Swindon Town (H) League One Fri 26 Dec, 3pm

[IHTC.]

latvians report excellent agree with every word obviosly went to game unlike some of the moaners who slate smith and the team without actually seeing the games. sawyers will always divide opinion very clever player but can be idle and yesterday was rubbish did not want to know and i am a fan but cannot defend that performance .had to laugh at fans by me who cheered when he was subed only to see grimes come on

Some happy clappers praise the team without even going.

Source?

Brown, always brown.

[Cully]

latvians report excellent agree with every word obviosly went to game unlike some of the moaners who slate smith and the team without actually seeing the games. sawyers will always divide opinion very clever player but can be idle and yesterday was rubbish did not want to know and i am a fan but cannot defend that performance .had to laugh at fans by me who cheered when he was subed only to see grimes come on

Some happy clappers praise the team without even going.

Source?

Yes I was intrigued to read about 'the moaners who slate Smith' sic, who are these people that never attend. I think they should be named and shamed by all those 'happy clappers' who never go to a match.

:mrgreen:

[IHTC.]

latvians report excellent agree with every word obviosly went to game unlike some of the moaners who slate smith and the team without actually seeing the games. sawyers will always divide opinion very clever player but can be idle and yesterday was rubbish did not want to know and i am a fan but cannot defend that performance .had to laugh at fans by me who cheered when he was subed only to see grimes come on

Some happy clappers praise the team without even going.

Source?

Yes I was intrigued to read about 'the moaners who slate Smith' sic, who are these people that never attend. I think they should be named and shamed by all those 'happy clappers' who never go to a match.

:mrgreen:

:lol:

[Leatherman]

Our Swindon friend tells us above that they did three hours training on Christmas Day. I always hear about how professional sport is about those small advantages and that may have been the 5 - 10 per cent advantage that they gleaned through their festive session while our lads were " relaxing"

Sport, but particularly football, is packed with perceived wisdoms. Sometimes, rarely, you can go against them and come out on top, but more often than not go against them and you end up looking like a right plonker.

One that springs to mind is never criticise your players in public. When Phil Brown berated his Hull team on the pitch at half time you could tell his days were numbered. There are lots of other examples.

Let's hope Smith doesn't give his players Christmas day off again.

I don't think this was anyway responsible for the result yesterday.

Give them every Christmas off. They have families and kids like most of us, let them enjoy it.

[Leatherman]

latvians report excellent agree with every word obviosly went to game unlike some of the moaners who slate smith and the team without actually seeing the games. sawyers will always divide opinion very clever player but can be idle and yesterday was rubbish did not want to know and i am a fan but cannot defend that performance .had to laugh at fans by me who cheered when he was subed only to see grimes come on

Some happy clappers praise the team without even going.

Source?

Brown, always brown.

Red surely? But I do prefer white, with no greens.

[boringteacher]

FFS what a barclays thread.

Swindon were the best counterattacking team I've seen since us with Brandy/Patto/Grigg/Westcarr two years ago. We were defensively cack for 10 minutes and paid for it (after playing lovely stuff in the first half). If Swindon could defend, they'd have been the best 3rd division team I've seen for a couple of years.

Get a fudge grip

[Saddlers Bhoy]

That were rubbish that was wur it!!

Now get some perspective!!

[tinned]

Our Swindon friend tells us above that they did three hours training on Christmas Day. I always hear about how professional sport is about those small advantages and that may have been the 5 - 10 per cent advantage that they gleaned through their festive session while our lads were " relaxing"

Sport, but particularly football, is packed with perceived wisdoms. Sometimes, rarely, you can go against them and come out on top, but more often than not go against them and you end up looking like a right plonker.

One that springs to mind is never criticise your players in public. When Phil Brown berated his Hull team on the pitch at half time you could tell his days were numbered. There are lots of other examples.

Let's hope Smith doesn't give his players Christmas day off again.

I don't think this was anyway responsible for the result yesterday.

