Thetownend.com

We'll lose this, glad I won't be there.

Swindon 0-1 Scunthorpe att: 7,481 (176 away)

Ok, here goes.

JJW
Tomlinson (RWB)
JOB
Baudry
Odimayo
Iandolo (LWB)
Reed
Payne (if fit)
Gladwin
Barry
Davison

Edit: East drops out after a rethink to get the numbers down to 11.  :)

I'll go for a 1 0 defeat. No reason to believe our home form will improve just because it's Scunthorpe.
How many points do we need to stay up?

Saturday we turn it round. 3-0  :pint:

I’m sure the General will get a better reception than some of our current squad.

                 Jojo
   O’Brien  Baudry  Cooper
Tomlinson                      Iandolo
               Reed
Payne     Gladwin    Barry
              Davison

this season isn't unrecoverable, even if the signs say otherwise

This, however is a must win . And I think we will

2-1

Payne won’t be starting as will not be ready.

Swindon Town 1          Scunthorpe United 2

Tomlinson (29)             Rowe (78)
                                        Delaney (90+2)

fit enough for the bench Duke?

Garner seems to think he will be

‘Garner said: “It will be a huge boost to have them [Reed and Payne] back for Saturday.

“We’ve not got a huge squad, and we’ve been limited all season by the embargo but still managed to do very, very well within those restrictions.“

If we still want an outside chance of the playoffs we must win.

They are bottom of the league for a reason, so if we can't take advantage of that then the pressure on the coach & the team will intensify.

Have a season ticket but am starting to question whether its worth the cost of travelling to watch games.

Ironically, probably most looking forward being able to have the opportunity to say thank you to Grant for the past couple of seasons.

Think it will probably be a damp squib of a 0-0

Or if you are the Port Vale manager, a damp squid!

:D

Swindon 1 Scunthorpe 0 still waiting for the Tranmere attendance so won't bother predicting Saturday's.

5,767 with 262 of us

Cheers 4D. Wow that was lower than I predicted considering where Tranmere are in the league.

Swindon 1 Scunthorpe 0 Att, 7,395 with 160 Scunny

Be a very risky call Mate.
A huge loss for us, just hope not rushed back too soon.

Feels Inevitable - hopefully won't need him.

So 262 of us lost a couple of hours or so on Tuesday night that we'll never get back.
Not to mention those watching from further afield.
It's not the first time it's happened over the years and it won't be the last.

As others have said it's a must win game tomorrow and also a chance to salute The General.
Ideal scenario would be winning the game (I reckon we will) and Grant is the stand out player on the pitch before departing the fray after 85 mins or so.

Ben Garner presser

Jack Payne joined in training but didn’t do whole session so being assessed. He’s Not in a position to start tomorrow

Williams out for a week or so

Louis Reed back

Doesn’t see our  style of play as risky and wants to push on

(from FB group)

Our style of play invites teams to close us down and individual mistakes have cost us.

I see what he means but if you want to minimise errors you lower the risks by not putting yourself into the positions that we are. Conroy, Odimayo, JOB and Cooper as well as Iandolo, Hunt and KKH have all cost us with indidual mistakes bringin the ball out from the back.

Maybe the system isnt massively flawed but the players trying to play it actually are? limited players in league 2? who'd have thunk it.

I don't know how this is going to go. I do know if we do anything other than win the venom and displeasure from the masses will escalate. Things could get very interesting tomorrow evening.

Interesting comment about Garner not seeing our style of play being risky. And not sure I agree with that at all. The whole mantra of playing it out from the bank between the keeper and the 3 Centre halves is surely riskiness personified? Obviously the intention is to pull the opposition up the pitch, get them out of shape, beat the press etc but to say it isn't risky isn't really accurate.

Yep, anything other than a win isn't really an option tomorrow, perhaps if we are 3-0 down and come back to draw 3-3 then that might 'just' be acceptable but yeah, it's win or bust really.

Please ditch the 5 at the back tomorrow

I’d go for

JJ
Hunt Cooper Odimayo Tomlinson
Reed Iandolo
Gladwin
Mckirdy Davison Barry

I wouldn't mind us going for that line up but Garner does love his 3 CB's so I would have JOB in instead of Odimayo too I think JOB has been our most consistant defender since his debut first half.

This isn't how I want us to line up but how I feel we will.

                         JJ
         Cooper     JOB   Odimayo
Hunt       Reed      Iandolo    Tomlinson
                     Gladwin
               Mckirdy Davison

Personally I think we shouldnt be so heavily defensively biased at home with essentially 6 defenders we should risk Barry from the off to see what he has in his locker and go 3 up top at home even if its at the expense of Iandolo in midfield who did not look settled there on Tuesday at all.

I would prefer to go..if we stick with 3 at the back as per norm.

                         JJ
         Cooper     JOB   Odimayo
Hunt       Reed      Gladwin        Tomlinson
        Barry                          McKirdy
                         Davison

Not bad. I just can't stand Hunt at RWB. He's a good player and an honest footballer but part of the issue with us constantly turning back is due to the fact he can't beat a man and has no pace...

I think this can be levelled at pretty much every player in our team barring McKirdy, Tomlinson and Barry.

The first thing each player seems to do is look for the easy backwards pass all the time as the prefered option, "just don't lose possession".

So many times we have had the ball on the edge of the opponents area and 3 passes later its played back to Wollacott or Ward and its back to square 1 instead of taking a risk and trying to find a player in an attacking position.

This irritates me far more than our defensive frailties TBH. We have pretty much no risk takers in the team, I have no idea if thats what they are told or they feel they arent allowed to do that or are not capable of doing that.

Maybe that's what Garner means by us not playing 'risky football'?

I’ve just checked the stats for this season and realised that I have managed to see a total of ONE home win this season.

Don’t get to many midweek games, so missed Hartlepool
Don’t do the pizza Cup, not since U23 teams have been involved
Was isolating after Covid for Northampton.

So sorry in advance for Saturday

In theory its not risky, if the players are good enough.

But these players are in L2 for a reason, youth/lack of ability/injuries etc so errors will always happen.

