Thetownend.com

Just had a look at the ticket site and large sections in the TE and DRS look sold out or are unavailable?  :hmmm:

 :hmmm: D1 Upper section is not available?  :hmmm:



A certain Dean Lewington, MK dongs longest serving player is set to hang up his boots at the end of the season.
He broke the record held by Town for 40 years. >:(

If he plays and gets subbed on Saturday no doubt MK fans will applaud him off, but I feel we should all start singing "There's only one John Trollope"  :bye:

I see everyone is excited for Saturday  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:
Looking forward to it personally....warm sunny day, beers outside, tonking the franchise.

I'll mention it again, whole blocks appear to be unavailable or sold out (unlikely). Could that be to keep everyone together rather than scattered about? Would of course save a bit on stewarding  ;D

Looks to be the TE block by the Arkells which is usually sparse and then the two blocks in the DR by the Bank, again normally the emptiest.

Clearly an attempt to not have to steward those areas and reduce costs. I imagine one of the turnstiles to the DR will be closed again...

Makes me want to go & sit there just to be awkward 😂

Might want to start queuing now

It's televised 'n' all

So what happens to season ticket holders in D1U?

Honest as always
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxsSWL_7u1s&pp=ygUPc3dpbmRvbiB0b3duIGZj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oXJ6zJ66PI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oDw9ea85K8&pp=ygUHbWsgZG9ucw%3D%3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL3jeEtFUOI&t=192s&pp=ygUHbWsgZG9uc9IHCQmECQGHKiGM7w%3D%3D

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

Strong line up for the last game of the season.

Thought he was playing Hall as retiring? Probably bring him on.

Ohh Ameen starting, interesting. Strong side overall.

MKD include ex Town target Craig MacGillivray in goal and ex Town double loanee and Swindon born Joe Tomlinson start for them.

We should easily have enough to turn this lot over today if the players minds are not on the beach.

A chance for Ameen to open his legs and run at them today and show us what hes got.

I see the couple of hundred franchise fans arent dressed like empty black seats today like they are at home games.

That comment reminded me of commentator David Coleman for some reason.

TBF it probably sounds more like a comment by Julian Wilson the old Town fan and racing commentator!

Probably got injured on the drive to the ground.

Wilts born isn't he but not Swindon. Localish from memory

I thought he was chizzy or something like that

His family live in Chisledon but I understand he was born in Swindon hospital hence Swindon born.

I know...a cow born in a barn isnt a horse or visa versa....

Ollie looks like hes been beaten up, a huge scar under his eye form the skin cancer issue he has.

Let finish strong! 

Nice move between Ameen and Glatzel but his cross is poor from the touchline.

Glatzel with his 2nd missplaced pass in a minute from a good position.

Clarke saves us as he tackles the runner in the box as he shoots, TBH he should have scored with that.

Town win a corner, Ameen put a great cross into the box, Ofoborh falls int he box but Butterworth shot is deflected wide.

Ameen puts in another lovely cross for Smith.

Good defending by Kilkenny.

Some really good quality crosses so far.
Shame we haven’t got on the end of them.

Ameen has put in 2 great crosses so far.

Hes in "shop window" mode.

Does this mean Nichols is going back?

Butterworth again flatters to decieve as he dribbles forwards and runs the ball straight into touch.

He is OOC at Mansfield in the Summer. Ollie loves him and will do what he can to sign him I am sure.

Butterworth again falls over his own feet.

Injured

Ofoborh took a kick on the shin with a poorly timed tackle and is down injured.

Ah thats closer than I thought tbh. I thought was further out than that.

I liked Tomlinson, he can do way better than playing for this scummy team.

Oh good. Well,you know what I mean! 😉

Smith hardly touched their CB as he goes down like hes snipered.

Ripley with a good clearance under strong pressure.

Yeah, I think everyone can assume that Nichols will be one of our first signings in the summer

Ofoborh is in a far more advance role so far.

Tshimanga warming up.

MK with a great chance with just the keeper to beat and Clarke wins the ball at the last moment.

Shot by MK but Ripley makes a fairly easy save from the misshit shot.

Looks like there could be 9k+ there today.

Smith being pulled all over the place by their CB's, and now he has a yellow card for arguing with the ref about constant fouling by them against him.

Glatzel gives a header away and they try a shot thats absolutely awful and almost clears the Town End.

Clarke with a very strong tackle on Tomlinson.

So far today its not really working for Glatzel, Smith and Butterworth.

We also need to get the ball to Ameen more often too.

I dunno if I’ve zoned out but felt like we whipped in about 6-7 good crosses in the first 5 minutes & absolutely nothing has happened in the game since…

Ameen with some lovely skill and goes to deck on the box but its not a penalty.

Would like to see him more central playing off of Smith

Tomlinson with a double shot that goes well wide.

