[Archived] Northampton

[JAL]

1 minute ago, Swanson said:

Because it was a counter attack, created by Conway's miskick, and Bennett/Mulgrew did not mark their striker and Raya did not save the header.

Wow ! .....a counter attack......that must have been a surprise. 

Do they pay the Northampton players ?

Whilst I'm having a pop at our guys must say that I don't rate Man City's J. Stones as a defender.

[tomphil]

I don't rate Liverpools latest Southampton waste of millions

Could be worse we could be them i'd rather have Mowbray than that overated German clown.

We really need to apply some heavy metal football to the starting line up and beginning of games at home though.

[Rover_Shaun]

Well that was a disappointing result to log on to. Lost ground and another sorry statistic for the  Venky reign

A home draw Vs Northampton. The embarrassing ignominy.

[barry_]

(as always)

it's the hope that kills

[47er]

10 hours ago, Paul said:

Good grief - someone find me a cliff to jump off. 

If we don’t win 19-0 this place goes in to meltdown. We had a bad first half, second half despite lots of pressure the ball never dropped our way, Northampton were as cynical as they come and the referee appalling. 17 games unbeaten.

None of this means the team or manager are rubbish. 

Move on, Walsall next. 

Well, I find your post patronising and myopic. Since no-one has ever suggested we should win every game 15-0  you are simply into hyperbole.

Secondly the MB has NOT gone into meltdown and that is more hyperbole. Many fans are frustrated by our seeming inability to cement 2nd place in games against clearly inferior opposition particularly at home. This is the reason why we are 3rd and not 1st. To  ignore that and assume it will all turn out in the end is sheer complacency on your part.

Nowhere have I read that the team or manager are rubbish as a result of this further example of our failure to nail an automatic promotion position. If I'm wrong show me. Yet more hyperbole from you.

Construction of the straw man to bolster a weak argument is the curse of this MB. Of course there are many points to fight for yet, of course we can still top the table but these constant blips, which Wigan don't make, makes it ever more unlikely---17 games unbeaten means nothing if too many unbeaten games are draws.

What happens if we fail to beat Walsall on Tuesday---more of this "settle down lads" stuff? 

ITS NOT ALRIGHT! The play-offs are a lottery and not an achievement for this squad, particularly when you compare our squad to Shrewsbury's.

As for the cliff---feel free.

 

[arbitro]

By my reckoning we have only kept five clean sheets in our home league matches so far. Although we have won some games where we have conceded I think what is really going to cost us is our inability to keep clean sheets at Ewood. We create chances and invariably score in most games. It's a problem that needs sorting out if we want automatic promotion.

[Hasta]

11 hours ago, JAL said:

So the guy challenging their goalscorer who's caught on the wrong side isn't Nyambe, is that what your saying Hasta.

Lol. Now I know you are just bitter with a grudge. Hopefully.you will watch it again sober this morning.

[joey_big_nose]

I thought we played much better once Armstrong and Payne came in. I would look to put one of either Payne or Dack alongside Smallwood in the middle next game and see how that works.

Also think Armstrong is being wasted out wide. Would like to see him in a two with Graham.

[Stuart]

9 hours ago, JAL said:

So the guy challenging their goalscorer who's caught on the wrong side isn't Nyambe, is that what your saying Hasta.

To blame Nyambe for that goal is to completely ignore the context of it. Nyambe and Bennett had just prevented (on their own) a break away which looked like a certain goal in itself. Rank bad play higher up the pitch and not a centre back to be seen. They both did fantastically to hold up play.

That Bunney cross should never have come in. Where the hell was Samuel? But for an assist late on, Samuel was the worst player on the pitch yesterday. I was amazed he wasn’t replaced for Payne.

Even more astonishing was the decision to take off Smallwood and sacrifice Dack’s contribution by dropping him deeper. Bennett’s face said it all at the time. We looked all over the place for a good while and we seemed to have no plan apart from lumping the ball forward and missing out Payne and Armstrong anyway! The number of times Downing played that wasteful ball into the box which was easily cleared by their globetrotting defence competing against our hobbits was embarrassing. It was only when Goliath Crooks went off that we got a goal from that set up - whether coincidence or otherwise.

Mowbray can ultimately take credit for making changes that rescued a point but he seemed to lose the plot completely on 55 minutes, and ultimately that was 2 points dropped. Tuesday now becomes a must win.

