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Swindon 1 Barnet 1 att: 7,898 (185 Bees buzzing around)


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

4-1

It is believed that Charles Dickens used to drink at the Red Lion pub on Barnet Hill, Barnet.

So, hoping for the best of times and not the worst of times, so going for a 3 : 1 home win while getting our noses in front in the 85th minute.

Great expectations there

 :D

If our combative midfielder come centre back plays tomorrow it'll be an Oliver Twist.

As long as it's not a Bleak House it'll be ok.

Wonder if we will play David Copperfield, Martin Chuzzlewit and Barnaby Rudge up front? Could work with Little Dorrit nipping down the wing.

The game might not go on at all as there are rumours of money owed to Dombey & Son, from the Old Curiosity Shop - Our Mutual Friend needs to sling his hook!

P.S. You can forget Milan Misun for this one. What about the Mystery of Edwin Drood?

No Hard Times for STFC - 3-0.

I'm hoping to read a report in The Bicester Times rather than The Worcester Times.

 ;D :clap:

I’m hoping for Erica Roe to attend the game.

A Tale of Two Titties

After Grimsby, we have the highest number of touches in the opposition's penalty area over our 3 matches. Scott Lindsey would be all over this data no doubt. Added to that we have 7 (seven) separate goalscorers across three league matches, and signs against Oldham that things might be coming together.

Let's hope Kilkenny and Ripley make it through. Goals for Princewill, Munroe and Billy B in a 3-0 win, with 31 touches in the opposition's box and taking our total number of goalscorers to 10 (ten). Come on you Reds.

No Clarke or Ball tonight. Mabete is almost certain to start if we stick with a back 3.

Big game for him. Not been that impressed so far.

I really think excluding Delaney is becoming more strange as the weeks pass.

Only seen Mabete in his cameo on Saturday, my gut feeling was that he seems to be lacking a bit of confidence and that is making him not particularly confident on the ball. There was a time when Smith (I think) basically played him a hospital pass inn his own box and Mabete panicked and put it out of play and got berated both on the pitch and by the commentators which seemed a bit unfair.

Swindon 1-2 Barnet
Drinan scores our goal
Att: 7,014 (198 Barnets)

Any more defensive injuries and I can’t see how he avoids using Delaney/Minturn much longer.

2-1 and a tighter match than you'd give credit to looking at results so far.

I think offy bring out of a bonus as I don't think our midfield does physical

I'm borrowing a friends e-season ticket tonight and he's screenshot them and sent via whatsapp. Has anyone done it this way before? How did it go?

You'll be fine, don't worry. So long as you've got a good quality image of the QR code to scan at the turnstile.
Frankly, even with a season ticket card, they don't scan half the time anyway! haha!

I also think it'll be fine. It's not a 'live' image that refreshes every minute like the more secure ones.

I've ordered a printed card off Amazon for £2.50 out of fucking principle! Not here yet but same idea.

Just bought my ticket  :toocool:

The way I read it is we are absolutely desperate to remove his wage in this window and simply don't want to risk injury.

He should clearly be playing in an injury hit team if it was a straight meritocracy.

There is also the fact that I have been told this is not only about Ollie not wanting him, he is looking for a move North, so maybe he doesnt want to play.

Thanks for confidence  :)

Think we're gonna run out of legs today, lots of tired bodies already not including those in the physio's room! 2-2

I have probably missed this, but only 2 thirds of TE available?

Oh and does the Magic Chippy take card? Is it any good?

The town end blocks are over 18 only now, so they seem to have blocked online sales so it can be enforced.

Something about crowd surges and minors getting injured.

No idea on magic chippy

Just by any seat in the TE  ;)
I still went in T2

I will have the boy with me though.

Minturn has gone out on loan.

Barnet sold around 200 tickets.

Tried to buy online.

Clinky load of shite......go the point of paying and then asked me to set up a profile....which i had done previously...tried three times, then fuck it!...have to queue up now.

It's a piece of piss  ;)

Not having that! Only played 4 games, FFS.

Going to be a difficult one tonight without RiplEy, MabEtE, DelanEy, ClarkE, GlatzEl, ButtErworth, AmEEn, KilkEnny, Ehibhatiomhan, MunroE & OldakEr…

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GyuyQ5WXUAAJM2n?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

Small & extremely insignificant…but…

I absolutely hate so many things about that team sheet graphic. So many.

