Thetownend.com

Jeez. Nobody seems arsed to do one of these. So here goes.

Piece of piss 1-4.

Bradford 2 Swindon 0 Att: 15,720 (350 Town )

Hope so !!,  but think this will really put us to the test,  only played weak sides recently and struggled against them. Bradford will be a different kettle of fish going to be a tough one but we regularly put in a better performance against better clubs. Would be happy with a point from this one but think it’s going to be a struggle.

Got a lot of time for Bradford as a club. They’ve sure paid their dues being in the basement for a while now.

Point would be great. Looks like Lindsey is going to make a few changes thus evening. Reed for Darcy maybe. Aguiar for Williams? Iandolo sneaking in there somewhere.

Not much he can change defensively and Hutton’s on fire lately.

We may not see Baudry starting tonight.

This'll be tricky. Bradford 3-1 Swindon. 16,153 with 490 away fans.



Sent from my XQ-CC54

Bradford will probably win this one- might be by the odd goal

If thats the case it was dumb loaning out Minturn. The only replacement would be to put FBT in there and start Iandolo at LB.

Yikes! Could be a painful watch!

Don't forget Brennan & Harris🤣

Surely Brennan is next in line for CB? he's not looked great so far so would need to step up quite a lot. Then you have (Hapless) Harries who I suspect won't play for us again.

Wouldn't hate seeing us go to three at the back if Baudry's not fit, try and replace one defender with two. Surprised that we haven't used both formations through the season really, we just seemed to make one change and stick with it. Suspect that would involve FBT in the back three, unless Lavinier can play there?

Would be happy with a point tonight. There's a Loathed Strangers watchalong, and I don't think they've got a win yet...

I was trying to until you brought them up! Spose Brennan would step in.

Red card, anyone?

 :clap: :clap: you could be right about a red card!

0-0 att: 15,663 (421 away)

Be very disappointed if Aguiar replaced Williams. Was hoping the reason Williams was pulled on Saturday was to save him for tonight.

Based on our subs alone, I can't see Aguiar for Williams - Aguiar has come on repeatedly for Darcy or Reed/Khan, and when Williams has come off it's been for Iandolo or Shade. Don't remember seeing Aguiar play that AML role.

I have a feeling Williams may be rested, but for Iandolo/Shade. Or maybe Aguiar for Gladwin. Simply because he was talking of freshening up the squad given Saturday, Tues, Saturday.

Neither change I'd make mind.

Wouldn't be entirely against 3 at the back as long as it's 3-5-2 not 3-4-3.  FBT into the LCB, more than likely Iandolo LWB. 

When we lined up 3-4-3 early on it was clear it wasn't working, think a team setup to play the way we do you have to have 3 CMs, would probably help out both Jephcott and Wakeling too.  Presents the problem of who misses out between Gladwin, Williams, Darcy, Kahn/Reed.  Could be a good way to get through the WC without Williams.  Always got players off the bench to change easily to a 4-3-3, could even do it without changes assuming Iandolo is at LWB.

I guess Brennan could come in for Baudry and keep the same shape. But we would be pretty inexperienced in a key area.

Pre match very much an offcumdun in The Turls Green.
So, Bratferd, City of Culture 2025.
Fair enough when taking into account some of the failed candidates from years gone by.
Stoke in particular springs to mind.

The National Museum of Science & Media looks like a good place to visit one day. Bit busy by all accounts so probably best to stay in the pub on this occasion.
Anyway, you can't beat a bit of faded Victorian grandeur.

Diwali fireworks aplenty last night.
Hopefully no damp squibs in a red, green or white shirt tonight.
A Darcy detonation from the right foot or a Reed rocket maybe.
Would like to see the latter start.
Baudry as well, who could be the best available option to deal with an in form & experienced striker.
A back three maybe?

With the lost points from winning positions we would be clear at the top. A funny old game.
Then again, also applies to other clubs.
Not seen a comeback to earn points yet. That might be required tonight.
The spirit is there methinks, suspect that the required grit & determination for nights like this might be in there somewhere as well.
We'll be hard pressed for sure particularly with the thread title in an unfamiliar format.
Fair play for Audrey for stepping up late in the day where others feared to tread.

