Swindon Town v Shrewsbury Town Official Matchday Thread

[fatbasher]

Before we scored the second i said that we'd be lucky to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.

[Matt71]

Our central defenders are a real concern.ward has imploded ,yesterday he was wandering around like he had never played a professional game before and Branco is not as good as everybody was suggesting.The most worrying aspect is that cooper suggests we are ok in this position and signs two strikers ,a left back and is looking at another striker! Football is a results business as we all know and if my job depended on results I would have signed two center backs as a priority and one striker.

[DRS]

I think half the reason Hall and Branco end up looking so shit is down to Ward.

[Only Me]

If we get to the JPT Final and lose it I'll be gutted... Gutted that I've wasted good money on yet another disappointing trip to Wembley.

Don't go to the final if we get there a s we will all be happy, you moaning old git

[Bogus Dave]

Ignoring the moment where he fell asleep and their bloke nicked the ball off him, I thought Ward looked quite solid defensively yesterday, but was let down by Branco and Reckords complete lack of positioning and awareness.

[ron dodgers]

I could not believe the size of the DRS linos plates - they were like canoes!!!!!

[ronnie21]

Well time for a little reflection.  We won - as we had our previous two games - despite being outplayed by the opposition.  To me this is a real concern, we are bound to get games where we actually play well and get beat and it is whether the team have the resilience to bounce back from defeats like that - we are not doing it away from home, I fear we may implode.  We have too many players making the wrong decisions, too much giving balls away trying to play a wonder pass when a simple ball will do.  It is ok saying they are young and learning, I can accept that for the first three months of the season but it is getting a bit monotonous now.  Like other posters I am concerned that Ward is going through such a bad spell that it may be terminal, everybody blamed Hall but yesterday Ward was giving away balls on the edge of the area and the weak back pass that Wes got him out of such a deep hole was school boy defending.  And why, oh why, do we have to get everybody back when facing a corner or dangerous free kick, stick Pritch on the half way line and get support up quickly as the ball just keeps coming back.  Sadly we don't seem to have the pace - or zip - of the early season, do we have to wait until it gets drier and warmer to see it again?

[Mister Lorenzo]

Was it just me but did anyone else think that the free kick leading up to their first goal was the least likely free kick given in the history of free kicks?

[joteddyred]

Well time for a little reflection.  We won - as we had our previous two games - despite being outplayed by the opposition.  To me this is a real concern, we are bound to get games where we actually play well and get beat and it is whether the team have the resilience to bounce back from defeats like that - we are not doing it away from home, I fear we may implode.  We have too many players making the wrong decisions, too much giving balls away trying to play a wonder pass when a simple ball will do.  It is ok saying they are young and learning, I can accept that for the first three months of the season but it is getting a bit monotonous now.  Like other posters I am concerned that Ward is going through such a bad spell that it may be terminal, everybody blamed Hall but yesterday Ward was giving away balls on the edge of the area and the weak back pass that Wes got him out of such a deep hole was school boy defending.  And why, oh why, do we have to get everybody back when facing a corner or dangerous free kick, stick Pritch on the half way line and get support up quickly as the ball just keeps coming back.  Sadly we don't seem to have the pace - or zip - of the early season, do we have to wait until it gets drier and warmer to see it again?

Agree with all of the above.  Some people have commented that Ward's legs have gone, but yesterday his thinking was too slow hence getting caught on several occasions.  If Cooper is looking towards building for next season, we need at least one Centre Back.  There is no way that Ward has another season in him to play week in week out.  I know McEveley isn't everyone's favourite player, but I don't think anyone can argue that we are so much weaker defensively when he's not playing.

The passing yesterday for large parts of the game was woeful.  Players in space, yet the ball being passed to the one who had 2 or 3 opposition around them.  At one stage in the second half, the crowd were directing who to pass to!

Was it just me but did anyone else think that the free kick leading up to their first goal was the least likely free kick given in the history of free kicks?

It stemmed from Byrne giving the ball away in midfield for the umpteenth time.  He was exceptionally poor yesterday.

[aroundthefur]

Before the first game of the season at Peterborough, I was really looking forward to seeing how the season would go with us assembling the most technically adept group of midfielders we have had in years. I was more than happy to be patient in the initial few weeks when the obvious attempt to change the style could at times be slow and ponderous. There were some promising early signs such as the second half at Peterborough and first half at QPR that showed when it clicked we could be on to something special. The performance at Wolves is right up with the best I have seen in my 20 years of watching. The second half against Notts County was also excellent.

