Not sure how Brucie can criticise us for being bacls-to-the wall in the second half?
A team of our stature, infact, any team, has to go backs to the wall in some situatons, and we are no exception. It's not as if we're world beaters, the team i going to have to graft for its points, and it sounds as if they did that tremendously today. Well done lads!
Gazzableedsgull wrote:Get In!! perfect day for us .. 3 points, clean sheet, scum lost and Buckle had another nail stuck in Merry Christmas everybody!!
Yes, and the guy that Buckle didn’t want at Brizzle scored another 2 for Gillingham. Good player that Kuffour, and further indictment on the weasel’s judgement.
A good day at the office for Dinger and the Yellow Army.
"A day without football is a day lost" (Ernst Happel)
"Look at the (Plainmoor) stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah they were all yellow" (C. Martin)
i am not critcising - I am merely stating that theyr appeared to be all over us in the second half. The commentary team were pretty scathing about that buffoon Mcphee when he came on, tripping over his legs and constantly giving the ball away.
Hats off to Ling - the cupboard was almost bare today. I couldn't see us gettiing a point let alone three.
Listening to the Bristol Rovers game we are going to have our handsfull at Plymouth. Fearful reaction by the Rovers fans at the end. Zebroski was booed off when he was substituted and that idiot Beavis kicking the ball straight out to Hemmings to gift Plymouth the three points.
And as for that **** Gordon Sparkes - "he must have had one jug to many" - when Zebroski was subbed. "There was a sublime joke in there" he followed up with .
No actually Sparkes your a fecking idiot.
I thought both sides were good in the first half, with us having the better of it. We started strongly and kept it going - the goal on half time was deserved on the balance of the half.
In the second half the standard was much poorer and we were under pressure for most of it. That said, except for one excellent clearance off the line there wasn't a lot else in the way of clean cut chances. It was more constant pressure than guilt edged chances.
Atieno played well in the first half but faded badly in the second. McPhee was appalling when he came on, I really don't think he's up to this level of football, especially not in a forward position.
Di Canio did not disappoint. He was pacing up and down infront of his bench, waving his arms around. Crazily he was speaking in Italian the whole time and constantly gesticulating at his subs, like it was their fault and they had no idea what he was saying. Eventually the officials told him to calm down and he slumped down on the corner of the bench and his head dropped. It really looked like he was sulking and not even watching the match at times. Of course he resumed to pacing and arm waving in that oh so Italian way.
Well what amassive 3 points that was, a little bit of a tale of 2 havles, first 20 minutes i thoughtt he football our team played was just out of this world, and the team desevered there 1.0 lead.
At half many of us agreed Swindon would step there game, and they did back to wall stuff at times, and when called opon Bobby did not let us down.
I personaly think Ellis has been fantastic since his recall, however today i really dont get how he got man of the match , or so many votes on the poll on this site, 3 sliced clearences, he can consider himself lucky not to have scored another bizare own goal today, and caught out of position time and time again today , and let Connell get goal side of him, and whether he fouled him or, when the lino gave it, under the rules he should have gone.
Yep he play's with his heart on his sleeve, and an agrression we all love, however there are times when we need to take our Ellis blinkers off, and today is one of those times.
First game of the season for me and a good one to choose, it seems. First half we were the better side and deservedly led 1-0 at half time. The goal was definitely a big confidence boost for Atieno, who was clearly delighted with it. I thought he played superbly throughout, especially after his goal. The defence were also rock solid, aside from a couple mistakes in the 2nd half, both from Ellis who had otherwise been magnificent. Robbo was solid alongside him and neither let the ball bounce.
My biggest peave though. Why oh why did we constantly lump the ball forward in the second half, gifting them possession? I don't understand the mentality when we had a far superior central midfield than them. We invited danger for the whole second half because we had no intention of playing the ball on the ground. Just lumped it up to Atieno who had no one in the same half as him at times.
My view on the players:
Olejnik - 9 - Brilliant, kept us in the game with two very good saves. Aside from one dodgy punch, dependable and reliable.
Oastler - 8 - Solid, barely put a foot wrong all game. Probably why their left winger got subbed early on.
Robertson - 9 - Solid too, of equal quality to Oastler but had much more to do, hence the extra point.
Ellis - 9 - Outstanding, a couple mistakes and was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch when he took a Swindon player down on the edge of the box. Otherwise, a defensive display of Guy Branston quality.
Nicholson - 9 - Superb, gave Matt Ritchie absolutely nothing to do at all. Cut out everything down our left and his set pieces were dangerous as always.
Lathrope - 10 - Linchpin, without him, we wouldn't have won. He cut out so many attacks and even covered at full back if Joe or Nico were out of position. Superb display of breaking up attacks. Could do with improving in the air though, lost a few important headers.
Mansell - 8 - Good display and did the simple things well, broke up a few plays but wasn't involved much in the 2nd half as we lumped it over his head.