Much prefer under the lights away with a big crowd.
Far better than a soul destroying experience with 2000 or so there. Sutton away next year, can't wait.

Happy birthday to Don Rogers, enjoy the game and ah'll sithee.
Bring Indoor League back & into home counties living rooms I say. An ideal levelling up measure if ever there was one.

Williams will get plenty of rest in a few weeks - unless he's had a knock surely he can play 60-70, his fitness has looked good all season.   Baudry is the worry for me, would be a risk to play him 3 times in a week and no obvious replacement.

This week for me will show us where we are at, Bradford/Mansfield. Automatic/play offs/ fuck all. We seem to have a relatively settled side with slight tweaks here and there. 6 points by Saturday evening? Too much to ask for?

Hi Mex
Hope all's well in your world?
Like your idea of  an additional 6 points by Saturday evening.
COYMRs

Favourite away day of last season, McKirdy ran himself into the ground, refused to accept the draw and dragged the rest of lads with him. Hopeful about a smash and grab 1-0 victory tonight.

Aye, same here re away day.

Good test for Lindsey tonight as well to pit his wits against a very experienced manager with a stellar playing career.
Very rare for an ex PL manager to drop down to L2.
There are career opportunities to be had in leading a relatively big club back up through the divisions.
Same for Mark Hughes as well.

No Jephcott, Baudry or Darcy

In come Brennan, Iandolo and Aguiar.

meh. weak on paper but that's not always a good guage!

I guess we don't know how many knocks and aches we are protecting

Aguiar favoured over Reed.
Starting to think there has been a falling out there, especially with Reeds old man’s tweets.

What has he been tweeting?

The last tweet was something along the lines of ‘im really struggling to bite my tongue now’ and the one before was something about ‘truth coming out’

Both now deleted.

That’s how I understand it - I tried to put that an hour ago but couldn’t get any network. Hopefully this doesn’t backfire!

This side selection better pay off or Lindsey going to get some serious stick.

Interesting. 3-4-1-1 or something? Or just the normal formation with Iandolo left, Williams right and Wakeling central?

Baudry I understand. Darcy I understand if it was Reed replacing him. Jephcott I kinda understand if we’re looking to bulk up the midfield. Iandolo starting is a worry as I’m not sure as to his fitness.

Soon tell, I suppose.

Brennan and jephcott are my worries.

Reed should be in too.

I think iandolo's fitness will be ok. I know I've not been his biggest fan but he'll be ok on the left mid if that's where he's playing

Feel like this needed to happen. A change of formation to suit jephcott and darcy or different players in for them. We are doing good in form but are lacking a bit in fluidity.

Brannan was a quality signing, he needs to step up and show us why tonight as he hasn't done so far.

A very interesting line up and i actually admire lyndsey for not just continuing with the same team and experimenting.

It’s a gamble.

Not sure how we are lining up.
Lindsey will get pelters if we lose.

Interesting. We may find out more in due course. Feel like he may be moving on in Jan and that may help free up some funds if he does.

I dont think that Reed has been missed

I'm guessing same formation.
Iandolo in for Jephcott, Wakeling goes central.
Aguiar in for Darcy & Brennan for Baudry as direct replacements.

Could work.

 :hmmm: No Lavinier in the squad- is he injured ?

He hasn't. Not the way he was playing prior to his dropping

For the first time in my life I have money on Bradford to win.

enjoyable opening 15. Aguiar should have done better with the header though. With such little game time he's looking off the pace

Exciting game! Aguiar should have scored.

Some challenges going in! We look massively shaky at the back and slow out of possession in midfield

Good start Town

Interesting start

Just tuned in from, ahem Europe. Interesting changes today, let’s see if it works. Always a shame when you hear of falling out (Reed) was a key player for us last year, hope the episode has no negative impact on our season. He has not had the same impact so far it has to be said.

A win would feel quite significant tonight. COYR

Available to UK based viewers as well

Looks bad for FBT

Habit now tbh. Gone with Cyprus today!

yeah, FBT will be a huge loss

thats a big loss

sub time. shade to left. dolo to left back

Williams on corners today I see

They should have scored

Khan not as sharp today. Keeps slowing the ball down when it comes to him.

