley att: 6,370 (91 away)

Probably/possibly my last game of the season today. On paper it doesn't look a classic but there appear to be goals in both Swindon and Accrington.

Looking forward to a roll and a couple of pints at Wiltshire's finest pub today pre-match. Hoping for an entertaining dead rubber. Do I need to turn up early to get through one open Turnstyle or have they sorted all that out? We generally rock up 10 minutes prior to kick off.

Didn't have any rolls last week  :(

Have they outsourced to STFC?

Hopefully not  :)

McGregor and Delaney injury doubts, Cotterill away with Wales. We could get be Clarke back in midfield with Freckles CB and Cox LB. Or we we could get a Cain start perhaps. Mildly interesting selection, so it will probably be Ripley, Wright and then  nine strikers.

Do you still "rock up" to games? You're a lot younger than I imagined

"Rocking up to games" to age immaterial!

Predicted line up in a 4231 formation:-

Ripley
Soborwale Clarke Wright Freckleton
Oforborh Kilkenny
Glatzel Nicholls Butterworth
Smith

3-1 win - Smith 2 and Glatzel

Accrington sit 5 places and 7 points below Swindon.

Their currently form is WLWLWD

Swindon current form is LWWDDD

Swindon home form    P18 W7 D6 L5 F32 A27

Accrington away form P19 W5 D2 L12 F21 A33

Accrington have won their last 2 visits to the CG and Swindon won the previous 3 meetings.

Swindon have only won 2 of the previous 8 meetings home and away.

Accrington have averaged an away following at Swindon of just 77 in their last 4 visits.

Swindon 2-2 Accrington Att: 6,486 (73 Accers)

Suddenly popped up as on sky +. 3.00 KO !!  WTF ??!!.

International break means they can show 3pms

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GmoV9kqaEAEYPas?format=jpg&name=large)

rare starts for Cain and Glatzel, Kirkman returns to the bench.

Mildly surprised by Cain but that does seem a more balanced team than last week. We have actual midfielders and 'just' 3.5 (with Nichols) strikers.

You just know he's going to pick Tshimanga?

Cain will give us a bit more in the opposition half than Freckleton but its a bit harsh on Freckleton as he hasnt made anywhere near as many mistakes as he had in his first stint in the team under Kennedy. Cain not so good defending though.

I mean Freckleton has gone from being out injured straight back in to starting - so maybe it’s just caught up with him.

I think after our last 3 results play offs are absolutely off the table now so also could be a case of Holloway thinking ‘I need to make a decision on Jake Cain soon, I’ll give him some game time’

 On that note - if we are onto dead rubbers I’d like to see Westley start a few. Been decent as a fox in the box super sub (not unlike Fallon in 04) but would be interested to see why he could (…or could not) do with more minute. No idea if he’s OOC in the summer, someone his parent club would happily let go, whether he’s any good, whether he’s someone we’d have interest in next season albeit on a season long loan or picking up on a free…

Yes if he thinks Cain has a future with us then he needs to see him play in various roles as he cant seem to hold down his prefered midfield role, so he could be a useful squad player but hes not good enough to start from what we have seen

We were told he was a deadball specialist when he signed but I am not sure he has taken more than 3 or 4 direct FK's in his entire Swindon career.

I agree with the Westley comment, I would rather see him than Tshimanga to see what he has got, hes done well but I am not sure what his prefered role is still.

2-2 draw on the cards today . one goal from a Cain free kick

Very good bench compared with recent years

Is this the first game this season that we havent been playing with a heavy wind at the CG? it seems like it!

Town pretty much dominating the play in this first 5 mins.

Sky commentator seems to think we have given Jake Cain to Accrington to take long throws!

We are lucky on iFollow then as we have Paul Bodin and not the depressing Dave Hockaday or the "specially miserable" Phil Smith.

Glatz nearly gets in a cross but lost the control as he beat his man.

Mistake by Ofoborh losing the ball cheaply but we win it back luckily.

Commentator also missed that offside. Is he in Swindon or Isleworth?

Pretty scrappy and lacking in any quality again so far from both teams, Town have the edge but theres little in it.

Thsimanga cuts inside and has a long shot but its blocked and cleared easily.

Our long passing has been very poor so far, almost every long pass missing its intended target from every player.

Nichols gets a boot in the face. FK 40 yards out.

Wrights FK goes over the heads of everyone and Clarke so close to getting to it at the far post.

Connor Ripley now playing for Accrington apparently according to Sky - i think he should have at least done a bit more prep

No way was that a FK by Tshimanga that was a handball from the defender.

Its not the important Premier league init.

Very poor pass by Sobowale to Glatzel in a great position, Glatz had no chance to get to it.

Tshimanga finds Kilkenny he turns his man and his shot is blocked for a corner to Town.