Even with better players errors will happen although far less consistantly, thats the nature of football.

But the further down the leagues you go the liklihood of errors happened are significantly increased due to the player quality/consistancy.

So yes its not risky if you have the right players, but we don't and therefore errors will happen and all too often cost us a goal.

That’s the crux of the problem. We have defenders encouraged to take risks but everyone else not to.

Fucking madness. More of the same isn’t going to dig us out of the hole. We should win tomorrow even with all this shit flying around, but as for still thinking about the POs - forget it.

The thing is that BG thinks more possession is a good thing.

The more I watch us the more I think it just gives us more opportunity to cock up & gift the opposition a goal.

with respect I've seen JJ and I don't have him down as being much cop in goal.

edit: oh wait. Wollacott. never mind

A few years ago, less so now....

If I was picking the team I’d definitely bin off the 3cbs and wing backs - in favour of having something more structured in midfield.


JoJo

Hunt
JOB
Cooper
Iandolo

Tomlinson
Reed
Gladwin (I guess by default with no Lyden, Williams or Payne)
Barry

McKirdy
Davison

442


…or…

JoJo

Hunt
JOB
Cooper
Tomlinson

Reed
East

Barry
Gladwin
McKirdy

Davison

4231

I imagine it will be more of the same though…

Whilst Barry has shown us nothing so far. He’s got a good reputation and is regarded as being one for the future - we should maybe at least try a game plan / formation that plays to his strengths / includes a position he actually plays in.

I mean what’s the worst that could happen? He shows us nothing and it seems like a waste of loan? At the moment we are already there…

Spot on. Why take risks 20 yards from your own goal but not 20 yards from the opposition goal. If our players ran at defences and drew players out of positions then we’d have so much more success

Great point Audrey, I'd never thought of it like that before...

Great post.

Seems to be the only players that try and beat or wrong foot an opponent are the defenders...madness.

Midfield and Forward line always play safe.

Big laugh at Tranmere was the ball cleared from a rare corner second half. Fell to one of our players outside the box.

Instead of launching it back into the box or even shooting from distance...He went safe and played it back.  We were three zip down and had players committed in the box.... FFS!

I have a sneaky feeling Payne will be on the bench tomorrow  :hmmm:

Agree - risk taking will win us games. Passing round the back like we are defending a win on FIFA won’t.

Would be crazy to even make a 10 minute appearance.
Not ready.

What makes you think he is not ready? Any idea when he will be ready?

Hoping an appearance at Carlisle.

Did Tyreece get a new loan or will be just sat around bored today?! Feel for him if that’s the case.

1-0 Scunthorpe win, Garner to complain about the referee, goal will come from giving it away at the back.

Must win today. Think we'll get a scrappy 2-1 win. No clean sheet since October now. Wonder whether the best passer at the football club will grace us with his presence today.

I am sure the wind tunnel will be switched on at some point.

We drew 0-0 to Stevenage in December

You are so right. Not sure where I got that piece of fake news from!

I think Conroy is still injured  :D

With that in mind is it worth going to 4 at the back and having East and Reed as the shields in midfield. At home we just don't seem to get enough bodies in midfield and with Scunny surely going to play 1 up front and look for a point surely we have to be a bit braver and look to get the ball from defence into the final third quicker. With those 2 you'd like to think that might happen?

no he didn't .
not seen him feature for Ipswich either .

naughty step it is

https://twitter.com/Official_STFC/status/1492498753844092928?t=qTVnMIgj0FFi50rEGsVf_g&s=19

Looks attacking, hopefully it will work out

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLZrs5gXwAEwBsf?format=jpg&name=large)

Rob H back in the commentary box😀

Persisting with the Iandolo midfield experiment I guess

Wing back is how I’ve read it, Hunt going back into CB.

Aah,interesting. Harsh on Odimayo who was our best defender on tuesday

really? I assumed he was main Comms

I read somebody refer to Grant as 'truly one of the greats'  Nothing against Grant at all and he was great during the promotion season, but lots of people seem to be going a little cuckoo

Apparently they have brought a drum, nice!

Where does that leave Barry then?

Obvious if it’s the back 5 it’s Cooper, JOB & Hunt as CB. Tomlinson and Iandolo as WB.
Davison & McKirdy up top. Reed and Gladwin in CM and Barry??

I see the line up as a move to a 4 3 3 with Barry and Mckirdy wide attackers, we will soon see.

Looks like a flat 3-4-3 to me

Cooper, Job, Hunt

Tomlinson, Reed, Gladwin, Iandolo

Barry, Davison, McKirdy

Its flexible for sure who will play where though.

Reed owes the fans and club a good performance.

He is on main comms.

He’s also 9/1 to score anytime!

Radio thinks it’s 442

Will leave the updates to NMH today, watching but can't be bothered to post much at the moment, that may change if we look up for it today.

Yeah,my mistake!

Lining up as 4 at the back currently.

                         JJ

      Hunt       Cooper    O' Brien

Tommo   Gladwin   Reed   Landolo

                         Barry

             McKirdy     Davison

4321 now the radio says

Hunt
Cooper
JOB
Tomlinson

Reed
Gladwin
Iandolo

Barry
McKirdy

Davison

I dont think Hawes has missed a game in years on comms TBH.

So Iandolo is centre mid. Hopefully it works sooner rather than later

What makes you think I can be bothered! 😂

McKirdy and Barry are playing wide attackers, not quite wingers but close.

You are always bothered :)

Stupid challenge by Iandolo that.

Feels odd not going to a Saturday game, but can't face watching the crap we've served up for 90% of the season at the CG.

Saved by Jojo there.

No midfield again!

Burns turned Cooper and first realshot. Wollacott dives to hi left to save.

Davison has shot from outside of the area on break away from Iron corner

6 foot 5 JOB doing a pirouette! :D

Oh. Gladwins playing

Davison has still to impress me yet, he puts the effort in but lacks any quality.

Davison off-site but dives for a penalty anyway.

Good effort by Tomlinson from 40 yards.

