Thetownend.com

What’s happened with McGurk

Town 16/5 and probably for a reason.

Blind faith, but am backing STFC at that!

Both McGurk and Johnson weren't on the bench on Saturday,

Johnson was mate.

Uh, I meant 'involved', as in on the pitch. Which is kind of correct, right?  :hmmm:

Pre match bringing the real ale ting, I can't lie, in The Robert Pocock.
Fuelling in the aptly named Gravesend before mingling with the friendly locals in Gillingham later.

Always a pleasure to visit the sun kissed golden sands of the Medway Estuary.
Dreadful record here, but very even across a 100+ league encounters.

Was there for the last victory in Dec 86.
Did we really play 2 games in 2 days then, 26th & 27th?
Both won by an ultra fit team.
Guardiola et al would probably self combust at the mere suggestion.

Need to get back to Swindon before midnight otherwise I'll turn into a pint of Carling or some other gassy monstrosity.

Leaving early will mean missing the last minute winner & ensuing mass display of twitching breasticles in the away end, not to mention the adje pitch invasion, mainly to get Jonny Williams autograph of course.

More likely we will be holed below the Beamish Line this evening.

In the front three bingo I would go with Glatzel, Austin & Zach to start with RHM, Drinan & Harry in reserve.

Two games in two days, first at home, second one away in Kent 22 hours later... two changes to the first XI. Proper mad shit. We had a proper squad as well, it wasn't one of those seasons where we only used 15 pros.

Is it half term?

3-1 winners away at Gillingham on the 27th then got beat 0-1 away at Bournemouth in the 1st Jan where we had over 3000 fans in the old open terrace behind the goal.

not to mention the adje pitch invasion, mainly to get Jonny Williams autograph of course.

Presume it’s an admin mistake but there are 2 No. 32s in that squad - Austin and Minturn

Red for Williams. Tits oot for Hutton.

Haven’t noticed any comments bemoaning Hutton’s absence since he left

That midfield looks so wimpy !  :eek:

Presume it’s an admin mistake but there are 2 No. 32s in that squad - Austin and Minturn

Fleur de Lis heaving now. 9 of us!

It looks a bit nippy.

Is their mascot wearing a US flag for some reason?

Their owners are yanks.

Perhaps we need to replace Rockin Robin with Waltzing Matilda?

Hawkins up front for them doing a good impersination of the David Murray John Tower.

McGurk looked very briefly handy on the ball

Loads of men inside him? I thought that was Hutton

Williams still likes a dive doesnt he! McEachran doesnt have a fouling bone in his body!

Honestly thought McEachran put himself about well for his size last season. This year, not so much, I'll give you. Although he did do that comedy jump into the attacking player at the weekend...

Markus Fjortoft

Turning into something of a siege now. Gillingham seem to be rolling up a Trebuchet.

McGurk looked very briefly handy on the ball

Against the run of play in the most classical of senses, but who cares!

How the bloody hell is Willo not booked, nor even a foul given for that?!

He should have been booked for diving twice so far too.

Considering he's playing exactly as he played for us for two years, it's perhaps best to overlook that!

Considering he's playing exactly as he played for us for two years, it's perhaps best to overlook that!

We look a different team on the counter. Defensively looking shaky as per, but going forwards we look brilliant

I’ve stuck us in a treble with Newport and Harrogate.

Turning into something of a siege now. Gillingham seem to be rolling up a Trebuchet.

Bycrof seems quite a scrappy keeper. Effective enough, but it's not exactly classical.

If Glatzel goes down that’s a nailed on pen.

It's not, Ogie gets there first. It's brilliant but high risk defending, and he's injured himself doing it.

Politely disagree. Clearly impeded by the keeper.

I like the way we're playing and I fancy German Scouser to get one second half...

If he can stop himself slipping at crucial moments then maybe, hes not ben quite as good on the ball today as he has been in his last couple of games though...yet.

