Thetownend.com

A long way off granted but lets say we dont get in the playoffs which i dont think we will .

Where do wee need to improve to aim for the play offs ?

I reckon a new left back vincent is good but we could do with better imo .

Right winger for competition more than anything else, two new strikers and two new centre midfielders.

What do you reckon

A decent creative midfielder as a matter of prioirty and another striker

A pacey striker.

Another right winger.

A creative central midfielder [x2?]

Another left back.

That's for a serious promotion push, obviously keeping the main base of this squad as it is now and getting rid of the players we really don't need (Sturrock; Pook; etc.).

I'm going to support the reserves next season.

The midfield needs sorting. On their day all are good, but I'm not convinced by any of our wingers ability to be consistent. And obviously Easton and Peacock need a player to complement their hard work <insert obvious joke here>.

I think we are a striker short, assuming Corr is unfit. If Paynter can get his confidence up maybe he can do the job though?

Gonna need a new keeper when Brez leaves.
Dont think smithy is good enough,not if we want to establish ourselves up a level.

another central midfielder....another striker....

...yep,I've now seen Ashikodi and I'm not impressed

disagree about vincent he's missed badly when not in the side.keeps it simple and goes about his job well.a leader and a talker too.

we need a 20+ goal scorer.cox could be that man but aint there yet.
a centre mid better than what we have is the most crucial player we need imo.
apart from that we are pretty strong i reckon.but if player lack form-ie roberts, then obviously those areas will need replacing.

understand what your saying about vincent but part of that is due to not having a real capable replacement .In my opinion Next season we need to sort something out in the striker department when one is suspended we are fucked at the moment, Ashikodi has showed nothing sturrock not good enough and we just cant rely on corr at all

neither Vincent or Nicholas are good enough, neither are the central mids, also one more striker, we should then be there or thereabouts

We have 3 good strikers in Corr, Cox and Paynter but maybe another one wouldn't do any harm. We deffo need a creative centre mid though. A left back is not as urgent as the midfield but it would be nice to get one in. Think we are fine out wide though.

Easton?

Disagree. Can't remember Smithy giving a bad performance when given an opportunity, whereas Brez has made quite a few blunders this season.

For a proper promotion push, ie a real go for an automatic spot, we'll need a major overhaul. With the exception of Cox, Aljofree, Ifil and possibly Easton, the squad we've got at the moment (Based on what they've done this season) don't cut it.

As someone else said, we've got too many players who only seem able to play to their full potential once every 3, 4 or 5 games and you don't win promotion with players like that.......................

When we played forest we competed really well,the game was won with a moment of quality,i would rather we baught a couple of quality players other than six squad players,the players weve got are good honest players,but not many can change a match with a moment of quality like tysons goal .

When we played forest we competed really well,the game was won with a moment of quality,i would rather we baught a couple of quality players other than six squad players,the players weve got are good honest players,but not many can change a match with a moment of quality like tysons goal .

When we played forest we competed really well,the game was won with a moment of quality,i would rather we baught a couple of quality players other than six squad players,the players weve got are good honest players,but not many can change a match with a moment of quality like tysons goal .

Agree with that-though I'd add Comminges to the list

A new ground.

I'm not fussed about a new ground, especially if it was moved.

and Billy Paynter and Lee Peacock.....and JP McGovern.

I don't think we'll get anywhere under Malpas... so i say we'll need a new gaffer. I know it's early days, but i just get a gut feeling that he hasn't got what it takes motivationally or tactically to get the best out of a team

Motivation does seem to be an issue.....

If we play with peacock as a regular centre midfielder we wont push for the playoffs. He is not attack minded enough

How do you know motivation seems to be a problem? Team seems pretty up for most games to me...

Neither of us said we knew, only opinions.

dare I say it .... another manager? :|

Points per game:

Malpas = 1.57

Byrne = 1.11

Sturrock = 1.47

if we dont play with Peacock as a regular centre midfielder we arent strong enough in the middle and teams will walk through our midfield, like Forest did Saturday.

Not if he isn't motivated enough DV

Peacocks always motivated  :D

as far as im aware, and I could be wrong apart from 1 game we've lost every game Peacock has missed injured.

I bet Malpas demotivates him somehow. Probably tells him his tattoos will look shit in 30 years time before every game.

Yeah, and that he's got a stupid accent.

and a crap imitation dell boy jacket.

I don't think we can get anyone more motivated than Peacock tbh, he always gives 100%

Even if he's called a City reject by Aaron Brown before every game?

Nice one, stats like that make me happy.

so does pook fuck it lets not worry about ability anymore

It's about the only serious post I've made today in this thread  :)

Peacocks got ability though....

Short term stats, it looks good. I just don't feel too positive about his long term abilities as a manager.

whats that his goalscoring or his defence splitting passes?

peacocks abilty is limited.
his game is virtually all about effort.
pook, in time could be a better player.whether he will or not remains to be seen

If we as Swindon fans were to pick a team from all sides in this division, I believe the only one from our squad who MIGHT get in would be Brez.

I think that says it all ... we have no stars, we do have great team spirit, we need a couple of quality players in the midfield and then the team might gel.

Players like Corr, Cox and Paynter will never give the returns they are capable of without the proper service from the middle of the park.

