Thetownend.com

Gotta bounce back and win this one.  Not got a good record at Boundary Park but think this could be the year to break the voodo. 2013 being the last time we came away with the 3 points.

Last week's result should hopefully have been just a blip and a kick up the arse we needed,  3-1 to the Town on yet another wet and windy northern day.

Another 2-1 away win.

2016. BOO kept up his 1 in 25 strike rate.

Could have been 5 or 6 that day.

Even Goddard looked like quite sprightly.

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MatchCentre.asp?MatchID=20170109

And Conor Thomas's best game by a mile.

Swindon to suffer a single goal defeat in front of 3,941 fans with 715 Town fans there.

I see reading the Oldham forum that they are no longer in debt to the EFL and out of transfer embargo after paying back their wages loan.

They must be bored shitless with old Curly Wurly in charge.

He has never been well known for playing attractive passing free flowing attacking football......hoooooooofffff.

2nd of 3 defeats on the trot before we get back on track.

Hallam Hope will almost certainly score.

Sawon the news that due to floods up north that travel severely disrupted. Rail lines closed due to bridges having collapsed. Hope it doesn't impact getting to the match tomorrow.

For those driving, we drove up to Blackpool last week and we were lucky that the traffic was ok, but there are parts of the M6 that have the potential to be a nightmare with the roadworks converting to a smart motorway (60 mph limit) and another section further north that was even slower (50mph limit). Potential for a slow journey so give yourselves plenty of time.

Weren't held up near Stoke were you? The section where they've decided to block off 25 miles of motorway in 10 years

We weren't held up at all fortunately but I think that's where they are doing the 'smart' motorway upgrades. As you say the work seems to have been going for ages, has it been that long?

Count yourself luck that the sixty mph bit wasn’t fifty like it had been for a few years.

Not sure if it's 10 years but certainly feels about that long! Every time I travel North I get stuck there

Back to football for a bit and I hope that we have done some work on our defensive set pieces as I assume a Keith Curle team will be all over set pieces like a soggy tracksuit. The very high line we adopt when defending a set piece into the box has become dangerous now as teams have started to get clever and work the ball wide which then frees the players who were initially offside into a non-offside position for the winger/wing-back to cut the ball back to the on rushing players. We have nearly got caught out 2 or 3 times now (didn't see the Bradford game so can't comment on that one) so hopefully we have worked on this sufficiently.

Went there for a 0-0 years ago. Tuesday night. ‘Twas cold.

Oh forgot to say Audrey, don't let your mate Eric pull the wool over your eyes about Oxford having a big crowd tomorrow - they are selling tickets for £10 so bound to get an inflated audience.

I agree, I am not sure the defense is overly strong in the air so set the line back just a bit, so if it is sent over the line, the GK can come sweep it up.

In all honesty we are not good defending goals into the box at all, Bradford didn't have to do a lot for their first 2 goals by the looks of things. It's been a real achilles heel all season for us.

they didnt but that was also poor preparation in my opinion by the coaches...if you watched highlights of that team all they had was set pieces in the box....tall guys that are good in the air basically....

Eric tends to shy away from the question about their attendances minus away fans.

It’s 6,500 by the way!

Granted all I can see is highlight videos on youtube but Oldham seems to be another team that plays a direct ball, generally to the wings then a quick swing pass into the box...doesn't seem like a good situation for our back line.  I also noticed they seem to be willing to shoot the ball at anytime anywhere near the 18 box. 

If a team is not good at clearing the ball in the box then they must close on the ball anytime it is sent to the wing or when it is just outside the 18 and contest the shot/cross and force that team that plays direct to pass it back and most likely lose it.

I am not sure if we have the speed to close on those passes or not..you all would know that better than I.

Early start tomorrow morning.  Driving down with my two lads for their first game since Feb last year - and first game since we moved north 6 months ago.  Excited doesn't cover it.

Cue a dull 1-1...but I don't think they'll care.

Awful conditions today and not looking forward to the drive.
Safe travels everyone.

Having to give the delights of Ice Station Zebra a miss today.
Do remember the December Tuesday night visit in Prem season.
That was cold & miserable, might have been wet as well.
Andy Mutch was our scorer or Mutchyacunt as he was known as in parts of the Stratton Bank.

Oldham must be the only side that we have played in all 4 divisions?

Until very recently this would have been a Basketcase Derby with maybe a joint effort off the pitch (or even on it) in protesting over the ownership.
Hope they get sorted & back on an even keel, but as we know dodgy owners tend to stick around like shit to a blanket as one of my old teachers used to say.

They look to have picked up a bit in recent games but no reason why the unbeaten away record shouldn't continue.
Hope it's a decent game for those watching both outdoors & in.

1-3 away win.

Mrs D has just told me that northbound J17 on M6 is totally closed.  Check your routes, people.

she's gone without you?!

 :D

Tougher game today than most people think. Going for a 1-1 draw but hope I'm surprised.

Some more details here:

https://twitter.com/SuspolBHAFC/status/1454372532870598660?s=20

1-5

Not a cloud in the sky down here in South Somerset, chilly but lovely weather.

I think after last week especially that nobody (except Audrey) is taking this lightly, they are shit at home, we are good away, recipe for disaster.

M5 is fucked. Haven't moved in over an hour, stuck between j4 and j3.

Multiple police/Ambulances gone past.

You’ll do well to make it on time if stuck…

Google maps says 1330 arrival time if we magically started moving this second... which is very unlikely.

Smash. Anyone en route before jct 4 would be better off heading for bell end.

Yeah this doesn't bode well:

M5 northbound between J4 (Rubery / Longbridge) and J3 (Quinton) • Accident
All lanes are closed. Normal traffic conditions are expected between 16:30 and 16:45 on 30 October 2021.

From: https://www.motorwaycameras.co.uk/Traffic#M5

Out of curiosity I wonder if Oldham would refund any fans unfortunate not to make the game.

If they’re like Pee Lower they won’t remember that deluge v The Gas?

Only if it's more than 24 hours before game apparently.
Refund requests might have to go through STFC in any case.
This might be treated as a special case if enough people have been caught up in the jam.

Cheers Bob hopefully Clem will do the right thing if fans do miss the game.

The M6 was reopened before we got there so hopefully anyone caught up on M5 will arrive in time.

Can't believe this was 28 years ago now! our first ever home game in the top division, never forgiven them, set the standard for the whole season in hindsight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxS9p72VRtc

We were just as bad in the 2nd half v Rochdale yet came out at Sutton and beat them rather easily. Oldham aren’t as good as Sutton - ergo, 1-5. Simples!

Wollacott; Iandolo, Conroy (C), Crichlow, Baudry, Gladwin, Simpson, McKirdy, Williams, Kesler-Hayden, Reed.

SUBS | Ward, Odimayo, Payne, Gilbert, Mitchell-Lawson, Hunt, East.

Payne, Odimayo and Hunt dropped for Conroys return, Iandolo and KKH.

An away game, no crowd, no pressure and no monkey on their backs. Easy 3 1 win.

Oldham beat Rochdale 1-0 and they also beat Sutton at Sutton 2-1 ergo we will lose! :D

weird, East preferred to Grant.

still, well see what the have brings

Think Hunt can feel a bit hard done by - he’s played bloody well the last few games. Payne has been a bit meh lately, so fair enough. Always like Odimayo but Baudry has been very un-Baudry like and deserves his place.

Probably stand a decent chance of winning either way but I still really don’t like this formation, one centre midfielder is just asking for trouble. Reed is overloaded in there and wouldn’t even class him as a defensive midfielder either.

Slightly worried about Buadry and Crichlow who make mistakes on the ball. Glad to see Kesler-Hayden come in, hopefully he can show a bit more of what he showed in his first few games for us.