We look a different team on the counter. Defensively looking shaky as per, but going forwards we look brilliant

I think we're just talking about different bits of the attack, I thought you meant the defenders' tackle but you mean the keeper just before. You're probably right, at least gives the ref a decision to make.

RHM and McKirdy on for McGurk and Austin.

I do love having options on the bench again.

That's too many strikers on the pitch, sorry. Glatzel, RHM, McKirdy and Drinan is not a balanced side when we're 1-0 up!

Here we go.

Like clockwork :D

Quiet game at Mansfield, 9-2 at the moment!

It would be nice if we had a midfield

Consistently shite

our losses are much more entertaining under gunning than our losses were under end of era Flynn..

18th as it stands. Jesus Christ.

McEachran is playing really nicely as a pivot starting the counter. I agree we've not got much cover from it defensively though!

No, a 4-2-4 formation leaves the back four exposed again.

The problem is Gav thinks it’s the back four that has made us more solid, but it’s having the extra body in midfield offering some cover.

'Have you ever seen a first second half performance like that?'

I don’t blame Gunning. He’s so far out of his depth, why would we expect him to know how to manage a game of football?

I don’t blame Gunning. He’s so far out of his depth, why would we expect him to know how to manage a game of football?

It's an STFC Greatest Hits package of a game - we started well, looked great in patches, conceded two sloppy second half goals after making weird substitutes.

It's Swindon Town 23/24 in a neat, 90 minute highlights package.

He better start learning, as the cheap option he’s going to be doing it next season

He better start learning, as the cheap option he’s going to be doing it next season

Gunning’s in game management is awful. In the three games under him, we’ve had really promising first half performances, but he’s shot himself in the foot every time with the subs

It's an STFC Greatest Hits package of a game - we started well, looked great in patches, conceded two sloppy second half goals after making weird substitutes.

It's Swindon Town 23/24 in a neat, 90 minute highlights package.

What a fucking finish. Thrilled for him. That was deserved completely. Gillingham didn’t deserve a point let alone all three. Get in Town

I agree, except they scored two goals, had one not given that looked to have crossed the line and two more ruled offside, then Bycroft tips over last touch of the game... we're not exactly solid at the back!

Well we should have won this, beat Salford and beat Newport.

Our luck has got to change

It hasn’t, because id blame all them points dropped on Gunnings substitutions and game management.

That isn’t down to luck, that’s down to not being up to the job.

We play Milton Keynes on Saturday.  Who've just been dicked 4 - 0 by the very shit Bradford. 

No idea what to make of that.

but will probably do enough to keep Town up - Beamish Line notwithstanding

What a fucking finish. Thrilled for him. That was deserved completely. Gillingham didn’t deserve a point let alone all three. Get in Town

I’ll preface this post by saying - I didn’t watch nor listen to then game so contextually this might be well off but here it is anyway;

We seem to have done a complete 180° post transfer window.
Flynn had to fill the bench with kids & we literally had no options to change things during games.
Now it feels like we have too many options and we keep making subs for subs sake (more on that in a bit) it seems like the last three games we’ve stifled our own play / momentum by making an excessive amount of changes. I can’t comment much on today’s but Glatzel being hooked quite early the last few games has seemed a wrong choice.

However, to me I’d say it’s also clear that we probably save a chunk on paying the loan players wages if they get 25+ minutes a game. For example (and I know it’s early days & I haven’t seen tonight’s game) but I can’t see why other than financial reasons we’d use Drinnan as anything other than an alternative to Austin so we can manage Charlie’s legs better. He, minimal game time has no place as a wide striker in 433 at all.

I can at least get swapping the likes of RHM, Glatzel, McKirdy & Elbouzedi amongst themselves


Still, nice to score in the stoppage time rather than concede

Drinnan is our player isn’t he?

Drinnan is our player isn’t he?

