[Archived] Rovers v Leicester City - Sat 22nd March KO - 3pm

[bazza]

Rhodes put in a good shift today. The only problem is that he makes a meal of being fouled and this puts refs off.

[Colt Seavers]

Today has been something of an epiphany for me; it was the day that convinced me bowyer can put out an attacking, exciting team; can deliver an inspiring half time team talk and can lead us to promotion next season!

Thought kilgallon had a superb second half. He won every ball.

Scott dann, eat you heart out!

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Any coincidence that the team apparently looked more assured without Lowe in the side? Honest question.

Honest answer - on a different day Leicester would have taken their chances and would have been beaten. Williamson and Evans gave the ball away so many times it was unreal - everybody keeps saying Williamson had a good match - would they have felt differently if the numerous EASY cross field balls that were intercepted led to goals ? I would love to see the stats - but the number of times both midfield players gave away the ball attempting simple passes was scandelous. And yet the amazing thing - Lowe gives the ball away once in a match and some people are straight on his back - go figure !

Eddie Ilderton is apparently a referee.......remember that name, he will go far.......he was at Ewood today. I hope he goes far and never comes back, awful performance.

More like Eddie Izzard - the referee was a joke.

[LDRover]

Honest answer - on a different day Leicester would have taken their chances and would have been beaten. Williamson and Evans gave the ball away so many times it was unreal - everybody keeps saying Williamson had a good match - would they have felt differently if the numerous EASY cross field balls that were intercepted led to goals ? I would love to see the stats - but the number of times both midfield players gave away the ball attempting simple passes was scandelous. And yet the amazing thing - Lowe gives the ball away once in a match and some people are straight on his back - go figure !

DMTP, if Lowe gave the ball away once in a game I'd consider it a result. Today we attacked with purpose and got at Leicester's back line quicker, yes it left us exposed at times but we coped. Lowe stifles all our attacks and hides when it gets a bit lairy. Not only that but the much maligned Williamson made more challenges today than Lowe makes in 5 games. To sum up, although he's average at best, Williamson is twice the footballer Lowe is, Lowe is twice the athlete.

That said, Lowe could and should play at RB as he's by far our best option there. He's nowhere near good enough at CM.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

DMTP, if Lowe gave the ball away once in a game I'd consider it a result. Today we attacked with purpose and got at Leicester's back line quicker, yes it left us exposed at times but we coped. Lowe stifles all our attacks and hides when it gets a bit lairy. Not only that but the much maligned Williamson made more challenges today than Lowe makes in 5 games. To sum up, although he's average at best, Williamson is twice the footballer Lowe is, Lowe is twice the athlete.

That said, Lowe could and should play at RB as he's by far our best option there. He's nowhere near good enough at CM.

We attacked with purpose because (for one of the few times this season) - the defence held a far higher line - lessening the gap between midfield and the attack. As you say - it was a gamble against the pacy Leicester team - but made for an exciting match. As for Williamson making more challenges - I think all the players made more challenges than we have seen all season (so don't just pick on Lowe) - IMO I do wonder whether they realised the referee was incompetent and just went for it. Also - half of Williamsons challenges were because he didn't control the ball instantly - or was trying to make up for his own mistakes !

[LDRover]

We attacked with purpose because (for one of the few times this season) - the defence held a far higher line - lessening the gap between midfield and the attack. As you say - it was a gamble against the pacy Leicester team - but made for an exciting match. As for Williamson making more challenges - I think all the players made more challenges than we have seen all season (so don't just pick on Lowe) - IMO I do wonder whether they realised the referee was incompetent and just went for it. Also - half of Williamsons challenges were because he didn't control the ball instantly - or was trying to make up for his own mistakes !

You're right it's probably unfair to pick on Lowe for his tackling rate. I only mention him as there's a fallacy that he is some kind of tough tackling midfield enforcer.

It was good to see us compete all over the pitch today.

[Silas]

LD - I think he was fouled at the end but it was a bit boy who cried wolf by then

Rhodes put in a good shift today. The only problem is that he makes a meal of being fouled and this puts refs off.

This was the problem for me today with both Rhodes and Gestede, particularly in the first half. Both kept going to ground so easily that the ref pretty much marked their cards, and I just knew that 2nd half no matter what happened we would get pretty much nothing from fouls on our forwards.

