Swindon Town 2 Chesterfield 1
Town turned the tables on Chesterfield last night, and gained revenge for the 4-0 drubbing the Spireites handed out last year. But the grim weather at the County Ground helped make sure they couldn't do it in any great style - and kept the crowd down to well under 5000. In brief: lots of chances to make it a more convincing win, but lots of mistakes too - up front and at the back - meant things were closer than they should have been. But - hey - it's three points, and it's not often you see your centre-half pairing (Heywood crosses, Reeves heads, goal) combining for a winning goal in a game.
The Rivals.net report by Dave Hanley is now up, as is a brief one from the BBC. More later from the Adver, I'd imagine...

Good news: Alan Young has signed on the dotted line for another two years, on a deal which Andy King says gives him plenty of incentives to improve and progress into the side.
It would be great to see him get a proper go tonight against Chesterfield at the County Ground, but for once King has a pretty full squad to choose from. Only Eric Sabin is a doubt, and Sol Davies and David Duke return from suspension. We'd have to expect a fit Sabin to line up with Graz and Danny up front, with King more likely to favour a midfield four if the frenchman isn't fit.
Graz has a point to prove tonight having been unlucky not to score in his last two games against Reading and Tranmere. He points out that Danny Invincible, now taking a fair bit of stick from some parts of the Town support, has also not enjoyed a rub of the green.
As for Chesterfield, we should all be able to remember the last time we met back in September, when we - on the back of a decent run - were brought crashing back to earth by a 4-0 gubbing up at Saltergate.
King, with the day off, watched them on Saturday, and thinks we've got enough to beat them tonight. And at least Alan Reeves can console himself in the knowledge that his brother doesn't play up front for them any more.
Back at that early point in the season, the Spireites - no strangers to the kind of financial troubles which we know all about - had notched up more shots on target than any other league club. But things have gone sorta tits up for them since then - one win in seven tries - although they're still comfortably clear of the drop zone.
They don't score too many goals on their travels, and their last away trip - to mighty Port Vale - saw them lose 4-1. And since our visit to theirs, they've lost a manager, a few players, and suffered (like us) with transfer embargos and the rest.
You can read their assistant manager's thoughts on the match here.
A streak of pessimism I've developed over the years since starting to follow Town means part of me thinks their season could start to pick up, that their bad streak could come to an end, tonight. But the form book suggests otherwise, so fingers crossed...

As the month draws to a close, we're only three days off the deadline set by the Inland Revenue to pay our outstanding tax bill.
Now, business appears to continue as normal at the County Ground - perhaps even more normal than "normal" has been for STFC of late. The commercial side seems to have picked up dramatically - bookings are being taken for dinners (and more dinners and a six a side tourney too) and even Mrs Log was wowed by the standard of hospitality at our romantic Valentines' night doo at the Reading game. On the playing side, Alan Young was offered a new two-year deal on Friday as well, which hardly suggests disaster is just days away.
But, with Donegan and Blatchley and their fat debenture still hanging over the club, a little worrying is understandable. They've yet to sign on the dotted line of an agreement drawn up between their people and the club's people, and rumour has it they want to have a further meeting on Wednesday - just one day before the Revenue's make or break deadline.
The suggestion is the new board is reluctant to invest while the threat of a big payback looms, and the worry is that a very Swindon-esque scramble to keep the wolves at bay is about to kick off. Let's hope not, if just for the sake of the fans' health.
Paying the revenue will be good news for less obvious reasons, too. Andy King should be able to bring in a new face or three, on loan at least. He's already got his eyes on two young Premiership midfielders and a striker, according to today's Adver. New faces - especially in midfield - would be good to see, even if many of us would rather see Alan Young get a go from the start.

Following on from Friday's misgivings about Paul McAreavey - I take it all back. I understand he played well at left back against Tranmere, so it sounds like King was right to back him so loudly before the match. Good news that - it means we have another option in what has been a troublesome position of late.

Tranmere Rovers 0 Swindon Town 0
A point gained, or two thrown away? Listening to the game last night on the radio (well done to the 100 or so souls who made it up there) it sounded like a draw was a good result. Rovers are, after all, looking for a play-off place while all we long for (this season at least) is mid-table obscurity.
But reading today's Adver match report it sounds like Danny's miss half way through the second 45 was a real howler. He could have gone down for a penalty, he could have just hit the target, but either way we coulda', shoulda' won.
Read Ananova's or the BBC's reports if you want the other version of things: both paint a picture of promotion-chasing Rovers being held by "resolute" Swindon, despite having the best of the chances. But even they mention Danny's miss.

