Thetownend.com

Tues 6th July v SuperdooperMarine (a), 7:30

Fri 9th July v Melksham (a), 7:30
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-season-friendly-melksham-town-fc-v-swindon-town-fc-tickets-158346162635

No sign of the 202/22 home and away kits yet unless I've missed them

Both clubs more stable than ours😀

Would be good to know if any money from the gate goes to stfc, I support the boycott by Melksham shouldn't suffer by accident!

I don't know if the club will get anything plus I would image the numbers allowed in to watch will be restricted this year

Confirmed it goes to Melksham, so go guilt free

The team for Melksham has been announced already.


                   A Trialist
A Trialist Curran A Trialist A Trialist
A Trialist A Trialist A Trialist A Trialist
             A Trialist A Trialist

Best give Curran the armband.

Been there, done that at Melksham...

(https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/resources/images/10208487.jpg?display=1&htype=0&type=responsive-gallery)

Preseason friendly at home against Swansea just announced. 17th July

Benda's coming home ...

Garricks’s coming with him!

Freeman’s coming for another month.

To collect his engraved carriage clock?

Guaranteed we will have 4 Swansea players on loan for the friendly

Garrick may actually be quite useful in league 2 under management that know what they are doing. Assuming of course Garrick is one of the 4 that Cowley has said we are getting on loan.

Swansea Fans Alliance are urging their fans not to attend the friendly in support of STFC supporters in trying to starve Power of any more income.

Kudos!

I saw that Oldham's supporters Trust were also backing the initiative and pretty sure they will be looking to do something similar re their owners. Fan power on the up!

Posh at the CG 31 July

I doubt this thought is accurate, I think it more likely everything will slip back to normal, but I wonder if the Covid period has somewhat stripped bare the way clubs have wandered so far off the original concept of football clubs in the UK?

If it has, that could be good.  Essentially, the sheer indifference club owners have had towards fans, which has exposed those businesses to practical crooks, has largely been because we could just be relied upon.  We keep sending them money, regardless of what happens.  It's not like a normal business, it's like a small Monopoly without regulation.  Covid has ripped the curtains open a bit - we couldn't keep going, even nutcase fans started asking why they should buy a season ticket for a season where they would never be able to attend and not get a refund.

Hopefully this gets some movement in the game, but as I say, I doubt it.

I think it'll be one extreme or the other. The clubs who have engaged, been fair with refunds etc will experience a real boon of pent-up demand. Away crowds will be up and goodwill towards those clubs from their fans will be huge.

And then there's us, Oldham etc....

Obviously won’t be ready for the Supermarine friendly on 6 July. Been put back to the 20th.

Pity for Supermarine, they would probably have started as favourites.

I knew this over the weekend but it’s one of those you can’t say anything about until it’s announced. But still going either way as I have tickets.

I'll put me boots away then

Proper derby match :pint:

I would welcome back Garrick, 1 good game out of every 3 for a winger isn't bad. At times it looked like he had never seen a football in his life then he would look a world beater in the next game.

Its about careful management of him under a good coach not an archaic dinosaur like he had.

Just a heads-up for anyone coming to the friendly at Melksham this evening. Dont be alarmed by the sign that says "No access to football ground". About 100 yards away is a sign for the temporary access road. (This is due to the housing being built in the area).

If you are coming from the M4, you need to go past both signs and do a u-turn at the roundabout by the Water meadow pub. If you are coming from the Calne direction you will be coming that way anyway. Hopefully that is clear enough!

For what its worth, Melksham drew 1-1 with Bristol Rovers last Friday. Rovers played a different team in each half with a handful of first-team players in each.

 Shit! We're gonna get tonked!  :doh:  :cry:

Wollacott, Hunt, Baudry, Conroy (c), Player A, Lyden, Parsons, Gordon, Cowmeadow, Bell, Player B

Substitutes: Player C, Dworzak, Boulden, Weir, Taank, Winchcombe, Bryan, Minturn, Francis, Fox

Sorry, we have a youth teamer called Taank? Brilliant stuff.

Was about to mention that. Give him a 10 year contract right now (£0 a week obv)

Who is coaching them, Lee Peacock?

And a player called Player

https://youtu.be/j8y3BaRxUBs

Are players A, B, and C trialists.

Fair play to the senior players who turned up today.

Sherman it is  :)

Who the fuck is Cowmeadow? Lot of those names sound suspiciously like FM regens

Sent from my SM-A125F

He's appeared for the youths before.

Ex-player Danny Rose has stated that sub Dvorzak is supposed to be a good talent.

Dvořák at a guess.  Your spelling makes it easier to pronounce.   :)

More importantly is there anymore scor update 😳

It's actually Dworzak now I've checked the line ups again.

The Adver site has updates.

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/19433515.melksham-town-v-swindon-town-pre-season-friendly-infiled-arena/

I've given up with the Adver too many ads and the site constantly crashes on my ipad😂

2 of the triallists are Rob Strachan (left back/winger) and Lewis Ward, keeper ex-Exeter.

