Thetownend.com

It'll make a nice change to play someone new.
Not been able to find much about the opposition..

oh wait.

Anyway no McKirdy, Ward to start and hints that we don't have the fullbacks to play 4 at the back... despite playing 4 at the back very well in comparison to the 3 on Saturday.

Presumably there will be a few rested after Saturday.

Can't help thinking Walsall owe us one. 2-0

Wallsall a club on the rise now Flynn has got his own players in.

Not that it matters 3-0 to the home side as law of averages say we can't keep beating them!

Annoyingly it doesn't look like the game is on ifollow

These cup games never are

Back 4 please, back three scares me  :suicide:

Pre match sitting this one out due to Covid.

So, we have a manager who is still finding their feet up against a cup specialist whose team have started the season well.
Not much cause for optimism, plus on a run of 7 consecutive first round defeats in the competition.
Then again, law of averages to go our way & all that plus gallant efforts in some of those losses as well.

Just hoping for some more signs of progression tonight.
It's likely that those tin foil replicas of the League Cup will have to be kept under wraps for another season.

Fucking stupid that is, considering its an EFL competition

On I follow it says the match will be available an hour before the game, although I’m not sure how much truth is in that.

Audio only, I think

Correct

https://www.efl.com/how-to-watch/ifollow-and-streaming/

Would love us to proceed, cant see it.

I have been wrong before!

Not fussed about the result but after Saturdays ‘game of two halves’ I’d just like to see us try something that isn’t 352 with wing backs - even if it goes horribly be wrong, I’d rather we just have it a go in what is a pointless game

He's going to play a back 3 so some are going to be disapointed.

Hope we try out the players who have most impressed me so far. (Plus Ward who is playing).

Ward

Hutton Baudrie  McDonald Clayton

Darcy Reed Khan  Gladwin

Wakeling Adeloye

(Impact sub Williams)

I think this is what we will see..

                    Ward
     Clayton   MacDonald  Harries
Hutton                                     Shade
          Darcy  Reed   Williams
           Adeloye   Wakeling

Ward

Hutton
MacDonald, it’s MacDonald
Harries
Clayton

Darcy
Khan
Gladwin

Adeloye
Wakeling


…I’d like to see. Just given Baudry’s history of injuries and age I think it might be better in the long run if he sits this one out.

Think we’d learn more from giving Khan & Darcy game time than Reed

I know we were improved with 10 players on Saturday but it's not something I'm keen to stick with long term if that's alright!

If that’s the case and it goes the same way as the first half Saturday and Harrogate then he’ll deserve all the criticism he gets as the 2nd half on Saturday more than suggested there is a better way to play. Let’s hope he’s found some magic formula to make 3 at the back works with our players but there’s been no evidence it will as of yet so he’s in danger putting himself under pressure purely to prove his way of playing ‘works’.

433 me up baby.

I'm surprised it's not an earlier kick off considering the game has to be concluded tonight.

Yowzer!

Nobody predicted that team😀

It looks 433. Thank fuck it’s not 352

Looks like a Piss Pot Trophy team! Never heard of some of the subs.

His can you tell?

To be a back 4 that would mean Shade at right back? He doesn’t strike me as a right back to be honest….

I haven't seen any crowd predictions so I'll go with 2,200

That looks a 3-5-2 to me. Shade and Cowmeadow as wing backs. Thought Lindsey might have played a stronger team.

Looks like a 352 to me, though not sure if Aguiar or Cowmeadow at wing back.

Yep 3-5-2 perhaps he doesn't want to play them fatigued!

Does he know it's not a trophy game?

Not looking to get to Wembley this season then.

We'll need at least 2 goals to win then if Harries is playing  ;)

I just don’t get this. We’ve had a poor preseason, poor start and now wasting a competitive game where we could try and build some kind of understanding and momentum. Just bizarre.

Suspect the weather has played a part and he doesn’t want to wear them out. Even still, it’s a bizarre line up. Fine if we’re off the back of two wins and the 1st XI is firing. As it stands, the first team look disjointed and some lack match fitness and I’d have thought this would be ideal to get them into some form (and it’s the League Cup for goodness sake). What do we know?! Maybe a surprise night but I’m really starting to wonder about Lindsey.

Suspect it’s 3-5-2 (!) :

                      Ward
        Minturn Harries Clayton
Cowmeadow.                Shade
       Darcy    Aguiar.   Williams
          Parsons      Adeloye

Someone needs to tell him this isnt the EFL Trophy

That is one of the weakest teams I can remember seeing Town field.

Almost glad its not on iFollow!

Putting our history in this completion to shame😡

Watch us win 3-0 now

Well, it's an opportunity for the fringe players to impress.

Lindsey really needs a result or a least a decent performance putting this line up out otherwise the pressure isn’t going to ratchet up very quickly.

