Texts after the game against Fitton

[pauld]

Trouble is the players arnt shit. We played Franchise of the pitch. We've drawn with Leicester home and away. When they are in the mood they can give anyone in this division a game as our record against the better teams shows - its almost play off form.

The issue is clearly psycological. I'm not sure it comes from the management, as its been the same since Sturrock really.  its an issue with the group of players being weak willed and "nice" in my opinion.  I know most lower league players are incosistant by nature, but other sides mangae to put runs together. Our team cant as they get out-battled by poor physical sides.

I'd agree with 90% of this, but I don't know about "the players aren't shit" - no they're not, but being able to produce a decent performance one game in six or so doesn't make them great either. And with a few honourable exceptions, that's what we've got. It's like non-league sides that go on a Cup run, yeah, sure for a few one-off games they can really turn it on, especially against higher League sides that are complacent or think they're better than they are (like us), but would anyone seriously argue that Curzon's players were anything other than where they deserved to be or Histon's for that matter. Take nothing away from the spirit required to go on those runs, or to pull out all the stops away at Leicester, but it's what you do week in, week out that makes you good or makes you shit. And on that basis, the League table is delivering the verdict loud and clear - and our players are not good. Whether that's down to lack of ability, lack of effort, or a problem with mental strength or simple complacency makes no odds - they're not good enough and the majority should go.

Or, you could subscribe to Bart's view that we actually have an excellent squad of real world-beaters, were it not for evil Dave Byrne and his evil sidekicks who are secretly poisoning the team's half-time cuppas with a secret will-sapping potion. Dagnabbit, we'd be in the UEFA Cup next season were it not for that blackguard Byrne!

[Berniman]

I think people are going over the top with criticism.

The board have made mistakes, and Wilson hasn't come in and made everything perfect, BUT I'd say a lot of it is down to the players. They lost all confidence under Malpas, and when Wilson came in he got them playing better football. We've seen much better performances recently. The problems are the crap performances scattered in between and the failure to stick the ball in the back of the net and finish a game off. I still think we have a great chance of staying up. Looking at this set of fixtures we could easily do the same as last season and make a nice break away from the drop zone:
Hereford (H)
Northampton (A)
Yeovil (A)
Crewe (H)
Brighton (A)
Leyton Orient (H)
Carlisle (A)
Bristol Rovers (H)

Nothing is guaranteed, but every single one of those games is winnable and I think THAT spell will be the one that decides our fate.

Spot on R4E!

[THE FLASH]

I would rather have a club in Div 2 than no club at all.

Fitton made two key mistakes.

1. Malpas

2. Too long to replace Malpas

AND so we pay the price for it...............

Im already looking at next season wherever we end up......a massive overhaul is required.

[jonny72]

Managers and directors / owners will always get some abuse. Only exception to that this season is Man Utd, though if they don't win all 5 trophies I'm sure someone will say something. That's just the way football is.

Everyone knows Fitton has made mistakes and I've got some questions myself about Danny Wilson but you need to put that in context. The club has a sound financial footing for the first time in a long time and that alone is enough for me. I think we'll stay up and will be challenging for the playoffs next season. If the worst happens and we do go down, we'll be challenging for the title in League 2. I can cope with either.

My biggest complaint at present is the match day catering. The shit football would be less painful if you had something decent to eat at half time, without having to queue up for 20 minutes.

[Simon Pieman]

I quite enjoyed our time in league 2. Most of the grounds are pretty bad but it has that touch of the old skool which I enjoyed. Obviously it helped we were doing well. I seem to remember the football played by both us and our opposition as not being terribly great, but we could produce an exciting match.

If we went down and that remained the same I think I'd actually look forward to it. My main fear is we end up doing an Oxford. Obviously I want us to stay up and do all those things in League One though!

[chalkies_shorts]

Trouble is the players arnt shit. We played Franchise of the pitch. We've drawn with Leicester home and away. When they are in the mood they can give anyone in this division a game as our record against the better teams shows - its almost play off form.

The issue is clearly psycological. I'm not sure it comes from the management, as its been the same since Sturrock really.  its an issue with the group of players being weak willed and "nice" in my opinion.  I know most lower league players are incosistant by nature, but other sides mangae to put runs together. Our team cant as they get out-battled by poor physical sides.

But the players are shit. As well as they played against Franchise, they were fucking terrible in other home games against Colchester, Huddersfield, Millwall, Yeovil, Hartlepool, 'Nam, Brighton etc. Our players are not inconsistent if they play a good 1 in 6 - they are consistently shit in the other 5. If we put our whole squad up for sale, who would attract bids - Cox and Morrison. A couple of others would go on frees - the others would have to retire or play no league.
We're where we are for a reason and that is that we have shown consistecy - consistent shit.

[Colin Todd]

But thats the point I'm making chalkies shorts. 

The good performances show that they are not shit because they have reasonable ability in the main.

