Swindon v Manchester City FA Cup 3rd round pre match chat and matchday thread

[Legends-Lounge]

Felt sorry for him sat in the goal looking dejected but fair play to him for having abit of banter with the City fans

Take a look at that free kick from behind the goal. It was bent with 100% accuracy around the outside of the wall. Space from the outside of the wall to the inside of the post was very, very narrow but as I said hit with 100% accuracy. Saved a pen and that bullet shot which he tipped onto the bar near then was top draw TBF to the lad, top draw.

[Legends-Lounge]

that's the thing with top sides isn't it. yes they have skill, and pace and are physically strong.

bit it's the movement and speed of thought. it doesn't have to be lung busting. just  move to the right place at the right time to get the ball.

it looks so easy and effortless.

then, suddenly at the right moment,  the hot knife carves through the buttery defence

Man city are the masters. I hope  the town players enjoyed the experience and have their heads held high.

Tuesday is going to be very difficult coming so soon after that effort

Indeed, back to the slog of bread and butter football. See how they respond.

[singingiiiffy]

the biggest step is to get a goal. reward that packed out county ground. Swindon 1 and Man City anything 5 or below would be acceptable.

they are probably the only team in the country where there isn't much hope. Iv said to friends that as crazy as it sounds we are too similar too city in our play and we aren't going to out Pep, Pep. A team like cheltenham with their aerial threats, size and set piece ability and you never know.

We can dream though and nothing wrong with that at all. Im sure we will see grealish play and isn't he best mates with mckirdy? should be fun

Well this happened. Swindon 1 and City below 5 was no disgrace. they were everything you thought they were going to be.

We also did try to take on pep at passing out from the back. we struggled last week to do this against Stevenage and mccoist rightly slated us for it. we never had the set up to go long but it did create our best chances.

Ellis is worth a mention thought he had a solid game apart from the first goal.

it's a very hard match to analyse and really isn't worth it as we will never come up against anything like that for many a year. Ward was a victim and I hope he could reflect on the pen and the positives, conroy proper stitched him up on the 2nd.

atmosphere was flat first half. was almost like the fans expected an upset and then were shocked when they started scoring. 2nd half much better and the goal was brilliant.

had to shout out at 2 "fans" behind me. drove me crazy at times, jeering Ward for kicking long and another for constantly shouting forward, don't give them time and push up. different planet some people.

decent crowd, decent money made and a decent goal.

[DiV]

That which my son and I thought he could have done better with was sublime, having watched on YouTube from behind the goal camera very little chance to get across. So for no real fault in that.

The accuracy was top notch, no doubt about it. He has a very small window to aim for.

I think the criticism comes from should the wall have been placed a few yards further that way, thus increasing the bend needed and/or should Ward have been a step further that way himself.

Either way, it’s highly unlikely anyone at L2 level will punish us for that free kick/wall set up.

[stfcjack]

Wow what an evening. City put out a side that would have not been out of place in the later stages of the champions league, brilliant respect showed from them. It’s not till you see it up close you notice the difference in levels. City were a yard quicker all over the pitch and 2 yards quicker in their heads.

Proud of the lads, never gave up and continued fighting up till the end. Can’t explain how good a packed out town end looks, I really hope we can fill it up more often, it can be a special place. Excellent boost for the club and something none of us could have foreseen a year ago. I love this club, let’s kick on now.

Also quick mention to Kyle Walker, giving the young DS lad a hug at halftime. A small act but one that has probably made that lads day and won’t be forgotten.

[Honkytonk]

Remembered this morning that someone started shouting 'FORWARRRD' at the Man City players as they were drinking it about in the first half. Made me chuckle.

Also quick mention to Kyle Walker, giving the young DS lad a hug at halftime. A small act but one that has probably made that lads day and won’t be forgotten.

Yeah what a great gesture from him. Those kids must have had a ball, playing 'on telly' and then getting a lap of honour around the swindon end of the fans, great bit of PR by the club there.

Having not been for a while, are the ads on the digital hoardings at the sides always that obnoxious? It seems odd to me they're allowed red, white, moving advertisements featuring shapes and colours flashing during the match.

[Nemo]

Fairly sure the digital ad hoardings were rented for this match. It was an odd combination of sponsors on them too - Emirates obviously as the cup sponsors, a couple of other household names, Imagine Cruising and then what looked like a couple of Clem-adjacent building businesses, some of which were definitely Australian. Would be interested in knowing the story of what happened with them, dull as I am.

[Peter Venkman]

As I stated previously I would be happy with under 5 goals conceded.

We did that (just) and actually scored a good goal on the break, not disappointed, we tried to play football and at times actually did manage that, 1st half Ward was a disaster but 2nd half he played far better. KKH was absolutely outstanding and I thought McKirdy and Simpson did well with the little service they did have.

The bad...Ward 1st half cost us at least 1 goal with his indecisive kicking, Iandolo looked totally lost, Gladwin was a passenger again and lacked any mobility or urge and slow and ponderous on the ball.

Our defence did some good and some awful stuff, pretty normal, Hunt, Odimayo and COnroy all made a few mistakes but were never overrun, it was what I was expecting.

Reed made a few errors with his short passing as City pressed him, but he didnt do too bad and I doubt he will ever come up against a harder pressing team in his whole career.

Lyden did really well and didn't look out of place against such a strong midfield.

The fans were loud for almost the whole game unlike the very quiet City fans and got a great goal to celebrate as a reward, not a bad crowd of 14,753 (2,318 City) in the end so a decent money maker for the club.

Now lets concentrate on the league and start winning games again.

Oh and I did enjoy Ally McMoist on commentary, especialy the bit about loving Don Rogers and the League Cup final in 1969 being one of his first footballing memories and also talking about us beating Napoli the year after in the AIC.

