Thetownend.com

Right, 48 hours exactly until the start of the 2022/23 season with Town heading to Harrogate. I'm going to take the risk of starting the season on matchday thread duty and we'll see if I last even one game before being begged to stop. Swindon have one of the best records on the opening day of any of the 92, and Harrogate are amongst the favourites to go down at the bookies, so the stage is firmly set for a home win.

The Venue

In a division full of ludicrously named stadia, the EnviroVent Stadium is a particular highlight, sounding rather like a greenwashed rebrand of a fart. The stadium holds 5000 people, although only 1000 of those are seated, with 600 away fans. Town's last visit to the EnviroVent was a 4-1 win in April with braces from Louis Barry and Josh Davison.

The Opposition
Simon Weaver has been the manager of Harrogate since 2009, the kind of long term manager that you don't see much of these days. Their big name summer signing is Joe Mattock, who played with Angus MacDonald at Rotherham last season and has vast experience in the Championship but is now 32. They have plenty of experience with Rory McArdle (35), Warren Burrell (32), Mark Oxley (31) and Josh Falkingham (31) at the back, and an average age of 27 across the squad - Swindon have only four players older than the Harrogate squad average (Baudry, Gladwin, Williams and MacDonald), so this is a real clash of squad building styles. Let's hope that the men v boys cliche doesn't get rolled out tomorrow - or if it does, it's in the context of the boys showing the old men how it's done.

The Odds (Implied probability in brackets)
Harrogate win 12/5 (29%)
Draw 11/4 (25%)
Swindon win 23/20 (46%)

So then...

• What's the scoreline?
• What's your starting XI?
• Is it too soon to start panicking/celebrating?
• Will anyone be reading back before posting this season?

Haven't read back, but I think their squad is somewhat older than ours.

1-3 to Swindon (McKirdy, Adeloye and Khan scorers)

Starting 11 - GK Ward, RWB Shade, LWB Hutton, RCB Brennan, CB MacDonald, LCB Clayton, DM Reed, CM Williams, CM Khan, FWD McKirdy, FWD Adeloye

Little too early to start celebrating but a promising start to the season and good away win which should hopefully give us good momentum ahead of the Salford clash at home the week after.

Harrogate 3-1 Swindon att: 3,168 (600 of us)

1-2 to Swindon (McKirdy + Khan) (att: 3,454 - 589 Swindon)

Starting 11 - GK Brynn, RWB Shade, LWB Hutton, RCB Brennan, CB MacDonald, LCB Clayton, DM Reed, CM Williams, CM Khan, ST McKirdy, ST Adeloye

We go 1-0 down early on but grind them into submission with 80% possession and a winning goal from Khan midway into the second half. Jekyll & Hyde performance leaving us no closer to predicting the season

Harrogate 1 Swindon 1 (Att 2,390 590 Town fans)

Piece of piss. 1-4

On the evidence of our preseason and looking at the their preseason where they’ve played 4 league 1 and Championship teams I fear they will be sharper than us so anything will be a bonus on Saturday.

Currently out on the North Sea and not getting back to Southampton the early hours of Saturday morning. Touch and go but will be doing everything to get to the game.

Incredible my lad was in a bar the other night talking to a group of scousers, got introduced to one of them who “played for Liverpool” no other than Jan Molby.
Never knew Kingy was trying to bring him in to become Manager and Kingy was moving to DOF.

Spoke to him this Morning, a real gentleman and was loving the Swindon stories :)

From today’s presser

Key bits from Lindsey:
- no injuries, everyone in training
- need to improve attacking and defending set pieces
- feels the squad is one striker light
- Harrogate are strong defending compact and on the counter
- team were too open against Cardiff, worked on it in training

Key points from Angus MacDonald:
- proud to be captain and thinks he can help to get more out of talented squad
- was happy to get 75 minutes against Cardiff
- confident ahead of Harrogate is game plan followed
- players looking to get promoted

Just very nervous about this squad and the short time it’s been put together.
We have lost some quality and can only hope the new additions are decent and hit the ground running.

2-1 Swindon.

Great story Duke and the story of Kingy trying to lure Molby here never got leaked into the media. If the cruise ship is sailing down the East coast maybe jump over board near Scarborough and hitch a lift to Harrogate😀

Harrogate 1-3 Swindon.

Hope over expectation!

Looking at JJ’s list of incomings, most clubs are in the same boat with multiple signings. That’s no excuse.

1 - 1 (MacDonald - 73rd minute)

Att: 2,489

2 flares

Just to remind people that I can't be arsed to do the post-match MoM poll this year, but I'm happy to share the spreadsheet template if anyone else wants to take up the reins.

Form an orderly queue.

Think it's important to get off to a good start to build some early momentum. Therefore I think it's essential to have as much experience out there on Saturday as possible. Rather start off with the tried and tested, and we can bring on some of the newer signings to make an impact.

Ward, Baudry, Macdonald, Shade, Iandolo, Reed, Gladwin, Williams and McKirdy all start for me if fit. Although I suspect Ellis won't be.

I know a lot won't be happy seeing Williams and Gladwin in the same side, but we can't rule it out on the basis of one friendly vs a championship side when we were playing at low intensity.

So then it probably becomes a battle of the following for the final spots in the side:

Harries v Clayton
Wakeling v Adeloye
Devine v Hutton

I'm going 2-1 away win.

Can’t wait for this. We couldn’t have asked for a better fixture, so let’s not balls it up. Hope Brynn starts and has a solid game to put last week behind him. He was clearly Plan A this season, and one f up shouldn’t change that. I’d also love to see Harries (if he starts) do the same, and Adeloye bag a goal.

0-2 Darcy, Adeloye

Hopefully they won't be 'playing fatigued'...

On another note, can no one at the Club be arsed to update the first team squad on the website? It's atrocious. It still lists Adimayo, Conroy, Critchlow, Kessler Hayden, East, Grant etc etc etc etc...

Ok, humour here please…

So I won’t be going to game (and never was) but rather than listening on the wireless as I usually do - I’m leaning toward the idea of watching the match. Firstly because it’s an option and secondly I might try and get the boy to sit down and watch with me to gauge his reaction.

Apart from using a month of NordVPN to watch the play offs (fucking cunting play offs) on my phone whilst on holiday (with a sky subscription I already had) I have little to no knowledge of said process.

Let’s say I wanted to watch either on my laptop or tv. How do I go about it? Including the iFollow stuff…

Is it easy enough?

Morning all,its good to be nearly there ,nervous anticipation is starting to take effect.if anyone has a ticket they don't want for sale I will  gladly  buy it outside the ground  as I'm living ooop North now, I will leave it until 2  o'clock ish today before I buy one in their end as their policy is no ticket sales on day of match.  "Come on you reds" "we go as warriors "

4-1 defeat, followed by a meltdown.

Anything but a defeat would be OK to start the season off.   Would happily settle for a 2-0 win though.

Win. 3-1

have a look at the IPTV thread when you are in your loungewear.

Will do.

Just looking for a simple step by step of how to…

I’m quite happen to go down the nordVPN & match pass from iFollow route. Just want to make sure I know how to do it so I can set it up for kick off

NordVPN and iFollow is what I use. Connect to Nord, buy match pass, watch. Happy days (result depending)

Cool, cheers.

Month nordVPN & a match pass is still cheaper than an adult ticket would be for a home game!

Isn't there a season video pass for those based overseas?

Yep, you can get a monthly or season pass. £25 and £140 respectively, I think.

I can't speak for everybody else but I'd be very disappointed with a draw.

Agree.

Very rarely is a point away from home a bad result

We were spoilt away from home last season and also in opening games over the last 10 seasons or so, I would take point

Swindon Town a team that graced the Premiership albeit for a very short stop.
Look how the mighty have fallen, a draw against a woman making tea in a fucking shop.

Ffs we are shite.
😂

It's game 1 of 46.
A draw or defeat won't be the end of the world.

As long as the begonias look nice tomorrow, that's the main thing.

Judging by the Cardiff game we don't look quite ready for the season to start. If Harrogate are going to be as poor as predicted then we might get lucky, and if we don't then there'll be toys everywhere.

I recon a TEF XI would beat Harrogate.

Agree with both your statements, however Harrogate have been tipped by almost everyone to struggle so to get 3 points on board first up would be a fillip. Ordinarily a draw away is never a disaster but I think given the circumstances we'll be looking to get all 3.

Scott Lindsey did state we'd be fresh due to the fatigue thing against Cardiff so I'm hoping he's true to his word and we put them to the sword!

Oooo, Betty!

(https://www.steve-p.org/sm/cliffhangerI2.jpg)

They have had a pretty decent pre season TBF.

Harrogate 0-2 Sheff Weds
Harrogate 0-3 Rotherham
Harrogate 1-0 Huddersfield
Harrogate 2-2 Barnsley
Gateshead 1-3 Harrogate

Pffft!

I went to try and find a Harrogate forum to get a feel for their confidence, and the top result on Google doesn't seem to have had a post since December last year. I know it's not an enormous fanbase but that seems pretty remarkable.

I wanted to do the same. Ended up joining a harrogate facebook fan group with approx 2k members. Had to answer 3 questions to get in. Got approved and booted instantly. Must've stalked my profile to figure out I wasn't in fact a true Harrogate fan. Was very odd how they were so strict on policing it!

We have to win, simply to avoid the first home crowd of the season being on the player's backs within 15 minutes.

I would be disappointed with anything other than a win tbh and I do expect us to have enough about us to get 3 pointsbut a draw wouldn't be the end of the world.

it'll be interesting to see who is between the sticks. Not seen enough to give a valid opinion .

The game? Who knows. it's early season. Weird results happen.

I'll say 2-1 town

Whose in your TEF XI?