Certainly have attack minded FBs both sides now. I hope we see plenty of attacks down the wings, could be handy on the break, equally worry a bit with positional discipline when we lose it.

Bit too ponderous so far. They have brought their defensive line up a little. We are not having as much ball as usual.

It had been coming, hint of offside?

looked offside for sure.

we needed to get through that spell of ascendancy of Bradford's

oh well.

they have been the better team for last 10. did have hint of offside

Defo offside. Their goal was coming though.

Danger of conceding again if we're not careful. All them now.

Yard offside

We have zero control over this game. It’s frantic, hot and hope and suits them way more than it does us.

Usual for us. Concede and panic like fuck.

Aguiar passenger.

needs game time, but throwing him in this game....

Reed or Darcy needed .. assuming the latter

Annoying that one. The passer was not that far behind the scorer. Seems like a linesman in a decent position should have been able to see that.

We look rattled. Need to get to HT without conceding.

After a good start, we’re chasing shadows now.

Aguiar is having a shocker.

It’s like Bradford have 14 players on the pitch. We are not getting a sniff of the ball

The goal was onside unfortunately.

Should have experimented against Hartlepool not tonight! 😳

Yes, I thought so. Very well timed run.

Aguiar can have very nice touches but the midfield game so odften passes him by - as tonight.

Looks on

Need a response and some answers 2nd half. Have been second best for most of this, Bradford to give credit have looked decent, we don’t look as cohesive with or without the ball.

Need some of our match winners to show their quality in the danger zone. Doesn’t look like we will have the luxury of shit loads of possession tonight.

time to earn your crust now Mr Lindsey.

we are miles off since the injury. to carry on is folly. Need to try something different

Completely even first 30. Not in it all last 15 due to being caught in possession far too often

It does. Weird what bias does. I watched it back about 5 times, convinced it was more and more offside every time. Good run, good ball, good touch good finish then.

HT, could have been worse. Must do better Town.

Grateful for 0-1

We are 2nd to every ball.  Even in our own third.

I missed the FBT injury.  Is it superficial or does it risk him missing games?

Bradford are a useful side. I reckon that Lindsey will make some adjustments in the 2nd half

Even game until injury, being overrun in midfield, aguiar a passenger

started the best first 20, bradford started to put pressure on but everything was at a distance and comfortable for brynn. scored a good goal- been all bradford with the ball since the goal.

our midfield has been a worry quite a while now. the defence and attack have managed to keep teams out and create chances but not a lot of control through the middle. away at bradford we need a bit more control.

wakeling is almost getting on the end of a lot of good balls in behind. almost

best chance was williams whipped in cross when at least 2 town players should have made contact a few yards out.

keep it 1 nil for the next 15 and go for it. these are world beaters, their form suggests we are still in the game

We need more presence in midfield I think. Khan having his poorest game and on a yellow.

Head cut. Should be fine I’d have thought.

RedRag - risk of missing Saturday. It could be concussion. will have to see

Think he escaped one. Iandolo’s in the book though. Agree Khan hasn’t been great.

commentary mentioned off for stiches. so you would think no time off. whether or concussion protocol affects timeframe not sure

Not sure how thorough concussion protocols are. If similar to Rugby, then zero chance he makes Saturday.

36.4% possession according to ifollow.

we aren't dominating the ball :)

Aah,my mistake.

One positive for me,Clayton giving a good account of himself

Only player coming out of this one with any credit so far. Gladwin not awful either.

Much better Town

started the half brightly again.

Khan resurrected

wakeling should have scored after brilliant play

And again,great work from Wakey. Khan definitely improved

Why does Gladwin always think he can walk the ball out in front of his defence? Every. Single. Game.

was wakeling playing through the middle first half. he's suddenly looking dangerous

Wakeling has had 3 chances in 10 mins

I'd be interested to see Jephcott and Wakeling in a two. Now would be a good time.

Khan nearly gifts a 2nd. Then we are at 6s and 7s!

Aguiar off for Darcy thank god

We have and they haven't clicked. Wakeling struggles like he did in the first half.

Aguiar who's done nothing for Darcy

have we? when?