Give them every Christmas off. They have families and kids like most of us, let them enjoy it.

And they're paid comparatively well. If bringing them in for training gives us an edge (or lets us keep up with the oppo) theb bring 'em in.

[tinned]

Dean 'mediocre' Smith strikes again.

Organised, well drilled, and switched on?

No, take the day off training lads, it doesn't matter!

Could it be that Swindon just may be better than us??
Dickhead

Heartily agree.

A few weeks back you made threats to block threads and/or posters for arguments on SOT but now register your support on a poster calling a fellow poster a dickhead?????? Interesting!!!!

[aaaae]

Our Swindon friend tells us above that they did three hours training on Christmas Day. I always hear about how professional sport is about those small advantages and that may have been the 5 - 10 per cent advantage that they gleaned through their festive session while our lads were " relaxing"

Sport, but particularly football, is packed with perceived wisdoms. Sometimes, rarely, you can go against them and come out on top, but more often than not go against them and you end up looking like a right plonker.

One that springs to mind is never criticise your players in public. When Phil Brown berated his Hull team on the pitch at half time you could tell his days were numbered. There are lots of other examples.

Let's hope Smith doesn't give his players Christmas day off again.

I don't think this was anyway responsible for the result yesterday.

Give them every Christmas off. They have families and kids like most of us, let them enjoy it.

They can have the whole of June off with their families and kids. Christmas is a crucial part of the football calendar and it always has been. If they don't like that they should choose a different career.

What was the difference between the way Walsall prepared and the way Swindon prepared? There may be a dozen things. Swindon players may have feasted on lampreys. If I was Dean Smith though, next year I would be preparing more like Swindon did and less like Walsall did. If that isn't his mentality he will have a short managerial career.

[SaigonSaddler]

Yes, but didn't you state that we were doomed, DOOMED for two consecutive seasons only to witness (in presumeably horror) as Smith extracated the team and now has them both playing well and getting results. And all on one of the lowest wage bills in the division.

Point of note - wage bills have a remarkably close correlation with league position. FACT. :wink:

The simple answer is no to your first point. The wage bill is often quoted as an excuse when we're losing or for our lack of success - no one really knows what it is, just saying it is one of the lowest does not mean it is a fact - merely conjecture in the absence of fact. SMITHOUT is responsible for recruitment, he is responsible for the teams results and any extrication from the low points he has created during his time here. Losing or win less runs, tedious, boring, unenterprising play, winning, playing well and undefeated runs are of course wholly down to him and his management not luck, not injuries, not budget. He has had the benefit of a number of home grown players developed by the club, some, not all, down to him when he was youth team manager for which he should take credit. It appears that a number of fans appear to have a blind side when it comes to judging Smith, ignoring the FACTS comes top by a long chalk.

Final fact - What do teachers know about football and why didn't you let me know you were back in the country? You could have been my honoured guest at the Barnsley game :D

Smith took over from Jimmy Muddle mid-season to rescue us from disaster and rectified a poor run to save us again the following year. I seem to recall that you and others in Smith hate group decided to put those positive results down to the alignment Jupiter in Mars and wrote bitterly about how relegation was guaranteed the following season, and the next ... I suppose if it's stated often enough it will eventually come to pass, but how long do you want? Are we getting relegated again this year?

I would steer you to a critically acclaimed book called 'soccernomics' which details how football actually works, including why Germany succeed, why England fail and how there is a remarkably close correlation between player wages and league position. On that basis, Walsall should be somewhere in the top third of league 2. Obviously the fact that we are not is purely due to Mercury opposing Saturn and the use of quartz crystals to ward off an evil gypsy curse. It's certainly nothing to do with Dean Smith, apparently.

Oh, unless something goes wrong, like a misplaced corner, a midfield slip or another team having access to players of considerable talent outside our wage bill, in which instance Smith assumes immediate and complete responsibility.