Isn’t it the same formation that has served us well away from home this season?

KKH has been pretty poor in every game since his 1st 2 games for us, he has talent thats obvious but at the moment he hasn't kicked on yet, hopefully today will be the day.

I would still play Odimayo ahead of Baudry but TBF Frenchy played well int he last game.

Maybe rotated or rested is a better term than dropped which implies that they haven't played particularly well, which doesn't really apply to any of the three.

A small squad by necessity will mean that some will spend time on the bench without that being a reflection on their overall performance levels.

Nice to hear Rob Hartley back on the wireless😀

Getting ready!!!!  Got my crew coming over to join me.  

Same shit.
Keeper, three CBs. Wing back each side. Striker.
4 random midfielders who’ll play where ever in the middle with no set structure

Might work. Might not.

Fair assessment!

But we’ve just played a home game where our absence of a midfield was found out, if Reed was caught out of position literally no one covered and it was just easy for Bradford to get close to our goal. Surely whether home or away it needs to be addressed and still think having a defensive midfielder to offer some solidity would help us going forward as well.

Roll of the dice, really.

Where she goes nobody knows!

Looks fantastic that!

Disagree - clearly how we are set up is working well away from home.

If this was a home game I’d agree, we need to change how we set up, but we’ve got the best away record in the league with this formation and set up - we would be mad to change that.

Got to have something to moan about before the game even kicks off.

He was on for the Plymouth game only 2 weeks ago or so, this is his 1st league game so far this season though.

Do they randomly choose their co presenters as it seems strange that he was on the radio for the whole of last season then disappeared.

Home and away aren’t mutually exclusive though, we ultimately need a system that works at both. I still think having a more defensive midfielder in there would be more of a help than a hindrance. Eventually teams are going to twig and start playing at home like teams do at the CG.

Reed is the more aware of where he should play in the defensive position but I agree about the other 2 roaming midfielders who just play where they feel like playing, sometimes it works, often it doesn't, when it works its great when it doesn't its painful.

Yeah obviously Reed has a bit more positional awareness/structure/discipline to his role/position or whatever you want to call it but Williams, Gladwin and McKirdy will not have any.

That lack of balance/structure has in some games left teams bamboozled and worked wonders and other games it’s allowed teams to cut through us like a hot knife through butter.

Sun is shining, no rain, Ice or snow.

Pitch looks perfect.
What could possibly go wrong.

He stupidly changed it on Saturday. 
We've been solid with a back 3 with Conroy playing as the spare man.

I'm surprised Simpson wasn't rested as he's looked knackered and inefective the last couple of weeks.  Hopefully a free Tuesday has given him chance to recover.

Is anyone having issues with iFollow? I can’t get BBC Wiltshire commentary?

Was about to post the same thing. Watch only, no listen live option. Another day, another random iFollow error.  ::)

It was the same pre Plymouth game, like an advert from the hosting club, at 'Muff it was turned on just before KO, I am listening online to the BBC site and will turn that off when the game KO's.

"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."
"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."
"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."
"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."
"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."
"THANKS FOR TUNING IN, YOUR MATCHDAY COMMENTARY SHOW WILL START SOON. PLEASE STAY TUNED."

 :crash: :crash: :crash: :crash: :crash: How's the weather in Sweden today?

Norway today mate.

Sound now on.

That’s better!!

You can thank me. I got Ivy at iFollow to sort us out. She's apparently also arranging a 3-0 away win.

The boys in blue... sang by canon and ball

Suprised the ref allows the RottenHam keeper to wear the same colour shirt practically as we are wearing.

PS this camera angle is fucking weird.

Turned on the radio just as the minute's silence started, my Mrs thought the Queen had died :D

The sound quality is fucking awful too.

hope she holds on post the extra bank holiday next year. then we get 2 days extra off

can't be worse than the away comms team!

false start

Awful back pass from Baudry to Conroy got away with it though, just.

Like Balamboolas tights!

Its appalling, like they have turned the gain right up.

Iandolo gives away a pointless free kick as we are attacking.

KKH beats his man and puts in a decent cross but no Town player attacks it.

Conroy good long pass I Iandolo but he cant control it.

talking of which, where is bamboo? not noticed him for a while

Conroy appears to be in spraying mode...Iandolo couldn't reach it

Be interesting to hear how Gladwin & Williams play together, not convinced they should be in the same team together, personally I think Williams should get the nod over Gladwin he has that extra bit if quality.

Really hard to identify players or formation with this awful low camera.

Chance for Williams but he cant quite get to the header accross goal, good chance.

I agree, its awful.

Can you ask her to move the camera.  Way too low can’t see far side of the pitch

Seven crossfield passes. Cross into McKirdy. Heads it back and Williams heads it to the keepers left. Easy save

McKirdy spins round his man but he goes to ground way too easy and the ref doesnt give it.

Oldham cross into an empty 6 yard box. KKH thumps it away

Their bestockinged striker Dylan Bahamboula has a few decent clubs in his CV, Dijon and AS Monace and normally plays as a midfielder, his build and decent club history remind me a bit of Vince Pericard.

Williams wins a free kick 35 yards out at the angle.

That's what he looked like on trial for us too!

Williams to McKirdy in the box but his cross is blocked for a corner.

First corner too short. Second corner too long.

Look forward to the next one!

Baudry gets carried away attacking, miscontrols and has to foul.

It was 17 mins before it happened this time!

I wish our shirts were golder. I’m never going to say Come On You Yellows.

McKirdy misses a good  chance, wide, just.

CKirdy with a great ball into Simpson in the box. Mis control and loses it.

Ball comes back out and Gladwin plays one of his normal inside right crosses into McKirdy in the box who puts it wide.

great ball from gladders

Simpson misses from 4 yards, he should have hit the target, shot blocked.

Iandolo cross. Gladwin miscues.

A minute later the same happens. Iandolo cross, McKirdy to Simpson who's shot was blocked.

To be fair, he did hit the target, it was good defending - great block to stop the goal

he did, the defender slid in and cleared  off the line.

good defending tbf

Terrible miss unmarked by Oldham 6 yards out.

Bloody hell!

Freekick floated in and Oldham defender hits it just wide

How come their keeper has the same coloured top as our shirts

Williams wins another free kick 40 yards out central. Williams is very canny like that.

let off! free kick and they were unmarked at the back post

He's playing for us. It's part of our new formation

Baudry loses the ball on the half way line, shoddy by him.

Is this allowed?

I am all for it but surely it breaks the league rules...

Williams wins another corner.

Iandolo shoots weakly to the near post, easy save.

Gladwin has started very well, some very intelligent passes and balls from all over the pitch

Short corner this time. Eventually gets to Iandolo who's shot is saved

Him and Williams are causing them a lot of problems.

Goal McKirdy

Machine gun McKirdy

wtf is that?!

1-0 McKirdy.

Good hard cross from Iandolo and "Machine Gun" McKirdy scores at the near post, great play between Williams and Iandolo to start the move.

Great interplay between Iandolo and Williams. Iandolo crosses to near post where McKirdy slots it home.

1-0 Town

yeeeeees

Good move. Iandolo delivering at last.

Nice assist by Iandolo, 3rd chance he's created already.

Get in. Sounds like we haven’t played badly

Gladwin blatanly pushed but the ref didnt give it, but Gladwin went to ground too easily.

Great save by Wollacott.

Get in! Mckirdy goal. Iandolo assist

Gladwin fanning around and fouled but it wasn't given. Long throw results in Hope header saved by Wallacott.

Imagine how good we would be if we could win at home!

Iandolo fouls just outside our box, dangerous position.

Ain't won this yet!

Gone back into our shell.

