The Hotel End

Swindon supporter says they have sold out their 946 south stand allocation but have been refused the extra 400 for the east stand. Presumably to the recent troubles caused at Stevenage.
Not sure of the thinking on this as the troublemakers could already have bought their tickets in the south.

They are c**ts either way....so good!

I thought we'd want to maximise the attendance. 400 extra £22's is a lot to turn down. £8800 in fact. It wouldn't cost much in extra stewarding (assuming stewards are available).

This is a big game .
We have to show attacking intent at home .
We have a bit more in the bag i think and JB has to let loose soon ….
Etete and Pinnock will destroy someone soon .

Manny’s team for Saturday,

                          Roberts

McGowan.          Guthrie.       Horsfall.       Kioki.

           McWilliams.   Sowerby.     Flores.

                           Pinnock

                   Etete.          Kabamba.     


Pinnock gets the free role.

Explains why we took home tickets off online sale then…..

The club are having lots of issues with the ticketing system at the moment so might be linked to that.

Swindon's best results have come on the road,4 points from 4 home games, 7 points from 3 away games. They won 3-1 at Scunny, won 1-0 at Salford and drew 1-1 at Stevenage. But so far they have not played any of the top 10 in the division. Like us they are struggling for goals as their opening day 3-1 win at Scunny is the only game they have scored more than 1.
We have Brett Huxtable as referee who appears to disliked by supporters of most clubs. General comments of unfit, overweight and struggles to keep up with play and his past displays here have not been impressive.

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2021/september/ticket_office_staff/

And maybe personnel issues too perhaps?

The why would we suspend online sales, surely that would elevate the staff problems?

a 3-0 win for us and the rest of the top six to drop points please

This could be helpful.
https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/football/swindon-trio-to-miss-sixfields-trip-3385248

From what I have seen of Swindon on tv highlights they seem to have a decent 'keeper in Joe Wollacott.
According to one of their fans posts the don't cope well with a high press, are you aware JB?

They also say they are flooded with midfielders...which doesn't bode well for us!

Rarely works in a favour though - as does playing teams that have had more games in close succession than us.

Still we start at 0-0, morale is good and they are not pulling up trees.

No Hoskins then. Obviously an oversight on your part.  :o

West Stand OAP has already done half the preview..... anyway...the Robins come bobbing along to Sixfields for this 2.00pm kickoff!

This was of course a League 1 fixture last season, both clubs suffered relegation. Swindon had a summer of turmoil where at one point they had about six players on the books...things seemed to have stabilised somewhat now with them sitting 8th in the early table. They are unbeaten away from home in all competitions this season too.

After John Sheridans less than successful spell in charge last season, a new manager is now at the helm. Ben Garner, who himself had a less than auspicious spell at Bristol Rovers, took the reigns at the West Country side and has recorded 4 wins in his nine games so far.

A whole rake of players left over the summer including former Cobblers Hallam Hope and Christopher Missilou, as well as Brett Pitman, Joel Grant and Scott Twine. Replacements have come in...they include former Cobblers loanee keeper Lewis Ward, former MK player Ben Gladwin and loanees Anthony Gordon (Everton) and Tyreese Simpson (Ipswich).

Simpson has two goals this season, top scorer though is diminutive midfielder Jack Payne with three.

In 107 previous meetings between the two clubs Swindon hold the upper hand, 49 wins to our 36. they have won 4 and drawn three of their previous 10 visits to Sixfields. A Simon Cox hattrick helped them to a 4-3 win on our patch back in 2009 in the highest scoring game of recent times.

Last season we shared 2-1 home wins....ours thanks to Missilou and Danny Rose's first goal in Cobblers colours back in October 2020, the return game saw Ryan Watson give us the lead before we fell to eventual defeat. The previous season both games finished with 1-0 away wins.....a Jordan Lyden goal gave Swindon the points at Sixfields after Andy Williams had scored our goal in the win at their ground. Going back another season both games finished 1-1. The Swindon scorers in those games were both ex-Cobblers...Matty Taylor at the County Ground and Keshi Anderson at Sixfields.

Brett Huxtable is the man in the middle.....10 yellows in his three games this season. Last season he gave out 95 cards in 28 games (91 yellow and 4 red) and reffed our derby date with Peterborough in October, a game we lost 2-0 and which saw bookings for Hoskins, Korboa and Watson. His last Swindon assignment was their 1st round EFL Cup defeat to Charlton in September 2020.

Between now and the end of October we have a great opportunity to establish ourselves at the top of the table. We have 8 games with 5 of those at home and after Swindon the only other game against any of the other current top 10 is our away game at Hartlepool.