Oh, could be Polish. I assumed Czech for composer reasons.

Play safe Eastern European!

Francis, Minturn and Cowmeadow look decent talents every time i saw them last season (4 or 5 games each).

Got a bit tetchy in last 5.

We have some 16 year olds on the pitch. Senior players did very well protecting one who received afters

That's definitely a Polish spelling, Czechs don't use 'w' in the weird and wonderful places that Polish do

Did it spill onto the terraces :eek:

If his first name isn't Thomas that's a huge opportunity missed.

Trialist goalkeeper i understand is Lewis Ward.

The Mighty Tank is now on

Reg probably shagged his mum

Ahem - check page 3 JJ! ;)

Well our last signing from Exeter went pretty well.

It's on the pre-season friendly thread 22.14 and nobody has mentioned what the score was😀

There wasn't one!

0-0

Cheers Duke nobody else seemed interested!

There's a few other things to worry about.

 Really big thank you and respect to the first teamers who have trained and played despite the almighty shit storm that surrounds them.   It means a lot to know that you give a shit

 :pint: :pint:

The under-18s can be very proud of themselves given the circumstances. No point doing too much of a review - you’d say melksham were the better team, but it was literally men against boys and the first pre-season friendly for an absolute shit show of a club. Everyone involved can take credit for getting out there tonight

All that said, tonight did hit home how beyond fucked we are if this takeover continues to drag on. Because as well as they did tonight, those kids are far from league standard

Can you comment on two things:

1. What was t he fracas with Hunt about? Adver report said something happened and then a few minutes later it boiled over again with Hunt and a Melksham player being carded.

2. What was Mr Taank like?

Like a tiger.

Bad tackle on a Swindon U18 so Hunt and Lyden let them know what they thought about it. Great to see.

Highlight of the game.

Don’t suppose anyone else will remember the Legend of Tank at Harchester United?

"You nonce, he's 16" - not sure who's mouth it came from, but it made me chuckle. Typical football stuff

The second incident hunt and their man went up for a header.  It was a robust jump leaving their man on the floor. He took exception and had a little kick out ...
------------
We were stood right next to a parent of one of the youths. What an experience for their son, and the very best of luck to them all.

You have to remember that some of them are 16, one of them just turned 16 a few days ago.

While they can hold their heads high yesterday,  you can't pin the burden of the  club's League survival on then. It's not fair.

But I'm sure the takeover will have concluded by then, so hopefully we will have time to address that.
---------
Saw pauld there for those asking about him. He's fine except for a broken finger nail.

Lewis Ward. 24 years old. 6ft 6in. Played on with a broken arm!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN0_xXmx1_8

Some bright young things out there, but like above, this takeover needs to happen pronto otherwise we’re fucked with regards to our squad. Obvious, I know…

George Cowmeadow - what a brilliant name. My new favourite Town player for that reason alone!

Cud have done worse and a huge pat on the back for turning out for the club.

I was told about him on Monday but wasn't allowed to say at the time, I was looking at updates on my mobile last night and couldnt be bothered to check back :)

I hoped he milked the opportunity to steak a claim for a first team start next season.

Any news on Weymouth Friendly tickets?

Maniac has promised to buy a round and i dont want to miss it.

Apology accepted JJ!! ;)

I may see you there mate as its not bad to get to from here, but I have my next cancer op 3 days before so will txt you if I can make it.

Too late.

Swansea friendly called off

Swansea game called off due to operational and logistical issues

Hardly a surprise at this point.

Less than 4 weeks to the start of the season, damn we are so fucked.

You missed the most pertinent bit from the club statement.

ongoing logistical and operational issues at the club.

Basically an admission that the club cannot even arrange nor staff a friendly at the moment!

So you reckon Swansea charge a fee. Wouldn't be surprised.

Bet we haven't got a safety certificate yet.

What a shambles.

And no, I'm not blaming the staff left

Only one person to blame and we all know who that is

I imagine the game would have been BCD had it gone ahead.

This friendly is currently utterly pointless. Swansea don't want to come to Swindon with their first team to play the U18 plus a few others.

We are in a perilous state until EFL approval has been completed and Power has transferred shares and possibly beyond that.

Simmer your expectations, folks. Anything more than survival in 2021-22 is a bonus*.

*As things stand.

If its anything like my experience of being shafted by an employer who went to ground these weeks are filled with form filling, stationary and office furniture gathering and lots of playing Snake!

That would be good.

BBC South have asked to film this 'once in a lifetime event'...talk is, Maniac wont show up.

For those interested the line up tonight at Hungerford Town is.

Wollacott, Hunt, Baudry, Conroy, Weir, Lyden, Parsons, Gordon, Cowmeadow, Player A, Player B

Substitutes: Player C, Wynn-Davis, Minturn, Taank, Dworzak, Boulden, Winchcombe, Bryan, Francis, Fox, Bell

Charlie Austin said earlier he is going be in attendance too.

