Thetownend.com

Hey, we’ve got a game tonight. Yay!

Sub 5000 crowd will witness a rare Town demolition job. 5-0.

Hope so. Very quickly losing the love

Will be there with daughter. I can see us losing and to quote a bit of Shakespeare this could be a winter of our discontent. The next 5 games are pivotal. I'm still with Flitcroft but I can see things getting very ugly if we don't do well over X Mas. Alternatively, we do well and we're back in the mix. The good news is that its totally in our own hands.
Not really looking forward to tonight. Will be cold and it just seems wrong to play on a Friday night when you've got a free Saturday. I have a premonition of a lot of beer.

Changing the date here represents sheer stupidity, even by our standards. I'm near enough going alone because, shock horror, every regular who usually sits within the vicinity of me is at a Christmas party. Do they genuinely think that thousands of fans would have been rushing into town to panic buy Christmas shopping on December 16th? Unbelievable. I agree with the sub-5k estimate - it could be our lowest league gate for about 15 years.

We do need to win for sure, and the absence of Norris makes me more confident that it'll happen. They've sort of hit form, but that's all the more reason why we should win - Vale and Wycombe were in form, Grimsby and Newport weren't, and the results speak for themselves.  2-1 Town.

 Pretty decent assessment by CS.  ColU are a form team who usually do well at the CG.  They start as favourites, but you never know. A draw would be acceptable.  The decision to move this game, is very strange.

No score prediction -but it will be fucking cold!  :doh: :doh: :sherlock:

They've done it a few times in recent years. The Tranmere home game when they were top of the league and we spanked them 5-0 (seemed to turn their season, and ultimately their fortunes in general) springs to mind. Good crowd that day, and atmosphere too but that was at the height of the Di Canio era.

I can't go tonight as I have an xmas party so will drunkenly check the score early tomorrow I imagine. Hope to see a good 3 points to restore some sanity to our fan base.

I think the difference with that game was it was around a week later (Friday 21st). By that point, people have finished work, the parties are done and dusted, and people might be in the process of heading away for Christmas by the weekend.

If we were at home next weekend, I'd have understood moving it to the Friday. But this weekend, it's utterly senseless.

Wait, what?

We're playing tonight?

Agreed! I'm at my Christmas party tonight annoyingly so will be keeping up to date on my phone, ah well night on the booze it is

On reflection, I'm quite pleased they've moved this as it means I now have tomorrow afternoon free to help my lad choose the bike he wants for Christmas instead of feeling obliged to go and watch a game I don't really want to go to. On the other hand, the fact that I not only don't care I'll miss the game but am actually quite pleased as it better fits my schedule tells it's own tale.

Conversely, there's a few in my group who used to be regulars but can't make Saturdays who will be in attendance tonight. Looking forward to a few beers after the game.

I'll take that as a yes.

Well, that's reet handy for me.

I could definitely understand switching the odd game to a Friday, to try and accommodate a few non-regulars.

I just think this is the worst Friday of the year on which to do it.

Yes FH, 7:45KO tonight, isn't that 2:45am for you?

Anywho, we had our xmas party yesterday. And thanks to 'compressed Friday' I can sit at home recovering this morning. Which means I get the pleasure of going later and...oh..

 Although it's a stupid decision to shift the game, it doesn't alter its importance. The Tranny game in the PdC part season has been mentioned and how their thrashing seemed to send them into a downward spiral bound for non league football, and for me it feels like we're on the cusp of something like that, unless Flitters can stop the rot.

When we are winning cup games, you are always at a rush to point out how independent / irrelevant they are, and how they should not be built in to any stats. So presumably that also applies when we have been losing them.

On that basis, we have 10 points from the last 6 games (playoff form), and are 8th with a game in hand of everyone - a win tonight would take us to 5th.

Anyway, your prediction is noted.

 

It's very difficult these days to stand still in football terms, it either seems like you go up or down, the trends can manifest themselves over a few seasons.

It's not just about results, but a feel of where the club is going, in the early part of the season it did look as if Flitters had applied a brake to the slide of the last 2 seasons, and it isn't too late to turn this current situation around. But it needs to happen quickly.