Wow Accrington resorting to diving now. The smae bloke who dived under challenge by Tshimanga, Smith booked though.

Gotta love Harry Smith, bit harsh with the yellow though

Hes just all arms. It was give and take.

Really? Throwing the other player to the ground?

Think he might get sent off today

Accy's definitely targeting Smith for a Red

Yes the same way you throw a tissue to the floor, almost no contact by Smith and the defender knew that.

Smith needs to calm down a bit though.

They're flopping all over the place. Embarassing.

Decent punch by Ripley from the deep cross.

He didn't throw him to the ground..  the bloke through himself to the ground.  It's obvious the game has gone these days, but come on

Agree, its their main tactic today.

This.

Glatzel in the box has a shot but its weak and an easy save.

Glatzel is actually fouled and ref wasnt sure wether to actually give it or not? wow what has the game come to? give them fouls when theres almost zero contact though.

Kilkenny tackles the defender in the box and his cross finds Glatzel but he cant take a good first touch 15 yards out and its cleared.

Finally Smith get a foul given in his favour. Just outside the box central.

You just have to watch Smith every time the ball comes into the box how much he is man handled and having his shirt pulled off of his back.  You can pretty much guarantee, if he threw himself to the floor, there would be no free kick let alone a yellow card.

Poor FK by Wright high and wide.

Except for that one they just gave him! but yes thats true.

Shot by them wide, deflected for a corner by Wright.

Sobowale wins the ball with a good tackle and the ref shows him a  fucking yellow, pathetic by the ref, hes having a shocker.

In other news, McKirdy scores against his old club.

Great reflexes by Ripley.

Accy's tactics and teamtalk today - "do everything you can to get in the refs ear and get them some red cards"

Yep, and it looks like its gonna work with such a weak willed ref as this.

Smith fouled by the defender yet again and the ref ignores it.

FFS ref get a fucking grip on this diving.

Fucking hell Glatz how did you miss that?

Glazel, how did he miss that?!?

I am not a massive Nichols fan, but he is doing very well today

Westley would have scored it.

That's maybe the best pass I've ever seen at league two level and ironically given its league two, it didn't end up as a goal.

So would Tshimanga TBF.

Wow they are divers and dirty.

Is the ref from Accrington? Fucking one sided cunt.

Dodgy punch by the keeper, didnt look like he had a clue where the ball was but still made contact.

Kilkenny shot from 20 yards goes wide.

The line up makes total sense on dead rubber season. Have a proper look at Cain and stop playing Freckleton.

The ref is killing an already shit game with some awful decisions. Book the fuckers for diving and it may make the game better.

FFS looked a goal to Town.

Why was that chalked off?!?

"Throw him to the floor Centurion. Very roughly."

Smith hits the post but was offside.

Smith breathed on the defender

Gentle push by Smith on the diving big CB.

The keeper took that ball out of the fucking box too!

1 min added.

Up there with the shittest refereeing performances we have seen this season if not longer. He needs to get a grip on their constant fouling and diving.

HT 0-0

A first half dominated by the referee, about all you can say really

Shit game, shitter ref, even shitter powderpuff diving by Accrington players.

So far this is a non league match being played in a football league stadium.

Including the refereeing display. Either believes football isn’t a contact sport or is very naive to be falling for all these Accrington players falling to the ground.

I hope the assesor has a word in the ref's ear at H.T.  

Awful ref, awful opposition, awful football. Honestly nothing enjoyable about that half

What a bunch of cunts and the ref is allowing them to be so. How we're 2-1 up on yellows is a travesty. Only one team trying to play football out there. Nowt wrong with the "goal" either

Yep, Glatzel has his chance to win a contract, but not showing enough in the first half.

I thought the ref at Notts Co earlier was bad but this guy is phenomenally terrible

I like him but I think he needs a move somewhere else in the summer. I’m sure there’s a good league two goalscorer in there somewhere, just not convinced that’s with us

Hes been really poor, Cain not much better for me too.

Kilkenny the best play on the pitch IMO.

Cain looking comfortable at left back, might beat Cox to being offerred a contarct.

Not sure either merit it to be honest.

Hes not looking out of place but he is also not really making enough of a stake for that role for me. Would like to see Cox on in the 2nd half as I am still not sure about wether we should keep him or not.

As much as I think there is a reasonable player in there with Cain, I wouldn't put him above Cox as LB or LWB. Obviously he provides cover though at 10 as well though.

Hmmm.

For me, he’s been here since what? 22/23 season? Has had a very limited output in that time (which is a fairly considerable amount of time) although you are right, he does provide reasonable cover. Just don’t think he’s done anywhere near enough in his time here

What the fuck is up with this fucking ref.

Accrington can't even kick off properly. Wtf is happening?

And the ref continues to be a dick at kick off..

