Thetownend.com

Think I'd try something like:

                   Brynn
FBT MacDonald Clayton Lavinier
          Reed Khan Gladwin
                Williams
           Austin Wakeling

4-3-1-2, relying on the full backs for width but gets a lot of our best players in their best positions.

Ah reverse the fullbacks, interesting option ;)

FWIW I think we will see Wakeling and Jephcott together up front with Austin on the bench to start with, just a gut feeling I have. And depends on if FBT/Brynn have been recalled or not and if Clayton is fit enough to start.

I feel we will go with

                      Brynn
Hutton   MacDonald    FBT      Lavinier
                     Reed
    Darcy                     Gladwin   
                 Williams
       Jephcott       Wakeling

Was thinking about going, but can't justify forking out the £28.

Hopefully get the much needed win but it doesn’t lead to Gunning and Mildenhall being given the chance to ‘prove themselves’.

If Brynn goes back to Boro then maybe Mildy will have to bring his gloves out of retirement for Town.

We would be eligible for one of those emergency keeper loans as neither Brann nor Copland have ever played a pro game. I wonder what Conal Trueman is up to?

We would be eligible for one of those emergency keeper loans as neither Brann nor Copland have ever played a pro game. I wonder what Conal Trueman is up to?

Was thinking about going, but can't justify forking out the £28.

Its £25 isn't it? Either that or i've been short changing my mate when he grabs my ticket.

looking forward to this.  no idea how it will pan out but it will be interesting to see if tactics are tweaked a bit

Our managers Gav Gunning & Mildy both ex-fishy’s as it happens.

I’d go with

Brynn

Lavinier
MacDonald
Clayton
FBT

Reed
Khan

Hutton
Williams
Shade

Austin

4231

They're will be more than that  :)

4-4-2 diamond for me

            Brynn

Lavinier MacDonald Clayton FBT

               Reed
         Khan.    Darcy
              Williams

        Austin Jephcott

4-4-2 diamond for me

            Brynn

Lavinier MacDonald Clayton FBT

               Reed
         Khan.    Darcy
              Williams

        Austin Jephcott

Piece of piss 4-1.

11,021 with 465 fish heads

we are bigging this up as the austin home coming so you would think he would start. it was worrying that he appeared unfit in aus before he came. im really hoping we don't see a legs gone austin. im looking forward to going this compared to any other fixture in well over a month.

lets see if anything is different. a new striker, new temporary management and hoping a new one watching in the stands.reason for optimism even without any other signings.

They seem to think on their forum they'll bring around 600. Hope so as I think we'll have 10k+ home fans. Will help ramp up the atmosphere for a change.

Quite a few of their crowd guesses are laughable,  6 or 7k  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

They seem to think on their forum they'll bring around 600. Hope so as I think we'll have 10k+ home fans. Will help ramp up the atmosphere for a change.

3-1 with an Auston goal - 10,596 crowd - looks like tickets are selling well.

They seem to think on their forum they'll bring around 600. Hope so as I think we'll have 10k+ home fans.

their keeper particularly looks quite weak, as he was in the match up there that we won 3-0 earlier in the season.

Nice to see I take the credit for their keeper having a shocker :D

https://forum.thefishy.co.uk/Blah.pl?m-1582127652/s-0/

Chances of this being P-P must be quite high given the weather?

Perfect rainy day. 3-0. Austin double and Wakeling, in a 4-4-2 diamond, orchestrated by Louis Reed, with the front two working together, and a real life atmosphere with the Town End waking from its 22/3 slumber. 

Piece of piss 4-1.

11,021 with 465 fish heads

I see that strong winds are forecast today. Our tactics may need to be changed slightly to take this into account.

I reckon we've sold over 11k tickets so far. Good stuff.

I would imagine he would be.

Judging by RHM twitter he is tok

Can't work out what 'tok' means. But his last tweet suggests today is his first start since injury.

Can't work out what 'tok' means. But his last tweet suggests today is his first start since injury.

Swindon - 0 GTFC - 1

Keirnan.

4,377, with 623 noisy Town fans, hopefully staying dry !

What’s happening with Jephcott?

Be interesting to see who doesn’t start - Gladwin, Hutton, Iandolo, Reed?