Scarily that could be not far off our lineup at Scunny next month.

Is Parsons playing in midfield or are we just listing the side oddly?

Probably not in position order as to hide what position the trialist fullback and striker play in ;)

the same trialists as last time?

Player B has scored.

Who is he?

Whose arranging the trialist

He's apparently  being called Bruno by staff and players (Andrew Hawes).

'41' Another goal for Hungerford. Hunt's backpass takes a bobble, bounces over the foot of Wollacott and rolls into the net'

Well, that doesn't sound great.

Sounds like last season

Sign up Bruno

Player B has setup the equaliser, sign him up quick

Is it Bruno Andrade perchance?

Bruno Tonioli?

Sent from my SM-A125F

Andrew Hawes is a player? Maybe a few years ago, but I fear that ship has sailed.

No he's the BBC commentator.

Bruno di Gradi

How do you expect us old farts to know who this is? My kids are even too old to know!

https://www.google.com/

Is that like Ask Jeeves ?

Legend of the game

Did anyone on here attend? Or know final score/any more info on how the disaster unfolded?

Finished 3-2 to Hungerford. Don't know much more beyond what was on Twitter.

Major excitement appears to be when the official Twitter used the phrase "cross-cum-shot" and attracted a lot of non-footballing attention.

Ageing Italians are the in thing after the Euros.

Thought it was a good, open game. Hungerford were in and around the NLS playoffs before the season was curtailed, and have a decent side - Ryan Seager, ex Southampton - being a standout. Match report here:

https://www.hungerfordtown.com/teams/11575/match-centre/0-5033029/report

Bruno Tavares of Enfield Borough was the triallist apparently.

http://www.aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk/players/bruno-tavares

https://twitter.com/BrunoATavares/status/1357346063334604808

is Heaven missing an Angel?!

Wasn't sure where to put this but -

BBC Radio Wiltshire understands that Ellis Iandolo and Jack Payne return for pre-season training at @Official_STFC today having had to self-isolate due to Covid. Goalkeeper Lewis Ward could feature again in the next friendly at @SupermarineFC on Tuesday.
 #stfc https://t.co/6uYXzMpTKy

I wonder if it’s got more to do with being paid some of the money they are owed.
Not that you can blame them for not showing up if they aren’t getting paid, why would you risk injury for nothing

Surprised to see Payne again. Will be delighted if he sticks around.

Lewis Ward is quite a unit (6'5") plus he has a sports journalism degree so he could cover the vacant media post as well, sounds like a win win to me!

Exeter fans said he's pretty decent so him and Jojo would make a good goalkeeping pair.

If both played at the same time maybe.

He said he'd stay if we could build a side to fight. He'll probably have options throughout the window but god knows what we can throw together to convince him to stay

Sent from my CLT-L09

This.

So an under 18 player has covid, and are having to isolate along with others. Im presuming a couple more preaseason gamea cancelled

Tactical infection?

Sent from my SM-A125F

FFS, Another day out ruined !!.

Right then, who is going tomorrow?

Any expectations of seeing a) Lee Power, b) Clem Morfuni, c) A N Other (New Manager), d) Lord Lucan e) TEF User ‘Fakename’

Score predictions? SS 4 STFC 1

Is the game actually on ? Haven't herd anything since official site announcement about the under 18 covid scare !

Heard !!! :-[

Looking at the Swindon Supermarine twitter page suggests it's still on.

Wasn't there something announced a few weeks back that numbers being allowed in were less than previous friendlies against them

You know there is a modify button on your posts right? :D

You cunt. Who do you think you are correcting yourself! You paid up member of the perfect spelling stasi.

For those not aware, it's an all ticket match with no pay on the day. Tickets from their official website.

Anyone heard anything regarding the Weymouth game Saturday ??, Gonna be a good day on the piss - assuming it goes ahead.

I am hearing that Lee Peacock is isolating so won't be at the game tonight as well as a couple of U18 lads too.

Christ, at this rate we will be putting the U12's out!

I didn't - cheers !   :-[

Shhhh don't tell Gylfi Sigurdsson (too soon?).

Who is going tonight?

(https://i.postimg.cc/xjMmZq5x/302610167.jpg)

 :clap: JJ!

 je suis avec ma famille.

When does this kick-off anyway?

7:30 I think

Grants there anyway

Grant on the bench

https://twitter.com/supermarinefc/status/1417538741560827917?s=21

Nice to see we’ve gone mad with trial players now, proper pre season!

Ndjoli - former Bournemouth, Barrow plus a few loans

Fascinated by Player A still being named as such but all other trialists being named. Is it not Lewis Ward?

Queuing for a beer but caught wallacot, Payne, Iandolo, & The beast with trialist A if that helps.

No sign of digger.

Digger?

Australian

FFS not again. Aussie slang for a bloke.

What a name

Godlove Oppong

Here we go again FFS!

https://twitter.com/official_stfc/status/1417549141404786691?s=21

We haven’t even kicked off yet have we?

