Home V Fulham 08/02/2020

[Bigdoggsteel]

Huge month coming up. We are a bit up against it with injuries in attacking areas, hopefully we see Holtby and Rothwell sooner rather than later. I reckon we will do well to see Holtby for this game though.       

I do feel if we can keep the defence together, we have a chance of grinding things out. Have a feeling this will be another draw (queue irrational meltdowns!) , will go 1-1

A win though and we are 5 points off Fulham. I think most would be consider them to be having a good season and up there as one of the favourites for promotion. 

                Walton

Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Bell 

          Travis Johnson

JRC                            Downing 

       Gallagher Armstrong 

4-4-2 

[roversfan99]

19 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Huge month coming up. We are a bit up against it with injuries in attacking areas, hopefully we see Holtby and Rothwell sooner rather than later. I reckon we will do well to see Holtby for this game though.       

I do feel if we can keep the defence together, we have a chance of grinding things out. Have a feeling this will be another draw (queue irrational meltdowns!) , will go 1-1

A win though and we are 5 points off Fulham. I think most would be consider them to be having a good season and up there as one of the favourites for promotion. 

                Walton

Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Bell 

          Travis Johnson

JRC                            Downing 

       Gallagher Armstrong 

4-4-2 

Wouldnt be far off that team with our limited options. Would play Graham though over the ineffective Gallagher. Be tempted to get Chapman in as theres no pace aside from Armstrong.

Suspect that Bennett will play as the 10 for Holtby and we will be otherwise unchanged though.

I think it will be a struggle.

Edited February 3, 2020 by roversfan99

[tomphil]

Keep the team as settled as possible, introduce JRC slowly and give Graham a start if need be.

Rovers  2   Fulham   2  

11,787

[Bigdoggsteel]

11 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Wouldnt be far off that team with our limited options. Would play Graham though over the ineffective Gallagher. Be tempted to get Chapman in as theres no pace aside from Armstrong.

Suspect that Bennett will play as the 10 for Holtby and we will be otherwise unchanged though.

I think it will be a struggle.

I can see the case for Graham, but his legs do look to be gone. Gallagher would put himself about up there, although granted I know who I would prefer to see a chance fall to in the box. 

It could be Bennett alright, I mean our 3 other potential starers there are injured. We really are running out of options. 

Ya, it will be alright . Fulham are a decent side.  A huge collection of talent for this level. 

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Bigdoggsteel

[Admiral Nelsen]

The Holtby injury seems to force our hand a little bit. Either stick with playing the same way but relying more on youngsters, or switch tactic to playing two up top.

Fulham's defence has had plenty of off days this season, so I'd be tempted to change things and bring Graham back in. We're not going to out-pass Fulham, so having his know-how and ability to give us a platform could be vital. 

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

Can't see us winning this one, they've just spent £15m on oneplayer if nothing else, how are we supposed to compete?

1-3. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Any word on Holtbys injury? 

[JacknOry]

Holtby injured now as well? Blimey, two years in a row we get an injury directly after the Jan window when we didn't strengthen. Can JRC play no 10? 

[philipl]

If we have play-off ambitions, this is certainly a must not lose and is getting close to a must win.

On paper, Fulham much the stronger team but can Scotty Parker make more mistakes than Tony Mowbray on the day?

[Bigdoggsteel]

22 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Holtby injured now as well? Blimey, two years in a row we get an injury directly after the Jan window when we didn't strengthen. Can JRC play no 10? 

He got injured against Boro and was taken off on 37 min. 1-4 weeks it sounds like. Hopefully 1! 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Bigdoggsteel

[1864roverite]

0-3 Fulham on a roll and have players like Cairney who will roll our midfield time after time.

[G Somerset Rover]

51 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

He got injured against Boro and was taken off on 37 min. 1-4 weeks it sounds like. Hopefully 1! 

People have been sending him well wishes on Instagram, so I'm thinking at least 4.

[Bigdoggsteel]

11 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

0-3 Fulham on a roll and have players like Cairney who will roll our midfield time after time.

They drew away to Charlton a week ago 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

People have been sending him well wishes on Instagram, so I'm thinking at least 4.