From the Grims forum, somebody has absolutely no fucking idea about how many fans we get  :headhurts:

Been told Austin on bench and Adeloye is starting.

Front 2 of Adeloye and RHM?

Been told Austin on bench and Adeloye is starting.

Been told Austin on bench and Adeloye is starting.

Been told Austin on bench and Adeloye is starting.

imagine if he missed a chance with Austin on the bench

pretty sure it's a wind up

nice try

edit: wait, you're serious?

Not got a great feeling about today. The initial high of SL’s departure was ruined by the age it took to announce the fact. This at the time the club should have been feeding the Austin hype train to the max.

Hopefully it goes well today. Need the points to stay in touch towards the top.

Question, is Austin likely at all to be match fit? Did he play much in Aus etc? Or would we expect 20 mins off the bench as a best case?

COYR

Paul Bodin back from the wilderness sitting alongside Hawes.

Sacked from wales youth, thought he’d more be interested watching his lad play for oxford…

Gladwin is injured .

Christ. That midfield.

Gladwin is injured .

I hope our game plan is to lump it long from defence to the strikers completely missing out the midfield

Sky app have lining up 433 with a midfield three of Khan, Austin, Brennan

I have a feeling thats wrong :D

Reckon we’re lining up like this

Brynn

Hutton
Brennan
MacDonald
FBT
Iandolo

Khan

RHM
Austin
Wakeling
Williams

5-1-4

Got to be Iandolo, Khan and Williams in the midfield

Surely

To me its looking like a 433/451

                Brynn
Hutton   MacDonald  Brennan     FBT
       Khan           Iandolo  
               Williams
   Wakeling     Austin         RHM

Austin starting for Swindon, hopefully he’s not 100% fit but even at 60-70% you’d imagine he’ll give us a tough afternoon

He's done mate , that's why he's in league 2 . Hope I'm right though 😂

There’s a reason Charlie Austin is playing against a team that was in the conference last year…

Grimsby fans have written off Austin already.

Grimsby fans have written off Austin already.

Doesn't look like its a 10k+ crowd at the moment, looks nearer to 9k to me.

Always hard to tell with the camera in the DRS though.

How have we set up today, 433?

Anybody else’s IFollow really poor quality?

Never seen anything like it. Maybe surprisingly.

Never seen anything like it. Maybe surprisingly.

Ref being stretchered off is a first for me…

Are they going to have to get a 4th official from the crowd now?

Ref being applauded off the field - that might be a first too!

Back in the 70s when they never had 4th officials Jimmy Hill came out of the commentary gantry for the BBC at the game to run the line in a Div 1 game! How times have changed.

He would have been running the line whilst chinning the left back!!

Who is the not especially svelte fella in our dugout?

Grims break and his shot goes softly wide.

Stupidly selfish from RHM

Looks a good turnout from the fishies

For once, Hutton is doing as good work at the back as he is going forward

For once, Hutton is doing as good work at the back as he is going forward

Wakeling unlucky to not win a corner as it comes off his leg last as he crossed it.

It's certainly a higher tempo than anything else we've seen at the CG this season.

This ref reminds me of Taylor Curran making his debut..

Wakeling looks to have his man in a lot of trouble when he takes him on at the moment.

decent ref

hutton showing his value

Hes put 2 great crosses in so far.

But some fans seem to think he can't cross a ball.

The ref is missing a lot of stuff, that was a foul on Hutton.

There's a lot of stuff to miss to be fair - both sides are clearly trying it on with the fresh ref. I assume that anyone running the line at this level probably usually referees at a fair bit lower level, probably not an experienced league official. Probably last thing he wanted was a red card early on!

Austin enjoying dropping short and creating play like a L2 Harry Kane. I know people like their forwards up front, but considering how isolated our forwards have looked all season it doesn't seem a bad idea.

Great through ball from Khan. He’s done well this half

Great through ball from Khan. He’s done well this half

My 1st half MotM.

Just behind Hutton for me

grimesbry are not completely out of this.  will be interesting to see what adjustments if any are made

Trying not to draw too much since their red, but before that lots more promise going forward. Austin’s touch and ability to stay involved, drop deeper and help create is a real treat compared to the usual options. I was worried he may only get a handful of touches all game!

