v Millwall (a) 14/8/21

[Torgeir]

16 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Pretty sure we beat them and Dack scored....

My mistake for taking the first website for gospel. It had an odd lineup too, thanks for clearing that up. Sam scored a good goal from the edge of the area, correct?

[Dreams of 1995]

We weren’t good today. A point is a good result tbh 

Buckley totally invisible. He needs to start getting involved. His pressing against Swansea was brilliant but today looked overawed. Needs to stop having these days. 
 

Butterworth looks a real player. Get him a start over Dolan. He’s having an easy time of it Dolan but he’s got to show more quality. 
 

Long live King Ben 

[JacknOry]

Less possession, we got a point on the board. That's 4 points with less possession so far. We need to keep track of this. According to Mowbray, possession means prizes. 

[rigger]

12 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Less possession, we got a point on the board. That's 4 points with less possession so far. We need to keep track of this. According to Mowbray, possession means prizes. 

Boobie prizes

[RoverDom]

Just 18 more goals please Ben! 

[bazza]

4 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

benny,benny,benny,benny brereton😃

First line being, "Oh, señor Diaz"

To the same tune as "Wanky wanderers"

[BlackburnEnd75]

Felt sorry for dolan today. Played as the centre forward against a huge back line and all we did was hoof the ball up to him. 

Its said a lot but should be said more that gallagher playing that deep on the football pitch is still bizarre. He's not half as bad a player as mowbray tries to make him. He has pace but doesn't have the tight ball control to beat players in those positions so why he continually is asked to do so is beyond me. 

Was very vocal in criticism of the back 5 vs morcombe on Tuesday but it worked better here and gave us more of a platform to complete.

Some other thoughts: Rothwell played well and is becoming very important so let's hope that knock isn't too serious. Butterworth showed some spark which  he didn't show on Tuesday and I think there's a player in Carter, he may not be the finished article but he is certainly ready to compete at this level and compete he does, he is very much up for the battle.

I'm still not convinced brereton will get us a ton of goal from open play but he today attempted to take the weight of the team on shoulders and wants to be the main man which is good to see.

[Miller11]

Only caught the highlights, but that’s a cracking header from Brereton! Didn’t think he had that in him, and I’m delighted to hold my hands up. That yellow kit looks brilliant!

Today was always going to be a very different proposition to Swansea. 4 points from the opening two games has far exceeded my expectations.

[47er]

5 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Chapman was really poor in a strange role.

Mowbray's tenure in a nutshell.

[Wood26]

23 minutes ago, 47er said:

Mowbray's tenure in a nutshell.

I wouldn’t say it was a strange roll for him at the time he came on. He was effectively playing on the wing as that’s how the game was at time he was on. And he was poor in forward positions.

Cant blame the roll, when he’s in their final third and doing nothing with the ball.

Also, I always knew Nyambe can’t cross, but his throw ins are even worse. Great defensively though.

 

[Oldgregg86]

The first half was horrific .  There is no fluidity between transitions, nobody seems to know there role and I don’t know who is more confused the team or Tony. The Dolan experiment worked against a suicidal Swansea. It will fail far more than it will work going forward. 

pickering looks every inch a league one player upto know, far from convincing, a slight upgrade on bell is no compliment. Hopefully he learns and grows with time. Certainly not a write off, but disappointing thus far. 
 

I enjoy shouting “ DIAZ DIAZ” and the circus he brings but looking solely at his game he is still far from convincing. He did a lot of gesticulating today and it was usually his fault. Poor runs, failed to beat anybody, created nothing, falling over and then out of nowhere excellent finish. 
 

In the second half Travis and Rothwell (who I’m suprised hasn’t been mentioned more) where our stand out players. Trav my MOM and Rothwell was excellent, great Crontrol of the ball, picking passes and getting us on the front foot , superb vision and awareness, and ability wise the best player in our squad by a mile. 
 

Carter put in a near perfect performance when he came on. Winning headers, tackles , good positioning. Simply must stay at Rovers this season and has put to bed once and for all the magloire/Carter debate. 
 

Gallagher worked tirelessly and really put a shift in against a bigger, stronger and all round specimen of a centre back Cooper (what a signing he would be for us and exactly what we lack) . He deserves praise for the way he handled himself today along with his work rate and willingness to put himself about. 
 

