Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 29/11/08.

[Kiansmom]

1-0 Walsall Ricketts

[Neuromantic]

Half time 1-0.

[motty]

how are we playing ?

[latviancheese]

scored then let them attack alot as usual

[Horozontal Harry]

WALSALL: Rene Gilmartin, Rhys Weston, Paul Boertien, Stephen Roberts, Anthony Gerrard, Stephen Hughes, Michael Ricketts, Mark Bradley, Alex Nicholls, Troy Deeney, Marco Reich.

Subs: Sofiene Zaaboub, Richard Taundry, Manny Smith, Richard Davies, Netan Sansara

Is that your 'in an ideal world team' as I can't believe Mullen would play Weston, Reich and Boertien in the same team, all at the same time!! :wink:
Just hope we don't get a free kick or corner or we're stuffed!!

Just finished work - couldn't believe our defence. We have got two full backs playing as full backs. Is that allowed?

As Phil Collins once sang "There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake."

[Jolly Johnny]

WALSALL: Rene Gilmartin, Rhys Weston, Paul Boertien, Stephen Roberts, Anthony Gerrard, Stephen Hughes, Michael Ricketts, Mark Bradley, Alex Nicholls, Troy Deeney, Marco Reich.

Subs: Sofiene Zaaboub, Richard Taundry, Manny Smith, Richard Davies, Netan Sansara

Is that your 'in an ideal world team' as I can't believe Mullen would play Weston, Reich and Boertien in the same team, all at the same time!! :wink:
Just hope we don't get a free kick or corner or we're stuffed!!

Just finished work - couldn't believe our defence. We have got two full backs playing as full backs. Is that allowed?

As Phil Collins once sang "There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake."

Either that or Mullen could feel it coming in the air tonight!

[BathSaddler]

Attendance is 3,844. No Ricketts for the second half. Reich upfront and Zaaboub on.

[KJC]

Attendance is 3,844. No Ricketts for the second half. Reich upfront and Zaaboub on.

...of which 600+ are from Swindon.


Ouch :shock:

[BathSaddler]

Attendance is 3,844. No Ricketts for the second half. Reich upfront and Zaaboub on.

...of which 600+ are from Swindon.


Ouch :shock:

BBC Wiltshire are saying around 500 from Swindon, and have remarked on at least a couple of occasions how poor the crowd is.

Reich substituted, shaking his head as he goes off, according to Radio local.

[Neuromantic]

2-1.

[coxy]

where was Palmer today?

[gerryhatrick]

2-1.

A really exciting updating of events from the stayaways, not.

Have they all gone shopping ?

Expect Geoff's somewhere in Wales, Water Divining.

Or, did he mention Morris Dancing in Chepstow ?

[Neuromantic]

2-1.

A really exciting updating of events from the stayaways, not.

Have they all gone shopping ?

Expect Geoff's somewhere in Wales, Water Divining.

Or, did he mention Morris Dancing in Chepstow ?

Oh I have been in a conference lecture discussing hemi-spatial neglect in the right pariaetal cortex. Much more interesting.

And...I'm in Wales. :mrgreen:

[Jorge14]

I'm writing my dissertation...and can't help but think I picked the wrong weekend to go home based on this week's result! Great to get back to winning ways - sounds like Rene played really well which will do wonders for his confidence. Shame we couldn't get the clean sheet.

[Jolly Johnny]

2-1.

A really exciting updating of events from the stayaways, not.

Have they all gone shopping ?

Expect Geoff's somewhere in Wales, Water Divining.

Or, did he mention Morris Dancing in Chepstow ?

Oh I have been in a conference lecture discussing hemi-spatial neglect in the right pariaetal cortex. Much more interesting.

And...I'm in Wales. :mrgreen:

And I've been sitting on my sofa eating crisps...

Not much difference there then!! :lol:

[Whitti Steve]

Much, much better today. Player playing in their correct position (most of the time), Deeney and Nicholls ran themselves ragged. I thought Bradley had a much better game and Gilmartin kept us in the game with a couple of fine saves. All in all, I am much happier with the tactics and the performance.

[Pedagogue]

I'm sorry Jorge14 and Whitti Steve - Gilmartin could not possibly have played well - Latviancheese has said that Rene is the WORST goalkeeper ever (apart from Andy Petterson)! :mrgreen:

[Jockey]

I guess we dont play like that every week at home?? As a stayaway, I was quite pleased with my first visit to watch a league game since September.

I thought Bradley, Gilmartin, Nicholls and Deeney all had good games, however I thought MOTM should have gone to Nicholls. He ran around all game and played much better when he moved into the hole and capped it off with a decent header.

A good result and takes the pressure off our home form somewhat.

I wont be going back too soon but happy nonetheless.

