Thetownend.com

@MELKSHAMTOWNFC on Saturday 2nd July, 3pm.
https://t.co/6jKVc8Ic1N (https://t.co/6jKVc8Ic1N)
tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-season-friendly-melksham-town-fc-v-swindon-town-fc-tickets-350507305787 (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-season-friendly-melksham-town-fc-v-swindon-town-fc-tickets-350507305787)


Supermarine Sat July 9th (3pm)
https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/town-announce-supermarine-friendly/ (https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/town-announce-supermarine-friendly/)

Swindon Town will head to @wokingfc for a preseason friendly on Tuesday 12th July - 7pm KO
https://t.co/2MWGNOeVVZ (https://t.co/2MWGNOeVVZ)

Swindon will take on @EastleighFC in a preseason friendly on Saturday 16th July. https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/town-to-head-to-eastleigh-in-preseason (https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/town-to-head-to-eastleigh-in-preseason)

🏟️📅 | Swindon Town will host @CardiffCityFC in a preseason friendly at SN1 on Saturday 23rd July.  12pm KO
https://t.co/dtiNVEJexF (https://t.co/dtiNVEJexF)

a side v Worthing, Saturday 23rd
https://worthingfc.com/2022/05/worthing-to-host-robins-in-pre-season/ (https://worthingfc.com/2022/05/worthing-to-host-robins-in-pre-season/)

🏟️📅 | Swindon will take on @EastleighFC in a preseason friendly on Saturday 16th July. https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/town-to-head-to-eastleigh-in-preseason/

ITK  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Do Chippenham on a Saturday please. Nice excuse to pop down and have a drink with the local STFC fans there.

It's a shame they're all massive bellends.

The worst.

I'm hoping for Peterborough Away ;)

Taunton away would be good, they have already got Exeter in pre season at home.

Melksham, 2nd July

Years ago it used to be FGR away how times have changed!
Bournemouth away would be fine :pint:

Shepshed Dynamo away please.  :)

23rd July Cardiff at the CG

Ive been to a few Cardiff games over the years!!

I went to the previous pre season "friendly"  ;D

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/18-charged-over-swindon-town-2065812

Added Cardiff and links to Melksham tickets to first post

It's always an enjoyable experience whenever they're in Town😀

The police must need to get arrest figures up. If only Swindon fans had reacted more when they were filming them at Port Vale while neglecting kids being attacked.

Woking away on 12th July.

Woking and Worthing now. No Chippenham yet then.

Would likely be a midweek friendly I guess - bound to happen

Scum. No doubt see the same spineless gormless faces waving their cameras about at fans next season.

It must be a new generation as I read somewhere most of the old nutters got locked up after the riots in Chelsea in 2010

Melksham game is 5 minute walk away so will def do that again  :)

Im talking about the police... in particular the swindon police.

Early bird tickets are on sale already - better get in quick

If they film the soul crew a match made in heaven!

I was at that game too  :D
Got caught up in that   :-[

Are you a Chelsea fan😀

A mate is. Been to Stamford Bridge 30 or 40 times with him.

I remember going in a small greasy cafe near Fulham Broadway Tube followed by a couple of pints opposite

Cardiff game ko changed to 12pm on police advice :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Edit. Hang on, it was always 12pm according to Batch ???

Nothing says 'friendly' than  having to rearrange on police advice!

Batch may have edited it today without commenting on doing so ;)

I use an odd old forum app that can allow me to edit sometimes, thoughthe "last modified" date seems old...

Sneaky

I wonder if the game may now be cancelled if policer are getting involved, surely the club wont pay for police for a friendly

I wonder if there will be a friendly against a Man City XI

Think they already said virtually their whole squad is needed for their abroad commitments, unfortunately.

Today at Melksham.

(https://i.postimg.cc/VLMgbBzR/290743606-5147511881996542-3745075013501174664-n.jpg)

I guess Williams is having a rest after all those minutes he played for Wales!😉

Looking out the window at the weather I'm glad I doubt bother this year.

Melksham have a great setup but can we have some different teams next year please! (As well as supermarine)

No first team players in our line up, or barely on the bench. Ward and Brennan maybe.

Is that actual team news there?

Bit disappointing if the likes of Reed, McKirdy, Shade and Gladders haven't travelled.

Ok, short break, good think they'd get 30 mins?

Ok, saw the tweet

🗣️TOWN TEAM NEWS:

An unfamiliar look to Scott Lindsey's team today as he names six trialists in his starting eleven.

Brynn, Minturn & Mo Dabre start, while Ricky Aguiar captains the side.

Ward (GK), Cowmeadow, Parsons, Hart, Dworzak and Brennan are among the subs.

#STFC 🔴⚪️

Isn’t McKirdy in London with Payne?

Seven (7) trialists starting and 1 on the bench if Twitter is to be believed

Shouldn't be surprised - It had been mentioned on the Monday Evening Forum that Lindsey would use this to look at triallists and fringe members of the squad. Interested to know who the triallists are.

Ok which one has played for Juventus U23s that we can pin all our hopes on for the season?  

Come on then, get sleuthing

So who is blonde?

I assumed it was Luka Modric...

Its Ronan Darcy

Definitely looks more like Darcy than Braybrooke…

1-1

After how many minutes?

Oddly Bet365 have a market for today's game. I've backed Melsham to win at 18/1 pre game.

2-1 Melksham.

We need more height & physicality added to the squad.

Luke Dreher also on trial.

Ronan Darcy
Jacob Wakeling
Chin Osabede?
Ryan Cassidy another one… #stfc

https://twitter.com/matt_stfc1987/status/1543225560050147328?t=-JJUL12hzdK_ev1B3cDDBA&s=19

2-2 aguiar

2-2 must nearly be half time

Only following on Twitter

45mins: After a lengthy delay in play due to an injury to Thompson - the Melksham keeper - the referee blows for half time.

Not the most attractive game of football, but some great goals. Ricky Aguiar's long range strike the pick.

All square at the interval.

2-2

#STFC 🔴⚪️

Chin Osabede?       Just signed for Bradford

They did put "?" So we can cross that off

I don't know of the other three but see Ryan Cassidy has been playing in Ireland for Bohemians!

You sure that was chin, not emanuele (Walsall)

https://www.worcestercityfc.org/news/squad-update-2681288.html

https://www.bradfordcityafc.com/news/2022/june/osadebe-lands-as-latest-summer-signing/

Football Phil sorting out the line ups At Melksham

You're right Batch it was Emanuele not Chin although I've not heard of either.

Dominic Revan also on trial, Ex Villa.

You mean "injury hit" Dominic Revan :)

Fits right in at Swindon then 😂

Weird. Wiki says he signed for a Danish side only a week ago.

Can’t be him then 😂 was a wild guess from pictures.

2-3. Triallist

George Cowmeadow?

I think cowmeadow crossed it in didn't he. That's how it read on Twitter

4, 5, 8, 18 all worth a second look. 8 my pick of the lot

What positions were they playing?

Jacob Wakeling: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/leicester-city-transfer-wakeling-released-7200168

Opi Edwards (scored the last): https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-bristol-city-forest-green-7246800

Dominic Revan (Number 2): https://www.soccerzz.com/player.php?id=525693&epoca_id=0

Luke Dreher (Number 4): http://www.bromleyfc.tv/site/ravens-bring-in-luke-dreher-on-loan/

Ryan Cassidy: https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/bohemians-agree-loan-deal-for-watford-striker-ryan-cassidy-41270079.html

Chinedu Osadebe: https://jobs4football.com/player/chinedu-osadebe/

Meh

🤣

We'll see how they progress over the next week or so. Not excited about them or indeed any signing yet.

Not apologising for that

Come end August we'll reassess

I quite agree. Just tickled me

Were there any forwards in trial today

Sorry, in a bit of a shitty mood and missread the room!

Maybe the gap between seasons was too short this year

I agree with you for what's its worth. Not trialists or signings to indicate a real go at automatic promotion so far.

Sent from my XQ-AD51

Erm...If you click the links I posted above you will see two.

Sorry but how often do you have a high calibre Trialist who is an absolute must sign?

They're trialists for a reason. If they had any sort of pedigree they wouldn't have to *Trial* they'd just be offered a contract.

It's been a busy day😀

"They're trialist for a reason" which could be one of many with McKirdy being a good example there are some good players out there.

Yes and I'm not denying there's potential in them. A lot will have talent and come from a good background.

But you only end up on trial if you aren't the finished article and know you may struggle to be taken by an EFL club. So quite why anybody is expecting some trialists to be recognisable top end league 2 players blows my mind.

Classic pre-season Batch. Love it.

Was Wakeling the number 10 who scored the first goal?

Twitter suggests:
2 Dominic Revan
3 Jamal Baptiste
4 Luke Dreher
5 Opi Edwards
8 Ronan Darcy
9 Chinedu Osadebe
10 Ryan Cassidy
18 Jacob Wakeling

Picked this guy up on a free on FM last year, Championship player. It's good enough for me!

Sent from my CLT-L09

Did like the look of Opi Edwards,  continually running and seemed to read the game well,  skilful and always looking for the ball,  the sort of player we lack.  Anyone know the attendance yesterday ??,  seemed to be quite a good turnout.

Just over 1500 I think

I think it was 1,592. Last year it was about 900.

Round up of the weekends friendly results for fellow L2 teams, opposition league tier in brackets:

Bedford Town (7)   0-2 Wimbledon
Holker O B (10)     1-3 Barrow
Bradford PA (6)      0-2 Bradford City
Penrith  (9)            1-5 Carlisle United
Reading                 2-0 Colchester United
Eastbourne Bor (6) 0-1 Crawley Town
Nantwich Town (7)  0-3 Crewe Alexandra
Armthorpe Wel (10) 0-2 Doncaster Rovers
Folkestone Inv (7)   0-2 Gillingham
Hibernian               2-0 Hartlepool United
Haringey Bor (7)     1-2 Leyton Orient
Undy (Welsh 3)       0-7 Newport County
Burnley                  1-0 Rochdale
Newcastle Town (8 ) 1-3 Salford City
Nuneaton Bor (7)    0-4 Stockport County
Jersey Bulls (9)       0-4 Stevenage
Melksham Town (8 ) 2-3 Swindon Town
Fleetwood Town       2-2 Tranmere Rovers
Walsall FC               0-1 Barnsley

So,  none of the lower league teams had a good afternoon !!.

Apart from Melksham who scored twice!

I though the number 3, Jamal Baptiste (if it his him), looked good after a shaky start. Composed on the ball and not afraid to go forward.

Sounds as if the quality of triallists is up a notch compared to last season.

Not sure I even remember last season's trialists other than McKirdy - who presumably was pretty much a done deal anyway.. was Dabre one?

Anyway, let's see how they look against Supermarine. One assumes the first team will be on duty which may make it easier.

