Doncaster Rovers (H) CARABAO CUP RND1 - Sat 29th Aug

[Fraserkirky]

8 minutes ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

Again selective memory when it comes to Rothwell. His through ball to Armstrong in the build up to Breretons open goal miss was great. He also played a lovely driven pass opening up the game to the right winger.

I'd like to see him have a run on the left of the midfield 3. I think our issue may be who plays in the centre of the 3.

This^^ Should be Travis and Rothwell on the outside and probably Evans(or Holtby) until we can find a suitable defensive midfielder, unless the monster Slovak rumors were true. Dack behind Brereton and Armstrong

Edited August 29, 2020 by Fraserkirky

[The Mighty Chaffinch]

At times, Brereton looked our best player today...driving runs, tackling back etc etc...but then he inexplicably misses an open goal when under little pressure. I can’t fathom him. 
 

Bell’s performance epitomised his Ewood career. Regularly receiving balls in promising situations, only to make the wrong decision (penalty aside). I can forgive a few defensive errors if a player provides a genuine threat going forward but he doesn’t. He can’t be our first choice at left back.

Wharton looked solid enough but there will be much bigger tests. He can be the new Paul Downing and play when required but we need a partner for Lenihen and sharpish.

Fisher lacks match experience and it showed on a number of occasions. A full season on loan (actually playing regularly) will hopefully get him right. He’s nowhere near ready yet.

Dolan impressed. His low centre of gravity and tigerish qualities make him a real prospect. He seems to have a decent football brain too. All very early yet but...I can see him having a big impact for us this season. 

Not surprised at all by the way the game unfolded...it’s what Rovers do, especially in early season cup fixtures of late. Entertaining but also worrying in equal measure. Two new CBs and a LB and I’ll sit more comfortably. 

[LDRover]

Not seen any of the game today as I've been playing golf badly. However, although he has his detractors, I can state with confidence that Holtby is the best footballer we currently have at the club and whatever we achieve this season will be in direct correlation to him being utilised correctly.

[BlackburnEnd75]

23 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

This^^ Should be Travis and Rothwell on the outside and probably Evans(or Holtby) until we can find a suitable defensive midfielder, unless the monster Slovak rumors were true. Dack behind Brereton and Armstrong

I'd be really interested to see holtby in that position. I didnt watch the blackpool game but it sounded like it worked in possession and didnt work out of possession. Maybe worth trying in remaining pre season games. 

My worry is that him being not great at the defensive side of that role would be too much of an issue. Although downing got away with it at the end of last season.

[Tugay-is-God]

It's funny that all those that worry about Mowbray coaching flair/ability out  of players, are also the ones that would never credit him for his coaching improving Armstrong/Travis/Nyambe/anyone. 

[Amo]

2 hours ago, unleaded said:

Why give Bell that contract ... another pitfall contract extension from our manager.... he’s not going to improve .. even as a back up he’s not reliable....

Forgot Bell got a new deal. What a joke. 

[LDRover]

6 minutes ago, OnePhilT said:

You're serious? Above Bradley Dack? Give over.

Yep. Dack hasn't got the ability to get us playing or set a tempo, Holtby has. He will take the ball in tight areas, commit his opposite number and get us in the last third where Dack can weave his magic. Without that link Dack will be feeding off knock downs or having to come deep. Trust me Phil, I know my shit.

[tomphil]

21 minutes ago, Tugay-is-God said:

It's funny that all those that worry about Mowbray coaching flair/ability out  of players, are also the ones that would never credit him for his coaching improving Armstrong/Travis/Nyambe/anyone. 

But some of his cheerleaders have now been telling us Nyambe is crap, presumably because they think Mowbray would flog him given a half decent offer.

Can't have it both ways i'm afraid.

[Paul Mani]

17 minutes ago, tomphil said:

But some of his cheerleaders have now been telling us Nyambe is crap, presumably because they think Mowbray would flog him given a half decent offer.

Can't have it both ways i'm afraid.

