Swindon Town v Leyton Orient pre match chat and matchday thread

[RedRag]

Not that I noticed from the Arkells but there was certainly some unease about the 30 min. mark?

[RedRag]

That was a good point against a decent Lg 2 side - one more already than last season's now sepia tinted team managed.

There was a decent use of subs for the second home game running by Lindsey.  And if quality and confidence were the exception, it would be churlish not to acknowledge a compensatory display of character - backed by good support overall from the crowd (esp. the Town End) on what was at times a most trying evening.

I thought Clayton showed real promise once things started to settle.  Baudry is being "managed" (ie rested) whilst the scratchier MacDonald keeps his place.  I believe he will come good with game time and prove a good leader.  {Unlike Aljofree!}

The first half showing was desperate defensively.  Especially down the flanks but starting in midfield.    Although now unbeaten in three, a slightly less fortunate side would now have joined the 'Dale on four straight defeats.  If, as I believe, we need to wait at least 8-10 games before having the material on which to realistically judge the season ahead, this Saturday's game will likely weigh heavily on how those 8-10 games pan out.

[Nemo]

https://twitter.com/Stfconly/status/1559820362417930241

xG, for those who are into that thing. Orient aren't as far ahead as I'd expected considering all their shots.

[DiV]

Off topic, but I get major Hasney Aljofree vibes from MacDonald…. I’m just waiting for him to give The Town End the V’s.

…note the same thing…and I’m basing this off his goal Saturday and assist last night but Wakeling just has that Super Sammy Parkin coolness/calmness in the box.

So, so, so many players would have hit that one last night

[normy]

That was a good point against a decent Lg 2 side - one more already than last season's now sepia tinted team managed.

There was a decent use of subs for the second home game running by Lindsey.  And if quality and confidence were the exception, it would be churlish not to acknowledge a compensatory display of character - backed by good support overall from the crowd (esp. the Town End) on what was at times a most trying evening.

I thought Clayton showed real promise once things started to settle.  Baudry is being "managed" (ie rested) whilst the scratchier MacDonald keeps his place.  I believe he will come good with game time and prove a good leader.  {Unlike Aljofree!}

The first half showing was desperate defensively.  Especially down the flanks but starting in midfield.    Although now unbeaten in three, a slightly less fortunate side would now have joined the 'Dale on four straight defeats.  If, as I believe, we need to wait at least 8-10 games before having the material on which to realistically judge the season ahead, this Saturday's game will likely weigh heavily on how those 8-10 games pan out.

Good post. And whatever has happened to Reed, he's a shadow of last season's player, weakening the midfield.

[theakston2k]

Not that I noticed from the Arkells but there was certainly some unease about the 30 min. mark?

There was a spell in the first half where the players were just playing increasingly pointless passes backwards and across the backline. It wasn’t Garner style to move the opposition around but more the players just didn’t seem to know what else to do. It eventually culminated in Gladwin giving away with an awful pass and a lot of the crowd vented their frustration which was understandable. It was good example of what many are saying about a seeming lack of a game plan or basic direction in our play.

[4D]

Not that I noticed from the Arkells but there was certainly some unease about the 30 min. mark?

There was grumblings in the Town End because of the excessive pass backs to Brynn, but the whole team is responsible for that not just the defence. It's like we want to do it to retain possession as our midfield seems incapable of this.

I just want to say it was nice to see some meaty challenges going in during the second half, but we need to up the tempo going forward. Harry showed a lot of willing last night.

[fuzzy]

If I had been sat in the DRS as a neutral I would have been quite entertained by last nights game. As a Town fan though, not quite so.

I thought the goal was well worked and taken and it is good to see Harry off the mark.

Defending for the goal conceded was woeful.

Performance wise, I thing Blake- Tracey has the hallmarks of a good signing once he has fully settled in.

Clayton was the defensive star last night.

McDonald improved in the second half and has a good clearing header in him.

Gladwin was the pick of the midfield but, as my wife commented, it is like his brain is writing cheques his body can't cash. He sees the game and opportunities just like he did in his first spell for us. The beating his body has taken during his career is catching up with him however and he can't always convert the thought into actions.

Wakeling ran his socks off again and is a real pain in the arse for oppo defences.

Brynn- Thank fuck we have him on the books.

I am concerned that things have not yet gelled but I think it is coming (does that make me a happy clapper?   )

As for having no identifiable style. Perhaps that will mean that opposition tacticians can't come up with a plan to use against us?

[theakston2k]

Good post. And whatever has happened to Reed, he's a shadow of last season's player, weakening the midfield.

Maybe controversial as he’s been better this season but I put Gladwin as the root cause of Reed’s decline. Last season we had Reed sitting in front of the back 4 and passing the ball out, this season Gladwin keeps dropping back to spray his Hollywood passes around. We’ve in effect got 2 players treading on each other’s toes. Personally I’d rather Gladwin never set foot in our own half yet alone spend periods as our deepest midfielder.

A good example last night was a short goal kick, Gladwin game short to receive it and this meant Reed was pushed wide out of position, last season it was Reed receiving short goal kicks.

If you think back to the games last season when Reed and Gladwin were in the same team we were poor then as well.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

Lampard & Gerrard for England.

[theakston2k]

Lampard & Gerrard for England.

I just had a quick look and we only won something like 8 out of the 21 games they played together last season so I do think there is something in it. That’s 38% win record compared to 48% for the whole season. Don’t get me wrong there was a couple of good games like the Vegans away but I don’t think they really work together on a regular basis.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I just had a quick look and we only won something like 8 out of the 21 games they played together last season so I do think there is something in it. That’s 38% win record compared to 48% for the whole season. Don’t get me wrong there was a couple of good games like the Vegans away but I don’t think they really work together on a regular basis.

Good research and it's definitely noticeable that they are not effective playing together but I'm guessing Lindsey wants experience heads in the middle at the moment.

[Bogus Dave]

Reeds problem is the defence is so static and he isn’t able to play keep ball up with Conroy anymore. We also have nowhere near the same fluidity or aggressiveness from the full backs, so his options are more limited

Gladwin can be frustrating, but he’s the only one in the midfield who would even attempt to make something happen

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I'm not sure about Williams so far this season either as he's not influencing games as much.

[Hyabb17]

Thinking back on last night, I think Byrnn, Clayton, Darcy, Kahn, Wakeling look the best out of the new lot. The rest are a bit meh, I think we will have an idea how our season will go after Saturday, have Rochdale who’ve yet to win. Hopefully we can get a physical CF in which will help, think Wakeling & Harry would benefit massively from that.