From twitter

Trialists starting tonight for Swindon

Luca Colville = young winger last played for Greenock Morton

Harry McKirdy = Talented winger/forward last with Port Vale

Mikael Ndjoli = Forward last played for Barrow

Corey Jordan = Young defender currently at Bournemouth

Morfuni is there according to Twitter (photo included)

1-0 parsons

2-0

McKirdy

Is that James brophy on the bench?

3-0 and another for Mckirdy

He might be useful at L2 level!

There is a Brophy playing for us but not James

Luke Brophy

Aah,cheers

Supermarine doing there best to make Clem feel at home. Playing Men At Work ‘Down Under’

Seems to be James’ little brother.

I can se Clem. Suit and white shirt in the corner by the Swindome which he has asked for a tour after the game.

I dont know why we dont have an agreement to train there anyway, its a decent facility

Would have gone tonight but been at west mids safari park all day on a trip. Killed me off. Was watching the sea lion show when I read today’s breaking news. Suffice to say I couldn’t concentrate on ‘Bounty’ doing his thing. Shame really. I like sea lions, they’re cool

We did and have done, guess what the issue was…

1-3 Spalding for Supermarine

Strode over to the messiah, fist bumped the man and thanked him from the bottom of my heart. Made my day.

Sorry if this has been asked but I always thought you had to put “trialist” or “player A” for players you don’t officially own. Does this mean those players have signed?

2-3 Pratt for Supermarine 89 mins

Now FT

You Reds  :beers:

I think you can choose to 'hide' the players by going down the triallist/player A route or name them.

That’s awesome. Good work

McKirdy the pick of the trialists tonight but got to be wary of the attitude problems he’s had at previous clubs.

A decent run out all things considered.

Anyone on here manage to have a chat with Clem tonight?

There were a number of fans to had a chat to him. Not masses but a few. I really think everyone gave him space and respect.

I had a quick chat with Clem at the start of the second half, he seemed very happy and relaxed and was quite open to chat to anybody who approached him and posed for them to do selfies. I thanked him for rescuing us and said the big thing he's given us is hope. I did ask him about the manager and he just smiled, and one of the posse of trust officials said everyone's been asking him that !

Agree with this. I hope it becomes more normal and he does his comms through official channels now and distances himself a little from the vocal few he’d been communicating through previously.

As for the match, it was such a great feeling to be at a live football after so long, as I hadn't manage to watch either of the covid - window home games. I always enjoy it at Supermarine, it's a nice little ground and very friendly, but I got put off getting a beer due to the long queue !

The stand out for me was the performance of Anthony Grant  - when he came out for the second half I thought he looked a bit chunky, but he was back to his old normal self, running tirelessly, in midfield and defence, crunching tackles and precision long balls. We've got to try and get him back on board !

I also thought Iandolo looked good, and the old boys in the back line all looked pretty fit and were up for it ! The number 11 who scored twice looked impressive, cutting in from both wings to score with good finishes !

All in all a VERY good day and looking forward to the season ahead !  >:(

Have ticket details been released for Sutton and Barnet friendlies yet?

No but you'll be safe to just turn up - they won't be sell outs!

Why we playing Sutton Utd in a friendly when we're in the same league

Just hope they aren’t all ticket as I know some friendlies have been.

Still no information on Weymouth tickets ??.

You Buy the tickets via Weymouth

https://sales.weymouthfootballclub.co.uk/index.php

I've got mine already this way, Print at home free of charge

ok, thanks.

I agree with that, I'm sure he is more professional than to align with a few fans.

I would expect over the next few weeks there will be lots from him, especially once he has appointed the CEO, DoF, and manager team, along with scouting team etc.

I would be expecting him to communicate on the level of debt and to potentially publish who is owed what.

I think I'd like to hear him on maybe something like a phone in where fans can put questions to him, or another of the SC events with Vic Morgan, so he can then be fully open about everything.

Can't you change your usermane😀

For important news, I’d agree.

However I think it’s good if he’s visible & approachable to the fans.

We’ve had great tributes to Mike Spearman since his passing, many of which mentioned how he always had time for the fans

https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2021/07/former-port-vale-winger-harry-mckirdy-plays-for-crisis-club-swindon-town/

They said in the presser at 5pm that the Barnet friendly on Tuesday has been cancelled

Google says we’re playing Sutton on 31st July but their website says they’re playing Barnet then. Club announced a while back that we’re home to Peterborough that day and not seen anything changing that yet.

Whoever near London we were supposed to play middle of next week, we aren't.

I didn't see anyone else post this...

Here are the highlights from the Supermarine game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7UJGAuSq6w

For me:
- Nicely taken goals from McKirdy
- Parsons seems to have something about him
- Ward = 1 save, 1 howler, 2 stuck on his line.
- The rest looked poor.

Thanks, hadn't seen that before. Thought Parsons looked handy, nice finish and assist and looked to get involved. Could be a useful option off the bench this season.

