EVERYTHING IS GREAT

[Nomoreheroes]

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.

I think the whole point is that we didn't get all three points and we are not in the playoff places !

NMH

[Ben Wah Balls]

This team only seems to have one or two people who can score.

Although:

 

Of slight excitement for the anoraks amongst you, is the fact that we have had 16 different league scorers this season which is the same as 58/59, but one short of the record of 17 different league scorers in 00/01.....but with 9 games to go......Migs or Jenkins or Nicho or Jerel would do .

[Nomoreheroes]

This team only seems to have one or two people who can score.

Although:

 

Of slight excitement for the anoraks amongst you, is the fact that we have had 16 different league scorers this season which is the same as 58/59, but one short of the record of 17 different league scorers in 00/01.....but with 9 games to go......Migs or Jenkins or Nicho or Jerel would do .

I guess I should have added 'consistently'.

NMH

[walrus]

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.

You are wrong re.:  Proctor - he was definitely operating along the right wing, and Parkin was alone up front.  This would tally with King's use of a defender in the midfield of a 4-5-1, such as when O'Hanlon played in midfield against Bournemouth (and we lost, again - another team to do the double against us).

Ifil at right-back was a gamble, and the first time he has played there this season.  Kenilworth Road is hardly the place to begin experimenting, and in my opinion King should have had Jenkins or O'Hanlon there.  Having said that, Ifil did okay, and the right-back spot may suit him better as his mistakes won't hurt as much and he has greater license to go forward - he really is bloody good at running with the ball.

I will agree that Jenkins in midfield did look surprisingly good - when I first saw him start there I was thinking what the bloody hell is he doing, as O'Hanlon has impressed in midfield before - excellent strike against Bournemouth!

However, to describe King's changes as brave is ludicrous.  At no stage during the match did we play with two men up front.  We bring Roberts on, and immediately he too goes to the right wing.  This is what frustrates me most about King - he has no idea about substitutes, and never seems to chase a game quite as much as perhaps he should.  Likewise against Brentford, it took until about the 80th minute to bring on Fallon and then a bit later, Slabber.  10 minutes is hardly long enough for Parkin to make an impact, let alone Fallon or Slabber!

Saturday was far from disasterous, and I agree it was one of the best performances I have seen this season, although I'd be interested to know how it compared to the home performance against Hull this season.  However, it's another 3 points lost, and we're slipping further and further from the playoffs, which are looking a more and more distant possibility.  We really need to win our next 3 games:  Wrexham (H), Franchise (A), Bristol City (H).  Its possible, but tough.

In addition, I'd complain about Howard not featuring yesterday, but everyone seems to hate the poor lad so I'll save my fingers!

[Ben Wah Balls]

I would be surprised if Harford didn't have a lot of input into the tactics on saturday. It sounded like we were using his inside knowledge to try and exploit a weak area in Luton's team and it worked to an extent as we put a lot of pressure on them. Unfortunately they got a lot of the luck that top of the table teams often get so we didn't get the result we wanted. 3-1 is a hugely flattering scoreline for them though.

[McLovin]

My main gripes with King are purely:
 - His insistence we need more strikers (he signs Proctor, we start scoring less)
 - His blind faith in Hewlett.  We all know we need a new 'enforcer', yet he has forgot to buy/loan one
 - Persisting with Duke. Nicholas is betterer.

That is it.  I don't think he gets tactics wrong more than most managers at this level.

[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.

You are wrong re.:  Proctor - he was definitely operating along the right wing, and Parkin was alone up front.  This would tally with King's use of a defender in the midfield of a 4-5-1, such as when O'Hanlon played in midfield against Bournemouth (and we lost, again - another team to do the double against us).

Ifil at right-back was a gamble, and the first time he has played there this season.  Kenilworth Road is hardly the place to begin experimenting, and in my opinion King should have had Jenkins or O'Hanlon there.  Having said that, Ifil did okay, and the right-back spot may suit him better as his mistakes won't hurt as much and he has greater license to go forward - he really is bloody good at running with the ball.

I will agree that Jenkins in midfield did look surprisingly good - when I first saw him start there I was thinking what the bloody hell is he doing, as O'Hanlon has impressed in midfield before - excellent strike against Bournemouth!

However, to describe King's changes as brave is ludicrous.  At no stage during the match did we play with two men up front.  We bring Roberts on, and immediately he too goes to the right wing.  This is what frustrates me most about King - he has no idea about substitutes, and never seems to chase a game quite as much as perhaps he should.  Likewise against Brentford, it took until about the 80th minute to bring on Fallon and then a bit later, Slabber.  10 minutes is hardly long enough for Parkin to make an impact, let alone Fallon or Slabber!

Saturday was far from disasterous, and I agree it was one of the best performances I have seen this season, although I'd be interested to know how it compared to the home performance against Hull this season.  However, it's another 3 points lost, and we're slipping further and further from the playoffs, which are looking a more and more distant possibility.  We really need to win our next 3 games:  Wrexham (H), Franchise (A), Bristol City (H).  Its possible, but tough.

In addition, I'd complain about Howard not featuring yesterday, but everyone seems to hate the poor lad so I'll save my fingers!

I have no problem with Howard, but think King got it right purely with the fact that we have a more defensive look about us. Ifil has played right back 3 or 4 times this season, but none of the se were memorable matches so I can understand you not recalling them!

