Watford v Rovers Wed 21st Oct 7.45pm

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

3 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

We are closer to the bottom than top.  We let goals in for fun.  No way are we gong to push for promotion as it stands.  Defence is toilet

How poor are some of the teams we have played that in 50% of league matches we haven't conceded. When you examine it - only the newly relegated teams have scored than one against this toilet defence. 

[Prelude]

Anyone think Dolan would be an option in the Rothwell role when he is not available? Gotta be worth a try and cant do any worse than Evans or Johnson? 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

1 minute ago, Prelude said:

Anyone think Dolan would be an option in the Rothwell role when he is not available? Gotta be worth a try and cant do any worse than Evans or Johnson? 

I think Elliott would be.

[davulsukur]

Not sure if Mowbray would have dropped him but i think Lenihan should consider himself pretty fortunate that Ayala picked up an injury.

Never thought i would say this but BB was one of our best players (him or Holtby for man of the match), fair play. 

[Sparks Rover]

9 minutes ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

How poor are some of the teams we have played that in 50% of league matches we haven't conceded. When you examine it - only the newly relegated teams have scored than one against this toilet defence. 

We beat the bottom 2 teams if you take sheff wed out.  Twist it how ever you want, we are destined for the same old season yet again.

In fact, I'm concerned about relegation 

[Sparks Rover]

10 minutes ago, Prelude said:

Anyone think Dolan would be an option in the Rothwell role when he is not available? Gotta be worth a try and cant do any worse than Evans or Johnson? 

Really? Delusion is all around me....He looked like he wouldnt get in my U15s last night.....

[LeftWinger]

17 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

We are closer to the bottom than top.  We let goals in for fun.  No way are we gong to push for promotion as it stands.  Defence is toilet

We've conceded 7 in 6 games. Norwich had conceded 12 in 6 at the same stage in their promotion season.

There's only 2 keepers kept more clean sheets than Kaminski so far.

[chaddyrovers]

Just finishing watching the game back this morning as I couldnt watch live due to work commitments. 

I thought we played very well against a team who have solid under their head coach. We created several good chances not taken by Armstrong, Lenihan and Ayala. Brereton's goal was very good. 

Impressed by Elliott. Good technique, enjoyed his performance from the right side. 

Disappointed by second goal we conceded. Ayala, Lenihan, Kaminski and Nyambe all make mistakes in the goal

[47er]

1 hour ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

Amazing we ended up these stats after passing it around the defence all night. Personally I thought we played well - except when it really counted.

Armstrong should have had a hat trick, Lenihan and Ayala should have both scored. Ultimately it was like the Bournemouth match - where we played well, but the extra quality in the final third (that only Premiership money can buy) undid us.

And yet we lost! Statistics eh?

Can you really play well except where it really counts?

[AllRoverAsia]

13 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Just finishing watching the game back this morning as I couldnt watch live due to work commitments. 

I thought we played very well against a team who have solid under their head coach. We created several good chances not taken by Armstrong, Lenihan and Ayala. Brereton's goal was very good. 

Impressed by Elliott. Good technique, enjoyed his performance from the right side. 

Disappointed by second goal we conceded. Ayala, Lenihan, Kaminski and Nyambe all make mistakes in the goal

They did but Bell also played a significant part in Watford's first 2 goals.

Not much mention is being made on here of the 2 very good chances Watford missed.

Despite what the stats say Watford controlled the match from their first goal to the last minute without getting out of 3rd gear.

Edited October 22, 2020 by AllRoverAsia

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Didn’t expect to win going into last night and there were some positives to take from the performance, particularly Holtby and Elliott.

However we yet again found ourselves having to score three goals to get anything. Watford didn’t have to do much for any of their goals and that can’t continue into the rest of the season. Armstrong being out of form certainly didn’t help. 

Its early days and the season isn’t written off but it piles the pressure on Saturday. We can’t afford to fall much further behind. Otherwise we’ll be pinning our hopes on a miraculous 5/6 game winning streak in November. We saw how hard it was to play catch up last year.

[darrenrover]

Decent performance all told but a disappointing result and ultimately that's all that matters.

I do feel there's been an over reaction by some and let's not forget that bar Wycombe, we've played against teams fancied for promotion. Yeh, we've failed to win in three but the general level of performance in addition to the new faces and returning players who have been out injured, suggest to me that over 46 games, we'll have a decent season. Whether that ends in promotion or not, we'll have to see. 

Another positive in a glass half full sort of way, Big Ben notched!

[roversfan99]

I also hate opposition fans and/or managers praising us and our style of play and wishing us well after taking 3 points off us.

Give me a post match where the opposition feels aggrieved, feels robbed, even feels cheated and lays into us but one in which we take the 3 points home with us.

Also agree with Mowbrays comments about Brereton in todays LT, that he wont score 25 yarders every week and needs to anticipate the tap ins better, otherwise goals will be a rare occurance. He played well last night and I was happy for him getting a goal but he was the same in terms of often being caught on his heels instead of anticipating bits and pieces around the box.

[Dolly blue]

There is a long way to go , but , until we develop a winning mentality it will be even longer. Successful teams are often images of their management . ...we all know who they are. ..our team isn’t successful as it too plays in the image of its management. That , I believe, is where our problem lies....and nowhere else. 
 

Mowbray is a decent bloke... but has he ever shown steel or intellect ?
He says says the right things ...but does he ever do them? 
He has an eye for attacking talent ( not always! ) ....but does he play to their strengths?
He played all of his career as a centre back...but has he ever successfully organised one as a manager ?
 