UTS

[Whitti Steve]

I'm sorry Jorge14 and Whitti Steve - Gilmartin could not possibly have played well - Latviancheese has said that Rene is the WORST goalkeeper ever (apart from Andy Petterson)! :mrgreen:

OK, sorry about that, I will try to forget the brilliant saves he made. :lol:

[BathSaddler]

I have spent the afternoon listening to the match on BBC Wiltshire, and although we won, I wish I had'nt bothered. It sounded horrible, so I dread to think what it looked like. It will be interesting to hear the views of the few who were there, because, with the exception of the first 17 minutes upto Rickett's goal, the visitors seemed to dominate.

I know that you can get a completely different perspective on a game listening to opposition coverage, but even when taking that into account, and the fact that we battled hard and did well to beat what is a decent attacking side, we did not seem to offer much by the way of football. Even when 2-0 up in the last minute we seemed to contrive to nearly give it away - another few minutes and I'm convinced we would have done.

How we won that is a mystery - going on what I heard and the aftermatch statistics.

How we are 10th is another mystery, too.

I'm grateful for the three points because we are going to need them, under Mullen it will only get worse. At least Cheltenham, Hereford and Crewe are losing touch, and we are 9 points clear of Yeovil in the remaining relegation place.

[Whitti Steve]

I have spent the afternoon listening to the match on BBC Wiltshire, and although we won, I wish I had'nt bothered. It sounded horrible, so I dread to think what it looked like. It will be interesting to hear the views of the few who were there, because, with the exception of the first 17 minutes upto Rickett's goal, the visitors seemed to dominate.

I know that you can get a completely different perspective on a game listening to opposition coverage, but even when taking that into account, and the fact that we battled hard and did well to beat what is a decent attacking side, we did not seem to offer much by the way of football. Even when 2-0 up in the last minute we seemed to contrive to nearly give it away - another few minutes and I'm convinced we would have done.

How we won that is a mystery - going on what I heard and the aftermatch statistics.

How we are 10th is another mystery, too.

I'm grateful for the three points because we are going to need them, under Mullen it will only get worse. At least Cheltenham, Hereford and Crewe are losing touch, and we are 9 points clear of Yeovil in the remaining relegation place.

The lesson is... don't listen to opposition commentry, it was a decent game IMHO. We deserved to win and did OK.

[BathSaddler]

I have spent the afternoon listening to the match on BBC Wiltshire, and although we won, I wish I had'nt bothered. It sounded horrible, so I dread to think what it looked like. It will be interesting to hear the views of the few who were there, because, with the exception of the first 17 minutes upto Rickett's goal, the visitors seemed to dominate.

I know that you can get a completely different perspective on a game listening to opposition coverage, but even when taking that into account, and the fact that we battled hard and did well to beat what is a decent attacking side, we did not seem to offer much by the way of football. Even when 2-0 up in the last minute we seemed to contrive to nearly give it away - another few minutes and I'm convinced we would have done.

How we won that is a mystery - going on what I heard and the aftermatch statistics.

How we are 10th is another mystery, too.

I'm grateful for the three points because we are going to need them, under Mullen it will only get worse. At least Cheltenham, Hereford and Crewe are losing touch, and we are 9 points clear of Yeovil in the remaining relegation place.

The lesson is... don't listen to opposition commentry, it was a decent game IMHO. We deserved to win and did OK.

Fair enough, you were there, Whitti Steve. I'll take the three points, for sure :wink: .

[saddlerken]

miles better than Mk Dongles, couldnt have been much worse

Rene was excellent

Swindon were very poor

Once again, Mullen struggles tactically to hold onto a lead, thanks to Rene and the Swindon forwards

Roberts is absolutely dire

I quite enjoyed today actually

Im going out to get leathered

[Sadders]

I new i'd end up giving up and got dragged into going. Firstly much better team selection, much better style of play & a much better feeling. Swindon were poor in the first, we got the ball down ,created a few chances, counter attacked with pace & looked like scoring. Ricketts was excellent, held the ball up , slipped deeney through a wonderful ball, which he then finished off in the box , a real strikers goal, he missed another very good chance also.


Second half was generally a poor game chance wise, oh how we missed Ricketts, although there was some nice football on display,especially from swindon. Of corse they had a 10 -15 minute rally toward the hour mark, swindon dominated the half mostly ,without creating that much. Couple of good saves from gilmartin though. We come oon the break, great cross from taundry right on nicholls head, bang in the net, game over?. NO straight from the kick off they scored a brillant goal, not sure if gilmartin could have done better though.


Nicholls was MOM, truly excellent, Gerrard was very good, as was boertien, weston, hughes. Deeney did ok, as did bradders. Thought roberts was poor, gilmartin did ok also. Good following from swindon it was more than 500 , more like 700.


I get the feeling our players absolutely crap there pants at the thought of playing infront of the floor to go, generally due to our expectations,hence why we'll perform on the road much better this season.

Better tactics today jimmy ( despite sitting back on it again), better football,better selection,happy fans, 3 points...take note mr mullen...then you might get somewhere.

Better :D

[OldPenkSaddler]

Much improved performance. Its amazing what happens when players are played in their correct positions.

Deeney did well for the first goal, good cross, Nicholls missed a sitter but the ball fell loose to Ricketts and even he couldn't miss although he managed to miss an easy header just after.