Hawes "there is a certain vulnerability to this Scunthorpe defence".....ahem...have you seen our defence? :D

Or anticipation. Tomlinson just played a defence splitting pass for him, but he was caught on his heels.

Tomlinson shot from midway in their half there. Showing he's head and shoulders quality wise than his team mates.

Likwise - reviews from fans of his previous clubs have been fairly spot on so far in that he’s a reasonable link up man but carries no real goal threat.

'Loose pass from McKirdy...' Yes, because Davison didn't move!

We are camped in their half at the moment, without really threatening.

Tomlinson long shot nearly hits the Stratton Bank clock

He is disappointing, which is a shame, I really hoped he would fit in this team. Hes pretty much zero goal threat which is not great for a striker.

At least we are trying some long shots today, one will hot the target I am sure.

Gladwin long shot trickles well wide

Scunthorpe are definately one of the poorest teams we have faced so far, but its still early!

Gladwin cross from right wing onto Barry's head on the left side of the 6 yard box. Headed into keepers hands

Another bad mistake by Iandolo nearly costs us, hes not comfortable in midfield so far.

Good chance for Town there but Iandolo gets the ball on his wrong foot at at the keeper.

Nice! Shot by Iandolo saved

Arse we kicking towards the Stratton bank with the wind behind us😀

Ooh! Barry diagonal run from left to right and lays it off to McKirdy who blasts over

Starting to see signs of the hype surrounding Barry - hopefully that continues

It's an experiment that's failed so far

Sunny freekick. Puts it on top of the net.

Right up until then!

Tbf it was good work by the keeper

Wow! Barry, Iandolo, Barry tries to take it round the keeper who stops him.

Barry and Iandolo both on the floor.

I don't know. Couple of very bright spots and a couple of mistakes.

Gladwin looks like he has done himself some damage there

Barry was definately going for glory there when he should have squared it.

Hammy for Gladwin

Gladwins day looks done.

Anyone know what's the delay at Barrow v Stevenage? It's always a game I bet on!

East? Surely East

Gladwin injured. Needs to go off. Right knee which already has tape on it.

Aguiar coming on for Gladys.

Gladwin has been bright today.

Not sure what East has done wrong

Come on then Ricky, show us what you have got - I have feeling about this lad

Makes sense as Aguiar is supposed to be the long shot expect.

is it wind?

Reed down with a facial injury now.

Another glorious following move forward. Corner

Grant played a fantastic pass there.

Has East pissed on Garner's Cheerios?

Their keeper is a flapper but hes getting his flaps to all the balls so far!

Burns breaks forward. If he'd seen Nuttall it would have been 1-0

Mckirdy being more unselfish today, which is good to see

To Burns (as I described)

Or been caught shagging his Mrs.

playing wide right and has more space to work his magic. Still very wasteful if I were to be critical.

Couple of nice moves, decent cross from Iandolo and a half decent long shot from McKirdy, flapped at but saved easily.

Not sure I see the love for East. He’s never been any better than solid, and with Reed in the side, we needed a more attacking midfielder.

Another 5 mins of pressure on their goal. Iandolo cross but noone ran into it. McKirdy shot at the end saved.

he has contributed far more to the team today, the players seem to be more comfortable with this formation and it gives us a bit more going forwards too even though its not working yet for us.

Real shame for Gladwin as he started the game quite well.

Really poor shot from Davison there.

Comedy scuffed shot from Davison!

Nearly a good ball from Iandolo there.

After I commented that I'd only just noticed him, he was at the centre of everything.

No mention of Grant this half so can't be influencing their midfield.

'Nearly' sums up the half

Not having a go at Barry but he needs to improve his heading, hes had a few good chances with his head and he should be putting the header back accross goal rather than going for goal TBH.

He played probably THE best ball of the half to the winger, fully 50 yard pass.

Really? Oh yes he is. Played the best ball of the half. Nibbled McKirdys toes a couple of times.

Two toothless sides

Yup

HT 0-0 fairly entertaining if no real goal threat.

it wasn't bad, wasn't brilliant.

But totally wasted all our opportunities.

Apart from Reed, probably the best midfielder on the pitch - done the simple stuff without being spectacular

Unusually porky lino there.

Winning the possession stats - yippee

Spot on.

A better performance by us, probably because of the standard of opposition and the fact we had the wind at our backs. If we had a goalscorer then we could have been 5-0 up.

Davison is not very good.

We have no goal threat.

Davison off Parsons on please. No point persevering with Davison who clearly hasn’t got it. May as well give minutes to a player we own

We desperate need a striker

Better, but this is the worst team in the league,by a margin, and they are still in it.

Davison is a lower league nothing player I'm afraid.  Sort of average at a fair amount of stuff but not good.

Barry looks like a kid playing men's football.

Midfield is nowhere to be seen defending.  Opening them up fairly consistently when we have the ball.

Finishing from us has been very poor.  Hope we don't regret that playing into the wind.

Not bad, not great.  Should win this, may lose it.

100%

Tomlinson is the most likely to score

Barry is not yet living up to his reputation is he. Not just the miss but general play no quality.

early days still

That looked like a side still getting used to a new formation. I think there are a lot of over critical comments on individuals, the match day thread reads like a Sheridan match day thread.  I think people are still commenting on players comparing them to others which aren't here.

Davison is being compared to Simpson, who isn't here.  Gladwin/Iandolo being compared to Williams/Payne, who aren't here. The Barry Hype also hasn't helped the lad with regards to expectation.

I think the fans need to realise we have what we have so we need to get behind them.  It hasn't been great, but it hasn't been that bad - we need to remember what league we are in.

?

nobody is booing them, crowd have been ok to be honest

we've done ok except in front of goal

Oddly I thought he looked much better today, albeit any kind of effort would be an improvement on his two appearances at home so far

I guess he's living up to his reputation at Ipswich - didn't play much!

I think JJ put it well, build up play better. shit in the box.

as I say it's early days. can't really form a final long term opinion based on 3 X 45 mins.

I didn't say the fans were booing them did I?  Just an observation that there is a lot of focus on the negative things and not so much on the positive, which is never going to help in any way

I shat in a box once.

