Thetownend.com

Let's do this.

Swindon 2-1 Rochdale att: 8,413 (away 184)

The first non-negotiable must win of our season.

I think we'll win reasonably comfortably. 3-0 Town, hints of corners being turned.

0 - 0

Att: 8,769

MoM: Darcy

Despite it being totally SWindon-y to lose a game like this I'm going to go for a bold preddiction of 3-1. Rochdale haven't scored yet but our defence will always give them a chance. However, we have strung neat passages of play together at times and this could be just the kind of game we need to see it come to fruition.

I'd go 4-3-3 with Reed, Gladwin and Darcy in the middle and McKirdy, Wakeling and Adeloye up front. Not sure SL will do the same though.

Attendance 8,881 with 264 from Rochdale

Must win 3-2 (Neither team can defend)
2 x mckirdy and a screamer from williams

Att: 9,102 (Away 150)

The closest to an early season "must win", they are rock bottom having lost all 4 of their opening league fixtures.

I don't currently see where the goal will come from though.

0-0 in front of 8,789 with 105 Rochys there.

Brynn MotM again.

Typical Swindon,
We’ll lose this one then go on and win the next three…

Will be almost impossible for anyone to put a positive spin on anything other than a win.

terrible game, terrible ref, a scrappy 98th minute winner...1-0

Swindon 2 Rochdale 0 Att: 8,348 (188 Rochdale)

A disconsolate mass of humanity shuffling out of the CG at 5pm on Saturday is not really an option.

Law of averages could play a part again i.e. teams in L2 are generally not consistent enough to win 4 on the bounce (Orient), but then again teams can be plenty hopeless enough to lose 5 on the spin (Rochdale?).

Hopefully a case of the latter but just want to see signs of continuing improvement all over the pitch.

Lose this one and then win every game for the rest of the season, with Lyndsey immortalised in a bronze statue outside the ground.

Or more realistically, 3-1 win. Wakeling brace and a Gladwin scorcher from nowhere with us letting in a stupid goal just before half time.

All is good in the camp! Fair play to Hawes he kept persevering😀

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zc6kiNCD0sw

You overestimate our fans.

People will be told to shut the fuck up and stop moaning no matter what the result.

Scott Lindsey pre match Rochdale interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJBVnsO27pU&ab_channel=SwindonTown

“This game will be very difficult. Rochdale are a good side, a very good side”. Oh Scott…

But he's going to pick a team to win the game😀

What should he say. This will be a piece of piss as Rochdale are shite.

I haven't really offered any views on Lindsay up until now - being so remote it is hard to make a judgement on a Manager who doesn't really have a huge amount of experience that I will have seen or can refer to.  Obviously I've proffered an opinion on performance and what I can see from the players, but it takes a bit longer to figure out a Managers skills I think.

That said, based entirely off of that one interview (not listened to anything else), he doesn't strike me as the sort of person who is going to educate you about the game and his analysis (loose term for what he gave) of the Leyton Orient performance was a bit worrying.  Your GK being MotM doesn't exactly back-up a claim of defending well.

Hopefully he is just shit at interviews.

Another inept performance as we struggle to break down bottom of the table Rochdale. A late equaliser sees us grab a point but it’s not enough to stop the Facebook page going into meltdown.

As Rochdale have just sacked their Management Team, can we expect the usual ‘bounce’ in their performance?

Nor should it be

On what evidence does he base that assumption I can't help wondering?

They play expansive football out from the back! Lindsey's words.

Plenty of things to have a pop at him for but not sure that is one of them. What is he supposed to say

Not meant as a pop as such. I just disagree. Rochdale have been comfortably the worst team in the league this season. Lowest xG (not a perfect measure, but still a perfectly credible measure). Four defeats. Awful end to last season. Fans think they’re clueless. So if they are a “very good” side, then there are no bad sides. And if they are “good on the ball” and “play expansive football” then it’s converted to zilch. So, I suspect he doesn’t actually mean it, but just churns it out because it’s the thing to say, and he’s saving all his enthusiasm and energy for when he talks to the players…

 :nod:

Most managers say the same thing week in week out about their upcoming opponents, for some reason our fans are now jumping on it, using it as another stick to beat him with.

Where did he say they’re a very good side? He said they’re a good side and isn’t sure how they have no points. He’s hardly acting like they’re Man City,

Agreed, I never pay any attention to Managers talking about their next game.  Nothing of value comes from those interview questions, you can play word bingo on pretty much all of them from every manager over all time.

I have only listened to him this once, it was his thoughts about the "game", about how we have played recently etc. that have me a bit perplexed.  I get that he isn't going to say we looked shit and he has identified some magic beans he will use to fix it all, but you'd hope to get some small insights into how his mind works tactically for example.  Nothing. 

As I said, hoping it's just him being shit at interviews.  Regardless of level, he has been coaching for a while - you'd think he may be able to set-up some drills and explain them to a player, right, someone, back me up here!

He's seems like a decent guy who probably gets on well with all the players but for me the jury is very much out on his management credentials and whether he can handle the pressure of being the front man similar to when Williams was appointed all be it different circumstances.

I'm not wishing he gets the sack if results don't pick up more that he goes back to being a coach under a more experienced manager.

Leaving all that aside, we will beat Rochdale.

At least no new manager bounce for Dale if there isn't one in place to start with.

Maybe an unsuspecting cone gatherer or a senior player will get the gig for tomorrow.

What's Keith Hill up to these days.

He's at Scunthorpe United

So there is no team he won't say this about in the division then. Glad to confirm we shouldn't expect to win any of these games Scott.