In a word: LLL(D)LLL

Anyway, I wasn't back for Swindon (a excellent victory engineered by the transit of Neptune in Leo) but landed on the 20th. I'm also here for McDongs, which won't go to, and Coventry, which certainly will. :wink:

Oh dear, I assume you posted in haste and now regret at leisure :D

No other words necessary apart from changing the steering wheel you've used to navigate your way around understanding the subtleties of a football match.

I recommend using a bag of lucky pigs knuckles for your predictions..........works every time for me :D

See you at the Coventry match, I shall be waving the large SMITHOUT banner just behind the dugout.

Oh dear indeed. :D

Can I recommend watching the game rather than wrapping your opinions in a gaudy banner of misplaced contempt for the manager?

I shall be behind the goal being entertained by good Walsall football, hoping that the pig knuckles 'steer' us to another 4-0 win against Coventry - I suppose Smith got lucky for that one too. Again. :wink:

[SaigonSaddler]

Our Swindon friend tells us above that they did three hours training on Christmas Day. I always hear about how professional sport is about those small advantages and that may have been the 5 - 10 per cent advantage that they gleaned through their festive session while our lads were " relaxing"

Sport, but particularly football, is packed with perceived wisdoms. Sometimes, rarely, you can go against them and come out on top, but more often than not go against them and you end up looking like a right plonker.

One that springs to mind is never criticise your players in public. When Phil Brown berated his Hull team on the pitch at half time you could tell his days were numbered. There are lots of other examples.

Let's hope Smith doesn't give his players Christmas day off again.

I don't think this was anyway responsible for the result yesterday.

Give them every Christmas off. They have families and kids like most of us, let them enjoy it.

They can have the whole of June off with their families and kids. Christmas is a crucial part of the football calendar and it always has been. If they don't like that they should choose a different career.

What was the difference between the way Walsall prepared and the way Swindon prepared? There may be a dozen things. Swindon players may have feasted on lampreys. If I was Dean Smith though, next year I would be preparing more like Swindon did and less like Walsall did. If that isn't his mentality he will have a short managerial career.

The difference seems more likely to stem from early goals in each half, with the unwelcome addition of bloody awful conditions precisely at 3-1 down.

Even Manchelskipool United would have 'had some issues' accommodating that. It's just football.

[IHTC.]

What's with this 'the conditions were awful' rubbish as an excuse? Unless I am mistaken there were two teams out there. A team that was prepared to play through it and another team that for a short period turned into a bunch of pansies.


P.s why and how have we become so cack at corners?

[WiseMenSay]

Swindon fan here...
During the first half you seemed a decent, well organised team. You stood up to our attacking threat/pace which a lot of mid table teams don't. The difference in the second half was our players begun to show the class we know they've got after a rather poor first half. We were much more clinical than you & seemed to be up for it more than you. I'd also suggest neither side were quite on top form yesterday, or we weren't for large periods anyway. As for "cheating" we've slashed out budget from over 4M & is now about 1.5M, while we don't have any players on loan from Spurs. Wouldn't think the playoffs are out of your reach, because you were the last team since MK to give us any real trouble away from home & looked a fairly good side during the first half.
Good luck for rest of the season!

[chestersaddler]

Swindon fan here...
During the first half you seemed a decent, well organised team. You stood up to our attacking threat/pace which a lot of mid table teams don't. The difference in the second half was our players begun to show the class we know they've got after a rather poor first half. We were much more clinical than you & seemed to be up for it more than you. I'd also suggest neither side were quite on top form yesterday, or we weren't for large periods anyway. As for "cheating" we've slashed out budget from over 4M & is now about 1.5M, while we don't have any players on loan from Spurs. Wouldn't think the playoffs are out of your reach, because you were the last team since MK to give us any real trouble away from home & looked a fairly good side during the first half.
Good luck for rest of the season!

Just because you are not cheating at the minute, does not mean you are not cheats. You have form, lots of it.

