EVERYTHING IS GREAT

[Ben Wah Balls]

Our squad isn't that great. We've lost players we haven't had the money to replace, King hasn't been able to afford a defensive midfielder even though it's a priority because we don't have the money.  Right from the start of this season King was barely able to strengthen the team at all, even when Mooney left as we had no money saving it for a "rainy day", he's managed to bring in some great loans that have helped plug the holes but our debts and the amount of money we're losing means it's extremely difficult to move forward.

The idea that a new manager could come in and get this squad into the playoffs is totally unrealistic. In reality a new manager would have to build their own squad, as many players will have to leave, we would need someone adept in the transfer market, the chances of us getting a better manager than the one we've got is extremely small, we don't have the money for a manager with a decent record, our board are unlikely to make the right choice so any new manager is likely to be a huge step backwards.

[walrus]

We have two strong players in every position, bar goalkeeper.

Evans - good first choice - prone to mistakes, Book adequate back-up

Jenkins - good right back - prone to mistakes current shocking run of form, O'hanlon superb back up

Duke - adequate left back - prone to mistakes, Nicholas good back up

Heywood - adequate centre back - prone to mistakes, Ifil adequate - prone to mistakes back up

O'Hanlon - superb centre back, Reeves adequate back up

Igoe - Good right mid, Robinson adequate back up

Holmes - Good left mid, Howard adequate back up

Hewlett - adequate midfielder - prone to mistakes, can't tackle, looks lost in midfield sometimes, Robinson adequate back up

Smith - Good midfielder, Miglioranzi good back up - should start from now on

Parkin - 'Nuff said, Fallon adequate back up - 20 goals a season from fallon???

Proctor - Meh no bad, Slabber is more than a player than many teams boast as a back up

mistake prone  :evil:

yeah we've made too many mistakes, but 20 goals a season from Enoch Showumni?  Precisely....   Hell, look at Arsenal's squad - can you see Van Persie scoring 20 goals in a season?  Back up means they can fill in, NOT perform to precisely the same level, otherwise they'd hardly be a back up now?

[Whits]

I'd say 9th is overachieving considering our squad, or rather achieving beyond our ability.

i agree with the above, last season the team had a great run, but if we were in the championship this season we would be down with the forest. I don't believe this is a team that could walk the league easily. We have a team which should be mid to high table. the problem is that everyone expects us to be better last years achievements. not always possible...

[sonicyouth]

Managers should never be sacked for under-achieving, only when the team is playing really really dire. It's a pretty absurd suggestion really.

Look what happened to City and Oxford. The same would happen to us.

[Whits]

We have two strong players in every position, bar goalkeeper.

Evans - good first choice - prone to mistakes, Book adequate back-up

Jenkins - good right back - prone to mistakes current shocking run of form, O'hanlon superb back up

Duke - adequate left back - prone to mistakes, Nicholas good back up

Heywood - adequate centre back - prone to mistakes, Ifil adequate - prone to mistakes back up

O'Hanlon - superb centre back, Reeves adequate back up

Igoe - Good right mid, Robinson adequate back up

Holmes - Good left mid, Howard adequate back up

Hewlett - adequate midfielder - prone to mistakes, can't tackle, looks lost in midfield sometimes, Robinson adequate back up

Smith - Good midfielder, Miglioranzi good back up - should start from now on

Parkin - 'Nuff said, Fallon adequate back up - 20 goals a season from fallon???

Proctor - Meh no bad, Slabber is more than a player than many teams boast as a back up

mistake prone  :evil:

yeah we've made too many mistakes, but 20 goals a season from Enoch Showumni?  Precisely....   Hell, look at Arsenal's squad - can you see Van Persie scoring 20 goals in a season?  Back up means they can fill in, NOT perform to precisely the same level, otherwise they'd hardly be a back up now?

you can't compare arsenal to us just due to the fact that the replacement for henry is either berkramp or Reyes, both world class players. Plus the style of football they play tends to mean the goals are spread out a bit more across the midfield as well

[Ben Wah Balls]

I'd say 9th is overachieving considering our squad, or rather achieving beyond our ability.

i agree with the above, last season the team had a great run, but if we were in the championship this season we would be down with the forest. I don't believe this is a team that could walk the league easily. We have a team which should be mid to high table. the problem is that everyone expects us to be better last years achievements. not always possible...