This comment alone just reduced my patience with him tenfold.

The game will be difficult but probably not because Rochdale aren't a good side  :sherlock:

They're playing the right brand of football that we're trying to play.

One that doesn't win, but its the right identity. A losing one.

I like your style :banana:

TBH if you go by stats then Rochdale are ahead this season. In the first 5 games (inc LC) for both teams so far it is -

Rochdale 54 shots - 13 OT - oppo 58 shots against with 19 OT - poss 52% - passes ave 363 per game.

Swindon  48 shots - 12 OT - oppo 67 shots against with 26 OT - poss 49% - passes ave 382 per game.

On paper Rochdale have had more shots, more on target, less shots against and less against OT, they almost match us in number of passes and they beat our possession average.

The only stat in our favour is that Rochdale have only ever won once at the CG in the previous 12 meetings a 3-2 win for them in 2014, Swindon have won the other 9 games scoring 28 goals and conceding 12, the biggest win coming in 85 when we beat them 4-0.

Although the most memorable for me was the 4-1 win in 83 when a young Paul Rideout scored a great goal and a hattrick. A rare high spot in a poor season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muDXUf3SXb8&t=22s

That and the fact they haven't scored a goal yet.

Firstly, I hope Honkytonk has had something to eat before he reads my latest offering. It's only a Lardy Cake, perhaps they could start selling them at the CG, would make my visits worthwhile no matter what happens on the pitch !
Well, I have been nowhere near it yet with my score predictions but I feel confident Town will be the better of two very good sides and a brace from McGirty will send us home happy. So another "improving" performance with Town winning 2-0.

Can't remember if I made it back from OxPoly for that one.
Absolutely no recollection of that structure in what is now the car park, about 45 seconds in.

The structure is the old Car park clubhouse (not sure the correct name for it) where you could have a pre-match pint :pint:

Cheers Jimmy.
Must have walked past it loads of times on way to Stratton Bank but can't remember it at all.

I'm not sure when it shut but as a young lad I used to go in there regularly with my uncle around 73-75

They have in the league cup, if you include that game then they have scored as many goals in total as we have.

Not allowed to include The League Cup when judging where a team may be going this season according to some though.

Why the club wouldn't want to try and progress in the league cup is beyond me considering out history and the money to be made later on in the competition.

Admittedly the LC and the JPT we often play weakened sides so it sways it often in favour of the opposition stats wise, the side we put up against Walsall was frankly a pathetic excuse for a team IMO and it shows we arent taking it seriously whereas Rochdale played the first team against Burton and easily beat them 2-0.

I prefer to take into account just league ties but this early in the season its about every game played.

If you take that into account then Rochdale have already won more games than we have :)

I think you can logically say we put out a shit team in the LC and therefore read little into it, BUT, we were told we had recruited a bigger squad and that we didn't have just a first XI this season.  In that case we can use the game to concur that assessment of our squad by those managing it is utter bullshit.  The squad doesn't pass the sniff test for me if the question is whether or not it is as good as what we put together last season - at first team and overall levels.

Still a little time for that to change with signings, but there doesn't seem to be much by way of urgency on that front (not saying I expect a signing a day, but we are only hearing anything when it is in response to a direct question).

We will still beat Rochdale.

I really really hope we can.

Fuck me. Has it really come to this? Worrying if we can beat fucking Rochdale!

Which is why I will be having a few pints beforehand  :)

It would seem to so yes mate.

I have seen very little so far to give me confidence that we are able to outscore the opposition, of course that can change very quickly in football but I don't see where the goals are coming from at the moment.

Also Rochdales unrest in the dressing room could well have been eased by removing the manager and assistant manager yesterday which may well give them a huge lift, we will soon see. It could of course have no effect, it really is so many variables.

If we don't come out of the blocks fast and press them then I think we could struggle to break them down creating a frustated atmosphere at the CG putting more pressure on the players.

Rochdale appoint long serving 37 year old player Jim McNulty as temporary boss for tomorrows game, he is a bit of a fan favourite and several of them would like him to be the new manager with Graham Alexander the next most wanted.

They have 1 current ex Town player in Toumani Diagouraga but they do have last seasons Swindon loan target from WBA Rayhaan Tulloch who we apparently made a bid for, the speedy striker chose to stay at WBA and get over his serious injury.

I noticed they have Richard O'Donnell in goal this season, a keeper who in his previous 7 appearances has yet to keep a clean sheet against Swindon conceding 12 goals including a 3 and a 4 goal haul while playing for Walsall in his 18 club career and he always looks shakey against us.

Tomorrow is when it all gets on track!!
Get a few goals and victory and confidence...
the only unknow is if i am going to wake up early morning to cook breakfast casserols
 :beers:

Traffic is going to be a nightmare tomorrow. Hopefully, my commitment will be rewarded with a well fought nil - nil draw rather than a good hiding by the team currently propping up div 4. 

Yup, people probably need reminding that there’s no trains again tomorrow as the greedy fuckers are striking again!

I ask because I dont know...is train travel a huge service that is used to get around there?  who would be using it to get to a match. people that dont live in swindon?  or are there trains within Swindon?

Yes - a fair proportion of those attending Swindon games come from the surrounding towns, like a City Metro area over here.  Train travel is far more common in the Uk and Europe in general, so people will travel 20-30 miles on the train for very little cost.  Until they go on strike!

Lots of people use it on a match day, there’s always a lot on the Stroud valley service, coming from Didcot/Reading way and Chippenham/Westbury/Bath direction. It’s the one thing Swindon and the CG has going for it.

Which seems to be every other day at the moment.