We look very capable of conceding at some point on the break, (get well soon Clayton). 2 goal cushion a must for the second half.

Thought the red was harsh on first viewing, but probably the right call.

COYR

Harsh?
Wakeling was past him(just) had the ball and was one on one with the keeper.
Couldn’t have been any clearer

It certainly doesn't look like we're going to try and control the game and sit on the 1-0!

Have any of the magnificent 7 (or perhaps 8) been spotted watching?

We played more penetrating through balls to the strikers today then we have in the last three months

We’ve played more penetrating through balls to the strikers today then we have in the last three months

I was thinking that if Lindsey had got us playing like this every game then we wouldnt have wanted him to leave.

Not sure if a lot of that is Austins input though.

The weird thing is we *did* play them for the first 3-4 games of the season and then stopped entirely.

Most of them have been from Khan, Williams, even Robertson and RHM once.

That Grimsby fan just the odd 7000 out on the attendance

It’s almost as if it might’ve been an idea to start Lavinier ahead of Iandolo

Also, things look a bit better if you don’t rest on 1-0!

Get Austin off for his standing ovation now please.

Shade on for RHM.

Think RHM did okay today. Lost the ball a lot yes, but was a threat, trying to put league 2 defenders under pressure by running at them paid off (who’d have thought!) in the end.

Two first touch goals in one game!

I think Shade deserves some recognition for Darcy's goal - he doesn't tend to get too much

I think Shade deserves some recognition for Darcy's goal - he doesn't tend to get too much

Two first touch goals in one game!

Is this giving Clem a difficult (or possibly easy) decision to make?

Second touch for both.
Lavinier took the free kick when he came on & Darcy got (and lost the ball from the throw in)!!

I think this does get close to proving we DO have good enough players if they are played in the right way and style and that Hutton could be a winger if he wanted.

He’s thoroughly deserved that today, caps man of the match performance

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. They're a poor side and were down to 10.

Nonetheless, our players have played today as if they’ve been unshackled

Kanu should’ve got a sixth there

Well, that went well.

Needs to be tempered a bit as they were down to 10 men for a long time.

Still . . .

Feel good win. Great to see Austin roll back the years.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. They're a poor side and were down to 10. Our squad is still imbalanced and requires more work this Jan. Something to build on - vital that the new manager is the right one and not another joke like Lindsey.

Gladwin is injured isnt he?

Feel good win. Great to see Austin roll back the years.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. They're a poor side and were down to 10. Our squad is still imbalanced and requires more work this Jan. Something to build on - vital that the new manager is the right one and not another joke like Lindsey.

Gladwin, Reed, Adeloye and Roberts all absent without known injuries right? Would assume the latter two would be loan moves.

Yes we were playing against weakened opposition but for comparison, what do you do think the score would’ve been playing Lindseyball?

Mate, just be happy for 5 minutes or do one.

Yes, they had 10 for 70 minutes but how many times over the years have we not taken advantage of that? We were all over them from the start when they had 11 anyway.

Can only beat what’s in front you - which is something we haven’t been doing recently anyway

Yes we were playing against weakened opposition but for comparison, what do you do think the score would’ve been playing Lindseyball?

Any news on the ref?

Gladwin, Reed, Adeloye and Roberts all absent without known injuries right? Would assume the latter two would be loan moves.

Well that was unexpected and everything the first half of the season wasn’t. Amazing what fast paced direct football running at the opposition does. Players were playing off the leash and playing their natural game.

If I was a Crawley fan I’d be bricking it, about as clear example of a manager being the problem as you can get. Any lingering doubts anyone had about Lindsey’s culpability firmly put to bed.

Had a chat with Boy About Town re the ref. Apparently he was being sick while unconscious (correct me if I’m wrong bud). That was horrific, when he went down I felt it was a ‘Di Canio pushing the ref’ type moment but it quickly became apparent it was bad. Hope he is ok

No news on Adeloye, Reed and Roberts. They just weren't in the squad
I think that quote is more than a big hint they will be moving on

Had a chat with Boy About Town re the ref. Apparently he was being sick while unconscious (correct me if I’m wrong bud). That was horrific, when he went down I felt it was a ‘Di Canio pushing the ref’ type moment but it quickly became apparent it was bad. Hope he is ok

No news on Adeloye, Reed and Roberts. They just weren't in the squad
I think that quote is more than a big hint they will be moving on

To be honest, I was a bit concerned that none of the players put him in the recovery position - especially if he was being sick! They just waved their arms for others to come on. If he was lay on his back vomiting, he could have choked to death!