McGregor in for Ball the only change from Saturdays starting line up. 4 at the back?

What’s going on with Tabor not being involved again🤔

And ameen.

TBH the only player either of them could depose from the bench would be Glatzel who hasnt impressed yet so far this season for me.

McGregor LWB and Snowdon RWB with Munroe sitting in at CB?

No Ameen. I assume he's off then? Someone on here (sorry, forgot who exactly) did post that he would be off this week and it would be announced on Wednesday

Nice to have McGregor back and to see Kirkman on the bench.

He's off eating his Weetabix.

So how do people feel these days about developing other teams' youngsters while neglecting our own? Caused some kerfuffle in the past, or is it ok because Holloway "knows what he's doing"? Or,maybe our current loanees are better than usual?

2 CBs
3 WBs
2 CMs
3 STs

Dunno what exactly Holloway is gonna do with that…

Moved on to shredded wheat.

Suppose Snowdon did arrive here as a midfielder. Assume he will play there tonight, with McGregor and Munroe as the wing backs

For loans, Wellens had previously explained the economics, the more they play, the less the club will pay.  That's the problem with not having an u21 team, you can only offer pro contracts for a few that are ready at 18 or so.  You can't develop your own without either involving them in the first team squad or sending them out on loan.  In League Two, you have to sign loans to be competitive.  Unless "Sheik El Townee Moneybags" buys the club, it's not going to change.

Barnet have a keeper making only his 3rd league appearance tonight, Cieran Slicker is on loan from Ipswich but has made 1 appearance for Scottish national side already.

Only Idris Kanu, Ollie Hawkins, Anthony Hartingan and Mark Shelton have more than 40 EFL appearance in their starting team.

Ex Town players Ofoborh and Crichlow arent in the squad today.

Munroe played CB in Spain last season as stand in so more likely he will play there and not Snowdon.

I was thinking potentially 4 at the back but yes, you could be right there. Initially thought it would be Wilson-Brown and Wright as CBs with McGregor and Munroe either side but suppose we will see

If anyone knows what flix app channel the game is on tonight, please let me know. Much appreciated.

Personally I would prefer 4 at the back with Snowdon being given free reign in midfield but I have a feeling Ollie wont change the formation we have played in every game so far this season.

Was he that keeper that came on for Scotland & made a massive clanger (possibly with like his first touch in professional football) ?

Clem is here. He flew in this morning.

Yep.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c87j23w1438o

Ameen to QPR - undisclosed - is the rumour.

The Accrington Stanley channel looks to be the County Ground currently ;)

Yep working for now on Accrington channel

didnt he get released  by them. :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

It’s been done before!

Manchester United released & subsequent signed Paul Pogba for obscene amounts of money.

Our leader.

(https://i.postimg.cc/c1n9Xx5C/Untitled.png)

Smith didnt look offside there to me.

Nice move by Town but we cant get a shot in as Drinan crosses it.

Shot by Oldaker from 20 yards cutting inside but his shot is high and wide.

Pretty scrappy first 10 mins from both sides.

Smith breaks and his shot is saved and it comes out to Drinan and his shot is weak, good chance for Town

Drinan limping.

Keeper has a mare coming out and Drinan takes it around him and gets in a shot from the angle but the keeper just gets back to save it for a corner.

Agree. Minor thing to complain about, but its so shite.

It looks really poor TBH, no thought put into it.

Break by town down the right and Nichols crosses for Prince but he cant get to it in the box and its cleared.

Yet again Smith has his marker in his pocket so far, hes winning everything.

Considering Barnet are said to play a good passing style so far Swindon have had far more of the ball and some slick passing moves and Barnet passing it longer to little effect.

Long FK easily saved by Ripper.

Drinan breaks and has a chip shot/cross just inches over the bar.

Good tracking back by McGregor to get in a block.

Nichols tackles and the ball goes out for a corner to them.

Its a terrible long corner straight out for a goal kick to Town.

Munroe overlapping Snowdon but his cross is way too deep.

Nice double interception by Wright on the edge of our box.