Exactly, it's fucking difficult to even keep on the same level with the amount of money we're haemorrhaging. I'm amazed we managed to stop and even reverse the decline. 4 years ago it looked as if we were heading straight out of the league, I'd almost given up on us but against the odds we've improved, even coming close to promotion.

I'm not sure we could survive financially in the championship at the moment anyway, any money we're losing is likely to be a lot worse, attendances would not be that much higher unless we were mid table or above, wages would need to increase. I don't know if we could afford it.

[Barry Potter]

This is all fair points about us being a financial crock of shit but aren't Luton in a simular position?How are they managing to walk the league  off the back of just coming out of admin?

[Nomoreheroes]

Find it quite funny to read all of your frustrations. I am a long standing fan who first started watching the Town after the appointment of Macari in the old 4th Div days. Having seen all that then I am shocked that anyone would think that Swindon's current team were promotion contenders.

The team is inconsistent and from the limited games that I have seen in the last couple of years (I live overseas) then they look totally devoid of quality and ideas. More than that, they looked a total shambles in the last game I saw and were completely outclassed in all departments by a supposedly struggling and inferior team.

When we have had a successful team in the past then goals have come from throughout the team. This team only seems to have one or two people who can score. From the info coming from the Co Grd at the moment, I would expect that there will be even fewer potential scorers next year.

I think it is probably time to blood the youngsters now and prepare for next year and life after Parkin, struggling near the foot of the table.

NMH

[Simon Pieman]

Last season was far from shambollic. With the squad largely unchanged, this is why people feel we should be pushing for play-offs (me included). Having said that, last season we JUST made the play-offs. We'll be back, it's just a matter of time.

[walrus]

This division is very uncertain, and no team with the possible exceptions of Sheff. Wednesday and Hull have far superior squads to everyone else.  If we did get promotion to the Championship, the financial benefits we would gain would enable us to invest and fight against the drop from the Championship.  However, I do feel that we missed a glorious opportunity last year, but for how long will be forced to rue Adam Virgo's header?  We were comfortably in the playoffs for most of last season after January, and only a poor end of season performance - probably down to nerves - saw us scrape in.

I maintain the loss of Tommy Mooney is probably why we are struggling, as when he's behaving and playing he gives the whole team a lift.  However, whether he'd have been capable of emulating last season's performances, is debatable.

If you look at the squads of teams above us, I would arguely strongly that we have a superior squad.  Brentford are playing Deon Burton, a player who looked totally out of place in our side two seasons previously.  Luton have the dire Sol Davis, who looked as though he had not improved since his time at Luton, and Russell Perrett the centre back is decidedly dodgy.  I think for a League One side, we do have good strength and depth and are capable of challenging these teams.

NoMoreHeroes:  I agree whole-heartedly with the idea that we often look devoid of ideas, but surely this is something which comes from the training ground rather than being the player's own responsibility?  We have a number of good playmakers - Miglioranzi, Igoe, Howard, Holmes, Roberts yet rarely can they spark something out of nothing, or break open a team who are remotely adept at defending.

The 3-0 home defeats of Bournemouth and Colchester in the space of 3 months are truly embarrassing and pretty hard to take.  Seeing teams such as Luton and Bournemouth easily do the double over us is a feat which I believe is unacceptable.

[DMR]

This season been's fucking crap from start to finish. A good bit here and there but lots of letting ourselves down. King out. That's all I can be bothered to say.

[reeves4england]

This topic started off with a massive complaint about the Luton game.
Imo that was the best performance of the season, and King made some brave, but correct decisions.

