[Archived] ROVERS V Rochdale

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Absolutely rubbish performance, but we can move on having made points on Wigan, Shrewsbury and Bradford.

That said, a repeat on Saturday and we will get beat. Rochdale surely certain for the drop.

Mulgrew was man of the match for me, heading everything away, blocking, composed on the ball, leading, and scoring the penalty.

Amazed that Dack got man of the match, thought bar that brilliant run he was poor, kept making poor decisions, but he is by far our best attacking player and you can tell that.

Evans and Tomlinson when he replaced him both had shockers, along with Antonsson. Would start Whittingham by process of elimination on Saturday, we badly need someone like a Chapman at the beginning of Jan. Smallwood was really poor aswell and rash at times on a yellow.

Not a fan of Nyambe but credit where its due, he was good today. I thought better than Williams.

Nuttall I thought was really poor as well, and a bit petulant.

Apart from a quiet 20 mins, I thought Dack was outstanding. Easy choice for MOM. Wriggled his way out of danger a number of times, goid passing and dribbling, used his body to hold the ball up - I was very impressed with him. 

 

Steady game all round. Not many chances but a good professional performance and we barely had to get out of bed.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

55 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

I agree with you 100% but how many in this  league have pace , creativity and height up front ????

I have seen Shrewsbury and they don't !

We are getting away with it because it is a p poor league.  Any aspirations of staying up next year and we need a lot  of investment.

[rossyrover]

Awful performance at Ewood by the Rovers today but 3 points is 3 points hope Dack and Mulgrew do not get injured as they are vital to our chances of promotion. 

[Waggy76]

15 minutes ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

We are getting away with it because it is a p poor league.  Any aspirations of staying up next year and we need a lot  of investment.

I agree !

But we have to get out of this pish poor league !

[LDRover]

27 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Tomlinson is nowhere near I'm afraid. Very poor against a very poor and fatigued team.  

 

Nyambe found himself on the same side as possibly the worst player I've seen for a long time. Joe Bunney..God knows how he makes a living from the game. Useless in every way.  Nyambe had one of his better days due to this reason 

I've heard this guy Bunney is appalling before - possibly on here. Did he play locally at school level?

[JHRover]

Got the job done and I'll take another 12-13 of those over the next 23 games. Once again it wasn't pretty but I've come round to the conclusion that it rarely is in this division. We appear to have found a way in games under Mowbray of grinding out the results without being particularly impressive. If it works I couldn't care less. It means long spells of defending deep and the opposition having plenty of possession but it appears to be working.

Will we come unstuck with it? I'm not sure we will in this league. I don't think the opposition are good enough. 

2 more difficult ones on paper coming up but they'll be more worried about us than we will about them. We're in better form than most and above most in the league. Wigan host Charlton on Friday so would be nice to kick off vs Scunthorpe with the chance to cut the gap further. Shrewsbury go to Southend on Saturday which is a tough place to go (1 away win there this season).

 

[G Somerset Rover]

Something not right with Evans. Yes he’s always got a niggle in him and has flattered to deceive here but the lad has got promoted from the Championship before and is first choice for a semi decent country. At a guess, his heart isn’t in it as he should be able to run at least a few games in this league. Needs to move on for me.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

said its results that wins games not performances. 

Whittingham was awful on Saturday and his performsnces haven't been good enough all season tbh. 

I would play Smallwood and Tomlinson with Nuttall up front and Dack in the 10 role. 

Did you go Northampton? If so fair enough I wasnt there.

Tomlinson has had a few decent cameos lately, today he carried on the performance of Evans, no composure.

Whittingham has been a bit underwhelming but for me hes the best of the 3.

Nuttall was poor when he came on, Graham was feeding off scraps again, decent hold up though.

[Dunnfc]

52 minutes ago, LDRover said:

I've heard this guy Bunney is appalling before - possibly on here. Did he play locally at school level?

Bunney seems to play anywhere but goalie, Rochdale fans have criticised him this year but there squad is the poorest it's been for years.when Living in Manchester i naturally look out for them, rivals Bury and Oldham sometimes catching a game or read reports in the local MEN paper.

