ROVERS V Wigan

[Don Said]

3 goals, clean sheet, 3 points, job done.

Good debut for Magloire really pleased for the lad. Couple of stellar DG moments. But Nyambe was motm, quality performance.

 

[Pedro]

25 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

They barely had a shot 

They had three really dangerous headers where the attacker was badly marked. I think one hit the post

[rigger]

I thought the best bit of luck for the Rovers was Bell getting injured, personally I hope it's nothing trivial. Our keeper gets the ball and he isn't even looking at what is happening. Disgraceful from a pub player never mind a professional.

[had.e.nuff]

good debut for Magloire I was impressed with the way he talked all the way through the game he seemed to be organising the back four, glad we kept a clean sheet.

[Sparks Rover]

Just now, rigger said:

I thought the best bit of luck for the Rovers was Bell getting injured, personally I hope it's nothing trivial. Our keeper gets the ball and he isn't even looking at what is happening. Disgraceful from a pub player never mind a professional.

Yeah we could have Del there instead.  Jesus!

[bigbrandjohn]

Strange that Nyambe had been left out in the cold for such a long period. Glad he is back in the groove. 

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Ewood Ace said:

Terrible first half but a much better second although it must be said Wigan were a very poor side. I actually thought that we played better when Graham went off as we got the ball down and played which brought Dack more into the game.

Magloire looked very composed on debut (you have to wonder why he hasn't been used sooner), Nyambe was solid as well, even Williams did ok although he does struggle when he is pulled out of position, but Wigan only did it a couple times. I thought that Conway and Bennett in the wide roles were poor defensively and ineffective going forward.

Reed I thought was fantastic in his best position, (a shame that he has been so criminally under used in it) man of the match tonight for me. Travis got better as the game went on, as did Dack. It is no surprise that Dack looks a better player when Rothwell is on the pitch as not only is he on Dack's wave length but he also gives defenders another creative player to worry about which frees up space for Dack. I'm not sure what more Rothwell has to do for Mowbray to give him a start. 

Armstrong was disappointing as he has been for most the season bar the month of January. Graham stepped up when needed, a very good penalty and a lovely taken second goal. What Nuttall may lack in quality he makes up for in effort and made a constant nuisance of himself for their back line.

All in all a much needed 3 points that must surely all but secure our Championship status for next season. Now let's hope we can kick on and have a good finish to build on for next season. Although there will be much sterner challenges to come than that posed by Wigan tonight.

Great post. It shows how badly the senior players have been performing when a young lad comes in for his debut and we keep a clean sheet for the first time in forever.

We got the rub of the green tonight with all three goals, which maybe we deserved after the Preston game but Sheff Wed. will provide a much clearer idea of where we're at as Bruce seems to have sorted them defensively.

Unusually for him TM made some bold changes, handing Magloire his debut and dropping Evans and Smallwood and putting Reed and Travis where they should be in CM and it paid dividends. The way forward for me would be to allow Magloire to keep his place until results or fatigue dictate otherwise and I'd like to see us start on Saturday with Reed and Travis in CM and the attacking personnel that finished the game so fluently. That may be a possibility as  Graham was feeling the back of his hamstring on 55 mins and went off 5 mins later.

[rigger]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

Yeah we could have Del there instead.  Jesus!

I wish we did have Jesus there he might cut out the crosses

[Neal]

2 hours ago, Stuart said:

Rothwell.

Best player on the pitch.

Again.

Please don't... 

[Neal]

19 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Good to get the points but seriously Cook needs sacking. Worst team I've seen this season and nobody should get carried away here.  

They were the worst team I've seen for some time... Absolute toilet. Trying to play out from the back without the quality to do it is a dangerous game. If they had any sense they'd be on the blower to Rowett tomorrow. 

[Butty]

Rothwell Rochina? 

[RevidgeBlue]

49 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

It's funny - I thought he did ok. Did some things really well - but constantly beaten in  the air and bullied a bit at times.

I think that's ridiculously harsh on Magloire. You talk as if  the senior players never make any mistakes. In general people tend to scrutinise young players' performance to the nth degree when senior players are making far more basic mistakes again and again week in week out and dont receive the same level of criticism.

As for Magloire specifically tonight I thought he did really well on an exceptionally difficult night due to the wind. He only made minor mistakes and when he did he looked like he had the speed to recover. He also put his body on the line where necessary which we haven't seen too much of recently.

I thought he performed far better than Mulgrew and Williams in that position recently and maybe even Lenihan and Rodwell.

Can he do it again or on a consistent basis? Who knows? But he deserves the chance to show us imo.

[bigbrandjohn]

And to think we were runners up to Wigan last term. We kicked on. They did not. 

[rossyrover]

Rovers had the luck tonight that deserted them on saturday were Danny Grahams goal should have stood, Wigan gave us all 3 goals with terrible defensive errors but safety from the dreaded drop moves comfortably away. 

 

[Mike E]

I think a clean sheet on Magloire’s debut not only shows he is at least able at this level, it emphasises the importance of playing centre backs at centre back.

I reckon that Lenihan can now also be called a centre back, he’s played there long enough for us and has a scrappiness to him that I like.

Mulgrew isn’t a centre back at this level, and Rodwell is passable when alongside a runner like Lenihan. But I honestly believe we need to be investing in 2 centre backs capable of starting, with back up coming from Lenihan, Rodwell and the u23s. As noted in the transfer window thread, Hanley and Bauer would set us up nicely.

Any other positions, we have decent quality but need to start upgrading.

[old darwen blue]

1 hour ago, had.e.nuff said:

good debut for Magloire I was impressed with the way he talked all the way through the game he seemed to be organising the back four, glad we kept a clean sheet.