Dangerous free kick. Iandolo booked

This camera angle is not only awful the edges are not even sharp, like it has a vignette on it.

Crich gone down injured.

Getting the team a breather I think. Shithousery already

Crich up.

Some great attacking movement down the right between Reed, Gladwin and KKH.

Town win another corner.

Some lovely interplay down the right with KKH, Gladwin and Reed.

McKirdy shot

McKirdy shot from 20 yards soo soft and at the keeper.

Playing offside again. Worked this time

Crich down again.

Crichlow down again.

4 mins added.

Salt tablets? Or paracetamol?

surely he's coming off

Simpson is a bit of a passenger again today.

Simpson really doesn’t enjoy jumping for headers

Unlike last week at home nobody is playing particularly badly, Williams and Gladwin the pick of the bunch for me.

Just getting through to HT - Akin will be on 2nd half

McKirdy shot from Wiltshire! Went wide and going wider!

Gladwins cross inches away from McKirdy 5 yards out, great chance.

Gladwin cross which McKirdy couldn't reach. Goal kick

Should have been 2

Gladwin to McKirdy is one of our best combos.

HT 1-0 decent so far.

This is very enjoyable, wonderful team goal.  COYRs

Typical away performance. Dominant, creating loads, only taking 1 though.

HT 1-0

Nearly gave something away as Crichlow isobile. Injury to right leg. Must have been ibuprofen or paracetamol that he took whilst down. Suspect he won't be back for second half

fairly controlled half. only criticism is we should have scored more really.

Anyway, nowt to complain about.

Good half that.  Should be a couple ahead as we have created sevral guilt edged chances, but we have given away one or two from set pieces as well.

Iandolo's half was one of extremes.  Ropey defending on four occasions, superb forward play and several great balls into the box including the assist.

Baudry looks a bit shakey still.  Fortunately they don't look much kop so he will probably get away with it.

Williams and Gladwin have looked classy on the ball.

McKirdy a live wire as always.  He's like a pinball machine.  Sometimes it's going to look amazing, other times the ball will limply roll away from him.  Could have had three.

Simpson has been a handful, but if someone could teach him to finish please.

Overall, another good away half against a pretty limited team.  All their chances come from us not defending set pieces into the box well.

It's a good sporting afternoon, so far.

Town 1-0 up, and the Aussies in trouble in the cricket. Aus currently 51-5 off 12

Anyone seen the goal anywhere? Usually have Ian on Twitter but he hasn't posted today

Odimayo on for Crichlow.

Odimayo on for Crich

Not sure why they are singing Bahamboulas praises, I think he looks fucking terrible.

Oldham corner cleared

keeper has changed his top ;)

Williams goes to the floor again and wins a free kick.

Williams wrything after winning free kick

Well spotted, about time!

Poor free kick from Iandolo, well over everyones heads in the box.

Wasted

McKirdy to Simpson but it misses him and finds KKH but he cant connect fully in the box, corner to Town.

Williams has a shot from 20 yards but its soft.

Good time for a bit of impromptu ground maintenance I think, play all our home games somewhere else and we'll be sorted!

McKirdy chips in to the both. Simpson miscontrols KKH shot saved. Corner. Eventual weak shot from Williams.

Oldham keeper now wearing green.

Good run by Iandolo who finds McKirdy but he cant get a shot, wins another corner.

Beat me to it

Good move by Williams after a nice backheel from Iandolo, saved.

Lots of awesome build up play bit noone who can put it away!

Conroy lucky to not give away a penalty on Hope.

Hope goes down in the area under challenge from Conroy

I think that was a pen.

How's Simpson not scored there

Great play by Gladwin who sets up Simpson but his shot is too close to the keeper and saved. Great move.

100%

Gladwin tees up Simpson in the clear. No composure whatsoever and hits it at keepers feet

Me too

lucky boy Conroy

I’m beginning to fear Simpson isn’t a footballer.

fucking hell Simpson

I'm worried we are going to lose this 2-1 against the run of play!

I think Hope lost the decision with the theatrical dive.  Should have been a foul on Simpson when through, he was wiped out.

(sorry, I'm running behind)

His shot was on target but thats all you can say about it.

Rugby player

It was a pull back but started outside the box

He's not

Williams has become the pantomime villain in the eyes of Oldham fans.

He really needs to start putting these away.

He did the right thing by trying to go back across the keeper, but he didn't hit it wide enough giving him a chance to get a boot on it.

Ball bouncing around in the box. Miscues shot goes wide.



Williams dispossessed by Mr White Tights. Fortunate that he's a bit shit and we win it back

Williams shithouse rating: 10

Williams wins another free kick!

Conroy (or was in Baudry) nearly gives away a penalty

1 point under Grant.

mckirdy could be accused of missing a couple too.

difference is, Simpson's was clear cut

Iandolo runs and passes into Simpson. It bounces off him

Twice, he missed a very good chance 1st half too.

the co Comms on Oldham's team is not happy ;)

Think football Geoffrey Boycott in a pissed off mood

Iandolo falls weakly in a great position.

games getting a bit stretched for my liking

Oldham getting grips on the game this last 10 mins, we are struggling now.

Williams off for Payne.

Payne for Williams

Good game from Williams.

It is strange that Williams seems to be the one that get subbed regular even when he is having a good game, has he completed 90 mins for us yet ?

FFS! Sixes and sevens at the back!

Nope not yet.

We are very stretched at the back.

nope.

think they are trying to build him up for some reason. I guess due to his injury record

We seem keen to let them equalise.

We are being exposed down our right.

Need to move Odimayo to the right to give a bit of extra pace there

we've lost control of the ball now Oldham are pressing

Simpson scores but its disallowed.

Intentional booking from McKirdy - get it out of the way for the FA cup

Simpson puts ball into the net, but says Payne's cross was out of play.

McKirdy complains. Stops Oldham taking free kick and gets booked. So will be suspended next week.

Uncharacteristically, Harry is a bit of a dick with the officials.

Beckham-esque. Just as long as he doesn't tweet afterwards about how clever he was to do it...

Gladwin wins another corner.

Nothing wrong with the goal, IMO.  Sure as I can be it didn't go out.

Nice move down the right leads to a corner.

Time to shithouse.

Agreed, appears to be a terrible decision.

Oldham sub.

After Baudry overplays and gives away a throw

Payne has found a player smaller than him and has fouled him twice!

Not enjoying this half much.

Oldham causing our high back line a problem

Gladwin shot headed off the line.

End to end and we are making a poor team look good

I'd like to see Hunt on for KKH to try and shore up the right side a bit

Goal. Simpson.

2-0 Simpson.

2-0 ‘not a footballer’ Simpson with the goal

Well done Simpson

Well that showed all of us doubters.

2-0 Spson

I don't think the touch was intentional mind

Good finish.

Great goal Simpson - glad he scored

Thank god needed that as was getting far to end to end.

...and there it is. : )

Miscontrolled the first touch into space that bamboozled the defender and then he blasted it home! 😂

Got lucky with the first touch but the finish was excellent.

 ::)

East coming on.

fair fucks Simpson, nice

Pleased for the kid. But think he’ll need a lot more coaching before he can make the ball do that sort of thing on purpose.

What a try, I mean gooooal

Not sure we totally deserved it but I will fucking take it, rough with the smooth, really chuffed for Simpson too.

Hard one to take for the Simpson haters :smugfu:

East on for McKirdy.

East for McKirdy

Aye

Absolutely, lovely finish.

How long can Wellens last at Doncaster losing 4-0 at Charlton😀

How rude. I prefer doubter to hater. The internet is so black and white.