Munroe blocks a cross for a corner to them.

Good pressure by McGregor to put off the giant Hawkins from a deep cross.

Barnet are a very niggly team, holding back Drinan, Smith and Prince all the time so far.

And beat him in the air despite being a foot shorter!

Smith puts a cross out for a corner them after Rippley punches the original cross.

Yes has to be 10 inches shorter.

Ripley with a good save at the far post.

Barnet putting the pressure on for the last 10 mins.

Barnet have a shot from 20 yards that goes 20 yards over the bar and out of the ground.

Wright had to make another good interception, Barnet really pressing us now.

Great save by Ripley.

McGregor beaten for pace as the striker goes past him and Ripley saves low with the striker only having to chip him.

Wright shot just wide from 35 yards.

Ripley keeping us in the game with 2 good saves in last 5 mins

First 20 mins was almost all Town but Barnet have had much the better of the last 15.

Sloppy by Oldaker loses the ball and Barnet have a shot and it goes out for another corner to them.

Oldaker gets a better block on to stop them shooting from the cross.

Good save from Ripley, credit where its due after being critical recently.

Barnet look fucking shit and we're doing our best to make this an even game.

Barnet controlling midfield now.

Great chasing by Smith there.

And he gets a yellow for complaining after winning a throw and the ref not giving it to us.

The ref is giving them everything.

As I say that he gives us the benefit of a foul!

The ref reverts to type as Hawkins goes to the deck.

No pace, no creativity.

We aren’t going to score playing like this.

Smith is getting a lot of free hugs though.

Smith with a good interception on the edge of our box.

Not much quality from either side so far really.

McGregor lovely 50 yard break, finds Smith and he lays it back and its cleared, great move good quality there for a change.

Yellow for Wright despite Barnet doing far more of the fouling this half.

the ball gets worked out to mcgregor, who has no one to give it to apart from Wright, who can then lump it or go back to Ripley

Having a midfield of a striker and an attacking midfielder isn't great

Barnet just wide from a good position.

Offside anyway, but christ that was open

Its definately been a half of 2 halves, Town did better for the first 20 but Barnet have been better for the other 20 to 25.

1 min added.

Unlike Saturday we didn't score when dominant ,3 great chances for Oldaker,Smith and Drinan which has given Barnet impetus. We don't seem to be able to cope with the game's best player Kanu. Ripley's kept us level to be honest

HT 0-0

Barnet started proper shit and we looked like we were gonna score about 7 this half if it carried on.....then we just died off.

Dreadful old shite. We’re getting nowhere near top 7 based on this - against a real crap side.

Bit rubbish really. Feels as if it's going be a frustrating season.

Changes needed, Drinan started well but has drifted off in the last 20.

Fuck me, I should have stayed at home  :zzz:

Utterly pathetic. We'd be three down to a half decent side...

What a dreadful first 45, both teams poor but we have been especially bad and really should be behind. We’ve got no midfield, no creativity and no pace other than a couple of individual bursts.

If Kilkenny is remotely fit he needs to come on.

Still difficult to form any kind of opinion about this team having played the 2 promoted teams and a relegated team none of which look likely to be challenging the upper reaches.

They could say exactly the same thing to be fair

Felt like an Oldhamish start, where we just didn’t take the couple of chances we got this time. Since then, absolute dross. Barnet are a poor excuse of a League side but we have actually made them look half decent at times. Midfield is far far too open which has been a problem so far this season. Needs addressing big time. On the plus side, thought McGregor looked lively

I’d like to see Butterworth on as one of the front 3.

Probably for Princewill based on that half.

We should've been 3 nil up first!

We really fizzled out that half. That’s without having started that well either.

Thought we looked far better when passing through the midfield rather than bypassing it, but what do I know.

Would be tempted to swap Drinan and Prince over. That Kanu is doing a great job of keeping the ball off of Prince. Would also like an extra body in the midfield, but I expect we will see the same shape, but hopefully a better version 2nd half.

At least Butterworth runs with the ball which Barnet struggle with, Drinan definately took a knock when he had a shot but Prince also a bit off the pace up front.

Prince - we aren’t getting the ball to his feet + he’s playing high up.