Saw that.....

Very , very unfortunate that Dack, Rothwell and now Holtby got injured. We can critisize the lack of signings in Jan for sure, but that is just crazy bad luck. 

[only2garners]

On a roll? Their last 10 games have been won 4, drawn 2 and last 4. That includes away draws at Luton and Charlton and 1-0 wins against Boro and Stoke, and they nearly threw away a 3-0 lead on Saturday.

[JacknOry]

I have a sneaky feeling we might nick this one. We are fast starters and seem to be a 'little' better at game management. Actually, thats a little harsh, I think that is one area where we have come on leaps and bounds from last season. i would not be disappointed with a draw though. 

Plus, we always seem to do a bit better against the teams that come at us. 

Edited February 3, 2020 by JacknOry

[AspRover]

This is going to be a tough one tbf, Fulham aren't in unplayable form but they have picked up 52 points and strengthened in Jan, whereas we're pretty much guaranteed to play with an unfamiliar lineup as the first, second and third choice picks for the position that out whole formation is built around are out.

I'd like to see a lineup that looks something like

Walton

Nyambe Tosin Lenihan Bell

 Davenport Travis Downing

Chapman Armstrong 

Graham

 

With the idea being that Downing drops a bit deeper to help Bell out and ping passes forward, so that you're playing for Graham to hold the ball up with  Chapman and Armstrong running off him and a defensive three of Travis Davenport and Downing to try any prevent Fulham playing on the break. Not sure about Davenport, he's looked decent for the u23s, we may have better options. Would probably get hammered mind.

In reality I'll guess a starting line up of

Walton

Nyambe Tosin Lenihan Bell

Travis Johnson

Gallagher Bennet Downing

Armstrong

and a pasting through the middle of the park.

[Leonard Venkhater]

56 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Saw that.....

Very , very unfortunate that Dack, Rothwell and now Holtby got injured. We can critisize the lack of signings in Jan for sure, but that is just crazy bad luck. 

Hmmm "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

Tell me you didn't see this coming!

[Gone to seed]

Going to go pessimistic on this one (as it seems to correlate with a decent performance).. 1-2 Fulham after we race into a 1-0 lead within 12 minutes. End of game stats: Possession 31% / 69%; shots on target 1 / 9; shots 3 / 17; percentage of pissed off supporters 83% / 12%; after-match platitudes & cliches from manager 47 / 2; chances of playoffs or better 11% / nailed on...

[OldEwoodBlue]

After a very poor result at weekend, dropping points against a very poor side, this is an absolute MUST WIN game.

If we lose, the play offs slip almost out of sight.

[only2garners]

20 minutes ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

After a very poor result at weekend, dropping points against a very poor side, this is an absolute MUST WIN game.

If we lose, the play offs slip almost out of sight.

Boro’s last 10 games - won 5, drawn 2 lost 3.

[OldEwoodBlue]

3 minutes ago, only2garners said:

Boro’s last 10 games - won 5, drawn 2 lost 3.

1.7 points per match... 

We now need 2 ppm to have any chance.

That means we can't underperform and drop points against bad sides.

 

Lest we forget the ONLY target this season is top 6.

[Gone to seed]

Just now, OldEwoodBlue said:

1.7 points per match... 

We now need 2 ppm to have any chance.

That means we can't underperform and drop points against bad sides.

 

Lest we forget the ONLY target this season is top 6.

Please can someone tell the manager

[OldEwoodBlue]

Just now, WIR Second Coming said:

Please can someone tell the manager

The manager rewrites his own targets based on actuals and has no fear of accountability.

However we remember the only target is top 6 and failure means failure.

Failure should mean the sack at a normal club.

Knowing he is immune from such accountability he has said he will walk.

Let's see.

[only2garners]

19 minutes ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

1.7 points per match... 

We now need 2 ppm to have any chance.

That means we can't underperform and drop points against bad sides.

 

Lest we forget the ONLY target this season is top 6.

What’s this got to do with Rovers’ future form? 
 I was pointing out that Boro have not been a very poor side recently. In fact their form over the last two months is better than Fulham’s.