Swindon Town: December 2011

Hello Everyone and welcome back to my Swindon story which I’ve decided to carry on with after all.

The first of a six game stretch saw us at home to Stoke City . Following a somewhat frustrating month we were looking to get back on track. The first half was end to end stuff with Darron Gibson fashioning himself all kinds of chances as well as setting up both Brandy and Solokowski who both came close. We ere playing much better than before and finally were putting some balls into the box with more shots on goal too. However it was Stoke that took the lead after 76 minutes from a 35 yard effort which we hadn’t seen for a while though 3 minutes later Brandy got us back on level terms with Gibson the creator and securing us at least a point.

Following the Stoke game the news came through that our opponents would be Oldham in the FA Cup on December 31^st making a total of seven games for this month. Also the Irish FA informed me that I didn’t get the vacant head coach job. No surprise there.

Our next game was against Spurs at home and we slipped back into our hold habits of failing to get the ball to our front pair. Although the contest was an even affair in terms of possession we once again allowed the opposition plenty of attempts on goal and we were victim of a 35 yard effort for the second game in a row. Brandy picked up a minor knock and will be out for about 8 days.

A trip to the North East was next for us to face Sunderland. We were totally outplayed for much of the game with poor passing on our behalf adding to our downfall. Gibson was the best player for us but our defense was woeful at times with Darren Bent running us ragged throughout the game.

We faced Fulham next at Craven Cottage and performed even worse than before which I didn’t think was possible but we did.

The Christmas schedule was upon us and our Boxing Day game was at home to Bolton. We had slipped down to 15^th but a win would at least make us leap frog the visitors. We made a positive start to the game with both Brandy and Gasmi going close and Sichi hit the side netting which we all thought had gone in. We were managing to break down most off Bolton’s attacks one of which led to our first goal with Gibson finding Brandy who neatly played the ball onto Viguera’s feet for his first goal of the season. While we were still celebrating Bolton equalized but we regained the lead before half time as Sichi played the ball into Gibson’s path and he struck it with some venom into the back of the net. Bolton leveled the score again just after half time but a brilliant run from Brandy set up Gasmi to place home after 55 minutes which gave us the lead once more and his first goal of the season and at last 3 points for us.

Two days later another home game against Everton who won the Coca Cola Championship last season. After a much better performance in our previous game we went back to our old ways of producing nothing up front whilst allowing the other team maximum opportunity to score. We kept Everton at bay until half time even though they were only playing with one striker. Six minutes after the interval Everton went ahead from a 25 yard effort and as we pushed forward for an equalizer they kept catching us on the counter attacking with only Tom Heaton keeping the score respectable. They finally doubled there lead through Yakubu who left all four defenders for dead and allowed Heaton no chance to stop his shot.

Our last game of the year was against Oldham in the 3^rd round of the FA Cup. John Guidetti started up front as the lone striker with Mellis tucked in behind and the pair of them were soon causing the Oldham defenders all kinds of trouble. However, we couldn’t find the breakthrough we needed so desperately and this only added to our frustration and Oldham’s determination. We had to settle for a goalless draw and hope to finish the tie at the County Ground.

December Results at a glance

Current League Table

So 2011 draws to a close on a bad note with the team struggling to find any kind of form and slowly but surely heading towards the relegation zone. We have to make sure we beat Oldham in the Cup replay otherwise a defeat will be fatal to the clubs morale.