Thanks for that - agree with your comments. Remind me, where is Ward on trial from? Didn't look great from those clips. And Baudry still getting wrong side of his man. McKirdy looked sharp, good goals from awkward angles.

Ward's last side was Exeter I think. He's currently a free agent but looked very poor based on that showing.

Hard to believe any of the trialists to date are anything but bodies to fulfil games.

McKirdy looks very decent.

I imagine McKirdy if he can get his head right would be a huge asset for us if we were to sign him. He was excellent for Carlisle before going off the rails a bit. If we are going to play open attacking football then McKirdy would certainly be a good signing.

Always been hugely rated at all the clubs he has been at but has always had problems getting his head in the game apparently.

I think it was Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke who said that if his head is in th egame he will be a star and no manager yet has managed to achieve that.

I don't think its Nile Ranger type problems but still something not right and needs careful managing.

I remember the goal he scored against us in the Carlisle game at the CG - Jerry Yates's debut I think.  Great goal, out of nowhere.

Sounds like he is worth taking a punt on then, a lot of potential upside.

Hopefully we offer him a 1 year deal, with an option to extend if he gets his act together and proves his worth

Wasn't McKirdy being touted as the next Jack Grealish at one stage.
Low slung socks & shinpads, not to mention the alice band.

Would be a very good signing if effectively managed.

Next hurdle will be to actually be allowed to make some signings.

Remember it well, Arkells side, from the halfway line making Hunt and Baudry seem invisible.

Mckirdy’s numbers that season were very good.

Whos going to Weymouth then?!

Just me and Maniac?

Any idea if there are any live streams from Weymouth? A radio commentary maybe?

I am. Never been so need to work out which pub to go to.

I’d have gone with you but too late to get the kids looked after now. Fool

I’m on the Weymouth FC official club page now. It looks like you can into their live stream. I’ve followed the link and it’s £10.00
For the whole game.

Damn. Sorry brother.

Stick your pic up mate  ;)

That's a Hundred game gone from my schedule today then :)

I dunno whether to do the livestream or not.

We got a team line up anywhere?

I can't find one

Starting XI: Wollacott, Hunt, Baudry, Player A, Iandolo, Payne, Lyden, Grant, Player B, Player C, Parsons

Presumably the trialists are Jordan, McKirdy and one of Ndjoli or Tavares.

Seeing as Grant is named rather than just being a letter can we assume he’s signed now?

We really do have the makings of a decent start to a squad, injuries permitting.  Lyden, Grant and Payne (please stay) as a L2 midfield easily above average.

Edit - Looking forward to seeing Parsons, the highlights from Supermarine suggest he has got much bigger since a few cameos I've seen?

9 trallists on the bench as well

We’ve got 2 or 3 trialists in the starting line up and 9 trialists on the bench!  And we’re in our Aussie strip

Lost picture on the stream for the last few minutes

McKirdy looks like Frank Worthington.

(https://i2-prod.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/article20234526.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_WA2398629.jpg)

Lyden (I think) off, took a knock in our box...

Apparently, the trialists replacing him was with Weymouth last season and they know who he is.

Knocking it around quite nicely...

Looks useful as well..

Josh McQoid and Brandon Goodship are 2 of the triallists.

He does look handy.

For Weymouth.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7EDdyLXsAoA-lD?format=jpg&name=medium)

Oops, my bad.

The commentary is pretty good to be fair...

Blatant back.pass for Weymouth...

Weymouth very poor at the back. We should be winning...

I like them.

HT 0-0

Both defences making mistakes, Weymouth more mistakes than us but we are still shakey at times.

McKirdy our best attacking outlet.

Quite enjoyed that. Can't remember the last time I said that about watching Swindon 😉

Yep, even the comms were amazed it wasn't given.

That was 45 mins more entertainment than we had in 30 games under Sheridan.

Yes we are nowhere near the finished article but theres some plus points for sure.

The commenters are going to have a challenge on their hands second half with 9 trialists on the bench

Trialist passes to Trialist who is intercepted by Trialist who finds trialist....

Frank Worthington is head and shoulders above the rest.
CF Triallist looks non-league
Parsons showed understanding with Frank early on. But, not ready for league footie methinks
Midfield looked lightweight. Payne showed some spark, but not sure how he fits in.
Grant and Hunt were inconsistent.
Baudry as per normal.
Iandolo was poor
Number 5 was no nonsense.

I also want a rebate watching a black screen for ages!!

Hahahaha... Did anyone see Clem get collared by Football Phil???😂😂😂

Poor fucker.

Is he not banned anymore then? Shame.

It’s been captured for posterity. Clem’s first real test  :)

https://twitter.com/joshua35833596/status/1418933632455090183?s=21


https://twitter.com/talkinghawes/status/1418949036707549202?s=21

He'll be on his guard next time...I suppose it's like a kind of initiation 😂

Awful dive by the number 18 (Ndjoli?) in the box.