Probably best to quote this precisely how it was said for everyone to get the context:

Hawes asked a question about Gladwin, referencing the fact that he was injured. Gunning answered the question fully by confirming that he was and that Gladwin would be back in training this week or next. The next question was:

Hawes: 'What is the news on Adeloye, Reed and Roberts?'
Gunning: 'There is no news. They weren't in the squad.'

I read into that the same as others - Reed leaving and the other 2 going out on loan.

Were there any slow posseion moments or messing around at the back or is that a distant memory now Lindsey has gone.

It’s almost as if it might’ve been an idea to start Lavinier ahead of Iandolo

We obviously still passed it around at the back and even more so against 10 because the space was there.

However, it felt a lot more like passing it around to stretch Grimsby to move it forward when the opportunity arose.

Hard to describe but like we were looking to go forward and went sideways / backwards if there wasn’t anything on. We weren’t afraid to go over the top and try and play it into space instead of feet either.

It never felt like we were playing it around at the back purely for sake of keeping possession with no plans to go forward.

Can’t say there was much pointless pissing about. A few hairy moments mainly because we lacked numbers in midfield at times.

Difference in entertainment was immense.

gtfi yes!!

the tempo was notably better and the whole team just. looked like a team.

theres going to be a good few people eating some words this season about certain players.
khan was unreal and is like a young gladwin with pace.

took an age to get the 2nd goal and you just always feel uncomforable due to it being swindon. then the goals flowed, all the subs made an impact.

darcy for williams- as it should be and never together. good finish from him.

austin on the end of hutton cross is hopefully something that we see a lot more of.

Austin didn't do much today but everything he did he did well. pass completion from him was so good, and it was just the simple stuff he did all day. it really did suprise me that he wasn't the number 9 focal point, at times he did the rooney-esk older striker role and just sat behind the pacey RHM and wakeling. a lot deeper than i imagined.

the season starts again. the table looks so much better and the goal difference might be very important. to any potential manager that watched today you would be feeling quite desperate for the opportunity to manage them.  

Cheers Div
It goes to show that Lindsey's ideas were the problem if two stand in coaches can have such an impact after only a few days on the training ground with players.

Said if before but worth repeating.
A lot of people have written off a lot of players in this squad (ironically whilst also saying Lindsey is the problem)

Lindsey WAS the problem and all the players should be given the benefit of the doubt / a clean slate to see how they perform under the new manager.

All of them, no exceptions

Said if before but worth repeating.
A lot of people have written off a lot of players in this squad (ironically whilst also saying Lindsey is the problem)

Lindsey WAS the problem and all the players should be given the benefit of the doubt / a clean slate to see how they perform under the new manager.

All of them, no exceptions

even conference south, shite, stealing a living ellis?  :band:

Well there is that type of attacking, high pressing, high tempo football that Scott Lindsey promised both at the start of the Swindon job and now at the start of the Crawley job.....the very moment the cunt is out the door. Thank god he's gone.

Amazing what can happen when you attack rather than tippy tap it around like a Sunday afternoon at the park with no direction or urgency.

Until the tide swayed the last month or so, I've felt like I've been in a reoccurring nightmare with people not seeing what I've felt was painfully obvious that SL was massively out of his depth from about 6 games in. Happy to refer to the phrase under my username on that one and be a bit smug because fuck me has it been frustrating arguing with people about him.

Now I feel like I'm in a dream because no way could we have got compensation to get rid of him and signed Charlie Austin. That just doesn't seem real. Will pinch myself to be sure.

In a 5-0 win its probably easy to forget with a different keeper in the sticks, it could have been very different. Sol Brynn made it possible with the fantastic save at the start. Still my player of the season so far.

Sad to see Reed will be going, but we didn't really miss him today and he's been mostly shite this season. Is his heart just not in it here anymore? If we can get any cash for him now rather than leaving for nothing in the summer, it probably makes sense.