Losing Mulgrew is a disaster for the rest of the team. No leader. No-one to tell Downing where to be. A genuine lack of quality back there. The absence of cover for Mulgrew means the tinkerer is going to have to either continue with Williams or start shuffling the pack again. That combined with the lack of CB cover on the bench yesterday suggests Ward is finished at Rovers.

Personally I’d be putting Nyambe rather than Williams in the centre and bringing Caddis (or even Lewis Travis) in at right back. However, with Bell coming in, Mulgrew’s injury will probably be a godsend for Williams (and Mowbray). Looking like we’ll see Bell - Williams - Downing - Nyambe as the back four for a month. Williams is really going to have to step up and lead because with Bell bombing forward I can see the natural shape of the defence having a regular lack of RB cover as Nyambe comes across to cover. If Samuel can’t be trusted to do that role then it would need to be Payne who comes in. Personally I’d rather see Travis come in.

Far more to yesterday than Nyambe, JAL. You should get down to Ewood if you are able. I reckon you’d enjoy it this season.

[blueboy3333]

10 hours ago, JimEdd said:

Re last paragraph - whilst giving the ref some grief in the Blues Bar after the game was told that refs in the first and second divisions are not full-time professional referees.  They have jobs and only get paid expenses for football matches and that professional refs are only allocated to Premiership and Championship matches.  If this is a fact, this would explain the rubbish referees we seem to have had.  Could anyone confirm this please?  Sorry if this is slightly off-topic

Yes, they are part-time by all accounts. I only found out when Darren Ferguson had a rant about it last weekend or the weekend before.  It's a joke, pro footballers being reffed by part-time officials who, according to Ferguson, arent fit enough to keep up with play. The FA  obviously don't think League 1 is important enough for full time refs. One of the linesman yesterday looked about 90!

[tomphil]

These games need to be won and we need to set up and go out to try that from the first min, can't fault the second half but yet again at home it's too little too late from Mowbray and his men.

Unbeaten yes but we go unbeaten until the end of the season and only finish 3rd or 4th, calculated risks have to be taken now not just in the last ten mins throwing the kitchen sink, we are in the second half of the season so go for it. That game and the comments on here are a recurring theme too often this season from home games yet when they are let off the leash and more attacking players are started we tend to put teams away early on. So what if your hanging on at the end ?  It's better than chasing the game.

We'll be more than happy with a point a piece at Plymouth or Portsmouth where you'll have two teams backed by big crowds only interested in taking Rovers scalp so anything from those will be a bonus.

Games at home to the likes of Northampton where you know they'll just come to park the bus need an altogether bolder approach from kick off now the squad has the players.

Step on it Tone !

[ChrisyG]

Bad first half but we dominated the second and should have won the game. 

The starting 11 would have been fine for an away game but at home we need a more attacking line up.

The ref was dreadful! I couldn’t believe non of their players got booked. At one point in the 2nd half there were 3 very cyclical fouls on the trot and he still didn’t book anyone. 

Bell played well when he came on and William’s looked much better at centre half than full back.

That’s 8 games I’ve taken my son to and he still hasn’t seen us win a game

[blueboy3333]

6 minutes ago, ChrisyG said:

That’s 8 games I’ve taken my son to and he still hasn’t seen us win a game

 You're barred from all League 1 grounds for the rest of the season!

 

[Parsonblue]

9 hours ago, Rover_Shaun said:

Well that was a disappointing result to log on to. Lost ground and another sorry statistic for the  Venky reign

A home draw Vs Northampton. The embarrassing ignominy.

Not sure how a draw can be held up as a sorry statistic against the owners.  We've played Northampton on six occasions now in League matches and the record is W2 D2 L2.  Seems we are a pretty even match on the odd occasions that we do meet over the years.  I predicted on Friday that yesterday would see us slip up and sadly I was proved right.  One thing that the Rovers can always be relied up to do is slip up when everyone expects a win.  Hopefully it works in reverse next week.  Home Park is a ground where we rarely do well at.  I don't think that we played all that badly yesterday but we did need a firmer referee who would have stamped out the time wasting and the niggling fouls that Northampton were so good at.  Fair play to them.  They came with spoiling tactics and it worked. 

[47er]

2 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Not sure how a draw can be held up as a sorry statistic against the owners.  We've played Northampton on six occasions now in League matches and the record is W2 D2 L2.  Seems we are a pretty even match on the odd occasions that we do meet over the years.  I predicted on Friday that yesterday would see us slip up and sadly I was proved right.  One thing that the Rovers can always be relied up to do is slip up when everyone expects a win.  Hopefully it works in reverse next week.  Home Park is a ground where we rarely do well at.  I don't think that we played all that badly yesterday but we did need a firmer referee who would have stamped out the time wasting and the niggling fouls that Northampton were so good at.  Fair play to them.  They came with spoiling tactics and it worked. 