Very frustrating. If they really fought to stay up more, and they were getting fouled at times no doubt, then I think they would find a lot more decisions going in their favour over the course of a match. I hope they learn from it for the future.

None of that changes how useless the ref was though. But many of them are as we all well know, so the players have got to learn how to play the game, and JR and RG played it poorly today.

[Bucksrover]

Was proud to be there today.

Real gutsy and purposeful performance against the best team in the league.

Wouldn't drop keane for hanley when hanley is fit again to be honest. Keane and killgallon did very well.

Conway, Gestede, Evans all top draw today. Bring cairney into that and bowyer can feel chuffed at some of his bargain signings.

Happy to applaud the team off at the final whistle.

[AggyBlue]

Rhodes put in a good shift today. The only problem is that he makes a meal of being fouled and this puts refs off.

Don't you mean he makes a meal of being touched?

I thought the ref did well to keep the game moving when players were throwing themselves to the floor all over the pitch. More of the same please.

[Brfcrule1]

I have to admit the Ref was apalling today clear penalty at the end.

but really should have won it today had more clear cut chances than them.

Tom M it was a pleasure as always to meet you today.

[West Yorks Rover]

Leicester fans thought the Ref was abysmal too BTW.

The majority of them seemed to think we bullied them, long time since I heard that about a Rovers team, surely can't be true.

Can it ?

I'm only going off what they've been saying on 'Foxes Talk' which appears to be their largest MB.

[tonyoz]

Here you go DMTP:

Passes Key passes Pass accuracy % Through ball Tackles Overall rating

Williamson 56 0 84 0 1 6.35
Evans 44 2 84 0 4 6.9
Conway 38 6 84 0 2 8.71
Feeney 22 0 73 0 0 6


Interestingly, every player scored zero for attempted through balls!

Four of the top 5 rated players were Rovers:

Conway MoM 8.7, Spurr 7.7, Keane 7.6, Kilgallon 7.6

For comparison - against Burnley:

Lowe 40 2 73 0 0 7

Evans 28 0 76 0 1 6.2

Stats from whoscored.com

[West Yorks Rover]

Here you go DMTP:

Passes Key passes Pass accuracy % Through ball Tackles Overall rating

Williamson 56 0 84 0 1 6.35

Evans 44 2 84 0 4 6.9

Conway 38 6 84 0 2 8.71

Feeney 22 0 73 0 0 6

Interestingly, every player scored zero for attempted through balls!

Four of the top 5 rated players were Rovers:

Conway MoM 8.7, Spurr 7.7, Keane 7.6, Kilgallon 7.6

Stats from whoscored.com

I suppose the through ball is often the hardest to get right, if a player doesn't attempt it very often it may make their

overall pass accuracy appear better than it is, ie the simple pass.

I look at the - whoscored.com match preview before every Rovers game, guess which player always seems to have the lowest

rating, yes you've guessed JL.

[tonyoz]

I suppose the through ball is often the hardest to get right, if a player doesn't attempt it very often it may make their

overall pass accuracy appear better than it is, ie the simple pass.

I look at the - whoscored.com match preview before every Rovers game, guess which player always seems to have the lowest

rating, yes you've guessed JL.

Of the players who have appeared this year, Lowe is rated 20th in our entire squad with an average rating 6.54. Of all the players in the Championship, he is rated 290th out of 355 players. (However, this is higher than Williamson, Taylor and Varney).

TC has long been our highest rated player (average 7.41) but he has dropped to third since the arrival of:

Conway 7.48

Keane 7.45

There were zero attempts at a through ball by both teams yesterday! Apparently the only successful through-balls all season have been:

TC 5/5

DD 2/3

BM 1/3

GH 1/1

[gumboots]

Leicester fans thought the Ref was abysmal too BTW.

The majority of them seemed to think we bullied them, long time since I heard that about a Rovers team, surely can't be true.

Can it ?

I'm only going off what they've been saying on 'Foxes Talk' which appears to be their largest MB.

In the first half it looked men against boys. They were stronger, better organised and blatantly more of a team. The ref let a lot of their challenges go unpunished particularly from de laet. However gestede was winning everything in the air still. Second half we stepped up and, realising the ref had forgotten his cards, began to outmuscle them much of the time. We stil made daft mistakes and almost gifted them goals but managed to keep them out, even when they really tried to put the pressure on late in the game. It was a proper game of football with both sides creating enough chances to win it but neither side quite able to do so. It was the most entertainment or at least the second half was, we've had at ewood in a long time.