I assume to minimise Swindon supporters buying home tickets given they have sold out their allocation

Hopefully 3 points, but I think this maybe a draw. UTC

Bad omen that ;D

That's quite a turn around from your initial opinion of those two.
Have they exceeded your expectations, or are they just the best of a bad bunch in your opinion?

TBH mate McGowan has one really good performance and then a not so good one but I think he’s good enough, as for Flores the jury is out but I’ve seen a few bits of quality from him to give him a bit more time.

UTC.

If true it quite clearly illustrates the stadium is not even adequate for league two football and firmly puts a wax seal on the argument.

Whether it be due to the ridiculously small "stands" at either end or the poorly managed ticketing system it beggars belief. If just 1500 Swindon fans cant be accommodated when there is no reason to prevent paying customers attending is all the evidence you need.

For reference, I have a hotel which I manage myself, if I had rooms ready, and guests demanding to book yet I could not sell them I would quit and get a professional to take over as that's just about as bad as it gets. Whats the point in being in business?

This stadium through speculators, conmen and its total inadequacy has cost the club millions and almost sent it under, it should be buried under all the shit beneath, I'm beginning to think its cursed.

Lets face it, if the east stand was a facility intended to be used by thousands of lesbians, disabled people, children with learning difficulties or illegal immigrants rather than football fans it would've been completed years ago.

It does seem strange not giving the overflow part of the East Stand to the away fans. Maybe it's on Police advice, maybe it's down to inadequate management.

With tax payers money and not a loan.

Good decision never allow any free space for Swindon fans. 900+ is more than enough😎

Are they able to pay on the gate?
It'd be a shame if the 'overflow was empty.

https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2021/september/important-information-ahead-of-northampton-trip/

Can we now expect them to reduce our allocation when we play at the County Ground?

Not unless they can sell out without our presence. They surely would be more commercially savvy and maximize revenue.

No. We are the only ones stupid enough to turn away revenue.

With the overflow…does the club expect them to pay for the whole lot up front (as other clubs do) and therefore it was Swindon who turned down the additional 500?
Was it a police/safety instruction?
Does our club not have enough match day stewards to operate a ‘full stadium’?

Find it strange that no reason has been given for the decision to effectively turn away revenue.

Team....

Roberts
McGowan, Guthrie, Horsfall, Koiki
Hoskins, Sowerby, McWilliams, Pinnock
Rose, Etete

Subs: Maxted, Harriman, Connolly, Flores, Lewis, Ashley-Seal, Kabamba

probably our best starting 11 although no Pollock on the bench . He can consider himself unlucky not to be starting let alone left out altogether !

Probably got a "knock".... what's the deal with Reman from Villa? Signed three weeks ago but not involved at all yet.

What part of Thailand do you own a hotel in Steve Massey Massey?

I've got a very good feeling about this game.

I haven't

First 10 minutes have been shocking.

…. but the following 25 we have been pretty good

Not sure if your serious pal

Get in there

No idea why that weren't a goal

Ffs

Baldy out!!

He's got to go.....!

Ifollow commentary says linesman indicated a foul by McGowan which made the space for him to latch on to Pinnock's free kick. Camera missed it so who knows.

The first 10 minutes were flat, but Swindon were allowed to just past around the back sort of aimlessly. Second time i've seen them live this season, you can immediately see why our defensive side is so good. All work in tandem like one big unit, don't press until the opposition hit the halfway line. Concedes possession, but linited chances. Some fantastic tackles from Guthrie and Koiki as well if they do break through.

Can't see where the chances come from though. So far, obly options are either Koiki getting forward on the overlap, a knock on off the head of Rose, or set piece or opposition mistake.

Brady out

Terrible subs

I take full responsibility.

Get in there!!!

It's a good job our centre backs know where the goal is....

I truly believe there’s a second goal in us…..

I don't

Not the worst result and good to see us come from behind. Keeps us in the mix at the top.
I hope Etete gets going soon. I’m sure he’ll go onto a successful career and we’re not going to see many goals from him at this rate.

Well, I'm happy with that. Swindon looked a decent side, but we really took the game to them and attacked. We still need to improve our finishing but we looked lively going forward, our delivery into the box was much better and we got players in there much closer to the ball. A thoroughly enjoyable game, which gives me far more hope for the future than the unnecessarily nervy and defensive performance against Newport on Tuesday.

Some good individual performances too. Koiki looks a real find and his pace and runs give us a new option. McGowan and the rest of the defence were also very good. Hoskins and McWilliams also had good games. Overall, a good day, despite the draw, and the first time in a while I have felt genuinely entertained watching the Cobblers.

