Thetownend.com

Well, Flitcroft is back, 4D is back. Game on.
My first game in three and a half years, and yes I'm meeting up with some Tefers for pre match shandies. I got totally bladdered last time  :)

1-1

By the way I posted this at 12.05, dunno why it says 11.59.

Could make all the difference.

First time I saw us play Stags... Keith East scored 5... never seen it since, a few 4's, including as recently as PdC..... James Collins, uniquely as a sub v Pompey.

I'd settle for an unliklely 2 from anybody later.

Alzate and Doughty have to start for me. Would like to see a diamond with team looking something like:

Vigs
Knoyle woolfenden nelson taylor
Dave
Alzate doughty
Anderson
Adebayo woolery

2-1 Swindon, Matt Preston scoring for them & giving away a penalty

Come on Brown, the turnaround starts today.

I’m going today. Flitcroft coming back should be the motivation we need. With Woolery getting better and Doughty back from injury those should be the ingredients for a 4-1 win.

Town have won their last 3 meeting between the sides and Mansfield have only won 2 of the last 14 meetings with Swindon winning 7 of them.

At the CG Mansfield haven't won here since 1977 a run of 10 games without a win for them with Swindon winning 8 of those games, we have also won the last 6 meetings at the County Ground scoring 11 goals and conceding only 2 in the process.

In all matches at the CG every game played has been in the league, 22 matches with Swindon winning 16 of those and Mansfield only winning 3 a win ratio of 73%.

Our opponents currently sit 1 place lower than us in 14th place with just 1 league defeat all season, they have scored 1 less than Town but conceded 9 less than us. Thier form so far has been WDDDDWLDWDD they are the draw specialists with 7 of their 11 games so far being draws.

Revenge would be sweet against Flipflop who bailed on us last season while both teams were in the play off places and neither of our sides even got into the play offs in the end. The is little love for Flipflop around these parts apart from maybe Reg who often extols his virtues as a lower league manager. Saying that there are not many will praise Brown either at the moment!

Mansfield seem to have a problem scoring but are defensively better under his management.

We can't seem to defend very well at the moment and also have problems scoring.

0-1 defeat not many chances for either side and Preston scoring from a corner to win the game.

5,835 in attendance with 202 Stags fans in attendance.

Hopefully Doughty is fit and Nelson plays, I would like to see Richards and Taylor dropped with a side of.

                        LM
Knoyle, Nelson, Woolf, Conroy, Iandolo
                Toums
           Alzate, Doughty(Smith),
        Anderson
                     Bayo (Woolery)

Gotta be 0-0 with the new XTC goal song coming into play today

I sneaked in to that Mansfield match after half time, having played a Borough League game, saw the last couple of goals. Our home pitch was in Cricklade Road towards the Moonies, can't remember the name of the ground...
East had scored 4 the week before against Merthyr Tydfil in the FA Cup too, in front of 15,962. Happy days...

Ah yes, Crowdys Hill

I like it when a normally run of the mill game has some added interest through the actions of one individual.

Nothing will ever beat the hostility from the stands or the calculated brutality on the pitch that greeted Joey Beauchamp on his return to the CG.

Was half expecting, that by now, 'Flitters fritters' would be descriptive of both what happens to his playing budgets and also of his next employment venture.

Any abuse that he gets will be entirely warranted.

Most important thing is to get back on track with a win.
If we lose then the microwave door might be shut a bit harder than necessary when next used.

Where do you drink pre match for home games Wobbly? I’m guessing up old town?

The sun is shining, XTC are the goal music, the snakey fucker ex-manager is back and I'm looking forward to the game. I'd love it if we beat him, love it.

All that considered, based on past such expectation well lose 2-0.

(https://media3.giphy.com/media/grm05UPXsFNGU/giphy.gif)

Normally give the beer a miss for home games unless it's a more significant match such as a local derby (a 'traditional' one) or big cup game. So it looks like a dry one at home this season!

Boozer of choice would be The Savoy.

4-1 town  att 7130

Just for the record, I'll repeat that my thoughts are that Flitcroft did OK, given the circumstances of coming into an essentially broken club, late and so needed to rebuild the very basics, we were in the PO slots when he left.

I don't get the outers and haters... what is particularly strange is that having wanted the fella gone, when he does go they're up in arms about it.  Realistically it was probably the compensation, that enabled us to get a manager of Brown's experience, and given they've got a bit more "football" into the bargain surely they should be happy with Flitcroft. 

Certainly had Power taken their advice and sacked him in December, the hole in the budget would not have been made up to enable a proper appontment.

Got to be a 100% improvement on what we witnessed in Exeter last week, possession is ok but somebody needs to start making and taking chances.  Hope the body languag of a couple of players will be better than last week - if selected!  Heart says a win, head thinks a draw. 