[SheffieldSaddler]

I find it ridiculous that people are harping on about giving the players Christmas day off.
So what?
Many clubs give players Christmas day off.
Can't you just except that Swindon were better?

[Neuromantic]

Welcome back neuromatic-we havent heard anything from you for weeks. why not? I know-we havent lost for 7 games -how unprofessional of us!!! You really are a prized plonker. We lost to a better team today but we could have been a goal up at half time with a bit of luck. There are some on here who just post when we lose-supporters! Don't make me laugh! UTS

I don't comment on games I do not attend - this was the first game I have attended in a long while.

Sorry for invalidating your point.

Maybe you should be sorry for not supporting your team more often.

A bit hard when you live in Norway.

[Exile]

Welcome back neuromatic-we havent heard anything from you for weeks. why not? I know-we havent lost for 7 games -how unprofessional of us!!! You really are a prized plonker. We lost to a better team today but we could have been a goal up at half time with a bit of luck. There are some on here who just post when we lose-supporters! Don't make me laugh! UTS

I don't comment on games I do not attend - this was the first game I have attended in a long while.

Sorry for invalidating your point.

Maybe you should be sorry for not supporting your team more often.

A bit hard when you live in Norway.

Norvege: nul points!

[Neuromantic]

I think I need to elaborate on the reasons I was so annoyed.

1. Why did Smith not change the game and make substitutions when it was 2-1, or 3-1 ? Why did our first change come when 4-1 down? Smith has never been good at in-game management: something he needs to dramatically improve if we want to push on.

2. Why did the players give up because it snowed a bit? How can anyone in their right mind not find that unprofessional? These are professional footballers who get paid to do a job most of us dream of doing.

3. Why were the players not in on Christmas Day? Rubbish - get them in. Again, professionalism.

4. If a player (Henry) had a bit of a mare and was being targeted - why did the manager not change it? He could have bought on O'Connor for Henry and pushed James Chambers out to left back. Not rocket science is it?

5. A Chambers and Downing were rubbish.

And for the positives...

1. Michael Cain - thought he was superb. He was playing very similar to Mantom last season in breaking and driving forward from midfield.

2. We had about a 20 minute period in the first half where we battered them.

3. Ben Purkiss was great.

[SheffieldSaddler]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

[Neuromantic]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

[SaigonSaddler]

What's with this 'the conditions were awful' rubbish as an excuse? Unless I am mistaken there were two teams out there. A team that was prepared to play through it and another team that for a short period turned into a bunch of pansies.

It's not. But it's also not a computer game and there is a difference to when a team has to chase a game and when one is defending a lead and can hit on the break.

At 2-1 we were still in it. A slip in midfield allowed them to make it 3-1. It's fair comment to say that the weather closed in a bit. ;)

[SaigonSaddler]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

Utter Conjecture. And you a scientist too. Tut tut.

How do you know the break didn't improve Walsall and prevent a 7-1 reverse? According to some, That's all we should expect from Smith. :)

[SheffieldSaddler]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

MK players given day off - won
Preston players given day off - won
Norwich players given day off - won
Chelsea players given day off - won
Man United players given day off - won

All the above are totally unprofessional, yes?

[Neuromantic]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

Utter Conjecture. And you a scientist too. Tut tut.

How do you know the break didn't improve Walsall and prevent a 7-1 reverse? According to some, That's all we should expect from Smith. :)

As I pointed our Mr. Saigon, even if it improved their performance by even 1% - that would have counted towards their victory.

I could have put it in terms of a principal component matrix, but then we would have had to measure all possible variables contributing to a 'victory'. We could then measure the variance of each extracted factor and find the eigenvalues/vectors of each component. However, for simplicity, I think it's quite easy to conclude that 3 hours more match preparation the day before a game is going to result in a better performance (albeit we don't know how much, and it won't always result in a victory).

the point is, that even if it did improve their performance by even the smallest of margins, then it was worth us going in.

I think that makes completely reasonable, logical sense.

