Swindon Town vs Crewe Alexandra prematch and match day thread.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Ah, I wondered how long it would take before Happy clapper came out, how original.  The point of my post has been.completely missed, it’s not about whether promotion not being achieved is acceptable etc. I didn’t even state that.  It’s not about whether throwing away two points on Saturday was acceptable, I didn’t say that either, and it’s not about being a fucking Happy clapper, it’s just about getting some of you miserable cunts to try and take “some” enjoyment out of a performance and try to put a positive perspective on things - obviously that was a foolish thing to try to do these days.

I’ll leave you cunts to wallow in your own pits of despair, enjoy.

The irony of accusing others of missing the point is hilarious when my whole fucking point was that there is no fucking pit of despair and there are STILL posts telling people not to be negative. It doesn't exist. It's a figment of your imagination. It's just discussion of the game.

Like the response to throwing two points away has been incredibly unremarkably mild with very minimal actual negativity and it is STILL so unpalatable to you that you still decided it was too negative and needed to be corrected.

Like what in earth were you expecting, nobody to talk about the fact we were 2-0 up and didn't win? I genuinely cannot fathom a more 'positive' response to throwing away a 2 goal lead and this forum is incapable of telling people to not be negative.

It's fucking comical and weird.

So yeah, pretty much textbook happy clapping.

[Nomoreheroes]

Extended highlights:

[UTR]

I enjoyed the match whilst also ending up extremely disappointed to drop 2 points from a 2 goal lead. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable view point.

Very early on but those are the points you rue dropping at the end of the season if you’re challenging to go up and the margins are tight. Look at Stockport last season, they were one of the best sides in the division for a lot of it but their poor start meant that were resigned to the play offs instead of automatics and ended up staying down.

That being said, I don’t think we’ll realistically be challenging for automatics this season so ignoring all of that, it was an enjoyable match with some decent foundations to build on, first half was great, second half they looked tired and dropped off (that will happen when a decent few haven’t had a proper pre season) and ended up giving away two poor goals from the same defensive mistakes we’d have made last season. Definitely feel a lot better than I did at this point last season.

Fwiw, I think Uwakwe will be really good here, he’s more a winger than a wingback and if we’re giving him the same brief that we give Hutton of staying high and getting good deliveries in then he will excel imo.

Still one big CB and big forward away.

[Bob's Orange]

As is 'traditional' for a Monday morning during the football season, I haven't yet read back on this thread yet.

Saturday's game was kind of strange. I thought for the first half we were terrific, crisp passing and movement and we actually looked dangerous. What a difference it makes actually looking to make space for shots from the edge of the box, or winning set pieces etc. And it looks like we've spent a lot of time on the training ground from corners, we were causing all kinds of issues with clever set plays. We were well on top when UGM nodded into the corner of the goal. We continued to basically dominate the first half and I thought Crewe were there for the taking. That's the bravest I've seen us at home for a long time. Very pleased at half time. The only real negatives for me were Wakeling and Benn Ward. Re Wakeling, he seemed to be way off the pace - I guess he picked up a bad knock when the keeper took man and ball. I actually think Wakeling could have been braver there and knocked the ball past the keeper and potentially give the ref a bit of a think as to wether a red card would be warranted. To be fair if he was injured then he did well to carry on. I though Ward didn't look right at LWB either, maybe it was nerves but whilst everyone else seemed to be cohesive, he looked a bit like a square peg in a round hole. That will of course improve when he's had more training time.

Second half clearly Flynn saw the same as I did and Uwakwe and Young came on to replace Ward and Wakeling. Young's first involvements were class. He skinned the defender before playing a ball into the box and then after taking a touch from FBT blasted past the keeper. Impressive start to his career in Swindon red! Given how on top we'd been since then I fancied us to go on and secure a stylish 3 points. Unfortunately I think a number of factors then came into play. Crewe changed their tactics and then the scoreboard stopped working. I'm not sure which of these had more of an impact but all of a sudden, Crewe who had looked very poor started to play like we had done in the first half. The previously impeccable Brewitt and FBT were beginning to get turned and suddenly they were getting possession and looking dangerous. A speculative shot from their defender absolutely flew in and all of a sudden it was game on. That should have really been put to bed when an off the boil Charlie Austin failed to get his header on target and with that I had a feeling the inevitable was going to happen. Mahoney made a tremendous save from a free kick, but was then beaten by a header that pretty much hit the same patch of net their first goal came from.