Fully agree pal. Some other posters have made reference to him missing a few headers but to be fair it was bloody windy down Ewood tonight. Raya did a kick at one point which seemed to go straight up in the air and didn’t reach the halfway line!

[Tugay's Right Foot]

Happy with the result..happy for Tyler for his debut. we now have two U23 captains in our team, aint it? Travis and Tyler. They seem not afraid to organise and be verbal, and me thinks that's a good thing at the moment for the team.

[Tugay's Right Foot]

4 hours ago, Butty said:

Now we can safely say we are staying up and we aren’t going up either, I’d like too see Rothwell get a good run in the team from now till the end of the season, Brereton and Chapman too... Raya Nyambe Travis and Magloire all products of our academy, don’t think too many other championship sides will be starting four academy graduates in there teams. The future could be bright for us, we certainly have a lot of potential in our team let’s just hope the lads fulfill it. 

Do not forget Lenihan, Butty?

[@roverseas]

Rovers back to their best tonight, and finally a little score settled with Cook and Co. Not many managers out there that irk me more than he does. Dack could have a bundle and shame for DG for having to be removed in 2^nd half as he was bound to find a treble, however injuries have to be managed. Job done for Rovers, move on to the next one. Thoughts from Gaffa and more. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2019 by @roverseas

[Tom Stinny]

8 hours ago, neophox said:

Great win and Nice for Tyler! We should try and get Powell in next season playing with Dack?

Might be a delusion of grandeur from me but I genuinely think Rothwell can be a better player than him.

[Tom Stinny]

7 hours ago, Mercer said:

Didn't think Travis and Reed made the most of their opportunity and I was a bit disappointed with both.  I felt that for most of the match they played too deep. 

Odd how people can see a game differently. I thought there was a few occasions where they were to far up the pitch at the same time.

 

A few Wigan attacks I was wondering where the midfield was as they walked through the middle with the ball. Luckily they wouldn't have scored if we played all night.

[JacknOry]

TM has done this a few times before in the past, answering the supporters calls to actually setup the team to go at the oppo - and it usually works. Just wish he did it more often rather than just as a throw of the dice to get us out of a bad run. I had absolutely no complaints with that lineup considering the players we had available.

Reed and Travis finally in CM together like many of us have been calling for. Two up top with Dack behind as well. Could this 3-5-2 finally be a formation that could work for us? If it is, we need to get BB alongside DG for some games as we really need to start seeing some return on that investment now and he might just suit being in a front two.

Was it bravery selecting Magloire or little other choice? Either way, sink or swim and the lad definitely swam. To be a young lad making your debut at the best of times can be a nervy and tough affair but this lad did it in our worst run of results in quite some time and in a position where mistakes are often punished. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, got in Garners face, was very vocal on the pitch and showed that he was big, strong, fast and athletic. He can be very proud of himself for his performance.

So, this means we're safe from relegation - no chance we're going down now. I would be using the remaining games to blood Magloire in more to see if he can develop and potentially be one less CB that we will need to purchase in the summer. I would also keep working on this formation for the remainder of the season and go at teams more - nothing to lose now. 

[Stuart]

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Thought 3 nil was a very flattering but welcome scoreline against a horrendous Wigan side.

Dack deserved his goal, for 80 minutes he was so obviously out of form but he kept plugging away and that lucky goal may be just the ticket for a hot spell.

Graham again is superb with such poor service to him, first half we were shite but he took his 2 goals very well and we have to pray hes not injured.

Magloire did well enough at a level far above his station at the moment, one superb recovery tackle and one or 2 blocks, says alot for our organisation and/or their lack of quality meant he was barely involved but looked a bit flimsy especially in the air. Felt Williams and especially Nyambe also did a decent job in unfamiliar positions. They should have taken advantage of a back 5 as bad on paper as I can remember but fair play, collectively, cant grumble at all.

Reed and in particular Travis were poor first half but were much more on the front foot in the second and ran the game through a high press.

Rothwell is like a dog chasing a ball in whatever direction it goes and it can be risky to dribble in the wrong areas but hes undoubtedly a threat and perhaps deserves a chance over Armstrong on Saturday who was really poor. Nuttall I felt was very disappointing and if he is higher in the pecking order than Brereton then we need to worry.

You and I must have been watching a different game.

[Pedro]

8 hours ago, CD_93 said:

Magloire making the absolute most of that debut. Lovely stuff.

Would still like to see Rothwell start. Terrific when he's out there. So positive.

I really enjoy watching Rothwell. Massive potential that we'll regret if we don't give him a run of games.

[Tom Stinny]

33 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

TM has done this a few times before in the past, answering the supporters calls to actually setup the team to go at the oppo - and it usually works. Just wish he did it more often rather than just as a throw of the dice to get us out of a bad run. I had absolutely no complaints with that lineup considering the players we had available.

Reed and Travis finally in CM together like many of us have been calling for. Two up top with Dack behind as well. Could this 3-5-2 finally be a formation that could work for us? If it is, we need to get BB alongside DG for some games as we really need to start seeing some return on that investment now and he might just suit being in a front two.

Was it bravery selecting Magloire or little other choice? Either way, sink or swim and the lad definitely swam. To be a young lad making your debut at the best of times can be a nervy and tough affair but this lad did it in our worst run of results in quite some time and in a position where mistakes are often punished. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, got in Garners face, was very vocal on the pitch and showed that he was big, strong, fast and athletic. He can be very proud of himself for his performance.

So, this means we're safe from relegation - no chance we're going down now. I would be using the remaining games to blood Magloire in more to see if he can develop and potentially be one less CB that we will need to purchase in the summer. I would also keep working on this formation for the remainder of the season and go at teams more - nothing to lose now. 

Would add players like Buckley and Butterworth to that list as well.