Lindsay pre-match:
- Iandolo no change
- Devine out for a while
- Brennan concussion has come back. Still has symptoms.
- A lot of the players played 60 mins with 10 men at the weekend and they were dead on their feet. That changed his mind for team selection tonight
- We have other players who can come in and stake their claim
- McKirdy: He apologised for getting sent off. Lindsay thought second yellow was harsh. But need to stay off the backs of officials. He knows that. Hopefully we will see a change.
- Any young footballer doesn't want to miss games. Think that will make McKirdy tighten up his game.

Signed a left back on loan announcement tomorrow. Still looking at bringing in a forward before the window shuts.

Sandro:
- Plenty of changes. Good opportunities for others
- We have a deep squad and a number of players carrying injuries, not able to play twice a week etc
- When you play a long period at 10 men, not getting a lot of the ball, takes its toll
- We have a deep squad. Its a great opportunity
- Excited to see some new faces get an opportunity
- Darcy was sensational at the weekend. Covered so much ground
- Clayton's league debut. Will play in a more central role today. Versatile player
- Its a squad game these days. We have a deeper one than last year. We don't have a 1st and 2nd eleven, we have a squad
- Iandolo extended his contract at Town. One of best left sided players in L2. Very happy to get him tied down. Needs to focus on rehab
- Ongoing conversations with a number of people.
- We need to create a football club that is sustainable. Bring in younger players, develop them and move them on
- Team we have put out this evening is testament to that
- Social media: Always tell players not to pay too much attention to it.
- Small minority abused Brynn at the weekend
- 3 x 16, 3 x 18 year olds in squad today. Get behind them and back them
- People are entitled to react, but you wont get the best out of them by booing them
- They are young and will make mistakes. We have to give them a chance
- Brynn was a strange one. Not sure where it came from
- Lets focus on positives and help these young lads on their debuts
- Second half against Salford the fans were superb and the players responded
- Transfers: Just done a deal to bring in a loan player at LB. As Iandolo out for a month or two and Devine out for 6 weeks.
- We dont believe we can go 6-8 weeks without a LB. Thats good use of the loan window
- Still looking at the top end of the pitch. We are still looking to bring in at least one.
- The LB isn't instead of a striker. Its the right thing to do. Will be announced tomorrow
- Want to put out a good performance. If we can get a win , then great. Hoping for a good performance.

'At least one' at the top end of the pitch

What a weird weak selection, its an insult to the opposition for an important match.

That fuckwit ref on Saturday has got a gig in the Championship next - Blackpool v Swansea.

Sandro wasn't giving much away!

Presume if we’re signing an actual full back we’re looking at playing 4 at the back.

But not tonight unfortunately…

Shame iFollow isn’t available to watch how we play.

Who knows what Lindsey will do😀

He said Clayton is playing central so that’s any chance of a back 4 gone.

I want four at the back for stability.

We've thrown in the towel. Shocking

And that's me done!

Bloody Wiltshire Radio has gone to some shite called 'Squad Goals'

Benda starting for Swansea against the Pox

I've already turned off so missed that😀Who's the match summariser this evening I couldn't be bothered to wait and find out!

On par now with the EFL Trophy.

Steve Hale......But on Squad Goals, its......Calvin Andrew!

What is squad goals?

I prefer JJ's mate Rob Hartley! Calvin Andrew that's a blast from the past.

It's a new program a bit like radio soccer Saturday instead of the endless "don't have the rights" loop you used to get online.

I assume ifollow have audio online rights

Actual radio broadcast BBC wilts has the footy

Thanks.
Sat down my garden having a beer just refreshing this page for my match fix tonight .
Keep the dialogue coming please gents

Anything happened yet😀

Walsall keeper made a great save from Shade

Some shit that they pump out on the internet to cover all of the games tonight.

Think poor man's radio version of Sky Soccer Special or Quest

So far

They started better
We had a spell
Sounds like they are slightly on top again

I assume we all heard the bit abouta new loan left back coming in tomorrow as iandolo is out a couple of months?

Haha

"we've got no squad depth"

*Lindsey uses opportunity to put out a cup team to blood some youngsters*

"WHERE'S THE FIRST TEAM"

I'm excited by the lineup tonight. Good to see some youngsters come through and there's enough seasoned heads in there to keep the young uns on the right track.

Tbf, loads of club’s have made wholesale changes tonight.

Exeter 3-0 up against Cheltenham inside 30.
-
Tomi is injured

As in gone off injured or not

Page 3 under 'Sandro'

Oh good, Adeloye is down.. back up again ... We'll see.

apparently not looking like he's moving freely

Sorry, not read back ;)

You're bad, really really bad😀

Looked like that in every game so far!

:) :) Fair

Half time. Doesn't sound too bad considering the youthful team selection

How has that team made it to HT 0-0 ?

Pretty tidy first half, maybe second half good, maybe shit, either way I think that first half should shut up some of the doomsayers on here about how playing some young players in a cup game is the worst thing since Lee Power

Will we score a goal this season?