Ward, for me.

based solely on the Cardiff game, yes.

But wasn't Brynn supposed to be good at Woking?

I'd go with the experienced man

I'd start Ward, give Brynn the Walsall game and generally handle it like Benda.

I’d go for Brynn. He was very good against Woking. Won’t be losing any sleep either way though (unless one of them has a Kovar!).

Me on the wing (if I lose 6 stone) and 25 years.

I’d go with Ward but the cynic in me says Brynn isn’t here to sit on the bench, so…
*shrugs*

Lindsey said the keeper was the hardest call he's had to make.

He also said that Brynn has had to make a lot more saves in pre-season than Ward.

I suspect Brynn's performance last week vs Cardiff gave him the headache.

My money would be on Brynn in goal.

Excited for a new season fellas!!!!!  I have to help my daughter move right during the match.  :doh:   But I fully expect a victory.   

So here begins another season of hope, will it be one to remember? Or one to be forgotten? Will it be a season like ones that were graced by the stewardship of Macari, Ardiles, or Hoddle or the ones so forgetful I've forgotten their names already. Will I live to see us in the Premier League again? Probably not - but please god let us get out of this shitty league before my final whistle blows.

Not around today, but hoping that the team gel and look competitive in this division.

Another performance like at Scunthorpe on the first day of last season would be great, although I fear we may perform like Scunthorpe did for most of the year. Nice, pretty, but ineffective.

Don’t get it. Apart from Payne I reckon we’re no weaker than last season - in fact, we could be stronger. Tomi can’t be worse than Davison, lot of people wanted Conroy gone, Hunt was bit part, Egbo looked decent but only played 6 or so games.

More choices on the bench.

I think it’s entirely possible Tomi is worse than Davison.

Based on what? Jeez, the bar isn’t that high. My only negative comment would be whether he can match his work rate.

Davison was a no thrills slowish work horse but may well get 20 goals in a whole season which seems to be the benchmark we all look for as supporters. Tomi I've no idea!

I just think Adeloye will have a much better all round game than a lumbering Davison who occasionally is in the right place at the right time. I’ll guarantee he’s a better header of the ball.

The battle of the Railwaymen today at Harrogate and I shall be supporting ASLEF on the picket line in Gloucester which is where Reg would like me to be. Swindon to win 3-1. As an occasional contributor to TEF, an ex-player for Swindon Boys, and a current walking football player twice a week, I could still put in a shift in midfield.

Based on the fact Davison had a decent goal return in his spell with us & we have no idea how Tomi will compare…

My dad used to play for Swindon Boys. He's now 74 so not sure if you would have been in the same age bracket or not. He told me he thought he was a pretty good player until he played against a Cardiff team and seeing John Toshack and realised just how good he wasn't! He was offered terms with STFC but there wasn't a lot of ££ in it so he decided to be an accountant instead.

Safe journey to all of you that are travelling, bring back the 3 points and let's hear you on the illegal streaming sites.

 COYR COYR COYR

The big question is did Dukey arrive back in Southampton early enough this morning to make the long journey to Harrogate after dropping the Mrs off🤔

Here in Turkey where it is currently 38 degrees C and will quite happily retire to room when 3 o’clock comes over there, but wi-fi in hotel is not the best so not sure how to access the game. Whatever happens I am there in spirit and just trust we can get a good result.

Pre match impressive xB rating anticipated in The Winter Gardens.

Bus from Leeds.
The ASLAN union can fuck right off & get those manes trimmed, scruffy cunts.

So, here we are again.
That fateful bottle dodging night in the Potteries only seems like yesterday.

Seems like it's been a shit summer with the never ending managerial saga, both outgoing & incoming and the perceived underwhelming nature of some of the signings, plus the fractious debates on the inner workings of the club.
As a fanbase we don't really do toxic positivity.

Net result for me is a somewhat downbeat outlook for the start of the season. Expecting a slow start so the fans might need to be patient & hold their nerve.

An upside is playing Harrogate first up if their previous effort is anything to go by.
Would be tempted to go with the most experienced lineup to start.
Interested to see how coaches adapt to 5 sub bingo.

Hope everyone is ready.
There are new entrenched opinion slots to be filled & existing ones to be dusted down for rinse & repeat.
Are the keypad worriers poised for some frantic double thumb action in delivering the summary (execution) verdicts.

Will it be a collective thumbs up or down for our new intake of gladiators as they leave the arena after 90 minutes.

Anyway, time for a pint, but the Himalayan salt massage is looking tempting. Less so the full body exfoliation.

Fingers crossed for a good start to the season, will be watching in my hotel room in Birmingham.

No predictions this season from me as I seem to jinx it :)

Probably went up on the team bus.

I'm not Davidson's biggest fan. But the new bloke could be all that he was, plus not score any
goals.

All of the new players could be lesser quality than the ones they replace. I'd be amazed mind.

I have questions over khan, Darcy, wakeling. These are the players I think will make the difference. while they looked good in preseason we've no idea yet

Agreed

I think he was on a Scandinavia cruise Bob and wasn't getting back into Southampton until this morning.

No idea what to expect today. I suppose Harrogate is a good place to start the season.

Looks like piss poor planning to me.

He should have booked it a couple of weeks earlier😀

Going for a 2-0 win.

Love this time of the year. Come on you reds

Hopefully The Duke has been more cheerful on the cruise ship than he's been on here since the end of last season.

Reading between the lines, get the feeling that it would only take one more STFC related earthquake for the great man to call it a day.

Could be wrong. Always am.

Great admiration for those that put in the hard yards for a L2 season. It's not easy.
Equally so for those that watch this shit at all sorts of unsociable hours across the globe.

Agree totally Bob. Duke travels over 100 miles just for the home games and hats off to all the supporters that go to all the away games especially now when money is getting tight.

Bollocks...Duke couldn't give up if he wanted to  :D

The perfect message for the first day of the season...

https://youtu.be/FfnhmuZ27eQ

Excited for today. Going for a 2-1 win. One typical early season error goal for each side, then a second half winner from one of our new signings. 

You're right Duke could never give up😀

Going for a 2-1 win today, bit nervy but a Mckirdy brace to settle it.

Duke managed to get family off board at 7:30 and now drinking a pint of Guinness in Harrogate.
🍺

Great work! You weren't on P&O up the Fjords were you? My parents got off that one in Southampton this morning. Enjoy the game!

Private helicopter 😀

Hats off to you.
3 points guaranteed after that.

Roy Castle would have been proud of that level of dedication

Sitting at home watching horse racing, getting the bus in 20 mins. Will be at the ground by 2.30. Got to stand with the home fans today, couldn't get an away ticket. Luckily their ticketing office doesn't run sophisticated algorithms detecting my true allegiance. Well done to those whose journeys are multiple times longer than mine. COYR!

I think better going this last week. I did that cruise a couple of weeks ago and the weather was so crap we couldn’t get off the ship for a couple of the days.
As of today safely in Harrogate; good to see a decent number of Town fans in the Harrogate Tap earlier.

I would imagine that's frustrating being stuck on the ship. A great turn out today considering its peak holiday season and the expense.

What time does ifollow usually start broadcasting? I have a legitimately dodgy firestick and can't see anything as yet.
Hope I haven't been mugged

We were mate, was superb.
I bet they enjoyed it.

Brynn

Williams and Gladwin

Baudry though

Williams & Gladwin😀

Yer tis

Are people not happy with Williams / Gladwin? That's got to be close to our strongest 11 on paper, surely?

Will that midfield work. It does worry me.

This is my thoughts too.

On paper a really strong midfield just hope Williams & Glaswin can stay fit.

What would you change?

question mark over them starting together yes.

But that was based off the Cardiff performance.
This is Harrogate.

Great to see Baudry in

Team pretty much as I expected, though had no idea about gk.
Looking forward to seeing the new players and hopefully celebrating a first day of the season as last year.

As I predicted, he's gone with as much experience as possible. Correct choice for me.

People moaning on Twitter about no Khan but he's perfect to change the game later on if it's not going to plan.

No need to take risks on the first game of the season. Play the tried and tested, see how it goes and bring on the unknown later.

I assume Gladwin has improved fitness wise so no problem him starting with Williams for me

For me, Darcy is understudy to Williams and Khan/Aguiar to Gladwin

Gladwin lost 5kg. so yeah

Not sure why people would be clamouring for a guy who’s never played above conference level to be selected above a current international player!

Harries isn’t starting, who we gonna boo?

You

Take out Gladwin for Khan or Clayton, my concern is that we’re to lightweight and not aggressive enough in the middle. With attacking wingbacks I think you need a move defensive pairing with Reed and then use Williams as the attacking mid. Let’s hope I’m proved wrong as it looks like our best players on paper but does it work as a team.

Going by last season Gladwin probably will get most stick if things don't go well

Manager has already said Reed can't play in a double pivot so you better strap yourself in and be prepared to be over run in some games!

Scott Lindsey

Really hope we see the Gladwin of old today, driving into the final third and producing a killer pass or shot. Not the fannying about in the centre circle he did for most of last year.

IIRC It’s usually about ten minutes before KO.

No, it's about 45mins - 1 hr before the game, however it is just a shot of the ground with an annoying repeating message that the commentary will start shortly.  I am watching at the moment and it is broadcasting.

Then my dodgy firestick is very dodgy indeed

Haha its started to play. Watching  soccer Saturday before hand it was seemless thus is buffering already.
Not destined to watch this today

I have got a non-dodgey, dodgey firestick :D and it's great quality picture to be fair

My laptop has decided to spend 40 minutes (and counting) updating…

Terrific timing

EFL app says no content available. Never had a problem before.

