Fair play to Man City. You didn't need to ever get out of second gear in what was effectively a training session, but still brought a decent following on a freezing Friday night, respected the FA Cup, and fielded a very strong team. Had to draw breath when we saw the starting eleven. But that's Pep. His team is like a well-oiled engine and to keep it purring in tip-top condition, players need to keep playing.
We couldn't get tickets despite being regular supporters but at least some of our new and younger supporters got to see some of your galaxy of stars. Excited by Palmer - what an English talent. But for me your most important player is Rodri. The guy is immense, like he has a 5-metre force field surrounding him. Had not appreciated just how good he is until last night.
Suicidal defending gifted you a couple of goals, which deflated things a bit. In League Two, some teams think they are 'pressing' us when their two strikers run like headless chickens, and we play through it easily. But to be faced with a possee of 6 players, containing the likes of Jesus, KDB, Silva, pressing you in your own penalty area... let's hope our manager (who is a Pep disciple) and players learned from that.
Shame our two best players were injured - Jack Payne is our best player by far and he must be gutted he missed the chance to play against Man City. And our first-team goalkeeper is better with his feet and better organised and would have prevented two of your goals. Hey-ho. You could easily have scored more goals anyway.
My only disappointment with Man City was on the rare occasions we broke away in midfield on the counter attack, our players were hauled back or felled and the attack prevented. Hence why you got three yellow cards to our none. Didn't need to do that when 3-0 up against a L2 team but I guess that's all part of the well-oiled machine... play professionally and the same way whoever the opposition.
I don't understand why City get the stick they do in the PL. Just jealousy I guess. Anyway I think you won over a lot of new admirers in Wiltshire last night. A very classy club.
Cheers mate that is a great post. Sorry you missed out on the match, happened to me a couple of times over the years.
I think as a club we will always get a bit of stick. A lot of it is jealousy, plenty of it ignorance and sadly a lot of it from people reading the rubbish in the newspapers. It can get a bit bizarre at times, like such as recently when we have a squad and wage bill less than Uniteds but we get more stick than them about spending, when there in 7th in the league and not won anything for years. We have also been sustainable for years now, so the narrative about sugar daddies etc is just another false stick to beat us with.
I really enjoyed the match last night and the sense of occasion. I got chatting to a bloke and his two kids after who told me how he went up to Barrow (Had to drive as the train got cancelled) the other week and going to Hartlepool shortly. What football supporting is all about and I doth my cap to him and others like him. I have to say I was grateful it didn’t rain as a cold night with a bit of snowfall/rainfall could really have been a test of endurance. My worst fear at kick off was extra time :-)
Really glad to see your club making good progress of the field after the previous ownership. The msg by the chairman and manager to Pep etc was a really classy touch and reflected really well on you as a club.
I wrote it a few pages back it was really refreshing to see Swindon stick to their principles, play the right way and have a bit of a go at City, particularly early on. That was more than clubs like United/Chelsea have done this year will all their resources who have timidly sat all game on the edge of the 18 yard box, afraid to push people forward.
When the draw was made it brought back memories of the 93/94 season and the match at Maine Rd when Fjortoft scored for Swindon, and had one disallowed in a 2-1 City win. We were only three pts ahead of Swindon, who were bottom, and it was a proper Six pointer. Incredible to see some of the players you had that day, Terry Fenwick, Frank McAvennie, John Moncur, ‘super’ Kevin Horlock, Andy Mutch, Fjortoft etc. We as a fanbase know more than any that football is cyclical, so I hope your side will have their day in the sun again shortly, you certainly seem to be on the right path.
P.s we hope there are some proper toilets next time lol.