I think Simpson has done well today. Has he missed a few chances he should have taken, yes.  Do we need another striker to take him out occasionally and give him a rest, yes.  Would I be happy to have him as one of my 2/3 striker options for the future, absofuckinglutely.

He's a massive upgrade on PPP

KKH weak shot

Absolutely, I dont hate Simpson at all, I do sometimes doubt his quality, as earlier today showed, he missed 2 very very good chances which I think he should have done better with.

As I have stated before its his consistancy not always his quality that is an issue.

Need a ted lasso translation.  Extremely funny.  No idea what it means

Lack of control. Lack of awareness and anticipation. Poor in the air. But, puts himself about and is strong and quick

1-2

1-2 Can't defend

Nailbiting last few mins.

6 mins added.

6 mins extra time!

All on his own.

Great finish by crazy legs crane!

Bahamboula turns KKH in and out then blasts it over.

Bizarre how despite a seemingly decent defensive record we always look very dodgy at the back.

Great claim by Jojo.

We are in big trouble here.....But great claim from JoJo

1-3 Simpson

3-1 another goal from the non footballer

3-1 Simpson.

Brilliant from Simpson

I should have put my money on this as it stands.

Needed that!

3-1 Super Simpson! What a player this man is!😂

If only Simpson had got one of the earlier easier chances he would have his first professional hattrick.

The conversion

How many has he got this season?

 :D

That’s cos most of the other teams are crap

Looking forward to next week, Crewe been royally dicked at home 1-4 by the Franchise.

Ha ha. I’m celebrating with the rest of you.

Well done Tyreece, not bad for an egg chaser

well done Simpson, much more like it

Lovely stuff.

☺️

Full time. 1-3 great result.

great win on the road. again

6

FT 3-1 nervy 2nd half.

My 5-1 should have been a shoe-in!

KKH injured

Should have scored more- mckirdy first half not sure how he didn't get a toe on it, Simpson had some very big chances especially the one on one from gladwin but he scored arguably his hardest chance and then a brilliant second. he is rusty but when we are away from home he will always get opportunities to run at defences with space. a deep defence at home is what garner needs to unlock with him and the team. I like 'away' simpson

One thing I love about this team is just like Sutton away we throw absolutely everything at it at the back. blocks and tackles galore- proper fight and generally always works. Jojo makes very few saves it is always deflections, rebounds and caches due to the above.

Conroy- very lucky no complaints if that was a penalty. I personally thought it was

The lino guessed. If you freeze frame I-follow the whole of the ball is not out. The goalkeeper and nearest defender didn't even appeal but the lino on the otherwise with goal posts and players in between reckons it went out..

A lot of very good performances today. Full backs KKH and Ellis were brilliant.

Big shame that we couldn't get a clean sheet but 3 points is 3 points and we'll deserved.

Club record continues....

FT 3-1

Get in you beauts!

England twatting the Aussies in the cricket too, what a lovely Saturday afternoon.

Do I watch the cricket or listen to Garner?

Happy with that result, been watching Australia get pumped in the T20 too, all is well!

Great performance in general with some worries about our set piece defending.

Simpson seems at a loss most of the time about how to play centre forward in our formation/set-up.  However, both goals show how you play him, into feet and let him roll or run down the side of a defender.  Some terrible more instinctive finished but took both goals well (even if the first was a poor first touch I think).

Baudry did not instill me with much confidence if we play with nippier forwards.

Should have had another four goals today, so getting three and probably having enough for seven is nothing to complain about.

Despite his first half defending at times, I think Iandolo deserves MotM for his forward runs.  He caused them a real headache that they never solved.  Could have been responsible for three or four assists today.

I like East.  Him and Reed together look like they get a game by the scruff of the neck.

My little moan - Garner nearly dropped a bollock by not subbing KKH when he went down with cramp.  It may not be directly what caused the goal, but we allowed ourselves to defend a corner with 10 men for no reason.  Five mins to go, no need to risk him, so just tell him to stay down and get treatment while you get a sub on.  Also, he needed to have a word with out 10 to go.  We were not showboating, but the players started playing with a little too much cockiness, like we were in total control.

Overall, great day.  Some cracking stuff on the ball today.

Easy shout.

Wasnt pretty to watch 2nd half but every win counts, well done Simpson, scored 2 good goals and missed 2 possibly easier chances, but thats why hes here, learning his trade.

I just wish we had a good experienced striker to help him in training, even somebody like PPP who can teach him some things like timing his jumps and holding the ball up better.

Hes raw, very raw at times but hes very very young still and learning his trade, he needs guidance from a good striking coach, we should hire one even short term to get the best out of him, someone like the Chief who is out of work but still coaching after managing Cardiff Met Uni for a few years.

An Iandolo assist and Simpson double.

That’s a few posters’ evenings ruined  ;)

easily Iandolo 's best game of the season for me.

he looked much more dangerous going forward/crossing

the ones that live in your head?

Cricket...Butter and Roy have started to smack the Aussie bowlers into the stands...

Good bounce back win & a good read from afar & frantic hitting of refresh in a pub somewhere in Muswell Hill.

The away invincibles continue the run.
It's still a free hit for Garner this season & should be another good crowd for the next home league game, but it has become a bit of a must win in terms of improving the home record.

Not sure what Simpson's contract situation with Ipswich is but must be worth a test of the depth of Clems pockets in the summer particularly if they end up back in the Championship.

Looking forward to rejoining the fray next Saturday.

When we get promoted there should be a documentary about us on TV. Ted Lasso and Richmond have nothing on us.

Mmm,Simpson ey?

Thought Iandolo did well today. Gladwin was good for much of the game, but tired towards the end.
Williams was excellent for 60 mins too.

Simpson was poor for 70 mins, then miscontrolled and scored one! Then, he gained confidence. Scored the disallowed one and ran the length of the Oldham half (unopposed) and coolly slotted home (which we needed then as I thought we were going to throw it away at that point).

McKirdy was all passion and could have scored 1 or 2 more.

KKH is awesome box to box, but can't defend, struggled crossing and has no composure in the opposition box. Could have had a hattrick today.

Baudry and Conroy struggled in the second half.

Iandolo did really well, his best game in ages, possibly his best game ever at wingback for Town.

Gladwin and Williams both did well, Reed made a few silly passes 2nd half but did very well again.

Our defence still looks capable of conceding with every attack but somehow we don't so they must be doing something right.

Simpson will probably win the MotM, probably rightly so as his goals win us the game but he was wasteful at times and looked disinterested for a long period but thats what you get with young kids in their first season, no consistancy.

I am sure several will vote for Simpson anyway as a protest vote against the doubters anyway as several posters do to fuck up the poll and piss people off all the time.

For me Gladwin or Williams were the best players though and McKirdy ran his socks off all game.

Garner:
Doh!

Did Shaun just say Fitzroy Simpson scored twice?

mckirdy out of crewe game (suspended)

Simpson on loan so might not be able to play eithet

Probably wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to have a break.

Not so good for us without another recognised striker!

Garner:
- First half v good.
- Made it harder than we needed to
- Needed to be more ruthless with finishing
- Perfectly good goal disallowed
- Robbed 19 yo of his first senior hattrick
- Good discipline in shape. Especially Gladwin and Williams
- Simpson has good mentality.
- Six for the season is a good return. Fantastic kid
- First with his right foot was good. Second was a good finish too
- Set pieces: The one at the end Conroy was blocked off.
- Knew it would be counter attacks and set pieces today
- Iandolo is getting stronger and stronger. Has improved defensively too. Brilliant character in dressing  room too
- Bradford caught us out with change of shape. Today, we reacted to their change of shape.
- Could have had a couple more goals which would have made it calmer at the end.
- Grant and Lyden have been awesome in training despite not making the bench
- Noone will be able to play every minute
- Crichlow rolled his ankle. Hopefully nothing too serious
- McKirdy missing next week. Frustrating for him but an opportunity for someone else to stake a claim. That's what we want at the club.
- Noticed yesterday the camaraderie at the club. Very close group. Long journeys and hard work on training pitch has brought everyone together.
- Created a culture and environment since day 1. Credit goes to the players. Brilliant group to work with

And yet they still only got 8,766 around 700 less than we got last week without reduced tickets!