I don't recall any outcry to sack Flipflop in December and I was certaintly not one of them. I wanted him to finish what he started, I am not a fan of sacking somebody in their first season and that still applies to how I feel about Brown also.

The problems I had with Flipflop was that he was a poor tactician, made poor substitutions, played several players well out of their natural position and the football was as poor quality as I have seen in my 40+ years of following Swindon.

I was upset that he quit a the time he quit as it disrupted our push to the play offs but I was not upset that he quit.

I still stand by my judgement that he is a poor jobbing lower league manager and Brown is (despite his current form) a far better man manager and tactitician than Flipflop will ever be.

He’s just one of those blokes it’s very easy to dislike. So any small reason to is readily seized upon.

Fucking twat

http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=57210.0

Majority wanted him gone....

Don't remember much about it at the time TBH - I just remember that we were playing some shocking football at that time and he was making a LOT of bad choices with team selection, tactics and substitutions, reiterating my point about him being a pretty shit manager.

That was at a time when he was on an atrocious run. He was fortunate that Power stuck with him, a lot of owners would have got rid. And look how Power was repaid...

I'm glad he went, but he was a massive cunt for doing so.

I think the question was worth asking.

In a spiteful football fan way, I wish we axed before he ditched us  :)

Looking through that old thread, why did Don Roger’s Sock ditch the TEF?

We never went more than 3 league games without a win under Flitcroft, hardly atrocious, more the sort of pattern that suggests a slightly better than average season.  By your logic, Brown would now be unemployed as he's on 4 league games without a win.

Wouldn't disagree with much of what you've said Reg.

As far as Flitcroft is concerned there might be a fair few, not being 'outers and haters', but whose main issue is with the jumping ship and the timing of it. He can dress it up as much as he likes, but at the end of the day it was a betrayal of the club and rendered everything that he said about the 'project' and 'commitment' as just empty rhetoric.

As an irrational football fan, there can be no forgiveness.

They are missing Bishop today - who, according to Stags fans, is their most influential midfielder.

No bashing the Bishop today, then

Vigs starts, doughty back

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dp8-b_UXcAIgtZc.jpg:large)

How the fuck do Taylor and Richards justify a starting spot?

Also Lancashire ahead of Woolf? not for me.

No complaints with that team. You can argue Richards and wolfie is unlucky. But it's ok by me

I still can’t see why both Lancashire and Richards start. I honestly can’t.

Elsnik and Preston starting for them today.

Unlikely to be many running updates from me today as I will only be half watching up until HT anyway.

Also won't be able to watch along on Tuesday as I am in Birmingham :(

In the Cgh for the first time in years

Agreed, for the 2nd game running PB has put out the wrong starting eleven.Lets hope we get away with it.

I have to agree, he has picked the wrong team for me, lets hope they click and play a lot better than last week.

Just got into ground and seen the team.

Struggle to see how Richards still starts, he's offered nothing all season unfortunately. Rather Woolf over Lancs as well.

Good to see Doughty back but I think we are going to lose this one, 1-3.

Is Conroy injured?

Team selection  :no: :no: :no:

TBF Richards looking better and winning some balls, Bayo not at the races so far.

Pretty average first 15 mins.

Richards rush of blood with that challenge. Yellow for Richards.

Zero creativity so far.

Yellow for Toums, 35 yards out central, professional foul.

Good save by Vigs, simple but well saved.

Flipflop has his team going to ground very easily, typical tactic of his.

Give them a chance, once our wingers start stretching their back line and we flood their box with runners, it'll be fine

A game pretty devoid of any excitement so far.

piss poor game right now.

they are looking to get between our defenders with a ball over the top, a la Exeter. and it's nearly worked once or twice

Atkinson is a dirty fucker.

Yellow for Atkinson, could easily have been a red.

Mid table Div 4 fare, next goal wins

Bayo wastes a really good position, hes really not playing well today.

Bayo, Alzate and Anderson all off the boil so far.

Great move by Bayo sets up Anderson but its saved, out for a corner to Town.

Absolutely terrible corner from Anderson.

Watching on IFollow.   I'm hobbling about on crutches after a knee op last week. I think my ball control would still be better than Bayo's today...

Town getting more of a grip on the game last 10 mins.

Atkinson off

pfffft, 10 men Mansfield..

Atkinson red card, dirty fucker.

Utterly brainless by Atkinson.

We really don’t create much, do we?

Taylor nice cross to the near post, backheel flick from Alzate just wide.

Also, this is the worst I’ve seen Bayo, by a long way.

I'm in the town end, Flitcroft has been mentioned a couple of times  :)

Carzy legs Bayo falls over his own feet in a nice position.

Mansfield beginning to look quite strecthed at the back, especially at right back.

Time for Woolery

0-0 HT

I would bring Woolery on for Anderson or Alzate.

Richards playing a bit better today, Bayo started poorly but got into the game after the sending off.

