Swindon Town v Shrewsbury Town Official Matchday Thread

[Dr Pierre Chang]

Sitting in the DRS there appeared to be a certain amount of dissent each time Ward touched the ball for a few minutes after the complete cock-up, were people actually booing?

The boos were very clearly from the Town End the first time he was on the ball after the fuck up. Surprised that you have only just mentioned it.

Completely out of order, Ward is not a ball playing centre half and never has been, he is being asked to play a role that does not suit him and is struggling big time. Not helped by having no cover in front of him and being paired with rubbish. Branco is a comedy defender.

We were shite yesterday but nice to get a battering and take 3 points.

I enjoyed Cooper's comment on the new left back, 'the fans asked for a defender and we have got one'. Yeah, a fucking central defender Cooper, not some kid at left back.

[chalkies_shorts]

I thought the booing was more the fact that we seemed incapable of playing the ball forwards at times rather than specifically at Ward. It must be said Ward's form has degenerated as the season has gone on. Its a shame as we were looking to him to provide experience and leadership and he's provided neither recently.
Yesterday was the worst I've seen Town at home under Cooper. It was a Malpas type performance.
I must admit I'd have no problems if the Spurs loanees went back. Mason is the pick for me but as someone else said a while ago is made of Barry Corr. Pritchard has looked pretty shit recently and Hertha's comments previously in this thread sum it up well. Hall just ain't got it at the moment.
It wouldn't take much for this team to go on a pretty impressive losing streak. If we got our away form together then we could make the play offs.
Overall, we've exceeded where I thought we'd be but worryingly we haven't put in a decent performance for a while and some of the players have been very poor recently going through the motions.

 

[singingiiiffy]

It's the basic passing and finding a man that is infuriating fans about ward at the moment. We aren't asking for pirlo it's the constant giving the ball away.

[ronnie21]

Overall, we've exceeded where I thought we'd be but worryingly we haven't put in a decent performance for a while and some of the players have been very poor recently going through the motions.

 

Would agree with that, wanted us to be up there fighting for promotion - and yes I know that half a dozen good results would still see us up there - but deep down a decent solid season was the best we could hope for given the circumstances we found ourselves in.  What worries me is the lack of desire out on the pitch at times, this is something that the coaching team should be able to address, but they don't seem capable of doing so.

[DV]

Given our Brighton link, I wonder what Gordon Greer is up to next season? DV do you think he could do us a job?

Player coach might be a winner.

Yes, Ward is a year older but was solid for us last season. No doubt training and the backroom staff are immensely different - lower standards.

[sonicyouth]

People wrote off Ward when he originally signed for us so could it just be that he's reverted to type? I've felt throughout the season that Ward has been the weakest link in our back four and it's rare to see him providing guidance to the young players around him. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to find an experienced central defender who is a) still in his prime b) has the ability to focus on his game whilst guiding his inexperienced teammates c) can pass a ball well enough to not give away possession in crucial areas. If we could find a player like that, there's fuck all chance we can afford him.

In the absence of a player like that and the finances to go out and get one halfway through the season, we can only hope that we unearth a Douglas/McCormack/Bullock type to provide cover in front of the back four and stop us being bullied so easily.

[DV]

People wrote off Ward when he originally signed for us so could it just be that he's reverted to type? I've felt throughout the season that Ward has been the weakest link in our back four and it's rare to see him providing guidance to the young players around him. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to find an experienced central defender who is a) still in his prime b) has the ability to focus on his game whilst guiding his inexperienced teammates c) can pass a ball well enough to not give away possession in crucial areas. If we could find a player like that, there's fuck all chance we can afford him.

....or we'd find them and sell them to Brighton

[adje]

Pritchard should play wide.Waste of time relying on Thompson to deliver quality balls into the box.he's a defender and nothing else should be banned from crossing the halfway line!Clueless in the opposition half.All this Pritchard "diamond thing" is pointless, he has pace, trickery and a superb delivery-winger!