Well, when a L2 club can leave the likes of Lyden and Grant out of the matchday squad we must have a helluva of a squad.

Can see both playing next weekend.

Not if either or both are leaving in January ;)

Hadn't we made all of our subs by then?

I didn't watch today as have COVID so legally couldn't go to the game and stream wasn't working. Seems like Simpson missed a couple easy chances but tucked a couple away well? Would love to be proved wrong with him, and fair play to the lad today proved his critics wrong - long may it continue!

How bad wwrw your symptoms and hope that your recovering now

Felt really rough from Sunday - Thursday. Just had a giant headache all the time despite having paracetamol and lots of water. I'm 24 and double jabbed so surprised it hit me so bad! Feel like I'm more or less all recovered now though, thank you

Cheers Joe and glad that you're on the mend.

Just watched the goals - Simpson’s first was class, but wth was the defender doing for his second? Backed off loads and just let Simpson get as close as possible before shooting!

Is that Class with or without the alledged poor first touch.

He did !!!   Thought i was the only one that spotted it. !!.

Haters?  Really?!  Think you'll struggle to find many of those.  A few doubters, sure enough.  But what an answer in the 2nd half.

So who are the Simpson haters🤔

glad you are on the mend Joe.

suppose it's luck of the genetic draw if it gets you bad or not.

I guess being double jabbed may have saved you from feeling even worse

Really enjoyed that and travelling to and from was very stress free.

Simpson definitely got lucky with the first, obviously we were at that end and I uttered under my breath that it was a poor touch but he got himself the other side of the defender and finished well.

Everyone did their bit today but I want to single out Iandolo and Reed, I've seen all our games, Cambridge apart, on iFollow and was at the Bradford game.  The different perspective you get actually being there is obvious but Reed just looked a class act to me, a great find.  Iandolo was a constant threat and deserves the praise he's getting this evening.

Great day out.

Great win!

Going to call out the loyal Supporters of Oldham tonight.
Broken, totally broken.
From the moment we parked the car and when we walked back to drive home.
Everyone of them decent, however completely broken and concerned that they are finished.
Could have been us and can only wish them well. Makes you realise how very close we were.
Must be so tough living in the shadow of two footballing giants. To change the game they brought on a kid, nothing else left.
Wages being borrowed from the EFL.

Hope they pull though but it doesn’t look good.
Really felt for them today, decent club, a real club and fans.

Cheers batch! Yeah could have been a lot worse I guess - we’ll never know!

With you here, Duke.  Completely agree.

Programme seller was a Latics fan.  He explained we were getting the March 14th 2020 programme (for the game that never happened at the start of COVID) for free along with today's.  Lovely touch.  And then had a really good chat with a fan who was feeling everything about his club that we went through last year.  Great set of fans.  Hope they're back on their feet soon.

I'd guess at Principal Skinner and possibly Ned Flanders in moments of weakness.

 :clap: :clap:

Not nice to see was it.
Makes it worse when the fans are class, before and after the game.
Got invited into their bar with a few of them before the game. Really hope this ends well but I have a fear they are in real trouble. Wanker owner alert.

Highlights: https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/swindon-town/12455496/oldham-1-3-swindon?fbclid=IwAR0BFaFvcVCM0PBBi60UuYF2JDPJCzlf_pi666FaRGvNk4gdWLZC3PIT0v4

3 points and a great away day. Solid enough performance against a shocking side. Good to also meet the Duke!

Simpson and Mckirdy took their goals very well. KKH, Iandolo, Reed and Williams also very solid.

From Oldham forum:  their number 9 showed exactly what we miss - a big horrible lump of a league 2 striker

He reminds me of Emile Heskey

Great to meet you mate 👍

Agree as well.
Plays very deep and not that impressive in the air but likes to turn and run.
Without doubt work in progress.
Lovely touch at the end of the game with Conroy and Simpson.

Hats off mate to you and the other 600+ with the cost of everything rising. I guess getting tickets for the Newport away game will be the next headache even for you season ticket holders.

Really good  away performance and result yet again.. .. please, please, please just sort out the home form 🙏🤞😉

What happened at the end of the game?

Sent from my CLT-L09

Didn’t think we were going to make the game today. Stuck on the M5 in standstill traffic for more than 2 hours, left Swindon around 9 and parked in Oldham at 2:45, real nightmare of a journey. However that didn’t matter after coming away with the 3 points, we looked really good at times but we certainly made it difficult for ourselves midway through the 2nd half, but a good professional performance. Made up for Simpson, should of had his hatrick today, I’m convinced there’s a brilliant player in there.

Echo what other posters have said about the class of some Oldham fans. A chap stopped us on the way back to the car and shook our hands congratulating us on the win and hoped we went up. Fair play to them, feel very sorry for what they’re going through, could so easily have been us, proper club Oldham with a proper traditional ground, hope they sort things out for themselves.

Upward and onwards for the town, sort this home voodoo out and we’re in business. COYR

Just think how bad it would have been had you not been double jabbed.. Good that you’re on the mend.

Yup! Cheers mate, appreciate it

Heard a few were caught up in that lorry incident.
Glad you made it Mate.
My mate saying the same and at one point was thinking about turning the car back round.

Players were applauding the fans at the end and Simpson was taking it all in.
Conroy runs over to Simpson big grin, and applauds and embraced him. Forget that Simpson is still a kid. Definitely togetherness in this squad, you only had to see the subs sprinting up the touchline joining in with the goal celebration.

McKirdy said the same on Twitter. ‘I love this squad!’. Think he’s found his home. Sort of thing that’s a pre-requisite for a successful season.

I’m not having this ‘hate Simpson’ bollocks, though. Nobody hates the lad. He’s raw, young, first ever season and has the makings of a right good player.

More than a few said similar about Adebayo when he was here. Now in the Championship.

Keep Simpson if possible. He’ll be worth big bucks in a couple of years!

He would be shown immeasurably more patience if we had signed him permanently.

I agree, he obviously has some talent its just getting it out of him regularly.

If he was our player I would be over the moon with him, when you get a player in on loan the fans expect them to be nearer to the final product already.

I have some doubts about him as I have said pretty much every week, but I do think for his age hes shown maturity beyond his years, I do though think he would benefit hugely from some good target man training from someone who has been there and done it, something we don't have currently at the club. Someone who can help him to time his jumps, teach him the basics of heading and holding the ball up.

As others have stated he does remind me of Emile Heskey or a young John Fashanu, huge build, fairly quick and muscular with some talent and often underrated for their work rate.

At times yesterday nothing was working for him but he kept his head down and carried on going and in the end it all went very well.

https://twitter.com/tyreecesimpson9/status/1454497341612990469?t=bSPXpHN52nY4UT8HJJdrow&s=19

He tweeted this after the game so there is clearly something in it.

That genuinely surprises me, I don't think I have seen any hate of Simpson expressed anywhere on here or Facebook etc, just a few expressing some doubts about him. Interesting.

I think there's a bit of a conflation of "Simpson is shit" takes (fairly few, demonstrably wrong) with "Perhaps it wasn't wise to build a squad where Simpson is the only pure forward option" ones, which are a lot more common and probably correct.

I like Simpson.