No, goals are for losers

I think you’ve completely missed the point here. I don’t think anyone has a problem with youngsters/squad players getting game time, but considering how poor we’ve been to date not using this to at least try and get the players to gel a bit is just bizarre. To then not even have the supposed regulars on the bench at least is plain ridiculous. That bench is honestly an insult to the fans that travelled and there’s no excuse for it being that weak.

Are we producing the fast free flowing football we were promised pre-season😀

Adeloye has looked much stronger and quicker today, some decent link up play too with us looking to hit him from time to time.  Shade has looked better as has Harries.  Minturn and Cowmeadow at RCB and RWB respectively have looked OK, both look the part from a stature point of view.

Their CB's are very good for this level.

Teams coming out, come on Town.

If that’s RE Adeloye, he’s played one game for fuck sake 😂😂😂😂

Just finished back to the game

Cheers KT

Do you know what a joke is?

Sorry nomoreheroes, the archbishop of banterbury 💦

WE'VE PLAYED TWO GAMES. I haven't even looked at the table yet. Harrogate was shit but how many great seasons have we had where I've been to shit games? Every single one.

Lyndsey's interview before the match explained why the changes have been made, and it's not rocket science, rest the side, giving them some extra recovery time after having to bust a gut playing with 10 men for over an hour in the heat on Saturday. It's not exactly chilly tonight, so why risk our first teamers, if we are apparently struggling so much, on a hot, exhausting Tuesday night cup game against fucking Walsall? This kind of weather is going to completely fuck you over if you're not on top of your fluid and salt intake and Lyndsey obviously doesn't want to risk the first teamers, we've already lost a few to various knocks and injuries and when we have eager younger players who are up to snuff we have to start them at some point.

The bench is there to support the team on the pitch and whilst it's not the strongest one, see the points above. It's not an 'insult'. It's a reality of trying to develop players, and also a decision probably based on who's most familiar with each other. Now's the time for some of the youngsters to stake a place in the team going forward.

Also, it puts in the shop window how willing we are to trust youth when we're obviously still actively recruiting in the loan and transfer market.

Dworzak on for Williams

Saving the Welsh international for the weekend!

Dabre for Cowmeadow

How long left?

17 to go

Do we have any penalty takers if need be🤔

Massi on for Adeloye.

And we may have just fucked it.....penalty? No.. Dunno what's going on. Think we are OK and its an offside,.

Offside? Yellow for their player? I'm very confused.

Ongoing discussions and....

Penalty to Walsall. Bollocks.

Challenge by Minturn penalised

Minturn red carded

Red for Minturn! Well that was a surprise.

1-0

Drat

2-0 Timmy Abraham

Shade fucking about lost it (?!), Ward spills shot and Abraham taps in,


At least that's what it sounded like from the radio

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


(Saturday, guaranteed)

One more goal against us and my prediction will be right😂

Have we ever started a season with no goals in the first 3 games

Played alright for a bit but never looked like scoring. Fuck why Parsons was kept on. Guess with team selection and subs he wasn’t arsed about us losing. 7 years in a row out in the first round given club’s history in this competition is not good enough. Big pressure on Lindsey next few games…

Wellens will be looking forward to playing us next week.

3 shots and only 1 on target says it all. In for a shit season.

Fast free flowing football🤣

8 extra minutes FFS

What a shame. Holding on for 80 mins is a good performance for such an inexperienced team.

So is Saturday now a massive game for Lindsey? Effectively thrown tonight to prepare for Saturday, so if we don’t get anything does the pressure on him really start building even this early?

Fast free flowing out the league is my concern. I know it's early days but I didn't see many encouraging things on Saturday.

I think Orient & Rochdale at home are massive even if we get a draw at Carlisle.

Yeah, but that will largely be forgotten.

Virtually 0 goal threat in 5/6 of our competitive match halves. I guess today is an oddity in selection, but strength in depth doesn't seem to extend outside the first 15 or so?

Games - 3
Goals Scored - 0
Goals Conceded - 5
Red Cards - 2

Some start to the season.

I quite enjoyed the second half, under the circumstances. Good job we can't play with 4 at the back..

I think the next 3 games are massive- if we fall adrift of the chasing pack he will be under massive pressure- fans are losing patience already

Got no real issue with throwing what is quickly becoming a meaningless annual game for us, as long as we start picking up results in the league. To me, (definitely too early to say but hey ho) I only see this ending with Lindsey being sacked by November. Probably a fantastic coach, just seems so out of his depth to me, but boy would I love to be proved wrong.
If we don’t have a firing McKirdy, alongside a suspect back-line with a midfield struggling to link up properly, it’s a recipe for disaster. Fingers crossed we start firing soon. Early days after all…

We seem to have become Walsall of last season and vice versa.

I worry about the manager not being up to the task and have doubts about most of the signings so far.

It's still too early to judge Lindsey. I'm not full of confidence, but it is.

How long so we give him if these results carry on through August? We could be well adrift of the chasing pack already

Is it too early? We could all see this coming after Cardiff that we were undercooked, not being ready for the season is unforgivable for a manager in my book.