We need someone who can do shit in the box rather who is shit in the box.

I doubt discussing things in an internet forum will have much baring on the game

Who's doorstep did you leave it on?

Should we stop then? 😲

I meant the fanbase in general, whatever..

My glass is half full. We’re getting it forward fast, we’re making chances literally right, left and centre. For all those saying we don’t take enough risks up front, we’re actually shooting too much when a killer pass was often on.

Don’t mind watching this.

immense saves after poor kick from jojo

Jojo saved us there.

Wollacott with an awful ball out let Scunthorpe in. Then he made a fabulous triple save to keep it at 0-0!!😲

I see, well yeah I guess we do. famine or feast I think I saw it described the other day

FWIW I have enjoyed this far more than the last handful of games, we just have little goal threat but are creating more so far than we have in the last 3 or 4 games, just need that lucky scuffed shot going in and we will get confidence  am sure....although the opposite could easily happen too.

Burns shot. Comfortable save

Barry needed to stay on his feet there, great pass from Aguiar to set it up.

Barry runs into the box and dives for a penalty. Not given.

Another good save from Jojo.

Totally agree. But when scuffed shots are like Davison's in the first half then there is no chance!

Burns again

Mmm. Burns eh

Aguilar to McKirdy !!! Then a thunderous challenge from Reed.

That will get the crowd going!!

Barry showed as little appetite for a shot on goal there as most of our youngsters all season. Do they coach them to try for the embarrassing fall for a pen?

Wow

what's fucking ball from iandolo

boom

1-0 McKirdy, great pass from Iandolo.

Iandolo mom already?

What...a...ball!!!

Get the fuck in!!!!

Yay

1-0 McKirdy

Superb 50 yard defence splitting pass by Iandolo

What a fucking pass that is from Iandolo

Corner to Town.

Sunny crumbling?

Can we hold on this time please?

Need a second here

Badly needed.  Let's push on.

Another good cross from Iandolo, corner to Town.

Iandolo battles to get the ball and whips in a super cross

Tomlinson takes a better corner than Reed.

McKirdy looks injured in his groin the way he went down before that shot.

Great ball from McKirdy. Nearly found Barry

Iandolo "experiment" finally comes good?

Att: 9,012 (131 Away Fans).

Dive by Barry.

He has been very good since the experiment comment.

Barry’s going to annoy me.

That was a terrible dive TBF.

I thought that was much more of a shout than the last one, Grant had hold of his hand and pulled him back - could have gone either way that one

Worse than KKH!

Bonus

Sorry but these kids have got to try a bit harder than that.

2-0 Davison

2-0.

improvisation asset a Barry beats his man

2-0 Bounced off Davison

I was just gonna say what about the "Davison experiment"!🙂

was it. looked like Davison live. back heel

Fucking superb player!

Mr Back heel!

Slightly generous interpretation.

Good build up play by Barry for the goal

It was I put that as I didnt see it was Davison :)

Aguiar has done well this half - at least he is being brave and having a go

Aguilar is having a good game

Barry is not a great header of the ball.

Barry like a terrier. Tomlinson with another shot.

Think our new tactic is to whack it against bits of Davison to see if it comes off at an odd angle.

Hes far more mobile than Gladwin but his long passing isn't quite as good as Gladys yet.

Barry is quite exciting but equally frustrating too.

Scunthorpe on the ropes

Is he the new Anthony McNamee?

Another good save by Jojo.

Wollacott save

He is looking for the ball far more than Tony Mac ever did but yes possibly so!

Another through ball from Iandolo to McKirdy. Slightly behind McKirdy who's touch wasn't brilliant.

McKirdy has been all over the pitch today.

He must be knackered!

Pen

Penalty on Barry.

No let Reed take it!!

Nice

Good play by Iandolo again.

3-0 Davison

Davison!!!!

Good penalty.

Iandolo with another killer pass.

Barry turns into the challenge.

Penalty

3-0 Davison from the spot.

Great to get a home win regardless of the opposition

he's starting to look useful

McKirdy going off, hes had a good game. JML on.

Got back the goal difference we lost on Tuesday. Good stuff.

McKirdy given a rest and JML on.

East on for Barry.

East. Wow!

East for Barry

Oldham winning with 10 men away at Newport

Piss stains getting beat at home after Bodin scores a brace

4 mins added.

9,012 with 131 away

Wow that's a great turnout

Only team above us winning is the Grecians

See 3 pages ago ;)

FT 3-0

Great result. I'll have to stay away more often  :)

Well, we all asked for something different from Garner today.
We got it, it seemingly worked well.
Sure, Scunny are easily the poorest team in the division but at least today show Garner is open to change…

Were there 9,012 there today?

Crisis averted?

Probably not. It is the shittest team in the division and this kind of result (if Town are serious about contending) should be expected.

If Town have all but secured their L2 safety for 2021/22 then objective one is completed so can they now press on and give it a really damn good go for promotion? I don't care if they lose 2, 3 nil etc but as long as they head out each week playing expressive and free footy (may be wishful thinking). There is no reason now why they can't do so and give the home crowds something really entertaining to watch.

Special mention to Grant today. Surely he gets MoM. What a dude. Thankfully we got to give him a decent send off.

Adieu affectueux General!

Good win. They were shite but we moved it quicker in the second half and I thought Barry and aguir got on the ball more

Thought the attendance would have taken a hit after recent performances.

I do like the look of Aguiar.

Difficult to equate our performance when playing such a poor side as Scunthorpe - mind you, we’ve failed to beat other equally poor sides thus season.

Iandolo was terrific.

Iandolo MOTM, but Reed makes all of the difference for us.  Iandolo can't play in midfield like Iandolo did today without Reed in there.  Honourable mention for Aguiar for the second half display - showed he has enough in the locker to be an adequate backup for one of the midfield group. 

