[Archived] Charlton Preview!

[Amo]

If Lowe and spurr retain their places bowyer needs shooting!!

IF?

[DE.]

Que? Evans was excellent I think? Guthrie evans partnership is here to stay. Akpan might have had a good cameo but I can't see him getting a spot off those two

I've never been convinced by Evans. I think Akpan does the dirty stuff better, and we need somebody to do that beside Guthrie.

In saying that, it's not a huge problem. Either of them seem able to do the job at present, so rotate as necessary to keep both fresh, alert and ideally injury free.

My fear is that once Lowe is fit he'll waltz back in and take the place of a more deserving player.

[Messi422]

How did Olsson play today?

[Tom]

How did Olsson play today?

Had extremely little to do at the back but good going forward

[Stuart]

Excellent result but, as DE said, it takes injuries to force Bowyer to select a side to take the game to the opposition.

Charlton were awful - a point hammered home by the guys on RR after the match - but you can only beat what's in front of you.

My view remains that we DO have the players to compete in this league and we are being held back. The acid test - and even the potential turning point for me - will be the team that Bowyer selects when everyone is fit. It simply cannot include Jason Lowe. If it does - especially at the expense of Evans (who was excellent today - my MoM - and underlined by a standing ovation when he went off late on) - then for me it will demonstrate that Bowyer will never learn. Over to you, Gaz.

[LewisF]

Lawrence was great and an all round fantastic performance from us. Couldn't fault any player really

[joey_big_nose]

I've never been convinced by Evans. I think Akpan does the dirty stuff better, and we need somebody to do that beside Guthrie.

In saying that, it's not a huge problem. Either of them seem able to do the job at present, so rotate as necessary to keep both fresh, alert and ideally injury free.

My fear is that once Lowe is fit he'll waltz back in and take the place of a more deserving player.

I haven't watched the Charlton game yet, but against QPR and Fulham Evans' pressing was outstanding, and works really well in combo with Guthrie dropping off. Finding a good partnership like that is gold dust (as we know all too well) and we should stick with it until there is a reason not to.

We need to stop rotating players just because we can and to be fair to Garry that is exactly what he did this week. Stuck with the same team (only tactical change was bringing in Koita at QPR) for 3 games in quick succession. And it paid dividends. Fitness, Koita aside, has not been an issue.

Evans had a terrible season last year, worse than Lowe, but he has done extremely well. Let's just try and play that same midfield for a while. Theyll be an injury or drop in form at some point and Akpan will get a crack.

[LewisF]

When Lowe is fit again, if (or when, should I say) he starts ahead of our other CMs (who were terrific today) that would be sickening indeed.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Charlton sounded absolutely dire but a win is a win. We were always going to win some games this season, I don't think anyone thought we were going to go winless.

One game overall changes nothing, Rovers need to win a hell of a lot more.

[G Somerset Rover]

Good to see the transformation in Evans over the past three games. Last season, for me, he was even worse than Lowe. Now he's getting stuck in, pressing well, getting into attacking positions and even passing forward. Long may it continue.

[DE.]

I haven't watched the Charlton game yet, but against QPR and Fulham Evans' pressing was outstanding, and works really well in combo with Guthrie dropping off. Finding a good partnership like that is gold dust (as we know all too well) and we should stick with it until there is a reason not to.

We need to stop rotating players just because we can and to be fair to Garry that is exactly what he did this week. Stuck with the same team (only tactical change was bringing in Koita at QPR) for 3 games in quick succession. And it paid dividends. Fitness, Koita aside, has not been an issue.

Evans had a terrible season last year, worse than Lowe, but he has done extremely well. Let's just try and play that same midfield for a while. Theyll be an injury or drop in form at some point and Akpan will get a crack.

I have no problem with Evans staying in the team, I'd just prefer Akpan as I don't trust this run of form will last. I do agree that we shouldn't rotate for the sake of it though.

[yoda]

About bloody time

Now that could be a turning point

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Thank God for that but one Swallow a Summer doth not make.

[Roverall]

Great result.

I do fear that it's papering over the cracks however. In lieu of any idea where the club is aiming to be this time next month, next year and a few years down the line, it's hard to get as excited by the odd thumping home win.

Will enjoy tonight though, and why not? Nothing like a few ales washed down by a bottle of cheap plonk.

[Mike E]

Can't fault much today apart from a bit of ball watching by the centre backs in the first half, although they were quick to clear their lines. In fact I felt the first half was somewhat laboured throughout, while the second was brilliant.

Steele neat and tidy, more confident with him in goal for now.

Full backs supported the wingers very well, who also played well (Conway again being a star on the left).