However, as the season has progressed, we haven't. Our style of play is predictable and teams have found a way to defend against us. Stay deep and narrow. We won't cross it and, at the moment, we don't have the bravery to try something intricate and clever on the 18 yard line to break through the centre of a defence. All of this results in meandering around either our own half or the halfway line, playing safe passes that generally achieve nothing.

I would say, in any sport, the most skilled players have the advantage because they are the most adaptable. To see players of the ability of Mason, Pritchard and Luongo reduced to the predictable is becoming incredibly frustrating. These are some of the players with the widest range of passing in the division. Why don't we use it?

To have a 6 foot 4 striker but not cross the ball, seemingly out of a footballing principle that keeping the ball on the floor is the be all and end all, completely negates the over-riding principle of sport. Use whatever advantages you have to win.

We have spent a lot of time listening to McCrory, Power and Cooper tell us that they are implementing an attractive style of play. I would say that watching five yard passes all the time that achieve nothing is just as boring as watching every ball being smashed up to the head of a centre forward.

We have got the players to mix it up, be unpredictable and cause real problems for any defence but at the moment I just see the ability of our midfield being wasted.

[chalkies_shorts]

We need a player the other players can gravitate to when its going Pete Tong. We haven't got it. They could be a midfielder or a defender. We haven't got one and nobody looks as though they can do it. Luongo would be the natural for me but he's been pretty shit since he signed full time.

[Bathtime]

I think it became clear yesterday that we should be prepared for a finish outside the play offs - shame as I had thought that despite the dreadful away form we might just about sneak in due to the competition being less skilful than our present batch. Well done Smith for his goals but his control was way off the beat, looks a handy League 2 striker - Byrne what was he doing.....? Cooper makes it so obvious that he doesn`t want Ranger in the team it`s becoming really annoying especially as he is the most talented player we have....any chance of swapping the Mason and Harley for another couple of Tottenham youths...? Is Barker injured - I presume so as he wasn`t around yesterday -

Yesterday was a bit of a depressing reality check for me -  found it all a bit depressing.....

[@mwooly63]

Before the first game of the season at Peterborough, I was really looking forward to seeing how the season would go with us assembling the most technically adept group of midfielders we have had in years. I was more than happy to be patient in the initial few weeks when the obvious attempt to change the style could at times be slow and ponderous. There were some promising early signs such as the second half at Peterborough and first half at QPR that showed when it clicked we could be on to something special. The performance at Wolves is right up with the best I have seen in my 20 years of watching. The second half against Notts County was also excellent.

However, as the season has progressed, we haven't. Our style of play is predictable and teams have found a way to defend against us. Stay deep and narrow. We won't cross it and, at the moment, we don't have the bravery to try something intricate and clever on the 18 yard line to break through the centre of a defence. All of this results in meandering around either our own half or the halfway line, playing safe passes that generally achieve nothing.

I would say, in any sport, the most skilled players have the advantage because they are the most adaptable. To see players of the ability of Mason, Pritchard and Luongo reduced to the predictable is becoming incredibly frustrating. These are some of the players with the widest range of passing in the division. Why don't we use it?

To have a 6 foot 4 striker but not cross the ball, seemingly out of a footballing principle that keeping the ball on the floor is the be all and end all, completely negates the over-riding principle of sport. Use whatever advantages you have to win.

We have spent a lot of time listening to McCrory, Power and Cooper tell us that they are implementing an attractive style of play. I would say that watching five yard passes all the time that achieve nothing is just as boring as watching every ball being smashed up to the head of a centre forward.

We have got the players to mix it up, be unpredictable and cause real problems for any defence but at the moment I just see the ability of our midfield being wasted.

Sums it up nicely
And probably the reason it has been a struggle as the season gone on to even turn up and watch

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Yeah I find the sideways passing bloody boring as well. When PDC was here the football was exciting to watch even if it wasnt pretty. It was quick and direct and there were plenty of crosses into the box. We never do that now.

[Ardiles]

Hang on...we're in 8th place and 5 points off the play offs with less than 20 games to go.  Have to admit, I don't really understand the doom & gloom.  We're not world beaters, but we never have been.  We're Swindon.  And by Swindon standards, what we're doing this season is OK.

We also appear not to be in imminent danger of going out of business, which is another plus.  My glass is half full anyway.