Swindon Town V Northampton Town official matchday thread

[chalkies_shorts]

you do have to credit the opposition too Rory. Northampton weren't great last night but played as a unit and got the crucial breaks/goals.

So, essentially by doing the basics and being professional.
3 teams in the last 3 home games have taken 3 different approaches to us and won comfortably. Bury solid banks of 4 and wait for us to do the rest. Rovers went for it with 3 on 3. Nton kept people behind the ball and hit us on the counter.

[adje]

But when the sideways and backwards passing ultimately leads to a goal like obika's  on Saturday,some fans say we look like barcelona!

[adje]

....granted it doesnt happen very often!

[adje]

The main flaw in my opinion with 3 at the back is that in our case it means nathan has to play in the centre (i think) and unfortunately he's not very good at it

[Peter Venkman]

Oh Ive never started one of these before.  What do I do?  Say something pithy about the opposition and predict we're going to struggle?

Can I be the first to say, don't start another for a while

[aroundthefur]

But when the sideways and backwards passing ultimately leads to a goal like obika's  on Saturday,some fans say we look like barcelona!

If it was happening more often than not, there wouldn't be a problem.

Last season we finished bottom half. This season after 10 games we are bottom half. Yet on both occasions the messages coming out of the club is we were/are aiming for much more.

If we are happy with bottom half, tell us. If we aren't as suggested, something has not been working for over a year now.

[Reg Smeeton]

If it was happening more often than not, there wouldn't be a problem.

Last season we finished bottom half. This season after 10 games we are bottom half. Yet on both occasions the messages coming out of the club is we were/are aiming for much more.

If we are happy with bottom half, tell us. If we aren't as suggested, something has not been working for over a year now.

No real need for them to tell us we're looking at staying in Div 3, as it's plainly obvious that we're not making a push for higher.

The club will always try and make things look better than what they are....nothing wrong with that. The fan has to use his/her eyes and ears to get the real picture.

We're probably round about par based on wage bill.....but that in itself won't keep us up.

DV raised the question of is Power bothered about relegation?  We had the debate last season when I contended he wouldn't be as you can still polish turds and get fees for them, as Oxford showed with Roofe. In fact as it stands, we have no players becoming value added, so it might appear to him more likely we could achieve that in an easier grade of football.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

We'd still get bullied out of it, probably more so, playing the way we do in L2 - see Exeter, Cheltnum, Macclesfield x 2 etc

[aroundthefur]

And we would attract an even lower quality of player than we do now.

[Bob's Orange]

No real need for them to tell us we're looking at staying in Div 3, as it's plainly obvious that we're not making a push for higher.

The club will always try and make things look better than what they are....nothing wrong with that. The fan has to use his/her eyes and ears to get the real picture.

We're probably round about par based on wage bill.....but that in itself won't keep us up.

DV raised the question of is Power bothered about relegation?  We had the debate last season when I contended he wouldn't be as you can still polish turds and get fees for them, as Oxford showed with Roofe. In fact as it stands, we have no players becoming value added, so it might appear to him more likely we could achieve that in an easier grade of football.

Sean Murray, Brophy and Vigs I think are probably are only potential salable assets. Obika would be if we could get him to sign a new deal (which won't happen).

Kasim is an odd one, lots of rumours of transfers which never seem to materialise.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

And we would attract an even lower quality of player than we do now.

It's not the quality of the players - it's the quality, or lack of, of the manager/coach.

We've got a good set of players.

[DiV]

It can't just be the formation. We won the third tier in 95/96 playing 352. Bristol City won it two years ago playing 352. It comes down to our approach to defending.

We had a much better team in 95/96.

Formations don't win or lose games the players do.
Play the formation that best suites your squad. We clearly don't have the players for 352 so don't play it.
I'd suggest we need a back to basics, solid, two banks of four - 442 but we have no wingers!

[Reg Smeeton]

Sean Murray, Brophy and Vigs I think are probably are only potential salable assets. Obika would be if we could get him to sign a new deal (which won't happen).

Kasim is an odd one, lots of rumours of transfers which never seem to materialise.

Sean Murray, is a long long way from being a saleable asset....maybe if he can stay fit, cut out the errors for the rest of the season.

Brophy is a throwback footballer....needs a season of solid improvement. You never know, but a long way to go still.

Vigs....keepers don't tend to be too sellable. Wes was a very good keeper, but nobody wanted to buy him. Oddly Henry could be one who we might get a few bob for, especially if he gets a little run of games and does OK.

[Batch]

We've got a good set of players.

have we though? I'm not saying you are wrong. certainly in midfield we should be strong. but we've got unproven scorers up front and a demonstrably leaky defense.

I'm just curious how you know.

[Bob's Orange]

We had a much better team in 95/96.

Formations don't win or lose games the players do.
Play the formation that best suites your squad. We clearly don't have the players for 352 so don't play it.
I'd suggest we need a back to basics, solid, two banks of four - 442 but we have no wingers!

Arguably Furlong, Brophy, Barry and Boo could potentially play as makeshift wingers? Not out and out wingers per se but I reckon could do a decent job at this level.