I know. And we could be out of it by the time we get to a reasonable judgement time - November.

And yeah, its alarmist but we could be struggling for league survival.

But we could also be top 6.

You have to give fair chance. 3 games isn't that.

I'm not happy clappy. I hope people know that :)

Is he a great coach though?  I thought he was in charge of the defensive coaching last season and quite frankly we were a joke.  Having just watched Charlton, they look like a carbon copy of us last season, which suggests Garner was behind the way we played (and Rovers fans had similar descriptions of their team at times).

I haven't offered any thoughts on his appointment as yet and it is still far too soon to write a person off, but we can at least review what we have been presented with, and it is not good.

Based on two games watched and one listened to, we seem bereft of real quality (for this division).  We look like a lot of the plodders we faced last season.

The early indicators do not look good to me on the new signings being anywhere good enough on the whole.  Our best XI from last season puts this seasons best team to bed and tucks it in with a nice cup of hot chocolate.  Lindsey either spoke complete bullshit or has a real problem off the back of our third game.  To say we don't have a first XI and have more depth this season has likely just been dispelled.  I know it was only listening, but the game today seemed like a training session for Walsall's benefit.  The bench this season looks no better than last season.

Ho hum, such is life.

Agree, too early to write off, I’m just going off a gut feel currently. See similarities with this and the 18/19 season so far, however, think this team has far more potential. Seems the club are happy enough with sacrificing short term immediate success on the pitch, to build better foundations off it. That’s fine, for a season, however we can’t afford to spend much longer down here.

1897-98 in Southern League. Arguably 1915-16 as well.

Oh, and I want to eat humble pie a year from now on this next point, please.

You cannot build a team at this level purely on the data approach we have taken of trying to get an, almost, entire squad of rough diamonds.  I am a data person, spent 25+ years working in that area in my career, and it most certainly has a place in sport, including football.  Taking on someone like Sandro is not a bad idea.  Having a top 5 budget (which we should) in Div 4 should provide enough flexibility to use that data recruitment as a supplement.  You get a team together to win this fucking league first, then you add the pixie dust after.  A minimum of maybe 8 players need to make up your core that would walk into any other team in the Division.  Who do we have?

Reed, Williams, McKirdy, maybe McDonald based on past reputation, Gladwin at a push.  It's not enough and one or two of them are off the boil.

Lindsey has fallen on his feet getting this gig - let’s be frank, the club made a right mess of the recruitment process and he was a desperate appointment when we’d been knocked back elsewhere. He didn’t apply and wasn’t even interviewed ffs - he wouldn’t get a look in to be a manager at any other FL club.

He hasn’t helped himself tonight and it seems mad to say it so early on in the season but a defeat on Saturday and he is under pressure.

Like everyone, I’d love him to be a success but the early evidence is concerning. I’d include Sandro in that statement too - a big few weeks for him.

Ref waves play on, then when they screw up the advantage, awards the pen and sends our lad off.

Another crap ref.

On another note, we created sod all and have no goal threat.

Good honest post

Off topic, and hate to single out players, but seriously have not seen a lot from Jonny Williams that would suggest he walks straight into every other L2 team. On reputation he does, but he’s looked a good L2 midfielder, without being spectacular imo. Maybe should’ve lowered my expectation when he did sign.

Spot on

https://twitter.com/erichall3467/status/1557108476836552704

Says Lindsay sacked tonight, Sol Campbell replacement   :headhurts:

Graham Rix as assistant? ;)

The dream team.

Also worth noting he gave it as offside originally until his lino gave him an earful.

Lindsey said the tackle was outside the box.

Didn't realise that, especially as the lino flagged got offside.

The radio commentary were pretty certain it was a pen.  Their description was the linesman flagging, ref thinking it was offside as a result, linesman continued flagging to get attention and then consulted to come to the penalty decision.

Looked a clear pen, but the ref played advantage, which they messed up by being offside.  The lino didn't have his flag across his chest, but out as for offside.

Unless I've missed something, I'm pretty sure Sandro has said its a combined approach with more traditional scouting.  I'm unclear how we would have loads of stats on a lot of players we have signed, as they haven't played much football?

 I know, and I am suggesting that is a bad way to recruit a squad.  The first 7-8 names on your team sheet should be very well known quantities or outstanding talents from leagues above.  We appear to have limited our recruitment first up by going for the younger players come what may.  Sandro has made it clear the model is bringing in youth, almost at all costs.  Take Man City - I very much doubt they needed to run Haaland's numbers through a data team first - you just sign the fucker if you can.  They take plenty of punts (because they can afford to) and youngsters from around the world, but they don't create their first team from them.  They nurture them and gradually bring them into the first team culture.  I know they are, literally, in a different league, but anything is only good in moderation, and they know it.

Did he say anything on the radio?

