Mansfield v Swindon Town matchday thread

[newmarket red]

Khan should be dropped going by his body language yesterday he didnt want to be there at all. 

[THE FLASH]

Watched the first half and then listened to the second.

A game of missed chances and although the stats looked quite even on cert chances alone the score could of been 9:4.

If we were to build a memorial to this season..it would read SEASON 23/24 'We could not defend'.

Could of been down 3 zip in ten minutes.

Keeper had a blinder for us, some really great saves.

We made a fist of it in the second i suppose but you cannot equalise and then concede from the kick off FFS.

I expected nothing but a hammering on Saturday, so i suppose we avoided that.

Team selection baffles me a bit as did certain players staying on the pitch and others not getting a look in.

Missing tomorrow night, so i hope we notch another win as we stagger towards the magic 50!

[4D]

We made a fist of it in the second i suppose but you cannot equalise and then concede from the kick off FFS.

Seems to be a common theme this season

[Bob's Orange]

Haven't read back yet. A bit of an odd game on Saturday. First 20 minutes was not fun at all. Mansfield were all over us and really should have been out of sight as they'd already missed a sitter before going 1-0 up. We were at sixes and sevens and the 9-2 thrashing of Harrogate looked like being repeated. Thankfully we got a bit of a grip and created a fair few golden chances ourselves, Austin should really have done better from a free header. At the other end Bycroft was earning his wage with some good saves. To only go in at half time with a 1 goal deficit was a relief!

Second half was a lot of fun. Great work by the industrious Elbouzedi to win the ball back off a dawdling Mansfield defence and Glatzel gleefully thumped home. Unfortunately they went straight up the pitch and a lovely finish by the 18 goal Keillor-Dunn saw us immediately behind again. At times we were very much like Aerosmith, living on the edge, but a cracking ElBouzedi cross was bulleted home by Drinan's noggin. Sadly we couldn't hold the lead again and substitute Will Swan heading in from 3 yards. There was still time for Mansfield to hit the post and for Hepburn-Murphy to waste an absolute dolly of a chance.

The reality is, that could have been 6-3 on Saturday, or even 3-3 and whilst we went toe to toe with Mansfield, we looked second best in my eyes. Defensively a mess, a midfield hotch potch and an electric forward line. It all just feels very unbalanced. Final word for the Mansfield comms, who don't even bother to pretend to be impartial. Into the 7th minute of injury time and Will Swan attempts to dribble past Dokes, who wins the ball off of him. The main Mansfield lad chucks his toys out of the pram and screams 'WILL SWAN YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!!!!!' Fun and games indeed, league 2 style.

[Bob's Orange]

My main takeaway from the weekend and having a look at the league table (of which we're 18th) and having watched most of the games this season is that this isn't a particularly great division. Only Stockport at the CG have really impressed me. I didn't see either of the Wrexham games so can't really comment on them, but Mansfield looked decent but not amazing and as I look down the table now, from 3rd to probably 20th is really much of a muchness. Granted Barrow did a bit of a job on us at the CG, but I think that was mainly as we were so bad. I guess what I am trying to say is that as we look back on this season with hindsight it's a bit of a missed opportunity. Had we got our shit together and been even remotely competent, we could easily get into the play-offs. The actual list of teams that probably feel they have a chance of getting into the play-offs is pretty risible - Harrogate, Newport, Bradford, Crawley, Morecambe, Walsall and Wimbledon. Opportunity lost methinks.

[THE FLASH]

Khan should be dropped going by his body language yesterday he didnt want to be there at all. 

Made no real attempt to stop that cross for the winner. Very Poor and stayed on for the 90+? Baffling!

[Nomoreheroes]

Surprised they didn't show the RHM blast into orbit in the extended highlights.

[Peter Venkman]

Surprised they didn't show the RHM blast into orbit in the extended highlights.

Possibly THE miss of the season, I was cheering the goal already.

[Batch]

Possibly THE miss of the season, I was cheering the goal already.

Their Boatang missed a similar one too. Must be cursed ground.

[Peter Venkman]

Their Boatang missed a similar one too. Must be cursed ground.

Absolutely shocking quality pitch too, made the County Ground surface look like Wembley.

[fuzzy]

Absolutely shocking quality pitch too, made the County Ground surface look like Wembley.

Remember THAT Wembley bobble?

[Peter Venkman]

Remember THAT Wembley bobble?

Charlie does! ok maybe Old Trafford then...

[fuzzy]