Swindon v Hartlepool pre match chat and matchday thread

[RedRag]

I admit there were times in the Cooper days that defensive fannying about saw me flirt with the Get it forwaard crowd.

With a few sprinkles of luck Garner ball worked to perfection on Tuesday.  The first 60' were the foundation of the two undercoats.  Boring as fuck.  And then the rewards of the third coat - as the oppo tired of so much ball chasing.

The opening goal was the reward for the patience.  But there had been very little to send the pulse into overdrive up to then offensively - or, for that matter, defensively, the Pool's disallowed goal apart.

At that point I was actually critical of MOM nominee Simpson.  Not so much of him but of his role.  He wasn't involved in the play that much, he maybe turned a defender once and he managed a few useful sideways diagonally forward and wide.  Positive but nothing defence splitting.  He was playing quite deep, back to goal and certainly only very rarely getting into the box.

1-0 it went and a minute later 10 yards outside the Pool's box a loose ball dropped unexpectedly to Simpson with the Pool keeper a little out of position.  A cool touch and measured shot could have made it two - but we got the heavy touch to which Tyreece can still be prone and in a blink it was 1-1.

The 30' that followed was why he earned the MOM claims, imo and justifiably so.  The game opened up and he was everywhere, turning players and counter attacking, passing short or wide and bustling through defenders in the box.  And scoring!

It's not that he'd been ineffective in the opening 60' simply that he'd been very containable.  It's not Simpson himself.  It's just that there are times when a 9 who would get further forward and make a nuisance of himself aerially could add a bit more threat at times.

[Audrey]

It all boils down to what we, as fans, want from our team.

Is a position high up the league and going for automatic promotion the be all and end all - and damn the pulse quickening style that gets us out of our seats?

There are always videos posted on twitter showing a lengthy possession sequence that ends up a goal. It looks brilliant when you know a goal is at the end of it, but getting there is a frustrating live watch.

Is it more difficult to coach and play - successfully - our way, compared to alternatives? Does this style have a sell by date when it comes to progressing up the leagues?

I feel that our defensive ‘weakness’ playing our style would get punished much more readily in L1. Is the style responsible for how our defence struggles at times or is it the players’ failings?

It’s all fine margins.

[Quagmire]

It all boils down to what we, as fans, want from our team.

Is a position high up the league and going for automatic promotion the be all and end all - and damn the pulse quickening style that gets us out of our seats?

There are always videos posted on twitter showing a lengthy possession sequence that ends up a goal. It looks brilliant when you know a goal is at the end of it, but getting there is a frustrating live watch.

Is it more difficult to coach and play - successfully - our way, compared to alternatives? Does this style have a sell by date when it comes to progressing up the leagues?

I feel that our defensive ‘weakness’ playing our style would get punished much more readily in L1. Is the style responsible for how our defence struggles at times or is it the players’ failings?

It’s all fine margins.

I don’t think the ‘style’ as such has a sell by date.

I’m going to use Man City as an example, they give or take, play the same style of football as we do, the obvious difference is we have league 2 players playing it, where as they have some of the best players in the world.
The style itself isn’t much different, they have just perfected it because of the players they have at their disposal.

If we were to go up the leagues, I don’t think the style would change under Garner, but for us to continue progressing, the players would need too.

[Nomoreheroes]

I don’t think the ‘style’ as such has a sell by date.

I’m going to use Man City as an example, they give or take, play the same style of football as we do, the obvious difference is we have league 2 players playing it, where as they have some of the best players in the world.
The style itself isn’t much different, they have just perfected it because of the players they have at their disposal.

If we were to go up the leagues, I don’t think the style would change under Garner, but for us to continue progressing, the players would need too.

Taking that point. I wonder how many of our current regular starters would be good enough to play the same style in L1?

[Legends-Lounge]

View from the oppo.

[NotHarryAgombar]

Their manager’s point about the number of lates goals we score was interesting- the percentage was even higher than I realised.
The reason is presumably that our possession / passing tires the opposition physically and / or mentally (possibly impacting on their concentration) and so we get chances and goals in that last 10 -15 mins.

[Legends-Lounge]

Their manager’s point about the number of lates goals we score was interesting- the percentage was even higher than I realised.
The reason is presumably that our possession / passing tires the opposition physically and / or mentally (possibly impacting on their concentration) and so we get chances and goals in that last 10 -15 mins.

Something like that. In a similar vein to Lou Macari’s team, only the work the opposition down with less skill and more physicality and running.

[Jimmy Quinn]

Arsenal 79% possession in the first half v Newcastle but Newcastle have the same amount of shots on target. It's not just Swindon!