Best fans in the land us out of Town Swindon Supporters ;)

Couldn't agree more :pint:

very little cost 😳 I would love to use the train more. sometimes for a joke I will jump on the trainline (website) and see for away day travel. when it comes back at a few hundred I end up just driving. I do know of people who get cheap tickets just don't know how

Where do you travel from.  Depending on the distance have you looked at buying a rail card, splitting the ticket and booking in advance?

Using my tried and tested wasp killing technique, I confidently predict a 4-0 win.

"No piece of piss tho" maybe you're not convinced😀

Hope we don’t get stung.

Streaky 1-0 win. Any win today is really needed.

I can easily get to Swindon Station or Kemble is nearer. its not the best example as its far but Stockport is 3.5 hours for £101. going with other people it will.always be cheaper to drive but I guess if people want to drink they would pay more to train it

The only way for you Mate is to pre book months in advance unless you have a railcard.
I use my friends and family meaning I have to bully my youngest into going because it knocks a third of the cost of my ticket.
My eldest has his own railcard.

Some do those spilt ticket deals and others group deals where more than one paying adult.
However they don’t make it easy for you.

Without doubt I would travel by train far more if it wasn’t so expensive.

I reserve ‘piece of piss’ for all the 4-1s we have!

My wasp prediction worked perfectly when England beat Ukraine 4-0 in the last Euros. It consists of throwing my flip flop as a wasp hovers close to the ground - I got 4 that day. I got 4 last evening.

What can go wrong?

I used to fall into that category but been here 7 years now  ???

If it works keep doing it😀

You're one of us now😀

makes sense. the thing with swindon is I don't plan in advance that much. we could lose 10 in a row then win a game and il be desperate to go to the next one

Rochdale lose 4-0 but gets invaded by Russia?

No losers there then!

At least nobody can point a finger and label any of us glory hunters.
Thoroughly depressing supporting Swindon and has been for so many years now.
Can only hope we start to get back to something more entertaining and exciting.

First game of the season; looking forward to it! 3-0 Town. (disclaimer; don't think I've ever got a match day prediction right)

On this day in 1969 we beat AS Roma 4-0 at the County Ground in front of 14,976 with Horsfield scoring a hattrick and Rogers the other goal to win the Anglo Italian Cup Winners Cup. In the Roma side that day was ex England manager Fabio Capello.

Its an omen.

I was at that game. Surreal it was

Liking that omen PV. And of course Rochdale and Rome have a lot in common:
1 They both begin with R
2 er

Ro

We can only dream of "european glory" these days mate :)
2 - Rochdale include a future England manager (possibly :) )

RO & A :)

Does anyone foresee any changes today? Would anyone like to see any?
I wouldn't mind to see Darcy replace Reed and Baudry to replace Hutton with Clayton switching to RB. I suspect though that Darcy will replace Williams. Hope not

For me Darcy didnt quite do enough when he came on to warrant a starting place, Clayton is a natural left footer so I cant see his switching to right back.

I think we will start with the same team that started on Tuesday, the only possible change may be if SL decides to start Baudry ahead of Clayton.

For me though I would probably try Tomi from the off with Wakeling and Harry wide, probably dropping Williams and then use him as an impact sub in the 2nd half.

I'm largely with you on this. Think both Darcy and Clayton deserves starts, certainly over Hutton,  but not sure whether Clayton is suited to playing at right back as he is predominantly left footed. So probably stuck with Hutton - hopefully he will come good today as the full backs will be pushed on, given we should dominate possession against lesser opposition. Don't believe Reed will be dropped at this stage.  

Would be tempted to play a diamond in midfield to give us more flexibility with Gladwin at the top, playing just behind McKirdy and Wakelin, with Reed at the base, Darcy on the right and Khan (or Clayton if he can play there) on the left.

It's never going to happen, but I'd like to see us play a standard 4231, with Gladwin as a #10 picking up the ball in the half space, driving forward and being in a position to pick out a killer pass or long shot. Basically, as far away from the half way line as possible.

Clayton
Reed

Wakeling
Gladwin
McKirdy

Adeloye

Hockady co-commentating today🤣

Oh shit.

I wonder how they choose them as Rob is the best out there

Rob doesnt like doing home games so much as the away games.

Would he travel up with Hawes for the away games.

He does indeed mate.

Cheers JJ

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FamwG8YWYAECx0m?format=jpg&name=large)

Hutton dropped!

That suggests 3 at the back?

Hawes isn't sure as no real wingbacks

3 at the back. He just couldn’t resist could he? Even more pressure on getting the win now.

Who’s playing right back?

That is... probably our best 11 players of the season so far, but not a sodding clue how you make a formation out of that. It must be four at the back with Khan at right back perhaps? Or Darcy? Five central midfielders on the pitch, six if you want to be cheeky and include Clayton. It's er... a tricky one to reason out.

Some weird 343 formation?

Ok then, so who’s the right back if it’s a 4, and who’s the wingbacks if it’s 3?

Interesting that it’s only august and our two “standout” wing/full back signings in shade and Hutton are dropped.

Prove me wrong and hope it’s a master stroke. Must win.

No way SL or anyone can defend this if it goes wrong.

Unless Blake-Tracey or Clayton play there as Hunt did at left back as inverted fullback?

It's got Hodgetts & Hawes stumped!

But then who plays LB/CB? There just aren't four defenders in that side, nor are there obvious wing backs. Fascinating!

The one thing I'll say for Lindsay is he's not afraid to change things up. Whether it's throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks... well, we'll see.

Williams plays right back for Wales

I don’t think Lindsey has a scooby. That hints of a hit and hope team.