Mansfield aren't offering much up front.

Much is an exaggeration

much <= 0

As usual contributes nothing threatening.

From the Mansfield fans...

Mansfield bring on Des Walkers son up front.

Lovely run and cross by Bayo but Anderson couldn't convert the cross.

Blatant foul on Bayo missed by the ref.

Anderson and Alzate really are offering nothing today, I would get Woolery on for his pace alone.

High defensive line by Mansfield  this half. Right ball and we are in

Preston hauls down Bayo in the corer just outside the box.

Not a great delivery from Anderson.

What is happening - Accrington winning at the Posh now 3rd and we are slipping to non league!

Free kick against Doughty for a nothing challenge, poor decision ref just outside our box.

JMcG coming on for Toums???

Great cross in and Richards heads straight at the keeper, poor miss.

A man down and they still look more likely to score than we do.

Come on PB get Woolery on for Alzate or Anderson, or even Richards.

Richards FFS

Foul given against them on McGlashan, Richards missed a sitter really though.

Another awful free kick from Taylor, ho hum.

Woolery on for Richards.

Gave the ball away on our box too easily, poor finish by Mansfield, should probably have scored.

Woolery gets a shot on target but with no power easy save.

Bayo miss from a few yards after a lovely cross by McGlashan, difficult chance.

6208 (320)

6,208 there with 320 Stags.

Taylor has been really poor today, poor free kicks and very poor passing in general.

Mansfield time wasting tactics.

Nice control by Woolery sets up a cross for McGlashan, corner to Swindon.

Good corner by Town should have got a shot in there, poor ball from Knoyle at the end of it. Poor.

Good run by Bayo but he can't shoot.

Iandolo on for Bayo.

Taylor long cross just beyond Anderson.

Lovely move by Anderson but nobody on the end of his cross.

Town pressurising Mansfield but can't get that final ball in.

Mansfield are a very very average L2 side, we should be beating them and all the teams like them really.

Did we go down to 10 instead of Mansfield?

two shots, a free kick that hit the post and a couple of nearly but not quite.

not been brilliant

Problem is Swindon are just as bad. Up against 10 men and struggling to create chances. Regardless if we sneak a 1-0 win, the football played is garbage

Iandolo cross needs to be saved.

Its been a poor game between 2 poor sides.

Nelson header inches wide.

Getting your regular dig in early I see StefTroll  :pint:

Taylor MoM?

Really? hes been shocking apart from one free kick.

Lancashire terrible long pass.

People see what they want to see, Taylor has been our only player of any creative ability all game. We’ve been awful again.

Mansfield are a dirty bunch of wankers. 6 bookings and a sending off for them today.

Totally disagree, his passing and running and tracking back today have been poor, his free kicks and corners (1 excepted) have been rubbish.

I agree we have been rubbish though.

Another terrible pass by Anderson from a good position.

Lovely block by Vigs, great pass and almost a good finish by Anderson.

Mansfield set up before the sending off for a 0-0 and thats exactly what it looks like they will get, rubbish game between 2 poor sides, we had a lot better of the passing but created little.

I know you disagree and I disagree with you. So let’s agree to disagree soapy tit wank.

0-0 poor game.

Fuck off, Brown.

:D agreed.

I think my tickets to the Brown out camp are in the post.

That was poor. Poor against a poor Mansfield team that was a man down for most of the game.

Vigs trying to get to Flitcroft or lurch at the end?  had to be escorted down the tunnel

Mansfield are a bunch of dirty moaning bastards and we couldnt break them down, we looked a bit better today than last week but still can't score....we still need a striker despite what Reg says.

game was wank

Doesn’t he ever learn.

No cutting edge, that was all. My first game in three and a half years, will I go again? Yeah, been OK apart from the result and the lack of a cutting edge. The flash bought me a pint too  :)

2 points dropped. Mansfield won’t be troubling the playoffs based on that (likewise Swindon).

We seem to be doing better defensively as of late but lack any real cutting edge upfront. Up against 10 men at home for 45 minutes you should be pushing on and looking to win.

Wouldn’t mind if Swindon gave it a right go and came up short. It was just to much pedestrian like
Football with a lack of end product.

Was a poor match between two average L2 teams (that sometimes show a willingness to be better than that). Hard lines. A strange one, we could and should have won it. I think we still know what is glaringly missing from the team and I'm sure PB knows it too. Get in a goalscoring forward and a proper LB, and I still think we'll skip up the table. Looks like we're going to have to grit it out until Jan though.

It won't be popular but I still back Brown.

Brown hasn't totally lost my backing, today we put in more effort than last week at Exeter but we need to start getting better results, but you can't win unless you score and you can't score if you don't shoot. We don't shoot.

Get Brown out now! Why sub adebayo who had the beating of Preston for iandolo? The guy is pointless need to get rid. We are going nowhere this season as it is.
 