Lap of honour from Anthony Grant

nice win. thought it was going to be one of those games at half time but we kept at it and got what we deserved.

that said. JoJo still had an important few saves to make.

iandolo mom

Aguiar looked good, Barry improved as the game went on, but what a second half from Iandolo. Superb.

spot on

Far better 2nd half that, decent performance from pretty much all of the team.

We played quite well even though Scunny were quite frankly woeful you can only beat whats in front of you.

Iandolo and McKirdy both excellent, Jojo outstanding even tho he created one of the chances but did a double save to redeem himself.

Good day at the office for a change in front of a very good crowd.

I liked the formation and for a change we were taking risks around the box rather than just keeping possession which was a huge plus point.

The away side were poor

Agree with this. Reed gave Aguiar and Iandolo the freedom to create.

Yep. Agree with that. Although I think Iandolo has been linking superbly on the left all year. He's just not that good defending. Better on the left side of midfield.

You beat what is put in front of you, and Scunthorpe are doomed.  They are terrible.

We had the look of a team that had the shackles removed - it turned into a bit of a basketball game in the second half, and once that happened it was always going to be us.  Much better with the ball today, especially Iandolo.  He showed why he started his career touted as an attacking midfielder with some stunning passes.

Having only two central defenders forced us to get the ball into midfield more often, and that just opened up the game for us.  On the one hand, you think this could be the start of something, but on the other we did look like hot butter without the ball.  I wonder if an average team would actually have taken advantage of that more.

Barry grew into the game a little, but has been to some pretty sub standard diving lessons.  Would like to see him start to take a game by the scruff of the neck.  Tough for a youngster but there is probably more to work with than Gilbert seemed to have.

Overall, got to be happy with that.

I don't think that Scunthorpe were *that* bad. They weren't great, but looked neat and tidy. The first goal was crucial as they had little confidence afterwards and no real attacking threat. Might have been different if they were attacking the Stratton Bank in the first half.

I didn't think they were that bad to be honest. Seen worse sides, and they managed 13 shots on goal.
If that's poor then, as we've showed against better sides we will still have a weakness that is easily exploited.
Great to keep a clean sheet. Now on to Tuesday and get back to back wins at home.

Hartley:
- Plenty of positive performances today
- Davison will be pleased with 2 goals
- Reed played well coming back
- Wollacott made a couple of good goals
- Iandolo's balls from midfield were superb

Next home game Wallsall Tuesday 22nd Feb

Yep, sorry I keep thinking its the 19th today.
3 points at Carlisle and then follow that up with another home win. (on the 22nd👍)

Sounds good😀

Garner (Bugger! Accidentally deleted this all and had to do it a second time)
- Very good performance. Very positive. Created lots. Didnt take them in first. Did in second. Pleased with clean sheet
- Pass for first goal unbelievable. Well taken by McKirdy
- Half time: Reassured players. Couple of minor tweaks
- Created lots of other opportunities
- Thought Davison was immense. Getting fitter and stronger
- 4 at back: More impetus up the pitch
- Barry good on full debut
- Only 2 days to work on it
- Seen Barry over a number of years. Tried to faze him into the group. Will give confidence
- Davision. Not looked bother how things have gone. He's getting up to speed. Looks fitter and strong. Will only get better
- McKirdy and Barry wide as Sunny play narrow. Thought they could stretch them and get more space
- Midfield excellent
- Aguilar has grown so much physically and tactically all season. He grew in confidence during the game
- Gladwin had tight hamstring. Will be scanned as a precaution
- Midfield depth: Opportunity for others. Aguilar and East chomping at the bit to come in
- Stop the rot? After Tuesday have worked hard on it being a 17 game season. Win as many games as possible
- Odimayo dropped: Made decision on the team. Could have left anyone out from Tuesday as noone played well. Odimayo has played majority of season. Done remarkably well all year
- First clean sheet of the year. Pleased we defended it throwing bodies in the way at the end
- Option to revert to back 3 or stay of back 4. Today was a back 4. Needed that attacking mindset
- Will always look to attack the game. Even when things dont go well

thanks nmh

Thanks, can't get the post-match.

My lad has just seen Louie Barry in Sainsburys getting Valentine stuff.

And with Tesco just around the corner from the CG? Superior range of flowers and gifts perhaps?

Piss stains beat us today must have had a bring a kid for a quid deal on😀

1,750 Bolton.
Bastards blocking the road on the way down. Didn’t mind they did the business.
⚽️

Tbh I have just been to Tescos and it was rammed with people that had obviously just been to the game and parked in the car park.  It would have taken him an hour to get his shopping done.

Cheers Duke at least that explains the blip!

Ipswich took 6,850 to MK today superb support.

Made hard work of that first half. All it needed was a goal to settle the nerves.
The worst opposition we have faced all season, they were terrible and certs for the National League.
Reed best player on the pitch, however the sublime pass by Iandolo the best move of the match.
There is a player in Louie Barrie, can see he has the quality, a run of a few games and that elusive goal and sure he will kick on.
Stayed behind to applaud the General off the pitch. Looked a little emotional I thought.
On to Carlisle next Saturday with at least some much positive hope installed once again.

For the first time since I don't know when, I actually enjoyed a home game.  I thought we played some nice stuff. Special mention to Iandolo who was MotM for me. That was a killer pass for McKirdy's goal.  Good to see Reed back and bossing the midfield.  I was also impressed with Barry and Davison in particular today.  

Credit to Garner for changing the formation and the attacking impetus today.

Stats show 24 shots from 54% possession.Must be our lowest possession percentage for ages coupled with highest number of shots.Ironic

Still had 800 less home fans than us. No surprise.

Excellent just the way we like it😀

Yes I enjoyed today's game, which is a novelty. No offense to Scunthorpe but the team that can't beat them is a poor side indeed.

I listened today and it seems like we played a more exciting and progressive brand of football that resulted in a convincing win. We apparently had a let off which led to JJW making a few good saves. I am looking forward to seeing the highlights and seeing this legendary Iandolo pass. I am pleased he is getting recognition for his performances. Wellens always rated him highly and said he was among the fittest players in the squad.