May work. May not.

no Baudry

I think he is obsessed with keeping Gladwin & Williams in the team and finding a formation that allows that.

I think it's a good lineup but I do wonder if Aguair is going to get some starts soon. Williams or Reed are almost better as a sub at the moment as particularly with Reed, being generous he's getting focused on by opposition and marked out of games. Williams is also not drawing as many fouls as he was last season, presumably because refs are a bit more picky this year. Almost better to sneak them on later and maybe catch opposition unawares.

I'd be loathe to drop Gladwin as at the moment he almost needs to be the central forward/attacking central midfielder with the other two flanking him. I'm not expecting him to score of course but with mckirdy and wakeling playing the flanks he's a good pivot for them to work from and has the height to actually contest anything that's pinged out from the back. When he's good he's very very good and when he's bad he's dangerous to have sat in front of the defence with nobody to back him up. With the back 3 you could have Baudry playing centrally as almost a defensive mid, just giving the other 2 central defenders an extra layer.

But what do I know.

Wow, not quite sure what to make of that. Agree that is more or the less the 11 best performers this season, Baudry aside. It feels like making the pitch wider is a mistake with at line up. I’m thinking maybe a double pivot midfield with 2 forwards? 3232?

Lindsey is either a tactical genius or completely clueless.

2-3-5 or 3-2-5? Going to be interesting!

I don't blame him for that

3rd completely different formation in 5 league games isn’t a great look…

Even if at detriment to the team? If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work. You can’t just keep trying to force it.

Understandable, though. The previous ones didn’t work.

Donkey (of this parish, not a slight on our current manager) had some views on the potential efficacy of a 2-3-5 formation when we used to play at Worldnet. I don't think those ever leaked into the professional game.

Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all play 2-3-5 now when in possession  ;)

2-3-5 is what we used to play at school in the 60s.

Not since Herbert Chapman, I think.  I maintain there is something to be said for 325 (with defensive mids), and just get it forward at every opportunity.  Only do it for about 15 mins though...or if you blast in to a 3-0 lead before then.  It'll freak the other side out (for a short period of time).

Very Uruguay 1950.

In my opinion,I don't think those 2 are the root of our problems to be honest

Wasn't 4 2 4 popular in the 70's

Perhaps Lindsey is trying to address the problem of teams focusing on Reed thereby blocking out the main passing route in playing out from the back. Playing Darcy might give another option here.

Yes,agree with that. The complete inability of Reed to provide the link between defence and attack is one of the main reasons we've struggled in my opinion. That,and utter shite defending!

So looks like a flat 352 with 5 actual midfielders rather than wing backs.

Different I suppose.

Thats how I see it, I think.

Darcy is preparing with the defence as a RB in a flat 4 in the warm up.

Not a great advertisement for our summer recruitment then…

 :D :suicide:

Oh crap.

Angus on the radio earlier praising our 14 recruitments😀

Gladwin has had a bash at wing back before.  From what little we have seen, I'd not pin Darcy down aas right back potential though.

Oh this surprises me. Hope it works.

I reckon he's taking the assumption that Rochdale are playing for the point and we won't need to defend much. with the mckirdy red card the other week at home darcy did actually play a rwb role and did it very well.

I see the ‘Lindsey needs to change formation’ gang are now ‘Lindsey has changed formation took often’ gang.

Only happy when they are moaning.

Also what’s happened to the pitch? Looks absolutely awful…

This seems reasonable, if you're not expecting the full backs to have to defend then you can pick a more attacking player there. Although to be honest, Hutton and Shade *are* attacking full backs (or at least, they don't appear to be defensive ones).

Interested to see how it plays out.

Ground looks sparsely populated

If I were Rochdale I wouldn’t be coming to winless Swindon for a point…

For some reason I have no volume on IPTV, anyone else?

Any risk of switching the commentary on, iFollow?

No away Comms either, just louder crowd noise.

Good start

1-0 Wakeling.

Hahahaha that was so bad.

Wakeling’s gonna be a hit here isn’t he

I’ve absolutely no idea what to expect from today. But I hope we win a football game. Not going to an attempt a guess at the score, it’ll be completely futile

I think you'd have to call that a gift. Good finish from Wakeling though.

One nil up already seconds after I post that? Bloody nora. Get in

Super, Super Jay
Super, Super Jay
Super, Super Jay
Super Jacob Wakeling

Darcy and McKirdy linking up well.

Gladwin again fucks up on the ball and loses it but we get away with that.

And then Gladwin wins it well outside their box to set up Harry.

Almost like Lindsay knows what he's doing. :girlgiggle:

Darcy shoots and the keeper saves it.

Great hit Darcy, surprised that didn't take the keeper into the net.

We will see ;)

Great play by Gladwin there.

Gladwin is playing quite a free role, drifting around all over the place and causing them problems.

Clayton header unmarked saved by the keeper.

Gotta win this, so far Rochdale are the worst team I’ve seen in a long time, obsessed with playing out from the back but their centre backs can barely control a ball. Toum’s looks like he did for us, miles off the pace.

Their number 11 Odoh is a real handful.

That looks like Harry's done something muscular.

I’m not a fan of him but he is playing very well

Not looking good.

He's causing both defences problems, been caught in possession outside our box a couple of times but also starting every attack for us and they can't deal with him at all.

Harry really struggling.

He was stretching Tuesday

Got away with that from Odoh.

Ooof that was a good chance.

Yeah, real let off that one!

Desperate defending by Town again.

Gladwin wins a FK just outside the box after good play by Williams.

Terrible free kick by Reed.

