Cardiff (H) - Saturday 3rd October 2020

[Neal]

Gallagher was poor when he came on, offered nothing different. Bell had a decent game, credit where its due. Ayala was solid and is a wise head back there, I could see him already getting players told. First half we pressed really well, unlucky not to be winning really. Thought Rothwell had a good game again but his shooting is garbage. Johno, solid. All In all, not much to complain about except for Chapman and Gallagher being pretty ineffective. 

[Commondore]

9 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I dunno if you were posting that meme with full awareness of this, but that clip and quote is from the mini series Chernobyl. Let's just say things turn out terrible, not great, not all that long after he says it...

 Hopefully our fate is very different though!

I'm well aware, one of few TV-series I'd call haunting... But I'm leaving it up to interpretation if what plays out after that scene is meant to mirror the rest of our season!

[Exiled in Toronto]

They had done their homework on us I thought. Give Del all the time in the world on the ball, double up on Dolan but not on Nyambe. Equally, we used the press hardly if at all, maybe because they looked likely to play through it. Unlike past seasons, I think we’ll batter the poor teams but struggle to beat the good ones.

Gallagher’s miss epitomised his failings: skied it because he was stretching, stretching because he was late, late because he doesn’t anticipate and gamble, he reacts. Dack would’ve tapped that in staying on his feet.

The ongoing Nyambe love in really does mystify me, he is so poor in the final third. Plus I don’t think he has the speed of thought or guile to combine with Dolan, whereas JRC does.

Rothwell’s shooting has been gash in every game so far. Given he isn’t in the team for his defensive side, he needs to be getting mid-high single figures goals a season, which I can’t see ever happening.

Three clean sheets, defenders who yell at each other, and a solid keeper seems like night and day from the last couple of seasons. Keep that up and we’ll be in and around too 6 all season.

[Herbie6590]

“I thought we were unlucky...” ?

[Rochdale_rover]

Rothwell was really good until he gets near the penalty box . Then its a back pass to the keeper. 

 

[DeeCee]

Clean sheet is good, tactics not so good, Tony doesn't seem to be able to leave Gally out, he's the new EB.

[tonygreenbank]

31 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Really poor performance, seemingly as soon as we came up against a well organised outfit we didn't have a clue how to break them down.

The stand out performers in recent weeks Dolan, Holtby, Brereton and Rothwell didn't get going and I thought Armstrong was poor again, in a game that scrappy you have to take your odd chances when they come.

Most worrying for the future was the fact that Mowbray seemingly couldn't wait to withdraw Brereton and Dolan and reintroduce the useless Gallagher back into the fray.  A bit of a wake up call after the last 2 games.

I think it’s unfair to call it a “poor performance”, Rev. I thought we played some good stuff at times against a very competitive Cardiff side. A draw was the least we deserved and I still have high hopes for the season ahead. I think in Kaminski and Ayala we have a lot of experience at the back to allow our talented youngsters to showcase their skills.

[K-Hod]

Poor game tbh. We always struggle with teams that are tough to break down and Cardiff represented a similar test. 
Frustrating, but it happens. Need to try and learn from it and do better next time. 
We also really need to stop playing Gallagher out wide. It has never worked and will never work. The end.

[Tormund]

People are going to say this is poor after two big wins, only normal with expectations rising. To be fair this is the championship and we’ll have frustrating games like this more than once this season. It’s a point, we didn’t get hammered. I agree on the Gallagher points though, don’t think he’s quite got it unfortunately. 

[roversfan99]

To be fair, I dont think it is necessarily about the expectations after 2 thrashings. We often have a problem breaking down teams with one less man, or when the onus is on us.

[garnersfags]

Very happy that our stellar goal difference means that we'll go into the next round of games in 6th place. 

This is the pivotal opportunity for TM to recognise what does or doesn't work after an experimental 5 games. 

If he does, we march on, but suppose that can be said of every manager. 

Good times, tho... 

