The Relegation Thread

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Stupid post! The point is that we concede late goals too often. It's either loss of concentration or lack of fitness.

Or is it stupid substitutions?

Things are looking up Al, last two games we've keep the opposition scoreless in the second half. Long may it continue.

[Lancaster Rover]

Stupid post! The point is that we concede late goals too often. It's either loss of concentration or lack of fitness.

Or is it stupid substitutions?

It's not a stupid post at all, football matches last 90 minutes at least and you should be judged on the result/performance on those 90 minutes. You should aim to not concede at any point. We do concede a lot of late goals, we've also conceded a lot of early goals, the simple fact is we concede too many goals full stop and until this is addressed we will find ourselves languishing around the bottom of the table.

Didn't Forest win 5-2 away in their last match ?

Away at Barnsley who are in freefall and look as if they couldn't buy a win at the moment.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It's not a stupid post at all, football matches last 90 minutes at least and you should be judged on the result/performance on those 90 minutes. You should aim to not concede at any point. We do concede a lot of late goals, we've also conceded a lot of early goals, the simple fact is we concede too many goals full stop and until this is addressed we will find ourselves languishing around the bottom of the table.

Away at Barnsley who are in freefall and look as if they couldn't buy a win at the moment.

In my experience good teams score goals at the death, bad teams concede goals. It's not just about physical fitness it's about mental toughness.

[Lancaster Rover]

It's about quality, the whole package, physical fitness impacts on mental fitness. We unfortunately have been found lacking in both areas this season, we are often slow to start and tail off at the end of games. Good teams start on the front foot and score early, bad teams get caught on the hop and concede early. We are guilty of both conceding early and late.

[JHRover]

Some very interesting fixtures coming up this weekend which could completely change the picture down at the bottom.

On Thursday Wolves head to QPR. I think I'd prefer QPR to win that one to keep Wolves down there, however a draw or Wolves win would start to drag QPR into the mix, although I don't think they'll go down.

On Friday Forest host Newcastle. Clearly most people will fancy Newcastle to bounce back and beat Forest, which if they do will keep Forest within reach going into our game with Huddersfield.

On Saturday Cardiff host Brighton. Given the form Brighton are in they will be favourites to go and win there, which could give us a really good opportunity to get a head start on Cardiff.

Burton play Rotherham, a Burton win would be surely the final nail for Rotherham even at this early stage, whereas a result for Rotherham would provide a chance for us to get above Burton.

Brentford go to Norwich who are desperate for a win. All being well Norwich would win that one bringing Brentford into trouble.

Barnsley go to Birmingham who are in fine form at the moment. Hopefully a home win there.

Wigan host Derby who are also shooting up the League since McClaren went back. Hopefully an away win there.

On paper with the exception of Burton we have the 'best' fixture this weekend of the teams down there. At home against a side struggling for form, particularly away. It is really important that we get at least a draw from this to keep the points coming. We're likely to have a chance to put daylight between us and the bottom 3 on Saturday which is hugely important given 2 more difficult games against Brighton and away at Preston coming up.

[Rover_Shaun]

It would be interesting to know how many points we would have if matches only lasted 70 minutes. Don't ask me to do the research though. I don't have the patience these days.

If matches lasted 1 millisecond we'd get 46 points

[Iceman]

If matches lasted 1 millisecond we'd get 46 points

Not really, some games we might lose

[jim mk2]

Important game this weekend, even more so than usual, because a good result would show that the the win at Newcastle was not a fluke, that the team may genuinely have turned the corner and that we have real hope we can stay up. Even a draw wouldn't be that bad. A defeat however would cancel out all the good feeling from the Newcastle match and revive all the old doubts. Come on Rovers!

[Iceman]

Important game this weekend, even more so than usual, because a good result would show that the the win at Newcastle was not a fluke, that the team may genuinely have turned the corner and that we have real hope we can stay up. Even a draw wouldn't be that bad. A defeat however would cancel out all the good feeling from the Newcastle match and revive all the old doubts. Come on Rovers!

This is Rovers, and You know how this normally goes right?

[jim mk2]

Yep, but perhaps Coyley can get Lowey and Co to break the mould. If not they'll revert to being Coyle and Lowe again.

[JAL]

This is Rovers, and You know how this normally goes right?

We've got Jason Lowe and we all know by now that Jason can't perform well for too long.

[Iceman]

We can never get a consistent run going. Even back in the good old days, we to hand out wins against struggling teams.

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[chaddyrovers]

We've shown in recent weeks that we can compete with most teams in this division. However our poor fitness and lack of defensive discipline has cost us dearly several times. Its saying something when despite a terrible start to the season where we picked up 2 points from a possible 21 that we're very much now back in the pack after the last 11 games. Even those we have lost in recent weeks such as Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham, have been by 1 goal margins and we arguably shouldn't have lost any of them. So there are certainly reasons to be more optimistic moving forward, however it is imperative that we maintain this and don't let our standards drop.

There is some real dross in this league and this squad should have it in them to survive. Rotherham have all but gone already, meaning we're going to have to find another 2 clubs to finish above. Slowly but surely the likes of Barnsley and Burton are being dragged back into the mire whilst Wigan look poor. I don't think Cardiff or Wolves will be relegated, though it would be satisfying if they were, but ultimately I think they'll have too much managerial nous and will recruit well in January.

Also important will be our business in January. We are still short in defence and will need to address that, especially if Hoban and Ward are still not fit in the near future. Likewise we need to keep Emnes and Gallagher fit and at the club until the end of the season. If they depart then we're going to have issues replacing them.

Of course at a normal club the groundwork for January would already be nearly done and targets lined up with a budget. Alas no such work will be done here with clueless dodgy owners not communicating and therefore we'll see no business done until Marshall is sold.