As it stands there are only 3 clubs below us Crewe, BPV, and Chesterfield who haven't been non league relatively recently, and all 3 are within a point of the drop zone. The only thing to suggest there might be a reason why we shouldn't go there ourselves is by getting points on the board, certainly the way the club is run wouldn't look out of place in the Conference.

Ok. As I said, your prediction is noted.

Which is why it feels all the more galling that we have been turned over by what I feel are, essentially, a succession of non league clubs

Stevenage, Barnet, Crawley, FGR etc. Hits home just how far we have fallen.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an evening game at the CG, and despite having a season ticket I have no enthusiasm about going to the match tonight.

We did manage to turn over both Rochdale and the Gills in mid week games last season at the CG.

Although they are 12/5 and we are 5/4

Don’t know why but I’ve just had £5 on Matt Preston to score 2 @ 200/1.

Does one at each end count?

I had actually forgotten we had a game tonight.

Draw 1-1

I don’t know which wanker thought it was a good idea to move this to a Friday night, but they need a good kick in the bollocks, going to be a right pain to try & get down for kick off.

Will probably miss the start, where we will already be a goal down & we’ll lose 1-0.

Happy Fucking Christmas 😄

So looking forward to it then Posh?!

I'm on my Christmas do tonight as well. I'll be listening to the game on my headphones so I don't have to talk to anyone.

5-0 Town or lose 3-0.

Taylor to score to night.....
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.....from the halfway line.  :pint: :pint: :pint:

Reg you've hit the nail on the head, gone are the days when a club were a solid, whatever Div they were in team. We threw promotion away from div 1 a few times in recent years especially when PDC had us firing towards the championship only to be given the boot. Now there's only one direction we're heading and with such bad home form this year and its not up! I hope we win tonight but my guts telling me another home defeat, whilst I don't think we'll go down this season at the moment going out of the league looks like our only route out of Div2.I know it sounds like a negative overreaction but I can't see anything else on the horizion.

Let's not rewrite history. He wasn't given the boot; he fucked off as soon as Black closed his wallet.

So why did the club settle his claim?
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/10568479.Town_and_Di_Canio_settle_out_of_court/

plus the fact the Sunderland chairman had his wallet open with PDC's salary hanging out of it

He threw a strop when Ritchie was sold. Then, because he couldn't have his own way, he started bleating on about his position being made untenable. He then left. Of his own accord.

The 'untenable' bit was the reason for the court case. He tried to sue the club for active dismissal, because he threw his toys out of the pram for not getting his own way, and then left, of his own accord.

He was not booted. I'm surprised this needs explaining.

If by 'booted', what you mean is: 'selling a player, causing him to have a paddy', then you'd be correct.

The ref has been changed tonight - replaced by one from Oxford!

No RCC or Harry Smith in the squad - not more strops, surely.

Well I’m in Poland so in theory should be able to pay a fiver and watch this but it isn’t obvious how as my I follow subscription is a UK season pass. Looks like I’ll listen and hope it’s a 2-1 win.

God this game is shocking.

That’s not a shock to me

Why the hell do we persist in playing a left back in centre midfield and a centre midfielder at left back?

We are playing a bit better this last 15 mins, making a couple of chances now.

Still a poor game thought.

Doesn't look much more than 5,500 to 5,700 there.

Colchester are a team of divers, and their centre back was lucky to just get a booking for fouling Woolery earlier when he had the beating of him clean through on goal.

1-0

1-0 Woolery.

Glad he’s scored.

Took it well, deflection out to him 15 yards out almost on the penalty spot and he smacked in the bottom corner with some force.

Slack defending from a corner 1-1 right on 45 mins.

1-1 HT we have had the better of the chances but still a defensive cock up not clearing the corner at the near post and they score with probably their first shot on target.

brrrrrrrrrrrr
zzzzzzzzzzzxz

Yep.

We made the kickoff (just).