[chaddyrovers]

37 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Did you go Northampton? If so fair enough I wasnt there.

Tomlinson has had a few decent cameos lately, today he carried on the performance of Evans, no composure.

Whittingham has been a bit underwhelming but for me hes the best of the 3.

Nuttall was poor when he came on, Graham was feeding off scraps again, decent hold up though.

spoken to a few friends who went and they all said the same thing. 

Nuttall was feeding on scraps and no Dack supporting him like Graham had. 

[Miker]

4 hours ago, Paul said:

Oh I do hope you’re wrong. I don’t think Nuttall contributed anything today and he’s certainly not a player able to defend from the front or provide an outlet when we are under pressure. 

He’s promising but has a long, long way to go yet. 

I thought he added some mobility up front, which allowed other players to come into the game a lot more than they did when Graham was on the pitch. The last 10 minutes of the game was by far our best attacking spell and I thought that Nuttall contributed greatly to that. But I agree that he is not quite there yet. I don't think any of our strikers right now are suited to playing alone, and they would all benefit immensely from being in a partnership up front, but at least Nuttall and Samuel add a bit of pace and movement when they play in that role.

[Gav]

I've seen us a number of times this season and been impressed on every occassion with certain aspects of the sides performance. 

Today broke that mould, I thought we were poor all over the park but got the result. The performance was flat, and all credit to Rochdale for that, very comfortable on the ball, a decent footballing side.

Another 3 points in the bag, we're on a great run, but will we continue to win performing like that?

Time will tell.

[Sparks Rover]

3 hours ago, LDRover said:

I've heard this guy Bunney is appalling before - possibly on here. Did he play locally at school level?

I stand to be corrected but I think he went to myerscough college and got picked up playing for them or a college rep side.  He was awful at spotland with tge rivers fans taking the piss out if him..

[USABlue]

6 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Dack the main difference between the teams as so many times this season. 

Rovers must hope he doesn't get injured - without him we offer very little. 

We were poor again. There's not alot of quality and better class players are needed in the transfer window.

Why supporters rave about Tomlinson beats me. 

People said the same when Chapman went down, how have we done since his injury?  

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

spoken to a few friends who went and they all said the same thing. 

Nuttall was feeding on scraps and no Dack supporting him like Graham had. 

Both strikers fed off scraps to be honest.

[AllRoverAsia]

Rovers aspiring to promotion at home to Rochdale relegation fodder.

I know the one about stats, stats and more dam lies.

How are these stats even possible, luck can be ridden only for a limited period.

2-0 is a comfortable win at first glance, but from an og and penalty?

I thought a word of caution needed in view of the oppo in next 2 games.

 

[Butty]

It's crazy the amount of times we've just not got going and played poorly yet we've won them games 2 or 3-0. Either a sign of a good team or a sign of us being an absolutely awful league. Bit of both  

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Both strikers fed off scraps to be honest.

But Graham had more support than Nuttall did second half. 

Today performance was poor but we won. Thats all that matter. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

4 hours ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Something not right with Evans. Yes he’s always got a niggle in him and has flattered toi deceive here but the lad has got promoted from the Championship before and is first choice for a semi decent country. At a guess, his heart isn’t in it as he should be able to run at least a few games in this league. Needs to move on for me.

He is a hard worker and tidy enough,but I don't think he has it in him to "run a game" at this level or an occasional level. He doesn't run games. We have had plenty of players who didn't run games

I would prefer Whittingham with Smallwood

[Paul]

4 hours ago, Miker said:

I thought he added some mobility up front, which allowed other players to come into the game a lot more than they did when Graham was on the pitch. The last 10 minutes of the game was by far our best attacking spell and I thought that Nuttall contributed greatly to that. But I agree that he is not quite there yet. I don't think any of our strikers right now are suited to playing alone, and they would all benefit immensely from being in a partnership up front, but at least Nuttall and Samuel add a bit of pace and movement when they play in that role.