It’s his refusal to bin Lancashire, Richards and Taylor that pisses me off - although Stags fans thought Taylor was brilliant!

This for me too.

Brown out.

Slightly baffling as well was taking off Bayo and Toums, both of which were not the worst players out there for us.

Both Alzate and Anderson were having stinkers and Doughty looked knackered for the last 10 to 15 mins.

We’d be better off with Flitcroft

I wouldn't go that far, but I've given up on Brown.

To be replaced by whom?

Taylor - if it gets him off the pitch!

Shit game, against 2 shit teams, with a shit ref. No urgency, no cutting edge and no fucking clue.

Somebody that isn't Brown. Or Flitcroft. I think Batch put his hat in the ring last time around, might as well give him a shot.

Me too.

After reading some extracts from his book I wonder if Mark Walters would be worth considering

We are Batchs' Red & White Army

I haven't totally given up on him just yet but the next 2 games are crucial a home game with Cambridge who are 2nd bottom who havent won in 8 league games and then Notts County away who are 4th bottom and got beat 4-0 today by Bury.

If we don't win either of those then its a no from me to brown.

At this moment if Hull came in willing to take him off our hands I wouldn't stop him going.

Rod Hull and Brown? Got a ring to it.

A complete punt that could be disastrous and could also be a revelation?

Yes please.

That was painful viewing, the team appear to be going backwards.  Players who looked decent starting to perform badly as well.  Brown seems to be making a mess of it.  Mansfield looked useless as well, even with 11.  That could have been a Flitcroft team playing a Flitcroft team today.

I’ve supported Brown until today but my patience has run out.

Yes this display was better than last week- however his record with us is shocking.

Played 24 won 6-25% win rate.

Subs today were baffling Adebayo had Preston for dinner last ten mins he was on yet gets substituted!

Brown either wins Tuesday or he should be out in my opinion

Fuck that. Its a hiding to nothing with this squad.

I'm in a quandary with Brown. Its been said He's cocked up by relying on Richards as our main goal threat, and Taylor is looking at the end of the road too - though he put sa couple of good balls in today.

I can understand why he took that risk, it could have worked out even though I hadn't expected it to.

Brown isn't a total turd that would get us relegated, but do I think given the window we'd end up play challengers. Probably not.

Can’t see what we have to lose by taking a punt

May as well give my twopenneth on the match.

Ref was wank.

OPPO: They looked dangerous early on trying to hit over the top between our two central defenders, and it nearly worked. They also forced a very good save out of Vigs in the first half, but after the sending off they created little . They did force Vigs into "sweeper keeper" late on with a good intercepting tackle.

Us: In a very disjointed performance. I thought the defense largely did well. The midfield kind of misfired a bit, Alazte was disappointing today,  Dave's distribution was off but he did protect and break up play.
Up top:  Anderson poor. Richards Poor. Adebeyo Poor. The latter had started to run Preston (who looked a bit pukka pied up). Then got subbed.
Actually thought McGlashen looked OK today when he came on. Can he play on the left, because I'd have had him terrifying Preston.

All in all we look devoid of goals and it was a frustrating, poor game.

Eh... back in the summer I pointed out that the sale of Norris and Mullin left the squad looking significantly weaker up front... further I suggested that replacing 2 who scored 19 betwen them last season with a loan kid Bayo, was asking an awful lot of him.

What I have said is that you don't need a striker who gets you 20 goals a season, fine if you've got one.... but not necessary as all the stats prove.

Franchise are in the auto slots and have scored the same number as us.... they've made better use of their goals by being solid defensively.

You can think of seasons, where Cox and Ajose were 20+ men and we nearly went down, whereas none of our 3 autos out of Div 4 have had a 20 goal striker.

Div 4 is attritional football, Stags have lost 1 game this season, so are hard to beat, which is how it panned out, so no real surprise.

Tuesday was always the more important game as it does represent a genuine opportunity to get a win.... a shame therefore that Cambridge got a very decent point today at Lincoln, so their confidence will be high.  We need a win soon, otherwise our safe midtable perch will come under a bit of threat.

Our football league status....

League status if we were to do it mid-season.

Sums it up exactly.

We could lose that with an experienced manager in charge as well?

Just as likely to lose our league status if we keep Brown

I don't see us in danger of relagation right now

I disagree, Brown should have enough to keep us up, we have only lost 4 in 14, so have picked up something from 10 of our games... OK too many draws to really mount a challenge, and we do ned a win soon

Poor first half, Mansfield have to be one of the most boring teams in this piss poor league, conning the ref (who was a total tosser) at every opportunity.  Did enough to win the game in the second half without really looking like we were going to.  Guess Tuesday night will be yet another formation and we will look as disjointed as today.

