Thetownend.com

Here's the official matchday thread.

In our 4 previous meetings we have W2 D1 L1 F7 A2 (all in Div 3 in the late 1960s)

Barrow started quite brightly this season but they have tailed off a lot. Last win was 02.10.21 against Mansfield.

Hopefully Orient was a blip for us and normal service will be resumed.

Barrow 0-3 Swindon Att: 2,877 (723 away)

any indication how many tickets weve sold for this?

Piece of piss. 1-4

Swindon to suffer a single goal defeat in front of 3,361 fans with 630 Town fans there.

Barrow havent won in the league since September 24th a run of just 1 win in the last 14 league games.

They sit in 20th place in the table just 4 points off the relegation places and on a run of LLDLLL.

Thier top scorer is ex Town loanee Ollie Banks with 6 goals, the next highest is only on 3.

Barrow have some ex Town players and staff at the club, the most notable being ex town manager Mark Cooper, a chalk and cheese manager with us some fans loved him some hated him, he is assted by ex Town loanee Richard Dryden.

In the team they have ex town loanees Ollie Banks and Jordan Stevens.

Their home form is exactly the same as Swindons with 2 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats and sit 4th from bottom of the home form table.

I may be wrong but I thought the away end capacity was only around 650

It is hence my guesstimate ;)

I think it will be mid to high 500's😀

My prediction is waterlogged pitch. For those going up I hope I'm wrong.

With 73 in the home end  ;)

 ::) ::)

Had a chat with Ollie in the hotel a short while ago- decent bloke who enjoyed his time with us. Saw Stevens but didn't talk. Didn't see Cooper.

Wished Ollie well (but not too well!).

Pre match morning after the night before in The Furness Railway, again.
Was going to have a coffee, but on seeing people with pints before 9, well if you can't beat them join them.

Not too downhearted after the loss on Tuesday.
Fixing the concession of identikit goals shouldn't be too difficult.
More upset about having to abandon the trusty brolly that fell out of the jacket pocket into the pan in a particularly smelly pub toilet before the game.

Hopefully away defeats won't be like buses.
If they are anything like Stagecoach buses in Swindon then it should be a long wait before the next one.

First meeting since the late 60's.
Anyone in the convoy of charabancs that trundled up to Barrow in 1969?

Nice statue of Emlyn Hughes near the station.

Noticed that Barrow is an elephants graveyard type destination for former Town players at the end of their careers.
Steve Foley, Tim Parkin, Heywood, Seagraves, Finney, Mutch, Hulbert and err Paul Edwards to name a few.

Hope it's game on anyway.

   
https://www.barrowafc.com/siteassets/documents/2021-22/visiting-supporters-information-21-22.pdf

"Please avoid parking at Asda due to the fact it is for patrons only, there is also a
parking eye in operation."

Hopefully we won't be wearing black today again

Assuming there's no pitch inspection as haven't heard anything

I hope we never wear it ever again.

11am apparently.

It's presently dry watching u9 girls football practice.

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Cheers JJ. It would be poor if it was called off now considering Horlock has said it's dry there.

Looking out of the pub window it's raining enough for car wipers to come on.

It sounds a real grim place to live

Its about pitch drainage thats the major issue not so much what the weather is doing now.

That sounds wrong somehow!!

Train delayed from Lancaster by 50mins. Good News for Landlord of Merchants who now has a train load of people wanting a beer.

As there is no mention on their little forum or on the OS I am presuming any drainage issues are clear and the game will indeed go ahead as planned later.

On coach #1 and just passed Moreconbe exit of M6, hoping the forecast deluge doesn't arrive in the next couple of hours.

That’d be Wise

It's started to piss it down here!

Sent from my SM-A125F

Good pub that.

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I assumed after their postponement in mid week they would have forked the pitch to enable a Friday pitch inspection then cover up if need be😀

Every cloud has a silver lining.

The locals do like a dodgy Christmas jumper.
Not sure if it's just standard attire that they wear all year round up here.

On the train from Lancaster,much quieter than expected

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No onboard flares let off today?

With some of our fans, its only a matter of time.

I see the Barrow fans seem to think of us as being moaning southern softies!

At least they are honest in how they describe themselves

That’s the fucking Jocks for you!

Caddis on comms today!

You're ahead of the game  :pint:

Barrow is 70 miles closer to Glasgow than Swindon is to Barrow.

So, is it Gladwin or Williams to start today? Or a sneaky Lyden.

Barrow is a quaint little seaside town, don't think many could have been to Swindon  :D

Isn't he on the staff at Fleetwood now?

In all fairness to them I had a bit of that from a female programme seller at Carlisle about six years or so ago. Maybe remind them if it wasn’t for Stone Henge they’d never know the time of year.

Personally I think Williams offers us more going forwards than Galdwin. It seems eveident that Williams, Payne and Gladwin just don't work together but any combo of the 2 seem to work better.

Gladwin had a poor game on Tuesday, I would like to see Lyden given game time but then I would like Grant given some too but thats obvious it wont happen under Garners management.

Is he? I have no idea TBH.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGVPEoZWYAMYWUx?format=jpg&name=900x900)
SUBS | Ward, Crichlow, Lyden, Mitchell-Lawson, Gilbert, Williams, Dabre.

No Reed?

Suspended 5 bookings one match ban

Really? Never noticed him racking up the yellows

Hodgetts & Hawes just confirmed it

Curious seeing Hunt come back in for Crichlow, who wasn't great on Tuesday, but is a genuine CB.

I struggle to see what Gladwin offers to the team, unless you're looking to time waste and pass the ball backwards.

I'm getting concerned about the continuing non selection of Williams

It makes you wonder why a Welsh international is happy on the bench

I guess Conroy over Crichlow is a "captain" thing but my word,he was shockingly poor on Tuesday,no better than Crich

It might be the fitness/physio's at the club saying for him not to play too many minutes in a short space of time, same with Gladwin.

Williams is managing his fitness surely? His body doesn't seem to be (from a long way away, I'm sure the club's medical team know for sure) up to 90 minutes, so we've judged he's better in a sort of job share with Gladwin. I can't imagine he's not involved in that decision making process to be honest.

But then,I still think he should start

If he has fitness issues how come he's always called up for Wales

He rarely starts for them, though. Impact sub if needed - similar to us.

I have to say from the video on ifollow, Barrow's pitch looks like it is backed up by and industrial waste dumping ground

looked up where Barrow is, WOW, that has to take 6 hours to get to from Swindon.

I'm staying tuned as the match day commentary show will start soon!
I'm staying tuned as the match day commentary show will start soon!
I'm staying tuned as the match day commentary show will start soon!
I'm staying tuned as the match day commentary show will start soon!

:)

console yourself with the fact you haven't travelled many hours to sit in the piddling rain in some Northern hellhole

Think there is more town here than barrow, plus the pitch looks almost square

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I prefer the term pee pee soaked heck hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbdABHy9218

just looked it up....46 degrees and raining....fuck....you are a true supporter!