Supermarine will be a tougher test I assume. Or at least will be better rested

Think Dabre was one from memory, yeah.

No mate, Dabre never featured in any friendlies for us last season and only signed on 4th August.

Anyone on here going to supermarine today?

Wonder if there’ll be any ‘new’ trialists on show today.

I hear there absolutely is.

I’m not going so will gratefully receive any updates you can offer!

I wish I could go but unfortunately living nearly 100 mile drive away I cant deem it affordable with the cost of fuel currently to attend, but I know many who are going and I am sure many will post things on here as soon as they know.

I'll be going on my motorbike to make the most of the weather and avoid the traffic !

But afraid I won't be posting updates as I'm and old git one finger typer !

You must have started typing this last night!

The Town line-up is out early.

Scott Lindsey goes with Ward (GK), Brennan, Minturn, Reed, Gladwin (c), Devine, McKirdy, Parsons and three trialists.

A different eleven is expected to feature in the second half.

#STFC 🔴⚪️

Decent enough 1st half line up.

Ward (GK) - Baudry (c), Harries, Shade, Aguiar, Dworzak, Williams, Cowmeadow, Massey, Wakeling and one of our trialists keeping his place.

Dabre, Hart and Brynn (GK) will be on standby.


Hart is an academy player. I'm going to assume unrelated unless anyone can tell otherwise...

*2nd half expected line up.

Darcy is one of the trialists.

It's Adam's son - decent player apparently.  I am surprised none of the slouths on here picked up on this earlier when he came on against Melksham.

Any idea which trailist are still here from the Melksham game?

Cassidy?

TBH mate I havent seen the full line up from Melksham. With so many trialists its hard to follow.

I wasn't there, but from what I heard he came on as one of the subs.  He's not even 16 yet so he must have something about him.

I have played against his Dda, if his son is half as good as him he will be a good player

Two of the new trialists (apparently):

https://twitter.com/matt_stfc1987/status/1545767183481016322?s=20&t=mD_MgU_gdQRSlnb3WNDKqA

For anyone there, i'm interested what shape Lindsey has set us up as. I'm fearing 3 x CB's, so please put me out of my misery.

Er, there's 2 CBs, um + 1

The big #2 is called kev. Hth

Kindly done

1-0

Lindsey Out!

Mckirdy saying that was shit as he walked off, he’s not happy.

Poor from what I saw, but to be honest I’ve been more concerned with trying not to die of heat stroke than watching the game. Struggling here, I should be less ginger

Typical preseason really.

It's bastard hot, as you can see out the window.

We've passed it around a bit. Had a few free kicks on the edge of the area. A couple of half chances.

Marine doing ok. Scored froma parrird good long shot pushed to our right, marine player got there first and pulled it back for essentially a tap in.

Ronsan (cm) , kev (lcb) and ??? Trialists. Not over impressed with keV. Ronan might have something but I thought Minturn (?) In the middle looked best of back 3. Not really impressed with either left or right cb

All that said, really tough conditions to impress. And essentially only our first friendly. Even last year's performers aren't pulling up trees yet

Who the fuck is keV

Rob Angus is near me by the bar. Can’t have been thrilled with the offing thus far

Jake O'Brien scores for Palace!

Can’t imagine he gives a stuff - like most normal fans.

If nothing else today is making it abundantly clear that we are lacking an actual striker with some kind of presence up front. If they had any doubts about needing to bring in strikers then today is making it clear we do.

The fb meltdown begins! At HT in a friendly!!!!

Harts son on the pitch, on merit I'm sure.

2-0!

I wonder how the data analysis is looking🤔

Pretty shite at the moment  :suicide:

 :clap: :clap:

Not scoring in a friendly against Supermarine is a bit of concern I’d say.

Did we play the high pressing game Lyndsey has promised for this season.

Hmmm

Not sure what to say. In addition to my half time post, first 15-20 we looked much better than the first half. Shade was very good, and whoever was playing left wing has a good touch too. Aguiar did hit the post, our #14 could have reacted a bit quicker to the rebound .. maybe

Half went on, we faded. Marines second was a good goal. Great cross in

As a whole it was a run out in the 🌞🌞🌞. We were fairly poor, but context is key. How hard have we trained? How much were we putting in. Etc.

That said, nobody is going to come away from the match thinking 'yup, going up'. It was fairly poor.

Do pre sessions ever tell us much though? Probably not

Just got back, can’t understand the meltdown tbh. Wouldn’t sign the number 2!(trialist). Thought the young lad in the middle in the second half was class. Polish sounding surname.

Does anyone know if the son of Adam Hart has come from another reputable club, or are we giving him preference in senior pre season games over players from the academy for the sake of nepotism? Feels a bit Harry Agombar.

What meltdown? Other than physically melting by being clever and standing at the sunny end.. doh

Hard to know how to interpret that result but I would have felt better if we scored or indeed won. Sounds like Aguiar hit the post and Massey had a couple of chances. What did Massey look like?

Heard plenty having a meltdown as I left.

A lot of the concern stems from it’s a short pre-season this year, I mean it’s only 3 weeks until Harrogate and with how undercooked we looked today it’s not long to really get going. Like I said earlier the lack of a striker or physical presence up front is blindingly obvious to everyone.

There was discussion earlier. Was thought to be a good player?

Not sure how long he's been in the academy. Could be a while

I did hear Angus said that Payne’s agent wants too much money

Ah yeah, that's fair. I heard similar. Thought you meant in here

Dworzak

Nah man, just we left. I don’t pay too much attention to preseason tbh  

Is that for himself or for Payne.

If it’s for himself it does tie up with what had been rumoured previously

That’s the lad, very good player IMO

Sounds like our youngsters are better than the youngsters signed from other clubs.

The agent & his fees

That's not a good sign!

The Plymouth kid looks decent.

Should be paid by the player, not the club.

How did Williams perform?

Danny Rose was racing about him a couple of years back saying he's one to watch.

I knew it was one ex player. He’s very good & wouldn’t be surprised to see him start

Ran around

Fuck me. Having our own good youngsters is a concern too now  ;)... Not a great result or performance by the sound of it, let's hope this week the squad starts to take shape

Not questioning our own youngsters but the new signings😀

Of course, why wouldn't you

Because I'm not convinced

Jeez it’s only their first game since signing 🙄
Not convinced by any of the trialists today.  Young lad in midfield looks a bright prospect for us and Shade looked half decent first half and the kiddy from Plymouth looked ok too 2nd half but that’s about it though.

Fair point but no moaning in a couple of months then if they don't work out.

Get a grip it’s the first bloody game for most and them. Glad you have written them off already.

He has written them off based on a comment by someone who didn't go too

Well done lads! Not written off just have concerns about the quality inherited to date.

2 Kevin Joshua (ex WBA)
3 James Taylor (ex Bristol City)
10 Ronan Darcy (Bolton)

I’m sorry if this offends anyone.

But the amount of grown men, most with children and families, who have a melt down after a loss to a non league side in a pre season friendly, especially when it happens most seasons, amazes me.

Get a fucking life.

I haven't written anybody off but amused even even if I had why you would be glad.
I'll still support my team like I have since the late 70's but dosen't mean I have to agree with everyone

Just to be clear, as awful as we were for large parts today, I’m writing nobody off. Pre-season friendlies are a different beast to anything else these guys will usually play, and often you’ll play to the standard put in front of you. These kind of fixtures are what they are, a glorified training session, albeit a valuable one.

Bravo sir it’s clearly me who appears to have egg on my face. Sigh.

 :shutup:
All good fun  :oops:

I’m going to go the opposite way and write everyone off.

Lindsey will be gone before November and McKirdy won’t score more than 5 goals all season.
Reed will look gash without Conroy to pass it 5 yards to - he’ll be totally inept.
All the youngsters will be shit.
Williams will spend more time on the floor
Gladwin will be injured & Jack Payne is gonna sign for Oxford.

We’ll finish in the bottom half…

Wait for the backlash😀

And so pre-season Groundhog Day doomsayers return….

Same old isn't it. It's a shame we didn't leak we were trying sign Bamba earlier as it's no coincidence the meltown simmerred for a week there

People moaning about the quality of our signings when the players they’d be mortified to lose were just as shit.

I'm more mortified with the clubs ambition with the managerial appointment than with players I don't know anything about but hey ho I'll still be there and maybe all will come good in which I'll be the first one to say I was wrong!

You mean if/when there's actual evidence?

I left it as "If" as still unknown.

No, you must only moan when they’ve been at the club for a week or 2 and have played 1 pre season game.

Don’t for a second think you can say they’re not good enough after 6 months of the season, who would do that?

I used to always have an FM theory that if I lost my preseason games I'd have a good season and vice versa. Fingers crossed.

Worth a listen if you haven't already, especially the first bit

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0cky34q?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

West Brom Super Fans have flocked to a post on the West Brom News Facebook page about Kevin Joshua.

The 19-year-old is supposedly the subject of interest from Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Southampton, and Fulham, despite the fact he has never made a first-team appearance [All Nigeria Soccer].

The 6ft 6in defender, though, has impressed for Albion’s Under-23s, and it looks as if he could leave in January, despite only joining the club this year.

James Taylor - a RB -released by Bristol City and was snapped up by the Crystal Palace Academy.

Darcy we already know about.

Joshua - a CB - appears to have huge potential and am surprised he’s having to trial to get a club. He’s a big fucker, too - 6’6”

Joshua was on loan at Waterford last season *dramatic music*

Finding this season very hard to build motivation for… I think last year it looked like we’d turned a leaf with ownership replaced, but todays result shows not too much has changed for me. This pre-season has been not too dissimilar to any Power pre-season…

The signigs at other clubs and here show it is no different to any other pre season. I honestly think the negativity of our fans this summer has killed pre season for so many myself included. The players have only just come back, it seems this whole summer our fans have made their minds up based on rumours and it's a bit shit really. Judge them at the end of the window would be my advice, we started off the last window exactly the same. Jack Payne is a prime example of what players are doing at the moment. We have had the owner the ceo the manager and anyone who matters tell us we will be adding better quality players but people won't have it

Thought Cowmeadow and Dworzak looked bright today. Imagine Cowmeadow will be involved this season in one way or another.

Imo the right back trialist looked good in the first half, but faded in second half when moved to a right sided centre half. Judging by earlier posts on here, he was Replaced by son of Adam Hart, Sonny.  Guessing that was just a case of giving the lad a feel for first team football. Harries seemed quite vocal throughout to the younger lads which was good. Darcy didn’t alot for me, runs about a lot but that’s all I really saw of him, centre half Joshua a unit, but again, wasn’t that impressed. No idea where Iandolo was today?

Was some of those players first game since Vale so not shocked by performance or result. But Yeah, it was quite poor for large parts and there’s a lot of work to be done in next 3 weeks. Not rocket science we are 8 or so bodies short for this squad. Like to think we get 5 or so more in before the start of the season (starting XI quality, not squad fillers) and then fill gaps in as we go.