This is either gonna be 1-1 or 2-0

Great ball from Gladwin to Hutton who crossed but Walking slid in behind defender who cleared

We have to score in this period of domination

Last 2-3 games

Darcy has already done far more than Aguiar did in the whole 60 minutes he played.

Darcy more in 10 than Aguiar in 60

he's played deep, almost midfield. imo

no way have we played 2 up top.

we played with jephcott on his own, isolated, and hope wakeling or Williams can get up to help

they can't

Only in a 3, not a 2. Plymouth fans said Jephcott is best in a front two, it'd be good to find out.  

it was a beauty.

we need to build on passes inside the wide defender

not even a 3 imo. not in the Barry, Davison, McKirdy of list year style anyway

Brennan ffs. We need cover at CB.

Gladwin 35 yard shot. Thought keeper had misjudged and it crept in...but it didn't!

Yes, good point. We've gone 442, fingers crossed it's not shite.

jephcott on

have we finally gone 2 up front?

Wakeling with a great shoulder drop and turn sees him and Darcy breaking clear. But Wakeling fails to put Darcy through and Crichlow clears

Had the chances. Just not the quality when it matters... Yet

Iandolo typically disappoints. He’s almost a player.

Whose our penalty taker?!

1-1

Missed

Goal

Phew. Not a great pen.

beauties

Deserved that

Deserved that bit of luck.

We’ve earned that this half. Good game of football.

So well deserved. Quality second half

Phew

Never a fk that

Fml that was close

1-1 ft. Good result.

Is that the first point we’ve got from a losing position

Well lost my bet but got a point. Happy with that.

Excellent second half showing that!!

Good point that  :beers:

Lindsey did well to get a point in the end

Only listened on the wireless but didn’t hear Brennan mentioned much - so assume he had a solid assured game?

Not bad for someone who some fans have already written off.

that's a great point.

thought we needed changes as half time but we have been good throughout the half to be honest.

it was just that awful spell after the injury where we really looked dodgy.

fair fucks for actually changing shape and chasing the point too.

satisfied to largely match a good team in their own patch

Not particularly impressive. Clayton looked better, especially the first half.

Darcy and Wakeling deciding to start playing changed the game for me.

We deserved that. Aside from 20-45 mins, when Bradford were all over us, that’s the best I’ve seen us play this year…. So much more energy in the performance.

In fairness has there been a game this season where Clayton hasn’t looked the better of the two centr halves?

deserved point. never a pen on first viewing but long overdue from some awful pen decisions in recent weeks. 2nd half very good and 1st 20 view good so i think we edged that game.

wakeling did so much but 'almost' summed up his whole night. we had numerous chances but can't beat a last minute goal that means something.

cb pairing did very well. brannan will do well for those minutes. wins at home, points away...

Really? Looked pretty much like a handball to me.

Great point, think Bradford will be kicking themselves not to have finished some of their chances and got stung late on, but it’s happened to us enough times.

Pen was an odd one, hand by his side but sort of moved his whole body towards it. Honestly no idea what the rule is with that.

Don't think Darcy "decided to start playing" more Lindsey decided to bring him on!

2 good teams having a real go at each other. The current top 7 is looking like it could be the final top 7

Was listening to the Bradford commentary… we’re mentioning about being 4th and mentioned the commentators curse, sure enough, a few minutes later 1-1 🤣

The introduction of Darcy was the key to that result in my opinion

Don't think he'll keep with the starting Aguiar experiment for a while.

Big shout to the 357 Town fans there tonight.

No disrespect to Aguiar,but I hope not

Entertaining 2nd half. Got some reward in the end, well done lads. Bet that felt good. Should afford us some confidence when we go behind. Much improved 2nd half, I get the sense Bradford were probably at close to their best for some of that. Good away point.

Agreed, he was a breath of fresh air. Good resilient performance that.

Thought we were brilliant second half. Pretty much one way traffic against a decent side.

Some of Wakeling's turns were superb. The lads did well and kept going until we got the goal we deserved.

Don't think there was a bad performer out there. Aguiar maybe slightly out of his depth at times. Shade doesn't quite do enough with the ball. Other than that, good performances all round. Stood up to a tough challenge tonight.

We definitely need to keep Wakeling central.
We probably need to get Jephcott in.
Looks like we’re going to have to go 442

Bradford were a good side, probably the best I have season this season. Entertaining game. Pleased we went 2 up top. Wakeling looked better in the central role with some super turns.