I agree with you on this and Nuttall is certainly the more mobile player but then he’s at least 10 years younger than Graham and should be quicker. 

I would always but Graham in the team ahead of Nuttall and Samuel as he provides an outlet when the defence is under pressure. Ignoring goals this is the key attribute in a striker especially so in a team like Rovers. When we’re under pressure and need an outlet Graham is the man with all the tricks and experience to provide this. Nuttall runs around a lot and chases defenders but he doesn’t put them under pressure, he arrives late, and can’t hold the ball up. 

To move on from being a big, fast lad who can knock a few in fit the U23s he needs to add this to his game. Until then, for me, he’s a hopeful but nothing more.

Same applies to this Tomlinson lad, still has a lot to prove though he can’t be any worse than Evans. On balance it might be better to give the position to Tomlinson in the hope he grabs the opportunity. Evans has never performed for Rovers and yeasterday was an embarrassment to himself and the club. Truly awful. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

He is a hard worker and tidy enough,but I don't think he has it in him to "run a game" at this level or an occasional level. He doesn't run games. We have had plenty of players who didn't run games

I would prefer Whittingham with Smallwood

You can't have seen Whittingham play in the flesh to say that.  I was hoping he might run games when he was signed at first but my gut feeling even then was we'd signed a player were he'd got to that " season too far " point. Nothing I've seen so far leads me to change my mind there. Apart from a few nice touches the game passes him by. He's not very mobile and he plays far too deep in my opinion, only the Tugay's of this world can run a game from the centre circle. He's not a significant physical presence in a league were first and foremost you have to fight for the right to play your football.

Having said that Evans is completely off the boil and from what I read Tomlinson has still to reach the standard I was hoping he would reach.

[JAL]

10 hours ago, Gav said:

I've seen us a number of times this season and been impressed on every occassion with certain aspects of the sides performance. 

Today broke that mould, I thought we were poor all over the park but got the result. The performance was flat, and all credit to Rochdale for that, very comfortable on the ball, a decent footballing side.

Another 3 points in the bag, we're on a great run, but will we continue to win performing like that?

Time will tell.

Mowbray gave the players Christmas day off so we might well have looked a little Christmas puddingish. The January transfer window will define the rest of the season by whom they bring in, add or replace that either weakens or strengthens the team for the run in.

Time will tell.

[Mattyblue]

Tomlinson was poor yesterday, but he has impressed me in his other appearances, perhaps he was under the weather too?

That being said Smallwood hasn’t really had a partner in there with him all season.

[chaddyrovers]

38 minutes ago, JAL said:

Mowbray gave the players Christmas day off so we might well have looked a little Christmas puddingish. The January transfer window will define the rest of the season by whom they bring in, add or replace that either weakens or strengthens the team for the run in.

Time will tell.

Well when 4 players are unwell and play. Show the team spirit Mowbray has built in the squad. Plus Mulgrew only just passed a fitness test and Samuel failed the fitness test. 

Only expect 3 signings in January. 

[Mike E]

My first game yesterday since last season.

Impressed by Raya, Dack, Bennett, and Williams in particular.

Smallwood has a great rep on here but played so-so yesterday. Still a cut above our midfield performers last season.

Defence overall was solid, with nobody particularly standing out (a good thing). Williams likes to take the ball forward down the left, which I liked, need the same from Nyambe if possible.

Graham full of running but not really 'on it' like he has been in the past. Similar feeling with Antonsson but he had some tidy moments cutting in from the left.

Thought Nuttall seemed a bit lazy if I'm honest. Had he chased the already nervous keeper down, he could've forced another goal or two imo.

Conway better than expected given his legs aren't what they were. List his penchant for having a shot from the corner of the box though

Tomlinson, clearly capable and was positionally very good but felt lime he was reluctant to actually tackle people for some reason. Hopefully not the next Lowe, but still better than Evans imo.

Bit of a dull game imo, but amazed at the silence from the crowd! Utterly silent even compared to last year. Never before have I been given odd looks for trying to start a chant in the BBE. We're a strange bunch.