He is still very much learning his trade, he was a central striker pretty much until Holloway arrived and Holloway thinks hes a better wide striker than a central striker.

He has bags of potential and this Summer is a big one for him, I would like to have him next season though, I think he will go from strength to strength under Hollway.

I think Ameens 1st touch needs work but his 2nd and 3rd touch seem excellent and he has a good cross on him.

Glatzels touch has left him so far today, another miss control by him, admittedly it wasnt an easy ball to take though.

4 mins added.

Glatzel has a chance 6 yards out but he cant connect with the ball, hes not having a great game so far. All he needs is a goal to get that confidence back.

Ameen with a heavy pass to Kilkenny from a nice break, straight into touch.

HT 0-0

Not the most exciting game.

Some tough tackles for a last game of the season with Ofoborh and Tomlinson the most notable victims (but all ok).  It's made for a disjointed half with MK edging the 40 mins after the first 5'.  No near misses but when we've wobbled, it's been reassuring having Ripley as the last line.

Dull game, hopefully it pick up a bit in the second half

Feel like moving Ameen forward and getting a more defensively minded player at right back might help us some, maybe Sobowale gets a run out?

I would get Sobowale on for Butterworth, push Sobo wide right and Ameen wide left.

Butterworth and Glatzel not contributing much at the moment, maybe get Westley/Kabongo on for Glatzel too.

Kirkman and Kilkenny best players for me in that first half.

Really rate Kirkman!

Need him tied down to a much longer contract.

Has Butterworth passed the ball yet today?

Ofoborh tries a threaded pass to Butterworth but Butterworth didnt read it and goes the opposite way.

Att: 9,503 (791 Plastics).

Good high take by Ripley from a  deep cross.

There are a couple of players out there today that I would be happy to see not here next year.

(Less than in previous years)

Corner for them.

Wasted corner by them.

Butterworth falls looking for a free kick rather than trying to control the ball. Great chance for Town as their keeper makes a mistake.

Good block by Clarke as they break.

Ofoborh so close to putting Kirkman through down the wing.

Smith touch lets him down that time after a break by Ameen.

Ameen shoots from 25 yards but its low and weak and cleared easily.

Town fans in great voice today all game.

That looked like a handball in their box.

Long shot by Butterworth high and wide with power.

Think I’d like Clarke further forward! Hes making a lot of mistakes at the back and is lucky to be still on the pitch.

I’d even take Hall on for Butterworth to move Clarke out of defence

Glatzel with another loose touch in the box, nothing is going right for him so far.

Hall on at Centre Half to push Clarke into Midfield, push Ameen forward and we could well score a couple..

First touch consistently poor - all season

Yellow for their defender.

Game is finally livening up a bit.

This is sending me to sleep tbh

Ameen cuts inside and outside but cant get a cross in.

TBF the last 5-10 mins its really picked up as a game. Before then it was really poor.

Ameen down injured.

Got my sleep in the first half!

Looked like cramp.

Their number 20 is a bit of a dirty fucker.

Think that Ofoborh and Freckleton have had good games this far

Cotterill on for Kirkman
Westley on for Ofoborh
Tshimanga on for Smith.

Those 2 as well as Kirkman and Kilkenny.

😮

Yep. Let’s hope they are here next year!

Ameen so close to threading a ball to Tshimanga.

Hall on for Clarke
Alston on for Butterworth.

Not a lot of quality on show today by either team.

Don’t remember any chances

5 mins of the season left to play.

Both sides had a few good chances but the quality of finishing by both teams today was woeful, even the normally reliable Smith missed a near sitter with his head and their number 20 clean through and fluffed his shot well wide with just Ripley to beat.

Corner to Town.

Lewington looks like an owner who has subbed himself onto the pitch to win some sort of bet as the oldest player ever.

Hall header is weak from the corner.

FT 0-0

Typical end of season game between 2 bang average teams with little quality shown by both sides.

Freckleton, Kirkman, Ripley and Kilkenny the pick of the players for effort today.

Thank fuck that season is over now.

Onwards and upwards hopefully with a new owner in place over the Summer months.

well sorry fellas....I should not have watched.  they have won a lot when I have not watched..

oh well....good season overall I think in the end...

They have managed to spin it as  "at least we were not in a relegation battle" but ultimately it is a 12th placed finish which is not really good enough

Glad I didn’t pay to watch that.

Some classy individual moves from Oforbh, another decent performance from Kirkman and the continuing rehabilitation of Freckleton.

Bradford score

I am glad that we at least didnt lose to the plastic wankers.

Deadest of dead rubbers that has ever dead rubbered. 

Another season of purgatory as Clem refuses to sell. Yay.

Now that was a dreadful game of football.

Ripley said he’s not looking anywhere else at the moment - Let’s hope he does stay.