Darcy was being protected with feeling calf, hence not starting

Reed - khan is playing out skin. he's done nothing wrong. Reed might have to be patient - he's a great footballer that fits our style

(not convinced on the last one)

I thought Lindsey sounded quite convincing, said Reed is being a good pro, that he would have to be patient and wait for his chance as Saidou playing so well.

he did. And we can see khan's form is better than reeds was.

I'm surprised he's not come on as sub at all though.

I probably just love a drama.

There probably is some undercurrent of drama. Lindsey did mention (probably in his pre match presser I think) that some players are unhappy at not being picked so maybe that applies to LR.

Win at Mansfield on Saturday and it would top off an excellent week. Won't be easy but Newport got a point there tonight. Mansfield played half an hour with 10 men after James Perch got himself sent off.

in truth 2 points on the road wouldn't be a disaster and would cement being able to mix it up with promotion rivals..

I'll take 4 though

Agree with you - i'd take another point but am greedy for three. Especially after browsing Mansfield's forum - no goal threat and Clough making weird team selection decisions.

After watching that second half tonight I fully believe we can go and get a win there.

Also. Good to see Iandolo get through 90 minutes and get through them well

Spot on especially after he was given a lot of stick last week on here.

Would be good to see Louis Reed as the guest player in the press conference for Mansfield. That could quickly quash any negativity.

Well deserved point gained from a losing position.
Very happy.
Good effort from the away contingent as well.

And to the ball boy behind the Bradford goal 2nd half, up yours.  :smugfu:

Agree with you last point!

Really enjoyed the game. Town lost their way in the first half after 25 minutes.
However, good second half and deserved a point.
This team really misses a McKirdy ???
COYMRs 

What did he do?

Wasted time in a very irritating manner!

Bit of a shiner, but otherwise OK

Good attendance for Bradford fans. Seem to get 16k most home games. What was the atmosphere like?

They do as they’ve sold season tickets for under £200 for the past few seasons. Seems to work for them.

Atmosphere was good when they got going.
Two high stands helps to keep the noise in I guess.
They operate with a drum though.

There was no noise when I went there many years ago midweek when the away fans were all clustered behind one of the goals!

It was the first year they tried to rename 'linesmen' to 'referee's assistants'. One 'lino' was having a 'mare, continually flagging dodgy offsides (against both sides).

Midway through the second half, the lino flagged (once again on a tight offside) and the referee blew up. There was a collective groan across the stadium. Then one card in the right corner, behind the lino shouted 'No wonder you're only the f'ing assistant!'

It was heard by everyone and a wave of chucking spread round the ground. A rather sheepish lino could be seen turning visibly red! 

Bradford fans saying their player’s arm wasn’t in an unnatural position - which it wasn’t. But looking at it he did lean in towards the ball - which is a penalty.

On to Saturday and an out of sorts Mansfield. 3 points please.

Fully behind Lindsey now. Thought second half we were excellent. The squad overall is a lot better than last year, may not be as much quality in the first XI but we can affect games from the bench now. Subs did well when they came on yesterday. Really think we can come close to autos this year, the league isn’t strong and it doesn’t take much to get to top 3. Couple additions in January and if we’re close I can see us getting in that top 3.

my biggest bug bear with Lindsey was he was rigid with formation and when things were going wrong just stuck to it but changed the players.

last night he didn't do that. he changed it up.

I'm still not a massive fan of Jephcott up top on his own, we don't create enough.

But you can't argue with the results. Ok its taken a hand ball to get a point,  but the second half I thought we were easily as good and probably a bit better than them.

If we can be competitive at Mansfield maybe the fan base will start to believe. maybe they are already

It was definitely an odd one, think you've described it perfectly. Not really sure how the law is worded here, but he's definitely not in an unnatural position, but definitely has moved his arm and body towards the ball.

Our first draw in 12 games last night, since Gillingham.

Thought he tried to chest it and missed. Unlucky, but penalty all the same.

The handball law is in a very sad state indeed.