Game has been rubbish, crowd is really poor & it’s bloody cold ❄️

Another atrocious game of football.  I really don't know why we don't just agree to take the toss of the coin as the victor of the game.  Our goal - set piece lucky, their goal, set piece lucky.  The rest of the game has seen the ball closer to the moon than the pitch most of the time, Taylor is especially good at this.

Indeed, Taylor looks lost today in midfield his passing very wayward but then so has every player on both sides.

McDermott is creating a few chances and Woolery's finish was excellent otherwise its been poor.

Looks like Goddard and Knoyle coming on.

I do like that some comments get picked-up on the mic due to the low crowds.  Following several years of listening to people moaning about getting it forward I heard an audible "get it on the ground" about 4 minutes in.  

Some other guy then pipes up, "come on Swindon, we want to win this!"  Such pearls of tactical genius.  There does seem to be some annoying woman recording audio relating to the match highlights - either that or she is commentating to herself at crucial times in the game.

Purkiss and Anderson gone off.

Is it worth me investing a 5er to watch the 2nd half or should  I put it on us to lose in the last 10mins?

No, the game is shit, spend your money on a couple of bottles of beer.

I couldn't tell you which way it will go, but it won't be fun.

Goddard just did an "air pass" that took us from attack to defence in 2 seconds...thats all you need to know about how this game is going to go.

It looks like Iandolo's ankles are made of rubber.

Thanks PV. I'll check the odds!

Just to prove a point....the game has not got any better since I said that! good choice to save your money.

63% possession.

Sky is a neighbourhood

2-1. Classic swindon

Taxi for Flitcroft

1-2

Poor defending from a cross at the near post, solid header in the top corner.

Not with Luton and Notts County next up. After that maybe.

True dat

God we are shit.

At least McDermott has been subbed off, he has been truly crap tonight

For me the only player who has looked up for it has been Woolery, the rest have been awful.

Can we start a thread discussing who the next manager may be yet?

Good save by Vigs at the near post stopped it bening 3-1

Taylor/Alan Mac til season’s end

Desmond 2-2

2-2 Gordon

ifollow has decided I don't really need to watch the rest of the game, I think it might be right.  I feel really sorry for those who watched last season if this is better.

What I will say though is I won't have any of the not putting the effort in criticism.  This groups tries, they are just a combination of mediocre and playing a pattern as dictated by the Manager.  Earlier on I thought Play Offs were easily achievable, even playing this way, but it seems with injuries etc. we've even lost the edge we had upfront.

As I type we score, from another set piece not being defended.  It's a complete lottery.

How apt. Just poured myself a large gin and tonic

Another set piece goal, corner came over and knocked out to the edge of the area where Gordon hits it with power through about 6 players.

3-2 colchester

2-3

Inspired sub if ever I saw one. Was considering Gordon for a goal tonight......It's a funny old game. 3-2, 2-2 or 2-3?



FFS, can't write it quick enough.  :pint: :pint: :pint:

How the fuck do we do it?

Jeebus

Cheerio Flitcroft

We cant seem to defend at all today.

Definately 2-3 they scored straight from KO.

The issue seems to be that the injuries have broken the one thing going our way, organisation.  There is no structure, which is combined with exchanging possession so frequently and the forward line being a bit all over the shop.

I’ve just left, it’s too cold to watch this shit. We are as shit as last season but in a different way, not enjoyable in anyway. Think Flitcroft is under pressure now.

Today?

Aye, I edited it as soon as I'd posted. Hence the "FFS Can't write it quick enough"  You know we (and them) are shit when neither of us can really command a game.

Conceding3 at home. V poor

Well that was shit.

Wouldn't have been so bad if Colchester were any good but they weren't, we were shocking at the back.

Nothing changes - but, ffs, something has to.

Flitcroft has to go now.

No more money in January- he had hat in the summer and has totally fucked up

A recurring theme is the defensive problem, nothing seems to be done about it. Cannot see Flitcroft lasting much longer

Worryingly, it’s a phrase we’ve said a lot this season. The sides we are playing are shit and we are still losing.

Bollocks to Boxing Day.

You’re losing money with this plum in charge, Lee.