This referee :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Yeah, that is fair. He's shown flashes he could be a decent 10. He has good technique, which you'd expect from Liverpool academy first touch, etc......but there isn't much else there.

Glatzel actually fouled and the ref doesnt give it, yet the wind blows on their players and he gives us a yellow card, what a fucking knob of a ref.

Cain loses possession and is caught well out of position but luckily they cant benefit from the counter.

For me this game is begging for some pace up front. Something like an Ameen type player.

Att: 7,168 (141 Accers)

Glatzel with way too much on the pass, a great break but wasted.

Wright cross wins us a corner.

Wrights corner way too deep even for Smith.

I have said it many times, Wright shouldnt be taking the corners he should use his height in the box, especially when we have either Cain or Cox on the pitch to take the corner.

Kilkenny back defending the cross gives them a corner, good defending.

Interestingly, Ollie Holt - Daily Mail Cheif football writer is at the CG today

https://x.com/ollieholt22/status/1903479604465094776?s=46&t=sUQ-fFgelrF5oqTmo-D8tA

Ripley fouled catching the ball, Accrington player nudged Ripley in the ribs but the ref misses it, and a yellow for the Accrington player and for Ripley.

I have never heard of him, do you think there is something to this and hes got word about something?

tshimanga and Glatzel link up in the box but Glatz ball back is weak.

Smith on the volley 15 yards out from a Nichols header back but the keeper makes an easy save.

Smith fouled for the umpteenth time by the big bald defender.

Sobo beats his man and crosses and wins another corner.

I would get Ameen on for Glatzel now. Its just not worked for him today again.

Glatzel fouled round the neck and ref ignores it totally and gives them a throw in.

Terrible miss by Accrington as he hoofs over the bar with just the keeper to beat, luckily.

Sobowale wins yet another corner.

Better corner by Wright to Smith and his header doesnt beat the first player and is cleared.

Freckleton looks to be warming up to come on.

Oliver Holt is usually pretty in the know about things and tends to get the scoop, so you never know - very well connected, seems a bit of a random game to ship up at

The game is definately there for the taking, but we need a spark up front.

Cheers, well you never know...things could be happening behind the scenes.

Smith inches away from scoring with the keeper beaten, goes out for a corrner from Kilkennys cross.

Lovely play from Kilkenny, and some effort from the Stanley defender to get that off target.

Another corner to Town.

Flapping keeper.

Subs coming on.

Ameen on for Glatzel
Westley on for Tshimanga
Butterworth on for Nichols.

Easy take by Ripley from the cross.

This has been a difficult watch

Partly the football but a lot of it because of the tactics played by them and the refs shocking performance.

Smith fouled for the umpteenth time.

Nice play but Cains cross is poor and cant beat the 1st man.

Sobowale tries a shot from 30 yards but its weak.

God this is a tough match to watch.

Lovely break by Cain but his ball through goes straight into touch.

Wait it's *that* Benn Ward?

Missed that. To be fair I have paid very little attention today!

it has the feel of an end of season nothing to play for game between one team in 15th place and one team in 20th place....oh wait.... :)

Yes he went there in January on a free.

George Cox's hair has changed dramatically. Let's hope he's the anti-Samson.

Cox comes on for Cain and his first touch is a lovely cross to Westley but its headed wide.

God this is boring..  Can somebody remind me why we do this shit?

Yes some form of shaved Cox.

Cos we loves it, init.

Doesn't quite reach the standard of boring, how about turgid.

Such a poor game and poor opposition- criminal if we can’t beat them

This.

Doesn't really feel like we're trying to beat them. All the intensity of a World Cup game where both teams go through with a draw...

Kilkenny the only one giving his all for me today, several of them have their minds on the beach.

Westley has a go from a throw in but its saved.

Which is perhaps odd as he's one that isn't playing for a contract.

Yes indeed, he always gives his all though.

Not been one of Clarkes best games today.

Smith shot blocked for another corner on the 2nd attempt.

Impressive composure from Westley to pass to Smith there rather than having a shot. Most strikers would have shot without looking there.

Bloody Matthews has committed at least 20 fouls and still no yellow

Wrights dead balls have been very poor today.

Rawson too.

Butterworth cuts inside and shoots from 25 yards but the keeper saves it on the 2nd attempt.

Clarke header easy save.

8274 fans at Scunthorpe vs Chester in the NL North this afternoon, blimey.  Yes, I am bored with watching this..

FT 0-0

Definately 2 points dropped against a very poor side.

Shit ref.

Absolute dog shite..

Abysmal

Big fan of a lot of things we have done under Holloway, but that was an utterly depressing watch. Not helped by some of the most inept refereeing I’ve seen. Turgid stuff.

Meh, if it was a boxing match we’d have shaded that on points

Had more of the ball, more in the final third, more shots but never looked threatening enough to land the knockout punch.