We're down to our last 14 fit senior players tonight, with some youth team lads likely to make the bench for tonight's visit to Merseyside, and Tranmere Rovers. The game is being played on a Friday night because of tomorrow's Everton-Liverpool derby, and that's bound to limit the number of fans who can travel up from Wiltshire.
Daisy Duke and Sol Davies are both suspended, which means that Paul McAreavey is likely to return to the first team and a place at left back. Wiltshire Sound reports that Andy King is full of praise for his last outing in that position against Huddersfield. I honestly wasn't that impressed - I thought McAreavey looked really uncertain of himself for large chunks of that match - but given he's the only choice available, it could be King is being wise in trying to build up the player's confidence.
Perhaps just in case McAreavey has a nightmare, Paul Edwards is in the squad, and could play a part according to tonight's Adver and TeamTalk (no web link up yet). That's despite him only having seen an hour of action this year - and that on Wednesday night for a youth and reserve side against Corsham Town. Let's hope Edwards is not being rushed in too soon - we could use his flair down the left hand side for the rest of this season. But Giuliano Grazioli, who had to come off against Reading, is back fit after his chest infection.
Tranmere Rovers could well have tired legs tonight - this is their third game in six days. They were thumped 4-0 by Spurs last Sunday in the FA Cup, but bounced back to earn a point away against fellow play-off hopefuls Oldham on Tuesday night. They've labelled tonight's game as a "must win".
A win for Town could lift us a couple of spots to 13th place - at least until tomorrow afternoon. A win for Rovers would see them move four places up into 7th place, on a similarly temporary basis.

Meanwhile, the most interesting thing about this Adver story is the fact that Alan "thumper" Reeves is paying a £450 FA appeal fee out his own pocket, in an attempt to get the ban for his sending off against Reading revoked. I didn't see the incident myself, but those who did say it was well deserved. Reeves obviously feels differently - enough to put a fair wedge of his hard-earned behind his claim. I wonder if it's anything to do with his contract coming up at the end of the season? He won't have many games left to impress if he gets the hefty ban that looks likely.

A few of us have been wondering why on earth Juan Cobain has never featured in Andy King's plans. After all, he's got at least some pedigree - he's an ex-team-mate of Maradona at Boca Juniors, and played at Aberdeen before we signed him. And his name sounds kinda classy, too.
Today we find out what's wrong. It seems Andy King - despite Town's financial woes, and shortage of players - is simply unwilling to give the Argentinian another go.
Having been unimpressed with his performance in last night's game against humble Corsham Town, King has told Cobain he's not wanted, and he's now free to find another club. The Adver's piece says he's been on the transfer list for some time, but has not managed to attract a single enquiry (note to Juan: new agent?).
Now, Juan didn't seem too bad in his last outing, when he played in the FA cup at the County Ground. But since then he's dropped from view. He's on a long-term contract, and it looks like the 26 year-old is simply going to take his money and bide his time for the next 18 months.
The only suggestion of what might really be wrong comes in a quote from Cobain, when he says he refuses to give the "110%" King asks for in reserve matches because he might end up injured. King, we've got to presume, prefers grafters over the tippy-tappy types, although Cobain's absence under Roy Evans suggests he's maybe not as good as he thinks he is.
Still, it's an odd position for a club like ours to be in - we can hardly afford to have alienated, long-term signings wasting away in the reserves.

Meanwhile, that youth and reserve side managed to avoid an upset in the Wiltshire Premier Shield last night, beating Corsham 2-0 to reach the semi-finals. Paul Edwards played for 60 minutes in the match, although he's unlikely to make the side to face Tranmere tomorrow night after two months out recovering from injury.