TBF Mr Horlock didnt have a 6 hour trip! probably more like 20 mins :)

Thats Barrow!

Simpson jumps and falls down painfully. KKH let off after a poor backpass saved by Conroy.

Payne cross to Gladwin who misshits a shot and its cleared.

Looks bleak!

Barrow CB and captain down injured.

The conditions look very poor with fairly heavy rain and some wind too.

Caddis on Yoga is what we want to hear about.

Think McKirdy is regretting the shorty shorts right now?

East good pass to Payne who finds McKirdy who dribbles in the box but falls over his own feet.

Town with some nice passing and interplay so far.

Conroy with a mistake at the back but we manage to clumsily clear it.

East is looking self assured.

KKH fouled just outside the corner of the box.

Good direct free kick from Payne but the keeper saves it fairly easily with a punch.

Payne down the wing to Iandolo but his pass is a bit too quick for McKirdy who is offside.

Nice dummy from Iandolo, then Payne passes on to him to play a first time ball for McKirdy who rounds the keeper with ease but is offside.

Nice piece of play.

East to Gladwin on the break who finds Payne but his pass in the box is short and cleared,

Sounds like Conroy is continuing his form from Tuesday night.

Conroy got away with what looked like a penalty after a poor backheel and foul.

Conroy is looking like a liability at the moment.

Happy birthday Dion.

Hes not having a birthday to remember.

Great ball from East but Gladwin slows it down and it fizzles out into a Barrow attack.

Forward goes down under pressure from Conroy. I thought it was a penalty but ref doesn't give it.  

Looking again, that was a pen. We got very lucky.

Their keeper kicks straight into touch in his half, poor kicking against the wind.

East looking very good so far

I thought the same, bad challenge by Dion.

Not sure what the possession figure is so far but I would think its 70% Swindon so far.

Worried that we have the wind this half. The way we tend to manage games it would be better the other way

Barrow look like a NL standard side so far, this game is here for the taking if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot

KKH saves Conroy's blushes

Conroy slips and KKH and Mayo clear the ball, that looked trouble at the back.

Much like their ground.

Simpson and McKirdy looking very up for it so far.

and their weather :D

KKH blocks a cross for a corner to them.

Barrow player dives looking for a pen.

Barrow comms seem to think we have someone called Sinclair upfront.

Wollacott gets away with a bad touch when kicking.

Times  2. They look dreadful.

Looks more Town fans there than Barrow from this angle.

As does their pitch!

WTF is Gladwin playign at going back and giving them a free corner.

Ollie Banks looks like hes grown 6 inches since he was with us.

Another corner to them.

Way too much ‘clever dicky’ stuff from a few of our players.

Wollacott punches it clear.

Especially just outside out own box.

Reference Williams…..

He is being managed- he can’t start week in week out, he said so himself.

With this pitch we are asking for it. So frustrating.

Conroy misses his tackle but they have a shot that goes well over the bar.

The ball is so slow and holding up all the time, we need to get it away a little quicker than we are, its dangerous tactics.

We are still pissing around at the back too much.

Do the town players get fined if they clear the ball away from the box???   What the fuck.

Barrow wants this game more

Ben's been watching Man City too much

Barrow dominating possession in last few mins

Gladwin yellow

Bit like Orient on tues

We are lucky that Barrow have little actual quality in their play they are just dominating midfield as we dont have a tackler in there to win the ball they are waltzing through us.

Gladwin & Conroy having terrible games. We're a mess, but especially at the back. Passing/possession game worked for 15 mins or so at the start, but impossible now with this pitch.

Always been a concern how we’d adapt as conditions deteriorate and so far it hasn’t been great. Conroy has been poor for weeks now, is he actually fully fit?

Its a bit embarressing that Barrow could be one of the poorest side we have played this season but they are dominating us in midfield without Reed in there.

Simpson good break but his shot is wide of the near post, great chance.

Get Lyden on and I'm sure Grant would have got stuck in

Get Lyden on for Gladwin 2nd half.

G{d play from Payne puts Simpson in. Spson shoots near post while McKirdy was screaming and waving his arms in the middle

Gladwin with a long shot well wide.

Slow loping run from Gladwin who shoots wide

Especially as he's on a yellow

I think Simpson has the extra material from McKirdys shorts added to his :)

Luckily Stevens still cant shoot or that would have been 0-1.

McKirdys first touch today has been poor, unlike him.

Odimayo caught out and let's Stevens clear though. Fortunately he hasn't changed from last year and squanders the chance

Barrow is swarming.  Ball has to move faster.  Maybe even send the ball to open space and let sticker run to it

Iandolo looks hurt quite badly.

Iandolo down. Was stood on a few mins ago.

Thought he has been playing well today

Iandolo had his hand stamped on a few mins ago, looks like that is the problem.

Fucking knob Barrow fans booing Iandolo FFS.

Puddle starting to form immediately in front of our end.

Iandolo back up again.

McKirdys first touch again lets him down.

FGR winning away again and currently 8 points in front of second with a game in hand

Nervous fans?

KKH shot from 20 yards saved round the post.

5 mins added.

Simpson wins another corner.

Yes.  Just need to put the ball in the box and see what happens.  Ball is wet field is shit.  Who knows

Typical conditions for a Lou Macari side!

Earned a first down with the yardage he stole at that throw. 

Again Stevens with a terrible finish, Conroy looks like hes got roller skates on.

Corner to town.

Time for the long studs second half!

Corner came from a good break and run from Iandolo

HT 0-0

Injured or not, Ellis has looked about our best player that half.

Entertaining half of football. Payne and Iandolo are the two players that have stood out for me.

hmmmm.

The weather and lack of Reed really causing us an issue.

I think we've got the better quality, but Barrow have been reasonably good themselves considering. Thankfully lack of quality/composure means we've not conceded.

Honestly, Garner has to address the obvious problems. No bite in midfield at all. We seem reliant on the opposition gifting us possession.

I'd agree with that.

agreed

but looking at the bench... it'll have to wait until January.

shit weather, soggy pitch, and it's all a bit 'nice'

Yeah, Iandolo and Payne pick of the bunch 1st half - positive mention for East who has looked decent without being spectacular

I would say that KKH, Odimayo, Payne, Simpson and Iandolo are all pretty decent that half, Hunt hasnt done bad and Wollacott have all looked decent, Conroy and Gladwin poor, East has done some great passes but is struggling defensively, McKirdy eager but his first touch has been woeful at times.

If ever a game cried out for Grant, this is it. We’ve got enough fancy Dans on the pitch, surely.

 Completely agree- when the pitches are bad you need that bite in midfield without him we do not have it

Well I think that half would put to bed ajny ideas that Garner may deploy some pragmatism from time to time.  It is clear any one game may be sacrificed to ensure we consistently do the same thing.  If anything we have doubled down on the style side.

