Swindon: what a bottle job

[Sorrel]

I was watching on Sky (and occasionally listening on Radio 5 live) and I was losing heart in extra time. I couldn't see us getting back into it - it was really going for it in the last five minutes that did it (obviously). At that point the penalties were just a bonus, and I didn't feel scared of them anymore, after dreading them earlier.

As for Swindon's bottle... they really didn't look like scoring either until about 15 minutes from normal time. Both sides were too cautious.

And why did Sky keep showing the elderly lady during the penalties at the end?

 

[The Clarkemeister]

Good Luck in Cardiff - you'll need it.

Some of the posts on here defy belief. You were rubbish last night. How can you say Swindon lost their bottle? We dominated you for 209 minutes of football.

One of you said that if you'd scored just before THE goal it would have been all over?!?!?! What about the times we hit the woodwork? And all the other chances we had? We would have thrashed you?!?!

I'm obviously gutted, and I do genuinely wish you good luck at Cardiff (I'd rather anyone won than City), but a few more of you need to take a leaf out of your manager's book.

STFC Gutted

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

The Swindon fans were fantastic and their team played all the football. Mental strength and self belief saw us through. And it didn't come from the home support but the team.

 

[Row Z Creased Shirt]

In the lofty environs of Rows Y&Z we were resigned to defeat. At 2-0 down swindon had done enough to get through and until the 2nd half of extra time we had done little to deserve a win. I didn't think Swindon played all that well but we lacked ambition up front, so I was willing to take the defeat on the chin and look forward to next season.

I tell you what it's a good job the players didn't think like that. They did show guts, determination and character. All the play off games this week showed that you have to play to the whistle, there will always be a chance for glory and you have to grab it when you can. We could have laid down and let the game slip away, but we did not, and the players deserve immense credit. It maybe partly luck but it is mostly fortitude.

No-one remembers how crap Man Utd were when they beat bayern in barcelona, everyone remembers an heroic from a team that didn't give up and it was the same for us last night.

It was nice of McGhee to let Andy King down gently, he's a bigger man than me. Maybe I'd have sympathy for him if he wasn't such a graceless twat. And I'd also feel sorry for the Swindon fans, who backed their team magnificently, if they didn't punctuate their singing with such mindless homophobic bilge.

At the end of the day, we scored more goals than they did. We Win.

See you in cardiff

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Was just thinking the same thing Row Z, the final result from the European Cup final doesn't read

Lucky Man United With 2 Injury Time Goals 2, Plucky Bayern Who Dominated The Game 1,

it simply goes down as a great comeback by United. The performance tends to be forgotten.

Yes, Swindon will feel aggrieved, but their defence has been their Achilles heel all season. With attacking players the quality of Mooney (most of the time), Parkin and Igoe, they will always score goals, but their defence has looked poor all season, filled with big lumbering oafs like Gurney and Heywood who have little skill and hoof the ball into touch most of the time.

If they had a defence like (dare I say it) ours, with the likes of Cullip and even Butters, they would probably have finished in the automatic promotion slots, lets face it. But they haven't, and before King whines even more about how unfair it was, perhaps he should look at that aspect of his side. They were able to dominate both games in midfield and up front, but their defence making lapses at crucial times was the key factor. They might bleat about the lucky deflection on Sunday, but look at it again and check out their positioning. Four Swindon players are all stood in a line in front of Chippy, none of them close enough to block the shot, resulting in Smith Must Score's assist for our goal.

Next season perhaps King will concentrate on improving their defence, in which case I imagine they will take some stopping.