Brown seems desperate to me.  His inclination to make changes, to get players into the team that probably aren't really up to fitness (Doughty today, Richards earlier on), the substitutions also seem like throws of a dice rather than any sort of calculated plan.  Taking off Diagouraga might have made some sense if you are trying to get more attacking players on the pitch but he just slotted Doughty into the same role who was clearly not up a full 90 minutes at any sort of pace.  Adebayo was mostly shit today but bringing on Iandolo to play the same role was never going bring much reward - the option for getting Iandolo would have been Taylor, especially with them down to 10, or you just don't use him.

It seemed obvious a few weeks ago, a new left back in the January window and we had to hope Woollery would replace Richards and bring goals.  Those are both still there but other areas seem to be unraveling.  It's not clear to me what his plan is.  We completely changed formation and style in the first half, playing it long all the time.  Adebayo seemed to be upfront with Richards at that point and we haven't really played like that before.  That follows a couple of games trying a back 3.  It's just smacking of not knowing the right solutions, or having any sort of plan.  The signing of a player like McGlashan makes sense if you intend to go with wide men, but then he didn't get anyone for the left, it's all over the shop, and that is precisely what we looked like today.  There is some talent for this level in the squad, but nobody seems to know their job, apart from Nelson, with the outfield players.  I mean, how do we keep ending up with Taylor as last man defending when we have set pieces?

Sorry, didn't see Reg had posted similar. Must've been writing at a similar time.

I get what you mean but doing that could ruin a manager in his first gig. Talk about dunking upside down in the deep end! At least Brown is made of stronger stuff, however I don't think he'll take us down. I'm sure he's itching to move a few players on and sign a few but alas...we have to wait until Jan. I actually think that Vigs will be played and talked  up from now til transfer window. Move his stock up a tad and will be sold if offers come in. We have McCormick who can slot straight in. I would gamble that this may happen;

Vigs sold £150/200k
One of Keshi/Woolery sold £150/200k
Taylor steps back to substitute
Richards steps back to substitute.
Buy a NL punt who's banging them in £75/100k
Buy a L2 proven LB and isn't finished £100k
Make a bid for Woolf £100k and drop Lancs.

Promotion (see it's easy...*)

*Promotion not guaranteed, none of the above guaranteed to actually happen it's just tongue in cheek, don't kill me.

There's always some one else...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9g4YsGpO-A

He was given off side

You really don't like him do you

Don't see why, the team we have are on a par with mid Div 4 teams.

Good chance, couldn't make up his mind, either head goal wards or knock it back a cross, did neither.

No more than some other visitors, Ref didn't help.

Did Nelson is far and away the highlight of this season. He is clearly an absolute loon. I think he loves it here as well given his reaction after the final whistle and taking the time to applaud us in the DRS.

Today, that was 3 points for the taking. Mansfield were bobbins. Once again Richards is just not working in our formation, Brown still has a lot of work to do. Two goalless draws I’ve been to now, at least this one was more entertaining than the Oldham game.

Feared the worst was about to happen when Elsnik squared up to Nelson....

Take my selling/buying figures with a pinch of salt SRK. I'm out of the loop. Hence my '*' added to the mix up. In essence, I mean the 'assets' we may sell, should go for a little more than the or equal to what we buy. Even though PB may already have some change to spend from the sale of Flint (but not as much as many would like to think). That could provide for A.N.Other to come in or pay the wages of an O.O.C higher earner? We'll soon see - or not, come end of Jan.

So did I Batch. Pleasantly surprised he didn’t react?

Anyone know what Vigs issue was at the end? He had to be restrained leaving the field.

This. I'd be looking to make Nelson a perm if it's a possibility. He's a dying breed in that he'll put his head where others won't put their feet. His 'football brain' needs a lot of development & he is clearly raw but if we can fix Conroy I think there is potential for a very good pairing at this level. Anybody know if PB mentioned why Conroy wasn't in the squad today?

Quite worried about how the fluency of our play early on in the season has gone.  It's just hoofball now.  We don't have strikers who can hold the ball up so our defence needs to play it out from the back.  I find Brown's persistence in playing Lancashire and Richards pretty odd.  Richards offers absolutely nothing in open play.  He's so slow that opposition centre backs can push right up and he doesn't hold the ball up. 

Hefty toe how dare you state the obvious. PB will not be questioned! Even when your right and he's wrong.

It's not that odd... you need a couple of old heads to help the kids along. When Bert Head won promotion in 62/63 he had Maurice Owen and Ken McPherson, to help the 8 or so local lads.

Power went for a team of kids and no experience, both in playing and coaching staff a couple of years ago and got badly burned. Had he drafted in Taylor and Richards, rather than Feruz and Dabo we probably wouldn't have gone down; Cobblers didn't, until they lost that experience the following season.

Yes but it’s not much help when the old heads are terrible footballers.
I’m 33 but there is no benefit to putting me in the side for my experience is there?