Koiki should be offered a contract ASAP

Good side Swindon. Happy with a point.

I agree. Absolutely pulsating.

Bloody annoyed. If the linesman thought it was a fcuking foul why didn’t he flag.
I thought we were a much better team than them.
Ali deserved his mom but I thought Sean was immense today. I lost count of the amount of balls he won back today in midfield.
Still missing that creative spark in the middle and Sammy continues to frustrate. He does some amazing work and then he has the touch of a brontosaurus when he’s on goal with the keeper to heat!!

100% this

Two small wobbly spells aside, it was a very good performance, and entertaining game

Is it time to cash out on my £50 Ktete leagues top goal scorer bet?

Hell yeah.

I think that lets the two wingers and strikers off the hook who really should be contributing more to scoring goals.

A thoroughly enjoyable game today with Swindon arguably playing the "better" football but its playing the more effective football. Either way, it was end to end stuff and always something going on. I'm still not clear why our goal was disallowed.

We certainly deserved the point and on balance I think that was just about a fair result.

The pleasing thing for me was that we created a lot more chances and on another day would have scored more goals. It feels like we are developing a a team and once we start putting these chances away we could have a really good team on our hands.

Enjoyable game and fortunately we got something out of it. The disallowed goal was one of the more bizarre things I have ever seen in half a cntury of watching the Cobblers. On the face of it a shocking decision, but perhaps the cameras will show different. Thought the ref had done well up to that point - but he's lucky the game didn't descend into chaos that would have been his fault.
Koiki looks the real deal - set for a good career. Roberts rapidly attaining hero status.
Crap substitutions - though it could be argued they were OK as we scraped the draw. Shame it was a game we should have won, and I think would have if the disallowed goal had counted.

That’s not strictly true is it? We just can’t score the chances we create

Entertaining game, good atmosphere and some decent performances, on the down side the substitutions were terrible, Lewis for Etete WTF?
Thought Hoskins doesn’t look right, he looks to still be suffering from COVID saw him walking around catching his breath a few times, mind you is a side effect of COVID the inability to pass to a team mate?

Regarding Hoskins;

I believe you are a West Stander so you probably witnessed him more in the 1st half than the second.

In the 2nd half (I'm in the East) I thought he was very good indeed creating a fair amount of the play and opportunities from the right.

Quite an entertaining game which we certainly did not deserve to lose and looked the more likely winners although we were slow out of the blocks and took about 1/4 hour to get into the game.
Strange goings on in the first half as the ref had awarded the goal and the lino had not flagged for an infringement so odd to then have it ruled out. I assumed that as they had a free kick from where their player was on the ground it was for a foul on that player. It now appears it was on the intervention of the 4th official.
Koiki rightly given man of the match and once again we generally defended pretty well.
The only downside was we picked up 4 totally avoidable yellow cards and certain players are fast heading for a suspension. Rose, McWilliams and Hoskins all now have 3 yellows (Hoskins 4 if his cup booking counts) after only 8 games and of these players only McWilliams plays in a position where this is acceptable although his yellow today was stupid in running up to the ball when Swindon were about to take a free kick and then pushing their player. Putting this into context our back 4 have a total of 5 bookings between them and as defenders you would expect them to be picking up the higher number of bookings. Perhaps we should start fining players who get yellows when they should not be.

I am indeed, Hoskins played far better second half and assisted with our goal, first half he was so frustrating with his final ball.

Encouraging to see us create more open play chances today (18 shots with 5 on target according to the BBC).

I'd also say that Brady picked what is probably our strongest first X1 for the first time today (McW and Sowerby in midfield, Etete and Rose up front). I'd like to see Connolly really compete with Hoskins for a role on the wing though: one of them has to start delivering in terms of goals and assists.

Hopefully we'll see Koiki and MacGowan bombing forward on the overlap more and more as the team starts to click. IMO overlapping full backs is the best way of making 4-4-2 less predictable.

Maybe Harry Smith might have been a better bet!

Seems I might be in a minority tonight, but I thought we were much better than Swindon. OK they knocked the ball around well but it was nearly an hour into the match before they had a shot ! Re the dis allowed goal, the Swindon manager was in the 4th officials ear from the first minute, he never stopped and I think he cracked. The 4th officials either inform the ref of EVERY offence they see or leave it to the on field officials , they can't just make ONE DECISION  per game.
    That said, it was a very good game to watch, like most others I thought our subs were "strange" but 1 point was the absolute minimum we deserved.

Yep, said that above Carton. I wasn’t that impressed with them and thought we were very unlucky to not win that.
But then I thought FGR looked like champions in waiting last week and most didn’t.
Seems we all see the game differently - well knock me down with a feather?!