Not read back. What happened to Khan

Not read back. What happened to Khan

Not read back. What happened to Khan

Should the Hawkins headed goal have been a Town goal kick?  It looks as if the ball actually bounced back in off the small advertising hoarding.  >:(

https://twitter.com/i/status/1757514852547928436

Was too gutted to register Jonny Williams comedic desperation to get hold of the ball from Bycroft right after the goal

A very bittersweet feeling last night. Yes an away point at a play-off chasing side at a ground we haven't traditionally done particularly well at would usually be celebrated, but whilst the manner in which it came about to 'steal' the point in the end was pleasing, when you look back over the 90 as a whole it's a little bit deflating.

First half was terrific, playing the ball through the lines confidently and the cherry on the cake was a terrific goal by McGurk. The key moment was on the stroke of half time as Glatzel was put through, skipped past the keeper but was denied by a superb piece of defending by Ogie. Many will say he should have went down, but I admire the honesty and desire that he wanted to score.

More of the same in the second, again Glatzel had a shot cleared off the line but Gunning's subs (some have said these were pre-meditated) didn't appear to help with cohesion and Gillingham who hadn't shown very much suddenly got a foothold in the game. Gunning clearly doesn't do 'close up the shop' and having so many forward players on the pitch, whilst brave, was ultimately nearly our undoing. Their equaliser had an element of fortune, the first header hit the post and appeared to roll behind for a goal kick, but whilst we stood and watched, the Gills were alert and the giant Hawkins gleefully headed in.

Their gangly Colombian sub Hurtado was beginning to cause problems and his slaloming run (reminiscent of Claudio Caniggia in Italia 1990 v Cameroon) left sliding tackles in his wake, but not FBT who wasn't going to miss and brought him down for the pen, which was adeptly put into the net. However McKirdy wasn't going to be upstaged and after having one cleared off the line and another clear the bizarrely named 'Brian Moore stand' (surely the great man deserves better than that) he finally found gold with a beautiful finish through/past a load of legs. That wasn't quite the end of the drama, Gillingham missed a header that looked easier to score and Bycroft pulled off a match-saving tip over the bar to salvage the point.

A night packed with entertainment. The decision to rest Khan seemed odd but makes sense given he is on a disciplinary tight-rope and Devoy can't play on Saturday. With that said, whilst Flynn didn't like to use his bench (to be fair he had bugger all on it half the time) Gunning has gone for the opposite approach and wants to use as many of the squad as possible. I don't particularly like Drinan and Austin playing together, I think they are a little too similar and I'm not sure McGurk going off was really necessary either. Loads of positives though from the last 2 games, I think we're playing really good football at times. Reign this in a little bit and we might end the season strongly.

A very bittersweet feeling last night. Yes an away point at a play-off chasing side at a ground we haven't traditionally done particularly well at would usually be celebrated, but whilst the manner in which it came about to 'steal' the point in the end was pleasing, when you look back over the 90 as a whole it's a little bit deflating.

First half was terrific, playing the ball through the lines confidently and the cherry on the cake was a terrific goal by McGurk. The key moment was on the stroke of half time as Glatzel was put through, skipped past the keeper but was denied by a superb piece of defending by Ogie. Many will say he should have went down, but I admire the honesty and desire that he wanted to score.

More of the same in the second, again Glatzel had a shot cleared off the line but Gunning's subs (some have said these were pre-meditated) didn't appear to help with cohesion and Gillingham who hadn't shown very much suddenly got a foothold in the game. Gunning clearly doesn't do 'close up the shop' and having so many forward players on the pitch, whilst brave, was ultimately nearly our undoing. Their equaliser had an element of fortune, the first header hit the post and appeared to roll behind for a goal kick, but whilst we stood and watched, the Gills were alert and the giant Hawkins gleefully headed in.

Their gangly Colombian sub Hurtado was beginning to cause problems and his slaloming run (reminiscent of Claudio Caniggia in Italia 1990 v Cameroon) left sliding tackles in his wake, but not FBT who wasn't going to miss and brought him down for the pen, which was adeptly put into the net. However McKirdy wasn't going to be upstaged and after having one cleared off the line and another clear the bizarrely named 'Brian Moore stand' (surely the great man deserves better than that) he finally found gold with a beautiful finish through/past a load of legs. That wasn't quite the end of the drama, Gillingham missed a header that looked easier to score and Bycroft pulled off a match-saving tip over the bar to salvage the point.