A report in last night's Adver about the club's finances poses more questions than it asks. We thought we were coming out of the financial woods, gradually paying off the most pressing debts and getting transfer embargos lifted. Now it turns out things are still a mess.
Problem number one: the Football League has just decided to change its rules about the way (financially) struggling clubs can run their businesses. Amazingly, it seems we now have to ask the league's permission before we can sign anyone, making an argument for why we should be allowed to take the player on.
The league wants us to sort out the CVA (creditors' voluntary agreement) before any new signings happen. Given the board is concentrating on the far more important debt to the taxman, it could be some time before anyone new arrives at the County Ground. Indeed, CVAs are designed to run over a very long period indeed - the question is will the league not let anyone come to Swindon until it's cleared? And what does that hold for us when nine players are out of contract in the summer?
Problem number two: The spectre of Donegan/Blatchley continues to hang over the County Ground. The club thinks it has reached agreement with the duo over a debenture they hold, and could call in to (likely) close the club down. But they have yet to sign the contract.
Problem number three: This line in the Adver's report: "The board remain reluctant to invest until a deal is agreed for fear of the debenture being called in." That, presumably, account for the £1m promised by the board that hasn't been heard about since they arrived.

Swindon Town 0 Reading 0
League leaders Reading held Town to a scoreless draw last night, but we've got to be just a little disappointed we didn't win by a goal or two after an evening where the reds created by far the most chances.
Those who couldn't make the game shouldn't be fooled by either the scoreline or the three sendings off - it was a great game to watch, with bags of chances for Swindon. But a string of good saves by Phil Whitehead in the Reading goal, plus a fair dose of bad luck, meant the spoils were shared.
The sendings off were, to be frank, all pretty silly - this wasn't a dirty match, despite the derby tag. The Press Association report makes it sound like a bloodbath, but all the red cards were stupid for their own reasons.
Sammy Igoe of Reading was dismissed for a second bookable after swinging his handbag at Bobby Howe towards the end of the first half. Paul McAreavey, just on as a substitute, was the victim of the ref falling for Reading's protests after he and John Mackie went for a 50-50 ball, and Mackie pretended he'd just had his foot amputated.
And Alan "Thumper" Reeves was sent off with only seconds left on the clock after kicking a Reading player right in front of the ref. You'd think after his red at home against Bristol City, for exactly the same thing, he'd have learnt his lesson, but not so. At least Adam Willis, in great form while Reeves was suspended for that last red card, will get another run in the side.
On the pitch, it was nearly all Swindon Town. In particular, Bobby Howe, Steve Robinson and Matty Hewlett worked well as the midfield trio, not giving Reading too much space and using the ball well when they had it.
Up front, Graz had a net-bound effort saved by Whitehead midway through the first half, and you can't help but think that if that had gone in, we'd have gone on to win by a couple. Graz, it appears, was unwell, and that might explain why his finishing wasn't quite as sharp as normal - in the second half, he had a particularly bad effort which sclaffed across the six yard box, trickled across the rest of the pitch, hit the corner flag and went out... for a goal kick. It kind of summed up his night.
At the top of his game, though, was former Royals man Andy Gurney, who had a sure-footed game at right back, who was unlucky not to score as well. And Whitehead perhaps pulled off his best save of the night to keep out a screamer from Sol Davies midway through the second half.
Over on Rivals.net (Dave Hanley's excellent summary here), there's all the post derby "banter" you'd expect, including some particularly entertaining sour grapes from a Reading fan who thinks we're letting emotion get the better of us. Truth is, we did make Reading look pretty ordinary last night, and that must come as a shock to our rich neighbours. Fair enough - they'll likely be playing their football in division one next year, where their stadium deserves to be, but it goes to show that money can't buy you everything.
And, I should add for those who read their programme - that was me in the Valentines' message bit... all arranged by Mrs Blog. We took advantage of Town's special Valentines' package in the Arkells - three course meal 'n' all - and have to say it was excellent. I can thoroughly recommend the hospitality setup after last night: the club is making a big push for more corporate entertainment, and functions through the week, so here's hoping that'll help get the club out its financial mess.

Also in the paper tonight... a financial update: the transfer embargo which has been in place since West Ham complained they hadn't been paid the final part of the Gary Alexander fee is about to be lifted. Town have sent a cheque to the London club for the player, who is now the third division's second top scorer this season. His goal for Hull City at the weekend took his total to 21.