I had this today. Signed out then back in again and all was well

To be fair I expect it to work very well and when it buffers it grinds my gears. I only have to come out of the screen and back in and it works fine.
I am your stereotypical miserable cunt when things don't work as I expect.

Do you pay approximately £40 per year for subscription on your non dodgy firestick as I've been thinking about getting one😀

I need to sort myself a dodgy stick, paid Circa £150 watching games on I follow last year!

Nearly missed kick off as we had a dead guinea pig crisis, but stream on just in time. Hopefully not an omen...

Maaaaybeeeee..  :D

Cheers Berniman😀 We're on the same page!

Sharon Richardson on the away radio, in the Hodgetts role. Mrs B went to school with her .

You don't get that kind of name drop on other social media platforms

Is anyone getting audio only or picture as well?

Not sure what that could be an omen for, all our pets are going to die?? Noooo Larry you can’t!!

I paid £70 but that included the new firestick. Got all 3pm kick offs PPV and more films that you could shake a shitty stick at.
When it runs out next year its £45

WTF are Wimblwankers doing at the top of the League 2 table on BBC sport despite no games being played?

I wou ask where you got that deal but you probably can't say!

AFC.

PM me

 :clap: :clap:

Shade playing RWB, Hutton LWB

Doh!

My mate did it for me, I am shite with technology.
Great value to be honest especially with what you get.
My sky was £80 a month so more than happy with it

haha, is that bloke on the stand roof looking for balls in the bush?

It's sounds all Harrowgate on the radio😅

Mckirdy with his calf strapped up, doesn't look to be completely happy

It isn't.

Brennan just put in a proper crunching tackle. We look dangerous on the right.

Nah, we are shading it early i would say - but a nothing game so far

We look notably higher tempo than last season in the early exchanges. We're a big side too.

Cheers Nemo some times the radio commentary can be a little misleading although Hawes is saying we look a big physical team.

gaaash. my feed has gone wrong

Crawley one down already

Early favourites Crawley & Stockport losing as well as Port Vale

Cracking cross from Gladwin - he looks much fitter and quicker

Early doors but like what I'm seeing so far. Feels like a more crowd pleasing evolution of the style and the new players don't look out of place right now.

Do we still mess around at the back?

MacDonald is not a stay on your feet at all costs type of defender, is he?

Harrogate penalty shout. Seen them given, Button clumsy against 16 who looks their brightest player.

We are knocking it around the back the same as last year, taking our time before beginning to move forward for sure

Anyone having interuption with nordvpn?

Won’t load, won’t login, won’t connect to the internet

they're edging it, but that was never a penalty (not given, but 'stonewall' according to Harrogate comms)

Never a pen - waited for contact then dived

It's raining oop north

Hawes also said it was cold😀

Stockport 0 Barrow 2

Stockport 2 down to Barrow already

Two of the relegated clubs Wimbledon & Crewe winning

Gladwin does look more mobile, just been taken out on a run forward and another yellow for Harrogate.

Crawley and Mansfield losing early

gladwin looks very energetic today

Gladwin cynically cropped down when driving through the MF

Go on Gladders

Zero atmosphere on the radio haven't heard the Swindon fans yet.

Good hit by Mckirdy on the swivel

MacDonald a bit of a rock so far - we are dominating in the air at the back which is something you don't often hear about Swindon defences

Stockport 3 down
Charlton 1 up
Port Vale winning too

Port Vale turned that around quick

MacDonald seems everywhere!

Good lord that backpass from Reed!

Left the room. What did I just miss?
Something happened ?

Reed back pass nearly an own goal😅

LINDSEY OUT

Drat😡

Set piece still

That wasn't ideal.

Oh dear

We looked like we were all marking eachother there.

That’s some poor defending

Another game without a clean sheet.

Alexa, play "Jack Johnson - Breakdown"

Defence stopped when the ball dropped in the area

Alexa - just for you Kev😀

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4O7ufx9D_s

Reed has been absolutely abysmal.

Reed looks well off today

It’s our first match of the season, isn’t it?

I've barely heard Williams name on the radio

harrogate will be well pleased with that

the defence looks so shakey.

not much shown up top either.

Gladders my player of the half

Not if you include pre-season

That was a pile of shite

Get Reed off. Or fire a rocket up him. He's lost the ball practically every time he's had it.

Not impressed with either wingback so far.

Adeloye can't get involved. Brennan looks good on the ball.

Reed looks like he wants to be somewhere else

Well that was bloody awful

Let’s hope the second half is better- based on the first half we look like the ones favourite for the drop….

Reed is lost without Conroy stood 5 yards away from him to pass too repeatedly

Let's hope our habit of turning up second half away from home last season is still there

Interesting, if far from action packed first half. I'm not exactly a great reader of the game, but here's my view on the tactics and players:

- Tactically, it feels like an evolution on last season but lacking crispness that we had at our best. That may just be early season, let's hope it is. There's still a bit of passing around, but also willing to go long early at times- it feels like someone has ticked "Passing Style: Mixed" on FM.

- The wing backs are more or less playing as full wingers, especially Shade - getting a long way forward, and at times MacDonald (LCB) and Brennan (RCB) have got forwards too. That may be a result of Harrogate sitting in a little, but we haven't often had five at the back - Reed clearly drops back when these guys get forward.

- Gladwin looks a different player and the pick of our midfield, running plenty with the ball and his close control is really good. Williams and Reed below par, particularly Reed who misplaced a lot of passes. We know they both have the quality though, hopefully that comes through.

- Of the new guys, Shade looks really bright and Adeloye is working really hard. Hutton hasn't seen much of the ball down the left but could have given away the pen. Brynn one good save, Brennan looks alright and gets forward more than you'd imagine. MacDonald looks every inch the fan favourite - he puts tackles in where a lot of defenders may have stayed on their feet which I suspect will win him fans but also give away a few fouls. He can pass too.

- It's early season and difficult to judge, but Harrogate look like nobody's whipping boys. Pretty confident the aforementioned "TEF XI" would be getting a shoeing here. #16 especially bright.

- The goal was sloppy but didn't feel like something that would be replicable, a bit of bad luck and a few crucial players getting in each other's way.

I think we'll win this, but it might not be pretty.

Wakeling to come on and score…
I’m calling it just because…

At the moment I'm hoping for my prediction of 1-1 unless we can turn on the style and get a victory.

I'll do this afterwards, assuming nobody else wants to. Didn't see anyone volunteering.

Could be worse mind, Orkney are 7-0 to Shetland. Tricky to come back from that one.

Pretty fair summary from what I watched first half, i don't agree that we were shite.  Plenty of positives, and cobwebs to blow off is what it feels like to me.  They need to get used to each other better, and quickly.

average at best for me. we've not even had a shot on target and the back 3 is being exposed despite the individuals doing ok

I think that's fair, individually they're all doing fine but you can tell they've not played together before.

Baudry should have scored

and Baudry missed a sitter.

their keeper is crap

ffs

…done

Fuck.

game over

Avoidable

what happened there, poor defending

Good hit tbf, but poor defending

No one terrible error but probably three defenders could have done better. Cracking finish.

what the fuck was Brennan doing with that pass.

hey ho

This is encouraging!

This is bloody awful. I am giving Lindsey 10 games then if we aren’t in the top 7 he has to go simple as

Absolute shite

Poor very pòor :no:

Honeymoon period won't last long.

that's a bit extreme

There’s nothing about us at all - nowhere on the pitch.

Behave yourself, we're 53 minutes into the season

Good job Bristol Rovers didn't have the same attitude.

Team looks a bit rattled after that goal. Need to get back to playing football and I think they're gettable at.

Jesus, we are 55 mins into the first game of the season

Get back? Start would be better.

didn't we lose 5-0 to Gillingham first game one season and still go up.

I mean I don't see many positives today, we are all over the place now, but it's not season defining. it is however worrying

Our defence look like they've never met before. Which isn't far off the case I suppose. An area for improvement.

Alexa, play "Spiralling by Keane"  ::)

Time for Citizen Khan?

Bottom already  :suicide:

Edit, we'll done Walsall 23rd now.

We are currently below the line in 23rd place.

No, we unsurprisingly lost in the play offs…

These Harrogate commentators are fucking me off.

Gillingham were relegated however

More or less than 10 games ?? :-)

Wakeling coming on. Not sure the strikers are the problem at the moment but we'll see.

Agreed

Reed just got away with one then, clipped the lads heals

Adeloye off for Wakeling, bit strange as McKirdy is clearly struggling. Feels pre-planned.

4 shots with 0 on target. Poor.

Harrogate comms accusing Mckirdy of cheating because he is sprinting after some balls - bizzare

very disappointed in Adeloye, but again no service

We've barely been in their half this half, could have Maradona and Pele up front and it wouldn't make much difference.

Penalty Swindon!

after rolling around a bit first

ooooh penalty

Cmon. Gladders?

Foul on Wakeling. Not sure he didn't get the ball first but we'll take it.

Oh shite

go on Gladders.

oh ffs

Well, that just about sums up the second half so far.

if that was a save, the gk deserves a bit of credit

Harries for Brennan, Khan for Williams.

Harries and Khaaaaaaaaaan on

These Harrogate commentators are fucking terrible.

Their player dived in the first half and they're adamant it was a pen.

Now they keep saying justice was done with Gladwin missing. Ours was nailed on.

Co Comms Harrogate does not like Mckirdy - surprised he hasn't blamed him for the war in Ukraine yet

Why you all got Harrogate comms?

some of us don't get a choice ;)

Mind you Phil Smith is pretty poor to be fair

Jesus fucking Christ. We made them look like Barcelona in that move.

fucking hell

too easy

Ummm…

about that opening day record...

Don't seem 5 minutes ago that Davison was destroying 'arrogate😉

Utter shit this is

Cut open like a hot knife through butter

Sigh. Proper rubbish. Pre-season fears confirmed.