[HowieFive0]

Just now, roversfan99 said:

To be fair, I dont think it is necessarily about the expectations after 2 thrashings. We often have a problem breaking down teams with one less man, or when the onus is on us.

And so do many teams  .this isnt a Rovers trait ...

[Atko's Engine]

1 hour ago, West Yorks Rover said:

Poor today, 5 points off the top 2 already and only 4 games gone.

Very disappointing after the good start we've had.

You're a glass half full guy, right?

[The Mighty Chaffinch]

I thought Cardiff were successful in nullifying our style, often illegally but one thing stood out again for me: literally every time Nyambe got into an attacking position the move broke down. He managed to win one corner from his numerous attacking escapades. Yes, his main role is to defend and he did that well today (likewise Bell) but he MUST improve his final ball and ability to go round a man on the outside. As soon as he gets the ball in an advanced position I give up. There is no end product. From memory I can remember one of the 5 goals we scored at Hillsborough being down to a Nyambe surge but I’m hard pressed to think of another. If we are going to play without two natural wingers then our full backs have to offer more going forward...or at least one of them has to. Having said that, I’m quite happy with a clean sheet, three games unbeaten and looking quite solid. Johnson has clearly found his mojo and long may it continue. 

[roversfan99]

Just now, HowieFive0 said:

And so do many teams  .this isnt a Rovers trait ...

Ultimately, despite the cliche/myth that is is harder to play against 10 men, it obviously isnt.

Undoubtedly there are challenges that come with it and I am not saying that if it happens, a win is guaranteed, but our record is particularly poor against 10 men, and also at getting late winners, there was a stat at some point showing a series of games in which we had failed to win despite a numerical advantage.

I believe that Rovers in particular are poor at capitalising, we had 25 minutes to get a winner, I knew before that we probably wouldnt and indeed, everything was slow and ponderous and we lacked the craft to look like scoring.

There were 2 points there for a top 6 quality team at home v 10 men, as it was we ended up with a disappointing solitary point.

[joey_big_nose]

On the positive side we dealt with Cardiff's direct style really well. They hardly threatened us an early shot from Hoilett aside. We also played some nice stuff.

On the negative side we struggled as they sat back. Even when we had six attacking players on and they were down to 10 men we rarely found a killer pass, and when we did we couldn't finish. Not having any real finishing quality outside of Armstrong is a problem. I wonder if Connor McBride may get a Dolan like stab at the first team at some point.

Overall decent performance and result against a side that could have been tricky for us.

Edited October 3, 2020 by joey_big_nose

[Mike E]

That game proved to me that we're only missing a defence-splitter like Dack from being genuine playoff contenders this year.

[garnersfags]

Interesting comments about Nyambe. I honestly rate him as a decent defender, but if he's not performing to his usual levels, I think it is because Mowbray hasn't backed him and played him every game as he has always performed when he has had a decent run of games. 

I think he has got the ability to create chances in the final third, as he has shown over the last 2 seasons. 

I would play play him every week, and watch him blossom. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by garnersfags

[HowieFive0]

 

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Posted just now

  Just now, HowieFive0 said:

And so do many teams  .this isnt a Rovers trait ...

Ultimately, despite the cliche/myth that is is harder to play against 10 men, it obviously isnt.

Undoubtedly there are challenges that come with it and I am not saying that if it happens, a win is guaranteed, but our record is particularly poor against 10 men, and also at getting late winners, there was a stat at some point showing a series of games in which we had failed to win despite a numerical advantage.

I believe that Rovers in particular are poor at capitalising, we had 25 minutes to get a winner, I knew before that we probably wouldnt and indeed, everything was slow and ponderous and we lacked the craft to look like scoring.

There were 2 points there for a top 6 quality team at home v 10 men, as it was we ended up with a disappointing solitary point.

 

 

How you can put that up as a "Rovers thing"?

We ve different line ups ..different scenarios  in a match ..? 

All on the day ..just like every other game you see on TV involving a ten man side. Some  get done some dont. Lottery.