A night packed with entertainment. The decision to rest Khan seemed odd but makes sense given he is on a disciplinary tight-rope and Devoy can't play on Saturday. With that said, whilst Flynn didn't like to use his bench (to be fair he had bugger all on it half the time) Gunning has gone for the opposite approach and wants to use as many of the squad as possible. I don't particularly like Drinan and Austin playing together, I think they are a little too similar and I'm not sure McGurk going off was really necessary either. Loads of positives though from the last 2 games, I think we're playing really good football at times. Reign this in a little bit and we might end the season strongly.

the bizarrely named 'Brian Moore stand' (surely the great man deserves better than that) 

Good write up Bob...in spite of yet another 2 points dropped (could argue it was a point gained given how late our equaliser was) I feel strangely upbeat about the the team right now. Last night was the first game I'd watched since NYD at Crawley and it was a thousand times better than that utterly depressing dross.

We've clearly recruited well in the Window and with a few tweaks and adjustments and a couple of astute additions we should be a pretty decent side next season. My problem is that I have zero faith in the ownership to allow those things to happen...hope I'm wrong.

On the subject of Brian Moore, he did actually go one better than have a stand named after him. In the days of fanzines (which I miss very much) Gillingham's was memorably entitled "Brian Moore's Head Looks Uncannily Like the London Planetarium"...my personal favourite from that time.

264 STFC at Gills

See above!

Agree Theakston. It does certainly look better and with the right management and being allowed to sign a few key midfielders and more solid defenders in the summer it could be a lot better.

Hitting the woodwork counts as off target

Yep, but problem is do we see that happening or is it more likely to be Gunning in charge and just more of the same?

What summed us up last night was equalising in the 4th minute of stoppage time and then still almost throwing it away with the last kick of the game. A bit of quality and experience in key areas and stuff like this just wouldn’t happen on such a regular basis but for 2 seasons we’ve refused to address it.

If it bounces away definitely, but the one that bounces down and - let's be honest - in?

Even without that there are four clear shots on target.

Hitting the woodwork counts as off target

In that case they surely are the last line of defence so it would count? A clearance off the line not being a shot on target would be a bit farcical!

Footystats xG has 1.31 Gills and 1.85 Swindon which seems about right to me.

Yeah seems you are right according to this;

https://www.statsperform.com/opta-event-definitions/#:~:text=a%20dangerous%20position.-,Shot%20on%20Target,Also%20See%20%27Shot%20Off%20Target.

"A deliberate attempt to score that is on target. Includes all Goals being scored and shots on target saved by the Goalkeeper.

It also includes shots on target that are Blocked by a last line defending player, preventing the ball from entering the Goal."

Thought Swindon looked fairly decent, if the footballing gods had been with them they could have won that scoring four or five. But we threw our bodies on the line, literally, two incredible goal line clearances, Ogie getting smashed stopping a certain goal and they still managed to waste a couple of presentable opportunities.

How did he save that!?
Should have won, could have lost - but at least it was entertaining.

Amazing save with last touch of the game from their keeper
 
Just when you think we've ground out an undeserved win we go and concede a late, late goal and blow two points. Even then we had two chances to snatch it again, the save from their keeper with the last touch of the game is absolutely stunning.

What a save at the end what could have been.
If that wasn’t one of the best games that I have seen for a long time it is up there.
Entertaining from start to finish, well played boys and we move on

Think a draw was the right result; a win might have papered over the cracks for us. Some incredible last ditch blocks / saves / misses in the game from both teams

Gills defense take a huge amount of credit to keep us in the game. Having got back into the game I hoped we could have gone on to win that.

Absolutely knackered after watching that. Fuck knows how the players are feeling. That match had everything second half.