On the plus side, we have looked likely to score. On the downside we look likely to concede.

Conroy has continued his last performance, all over the place and clearly been told to watch videos of Hoddle playing sweeper rather than Butcher playing central defence.

At times it is hard to figure out what our plan without the ball actually is.  We don't press well and we don't full the spaces.

On the ball, we have shown they are just as open between their central defenders.  Iandolo and Payne have had space to attack, Gladwin is allowed to run and Simpson has the beating of the defenders if he fancies it.

We could win this 3-1 and just as easily lose by the same score.

100% we are powder puff in midfield and they have spotted that.

Crap game so far.

We've been shit, but I don't remember Jojo having anything to do despite Barrow's posession.

I've a feeling that we'll grab an undeserved winner with a moment of individual brilliance.

Weather crap (but despite what but looks like it's not particularlywindy), football little better, terrace intimate

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I still think Barrow lack any quality other than Banks, I still also think we will win this, we have the far better quality players and have created chances.

Just shore up the midfield they are walking through us all the time, get Williams on as well as Lyden for probably McKirdy and Gladwin.

Keep the faith we still look more likely to score than they do IMO.

Stevens is still awful with his final ball, luckily.

It appears on his birthday, Conroy is giving out all the gifts he received... :hmmm:

I think our slow, methodical approach play, which retains possession well, is a problem when a team gets a little on top of us.  We seem to defend at a slow pace as well.  I assume that is just the mental ability to switch which is tough to do all game.  It just shows up that we seem caught between many stools on what we do without the ball.  We just appear to slip back into a formation with no press, no filling of the middle, no desire for everyone to get behind the ball.  By not doing anything we are very passive.

If we insist on the pace being constant, which means no high press, and we won't play a Grant type player, then we have to commit to niggly little fouls to break up their possession.

Since it’s halftime.  How about educate the American.  

Is Boxing Day still a thing in such gifts are given out or is it just a holiday to rest after Christmas family fights?

It's a follow up day to get more food and drink in you and go to watch the football.

Got no live pictures option, only audio. Wtf!

It's effectively our equivalent of your thanksgiving - all about food and football

But is still a holiday where places are closed like banks and government

Boxing day was traditionally the day that the toffs gave their crap to the peasants. But that hasn't happened since Victorian times! Now it's just a holiday the day after Xmas day and an official day in the footie calendar

Yep, it's an extra holiday.  Shops are open though as it is the start of the January Sale period, similar to Black Friday

Our Government has been closed for about 2 years. (Mods feel free to move to Politics, sorry)

I read that football used to be played on Christmas until about the 50s.  We’re the players tired of playing on the holiday or public not wanting games on the holiday?

It’s this which while I’m looking forward to the Man City game the score could be really embarrassing as if we are this passive with the ball and don’t engage against a team like that it could be a cricket score. He’ll surely have to try something different against them?!

Try a different browser, Aud. Keeps happening to me too, although normally in the 30 minutes before a game starts.

Don’t talk to me about government.   We have been a mess for about 6 years

Yeah, there used to be football games played on Xmas day - I think they just mad a sensible decision as neither players or fans really want to be travelling to football matches on Xmas day

Don’t use a browser. Watch it through the app. First half was fine.

Open a browser and login there instead.

We have nba basketball.   Which I can’t stand to watch

Boxing Day games are usually well attended.

And often (in the past) a local(ish) match which helps, although not always.

Biddy Biden seems to be doing a great job at messing things up.

Iandolo with an awful back pass to Jojo but he just gets there first.

Nooo! KKH dives again to try to get a free kick on edge of box.

I think that's a little harsh, it was a decent tackle

The pitch is the worst we have played on since the Newport one a couple of seasons back, its a leveller for sure.

Biden honestly doesn’t know what year it is or where he is at most of the time.  

We have started very sloppy this half

Iandolo anticipating Gladwin moving. He didn't. They both looked bad.

Hallam Hope scores for Oldham against the grass munchers

East with an awful mistake nearly costs us at the back.

Biden wasn't selected for this game. Let's stick to footie

Gladwin must make one pass in five.

He needs to change it, get Gladwin off - he is not playing well

Get Williams on for McKirdy.

With the field conditions I think the possession game we like just won’t work.  Just give the ball away.   Would rather see ball sent down field with pace to the wings and strikers.  If we are going to lose the ball let’s do it on barrows end

Gladwin and McKirdy for Lyden and Williams for me.

Need something to happen

Conroy slices a clearance to give them a corner.

Spot on

Godd you can take your politics to the political thread.

Penalty to them.

Conroy has been bad for me as well

Ball hits KKH arm, harsh.

Bloody hell!

FFS  :crash:

Harsh..  stupid rule, no way he could avoid the ball being punted at him

0-1 Banks

tbf - you are the one that kicked the discussion off

Dodgy pen

Deffo need to think about changes.

Suspect that we have a number of tired players out there as we have been chasing shadows.

Course, we have lots of goals on the bench!

I’m sorry but Swindon’s effort has been puss poor and lazy the past few weeks.  Not sure if the players are satisfied with the teams standing or the coach is not willing to push the players and change tactics based on the match progression. Pretty frustrating

Chickens coming home to roost now.

Fucking useless. Fucking clueless.

Simpson fires the midfielder into Gladwin, which takes them both out!

I am sorry but Garner has fucked up in not even considering Grant, this was a game made for him, we have been powder puff in midfield and bullied.

Swallow your pride.

Williams coming on.

Limping into January a bit here. Would have taken where we are at the start of the season, but it could be so much better.

Williams on for East.

Not sure that was the right sub.

I think Payne ran himself into the ground on a heavy pitch in the first half.

East hasn't produced anything going forward. Neat and tidy but not creative

So no midfield cover in front of the defence now… :hmmm:

Att: 2,863 with 577 town.

Forest Green now 5-4!

I think Payne had a good 1st half but has been poor this half.

Agree this is the sort of game Grant was great in

I wonder what nonsensical guff Garner will come out with after this. I was always worried what would happen if the away form tailed off. Never been a fan of Garner ball - irrespective of how this game pans out.

Fucked off with it.

Barrow hit the post.

Those calling for Grant may as well give up. He's as good as out the door - just don't think Garner rates him or his attitude.

Stevens goes off for them, thats a shame hes been terrible.

Gladwin wrong footed Wollacott as he deflected it onto the post.

Oh I am well aware of that and that Garner wont ever play him, it just disappoints me that Grant is exactly the type of player we need now or to buy in January.

McKirdy not doing anything right today.

Change it Garner FFS

Are those weird dipping type corners kicks on purpose?  Trying to get ball to near post player?

The wheels are falling off. It’s clear to see. We have fluked a few decent results. A travesty that Grant is noway near the squad. McKirdy being a muppet again.