I was expecting a defeat. In my opinion, the managerial and player signings are not on par with a club hoping to gain promotion.

Monkey hangers keeping us off the bottom!

So much for a bigger squad give me quality over quantity every time.

Maybe we still have fatigue. :pint:

If Gladders had scored it, sigh.

No need to panic. We're just a couple of weeks behind everyone else due to our late managerial appointment and player recruitment 🙂

Lovely ball from Khan to McKirdy. Smith thinks it was the wrong decision even though it gave our best finisher a chance from 8 yards out.

🤣

Harrogate comms now saying that Mckirdy doesn't need the strapping on his leg, it's just for show..  they are one of the most bizarre commentary teams i have heard..  they obviously know nothing about anything outside of Harrogate

Salford will batter us on this showing

They probably have a local shop.

Att: 1938 (600 away fans) according to their comm team

Relax we have all the stats & data that proves the players are good enough😀

But for which league?

Good question!
62% possession 9 shots but only one on target.

Wingbacks that can't or aren't instructed to defend. A slow defence and a powderpuff midfield.

You can get away with Reed on his own when he's having a stormer, but when he's off it, it leaves us extremely vulnerable.

All 3 unsuccessful PO clubs are losing. Doubtful the other 2 are anywhere near as clueless as us though.

On this performance could be a long season.

Has anybody stopped to consider we might be playing fatigued again?

:)

Only one shining light today Pox losing at Derby

We're being showboated against by Harrogate. Not good for the soul, that.

No we’re not, we’re playing Harrogate today.

I feel reassured already, thank-you!

I prefer last seasons non pre-season which worked well without any fatigue😀

Not quite the same as getting bummed by Harrogate

I know but need something to cheer us up.

The fatigue thing is going to get pretty boring this season isn't it..

If it's relevant enough to keep coming up, we probably have bigger problems.

I didn't think the first half was that bad. The second half absolutely was.

It's first game of the season and shouldn't draw too many conclusions, but we'll need to be a lot better than that from this point on.

That performance was utter dog shit

Autos are expected this season- these results just won’t be tolerated

Just hope a cheap option manager and non league players isn’t gonna come back to bite us.

On this game we will be fighting for survival

This season is fatiguing me already  ::)
Dogshit, no excuses .

Well that was utter shit.

Is Harries related to Taylor Curran?  he is a truly awful player based on that showing and the few minutes of highlights from the Woking game I saw.

Khan seemed OK when he came on but every other new signing looks like a downgrade to me.  No real obvious plan of attack, nobody with any real presence and a team of slow coaches, especially at the back.

Not a lot by way of positives to take into the season based on that one.

The hope is we are just not ready for the season yet, because if we are, that looks very worrying.

Not the result many predicted. Perhaps, the home side recruited well in the off season and have improved greatly.

Defensively, STFC looked poor.  I am sure that this will improve over the next 7-10 games.

Gas and City both implode in the 90th minute  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Do you mean Brennan? Harries came on at 2-0 down and didn't do much other than the laughable shot, but I'll probably not judge him on his finishing.


Again, hard to judge from the first game of the season, but Harrogate looked competent and took their chances. Would be surprised on that showing to see them at the very bottom, maybe lower midtable.

Nice :pint:

I mean Harries.  The others were poor, but Harries doesn't look like a plyer to me.

Based on that showing we will finish a lot lower then!

At least their fans saw their team score.  We couldn’t even score from the penalty spot. (Still glad they both lost though).

Have listened to Lindsey a few times and think he seems completely out of his depth and clueless. Garner didn’t engage with fans but had a sense he knew what he was talking about. I may be wrong but my view is this could be a long season.

My thoughts exactly and wonder if he will be able to motivate the players

The same people who wanted Carrick/Mason as manager are now saying we won't do anything without an experienced manager in charge.
So many idiots

I hope it goes without saying that this match shouldn't be used to judge this season's chances. Its just too variable in the first month and plus I heard the players had an extra 250 meters this week as the bus parked up a bit more towards the Town End ;)

Anyway my twopenneth just judging the 90.

First half was an average affair. The defence looked a bit vulnerable out wide as the full backs pushed on as virtual wingers offereing no cover. That's fine, but there are some older legs in there that don't motor. Did OK at times but lets be brutally honest, never really looked like scoring, McKirdy half chance aside.

Second half was largely hopeless. They were quicker, worked harder and exposed us on several times. OK we missed a penalty that may have changed things, but ultimately we got exactly what we deserved.

Not going to spend much time on this report. It doesn't deserve it. But it was a bit like the Cardiff game. One of very few positives and one that left me wondering what we are trying to do.

Player ratings

Sol Brynn   - 6
Lucky to get the nod based on last week. Did OK for a debut. Made some routine saves. But could have done better with third, though he had to do something.

Ciaran Brennan   - 5
A couple of good tackles. Nothing horrendous. Nothing brilliant.

Mathieu Baudry   - 5
Looked OK to me, but part of a defence that conceded 3. Probably my ick of the back 3.

Angus MacDonald - 5
Clearly short of fitness, and that showed the longer the game went on after a promising start.

Tyrese Shade   - 5
I'll be honest, possibly a bit harsh. Didn't really see enough of him and so nothing sticks in my head.

Remeao Hutton   - 5
See Shade

Louis Reed   - 2
Channelling his inner Curran. Made loads of passes. All to Harrogate players. Similar to last season up there to be honest, but with added extra.

Jonny Williams   - 5
Wasn't terrible. But this is supposed to be a Welsh international. FFS show it.

Ben Gladwin   - 6.5
Though he as sharper, and looked more attacking than last year. Pick of midfield. Not marked down for the penalty
 
Harry McKirdy   - 5.5
Looked like he was trying. Very. Nothing really came off but didn't stop.

Tomi Adeloye   - 4
Did square root of bugger all. Not all his fault as service was poor.

Jacob Wakeling   - 5
Not much chance to impress. Looked more lively than Adeloye.

Saidou Khan   - 6
Looked eager with a good motor, but can't give him more because he's not played the 90

Cian Harries - 5
Not much time to impress. Did OK in what I saw

Is that minus figures Batch?  :)

Jesus, somebody send eeyore, marvin the paranoid android and Morrisey round to cheer Scott Lindsey up

We seemed to have retained all the shit stuff from last season - primarily crap defending - whilst also failing to retain the good stuff.

Great combo. If that performance was indicative of Reed not wanting to be here, get shot.

:)

Its up there with 'three draws...'

and outlet red

Gonna take awhile to work out the best first 11, last seasons remnants were plodders. Shade looks a winger, not a wing- back. Should go a Back 4 all day n all.

Reed extremely wasteful, Gladwin a bit better but still didn't b do much. Williams looked poor.

Still, got the likes of Darcy and Clayton to turn to, and khan looked decent.

A 1-0 or 2-1 defeat is acceptable 3-0 it's hard to find excuses.

Has anyone noticed that it was the first game of the season and that there are many more to come?

Brynn - not at fault really
Brennan - terrible, his distribution makes Conroy look like Beckenbauer
Baudry - not great
McDonald - will be good, needs to be in the middle not the left
Shade - athlete; yes, footballer; up for debate
Reed - so so bad
Hutton - looks ok, need to play him on the right
Gladys - good first half then faded
Williams - useless
Adeloye - anonymous
Mckirdy - ok first half, useless second. Will not pass it to anyone for as long as he stays here

See Jimmy's post, just above yours.

All well and good but I don’t think it’s unrealistic or unreasonable to expect a professional sports team to be prepared & ready to start the season at the start of the season.

Sure, it’s only one game. I get that…but…just because it’s the first game season doesn’t excuse us for not being ‘ready’ or ‘up to speed’

They are professional athletes & staff paid good money to do a job.

Yep. Need to shake the tree and see what falls out. Khan looks a must start. On that midfield non event Darcy deserves to show what he’s about. Clayton in for Reed?

Nobody could complain about bring dropped.

More worryingly the midfield was supposed to be strong, creative with tonnes of experience.

Have you not noticed we are in a thread dedicated to the fist game of the season, and people are commenting on said game?

That's the whole point of pre season games, they should be up to speed on day one, no excuses.

Fitness wise yes. But when you've played mostly lower league teams the match fitness can take a bit longer.

Also a short pre-season this year.

What did Lindsay say on the radio?

Pre season fannying about with the managerial appointment has cost us in preparation. It didn't last season but you can't expect it not to every season. Late procurement of unready players also seems pertinent to me

I keep hearing how amazing our sports science and fitness coaches are.

yet here we are, not up to speed on the first game of the season.

Doesn't add up?

I don't think that the panic button needs to be pressed quite yet.  

Harrogate seemed fine.

Can imagine something along the lines of not showing enough aggression, still a striker short. Have to have more passion and be better on the ball. Thanks and apologies to the travelling fans

Scroll down for todays attendances.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/fixtures/_/date/2021000730

stockport seem to be packing them in

some really big clubs in league one 

Derby 31,000 Ipswich & Sheff Wed 26,000 impressive.
Bradford 19,000, Stockport 10,000+ & Orient 8,000+ stand outs for league 2

Mkirdy has lost his mojo since his haircut. :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.

NO IT'S NOT, YOU FUCKING CUNT, FUCK OFF!

You uptight bald-headed cunt!

Well I couldn't have been more wrong. Not convinced by either Brennan or Harries. Khan was really good when he came on.

Spot on!

Jayo, is there any chance of purchasing a URL that redirects to the TEF...?