Doesn't matter how good the recruitment is if the manager is useless.
Attacking football my arse

It's clueless football, watched 6 halves of football and 5 were relegation level.  We don't even get touches in the box.

My point was that it isn't a data only recruitment, which people seem to fixate on.  Now agreed we need a few more experienced players in but comparing us to Man City, gave me a chuckle!

I want to know if Sandro was successful at Wigan how did he end up in the basement league.

If the new “Swindon way” is to constantly pass it back to the goalkeeper (the worst examples when we have a free kick in the opposition half) then this isn’t a Swindon i will spend many pennies watching. Not entertaining for me.

Or last 6 months. Interesting on the NTT20 pod. The hosts knew of Di Michele from his time in betting, and stumbled over their words to suggest they weren’t convinced he was right for a DOF role. A bit like most on here aren’t convinced by Lindsey in his first head coach role. Or Gunning in his first coaching role. Or half the squad, in their first professional year. You look at it that way, and its no surprise to see this start. This is a club with inexperience at every turn. It feels like such a regression from just 12 or so weeks ago when we were last at Walsall.

It's not the football we were promised

Two sides to every story!

If you don’t create chances you won’t win football matches.
It’s tedious, it’s boring and it’s not working.

Second half we lost every battle on the pitch.

Must be mad driving to Carlisle but can only hope our fortunes change.
20% uplift in budget and all about stats. Almost laughable to think football is about scoring more goals than the opposition yet why don’t we create fuck all.

Leave that to the experts.

As I previously stated Duke football isn't played on spreadsheets😀

The lino flagged and the ref waved play on.
Ref consults lino and changes the decision.

All avoidable if we simply cleared our lines. Sounds familiar.

Spot on Jimmy and it’s testing me.

Hats off to all those travelled.

Sounds like it was a reasonable performance for a second string until the penalty and sending off. I would have loved to have won today. I hope for his sake more than anything that Lindsey gets his first win soon!
How many fans did we take? I could hear our fans on the radio comms quite a bit.

You should add chances created and shots on Target.
Still 9,000 home attendances, excellent travelling support and we are not competing in a shite league.

I was also a bit concerned by what Elek and Maxwell said or what they didn't say about Sandro. If they rated him they would have said so. The fact that hey didn't suggests they don't. Having said that I don't think the main issue here is the recruitment. We have a manager who has managed to make Louis Reed look like dogshit. I think that says it all. Would imagine that Clem, Angus, Sandro will be looking for managerial candidates.

Even more for those travelling Saturday with no trains running.
Would be special winning up there with this dismal start. Can only hope it’s the start.

Just think of Bolton away under Williams when your lad didn't want to go!

Really interesting to see that even some of the more level headed Town fans on Twitter are questioning the manager already.

I hate to say it, but Clem and the board have really ballsed this one up.

The fans feel cheated after being told Lindsey was the outstanding candidate for the job when we all know different!

Do we know different?
Do we know who applied? Who was interviewed? How well they interviewed? How much money they wanted?
Do we know that the other candidates would have had a better start to the season?

Obviously Lindsey hasn’t started well, that much is clear but let’s not pretend we know all about the managerial recruitment process and how it went and all the candidates and how well they would have done 3 games in

It’s was always the cheap option.

My point is from the fans perspective he wasn't the outstanding candidate. We all saw the list of potentials with murmurs of the club getting turned down because we wouldn't meet their wage demands.

Would they have had a better start to the season who knows but at least the supporters would have been more optimistic for the season ahead which clearly isn't the case with Lindsey in charge.

He wasn’t the outstanding name linked by the internet, no - that much is true.

How many of those link by the internet applied?

I'm not in the know (plenty of reference in the new manager thread) but the length of time it took to appoint a manager tells its own story and if Lindsey was the outstanding candidate he would have been given the job within days of Garner leaving.

It really wasn't.   Not having a go at the players because they all put a shift in, none really stood out as good or bad.   

First half was ok, neither side really looked like scoring and we had a fair amount of the ball and one excellent attack down the right.  2nd half was woeful, think we touched the ball once in their box and that was a tame stretch to an over hit pass.

Slowly we went further and further back trying the same thing over and over again until we got caught.
No attempt to change it,  treated it like a friendly.

Not many there 400ish, fairly quiet as bored and lots of sarcastic comments about "this way" and "it's over here" etc.   Crowd will turn very soon, it's absolutely tedious and a total waste of time watching it.

Had they come out very quickly and said we always want to look to promote internally then I could accept that but they didn't.   They interviewed 10 candidates and I suspect they hired the only one within budget.

The club shop is shut because there's no staff
Most of the commercial team have left
Analysts being paid minimum wage
Mugs costing £15
Season tickets for kids up 200%

The penny pinching is killing this club.   You can't be sustainable if you piss off your customer base and loss all of your staff.

The service industry is not like construction and I get the feeling that Clem is about to learn that lesson in a very big way.   

Should have started on the Stratton Bank shouldn't they?

