Millwall

[davulsukur]

1 minute ago, RevidgeBlue said:

In my opinion the formation of Evans and Smallwood in midfield combined with Graham on his own up top is way too negative at home, TM needs to be a lot braver going forward as we need to pick up as many points as we can at home.

Maybe this is why we were linked with the lad from the MLS?

[Bigdoggsteel]

I bet if Millwall scored one of those ones that hit the post today, we would have come out and probably bet them 2-1. There is something about our team, where we aren't ruthless at times. I like that Travis brings a bit of bite, but Dack wasn't at his snappy best and Smallwood, well I think we know his level now. 

[benhben]

Reading these reports it's clear we need a good option to Graham. Likewise a winger with pace that likes to run. 

For this at the game how did Palmer play? What type of player is he? 

Did Bell get forward more than Williams?

[Tugay's Right Foot]

5 minutes ago, benhben said:

Reading these reports it's clear we need a good option to Graham. Likewise a winger with pace that likes to run. 

For this at the game how did Palmer play? What type of player is he? 

Did Bell get forward more than Williams?

Palmer struck me as a flair player. Abit of show boating at times, step overs. But he is still fitting in and bumped into dacky a few times.

yes, Bell did go forward quite a bit. Ditto nyambe

[Cherry Blue]

Started nervously but for a good half hour in second half we played better football.  I like Rothwell, brilliant controlled run and shot would have gone in on another day. Shame Graham didn't see Dack with an open goal begging. Agree, Smallwood not at this level.

[benhben]

Is Davenport injured? Travis surely should be pushing for a start

[Tugay's Right Foot]

Sutton tweeted that McGinn had two assists. 

[Paul Mani]

Apart from the first 25 mins I thought we grew into the game and played well.

DG was unlucky and could’ve had two or three on another day.

Defence looked comfortable overall. That was Bells best perf fore us imo.

Smallwood not good enough.

Bennett and Palmer fantastic. Palmer very comfortable on the ball. Quick and potentially excellent. Rothwell was very promising too.

Need another option up front. 

Mid play Bennett CM in front of Smallwood.

We’re a decent team. We’ll be fine.

 

 

[tomphil]

22 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I bet if Millwall scored one of those ones that hit the post today, we would have come out and probably bet them 2-1. There is something about our team, where we aren't ruthless at times. I like that Travis brings a bit of bite, but Dack wasn't at his snappy best and Smallwood, well I think we know his level now. 

Spot on.  All to often TM has the cautious approach when stepping on the gas a bit earlier suits our lot better in an attacking sense but you always get a good response when we concede, they suddenly become fearless.

[Blueandwhitemike]

Hard to say but I think a draw was probably a fair result.  The Morrison shot that hit the inside of the post looked bound to go in from where we were stood. A poor first half but second was very different.  I’d be disappointed to see Williams come back in for Bell as he did pretty well.  Dack’s first half free kick was met by a great save, Rothwell had a great shot.  I think people are being a touch harsh on Graham as he did well to get to the ball and hold off the defenders for his two chances, first one he realized just too late that he should have passed to Dack, Millwall keeper did well too, though obviously would have expected DG to put at least one of them away.  It’s easy to overreact but Millwall did also play in the game and did so well in the first half.  Palmer looked good but not much end product yet, he also started to get more and more out of position and stopped defending so that’s why TM took him off.  Midfield needs someone who can pass, the manager knows this I think so hopefully the loanee we get is a good one, a real shame we didn’t go for McGinn earlier, sounds perfect.

I wouldn’t worry too much at this stage, we were pretty good first game and showed in patches we can play today.  We will get at least another couple of players, hopefully ones that will go straight into the team.  Ind My think anyone was particularly bad today though.

[islander200]

16 minutes ago, benhben said:

Is Davenport injured? Travis surely should be pushing for a start

Yeah some hip injury I think, don't think it's too serious 

[garnersfags]

30 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Well, we've drawn our first two games, but last season we lost our first two, so in a way it's progress! Especially in a tougher league.

I think it's time to drop Smallwood, and Bell should retain his spot. Arma didn't do much today, but I'd rather have him where Benno was, and Bennett in place of Smallwood.

Agree more or less completely with those 2 paras.

Need more options at home than 2 defensive midfielders who offer little threat going forward. This tactic will produce many home draws. 