In fact I’ll go as far and say that the Swindon defence was one of the weakest I’ve seen at Sixfields for some time! Shame we could capitalise!

Thought it was a really entertaining game. Both teams had spells where they were on top and had the other on the ropes. Draw definitely was the right result.

The disallowed goal was one of the worst refereeing moments that I can ever remember. We’d commented that Huxtable had actually been surprisingly good, and then that happened. The few minutes after was a debacle and he made the rest of the half all about him.

Swindon’s goal was really good. They tore us to pieces and it was a great move. Luckily, we did come back and the set pieces from Hoskins was top draw. Matched by a great header.

I’ve got to say I’ve been really impressed by Hoskins this season. He’s clearly worked on his end product and it’s becoming a lot more consistent. I’m not his biggest fan and am eating humble pie this year.

We will thrash a team soon, ideally against that horrible club next weekend.

Thought a 2 goal win would have been about right...

Really enjoyed the game, albeit it was frustrating at times.

McWilliams and Sowerby is without a doubt our best midfield combo at the minute. They absolutely compliment each other.

If only the strikers started scoring eh?! I think they will. But 8 games in, its still to be proved that they can. Ill stay patient!

Finally. Our left back is a very special player. Get him signed on a long term deal. Immediately. Best attacking full back I've seen play for us since Eddie McGoldrick. He will be a prem player in a couple of years, max.

Totally agree about Ali Koiki. He's ridiculous. Can't for the life of me understand how Bristol Rovers let him go for not being good enough. I'd be waving a long term contract under his nose asap.

No,  Couple of hatricks and he will be odds on..

We might have won that game but for the refs intervention. Apparently the Ref today comes with baggage, strange decisions, over weight and cant keep up with play! Well he generally was able to keep up with play and yes he did make some strange decisions notably our disallowed goal. Ete still not firing on all available cylinders and prone to the odd mistake. Hoskins good second half at least when he decided to pass to one of our own. Roberts good when he had to be but not overly stretched but it got close at times. Both full backs played well as did Sowerby and McW. Saw Mrs Flores with 2 or 3 young kids the youngest had Flores on her T-Shirt. Agree the substitution seemed strange with Lewis coming on for Ete; why not Benny? Still our goal resulted from the Subs  so JB got it right. Again would not play Okey Dokey at left back but left midfieldish were his power surges might be even more effective. Am not entirely convinced on his defensive disciplines as Drilling has commented on. A midfield of Okey, Sowerby and McW might be interesting.

Spot on - if only, fair chance we might have been 2/3 up by half time

Apparently it was the fourth official who saw the foul in the build up to the disallowed effort. So the ref was not to blame on this occasion.

To be fair if I was the 4th official I would have agreed to almost anything to shut that knob of a manager constantly yakking in my ear. I know they all do it a bit but this guy really was off the scale. And he was still at it after he got the goal overturned!
The league need to do something about it. I would take the radio link away from them and just let them manage the substitutions.

Just finished watching the game. The thing that is starting to come across more and more is the team spirit and unity. I noticed how we surrounded the ref at Newport for one of their bookings. Not perhaps the wisest response, but their was none of that last season. The goal celebrations seem to have gone up a notch too. All fairly obvious indicators that the players really care. Last year the squad in certain quarters seemed to be ever so slightly going through the motions by way of picking up a wage packet at times. This season there is more desire and passion all over the pitch. Although it’s been said many times we also have what’s turning out to be a very good goalkeeper indeed. I’m not actually sure if his kicking is at times world class or my judgment has been clouded by Mitchell. That ball for Hoskins when he got booked was ridiculously unMitchell like.

On the beach, Koh Phangan. Just for reference we're currently fully booked!

I echo most comments, superb game to watch for league two, its just a shame we were cheated and cant even have a fit referee, was that a whole barrel of Theakstons he was carrying?

As soon as we find some rhythm or that connection up front we could be quite a handful. We have this league in the bag.. :P

Have you got a Cobblers shirt pinned up behind the bar?

Morning Tabasco, we don't have a bar only accommodation but I proudly wear my shirt to the bars when the footballs on, currently I am the only Cobbler here.. :(   I'll sing on my own, I'm from Northampton, I'll sing on my own.... ;D

The locals love football shirts of any design and wear them daily, ours stands out as true class above all the Premiership trash and always goes down well.. :o

I’ve been to many koh’s., but never fancied the full moon vibe. How are they treating COVID out there. Want to return as an Ajarn but only if they are allowing people their freedoms (unlike here)….apologies for all the questions!