[arbitro]

Don't you mean he makes a meal of being touched?

I thought the ref did well to keep the game moving when players were throwing themselves to the floor all over the pitch. More of the same please.

The referee was poor and struggled with his ability to differentiate between careless and reckless, sometimes not even seeing the fouls. A caution should act as a deterrent but his reluctance to issue one gave players license to keep committing reckless challenges.

[thenodrog]

The referee was poor and struggled with his ability to differentiate between careless and reckless, sometimes not even seeing the fouls. A caution should act as a deterrent but his reluctance to issue one gave players license to keep committing reckless challenges.

Indeed so. He was so reluctant to give free kicks that I thought he must have a bet on! However contentious though his refereeing was it did make for a good old fashioned blood and thunder match. Just like the 'Old days' pre 94 World Cup when the roof fell in on refereeing in fact.

As far as the match I've read back and I'm amazed at how people see the game and player performances differently. I can only assume that a number left at half time!

Pretty much nailed on was that Adam Henley has lost all confidence, gave the goal away and nearly gave another couple too. He really appears to be wearing his boots on the wrong feet! God only knows what is going on down at Brockhall that he is still being selected after real horror shows against Bolton, Burnley and yesterday. Opposition managers aren't gormless and are setting their teams up to 'weigh on' him . His injury looks serious but it may just have a silver lining for the lad.

Williamson put in a really hard shift and it was the best that I have seen him play. Our 4 man midfield were up against Leicesters 5 from the start. He was a strong candidate for MoM.

Evans grafted too but spoiled his performance with some seriously poor passing. Odd that this was met by silence but if Lowe had been responsible they would have been met with moans and cat calls. How does that work?

Conway had a good game too and is displaying consistency.

Gestede for me had a brilliant match and dominated Leicester totally in the air. His flick ons were numerous.

Rhodes touch wasn't great but he put in a strong shift despite both him and Gestede getting a regular battering from Leicesters giant centre halves. The referee gave them absolutely nothing which actually encouraged the opposition to increase the physical stuff in the second half with impunity. Crazy that the 1st yellow only came well into the second half and was for time wasting!

As for Leicester I only recognised two names on the team sheet and one of them was for obvious family connections! I was very impressed with Casper Schmeical. Slighter than the old man and not as imposing but his agility and handling were top drawer and he's the only player that I have seen who can actually kick a ball better than Robinson.

Leicester are a big team and like Burnley have a prodigious work rate. Nothing special at the back but their success this season must owe lots to the speed and precision of their counter attacks. They broke in numbers at breathtaking speed.

Always helps in a game of two halves if the Rovers come on stronger in the second half and that is what happened yesterday. A rather stuttering first half performance changed totally at HT as the Rovers upped the tempo and moved noticeably up the pitch. A bold gamble giving Leicester's counter attacking strength but it paid off and must have left most supporters almost feeling like we had won the match. Pearson combated our taking the initiative by hurling all 3 subs on which gave them the upper hand for the last 10 mins but overall a draw was fair. And even more satisfying given our lengthening injury list.

[Madon]

Suprised at the amount of people commenting on the referee. I thought the reason the game yesterday was so entertaining was purely down to the ref letting it flow. Football is a physical sport, it is getting to soft and to stop-start. I'd much rather watch a game with a bit of push and shoving and end to end action without being stopped every 2 minutes.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Thought the ref did try to let the game flow and on two occasions like how he pulled the game back after fouls. On the other hand he missed a lot of obvious fouls and hand balls for both sides.

[arbitro]

Suprised at the amount of people commenting on the referee. I thought the reason the game yesterday was so entertaining was purely down to the ref letting it flow. Football is a physical sport, it is getting to soft and to stop-start. I'd much rather watch a game with a bit of push and shoving and end to end action without being stopped every 2 minutes.

I agree about the push and shove comment but reckless tackles, particularly from behind should be punished with a caution. He was blowing for some of these, it was his sanctions where he was lacking in my opinion.

[Stuart]

I agree about the push and shove comment but reckless tackles, particularly from behind should be punished with a caution. He was blowing for some of these, it was his sanctions where he was lacking in my opinion.

I too thought he was reluctant to give yellow cards. There were some poor challenges from Leicester which went unpunished - in some cases without even a free kick - yet there was a booking for a Rovers player in similar circumstances.

