The official Swindon match thread

[Sheebo]

I agree with all of that. And Gareth, we played much better when Knight was off the pitch. Yep he scored a goal but we should have had one in the first half that was disallowed.

The referee was completely one sided and Peircy was booked for a "dive". It went the wrong way and he is not a player that dives. The referee was shocking.

you do have some controversial views - Knight should have been playing whatever

 

[fatboy]

Time for a rant....following today's match

why
do we not have full backs inside the posts when defending corners?

why
does McGhee leave our most effective player on the bench?

what
does John Keeley actually do as Goalkeeping coach?

why
does the club sing the praises of our youth policy when not one of them was on the pitch during the second half? (Mayo excepted)

what
does anyone see in Watson?

why
are our goal kicks so predictable?

why
can't Yeates get a corner across?

why
can't Watson get a free kick over the wall?

why
is Gary Hart playing so badly? (is it because he has to cover for Watson so often?)

why
do our goal keepers feel the need to pass/throw the ball to the opposition?

why
don't the players show as much passion as the fans?

what
has happened to Dean White's role of spotting local talent?

Nail. Hammer. Head. Hit.

Great points. Althoug I slightly disagree with Watson, he's doing ok now, although his set pieces are appaling. As are Yeates'. He needs a goal to get his confidence up. So does Watson.

You are right though, what the f*** does John Keeley do? And Beasant at Fulham? Flitney is awful.

 

[BrightonBird]

you do have some controversial views - Knight should have been playing whatever

Why do you think that? All good managers stick with the same team that played well and won the previous match. We won by 4 goals for goodness sake!

You would not be saying this if we had the goal in the first half go our way, and even you must agree we played s**t hot the 1st half and ok in the 2nd.

 

[empire]

excuse me,flitney had a good game,must have been at the wrong game,we lost because he didnt catch the cross leading up to their second goal,and i do blame him,he had time and the height to catch it but elected not the first time to punch it straight to one of their players,sorry if im not speaking your ligo but the **** could and should have ,then again if he had what would he have done,kicked it into touch!oh for fdm.thought parkin was shite thank god as we could have been trounced,was that the same parkin as of withdean,knight on bench big mistake but the season is far from over and first 20 mins was good.one of the coldest days of my life

 

[Curious Orange]

Despite the loss, we are starting to look better and better as a team. Consistency of good results will come, and hopefully soon.

Well done to all the fans who went down to Swindon, on a Sunday, to support the Albion. The atmosphere for the most part was terrific.

 

[Cheshire]

timbha and others
agree with most of the comments you've made.
Why was McPhee subbed when he, Knight and Piercy should have been on the pitch together?
Is Yeates any good? How many goals has he scored or made during his long loan spell? Just cos he's Spurs doesn't mean he's a class player.

In my opinion the answer is yes Yeates is good. Taking his contribution as a whole over the matches he has played for us he has brought more creativity and passion into the midfield.

Remember he is not some experienced pro he is still a youngster learning the ropes, but one that deserves his place in the team. I would be more than happy if we could keep him for the season to broaden our midfield options.

On the other hand I agree with the comments about Rehman
on this thread and see no value in extending his loan spell.

 

[trueblue]

Despite the loss, we are starting to look better and better as a team. Consistency of good results will come, and hopefully soon.

Well done to all the fans who went down to Swindon, on a Sunday, to support the Albion. The atmosphere for the most part was terrific.

Totally agree. Results might be up and down, but we are improving as a footballing side.

 

[mitch]

totally agree with the above the first 25mins we looked really good and had a real go at swindon
the performances are improving every game

 

[Willow]

Agree with most of what has been said. Especially Timbha's post.

I can't believe we lost to Swindon, they were absolutely WOEFUL. I lost count of how many times they put the ball into touch through stray passes or miss controls. At least 3 times in the second half they had virtually one on one's with Flitney and didn't even get a shot on target.

The fact we lost to this rabble shows what a poor side we are at the moment. Only Knight looks the business.

Losing Oatway, Rodger and Blackwell for such a long period is killing our season.

 

[mona]

In my opinion the answer is yes Yeates is good. Taking his contribution as a whole over the matches he has played for us he has brought more creativity and passion into the midfield.

Remember he is not some experienced pro he is still a youngster learning the ropes, but one that deserves his place in the team. I would be more than happy if we could keep him for the season to broaden our midfield options.

On the other hand I agree with the comments about Rehman
on this thread and see no value in extending his loan spell.

My frustration with Yeates is partly down to the way he wastes corners and set pieces. I agree he is only a youngster and allowances should be made but he is not one of ours and we're giving him experience for Spurs benefit. He shouldn't hog set pieces and chances so much. Yes he is talented on the ball but there's much more to the game.

 

[Yorkie]

I can't believe we lost to Swindon, they were absolutely WOEFUL. The fact we lost to this rabble shows what a poor side we are at the moment. Only Knight looks the business.

Losing Oatway, Rodger and Blackwell for such a long period is killing our season.

This is the Swindon that we managed to get a 2-2 draw with at home in September with a fit Oatway and Roberts in goal.