To think I got patronising comments by certain members on here for suggesting such a crime.

I was going to PM you but the information may be of interest to others so apologies to all for the massive thread swerve but I have met a Swindon fan here before. ::)

You can get here if double vaccinated, we are currently part of The Samui Plus, Phuket Sand box scheme however the talk is all will be open to double vaccinated by mid October including Bangkok. On KP we have many long term "tourists" and others working online, who have chosen to leave Bangkok so therefore the island feels busy and quite normal in many areas. Koh Samui feels very different.

The Full Moon, despite its notoriety has never been an issue and unless you were staying in Haad Rin itself you would never really know it was on other than ferries being full of teenagers wearing day glo for a few days. The island is a haven for yoga, wellbeing and meditation which doesn't really mix well with all that so there are places here for everyone. There are endless You Tubers doing their vlogs from here recently so it wont take a long search to see whats going on.

Things will open up further soon and January and February are possibly the best months of the year to be here regarding weather and sea conditions and of course all games are available on iFollow!

UTC (Asian Branch)

i think that’s the best we have played for quite some time . We were very unlucky not to have won and it is really encouraging for the future.
The referee robbed us of a goal by getting sucked in and then couldn’t get a decision right after that .
Koiki was superb although it was his error for their goal because the man got inside of him .
Magowan also very good along with Rose who kept going all game .
We have to do something about Hoskins - he didn’t beat his man once today and should have scored when put through .
All in all a really enjoyable game .

fell out with Barton is the reason

I’ve got to be honest and say that Pinnock didn’t have a great game, he’s good going forward but defensively he’s a liability.

A 'training ground' piece of blocking by Horsfall on their defender which, unfortunately for us, was spotted by the 4th Official. Normally we'd get away with it but...  8)

And with that he goes further up in my estimations!

I had the same when saying a former manager should have been removed long ago  :P ;D Take no offence and know you're right on this one lad  8)[quote

author=BackOfTheNet link=topic=20446.msg446880#msg446880 date=1632044593]
And with that he goes further up in my estimations!
[/quote]

Absolutely the same  ;D ;D

It is. Unbelievable accuracy. Also made a couple of cracking saves yesterday too.

Where's that Walsall fan who told us he was terrible  ;) ;D

Interestingly/bizarrely, the Sky League 2 highlights don't show our disallowed goal.

Steve Massey thank you for the info. Are they insisting on people being double vaccinated travelling in to BKK?

Quest does...  ;)

You just can't resist having a go at him can you? He was excellent yesterday, full stop.

Be interesting to learn the ‘ raison d'être’ behind this decision. Don’t think all at NTFC are stupid!

Never heard of a fourth official dissallowing a goal before and just watched it on Quest and bloke on there said much the same.

FA guidance;

Guidelines for Referees

Referees should ensure that, like assistant referees, the Fourth Official ‘assists’ with their match control. The
primary responsibility for controlling the match remains with the referee who makes the final decision at all
times. In discharging this responsibility it is expected that referees will only seek assistance from the Fourth
Official in respect of significant match changing incidents which have been missed by the other three match
officials and which are clearly visible to the Fourth Official. Such incidents are: 
 red card offences
 yellow card offences (as these could lead to a player been dismissed for a second yellow card)
 penalty area offences (e.g. handball on the goal line to prevent or illegally score a goal)  The Fourth Official must also indicate to the referee when the wrong player is cautioned or dismissed because
of mistaken identity or when a player is not sent off having been seen to be given a second caution.

And, was it ?

Yes it was a foul and it was still disallowed.  ;)

Thoroughly enjoyable game. I guess a draw is a fair result but both sides could have nicked it.

A few thoughts from me:
Koiki has indeed been excellent, I actually think LB is his best position, despite some suggestions he may be utilised further forward. I think coming onto the ball with space ahead of him means that he can utilise his pace and power coming onto the ball. I think playing as a winger requires a different skill set and having the game ahead of him allows the excellent bursts forward we have seen.

McWilliams was it his best acting as a midfield destroyer, covering every blade of grass. Having Sowerby next to him who is more comfortable on the ball makes us much more dynamic.

Ekete is our best forward and once he gets one will go on a run, I am still certain of it. When he gets the ball to feet his ability to run with the ball is fantastic. Should have scored yesterday but I am convinced it will come.

The defence and keeper really are rock solid, huge credit to the Brady bunch for getting this right. Building from the back is the best way moving forward.

One slight criticism would be the substitutions.