I like big butts and I cannot lie, You otha brothas can´t deny
That when a girl walks in wit´ a itty bitty waist an a round thing in yo´ face.
You get SPRUNG.

Sorry went all Troy Archibald-Henville there for a minute.

I’m hopeful it’s just a reaction to something specific he heard from the crowd yesterday rather than an overarching feeling that he’s ‘hated’. He deserves the credit he gets alongside some of the criticisms, but I do think it’s important to remember he’s essentially learning his trade at league level on the job. As long as he’s trying to learn I think he’ll do fine. Worrying about the odd ‘hater’ is just going to draw focus from trying to improve.

I think when you hear things like Simpson is not a football player is he, or should have chosen Rugby from enough people, enough times, it probably does feel like that there is some hate out there - especially if it was indeed from a vocal crowd environment.

He was getting pelters on here for the first hour, not haters pelters, but all the same pelters.  You hear that type of thing more vocally and from a larger cross section (social media) then it must be hard to feel like "ah, they don't hate me, they just doubt me!

He’s on track to net between 15-20 goals this season. Would be a fantastic first season for him - and us.

Yes some people were doubting some parts of his game, but hate is a very very strong word and I have not seen what I would personally call hate.

Different times now though I guess and any mention of someone questioning a part of someones game is now classed as hate rather than a constructive criticism as it used to be.

Based on the reaction in last weeks matchday chat, after Iandolo was rested, if Iandolo had performed to the same level as Simpson did in the first hour yesterday, would he have got the same level of comments?  And Iandolo was brilliant yesterday btw.

I think a lot of it is frustration from our fans because of the situation Simpson has been put in with only signing one striker.  We know, as fans that there is no plan B in regards to Simpson - if he is having an off day, there is nobody on standby to bring on and do the same job.  We know we are one consistent striker away from potentially doing something pretty special, so I think when he does have a poor touch or a poor shot, the reaction is ramped up.

Look at his first goal yesterday, the initial reaction of some was terrible first touch, he got lucky with that but great finish.  Scoring goals is not an exact art, you can't get every touch perfect when you have 4 defenders trying to make it difficult to score, it's the hardest thing to do on a football pitch, which is why good strikers cost so much and get paid the big bucks..  The point is, he might have got a bit lucky, but you make you own luck by being prepared for things to fall in different phases depending on how the defence affects your attack.

I don't think Iandolo would have recieved as much negative feedback if he had had the first hour that Simpson had, so maybe the difference between a loan and permanent is a big factor in the reaction, as mentioned by a poster earlier.

Sir Mixalot  ;)

I didn't say that there was any "hate" on here, but made the point, that if you hear those kind of comments regularly from a wider section of the fanbase, either in a crowd or across social media, it's easy to see why you would think that there is a lot of "hate" out there.  I personally think he is using it as motivation - certainly worked yesterday

Doubters, yes. Haters, not really.
I think he's done a superb job since being here. Yes, he can have a bad game but so do most from time to time. Tough job being a striker.

The main striker at any club is the main man, really. Miss a chance or 2 and it’s your fault we didn’t win.

Tbf, he’s going to have to get used to it. The rewards are higher and everything else goes with the territory, I’m afraid.

When he’s earning the big bucks, hopefully he’ll look back at this season and realise it’s what kickstarted his career.

Hate it may not be but 'constructive criticism'???

How can anyrhing on Social Media that suggests, 'he's shit', 'not a footballer' 'should have stuck to rugby', 'looks disinterested, can't head a ball, his first touch is dreadful, can't defend, no end product. possibly be constructive.

Bauldry, Iandolo and Simpson all fall into the same group on match days. First in the queue for the odd coment or two when the performance slips a bit.

I think when a 19 year old lad is getting tagged on twitter and instagram saying he is shit, not good enough, should have stuck to Rugby,jump you lazy shit and so much more the lad has a right to think he is probably hated.

My issue with it all is not that people don't rate him etc because he has had a few howlers but it's the unbalanced reactions he seems to get. McKirdy has missed absolute sitters in gamesand his releasing of the ball and 30 yard shots are frustrating but he is a great laugh so can allow that.

I may be wrong but i would imagine he is one of the highest goal-scoring teenagers in the country

Reading the Oktoberfest thread reminded me that someone shared a picture of a town fan worse for wear who had puked at his seat. He'll have a head on him today no doubt!

Social media is here to stay so if you use it rightly or wrongly you’ll be a target for good and bad. I’m only on FB and have seen enough to realise that all the other platforms should be left alone.

Another thing IMHO that plays into those who are happy to be absolute morons on SM is the volume of top level football. I’m sure it skews some people’s minds as to what they should expect at our level of football.

He is indeed the top scoring teenager in all 4 divisions.

Fantastic progress so far.
Comparisons made with Adebayo on here. I'd say that Simpson was ahead of him at this stage of his development.
Then again Adebayo wasn't always played as the central striker, but I'd say not on a par with Simpson when he did play that position.

Such a good performance yesterday. Other than a 20/25 odd minute period in the second half, we were head and shoulders above them, playing like the home team, and critically, creating openings that we weren’t 6-7 weeks ago. It was patience with a purpose, as we’d been asking for. And there was a structure - despite criticisms (including from me previously) that the shape was all over the place. It was clearly Reed sitting, Gladwin to his right, Williams to his left, McKirdy playing just off Simpson, so a fairly traditional 3-5-2. Yes, it’s interchangeable, but there was shape.

Iandolo and Williams’ link up play - not just for the first goal but throughout the first half, was very very good. That was the best I’ve seen from Williams since he joined. The back three looked assured, Reed kept us ticking and always made himself available in space. McKirdy just wants to make things happen, and Payne really lifted us when we needed it when he came on - and what a sub to have available. The fact Grant and Lyden can’t make the bench is quite something at this level. Lyden, in particular, I hope we see him come back… Oldham looked so lost, on the pitch and in the stands. It felt like it would have if fans were allowed in at home last year - a club on the edge, and the fans unable to do anything about it (although we eventually managed to….). First visit to Boundary Park, and it is actually a decent ground… it’s just felt soulless and full of the last remaining fans that felt they had to be there, like the core 4.5k we get when we’re down to the bones.

I was surprised to see Simpson’s tweets. I hope he realises that there was substantially more people singing his name in the stand, and even more at sat at home, and an absolute fraction that send him
unjustified criticism. He took his goals well, and (from my view at least) actually scored 3 goals….

I took a more than average look at the way Oldham set up and played yesterday. To me, it was very much like most sides that have visited the CG as the away team this season.

So why doesn’t that level of our performance translate into home wins?

Has me baffled.

Let's stop fannying around. Simpson was poor for 60 minutes. And took his goals well thereafter, and his game came more alive too.

A sort of mini reflection of his season really.  Good one game, less so the next

A 19 year old in his first season, learning his trade against seasoned pros. Exactly as expect, and probably exceeding expectations really.

Bags of potential.

As I've said and has been mentioned, he shouldn't be the only recognised centre forward at the club.

I don't think anyone has said they hate him, however I have seen more than a few comments saying he's shit & should be dropped.

I think the term "Haters" is just terminology for somebody being negative towards him (or anyone else)

I also think "hate" is over the top. I haven't seen anything like that but I don't do a lot of social media so could have missed it. Being critical of a player's performance (not singling Simpson out here) in a game doesn't equal hate; although that stretch is often made on t'internet. Similar criticism of Iandolo has also somehow been extrapolated to hate.

As for Simpson  he has great games, good games, average games and poor games. No surprises there - he is in his first pro season in league 2 and is 19. If he was knocking it out the park week in, week out he would be in the Ipswich first team rather than with us.

... and would likely disappear back to Ipswich in January, Doyle-style

I'm not sure anyone 'hates' him either.