His first touch today has been terrible.

Yellow for McKirdy.

Fuck off McKirdy, the petulance is starting to grate on me now..

Change what? Can’t see JML or Gilbert having any impact. You could put on Lyden to push Gladwin further up, but how would that help?

No. It's a sign to me that Payne is knackered

Do mckirdy arms do more waves/shrugs than his legs do steps?

I gets a bit tiring doesn’t it, he needs to grow up.

Stuff the FA Cup concentrate on getting 75+ points it's more important

Williams goes to ground and wins a free kick near the corner flag.

I agree.  Can deal with it when he is scoring but hasn’t been effective lately

Yes. I agree.

does the day end in a 'y'

yes: mckirdy will get booked if he plays
no: see yes

 😱

75? Fuck me.  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

He’ll be proudly uploading pics of himself being carded on his instagram account later.

Ok, just keep it how it is then..  Changing it doesn't always mean making a sub - but just introducing fresh legs would help - there are a lot of obvious tired and bogged down legs out there.

Payne shot from 20 yards 10 yards over the bar.

If we have top 3 aspirations😀

JML on for McKirdy

JML has won at least two penalties coming on as a sub. Agreed on Gilbert though, who so far hasn't had any sort of positive impact.

JML the only viable option off the bench to change things.

Oldham 5-5 carrot munchers

We need another striker and a midfielder with prescience in January for starters  

And a centre back and a cover keeper and left back at least for cover.

Wow they were losing 1-4

The list is growing by the minute

Norwood scoring for Ipswich, can’t see that move happening now.

Garner can’t change things. All the players are clones of each other. Nobody can do anything any different.

Probably thinks we need another midfielder or 3.

Hmmmm this could become a bit of a problem for Garner.  It would be interesting to see how the fans react if our form continues to drop off and Garner continues to refuse to adapt or add some pragmatism to our approach. Games like to day in awful conditions on an awful pitch you need to change things up ….

No its always been that really, 4 players.

The pitch just looks like painted mud.  Horrible.

You mean one who can guess what McKirdy will do next?

Just like the good old days.

Good move ends with Payne winning a corner.

Hunt off for Gilbert.

Our traditional Christmas shiteness. December will be a long month.

Williams win another corner.

He can’t and he won’t. And the more worrying thing is I don’t think he’d have a clue how to anyway.

Hunt had a good game.

COYR, we can get something from this

Fantastic.

KKH fucks up, Gladwin gives a pen to them.

FFS - KKH and Gladwin give Barrow the game

Hunt had one of the less bad games :D

Crawley winning at Orient 🤔

We'll win again, don't know where, don't know when........

This is becoming a joke.

Quite why Gladwin slid in then I have no idea!

0-2

Fuck off, Garner.

There. I’ve said it.

Appalling.

Garner out.

This is absolute dross!

Embarressing.

Our own worst enemies today..  the 3 points were there for the taking and they have handed them to Barrow

JML booked for dissent. Taking like for like change too far, for me.

This has made my decision easier on whether to get a half season ticket this week. Bollocks to that.

I wonder how long the fans would put up with seemingly nothing being done to address it though, I think there’s a lot of frustration already bubbling beneath the surface about the way we play. And on that note it’s 2-0, question marks are starting to appear….

fucking awful

But we still played well and controlled the game Mr Garner will say😀

Completely correct.  Swindon’s lack of urgency and grit just gave it away.  

Not sure if it’s the players will or coaches rules of how to play

Barrow are up there with the poorest quality sides we have faced, we have lost this game not Barrow winning it.

Fuck me, some of these reactions are embarrasing. Garner out?? Grow up FFS.

5 more mins of this dross left.

He will blame the ref.

To join the list of other poor teams we’ve failed to beat - some right old dross.

It’s harder to lose than win against teams like this.

Barrows first league win in 10. Well done Garner.

It depends if you compete or not

First half was Ok. They shored up their right side, which was where we were having joy with Iandolo and Payne

Second, Payne's movement stopped.

First goal was a harsh penalty. Second was pretty much because we had lost East and Hunt. Gladwin, who has been a mile off the pace all day (and season) gave away a stupid penalty

And/or weather

Hadn’t scored in their previous 5. Haven’t laid a glove on them.

Taxi for Garner.

2 very very poor performances in a row now.

Behave

It's ok we had 58% :eek:

Wonder if my good chum Mr Hodgetts will show some spikiness in the post match interview toward the ever charismatic Garner?

We’re stuck with him and his ‘project’ I’m afraid. We’ll go nowhere with him.

Hawes does the interviews

That was shit, no other word for it, sorry.

Red card after the final whistle, for fucks sake you stupid cunts. How to turn a defeat into a disaster.

On a par with our shit home games.

Fucking weather, should have tried harder.

Not good enough. Some poor individual performances.

The first pen was well dodgy. I don't even blame the ref. It's just a fucking stupid rule.

Some players need to have a word with themselves; Garner needs to have a re-think as well.

Great work Dion, just rub that bit of salt in the wound

Let Hodgetts interview…

Bunch of toss. Wonder if Garner has the capacity for self-questioning.

Well said

He won't jeopardise his nice position with the BBC

Cant complain - got what we deserved !  :badmood:

That’s my point, FH. He won’t re-think. Carry On Regardless starring Ben Garner as Charles Hawtry.

Well Garner's going to be all primed to blame that on the ref. Shame.

To be fair he probably needed to be dropped based on current form anyway.

Roll on next Saturday. At least we're at home.

Comforting thought!

Lucky there's an enticement for cup tickets otherwise we may have seen a significant drop in the attendance on top of Xmas

Don't get too upset ,Garner will take plenty of positives from the game

Well, if the first few months of the season was all a bit Return of the Jedi, then the past few weeks have been a bit more Spaceballs the Movie.  We have become a bit of a parody of ourselves.  It seems that results are not the highest priority amd the project is all important because we have just tried to out football ourselves when the football is not working.

The worst thing about today is the fact the Ref is central to their goals.  It potentially allows our Brains team to brush over the failings and focus on something beyond their control.

I worry a little for the next month or two.  The weather combined with a few teams having a plan against us now may well mean we get a few of these types of games.  If we simply will not change then we could drift away from the top spots.

I hope Garner is not an all consumed Coach, but fear he is.  It wouldn't take much to tweak the team and focus on the next match to get back on track.

This.

2 poor games on the trot now.

The first penalty: it may be a bad rule but if you're defending crosses you hold your hands by your side or behind you, not up by your shoulders.

Feel sorry for the 500+ who traveled all that way for that performance. Barrow deserved their win.

The pitch didn't suit the way we like to play, which doesn't bode well for results in the next couple of months.

What does Grant have to do to get picked?

Replace Conroy if he's not allowed the holding midfield role anymore.