Oh god, not the OUFC 'attendance watch' again

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12540553/swindon-3-0-scunthorpe-league-two-highlights

It's more interesting than bus stations😀

Spot on, really suprised how many missed that. Blatant penalty i thought

A clear change in approach today. The change on formation meant we had men wide, which we’ve been desperately lacking. We passed with far more purpose. Louis Reed was visibly trying the increase the pace of the game - as was Aguiar. Not always succeeding, but the intent was there. It wasn’t great quality at times, and JoJo probably had more saves to make than their keeper (even if their keeper had saved the 3 he let in), but we needed a shot in the arm so it’s job done. Aside from a few nice touches and a great through ball, I’m not a fan of Iandolo in the middle. He’s too one footed for me and immobile. Some (Doughty) can get away with that, but not Ellis. Hope I’m proved wrong. Happy for Davison. His work rate is admirable. If Barry could learn to hit the line and pull it back with his left, instead of cutting in every time, then I’d imagine Davison could bag himself a few goals. Instead, our Louie is a bit of a one trick pony. Run at the right back, and either cut onto your right to shoot (or turn into trouble), or go left and fall over. He could be knocked over with a feather. It’s early days with him, and he’s shown in flashes that he may turn into a decent player.  I was horribly bored last week, but not this. Let’s get Payne, Williams and Conroy fit, maybe a freebie or two, and get up and out of this league.

Amen. Who gives  a shit.

I wouldn’t say so, but all ST’s (don’t know about advance tickets) are counted for each game.

That said, it was still a decent turnout

A decent performance by us, hopefully it will help with confidence, but we’re not going to get an easier ride from anyone else this season

...And that's the way
we like it, we like it, we like it...
woahhh, woahhh, woahhhhhh...

 :pint:

Looking st the goals again.

McKirdy’s was a replica of his Man City goal.

I know Davison’s first looks like a simple deflection but when the ball is coming towards him he does flick his heel out towards the ball - the ball didn’t just hit him.

Anyway, a good, not to get carried with, 3 points. Not sure how that performance would turn out against another team.

Haven't read back but general thoughts today are.....




Glad we played a little more direct, but on occasion it was too much (yes I know the 'Get it forward' merchants are one thing but it would be nice to find a happy medium)

Having said that I genuinely feel like Garner is willing to face up to his short comings and consider changing based on today.

Big fan of actually whipping crosses and corners on on occasion. My biggest frustration of Garnerball this season is when we get a corner or freekick in a decent area and just pass it around until we lose it. If there is one occasion where delivering a hard good cross is still part of passing football and absolutely not making us hoofball merchants, then it is this! More of this, please, Ben!

Glad Davison got a goal, even if a bit lucky (as well as the pen, of course), He's clearly more of a target man than a goal scorer and an obvious downgrade from Simpson but if that gives him the confidence to get a couple between now and end of the season then it could be the difference between us scraping play offs or not.

Still feel like if we even manage to scrape play offs we'll be out-hustled and opposing manager will outwit Garner, but at least he genuinely does seem willing to change things and improve based on today.

Reed is a fucking diamond and showed we missed him badly, Improved things massively today and if the ref wasn't a prime 2022 referee who shit himself every time he saw a slide tackle (no matter how clean) he may have even had a bigger influence today.

Fuck me, against a better team we would have still struggled and probably lost. First half why did their attacker shit himself and not play his mate him and that shambles start of first half we were lucky to get away with.








Having said all that, it was only a bottom end team and we can't go crazy. Had they been better finishers we could easily be sat here with 0 points, but I'm still happy we won and the fact Garner seems willing to identify problems and switch things up, it is encouraging compared to some of the managers we have been used to in recent years.

It's expected in a way when they were a lower division team, a lot of them claimed their only identify on the weeks they beat us in attendance for a long time convinced they're a bigger fan base. But we can't go too far pointing out the obvious. Can't get too like them.

When he got played through, i expected him to finish it based off of the similarities running through my head. Then he hit it a bit too close to the keeper, but thankfully it was through his legs. I'm sure it was intentional.

That's exactly how I saw it Audrey. Great to get 3 points at home again and a clean sheet, but if that was a side with a decent striker we would not be winning that game. I know you can only beat whats in front of you but I didn't think they were that bad or did we make them look good? We allowed them 13 shots on goal and they had almost as many on target as we did.
Take the points when available but we still need to tighten up.

On the flip side to that there are games where we have had more shots more possession and lost and as people rightly point out it doesn't mean a thing

Interesting to see that Davison largely seems to have been written off (comments first half on this thread were worse) - nothing like giving a player a chance eh? He hasn't played much football this season and like the others needs time to settle in. He's playing alongside McKirdy, who is unpredictable, and Barry who hasn't quite worked out the right decisions when in the final third.

Tyreece Simpson he's not, but there's no reason he can't be just as effective a focal point for our attack.

I think I am in a minority with Davison. I quite like him. His hold up play is good and he brings others into play well. He lacks confidence in front of goal but us that through not playing competitive football? I am hoping that now he has a couple of goals, that will come.

Maybe the new Charlie Henry not much quality but plenty of endeavour and effective!

I hope that is true @Crackity Jones -Fjortoft was bloody awful before he got his first for us. Now I'm not saying Davison is anywhere in that league, but maybe the fluke will result in a bit of confidence and improved performance. He did try hard and his penalty was well taken. He looked more of a threat after his goal, but whether that was because his confidence grew or the Scunthorpe defence's confidence waned I don't know.

Yes @ibelieveinmrreeves I thought he was very poor in the first half. He had a couple of golden opportunities - Once he fell over and the second time he 'comedy scuffed' his shot taking a big sod of grass rather than the ball.

From what I have seen so far, I think he is very much like one of the triallists we had in pre-season. He looks like a non-league player who has 'something' there. Whether it is enough to make it at league level I don't know.

His quickness of though, instinct or anticipation of a pass seem off to me. Maybe that's where he is rusty. But he always seems on his heels in and around the box and has to scrap for the ball too often rather than being ready to receive and shoot. I've also thought he and McKirdy have been trying to take up the same positions before yesterday.