The " I don't play when the temperature falls below freezing" clause in Ricketts contract kicked in and he didn't appear for the second half. Mental Muddle played Marco through the middle and brought on Frenchie on the left. This didn't last long and Taundry replaced him with Nicholls moving into the centre. He wasn't happy when he went off but we looked much better balanced as a result.

Roberts was very shaky in the second half. I can't make my mind up whether he is useless or just not fit. I think it may be both. Replaced by Smith who did OK.

Bradley seems to have found a bit of form and Deeney and Nicholls ran their socks off. Excellent cross by Taundry for the second goal and Nicholls powered home.

Special mention to Gilmartin. He made a couple of excellent saves that kept us in it.

Result keeps Muddle in a job till Xmas at least.

[latviancheese]

I'm sorry Jorge14 and Whitti Steve - Gilmartin could not possibly have played well - Latviancheese has said that Rene is the WORST goalkeeper ever (apart from Andy Petterson)! :mrgreen:

One game is all. Im sure Taibi had a good game once.


Ill give him some credit, hes improved alot, although that wor hard :?

[King Crimson]

Game of two halves. Ricketts, Reich, Boertien, Gerrard, Hughes, Weston all excellent first half - especially Reich and Boertien, who really kept the ball well. All our good stuff was going on down the left.

Don't know why Ricketts didn't come back out second half (words with Mullen? didn't look injured to me). Second half we struggled with Deeney and Nicholls up front - both worked hard, and Nicholls I thought could have been a contender for MoM.

Replacing the excellent Reich for Taundry was a joke. He made one contribution - an excellent cross for Nicholls to put away in the 90th minute, but he provided no protection at all for the full backs. Zabooub showed some excellent touches too. With Ricketts going off, I'd have stuck Reich up there with Deeney, and brought Zabooub on down the wings with Nicholls.

First half we played some of the football of old - passing (remember that?), neat flicks, triangles, decent crosses etc. Good stuff. Then we lost two of our footballers (Reich and Ricketts), and we looked ragged again.

Still, a good result. And a word for Gilmartin. The boy done pretty good. I am pleased for him.

[Neuromantic]

How di Reich play? According to MMF he is rubbish, so how did he get on ? :mrgreen:

[Atomic Rooster]

My first game since the orient game,Did not play to bad the only minus roberts my god its roper with no hair he is slow and can't head the ball, they might have given rene man of the match for his confidence bit nicholls was man of the match played really well when they moved him playing behind deeney,The main thing i noticed total lack of atmosphere i have not seen that at a home game since the hibbitt era if it like that today i hate to see it when we play really bad,only trouble in winning is it keeps mullen in his job longer,At least he has found palmers best position left back at home

[WFC_Rob]

That match showed exactly what we're capable of, whilst simultaneously showing how we're being held back by an incompetent manager.

In the first half, I thought we played some good stuff. Nicholls and Deeney worked hard to support Ricketts, and Reich was getting a number of decent balls into the box.
The difference from last week? No Palmer and no Taundry. They hinder the way we play, I'm sure.
They had their share of posession in our half, as you'd expect with Cox, Paynter & Peacock all playing, but we coped fairly well, with Gilmartin making one really good save in particular.

The second half came and we started to undo the hard work we'd put in in the first half. Ricketts didn't re-appear, which got us thinking where he could have been. He didn't appear to be injured before the break, but did get a harsh ear-bashing from Mullen near the end of the half. Without wanting to stir up something that isn't there, could they have fallen out at half time perhaps?
Then we move onto Roberts who had been limping before the first half even finished. Why didn't we just take him off? He was left to struggle against one of the best strikers in the league, which he did ok with, but shouldn't have been left in that position in the first place.

So Swindon come back into the game, especially after bringing McNamee on. We proceed by taking Reich off - you know, the bloke who's been getting a load of crosses into the box, and looking to keep the ball.
After that, we really struggled, and it was Mullen's doing. Why take off two of your best footballers when you're only 1-0 up? We just couldn't hold onto the ball for any length of time, and the long ball we've become accustomed to was regualrly employed once again.

Our second goal was really well worked to be fair. Nicholls ball out wide showed good vision, and he did well to get on the end of a cross which was well measured by Taundry. Thank God we got that goal.
The manner in which we then went about conceding was awful if we're being honest. No-one really made an effort to close Paynter down, which is always a basic error, regardless of how good your goalkeeper is.

In summary, a number of players played well in the first half and we looked like a good League One outfit. Ricketts, Deeney, Nicholls and Reich looked like causing some damage, and were helped by the fact that the rest of the team looked keen to play football from the back.
What happened after that could have lost us the game however. How Mullen sees fit to take 2 of our best players off (one was definitely not an enforced change) is just ridiculous, especially as he left an injured centre half on the pitch.
I'd rate that as a decent performance all round, but the manager needs to see that we don't have the luxury of being able to take the footballers in our side off and expect to see results through.