From what I have been told, this team was at the brink of not being ....so it is kind of a rebuilding year from what I have read...so to be in the top 10 in the standings is great....

doesn't excuse poor effort by the team and the coach but over all it is good...just be nice to see the coach adjust as the match warrants...

I think they will be back on track.  and if they can add a few more players to help out, that would be great.

Be 19 and willing to do as he is told

I fear that drawing a big team in the next round of the cup might well be the worst thing that could have happened for our league aspirations, albeit a welcome boost financially

This is what p's me off in football when the manager disowns a quality player because maybe/maybe not something has happened behind the scenses and us fans don't get any explanation

Simple, move to a different club - Garner doesn't rate him or like his attitude

Is there any other team in the country that doesn’t play a proper midfield with a defensive minded player in there? What does Garner know that the other 91 managers don’t? We’d instantly be a much better team if we just played a second midfielder instead of someone like Gladwin, we’d have that extra solidity down the centre that we are crying out for.

I don't think the last two results have anything to do with effort, or avoiding injury for example.  We were a few saves away from a couple of these results before.  This is more about changing conditions and teams beginning to get analysis on how we play.  We are not a surprise as we were before and the conditions start to level up the quality we have on the ball a bit.

We need to put this into perspective - We hastily put together a team at the beginning of the season. We were short of a couple of players. We have done really well and won a lot of games away from home. You can't win them all!

We haven't done well at home because we have not had the right personnel to come on and score goals up top when we have been struggling to break teams down. That's also what you need when losing away.

Williams and JML are ok to change it up on the right or left wing. But, we don't have a proper second forward.  McKirdy is really a left winger.

Arteta dropped Aubameyang this week from Arsenals squad for missing training and instead going to get a tattoo. I suppose it’ll be drama for the ‘All or Nothing’ Amazon cameras.

Meanwhile we're struggling and he's better than what we've got on the pitch!

At least we know why he was dropped

Anyone would think that the General has been caught ploughing Garners missus…

Well maybe you're onto something :pint:

I'm sorry, but Garner is deluded if he thinks that both penalties were not penalties..  harsh for the 1st maybe, but..

So today's loss was down to the pitch, conditions and referee..

Sorry Ben, that's bullshit

2 points off autos with a game in hand.
Yes,we've just had 3 shocking halves on the bounce,arguably for the first time this season but perspective is important in my opinion. However,because of renewed expectations ( thanks to the manager it has to be said) it seems we're no longer "just happy to have a team to support"

Garner:
- First half. Started game well.
- Nothing in it at the beginning of second.
- First penalty changed it. Second penalty took it beyond us
- They hadn't had a shot on target until the first penalty. That decision changed the game
- First half we got into good positions but didnt make the right decision.
- The final bit was a problem
- Once they scored they just sat in.
- It wasnt a lack of effort or trying. We didnt have quality in the final third.
- Travelled all this way and game decided by two bad decisions.
- They were wrong. First penalty. Not seen that given before. Second, Gladwin was pulled back before the penalty was given
- Going to talk to the referee now to say how disappointed he is with the ref.
- Conroy. Don't know what's happened
- Clear frustration from the players as we dont get penalties given for us but we get them given against them
- Garner booked for going to 4th official too much. Must be a new rule. Went over to ask how long after the game he could go and see the ref
- East did well in his first league start.
- Thought we were the better side until the first goal
- Whole momentum of the games changed with that penalty
- Full week to prepare for Walsall

It dosen't help that Crawley won at Orient today and Barrow a few weeks ago

Ignoring my thoughts on the past few weeks, it's clear we are ahead of where we thought we would be.  In a sense, that is why Garner can carry on this way because it is a bit of a free pass and he can focus longer term.   That may benefit us over a couple of seasons.

I think we recruited well.

We got players in that would fit how Garner wanted to play.

They are, McKirdy aside, quite compliant.

We surprised teams early on.

We have better quality than we should have had and play some good stuff when in possession.

We are 7th, I think.

I just think Garner would make a good Manager if he allowed himself to worry about the next game, or accept you sometimes have to adapt to weather, a pitch, an opposition that has worked you out.

Some passionate TEF over reactions to the managerial situation aside, Christmas came early for Barrow today. Not only did they recieve all of Conroy's birthday presents, it appears Gladwin got dressed up as the big man and was handing out gifts too.

Town's away form collapse mirrors the current England middle order in the Ashes; one that you know is good enough and hopeful of recovery!

Oh well, life goes on.
Bigger things than footy.
You'll all get over it.
We have a club.
2 points off 3rd.
Game in hand.
And breathe...

 :pint:

It’s all starting to go a bit Luke Williams…

Most of what he said was so predictable and Wallsall won today so that won't be easy

Couldnt agree more.

Garner is a coach at best

Very amusing to see the usuals losing their shit.

Plenty of work for the boss to do.

The thing is we've moved on from the summer and the fans expections are now higher after such a good start and if the players gave another 10% today maybe we would have drawn or even won but it's clear for all to see when we struggle we don't have anything else to offer tactically which is frustrating.

A sense of perspective is always helpful

What's yours

I bought a season ticket after boycotting Pee Lowers County Ground.
Iv sat through a bag of shit so far, with about 50 minutes of memaberable football. I'm not impressed with Garnerball, he's just a Luke Warm look a like.
 I sit here smiling at your reaction to two away defeats. Did you really think we would go a whole season undefeated away from home? If so, what gullible twats.
If Clem reads this then know this. I will not renew my season ticket, your experiment doesn't work, at home, the style sucks the life out of the game for supporters.
 I've finally fallen out of love with football.

Fucking hell the knives out for garner brigade need to chill out a bit for now and get a bit of perspective. Two poor results (I won’t go as far as saying poor performances) from two tough away games shouldn’t suddenly mean that project Garner isn’t working, considering we’re in the right half of the table still and got a dream tie in the cup for the first time in years.

Major frustration about today and a warranted criticism of the performance, was that we looked like we had the quality to brush them aside in the opening 10-15 minutes, but we were playing our usual game as if it was a calm sunny day in august, which Barrow cottoned on to and suddenly started giving us much less time on the ball. All our intricate flicks were getting stuck in the pitch and runs thwarted by slipping over. Couple that with some insipid tackling (and guff reffing for both sides), Barrow were not lifting us settle on the ball and winning every 2nd ball. So many extra unnecessary touches that would bring players on to us forcing us to rush the pass.

I’ll give Garner much more time considering our position to address this and get some players in in Jan, before I’m hanging him out to dry.

That's bugs me reading Barrow wouldn't let us settle on the ball...there nothing stopping us doing the same to the opposition when things don't go our way!

Listened to Cooper on Radio Cumbria. Unsurprisingly delighted to have won. Gushing in his praise for Garner. Says we have quality players at this level. “If you finish above Swindon you’ll go up.”

when we are shit, we are extremely shit. i am starting to worry a bit as our away form was papering over our home form all season and now we are losing away. its not just the results just general play as well

I hope we don’t lose Payne in January. If we were to lose him - we would be in major bovver!