We've got 2 points against Northampton,Wigan have 6! Won both games 1-0. Totally frustrating.

 

[Sparks Rover]

10 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Not sure how a draw can be held up as a sorry statistic against the owners. 

I think he’s right.

a. We shouldn’t be playing this shower- it’s the owners fault that we are in L1

b. The owners have made us into a team where we can’t win games that we are supposed to. That is directly the owners fault.

so yes, they are to blame

 

 

[lraC]

13 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

It wasn't because we didn't win. And we were attack versus defence a few times already this season at home when we didn't win either.

I'm off to find a cliff...

He sings summer holiday and when you find him, tell him my Mum is a big fan.

[Cherry Blue]

On a positive note well done TM for changing second half team/tactics when things were going badly wrong in first half.

The negative is TM should have done his homework on NTFC style of play.

This season will finish with too many drawn games.

[Bigdoggsteel]

ToMo not a fan of the ref

“I don’t want to be critical and blame the referee but he didn’t help our cause.

“Is it his job to help our cause? It’s his job to feel the game and keep it running, the supporters pay their money and want to see the game played not him posturing and calling players over and standing there with his chest stuck out.

“It was a frustrating day.”

[G Somerset Rover]

Putting it simply, we need to start turning these draws into wins otherwise we’re going to be at the whim of these God awful referees in the play-offs. 3 points a must on Tuesday.

[Stuart]

33 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Not sure how a draw can be held up as a sorry statistic against the owners.  We've played Northampton on six occasions now in League matches and the record is W2 D2 L2.  Seems we are a pretty even match on the odd occasions that we do meet over the years.  I predicted on Friday that yesterday would see us slip up and sadly I was proved right.  One thing that the Rovers can always be relied up to do is slip up when everyone expects a win.  Hopefully it works in reverse next week.  Home Park is a ground where we rarely do well at.  I don't think that we played all that badly yesterday but we did need a firmer referee who would have stamped out the time wasting and the niggling fouls that Northampton were so good at.  Fair play to them.  They came with spoiling tactics and it worked. 

You say that like we play them every other season. We’ve got to be expecting better than that, Parson. I bet Wigan aren’t talking about their record against some of these teams 30, 40 and 50 years ago. They are just concerned with beating them now. Are Wigan that much better than us? Should we accept that they are?

As for Northampton yesterday, spoiling is right. A poster-club for a brand of anti-football that has a place only for a non-league club tactic in an F.A. Cup tie at home to a lower PL side. They should change their name from Cobblers to Cloggers.

Hope they are relegated.

[Tom]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

ToMo not a fan of the ref

“I don’t want to be critical and blame the referee but he didn’t help our cause.

“Is it his job to help our cause? It’s his job to feel the game and keep it running, the supporters pay their money and want to see the game played not him posturing and calling players over and standing there with his chest stuck out.

“It was a frustrating day.”

That was the annoying thing on one incident there were 3 fouls on our players in one move, all three could have been bookings, he eventually gave a free kick for the middle one but then clearly lost track of who fouled then spent about a minute talking to one of theirs then did nothing 

[JHRover]

I'll criticise and hurl abuse at these officials all day long but it irks a little bit to see Rovers moaning about it. 

We've played Northampton recently just before Xmas and their approach was very similar to yesterday. We knew from recent experience what we were coming up against but couldn't overcome it. 

We also know that we cannot rely on the officials for anything and need to overcome their ineptitude rather than use it as an excuse. It wasn't the referees fault we conceded, yet again, and fell behind to a poor side. If we'd have been 1-0 up we wouldn't have been moaning about him allowing us to run the clock down.

Presumably Shrewsbury and Wigan have the same referees for their games?

[Garage Flower]

Attacking players need to sharpen up. Plenty of good balls went into the box I counted 5 from Bell who I thought looked fantastic. We created enough to win yesterday the lads weren’t getting on the end of them. 

Very worried about Mulgrew. Can’t overstate what a big loss that is for us.

I think that was the worst refereeing performance we’ve seen at Ewood this season he was absolutely useless, clearly left his cards at home. 

 

[1864roverite]

Disappointing but there was a time not that long ago where we would have lost that game especially after throwing away so many opportunities to win it!

take the point and move on.

conway and Samuel both very poor games. Bell was a fine debut.

onto Tuesday 12 wins required!