Absolutely, that shouldn’t really be penalty in a million years but the shit rules are what they are so we deserve to benefit from them

Love the way the Bradford fans unknowingly celebrate our equaliser

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Lz4N-4hLM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fn65QVAnVwQ&t=6s

I enjoyed that game - two good sides playing football and a decent referee too. Hughes has transformed Bradford’s style of play after last season’s more physical approach.
We started well, Blake-Tracey injury unsettled us - but regrouped after half time. Some positive subs from Lindsey and a well deserved point. Hopefully the doubters will start to get behind what is a decent team taking shape - the missing piece is we need to be more clinical with our final ball and finishing. We feel more resilient than some previous Swindon teams - getting wins and draws rather than draws and defeats in close games.

I said after Saturday’s win that two or three points from Bradford and Mansfield would be a good return, and I’d still be happy with a draw on Saturday.
January will be key - need to keep Brynn and Blake-Tracey and get another goal scoring forward in.

I think this sums up last night well. I was impressed with Bradford and was pleased to only go in at half time 1-0 down. We looked a little on the ropes but came out strongly in the second half and upped our game. The only negatives for me was a poor performance from Aguiar and some sloppy moments from Gladwin (got caught on the ball at least 3 times in deep areas) and Ellis in particular. (gave the ball away quite a few times but was generally solid) Darcy coming on definitely changed things, Bradford looked a little tired and his energy definitely seemed to add something. Yes the penalty was probably a shade fortunate but no more than we deserved on the second half showing. Bradford will be kicking themselves for not putting the game to bed. Lee Angol could have squared to an unmarked player to put the game to bed but didn't. And more fortune with the penalty save rebounding back to Jeff Cott and then an injury time free kick whistling past Brynn's post. (I couldn't watch and went for an early post match piss)

I have to also give credit to Bradford comms who were much less bias than a lot of northern Ifollow commentary teams. I noted a few times that they said how good a side we were and how well they played. Schoolboy error to give out the 'as it stands' table position after 82 minutes as well, good old commentators curse! :)

My one concern going forward is that our only source of creating regular chances seems to be Hutton down the right and his delivery into the box. If teams get wise to that, it may hinder us further. We seem to lack that danger down the left and probably need to do something about that to make us harder to play against. Some of Gladwin's passes to Hutton were class last night, such an elegant footballer if he can cut out his habit of taking too long on the ball.

Fair point but the goal came from the left

Factually accurate and I was going to caveat that in my statement but forgot! :)

I thought their coms team were dreadful & very bias! Probably one of the worse pair I've listened too!

Horses for courses I suppose. Mansfield's last season were the pinnacle of diabolical and bias. One 'amusing' think I noticed was the main commentator's penchant to use the full name of our players, Thomas Clayton and Soloman Brynn the standouts!

🙂
 think we may see a bit more if Iandolo gets regular appearances. Great left foot

Yeah, if Ellis can replace FBT he definitely potentially has a good delivery on him. But that's a big if, as FBT hasn't done anything wrong so far in that position.

What really impressed me last night kind of goes with what you are worried about there Bob. The line up was very attacking and Ellis working to press in that front 3 but being naturally left gave FBT more space and i thought the first 20 mins we were superb, even the Bradford comms said they are struggling to get a foothold in the game.

I know he gets a lot of stick but the manager proved his worth last night a few times. The initial team selection caused them issues and it looks like after the shaky last 20 he got into them at half time and we started stronger then he made the right changes

Good on him.

That's a great point Dean, we were great in the first 20 minutes and it was only after FBT went off that Bradford got that foothold. As you said, seemed a different side in the second half that ended the first on the ropes and after he switched Darcy for the ineffectual Aguiar, we really got into Bradford. Credit to SL and team for picking up that point at a very tricky place to go.

Bradford fans must be tearing their hair out, that's 2 last minute penalties in 2 seasons we've scored against them at Valley Parade to deny them points! :)

Definitely a lot more flexibility than Garner ever employed during his tenure here.

I agree, looks like he is willing to try the changes rather than be forced to

And he hasn't been afraid to drop Reed either who definitely was below par earlier on in the season. Reed did set himself a hugely high bar last season to be fair.

I'd say that was the first game he's tried something different during the game. At least for a while?

Credit where its due and all that mind.