Hmmm. Two minutes of highlights show 2 goalkeeping errors by Ward resulting in 2 goals.

For the first, Ward poor kick out to Minturn. Minturn unlucky to be sent off for that as the fella ran into him after passing to 27, who looked offside.

For the second, Shade's pocket picked, but Ward snuffed out the danger until Aguilar just ran with the ball, lost it and didn't chase back. Ward spilled a soft shot and striker poached it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOpAOI8HSmM

That passage of play from our kick off pretty much sums up where we are.   

The second goal is fucking unforgivable on all accounts of Shade, Aguiar and Ward.

Not impressive highlights those, although it's essentially only the two goals. First one felt like it could have been a yellow for Minturn but can hardly complain. Second goal is super sloppy.

Thanks for saving me the time to post.
I never walk out before the end of the game, last night when the second went in I walked out.

Your post is very accurate.

20% increase to the budget - doesn’t sit right does it.
Our first 11 looks right now to be considerably weaker.

The team that started last season albeit with loans is considerably stronger than our first 11 we can put out now. We have invested in “depth” and can only hope it’s a case of this will improve quickly.

Honestly I don’t think we are good enough and I really really hope I am wrong because I am struggling to enjoy watching this garbage.

There was me thinking that Ward was the answer to all of our problems according to Twatter?

Not good viewing, gotta feel some sympathy for the young players out there, looked like they were setup to play pin the tail on the donkey.  The pen shout looked outside the box to me, but apart from that can't really complain about the decisions made.

I don't get the love in for Ward.

I thought he was at fault for FGR's goal against us at the back end of last season. Questionable for the Barrow goal too.

He's a decent backup.

This is Swindon,  it always will be.

The Barrow goal was a mistake, definitely. Made an outstanding save not long after though that was about 100 times more tricky.

For me The first was outside the box (no penalty) and should have been a yellow not a red...

For the second... it shouldn't have got anywhere near Ward in the first place but the fact it did and he spilled it doesn't help his claim for No 1 spot...

Lack of goals is a worry... I think this season will go one of two ways.. unmitigated disaster with relegation OR, things will click after 5-6 games and we'll finish top of the league...

Could you imagine if we went down

We'd be stuck in the NL forever

Exactly...my second worst STFC nightmare....the worst being the Club totally folding and having to start again in the Cherry Red Records League...or wherever...

My thoughts FWIW.

When we saw the team we all expected to lose, so no real surprise that we did.

On that basis, I don't see that this adds any more pressure to Lindsey, but the longer we go without winning, or even looking like scoring a goal, that pressure is going to grow.

From the minute the team was announced the towel was in the air. Disappointed the tie was given no importance but a win on Saturday will go some way to placate me at least

We clearly need a striker - not sure what the hold up is with signing one, unless we are holding until the end of the window to hope to sign a certain Ipswich player on the cheap - although it does seem Ipswich are happy to leave him in the reserves to rot and not sell him

The hold up is we obviously haven't identified one that we want and that also wants to join us at a cost that suits us.  The club is looking for one, they say this several times a week, like I've said before Doyle came in for the third game and tore the division apart, I get it's frustrating to not have all the cogs in place at this stage but no team does, why should it be any different for us?

Shouldn't we have done all this before the season started, like everyone else?

We were too busy trying to find a manager before Clem realised he was at the club already😀

If not one other team in the league signs another player then I'll take it back, 90% of other forums will be having exactly the same conversation assuming every other club has competed their business, it will continue to be like this as long as professional football continues. 

If we came out and exclaimed that all our business was completed before the first game kicked off only for a rival team to sign a player that goes on to be top scorer in the division 3 or 4 weeks later everybody would be complaining that we didn't wait to get him instead.

Any stick that can be used to batter the club with will be by many people, I know that, I just don't get what people get out of supporting football if all there is to it is complaining about it?

Honestly mate this summer has done me. I have lost nearly all interest and it is is down to the negativity and absolute bullshit i have seen all summer. Before anyone says things aren't great i am not even on about the players etc . I think we look poor and i also think Lndsey will be a disaster but the shit around the ownership of the club that is going around and the constant sniping no matter what the club does is just boring now. First home game of the season last week and i wasn't looking forward to it.

I have seen this club in much worse positions than this but still got excited over saturdays but now i hate everything about supporting this club, the 90 minutes was enough but i am dreading that now. I know we say all fans are the same but honestly this last 3 months i have known nothing like ours

Good post Shrivvy and many will agree with your comments.

I won't ever dump my club however pissed off I get.

Mate, honestly - the older I get the more convinced I am that we are all just addicts & none of us actually enjoy it at all. I mean what is there to actually enjoy?

In fact we all fucking hate it and it makes us miserable but we can’t break the habit.

I got clean for 10 years and inexplicably got dragged back in again for reasons I’m still not aware of.

Some of the conspiracy theories over the summer have been bonkers and they will keep going because social media is an echo chamber and people will believe what they want to.   You just have to ignore it.

