MATCHWATCH : Swindon Town (a)

[Hound]

Don’t care a lot about the result to be fair, but certainly some interesting selections

No osho or Rushesha (assume injured). Not sure the point of playing JOP as he is nowhere near.

That was prob the final nail for any more Stickland appearances in the near future

Ritchie and Lane must be first choice wingers now I’d have thought, so not sure how much we’ll see of Kyeweraa, Garcia, Kelvin or Camara which won’t please them

Called up for Zimbabwe as a replacement for an injury.

Fair enough. Mentioned I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention…

[Orion1871]

The mumbling commentator gives Doyle MoM He's been terrible

The main commentator just kept waffling (but he did mention some kind of audio was in place so perhaps could be forgiven) but his mate just kept mumbling throughout and going on about how Doyle is a great player.
In fact both of them managed to say that every player we have was brilliant and that we kept on being unlucky.

Bearing in mind that Abrefa, Stickland and Dorsett have played a lot of games together the goal from the through ball was terrible.

Am not sure that we or the manager learnt much tonight about the players.

Stephens is clearly not the steady and reliable 2nd choice keeper that people seemed to think when he was signed.
Abrefa is now firmly behind Ahmed and probably Yiadom if he is ever fit.
Dorsett looks generally more comfortable at centre-back but won't now get in ahead of Williams
Ryan is ok and might challenge Jacobs.
Stickland could be a decent 4th division player-he is not quite up to our first team level.
Marriott is very, very small but , as he has shown in his career, he can finish however will he get many chances in a team that creates so few?
Sackey could do with a loan
I don't see the point of JOP
Fraser reminds me a bit of George Evans and is probably just a back-up for Wing.
Doyle has a bit about him but is probably back-up for Elliot and Savage.
The other two little lads look what they are, youngsters a long way off first team football......yet.
Rhys Evans wasn't on long enough to make much of an impression but what he did was quite good.
Ritchie can obviously still pass a ball but might now be more suited to walking football-am not sure if he will be able to cope with the hurly burly of div 3 football.
From the brief bits of Spencer I like him but am not sure of his position-he does show good aggression.
Kelvin's brother looks a bit stronger and more determined than him.

Defensive Midfielder.

[Getthebeerens]

That was a disappointing night. Not because it's a loss to Swindon, might bother the wanna be hooligans in the away end but it's only the mickey mouse trophy.

The disappointment is the lack of anyone really looking like they wanted to give the manager the old cliche of "something to think about" for future league games.

Totally agree, my biggest frustration too. Abrefa just didn’t look on it all game for me. No sense of danger and half a sleep on a free kick as well.

Ultimately the only way the youngsters are going to improve is by playing games and that will be our biggest gain from this competition.

Positives: Lovely finish from Marriott and some good movement, certainly an improvement on what we have.
Ritchie also looked very good in his cameo, certainly not here to make up the numbers.

Don’t agree with playing first team players tonight, fringe players need minutes in the legs and if we did lose a Lewis Wing due to injury in the Vertu Trophy it’s just not worth the risk.

[Snowflake Royal]

Angry away end at full time as the players come over. Boos and chants of "you're not fit to wear the shirt"

Jesus wept. Imagine singing this in a glorified U21s game.

They're not fit to be fans

[Snowflake Royal]

What a hit. Should probably have had a wall though...

I felt it deflected off the one man wall.

You're correct, which wrong footed Stevens.

[Snowflake Royal]

That was a disappointing night. Not because it's a loss to Swindon, might bother the wanna be hooligans in the away end but it's only the mickey mouse trophy.

The disappointment is the lack of anyone really looking like they wanted to give the manager the old cliche of "something to think about" for future league games.

Totally agree, my biggest frustration too. Abrefa just didn’t look on it all game for me. No sense of danger and half a sleep on a free kick as well.

Ultimately the only way the youngsters are going to improve is by playing games and that will be our biggest gain from this competition.

Positives: Lovely finish from Marriott and some good movement, certainly an improvement on what we have.
Ritchie also looked very good in his cameo, certainly not here to make up the numbers.

Don’t agree with playing first team players tonight, fringe players need minutes in the legs and if we did lose a Lewis Wing due to injury in the Vertu Trophy it’s just not worth the risk.

Agree, I think Hunt got the balance a bit wrong... needed more forward than Barough, JOP and Sackey supporting Marriott.

The rest was as expected and right.

As for needing the first team to gel, that's what the solid couple of weeks of training is for, and it'll do more than playing a L2 2nd XI in a cup for U21s.

[Zammo]

BFTG

Didn't have a problem with the starting XI, but the bench was woefully inexperienced (Ritchie aside). We started brightly tbf, but the two opening goals were sooooo bad defensively. Fans immediately got on the players backs (grrr), so I thought we showed great character to get back into the game. Losing a third straight after half-time was just ridiculous. Huffed and puffed thereafter, but never looked like scoring (apart from the late own goal attempt which hit the woodwork). Chat on the way back to the station (in a lively police escort) was Hunt out, but you have to give him time post transfer window to work things out. Reading fans have zero patience.