Had it not been for such an awful start and those calamitous defeats against Wigan and Cardiff then things would be looking much better. I suppose we've got our esteemed owners to thank for such a chaotic start to the season with transfer business being conducted at the 11th hour only when Hanley and Duffy had been offloaded. I'm sure that had we recruited the likes of Emnes, Mulgrew and Gallagher earlier in the summer then they'd have got up to speed in time for the season beginning rather than late September.

Given the noticeable upturn in performances and results I am prepared to praise Coyle for this. I don't like him and I have little confidence in his managerial abilities, but he's managed to overcome a dreadful start and has delivered a noticeable improvement. So long may that continue.

Coyle will have targets for January window and we seen Giles Barnes and Ba linked with us in the press. Both are free until we sign Ba in January but will be a very low fee.

Hopefully we sign Emnes permanent aswell.

But the owners are the problem.

Off loading your better players in January and recruiting more dross will probably ensure the drop as Coyle plays the fall guy for the agents and owners.

Is Byrne and Hendrie going back in January ?

who say we are going down? outside the relegation and we have collected 17 points from the last 11 last games so average 1.55 points per game. so if we can keep this point average up then we will get 60 points plus the 2 points we got from the 1st 7 games so that's will be 62 points.

not sure whether Byrne and Hendrie will leave in January

[JAL]

How many points have the team collected with Bryne and Hendrie in to know that these two could come in and attempt to play in the near future.

If you lose the likes of Emnes and Gallagher along with the best outfield player Ben Marshall in january what will the points tally drop to then.

What if the frail Raya has to come into the nets for Steele.

What about the poor Jason Lowe continueing to be named captain what a wet lettuce this lad is you'd look better playing in your wellies chaddy than JLowe.

Edited November 29, 2016 by JAL

[tomphil]

The one thing you can say in Lowes defense is he's never worked for a decent manager and i feel he's never been coached or used in a role that best suits him. Not saying he'd be any good but for me the best way to use him is as a pressuring midfielder like a poor mans Robbie Savage.

Bowyer tried to use him like Tugay sat infront of the back four but his football ability and passing isn't up to it and i've never rated him at RB but you'll get away with it some weeks in this league.

[JAL]

Jason Lowe has no defence.....Jason simply doesn't excel at his job unfortunately.

Edited November 29, 2016 by JAL

[chaddyrovers]

How many points have the team collected with Bryne and Hendrie in to know that these two could come in and attempt to play in the near future.

If you lose the likes of Emnes and Gallagher along with the best outfield player Ben Marshall in january what will the points tally drop to then.

What if the frail Raya has to come into the nets for Steele.

What about the poor Jason Lowe continueing to be named captain what a wet lettuce this lad is you'd look better playing in your wellies chaddy than JLowe.

Lowe has been outstanding last 2 games actually.

Byrne and Hendrie are back up players for me.

Losing Emnes would be a blow. But I think he will sign for us.

Dont see Southampton recalling Gallagher.

Edited November 29, 2016 by chaddyrovers

[JHRover]

The proof will be in the pudding in January.

If they want us to survive this season then the very least I would expect is to keep hold of our important players and in the worst case be able to go out and replace Hoban/Emnes/Gallagher if they aren't staying up to the end of the season.

If they continue down the path of the last few transfer windows and start selling assets like Marshall, Conway and Evans mid-season to generate some cash then that is the equivalent of waving the white flag and accepting relegation. No club in our position would even entertain selling its best players and if they had to would immediately ensure the cash was reinvested to strengthen the team for the battle ahead.

[JAL]

Lowe has been outstanding last 2 games actually.

Outstanding ? You seem to like throwing this word around chaddy.

Byrne and Hendrie are back up players for me.

What's the point of having someone elses talentless players as back up when they clearly cant do it on the pitch and the management team now seem recognise this. ?

[Lancaster Rover]

Emnes won't be signing for us permanently, we wont match what he is on at Swansea and why would he walk away from a contract for a pay cut when he can go out on loan and get his full wage.

Also, Giles Barnes is garbage, there is a reason he is playing in the MLS lets not try and convince ourselves that someone who was average in a poor Donacaster side 4 years ago is going to improve us or be some form of coup.

[had.e.nuff]

Emnes won't be signing for us permanently, we wont match what he is on at Swansea and why would he walk away from a contract for a pay cut when he can go out on loan and get his full wage.

Also, Giles Barnes is garbage, there is a reason he is playing in the MLS lets not try and convince ourselves that someone who was average in a poor Donacaster side 4 years ago is going to improve us or be some form of coup.

did we not buy doncasters player of the year 4 years ago and that did not work out well for Chris brown

[Lancaster Rover]

did we not buy doncasters player of the year 4 years ago and that did not work out well for Chris brown

Ha ha if you look it at like that, Chris Brown was deemed better by Doncaster than Giles Barnes, I rest my case your honour!

[tomphil]

Giles Barnes is crap and it's another jobs for the boys if they throw a full time contract his way but of course the fat hack will be preaching him as a good signing like he was pre season. The fat hack who sings from inside a certain camp, more fool those who lap him up.

[Lancaster Rover]

It also begs the question of why the MLS club that signed him are willing to let him go?

[Al]

Emnes won't be signing for us permanently, we wont match what he is on at Swansea and why would he walk away from a contract for a pay cut when he can go out on loan and get his full wage.

Also, Giles Barnes is garbage, there is a reason he is playing in the MLS lets not try and convince ourselves that someone who was average in a poor Donacaster side 4 years ago is going to improve us or be some form of coup.

Emnes contract with Swansea is up at the end of the season and they are unlikely to offer him a new one to send him out on loan again. Rovers could be his best bet unless somebody else makes an offer.