I'm thinking something like www.thetoxicend.com  :pint:

I said I thought we looked undercooked and that are preseason was woefully inadequate and so it has transpired. Harrogate did the polar opposite and played 4 teams in higher leagues and as a result were much sharper for it. I do think we have caused a lot of our own problems over the closed season and things will need to change round fast as rightly or wrongly Lindsey isn’t going to be given much time by the fans especially with interviews like he keeps giving.

Not surprised. It's shit

Close your eyes🤣

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12662319/harrogate-3-0-swindon-league-two-highlights

:D

Sorry but he sounds clueless https://twitter.com/bbcwiltssport/status/1553436028404436993?s=21&t=Ol0_pudssmdBUCkqdlwQRA

“We go again next week” 😂

The new coach, Gavin Gunning was sat with our Director of all things statistical at the Cardiff game.

He sounds very weak and downbeat just hope that he's strong enough to be a manager or he won't last long. Also hate the saying "I'll be honest with you" which he said twice. why wouldn't you be!!

I should bloody well hope he sounds a bit down beat after getting dicked 3-0 away at Harrogate.

Would you rather he sound happy? Jovial? Scouse?

Been at work all day. So how did it go? Three points in the bag and we’re off?

like watching keystone cops oh dear.

All the goals were avoidable!

Absolutely not but would expect some anger in his voice and to be more assertive in his mannerism when being interviewed which Hawes eluded to.

That was fucking woeful.

Looking at our next 3 games and their results today we’ve got 3 really tricky games coming up haven’t we? Need to turn this around pretty much instantly or it will inevitably get messy.

Agreed and it will be interesting to see what crowd we get next Saturday considering its peak holiday season and Salford won't bring hardly any.

Really?? Just thought he sounded as though he cared, which is surely a positive.

It was shocking.
Clueless all over, Harrogate made us look woeful and that is concerning.

Willing to write it off as a one off but tactically we were inept.
If you play high wing backs they have to create, they have to be in the game, they weren’t.
We just looked inexperienced on and off the pitch.

Our passing from the back not good enough, Reed a rare stinker and only Khan looked half decent driving us forward.
As for our pre season fixture list who put that together.

Been worried all pre-season and worried even more after that.
Not suicidal or bed wetting just yet but can’t see where the class will come from.

Already discontent in the stands and that could get toxic very quickly.
No fun spending 9 hours in a car.

 :bandwagon: we're going down

God that was painful. Only plus for me was being back home for 5.30pm, i pity the poor sods who will have spent most of the day out of the house. We looked woefully undercooked, their 3rd goal summed up the shambolic display. Harrogate weren't great either. Can't think of any positives beyond Kahn who looked sharp and purposeful when he came on but that's about it. After dishing out the abuse post our good friday win, now getting it back in spades. What comes around goes around i guess.

Could this have been worse.
Looked horrible on I follow

Undercooked must sum it up. Not enough pre-season prep for me. All to blame for that lack of planning - Rob Angus was asked why there was no pre season tour, it just sounded like they weren’t organised enough to sort it out.

Before a ball was kicked in anger yesterday there were a maximum of 138 points available to win and last season 84 points won the league and 3rd automatic spot was secured with 80 points. There are still 135 points available.

Goes without saying that we’re all disappointed, why wouldn’t we be considering we were well beaten by what could be described as a northern pub team. However, that’s a bit harsh on a team who are tipped by some to return to the NL and a wake up call to a team some predict to get promoted. On yesterday’s showing one could be forgiven for getting confused as to which team was which and both might well defy those predictions.

Fear not it is game 1/46. We will have to wait until end of September to really understand if we are going to be challenging for promotion, treading water mid table or scrapping for our league status. If the promotion pack start to pull away from us come the end of September there could well be a vacancy in the hot seat and Aberdeen & Digger I’m certain will have stuffed the Twine money away for a rainy in January when we could well be not just splashing in the fucking lake by the club shop but splashing the cash to push on upwards or plugging the holes below the waterline to keep us afloat.

If yesterday was a scrap in the pub it could have been seen as some drunk punk smacked us on the schnoz when we weren’t looking and got lucky. Truth though is much more alarming, we knew it was coming, we saw it was coming and the drunken cunt handed us our arse.

1/46 it is only 1/46 🤞

Let’s just hope there’s not another 45 like that then.

Lots of people in complete outrage that Ward did not play as he is a "much better keeper" Looks like we have a new scapegoat for the season

As I've said elsewhere I don't really have it in me any more to get too downbeat, I just hope we can turn it around quickly. If not I can't see me making the 200 mile round trip from Cambridge for home games very often.

Watching that is fucking horrendous.
The defending from all 3 goals absolutely woeful.
What a shite day that was from the moment the Sun rose to the moment it set.

“We go again,” - is that as good as it gets?
I want promotion not another season in this lower league shite.

If they don't buck up fast you'll be visiting a lot of grounds you've never been to the following season😂

L2 / L1 whats the difference?
Both shite & all we do is make up the numbers in either division

Sadly, that is the reality.

You must be joking.
Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Charlton, Portsmouth…..just to name 4.

As for making up the numbers all about club ambition - With our crowds we should compete comfortably in League One.
Over to the owners on that one.

Don’t Jimmy just don’t 🤮🙏😭

Just wondering if Middlesbrough have said to us Brynn has to play a certain amount of game as part of the deal as Ward had done nothing wrong once he was first choice last season.

Never say never Duke......let's hope not and Lindsey sorts them out this week ready for Salford!

Nope, all those clubs listed are just lower league clubs we’ve played (…and lost too) in the last few years anyway.

Sure they have big grounds? But if going to big grounds does it for you just go to non Town game at a big ground every week.

Asking why Ward didn't start is a fair fan question. Especially if you have only seen the Cardiff friendly.

But I've not seen anyone say 'that was Brynn's fault. We'd have won that with Ward'.

utter bollocks.

firstly in division 4 we have almost always been in the promotion mix. Which is far from making up the numbers

secondly you may have a point in division 3 in so far as you have to go back to the millwall po final for the last time we made an impression. However the bigger clubs in that league  and more importantly  the traveling support they bring truly boosts the coffers.

thirdly from a fan point of view we are stuck in northern hellhole league hell. Division 3 would have a fair few local games which is much better.

so yeah, it makes a difference

I will agree we are limited to division 3 though at the moment. The gap in finances to sustainable championship football is huge. absolutely huge.

Have to give respect to the likes of Accrington, Burton, Fleetwood & Morcombe who are competing well in league one against many big teams

You would look at it differently If you travelled watching the games. Trust me on that one.

Some positive perspective. Agree.

What??
Yep I understand a forum of views and opinions but no.
Look at the sides in league 1 this year, Wed'nesday, Derby, Ipswich Portsmouth Charlton Oxford Rovers, Bolton, Plymouth. All those games would bring a large crowd, we would take a larger following. They're not purely making up the numbers. I'd much sooner be playing those than Harrogate Hartlepool Barrow Sutton.
Big difference between L1 & L2 even bigger gap to the championship.

Been there, done that.
Never ever given a flying fuck about crowd, atmosphere, stadium size, size of club.

Only ever bothered by the result on the pitch.
Whether you beat Leeds at Elland Road in front of 32,000 or Harrogate in front of 2,000 it’s still 3 points.

You’ve just named 13 lower league sides.
Each & every game against any of them would have a maximum of 3 points available.

Why is losing at Sheffield Wednesday suddenly more enjoyable than losing away at Harrogate?

That's not what i said, far from it.
You said no difference between L1 & L2, yes there is. You may as well say no difference between L2 & National league.
You're right though I did name a load of lower league sides, funny enough they're all League1 or 2. Where would the better experience be ( I'm not talking losing) where would the better experience be? Sheffield or Sutton?

The better experience is always the win, regardless of anything else…

More recent than the Millwall match, 2015 we made the play off final albeit I don’t blame you if you have erased that from the memory!

Spot on. Excitement levels would have been through the roof for the majority of fans if we were playing in League 1 this season.

We’ve all been there and done it. Sure we have.
Racking up at grounds like Barrow, Harrogate and Sutton just doesn’t do it for me.

Watching Swindon at more traditional “proper” football places does.
We have a difference in opinion.

Guess we do.

I have and always will prioritise result.

I’d much rather see us win at Harrogate than lose at Sheffield Wednesday.

I think the only exception would be another token season in the Premier League. I’d quite happily take the weekly battering just to get there again for the season…but…that would still be the result of winning a lot of games to progress up the leagues, so…an enjoyable ride…

One game in, and as worrying as it is to get thumped by predicted relegation fodder, we’ve got to hope they can turn it around. Brynn looked at fault for the 3rd - just wasn’t strong enough. Brennan’s misplaced pass for the 2nd looked like a stupid ball to try, and I’ve no idea how we didn’t clear the 1st before it dropped to the striker. Sort them out SL.

I just hope Clem didn’t have all his mates over for an opening day BBQ and pool party.

Just cant accept that Swindon are now playing Harrogate (and losing too) Sutton Stevenage and Barrow on a regular basis.
When a couple of missed penalties last year could have seen us in Division 1 this year. :badmood:
10K crowds and I am sure we would now have a proven manager and many more higher classed players.
Just hope SL will be a success here 


 

I'm with you on the winning.

But I have to be honest, gubbing Leeds in front of 32000 was more fun than gubbing Harrogate last year. For me.

@pierre - oh shit, I did forget about *that* final.

…and both those season ended up with us losing in the play offs.
Gubbing Leeds off was ultimately pointless as they went up to Championship (and haven’t been back) and we stayed in L1 the following season and got relegated. Last seasons equivalent was beating Port Vale in the first leg and giving it the big one about attendances…only to lost the second leg and then they went on to win at Wembley.

So am I with the winning.
I'd rather win lose or draw against a side in league 1 infront of 20000 than league 2 and 2000.
If they win was all it was about then I would sooner listen on the radio and save money.