No surprises, then. As the Adver points out tonight, some things come around as surely as night follows day. Cardiff's hooligans misbehaving again, Andy Gurney losing his concentration to disastrous effect, some dodgy tactical decisions from King, another three points lost to Cardiff.
That said, I'm pretty surprised at just how stuck-in tonight's Adver gets. You don't see words like "clueless" and "disaster" appearing in their match reports too often, and it even appears to have a little dig at King's tactics (you know they're dodgy, I know they're dodgy, but until now we haven't really known they know they're dodgy).
The final line, talking about Thursday's big game against Reading, is curious as well: "the consequences of another lacklustre display are too horrific to dwell on", it says. I wonder what he's referring too - the number of goals Reading could score, or the reaction of the crowd? Or something else?

And now (drum roll, please) - every time we lose, I'll dig out a sporting factoid or bit of news that that will cheer us all up, in the new feature…

It Could Be Worse™: At least we're not Oxford… we might have lost to a multi-million pound Cardiff side at the weekend, but our neighbours are stuck more than a league's worth below us (16th in the third division) after losing 1-0 to Scunthorpe on Saturday. And, in what must be a particularly low blow, they lost the goal in the 90th minute. Snigger. Trivia: why was the word "Scunthorpe" banned by AOL in the 1990s? Think about it…

We're off to face the nasty stain on British football that is Cardiff City tomorrow, and it's about as welcome as a trip to the dentist. Every club has its nasty minority of fans, but we can all remember from the club's last visit to Swindon that their minority is bigger than most.
Since then, they were involved in that match against Leeds United - not a bunch of angels either - and, remarkably, managed to gain an even worse reputation. A former player was jailed for his role in the violence that day, but he was only one of "hundreds" according to the prosecution. Police officers described the match as one of the most frightening experiences of their careers.
An Observer report the following week suggested things are not always that bad for visiting fans, and Sam Hammam has promised a “war” against the hooligans, but still: let's pray nothing goes off tomorrow.
On the field, at the foot of this story in tonight’s Adver there’s the suggestion Sol Davies might struggle to get back in the side given Paul McAreavey’s performance at left back against Huddersfield. I can only imagine this is some kind of kidology by Andy King: either to warn Davies as to his future behaviour on the pitch, or to encourage McAreavey, who might have to fill in for Davies when his next lengthy suspension kicks in. Either way, I can’t believe King thinks McAreavey’s uncertain performance on Tuesday, in an unfamiliar position, merits keeping Sol out.
We’ll need all the in-form players we can get, as Town haven’t won in Cardiff since 1971-72, when the side was rather different in quality from today’s. Not that Cardiff are doing as well as they’d hope this season: for the £10m that Sam the man’s spent, he’s gained all of five points over Town going into tomorrow. Two million a point is a high price to pay, especially if they can’t pick up their form to get into the play-off zone. If Peterborough (who won in Cardiff 2-0 the week after that cup victory over Leeds) can get three points, so can Town.
Key to that will be the continued fine form of Bart Gremink and Adam Willis, who’s pretty much certain to start again given Alan Reeves is still suspended.
Other than a change at left back (really - I can’t see McAreavey starting), the team should line up as on Tuesday.

There... booked: one romantic evening booked at the CG on Valentine's Night, Town v Reading, taking advantage of Town's special Valentine's Evening package... here's hoping Mrs Log doesn't think she's being taken advantage of, too...

Thank goodness that's all over. The coding, that is, to recover Sunday's crash thing. But what about the football? Last night's defeat, with Huddersfield's winning goal being scored by Chris Hay, had an air of inevitablity about it, not just because I'd earlier bragged on BBC Radio Yorkshire, or Radio Leeds (or something) that we'd win 2-1.
The fates seemed to suggest Chris Hay was already pretty likely to score against us, and that was made doubly certain when the South Stand Choir started telling him he was a Swindon reject. Granted, few of us remember him being as lucky in a red shirt as he was last night, when the ball tanned in off his shin in a goalmouth scramble, but there's tempting fate, and there's singing "reject" at a striker... :-)
On the subject of the Choir, I've never had much of a problem with their Oxford chants and everything else, but then as a former Ibrox regular perhaps I've been brought up listening to a lot, lot worse. And if the South Standers aren't singing their songs, where's the atmosphere coming from? The Arkell's?
Back to last night, and the Adver sums up pretty well: had we capitalised on our early pressure - not least a couple of great chances for Danny Invincible - we would have won. Instead, we went in at 0-0, and Huddersfield were able to turn the screw in the second half and get their lucky break.
There were some positive performances on the night - Adam Willis is really looking the part alongside the always reliable Matty Hayward - and Bart Gremink continues to play like a transformed man, with real confidence that must help his back line.
But Andy Gurney had one of his poorer games last night, and Steve Robinson really should have stayed at home and done some housework - he had a stinker. Sol Davies' suspension didn't help either, with Paul McAreavey never looking comfortable in his place.
Let's hope the boys get their heads up quickly. Any kind of result at all in the next two games - away to Cardiff and at home to Reading - would be very welcome. The game after that, away to Tranmere, is also tough. We need to make sure this isn't the start of a four-game losing streak.