 

Edited October 3, 2020 by HowieFive0

[Atko's Engine]

I accept today was a bit disappointing, but that's not necessarily a bad thing & it helps keep everyone grounded after the previous 2 results. There are certainly positives to take from today, albeit mostly defensively; Kaminski, Ayala & Bell were pretty much faultless I thought.

Reading & Bristol City are flying now, but I bet they're not come Christmas.

The key question is, would we have taken 6th place / 7 points / GD +8 at the start of the season? Of course we would, all of us, so let's not overreact to today's minor setback.

[roversfan99]

Just now, HowieFive0 said:

 

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Posted just now

  Just now, HowieFive0 said:

And so do many teams  .this isnt a Rovers trait ...

Ultimately, despite the cliche/myth that is is harder to play against 10 men, it obviously isnt.

Undoubtedly there are challenges that come with it and I am not saying that if it happens, a win is guaranteed, but our record is particularly poor against 10 men, and also at getting late winners, there was a stat at some point showing a series of games in which we had failed to win despite a numerical advantage.

I believe that Rovers in particular are poor at capitalising, we had 25 minutes to get a winner, I knew before that we probably wouldnt and indeed, everything was slow and ponderous and we lacked the craft to look like scoring.

There were 2 points there for a top 6 quality team at home v 10 men, as it was we ended up with a disappointing solitary point.

 

 

How you can put that up as a "Rovers thing"?

We ve different line ups ..different scenarios  in a match ..? 

All on the day ..just like every other game you see on TV involving a ten man side. Some  get done some dont. Lottery.

 

Because over Mowbrays time, we have struggled to break down teams with no attacking intention, as I said, when teams have gone down to 10 men, we have still struggled to go on and win.

We were too slow, there was a lack of urgency and a lack of craft today.

Not only is it against teams with 10 men, but we have had similar problems v poor teams too.

Its not a lottery, I feel like it is a weakness of ours.

On the flip side, we are more dangerous than most teams in the League in terms of blitzing teams and getting goals early in the goal.

[Preben]

We've thrashed two very poor teams, something we previously haven't done often.

We've played two decent teams and have a return of just one point.

The most worrying aspect for me was Gallagher playing wide, or playing at all.

[HowieFive0]

Just now, roversfan99 said:

Because over Mowbrays time, we have struggled to break down teams with no attacking intention, as I said, when teams have gone down to 10 men, we have still struggled to go on and win.

We were too slow, there was a lack of urgency and a lack of craft today.

Not only is it against teams with 10 men, but we have had similar problems v poor teams too.

Its not a lottery, I feel like it is a weakness of ours.

On the flip side, we are more dangerous than most teams in the League in terms of blitzing teams and getting goals early in the goal.

But not statistical ..

[roversfan99]

Just now, Preben said:

We've thrashed two very poor teams, something we previously haven't done often.

We've played two decent teams and have a return of just one point.

The most worrying aspect for me was Gallagher playing wide, or playing at all.

Our record against the top teams was actually worse than that against the lower teams to be fair. The notion that its typical Rovers to beat top of the league then lose to bottom of the league is again a mythical one to an extent.

We seem to excel mostly against the teams around the middle of the league.

Just now, HowieFive0 said:

But not statistical ..

I think the lack of points won at the end of games is low since our promotion and also the record of winning games are statistical.

I cant seem to find the article in which Rich Sharpe gave the examples so youll have to write that off as an opinion, as is my reasoning as to why today we didnt score, a lack of urgency, craft and tempo in our play.

[simongarnerisgod]

put your big donkey centre forward up front and hit it long to him if other things ar`nt working out,it`s called mixing the play up,what does tony do,he puts our donkey on the wing,sometimes i really wonder what the **** he`s doing,this centre forward as winger **** will never work,has never worked and furthermore has not got a chance of working,other than that at least we did`nt lose,last season we`de have found a way of getting beat,so i suppose we are improving