Reflecting on yesterday I just have a hopefully irrational fear of a perfect storm of things going against us:

1. We have an inexperienced manager who so far seems a bit lost.
2. Most of our new signing are inexperienced punts.
3. Are our experienced players fully committed to the club? Williams especially worries me as he’s not going to do anything that risks being injured for the World Cup and then Reed and McKirdy may have more lofty aspirations.

These 3 things combined are usually a recipe for disaster so hopefully in a few months I look back with relief and my fears had no substance.

I think you might need to get your Man Utd shirt back out DV, if that is how you really feel it sounds like supporting Swindon in the lower leagues is no longer for you

Your comment as a stand a lone would seem harsh to an outsider or casual reader of this forum, however, it is not a stand a lone comment and I actually agree with it. TBF there are others it could be attributed to at times on this forum though especially the ‘other’ social media site inhabitants.

Yeah, I fucking hate it.
I’m addicted & I don’t know why…and even worse…I want to get my son into football.

Wish I could just bin this shit show off for life…

Also, never had a second team unlike all the closet scousers we have on here…

STFC all my life no other club has ever entered my mind :pint:

1. I don't get the lost thing. I understand that he has been in the game for a while.

2. Hopefully the stats work out.

3. That aside, losing Payne also appears to be a big factor.

Oh I get it mate - but this is it really.  If you are going to support a lower league team you are going to see more losses than wins in reality, and if wins are all you look for, you are going to end up disapointed more than not.

I only picked Manure, because I remember you wearing a Utd shirt regulalry when I used to play footie against you, that's all :D

I have never owned a Manchester United shirt.

Now granted I have a lot of different football shirts (maybe close to 50) but Manchester United isn’t one of them…

Not saying I look just for the wins - just saying that for me the most important thing is the result.
Like if we go to Sheffield Wednesday play in front of 20,000+ people but lose, for me it will be a shit (but probably expected) day. I would take no solace in playing a big club with a big crowd.
At no point would I find a defeat to Sheffield Wednesday more enjoyable than a win against Sutton.

You don't agree?

Looks pretty obvious Ward is a better keeper if you're watching with your eyes open.

…although I will say Manchester United’s black away kit & yellow/green 3rd shirt from 93/94 are absolutely wonderful kits that I would totally buy…

I'm guessing Middlesbrough didn't send Brynn out on loan to be on the bench.

Agree. People will mock as a knee jerk reaction, because that is what a section of our support does to any negativity....but he seems completely out of his depth.

I'd love to know what on earth went on behind the scenes in those weeks without a manager.

If he continues to be shit and we're under an obligation to play him, then send him back and get someone in we're not obligated to play to be a reserve keeper.

Ward deserves to start on merit.

Anything outside Yorkshire, like most Yorkshire-men.

I agree totally but that may explain why Ward wasn't chosen.

Without Payne, McKirdy wasn't getting much service before Khan came on. Without Conroy, Reed wasn't the same player.  Need to make some adjustments including figuring out the best team. With Williams and Garner in midfield, there didn't seem to be enough "bite".  Need to find places for Ellis and Khan and with McKirdy playing better out wide, have to consider 4:3:3.  Only Baudry and Reed remain  from the team that won 4:1 win in April. The Town weren't beaten for ability, but for stupid, avoidable mistakes and dare I say it, lack of mental toughness.    

I slightly disagree crozzer. Sort of.

We could have defended better. I can see that

But from my TV view we didn't really have much about us. Harrogate caused us a fair few problems.

I guess what I'm saying is to me it didn't feel like a game we should have got something out of, that without the mistakes we deserved a point
----------
Boy oh boy can the next game not come quickly enough to give a chance to put this performance behind us

It would seem with what has to be done that a week might be to soon…

Went yesterday. Fucking hell, I’ve missed watching us home and away every week alot, but yesterday was really bad. Losing to a team like Harrogate, who I didn’t even know existed 5 years ago, is a new low.

Yeah it’s the first game of the season. Blah blah blah. 45 games to fix it. Cool. Get to work, because there’s a load of work that needs doing. Losing 3 nil to relegation favourites isn’t ideal. The usual suspects on socials coming out defending it and telling everyone to relax etc etc. I get it- it’s early, loads of time to fix up. No need for a full meltdown just yet. But I promise you, when you dedicate your weekends to this and spent a lot of money in doing so, you at least expect effort and fight- as the game went on yesterday there was less and less of that with every minute that passed. If you wanna be upset and vent, do it, you’re allowed to express your opinion and how you feel when you spend your money, even if it does bother a few.

McDonald was a positive, looked good and commanding. Khan my MOM, only player who could run with ball yesterday when he came on.

Never seen Reed look so poor and out of the game. Very weird. Full backs couldn’t defend, needs adressing if this formation is gonna stick. Harrogate just looked like a  better set up and stronger side for me, they really wasn’t that good.

Roll on Carlisle away 😭😭.

Fullbacks really were hapless. Really fucks the whole system.

Good post Mango

My bad memory then, I thought you wore a light blue away shirt, mind palying tricks with my memory.

Yeah definitely.

I have various blue Swindon away shirts. A fake schakle 04 one from Turkey with Raul on the back. An Argentina one…

Think that might be it for blue…

Good points,although I would say Williams isn't in the World Cup squad yet. So playing well is important for his selection I  think,coupled with the fact that he played zero minutes in both Play off games

Irrespective of the size of club I see league 2 as an even playing field with all teams having similar squads mixed with a few experienced players but made up  of many unproven unknown young players. The key is having a manager who has organisation & motivational skills to get them to gell then you may have a chance of promotion but not guaranteed.

Based on performance, indeed.

I'm kind of hoping we are better than that. First day are no guage.

Lots of people saying the full backs can't defend... well they weren't attacking either. Just crap. I feel like they are both playing on the wrong side. Hutton especially looked like he wanted to drive out but didn't trust his left foot enough to do so.

I get the impression they like him in the squad regardless so barring injury I’d wager he gets picked. With the games coming up if things don’t markedly improve it could all get a bit toxic. Lindsey won’t be given any time by many as a lot aren’t convinced about him in the first place.

If only we’d recruited with the option to switch to a back 4 if it doesn’t work. The failure to even recruit with the possibility of a back 5 not working seems like another preseason own goal.

I thought when we signed them that Hutton was a rwb and Shade was a LWB but they've switched for some reason. I seem to remember Kingy having a thing for playing right sided players on the left and vice versa... I thought it was bollocks then as well...

Agree not signing any full backs seems like an error on our part.
I assume you’d have to go Hutton at RB & Devine or Iandolo at LB.

That then leaves us with Shade as the only winger so we couldn’t really go 442.
Would have to be Shade, Tomi & McKirdy as a front three

Plus, I’m not sure L2 midfielders who aren’t even tearing L2 apart should be considered viable options for a World Cup!

I get it’s Wales but still…

But then if we’re saying the 2 wing backs can’t defend, and Devine seems to have the same defensive deficiencies then we’d effectively only have 2 defensive played on the pitch in the centre backs which is even more of a recipe for disaster.

It was said when he was appointed that Lindsey will always play with a back 3, one bit of credit Garner gets is he did change things up but I don’t think we have the personnel to do that this season it seems.

Maybe a flaw in choosing players for league 2 based on stats & data only rather than having the abality to play in different positions when needed.

I’m assuming that this is a reference to JW (haven’t read back 😁), maybe need to hold the horses a bit. The squad hasn’t been announced yet.

As has been said numerous times, they aren’t being signed on stats and data only.

It's a key factor which has also been said a numerous times.

I don't think that's true.

firstly someone decides what type of player we want, and if versatility isn't a valid option the stats system is broken before we've begun.

second, I'm not sure how many players were recruited using DDR and how many were already on the list.

Basically two sides of the argument

Is JW going to bust a gut to play well to make Wales World Cup squad
…or…
Is JW going to play very tentatively in order to not miss the World Cup through injury


My point being you’d think a international midfielder probably going to a World Cup should look head and shoulders above everyone else in L2 but don’t think JW ever really has…

I did say maybe not factual and it was Sandro who has been brought in and made reference in saying players will be chosen based on DDR. Like you say nobody is really sure so it's all guesswork.

Yes, but it’s not only based on that, which is what you said.

If only we knew which players were chosen using that method!

he said players will be identified by DDR and passed to the manager .

I'm just saying if the manager wants a left back that can also play (e.g) wing back then that's what goes into the DDR search

So who takes the blame if they can't addapt to different systems manager or player🤔

Surely almost all EFL clubs are using data as part of their recruitment process to some extent?

Listening to Lindsey’s BBC Wilts phone-in it certainly didn’t seem like Billy Beane’s Moneyball.

As I've previously stated it's a level playing field for all teams and will come down to the ability of the manager to get the best out of what he's got.

Well to a certain extent all of them at some level. Wasn’t it mentioned in one of the recent interviews with either Lyndsey or De Michelle or whatever his name is? Having said that going forward ALL of them will be.

Agree.

Lindsey also said he’s had the final say on all players who have been signed.

I missed that LL but have no doubts that you're right.

So we can identify where the buck stops then and narrow it down to one of two individuals alongside the drongo player concerned.

Buck stops in the same places it’s always stopped.

Oh, I think he did last season albeit occasionally

Anyone know why he struggles with fitness as surely a welsh international should be playing in league one.

I watched the extended highlights. It didn't look quite as bad as the abridged highlights but it didn't show the Reed back pass that was mentioned or the Baudry header just wide I don't think (unless I missed it). First half looked okay to be honest. Second half looked poor. Macdonald had a decent shot from distance. The goals were a result of poor defending but very good finishes for the first two. Might be worth scouting a few of those Harrogate players as they seemed to know where the goal was for sure. Gladwin definitely looked a bit leaner and more mobile than last year.