Oh no, we've lost a couple of games, better fucking get the Garner guy Fawkes dummy out and set fire to it in the middle of the magic roundabout to send a message :suicide:

How many times over the years have we had a good side, gone to some barely playable shit rugby pitch, in shit weather, and lost? Two penalties and a red card against us (whether deserved or not) kind of tell the story of the day. I only heard it on radio so not going to comment on the match itself but come the fuck on, this is part and parcel of being a lower league fan.

The home form is a little shit I'll give you that, but win our game in hand and we're third with a point between us and 4th. Better fucking commit hari-kari, that's not good enough!

I'm just glad we've got a club still and look likely to escape from League fucking 2.

I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to remind us we still have a club.

I'd almost forgotten.

I suspect that the the vocal 'doom mongers' do not reflect the mood of most supporters.

Just clarify, I’m joking. For those of us who’ve been around long enough to remember the dark days of the mid 80’s this week has been a ‘meh’ week. Nothing more nothing less. We move on, lick any wounds, have a look at the last two matches and learn from it. Bring on Walsall next week.

Been out all afternoon and caught a bit of the post match driving home..a couple of questions for those watching:

-Was Conroy on a yellow or was it a straight red for dissent?
-When summarising the match, Hawes mentioned a ‘significant injury’ to Iandolo in the first half, but Garner doesn’t appear to have been asked about it going off the summary above. What happened there?

There is the odd poster who thought you were serious tho!

I thought that too.

We were poor today. Perfectly possible to say as such if you wish.

The weather was poor. The pitch deteriorated. The penalties you can argue. We were never going to be able to play super sexy football today.

But we created the sum of bugger all clear cut chances. Bit I don't agree we were on top when the first goal came. It was at least one of those games that could have gone either way.

I'm not jumping on his back because I can see what he can bring to the team. But Gladwin needed replacing for someone who could get the ball back. East wasn't it. Lyden (and Grant) are a possible plan B, but Garner is too stuck in his ways to try it.  McKirdy when he's on it is great, but today he was at his arm waving frustrating passenger best.

Poor old Conroy has hit a bit of bad form. It happens. The stupidity of getting sent off after the whistle may actually be a good thing. Time to rest/reset.

We aren't a disaster. But we have an opportunity here - using the "yeah but ahead of schedule/nearly didn't have a club" is for later  - for now we need to keep pushing.

 :D

Agree about the knee jerkers and doom mongerers, but that doesn't mean we can't criticise individual performances and people, which is what I have kept it to today.

We gifted them the game, it was a game that we could have and should have won.  A mixture of poor performances, bad decision making and poor tactical decisions - alongside a lack of plan B has cost us the 3 points.

I have faith in Garner and the wider team, but the excuses (and that's what they were) that he came out with in the post match were absolute dogshit.  I would much rather have the honest forthright view of the likes of Wellens, than the type of view that Luke Williams would have given.  Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say that I got it wrong, so and so player got it wrong, we just weren't good enough..  Don't start going down the route of treating the fans like we are idiots, which for me he was doing in that interview today.

That is my honest assessment on Swindon Town today - that doesn't mean I am knee jerking.  I get so frustrated when we lose because of us rather than the opposition - it's allowed

A good honest opinion but no doubts some will disagree

Straight Red

Iandolo had his hand stamped on - likely sustained a dislocated or broken finger I would think - he was in a load of pain until half time

If you read the quote at the bottom of my posts, you will see that I fully agree.  Anyone is welcome to disagree

Seconded

That was my point i agreed with your post but some will disagree which is fine as everyone can have an opinion.

Todays attendances, two that stand out are 11,000 at West Brom & almost 25,000 at Charlton.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/fixtures/_/date/202101211

Cheers Berni

This in a nutshell.

Agreed no need to over react. We were never going to win every away game. I do wish Garner would add a holding player ahead of Gladwin. Did Garner say something about Grant in his interview? Think I missed it.

No they can’t. Especially on the political page 🤣🤣

Home (Actually about an hour ago!) (and huge respect to all those who travelled for c.6 hours rather than 30 mins to watch that nonsense), so where to begin...

Positives - I don't live in Barrow.
The pub was very nice and I will probably visit again
To one fellow TEF'ender I am no longer an anonymous northern monkey, nice to meet you @Paolo69 and hopes for next time Ardiles!


Negatives
The weather
The ground (I was more intimate with my immediate neighbours that I have been with anyone for months), it was very crowded!
The pitch
The referee was dreadful, he seemed oblivious to a Barrow tactic which seemed to be control the ball and fall over and invariably win a free kick. The highlight in the second half was when a barrow player slipped over with no one near him and he gave them a free kick. In terms of the pens from the other end, the hand ball seemed harsh but they are invariably given, with the foul it was obvious about 5 seconds before it happened that Gladwin was going to clatter the bloke, it was an incredibly clueless  thing to do. The ref did improve when he went on a booking spree for time-wasting, rather tempered by booking the wrong Barrow player (as far as I could tell) when Williams was clattererd.!

In terms of our players, Gladwin (how the actual fuck did he last 90 mins without being subbed) spent the whole game either receiving the ball facing our goal and passing it backwards or failing to turn round and run into the space which was there (on that topic do our players not talk, the number of times a defender would have the ball and not be told he was being closed down suggested a massive communication problem, in short Gladwin as our driving midfielder has all the penetrative outcome of a flaccid penis.

Conroy is the master of the 5 yard sideways pass, even better if the player he is passing to is already boxed in!

McKirdy did nowt bar winge a lot and like everyone else give the ball away at every opportunity.

Payne ran around a lot but seemed to have the dead ball ability of me.

I see the Garner honeymoon is well and truely over for many, only seen this game in detail so cannot comment hugely, but it was blindingly obvious from 30 mins in that it wasn't working!

Generally it was total dross, from both sides, they just seemed a little bit more streetwise and adept at shithousery!

A final thanks for the STFC Twitter for getting a picture of me looking like I am having the best time ever!

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGWHoyHWUAY4fgR?format=jpg&name=large)

Oh and one final thing, I am not convinced they made a single chance that wasn't the result of an STFC fuck up, we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, more blow our foot off with an elephant gun at every opportunity. The problem with this sort of system is that ball playing centre halves don't tend to stay at this level and much as with previous era's we are playing a system that our personnel don't seem to have the skill set to play.

Nice photos and fair play to everyone that went today. I hope that our idiots didn't ignite any trouble afterwards as apparently it kicked off.

Did it, the only smoke bomb on the pitch was a blue one, and seeing the steward deal with it (And their keeper run away from it like it was a landmine) was probably the highlight of the game.