Side note- football Phil was in fine form telling people in his way to sit down. Also, Adam hart is an absolute beast of a man. Him, Zav, Sandro and Swindon town Dave all in the same shot below- stfc royalty  :D

If not us he will head to Crawley i reckon.
That would be a real kick in the bollocks. Can only hope he signs as we could all do with a lift.

Crawley? Seriously, wow, not much in the way professional ambition if that is the case.

You know they're minted right?

They are paying absolutely mental money.
Totally agree by the way, would be no ambition playing for them.
Not sustainable either.

From ‘up top’ the money we have offered JP is top half L1 wages. However, clubs in these positions don’t think he is good enough or has the potential to improve. Therefore, they won’t pay the wage. Clubs in the lower part of L1 think he is good enough, but won’t pay the wage.

It looks like it’s us of Crawley. Their new owner is chucking money at an attempt to get out of the division.

add that to we were going to offer Samba a deal then all is not lost with the budget

Sounds like Jack Payne needs an agent that works in Jack Payne’s interests, rather than his own.

Lindsey confirmed the players played today purposely fatigued as part of the pre season training plan, which can explain why we would be out of sorts. Have heard of this occurring early in pre season before.

This is exactly why pre-season games should never be used as a ‘league’ barometer…. Their purpose is not to get promoted, it’s to get fit and ‘gel’ as a unit under pressure….

....although its not very often a league team won't score and will get beaten by lowly opposition.

P.S. I'm not melting down, but I was surprised to see the final score. Still think there will be a couple of more experienced players coming into the squad. Just need to wait for them to run out of offers elsewhere first!

“And when I heard Swindon came in for me, well, it was a no brainer, massive club going places” etc, etc.

Personally, I don’t give a flying one about the result. But, what’s a bit more worrying than not being able to score from numerous opportunities is the fact we shipped 2 goals.

I don't really buy the fatigue thing.

Yes they're tired, and yes it's hot.

But we're playing a side (4?) tiers below us, and players only playing a half each.

Dress it up however we want, and I know the result doesn't REALLY matter, but we should still be winning comfortably.

What I would say is that the closest we have to a first team defense didn't play together at the same time. We had trialists and younger heads out there.

Yeah the squad could/should be stronger.

Ps. Where was Mr Ian dolo?

Sorry if I’ve missed this being updated, but official site says 3pm?

There always used to be a thinking that when ou have a shit pre season the following season is a good one and as you state visa versa.

Certainly back in the 80s and 90s it was a popular theory.

For instance the 85/86 season when we won Div 4 at a canter in pre season we lost to Leeds, Watford and Yeovil and we drew with Welton Rovers and Chippenham.

Early PSFs are there to help generate scenarios from a tactical/technical point of view. As stated; a training exercise - with fans.

Some are confusing "purposely fatigued" with just fatigued. The coaching staff may have forced a fatigued scenario by making them all rip their spleen maybe a night or morning session before. Thus meaning they have to play the next day/later on half tired. It can give indicators for many things like where individual performance levels are at, how quickly they recover, how shit they really are, how they cope in late stages of a game (at this current moment in their F&C) and so on.

Should Town win? Maybe

Should Town score? Arguable depending on the training remit set

Is it uncommon for a Semi-Pro Non-League local team to up their game and seize an opportunity to say "we beat a Football League side"? Nope

Should the regular Town fan be concerned? If you want to be...yes but add the context of the opening paragraph and the only meltdown should be from that fucking Fruit Pastille ice lolly you put in your pocket and forgot about!  ;)

I'm still more concerned about jiggery pokery off-field than on currently. It's pre-season. Enjoy the sunshine lads, lasses and everything in between  :pint:


PS: Cunts - the lots of ya!

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2022/june/early-kick-off-for-cardiff-friendly/

I agree with all of that, well said. I listened to the last 2 talk of the town podcasts last night and I think the purposeful fatigue is good as it essentially equates to the players being beasted now to build and assess fitness and performance. The result of this match doesn’t matter. No meltdown required yet. I have to say that I have been quite impressed with the interviews with Lindsey that I have heard and he seems (at least to me) to be a bit more likeable than Garner. I never particularly warmed to Garner and he always seemed to be moaning about how many penalties we should have had etc.

Cheers batch👍

Yes they should.

Good theory about the fatigue scenario something I hadn't given thought to.

I am a great believer in this, however, one thing is clear....there will be NO free hit for the Manager this season.

On a golf course….

Agreed, last season Garner was accepted with a few murmours as we all knew we were close to folding but second time around the fans will turn quickly as the chairman has seemingly took the cheap option

Injured? Would be of odd to play golf. Assuming you are serious.

If not, why not in squad yesterday?

^^^^ this ^^^^

Haven't we always taken the "cheap option" this century?
The most recent not so cheap option left carnage in their wake.

If you're talking post 2011/13 you may have a point but can't imagine the following would have been cheap and all since the turn of the century.

Colin Todd
Roy Evans
Dennis Wise
Paul Sturrock
Danny Wilson

For a managerial cheap option I always think that means appointing someone who is already at the club, so that would apply for Lindsey & Luke Williams.

However I wouldn't say that applied to Sheridan, Wellens, Brown & Flitcroft.

However if it's because you think we should be taking a manager who is already employed at a successful club, it's a long time since we have done that

I was thinking more a case of where other clubs weren't exactly clamouring for the services of the managers we've appointed since 2000.

Even some of the names mentioned by JQ.
No idea if Wise for example had other options before joining.

He was playing golf yesterday as put it up on his insta stories

Fair point Bob

So, we have an issue with Iandolo now.

Could be an injury or maybe giving him a rest. Wellens always said Iandolo used to be at risk of overdoing in training so maybe the sports science people think he needs rest. He’s a model pro based on what I’ve heard so I can’t see him causing any issues. In a recent interview, Lindsey was also very complimentary about him.

Merely curious why he wasn't in the squad.

I assumed injury/precaution. But I've not seen it mentioned

Can’t imagine playing golf is very conducive to protecting an injury.

It must be a falling out then.

Or protecting for a sale?

Or…. He had a slight knock that they didn’t want to risk.

Playing golf is hardly the same as a game of football is it?

A lot more strain on the body in different muscle groups. Specifically intercostal. Latissimus Dorsi can also take a fair share of knocks and pulls too but not sure if he plays for the Grecians any more?!  :hmmm:

I'm playing DA. He's fit and youngish, playing at an elite level professional sport so no doubt he is fine. Maybe his fitness was already ahead of several others and it meant there wasn't any point putting him in for the training exercise v SSM?

Hardly, JD found Golf very relaxing😀

Any of the above.

Only asked in case I missed it being mentioned. Not some great conspiracy theory.

Iandolo -> Charlton

Tinker!  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

with regret im off to watch town v woking tomorrow. cmon town lets get a nice signing to lift the expectations

I suspect Woking have a bigger budget than us this season...

Rumoured to have a top 5 budget this coming season after large investment, just signed Paddy Amond from Newport, Scott Cuthbert from Stevenage and already had Rohan Ince another former Town player on their books.

Sister of Rohan? :)

Probably like my fingers are often the sisters on my own fingers, related but just not right :D

TBF every time I hear Rohan I instantly hear Grange Hill "Roland....".

 :clap: not heard that one before JJ! :)

My brain and fingers are often not connected mentally just physically!

It's Roe Land.

Just landed in Woking to soak up the atmosphere ahead of the big game tonight.
Will remain indoors in a suitably air-conditioned environment.

As it's a glorified fitness session it's best to take a "purposely aled" approach to running the rule over the squad tonight.
Hoping that one or two of the newbies will stand out.

🕖It's a humid evening at The Laithwaite Community Stadium...🥅

Scott Lindsey goes with the following starting eleven:

Brynn (GK) - Brennan, Baudry, Harries, Shade, Gladwin (c), Reed, Williams, Devine, McKirdy and Wakeling.

The town bench this evening:

Ward (GK) - Minturn, Clayton, Cowmeadow, Dworzak, Aguiar, Dabre, Massey, Parsons, Wynn-Davis and two trialists.

#STFC 🔴⚪️

Interesting. That looks like the first XI to me except Clayton. Also, perhaps Lindsey is envisaging 3 at the back for the season.

A youthful bench.

Iandolo is there earning up but not named?!! was carrying a knock/had family issues Saturday

3 at the back…….uuurgh.

Anyone know who the two Trialist are? I would assume Darcy will be one.

1-0 town (McKirdy)

Some real blast from the past names in that opposition side. That'll be where all the experience has gone!

2-0 willo

3 at the back is great with the right personel and natural left footers in the team

I’m more than happy to be proved wrong.

Seems it’s the McKirdy and Wakeling show

They've even got Lofthouse on the bench!

watching Williams, Reed and mckirdy playing triangles still gives hope for the season ahead.
baudry still looking like the best cb we have.
brennan looking more shaky than harries.
caught sleeping twice at the back and woking had two brilliant chances but Brynn has been towering. Il be the first to say it...I'm getting bfg vibes! collect crosses- punching freekicks and some big saves.
having a lot of the ball as you would expect with the lineup- scored a couple but missed some very good chances.
shade has some decent pace haven't seen much opportunity to deliver it in.
wakeling has quite a good performance tbf has linked up well. I'm not sure as a partnership going forward- very similar to mckirdy. the front players we have is going to be quite the puzzle as we have a lot of bodies but missing that one big first eleven piece.

overall a decent half
I'm sure most will be replaced now

‘HALF-TIME: Woking 0-2 Swindon Town...

Finally a chance to draw breath!

Fantastic first half from Scott Lindsey's side who have attacked incredibly well and could have scored more.

McKirdy and Williams with our goals so far.

Brace yourself for the next 45!’

Very encouraging...

0-3 Gladwin

0-4 McKirdy - assist, Clayton

No need to get carried a...we're going up as Champions aren't we.

Any shouts on who the trialists are?
I’m guess Darcy is still knocking about as one?

I got a bit lost second half. it looked like a bearded cb started the second half they became flanked by minturn and cowmeadow. 2nd half was just fitness- woking replaced the whole team and had half trialists. we kept the first team out until around 60 mins.

gladwin against opposition like this looks like Zidane. so graceful and skilful and a lovely goal.

Darcey was a trialist, some nice passes but not much of a standout. did a Beckham to Scholes shot from a corner- decent hit on the half volley.

sol brynn another good 2nd half. no one is scoring past him this season!

I do get the feeling Gladders might be the best five-a-side player at the club. I'd certainly watch the preseason fives tournament, get it done Trust.

Ronan Darcy played tonight as Harry just put a pic up with him.

Signed a 2 year deal

Probably has however if so, why was he still named as a trialist.