I think that's fair enough. There was some evidence of some link up play in the first half as Gladwin got forward. In fact we did start to get on top a bit after about 25 minutes, I remember thinking that now, but lost it in my disappointment during the aftermath.

But I'd also say Harrogate had looked threatening at times,  and we simply didn't really.

After they scored we degenerated more and more as the game went on.

meh. Bring on Saturday. Big performance needed to settle everyone down

I am bringing some friends and friends of friends on Saturday for their first match. Hopefully they won’t be too disappointed and hopefully I won’t be feeling too embarrassed. I can imagine the fans getting impatient quickly on Saturday if we aren’t looking good.

Things can change very quickly in football.

A new striker through the door and a win next Saturday and suddenly we can look upwards again.

I'm calm for the next 3/4 games. if there's no signs of progress after that, then I'll begin to panic.

Well...not the start we were all hoping for!

Big match next week, the handle of the vice is screwing down on Lindsey already, he has'nt got a free hit like Garner last year for sure.

Lets get a win and all calm down.

well, where to start dissecting Saturday's performance? I guess as level headed as possible given we've 45 league games left and surely to goodness we can't get any worse than that!!

First proper look at the new side and in the first half there were some positive signs. We definitely fanny about at the back a lot less and look to get the ball into the channels or through the thirds much quicker than under Garner. Obviously when we do this well it will be great but when done badly, you get what happened in the second half. I thought MacDonald looked classy at times and Tome when he came to pick up the ball looked neat and tidy. Gladders seems to be playing the Jack Payne roll and did ok in that first half, most of the good things came through him. Sadly we are still a mess at the back. Looking back at the first goal could Sol Brynn have come and taken the corner? The first contact was only 4 yards from goal and he was stuck on his line. I'd have liked for him to have shown some confidence there and come through the body of players to claim that one. Maybe I am being overly critical. From there it was feebly defended by a group of statues, shades of last season really.

Second half, well it was a mess really. Reed who was terrible in the first half was dispossessed from the kick off and that set the tone. A loose ball by Brennan in a dangerous area pinged around and was lashed home after MacDonald was unlucky with a recovery tackle that fell straight to their centre forward. Good finish mind but another avoidable goal. Khan and Wakeling looked lively after coming on and good intuition by Wakeling but you just knew after the penalty woes at Vale another miss was likely to come. It did, Gladders hitting the post and that was just about that. Harrogate's third was another avoidable goal, Sol Brynn with a frankly timid piece of goalkeeping, got to be braver than that i'm afraid.

Overall, hugely disappointing. What Lindsey said about the 'fatigue' in the Cardiff game would see us fresh and bright on Saturday went out the window. We looked sluggish, careless in possession, lacking pace and aggression, basically everything you need to get out of this division. When Louis Reed gives the ball away so much you know you have a problem, he was terrible. The positives to take for me was that MacDonald looks like he'll be a good player, showed his class at times, not perfect but looks a solid signing. I liked Khan's driving runs, he looks like he'll be a lot of fun. Aside from that, a pretty poor show, as I mentioned earlier if we want to play the way Lindsey wants us to, we have to be much much better in possession, or teams are going to have a field day with us. I thought both wing backs looked slow and timid, I do wonder why Hutton is playing on the left but he does look like he has a decent delivery on that left peg, but Shade was good last season at Left Wing Back and Hutton was good last season at Right wing back so I'm not sure I see the logic of them playing on their 'wrong' sides. Against Salford I expect to see much more fight and desire.

At half time on Saturday my friend said, “I will be disappointed if we don’t win this”.

Neither side had look particularly threatening, they scored from a bit of a scramble.

The difference was they made changes in style at HT, pressed us more at the back & we just didn’t cope.

Give Reed time and space and he will look fantastic, get in his face and deny him time on the ball and he looks average, and that’s what they did.

The worry for me is that either we made no adjustments at HT, or we did & they made us worse.

Lack of pace at the back is a worry, and despite the idea that Reed can be our defensive midfield player I don’t see it.

For the goal which they scored from a corner it looked like we had about 4 men at the back post and they all got in the way of each other. I would hope that is picked up on when they watch the video of the match back.

Last time I can remember such a disappointing opening day was the 5-0 reverse at Gillingham. We went on to have a great season. Omen? Possibly. But probably knowing our luck it’ll be an omen that we’re going to get thrashed again at Priestfield in a few weeks time!!

Gills was 2009.

Our pre-season in 2009. A little bit bigger. Also went to Austria hence the odd oppo:

12 July 2009   CFC Cluj   N                     1–1   Anthony McNamee 29'   unknown
15 July 2009   Universitatea Craiova   N   1–0   Lescinel Jean-François 17'   unknown
17 July 2009   TSV St. Johann   N            3–3   Billy Paynter 10', 70' Sean Morrison 54'   unknown
20 July 2009   Hungerford Town   A         3–0   Stephen Morrison 47', Billy Bodin 82', Scott Spencer 89'   unknown
21 July 2009   Luton Town   A                 1–0   Jonathan Douglas 58'   1,524
22 July 2009   Chippenham Town   A      0–2      unknown
25 July 2009   Cardiff City   H                 0–0      2,157
28 July 2009   West Bromwich Albion H     1–0   Gordon Greer 33'   3,482
29 July 2009   Swindon Supermarine A      3–2   J-P McGovern 25', Yan Klukowski 54', 56'   279
1 August 2009   Plymouth Argyle   H         0–2      2,064
4 August 2009   Cirencester Town   A        3–0   Yan Klukowski 20', Dean McDonald 61', Jordan Record 80'   285


Obviously a mix of youth teams and first team in there.

First 15 game

P 15, W 4 D 7 L 3

We had 5 1-1 draws in 6 games, 4 in a row.

We only lost 5 more games all season. 2 v Bristol Rovers.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the biggest catalyst for that season didn’t sign till September and didn’t start a league game till November.

Some thoughts on the game after having time to reflect:

Brynn - Solid up until the 3rd goal. Some good saves, seems ok in the air and his kicking showed promise. There was a moment where he nearly set up McKirdy but he was marginally offside. I'd start Ward in the cup but don't see a reason to drop Brynn in the league just yet. You can't commit to a #1 and swap after one game when the defence was largely to blame.

Hutton - Hard to judge. Right footer playing on the wrong side. No Iandolo or Devine to compensate. Can only count one time where he managed to get on the overlap and get a cross in. Quite shaky defensively as Barrow fans warned us. You don't mind that so much if your wing backs offer you something going the other way. The problem was, he didn't.

Shade - Slightly more involved. Just seems to me like he's playing within himself. When he gets the ball I'm shouting at him to take on his man and he's just a bit passive. When he played against us at the CG last season he was very direct and tricky. Not seen this version of him yet. Hopefully it's not being coached out of him.

Baudry - Started ok but as soon as we went behind, fell to pieces. Missed a sitter at 0-1 which would've got us back in the game. I worry about him in a 3. Was outstanding next to Conroy in the last 7-8 games last season.

Brennan - Strong start. Few crunching tackles, a few nice balls fizzed into midfield. He has something but again certain moments in the game cost him. Needs to learn when it's appropriate to play the risky balls and when not to. Like any young player.

Macdonald - I was excited with this signing as I thought he might organize us and lead by example. All I saw Saturday was poor body language all round and lots of players pointing fingers at each other. I just hope the group take to him well. Appointing a brand new player as captain is something I'm not overly sure about. You can still be a leader on the pitch without an armband.

Reed - Worst game he's ever played for us. Gave it away almost every time he had it, sometimes under no pressure. Lucky not to be hooked off actually. Hopefully his mind isn't elsewhere or we have a big problem.

Williams - This guy should be far and away the best player in league 2, but he flatters to deceive way too often. If he's not rolling around on the floor he's running into traffic instead. He shows glimpses every now and again but ffs, we have a welsh international who hasn't really done anything in over a year to suggest he belongs above this level.

Gladwin - Very good first half. Drove with the ball, few decent crosses and was tidy in possession. Shame about the penalty miss as it probably overshadowed his performance. I like what I saw and hope this is the version of Gladwin we have going forward.

Adeloye - Think he only touched the ball 3 or 4 times. He doesn't yet have any sort of understanding with McKirdy which is understandable given the short amount of time they've had to work on it. Lack of service also doesn't help. Should he be doing more to get involved? maybe.

McKirdy - Actually thought he looked bright in the first half. Went close on the turn and was making some good runs and working hard. I might be in the minority but he didn't look disinterested to me. Not any less than usual anyway. Just felt sometimes he may think he has to do it all alone as nobody else will. He will always have a bit of a sulk when it's not going his way. Nothing new there.

Khan & Wakeling - Both bright when they came on but the game was already done. So hard to tell really. Both should probably start vs Salford.

Nicely summed up, don't disagree with any of that.

I too was disappointed with MacDonald.
He seemed to start the game with a very blasé attitude, almost like he thought "It's only Harrogate, this'll be a walk in the park".

Hopefully this game is a wake up call for the team and management and we see improvement, starting Saturday.

That header straight up on the air for their first goal was awful and if that had been Harries or Conrony I think people would have gone in hard on them

Interestingly I've just finished the 2 Loathed Strangers Podcasts and the pre-match one which had some questions to MacDonald did actually suggest that he had made some comments to that effect/had that attitude. I was initially impressed with MacDonald in the first half, he looked like a composed CB that had played at a higher level. In the second half he also seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck, driving forward and having a shot which didn't go too far past the post.

For me, I wonder if he's going to be frustrated to be playing in a side with players who are not up to his calibre. Early days but I hope he can get his head right that you have to battle and work really hard to get something in this division.