5 defeats on the bounce. 3 of them league games.

It's not often managers last beyond 6. I'm not necessarily trying to say he should go, but it's about the worst possible time of the season for a manager to go on such a poor run.

2 more to come in all probability with Notts County and Luton up next. Either he goes now if Power is even contemplating throwing any more money at it in January. Or he writes off this season and gives Taylor/Alan Mac a go for 6 months.

Either way Flitcroft seems intent on replicating his Bury stint.

Power in.

What a load of shit

I hope Power learns the lesson from last season and sorts this out quickly.
My fear is that he'll wait till Flitcroft takes us to the Conference before he does anything.

... or power puts his trust in Flitcroft and allows him to do some re-structuring in the transfer window.

Power had patience in both Williams and Cooper. There's no telling what he might be thinking.

I was gonna take a game in over the Xmas break. Think I'll give it a miss.

Pro Problem is I don’t want him to allow Flitcroft to do restructuring, it’s clear this is his style of play and it’s equally as shit to watch as Williams. Worst thing is we aren’t even building for the future as there’s no one you can see playing for us for any length of time. Only we could go from one extreme to the polar opposite, assuming Flitcrofts interview was his usual bollocks using all the buzzwords in the managers handbook.

Well, I'm not sure how a 5 goal game can be the opposite of a thriller, but it was.

First half was low quality. Its true to say we were as bad as each other. So 1-1 probably fair but extremely  frustrating we conceeded in the last seconds of the half. From a set piece.

And from a set piece again in the second. Though we scored from a corner too.

Poor old Iandolo has been turned into a left back. I like him, he's got promise. And he did OK. Until he got caught out of position for the winner. Because he's not a left back. Unlike Taylor.

Fuck knows what the second half formation was supposed to be. Presumably Goddard and Mullin supporting him. I don't think the players knew WTF was supposed to be happening either. Woolery isolated up front, fuck all help from midfield and a not too convincing defence. If that was the plan they aced it.

Oh and Goddard was shite tonight.

did they announce the att this time

6020, seemed smaller to me but it can sometimes be hard to tell

cheers Batch

They said 6,020 but I find that very difficult to believe

Flitcroft pretty unrepentant in the interview. When asked about creativity, he said we scored two goals and that should be enough to win if we stop giving goals away.

Sent from my HTC U11

What a pile of shite. I couldn't pick a mom. Colchester were another shit side to beat us. Defensively we were a joke. The midfield was shit and the attack had no service. To concede 3 goals to a team as shit as Colchester is beyond shite. Yet again we have no leadership or midfield. Despite 5 goals that game was devoid of any quality or entertainment. It doesn't look good. Lucky I have had beer.

Just saw their second again. Vigs should be saving that.

I love your match reports Chalks. Reminds me of Roger Mellie from Viz  :D

At least Saturday isn’t ‘ruined!’ Our home form is a joke. Second worst to Sunderland in 2017 apparently.

How many goals has Vigs conceded since he’s come back into the side? Surely no coincidence that we look shambolic.

Sadly another home defeat is just another shrug of the shoulders rather than it being the end of the world.

Enjoy your Christmas shopping folks.

Reading back through the comments I saw exactly the same as anyone who was at the game, defence shaky as hell, midfield non existent for long periods, and a forward (and I use the word singularly as Woollery was on his own a great deal of the time) getting very little out of a large uncompromising centre half.

The team does not work hard enough, wins very few "second" balls, cannot seem to make the ball "stick" and often are far too late to react when the opposition are in possession. Currently we are a shambles all over the place, no finesse, very little skill, even less organisation and bloody awful to watch.

Incidentally the crowd figure given (which obviously includes all the ST holders) had to be a joke as the empty seats all around the ground pointed to far less in actual attendance, so the rational decision to move the game probably back-fired rather badly.

Well I've had a good night.  Went to see Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra Ibiza Classics at the 02.  Absolutely brilliant.