Marcus has not been available much in the off season so they have been contracting a less experienced (in football pitch terms) person to manage the pitch, i think that why it shows.  Hopefully Marcus will be back more permanently at some point to do his magic and get it back up to scratch.

Khan and Darcy seem to have swapped RB/CM

We need a second ASAP to kill this off

Good take by Brynn there.

Wakeling shot from 20 yards but its saved.

Williams should have done better there but gives the ball away again which lets them break.

Salford and Orient both leading again.

Probably on account of being a changeling
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/2TUJD133ru3ug/giphy.webp?cid=6c09b952212c41912847bdfdb63754366cda67da9ab61efe&rid=giphy.webp&ct=g)

Good ball down the line from Reed to McKirdy but Harry tries a shot quickly thats wild and wide.

Shows, at this rate it’s going to be a mess come winter.

But but but…. Marcus takes all the glory….

Poor shot by Khan from the angle there.

It's better now than it was ahead of the Salford game, big concerns in the lead up to that one..

 ???

Looking a bit vulnerable, especially on our right, to be expected I guess. Not sure we are getting the positioning right when we lose the ball. At times big gaps between the defence and midfield. It’s quite easy for single midfield runners to find space (for both teams tbf) Their 11 looks quite handy, don’t think the rest of their side is quite up to his speed thankfully.

We are deffo the better side, would really like a two goal cushion.

Rochdale score but its offside...just.

Signs that Reed is starting to find his range at last..

Last nights tweets….

Yeah did notice it was especially streaky then as well.

Oh, didn't see them..

HT 1-0

Not bad really.

Advisory board thread.

Not a bad start, should have had a couple of goals, however we look cagey at the back, especially down the right hand side. We need another goal.

Rochdale look really poor at times.

My only gripe is that we’re not out of sight.

Very entertaining game but whether that’s down to Dale being so open I don’t know.

Wakeling continues to impress.

Tim Brooke-Taylor looks solid.

Williams and Reed getting up to speed. Khan doing well.

Gladwin has pinched a lot of balls of their midfield but spoiled it by his usual casualness in our own half - playing well, though.

McKirdy a bit meh.

Darcy bit of a revelation.

Can we ride our luck without needing at least another goal or 2?

I have been staying away from pretty much anything to do with Swindon on SM recently, my life is a lot better off for it - haven't seen anything of the Advisory board stuff tbh

We won't learn much about ourselves from this game, other than don't play Darcy at right back against any other team than Rochdale.

They are awful, truly awful.  Very pretty on the ball before they lose it in dangerous positions, over and over again.

We'd be about 3 down against a proper team, but as it is we should already be home and dry.  We will win this easily, they simply can't stop giving away chances and where we do have talent is going forward.

Make hay while the sun is shining.

Interesting half that one. Rochdale aren't very good, but they're unusually not very good in that they absolutely are trying stuff and attacking, just look shaky as fuck at the back and can't really finish either. Their #11 Odoh is the epitome of that, looks really good on the ball but missed a really good opportunity. Bad in both boxes, quite fun in between them.

Most of our attacking players are having their best games of the season (probably because Rochdale are really quite dodgy defensively) - Gladwin is drifting around all over the place and starting attacks, they can't pick him up at all - he has also been caught in possession in our own final third twice however. Reed looks much brighter. Khan hasn't done much with the ball, but has had a couple of really good wins of possession. Wakeling is an absolute pest, pressing their defence who look likely to give him the ball at every opportunity. FBT has made a couple of excellent tackles.

Darcy at RB (most of the time, Khan has swapped in/out at least once) is good going forward and linking up really well but has been out of position defensively a fair bit as you'd expect. To be fair, Hutton was out of position plenty too, so no worse defensively and contributing a lot more in posession.

We're winning, we deserve to be ahead, but we've been a little open to their attacks too.  

Darcy should be given a chance in a proper position for him, quite lively.  Wakeling is a bit Yates like, he will have a good season I think.

Yates is the obvious comparison, but I'm seeing a bit of Simon Cox - not a big guy, but very happy to put himself about physically and discomforts defenders. Not shown a penchant for long range wonder goals yet but I'm excited to see it...

Promising half. Clearly better than them for me.

Need a second if we can, feel like they could really die off if we do.

Would like to see us press their defence as they are trying to pass it about but do not look comfortable at doing it.

Nobody has been notably poor I don’t think. Would be good to see Williams and McKirdy get on the ball a bit more.

Not sure that’s true, we were more open on Tuesday against the leagues best so far and largely got away with it. League 2 and all that.

2-0

2-0 Willo.

Lovely! Really good support line from Williams, not completely sure Wakeling passed it but it works out well.

Nicely worked, good time to score as well.  :)

Yeah actually on second viewing, you are right, just a heavy touch, good supporting run from JW though

Khan has Inspector Gadget legs where he just sneaks them in front of a running player and nicks the ball, done it three times already. Really handy ability to have.

Great pass from Khan to Wakeling and perfect pass(!) to Williams for the goal, great move.

Rochdale are trying to pass it around but their players do not have the ability to complete most of them.

Hockaday is a real tedious commentator isn't he?

Understatement of the season :)

Oh good it’s not just me.

Good chance for McKirdy but he cant get enough on the ball in the 6 yard box.

Gladwin fucks up a great chance in the box, oh dear.

Quite amused by him channelling the stats thread though "no points for passes completed, only stat that matters is goals". Not a Garnerball devotee.

I can't work out why he is though!🙂He doesn't talk utter bollocks, he just grates

We are playing much better this 2nd half .... yet again.

We are tearing them apart in the last 10 mins.