Pretty much agree with all of that Pericardinho.

Blimey,what happened to Klukowski?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Klukowski

Had a decent spell at FGR I see after we turned him down. Ta 4 link

I have absolutely no reason to think this, but I have this weird feeling that we are heading in the same direction as the 2010/11 side with regards to there being factions in the dressing room, like when Prutton signed.

Yeah I hear you. Again, I also have no reason to think this but I do think the loss of Jack Payne might be bigger than just his ability on the pitch. Last season there seemed to be a real bond between the players (only going on what McKirdy was posting on socials mainly) and whilst it appears that McKirdy and Williams appear to be close, because of the squad churn it's going to take a while for that bond to re-appear. (although Simpson and Davison did seem to be able to get into that bond quick enough last season)

I was thinking the exact same the other day. was going to post but forgot.

This has incredible 10/11 vibes. A decent level of continuity, but with key player and captain both leaving and then a split amongst the dressing room.

Hope we are wrong!

If there are fractions, that might explain why were so much worse in the second half :D

It finally makes sense why we struggled with the final third!

When you build a team based on data, fractions will play a major role….

The whole data thing is making me smile. Our better players saturday were actually are newer signings i thought, not last seasons lot.

Bit early for f(r)actions, lack of a bond isn't it?

Obviously if we lose Saturday he's lost the dressing room

I’ve no idea what any of you are on about…  :-[

Really, which new signing played well that started the game?

Better is also relative, I'm struggling to remember a game last season where we looked as lacking in talent as we did at the weekend.  Worse performances maybe, but nothing about this weekends fixture provided any sense of hope that more was to come, that just a little bit better application/effort or tactics could improve.

That could of course be far from the reality of the situation, but nobody who was new to the team looked like they had something else in their locker that we might see, maybe McDonald aside.   At least with McKirdy, Reed and Williams we know that they can be better than that (although I wonder if they and Gladwin can all play together).

Harries, Brennan and the two wing backs worry me - it didn't look like they were lacking fitness, it seemed like they were just bang average quality players.  Please let me be wrong.  I'd also rather hope we didn't have to rely on using Baudry very often.

We were an absolute shambles and we’ve lost quality in the team.
On that showing alone and the fact that our best player was performing for Chesterfield in the National League it gives me reasons to be concerned.
Our pre season schedule was weak and if these players were signed on having “potential” then I can only hope the potential is released sooner than later. Equally if we are adrift from the chasing pack after a quarter of the season then this may not turn out very well.
The “we are lucky to have a club card” surely can’t be played anymore after the backing it received last season.
The next game can’t come soon enough to wipe away the gloom of that Saturday. Can only hope we see a different Swindon Saturday and some belief and hope is returned. I for one remain nervous on what I witnessed on and off the pitch Saturday.

Well that's a weird response, you have basically just twisted what i said to create a totally different argument. To make it very simple though i thought

Brennan,Khan,Wakeling Shade played better than Reed Williams ,MacDonald Baudry   . Now i know you said starting 11 but not sure it makes any difference. Our so called more experienced players were really poor imo and poorer than our new signings

'kin hell you lot we lost the opening game of the season, the first one since 2012/13, it was coming just by law of averages.

People saying Mckirdy is gone and Reed is too, MacDonald doesn't want to be here, rift in the dressing room, managers lost it, there's Rats in the chips, bar staff are pissing in the beer at the legends lounge, office staff are having fistfights daily over who had the last timtam Clem brought in.

Cats living with dogs, mass hysteria.

The game might have been shit but let's us not turn into Rovers fans overreacting at every little thing.

Said months ago i see this response coming. If we are 10 games in then I totally get it but we just have an element of our fanbase that are desperate to be proved right, even at the detriment of the club it seems these days. I am actually not looking forward to Saturday just have a feeling the atmosphere is going to be shit with all the prematch talk being about random made up rumours

Just bought tickets for Saturday. Seemed to be quite a few available.

I was careful enough to add caveats - that I hope my view is very wrong.

I thought Brennan showed some technical faults that are unlikely to improve with match fitness - namely his desire to ping balls into midfield that created pinball effects at times and, along with all the other defenders, a hopeless turning circle.  All three starting defenders look far too easily turned and beaten down their sides, and Harries continued that when he came on.  Of all of them, McDonald seems most likely to improve that with fitness.  Harries actually really worries me, and I know it's a snap judgement based on next to no playing time that I have witnessed.

The forward looked well off the pace, not just physically but in terms of knowing where to be and when.  That one you can put down to not being around the players.

Both wing backs looked poor to me, certainly not up to last seasons best players in those positions (KKH/Tomlinson, when here and fit).  Both very tentative/passive.

I am by no means writing the season off, or stating we will even struggle.  Just saying the team looked very poor, much worse than the first game last season.  Assuming we don't add to the squad, that's the real problem for me.  Cooper/KKH/O'Brien/Tomlinson/Simpson/JoJo and to a lesser extent Payne & Barry - nobody we have added looked up to that quality, yet.

And all of that comes with context, which in my case is the expectation that we should be going into this season as serious top 3 contenders.  No if's and but's, no post season happy to still be here vibes of last year.  We've had a year of 10k crowds and a play off squad to work with.

Not that I would disagree with any of that but my point wasn't about any of that, I was simply saying they were still better performances than our supposed better players.

Looks like he’s lost the social media crowd already.

Think he lost them well before Harrogate. 

We all need posts like this and I mean that in a positive way.
I do believe the reactions from Saturday were because it was Harrogate we were playing, the Port Vale hangover and the fact that supporting Swindon over previous years has been tough without a doubt and last season, apart from the way it ended gave us that positive hope and something once again to believe in.
It’s always the hope that kills us all after all.

You are right, it’s only one game. Would be an incredible change of heart if Saturday is completely different. Can only wait and see 🤞

In all seriousness I think that depends who and what you are talking about.

Most (95%) reaction is I've seen is just to the one game. And a couple of worrying signs therein.  Most are sensible enough to know you can't judge anything long term based off one game.

If we keep doing the same thing for the next 5 or 6 then things may get a bit more

I think the underlying current is most fans were disappointed with the managerial appointment and that's no reflection on Lindsey more the owner and something that will quickly gain momentum if we struggle early on.

I'd like to have that I have the upmost sympathy for people like you Duke who went up to the game and travel around the country following a perennially disappointing lower league squad year after year after year. I'm amongst you for my sin's and heaven forbid I ever stop supporting Town, but I at least wasn't present on Saturday so am absent from the emotions people must understandably be feeling.

FWIW my lowest point following Town is a toss up between the season we sold Austin (I remember precisely where I was and what I was doing when I found out) and began our plummet to being a league 2 team and the bloody PNE playoff which shall otherwise not be named. I have never felt shitter directly after a game than on that long, LONG car ride home down the M4 with absolutely nothing to say about it. The port vale game was bad too, but it'll probably fade over time.

It wasn't a cup final. It was the first game of a 46 game season. We move on.

Notwithstanding I’m getting more miserable in my old age thus moaning is not just directed at football in my life.😂
I just crave that this Club has some sustainable success, getting older and less patient is finally taking its toll.

Just no idea if one day when I get home I finally call it a day.
Saturday’s disappointment magnified by the fact that it was the first game of the season and the start of the journey was from Southampton at 7:30am.

Posts like yours really help though so appreciated 👍⚽️

Add the sale of Ritchie and departure of di canio when top of league 1 and flying to that.   That moment not only fucked up our best chance of championship football this millennia but also represents the start of the reign of the leeches.

It also highlighted just what a house of cards our "business" was.

To think that so many clubs have been allowed to have stupid, implausible or crooked business models for so long is an absolute disgrace.

As supporters we condone it (either actively or passively) until things go wrong - eg owner runs out of cash (like Derby) or patience (Black in our case) and then wake up to reality.
Most (maybe all) of us were happy for Di Canio to spend what in hindsight were  ridiculous amounts bringing in players, finding out they weren’t what he wanted so moving them on and bringing in more players, simply  because the success on the field was what we focused on.
The noise about players signed / not signed this year could fall into the same category - immediate success is what most fans want.

Oh don't even. I haven't included that simply down to me wanting to forget the whole affair. Di Canio was not going to last forever, and I was consigned to that, but the cluster fucks that led to the fucking downhill slope after those 2 leaving was pretty impressive.


I think those 2 posts are up there with the most positive ones I've ever seen as a reaction to one of mine here, you miserable old cunt. Glad to be of service.

*Fast forward to game 45 of the season where we are tooth and nail in a relegation battle and lose it and I post the exact same thing*

I concur with the D O B’s feelings as being an old fart I rarely go to long away games as hours driving in a car holds little enjoyment these days so rely often on the judicious comments placed on here (along with Wiltshire Sound).

I am concerned that those who made the trip to Harrogate in the main appeared to witness the same inadequacies and as I miss the Salford game being on holiday I will be slightly apprehensive about the result and performance it must be said.

Listen, time is running out. We all need to see championship football before we die.

Not sure we will see the Championship again in my lifetime.

Perhaps if Methuselah was in the Town End?

Just cancelled pre booked train tickets to Carlisle and will now drive there and back in the day.
At least it will still be light.
Just question why I do this to myself.

Still living in hope.
Club ownership mind would likely to have to change for us to witness this.
One small step at a time but we need to be strengthening year on year if we are to realise the dream.

I'll downgrade to sustained league 1 football then

Yeah same, looking at the driving option as well.
Assuming that the jalopy passes the mot a couple of days beforehand.

Looks like RMT / ASLEF bingo for a while to come.

No they sit in the DRS and shout 'FORWARRD' at every available opportunity

Indeed both can go and fuck themselves.☹️