Connolly is rapid but his touch is non existent, understand the theory but I just think as an actual footballer, not just an athlete he is poor.
Kibamba likewise seems to be ok at lots of things but not great at any, feel he completely lacks goal threat, taking off Etete seemed really odd to me. Lewis coming on makes sense as he is capable of scoring from CM.

I hope we stick with Rose and Etete as I feel that they are clearly out best two up top.

A great game and great atmosphere though, onward and upward!

Well Quest certainly showed the disallowed goal but cameras didn't catch the "foul".

No he wasn’t, his final ball and decision making are sub standard even for this division.

I think it’s only our great defensive record, set piece goals and a healthy league position (though in a very tight league) that has meant there hasn’t been more criticism over us as an attacking unit. While I hope you are right and things will just come good, as there seems to be little sign of Brady making significant changes in formation or personnel, I do worry we are throwing away points by not really addressing the issue of scoring goals in open play.

Rose and ‘Ete should be doing that and until January are probably our best bet for goals!

Let me know if you spot a local wearing this :

(https://images.ctfassets.net/pjshm78m9jt4/10734_header/914a5a5bedad1e0da84d1a49fadaac4b/importedImage10734_header)

I lost it in Coral Bungalows about 2012-2013  ;D ;D

Guthrie and Horsefall look more likely to get the goals at present.

Sometimes yes, but not yesterday in my opinion. In fact, he put in a number of very good crosses and corners, as well as making his usual good runs and one amazing block in our penalty area. I wouldn't say his decision making was poor yesterday either. I think it's usually poorest when he sees a shooting chance and misses better options because he wants to go for goal himself, but I don't remember that happening yesterday. Overall he does a lot more good things than bad and is a well-above average L2 player.

As I said earlier in this thread he was a lot better second half, he is just so frustrating as he has a bit of pace at this level and his first touch has improved massively.

Hoskins was my man of the Match - the other 10 players can make bad decisions and nothing ever gets said but god help Hoskins making one bad decision and he is hung for it.
he brought more attacking chances than many others.


 

On their Forum one of their fans suggested it was a soft foul at best and that they got lucky at that decision too!

 ;D   Bit strong that Martin to say on hear, you'll upset those of nervous disposition 8)

A body check to prevent their player from chasing/closing down on McGowan?
We would have been unhappy for it to not have been given against us.
Sometimes they are missed, unfortunately this one wasn't.

So nothing about disallowing goals ?  The 4th official was weak, their manager was in his ear from first to last minutes but he didn't have the bottle to report him to chunky in the middle, I'm looking forward to the next time a 4th official makes a decision about an on field incident, I am estimating this will be around 2035.

From IFAB:

"The referee, assistant referees and fourth official are the ‘on-field’ match officials."
"...the ‘on-field’ match officials assist the referee with offences when they have a clearer view than the referee"

He currently sits top of our assists stats with 3 and 2 better than his nearest challenger. This does suggest his final ball is ok and better than the rest.

Probably why we are one of the leagues lowest scorers.

Deepcut has got it correct, the ref was right in taking advice for a foul he didnt see. He played by the rules , so the it was correct to rule the goal out.

I think our forwards are the problem. The supply has definitely improved….. however

I think the point is being missed. No one says the ref can’t ask who the fcuk he wants to for advice.
I had pretty much the same view (but better) that the 4th official had - I was a lot higher up but same angle. We all saw the defender go down but not why he went down.
Their managers were then crawling all over (mentally and physically) the easily influenced official and all of a sudden he saw everything clearly.
At best it was a touch of pushy shovey that the Swindon defender milked when he saw the position he’d left himself in. The goal was disallowed due to extreme pressure placed on a weak official.
I know these things even themselves out over the season but please have the good grace to admit that this was a very rare occurrence of over zealous team managers / 4th official intervening to cost our team 2 important points!

This!
We seem to be going from the 'ref is in a difficult position blah blah' mantra for years...to Deepcut's refs are beyond reproach and never wrong stance!

He was!

On top of Swindon's 3pts (suspended) deduction, following trouble at Stevenage, Sixfields Tavern and several bottles and objects thrown onto the pitch yesterday, maybe another deduction...given a financial penalty will serve little use!

Coolcat, thought it was strange that Swindon away strip is in the colours of their rivals !!

Technically Deepo might be right but as one Swindon fan described it as an opportunistic dive; the two players came together so he fell over! The guy who fell over was booed by the NorthEnd and West Stand for the rest of the game. If that had been the other way round………. On the other hand will ask Jim and his bunch of pals was it a foul or not! Agree it’s all irrelevant the goal was disallowed so that’s it.

Do you mind. It’s very cathartic to abuse and criticise match officials and you’re ruining it.