I thought Brennan looked solid, but way too much messing around at the back, as usual!.
The two wide men, Shade and Devine, needed to do more when they got the ball.
Wakeling looked very lively and was unlucky not to score.
Harry was looking very quick.Could have had a third.
Gladwin scored an excellent goal.

Oh, and Ronan Darcy looked the part!

Not announced yet

Fair enough as I do expect that announcement this week.

Cool, starting to take shape & it looks like it’s 352 and wing backs going on the friendlies.

Probably need some more depth there if that is the case. So a couple of WBs a Grant type midfielder and a physical presence up front and I’d say we are set.

If you just go x2 for every position we are nearly there

2/2 keepers
2/4 wing backs
5/6 centre backs (including Minturn)
5/6 centre mids
5/4 strikers (including Parsons, Wakeling, Massey & Cowmeadow)

Imagine we might bring in loans & then loan out some of the younger players.

I’ve probably forgotten some too so numbers might be wrong
Edit; Definitely wrong forgot Parsons (now added) and didn’t even give Iandolo a position and still haven’t. I wonder if we see him as a LCB, LWB or CM?!

Interesting pre season friendly. My thoughts (partially obscured by criminally cheap Hooch in spoons):
- Brynn kept us in it before we went ahead with a couple of saves where you would have expected the striker to score. I think he made a couple of good stops and claims after we went ahead too. I agree with whoever said that he gives off BFG vibes. Definitely more of the BFG ilk than Kovar.
- Harries looks technically very good (in keeping with the Twitter clip of him neatly controlling it and smashing it into the top left in training). I wonder if we look at certain stats in combination such as time on the ball PLUS pass completion rate. He seemed to have a very good first touch and his pass completion rate was excellent (especially when you consider time from first touch to pass). I also think he had a header against the bar from a ball into the box (can’t remember if from set piece or open play) and I remember him winning another towering header too. There were however one or 2 occasions when he seemed to get a bit caught out leading to opportunities for Woking.
- Shade was on opposite side for first half but on our side second half. He looked to be athletic and good on the ball. Decent sized unit too. He stayed on the half way line when we had corners presumably due to his pace and height.
- Devine - really not impressed on that particular showing. He got in a lot of good wide positions and also managed to drop back into good defensive positions quickly so presumably has good fitness and pace, however his ability to beat the man or indeed to complete passes on today’s showing was less than that of his team mates.
- McKirdy, Gladwin, Reed and Williams looked decent. Gladwin on occasion got caught dallying but on other occasions was superb with his touch, skill and distribution. 2 very good finishes from McKirdy. Williams thankfully didn’t get injured and shows some good skill surging forwards. Reed was Reed - very good distribution etc but no surprise.
- Brennan seemed solid enough and keen to drive forwards.
- Darcy came on and maybe had something about him but he was playing within a second string at that stage so hard to compare with the players from first period.
-Parsons looks like he needs a goal for his confidence. Undoubtedly there is a good player there and he wasn’t bad at all but I would love for him to get the ball in the net by hook or by crook and then see how he does following that.
- Clayton - I can see why people say he is like Matip - although I didn’t get the full measure of him on his brief performance he seems to have height, confidence and the same sort of figure as Matip. I think his possession and passing seemed good as far as I could tell.
-Wakeling - was it him who nearly broke the post with his head?! One other good chance too.
- Massey - on quite late with a team of trialists and didn’t particularly make a mark.

I think 4-0 is an encouraging scoreline but we easily could have conceded a couple. A more clinical opposition may have punished us but I think you can only beat what is in front of you. The first hour felt like a proper starting 11 match and the subsequent minutes seemed more experimental. There are similarities with last year but (particularly in the latter part of the game and maybe due to players knowing each other less well) there was a more direct approach.

I think we had a few trialists - a number 2 who looked vaguely like KHH (he seemed to take up a central midfield berth) and a few others (some may be youth teamers) who did not particularly make a mark. Payne signing would make me club more confident in the squad but as it stands I don’t think it is bad and I hope this result and performance goes some way to quelling the tides of negativity from the resident doom mongers.

Still…better than a 2-0 at Supermarine. No booze in the away end (probably a good thing as well as a disappointment). Good to catch up with a surprisingly sturdy Wobbly Bob too. I hope that he will become suitably oiled and less rigid with the judicious application of real ale as the season commences. I get so bored in the close season and today was a much needed tonic for the lack of football. Roll on the start of the season. COYR

Gladwin is quality. The number of Town fans who can't see this baffles me.

I don’t think anyone doubts Gladwin technical ability or quality.
His durability is questionable and he is extremely slow.

Not dynamic enough anymore to be an attacking midfielder. Think he’s better suited to sitting back and ‘Quarterbacking’

I’m 99.9% sure Cowmeadow is a left sided attacker and not a centre back.

Wouldn’t include Massey either tbh, seems quite raw.

If we sign Darcy, I’d say we’re about 6 short. An out and out right back, centre half, 2 midfielders and at least 2 new attackers that are starting XI quality.

I swear I read that Cowmeadow was centre half tonight in someone’s match report *shrugs*
Looks like we will be playing wing backs so not sure a right back is needed.

I personally think we need a Grant type in midfield but with Reed, Williams, Gladwin, Aguiar, Iandolo and Darcy (and Payne till a possibility) I’m not sure the club agree on that opinion.

Definitely need to strengthen up front.

Agree.

I wonder if Gladwin could play in the back 3. Tall and strong, lack of pace could be hidden by those next to him and would be good at playing out from the back

I know some of our more challenged fans wouldn’t like it, but 2 or 3 of our own youngsters look more than decent enough to challenge for a starting place.

With the signing of Clayton and reading comments about the Woking performance, yesterday has to be the first genuinely encouraging day of this pre season...long may it continue...

It’s Minturn at the back, I think

The delay with Payne is just making me a little nervous with the agent dicking around again.
Still cautiously optimistic mind 🤞

Which of them have caught your eye?

Minturn for me at Supermarine. Cowmeadow I didn't really watch closely. Parsons has something, I've seen it before, but didn't really catch the eye on Saturday.

But you can judge bugger all from our season.

Also, roll on signing a striker or two.
-------------
Thanks to those that wrote reports. Nice to see the first 11 doing the damage. Should calm people for a bit

The squad still looks well to me. But see preseason disclaimer above

…yeah…now you’ve said this I remember thinking something similar the other day for some reason.
Think I was playing FM and had to move a midfielder back into a back three due to an injury or something.

Gladwin's strength isn't heading, and he's not very quick

Which if you were the deep sitting centre half in a back three wouldn’t be an issue

Posted this in the Squad thread, a depth chart-y thing. It's missing Cowmeadow who I guess is up front.

It's really not that bad, could probably do with a bit more wing back cover and a forward. Considering we have three loan spots left, it feels like we're in a decent place.

Iandolo played quite well LB/LWB last year. Wouldn't mind seeing him back there. Even starting if Devine doesn't end up being what we need.

Of course it would. You know we'll come up against pump it long teams

Preferred him in midfield tbh. Personally think he's pretty average at LB.

The number 2 was Dworzak. At 16 I think he's got a good chance of making it from what I've seen, read etc.

Much better last night and similarly to last season at least have a reasonable first XI albeit a few players short such as a main striker. Still think we need another left sided wing back as nothing I’ve seen from Devine for either us or Walsall says he should be guaranteed starter.

As for Gladwin in defence is that a serious suggestion? He can’t tackle, gets caught in possession a fair amount and gets injured with the slightest touch so I couldn’t think of anyone less suitable to play at the back. On his day he’s great but he can be a liability at times in midfield, at the back he would be catastrophic.

Sonny Hart came on again, is he on trial or part of the academy?

Cant be a trialist if named, although he wasnt named in the squad.

still must be an innocent mistake, same as the burying of ticket price increases and the article on zav rather than purposely not declaring im sure.  :headhurts:

nothing to see here, club is whiter than white.



Edit-


Putting all the background clusterfuckery to the side for a minute- sounds like a good performance and a positive result. a couple more additions and we should be competitive on the pitch  :clap:

Pleasantly surprised last night.
Was expecting a disjointed effort but the new signings fitted it ok and all were competent.
Don't want to single anyone out on the evidence of one game but the keeper looks to be a good acquisition.

Good to see both wing backs bomb forward if not always successfully but it's the intent that's a good sign.

Just need that "nasty striker" and an even nastier midfielder.

I'm sure I recall Gladwin playing LB once a few years ago, when Cooper was manager probably. Not a great success as I remember and wasn't tried again.

Yeah but then you’d have the other centre backs go and attack the ball and have Gladwin drop deeper to pick up the second ball, if the striker wins the flick on.

Ala Hoddle

For those asking Sonny Hart is part of the under 18 setup. Whilst there is a distinct lack of information about actual players in squads, he was on the subs bench for the under 18s defeat to Colchester under 18s in the youth FA Cup so has been around the academy for a while now seemingly.

Agree 100%.

Gladwin could possibly play in the DMC role in front of a back 2 but would be a waste in front of a back 3 for me, he has obvious class but he has the pace of Nalis now unfortunatly so needs to play in a role that he doesnt need pace in, a bit like Ross Maclaren in the Ossie side.

The youngsters -

Cowmeadow is a winger who can play in the front line if needed, decent on both sides although fairly small at the moment, played for Wales U17s.

Minturn is a well built CB with a bit of pace and not bad in the air.

Dworzak is a central midfielder with some promise.

Dabre is a flexible left/right footed player who has played at LB/LW/RW.

I recall Gladwin playing LWB against Notts County away... tore their rb a new one from the start.  Did we win 4-0 that day?

Having a read of the Woking forum their fans are very complimentary saying no team in their memory has gone to Woking and totally outclassed them by such a margin in a pre season friendly that they can recall.

2014...a 3-0 win.

https://youtu.be/iI_lTI2_syg

Lovely.

I stand corrected... Put it down to the 80% bollocks talk  8)

 ;D (ftp://;D)
 :D

I do my best to contribute to that percentage, too.

He's a natural. Install him as our LWB. ;)

https://youtu.be/45dc5lwJNag
Highlights from Woking.
Some nice moments but the defence still worries me

Quite impressed with that, like you say, still some work to do with the defence, still scrambling somewhat in places.  I can see the Benda comparisons for the GK and was surprised at how much of a unit Shade is.  On the whole pretty decent.

For some reason I cannot see that video, is it a link to YouTube?

Found the link, defence looked a shambles at times, but it’s preseason.  And number 11 for them missing with the last shot on the video made me laugh

Almost too quick for the eye on the night, but sighting of a rabona confirmed.  :)

Thanks for posting Matt, like the look of the new keeper, spreads himself really well.

Always difficult to make much from pre season games but McKirdy looking sharp and eager.