Maybe we will see increased sharpness and a better understanding with his team mates in the games ahead. Maybe his finishing will improve too. I really hope so,

At this point in time I would say he is a clear downgrade on Simpson - who was very raw and at best 'average' in this division.

Good comparison! Especially on the first 'E' and hopefully we'll see more on the second in due course.

Not getting too carried away with that.
Waiting until February for the 4th home win is not much cause for celebration.
Aim now must be to stay unbeaten at home for the rest of the season.

Both teams seemed to operate in acres of space at times yesterday.
Should be entertaining at least if we stick with that formation.

I like Davison. Wholehearted effort can't be knocked & can only be good for the team from a CF.

Barry also I like. Maybe in the minority in feeling that his cameos before yesterday were quite encouraging.
Having two forwards that are prepared to run at the opposition and take people on is great to watch.
Could have had a penalty when Grant appeared to pull him back and also got wiped out by their keeper in the first half, but those fouls are never given for some reason.

Would be interesting to see the cross count and some good quality coming in as well.

The imperious Iandolo was almost Doughtyesque at times in the 2nd half, but Reed was the glue that held everything together.
The table of assists would also be of interest.

The reception for Grant at the end was memorable.
I love those types of moments in football.
It did look as if he was wiping away some moisture from the eyes. Then again it was raining.

I think Barry was another to benefit from the change in formation. I feared that he was Gilbert V2 based in his sub appearances. Yesterday he showed much more than that.

As others have said, it's one game and against opposition at the wrong end of the table and we shouldn't get carried away. But, given what we have been served at home this season, this was a welcome change. Let's build on it over the next few games.

I think the major take away from yesterday is not the performance & result relative to the opposition but the fact Garner changed and adapted the formation and style to accommodate the players available.

The last few weeks that’s what most people have been (rightly) asking for.

Absolutely agree with that.

Some thoughts of Scunny fans.

The foul on Barry was the one given for the pen. If that wasn’t, the follow-up foul was a pen as well.

Surprised Davison took it. I was sure Tomlinson would step up. Presume these things are decided pre match.

We still give way too much space away in the midfield where the opposition have time as well to work out their options.

I’m not too bothered about results from here in - it’s the style I want working on for next season. Yesterday was a marker, for sure.

I had Tomlinson to score any time at 6/1 and Reed to score any time at 9/1.

So was a bit disappointed Davison took it.

Sundays are a lot better after a win ain’t they 😂

Good to see garner finally change formation, never need to play 7 or 8 defensive players like previous home games gone by, even more so  against the likes of Col U and Scunny.

Back 4 solid enough, we always look ok at the defending part, it’s when them and Wollacott are told to channel their inner Manchester City. Happy to see the back line stay like that, even if it is tough on AK, Conroy Baudry etc

Reed back makes a huge difference, just somebody who can pass and dictate the play in the middle. Think we looked a better side when Gladwin went off.

Barry was poor I thought, hope he comes good though as we’re gonna need him to do so. McKirdy class again, gave their full back absolute hell.

Just seen the highlights; that pass from Iandolo was a thing of beauty. Maybe he's found his niche? Sundays feel a lot better after a 3-0 win :-)

Not a big change in style to be honest, still passed it out from the back just a little less often and also went long when in really tight situations.

We still had wide men but the much better fornation for home games means wide men are attackers rather than defenders playing wing back.

I agree we improved when Gladwin went off, midfield seemed to move the ball foward quicker.

We still look open in midfield to the counter, we seem to lose our defensive shape when we're on the attack, even Scunthorpe found it easy to find space with a couple of passes.

Not convinced we play the same formation in away games though.

This 100% still waiting for this ‘Swindon Station, Manchester Road my part it it’s demise’ by JBZ and the S. West biker association.

I reckon JBZ has got writers block!

Again, I am touched to read that interest in my travels through Swindon remains high.

I do like Ian a lot. Not sure if he's quite ready to take on the title of "The Medway Maldini" just yet but his progress is a slow burner and going in the right direction. Good on him.

Yep, know exactly what you mean. Strange, I felt a similar way about Alan Connell too when he went. It seemed he was one of those who was appreciated but also underappreciated at the same time (probs due to rotation via PdC); especially once gone from the club, we often realise what a decent player and guy some players are.

*cough* Michael Smith *cough*

Sent from my CLT-L09

Get on with it then.

Scunthorpe managed their highest number of shots on target (7) in over a year.

Whilst we won, we still gifted them 2 or 3 really good opportunities. A mid table side would've probably punished us and the result could've been different.

Happy to get 3 points, but certainly didn't come out of that thinking we've turned a corner. Just relief really.

Not sure if it was deliberate but nice touch to play XTC "Generals and Majors" at half time on the return of AG. Usually "Mayor of Simpleton" is the XTC track played.

I don't get the "it's only Scunthorpe" vibe. On our current form we're hardly justified in saying it's "only" anyone. We've had bad results recently against equally poor sides(eg Crawley and Colchester)Yeah, don't get carried away but equally we shouldn't have got carried away with the poor ones. Yesterday's results(Tranmere,Northampton,Mansfield,Newport) show that everyone,excepting FGR, are equally capable of fucking up and we have as much chance as anyone of making the play offs.

Yeah agreed. You can only beat who is in front of you and games against struggling teams offer different challenges such as the fact they are often fighting for their lives. We could still go on to make the play offs or autos (although I think the latter is unlikely). Payne coming back will be a huge boost. Hopefully Barry and Davison will have had a chance to settle and gel soon too.

My guess is deliberate. If so; nice touch

Another big game on Saturday against a struggling side, away at Carlisle who are 3rd bottom and only have 1 draw in the last 5 league games (yesterday at Col U) and only 1 win in the last 8 games.

I totally get the ‘it’s only Scunny’ things not because they were bad, they were also badly set up if they were going to be bad. They were continually very narrow - in some sort of a 4-2-2-2 so that both fullbacks (lb was clearly out of position) was left 1v1 and pretty stretched vertically too. They simply didn’t get into the two banks say Crawley did. There was always room on the flanks and behind them, rather than just in front - hence very little need to go side to side. There was always a gap in the channel between fb and cb.