[THE FLASH]

Fucking hell. What a depressing thread. If this is what's it's becoming after a win I dread to think what it would've looked liked had we lost.
How anyone can dismiss Smith's potential after seeing him once and in conditions that were fucking awful, is bizarre. Especially as he scored 2 goals, tracked back countless times and ran his nuts off. Nothing like giving a player a chance, is there? As for Reckord, he met his team mates yesterday just before the game! I would imagine it's a bit difficult to look like a unit at the back when one of you is a complete stranger.
Sure there are concerns, Ward looks ponderous both in mind and action and the constant ball back to him every fucking minute is frustrating. Branco is still learning and I believe he'll come good. More concern to me is our 'talented' midfield. how Pritchard escapes criticism baffles me. He's arguably the most skilled player on the ball but his decision making a lot of the time is shite; too many touches, too long holding the ball, too many dead end runs.
Not a great performance yesterday sure, but getting 3 points is name of the game and we did that.

Agreed with most this post but disagree with the Reckford point....that's Coopers fault for shoving him straight in....PDC fucked up in the JPT and Pox away doing this....rarely works for defenders and midfielders. Need a little bit of time to settle in.

Ward is struggling to find any form and mistakes just add to his lack of confidence.

I am a little concerned but have been shouted down on here for saying the play offs is fantasyland.....we deserved nothing but draws v Coventry and Peterborough and fuck all against Stevenage, Pikeys,Blades and Shrews. We can only get away with it for so long....I hope the form is reversed and we turn up on Tuesday or we could get dicked....I'm going, so hope not.

52 to 54 points and running round Wembley with the JPT would be a right result IMO.

[kerry red]

It seems as if Ward is the main culprit for the slow and ponderous build up as all our pissing about at the back seems to go through him.

All Shrewsbury were doing was hitting long balls down the flanks and having players willing to chase after them.

Worked a treat for them with our useless defending. But it was done at speed which is something we never seem to do.

Whatever it is we are supposed to be doing sure as hell ain't working - so try something else

[Benzel]

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.

I share the same outlook.

[Saxondale]

As I see it we're getting through this year.  Play offs unlikley, going down more unlikely. 

At the end of the season we lose a bunch of the PDC big contract players going as well as loan players but more decent ones potentially coming in.  During the summer we will still have the core of a decent team (hopefully) which can be added to to have a real tilt at playoffs next year and a playing philosophy ingrained.  Hopefully a plan b can be sorted out for away games.

In the mean time, chill out.

[Benzel]

52 to 54 points and running round Wembley with the JPT would be a right result IMO.

12-14 points from the next 19 games? That's a bit conservative isn't it?

[RobertT]

12-14 points from the next 19 games? That's a bit conservative isn't it?

I was going to post something similar.  Given we have won more than we have lost this season so far, suggesting (at this point) that we would only 4 more and lose 15 seems a tad irrational.  More likely we will end up around the 65-68 points mark I think.

And DV, leave the past behind won't you, they have both gone.  To be fair to the current coaching team, we completely changed style of play in one pre season, that is in itself impressive.  The squad is full of inexperience, so we'll have shit and good games in equal measure, but whether it works or not, the one thing the coaches have done is impart the style on the team.  When it does work, we look pretty impressive for this level, when it doesn't we look limp.

I refer us all back to the budget.  Half of the previous season.  To be beyond complete obscurity right now, and with a chance of a trip to Wembley, is in my mind pretty good going.

[Batch]

Pritchard should play wide.Waste of time relying on Thompson to deliver quality balls into the box.he's a defender and nothing else should be banned from crossing the halfway line!Clueless in the opposition half.All this Pritchard "diamond thing" is pointless, he has pace, trickery and a superb delivery-winger!

I disagree with Pritchard being the answer to getting width. He goes missing there. His legs go faster than everyone else's because they are shorter, not because he has pace!

He put in a lot of hard work yesterday mind.