Rochdale look worse this half. We should be looking for a clean sheet today, would be a good confidence builder.

Its the accent.

Harry felled 25 yards out.

He also talks very slowly…

Att: 8,327 with 122 Dales.

Reed FK just wide with the keeper well beaten.

Rochdale look like sitting ducks now.

Great move by Williams and Blake-tracey, keeper puts it out for a corner.

They do, their heads dropped with the 2nd goal.

Brynn saves with his legs.

MacDonald definitely moved his head towards Henderson there, seems completely unnecessary.

I think that’s their first on target?

I think it is.

Aguiar on for Khan, Shade on for Williams

Williams got much better 2nd half.

Great chance for Wakeling after a run by Harry but the keeper gets a foot to it.

'Wakeling will be having nightmares about that miss' is a bit harsh as it was Aguiar unless they've swapped numbers.

3-0 Harry

Nice move, big chance missed there, surprised McKirdy passed it!

Edit, didn’t pass it that time! Get in, goal difference back level as well.  :D

Wakeling gets the credit for Ricky's assist too. Have they changed shirts or am I going mad?

Wow. It’ll be a long time before you see a worst football league team than this lot!

Well done Harry Mac.Major fears alleviated

Rode our luck a bit first half with them having a couple of good chances but 2nd half its been all Swindon, pretty impressive at times.

Well we are going to win.

No doubt people will put it down to Rochdale being shit (and nothing else) because that’s the most negative spin they can put on it

Another chance for Town, corner.

Another corner to Town.

I mean, Rochdale are shit, or at least have been second half. But plenty to like in our performance all the same.

Exactly that…

Rochdale have tried to play football and pass it but they are very weak, but you can only beat whats in front of you and this 2nd half was about as good as any we saw under Garner for me.

4 mins added time.

Harry comes back to right back to get the ball then goes off on a run and goes 50 yards and wins a free kick 25 yards out.

Tails up now. Can only beat what’s in front of you. Very professional management of the game in the 2nd half on our part, impressive number of chances created. Could still manage a 4th you feel.

Defensively not tested as much today. Our offside trap has been more of a feature this game, not sure if that is necessarily by design, but effective enough, I’m giving them credit for it anyway.

Gladwin free kick on target but at the keeper.

Aguiar header just saved in the top corner.

Rochdale are a broken team.

We have played very well this half though.

FT 3-0.

Good performance.

Can't argue with that. Well in Swindon!

Enjoyed that, 3-0 about right. Well done lads, hopefully can kick on with a bit more confidence now.

Good win, hopefully this is the turning point with Wakeling probably MoM. Rochdale comfortably the worst side I have seen in a long time consistently creating their own problems.

Hopefully it will calm the nerves a bit!  Some good individual performances by the sound of it as well.....

Rochdale put to rest the adage that there are no easy games in football - that was a walk in the park.  They will go down.

Could have been a bigger margin, some good performances on the front foot.

Wakeling looks a good prospect.

Please, please, never, ever, play Darcy at right back ever again.  He really cannot defend for toffee - an average team would have really made us pay for that decision.  On the flip side, to show I am not just trying to find negatives, please, please, get Darcy into the midfield somehow.  He is a little livewire on the ball, maybe with more potential than Payne.

Not sure we learned an awful lot about our prospects other than the fact there are indeed some teams out there we will easily finish above.

Still have no idea about Adeloye - how can a player manage to be nowhere near anything - did he even manage to get a touch?

You take these when they are presented to you - for the poor performances in previous games, getting those points from the draws become valuable when you can put a team to the sword as easily as this.  You do not have to be a great team to end up in a good position in this league.

Oh, and Hawes seems unable to tell the difference between Aguiar and Wakeling when they are on together.  For anyone who listened, it was the former who set up the third goal.  He looked like he has a bit more about him physically.

Struggled with Blake Tracey and Williams too.

He made one really quite decent tackle to stop a counter attack. Think that might have been it, but he was only one seven minutes.

You're right about Aguiar/Wakeling though - Aguiar both missed the chance just before and set up the third.

Agree Darcy at right back is a defensive issue, but it's not exactly like Hutton has shown any semblance of defensive positioning and Darcy was excellent going forwards.

Good lift for us, a couple of town end stewards being pricks though. I only kicked off because they decided to try and rough a couple of blokes up which nearly flattened me as I was walking by. Twats.

Agreed, seen nothing to shake the feeling that he is stealing a wage so far. That said he hasn’t exactly been given that much time to show what he can do. Hope I’m entirely wrong and we are nervously hoping to hold onto him in the Jan window as he races into double figures...

So, if we actually sign this fabled striker, who drops out?

RB has been a notable weak link for us. The Stockport scouts will not have to watch much to know to target that area.

So, not all hope lost then?

 :)

On merit possibly Khan or Williams, by the sounds of it some on here would go with Gladwin. Has been our best midfielder this season IMO though.

That said take out Khan and we suddenly look a little light on the box-to-box engine front. Not an easy decision for sure.

Williams looked less effective in the first few games than last year. Felt he had a good understanding with Iandolo and Payne. The interplay with FBT is getting somewhere though, hopefully that develops a bit more.

Do we know how long Ellis is out for?

Williams would rotate with Gladwin and Wakeling would move wider.

Williams 100%. I think he’s better off the bench anyway

Be criminal dropping Khan. Recovered ball really well today and once again played the pass that led to a goal.

and relax

Strange we had more home fans on a wet Tuesday evening then we did on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Still decent, like.

Pleased for Lindsey.