Currently, we have “ no men , no leaders “ on the field. We have some decent levels of skill but it is unharnessed. We have players who sometimes turn up, sometimes don’t ....poor body language, little, if any collective responsibility. 
 

The deadline day signings , initially, gave me hope ....and that hope might turn to reality. ....but.... until we develop strength of character, winning mentality and steel on a consistent level .....it will remain that long season . 
 

They look miserable, they shuffle and they play without plan......as I said ....teams are images of their management. I don’t think , for one moment that Mowbray won’t try to instil the necessaries....I just think he can’t. 
 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

Not sure about that, I'd say we have played like that 5 times this season, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Wycombe, Derby & Watford, we won two of them and lost three. So we don't win playing like that 9/10 times at all. I also think you will be saying that exact same thing a few more times this season yet.

Still, it's the "best football ever played by a Rovers side" apparently.

 

 

This is how I look at it, I can't really understand enjoying possession stats that don't go anywhere and end up losing the game.

Give me the bit in bold every time over last night.

These are the stats I'm more interested in - Tackles won, second balls won, contested headers won, interceptions, yards run. Get those stats better than your opponents and normally you'll get a result.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Prelude said:

Anyone think Dolan would be an option in the Rothwell role when he is not available? Gotta be worth a try and cant do any worse than Evans or Johnson? 

No. He's a wide player and needs to continue to play out there if he wants to develop.

Currently FBs are standing off him as they've twigged he loves a step over.

He needs to play 20 mins a week and either develop another trick or improve his delivery and force them to close him down.

[Exiled_Rover]

2 hours ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

BB didn't follow his man. Basic error.

Watch Holtby and Lenihan bollock Nyambe. They knew who's fault it was. 

Lenihan the bloke who put a tame cross into his own net, or Holtby one of the CMs who didn't track back with Cleverley?

You can't ask your FBs to play so advanced and then blame them for every goal that starts down the flanks. It's why you have 3 CMs - at least one of them is meant to cover for the FBs when they go forward.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

28 minutes ago, 47er said:

And yet we lost! Statistics eh?

Can you really play well except where it really counts?

Putting the ball in the back of the net is where we fell down. This is why top strikers cost so much money.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

Lenihan the bloke who put a tame cross into his own net, or Holtby one of the CMs who didn't track back with Cleverley?

You can't ask your FBs to play so advanced and then blame them for every goal that starts down the flanks. It's why you have 3 CMs - at least one of them is meant to cover for the FBs when they go forward.

Players are passed on. Holtby is a CM and was blaming Nyambe. Obviously Cleverley had been passed on. There's no point a CM dropping into the FB position. Basics. 

[Mercer]

54 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

We've conceded 7 in 6 games. Norwich had conceded 12 in 6 at the same stage in their promotion season.

There's only 2 keepers kept more clean sheets than Kaminski so far.

Think he showed last night there are causes for concern.

Also, think it's ridiculous Pears was on the bench last night.  The signing of the Greek lad was hailed as glowing evidence of how good our Euro scouting is - IMO, the inference is that he's seen as not being good enough and is third choice; IMO, absolutely incredulous to give Pears a four year deal - what world do Waggott and Mowbray live in. 

[Exiled_Rover]

2 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

Players are passed on. Holtby is a CM and was blaming Nyambe. Obviously Cleverley had been passed on. There's no point a CM dropping into the FB position. Basics. 

So you think Cleverley broke into the FB position?

Basics indeed.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, Exiled_Rover said:

So you think Cleverley broke into the FB position?

Basics indeed.

Eh? Nyambe was marking him, lost him and he scored from where the FB should have been. 

[den]

8 hours ago, Silas said:

Counts for sod all but our opponents were impressed by us:

Blackburn certainly the best team we've played this season ..

 I thought Blackburn were good and deserved a draw.

Blackburn will definitely be in the playoff picture come the end of the season ..

I'd be surprised if Blackburn aren't among the playoff mix come the end of the season..

Played off the park. How the **** did we win that game ?

I was impressed with the ball retention and passing of Blackburn.

However, was very impressed with how comfortable Blackburn looked in possession. Armstrong was a menace all night and Holtby was very good for them.

I do really hope that Blackburn are around the playoffs though a very exciting team to watch.

Thought Blackburn were the better team in gameplay

 

I agree with a lot of those comments, but what we did display last night was not having a clue how to win the game. Within 17 mins of kick off we had basically lost the three points.

All the above is great. It’s the way top sides play from the KO. - moving the ball quickly, good player movement, accurate passing, ball retention etc. Great to watch. The top sides though usually have world class defenders at the back and can still retain their discipline. Their players don’t tend to get dragged out of position.

Rovers though don’t have that. The back four as a unit are just - IMO - slow to assess the dangers of the breakaway get caught ball watching when crosses come in and to be fair to them don’t always get the cover from the midfielders who have wandered upfield without looking behind them. Decent sides will see all this, sit back and hit us on the break knowing they can cause us problems.

For me, while we play good football at times, we are very naive with the game plan. Oh and the back four are so fragile defensively. 

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Sparks Rover said:

We are closer to the bottom than top.  We let goals in for fun.  No way are we gong to push for promotion as it stands.  Defence is toilet

You've taken this Ben Whiteman transfer hard.

[Mercer]

Don't buy all this 'we played well nonsense'.

If you consistently play well and don't get results then there is a big, big problem.

Played 6, lost 3, points 7, league position 14th - those are the facts that count.