Ref just given a free kick where we probably would have preferred advantage.

Hell of a hit from the trialist from that FK though, similar to a Twine special.

Good effort from errrrr.... Trialist I guess....

The bloke with the camera really needs to hold it straight. Either that or the pitch has got one hell of a slope on it...

Is our number 21 Ben Gladwin? hes a similar build, came on for Payne.

Looks like he's not covered in tattoos so I don't think so, similar build though, yes.

I couldnt make out if he had tattoos or not from the weird camera angle and focus!

1-0 to muff.

Playing at Yeovil’s old ground then?

Anyone spotted JBZ? He only lives down the road. No excuse not to go. Probably parked his fantasy motorbike in the car park.

All the changes made for trialist has led to us losing control, to be expected though.  Two more changes being made now.

:D 62 miles not exactly just down the road!

Slightly closer than SN1

Good to see Baudry get 70(ish) minutes under his belt...

Many thanks for your concern. I have just had the cast taken off what was my fractured left wrist and didn't fancy the drive down.  It's not very mobile and a bit sore. No doubt we can catch up at the first home game.

How did the goal come about then?

Cross from their right, stooping header going wide pounced on by one of them.  Without replays that's all I have really.

Good enough. Thanks!

Also looked like our keeper fumbled it over the line too. Poor town defending really.

Don't think there are any non-trialists on the field for us now...

Brilliant challenge from them as we looked to have a good chance, corner followed that came to nothing.

FT 1-0

FT 1-0 decent first half...

1st half not bad, 2nd half too many disjointed performances from trialists.

Not too unhappy TBH.

McKirdy a plus point.

MOM... Football Phil...

Very poor second half - No stand out performances for us.

P.S. Can't remember who was waxing lyrically about Goodship a while ago, but he was poor today. They has one good midfielder who carried the ball. An enormous robust triallist who booted everyone in the air and that was about it.

Sounds a bit like the marine game then.

Reasonably comfortable and solid first half, but a complete lack of quality in depth showing second.

What do we expect at this stage I suppose!

I would expect that the quality of players we will manage to pick up will be somewhat better than the ragbag of trialists that typically appear at this stage, so shouldn’t be too concerned.

Maybe, but the worrying thing about the first half for me was that the midfield looked poor and we didn't look full of goals. Lyden didn't do a lot before coming off. Also, Parsons held the ball up well for McKirdy (and they seemed to gel) but the red booted number 18 (Tavares) looked like a non-league striker trying to impress. Not sure he is an answer to any question we might be asking. Also, not sure that Parsons is a starter for us. But, in the second half, with no service, McKirdy didn't get into the game.

Having said that, the high pressing style was so much more entertaining than the shite served up by Sheridactyl and those players who have mostly gone to non-league!

Tavares didn't play,dude up front was Ndolj

Anyone know what's happening about Odimayo?

Released, trained with Portsmouth and didn't get contract. Wendies rumoured to be interested but???

has something further happened?

Ah! Thank you - Can't find anything on the internet about him.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Ndjoli (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Ndjoli)

Didn't break in to the team at Barrow last year it seems.

‘For he’s Ndjoli good fellow’

I sponsored his shirt last season, but the club haven’t been able to get him to sign one so they can send it out.  Got a feeling he’s not coming back, but I guess it’s possible until he rocks up somewhere else

I think it was plainly obvious when he did the Supporters Club player of the year live stream that he wasnt coming back

Still surprised Payne is here but plenty of time yet for a club to come in for him

At that juncture in time it was probably the right decision. Two weeks to the start of the season, no club, revitalised Swindon…

Any ticket info for the game at home to Posh on Saturday?

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2021/july/peterborough-tickets-now-on-sale/

Ta. Ooh, a tenner  :pint:

Is there the slightest chance this will be available on iFollow? I notice some other club’s friendlies are.

I've asked that very question on the BBC Wilts twitter

They didn't get to it on the phone in.

Anyone know if the Legends is open on Saturday for the Peterborough game? :pint:

I hope so, but could it be that Pee Lower has pissed off with all the stock/we have suppliers awaiting payment?  I would hope Arkells would look favourably on us as a supplier  :D

Cheers if anyone is ITK

Didn't even think of that in amongst the mess of everything else, but that is probably another bill Power didn't pay.

Bill Power hasn't been around for years, you can't blame him...

Was just in the shower wondering how Payne and Gladwin will fit in the same team. Payne can play wide but he's at his best in the middle.

They're different types of AM. Payne's a livewire whereas Gladwin is good at bringing it forward and spraying it about, so I wonder if Gladwin can play a bit deeper with Payne just behind the striker(s).

That's how I see it Gladwin dropping deeper collecting the ball off the defenders then spreading it around

Me too. A bit Doughty-esque.

We could do with him right now!

Good rallying call from Rob Angus this afternoon ahead of tomorrow’s friendly.

Just under 1000 STs sold so far - just walk ups.