And so a pretty deflating point. It was definitely a far more enjoyable game at the CG than a lot of previous matches, but after dominating for the first 50 minutes or so and with a 2 goal cushion, to drop 2 points was a real shame. With Austin and Young on the field and with Crewe pushing us back, there didn't appear to be any real danger of us being able to break with pace, or play in behind their back line. I think you need someone like RHM or Wakeling there to be able to give their defensive line something to think about. Concerning that we seemed to fade at 2-0, especially when Flynn had spoken about how fit we were. Yes playing a high intensity press is going to pose a challenge for 90 minutes, but for Crewe to tweak their tactics and make us look so ordinary was a worry.

Still overall, I think I saw enough to suggest that the football will be more enjoyable this season, and I still haven't got a clue where in the league this group of players and the manager can lead us!

[4D]

Off the field I thought the atmosphere was pretty quiet, I was sat in the Arkells near the away end and a couple of hundred Crewe fans were obviously quite excited to see their side playing in front of an actual crowd.
Their reaction to scraping a draw said a lot. Couldn't quite understand the fire drill song as not that many left early.
The acoustics are quite strange at the CG. Stood in the TE you can barely hear the away fans, sat up by them you could barely hear the TE. I have said it many times before but the side stands need to get involved rather than just moaning about a flat TE.

[Bob's Orange]

In typical Bob dumbass mode even though Mceachran took a number of corners in front of me, I was convinced Kinsella was number 6 and then when number 23 came on I couldn't for the life of me work out who it was, knowing it was too small to be Cain. The internet on my phone was broken for a lot of Saturday which meant I couldn't check until I got home to wifi world!

[Peter Venkman]

…to add to the above about promotion.

I personally don’t give a fuck how we are playing if we are winning.

I’d have taken a dull, shit Lindseyball 1-0 win over that exciting Flynnball score draw yesterday.

The difference is that us playing "Lindseyball" we would almost certainly have lost against Crewe like we did last season with his dull tactics. "Flynnball" got us a better result and better performance too.

[Batch]

@bob's

wakeling had an ankle issue. it wasn't so terrible he had to go off but was definitely feeling it every now and again. I guess if there was any doubt he had to be withdrawn for the greater good.

ward apparently had a back spasm, but as I said before - his replacement didn't do much better.

[DiV]

The difference is that us playing "Lindseyball" we would almost certainly have lost against Crewe like we did last season with his dull tactics. "Flynnball" got us a better result and better performance too.

Yes but that wasn’t my point at all.
The point was winning > style of play.
Always.

[Bob's Orange]

@bob's

wakeling had an ankle issue. it wasn't so terrible he had to go off but was definitely feeling it every now and again. I guess if there was any doubt he had to be withdrawn for the greater good.

ward apparently had a back spasm, but as I said before - his replacement didn't do much better.

Yeah I think he picked up that knock in the incident where the keeper came out and cleared the ball into touch when Wakeling potentially had a chance to knock it past him? He definitely didn't seem right after that and I suppose Flynn thought he could get to half time. I think I saw a picture of him walking away from the ground on crutches.

Unfortunately if both Wakeling and RHM are injured, there is a real lack of pace toward the top of the pitch.

[Batch]

on that note I thought wakeling did knock out past the keeper (TE view)

From the ifollow replay it looks dead 50/50

[Mooneyraker]

Yeah I think he picked up that knock in the incident where the keeper came out and cleared the ball into touch when Wakeling potentially had a chance to knock it past him? He definitely didn't seem right after that and I suppose Flynn thought he could get to half time. I think I saw a picture of him walking away from the ground on crutches.

Unfortunately if both Wakeling and RHM are injured, there is a real lack of pace toward the top of the pitch.

Do we have a youth option…? Abu Kanu?

[Bob's Orange]

on that note I thought wakeling did knock out past the keeper (TE view)

From the ifollow replay it looks dead 50/50

I was bang in line with it Batch up in the DRS. It looked like Wakeling got the feintest of touches but not enough and the keeper was able to clear into touch - taking some of Wakeling's ankle. As I said I thought Wakeling wasn't brave enough in that situation but I could be totally wrong.

[adje]

In typical Bob dumbass mode even though Mceachran took a number of corners in front of me, I was convinced Kinsella was number 6 and then when number 23 came on I couldn't for the life of me work out who it was, knowing it was too small to be Cain. The internet on my phone was broken for a lot of Saturday which meant I couldn't check until I got home to wifi world!

That's why you should always buy a programme! 🙂

[Bob's Orange]

That's why you should always buy a programme! 🙂

We had planned to, as my dad often gives one to a housebound town fan as he loves reading them. But we arrived at 2:50 and there was none to be seen.