I think Butterworth would start a bit deeper thus more likely to get the ball & be able to get a bit of forward momentum before getting to their full back (who is right on Prince every time he gets the ball)

We look far better when running with the ball and Butterworth does like to run but we just dont seem to be winning anything in midfield so far, need another body in there too.

And on the few occasions we have,his touch has been terrible

Here we go, improvements needed.

McGregor seems to have gone to LWB from RWB and swapped with Snowdon.

We have nobody picking up the free ball in midfield.

Town cant clear and Ripley makes a save.

Att: 7,482 (216 Barnies)

We haven't had a midfield all season...

Smith down injured, not good.

His knee seemed to hit the keeper.

Smith looks in some pain (or is a good actor)

Stretcher on for Smith.

And off again.

That could be his ACL.

Smith shaking his head, hes going off.

Well quietens down the transfer window slamming shut

Damn,that's our best defender off

Kilkenny coming on for Smith by the look of it.

Proper fucked.

Great skills by Snowdon but his final ball is weak.

I reckon thats a season ender

Oldaker takes a tactical fall.

Cruelly ironic if we've rejected those bids for him and he's out for the season after that.

Turning down £350k for your striker and then him going off looking like he’s done his ACL a week later is so Swindon.

Barnet love leaving a leg in on tackles.

Butterworth on for Nichols
Kilkenny on for Smith
Glatzel on for Princewill

Drinan playing target man now.

Why did we play so long with 10?

What’s Bodin got to do to get on🤔

Not a lot of goals in this team

Be interesting to see if / how different we play without Smith

Poor shot by Butterworth.

Become fit.

Corner to town for the keeper holding onto the ball, town win another corner from it.

He must be reasonably fit otherwise Tabor would be on the bench.

Another corner to Town.

Let's wait and see.

But I won't back him to score Saturday

Hes not anywhere near fit enough to play 35 mins. Maybe last 20 or 25 tops.

Expect to see Tabor in the squad on Saturday otherwise something is wrong.

Theres nothing wrong with Tabor there just isnt space in the squad for him currently.

Bodin on for Snowdon.

Bodin has gone into a number 10 role by the look of his positioning.

Snowdon

Changed it as soon as I saw :) went by what Hawes said.

Another corner to Town.

We have played a couple of great diagonals in the last 5 mins.

Awful corner by Oldaker.

Well this has been turgid

Its not been that good.

Ripley was pushed for that catch, the ref not giving us much at all today.

The ref is giving us nothing.

I’m glad we are trying to play football now, but we don’t look very good at it.

There’s no goal threat in this team now, combined with our lack of creativity that’s a bit of a problem.

If Smith is out for a sustained period I don’t think even the most optimistic fan will think we have much chance of being in the promotion hunt. We’d have lost his nuisance factor as well as his goals.

Agreed, the big diagonals over their defence is nice. It's just a shame we're so out of practice not playing for seconds from Smith we look a little lost

Proper wank this.

Its a very poor game, we have no goals or creativity on the pitch and the ref is not open to giving us much.

Hope they give the arrogant dinosaur a good booing. Almost as bad as that first half at Cardiff. This ain't football. It's shite.

Butters has a shot that goes out for another corner which we will fuck up.

Keeper fucks up but the ref calls yet another foul on them.

0-1

Fuckity fucking fuck

0-1

Crap defending.

This is Below Kennedy level shite!

All pre season optimism gone

And it's now 1 -0 to Barnet

We are so shite!!

Fuck sake! We have a problem!

nah fuck off. seriously.

Pathetic performance

Utter rubbish

The problem with the manager giving shit to the fans for no particular reason is as soon as it starts going wrong, they turn very quickly.

Eat humble pie and bring back Delaney.

 Holloway  outttt😂 :pint:

Barnet are one of the worst teams I've ever seen at the county ground and we're fucking losing.

Predictable.

That's what happens when your best defender goes off

Classic Swindon :crash:

Absolute shite Holloway.
Stop signing forwards , sign a proper centre back, and a  midfielder who can control a game.
Don’t blame the fans who will boo because nothing in this performance to cheer after first 15-20 minutes.
Same as Cardiff first half - no game plan and clueless performance.