He is good at some things and bad at others. He's a handful for defenders at times, but his size and awkwardness often results in giving away free kicks. He'll get better and will have a decent career.

We need another player like him to give competition and occasional rest.

What I saw yesterday was 70 mins where nothing happened or worked for him; a lucky miscontrol and well taken goal; a disallowed goal where he was in the right place at the right time unmarked; a growth in confidence; an undisputed charge on goal and cool finish.

But yesterday he did hold the ball up well and bring others into play and made the runs but was not found. By poor do you mean the chances he missed because that's where i find the unfair criticism comes in. McKirdy missed as many chances yesterday and against Rochdale was even worse.

Anyway it doesn't matter it was another great 3 points. Be nice to see a few of the fringe players against Crewe

yup. brilliant 3 points.

I hope Grant and lyden after involved.

But it can be a money spinner so if he plays the strongest team I can see why

just my opinion like, thought his touch was off again. Found it hard to be influential. And yes, he should be taking the clear cut chance, though he was unlucky with the one cleared off the line

fwiw - I also said mckirdy should have done better with his 2 first half chances too.

like you say, it doesn't matter.

besides, football fans disagreeing over football is how it should be!

100 percent agree, i think what a few people miss on here is how much is also done on Social media though that was my gripe about it. Sometimes you can make an observation about something  and post it on here but people get defensive and assume you either mean them or will say well i have not seen that on here.  My main point was he does get absolute pelters online

To ensure the constructive feedback is fairly distributed, I have mentioned before that very few of our squad have what I would call a natural finish on them.  Only Gladwin looks confident when shooting, confident as in he looks like every shot he takes he thinks will go in.  Payne is probably the worst, I am sure more than half the shots he takes are blocked.

If we can improve there, we'd be getting four five against some teams.

I remember winning 6games in a row under Macari which were all away games - due to postponements at the CG.

A win at Crewe Saturday will be 6 away wins in a row. Have we done that before?

I think you answered that in your first sentence

Change before for since

Gotcha. I cant recall that sort of form tbh - but my memory is shit

That's great. I don't really get the criticism of Simpson myself. He's 19 so these flaws and inconsistency is to be expected, if he was 25 then that'd be a different story.

I also don't see where wanting a change up front gets anyone right now, it's wasted energy, our options are him or another teenager. This is our lot til January.

Seen Oldham fans saying he was bullying their defence and with our set up we need that type of presence, once January comes and if we can bring someone else in to offer experience and competition then I can only see him getting better.

Sent from my CLT-L09

Jan to Mar 86 we had 6 away wins in an 8 consecutive win LEAGUE run but at the start of that run was an away defeat in the FRT at Rovers.

So in all competetitions the record stands at 5 away wins in a row, 6 if you only count league games.

1 of our wins was at Plymouth in the PJT.

Here’s the 6 in a row. Only 1 goal conceded, too.

18 JAN   Wrexham (Away)           1 - 0   Gordon (pen)                  1,767
1 FEB   Northampton Town (Away)   1 - 0   Henry                          4,449
3 FEB   Stockport County (Away)   2 - 0   Henry, Gordon                  3,898
22 FEB   Preston North End (Away)   3 - 0   Ramsey, Henry, Coyne   3,361
4 MAR   Exeter City (Away)           3 - 0   Coyne, Gordon, Ramsey   2,291
8 MAR   Rochdale (Away)           2 - 1   Gordon (pen), Henry           1,989

Yes but only LEAGUE games, we lost 2-1 at Bristol Rovers on 21st Jan in the FRT (the PJT equivalent. So in ALL competitions it was WLWWWW.

Which if we are counting our run then we have equalled it already in all comps.

 Considering the circumstances for the individual and club Simpson has done brilliantly. From fans in the circles I frequent all without exception love his efforts so far. As with the rest of the team he gets better with game time. When things are not working for him, as was the case for a while (not 70 minutes either) yesterday he always runs his socks off. Unlucky not to net at least another. He and the club are exceeding my expectations and good luck to them all. Also must mention what a great game landolo had. I thought he was unlucky not to start against Bradford and a major factor in how we lost our shape and our way.
Great bounce back yesterday though!!!

Really heartening to see the love being shared for our mascot of yesterday, Link who despite a monumental battle has the most amazing smile. Kudos to the club and Oldham players and fans for such an outpouring of love for the little man. One of the Oldham players (Whelan I think it was) making sure before he left he gave him his boots.

will said

I don't think Simpson was that bad for the spell yesterday where he struggled, just seemed the defenders were experienced and outmuscled him on most occasions, when he did get the better of them we profited.

Looked way better than their lad Bahamboula, I'd be worried if we had him to have to rely on rather than Simpson.

Recall another player having exactly the same problem but once he finally found the net, well the rest was history, anyone remember Jan Aga Fjortoft ?   :D ; :D.

He was absolutely awful he looked like exactly what he is, a midfielder playing as a striker.

There’ll be little competition there, as most football league clubs should know better than to have a teenage striker with no professional games under his belt as their primary goal source.

Don’t get me wrong, Simpson will be a good footballer, and will most likely have a career above the level he’s currently at. However, I judge players for how good they are now, irrespective of age. League 2 is a cut throat business, half the players we have now probably won’t be here next year, and when it comes to strikers, you take the best you can find. We aren’t here to develop players for other clubs, we are here to get promoted.

Yes Simpson has 6 goals, but stick Doyle or Yates in this team, they’d probably have double. We are 4th in the league for XG, and average 60-70% possession in most games. We are a strikers dream when we play like we did yesterday and if we had a better striker, I genuinely think we’d walk this league.

You're a bundle of fun aren't you.

Sometimes a team's main forward isn't supposed to be their primary source of goals, Liverpool have won a PL & CL with such a forward.

Don't brag up Simpson too much until after the January transfer window closes.  Until then, he's doing a great job, but not up to top of League 1 standards.

but Salah got 19 and mane 18!

I’m just saying it how it is. You don’t have to agree of course.

As for your comparison, you’re really clutching there.

Without Simpson occupying defenders, McKirdy and others wouldn't be getting opportunities.  Doyle needed the ball teed up just right for him at his feet which Wellens understood.  Simpson offers more than that for the team.

Sometimes he might, but I can also think of 4-5 games off the top of my head where we may as well have been playing with 10 men.

His inability to win headers and his lack of a first touch means more often than not, the ball ends up with the opposition coming straight back at us when we’re under pressure. You’d think for somebody of his size, he’d be way more of a handful in the air and would hold the ball up better. He doesn’t even jump properly for most aerial duels. I don’t know if it’s a lack of belief or if he’s just never been taught.

I’m not saying he doesn’t have good moments. The first half at Sutton he showcased what he should be doing way more often. Held it up very well and ran the channel. Won fouls and was genuinely involved in the game. Unfortunately we only see this version of Simpson for around 20 mins per match.

I'm really not, as Crozzer has just said, he occupies defenders which gives the others the space and opportunity to get in where they are, Firmino is slightly different in that he presses the defence rather than have them worry about him with the ball but the point is very much the same, Firmino will never be chosen by Klopp for his goal threat but will play him whenever available for everything else he does for the team.

If you want to ignore that there are comparisons and parallels to be drawn to better teams and players then that's up to you, I can't argue, Firmino is a better player than Simpson but it's all relative to the team any player finds himself in.

Kevin Davies scored double figures once in 9 Premier League seasons but was absolutely integral to them staying there for so long, he averaged a goal about every 5 games and even played for England in that spell.

If Simpson can get 15+ goals he'll have been a great success. 