[walrus]

Was lying awake in bed last night with a facking awful cold, and was thinking of a list of highlights and low points for this season.  Was a rather worrying conclusion:

Highlights

- Winning 2-1 at Ashton Gate
- Beating Bradford at home 1-0 with 10 men and a brilliant freekick from Igoe
- Signing Darius Henderson on loan, although only to miss out on his permanent signature (low point also?)
- Signing Christian Roberts
- Coming from 2 goals down to beat Wednesday 3-2 at our place
- Beating Wednesday 4-1 in the cup, then progressing to hammer Hull 4-2 next week
- Signing Mick Harford


Low Points
- Losing Tommy Mooney
- Losing Crosby
- Losing Devlin
- Realising Fallon could not match last season's good performances
- Failing to perform against Leeds like last season, although perhaps this was asking for a little much
- Being 3-1 up against Torquay at home, before drawing 3-3
- Being embarrassed live on SKY TV, again (vs. Notts County)
- New Years Day hangover - 3-0 loss at home to Colchester
- Losing to Southend in the LDV, after deciding that may be our focus for the season
- Rhys Evans seeming loss of form - lack of confidence currently costing the side
- Signing Jamie Slabber - sorry to the lad, but what a disappointment and a let-down he's turned out to be
- Miglioranzi's injury problems - hopefully we have seen the last of them
- Being spanked at home by Bournemouth 3-0
- King looking like he's letting go our bright prospects of last season ---> Nicholas, Howard...

Anyone care to disagree/try and even up the score?

With the news on the main site suggesting King will be ringing the changes in the summer (maybe under Harford's direction?) let's hope our recruitment is successful as that during the Summer of 2003 prior to our playoff season.

[Ben Wah Balls]

I would add to highlights

Swindon 3 - Stockport 0 - Any 3-0 win is a highlight
Swindon 3 - Hartlepool 0 - As above
Bradford 1 Swindon 2 - Great away win when they were up near the top
Swindon 1 - Bristol City 0 ldv - great derby win
Two periods of 3 successive victories (up until last year we hadn't had any for years)

Don't think it's been that bad, just hasn't quite lived up to last year. To be honest this is probably our second best season since winning division two after last year.  (Not a lot of competition to be fair. Most seasons have been shit since then. First half of 1996-97 and 1997-98 were ok).

The change over the summer is not all bad news, we are lucky enough to have a manager who can spot a bargain signing which is exactly what we need in this situation.

[walrus]

Consciously left out Bristol LDV match as it's an unimportant match, but as I included the Southend match that is perhaps in hindsight a bit unfair.

The 3-0 Stockport win is countered by that awful 3-3 draw with us being 3-0 up against Stockport, and with Stockport rooted to the bottom of the table, a 3-0 home win would really be an expectation, not a highlight.

3-0 Hartlepool win and the Bradford victory I agree.

However, the sequences have been in amongst piss-poor runs of obscurity, and results such as a 1-0 home defeat to Peterborough.  In addition to this, the signing of Steve Jenkins was hardly inspiring, and I don't think he will help get us out of this division, despite being a solid professional, although I felt it a bit harsh to mention this as an actual low point (though Slabber is bad enough to justify this unwanted accolade).

[Ben Wah Balls]

Dunno I never expect a 3-0 victory, Football's not as simple as that. I loved it anyway.
Considering Slabber has cost us absolutely nothing and even though he's not scored Parkin has got a lot of goals when playing in the same team I don't think he's really a low point. If we'd paid £20k+ for him or even signed him then maybe.

Leeds wasn't a low point, we matched them and played pretty well.

[Anonymous]

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.

You are wrong re.:  Proctor - he was definitely operating along the right wing, and Parkin was alone up front.  This would tally with King's use of a defender in the midfield of a 4-5-1, such as when O'Hanlon played in midfield against Bournemouth (and we lost, again - another team to do the double against us).

Ifil at right-back was a gamble, and the first time he has played there this season.  Kenilworth Road is hardly the place to begin experimenting, and in my opinion King should have had Jenkins or O'Hanlon there.  Having said that, Ifil did okay, and the right-back spot may suit him better as his mistakes won't hurt as much and he has greater license to go forward - he really is bloody good at running with the ball.

I will agree that Jenkins in midfield did look surprisingly good - when I first saw him start there I was thinking what the bloody hell is he doing, as O'Hanlon has impressed in midfield before - excellent strike against Bournemouth!

However, to describe King's changes as brave is ludicrous.  At no stage during the match did we play with two men up front.  We bring Roberts on, and immediately he too goes to the right wing.  This is what frustrates me most about King - he has no idea about substitutes, and never seems to chase a game quite as much as perhaps he should.  Likewise against Brentford, it took until about the 80th minute to bring on Fallon and then a bit later, Slabber.  10 minutes is hardly long enough for Parkin to make an impact, let alone Fallon or Slabber!

Saturday was far from disasterous, and I agree it was one of the best performances I have seen this season, although I'd be interested to know how it compared to the home performance against Hull this season.  However, it's another 3 points lost, and we're slipping further and further from the playoffs, which are looking a more and more distant possibility.  We really need to win our next 3 games:  Wrexham (H), Franchise (A), Bristol City (H).  Its possible, but tough.

In addition, I'd complain about Howard not featuring yesterday, but everyone seems to hate the poor lad so I'll save my fingers!

At no stage during the match did we play with two men up front.  sorry but we were playing the team who hammered a fairly good team 5-0 the week before and we had been beaten 3-0 at home the player who was out of posistion also scored so are you saying to play a defence minded team against luton was wrong

[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.

I think the whole point is that we didn't get all three points and we are not in the playoff places !

NMH

well. can't blame king for saturday. gunna beat wrexham on saturday!  

[walrus]

Swindon mad - when we were trailing, yes!  And I agree, at no point did we have two men up front, but least when we're losing stick Roberts up front, let Igoe do what he's used to and let him have a run at Sol Davis, and for God's sake give Howard a go!

[Ben Wah Balls]

Add coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 with a parkin hatrick to boot to the highlights list! :beers