Khan brilliant. Hutton showed better side of his game, good deliveries. Austin great start. RHM unlucky with hitting the post but jesus, move the ball a bit quicker sometimes lad. So frustrating because you feel he's so close to being a big player for us, but just needs to move it a bit quicker and not be so greedy.

Saw the pre World Cup Williams back today as well. Fantastic.

Lets get Artell or Foster in now and we could be looking at opening the bank for random league games if we can string a few results together and the weather isn't so cold in a month or two. 12k gates maybe. Don't fuck it up and appoint Bircham or Kieron Dyer or something Clem, please. Real opportunity to kick on and escape this shit league.

RHM was an absolute nuisance for Grimsby whilst he was on the pitch, even if he wasn’t particularly good (if that makes sense)
Hopefully he’s still a bit rusty and better / quicker decisions will come game time.

We obviously still passed it around at the back and even more so against 10 because the space was there.

However, it felt a lot more like passing it around to stretch Grimsby to move it forward when the opportunity arose.

Random one.. I make the Lavinier the best player to not be able to get a starting spot since Peter Thorne..

even conference south, shite, stealing a living ellis? (who was actually very solid)

in general that must be highest pass completition match of the season. and i dont mean between centre backs. can't really remember much that went wrong on that front. everything seemed simplified and crisp passing with pass and move.

we went long at times but there was enough press to force errors and we won a lot of 2nd balls. simple ingredients to a good team

When Iandolo went off his replacement scored with his first touch and we scored 4 goals without him on the pitch. He's a clear weak link, regardless if he played marginally better today in a vastly improved side

say you didn't watch the game without saying you didn't watch the game

Being a ST holder that again wasn't the case. Lavinier offered far more. You rate him, I don't, I know we're far better without him, you don't - yet

Being a ST holder that again wasn't the case. Lavinier offered far more. You rate him, I don't, I know we're far better without him, you don't - yet

Gavin Gunning is ace by the way, his interview is so ‘meh, I can’t be assed with this’. Like a completely different person than the one we’ve seen on the side lines.

Wow. 5 goals at home, clean sheet and an entertaining performance. Brennan very good, won everything. Macdonald useless, he’s washed, be happy to see back of him. Hard for a CB to have a bad game in a 5 nil win, but he did. Hutton brilliant, his crossing ability at this level is frighteningly good. Iandolo also useless, ML was brilliant when on and took goal well. Khan was unreal. Absolutely everywhere. The more advanced role suits him so much more. No issues if he keeps up this level of performance seeing as Reeds gone. Need another body in midfield though, a nasty ball winner preferably.RHM rusty in first half but grew into game, unlucky not to score, looks dangerous.  Austin back and the perfect goal. Proper leader on pitch also, shouting orders the entire time he was on.

Reeds gone so for me, we could do with 5-6 players. A GK, Centre half, Reed replacement and an attacker being priorities. Can’t remember the last time I was entertained after a home game. Most convincing performance of the season comes without the manager. Managerial appointment is massive, get it right and we should get play offs.

The furthest thing from “Mad Gav”. Speaks very well in my opinion. Doesn’t speak in bullshit riddles or repetitive football terminology crap like Lindsey. Players love him, interesting that he’s stayed at the club when it was SL who brought him in. I’d guess he saw enough of SL and Days work to think he’s better off here.

Said if before but worth repeating.
A lot of people have written off a lot of players in this squad (ironically whilst also saying Lindsey is the problem)

Lindsey WAS the problem and all the players should be given the benefit of the doubt / a clean slate to see how they perform under the new manager.

All of them, no exceptions

But Iandolo has been shit for ages

I just said elsewhere. A Grant type player alongside Khan will be perfect and just what our defence need too

RHM was an absolute nuisance for Grimsby whilst he was on the pitch, even if he wasn’t particularly good (if that makes sense)
Hopefully he’s still a bit rusty and better / quicker decisions will come game time.

When Iandolo went off his replacement scored with his first touch and we scored 4 goals without him on the pitch. He's a clear weak link, regardless if he played marginally better today in a vastly improved side

Khan looked superb and if he plays like that every week I think I’d rather him than Reed. Could hear CA barking out orders and thought him and Williams looks good together. Would love to see Williams play as a 10 behind Austin. Could see that they were much happier to cross knowing we have a presence in the box now.