For most of us I'm sure it's about how the club is performing on the pitch, especially those that travel to most away games and to a lesser extent about how the club feels like it is being run operationally, which we primarily see on match days.

It's hard not to have an emotional whinge when we perform so badly.   I think this season it's been compounded as we all feared we would given the lack of preparation pre season, and the expectation set of seeing a side gunning for promotion.

Add to that the staffing issues, price increases etc it creates a feeling of going backwards rather than building for the future.

Now none of us really know what is going on, they haven't finished recruiting yet, the team has barely played together and the coaching team is very new so I'm still hopeful for this season and supportive of what the club is trying to do.

But doesn't stop me calling stuff out occasionally as I see it or having a meltdown.   I try to be rational most of the time but football is an emotional sport.

Probably agree with that.  I enjoy the social side, something to do with families and friends, but at our level we are shit more than we are good.

But I think I'd prefer that to being a perennial do nothing prem club.  Not only do you expect to lose most weeks, but you get properly rinsed and have matches at totally inconsiderate times

Sounds ridiculous, but I’ve bought my iFollow ST yet I can’t bear to actually watch much of a game. Salford was so atrocious 1st half I turned it off half way through waiting for news of the inevitable goal conceded on Sky.

Harrogate have gone on to show that they are useless after shafting us 3 zip.

No doubt Carlisle will be a similar experience.

I've chosen not to go to or watch on a screen.
Have bought Stockport tickets but can't justify Carlisle.

Fucking hell guys, I class myself as a glass half empty person but this is pretty depressing reading.

Maybe the years and constant set backs have taken its toll with many of us.

The one thing though that has always kept me going is the fact that there is a decent football club in there. We have proved that if there is a product on the pitch, some hope off the pitch then we can attract decent support.
So many false dawns and selfishly like any other Supporter I crave success. Worse now as the years are ticking by.

It’s already taken over the majority of my life. Like every time when we hit an obstacle it’s the blind hope that keeps me going. How many more times can the loyalty card keep being played?

Port Vale hit me hard that I can say. Honestly was never over excited about this season.
Just hope a few decent results gets us up and running.

I was there at PV away and it knocked me back too. It almost felt a bit personal. Like somebody was taking the piss out of me. To be that close and have it taken away. I just wanted that one moment to be happy. For it to be us for a change. I can understand how it has floored a lot of the fan base.

I find myself challenging the happy clappers a lot of the time, but I now actually realise that I need them in order to keep my sanity. Otherwise, if i'm surrounded by people similar to myself with no positivity, even if I think they are slightly deluded i can try to convince myself they're going to prove me wrong!

Talking of the Port Vale away match. Watched it on television here in NZ. Yes it was gutting to see those two missed penalties.
But the biggest memory was seeing Clem Morfuni in the stands looking totally empty. I am convinced he was aware that Garner and Chorley were moving on and the opportunity of success had just slipped away.
Could be wrong, but this season does not look good and think Town missed a wonderful chance going forward

Come on lads, got to drag ourselves out of this PV hangover. We’re only two league games in, the squad is definitely deeper this year and we played ok first half vs Harrogate and played well second half against Salford. Plus, it’s only football…I agree with posters suggesting the fan base has been hyper-critical this Summer and thankfully the 9000 attendance last Saturday proves that the vast majority of fans are staying positive.

Deeper, yes.

Less quality in the starting 11? on the evidence so far I would suggest so.

A lot of that quality was transient though. Payne injured loads, egbo came late, Wollacott away for Ghana, Tyreece and KKH only half a season.

The "most played" XI last year was:

Wollacott (39 starts)

Iandolo (46)
Conroy (40)
Odimayo (36)
Hunt (40)

Payne (36)
Reed (45)
Williams (28)
Gladwin (24)

McKirdy (40)
Simpson (28)

Which is probably a better first XI than we have now, albeit it's too early to judge some of the new signings - on paper at least, MacDonald should be a better defender than any of these. Some of the players who you think of as quality last season didn't actually play that much as SFP says - Egbo 8 starts, KKH 19, Tomlinson 10, Baudry 18, Cooper 8.

Thought the lads showed great spirit second half vs Salford and manager deserves credit for galvanising them/changing things around to make us competitive. Was refreshing after the capitulation at Harrogate. Additionally, am I misremembering or didn’t Salford beat us at home last season?

Plus, we’re not sure what we are going to get with McKirdy.
Will he hit 15+ goals this season or less than 5?

I think we all share the impression it’s going to be all or nothing with him. Don’t think he’s gonna be a consistent goal scorer like say a SSP was…

MacDonald surely has the quality to be good in this league, what I've seen from Clayton suggests he could be a very good addition, Hutton looked much more comfortable as an actual RB on Saturday so still hopeful he has a big part to play, really need Blake-Tracy to be a reliable LB for at least a couple of months, if so the back line could be OK if we opt for a back 4.  Thought Brennan looked OK in the 1st half at Harrogate and we know what Baudry offers.