A referee should at least aim to be consistent within the 90 minutes on the day - if not from match to match.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

I agree about the push and shove comment but reckless tackles, particularly from behind should be punished with a caution. He was blowing for some of these, it was his sanctions where he was lacking in my opinion.

Its strange that a lot of refs in this division don't give fouls for tackles from behind. Or is it Rhodes goes down too easily as he very seldom gets free kicks in these circumstances?

[tonyoz]

Indeed so. He was so reluctant to give free kicks that I thought he must have a bet on! However contentious though his refereeing was it did make for a good old fashioned blood and thunder match. Just like the 'Old days' pre 94 World Cup when the roof fell in on refereeing in fact.

As far as the match I've read back and I'm amazed at how people see the game and player performances differently. I can only assume that a number left at half time!

Pretty much nailed on was that Adam Henley has lost all confidence, gave the goal away and nearly gave another couple too. He really appears to be wearing his boots on the wrong feet! God only knows what is going on down at Brockhall that he is still being selected after real horror shows against Bolton, Burnley and yesterday. Opposition managers aren't gormless and are setting their teams up to 'weigh on' him . His injury looks serious but it may just have a silver lining for the lad.

Williamson put in a really hard shift and it was the best that I have seen him play. Our 4 man midfield were up against Leicesters 5 from the start. He was a strong candidate for MoM.

Evans grafted too but spoiled his performance with some seriously poor passing. Odd that this was met by silence but if Lowe had been responsible they would have been met with moans and cat calls. How does that work?

Conway had a good game too and is displaying consistency.

Gestede for me had a brilliant match and dominated Leicester totally in the air. His flick ons were numerous.

Rhodes touch wasn't great but he put in a strong shift despite both him and Gestede getting a regular battering from Leicesters giant centre halves. The referee gave them absolutely nothing which actually encouraged the opposition to increase the physical stuff in the second half with impunity. Crazy that the 1st yellow only came well into the second half and was for time wasting!

As for Leicester I only recognised two names on the team sheet and one of them was for obvious family connections! I was very impressed with Casper Schmeical. Slighter than the old man and not as imposing but his agility and handling were top drawer and he's the only player that I have seen who can actually kick a ball better than Robinson.

Leicester are a big team and like Burnley have a prodigious work rate. Nothing special at the back but their success this season must owe lots to the speed and precision of their counter attacks. They broke in numbers at breathtaking speed.

Always helps in a game of two halves if the Rovers come on stronger in the second half and that is what happened yesterday. A rather stuttering first half performance changed totally at HT as the Rovers upped the tempo and moved noticeably up the pitch. A bold gamble giving Leicester's counter attacking strength but it paid off and must have left most supporters almost feeling like we had won the match. Pearson combated our taking the initiative by hurling all 3 subs on which gave them the upper hand for the last 10 mins but overall a draw was fair. And even more satisfying given our lengthening injury list.

Interesting summation. Thanks.

[cesus]

I think most things from the match have been covered so far on here, can only echo the sentiments on just how bad Henley was, I actually found it awkward to watch the lad struggle to the extent he did. Its easy to say play Kane but he has struggled just as much on many occasions this season, hopefully a full pre-season may work wonders for Henley but injury or not his season should end here.

The ref was dangerous make no bones about it, there is letting the game flow which is fine but to not punish vicious tackles is dangerous. I sit in the Riverside about half way between the box and the half way line at the Darwen end which gave me a perfect angle on those tackles on Gestede by Morgan, there was 3 that all deserved bookings but he lasted the game booking free.

Much better second half, Conway looks a great signing, Gestede won the aerial battle and most importantly found Rhodes with the vast majority of flick ons, the later had one of his poorer games but that's football and that's why he is in the Championship and not Premiership as he isn't consistent. I thought the centre halves did okay versus a good striking partnership, for me they left the ball for each other a little too often which could and maybe should have led to goals but for once we got some luck which maybe clouds peoples overall judgement on how well they played. I agree that Evans was poor on the ball but was strong in the tackle and worked tirelessly as did Williamson.

One area of concern which has been there all season for me is our lack of attention when our opponents strikers drop into the "number 10" position, our midfield just never sees it happen, regardless of whether we play 4 or 5 we are guilty of never tracking that man and it often costs us shots (and often goals) from outside the box. Overall a good point!

[Stuart]

Amazing how people watch the same game and get such different opinions. Football, eh?