An engrossing game in it's own way and we managed to grind out the 0-0 against the 10 men in the end.

LV looked to be heading towards the referee at the end or one of their players who was near the ref.
Regardless of target or reason, he doesn't appear to have learnt the lesson, which isn't great.
A pity, as he had a good game and kept his first clean sheet of the season.
Wonder if he'll be played now with a view to attracting some interest in January or he might even have agreed to sign the contract?

One goal scored in last 5 league games shows where the ongoing problem has now shifted.
Defence is doing ok, midfield need to pull their fingers out and start finding an accurate through ball.
Woolery for Richards should be the next bit of tinkering for Phil.
PB needs to find his best starting 11 and stick with them.
Trouble is that the squad looks much of a muchness and whoever comes in doesn't look as if they are going to be a significant improvement on the player being replaced. (Richards aside maybe).

Pressure is on PB. Six wins in 24 league games isn't good enough.
I'd give him the January transfer window, but going out to a non league team in the FA Cup should be a sackable offence.

I think he offers very little now and defensively is a weak link, if he played as a wide midfielder who didn't have to track back then IMO he would be ok, why is he always the last defender back when we are attacking and always gets caught out for pace, something many people have noticed and not just me.

If he had a decent LB behind him doing the running back and actual defending then there may still be a place in the team for him, but he has been very poor this season and nowhere near as good as he was last year.

Its not about not liking a player, I don't not like him, I just don't think he is good enough.

Draw for the Cup is tomorrow.  Think it depends on the opposition and circumstances.... for example we could be without a number of the loan players, and atm there won't be too much difference between us and a top half Conference side. 

For that reason I wouldn't expect us to win, as we haven't against that level opposition in recent years.  Last season Dartford who were going well in Conference South at the time, were more suitable opponents.

So did I, Nelson is known for his aggression and he went into it keeping his arms down, which impressed me, I love his aggression and defending and think if we could we should try and sign him in January.

I see the magic of the cup has got to you, Reg! It seems to matter not who we play, where in the pyramid we happen to be, what sort of form we are in - cups just ain’t for us.

And we used to be so good at it!

Well for starters, you can't have a left sided midfielder that doesn't track back how does that help any LB. He plainly isn't always the last defender back when we attack as often the team play goes through him and when  he takes set pieces someone fills in for him. And to say he doesn't defend is non sence, although the backing off from players running at him does worry me.

I agree his distribution from open play and set pieces have been quite often poor this season and last season to some extent and I would say the team rely on him too much, in fact they often look for him even if a more  attacking forward ball is on.

As for not liking him, maybe not but your one line match updates give the impression of a anti Taylor bias and it gives a false view IMHO obviously

A few years back the Beeb used to have a stat in their website on 3rd round day.... top ten winners of cup games by %.  As you'd expect Arsenal, ManU etc were top, but we were in it.

I wasn't too bothered at our demise in recent years as it seemed to coincide with the cup losing its prestige... now though there's a chance of making serious money.  Sometimes you can argue, well we don't need the distraction, if you're a promotion seeking outfit. However this looks an ideal time for a little cup run, we look a mid table outfit, so generating some cup excitement would give the fans a lift, it's what we used to do.

That's not necessarily true re old heads and you can't say that had we had Taylor and Richards (in their current state) we wouldn't have gone down.  It depends how good the old players are.  Ultimately, taking your logic to an extreme, you could say that in the absence of any old heads we should Phil Brown and Neil McDonald to offer 'experience' on the pitch.  You have to draw the line somewhere.  I would suggest that Richards just isn't good enough anymore.   Have you been to games recently and seen him play?

Agree you have to draw a line somewhere, but both Taylor and Richards are contracted for another 6 or so months. Last season which ended 5 months ago, Richards scored 11 in 20 appearances Taylor 6 in 38 and was PotY.  

Armed with that evidence in the situation that Brown inherited, he would have 2 options trust that he could squeeze a bit more out of 2 proven pros, or bin them like what happened to Ward and Harley, where they sit around getting paid to do nothing.

The Ward/Harley situation was helped by the calibre of loan player we were getting from Spurs/Soton at the time, which isn't currently an option.

If Brown had opted for binning, then the budget wouldn't stretch to finding a couple similar experienced replacements, so you'd just have a team of kids, which is what got us to Div 4 in the first place. No manager worth their salt would take the reckless action some on here recommend, you'd need to be a someone like a Luke.... and you can guarantee he'll never manage at FL level again.

The criticism on here seems to focus on Lancashire, Richards and Taylor. I can’t argue with that as all 3 have either been poor or below par based on last season. The thing that bemuses me is how the performances of others seems to go under the radar due to the focus on these 3. I know we all see a different game and that’s the beauty of football that the difference of opinion sparks debate, a forum would be dull as fcuk without it, but yesterday I thought there were worse performances on the pitch than the 3 current scapegoats.