Delaney doesnt want to play for us. He wants a move up North.

Spot on

9 mins added.

Blimey the ref actually gives us a free kick and books their player.

What bollocks will Holloway come up with after this load of embarrassing crap!!

He's a fucking dinosaur.

First time I've seen us this season. No quality going forward at all. Neither team deserves to win this though, dreadful from both.

Hope we can find something in the last few mins but not holding out much hope.

Has anyone told the back four that Smith has gone off? They’re hoofing to nobody.

Agree.

the ref wont give us anything today.

I would take a punt that this ref is from the greater London area

Hes been very 1 sided all game and not our way.

 Fucking barnet for fuck sake really :doh:

Their keeper is dodgy as fuck yet we have hardly had any shots today.

This is actually unbelievable how shit it is.

0-2

Fucking hell Barnet are shit so we must be absolutely shit.

Well, that’s the icing on the cake!

If Ollie thinks this is anywhere near acceptable he can fuck off

Crazy how a bit of pace up front can help score goals.

Don’t blame the manager. Blame the cancer rotting the club from above.

What on earth is Ripley doing there?

Tbh, we’ve been clueless all season - bar 20 minutes at Oldham. No game plan at all. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Too many passengers in that performance today.

Not acceptible.

Yes Clem should’ve gone last season

Same old shit

That is quite possibly the worst Town performance I've ever seen.

We’re mid-table fodder at best this season, especially if Smith is out for a sustained period.

Shaky defence, no pace, no creativity, constant fitness issues in midfield and now the loss of our main goal threat.

This could become another painful season unless a minor miracle happens with incomings.

Really glad I got Saturday’s tickets yesterday.

Dwarfy will start throwing wobblies- it’s all the fans’s fault.

Let the crumbling begin.

Oh dear.

With the Smith injury thrown in, I don’t think that could have been any worse.

One-or-two individuals did well, but never really got going against a properly basement side.

Good to get the worst performance of the season out of the way early.

IH will need a rethink with Smith probably gone for the foreseeable.

Morfuni in town - goes to rat shit
On this showing and Holloway second half just sat on the bench …..
What’s going on?
Ameen going I would say is a certainty but money received will it be used to cover ‘admin expenses’?
Wait for the 30 minutes of manager waffle - everybody especially fans fault but not his lack of game plan or tactics against a let’s be honest crap Barnet side.
Referee poor but that’s not a reason for the apathy in the team.

Its actually comical how shit that was. I can't get over it.

Fucking more season ticket holders than last season. What a joke. No wonder these cunts won't stop leaching.

That was pathetic.

I've witnessed some awful, dire performances over the years but that one is right up there with the worst of them.

Aldershot (H) in the F.A Cup probably was worse.

Yeah fair. Aldershot were up for it and half decent though. Barnet were shite and we lost 2-0.

True, we got beat by utter shite, tonight, unlike in the cup.

That was a grim showing. Will Wright is a good ball playing defender but under no circumstance should he be the senior defender. He’s too prone to errors at the back. As said previously, I think Delaney should be brought back next to him but will never happen. Tuesday night games at the County Ground, usually have those down as a defeat anyway. Barnet as poor of a side as I’ve seen here for a fair while (although the Tranmere side that came here last year give them a run for their money) but they still did a job on us

I think we can still blame the management for that shit show tonight.  We played right into their hands from the 20th minute and showed absolutely no desire to change our approach to the game.  What is the point of having players like Nichols, Kilkenny and Oldaker if the ball only touches the floor when it bounces before going out for a goal kick?

I thought that Wilson-Brown and Munroe played really well alongside Wright.

The one who lost his marker for the first goal was Kilkenny.

All we get is booming hacks from Ripley, booming diagonal balls out wide to players who can’t beat a man, and fail to get the ball to the feet of our only player who can.

This is down to Holloway.

Time to fuck Botan Ameen off i’m bored of it, don’t say he’s not for sale and that he’s the key for us this year then don’t use him. He’s sat in the hospitality suite every week what good is that doing for us or him?

So glad I got out of the sick bed for that. And now the trains are still fucked. I might be in Westbury by 12.  Pity I live in Chippenham.