The Hoskins debate rolls on and i am not as anti Hoskins as some but ….
He was poor on Saturday and apart from the corner that led to the goal and the block at the end , did nothing of consequence . Don’t mistake having plenty of the ball for having a good game - you have to do something with it .
He was put through by Koiki and should have scored and had numerous chances to cross and failed to do so.
The wider issue is that none of our so called wide players , including Pinnock and Connelly are doing too much . It may be because they are playing very narrow and having to defend a lot but at the moment all three of them are luxury players that contribute little .
I think we are better with full backs pushing on and extra strength in midfield .

Spot on B&S totally agree, Pinnock defensively is awful and so is Connolly so I guess that’s why our little scamp Super Sam plays endlessly.

So the 4th official, who was a good 40 yards away, had a better view than the lino, who had an unobstructed 15 yard view or the ref 10 yards away. Jim Hall must sit near me because I had the same view as him and the 4th official and to me it looked as exactly as described by Jim.
    Time to forget this "Refs Union" Deepcut, we know they make mistakes, just like everyone in all walks of life, but it's much better for people to say they got it wrong, when they have, rather than churn out they same "He was right" when everybody can see he wasn't.
    We all know that Pete Walton was a top ref and a good Cobblers fan, but on TV, virtually everyone says the same about him.

I know that Refereeing decisions are contentious and invite debate and you also know that I am not always 100% in favour of some of the performances and decisions that we have had to 'accept', as we have discussed them previously.
From my own experiences, I try and provide reasons and justifications why certain decisions have been made by the officials to explain where/why those decisions have been made and provide a better understanding from the officials perspective. 
It doesn't mean that I always agree with them.

Everything that I have stated following this has been from my perspective having had the benefit of seeing another video, which is a wider angle and includes the whole incident from start to finish.  In my opinion the Referee was correct.  Our player, in my opinion, 'deliberately' blocked their player, in fact it looked like a very good training ground move to allow McGowan a free run, unfortunately it was thwarted by the officials.

You'd be surprised at the amount of 'talk' that goes on over the comms between the four officials during a game that you never have any visual knowledge of, the game is 'Refereed' by all four officials not just the man in the middle, he's just the one with the whistle who has to make the ultimate decision.  Officials only have the benefit of the Mark 1 eyeball, not the many camera's and differing angles that are provided by TV.  There are sometimes incidents immediately in front of them that are missed because they were concentrating on the next passage of play.  But with four sets of eyes, it is hoped that the majority of incidents are witnessed.

I believe that the scenario may have played out something like this: the Referee had players between him and the incident and the AR would have been concentrating on any potential offsides. The Referee never saw the incident or only probably saw it briefly. After the goal was scored, the referee (over the comms) asked if anyone had seen what the Swindon player went down for, the 4th Official was probably the only one who saw it clearly from his position 25-30 yds away, which is considered a credible distance, and provided his version of the incident.  The referee accepted it and subsequently disallowed the goal.

As I said previously I don't enjoy it when decisions go against us, but if it was the other way, we would have been jumping up and down if the goal wasn't disallowed.

I found myself agreeing with a lot of Pete Waltons calls over the summer, but I was astonished at some of the decisions the officials at VAR came up this weekend with during the premiership games.
...It's not often I agree almost entirely with any one pundit either but if Dion Dublin is available to ref and not too old, get him signed up, or let's have him as out next manager.
Deepcut, I appreciate your input and explanations of referring decisions at our level but if you watch any coverage of the higher divisions, what do you think to the performances of the officials generally at VAR?

Interestingly (maybe) I remember back in 84 at the County Ground (Northampton) Swindon turned up looking for revenge following the previous season's antics of Northampton running riot on and off the pitch in Wiltshire.
Their away shirts were yellow...casual Pringle and Lacoste clearly hadn't quite reached Wiltshire back then, with a group of Yellow shirted skins running through the Grovesnor Centre and some getting nicked on the Spion Kop.
Some idiot suggested Swindon and Oxford had teamed up and was serious!  ;D ;D  ;D

* David Axcell was ref - talking to him prior to game about Swansea fans getting literally thrown onto the pitch by Millwall at the Den.

** Cobblers won

*** The return game at the County Ground (Swindon) saw almost every wall daubed with 'NTFC die' and 'How's your White Elephant?' graffiti.
Six of us attacked on return to station by among other Swindon lads (Pringle had just arrived) were Stroud based Swindon...who fortunately, were kept by the OB from boarding the same train as us!