Finally a win. Relieved. Much needed 3 pts, clean sheet also. Wakeling brilliant, just terrorises the opposition and doesn’t stop and once more it earns him a goal and assist. Gladwin brilliant- key player this season. Khan brilliant again for me, wins ball back, can run up and down the pitch and did well to play the pass for the second goal. Darcy looked going forward, but as a right back, defensively he was abysmal (not his fault, he’s out of position). Rochdale carved us open 2 or 3 times down that side, no way he can play there again. A good side woulda taken advantage, Rochdale 100% will be one of, if not the, poorest sides we play this season. Blake Tracey was the standout defender, did everything well, Clayton and McDonald look good together.

Onwards and upwards, roll on Stockport away.

Couldn’t watch today, but good result and let’s hope we can use that to kick on. Big week ahead to get those reinforcements (come on Simpson, you know you want to) and hold onto Louis and Harry. Sounds like my initial gripe about signing a Burton reserve was wrong. Good 2nd half on Tuesday, and sounds like he was good today.

Orient brought 300+ more than Rochdale

I was on about home fans only

As you know money is tight and two games within four days was too much for some.

Nice to have a decent referee for a change too, didn’t really notice him which is a nice change!

Really enjoyed that. Gladwin and Khan were my MoM, Khan can both tackle and pass, which is useful for a midfielder. Gladwin looks better than at any point last season. Harry is Harry, brilliant and frustrating in equal measure. Thought we looked like we could score almost every time we went forward in the second half; Rochdales defence was dire. On the other hand; the formation (was it 4-3-3?) meant that we often seemed a bit light in midfield, giving Dale plenty of time to put moves together, luckily they were too shit to convert them. At least they tried to play; the opposite of DNBs (see Oldham last season).
Final thought, the ref had no clue what 10 yards is. FK walls were 7/8 yards at most; which is probably why both Reeds and the Rochdale FK in the same position sailed over the bar.
First win of the season, onwards and upwards x

I think the last 3 we have had have been decent enough. Generally done their best to keep things flowing.

The away team were one of the poorest sides I have seen.

Their GK did well for them.

The refereeing has generally been good in the last few games

Haven’t got over the clown show ref versus Salford yet, at least we had 1500ish more fans there today than our scummy mates up the A420 and that’s with two home games in a week and train strike!  :nod:

Just watched Ben Gladwin's post match interview, that guy really knows what he is talking about - future manager?

Just watched the goals.

Obviously a lot of talk about the Rochdale mistake for the first one and rightfully so but considering the angle and the keeper coming across Wakelings still got some work to do there.

Definitely didn’t come across like that on the comms.

Goals and conversation

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12677921/swindon-3-0-rochdale


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r8nBvmoozbg


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

Went to have a look on the Rochdale Forum to see what they thought of the game and their forum makes ours over the last few weeks look like a Zen Buddhist meditation retreat. A lot of very angry folk lashing out at each other.

Hope they pick up a bit survive, they've had enough shit luck for a while with the Curran stuff.

Really enjoyed that!  Gladwin IN

Aye. That was not easy

Really enjoyed the match today and thought we played well. Darcy, Gladwin , Khan and Wakeling did well among others. Man of the match award joint between Darcy , Wakeling and the chef at the Khyber (for a wonderful post match curry).

Thanks for those.

Find it difficult listening to Lindsey. He seems to hate doing the interview, visibly slightly annoyed by most questions and comes across as a little bit simple. Not making it easy to warm to.

Gladwin on the other hand was very reassuring. Nice to hear him talk about issues without the ball and in transition (at around 1:20 and then at 2:55). Really good to know they are all obviously well aware of the problems and are trying to fix them. Hopefully we will look less exposed against Stockport.

Train strike would of stopped some fans

I think we'll regret this win against the worst starting opposition in the league. Surely it would have been better to lose and speed up change in the management.

When the world around us is falling apart, thank goodness we’ve got miserable cunts like you to keep us grounded 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Or after a slow start we might start picking up wins (with the fans backing), build momentum and get promoted. Lindsey might even stay loyal rather than buggering off to a ‘bigger’ club at the first opportunity.

He was of course in the process of buggering off to a bigger club at the first opportunity when we offered him the top job!

Hope he does well but can't see him being any more or less likely to take a higher job if the opportunity arose than any other manager we've had.

Macari buggered off to a bigger club, but he’d taken us from our lowest ebb to the brink of the top flight.

Not suggesting SL is in the same league as Lou, but would be quite happy if he is anywhere near as successful

Seconded.

I feel I should point out that the post you are replying to was positively dripping in irony....

8,112 home fans v Orient,  8,205 yesterday.

Gladwin = League2 Glenn Hoddle. Without the religious nutjob stuff

Gnat’s nob! But you get my point.

That is either top angling or the most downbeat post of the season so far!🙂

Who knew that giving Gladwin more freedom with willing runners ahead turns him into a pretty good player at this level.

I've seen enough of Hutton and Shade. New Right back needed immediately. A right back. Not a wingback please.

The fact we had to play Darcy says it all. We've cocked it up.

Gladwin looked good on the extended highlights (afraid I couldn't be arsed with full match replay)...good post match interview as well...

I think we both know the answer to that adje ;)

I did watch it all back today. Gladwin was probably better than I thought on second viewing, as were Williams and Reed with Wakeling maybe not quite as effective as I thought but still very good mind.

I may have also been a little harsh on Adeloye. He had very little service as by the time he came on we were in full see this out mode. He won his only header, which seemed to catch everyone else by surprise as nobody anticipated it. Also had a keenly won throw-in, so that’s 2 more touches than I thought first time around!