And how good that we are paying tribute to Mike Spearman and Alan McLoughlin - 2 of the greats of our club.

So guess who has just delivered to an anonymous data centre in Peterborough? 😁 If it is a sign I have no idea as to what.

Barry Manilow?

It depends on where you collected it from!

Need to know basis, have to kill you if I divulged sensitive commercial info.

You home now or another late night!

In Bretton?

Can’t say exactly. Sat at McDonalds in Bourne demolishing some cheese burgers though.

"Burgers"😀

Not looking forward to the 2hr 40 drive either, pissing with rain.

I'm sure you will make good time and at least you can have a lie in

It's all very cosy in here this evening. JQ are you putting his tea on for him?  :soapy tit wank:

He's already eaten his cheese burgers :pint:

Thank you all for your concern. Home safe, cold beer in hand and just going to tidy up some admin.

Signed, sealed delivered :pint:

Just in case anyone has missed this.

Tickets for today’s game can only be bought at the ground up until noon. After that it is online sales only.

Strange one, but there you are.

Are we expecting trialists A to M in this one?

Hoping to see Odimayo today. I reckon Grant and McKirdy are certs.

Payne looks likely, too. The other trialists will be interesting.

Since noone has posted it, I assume there is no stream today?

Can we expect some signings to be announced at the game today perhaps with them actually signing their contracts on the pitch before the game?   Come on, give the people what they want! 

Sent from my XQ-AD51

Bit cheesy, that.

Good Morning all
I've printed my tickets this morning and they show the correct block number and seat number however the row is blank.
Anybody else got the same problem?
Looks like it will be musical chairs !!

Can we watch this online anywhere?

I can't see it listed on ifollow.

Is there BBC Wilts coverage?

Posh have the game listed on their OS but do not seem to have a link for iFollow as yet, Swindon do not even have the game listed on our OS at all.

If you go to the Posh OS and click on next game on iFollow our game does indeed appear.

Why would they do that?  ???

Incompetence

Or turn up and get a ticket at 11.55 then go to the CGH for three hours  :)

You mean you wer'nt going to anyway ??.   :pint: :pint:

It seems this is going to be the 'new normal'.  See here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JpwMZDi5ew8xsMU_nrRRuiC2cMb1yWCh/view

Interested to see what trialists will be there today, hopefully a few new faces

I’ve tried to register on the Posh site but it picks up that my email is already in use - obviously for STFC iFollow.

Any way round that?

If it's a gmail account, you can add +pboro or something to the end of your account e.g. [email protected] and it'll still reach you, and the system will think it's unique.

Sneaky. I’ll try it.

I didn't know this thanks for the heads up, although I have a couple of emails so if it comes down to registering with Posh I will probably use a different email if our ifollow isnt working.

That worked adream. Problem is that although the match is listed there is no way to pay for a match pass. I reckon there’s no coverage of this at all.

Not really for this thread but not really deserving of its own thread.

Betfair have us down as finishing 14th this season. I can cope with that but Rovers 2nd? I dont agree with that as I think they will struggle, they were easily the worst team in L1 last season and we beat them twice and we were fucking shit. Also Salford I think will not be anywhere near champions.

(https://i.postimg.cc/t4hJ8fHw/228976424-339203604506310-7673745255974490889-n.jpg)

No radio coverage at all, i asked Andrew Hawes

Tickets bought, was holding out in the vague hope they'd open up the DRS for our regular seats, but we'll be slumming it in the Arkells instead :D

More importantly where has our fucking 'Town' gone....

Sent from my SM-A125F

Gone in readiness for us getting City status next year ....

No team news?

What time's kick-off?

3pm.

No news.

Very quiet here tbh

Don’t think there is any rule regarding team news for friendlies.

Bit of paper 10 minutes before KO usually.

Here you go

TEAM NEWS | Here is how we line up against @theposhofficial:

Wollacott, Iandolo, Conroy (C), Baudry, Gladwin, Simpson, Payne, Trialist, Trialist, Hunt, Trialist.

Subs: Minturn, Trialist, Ward, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist, Parsons, Cowmeadow, Gordon, Francis.


No Grant! At least not named as he was last time.

Edit He’s trialist and is starting

Some of the trialists

So trialists I can work out are;

George McEachran
Anthony Grant
Chris Clements
Harry McKirdy
Mikael Ndjoli

Rovers beat Oxford 3-2. Pitman scores twice. One a 30 yd lob of the keeper. They are calling him the ‘second coming’.

Anything like he was with us they'll soon be calling him 'coming second '.

Piss stains must have been piss poor !!.

McEachran very highly rated Oxford born youngster at Chelsea, with a view to a loan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0hSqhdu_04

Clements is a 31yo hard working midfielder with lots of bottom division experience.

Released by Cheltnum

Interesting to see that Posh don't have many players expected to be 1st teamers this season playing.

Cornell, Edwards, Fernandez, Knight, Tomlinson, Mensah, Hamilton, Bojang, Barker, Darlington, Jones.