Bennett will offer some attacking threat both shooting and passing. It's a no brainer, but only a progressive, attacking outlook will deliver this selection/formation. If anyone doubts Bennett's ability to track back, I don't agree. He only has to match Evans or Smallwood.

Our 1st 11 will see us comfortably in mid table but only if the formationand tactics are right 8 times out of 10.

Not sure I'm confident this will happen...

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

A game of two halves if ever there was one but like so many games last season why do we not look up for it from the start?...against better opposition we could have been down and out by half time.Second half much better from Rovers but just didn't have the overall nous to crack Millwall.

I have an awful feeling some of these players who Mowbray has stayed loyal too are going to get found out badly at this level.

A few more pointers:

· Anyone else think Dack and Graham look top heavy..watch the Pies lads!

· Like the look of Palmer,appeared a Class above anything on the Pitch..ain't at Chelsea for nothing folks.

· The Darwen End looked ridiculous with just 800 away fans in...still believe the decision to close it to Rovers fans was done on Police advise.Barely any increase in Home attendance numbers and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

· Going to take time to adjust to this level again,no wins against two unfancied run of the Mill sides in this Division...would take mid table finish now!

 

 

Edited August 11, 2018 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[Pedro]

After a sluggish start where we looked scared of their bigger players, I was really pleased with Rovers today. For the majority of the match we were in control, the better side and the new lads look exciting. Graham was unlucky, after winning his wrestling matches he found himself shut down by the keeper both times. Lots of positives, not many negatives. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Good reading the balanced views here about the game. I was very disappointed not to win and probably over reacted a bit. A solid but unspectacular start. I still see us closer to the play offs than the relegation spots. 

 

Edited August 11, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[islander200]

4 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

A game of two halves if ever there was one but like so many games last season why do we not look up for it from the start?...against better opposition we could have been down and out by half time.Second half much better from Rovers but just didn't have the overall nous to crack Millwall.

I have an awful feeling some of these players who Mowbray has stayed loyal too are going to get found out badly at this level.

A few more pointers:

· Anyone else think Dack and Graham look top heavy..watch the Pies lads!

· Like the look of Palmer,appeared a Class above anything on the Pitch..ain't at Chelsea for nothing folks.

· The Darwen End looked ridiculous with just 800 away fans in...still believe the decision to close it to Rovers fans was done on Police advise.Barely any increase in Home attendance numbers and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

· Going to take time to adjust to this level again,no wins against two unfancied run of the Mill sides in this Division...would take mid table finish now!

 

 

I think you are doing Millwall a disservice by calling them a run of a mill side.

Yes they ain't the most glamorous of sides but they finished 8th last season and had an excellent away record. They also were unlucky not to be at Boro last weekend who will be up near the top this season.

Agree with you about the start of the match but second half we looked in control and on another day Graham would have put 1 of those away. 

Should go to Hull looking to win,TM will hopefully be positive and not too cautious with us playing away

[AdamRochina]

wigan ended up losing and bolton drawing after i hyped them up lol

[Mattyblue]

3 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

A game of two halves if ever there was one but like so many games last season why do we not look up for it from the start?...against better opposition we could have been down and out by half time.Second half much better from Rovers but just didn't have the overall nous to crack Millwall.

I have an awful feeling some of these players who Mowbray has stayed loyal too are going to get found out badly at this level.

A few more pointers:

· Anyone else think Dack and Graham look top heavy..watch the Pies lads!

· Like the look of Palmer,appeared a Class above anything on the Pitch..ain't at Chelsea for nothing folks.

· The Darwen End looked ridiculous with just 800 away fans in...still believe the decision to close it to Rovers fans was done on Police advise.Barely any increase in Home attendance numbers and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.

· Going to take time to adjust to this level again,no wins against two unfancied run of the Mill sides in this Division...would take mid table finish now!

 

 

12,500 home fans today. 11,000 against Doncaster on the opening day last season.

So if we generally have an extra 1,500 fans turning up on last year, then I suppose that’s ok considering the price hike.

[islander200]

Just now, AdamRochina said:

wigan ended up losing and bolton drawing after i hyped them up lol

You should have learned your lesson after you guaranteed that Shrewsbury will finish ahead of us last season.

It's obviously a frustration we haven't bagged a win yet but I honestly don't see this squad struggling at the bottom end and I do expect us to bring in a couple on loan that will give us more options 

[bazza]

Good point taken from a strong Millwall side. Smallwood is out of his depth intros league. Rothwell looks very good and Palmer, who played on the right wing in the first half and in the middle in the second, also looks good.