Think that's unfair even the dropping of Reed, playing Wakeling wide-switching fullbacks. He has made quite a few in game changes to fair. Whether they have worked or not is a different story but he has shown to be very flexible i thought

I think Batch is referring to an in game tactical switch as opposed to making subs and switching players around.  So last nights move from the 4-3-3 with two wide players and reverting to a sort of old skool Ardiles Christmas tree/Diamond.  It moved Wakeling next to Jephcott with Shade dropping in behind the two.

I thought we were brilliant for about the first 14 minutes, then Bradford got their act together and we never really recovered. Watching the pressure we were piling on early doors, it did have the feel that if we didn't score soon we'd probably regret it.

Poor showing after that and fortunate they gifted us with a penalty.

Still, a good point overall.

You thought we were poor in the second half?

away to a team in the playoffs:

Possession
Home  56%   Away  44%

Shots
Home  14   Away   17

Shots on Target
Home 5   Away   8

Corners
Home  4   Away  10

that is a deserved point as a minimum.

I thought second half we were well deserved for a goal. We looked a completely different team. Enjoyed watching that

According to XG stats we give up more clear cut chances than any other club in L2 which is a bit concerning.

According to data from The Analyst, Swindon have given up the  highest open play xG in League Two, having conceded 14.19 across their 16 matches.

This stat shows in very basic terms that there is a problem defensively for Town as they are consistently conceding high quality chances, however it does not show what is going wrong in their structure to cause them to give away these opportunities.

To attempt to diagnose what frequent problems that existed in the Swindon defence, I decided to watch back every goal that Swindon have conceded this season to see if there were any patterns and themes to the goals opposition teams were scoring.

Chance Location   Volume
Left   3
Right   3
Centre   6
Goal type   Volume
Turnover/ transition/ counter attack   6
Set Piece   3
Error   1
Cross/ cutback   5
The things which came up frequently were that Swindon struggled defensively when they were not able to be in their set shape, two of the three set piece goals were conceded during the second phase, and four out of the five crosses were scored either in transition or in the second phase of the original cross.

When Swindon are able to keep their shape and defend in the positions they are comfortable in they rarely give away goals and chances, but when they aren’t allowed to be in position then they struggle.

Swindon have the second highest average possession in League Two with 59% and it is natural for a possession based team to concede more goals in moments of transition as opposition teams will rarely sustain attacks for long periods because they have fewer of these moments within games.

Swindon have conceded most of their goals originating from central areas, but this is slightly deceptive as that has changed as the season has gone on.

It would appear that area of weakness has been solved in the last few games but instead Swindon have become more exposed out wide, possibly due to the higher positions the full-backs have been taking up.

Prior to Tyreik Wright’s opener for Bradford, the previous four goals Town had conceded were all scored by third man runs by players who were not the striker in a situation where Swindon had not been able to regroup defensively.





This shows the centre backs have more or less done their jobs defensively as the last striker to have scored against Swindon was Ryan Taylor for Grimsby Town, but the players in front of them have not been recovering well enough to prevent midfielders and wide players from scoring.

There are two potential explanations for that, it could either be because of a lack of effort in recovery from players in forward areas or that Swindon's rest defence is putting players in positions which make it difficult to effectively get back and stop the opposition.

Their current shape when Swindon have the ball creates a four-man box in the middle of the pitch where the two centre backs and the two deeper midfielders are the deepest players and puts Swindon in a good position to stop counter attacks coming up the middle.

In doing this, it creates space out wide for teams to attack and this has been causing problems as it is in these situations where goals are coming from.

However, football is all about compromise as you will never be able to cover off the whole pitch with 11 players, so if Lindsey believes that playing this way is going to lead to his side scoring more goals than they concede then it is a risk worth taking.

However, if it continues to be an achilles heel that costs them then Lindsey needs to look to to strike a balance between getting players forward to be creative and score goals, but also being aware of space behind them and being in the right places for when the ball does change hands.

Overall ranking the last 75 minutes, we were poor. We did improve after the break on the 2nd quarter though and seemed to calm in defense, but we didn't really look that threatening second half. Nothing like we did at the start of the game.

I've said a few times I'm surprised we haven't been pumped by 7 or 8 goals on a few occasions and been shot down as being overly negative, but glad to know that statistics out there prop up that I'm not totally mental.