[Maguire]

Admittedly I am not a regular at games these days but I watch what I can. Genuinely surprised to hear that the away end were booing and singing what they were singing.

- After the relative unity during the end of the Dai era, how have things become so toxic so quickly?
- Since when did these matches ever matter?
- Why are we so irate at financial conservatism and spending controls after nearly losing the club?

Reading weren't even that bad, probably a little unlucky not to get a draw on the balance of play.

Whether or not Noel Hunt is the man to carry us to long term glory I don't know, but it's so incredibly early in the season to be demanding the axe.

[Hound]

Fair bit of nonsense spoken by Hunt after the game about Kyeweraa, Williams, Jacob playing every minute of every game previously

Against wasn’t really paying much attention so not really in hindsight but considering it’s crappy international week which I’d forgotten about, do think picking such a young side and bench probably a mistake. Yes we were 3 unbeaten but two dodgy performances in there where we were lucky to get the result we did. I’d have rathered us gone out to really try to win this one

It’s all good trying to give Barough, JOP, Borgnis etc experience but if they’re unlikely to play a part for the first team this year as is likely, don’t really see the point

I’d quite like to see a bit more of thag Evans kid - had some physicality about him which we lack atm

[windermereROYAL]

I`ve got a different take on this to the usual cry babies over on X. all teams bar none put out inexperienced sides in this worthless (IMO) competition. so let`s say he puts out the Likes of Wing Savage and Lane and one of them picks up a serious injury?
Hunt would be talking bigger pelters for evening risking them in a glorified friendly.
Marriott was our best forward but he rightly got hooked to probably protect him.
Liked the Look of Ritchie but it`s clear you`re not going to see him skin full backs and whip in crosses, they mentioned he`ll be 36 soon, so he`ll be knocking on 38 at the end of his contract assuming we`ve got him for 2 years.
When the Swindon guy was lining up the free kick 30 yards out in the 47th minute my mind immediately went back to Liverpool vs Arsenal on Sunday, where`s the wall?
The rest is history.

[yuomi]

Admittedly I am not a regular at games these days but I watch what I can. Genuinely surprised to hear that the away end were booing and singing what they were singing.

- After the relative unity during the end of the Dai era, how have things become so toxic so quickly?
- Since when did these matches ever matter?
- Why are we so irate at financial conservatism and spending controls after nearly losing the club?

Reading weren't even that bad, probably a little unlucky not to get a draw on the balance of play.

Whether or not Noel Hunt is the man to carry us to long term glory I don't know, but it's so incredibly early in the season to be demanding the axe.

Our fanbase is reactionary AF (non-technical term), but Couhig and Co. didn't help themselves w/ the 'potential to be spectacular' rhetoric, and should never have gone anywhere near talking about how big and shiny of a budget we'd have to spend compared w/ the rest of the division. Given that he ballsed up announcing he was buying the club in the first place you'd have thought he'd have learned. After years of disappointment and anger at Dai, I think a few fans let themselves dream that we were going to do a Brum and got angry when that inevitably didn't materialise.

It was a bit of a silly approach on Couhig's part to go with American hyperbole rather than the frank honesty that we're basically back to building from the ground up again financially.

[Sutekh]

I`ve got a different take on this to the usual cry babies over on X. All teams bar none put out inexperienced sides in this worthless (IMO) competition. so let`s say he puts out the Likes of Wing Savage and Lane and one of them picks up a serious injury?
Hunt would be talking bigger pelters for evening risking them in a glorified friendly.
Marriott was our best forward but he rightly got hooked to probably protect him.
Liked the Look of Ritchie but it`s clear you`re not going to see him skin full backs and whip in crosses, they mentioned he`ll be 36 soon, so he`ll be knocking on 38 at the end of his contract assuming we`ve got him for 2 years.
When the Swindon guy was lining up the free kick 30 yards out in the 47th minute my mind immediately went back to Liverpool vs Arsenal on Sunday, where`s the wall?
The rest is history.

And Noel mentioned this - just waiting now for some journo to click-bait something about Hunty blaming Szboszlai for the defeat - he said something about Stevens being confused in (not) setting the wall up because of it but, apparently, they’ve learned something so it doesn’t matter, esp in such a meaningless game like that one

[Schards#2]

Admittedly I am not a regular at games these days but I watch what I can. Genuinely surprised to hear that the away end were booing and singing what they were singing.

- After the relative unity during the end of the Dai era, how have things become so toxic so quickly?
- Since when did these matches ever matter?
- Why are we so irate at financial conservatism and spending controls after nearly losing the club?

Reading weren't even that bad, probably a little unlucky not to get a draw on the balance of play.

Whether or not Noel Hunt is the man to carry us to long term glory I don't know, but it's so incredibly early in the season to be demanding the axe.

Hi Mags

Was at the game and was astonished at the reaction of Reading fans both during and, particularly, after the game. Firstly, it's the mickiest of mickey mouse tournaments, secondly, we fielded a young and inexperienced team and thirdly, we didn't play that bad.