It doesn’t matter how old a player is or how experienced he may be - he’s either good enough or not. We have better alternatives for Richards and Lancashire.

Strange how Northampton were happy for us to take Richards off their hands last January - he wasnt in their starting XI and had gone stale it seemed.  He found a new lease of life with us, but looks to have slipped backwards to his late Cobblers form this season.  Sadly Brown doesn't have too many options up front to bin him but I will be surprised if he starts on Tuesday evening.

I think yesterday was Taylor's best game for ages, certainly from a defensive point of view, he was winning headers and reading the game well enough.

No doubt at all that he needs replacing as a starter though and once Woolery is able to start games we should see Richards drop to the bench, should be fine coming on for 20 minutes and purely looking to score a goal rather than be the focal point of a starting 11.

It would be fantastic if we could secure Sid on a permanent in January, I love him to bits, seeing his face when Crawley finally got the point against us told me everything I need to know about him.

We had so much pace on the pitch for the last 25 minutes, we really need to find a way to utilise it soon.

2 games left for me, please let there be a win.

I didn't think Lancashire did too badly yesterday, one pass aside. Is he better than Wolfie, not sure about that.

let's not talk about the FA cup and non league opposition exits. Chippenham are still in the hat!

Defeats to non-league clubs have taken a few scalps over the years.

Yes, he looked OK yesterday but didn't really have a centre forward causing to many problems a la Exeter, just one that played for free kicks.

Another thing with him is that he struggles to play any quality type of forward Pass when he has time on the ball.

Do you mean STFC managers?

The only one I can think of who sort of did was Maurice Malpas.... and even he on losing to Histon, got a chance v Brighton in the Boycott trophy, it was losing that which got him the sack.

All these managers lost to a non league side and didn't get the sack.... Bert Head, Danny Williams, Lou Macari, Steve McMahon, Paolo di Canio.... all got us a promotion, 3 a Div 3 or 4 title and 1 a major trophy.  These 2 also lost to a non league outfit... Danny Wilson, Mark Cooper, both got us to a Wembley PO final.

Havent looked back!

Sums us up...we don't look shite and we don't look great either...12 place exactly mid table.

I like the team PB picked but not sure about his substitutions. Anderson should of gone off...

Mansfield looked more organised and better at times.

sending off justified IMO as he could of gone for the first.

Only once did we look like we had an extra man and we fluffed the far post chance.

Special mention to yet another shite ref who was appalling for both sides....The free kick when Taylor hit the post was a joke and should never of been given.....AND...how the fuck can a man be scythed down and you play on, only then  to pull it back and then not book the player as you suddenly realise that the fucker has to walk if you do....total prick all game.

We are where are...mid table...not shite and not great..

Season on a knife edge.

Brown needs to tell the players that they are playing in divvy four of English football....play it quicker in the final third and if you fail, fail quickly and start again. Too many times we broke and then pissed about with it for minutes before giving it away....play the through ball, cross the fucking thing...shoot...  We don't do it enough, only in the dying minutes did we up our game and Mansfield rocked..

I always call the season at the end of Nov....time is ticking.

Im not doing Cambridge Tuesday as away with work but I am sure I wont be alone...people are losing heart a bit...

It wasn't the Boycott Cup then Reg...I went to see that shambles. We all waved at Malpas as he trudged off...it was the end..

I know but it's had a number of different names and being unable to recall whatever it was under Malpas, used Boycott as everyone knows what it means.

I did once win an Auto Windscreens Shield T-shirt in a program comp, which was exciting.

So did I...

Is it cutting in?

Play Adebeyor in Richards role ffs. I really do not understand Brown he is tinkering for the sake of it

Well, that was my third game in three and a half years. All I can say is Mansfield looked a little more controlled and solid than we did, the main concern was the lack of a cutting edge in front of goal. Actually, a lack of anything in front of goal.
My record for the last three...
P3, W0, D1, L2. GF 0, GA 5. So nothing much has changed.

Given that the 2 previous ended in defeat then surely Saturday's point represents an improvement  :hmmm:

Er, yeah, I hadn't realised that it was now 1 goal in 5 league games.

That Plymouth result should be ignored. Its an imposter in our current run.

Not in the goalscoring stakes, if Mansfield had 11 on the pitch the whole match it would probably have been a defeat.

The lack of goals although predictable, is a worry.... and for PV here's what I said pre-season

"Norris, Mulin and Anderson scored 25 goals between them last season.... Keshi is still with us so someone will need to make up for N n M's 19. Maybe Adebayo, but Jermaine has scored 25 in 285 appearances, so I'm guessing that's not what he's been brought in for.

No, it seems to me that Power is doing enough to try and keep us in the FL, while trying to cut the property deals.. and vaguely hoping that PB might have enough nous to overachieve and get us up."