I really wasn’t impressed with RHM might have been trying too hard but refused to pass a lot in the first half when others had a much better chance. Ellis is steady but not spectacular and sort of drifts through the game without really noticing he is there.

Possibly have to take parts of yesterday with a pinch of salt with it being 10 men, but seeing as he’s just been mentioned, how good was Shade when he come on yesterday?

Fearless with the ball, Grimsby couldn’t get close to him, very tidy assist for Darcy.

oh and FBT was slightly before par today. played a couple of hospital balls!

not bad, just below his excellent standards

Agree Mango. The good thing is we actually have 2 comparisons already this year, we played 10 men twice already this year and didn't win, didn't even change our formations mid game. Yesterday was refreshing

Views from their forum if anyone is interested (I always am):

We were very much in the game at 1-0 before the sending off. After that an efficient, creative Swindon put us to the sword and we weren't tight enough.

Also Swindon are decent, we lost one game against a team with likely a much higher budget some on here need to get some perspective.

Yes Swindon player for player were better than us re pace/skill/ability to pass the ball/and kicking the ball towards the goal.

Simple one for me. Forget the sending off we are being beaten by a much  better and technically gifted team.

We have just run around chasing Swindon shadows today.

Beaten today by a far better team on the edge of the play offs !

We lost. We were shite. They were good. We were conference last year. They bottled their playoff campaign.

How i'd bite any of your appendages off for a player like Saidou Khan, if he plays anything like that regularly

love this club, and we lost to a very good team today.

We beat Mansfield

Agree Mango. The good thing is we actually have 2 comparisons already this year, we played 10 men twice already this year and didn't win, didn't even change our formations mid game. Yesterday was refreshing

When you’re 1-0 up, they got to try and score to get at least a point and therefore expose themselves at the back.

Did anyone think that there was an element of "that's all folks" in Brynn's acknowledgement of the crowd after the game?
Shirt ended up in the Town End I think.
Then again he might just have been happy with the clean sheet bonus.

Views from their forum if anyone is interested (I always am):

We were very much in the game at 1-0 before the sending off. After that an efficient, creative Swindon put us to the sword and we weren't tight enough.

Also Swindon are decent, we lost one game against a team with likely a much higher budget some on here need to get some perspective.

Yes Swindon player for player were better than us re pace/skill/ability to pass the ball/and kicking the ball towards the goal.

Simple one for me. Forget the sending off we are being beaten by a much  better and technically gifted team.

We have just run around chasing Swindon shadows today.

Beaten today by a far better team on the edge of the play offs !

We lost. We were shite. They were good. We were conference last year. They bottled their playoff campaign.

How i'd bite any of your appendages off for a player like Saidou Khan, if he plays anything like that regularly

love this club, and we lost to a very good team today.

Great day yesterday.


Did anyone think that there was an element of "that's all folks" in Brynn's acknowledgement of the crowd after the game?
Shirt ended up in the Town End I think.
Then again he might just have been happy with the clean sheet bonus.

Imagine being a Creepy fan reading this thread and realising they’ve just employed a man who stifled a team like he’s done to us. Can’t be pleasant

I find it highly amusing, we were hamstrung under Lindseys negative tactics, not sure you can make Crawley much worse than they currently are. To any Crawley fan reading this, expect a lot of Crawley 0 scorelines.

Cheers Qunk saved me a job :)

Great entertainment and performance all round.

The only thing that grated for me was our players pressuring the ref to give the (deserved) red card.

Yeah it was a bit naughty. Good that’s our only problem though!

I did half expect you to tell me off for beating you to it. Glad it seems I’m not in trouble  😁

Swindon targeted Amos and can see why. It genuinely could have been 9 or 10.

It's an aberration. We were very much in the game at 1-0 before the sending off. After that an efficient, creative Swindon put us to the sword and we weren't tight enough.

First half was pretty even. Could have been 1.0 up, should have equalised with Mcatees poor effort.
Second half was the worst 45 minutes I've seen from a Town side in ages. Couldn't get the ball often enough and when they did gave it away. Mcatee tried as did Maher and the mercurial Green but the rest stole a living today and let down nigh on 600 fans in the process.

Swindon were a real cut above today and showed how far we have to go before we can genuinely compete at the top end of the table.