It did kick off a bit on the 1719 out of Barrow albeit it was not clear what was going on as there were Barrow and Town fans on the train but the main person involved seemed to be wearing a Leeds shirt!

Honestly until they scored their fans were almost entirely silent!

I read something on the STFC Facebook page where it mentions it kicked off with both sets of fans leaving the ground at the same time.

Which one are you?

Oh to sum the game up Barrow's keeper looked like a highlighter pen and at the end of the game did not have a speck of mud on him, Iandolo ( who is much taller than I thought he was) looked like he had been mud wrestling!

You're welcome, I know some of you older ones on here have spotty memories.

Garner is tactically inept- he only is fixated on one way of playing. At this level you have to have the  ability to mix it up and adapt when needed and he either won’t do this or does not know how to.

Home performances- early on the away teams worked out if they sit deep and press high they will force mistakes- over the home games so far Garner has shown no sign of being able to counter this- he seems to get tactically out schooled by the opposition manager every game.

Away games till recently have been good- however now pitches are bad our style has become harder- again forcing mistakes.

Overall we should be happy to be 7th- more of a worry is Garners inability to mix it up unless we can do this we will struggle especially now the pitches don’t suit our style

Beware of the Spartacus syndrome.

Kicked off post-match with a few of the Town fans who ran into Barrow fans as they came out of the home end. Town fans seemed to be connected to the strange geezer who got kicked out first half for his bizarre pitch ‘invasion’. Four or five police vans, Town fans scrapping with police and Barrow lads chanting ‘Swindon get battered everywhere they go’. All seemed a bit ridiculous.

Re.the Anthony Grant situation.Correct me if I am wrong,but many seasons ago,under the reign of one Bobby Smith,I seem to recall that a certain Chris Kamara a fantastic midfielder for the club,seemed to be out of favour with our manager at the time.
I cannot recall anything at the time to explain this situation,but,I do remember going to the County Ground for an evening kick off,not sure whom we were playing or what the score was,but what I can recall is the Town fans all screaming for Chris to come off the subs bench,cos we were probably not to good on the night.Eventually,he came on to a tremendous roar of approval from the faithful,and the time he was on the pitch,he showed BobbySmith what we had all been missing.
I do not know what is going on now re. Anthony,I do know what he brings to the team,and conditions at Barrow would have probably been better with him than one or other of our midfield. It’s ok if our manager likes younger players,but sometimes,just sometimes you need a bit of bite and guile in the middle,and Anthony is the man.

Obviously a disappointing performance today, equally think it’s a joke that a handful of Town fans decided to shout abuse at the players at the end. A couple of bad days at the office, chill the fuck out. Ironically two away defeats could work out in the long run as the lads might realise they now have to step it up at home. COYMR

Scarf aloft?

They seem to have a bunch of cocky pricks on their forum, sure they'll turn up en masse for the return fixture.

Straight Red for dissent and basically for swearing at the Ref.

That was a shit day from start to finish.
Cancelled the train for the first leg of our long journey, had to then leg it into the car and drive as the connections would never have been made.

Absolutely angry everything today went wrong.
May not even get the second and third leg of the train tickets refunded. Railway service in this Country is fucking shite.

Sorry I missed you, Horlock.  I'm also intrigued now to know where you are in that pic - as I'm in it as well with one of my boys.  We were down at the front, and I think you said you were further back?

Fair play to you for getting there in spite of all that.  And good to bump in to you briefly as well.  Hope the journey back was less stressful.

Respect for still making it, Duke.

I suspect most who travelled are asking why they bothered, but one of those trips that makes the good ones even sweeter.

I’ve seen the highlights now and not entirely sure I agree with Garner’s assessment that neither incident was a penalty…have seen both given before and Gladwin in particular was always asking for trouble lunging in like that.

Great seeing you Mate and your flag making its appearance.
Just need to put the day behind us now. Nothing went right, poor all over the park.
Only Payne was a 7/10 the rest 4/10. Shite.

Gladwin had a shocker today.

Disappointing performance all round, but pleased to say our day out was more than that.  Meeting old friends, journey down, match day rituals and feeling the buzz.  My boys got their pic taken with Jonny W before the game and the beaming smiles said it all.  Made the 400 mile round trip worth it in spite of everything else.

Shame about the performance, shame about the lack of a Plan B when it was clear the passing/possession game wasn't going to work on a waterlogged pitch, shame about the post-match twattery from some of our fans fighting behind the stand after the game, shame McKirdy lost his composure, shame Reed wasn't there (sorely missed), shame some of our fans think 2 defeats is reason enough to have a complete meltdown (there were plenty of these in the stand) and shame we didn't get lucky.  But you can't win them all.  Barrow were ropey, but they were the best side today and deserved their win.

We were poor.  It was raining and cold and it seemed they didn't really want to get off the bus.  We don't have a plan B.  Today plan B was Gladwin as holding player in front of back 4.

Worth a try, not as shit as diamond with defensive full backs.  But shite

I was in same position as you after driving an hour to rail station but decided against driving 8 hours in a day (getting too old for that), particularly when postponement was still a possibility.
Fair play to you for making your way there but sounds very much like my impromptu afternoon relaxing at home may have been the better option after all.

Pathetic performance again. Pretty embarrassing tbh. Conceding 2 to Barrow, a team who hadn’t scored in 5 and had only won 4 this season. Spineless all round. 17 hour odd day but don’t regret it one bit haha

Big comeback needed against Walsall.

One more observation.  I worry that there's a pattern to McKirdy losing it visibly when a few consecutive decisions didn't go our way - and Conroy being sent off for dissent after the final whistle.  The ref didn't have a great game, right enough.  But there was a worrying lack of discipline on show in response to that.

We can't afford all these reds & yellows.  McKirdy's, in particular, are almost always petulant & pointless.  He's going to feel like a proper bell end if he misses the Man City game as a result.

Garner needs to be assertive, and to get on top of this.  It's not good enough.

So is now suspended for being a ....blank.

I'm sure the ref thought "oh yes,. Affer 30 mins of thinking time I'll reconsider both pens, "

We were utterly toothless up front why Conroy has to whine like that is bizarre 

Is it you who looks really chuffed that his left hand has beaten his right hand playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' ?

en masse = 47

I believe Conroy misses the next 2, Walsall + Exeter.

sent for abusive language

fa website is shit, says suspension ends "26 December" but not whether that's inclusive..

but I think Lou Reed had a date of 11/12 yesterday, so assume it's inclusive

From FA info for players booklet: red card for using offensive, insulting or abusive language and / or gestures = automatic 2 match suspension.

Billy Paynter was one for getting sent off just before Christmas and being suspended over the festive games. He did it twice IIRC

Been way above expectations so far this season but as others have suggested, we’re going to fall down the league if we don’t have a plan B. Doesn’t need to be rocket science but trying to play football on cut up pitches over the winter months isn’t going to be easy. Need to sign a big centre half who would be able to deal with the likes of Harry Smith and a striker who can hold it up. Doubt we will though, seems like Garner is focused on one style of play which will be stuck to throughout

So, at what point does it dawn on Garner that his way isn’t working.