Shit players have little ability. they cant raise themselves to outplay the better teams in the league because it is above their potential level of performance. Some of the very same players were decent last season. Easton was in the running for POTS!

What they dont have is mental strength or the will to battle against limited but hardworking sides.

Dont get me wrong I want a clear out in the summer as well. Having ability means fuck all if you aint got the balls to impose yourself on the opposition.  I dont agree with other clubs not wanting any of our players either. They are not going to go for big fees or probablly any fee at all but very few in the lower leagues do.  Other league clubs would take Ifil, Aljofree, J smith, Vincent, Macnamee, Easton, McGovern, Paynter to name a few. As individuals they are all fairly decent in my view.  as a group they've massively underperformed. They've all had decent pro careers, and to suggest they'd all be playing in the conference as a result of one dire season in league 1 is laughable.

The bottom line is we are where we are for a reason, and it dosnt really matter what that reason is.  But I stand by my opinion that most of our players are not shit. they lack character as a group.

[Simon Pieman]

I think our players are shit because they lack character when playing in a group.

[Colin Todd]

  Very good.

I think you're shit

[Samdy Gray]

I think the board put their foot in it with the "Championship within 3 years" comment. A lot of people thought this would mean immediate progress on the pitch, but in reality it's been the opposite.

I know it's very far-fetched and very unlikey, but my worry is the board could realise the club isn't fit for their ambitions and just up-sticks and leave us in the shit again.

If we do end up getting relegated, then Fitton needs to reassess his "won't pay agents" and "not going to throw money at the club" stance. I'm not saying he's got to spend millions, but if you look at the teams who've been promoted from L2 in recent years, those who've spent a bit to get themselves out have done alright and are now benefiting - Hull, Swansea, Stockport, Milton Keynes. If we don't spend any money then we'll end up similar to the likes of Wycombe, Bradford and Shrewsbury who've just yo-yo'd up and down L2.

[Colin Todd]

I'm fine with spending money on players, but there is no correlation between paying agents fees and success.  Someone posted on here recently that of the clubs who didnt pay agents in the last reported year, most seemed to be doing ok. I dont see why league 1 clubs need to be paying agents. the deals are not complex.

[chalkies_shorts]

I think the board put their foot in it with the "Championship within 3 years" comment. A lot of people thought this would mean immediate progress on the pitch, but in reality it's been the opposite.

I know it's very far-fetched and very unlikey, but my worry is the board could realise the club isn't fit for their ambitions and just up-sticks and leave us in the shit again.

If we do end up getting relegated, then Fitton needs to reassess his "won't pay agents" and "not going to throw money at the club" stance. I'm not saying he's got to spend millions, but if you look at the teams who've been promoted from L2 in recent years, those who've spent a bit to get themselves out have done alright and are now benefiting - Hull, Swansea, Stockport, Milton Keynes. If we don't spend any money then we'll end up similar to the likes of Wycombe, Bradford and Shrewsbury who've just yo-yo'd up and down L2.

Unless he thinks he can go down and go straight up 2 divisions a bit like the Dongs or P'boro may do and what we did under Macari.

[overthehill]

Unless he thinks he can go down and go straight up 2 divisions a bit like the Dongs or P'boro may do and what we did under Macari.

Macari is a legend. You cannot compare this rabble (players & management) with the glory days.

[Simon Pieman]

I think the Board are going to be forced to spend more money out of their own pockets. They've invested a lot of money and to walk away now would mean losing a lot. Not to mention - they'd need to find a buyer.  In the current financial mess the world is in that's really not likely.

Maybe there are degrees of what they'll be willing to do. I think luckily for us we're not deemed to be a get rich quick scheme with a ground development, or if we are then Fitton has done a lot of amazing and unnecessary work to disguise that. The key is sustainability but it doesn't mean we have to be sustainably shit. I'm sure Fitton has ambitions beyond bottom half of league one, let alone bottom half of league 2. Could this season have been forseen? I'm unsure. On the one hand we were mediocre the term before but most of us expected better than that this year, not worse. Why should the Board be any different?

In summary: The Board have only stuffed up if they let the team continue on its downward trend. A recovery would mean the five year plan is a bit fucked, but that often happens with strategic plans. What's key is adapting to changes in the situation in order to get the ultimate goal you're looking for.

[herthab]

Whose money are the board supposed to be spending?  They've shelled at fair wedge of their own money already, by clearing the debts. The club runs at a loss and the majority of Swindon residents wouldn't give a toss if the club folded.
We need to be realistic. We haven't got a Swindon Town fan running the club, we've got level headed businessmen in charge who have already invested in a product that fails to generate profit. When do they stop pumping in cash?
I would rather be in League 2, starting on nil points net season, as opposed to spending money the club doesn't have and ending up there in a couple of years on -15.
The club is finally being run properly, if it takes a couple of seasons before we've got a team that can match what's happened off-field, so what?
Everyone seems to demand and expect instant success.