Runs of 1 goal in 5 games although not unique in my time, has never previously been achieved in Div 4, so that needs to change tomorrow, as 1 in 6 is entering proper terrible territory, of McMahon and John Trollope's relegation season.

I'd like to see Richards dropped, problem is who would be put up front ? would a duo of Keshi and Adi work, I'm not convinced sadly, so maybe play adebor on his own with keshi in behind, again not sure, would work with Woolery upfront or as a lone striker ?

I guess at this moment in time anything is worth a go.

Taylor - I think he needs to stay in the team he still offers something, although as the season goes on we need to think about a replacement and start using him less, but for the moment we can scrape by with him

At the back, we had the partnership of Nelson & Wolfy previous for a game or 2 and I think they played well together but it is not the defence we have a problem with.

Not sure who was to blame Brown or Power for not signing another striker in the summer when Norris was sold....whoever it was is culpable

Nelson is banned for the game tomorrow - back to Conroy and Lancs I guess.

I thought Lancashire was better on Saturday, one ludicrous pass aside.

On a general level, the worrying thing to me is the increasing amount of hoofing. When we were playing with a bit of verve up front whilst being dodgy at the back, we had no trouble scoring or making chances as we tended to keep the ball on the deck.

So, either Brown has purposely changed tack or the poor form has morphed us into a Flitcroft-esque style.

It’s all pointless when absolutely no player at the club is a target man. We’ve got the Wolf dropped, who can play a bit, bringing the ball put out of defence and passing it and Brown retaining Lancashire who has little footballing ability at all.

@bob, could be Woolf + Lancs, or even wolf + Conroy if lancs can't do Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. Conroy wasn't in the squad, so I assume Woolf is preferred option right now.

@Audrey. we were definitely playing it long in the first half. But I'm not sure if that is by design or just a lack of confidence/options forcing the issue. I can't see why would anyone play Doughty and Alzate then tell the defence to go long.

Maybe Brown’s overriding preference for clean sheets and hopefully nicking a winner is how he wants to go.

That’s not for me. Everybody was saying early on how the football was a better spectacle - now it’s as dull as last season.

I’ve come to the conclusion he doesn’t know how to marry up defensive solidity with scoring goals (or even creating chances). How getting our defenders to defend better has impacted on what seems, to me, a decent midfield setting up the strikers is down to him.

Fuck it up tomorrow and he 100% needs to go.

He should abandon the 'clean sheet' mentality and go for trying to score more than they do instead. We were doing better then, and it was more fun.

Adebayo and Doughty could conceivably hit that missing total between them, they must be close to half way if not already there.

I'd agree we do not need a striker if we were not playing the set-up we do, but we are relying on people to be creative who are not really goalscorers, so I think we do need someone knocking them in up front in good fashion.  Adebayo doesn't convince me it will be him - up and down, potential but not really a front man.  We are not getting enough goals throughout the rest of the team to compensate, I think.

I'd agree we seem to be able to do one or the other, defend or attack, not both.  It's that issue which worries me most, that we still seem to be trying to figure out how it all pieces together.

I still think he got lured into the sudden signing of Doughty and Dave and both were unexpected and took the budget away.  I just can't fathom McGlashan if we were to then flood central midfield without getting the left side sorted.

playing devil's advocate, I'm not sure how I'd change personnel from Saturday to fix it.

I know Richards is blowing, so maybe give twine or Woolery a start. doughty isn't 100%. but how does whoever we bring in make us more likely to score?

Instability causes more problems than it solves. If we get ANOTHER new manager in, we'll be chopping and changing AGAIN in the summer. If you look at most teams in this league that have gone up, they've done so after spending a few years putting sides together.  Impatience will only see us go backwards IMO.

Home to second-from-bottom... no excuses.

I want to see 3412.

Woolery and Bayo through the middle, Keshi as the 10.

Iandolo, Dave, Doughty, Knoyle.
Conroy, Lancs, Woolf.

Need to start winning, and quickly. Failure to win tomorrow and Saturday and he's going to be under big pressure heading into November, with a tough trip to Col U on the horizon.

Personally have very little faith he'll turn it around now. We'll win 1 of the next 4 or 5 and be 13th/14th going into December.

^
I agree with Nick. I mean Tails.

I think PB's problems were largely to do with uncertainty over Lancashire and Conroy... then Robertson gets injured. So at the start of the campaign, he had 3 dodgy centre halves on the books + Romanski who isn't ready.  The obvious solution was to loan in a couple of CH's, to tide us over to see if the 3 permanents can get up to speed.

Ideally PB might have wanted to use those slots for maybe a LB and a CF.

Tails is right though, we don't need knee jerking atm, but some stabilty, we're not very good, but not that bad.

I cant see Brown going 3 at the back, he tried it after it worked so well against Plymouth it then failed miserably so he abandoned it, his philosophy has always been a back 4, not sure he will change