Ummm... sorry about the way things are looking today. Something bad happened last night with the system I use to publish Swindonlog, which means I'm gradually rebuilding things. The footie headlines off to the right haven't made it back yet...

Upset over the rescheduling of the Reading match? It's bad enough to have a match moved for the benefit of the TV cameras. It's even worse when it's the ITV Digital sports channel, watched by so few people there could well be more folk in the stadium than watching it on TV. If you're upset, make your voice heard - sign this petition put together by the Blind, Stupid and Desperate (bsad) Watford fans' website. They've got just over 5000 signatures already - a few more and it will be more popular than the channel itself... (worth adding, tho, that the club could do with the TV cash... and their Valentines package in the executive box doesn't look too bad :-))

Swindon Town 2 Northampton Town 1
Reasons to be cheerful...
-- hot dog, onions and mustard, chips 'n' bovril
-- rockin' robin falling flat on his arse... twice
-- Sol's free kick in the fifth minute...
-- ... and Marco Gabbiadini's blinding near post header to put Town ahead
-- despite that, giving Gabbiadini abuse all through the match
-- Great move, great Graz finish, but the goal chalked off
-- Learning to laugh at, rather than loathe, the terrible ref
-- Watching the team working really, really hard - and to good effect, too
-- Seeing Adam Willis get up after a crunching tackle that had the entire Nationwide cringing
-- At least Dukey didn't get sent off for being too slow with the throw
-- Danny streaking in at the far post to fire in the second
-- Bart's miracle save in the dying minutes to keep the three points - how did he get down that fast?
-- Bart's second save, moments later, up high this time, to keep the three points
-- A big, big sing of Andy King's barmy army...
-- ...and a big big sing of Razor Ruddock's barmy army straight afterwards
-- Gabbiadini failing to make amends for his earlier gaffe
-- David Duke looking in control
-- The whole team battling against the rain, the mud and the ref - with 10 versus 11
-- A standing ovation at the end...
-- and three points to take home through the rain.
-- Dad [to son]: D'you enjoy that, then? Son: Yeah. It was brilliant. Danny Invincible's great.

Despite the pouring rain, a visit to the CG ticket office today confirms... the game is on for sure.

Friday, and we're in the unlikely position of looking forward to tomorrow's match. What's caused this turnaround? First, we're on a little run - as mentioned below, two wins and two draws in the last four games (against pretty poor oppo, mind) give us grounds for optimism. The County Ground injury situation hasn't even got any worse since midweeek.
Second, in contrast, tomorrow's oppo are in a spot of bother: as this poster admits on Rivals.net, Northampton Town are down to their last 12 fit "grown ups" - and "some of them are pretty dodgy too".
It's particularly good news given Northampton's run of form recently - they've hauled themselves up the league after a dramatic improvement in form. Things started turning around a few weeks ago with a 1-1 draw at home against high-flying Stoke. Then they went away to Bristol City and won 3-1, just got by Brentford 1-0 with a late goal before conjuring up a more convincing 3-0 win away against Notts County on Tuesday.
All this is quite something for a team which, until their 1-0 win against Bournemouth in December, had gone seven hours without a league goal at home.
A win for Town tomorrow could lift us two places, depending on results elsewhere - a draw or defeat would mean a drop of one, at worst.
But it's worth saying we shouldn't expect three points to come easily. Northampton's injury problems have been piling up all through this run they've been having, and players being used out of position appear to be trying that much harder, according to team manager Kevin Broadhurst on Town's official NTL websh*te.
The final reason for looking forward to the game is simple - it's the first game on a Saturday at the County Ground this year. Back to the old routine, but you'd better savour it. Because the big match against Reading has been moved to Valentines' Day so that two men and their dogs can watch on ITV Sport Channel (just think about the money, folks), we're not at home on a Saturday again until March 2, when Port Vale come to town…