The one positive thing is, the level of attacking we're up against is also a bit shit.

interesting. Were you at the match.

Wondering if it looked better on TV, which is how I watched

I would love to know what games you think we would or should have been pumped in. As for last night i am in shock you think we were poor in that last 75 minutes. We created as many if not more than they did, wakeling alone had 3 great chances, Aguiar missed an absolute sitter too

Must have taken a while. Thanks for the write up.  :)

Need to be more ruthless in front of goal. The period after Blake- Tracey went off up and until halftime we were on the back foot and if I conceded another we would have lost the game.
Aguiar once again a passenger, Darcy touched the ball more times when he was on and took the game further up field. Still yet to see what Shade brings, although there is a player in there and I want to believe.
Keep banging on about seeing us at least one game when we go narrow with two up top - Jephcott and Wakeling.

Second half we were good, the character and belief was evident throughout.
Lindsey must surely now have passed the test and be accepted by all Swindon fans.

An excellent performance overall, more significant a decent point against fancied opposition.

Do they have a theory why, despite that, we've conceded fewer than about 80% of league two?

Because our keeper is shit hot?

Next level penalty analysis from the Bradford forum.  :soapy tit wank:

Wow, that is a bit over-the-top. I think it would probably go something like.

Judge: Please outline your reasons for the decision in question in laypersons terms.

Referee: Well your honour, from my position at the time, it looked like it could have been a handball. My assistant also thought the same from his vantage point, and let me know immediately. I gave the penalty after a couple of seconds, as on balance my instinct was that would be the right decision.

Judge: I see, that seems perfectly reasonable. Case dismissed [gavel noise]

Can’t believe they’re still banging on about it. Right or wrong it’s happened. Are they like this every time a big decision doesn’t go their way - in their opinion. The ref was swayed by 350 Town fans out of a crowd of 16,000? Come off it. It’s the last minute thing that’s really pissing them off.

Will it define their season? Of course not.

No credit to Swindon then Mark🤣

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

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/23078325.mark-hughes-swindon-town-lucky-receive-penalty-bradford-city-draw/

I'd be pissed off if it was given against us.
But it can't be undone. It'll all be forgotten by them come 3pm Saturday.
---
I think we are currently one of those teams I have often thought "how did they get a result out of that. Look OK but nothing spectacular. Why are they 5th"

Except we keep doing it. So its not down to blind luck! Maybe slow and steady can win the race.

It's definitely a debateable penalty but looking at the stats they didn't create a lot considering they were the better team

It was could have been pumped in.

Given we factually concede the most clear cut chances in the league, take your pick.

Bingo.

I was there and believe we deserved a point.

I thought their first goal was offside BUT the play when a ball was played through and Williams turned on the goal line they should of scored and somehow missed and i believe that Bradford deserved to be one goal up at the break.

The Pen was a pen to me, the defender leaned across to chest or block it out and it hit his arm and changed the path of the ball.

A deserved point and i didnt feel either side deserved a win.

Bradford fan in the pub after was disappointed they didnt kick on and go for a second and i agreed with him, that at two zip it was probably all over but their goal threat was a bit soft (like ours!).

Draw away, win at home and you are up....especially with three autos up for grabs.

Just listened to Mark Hughes interview and he must have the motivation skills of a fish.

I dunno about all this xg nonsense. Can we really trust the data?

It's just a mathematical expression of "they should have taken their chances" which is a conversation we've all had for years. It's not to be treated as absolute gospel truth, but it's more useful than say, corners or possession when it comes to statistics that show how a game "went".

It's not perfect, but it tells a story:

https://twitter.com/xG_data/status/1585182574296846338/photo/3

This has us ahead, albeit mostly because of the penalty. But certainly says what we probably all thought watching the game, that both sides could and should have scored more than they did, and that STFC were hugely improved in the second half.

Not that it'll matter to him (or us)but I hope a fine will be forthcoming

 A fine for whom?

Hughes

Ellis will replace Williams durung the WC where we should revert to a 442 and play Wakeling and Jephcott up top.

Apparently the ref has apologised to Bradford for awarding the penalty.

Love it!

soapy tit wank