Swindon Town v Port Vale pre match chat and match day thread

[theakston2k]

I dont think they realise It was in 1993/4 😀

To be honest I think Port Vale are stuck in the past in general so that’s hardly surprising. They’ve been starved of any kind of promotion challenge for 3 decades and lost a sense of their own size in that time. Todays away attendance was symptomatic of that, they still see themselves as they were in the 80’s and 90’s in terms of following as that’s all they got to base things on so were forecasting completely unrealistic numbers.  A lot has happened in the intervening period and in reality their fanbase is a lot smaller in than it is in their heads.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

What I've seen on TV part of their ground is a bit of a dump so they've nothing to boast about.

[Kinky Tom]

We have a bit of a problem at home. I'm not sure if it's because we have a small pitch or if we just aren't brave enough on the ball. It seems that if you press us high and cut off an easy pass into our midfield 3, we go to the fullback and are then forced to boot it up the pitch. It then becomes Davison against 3 centre halves and their physically superior midfield to pick up the second balls. It becomes scrappy which is exactly what they want.

Of course, with our quality there was still plenty of moments in the game where we bypassed their press and looked dangerous, but in general it wasn't great today. I thought similar to Rovers and Exeter at home, they grew into the game and ended it stronger. Difference this time is we managed to get the second goal.

Hoping we can keep the ball a lot better in the second leg. Bigger pitch, perhaps less pressure not being at home and we can play to our strengths this time instead of being sucked in to their game. Ref didn't help.

It was mentioned on here not too long ago, I think, that we're hoping to make the pitch larger next season.  Obviously there was no time to do so in time for this season but evidently the pitch has been quite small for a number of years now, something that, under our new remit, is now deemed necessary to attend to.

[bathford]

The pitch is being made a metre longer and a metre wider for next season.

[Abrahammer]

Not since the Leeds league 1 days have a seen so much chat (fair bit of dick waving on both sides) about attendances 

The plus point being it’s because we have been averaging around 10k for last month or so, imagine that a year ago!!

[THE FLASH]

Just come on....havent read back.

Result was important and we got that. Could of been better ref the missed chance for a third goal.

I didnt think anybody played that well as a match, just little flashes, here and there.

First goal will be crucial at Vale.

What will be will be.

[Bob's Orange]

Yesterday was a little bit of a slog. Their main striker Proctor wasn't fully fit and so he was on the bench with an extra body in midfield. I think at home this is how you best nullify us. Reed and Payne don't get as much time and space and we are often forced to go longer and rely on Davison's hold up ability. First half I thought we were the better team but only showed in patches how we can play. Great run and header from the corner from Harry, which is a rare thing for us to score from such a set piece. Payne had another half chance which he hit straight at their keeper and we defended well on the occasions that Vale came forward.

Second half it was obvious they had been given a bit of a rocket as they started to get a foothold in the game. I was getting a bit frustrated as we just didn't see to get going at all. However that changed when McKirdy cleverly slipped in Payne and followed up when the keeper could only parry Jack's shot. As Rich Pullen says on the LS podcast. 'Lovely stuff'. Then the moment that could have really put the game and probably the tie to bed, Davison a whisker over the bar when he could have nudged the ball across to Harry for a tap in hat-trick. That said, I can understand why Davison went alone, it wasn't that far away. Sadly we couldn't quite hold out and a sloppy goal finished by the predatory Wilson to nudge home. They were definitely better when they brought Proctor on and we did well to see the game out and take a 1 goal lead to Vale Park. I think overall a little disappointed not to come away with a 3+ lead after the Davison chance but have to think bigger picture and that any lead is a bonus at what will be a very difficult place to go on Thursday.

[horlock07]

Come on then, who nicked the corner flag?

[Peter Venkman]

we all know the bank is shit.

100%

they wanted extra seats though

And barely used them, could have almost fitted them all in the Arkells corner in the end.

[Bob's Orange]

Not since the Leeds league 1 days have a seen so much chat (fair bit of dick waving on both sides) about attendances  

The plus point being it’s because we have been averaging around 10k for last month or so, imagine that a year ago!!

The whole tickets sold/attendances chat is really really tedious. If we get to Wembley it's going to be unbearable. Also if we do end up going out on Thursday I imagine Vale fans are going to be a nightmare on social media given all the stick they are taking re tickets sold etc.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

It’s all the usual fluff and nonsense that surrounds big games at our level. I’ve got no problem either it.

But ours are bigger than their’s. Yah boo sucks

[Peter Venkman]

It’s all the usual fluff and nonsense that surrounds big games at our level. I’ve got no problem either it.

But ours are bigger than their’s. Yah boo sucks

Absolutely, its a "who is the shittest in a shit league" a league we are in because we deserve to be in it for our performances.

Hopefully we will be back in our natural hunting ground of League 1 next season though.

Football has always been the same through the years.

[Posh Red]

The whole tickets sold/attendances chat is really really tedious. If we get to Wembley it's going to be unbearable. Also if we do end up going out on Thursday I imagine Vale fans are going to be a nightmare on social media given all the stick they are taking re tickets sold etc.

I think a lot stems from Port Vale fans complaining about their allocation even before we had agreed what it was.
Someone then posted something along the lines of “why allocate them over 3k when they wouldn’t shift that number”, Vale fans then replied that they’d easily sell them, which always seemed a bit unlikely (as we saw in the end).

But your right, it makes no real difference, Wycombe won’t have sold anywhere near the number of tickets that Sunderland have, but ultimately it’s about what the 11 on the pitch do that matters

[Red Frog]

Whenever anyone engages in these "ours is bigger than yours" barneys, it's worth remembering how tiresome it was when Leeds and Sunderland used to do it to us.

It's never been more meaningless than in a season where the division was won by a vegan vanity village side.

[Bob's Orange]

Whenever anyone engages in these "ours is bigger than yours" barneys, it's worth remembering how tiresome it was when Leeds and Sunderland used to do it to us.

It's never been more meaningless than in a season where the division was won by a vegan vanity village side.

I think I mentioned it on here before but I remember when we played Sheffield Wednesday on the first day of the season back in 2008 or something and loads of their fans logged on here just to tell us they had sold out their allocation and there would be around 3k of them in Swindon. Eventually it got really irritating, like a Shania Twain song.