Haven’t seen any cheerleaders saying Nyambe is crap. But I have seen some sensible people refusing to accept that Nyambe has been unplayable for four years and should’ve already made 200 appearances for the club.

Im sure if Tony had only noticed that he had a young Cafu in the ranks he’d have given him a 10yr contract! ?

Nyambe has great potential. We know this because he can be a 9 or 10/10...the problem is that he can also be a 5/10 too. I’m not losing any sleep on this one. 

[Exiled in Toronto]

23 minutes ago, tomphil said:

But some of his cheerleaders have now been telling us Nyambe is crap, presumably because they think Mowbray would flog him given a half decent offer.

Can't have it both ways i'm afraid.

Or because they simply have an opinion of Nyambe that is not a cypher for their opinion of Mowbray.

[tomphil]

7 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Or because they simply have an opinion of Nyambe that is not a cypher for their opinion of Mowbray.

Debatable

[arbitro]

6 hours ago, oldjamfan1 said:

@arbitro my partner’s cousin is reffing today’s game Tony. Anthony Backhouse, a Carlisle lad. Hope I’m not putting the mockers on him but he normally has a good game whenever I’ve seen him.

He did ok Andy. I thought the Donny penalty was bought by their player who threw himself to the ground when Lenihan yanked his arm. He played some decent advantages and his foul detection was good (penalty aside). I did hear though that he models his game on Clattenburgs though............

[TheRovers1994]

Think people are looking too much into it, it's a weird one competitive game in pre season, not easy but as we know a left back and centre back is needed then we look at a box to box midfielder fir balance as rothwell does not suit the midfield role he's too inconsistent, wharton is deffo a good 3rd choice so we dont need 2 centre halves, dolan quality chapman needs to graft cause he's got till Jan to prove himself otherwise his career at this level is over, attitude and laziness again playing a part, fisher is ok specially considering he's hardly played  for months 

[TimmyJimmy]

Forget Chapman, Dolan is the answer. This guy is going to be massive. We'll look back and think how the Hell did we every have this guy on our books. Preston have dropped a MASSIVE bollock.

[bluebruce]

I'm going to be what I think (without going through all the comments) is a lone voice of disagreement about Dolan. To a degree at least.

My view of him so far after today is the same as it was after I saw whichever friendly it was recently. Yes he's exciting, very young, quick with tidy feet. Good work rate too, and wants to make things happen. But I'm still seeing him run into a few too many blind alleys for now. I feel there's a degree to which the main difference he has to Rothwell other than height (and experience) is that he has just shown up and is only 18. He's still fresh and exciting to us.

I suspect this is going to become more apparent to more fans as the season goes on, and even more, TM is going to want to deal with it by curbing some of his instincts and get him to play more conservatively to keep possession longer as he is fond of (when personally I think he just needs better knowledge of when the run he is picturing isn't feasible and he should either play a pass or go a little wider to pass his man). These are just friendlies and he will be very, very eager to make his mark in them having just shown up after PNE discarded him. I think he might end up in the Rothwell category in a few regards with many, for a while, especially when some of his enthusiasm and TM's free rein allowance subside when the real cut and thrust begins.

That said, he really is exciting, especially coming from such a low profile swoop (which is adding to his wow factor for now) and is very young compared to when Rothwell and even Chapman (second time) arrived. If he starts using his head a little more wisely, and this ability isn't a flash in the pan new recruit effect, we could have a real asset on our hands over the next year or two. For now I think the bench role in competitive games is about right, coming on with the x factor. I suspect if he starts against Bournemouth he will get found out and it could set him back.

I don't expect this to be a popular post given how many have waxed lyrical lol

Edited August 29, 2020 by bluebruce

[oldjamfan1]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

He did ok Andy. I thought the Donny penalty was bought by their player who threw himself to the ground when Lenihan yanked his arm. He played some decent advantages and his foul detection was good (penalty aside). I did hear though that he models his game on Clattenburgs though............

He’s certainly filled out since I last saw him, bloody Norah! Yeah it was a very niggly game today I thought - Donnie were intent on spoiling tactics particularly first half. Alls well that ends well though, and Wharton and Dolan looked promising. We do like to make hard work of things though.