Clearly the same can't be said for tonight's performance considering we've lost again.  Home record is nothing short of pathetic.  Lose the next game and in my opinion, Flitcroft needs to go.  Get a new manager in before the January transfer window closes.  No point giving more money to a manager who seemingly is taking us nowhere.

Sat in bed after a consuming a considerable amount of vodka and still haven't thawed out properly.

Fuck me, fair play to anyone who brought their kids along tonight.
Die hards of the future hopefully.
That was a sub 5k attendance tonight.
Must be counting ST holders regardless. If Arsenal can do it then so can we.

I knew that we would concede from that corner at the end of the first half.
The sarcastic "oh yessss" crew were in attendance in the DRS, so the result was a foregone conclusion.

Just don't look like scoring from open play at the moment which is a concern.
Woolery motm for me. Nothing to lose in just giving him a run in the side.
I like Smith, but he seems to come across as disinterested for some reason. Not been mentioned as having an injury so who knows.

Anderson completely anonymous in the first half.
Disappointing from a self confessed "winner".
Hussey is a big miss and his unresponsive groin has completely upset the balance of this team.

Just no tempo tonight at all.
I keep expecting a big hand to just reach down and pick Linganzi up by the scruff of the neck, give him a good shake and shout "for fucks sake man, you are much better than this".
Late in the second half, has possession, first time ball on to the right back in loads of space. Nope, takes that extra touch. Frustration.

A decent tempo should be set from the keeper.
Not from Lawrence though, just play the game at your own pace son, nobody will mind.

Sorry for rambling & I could go on.
Goddard, my word, having played in the Conference he must be prepared for the physicality at this level.
Not a bit of it, has he been set back by the previous coaching regime? There is a decent player in there somewhere.
Felt sorry for Iandolo. Promising player, played out of position but must have had some friends & family amongst the match sponsors.

Flitters is doing OK. I'm with Flasher, give him a chance to do something in the window and see where it leads. When he came in the summer it was a very difficult job, essentially rebuild a club heading for the Conference. Power can say he's providing a budget for promotion, but he's not doing anything different to the likes of ColU. I'm confident that Flitters won't take us down.

"

includes all the season ticket holders, and there a lot of those missing tonight!  Actual attendees probably closer to 5,500.

I think he gets a bit narky at such questions.

nobody wants to be Morsheaded

Agree pretty much with everything there.

I thought the crowd was sub 5k. Big gaps in the drs where people would normally be. We really are shit at the moment and continual losses to shit sides proves we are where we belong to be. A shit side in a shit division. This could very well be our worst finish for over 30 years. I'm struggling to see how flitcroft can turn this around given that he continues the same shit re Taylor and iandolo. The effort and camaraderie appears to have gone walkies. Vigs does not appear to give the slightest shit and others body language is not good.

The body language/camaraderie comments are worrying. How do you turn that around, it’s not something that you can just ‘fix’. Does DF have the relevant man manager skills to do it? I have my doubts given the way things ended at Bury.

Of course i will be very happy to be proved wrong.

I'm surprised at your positivity Reg 😁.  I'm struggling to
see any evidence of rebuilding though if I'm honest.  Most of the players are either loanees on nearing the end of the careers, with a few that don't fit into either of those categories thrown in. 

He might not take us down, but unless something significantly changes he's clearly not going to take us up this season Attendances continue to drop including season ticket holders not bothering to go. Realistically how many will renew for another season of bottom tier football which has no enjoyment level whatsoever? 

Rebuilding, is a relative term. Flitters was starting with more or less nothing, a broken club heading for the Conference. He has at least shown some evidence of starting to put that right, it was never likely to be a seamlessly smooth transition. Even in this poor run, we have at times got back into games, and Stevenage aside haven't been hammered.  Had the home/away form been reversed people would be more positve.

I think Reg has had his account hacked!

Was the fixture changed to accommodate Xmas shopping?

Shit gate and the Club shop closed today...... Epic fail!

club shop is closed today? wft? glad I managed to get in yesterday then or there would be a less disappointed Bristol Rovers fan come Christmas.

and I've no idea why it was moved, presumably xmas shopping clash. and unless the other end of the drs was packed that attendance is dubious