I liked the look of the keeper as well JJ (small sample size obviously)...I looked at some of the other videos on there and notice that Sid Nelson has signed for them...

Yes obviously we havent seen much of Brynn as yet but on first looks he looks decent.

Sid was a good solid defender but suffered an awful injury at Northampton, if he regains fitness he will be an asset, apparently he only signed for them yesterday.

Gladwin looked good as well, difficult to tell if it's just the highlights but a gladwin in form would be a real asset this year.

Woking looked pretty good from the highlights tbf, and I'm glad to see mckirdy getting amongst the goals early.

Purely from the highlights, the right wing back gets forward well and most of last seasons players seemed up to speed.  Who was 26, Harries or Brennan?  looked like an oil tanker trying to turn in the Panama Canal - hopefully a pre-season fitness and playing in heat thing.

Thought the keeper looked good.

The defence looked shaky and devoid of pace. Too early to judge though.

Hows your head number 24?

where!?

Woking

Mckirdy on the byline crossing after Wakeling shot was saved.

At about 2 mins 10 secs

Wakeling seemed to get in good positions, and linked quite well with McKirdy. Looks to have something about him, but seemed to contrive to hit the goalkeeper a lot. He also seemed to be lacking that little zip that takes you away from the defender and creates space for a shot - Something that I've thought about Parsons too in the past (and also in the second half highlights here)

The guys on the Tom Broadbent Lounge thingy that were commentating along (and were pretty good to be fair to them) said that Wakeling had a look of the Jerry Yates about him

ah yes. i was really hoping it was gladwins goal!

Was he the one who ran into and headbutted the post, that might explain his limited zip?

Yes.....And perhaps! :-)

I hope that is the case!

That was the first comparison I made when I saw the highlights, similar skillset too it appears as well as build and style.

Thought Wakeling had a quiet game overall at the time but then looked quite lively from the highlights!

Yeah, similar build and look to Yates and hopefully the same impact on the pitch.

Intelligent and unselfish play for Harry's first goal. And was cleaned out in the process. Also brave when he headed the ball which the keeper saved point blank, and then he smacked his noggin off the post. That looked painful!

Eastleigh away. Heading down today, anyone else?

The most interesting thing today will be if Reed and McKirdy play. If either/both don’t play they’re off, I reckon.

I'm walking to the game  ;D

The Pox beat this lot 5-1 down there on Wednesday so theres our target!

Why wouldn't they?

As they don’t want to get injured in a meaningless game as their about to move clubs.

Have any IP TV gurus spotted any streams of the friendly today?

Any trialists today or are we past that now?

Yes any pointers will be appreciated.

Want the Swindon admin to release the Teamsheet at 2pm with Jack Payne on it just to send our fanbase mental.

Don't think they need a team sheet with Jack Payne on it for a lot of them.

I think people need to seriously forget about Jack Payne, he's gone, like every other player we tried (perhaps not hard) to keep, Hunt/Odimayo etc.

As it stands, and assuming Darcy and Khan are more forward thinking midfielders, with Williams, Gladwin and Aguiar, i would say we need a defensive player there to compete or support Reed. I guess we have Iandolo, but i dont think he can play the reed role either.

You mean exactly the role Tom Clayton plays?

People keep saying this. He's gone forget about him etc. But he isn't gone. He doesn't have a club. He hasn't been pictured anywhere. No scarf above the head. His agent is trying to get him the best possible deal in which will probably be his last big contract.

I for one would be absolutely delighted if we announced him on a 3 year deal after all this.

Reed and McKirdy start

Where's the big man?

Did read he needs EFL clearance

Just remember if he does sign here, its because its the most money he could get, and don't believe any crap he says about wanting to be here. Remember last year he could leave for free, but couldnt get anything like the money he was earning from Lincoln and us. As far as i'm concerned now he can fuck off, the club have offered the max and he is still using that to negotiate elsewhere. He is not as good, or worth as much as he thinks, as proven by him being unable to get deals so far. He needs a bit of a reality check.

Doesn't need it to play in a friendly though.

Probs not playing as he’s about to be sold

‘n Whelan
@RyanwFWA
·
👀 Jack Payne decision on next club expected in the next 48 hours. Will let you know as soon as I can. ⏳

Not guaranteed but expected to move quickly. Firm offers down fron each club just a decision on which one. ’

I think the rules are he doesn't need it if hes out of contract and playing as a trialist but because he has signed for us he needs international clearance to play for us.

Relax. He's doing what every other player in his position would do. He's a free agent off the back of a very successful season. He's 27 and his next contract could be his last. Nothing is guaranteed in football. He probably has 5 or 6 different offers and his agent is bouncing between them all trying to get him the best deal.

Also how do you know the hold up isn't that he's desperate to sign for us but we are only offering a 2 year deal and somebody else a 3. The thing is you don't know. It's very easy to sit here and see it from a fans perspective but he will want the most security and most money on his next contract. Doesn't mean he doesn't want to be here if it's possible.

Weird bureaucratic rule. Surely a friendly is a friendly and not subject to rules. West Ham got someone out the crowd once. Teams have been known to play three thirds of 30 minutes and all sorts of wild changes in friendlies.

Not a fan of Jack, are you. Here's you on the eve of last season.


Whether we still need him is up for debate with the squad starting to come together, but he's been a good player for us, give him a break.

Its true i'm not. I dont get the fuss, and i think the lack of him being able to get another club backs that up to some extent.

There lies the rub. Cost v benefits, whoever he plays for this season.

1-0

Boo! Lindsey Out

There are 5 clubs that are vying for his signature.

Devine has been replaced

Hopefully just a knock

It might be tactical. I thought he was poor against Woking.

‘HALF TIME: Eastleigh 1-0 Swindon Town...

Disappointing score line at the break, although Town have dominated possession and had the bulk of the chances.

Danny Whitehall's tap in after just eight minutes separates the two sides at present.’

Remind you of anything?

It reminds me of how a football match goes some times, yes.

It’s what ultimately fucked us up last season - getting beaten by some right old dross

Out of interest of course other than Crawley, any idea who the others are?

According to Ryan whatsisname, us, Orient, Crawley, Charlton and Pompey

Although I’m sure Pompey pulled out weeks ago

(https://thealternativeulsterman.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/fraser.jpg)

Ourselves, Creepy, Pompey, Charlton and Leyton Orient.

Cheltenham? Where did they pop up from? Thought it was Charlton. Then again, they think the STFC who are in with a shout are Shrewsbury!

McKirdy off injured. Hope it’s just a precaution.

Sorry I fucked up. Amended my post now.

Might be nothing, might be something but if the shirt numbers mean anything today then Darcy has taken Payne’s squad number (10)

Haven’t seen if squad numbers have been confirmed for the season mind you

Well if the monies are the same then surely it’s Charlton especially if Pompey have as you suggest pulled out.

What happened to Sheffield Wednesday as that was a strong rumour a couple of weeks ago

Depends on what’s driving him. If he just wants to play in L1,albeit for a middling club, he joins Charlton. If he wants a chance of a promotion on his CV he joins us.

Them and Pompey no longer interested.

Or Orient. Wellens signing him for us in the first place and they have cash this season right.

 :sherlock:
Cheers Aud I've not been keeping up to date recently.

Your last sentence. Is it a question or a statement of fact?

Playing in a higher league is the no brainer choice in this circumstance.  

A question? I believe they have but not sure.

They aren’t the only 5 that have tabled offers.

IKEA, Queen Anne, Chippendale or maybe MFI? I’ll deliver in my Transit if anyone needs help.

Don’t know what you’re talking about  ;)

Decent performance today without anyone being outstanding.  Wakeling really needs a goal and should have scored.  Not bothered about the result tbh.

People need to move on from Jack Payne as yet another thread gets hijacked by a player who no longer plays for the club

Agree about moving on, wish him well but enough is enough.

Was Reed absent today?

…is it fuck.

Payne will go to whoever pays him more regardless of division.

Played the majority of the game as did Harry until he went off injured

Cheers, a good work out in today's heat regardless of the score.

Does anyone have any idea of the nature of the injury? Fingers crossed just a precautionary sub if he felt a bit leggy or tight.

From Twitter:

On the radio it said its not that bad more of a kick than a twist

Also from Twitter:

He stayed down and was quiet, which is pretty unlike him and eventually hobbled off after some attention from the physio…
I guess we’ll have to wait and see…

What was the score?

Also, anyone have any news on Payne? 😴

Never mind, I looked it up.....1-0

I still don't think we should be losing to non league sides and failing to score.

^this

Eastleigh perspective

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQRuJQ1LOQ

Oxford beat them 5-1

It doesn't much matter as a result. Being shut out is a suprise but a few that were there say it wasn't as poor as you may think.

Not sure if the Ayr lad will be the solution, or part of it. But he didn't play today

He can’t play until he gets international clearance apparently.  Fuck knows why as he’s been playing in Scotland. 

Is Cardiff the last friendly or did I read a while back we are playing Worthing or another non league side🤔

Anyone going next Saturday?

Both true. Check out the first post in thread. 2 games on same day

Cheers, just checked and you made it easy sending me back to the first post😀

Worthing or Cardiff? :)

I wasn't, but probably will now.

Er, ok.

Must be a formality, given Scotxit hasn't happened yet it'll be the same.

Er, ok.

Must be a formality, given Scotxit hasn't happened yet it'll be the same.
Have read back 😲😲😲

Straight to page 1 😀

Nope.

What? nobody?

I expect there will be a few Taffs rearranging the furniture inside the ground and local pubs!

Two crap sides Saturday, although Darcy was a breath of fresh air when he came on - think he'll go down well here, very likeable and positive play style.

Thank fuck L2 is crammed with crap sides

Not taking any notice of the pre-season results but I think Cardiff is likely to be a good barometer as to how ready we are for the season ahead. The new signings will have had a week to train with the squad and hopefully work on how Lindsay wants to put the side together. Hopefully now we know Payne is going to Charlton we can bring in the last couple of players to compliment the squad and we'll be ready for the 'assault' on league 2.

I have sort of read back (the same people saying the same things in 5 threads made it rather tricky  ;) :D) and must hve missed this, is it actually confirmed by a primary source?

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/20286134.jack-payne-set-medical-ahead-move-charlton-athletic/

£15 for a pre season friendly? Think I'll give it a miss.

It was £12 at Melksham !!.

£15 isn’t a lot.

It is for a friendly with only one stand open

£30 for a hospitality package... not bad I would say🤔

It is not cheap, it is not expensive, however, IMHO if you’re of limited budget the £15 may seem excessive for a friendly in comparison to a full 1st team game.

I can afford it, that's not the issue, but it's not comparable to a league game, for which I was only paying £19 last season.

Sorry to drag this out, but I get the impression it is. FWIW I won’t be going, because of work and I still would not go even if I wasn’t working. I’d like to see a club higher up than Cardiff in a PSF but accept that being in League 2 that is not going to happen. So I’ll be saving £15 and spend it at the club on maybe a few pints in my namesake at sometime.