We never seem to win headers. And we don't look to try different things like other sides do.

When Rothwell had that shot I had been crying out for 10minutes for someone to try a shot. Thought Bennett might have.

Anyway, good point. Happy with that. 

[Ricky]

40 minutes ago, Tugay's Right Foot said:

Sutton tweeted that McGinn had two assists. 

Mate was at villa park today and said McGinn was awesome. Think we’ve missed out on a good one there.

[tomphil]

Around 14k have forgotten Rovers exist again between the last home game in May and now, that's some going and it isn't all down to price.

Annoying !

[RevidgeBlue]

54 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Maybe this is why we were linked with the lad from the MLS?

I'd say on the evidence of the performances of Palmer and Rothwell today and Bennett last season and with Travis available we already have the personnel at the Club to shake it up a bit in CM. It's just that Evans and Smallwood together is a really dull and lacklustre combination.

I'd still take Smallwood over Evans though. I'm so disappointed with Evans every time he goes out. He looks like he's playing at 50% all the time.

 

[roversfan99]

Poor result and in the main a disappointing performance, need to get that first win to kick start the season.

First half, we were appalling. Lethargic, constant unforced errors, slow, boring to watch and they should have had at least 2.

Second half for 25 minutes we were much better, much more like our usual selves, and should have scored and got the win. Then we ran out of ideas.

Players wise, Raya had no saves of not, the post were his best friend, but his kicking was atrocious.

Back 4 all fine, both centre backs had lapses in terms of when on the ball, but both are more than good enough when fit, we know that.

Bell was an improvement on Williams, should be first choice. Nyambe very cautious when he gets so far but hes progressing well. That back 4, more than happy with.

Smallwood was the worst player on the pitch, needs dropping. Evans similar in the first half, couldnt pick a pass, but much improved second half.

Bennett offered nothing going forward, said beforehand that im not sure he warrants a spot in the front 4, he was guilty more than anyone of a series of aimless crosses that played into their centre backs hands. That said, excellent tenacity, work rate and I think is more at home in the middle, with Evans.

Palmer lost all discipline in terms of positioning, causing the game to get a bit congested, his final ball/output was zilch, his passing awful and took far too many risks. That said, certainly has some skill and flair that we need to harness and I hope he has far better days than today, im sure he will. Not convinced he can play wide but he will have to due to Dack.

Dack was quiet for his standards, and Graham did superbly to out-strength the defender on his first one on one, and somehow outpaced them both times, but has to score at least 1, should have squared the first to Dack. Nothing in the tank after an hour, tried but was a passenger, hence the disappointment of not getting in a striker sooner.

Armstrong looked like he had his feet tied together at first but his pace is something we totally lack elsewhere. He will do well though.

Rothwell was quite impressive travelling with the ball, end product questionable, decent shot, think he has said to Mowbray maybe he should start at Hull, definitely in the cup. Travis a bit sloppy to be honest.

Transfer wise, nothing we didnt know. We need another target man before anything else. We also need a pacy winger, as we dont have one. Centre back we need cover, we also need an upgrade on Smallwood.

[aletheia]

1^st half slow, bereft of ideas, 2^nd best, lucky not to be at least 2 down. We must start better. Millwall reminded me of Wolves last time around –nothing special but strong, organised, quick and competitive. Good enough for us first half.  Having said that, we manage to get probably our first decent cross in just before half-time and hit the woodwork.

Palmer quality – instant control, 2 feet, turn of pace. Really started to get things moving second half when he came inside and started playing with Dack. Agree that Palmer needs to be careful where he does his stuff and how often –got away with a few in positions that could have been costly.

Rothwell, Armstrong look sharp and made effective, energetic (something lacking before) subs. Essentially, we began to knock it around well and dominated for the first half hour of the second half; sadly we didn’t score when we were hot in that period. Game then petered out somewhat.

The 2 chances for Graham. First one should definitely have been squared for a simple pass to intelligent run from Dack who would have tapped into empty net. Second one, keeper smothered him really well. And while we are on their keeper, he collected several of our corners  well and made a great save from excellent long range Rothwell shot.

Game could easily have been 2-2. As it ended, one felt we dropped 2 points. Presumably, clichés will be rolled out, not necessarily unfairly, that 2 draws in a new higher league is ok as we find our feet.

Long hard season ahead looking at the line-up in the first half but somewhat encouraged by the second half.