Another forgettable afternoon in the third consecutive forgettable season. A season of what ifs. Ended up 8 points off play offs despite only winning 2 leagues games by the end of November. Shows how God awful this division is

Hope so. Even today when he had little to do, he commanded his box a lot more than Bycroft and Barden did earlier in the season.

Cotterill suggesting his future lies elsewhere. Going back to Swansea
Hall going to see what options are in the future. Wants to be closer to home.
Westley non-commital about anything
Nichols had an injury. Loved it. Don’t know about next year. Knows Holloway likes him. Will see.
Bignot delighted to stay longer and hopefully bring success to the club. Final recruitment meeting on Wednesday before holidays start

Bradford going up also shows how awful this division is

Ripley will be off. I'm told another keeper has already been identified.

Tshimanga has enjoyed it. Came to play games. Don't know what future holds. Has an option at Perterborough
Freckleton talked about going into next season on a positive with a clean sheet. Will have chats with Holloway. Liked it here. Good set up here. (Intimated he wants to stay)
Ofoborh talked about us not having enough cutting edge. Didn't give anything away about his future, by saying that you would have to speak to the manager about what happens next

Yep, got that he would be off given the way he played and from his post-match comments.  Wouldn't be surprised if Freckleton is signed, looked confident and effective today. Expect Bycroft to sign.

Ofoborh
- Thought he had a good game
- Greatful to play that many minutes
- We knew that they were a good team with individuals
- We cancelled eachother out
- Plan for him was to play as many games as possible.
- Wasn't in favour with the old manager.
- Was out for a very long time. Always be grateful to Swindon for the love and patience that have had with him
- Change of manager can be a breath of fresh air.
- Loan players have done well
- Hungry for next season given the talent in the team
- The results have shown that we werent playing to the best of our ability at the beginning of the season
- Holloway has demanded a lot of every one.
- Get same energy in the dressing room as he had a Wycombe. But Wycombe werent a ball playing team. There is more talent here
- Off season out of contract: Will be the same as all seasons. Plan is to build on this season. Can do a lot more for the team. Wants to be ready for next season (wherever that is)
- Staff are amazing here. We are not deaf to what is happening around the club, but he hasn't seen any of that personally. All he has seen is the boys in the changing room. Its a good platform for anyone to come here.
- Shouldn't be talking in the media about stuff that is ongoing. Just grateful to be playing. All he can say is that he will be ready to play next season.

The nil nilliest of nil nils

A pretty awful game, with little or no excitement.
Only positive is it’s only 30 mins home now :D

Holloway:
- Bit of an anti-climax. There were some good bits. Winning the ball back
- Today shows our improvement over the way they beat us at their place
- Clarke could have been sent off if it wasnt the last game. Their manager was irate
- Freckleton summed it up with a tackle he made and the round of applause he got from the fans. Just shows the way he's turned things around
- Holloway thinks he has failed as they haven't made the play offs
- The 2 who were relegated didn't gell together. We did.
- Will dust himself down
- It won't be the same group next year
- Anyone in contract next year, he may look to extend them
- Out of contract: Might sign some who have earned the right. But other teams might offer them something as it is now late for next season. But Holloway only wants people who want to be here and buy into this club and Holloway's dream.
- Positivity is infectious. We have to stay positive.
- Expecting Swindon fans to be more positive as we keep fighting on the pitch and it is worth fighting for
- Alston: Lucky to have him. Its about him growing and working. He needs to try to grab a shirt off of a first team pro. If we want to get promoted, it wouldn't be right to rely on the kids
- We will loan out some of the youth. We will give youth a chance if they work hard
- Wanted first team to play like the youth team. They do now and they have for a while now. Well done
- Retained list: Not sure when it comes out. Their agents should be working for them. This will bring up opinions. Needs a bit of trust. He sees them day in and day out. He also knows what else is out there. Wont block a young one either. If he can get 75% right then we will be a good club. Its for the lads to get something if he hasn't given them something. The players need time for it to sink in. They will know why they are being let go. But didnt think it right to say names at this point
- Time here has been uplifting. Having responsibilty back. Been surreal. He would have been sulking all day with the scar on his face if he hadn't been here. Its been totally uplifting and amazing. Now he knows a club he never played for just up the road. Loves the club.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI619rEiQEU

That's the most subdued I've ever heard Holloway. That wound must hurt like fuck to have him so quiet.

Yes, he looked extremely uncomfortable. As nasty as it looked though he'll hopefully be fine as it's a fairly common procedure...

I’ve had a similar operation to remove a skin cancer below eyelid and it’s not nice. It’s not just the pain you have to deal with it’s also psychological and can affect your confidence.

Where you relocated to Posh?

We’re in Devizes now, so a much easier journey (especially home)

Yeah the trip home must fly by compared to what you were used to.

Yeah, about 2 hours shorter, and somewhat cheaper

Fair play to the man and his commitment. Any other person at a work place would've had weeks off to recover and process it.
Any type of cancer scary as fuck.