May not seem a lot if you live within walking distance of the ground, However, for people living 40+ miles out of town that adds another twenty quid on top for fuel,  so,  not such a cheap day out.

Or nearer £60 if you live even farther away

Tempted to take the boy seen how he takes to it but it’s still a fair bit for a wasted trip

Why ??,  Has he been a naughty boy ??.  😁😁

Ha - sometimes!

I should stop the cycle really, it’s not fair

I thought 4D lives in Swindon?

I have taken both my sons and both step daughters to Swindon games, all are in their late 20s early 30s now and only my eldest step daughter is a Swindon fan, but shes also an Arsenal fan.

I told both my sons to follow Swindon but not solely Swindon as you will have a lifetime of disappointment as myself and my dad and also my grandfather before him have had.

I no longer even watch England any more with any enthusiasm after years of following them in the 80's and 90s all over the world, its like a radicalised religion now in which only Swindon Town FC matters.

Not sure I would wish that on any of my children or grandchildren even though my grand daughter loves watching football.

I've got a bit of a quandary at the moment as whilst I have bought our little 'un a couple of Town shirts over the years she really doesn't have a great interest in football (despite her playing for the girls U9 team) and so be it. However her best mate supports Man U (as her dad does) and she announced to me last night that she quite likes the idea of supporting Man U.

As I lived in Newcastle for most of the 90's (when Man U were the arch enemy) whilst I don't really have a dog in the glory hunting stakes I would really like her not to support Man Utd!

The joys of fatherhood.

Do it! Supporting Swindon Town teaches stoicism and while he may not thank you for it, it will be good for him.

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
 And treat those two impostors just the same"

FWIW my eldest son is a Man Utd supporter against my wishes.

I do, maniac doesn't. I get the bus  :)

Ah fair enough. Do you get the bus with JBZ?

Never.

I blame the parents.  He was brought up in a time when it was acceptable to punish your kids, too soft :)

Thing is, as I pointed out to her, if she is going to go down the plastic glory hunting route at least go for a team which wins things in the present time, or hold your nose and try the emerging Newcastle bandwagon, be an early adopter!

My niece 'supports' Spurs  :girlgiggle:

I've never understood the mindset of supporting the best side of the moment, for that sole reason . Is that just a UK thing?

TBF He started following Man Utd after I had split from his mum, he was a Swindon fan when I lived with him, his mum is a Liverpool fan so he probably rebelled against that!

Ok, I will let you off for your part in the result, at least you tried :)

I now have to stop him making my granddaughter a Man Utd fan too ;)

In Cambodia I met plenty of people who support both Barca and Real Madrid. My protestations and attempts to regale - with stories of Catalonia, Fascism and Civil War - alas fell on deaf ears.

This probably needs a separate topic now!!  I blame the Premier League and the big six (as I do for the rise in temperature on these pages over the past few weeks).  Football has changed, and for those 'long in the tooth' STFC supporters, who have struggled with dashed hopes and disappointment - the lot of supporters of most clubs in the bottom two leagues - for as long as we can remember, that change is hard to understand and rationalise.  And we can long for the good old days when people felt duty-bound to support their local club, come what may, but they will not come back. Football has moved on from 'the pride of the local community' to being global 'entertainment', part of the insufferable celebrity culture which controls public opinion, in which a dozen+ clubs across Europe are in control (and would have split off into the Super League if they had managed it better) and the rest are left with whatever crumbs they can gather up and share with each other.  

I have two football-focussed sons.  We never lived near enough to Swindon to attend games very much, but I had an involvement with Hereford Utd when they were little, and they came along to games regularly, where they got great seats, knew most of the players and generally felt part of the club.  Now one supports Arsenal, the other Spurs.  It costs them a huge amount to get to maybe one or two games per season, and they are not satisfied unless their club looks like winning everything, preferably never losing a match.  They can watch every match on TV, they are never likely to meet any of the players, or feel part of a footballing community, because the top six are 'global brands'.  (When do you hear of people being seduced by Crystal Palace or Wolves or even Leicester over their local Lge 1 or 2 club?) (To be fair to my younger son, he is now putting time and money into New Mills FC in Derbyshire, and his local club.)

Meanwhile, Crawley (why Crawley?) attract a big-spending owner, and we all launch into attacks on them for trying to buy success.  And Clem comes along (OK, I have heard all the question marks about behind the scenes), and promises a new, sustainable future, living within our means, trying to find a new way of pursuing success in the lower leagues, and making our beloved club attractive in that context....and some of us keep challenging him to spend, spend, spend to get us there, as though somewhere in the fantasy of our imagination we want to be the seventh super-club, and that will fulfil all our ambitions.  Well, as Man Utd fans show so well at the moment, the higher you are in the pyramid the greater the expectation and the frustration when the human beings who make up a football club fail to live up to the hype!!

Of course I crave for success like everyone else, but I also love the possibility that we (alongside a relatively small number of other clubs) are in the vanguard, leading the way to that sustainable future for community-based football, and I am happy to loosen the rope around the club, with all the mistakes and frustrations which may arise as a result, and support the vision. I ain't going nowhere!!

Bloody hell the poor buggers will have been lacking in satisfaction over the last few seasons!!  :D :D

 :D :D :D

What is this 'triumph' thing of which you speak?

My 7 year old lad 'likes' Man City. Not having that, he's a Swindon fan - he just doesn't realise yet

Part of the problem as well is other kids bullying you for supporting a 'lower league' side.

I know somebody who took their son to football training in a Swindon shirt and he was poked fun at by a bunch of kids in PSG, Liverpool shirts etc.

When you're young you're heavily influenced by people your age and do what you can to fit in.

In my youth I never understood those of my friends that did turn up in a Real Madrid or Barcelona shirt. On reflection though I guess no real difference in wearing a shirt from Manchester that you have zero connection to, and one from Paris, equally zero connection.

Unless things have got worse, I wouldn’t say I was ever bullied for it. Did hate go into going into school after the 0-1 FA cup defeat to Oxford, not a good day that.

I've had a few Real Madrid shirts over the years, I still sometimes wear a long sleeved, no sponsor, '93 Hummel edition as it's fucking ace.  My dad used to do an awful lot of work in Madrid and his friends there were mostly Real fans so I felt some affiliation to the club when I was young.

Aside from actual glory hunting fans the Swedish are quite funny, working in a very popular ski resort we see absolutely loads of Scandi tourists and seasonal workers and they all love their football, the Swedish in particular though LOVE and WORSHIP Ibra, so much so that they really only seem to support whichever club he currently plays for, the level of adoration is mental with them.

Kids need to be taught the words plastic glory hunter from a young age.

Tbh kids are kids so you can't  really blame them, it's when they don't grow out of it that it becomes an issue. At 18 upwards you think people would have lost the "I support them because they are the best" attitude.

Challenge any Carling swilling, shirt wearing Sky TV experts in your local and they all swear the go regularly or have been fans for decades. By my reckoning each of the top six PL teams must have a home attendance in the millions. Maybe the authorities should look at their understated gate receipts.

Any old excuse is drilled out. If you're going to support some random club you have no connection with then why not a league 1 or 2 side? I wonder  ::)

That's what the locals did in Milton Keynes😀

Actually in a way that is what led to our conversation and the suggestion of an affinity to Man Utd. She went into school on the last day in her Swindon shirt (season before last keepers shirt as its pink and she likes pink!) and I mentioned in passing on the way home whether any kids had mentioned it (as I always feared she might get the piss ripped out of her for it) but nothing had ben said.

Funny thing round here is I have never seen a Barrow shirt on either kid nor adult!


My affection for Barca actually started when my mate came back from the Costa something in the early 80's wearing a Barcelona no.10 shirt with Maradona on the back, seemed so exotic, then in the 90's when I lived in Newcastle there seemed to be quite an affinity between their supporters possibly due to the similar geography and social issues and finally reinforced by subsequent reading about the Civil War.

Growing up I used to have a mini obsession with buying 'obscure' football shirts. Going to a state school in East Lothian my Swindon shirts were actually seen as 'cool' given the rarity that someone in Scotland would actually support Swindon - the fact we were in the Premier League did help so we weren't a team that nobody knew anything about. Most of the people at my school supported Rangers and Celtic with a handful of Hibs and Hearts fans.

There was a sports shop in town that used to sell obscure football shirts really cheap. My favourite was the classic Bayern Munich, but I also picked up a Duisburg shirt as well as Rotherham, Swansea and QPR. Clearly I didn't support these teams but I liked the shirts and there was a bit of 'competition' of the people I played football with to turn up in the strangest kits. One of my best mates used to 'win' rocking up in Stafford Rangers or Farnborough Town gear! Oddly he now supports Reading.

Scheiß MSV

Love it...as one now living in Berwickshire, and regular visitor to East Lothian (Dunbar)...My STFC car sticker dors raise an eyebrow or two!!!

haha - actually the shirt was way too small for me and I barely wore it.

Ah sunny dunny! A good part of my upbringing was spent there down by the sea!

"My Dad worked in Manchester one summer"

Swindon has/had that to be fair in Sports Direct. It may be less random now but the racks in there where you'd get a pair of shorts for £2 and a shirt for a fiver, they were extremely random for a good period.

If you ever went over the county ground field before they built the foundation, the Goans that played over there a lot would be kitted out in the most random collection of clubs and countries you'd ever seen.

Lucky escape!

Anyone who fancies watching the Cardiff game, here’s a stream. £3

https://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/news/cardiff-city-tv-watch-city-vs-swindon-town-live

Lovely. Will give that a go if its not on my firestick app already.

What app would show that?

The IPTV app I use has a pre-season folder at the moment. I haven't actually felt the need to watch any pre-season games but I might see if the match is on it on Saturday.

I use Worthystreams via TiviMate - not offered on that. Still, for £3 . . .

Oh absolutely. Might give it a go if i'm home.

Yeah my IPTV has had some pre-season categories on certain days. Will have to refresh and check about 11:30 and then if not will be buying the £3 option.

Thanks for this I have ifollow and IPTV but if they arent showing it I will fork out £3 to try and get my football mojo back before next week.

I am away for the first 2 weeks of the season but will still be able to watch them hopefully.

Cardiff have sold 750 tickets for this game already, good turn out for a pre season.

Are they in the Arkells or the SB?

I think only the Arkells is open for this game.

Haven’t we got a game v Worthing as well tomorrow?

Yes, I imagine that will be mainly the young players perhaps with a few others involved.

Fair enough. I was just wondering if a load of coked up Welsh teenagers might be in town to try and cause a bit of 'aggro'

Their cup final  ;)

They'll be on pills won't they? Wales is about 30 years behind.