He has seen that the midfield was not covering the defence, so sent them out with a more defensive attitude.

The back 4 was Duke, Heywood, O'Hanlon, Ifil. They looked fairly solid throughout the game but there was always that danger that one of them would make a mistake-nothing the manager cab do.

The midfield was Smith, Miglioranzi, Jenkins, Igoe. He put Jenkins in there instead of Holmes because Holmes offers fuck all defensively. Smith and Igoe both chase the ball back and get stuck in (Igoe did this well at Luton) which made us more comfortable at the back. Then there was still the creative spark from Migs and Igoe going forward, with Smith always looking dangerous.

Then Parkin and Proctor were up front, and seemed to be playing two totally different games. No link up between them and Proctor was often stuck on his own as Parkin is not used to playing with somebody who likes to take the ball themselves.

The performance was good and the only reasons we lost were errors by defenders and the referee. On another day that game could have finished 3-1 to us.

[Piemonte]

if you don't stop calling people limp wristed lamos, I'll fucking twat you.

Our squad is weak. It's full of holes, lacking players and sufficient backup in key positions. Our first team is poor with the exception of a few good players. I think you're living in fairyland.

I'm going to bed, but demonstate.

We have two strong players in every position, bar goalkeeper.

Evans - good first choice, Book adequate back-up

Jenkins - good right back, O'hanlon superb back up

Duke - adequate left back, Nicholas good back up

Heywood - good centre back, Ifil superb back up

O'Hanlon - superb centre back, Reeves adequate back up

Igoe - Good right mid, Robinson adequate back up

Holmes - Good left mid, Howard superb superb superb back up

Hewlett - Good midfielder, Robinson adequate back up

Smith - Good midfielder, Miglioranzi superb back up - should start from now on

Parkin - 'Nuff said, Fallon a more-than adequate back up

Proctor - Meh no bad, Slabber is more than a player than many teams boast as a back up

You limp wristed lamo, the backup players we have is superior to some starting XI's some team boast.  We have a great squad, compare it to Bournemouth, Hartlepool etc. and its a fucking embarrassment we lie 9th in a league which is wide open, and full of players who should really be persuing other careers.

We dont have a great squad at all. I think you need to get realistic Walrus

As whits pointed out half our team is prone to goal losing gaffs

Hewlett is an obvious weak link in the side, a lifp wristed gay of a defensive midfielder as you would put it.

I've stood up for Duke in recent weeks because of his form but he's not a natuarl left back in the mould of sol davis

We dont have a right winger at the club. Igoe dosnt like playing there and drifts infield constantly.

Fallon seems to have forgotten how to play football

i could go on.......

[Johno]

Yesterday we desrved all three points. end of story.

we should be in playoffs but have thrown stupid points away because the players haven't kept going to play the full 90.

[yeo]

This topic started off with a massive complaint about the Luton game.
Imo that was the best performance of the season, and King made some brave, but correct decisions.

He has seen that the midfield was not covering the defence, so sent them out with a more defensive attitude.

The back 4 was Duke, Heywood, O'Hanlon, Ifil. They looked fairly solid throughout the game but there was always that danger that one of them would make a mistake-nothing the manager cab do.

The midfield was Smith, Miglioranzi, Jenkins, Igoe. He put Jenkins in there instead of Holmes because Holmes offers fuck all defensively. Smith and Igoe both chase the ball back and get stuck in (Igoe did this well at Luton) which made us more comfortable at the back. Then there was still the creative spark from Migs and Igoe going forward, with Smith always looking dangerous.

Then Parkin and Proctor were up front, and seemed to be playing two totally different games. No link up between them and Proctor was often stuck on his own as Parkin is not used to playing with somebody who likes to take the ball themselves.

The performance was good and the only reasons we lost were errors by defenders and the referee. On another day that game could have finished 3-1 to us.

I dont know about performance of the season but I agree totally with your tactical anlysis.