We really lack intensity?? Last year we got in teams faces and we don’t do that? Long ball and no desire to keep it on the deck, no width. Could get ugly quite quickly….

Am out country so didn’t see that. Guess it was shite with a capital S? Needs a rethink me thinks……

As shit as it was...all about how we react on Saturday. One dire performance won't shape the whole season, we have an immediate chance to respond again back in front of the home fans. Lets see what changes.

Holloway delayed. Talking to the Chairman.

:yikes:

Post match interview delayed because Holloway talking to the chairman. Is this the sign of some kind of imminent implosion?!

It really isn't

"I need a Smith replacement and two centre halves"

Yep. This is the key

The implosion was on the pitch. That was the biggest pile of steaming shit I've seen in a few years.

Piss poor rerun of Bromley at home last year minus the penalty miss!

Need to bounce back fast!

Agreed it’s all about how we respond Saturday

That was fucking wank. Did their keeper make a save?

Utter bollocks performance and a disaster losing Smith

Just got back from the match, but wow how bad was that? First live game of the season for me and it was like a Kennedy throwback. We were completely one dimensional and lacked any creativity in the midfield. Smith was just feeding off long balls. Monroe can’t pass to save his life, and his crossing was absolutely atrocious. Both their goals in the second half came from nothing but absolutely dreadful defending. A very poor performance.

Just poor on and off the pitch. No where near good enough from front to back, naive to just keep doing the same thing over and over again... but then we've been built to do one thing. Hoof towards a tall man. Rinse and repeat. Holloway chucking the players under the bus, he's the fucking manager that built this team. Piss poor.

Holloway: no idea what the injury is with Smith. We'll have to wait and see.

Probably? We were literally seven nil down to a non league team, if anything is ever that bad again we should liquidate the club.

Huge game Saturday now. Tonight felt miserable, it can't become a trend.

Anyone know? Seemed totally disorganised

No idea. Smith was down for minutes and we still took more minutes to make the subs.

Madness.

Holloway: no idea when Clarke or Ball will be fit. He just feels with whose available now.

That stfctoday accountshich has been reliable just posted

Just been told Harry smith in tears in dressing room, ACL rupture and his season is over. Cruel just cruel. #stfc

The itk guy who's got plenty write this summer honks Smith has done his ACL. Oh dear.

Well that’s our season over then too

Thud. Sobering, diabolical, horror show of a performance. The most concerning aspect was that the aimless long balls were intentional, and nobody tried to change it.

I’m struggling to think of a time we’ve been as bad against a side as bad as Barnet were tonight. They were hopeless, and we were worse. Genuinely worried this could turn sour quickly unless Holloway can recognise how inept our strategy was tonight.

I’d be surprised if they would have made Smith walk half way around the ground, and turned down a stretcher, if he had done his ACL.

Well that’s fucked things now then. Anyone still honestly believe we will be challenging for promotion now?

Thought it was very serious given Smith's reaction, has to be confirmed medically, but............

I wouldn't. The whole club is amateur.

No mid table best we can hope for

Might explain why Holloway sought out the chairman at the whistle and his obvious depression post-match.

And a midfield.

If this is correct, it leaves our striker prospects on a young loanee playing his first senior football minutes, grafters but not clinical scorers Drinan and Glatzel, 33 year old Bodin and a couple of young forwards who can’t make it into the squad at the moment.

And on top of that, we apparently don’t have room in the budget right now to go out and sign another.

Outstanding.