First half was a bit frustrating but not dull. Could have been embarrassing if they’d taken their chances though,
Second half was a good end-to-end game, with loads of missed chances, goal-line clearances and shoddy defending, mixed with some quality. Hurtado has to start next game.

a draw is most probably the fair result, but how sweet would have been to score that third, even if had bee an own goal

Swindon attacked with pace and look a decent side.

Disappointed but not downhearted. Great starting atmosphere with a belting rendition of Last Waltz. Gills now customary amble into the game letting the opponentsset the pace. Big gaps in the middle for Swindon to exploit as we struggled to make anything happen. Solid in defence but it was clear they were going to concede eventually.

Much as it pains me to say it, I thought Swindon were very good. They knew we would make mistakes in midfield and moved the ball quickly. The first goal was a classic example: Coleman turned into trouble, one pass and McGurk had space to run at the last defender and score easily. The more stretched the game became in the second half, the more problems they caused us. And they kept throwing players forward - including the keeper for the corner just before they equalised. We can't really claim to have deserved all three points after needing a last-ditch tackle from Ogie and two goal-line clearances.

Entertaining match & an enjoyable watch. On the balance of play & chances created, a fair result. Might have won, could easily have lost.

Swindon were a lot better than I thought, given their recent record. In fact, they looked very similar to us today - dangerous when attacking but open and a liability defensively, but what a save from their keeper at the end. That brilliance saves the three points for them just as much as Ogie’s immense goal saving tackle at 0-1 did for us.

Over the 90, 2-2 was fair - but it could have been 5-5 with us clearing three from the line from them but us also hitting the post, bar, possibly having one go over the line and two offside goals (I’d like to see them again), but on the balance of the last 20, we were well on top and should have seen the game out, if not extended our lead and won the game comfortably as we did at Notts County, but we let them back into it with the sucker blow when it looked like they had fizzled out, so all in, two points very much dropped.

Very much felt like a defeat for me last night. After coming back from a goal down, I really thought we had it in the bag. Of course I want to be entertained, but I also want my team to win. I'm fed up with dropping points to teams below us in the league at home.

First half was turgid from us, we had a rather large gap on our right hand side in particular with how high Hutton was playing compared to Masterson not coming across and we were punished a couple of times as a result. McGuirk was very good for them and we have to be thankful that Shad put his body on the line the way he did at the end of the first half.

I have to say im gutted to only get a draw.

Not sure i agree Adje, we had just as exciting games under Flynn and it was when the players were all injured etc the shit hit the fan and the downward spiral continued. It's just my opinion of course but the points dropped the last 3 games hi would say everyone is down to some awful game management from the manager.

https://theathletic.com/football/game/plays/gillingham-vs-swindon-town/pakpswevZw4Aw717/

The Athletic have it 2.45 v 0.95. I like the idea of XG but the different models vary so wildly it's hard to take much from it!

BBC has their attendance as just 2,260, that has to be wrong surely, it looked about 6k to me.

I’ve seen it quoted as 6,096 which seems more likely to be honest

Not sure i agree Adje, we had just as exciting games under Flynn and it was when the players were all injured etc the shit hit the fan and the downward spiral continued. It's just my opinion of course but the points dropped the last 3 games hi would say everyone is down to some awful game management from the manager.

McCarthy and FBT are a great pair to have at this level. They should focus every effort on getting those two together next year, with a proper central midfield combination in front of them. A boring type, who closes down, blocks passing channels and knows how to shield a defence.

264 STFC at Gills

A few more as i wasnt counted and a few above me jumped about when ,McKirdy scored...i would imagine a few would be put off with the forecast and the thought of the uncovered end. Did fans know they would be covered before they rocked up!?

Havent read back.

I was in with the Pikeys (all over 50 fellas) with son in law.

They were a bit taken aback on how good the Town were.

Very keen on McGurk and were glad to see him get subbed off.

Kept saying they should of been out of the game and then amazed that they were leading and at the death believed that