Harry Chapman . I’ve banged his drum since league ones He needs a chance, give him time, let him show us what he can do. Well sadly the star man has lost his twinkle and put in yet another poor showing in a Rovers shirt and I think that may be one to many. Whatever he had in league one with us and Shrewsbury he seems to have left there. A shadow of the player I was delighted we signed permanently.

over all alot of things to learn from ( sadly we know Tony never does ) . A long hard season awaits. More of the first half and the boos will feel like a packed ewood again. More of the second and the fans will get behind a young , small team in a tough mans league. 
 

good result and as Tony would and probably has said. We put the point in the bag and move onto Wednesday 

[TheRoversReturn]

The only thing that TM really got wrong today was his treatment of Dolan and Gallagher. Millwall have some big defenders who can easily snuff out any high balls, especially when the opposition player can't even reach their shoulder. So, what did we see? Plenty of long balls in the first half. Dolan was ineffective there and we had no presence. Even worse, Dolan naturally drifted to the right touchline time and again, meaning we had no presence at all in the middle so even if he beat his man, there was nobody to whip into anyway, as usually Gally was just stood five metres away watching the proceedings.

We have a player in Gallagher who is better than Mowbray allows him to be, but he's no pacy winger who can whip balls in. So why play him there? I don't think Gally had a terrible game, in fact you'll see that he actually looked strong when he was able to get the ball, turn around and drive at the opposition. The issue is that he tends to do that in our own half, rather than toward the opposition penalty area. Just by his presence, Sam gives the centre backs something to think about. Balls can bounce off him, creating opportunities, at least it means their defenders have a busy day and can't relax, even when Gally isn't at the races. With Dolan, they get time to chill out. They might as well as have pulled out a pair of deckchairs and cracked open a tinny in the first half for all the danger Dolan posed to them!!!

TM's use of Gally as a wide forward is never going to work. Just give him a solid run of games in the centre FFS, stop chopping and changing. Get Dolan outside with someone to aim at in the middle. 

Football doesn't have to be rocket science. Will TM ever stop overthinking it? Put Dolan and Gally in their best positions and stop chopping and changing them. Give them time to grow into their roles.

Edited August 15, 2021 by TheRoversReturn

[roversfan99]

Gallagher has never and will never be a wide man, but you can understand why he didnt play centrally when we had Armstrong who was far better and more prolific. Now, there is no reason. He should only be considered as a central striker.

[bluebruce]

4 hours ago, JacknOry said:

Less possession, we got a point on the board. That's 4 points with less possession so far. We need to keep track of this. According to Mowbray, possession means prizes. 

I'll be keeping track of it, and posting the data from time to time, same as I have the last two seasons. Not at all surprised to see the pattern continue.

[Wood26]

56 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

The first half was horrific .  There is no fluidity between transitions, nobody seems to know there role and I don’t know who is more confused the team or Tony. The Dolan experiment worked against a suicidal Swansea. It will fail far more than it will work going forward. 

pickering looks every inch a league one player upto know, far from convincing, a slight upgrade on bell is no compliment. Hopefully he learns and grows with time. Certainly not a write off, but disappointing thus far. 
 

I enjoy shouting “ DIAZ DIAZ” and the circus he brings but looking solely at his game he is still far from convincing. He did a lot of gesticulating today and it was usually his fault. Poor runs, failed to beat anybody, created nothing, falling over and then out of nowhere excellent finish. 
 

In the second half Travis and Rothwell (who I’m suprised hasn’t been mentioned more) where our stand out players. Trav my MOM and Rothwell was excellent, great Crontrol of the ball, picking passes and getting us on the front foot , superb vision and awareness, and ability wise the best player in our squad by a mile. 

I’m so torn on Rothwell.

I’ve thought the same both league games so far. First half I’m thinking he’s not involved and maybe he wants to leave and doesn’t care.

But he does care, his reactions to fans during second half today shows he does. Also in second half he did things that made me think he stands out a mile as best player on the pitch.

Its almost like he should play a different role and we should base our team around him, or would that be a disaster.

Cant work it out, he’s so good when he’s good, and yet why isn’t he like that all game.

I dunno, but with current squad we can’t afford him to be injured.