They are also playing at Pompey and with this line up...

Pym, Butler, Beevers, Kent, Thompson, Ward, Taylor, Grant, Burrows, Szmodics, Marriott.
Subs  Blackmore, Kanu, Hickinson, McGlinchey, Titchmarsh

Who is the fella with the terrible hair on the left for us?

Any way to watch this online?

McKirdy.

Nope not that I have found.

How is the match so far?

From Twitter

‘Gladwin been very good. Payne decent. Baudry off the pace and Mckirdy jury’s out for me probably as I like someone a bit more direct  ’

You can see the core of the team is there. But we are a long way off being fluid team. Upfront is non existent. For such a big lump Ndjoli is he seems to offer very little

Is that because of his service or his own movements and actions?

Isn’t the striker the new chap?

Take it there's been no goal rush then ??.

2431. attendance.

None too shabby

FT Swindon 0 Peterborough 1.

Whole squad rotated except for Wollacott.

Hmmm. Didn't fashion many chances according to the Twitter feed. And beaten by a reserve team. Not the best start.

Don't forsee us managing any sort of consistency for a few weeks when we finally have a settled squad. The odd result would be nice.

Here's what I thought...

Fist half we lined up with a flat back 4, Grant protecting as defensive midfielder, Gladwin and #20 (Chelsea youngster?) as central attacking mids, McKirdy and Payne wide men and Simpson up front. Simpson is a big unit BTW.

We had more of the ball, but while we had a few half chances we didn't create anything clear cut. The central midfield 3 worked really well. Grant was an absolute beast, bossing and winning almost everything. Gladwin added that touch of something we missed after Doughty quit. #20 pressed well.

Both McKirdy and Payne got a fair bit of the ball and looked lively but without providing the final ball.
Simpson had a decent touch for a big lad, won't get bullied in league 2 but no chance to see his goal threat.

However Posh created as much as we did, even if they had less possession. In fact it took a smart save from JoJo from a one on one to keep it 0-0 at half time.

Second half we switched to a back 3/5 (wing backs) with Iandolo and Hunt bombing on. Gladwin was withdrawn with what I assume to be normal reasons of lack of pre-season. However this lost us our possession  advantage as the midfield struggled.

McKirdy went off pretty quickly after he had twisted hin ankle in the first half falling over the ball (and he got a free kick.

Midway in the second half, with Simpson off, Payne and a lively Ndjoli (?) combined a lightening quick 1-2 which Payne fired into the side netting when he should have hit the target.

As I was typing this to JJ (Venks) Posh broke quickly and the ball was in the net. Sounded soft, a cross and tap in but I didn't actually see it!

There were many many changes during the half, by the end I was only sure of JoJo Wallacott and Harry Parsons names.
--
In summary we looked OK in the first half - but Grant and McKirdy are only on trial at this stage.
There isn't much strength in depth though. And I worry about a lack of goal threat, not that this is aimed at Simpson.

None of the second half trialists really stood out, and with so many changes that perhaps isn't surprising. Ndjoli did look bright, but yet there is this nagging doubt at the back of my mind about him being of the quality we need. Mind you, there are a few players that could apply to.

All in all a lot of work to do. We look a couple of weeks off full match fitness (unsurprisingly)..

But by fuck it was fantastic to be back

Nice write up Batch...thanks... :)

Thanks Batch.

The comment about Ndjoli was what I thought in last week's game vs Weymouth.

Popped the ball around quite nicely, but never looked like creating much. Thought the new striker showed glimpses but generally looked very raw; first touch was off it and needs to run in behind better. Gladwin looked streaks above anything else we’ve got and Grant looked like Grant, combative and a nuisance with the high press we deployed. 2nd half was more of the same until all the trialists came on, Ndjoli looked tidy and the centre back (number 5) looked useful. Apart from that, they all seemed duds (might be harsh as they didn’t have that long).

It’s going to take a long time, we’re miles off it regards to squad depth and fitness, but I think they’ll improve. Fan support will be huge this year. Gotta keep positive and support the team. If we do that and pick up a few more good signings we should have enough to stay up. Keep the faith COYMR

Looks like Clem has been in the CHG pulling pints.

Tried to watch the game objectively and see what players were doing off the ball and we looked quite sound defensively and in midfield, plenty of covering, tackling and working back. Up front was a bit one paced, knocked the ball around quite well but my feeling was that we required a player willing to put pressure on their defence and make those selfless runs (Tyler Smith would do a job but unlikely I guess).

20 looked alright, but small. 14 (I think, the striker that came on) looked quite good too. 5, the defender who came on at half time looked ok, a couple of aimless headers led to a bit of trouble but nothing drastically bad. Any others didn't really register... (setting aside McKirdy, who I'm assuming much like Grant is all but signed, just waiting for signing embargos to be lifted/longer, more expensive contracts be allowed

(https://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/people/180x200/t/time_gentlemen_please_guv.jpg)

Aussies, bred for bar work.