I wouldn't really know about that. My drug knowledge is only really informed by watching trainspotting and listening to Pulp. I reckon I'm sorted for E's and Whizz.

Anti-histamines and Statins are the hardest I've gone! Captain sensible/boring me!

What we thinking for attendance, 3k?

Cardiff is a coke town, Swansea's the pill and heroin capital of Wales.

Not from personal knowledge you understand, more from working in the bar/pub trade that way.

Cardiff game looks to be available on IPTV.

At least the kick off time is conducive to spending a couple of hours in the pub beforehand.

Po-leece intelligence must indicate the risk of sone high jinx.
Hopefully that is not the case.

Should get some idea of the starting 11 for Harrogate today.
Interested in how Khan & Tomi  shape up in particular.
Darcy as well. Had him down as a direct replacement for Payne but we'll see.

Let's hope they keep to shagging sheep back in Wales rather than causing trouble in the local pubs!

Careful Jimbo, the Soul Crew will be coming for you if they read that.
Might be time to be proactive & dust down the 20 hole DM's, double denim, braces & Ben Sherman shirt and greet them at the station as they arrive.

Tried to create an account on Cardiff site to watch the game but it wouldn't let me!

I did with no bother at all yesterday

I might be wrong but I think that's only if you are abroad. For fans in the UK I think there is a separate way of doing it.

Cardiffs line up.

(https://i.postimg.cc/QMqz9T40/20220723-110031.jpg)

Couple of ex Crewe in there who many should be familiar with from our wellens promotion season. Ng and Wintle.

Couple of ex Oxford too with Whyte and Nelson in the squad.

They've done well to get Romaine Sawyers.

Didn't realise they had NG, lots of free kicks for them with him going down very easily a la Nathan Thompson.

Yes he signed for them 2 years ago on January deadline day for £500k, really good player and one of the best right backs we came up against recently.

Are we putting out a team?

line up v Cardiff: Brynn: Shade, Brennan, Harries, Hutton: Reed, Gladwin, Williams: McKirdy, Adeloye

Subs: Ward, Clayton, Baudry, Darcy, Khan, Wakeling, Abu Kanu

Abu Kanu?

4-3-2?

Angus MacDonald captain.

Angus McDonald

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Kanu

Probably not him.

An Academy kid of ours. Never, ever heard of him. To get a spot, albeit on the bench, is impressive for him.

 :hmmm:Thought he was from the youth team.

1 in 2 record for his country. sign him up. The experience we've been waiting for.

Maybe but let’s not forget we’ve got two games going on today…

Macdonald not match fit??

Edit: just missed him out...he is in fact Captain!

Played in the Wiltshire Premier Shield - Quarter Final vs Westbury last season, 17 year old academy player.

Would have expected him to be at Worthing, though. No idea of his position either.

Is Ellis injured or playing against Worthing instead?

I've seen them a few times over the years at the County ground and they've never once behaved. My best memory was in the late 70's when we smashed them I think 5-1 on boxing day and a Cardiff women was escorted out past the Townend with cry's of "Cardiff slags are on the ranks again"

I would imagine we will line up like this..

                       Brynn
      Harries   MacDonald   Brennan
Hutton              Reed                 Shade
       Williams     Gladwin    McKirdy
                     Adeloye

Few of their fans saying this is their strongest 11.

Don't forget Callum O Dowda. I didn't realise he had left slave traders.

Harries is left footed

Not often you see Williams and Gladwin together

Would have thought Reed would be in the middle 3 with Harry up with Adeloye in a 2

Guess we will see.

I assume we’ve had to have sent some first teams to Worthing - seen as the game (as far as I’m aware) has been listed/ advertised as Worthing Vs Swindon. Not Swindon u18s or a Swindon Town select XI

Although surprised both senior keepers are in the Cardiff squad. Would have thought you’d split them and get them each 90mins

Its flexible definately, 532, 5311, 541 even or 352 when attacking.

Pitch looking very good, hope it lasts the pace a bit better than last season.

Would be livid if I were a groundsperson having to fix sliding gouges after every game.
Not so much an issue at our level and hoping to see Harry sink to the turf with the trademark celebration more than a few times this season.

Who remembers 424 including two wingers😀

Anyone got a picture on the Cardiff stream yet? I've paid for it but have nothing to watch!

Just came up a couple of minutes ago.

Yeah mines on, had to refresh though

Working for me. I'm in ahem Amsterdam of course!  ;)

The Cardiff team expected to start against Norwich, so a tough test.

"You're only here for the Cardiff"

"They're here there and everywhere, empty seats"

self-own?

Plenty of stuff around to relax you😀

Shade playing RWB, Hutton LWB... I thought it would be the other way round?

Hmmmm... That was too easy...

Midfield not tracking back. Backline looks slow and porous. Not liking Harries at the mo.

First 15 minutes - playing the ball around with no purpose, until we lose it.

Now 2-0

Erm, not good this.

Sweet Baby Jesus....

LINDSEY OUT

2-0 now. Suicidal ball back from Harries to Brynn who panics, loses the ball and gives away a comedy goal

Harries was a dog shit signing on paper. Looks like a dog shit signing on grass too. Truly baffling.

Its deliberate to see how they cope with being 2 goals down. Good to get the mistakes out of the way in a friendly  :hmmm: :hmmm:

Hutton just run it out of play under no pressure... It's a massive hmmmm from me so far

I find this whole fixture quite baffling, tbh.

We're unable to judge where we are because we've facing an established championship side.

Cardiff unable to judge where they are because they're facing a newly assembled league 2 side.

Add the policing costs etc and it's just a bit bizarre.

Awful miss from Cardiff. Midfield all over the place.

In a bad way?

Doesn't really matter who you're playing. That Harries/Brynn cock up could have happened against a non league side and they'd have taken advantage.

Most definitely...

Very bad.

It's top Championship v's a lower half L2 side, so I guess we shouldn't expect anything different.

Harries signature move looks to be the hospital back pass

Keeper not filling me with confidence at this point...

Not unreasonable to expect better than this...

On the positive side, Gladwin is zipping about well and we seem to have a much bigger built team than last season.

Look forward to seeing that on a bobbly pitch away at Barrow in December.

No, not inspiring confidence even outside of the main cock up. Would rather start with Ward.

Harries is going to be this season's boo boy favourite isn't he?

To be fair he looked crap at Rovers and still looks crap. I wonder if we might be seeing another loan CB and Harries consigned to be a squad player.

I wonder what data they received on Harries which impressed Sandro😀

I said in another thread it's a huge, huge risking signing such an inexperienced goalkeeper.

Yes I know they can come good like Benda and Foderingham but why take the risk? can't we just get somebody with 200 games under his belt to do the basics and stop us conceding the same soft shit goals over and over again.

On one hand Cardiff are two levels above, so what do you expect.

On the other this is shit, and we are struggling with the basics

Harries and Brennan injured by the looks of it.

I don't think anyone expects complete ineptitude... regardless of the opposition...

Indeed OST. I was trying to be positive

Yeah, the standard of opposition doesn't account for totally unforced errors.

Please don't say we've signed a load of shit. I was hoping to exit League 2 at the right end!

Rather commit errors now rather than next week.

3-0

Have any of the new buys looked even ok?

Christ, pre-season or not, town looking fooking dreadful

3-0. Watters danced around MacDonald and Brennan

Not one positive so far. Still prone to the through ball behind our ‘defence’, keeper spraying the ball all over the place, don’t think Adeloye has touched the ball yet.

Only a friendly but expected to see something positive from someone.

Adeloye has tried.

Its all a ploy to mislead other second division teams spying on us.

Not really.

0-3...oh well I guess we'll see a few subs at half time...

Unfortunately not. Our only players that have looked remotely competent thus far are the players that were here last season. Reed’s mind must be racing as he’s even more exposed in midfield than he was last season lacking any support.

Don’t expect us to win but would like to see some potential. Sadly lacking

Positives from half: no obvious injuries

Direct replacement for Conroy innit

One other observation, I hate 3 at the back.

Without any basic ability on this showing

Clayton, Darcy, Khan on from the start of the second half? Hope so...

I'm hoping Clayton for Harries is a big improvement.

Really hope this isn't our starting XI vs Harrogate.

One of the reasons I didn't want a big squad was you end up with players that really aren't good enough

There doesn’t seem to be any discernible style of play at all. It’s baffling how we are supposed to be set up. Nobody is busting a gut, which is fair enough, but a little effort wouldn’t go amiss - probably Williams and Gladwin notwithstanding.

McKirdy out on his own looking a bit limpy. Don't know if we'll see him second half.

He took a right whack on his knee early on...

Baudry and ward coming on at least

McKirdy stays out

Baudry and Ward are the changes. For Brynn and Harries

Gladwin wide right and Williams left. Shade playing in advance of Gladwin.

Save from Gladwin volley

Much better start to half

Have Cardiff made (m)any changes?
Are we generally playing better or have Cardiff gone down a few gears seen as they are so far ahead?

Baudresi has made a difference I reckon.

Pitch feels a bit slow at the moment. I guess being new and the hot weather this week has meant it’s been kept a bit longer than it normally would be.

Yeah, I would start him next week on this evidence.

Att 3915 I think they said...

Brennan has looked knacked since the 20th minute. Bent over gasping all the time

No changes.

He's on a 1 year deal, I assume that's his role anyway

Adeloye, Gladwin, Williams and MacDonald off. Wakeling, Clayton, Khan and Darcy

Brennan, MacDonald and Baudry next week I reckon.

1-3 Shade

Khan has done more in 30 secs than Gladwin in the whole game! Also, Darcy looked good! (Wakeling is on and not Parsons)

Well in. Second half seems better.

1-4

My stream died. Totally missed our goal.

Made by Khan driving at the defence.

https://twitter.com/jiff1967/status/1550821340915159040

For anyone else who missed.

Brennan now on the floor. Dabre I think on

Nope. Turns out to be Abu Khan (Who?)

Abu Kanu.

Hopefully Brennan is OK for next week, I've liked the look of him.

2-4 Wakelimg

Poor effort from McKirdy when gifted posession

Won the second half woooo

On this showing, Mckirdy clearly doesn't want to be here, and I can't blame him considering his returns last season and seeing others jump a division. Hunch says He'll be gone by September

Have we changed formation in the second half or stuck with 352?

2-4 FT. Commentators say that scoreline flatters Swindon. I totally agree. We were very poor. Scored a lucky goal (Wakeling) when Cardiff eased off. Shade's goal was a good strike.

Maybe he doesn't like pre season. Remember there were quite a few fans who didn't want him signed this time last year after his friendly outings.

Same.

Don't think you can blame him today. He was clattered in the first minutes. He ran around alot, but go no service.

Tranmere 1-4 Huddersfield. Maybe we were expecting too much, The Championship is ridiculously strong now. Agree that silly unforced errors shouldn't happen regardless though.