Holloway:
- They played better than us. Player for player they would have got higher marks than us
- Should have ended 0-0. But we didn't defend properly from long throw.
- They got a huge boost from that
- Cant recall any of our players playing to the level they can
- Well done Barnet. They came here with 0 points
- We didnt train well yesterday. Holloway didnt like it
- Holloway told them yesterday. Was seriously thinking of changes, and boy oh boy does he wish he did
- Barnet changed everything they do and just went from back to front.
- We got messages on to change how to combat it. We knew that after 3 mins.
- Any glimmer we had petered away. Because that person didnt play well enough. And players around him didnt tell him. And he did it yesterday too
- If you cant play on that pitch, you cant play anywhere
- You need 8 in your side to play well. I cant think 1 did!
- Back to the drawing board
- Harry Smith: Dont know what the injury is. Could the night get any worse?
- We have no idea how long he will be out. No idea what the injury is
- Signs that the group doesnt know how to tell players that they arent training well. Holloway was livid yesterday as there was someone who played on Saturday who didnt train well. As a senior pro, Holloway would have told the person. But, his squad didn't.
- Blames today's performance on poor training yesterday.
- If that was Holloway's last game in football, he would hate it!
- Clarke & Ball: Doesn't know whether they will be back for the weekend
- We havent cut out any problems all season. We have had good spells in games and bad spells in games. The bad spells have nearly cost us in all the games. We have a lot to learn as a group
- And Barnet have some of their best players out!
- If they think that level of performance deserves a win at this level then they are wrong.
- We got knocked off the ball at the end. That's not acceptable
- Well deserved by them. Have to say congratulations to them!
- Our team got what we deserved!
- We should have stepped up to the plate. We should have communicated better

Got to wait and see. I believe that he suspects it is, but needs a proper medical diagnosis.

If it is, it's a disaster

My word, he's a fucking moron.

So it’s all because the players didn’t train well?! Throwing them under the bus now rather than taking some responsibility as well? This isn’t going to end well!

It was fairly clear quite early that he wasn’t going to be able to continue, the stretcher coming on might have been a clue, but it took five minutes to make a sub. Just piss poor organisation.

I guess if you question the lord god Holloway he will probably tell you not to bother coming to games anymore as you don’t understand the game, and that having 11 players on the pitch is not that important.

Anyone else getting fed up with him praising the opposition “well done to them” also sounds like he’s lost the training ground.

Hearing Ameen set to go to QPR and Tabor going on loan to NLS

I’m sorry, Wright is a liability & Ripley isn’t much better

Tabor might not be now I suppose

I think that's harsh personally. I just don't think Wright is the right man to lead an inexperienced side.

Need to see the goals again. Didn't really see the error from Ripley for the second

Don't mind when the opposition has shown talent and played well, but the opposition were poor as were the match officials. Sorry, Ollie, not having it, we were beaten at home by a poor team who also has a lot of first-teamers out. Oldham were far better opposition.

Harsh to blame Ripley, he kept us in it first half. Can’t blame him for any of the goals. Just dreadful defending.

I’d question the second one. Just not a fan. Oh shit, just remembered, I’m not allowed an opinion  :D

Normally training ground disagreements stay behind closed doors!

I think what he was saying was that the team were complacent. They didn’t take training seriously yesterday and were sloppy today.

But that’s a worry in itself if the players aren’t listening to him and his staff.

Didn’t see anything wrong with the second one to be honest but I’ll have to watch the replay I guess. It’s not that fresh in my mind.

But that’s on him as manager as well then, he sets the standards and ethos.

Well that was dreadful.

Not a cause for panic one must remember losing Clarke, ball and Kilkenny (we looked better when he came on) was a step too far.  Have to hope Smiths knock was not so bad.

WTF was going on with the stretcher crew it was like the bloody keystone cops.  So slow and even had they got on the three of them wouldn’t”t have been capable of lifting smith.

They all looked tired today.  Prince barely bothered (maybe not fit enough to do three games im a week) drinnan was also quite half hearted.  

Keep the faith

He should have come out and smothered the threat, but what did it matter at that point? Earlier, he made at least two very good saves to keep the Town in the game, it was all over before the second went in.

It may seem annoying, especially when we’re all so down, but really I think it is an attempt to be gracious in defeat. I’d also prefer to hear honesty in being disappointed in how our players performed than what we were previously subjected to with Kennedy. I simply could not abide by Kennedy’s post match approach.

Could/should have come for the ball, didn’t, allowed Barnet to win the ball & score. It’s all about opinions tho, right 😮

In fairness to him, Ripley has tweeted to say he should have come for the ball. That deserves some credit.

I’m still staggered that, as a club that for the significant part of the last three decades, has had managers that like to play passing football, we’ve stitched the pitch for the one that insists on long ball mindless bollocks. Where is that side we saw last season? What has changed? I’m baffled after that.

Without Smith, it has to be passing football.  Can the manager and team adapt?