[Neuromantic]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

MK players given day off - won
Preston players given day off - won
Norwich players given day off - won
Chelsea players given day off - won
Man United players given day off - won

All the above are totally unprofessional, yes?

I think they all have better players - yes.

[Neuromantic]

I have noticed all my other points have been completely missed. :mrgreen: by the way...

Any comments on the lack of substitutions or in-game management?

No, thought not - no defence.

Also no comments on our players giving up because it snowed a bit. Basically, let's cut all the bull and winding up - their players dealt with the weather better than us and that's why they won. We had them on the ropes in the first half, we didn't finish the game off or capitalise on that at that point because we are not clinical enough as we have wasted our budget on some dross. They came out in the second half and did us in.

Oh, I have forgotten about that farcical goal after 50 seconds of the second half. How can anyone think that conceding a goal after winning a corner 15 seconds after the re-start is not unacceptable? Beggars belief.

[SaigonSaddler]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

MK players given day off - won
Preston players given day off - won
Norwich players given day off - won
Chelsea players given day off - won
Man United players given day off - won

All the above are totally unprofessional, yes?

Sheff, it won't matter, a number of dissatisfied miscreants seem determined to be irrationally upset no matter what the facts. All I can say is they should have watched Walsall during some really cack times. Give them something to properly moan about.

Maybe it's the impact of computer games, designed so average players can steer any kind of lower league team into Europe. "Why can't Smith do it..."

Fear not, there will be another reason why Smith is the antichrist along shortly. ;)

[SaigonSaddler]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

Utter Conjecture. And you a scientist too. Tut tut.

How do you know the break didn't improve Walsall and prevent a 7-1 reverse? According to some, That's all we should expect from Smith. :)

As I pointed our Mr. Saigon, even if it improved their performance by even 1% - that would have counted towards their victory.

I could have put it in terms of a principal component matrix, but then we would have had to measure all possible variables contributing to a 'victory'. We could then measure the variance of each extracted factor and find the eigenvalues/vectors of each component. However, for simplicity, I think it's quite easy to conclude that 3 hours more match preparation the day before a game is going to result in a better performance (albeit we don't know how much, and it won't always result in a victory).

the point is, that even if it did improve their performance by even the smallest of margins, then it was worth us going in.

I think that makes completely reasonable, logical sense.

No. Because you don't know if extra training would increase performance and There is absolutely no way of checking.

There are too many confounding variables, such players pissed off at having train over Xmas. So how on earth do you isolate the Xmas training = improved performance correlation.

You can't. FACT.

[Neuromantic]

How many clubs gave players Christmas day off?
Are they all unprofessional too?

I don't know - do yo have official numbers?

All I know is, Swindon were in and they won 4-1. All that matters. As someone above mentioned, even if it gave them 1% better match preparation - these fine margins count in football.

MK players given day off - won
Preston players given day off - won
Norwich players given day off - won
Chelsea players given day off - won
Man United players given day off - won

All the above are totally unprofessional, yes?

Sheff, it won't matter, a number of dissatisfied miscreants seem determined to be irrationally upset no matter what the facts. All I can say is they should have watched Walsall during some really cack times. Give them something to properly moan about.

Maybe it's the impact of computer games, designed so average players can steer any kind of lower league team into Europe. "Why can't Smith do it..."

Fear not, there will be another reason why Smith is the antichrist along shortly. ;)

I think those of us who know the game well (like you Matt) know that Smith's in-game management and substitutions have always been not good enough - without showing any signs of improvement. If he could rectify that, he would greatly improve as a manager: something I want him to do.

I am not going to sit here after a 4-1 defeat with glaring tactical errors and not say it. He has done absolutely superb to turn around our form recently but there are still problems with his management which he could improve upon. I think he is too stubborn sometimes, he has his favourites, he wastes his budget and he hates strikers. We all want him to do well, it is a myth that people want him to fail. For me, at least, it could not be further from the truth. He is one of us, and I want him to get better.