Summary:
- First 3 goals were Harries fault (Brynn coluded with him for one)
- Fourth down to Brennan
- Ward looked better than Brynn
- Saidou Khan got stuck in and created chance for cross to Shade, which he finished well.
- Wakeling gifted posession, ran forward, ricochet off defender, took a shot which clipped a defender, wrong footed the keeper and went in.
- Defensively frail. Better with Harries off and Baudry on.
- Midfield non existent until Darcy and Khan came on.
- That sort of performance will not keep us in the league.

We seemed so geared up to playing 352 what happens if it’s not working. The classic plan B question. I thought last season it clicked a lot more when we went to 433.

Miles better second half. Forget the score. We were tighter, sharper and quicker.


Khan's cameo makes me want to see more.
Harries less so, but some players range a while to get going. Joe Devera was like that for example.

hope we haven't gone back to Glad all over for goal music. fucking annoying

Think the last sentence is slightly harsh. Have to keep in mind how poor this division is really. Individual mistakes do need to be cut out though

Aye, wouldn't level any criticism but he must be thinking what's in store for him and if better he cashes in on last season's stock. If we start poorly, id think there's no way he'll be sticking around.

I feel we are a bit undercooked in terms of pre season and matches played, Harrogate have played 4 games against league teams in comparison. Ultimately next weekend will reveal whether that is the case or not.

Our worst patch last year, if I remember correctly, came during a spell of playing with 3 at the back. We switched to 4 (Walsall at home, or a couple of games before that), which made us better going forward and at the back. Why we’ve decided on 3 this year I’ve no idea, but we appear to have recruited on that basis.

Well, I think this year league 2 is quite a bit stronger than last season. Got a big effort to do something and get out of it

It’s what happens when a team that is set up to have 60%+ possession only get 30%.

Not many, if any, teams in L2 are going to dominate the ball against us like Cardiff did. Whatever system we play we can’t defend like that, though.

Based on that very small sample size, next week I'd go with...

                                   Ward

                 Brennan      Baudry     Macdonald  

Shade                                                              Hutton

                     Khan      Reed        Darcy

                       McKirdy     Adeloye

Did Hutton and Shade play on the wrong side? Would have thought Shade would be left, and Hutton right?

Can’t have Williams and Gladwin together. They’ll have to be rotated between themselves. Khan looks a must.

If we play that formation what really stands out is the lack of aggressive ball winning midfielders. Surely we need at least one person who will break up play, protect the central defence and allow players like Reed to play and create.

This. Would maybe have considered Williams over Darcy but only because I haven't seen enough of Darcy.

Khan was trying to do that. He was the most aggressive person on the pitch for us and got closer to the ball more than most.

Baudry was head and shoulders in quality above everyone.
Reed did some good stuff, as normal, but his passing was all over the shop

To be a bit more positive Khan looks quite good and gives midfield more balance with a much better engine than Gladwin and Williams. Don't think a midfield trio of Reed, Gladwin and Williams is the answer. What did people think of Shade and Hutton?

 

Both looked like league 2 plodders today

Shade looked the part. Got to say I didn’t notice Hutton at all so can’t comment.

Let’s be honest it has been a poor preseason in terms of number of games played, overall quality of opposition (Cardiff excluded) and performances but ultimately next week is what counts. I think we are short of a proper defensive midfielder, a more physical striker and a conventional right back so that we can revert to a back 4 if the current set up fails.

100% on trying to get an experienced lower league DM, key to the likes of us with just mainly fluffy footballers. Whether there's any about, if at all, let alone if we can afford such a player is a totally different matter.

I think Brennan can go in at right back if needed. He did for Sheff Wed.

Has played any competitive games for Wednesday

Khan looked ok but we do need that tough tackling defensive midfielder. We were short here last season and don’t seem to have remedied it.

We do seem to think that we can get out of league two with flair footballers- this isn’t the case. You need some physicality as well to help these players.

Feel a bit for Lindsey as he ain’t gonna get a free pass from the fans like Garner did last year

That's football. Ruthless.

Suprised he's not even tried 4 at the back in preseason.

Jamie Day seemed in conversation a lot with Lindsey about on pitch matters. Good to see they are communicating as a team, though you wouldn't expect less I suppose

He’s also got the added pressure that we haven’t not won the first game of a season since 13/14 so a bit of pressure even on his first game in charge.

Cardiff blatantly a much better side that we are, they passed some long balls into the areas we should but with success in completion of passes.

Its only on a sample size of 1 but this is what I saw.

We still struggle defending, Harries looked truly awful, Gladwin for me looked leggy and slow and gave the ball away too much.

McKirdy looked like his head wasn't in the game.

Reed and Williams did ok in spells but still Williams and Gladwin cannot play together for whatever reasons.

Brynn - lost confidence early after conceding and never recovered, was at fault for the 2nd goal with poor footwork but the ball from Harries was attrocious.

Hutton - for me hes not a defender and not a left wing back, so heavily right footed looked lost and not comfortable and was exposed a few times.

Shade - probably the pick of the new signings for me, looked big and quick and confident going forwards, struggles defending but took his goal well.

Harries - very very poor today, was at fault for 2 of the goals and constantly gave the ball away.

Brennan - doesn't look match fit and did some good defending but also was at fault for one of the goals, looks a little indecisive at times on the ball and sold our players short a few times with soft passes, better than Harries though.

MacDondald - reads the game well, got in a few headers and tackles but looks woefully unfit still, I am sure he will get much better in the next few games and is a threat from corners attacking.

Reed - looked eager but up against better opposition he looked a bit lost at times, still played ok though all things considered and grew into the game.

Williams - looked good on the ball but is still not quite fully fit, made a few forrays upfield and did ok for me.

Gladwin - looked fitter than he has but still got caught in possession at least 6 times in our own half, still looks like hes running through mud and some of his passing was really poor, I am afraid we wont get a consistantly good Gladwin back again even though he has some great touches and had one good effort. Overall I thought he looked weak.

Adeloye - ran around a bit, didn't often get close to the ball, had no service, difficult to judge as he had so little of the ball.

McKirdy - looked disinterested and like his mind wasn't at the races despite having a great chance when he chose to shoot rather than pass to Wakeling who was free with an open goal, typical Harry stuff, some good some poor some not interested.

Subs:

Baudry - easily my MotM in the end, came on and settled the defence again as he has done since April, has to start next week.

Ward - looked less shakey that brynn and got his hand to one of the goals, didn't really do much wrong and cant be faulted for either goal he conceded.

Clayton - looked like he know how to head and how to tackle but wasn't really given enough time so had so few touches its difficult to tell but he looks  promising.

Darcy - ran around, won a coupl eof tackles and ran with the ball, looks like a poor mans Payne, small lightweight but has some talent.

Khan - looked eager to chase everything, made one good run for a goal but didn't stamp his authority in midfield, still getting used to things and does look very promising, reminds me a lot of Amine Linganzi, I think he will do well.

Abu Kanu - came on and ran around a bit without doing much or getting much of the ball, looks like Dabre, impossible to judge on that.

Wakeling - remnds me a lot of yates, picks the ball up and runs with it, seems predominantly left footed and likes cutting inside, did well for the goal which must go down to him even though it took a huge deflection. Looks raw and not ready to start yet but a good option off the bench.

Disappointing result but with 2 obvious errors for 2 of the goals then it would have ended 2-2 :D

No problem losing to Cardiff like that but 2nd half looked way better than the first half, I still don't like 3 CB's though but being we don't really have any fullbacks only wingbacks then I cant see the formation changing any time soon.

4/10 overall, some good, some bad, some shocking but by no means all bad.

Anyone got the line up for Worthing game?

Spot on assessment, so hopefully Lindsey has the adequate eyeballs and noggin to set up the first 11 appropriately next week. If that 11 starts again at harro, no doubt a defeat will be the result.

If we can spot the weaknesses then I am sure Lindsey must be able to, yes Harrogate won't be anywhere near as strong as cardiff but it only takes one error of judgement to cost us a goal and if we fail to score then thats a degeat, even if we dominate possession and passing and "look the most likely side to score" its about goals in at one end and clean sheets at the other.

Wouldn’t worry to much, we won’t be playing well established Championship sides week in week out. Roll on next Saturday.

Worthing 3-1 Swindon so far.

I didn't t see the game just hope that the Sandro isn't basing all signings on stats & data over what is actually needed to compete in league 2

A lot of people’s favourites for promotion, Bradford, are 3 down v Chesterfield.

So perspective guys. Perspective.

That's nice to hear 😀

I worry how our 4 fullbacks (Devine, Iandolo, Hutton and Shade) all can't defend.

Then we have a midfield who don't really like doing the hard yards.

I predict we will defend set plays better this season but be far more vulnerable from open play.

It's also strange hearing that McKirdy didn't seem interested as you would expect the opposite against a decent championship team and potentially in front of scouts looking at him

I don't agree with that statement. Had limited service and was carrying a knock that he was checking out at half time.

Could have squared instead of shooting? Probably. But no different to last year in that regard

Yeah much too much is being made of McKirdy's demeanour. I didn't see anything that I didn't see last year. I'm sure he'll be bang up for it next week.

Not my statement Batch but it was posted on here.

It reminded me a little of a goal Barry scored towards the end of the season where McKirdy had a similar cross/shot and Barry ran onto it perfectly. Shame it was just a touch ahead of Wakeling.

Lindsey has come out and said we did extra training and running this week so the side played 'tired' today. I think we also did that early on in pre-season so seems to be something Lindsey favours. Hopefully we see a much fresher, sharper side next week.

How injured is iandolo?

Not seen him all preseason, fear it must be reasonably bad

 :hmmm: My thoughts on the game

Not impressed with either Hutton or Harries, both guilty of being out of position and some poor passing
Adeloye won some headers, but not much in the way of chances, Mc Kirdy and Reed just what you'd expect, impressed with Mc Donald who looks just the type of defender we've been crying out for and a leader by the look of it. Thought Ward looked the better of the two keepers. Shade looked very solid but also exciting going forward. My pick of the 'new' players though was Ben Gladwin, he looks and plays like the Gladwin of old ! The player I was looking forward to seeing the most was Sadiou Khan, and I wasn't disappointed - his introduction transformed the midfield ! I can see him soon becoming a fan's favourite !

Overall I'd say it was a reasonable performance against a pretty decent team, and when you consider we gave them 2 goals with bad back passes it wasn't too bad.

Mildly optimistic for the season !

WTF they are supposed to be professional athletes no excuse not to be fit the season ain’t even started yet

This 'playing tired' is a strange concept that I'd not come across until this close season when we were (by the sound of it) equally shit against Supermarine...is it an example of coaches trying to be too clever? An all too easy excuse to grab at for a crap performance? Proof of the pudding and all that I guess...all that matters is Harrogate next week...good result there and today will be long forgotten...