Massive game on Tuesday now followed by another next Saturday.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

McCoist was very good I thought, as was the ITV commentary and coverage in general.

I blame Conroy for the second goal as Ward clearly wanted to kick it long as was highlighted on the commentary. Conroy insisted on him playing it short and it must be hard to overrule your captain in a situation like that especially when you've only just come into the side.

[Hunk]

McCoist was very good I thought, as was the ITV commentary and coverage in general.

I blame Conroy for the second goal as Ward clearly wanted to kick it long as was highlighted on the commentary. Conroy insisted on him playing it short and it must be hard to overrule your captain in a situation like that especially when you've only just come into the side.

Absolutely, thought that too. Garner sulked about it too

[Peter Venkman]

Villa fans on KKH (and McKirdy).

He has been used as a winger a few times this season so expect him to start there.

Good to see our old academy boys, McKirdy and Lyden also having a decent life after Villa.

Although from what I've read Swindon usually play with a back three and a midfielder that drops deep to make it a back four, with the full backs playing further forward, and I imagine they will play similar today, the fullbacks will have more defending to do, but in their sysem they will get a lot of help, so won't just be about Kesler-Hayden marking a particular player.

Seems decent enough defensively . Which is good as i have only ever seen him play for the villa youth teams as a marauding wingback .

I’m telling you right now. This lads ready.

Absolute class against Jesus

Very good recovery pace just now. Technically good.
Yeah think he's got enough about him to challenge for first team place  in near future. Think he might need another loan spell though higher up the leagues

Very impressed

He looked superb just then. Very quick, good technique and very composed

I thought he did really well first half, positionally sound defensively, has been decent on the ball with a couple of lovely long passes behind the City defence, maybe a little too conservative in getting forward but that's understandable - it's just a pity have hobbled themselves with the dopey effort at playing out from the back. Loved the way he defended Jesus at the end of the half, then pulled a trick on him to get the ball away.

On the evidence of this (and when I've I've seen him for Villa age groups) he looks like he could become the real deal.

Swindon's best player , beautiful couple of over the top balls have beat city a few times.  He's far better than their level , needs to go up a division or maybe 2!

I think he's been excellent, is doing okay defensively, has looked extremely comfortable in possession, is passing well, has shown a few times that he can go past players and has a bit of trickery, also played a few very good balls down the line for Simpson. Obviously hasn't been able to get forward as much, but he's looked pretty much as he does for our U23s.

Very assured, very confident, a few tricks, playing well. You can see why Villa gave him a 5 year deal at a young age.

At this rate we will be calling him back to play for us this season.

Well done McKirdy, great goal.

Well done Kaine, you put in a cracking performance.

Lads going to the very top.
Question is do we keep him and play him in cups next year with a view to competing with Cash Or do we send him on loan again.
I think we play him.

I would loan him out again, another year of development and he will be our first choice.

All the plastic man city fans want to buy him not knowing he's on loan from us.

I would't be surprised if we get clubs at an higher level than Swindon asking if they can have him in the second half of the season. Probably best to leave him where he is, but I'm sure we will be getting plenty of offers in the summer as well. Hopefully today's performance will give him even more confidence to improve even more in the second half of the season.

As an aside I imagine Man City will be getting a lot of loan offers for Cole Palmer as well, Kesler-Hayden younger than him by about five months, so was the youngest player to start the game and play the whole 90 minutes.

Great to see him take the opportunity to show the world some of what he's about. The bit people didn't see is just how much he can be a threat at the top end of the field, which is kind of understandable given the opposition - it's great for those that have seen a lot of him though to see just how much his defending has come on.

Really enjoyed his performance.... 2 more ex villans too, fine goal from McKirdy. very quick and good feet

Cole Palmer (who looks a real talent tbf) getting more plaudits for playing well against lower league opposition than KKH is for playing well against PL opposition.

KKH showed real maturity beyond his years last night and this loan to Swindon has done him the world of good. Positionally sound throughout, some super interceptions, decent passing and didn’t look fazed at any point.

[Nomoreheroes]

I hate getting beat. I hate getting beat on TV. I hate the fact that there is such a gulf between us and the top of the Premier League. I hate the fact that we conceded 4 at home and that one or two could have been prevented. I hated the first half as I was worried that our 10 man team (Gladwin looked as if he wasn't playing as part of the team) had run themselves into the ground.

I loved the McKirdy goal. I'm glad Parsons (who looked bright) and Dabre (who tried) got a few mins as that may help them in the future. I'm glad the club made some money.

I wonder who the Palace lad will come in for? I wonder whether that will hasten KKH's departure for a higher division? I wonder whether it will make Man City think about sending youngsters to us?

I hope it will spell the end for Gladwin starting ever again. I hope that Ward can improve his distribution, as I felt sorry for him. Did so well as a shot stopper, but looked foolish for 2 goals and in pumping the ball into touch or panicking with short passes.

I don't really care about Man 'fuckin' City and millionaires coming to the County ground. I want to see a good game of football between evenly matched sides when my team comes out on top.

Apart from that, KKH having Jesus in his pocket, and that young kid in midfield for them running the game were highlights.

[Legends-Lounge]

Good news, my tickets have just turned up…

[theakston2k]

Just reflecting on last night Lyden was very good. If he can stay fit is it time for him to lead and captain the team? He seemed to be very vocal last night and let the likes of Conroy know exactly what he thought of the fucking about at the back. As well as a couple of new signings him playing regularly could be a massive factor in how our season goes.

Assuming he’s able to play on Tuesday I’d give him the armband and see if it drives his performance up another level.

[swindonmaniac]

You’re really after the cheap holiday voucher weren’t you….

Actually,  now you mention it ……….