Hopefully his definition of ‘working’ is the same as the fans. Surely he can’t ignore the obvious weaknesses, but I dread his actual response will just be ‘more of the same, just better’.

I wonder how invested Clem actually is in the ‘project’.

Watched 'highlights' now and both pens looked pretty clear cut from that view.

On reflection we sort of did have a plan B as we started the second half playing a bit more direct at times and it seemed to work for a bit, but fairly rapidly reverted back to playing it from side to side and rarely forward. Gladwin seems to have an age on the ball but does nothung with it!

Was looking forward to seeing McKirdy, but he was just a disappointment, did very little apart from getting a stupid booking for basically man handling one player so he could go and shout at another on the floor (who had gone down like a sack of spuds (as they all did) it has to be said). From watching him yesterday and his brief cameo on twitter my conclusion would be that he needs to grow the fuck up.

The Barrow fans playing Bobby Big bollocks is all the more funny for the fact that until they scored they were pretty much silent (TBH the Town support seemed strangely subdued as well), it's a funny old place and very remote and parochial which might explain that?

Oh and what the fuck was happening with the tannoy having to name check each players sponsor whenever they were mentioned 🤣

All in all based on that performance I suspect I will be unable to persuade my father in law to accompany me to any more games this season!

Sent from my SM-A125F

It’s Grim up North, even worse in Barrow.
Reminded me of an uninhabited Luton :). Initially Parked the car in a side street, an eerie sense of quietness and depression. Only one other car and thought, “it’s an ambush.”
Changed my mind and parked it outside of the Asda carpark.
Today all about trying to remove any memory of yesterday but I would be lying as I’m still feeling pissed off.

Two games should be applicable, only one game for a "professional foul".  Gladwin could have been sent off for a second yellow.  The standard of football in League 2 has improved over the years, while the standard of refereeing obviously hasn't.  The message to the FA should be if you want the fans' money, provide professional referees.  

That's one of the worst away ends I've ever been in.
Very cleverly picked the spot on the terrace that would give the most restricted view.
A young fella collapsed just before the start. First aiders got there eventually. I think he was ok.
Will probably stay in Ulverston next time.

No outstanding sides in this division. We have as good a chance as anyone

It was particularly grim yesterday, when we were coming through ulverston on the train  I did comment to my FiL that South lakes was looking particularly bleak and grey!

Albeit I have seen various comments that it was wet and cold, it was most definitely wet but what it wasn't was cold, it was unseasonably warm.



Sent from my SM-A125F

The standard of reffing has got worse. Can presume it's from promotion of officials for VAR but it is terrible

That's normally the way in league 2 with the top three promotion places and plays going to the last few games.

Exactly. That's why I don't get the doom,especially after last season

The view was dreadful, from where I was standing I couldn't see either corner flag without shifting to a strange contorted position plus could barely see the goal because of the screen between home and away fans!

TBH if you were to go again (and why on gods green earth would you) I would suggest staying in civilisation like Lancaster.

I see its been kicking off a bit on local social media that in the melee afterwards Town fans were handing out slaps to women and kids?

I can't believe noone commented on this!

I was really chuffed with this post and chuckling for ages after!

Finally worked out what you are looking at (TBF until this morning I have only been viewing n a phone screen), good spot, albeit I can confirm its not me.

Nah, that's you in the light grey hat and blue jacket  ;)

Well after Walsall and Orient i had a rest and a good job too by the sounds of it.

Still doing better than i thought.

Lets see what January brings.

A home win would be nice.

My IPTV wasn't playing over the weekend so didn't see the game. Probably for the best.

Challenge now to Garner to fix this (hopefully) blip now we haven't won in 3 league games. Conroy should be fined for being sent off after the final whistle. It's not as if we have loads of fit centre backs at the moment and to earn a 2 game ban in such a stupid way is extremely poor.

It will be interesting to see how we react on Saturday.

Well, apart from the match, that was a nice weekend.

Booked into the same hotel as Barrow use pre match. Tried to put the hex on but it didn't work. Had a chat with Ollie Banks about his time with us which he said he really enjoyed and was sorry not to get a contract.

Took my telescope and got some time under dark skies doing a bit of astronomy on the Friday night.

Saturday morning tried again to hex Barrow at breakfast. The took a drive out to Walney Island and spent a couple of hours on a walk before parking up near the ground and walking into town. Had a nice pint at the Duke of Edinburgh and then onto the ground.

The less said about the game the better I think apart from disassociating myself from the handful of fans giving the players abuse after the final whistle. yes they weren't great but you didn't exactly cover yourself in glory either.

Don't know what the ruck was about after the game but it delayed us getting into town to have a recovery curry and pint.

Drove back home on Sunday morning, breaking the journey for a couple of hours at Jodrell Bank so. not a complete failure of a weekend.

Have we been better? Fuck yes. Have we been worse? Come on, we're Swindon Town FC- of course we have!

Great to meet you too Horlock! Was much easier finding eachother in that pub than i thought it might be and it was a pretty good one i agree. Thanks again for taking my friends ticket, hope your FIL enjoyed his beer more than the football. I certainly did.

It was nice in there wasn't it, might go back sometime when the world gets back to normal.

Yeah that was just a bit surreal!

Self praise is no praise. FWIW I thought it was pretty good.

I see ya! Saw your photo on Watsapp also, your boys must have been made up. We did similar at Crewe, got there really early and China Red was able to 'use' his lovely daughter to get some photos with Dion just off the bus.

If it had ben Dion on Saturday he would probably have fouled her  ::)

And then shouted some foul and abusive language at her! ;)

Looks like Keith Gillespie  :)

TBF to our centre backs, Barrows strikers were rather shithousey all physicality until they were touched then dropping like a bag of spuds, so part of me can see why he was getting frustrated, the main problem with Conroy's (and in fact the entire teams) game on Saturday was constantly giving the ball away on anything bar a sideways and backwards pass, really not helped by Gladwin constantly playing facing his own goal so every time it was played out to him it invariably came back with added presure.

I do think generally Conroy is a good ball playing Centre back. But my problem with him is that he does make quite a lot of mistakes, often that aren't properly punished as League 2 isn't great. Clearly our defence is probably the weakest part of our game. Defending crosses into the box has generally been awful for most of the season.

The problem Saturday was no movement in front of the back line.
You could see the frustration. Ryan East disappeared after 15 minutes. Simpson lost interest and was equally frustrated. McKirdy would have been better coming off the bench.

It was a game that was as clear to see needed changing. We didn’t and the battle suited Barrow.
Our midfield and forwards, apart from Payne who at least tried to show himself were woeful.