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

Haven’t seen any cheerleaders saying Nyambe is crap. But I have seen some sensible people refusing to accept that Nyambe has been unplayable for four years and should’ve already made 200 appearances for the club.

Im sure if Tony had only noticed that he had a young Cafu in the ranks he’d have given him a 10yr contract! ?

Nyambe has great potential. We know this because he can be a 9 or 10/10...the problem is that he can also be a 5/10 too. I’m not losing any sleep on this one. 

You will be if Benno becomes first choice right back.

[tomphil]

33 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Forget Chapman, Dolan is the answer. This guy is going to be massive. We'll look back and think how the Hell did we every have this guy on our books. Preston have dropped a MASSIVE bollock.

Well we dropped a bollock not grabbing Gallagher back when we had chance and they've crowed about it since so hopefully this will balance it out.

[Mercer]

6 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I wouldnt be reading too much into today game as it still pre season in reality. 2 more games against PL team before our season starts. 

Players are never going to be fully ready for competitive game after 2 pre season and 2 weeks of training. 

Arsenal did pretty well against the Champions after less than a handful of sessions!

[Roverinbelfast]

4 hours ago, OnePhilT said:

I actually thought he looked better than Lenihan today. More steady. I honestly think Lenihan is overrated in a similar way to how Hanley was. He's a tough nut, sure, but he makes some silly decisions. It wasn't a penalty to them today, but touch the player or leave your arm dragging, and you run the risk - not just of the penatly, but a red card also. So he's already racked up his inevitable yellow card in a competitive match, and the league doesn't start for another two weeks! I noticed his over-zealousness when we were on the front foot, in giving away a silly free kick.

Lenihan is good for us at our level, but this talk of a move to the Premier League seems laughable to me. I'm not even convinced that he's promotion level. I think he needs to work on his decision-making. Thing is, he's no longer a spring chicken at 26 years old. I doubt this tiger can change his stripes now.

It was just a bad day at the office for lenihan today. More often than not he is solid and dependable. Certainly the best defender we currently have. Not sure if he is premier league standard, but I'd be confident that he would play in most championship teams. Just have a look at the stats of how we do when he's not available. 

[Paul Mani]

5 hours ago, tomphil said:

You will be if Benno becomes first choice right back.

Please see managers take on Smallwood and Mulgrew as a reference. Bennett has had his day at Rovers now. He’s a utility man who plays when there’s injuries. He isn’t first choice and is out of contract in the summer when he will likely be moved on or offered a year on reduced terms.

As I said, I’m not losing any sleep.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Paul Mani

[Paul Mani]

5 hours ago, Mercer said:

Arsenal did pretty well against the Champions after less than a handful of sessions!

Yeah and the champions, Liverpool lost the charity shield, as they did last season which turned out ok for them...??

[philipl]

The one indisputable fact from yesterday.

The Doncaster Rovers half time team talk was a gazillion times better than Mowbray's.

[matt83]

7 hours ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Forget Chapman, Dolan is the answer. This guy is going to be massive. We'll look back and think how the Hell did we every have this guy on our books. Preston have dropped a MASSIVE bollock.

I was talking to my pne mate about him. Apparently don’t have an academy set up like we do. So when players outgrow the youth set up so to speak they can’t just keep players hanging around. Plus they run a tighter ship in terms of wage bill. So with their youth players unless they are pretty much nailed on for first team football they just release them regardless of potential. On yesterday it does beg the question why was he release but hopefully our gain.

Winning goal at deepdale...

[tomphil]

3 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

Please see managers take on Smallwood and Mulgrew as a reference. Bennett has had his day at Rovers now. He’s a utility man who plays when there’s injuries. He isn’t first choice and is out of contract in the summer when he will likely be moved on or offered a year on reduced terms.

As I said, I’m not losing any sleep.

I'll go off what i see happening on the pitch thank you i gave up with the managers small talk a long time ago.