Swindon Town: November 2010

Authors note: I usually post before 6.00am EST so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors as sometimes;  a) I can’t find my glasses or b) I just haven’t had any coffee yet.

Hello everyone and thanks for continuing to read. We left off in October with Swindon just slipping out of the play offs and having to send one of our best loanee’s back to Bordeaux due to an injury and there was more to come…

November started off with a tough away game against Wigan who were lying second in the table. Jacob Mellis put us ahead just before the interval but then picked up and injury that will leave him side-lined for at least a month. We battled hard as Wigan poured on the pressure in the second half and when it seemed we had done enough right back Jason Beardsley inexplicably did a complete 180 and fired the ball into his own net 5 minutes into injury time with not a Wigan player in sight. Fellow defender Izzy Iirekpen seemed so upset he managed to injure himself leaving the field and will be also out for a month which is a double blow as both he and Mellis our regulars in the starting line up.

Back to Wiltshire them for the visit of Nottingham Forest and although the bookies had us as clear favorites I knew home advantage wasn’t going to count for anything against this team. Isaiah Osbourne gave us the lead after 24 minutes but Febian Brandy who set up the goal sustained a hamstring injury in the process and will be out for seven weeks. This is now the third key player to be injured and is a real concern to everyone at the club. The game not surprisingly ended up being a tight affair with us coming out on top by a single goal. Worrying though is we did not complete any crosses whatsoever.

Doncaster Rovers were our next opponents and a Tomas Pekhart volley on the stroke of half time was enough to separate the two sides and give us all three points and move us into fourth place. No injuries to report which is a good thing.

A trip down the M4 to Cardiff was up next with the home side looking to edge into the play off picture. We dominated the game in almost every aspect retaining the ball well and setting up good chances for our front pair but were unable to turn any of then into goals. Inevitably then the lack of joy up front for us enabled Cardiff to get then only goal of the game from a Michael Chopra long shot which resulted in them going above us in the standings.

The last game of the month featured a home tie against mid-table Coventry City. I decided to mix things up front and promoted 18 year old John Guidetti from the reserve team who you may recall the fans went ecstatic about over his signing. It took only 12 minutes for John to make an impact after robbing the ball from the Coventry midfield and racing 35 yards before slamming it home from just inside the box. Twenty minutes later we were awarded a penalty after John broke away again and was mauled down by the Coventry defense. Romain Gasmi coolly slotted home, 2-0. Coventry then proceeded to dominate the second half and was rewarded for their efforts after 65 minutes but that was the last we saw of any attacks.

Current Top Ten: Coca Cola Championship

So, we ended the month in 5^th place and only one defeat to blemish our record. The title looks like it’s becoming a two horse race between Wigan and Newcastle so realistically the best we can hope for is a play off spot and we are in that mix with some excellent teams. On the injury front Jacob Mellis has returned to action and Izzy Iriekpen should be back in a couple of weeks.

Looking ahead then to December we have games with two of the other play off contenders and face back to back trips to Goodison Park and Ashton Gate which could end up determining the fate of the season.