Looking at the side -- keepers GOOD tick
central defenders - Ifil Aljofree Kanyuka GOOD tick
full backs - Vincent Comminges Smith Nicholas OK tick .. maybe a better left back?
midfield - Peacock and Easton and Pook OK tick - need one quality central midfielder
wings - JPM Zaaboub McNamee Roberts ok - maybe need a goalscoring winger?? tho low priority
stikers - Cox Corr Paynter Sturrock - Cox and Corr ok but 2nd priority after quality central mid is a new striker who can score a few -- maybe Parkin??

my side for next year

Brez
Comminges Ifil Aljofree new LB
McNamee Peacock NEW CM Zaaboub
Cox New F


So all in all only 3 players out really

Please please please stop it how and why is peacock a better option than easton

because he has charisma.
footballing ability is second to alot of fans.hence why he won player of the year last season

I can't fault Peacocks commitment and he comes across as a likeable bloke, but if we want a side that can realistically challenge for automatic promotion next season we need quality players in every position.

It'll be interesting to see what MM does in the summer with regard to the squad and how much financial backing he'll be given.

As for Malpas not being the man for the job, you can only go on what he's done since he's been here, with a team he mostly inherited.

I'm fairly happy with Malpas except for the fact that he picks Pook.What do managers see in this bloke?Someone said earlier that he could get better but the bloke cant shoot pass or head a ball.He runs around a lot and puts a few tackles in but I do that on a Sunday morning!

to be fair pook only really plays when we have no other option

His work rate, his effort, his commitment, his heading ability, his distribution, he use of the ball, his tackling, his breaking up of play, his leadership, his comminication, his tracking back.

He doesnt score goals or come out with defence splitting passes, but that isnt his job is it.

His job to break up play and stop the opposition playing, giving them no time on the ball and he does that.

When he wins the ball, he uses it well and finds the simple pass.

I think our current bunch of players is better than some are giving them credit for. I dont think we need a major overhaul to have a proper play off push.

If we hadnt of changed managers and had that spell where we had what seemed like half our team out injured who knows....there was also the first few games where we lacked some strikers. Cox, Paytner and a fit Barry Corr from the start of the season....

The main thing we've lacked this season for the most part is a striker partnership. The best one is Paynter and Cox hopefully they'll get a run in the side now.

Brezovan

Comminges
Ifil
Aljofree
Vincent

JPM
Peacock
Easton
McNamee

Paynter
Cox

Get those 11 playing every week and hopefully they will add a bit of consistency to their game.....and we'll do alright.

Dv thats what easton is their for we do not need two of the same in the middle is all i am trying to say

Where as right now I think we do need both of them in there.

I dont know about you, but I was at Forest on Saturday and our midfield lack the same steel it does with Peacock in there.

Again, every game Peacock has missed this season with injury we've missed him.....

The way we play, we have two in the middle who to break up play and supply the wingers. Its then their job to get the ball in the box and set up the goals.

Really, Easton should be the one getting further forward he's got better attacking attributes than Peacock has

He looked a little rusty saturday,understandably but I  have to now admit that we miss Peacock

We should get a team full of blacks and be sponsered by Desmonds. That would be fucking quality, also sell rice and peas and jerk chicken in the concourses  8)

I'd agree with that. A quality playmaker alongside Easty is what we really need.

A decent reserve keeper for Smith or Brez if one leaves would be all I'd add.

I'd agree with that. A quality playmaker alongside Easty is what we really need.

A decent reserve keeper for Smith or Brez if one leaves would be all I'd add.

Agreed, that's Sturrock's style and on a good day (vs Cheltenham) it works. As we have Sturrock's team this is a style we should stick to and try to exploit as successfully as possible for the rest of the season. To this end, Peacock is a decent midfielder for us. And he must also have the best aerial ability of any midfielder in our division.

Malpas obviously wants to change the style and have a creative central midfielder, hence the McGovern experiment, so he will no doubt be looking for one in the summer. As the McGovern experiment proved though, we don't have anyone who can do it at the moment, so stick with what you know should be the policy.

And to be honest, good creative midfielders are probably quite hard to come by at this level, which is no doubt why Sturrock developed a system to win lower league football matches without one in the first place.

Reading this stuff my mind wanders back to 67/68....we had a decent side for this level,  good going forward,  so strong at home but very dodgy away. Inconsistency cost us though and we finished 10th...no PO's then so a long way off the top 2, needed for promotion.

  In the close season Dannny Williams made two or three changes, Mel Nurse wanted to return to Wales, so Frank Burrows came in a like for like swap.  Pat Terry, who was a journeyman (but very good) striker left.

  But the next move was the key....Williams brought in John Smith....Smith was a a play maker, he wore number 9, but played deep, Peter Noble was pushed up front more or less on his own.

 Wallop....we had the best side in our post war history.

 We got Smith from Torquay, where he'd gone to graze and drink cider...he was overweight, and had been close to a career at the top with both Spurs and West Ham, but he was a footballer who could pass.

 I guess its what good management is all about being able to see what's required, and having a bit of luck in it turning out.

 We need an equivalent of Smith.....I suppose in more recent times Micky Hazard, would be that type of player....again ex Spurs, and a playmaker.   Someone who didn't quite make it at the top.

  Paul Evans, briefly last season, showed the sort of thing we need.