Centre mid did a steady job of hassling the Oppo off the ball and keeping us ticking in attack.

Koita reminds me of Samba up front, but nonetheless good foil for Rhodes, who in turn delivered a true striker's performance. Always on the oppo's toes and two fantastic finishes. Just want to see Koita hit a screamer, you know it's coming.

Bowyer, you haven't regained my trust yet but: Well done for starting the eleven that deserved to. Same again next week! And fantastic, proactive, well-timed subs! Do that every week and we'll get somewhere.

Only thing I'll say is I found it a bit annoying at the end when passing it around at 3-0. I felt we could have kept going on our roll and trying for a 4th, but that would be nitpicky on the first performance I truly enjoyed since Forest away last season.

Nice touch from Koita to come back on the pitch at full time to applaud the fans. I sense a cult hero in the making.

[Roverall]

Deleted

[Doug]

Much better performance today. You could see that there were a few nerves due to our current position but we created enough to win by 5 or 6.

Lots of criticism in the past regarding fitness but today we chased and pressed all the game.

Henley had a bit of a difficult game as he was up against a quick winger.

Hanley and Duffy had no real issues other than the usual rush of blood for Grant that saw him booked.

Rhodes took his goals well and could have had 4 on another day.

Midfield ran their socks off and kept possession well for good periods of time.

Special mention for Lawrence, he looked good today albeit he came on against tired legs.

Great result and good performance.

[sharpysharps]

Enjoyable win, you can only beat what gets put in front of you and Charltin were absolutely dire. Would have been poor to concede against them on today's performance.

Lawrence did great when he came on, I felt we were lagging at that point and he injected a much needed boost into the teams attacking mentality. You could see Koita was pretty tired for about 10 minutes beforehand but credit to the manager but making a sub that finished the game off.

Long way to go yet....starting with a tough match away at Hull, just more of the same please. A consistent team selection steadies the ship.

[tomphil]

At last !! Average performance for me but we took the chances. Koita whilst appearing a bit clumsy actually does a lot of donkey work to allow Rhodes to drift about up top, that's the role he thrives in and the amount of chances we've created and he himself has created in the past few games is good.

We are definitely playing a more expansive game this season and with the right players in there to do it it's much quicker and livelier. His obsession with goldenboy in there must stop once and for all now, even Evans looks so much better alongside either Guthrie or Akpan. Keep them first choice, that's what they are here for. A bit annoying to see Duffy and Hanley back to bickering with each other virtually all game but otherwise job done and a nice routine win

[LDRover]

Good win against a poor Charlton side.

Both central mids put in a good combative performance and after a mediocre 1st half retained the ball better after the interval.

Rhodes put a real shift in and, if he'd finished the chances you'd expect him to, would've bagged another couple. Koita put the effort in but looks like even he doesn't know what he's going to do next.

Henley was poor first half but much improved later in the game. However, he just looks too lightweight for me and is outmuscled too often, his crossing on the overlap is quite poor too.

The 2 centre halves were okay but do seem to be breached too easily by the long straight ball as they play too square.

Marshall and Conway were decent but , for me, tuck in too much and rob us of width. When they get wide we look far more potent.

Finally, excellent 20 mins from Lawrence. I love to see positive players who get at the heart of the opposition and that's how he was today. Looks assured in possession and always has his head up. He could well be a good foil for Rhodes in a no. 10 role, especially away from home.

Great to see us out of the bottom 3 and you'd expect confidence to be pretty high in the camp. Keep the core of the side as it is now and send them out with positive intention GB.

[Neal]

Win is a win, Charlton were poor, Gaz is still poor, glad to be out of the bottom 3.

[Commondore]

I almost forgot what a win feels like, turns out it's pretty sweet. The team against Hull pretty much selects itself now; start with Lawrence behind Rhodes in a variation of 4-5-1, and put on the still not quite up to speed Koita if we need to pull a goal back.

[Mercer]

Been picking someone up at Blackburn Railway Station and there were some glum Charlton diehards waiting for the Preston train. Had a quick word with them and apart from a 10 minute spell, they thought Charlton were shambolic.

[EWOODACE1]

I'm not going to dwell on negatives - Charlton are the worst side I've seen at ewood in years, and couldve scored a couple-

We created bag fulls of chances.

Rhodes could've had 6.

Lawrence looked class, did more than Koita.

Evans had his best game in a rovers shirt.

I'm just enjoying the win. Forgotten what it feels like.

No point me posting anything more. This sums it up perfectly

[arbitro]

We won. It seems a long time since I had that winning feeling and it feels good to say 'we won'.

I thought there were lots of good performances without anybody being outstanding. I really hope we can kick on now and that winning feeling raises its head a lot more.