The midfield as we all know is largely the same, Payne is an obvious loss but see a lot of similar attributes in Darcy, will take time for him to be at Payne's level of course but he does offer a similar skillset.

Really the only thing is getting that 9 which is the hardest thing to do at any level.

Will it work out?  Who knows but I'm wired to look for the positives in this regard even though I more often than not think things will go wrong in my actual life.

Sick to death with certain people on twitter now. Ripping the piss out of everything the club says and does has become their personality.

I see Walsall have drawn Charlton in round 2.

Losing in the playoffs is always a devastating hammer blow. We’ve only once in our history succeeded in gaining promotion the following season (1990) and even that was taken away from us.
We are not the sort of club that seems to be able to build on near success.
 We as fans shouldn’t beat ourselves up over our inevitable negativity….(it’s like a defence mechanism, a way of trying to avoid a repeat of the misery) but we’re only hurting ourselves by taking out our frustrations by criticising and abusing the club we love.
It’s worth trying to be hopeful and positive (however ridiculous that may seem at times like this) and, dare I say it, appreciating the fact that we have a well supported club that means so much to us.
I’m aware this advice/ plea probably doesn’t help at the moment!

I already realised last season, when we abjectly let Salford overturn a second half lead, that this club had no future.... :badmood:

 ;)

As many have said. It's the hope that kills you.
Personally the current disappointment is how could Garner, Chorley and Woolacot Payne Egbo possibly others not want to take STFC to higher places especially after last years frustrating end to a really ok season. Why didn't they cry with the frustration of just missing out and want to put it right this year.
Why the hell did they just get up and move on without seemingly a thought for my football club.
Think it must be in a football supporters DNA where nothing else really matters but seeing our own team win and do well especially over their local rivals.
Possibly that is why Bert Head's team of yesteryear will be remembered with pride. Local lads mostly from down the road who knew how important it was to be successful for the local community to do well.
This could just  be  a total load of bollocks and life is a passionless day to day existence waiting to pay tax and die.
JL just pull your fucking finger out and do well for all of us poor football supporters around the world.
COYRs

Why wouldn’t they go? They got offered more money to go to a bigger club, with more potential in a higher league. Any normal person would do exactly the same.

No problem with any of them leaving to better themselves although disappointed that Garner never had the decency to thank the fans for their support during his time here.

Really? He was hardly supported, first time they sang his name was Walsall away. He wasn;t supported and pretty much just accepted

I'm sure I heard we are Garners red & white army on numerous occasions but can't say the same when Sheriden was in charge! I bet there's a few wishing he was still here.

Errr think you've forgotten about COVID?  We had to watch that Sheridan shite on the telly.

I thought Garner was well supported in the main, particularly away from home and in the last few home games.  Early on it was hit and miss as couldn't get going at home. 
Don't really care of he says thanks or not to be honest, that's up to him, although I'm sure a better man probably would.

Covid or not I'm sure any chants about Sheriden wouldn't have been complimentary. Your last point is what I was eluding to "a better man probably would" from a professional perspective.

I don't know if it is living close to London that does it but, I think I have a bit of the Millwall psyche as I take a bit of perverse pleasure in the fact that no one likes us- including some of our own fans by the look of things.

I'm a card carrying Town fan who travels 120-130 miles combined for every home game and also does 2-4 away games a season.

I have done the same journey through the highs (Hoddle/ Gorman/ Di Canio/ Macari/ Ardiles etc) and the lows (Sheridan/ McCrory etc.) and will continue to do so.

I will sit in the DRS and cheer/ moan/ shout get it forward/ call the ref a cheating cunt/ tell the manager he doesn't know what he's doing when he makes a questionable (in my eyes) substitution decision/ declare that we are his red and white army until the day I die/ my marbles get permanently mislaid (whichever comes sooner).

The Walsall defeat was painful (they all are) but, to be honest, it makes the extended cup runs all the sweeter (drawing Man City at home and seeing KKH have various megastars in his pocket briefly anyone?).

If that makes me a happy clapper, then fuck it  :clap: but, this is Swindon. A wise man once said that only fools rush in. Well, I must be a fool.

Love it.  Exactly this - though unfortunately I am so far away its not possible to get to most iof not all home games...but will be at Carlisle on Saturday, going through all the same stuff...including being infuriated by fans who get on the backs of players!!!!

Love these posts.
Pompey blood gives me the loyalty I guess almost beyond stupidity.

Met a fair few Pompey in the services on way back from Harrogate and cracking laughs talking about the late 70’s and our respective challenges.
Tiresome of just playing the loyalty card mind and envious of other clubs that we used to go toe to toe with that have left us behind.
Blackpool had shite ownership issues but bounced back quickly. So why not our turn next ?

Driving to Carlisle tomorrow, early start where our season starts right 😎

This fucking club will take me in the end, proud to have followed it and stuck with it.
Boy can we moan but that’s all part ot it.

Cracking post 👍