Gladwin felt like the "main character" yesterday - he was at the centre of almost everything good we did, but also gave the ball away in really dangerous areas at least twice. Would imagine (not seen the stats) that he had more touches than anyone else in our team. He's clearly been made central to the way we play.

In part, Conroy-esque.

oh come on.

Top angling then. Fair play

Well another home game missed due to commitments made prior fixture day. Not back til the 1st October...holidays blah blah.

A much welcome win and a relief.....the whole place would of melted down if we had lost that one!

Hope we kick on.

Now read back...

Good solid win against a side completely devoid of confidence. A gift after 24 seconds gratefully gobbled up and second half could and should have scored more. The second goal also came at a good time as it completely deflated an already fragile Rochdale. We looked a lot more cohesive on Saturday, yes the defence at times at sixes and sevens and that is still a worry but there are signs Lindsey is beginning to know his best team and tactics. Darcy is a good player but is not a Right back. That might work at home when we are dominating teams (hopefully) but I suspect he won't be adopted in that position away. That said, he played very well. Reed much improved, Gladwin a Rolls-Royce of a performance and great energy by Harry and Wakeling up front. Wakeling impresses me every time I see us, never stops running and leads by example. Good goal and assist and a general nuisance.

Defensively still requires work. Angus M looks rusty at times but classy at others and I think Clayton also looks good alongside him. I wonder whether he might go with 4 at home (Mac and Clayton) and 5 away eventually. (Mac, Baudry and Clayton) We certainly have options with the squad depth. Overall not getting carried away as it was only Rochdale but surely that win will have confidence oozing through the side and we can get a result at Stockport next week.

I have been pondering Tomi Adeloye.

He has played a part in 6 games for us so far, starting at Harrogate and Walsall (I didnt see the game vs Walsall but have the rest) he came off the bench in every league game and he has probably had a total of 5 or 6 touches of the ball in those 5 games I have watched.

I have no idea if he is a good player, a decent striker/target man or even a man who can pass the ball as hes had zero service so far.

I cannot think of any player I have seen in a Town shirt that after 6 games I don't have any idea what sort of player he is yet. Admittedly in 4 games he has been on the pitch for 14, 16, 10 and 7 mins but in that time he hasnt even really got close to the ball yet, certainly not in a meaningful way.

Its quite bizarre.

After reading back a couple things I also noted that I had forgotten about. The pitch seemed either too dry or the grass was too long or something. A lot of balls first half were underhit/held up because of the pitch. Couple of times players seemed to go over on their ankles as they were caught in the pitch. I saw that there have been issues with the head groundsman and the assistant groundsman leaving so hopefully that can be sorted out. If Marcus is taking the piss after the club have taken him back on after his drink-driving offence then he needs to be given his jotters and someone more reliable taken on - obviously this is just hearsay based on some drunken deleted tweets so hopefully it's nothing more sinister at play.

Second thing that made me laugh was when Hawes was going through the scores he mentioned Doncaster had taken the lead and the conversation went something like this:

Hawes: Doncaster have taken the lead at their new stadium. Of course I remember the times before all these new fancy stadiums had been built but of course Doncaster had no choice as their ground had been destroyed in a fire. (I'm paraphrasing here, I can't remember exactly what he said)
Hockaday: Ah yeah they were the good old days
(Dramatic Pause)
Hawes: Not for the people of Doncaster during that time I suspect.

The game at Harrogate he ran around a lot, and hassled their defenders, but had so little service in an attacking sense.

I don’t know if he just doesn’t fit our style very well, or we don’t know how to use him but he’s not really had any sort of impact yet.

I heard that too and wasn't sure if it was real or a wind up, what a genuinely bizarre conversation that was.

He did run around a lot but I only remember him winning one tackle in the box and then getting us a corner, that was the sum total of him that day to me.

Has he got a "style"? I genuinely don't know, he has the build but he just doesn't seem anywhere near the play most of the time.

I don't blame him but I do blame Lindsey and the other players  for not playing to his strengths as I am sure in training Lindsey must know how good he is or can be?

So far it seems like he tells him to come on the pitch and "disrupt things in the box and cause them problems".

He does put himself about but often that is to try and win the ball from a service to him thats non existant.

I hope he comes good, he has the build and pace of Theo Robinson but so far hasn't had a chance to show us what he can do, I hope he starts in the Mickey Mouse cup next week so we can see more of him, maybe do a Fjortoft and score in that and then not stop scoring then on :)

We saw him close up in his cameo at Carlisle, a d I thought he worked hard abd showed a couple of good touches, including a difficult shot - no power on it, but it got through and the gk had to stop it. I say there is potential......

Maybe a Fjortoft in waiting.

Early days but getting serious Vincent Pericard vibs from Adeloye

Much more mobile than Pericard going by the LC game.

Or a Thomas Dossevi

Adeloye did one really good powerful run to set up shade at Walsall but hasn't really got into the games at any other point.   Not for lack of effort though, just think he lacks quality and positional sense.  

I'd say he's a squad player at the mo, can't see him starting without an injury or 2.

Not writing him off, perhaps with Mckirdy and Wakeling either side he might get more space, knick a goal and gain some confidence.  But sti doubt that will happen without injuries or suspensions.

If we do not start Adeloye soon are we not writing him off in effect anyway, in August? If he is here to play as a wide forward, then he’d be behind Wakeling, McKirdy, Williams and Shade by the looks of it. If he is here as a central striker then surely needs more of a go than 10 mins at the end of games.

Right now his future here looks to be bit part sub, followed by injury cover for new striker. Surely we recruited him for more of a role than that.