The situations aren’t even remotely similar. Firmino is practically a false 9 who has 2 of the most clinical ‘inside forwards’ in world football to score goals. Simpson for us is a #9 who spends the majority of the game on the last shoulder of the defender.

Kevin Davies was good in the air. Simpson is not.

I understand what you’re saying. There’s examples of players who are selfless and benefit the team as a whole. I just don’t think that logic applies to Simpson. His main job is to score goals.

I'm just really not sure his main job is to score goals and at this stage he has 66% of the goals the top scorer in our league has.

As it stands between him, Payne and McKirdy we can reasonably expect a return of about 45 goals, I think that is more than reasonable, especially as we don't actually concede too many and I think we're now creating more and more decent opportunities in general.

I'd wager the times you've had issue with his performances were mostly at home?  I think that's more a team issue and to do with us not dealing with the way teams set up against us better?

I get what you're saying too, he's our player for now and we can only judge him on what he does for us while here but there are only 8 players with more L2 goals than him so far and only 3 of those have 2 or 3 more.

Anyone know how many of his goals have been scored away

Just looked, 4 of his 6.

So level pegging home & away up to yesterday.

Would that suggest it's more to the way we set up away from home and he gets more chances

On your stated criterion however:

1.   with a goal conversion rate of 0.41 after his first 15 games in league football.  
2.   9th = top scorer in League 2 (just 3 goals off the top)
3.   1 goal off being 4th = top scorer.

I would call that a decent start for a teenager in his first 15 games as a first teamer in league football.

I appreciate you make other points, as do we all, that are interesting to raise and debate.  Especially given Simpon's youth and inexperience.  How will he turn out as a footballer and, selfishly for most of us, how will he work out for STFC this season or 1/2 season?

But for today, credit where credit's due.  He is in fact doing his main job.

Looking at the top nine in the league 2 only Northampton have scored fewer goals than us so definitely something to work on there considering how much possession we have in games.

First 8 games, 9 goals then a blank in our 0-0 vs Col U, last 6 games we've scored 13.  That suggests we're working on it :)

Fair point, it also points to home games being the problem.

I've not seen many games this season but we always look dangerous on the counter away from home, creating chances - even when we seem to be under the cosh.

It's a completely different game at home where the oppo have 8 behind the ball and we mostly look laboured for all our possession.

Unquestionable that home form is our problem, Williams really getting into gear could be something we can harness to get through teams in this regard hopefully, we should also never start with 2 defensive FBs at home again.

You are right but it's hardly a new formation we're playing against at home and can remember McMahon saying the same thing and the way to break the opposition down is to move the ball quicker and get down the wings and put crosses into the box.

We do largely play narrow at home.  Agree with what you say.  As for Simpson however, I feel he is for now stronger having the ball pinged to feet or into space behind defenders rather than  getting to the near post first or pulling off his man in other ways for crosses from the wing.

And Kinky is right, Williams seems our most creative player at home and Reed and Gladwin can pick a pass.  KKH was looking for lofted balls inside the retreating full back against Bradford but Gladwin didn't make them.  With a bit more time together, I'm sure we'll see developments on the interplay needed to breakdown defensive set ups.

Good post

Like McKirdy then and most league 2 footballers.

No this teenager who could have been playing pro rugby needs to be completely proficient in every aspect of professional football right now!

Sent from my CLT-L09

I'd drop another midfielder in (East, Lyden or Grant all OK) and push the wing backs really high. You break teams down who play 11 men behind the ball by a) moving it fast and b) playing with width high up the pitch. The midfielders can cover the counter while we push the full backs high. Agreed, we should never play both Odimayo and Hunt at home. I'd personally go for both of our attacking options (Iandolo and KKH)

Some of my thoughts after the game on Saturday.

Firstly Oldham were terrible and we absolutely ran the show in the first half. Weirdly we seemed to get complacent in the second half and allowed Oldham to come back into the game a little bit. Unfortunately for however well Conroy plays, he always seems to have at least one rick a game in him. I think he was very lucky not to concede a pen/and/or a red card (can't remember the rules completely) when he dawdled on the ball and let Hallam Hope get wrong side of him. That could have changed the game completely. I mentioned this before the game last week, but the high line defending that we do I think is going to lead to our downfall against better sides. Oldham had an absolutely clear cut opportunity first half where they had 2 players in acres of space and thankfully weren't good enough to take it. Balls into our box continue to be our defensive achilles heel, another goal conceded in this manner.

That said, however bad the opposition were there were many positives to take. I thought Iandolo had his best game in ages, his touch has always been sound and he looks to be improving his balls into the box, not always perfect but with Mckirdy and Simpson to aim for he's doing his job and finally seems to have found a role he seems comfortable with. (after 7 seasons!!) KKH on the other side is fast and tricky and again looks to have improved delivery. If we can get both on the top of their games and adapted at home, we could reap the rewards. Gladwin, Williams and Reed I thought controlled things, Gladwin makes the game look easy at times, think he has found his home with us now. Payne when he came on was excellent as usual, a great asset to have against a demoralised tiring team.

Final word to Simpson. Yes he is not the perfect striker, he's clumsy on the ball and his touch can be erratic. He is frankly useless in the air (I wonder if his heavy set affects his ability to jump for headers or something, he doesn't seem comfortable in the air at all?) That said he is also very strong and powerful and seems to be both footed (think he prefers his left?), given his 2 finishes were with right and left foot. Certainly the defender for the third goal didn't know what side to force him onto and Simpson was able to finish easily with his left foot. I like him, he works hard for the team, makes good runs and is now reaping the rewards. It's at home where we need to try and work out how to utilise him best. Sides sitting deep can defend easily against him.

Crewe away next, should be a good test and 2 sides that play a similar style of football.

As fanciful as it sounds I wonder if Wycombe would allow Akinfenwa day release to give him some 1 to 1 coaching as Akinfenwa is a master of what Simpson could be.

If Akinfenwa indeed does wish to pursue a career in coaching, could work well for both parties.

Crewe have won one game all season and it was against 10 men, whilst we're unbeaten away from home all year. At the risk of sounding a little arrogant, I'd say we should be winning this one.

They’re playing an equally shit Donny tonight. Be interesting to see who manages to win that one.

Tuesday unless you're more than 10 hours in front😀

Or still managing tomorrow :)

Oops

 :clap: :clap:

Lovely result that and we seem to avoid drawing.

Sort the home form out and we could be in for an exciting season.

Defo better than the 'finish third from bottom at all costs' that i was expecting.

A win is like 3 draws.

Better to win then lose than to not win at all.

Scoring 16 goals away but only 6 at home  :sherlock:

Close to getting the bullet.
Couple of players are frozen out of the first team and appears dressing room is lost.
Some fall outs for sure.
Interesting they have a few injuries make of that what you will.

The injuries one is fascinating. (to me at least) We really really struggled with injuries under Wellens yet under Garner have been (touch wood) injury free. I know there has been investment behind the scenes by Clem re fitness etc that I assume Power wouldn't have provided for Wellens, but it surely can't be coincidence that he is now struggling with injuries at Donny.

Apparently he lost the dressing room when he froze Bogle out of the 1st team squad, hard to come back from that, maybe he should have let him come to us as was the rumour at the time, not that I think hes any better than Simpson TBH but would have been another attacking option for us.

I’ll guarantee he’s not better than Simpson.

Eeee awwwww!

Yes?

Swindon had the 2nd highest away following in L2 at the weekend only beaten by 35 extra for Hartlepool  who saw their side beaten 5-0 at Orient who were offering £5 tickets for the match to home and away fans hence their attendance of 6,233.

https://fanbanter.co.uk/efl-away-attendances-at-the-weekend-1st-november-2021/4/

Must be Laandan based poolies

That's still a great turnout for a small club considering how much travel would cost