Absolute, refreshing sense.

I can't believe how poor Orient have become considering their fowrad line and money they gave Jackett.

Unfortunately they kind of peaked against us

Was in orient official section for the Town game at theirs. Heard some of their fans comments after their 4-1 against us in dec, they were very optimistic about promotion. Haven't won since have they??

Still got to play them at home!

Me neither Adje...I wouldn't have been the slightest bit surprised if we'd lost based on recent form...

I think the point is Scunthorpe are bottom of the league for a reason. They offer little attacking threat and are weak at the back. Now, if we'd put in that sort of performance against Tranmere, FGR or Exeter perhaps then the mood would have been even more upbeat!

I disagree. I think DV actually hit the nail on the head with this...


I didn't think Garner was prepared / knew how do to that. Evidently he was prepared / was able to make the necessary changes. That gives me hope...

Damn you hope!! :doh:

Have'nt read back.

Well that was needed by all of us.....Garner, players and fans.

Dunno if we played as well as they gushed on the radio on the way home but the result was important.

Scunny fluffed their lines time and time again before we took the lead.

Anyway....3 points!

Good to get 3 points on the board on Saturday. I think it had been mentioned during the week that for Garner it was pretty much a must win game to keep as many fans on side. As it transpired Scunthorpe were the ideal opposition for a manager and team that had been struggling recently.

Firstly fair play to Garner for changing the shape. Disappointing to see AK out of the side as he had done nothing wrong, but could understand the thinking. Having the front 3 of Barry, Davison and Mckirdy also made sense. First half was quite bitty as we were coming to terms with the new shape but overall it was a good half that was only goalless as it never quite clicked in the box, Barry was finding good spaces but he's not great in the air and a number of chances were 'wasted'. Our shooting was pretty crap as well, but that's not necessarily a new thing. Of course I had written Davison off at half time but did caveat that he needed a scruffy goal to go in for his confidence.

Second half there were a couple of iffy moments where Scunthorpe had a chance to take the lead but Jojo did well to keep his clean sheet intact. Then from a sloppy throw in from Scunthorpe, an Alert Ellis Iandolo intercepted and played an absolute beauty of a ball for McKirdy to shoot home. We could relax a little after a good move and more good play by Barry ended with the scruffy goal for Davison. Icing on the cake then with a Davison penalty after a foul on Barry and the game was over.

Make no mistake, Scunthorpe were possibly the worst team I have seen in a long time, they reminded me of Swindon last season, just utterly abject all through the side. The lad up front Burns seemed a willing runner but his strike partner Nuttall was hideously bad. Of course you can only beat what's put in front of you but Scunthorpe looked like a National League North side playing in the FA Cup. As for us, green shoots. Iandolo was excellent and with Tomlinson being a wandering LB, Ellis is able to slot in for him and vice versa. This could be fruitful as the season progresses. Hopefully the goals for Davison will send him on a run. I still don't think he's great but now he is off the mark perhaps he will show what he can really do. Another injury for Gladwin is unfortunate and the squad is now stretched but on the plus side, Aguair did himself no harm at all and looks a handy player.

Carlisle away is another game on paper that should yield points, it would be good to put a run together to get back amongst the chasing pack. 

I must've watched the first goal about 30 times now. The Ellis assist is absolutely superb. Top drawer stuff.

Absolutely agree on this, they reminded me a lot of us last season under Shirdactyl. A little good but utterly useless where it matters, in defence and in front of goal.

A rudderless ship heading for relegation.

TBH before the game I wasn't confident that we would beat them at all, I expected the worst, but blimey they were poor.

Burns and Grant the only 2 players who looked up for it, the striker Nuttall ran around a lot with no quality and their keeper, even though a flapper, kept them in the game, otherwise they were the worst team we have played.

But you can only beat whats in front of you, which we did.

Absolutely mate. Of course over the moon with the win and really hoping it's the catalyst to go on a run now.

Hope you are feeling a little better about things, 3 points always welcome :)

It was a perfect finish from McKirdy so low and hard and very close to the keeper too. A really well worked goal, proper old school hit them on the counter with pace and quality.

For me we always have looked better on the counter than when we have huge amounts of possession before attacking.

We have to wait and see if we can replicate similar against one of the other poorest (in the table at least) sides on Saturday, who according to their fans think they have turned the corner now after getting a draw at Col U on Saturday.

Its a big 3 points that can keep us in the play off hunt.

I was impressed that Garner actually was willing to try a different formation, which in the main worked, but for me the biggest difference was Reed coming back into the team allowing Gladwin?Aguiar and Iandolo a little more freedom to try things.

Also the role of Barry opened them up at the back which a lot of fans don't seem to be giving him credit for, yes he went to ground a little too easily (much like KKH) and his heading needs a bit of work, also he went for goal a little too often when he should have passed, but his contribution was very good.

I think the problem? with Gladwin is that he just slows things down so much all the time, he has an uncanny ability to find/make space but then spends so much time on the ball everything just grinds to a halt before he uses it. Must be pretty frustrating to play with.

I thought Aguiar looked decent enough when he came on for Gladwin.

Thought Gladwin was playing well before he went off. Agree about Aguiar.

Me too, he was getting into the game and put in a couple of good balls before he went off, Aguair had the legs that Gladwin didn't though and was far more mobile.

I remember gasping as he was about to play it and thinking 'He's not going to do that is he' and then willing McKirdy to put it away. It has to be a goal of the month or even season contender I would have thought.

Been a few decent goals this season.
Reeds at Crewe, both goals away at Sutton to name a few that I remember.

This is a goal I've watched a few times  :)

https://youtu.be/aMsARnMuHwk

YOU BET YOU BET TWO NIL SWINDON

If my memory serves me well, I think our first ever game in division two in 1963-64 was home to Scunthorpe and we won that three-nil too. Not so much a Proustian madeleine moment as a Reg lardy cake moment, I suppose.

Having someone in that position who's mobile and quicker than a snail was certainly useful