I think some of us are having unrealistic expectations. Swindon are not a bad side. Neither are we.

 

[Icy Gull]

This is the Swindon that we managed to get a 2-2 draw with at home in September with a fit Oatway and Roberts in goal.

I think some of us are having unrealistic expectations. Swindon are not a bad side. Neither are we.

They also had James Milner who is head and shoulders above this division. he is now back at Leeds

 

[Willow]

The ref was a bit of a 'homer' today. Any 50-50 challenge resulted in a free-kick for Swindon (have ref's forgotten about drop-balls?), certainly the free kick that led to the opening goal should not have been a free kick for them as both players challenged for the ball and they both ended up on their arses without committing a foul. The lino's were equally bad, and Piercy's chip over the keeper should have stood as a goal (I was right in line with play).

The ref was from South Gloucester! And further proof, if any were needed, from the swindon site Swindon Town FC Forum

Posted - 28/12/2003 : 19:24:38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first time in ages I've come away from a game without anything to berate the ref about. Thought he had a very good game, consistant in all his decisions and I can't think of a single decision he made that I disagreed with. We're usually all to quick to slate the ref so I thought it would make a change to give credit where its due! Does anyone know who the ref was? About time we had a decent one instead of some of the muppets we have seen this season. No names mentioned Mr P Danson!

 

[smith's dreads]

Poor old Flitney, his heart's in the right place but the ball's in the stand. Made one very good save and overall I thought was decent shot stopper - unfortunately his positioning and distribution were terrible. Tried to encourage those of us stood behind the goal with clapping and shouting but as somebody behind me commented, you need calm from a goalkeeper, not hotheadedness. When he tried taking it short to mayo it was like a comedy double act as the ball was quickly given away to swindon making its way back to flitney who then hoofed it to nowhere in particular or at our half-hearted midfield. Living in the North-East the last time I saw the team before Xmas was at Middlesbrough where I thought we were twice the side we were yesterday and even on Boxing Day - when we didn't play especially well to thrash useless Wycombe. From my perspective we are rapidly going down the drains. Too pessimistic?

 

[Dancin Ninja BHA]

Its taken me 24 hours to get warm again, jeez it was cold yesterday!!!!

One point, keep a winning side maybe, but how McGhee can prefer McPhee to Knight is beyond me. He just runs around like a headless chicken and contributes nothing, whereas Knight is proven goal scorer. McPhee should have broken the net in the first half with a chance from about 6 yards out but fluffed his lines yet again.

I don't want to see Knight on the bench ever again if he is fit to play

 

[albiongirl]

Flitney is inexperienced and the mistakes he made proved that and he will learn from that. His reaction at the end of the game said it all at least he was bothered. I hated Swindon bloody cold!! cold tea and to top it off on the way out of the town some pratt threw a rock at our coach!!! Luckily no damage done but it gave me a fright as it was right by my window.

 

[Johners]

Right. Succinct points.

The yellow card Piercy did get, however, was a farce. Clearly battered in the back by the Swindon defender. The referee blew and the Swindon players all retreated without protest to defend the free kick. Only then did they realise it was their free kick.

But the overridding point of the match for me was THE COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE OF NOT JUST THE REFEREE, BUT ALL THREE OFFICIALS. f*** me, there were just shit and a half.

Following on the same theme, Swindon's first goal came from a free kick on the half way line for which no one appealed and it was the Swindon guy, Gurney I think, who led his challenge at Jones's head with his elbow. Jones simply stayed still waiting for the ball to head away.

In the second half, Swindon were on the goalline down their right, their guy ran over the line, the ball came back towards him, so he ran back on the pitch to cross the ball. The lino on far side started to put flag up, then realised that he would be giving a free kick against Swindon, so put flag down. If you go off the pitch, you CANNOT come back on to get ball. If you do, you have to be offside.

As The Large One says, ALL 3 Officials were f***ing hopeless.

 

[glosterseagull]

Cant disagree with what has been said (written);

Yes the officials were bad the worst was that guy running back onto the pitch and the linesman started to flag...but was it only me that saw our guys dive?

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Cant disagree with what has been said (written);

Yes the officials were bad the worst was that guy running back onto the pitch and the linesman started to flag...but was it only me that saw our guys dive?

I think the lino put his flag down again because he realised that it was an Albion head that headed it nack towards goal. He initially thought it was a Swindon head and that he was offside but I think he made the right decision in the end.

 

[Dave the OAP]

If I may put my 6penneth in

1. We were playing fine in the first half, with no reason whatsoever to change it!!!!

2. McGee panicked when we went in 1-0 at half time. His decision to take off McPhee cost us the game.

3. Why did he take off Piercy?

4. Get off the back of Flintney. He only just came back on Boxing Day from Fulham and stepped in at the last minute. If we have a number 2 it must be Keeley, which shows the perilous state of our club at the moment.

5. You can't rely on Yeates every game. He is very young and is surrounded by lower class of players he is used to.

Finally, I was right that Albion had not paid the Bus company by the way. Seemly they are owed £6k at the moment ( although they may have paid it by now)