I felt so sorry for the youngsters making their debut that they will probably remember it most for being told they are not fit to wear the shirts. Absolute shame on anyone singing that, I really hope it doesn't destroy their confidence or love of the club. There is an argument that Hunt should have played a stronger side as it was Swindon and the fans wanted to win, but that's not the fault of the players he picked and seeing them taking abuse was horrible to watch.

I know you can't constantly harp back to where we were a year ago but I'm willing to bet a lot of these clowns were expressing their love of the club back then and saying how they just want a club to support. Well that wasn't support and the club would be better off without them travelling. The club has been heading full steam in the wrong direction for years, it is going to take more than a few months to turn that around and the owners, manager and players should be given some latitude and patience.

[JedMaxwell]

I thought Fraser played well, and he looked like he wanted to impress. I think him playing in the holding role is the route to getting Wing further forward, but Noel doesn't want to do that it seems so for now he'll be restricted to the bench.

Ryan was good again and I think has done enough to be at least in the squad in the league. I know he's had two pretty massive injuries in the past couple of years but he didn't look tired at the end and did all that was asked of him. Perhaps he can't do the stepping into midfield role, but as an up-and-down fullback I like him a lot.

Marriott is the striker we've been looking for since Smith, for me. Intelligent hold-up play, nice linking with the runners (when they turned up) and took his goal expertly.

Evans looked interesting - big lad, bit of physicality and I think he might be a player who could feature a bit. I thought his turn and shot showed he has good technique and instincts, although the shot itself was a bit weak.

Not very impressed by the others. Stickland looked lost and like his confidence has taken a hit. He's certainly fourth choice CB once Paudie is fit, maybe even fifth behind Dorsett although he was pretty shit as well. Abrefa looked similar and like he has lost a bit of the confidence he started the season with.

I won't have too much of a go at the youngsters as I think they're promising, and the pass from Sackey for Marriott's goal was excellent. Barough I think has something about him having seen him in the past, but struggled to get his foot on the ball last night.

Ritchie looked like he hasn't played for a while and was not sharp, but I hope he's got a bit more in his legs as if he moves like that he won't be able to play in goal, never mind on the wing. Some nice touches nevertheless and I think his influence in the dressing room will be key.

[Maguire]

Hi Mags

Was at the game and was astonished at the reaction of Reading fans both during and, particularly, after the game. Firstly, it's the mickiest of mickey mouse tournaments, secondly, we fielded a young and inexperienced team and thirdly, we didn't play that bad.

I felt so sorry for the youngsters making their debut that they will probably remember it most for being told they are not fit to wear the shirts. Absolute shame on anyone singing that, I really hope it doesn't destroy their confidence or love of the club. There is an argument that Hunt should have played a stronger side as it was Swindon and the fans wanted to win, but that's not the fault of the players he picked and seeing them taking abuse was horrible to watch.

I know you can't constantly harp back to where we were a year ago but I'm willing to bet a lot of these clowns were expressing their love of the club back then and saying how they just want a club to support. Well that wasn't support and the club would be better off without them travelling. The club has been heading full steam in the wrong direction for years, it is going to take more than a few months to turn that around and the owners, manager and players should be given some latitude and patience.

Cheers Schards - completely agree on all counts.

[South Coast Royal]

This isn't a promotion season is it?
So we should be making an effort in the cup competitions and our newer players need to be playing games.
As for last night we might have won but we didn't and whatever team we put out we still don't make enough chances.

On the point about not risking better players getting injured I will repeat what I have posted on a number of occasions that players want to play and more injuries occur in training than in matches.

In theory this period should be about sorting issues out in training but we all know that our record after previous such breaks has been abysmal and so often prompted the question from fans of "What the fcuk do they do in training?"
Let's hope for better this time.

[JedMaxwell]

I only watched on telly and have only been to a few away games in the past couple of years but a lot of our supporters do seem to be completely retarded.

It's all this weird posturing from young lads in either stupidly expensive or fake Stone Island and either actually taking coke or trying to make it look like you're on it, that I just find bizarre. We're not the only club who's fans are like this of course, but they seem to just want to have a go at either the opposition fans, or the players if we're not winning 4-0 at half time.

It's a good point that we won't be fixed overnight, and the players and staff deserve some time to get moving in the right direction again. I can't bring myself to get that annoyed at players who are clearly trying, and certainly care.

[South Coast Royal]

For those deriding the competition let's not forget what and where we are now.
This competition is for 3rd and 4th division teams plus big club U21s (although they tend to put out very young sides) and at the moment we are a lowly 3rd division side so, mickey mouse or not ,this is our level.

On the point about the twats having a go at the players I agree with Mags and Schards but these are the times we live in when people just want to shout, whether it is at football or outside hotels housing refugees.
These are Reform voters , either now or in the future ,who don't have the capacity to see the wider picture whether that be regarding football or other much more important matters.

Unfortunately Schards we need their money and anybody's money at our club and can't afford to tell them to fcuk off.

[Silver Fox]

Where do these super entitled people get their sense of entitlement from? We're not exactly historically successful. Were they all born after 2005 and think we deserve to be in the PL or something?

[Hound]

‘Fans’ singing you’re not fit to wear the shirt to the lads that finished that game is genuinely one of the most dismal things I’ve heard for a long time