If reports are true and Smith has done his ACL, we are up shits creek. We were bad enough at defending set pieces already even with him in the side. We definitely won’t go up and I’d worry for our safety without him. Just my opinion though - hope that’s ok!

If someone wanted to be harsh then you could say that in terms of play, not much has changed from last season, it’s still looks to all be about trying to create chaos in the opponents half and benefit from it rather than an actual game plan to score goals.

Maybe that’s easier to do against opposition teams as its approaches the crunch time of the season and teams have things to play for? Who knows, it’s a worthy debate.  

If Smith is out we will now have to change the way we attack. Lumping it simply won't do. So...a chance to mix it up a bit. Stick Bodin in as a second striker behind Prince?Maybe we go 4-2-3-1 with Butterworth/Drinan/Glatzel/Snowdon as wide options. We should now have to ask the likes of Oldaker and Kilkenny to run the game from midfield picking out incisive passes, get McGregor and Munroe supporting the wide men by overlapping and whipping crosses in.

Am I dreaming? Probably. But a good manager will find a way to adapt.

No pace & no creativity & no intensity,

Squad as a whole is very one dimensional. Assuming Smith is going to be out for a significant amount of time - it’s just going to be long ball to Drinan instead.

Need to bin off the 3 CBs & 3 CFs - it’s one or the other. 3 CBs in a 352 with wing backs or 433 if you want a front three.

Playing teams at the business end of the season who had all to play for as a team with nothing on the line definitely help our good run last season - no doubt about it.

Raised expectations & a fresh season will certainly of impacted.

Ripley on Twitter:

Disappointing result tonight! I’ll always be the first to put my hands up and admit that I made a mistake for the second, that ball should have been mine and I read it wrong. We appreciate your support tonight and will look to rectify it all on Saturday!

With Smith missing obviously for a while, I would assume that playing “hoof ball” in the hope that something comes from it when he played which it did to a certain extent, (and certainly did not work when Drinan was put into that position) will require changing to a more possession type of game, but I would not like to put a bet on it as I am not sure that IH really knows what is his best team selection or style of playing.

Hearing the comments regarding what happens on the training ground is complete no no as far as I am concerned, and that should always be kept behind closed doors in my opinion. I know that rumours and comments from those supposedly “itk” will always leak out but for it to come from the manager himself is not a good omen.

Saturdays game should be a good indication of where we are in the great scheme of things.

We just lost 2-0 to one of the most drab shit teams I've ever seen.

If I don't laugh, I'll cry.

Corrected, not remotely convinced he wrote that.

yeah its all the rage now isn't it. get the players to tweet something.

Yeah but my understanding is - the players (certainly at the top level) have a social media manager who does that.

Definitely been some example where they have used the template so the tweet has said ‘Gutted, can’t believe we lost that [insert score] we’ll work doubly hard tomorrow’

Holloway got us playing well for the second half of last season. We look set up completely different, and worse.

The recruitment has been poor thus far this season, by that I don't necessarily mean the quality of the players acquired, more that the team is lopsided.

I was planning to go to the STFC Derby on Saturday, but after watching that absolute dross last night I'm having serious thoughts to find something else to do. You know when one of those teams rocks up to the CG and you think, 'i wouldn't like to watch them every week?' That's this current Swindon side. What happened to the fun Swindon of last season? At times in the first 10 minutes or so, we showed some quite neat football, but the rest of the game? Such a stone aged way of playing, back to Ripley, bomb to Smith, lose the ball. Barnet weren't a huge amount better than us but it was hardly a surprise that they won the game late thanks to a Will Wright flick on. Is conceding from a throw in another defensive set piece goal conceded?

Everything about last night was bad, Smith fucking his ACL the icing on a very bad cake. Did I dream it or is Nichols now some weird DM? Is Billy Bodin a ghost? Holloway has some serious work to do, he may need to write page 2 of his tactical masterpiece now our big lad up front is injured. I almost forgot about the 5 minute workshop our coaching staff had arranged to bring on the replacement for Smith. Too many cocks spoil the replacement opportunity.

Ameen sold this week possibly more shit icing to come. Now to read back on this thread, love some early morning train therapy me! :)

Why bother to spend so much money on the fucking pitch if we are going to bypass it?