[Wood26]

22 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I'll be keeping track of it, and posting the data from time to time, same as I have the last two seasons. Not at all surprised to see the pattern continue.

Interested to see the data. Because in my eyes, Swansea’s possession was all in their back line. And Millwall can have the ball all day long, only time i feared them was set pieces.

[bluebruce]

21 minutes ago, Wood26 said:

Interested to see the data. Because in my eyes, Swansea’s possession was all in their back line. And Millwall can have the ball all day long, only time i feared them was set pieces.

I didn't mean territorial data. Just that there is a consistent theme for two seasons now that we average more points from the games where we have less possession. I posted a whole thread about it a while ago if you're interested.

[Exiled in Toronto]

3 hours ago, Wood26 said:

I wouldn’t say it was a strange roll for him at the time he came on. He was effectively playing on the wing as that’s how the game was at time he was on. And he was poor in forward positions.

Cant blame the roll, when he’s in their final third and doing nothing with the ball.

Also, I always knew Nyambe can’t cross, but his throw ins are even worse. Great defensively though.

 

Glad it’s not just me. He seems to make every throw in arrive at someone’s midriff or armpit.

[Dan]

13 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Glad it’s not just me. He seems to make every throw in arrive at someone’s midriff or armpit.

In previous seasons he’s been great at getting in good positions and then either passing it back or quite often not putting in decent cross. Maybe make a better defensive midfielder as he’s got bags full of energy and is a good footballer. 
 

obviously we’re not in a position to try this, he’s more likely to played as a permanent winger! 

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Dan

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Wood26 said:

I’m so torn on Rothwell.

I’ve thought the same both league games so far. First half I’m thinking he’s not involved and maybe he wants to leave and doesn’t care.

But he does care, his reactions to fans during second half today shows he does. Also in second half he did things that made me think he stands out a mile as best player on the pitch.

Its almost like he should play a different role and we should base our team around him, or would that be a disaster.

Cant work it out, he’s so good when he’s good, and yet why isn’t he like that all game.

I dunno, but with current squad we can’t afford him to be injured.

He was a raw gem when we signed him, loads of potential. I don’t think this has been managed and nurtured enough. 

[TheRoversReturn]

I thought Rothwell was one of our three best players today, alongside Ayala and Travis. He was always lively, always looks for the ball and always looks to create something. By the very nature of his role, it won't come off a lot of the time but when it does, he's the team's creative lynchpin.

Brereton had a mixed bag of a game but definitely grew into it. Much stronger in the second half (yes, I know it's easy to say that as he scored, but I was paying attention to him outside of that) which suggests that he's building a bit of grit into his game, a bit of staying power. In the past, he'd seem to retreat from games when it wasn't happening for him, but over the last season or so we see him shrugging off setbacks and popping up out of nowhere for a chance.

Still a long way to go for Breo, and admittedly this is from a low bar to start with, but he's definitely getting better each year. 

[arbitro]

Millwall presented a completely different challenge to Swansea but Mowbray opted for the same formation but a different tactic of no discernible press. I thought we were comfortable in the first half of a poor match will Millwall only threatening from set plays. Mowbray changed the system at half time to go to the back 3/5 which he seems determined to prove to somebody that it works. We offered no real threat to Millwall and some players again seemed confused by what Mowbray was asking of them. After Millwall scorer (when our three central defenders went awol) we had another change of system and personnel which produced our best spell of the match. Overall I thought our late endeavour deserved a point and Brereton once again looked a different player in the system we played later on as did Gallagher. I thought Carter looked a better left back than Pickering when he moved there as we looked far more solid defensively.

We had a horrible journey with cancelled, late and broken down trains and were given a plethora of feeble excuses.

[Ulrich]

12 hours ago, El Tombro said:

We played that formation in the second half. Beeb obviously don't think we're important enough to bother with putting the right players in the right positions. If you thought Mogga was bad... ☺️

We've seen strikers as full backs and God knows what else over the last few years, so being honest I could believe TM would play that way.

[JBiz]

23 minutes ago, Ulrich said:

We've seen strikers as full backs and God knows what else over the last few years, so being honest I could believe TM would play that way.

When?

[rigger]

6 minutes ago, JBiz said:

When?

didn't Mowbray move Gally into right-back to replace Nyambe in one game.