Let me tell you Coolcat, yellow is back in as a colour and big for this year. I myself have been seen wearing my strikingly different yellow hoodie this season at a home game. Not sure how I anticipated this trend so early.
Bradford '82. Got attacked outside of a chip shop whilst visiting my mate who was at university there. 15 (ish) against 2 wasn't good odds especially when you factor in the element of surprise...they came at us from behind. We never stood a chance. My mate needed a brain scan for a heavily busted up face but fortunately the result showed he had got away relatively lightly.
All our attackers could utter whilst sticking the boot in was 'you're not from Bradford'. Correct we weren't even though my mate was upto date with his rent. We were waiting for a pub the other side of the road to open (they closed during the day in those times) where we were going to watch a local band.
So far as I know it had nothing to do with football or racism or anything else. Completely random and bizarre. Never did see the band (No idea who they were now, but I can remember it wasn't New Model Army as we had been mixing it with them the night before).

game of opinions - some will argue that hoskins made the goal and blocked a certain goal at the other end - which is more than most.

whilst, koiki is raved about, but was caught out for their goal.

thats football!!

by the way, i think hoskins is terrible, always has been, but he is our most productive player currently and that says more about the rest of the team that it does him sadly.

like i said, opinions

Nail on the head, B&S.

On saturday Sammy did do a lot of good stuff but, the delivery for the goal aside, it is always a final pass or an overhit/underhit cross that lets him down.

Agree with B&S again. Hoskins gave the ball away or lost it at least 10 times during the game, I gave up counting  after that! He should have done much better with the through ball he was given and whilst he managed to finally keep the ball in play it was a lost opportunity. Having said that his corners seem better but his overall contribution and importantly his ability to make a pass are costing us.

I think the point with Sammy is that he does a lot of stuff. You can therefore take your pick whether he's a top player or a liability. He always seems to get plenty of praise from opponents and I guess it's because they are more likely to notice the good stuff.

The team as a whole is 4th in the table. You have to think they are doing something right.

Bradford has always been dodgy, though far more so of course back in the day.
I actually love staying over there for games though!
Some really good pubs and bars, Valley Parade (as it should be known as) a great stadium...and locals have generally been top notch in recent seasons.

What’s the pub close to the ground - lots of city memorabilia but alway friendly to sensible visiting fans?

Not sure, don't think I've been in that one.
Usually, Corn Dolly and then three micro-pub bars, opposite each other...all around a 7-10 min from stadium.
The Fighting Cock is brilliant, but further away on the Manningham Road side of ground, towards the university.

A friend of mine, had a relative with a caravan in the garden. Little outside toilet, perfect for a couple of days away, Def Leppard at St Georges Hall, great night out. I would have to say though, the caravan stunk of beer, cigarettes, farts, and curry.

I visited Kelider Village on friday and in the churchyard, fully surrounded by a stone wall and with no vehicle entrance whatsoever, there is a old caravan tight up against the church wall. Its the most bizarre sight in what is an already quite a bizarre village.
How much does an average sized decrepit caravan weigh?

Back to the football...

Disappointing and frustrating, it's almost as if they are making what should be a simple process difficult in order to confuse the officials, players, managers and fans.  
Every Monday, without exception, the sports media is filled with controversy about a number of decisions relating to VAR over the preceding weekend, it should not be so.
I look at the way that cricket uses the 3rd umpire, granted it is a slightly more 'sedate' game, but they religiously go through a process to achieve their determination.  There should be a similar process that simplifies it for VAR to improve/speed up and promote the consistency that we all ask for.  
It's almost as if the VAR officials make it up each and every time which confuses all, including the guy in the middle who has to demonstrate a justification/agreement of the eventual decision.  I have great sympathy with many of those in the middle, with some of the decisions that are made or 'forced' on them.
Martin Atkinson's body language probably talks for most of the other Referees.
I didn't watch any of the Euro's but I believe that their VAR processes were so much better?
There was talk of their system being adopted in the PL.... ::)

I went down to Coral Bungalows yesterday, sorry GD, I couldn't find the shirt but I did find Crackers face down covered in face paint and lipstick. ???

I thought that VAR was used to much better effect t the Euros.
I cannot understand how they've managed to make a process which was designed to eliminate/reduce wrong decisions into one which courts even more controversy.

Nor I... ::)

At least they have softened the ridiculous offside rule. I haven’t watched much Prem this season but know some of the marginal ones have gone in favour of the scoring team.
I’m sure refs make honest mistakes but they must be seriously embarrassed when they watch back the odd howler, when it sometimes appears they are the only person in the ground that sees something differently.  It’s like any walk of life, you get people who are better at their jobs than others. I’d certainly never choose to be a ref, especially at grass roots and the abuse they get.

Been there, done that and received limited abuse.   ;D