Is what it is.
We’d have all taken dead rubber games in March in December wouldn’t we…

Limp out the season & start preparing for the next one

Would also love to see some pace in this team…

Sigh

Won on points and then got slaughtered in the press... sort of early Audley Harrison.

One side trying to play football the other complete shite houses. Perfectly good goal disallowed, just a lack of quality in the finishing. Smith must score soon! The worst ref I've seen since 12.30!

And what on earth does Westley have to do to get a start? Once again showed more in a little cameo than Glatzel and Tshimanga did all game.

Yep, the main positive for me was improvement in the midfielders covering threats in front of goal, taking responsibility and being better organized.  Glatzel really needs a goal, Westley and Cox looked sharp when they came on.

Squad desperately needs some creativity and pace

His corners seem to be always poor

Yes, the three behind Smith lack pace, Drinan was providing some until he got injured.  Lack of pace was painfully obvious today.

Awful game, made worse by a shite ref

 I assume we can look forward to more of the same as we play out the remainder of the season

You got that right.

Shit awful game, no idea why Stanley felt the need to play like a bunch of gob shite wankers. Apart from his 5-10 minute flurry at Doncaster where he looked superb, Ameen has utterly failed to get into games and we've utterly failed to bring him into it. You have to think that fasting is not doing him any favours... really poor overall though, not helped by the clueless ref...

Edit: agree re. Westley...

Come on, stop being negative.  We've drawn 4 in a row.  Thats equivalent to more than a win!

A couple of good chances, a goal mysteriously disallowed, but lets be honest - bore draw.

Solid enough, but a bit pedestrian in attack and even though we had some hard work in midfield we never really got control of it - ref didn't help.

Mom: killkenny

A pretty terrible game, made worse by an incompetent referee, and an Accrington team who decided to throw themselves at every contact and even sometimes when there wasn’t any.

No lack of effort from us, but the game never really flowed and so we struggled to get any momentum

Terrible game made worse by one of the worst ref performances of all time.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcr1Q3h-2Ws
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLgwtJjr54M

Weird one yesterday. Had the pleasure of meeting Mr Holloway in the dugout around 12:30 as part of a sponsorship hospitality package. I used the opportunity to politely ask him if he now understands why the fans are protesting. It’s something that’s been on my mind ever since the orange hat comments.

Just in case anybody was wondering, he still doesn’t get it and thinks we are wrong for protesting. It was quite disappointing to be honest. He pretty much doubled down on all the things he said post Grimsby.

I then ended up in an office with him for 10 minutes for a private chat. I won’t go into too much detail on here because it’s probably not very fair on him as he’s not here to give his side - but I really wish he would understand that it’s possible to strive for better off the pitch and still support the team at 3pm on a Saturday.

He a bit of a dick isn't he.

But as long as he sticks to the football then that's ok

Yes he can be a dick but nobody in his role would speak out publically (or even privately with people he doesn't really know) against his employer, the people that pay his wages.

Thats only to be expected in his position IMO.

Not a fan personally, think the Bradford incident and the orange hat comments cemented that. However, I cannot argue with the results he has delivered and he’s steered us away from what was looking like certain relegation. Suppose as long as he keeps delivering results, can’t have too many complaints but he does strike me as someone who isn’t overly sold on our fanbase

There's ways of doing it. His is the dick way. It's counter productive.

I think you’d be quite surprised at the level of detail he went into when we spoke privately.

He didn’t need to say certain things. I could tell by his pauses and body language that he agreed with things I was saying. He just can’t say all of them out loud.

Shook his hand. Told him he’s done a brilliant job. Still think he’s completely out of touch with the fan base though with is big Shame.

Took my dad as part of his birthday present yesterday. The last game we went to together was Walsall at home earlier this season. I feel like a terrible son!

I was just going to say...dont you like your dad? you evil man!

From the BBC:

"Ronan Curtis’ winning goal for Port Vale in the second-but-last minute of their League Two 1-0 win against Morecambe at Vale Park on 22nd March 2025 prevented the day from being the one day in more than 135 years of league football with most goalless draws in a league/division. In all, five of the 11 League Two matches of the day ended without a goal being scored. So, instead, 22nd March 2025 equalled the record set 17 times before, where one league/division has produced five goalless matches on the same day. The first time this happened was on 7th May 1921, the final day of the first ever Division Three season, when five out of 11 matches also ended goalless. More than half a century later and also in Division Three, five out of a record low of just nine matches played on 4th November 1980 also ended goalless.
Just for the record, Gillingham and Swindon Town drew goalless on all three dates; in 1980, even against each other."

Mention in Ollie Holts column

I recently made the shocking discovery that Oliver Holt's mum is Emily Bishop out of Coronation Street aka actress Eileen Derbyshire....pure randomness...

Yeah i only found this out the other month also