O'Kane - 8 - Same as Mansell, a good show but wasn't able to let go with his passing. Similar to Mansell in the second half.
Stevens - 7 - Played well but nothing came off for him. I called him 1 inch all the way through the game because he was always an inch away from avoiding a tackle, getting the pass on target or getting a shot in.
Morris - 5 - Poor, he tried hard but aside from a couple crosses he generally seemed to lose the ball or do nothing with it. Not a right winger at all.
Atieno - 10 - Brilliant, held the ball up well and made some good flick ons. With a bit more experience they'll pay off. Often the only person in their half but dealt with our 'passes' very well. Goal was good for his confidence too. Very much right place, right time. He was better than Tomlin.
Subs:-
Rowe-Turner - 7 - Quite liked him. Quick and seemed to love a tackle. Beat their right back several times too. Would like to see him given a whole game at some point.
McPhee - 2 - Awful, just awful. No idea how to keep a ball, no idea how to pass, no pace and no skill. I've only seen 15 mins of the guy, but on that basis, he should be first on the list out the door.
I've got to start by commending Tai for a solid performance ( from the sounds of it - i wasn't there ) and his goal. I've criticised him a little this season and i know he hasn't had that many opportunities to impress but i've got to say a massive well done and i'm proud of him today. I'm proud of everybody because as Brucie said, 'the cupboards were bare' today, certainly upfront and we managed to eke out a goal from somewhere. Given before kick off that Swindon ha the best defensive record in the division plus score quite a few as well to win 1-0 was well against the stats and the formbook to a certain extent. I said that we should put the defeat to Accy last week down to just one of those things, a blip and this result today has got us unexpectedly back on track. We got the goal, rode our luck and were solid enough at the back not to concede. Thats how to win games when you aren't playing like we did at Crewe. Total respect to Martin for basically making the most of what he has at his disposal and the same to the players for simply digging in and adapting to the losses of key players these last few months. Oxford will be a tough nut to crack and theyn had a really good win today, i'm not sure a repeat of today is on the cards with the same personnel but we'll see. Very, very happy tonight as we are well clear of relegation worries, miles clear of Bristol Rovers and Plymouth and we have still hopes of a play off push if we all keep it real. As Tuffers would say, 'appy days'!
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
Talking of the Accy game, how many of us would have thought that a point away to them and a point at home to Swindon would have been great for us? As it happens we've added a point to that scenario so well done to the lads.
Well done guys!!! great win and the local TV will have a post mortem later on the A420's defeat today. Oxford fans always call Swindon the A420's up here so why not.
I thought we would do will to get 3 points from the whole festive season so today is a bonus. A great xmas so far then.
Some general things from me.
I'll start with my mate, Mark Ellis. When he is good, boy is he good, but when he has games like he did today, he's a bloody liability. Made a lot of silly mistakes today and was very lucky not to concede a goal, a pen and yet another red card (in that chronological order). I love Mark, and think he is a prodigious talent when he is on his game, but when he makes as many howling errors as he did today, he needs a kick up the arse.
How funny was Di Canio!?!
Why oh why is there no FLS tonight, why do the powers that be not understand that without all the feeder divisions, their beloved Premiership would collapse in a matter of months? It's bad enough that it gets the graveyard shift (I know, I know), but to simply not bother showing the 40 football league matches, preferring instead some shitty movie is absolutely ridiculous.
Attendance of 4100 or so, feck right off! there was a bag of sand in the Family stand, same in the away end, so you're telling me that in the most packed Pop side since we played Spurs, there were 2100 people. There were 3500 in the Pop side and 1000 at each end, so 5500 is much nearer the mark. If a racing snake like Trojan struggles to find his place, then it MUST be busy.
Their forum is good fun, they are gracious in defeat and they have the measure of McPhee (the comment "Chris Mcphee, how is he still a professional footballer" cropped up). A warning for the frail and meek, the language is... choice, you have been warned.
Which brings me neatly on to my real issue of the day. Christopher McPhee. Feck me, is this guy crap or what! There was one point where he literally, LITERALLY, ran out of ideas completely. He just lolloped towards the Swindon defenders, then, upon arrival, he just stopped, totally and completely bereft of knowledge or original thought. It was as if he had run out of credit just as he got to the penalty box and he needed to be fed another 20p. If he tells the tax office he is a professional footballer, I'm tempted to report him to the police, because he is no more a footballer than I am a 40 year old Vietnamese woman.
Two very good teams, it would have been nice to have seen us with Rene and Billy available. I'm sure they can point to a few missing, but I'm not really interested in that.
Di Canio seems to want £1,000,000 for their boy Richie. On that basis, what is Eunan worth?
Matt.
Try comparing your garden fence and the great wall of China.
They just turned down 500k for him today too. I shouted that I'd give Di Canio 50p a week if he came round every Sunday and did my washing up, he gave a bit of a death look to the Popside!