I thought Hutton was fantastic today for them. Probably not the done thing to be in praise of the opposition but to reference your point his delivery was excellent and it makes you wonder what sort of impact that could have for us if he were here.

Yes Swindon player for player were better than us re pace/skill/ability to pass the ball/and kicking the ball towards the goal.

Swindon are the best team I've seen all season. We could have scored a couple first half but they dominated throughout, especially once we'd gone down to 10. Midfield runners, winger who can cross, a striker who can header...

We are a middling league 2 side who just got our bottom$ handed to us by a much better team. It happens

I'd also say for how well stocked we are in the middle we just don't have anyone like Saidou Khan. So composed on the ball, always turning out of tight spaces, getting on the front foot. Just the sort of player we need.

That was the worst collective performance by a town side I've seen for a long time. Even before the sending off Amos got fried by their right winger about 4-5 times and we lucky to be only one behind despite the odd rare chance we had. After the sending off we were chasing shadows and to be honest Swindon could easily have scored 7 or 8

Special mention to the Swindon number 23, Khan who I believe was at Chesterfield last season. He was majestic and oozed quality in everything he did.
The highlight was the ref being knocked unconscious by a ball in the face, but I do hope he's ok! His replacement was being hammered by the people around us but I thought he did ok. We were so bad, and most of our tackles were so mistimed we left him few decisions to make

The 2 Centre midfielders drove forward regularly with the ball,
Winger put in some great crosses and the bold bloke was always finding gaps. Very good side and well supported.

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2023/january/match-reaction-charlie-austin-on-a-dream-second--debut/

Apologies if this rather impressive interview has already been posted. How well does Charlie come across here? It’s clear that we will be getting a lot more than goals from him. I can imagine that for the likes of Hutton, Shade etc having a guy like Austin in your corner could be massive, must be such a confidence boost.

We're delighted to confirm referee Sam Purkiss has now returned home after he was struck by the ball at yesterday's game...

He was taken to hospital where he was treated for concussion before being released soon after.

Great news, and we wish Sam a quick recovery.

#STFC 🔴⚪️

Just seen it from another angle, I had assumed Austins run towards and gesture to the arkells after scorimg was likely to family or the like, but from other angle it seemed a little more point making to someone?

Seen that mentioned in a couple of places. Could be something, but he wasn’t the only one that gave his shirt to a fan yesterday.

Wasn't the other Blake-Tracy?

Doesn't bode well if we don't keep Brynn.

Wasn't the other Blake-Tracy?

Doesn't bode well if we don't keep Brynn.

Brynn going would be huge loss. There’s at least one Kovar for every BFG out there, difficult to know which we get until too late.

Someone asked Brynn for his shirt before the game, then someone said they spoke to him after and he said he wasnt going anywhere

Brilliant.

I do think we might be picked off by better teams as we looked exposed before the sending off. Obviously we were playing a different way for the fist time so we would improve.

But it would still be so much better than boring dull football where we probably get picked off eventually anyway.

Not that we would necessarily play the same way against the "better" teams.

Just watching the extended highlights - I forgot that Khan hit the inside of the post early on. Really good effort

He did and we hit the post twice more after too wasnt it? IIRC and the defender who nearly kneed the ball in at the near post and then the Lavinier shot fumble saved on the line by the keeper.

It could easily have been 8+ goals.

Another two times with the ball coming back out.

Lavinier and Darcy’s goals were both post and in.

Just watching the extended highlights - I forgot that Khan hit the inside of the post early on. Really good effort

I thought it was Hepburn-Murphy.

I thought it was Hepburn-Murphy.

Didn't want to start a new thread for Saturday yet but I see we have sold just under 950 tickets already for Saturdays game at Walsall, another great turn out should easily break 1,000 by then and if a new man is in place maybe 1,500.

1170 sold so far

I can't help but think it would have been much more if a new manager had been appointed prior to the game tomorrow, giving the fans a bit of a boost.

I can't help but think it would have been much more if a new manager had been appointed prior to the game tomorrow

Also a bit Walsall'd. Feels like we play them every few weeks :)

Would rather depend who was appointed.....

We have established it won't be an internal appointment based on what we have been told,

1-4 too.

Wellens out!