PLAYER WATCH v Swansea City (A)

[tonyoz]

PLAYER WATCH v Swansea City

Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: 

+5 GOAL 

+4 Excellent play 

+3 Very good play 

+2 Pleasing/good play 

+1 Decent play 

  0 Routine stuff 

 -1 Sloppy play 

 -2 Disappointing/poor play 

 -3 Very poor play 

 -4 Terrible play 

 -5 Own goal 

The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. 

 
Ratings       

Key incidents per player = coloured stars              Overall contribution = numbers

Kaminski                        **     2                               

Nyambe (68)                 **********  *     15     

Lenihan                          ******************   **********     14

Wharton                        **************  ****     20

van Hecke                     **********  ***      10

Zeefuik (59)                   ************  ****     14

Travis                             ****************  *****     18     

Buckley                         *****  ********    -8        

Rothwell                        ***************  ****     13     

Hedges (59)                    **** ***     1

Giles                              ****************** ****     25 

  

 

Diaz (59)                     0    

Khadra (59)                   **** *****   -2

R- Costello (68)            ** *     0

                                                                        

Highlights and Lowlights 

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

 

A big match today; it’s time to get our mojo back after a string of poor performances. New boys Zeefuik, Giles and Hedges start with Diaz and Khadra on the bench.

 

00 A pass straight into touch from Buckley. Giles and Hedges are playing up front.

01 Nyambe wins the ball on halfway and heads towards the box, he squares to Buckley near the penalty spot but his shot is blocked and bounces harmlessly to the goalie.

03 Some nice play down the left wing. Giles slots the ball down the line for Zeefuik to run on to. Giles keeps running and Zeefuik slips it back to him into the box and his cross is square about 4 yards out but the defender does enough to muscle Nyambe away from connecting. At least Nyambe did well to get in position! There are forlorn claims for a penalty but Lenihan picks it up on the right wing and puts in a decent cross. Again Nyambe can’t get to it but he was offside I think.

05 Hedges and Travis combine to win the ball and Buckley takes over. He slides the ball through to Hedges running into the D but it’s not accurate enough and Cabango gets there first and his sliding interception bounces back off Hedges to the goalie. 

08 Buckley draws a foul 35 yards out but Rothwell’s delivery is disappointing and Swansea clear.

09 Hedges fouls Cabango on halfway. Buckley takes a pot shot at the Swansea goal and is lucky to avoid a yellow card!

11 Swansea attack down their left and Nyambe jockeys well allowing van Hecke to run the ball confidently out of our half and he wins a throw.

15 Swansea are strolling around with  the ball near the halfway line, then it’s passed forward to a totally unmarked Paterson on their left wing. He moves forward, cuts inside Giles, and launches the ball into the box where it’s 2 v 2 but they’re all spread out. Lenihan and van Hecke are out of the game. Obafemi strolls in between Wharton and Zeefuik and has a free header past Kaminski from 6 yards. The whole of the backline (bar Nyambe) was at fault there I think. A terrible goal to concede….and we don’t do well when we go behind! The Swansea fans are loud.

18 Swansea are knocking the ball around with more confidence and Wharton steps in to make an important interception.

19 Zeefuik does a good job of shielding the ball out for a goal-kick.

21 Some nice football from City down their right wing and the ball is squared to an unmarked Paterson just outside the D but his first-time shot goes over the bar. We were opened up too easily there! He could have taken a touch really but it’s a small let-off.

22 More sloppy defending from Lenihan and van Hecke and we’re fortunate that the pass to Paterson, in the box, was too heavy! Rothwell is playing very deep. There’s a nice 1-2 between Hedges and Rothwell and Hedges slips it to Buckley on the D but he falls over under challenge, claiming a free kick. The ref ignores him.

24 Nice pressing from Zeefuik deep in the City half and Giles dispossesses the defender before drawing a foul. Giles takes it himself and finds Lenihan on the penalty spot but his header comes back off the post. It goes straight to Buckley but, leaning back, he side-foots it over the bar with the goal gaping wide! That should have been the equaliser.

30 Nice chasing back by Zeefuik to rescue the ball and slide it to Kaminski. He’s fouled for his efforts.

32 Zeefuik slides the ball forward to Buckley just inside the box. He’s trying to hold off 2 defenders but he loses possession and goes down and looks for a penalty. He should have released the ball to a teammate. He’s booked for diving! That’s his 8th!

34 Rothwell intercepts in the City half and he’s off. Giles goes with him and Rothwell slips it to him on the left side of the box. He fires in a decent shot but it’s a fairly narrow angle and Fisher saves at his near post.

37 Good persistent play deep in the Swansea half by Nyambe and he draws the foul. Rothwell and Giles stand over the ball but Giles curls it into the box where a defender clears 2 yards from the line near the far post. No Rovers players are near enough to challenge though. I like the look of the lad so far.

44 Rothwell gives the ball away dangerously, deep in our half, but fortunately the Swansea man’s through ball isn’t good enough and it goes for a goal kick.

45 Travis picks up the ball on halfway and slides the ball through for Hedges to run on into the box. His shot runs harmlessly across the face of goal. A good run but the end was a bit disappointing.

46 A nice ball inside from Lenihan to Buckley but he miscontrols and loses the ball.

 

46 Giles arcs another teasing ball, from the left wing, into the 6 yard box but Hedges can’t get near it.

47 Wharton puts a nice ball through for Buckley to chase but he’s offside.

49 Nice wing work from Swansea stretches our defence; Lenihan and Travis are beaten and it’s dangerous. Cabango 30 yards out and central slips it to the edge of the box where Obafemi touches it perfectly to the feet of Piroe who only has Kaminski to beat. That is until a sensational, goal-saving challenge comes in from Lenihan near the penalty spot. Kaminski collects.

51 Wharton wins the ball in the centre-circle and Rothwell drives it on into the box but there’s too many defenders and his shot is blocked out for a corner. Rothwell’s cross leads to a foul on the keeper.

52 Lenihan rushes in to head clear and Manning catches him with a high boot. It’s his second yellow and he’s off. Lenihan is holding his head but the contact was on the forearm and chest area!

56 Another decent Giles cross. We need a big lad in there! The Swansea fans are giving Lenihan the bird.

58 A poor Rothwell pass goes straight out for a goal-kick.

59 Diaz and Khadra on, Zeefuik and Hedges off.

61 Van Hecke slides a lovely ball into the box for Nyambe to chase and we win a corner. Rothwell takes it and Swansea head away to Travis running into the edge of the D. He hits it first time but it’s just wide by a yard or so. 67 games since Travis last scored apparently.

64 We’re struggling to break down a packed 10 man defence. No counter-attacking today!

65 That’s another juicy cross from Giles and it has the defender turning the ball out for a corner. All 3 centre-backs are up for it. It’s a bit disappointing from Giles this time as it fails to go past the near post.

67 We’re devoid of ideas around the box. So van Hecke thinks he’ll have a go himself. He pushes the ball forward and takes a shot from 20 yards but it’s high and wide!

68 Nyambe off, Rankin Costello on. Oh! He passes a secret note to his captain. “Please score” maybe?

69 It must have been more complicated than that because Darragh is reading it again!

74 It’s slow, tedious, approach play from Rovers until Giles wins a corner. It comes to nothing though.

77 We’ve got too many players crowding together on the wings. Here we’ve got 4 players stood where the ball has just gone out for a throw! Now Buckley doesn’t seem to know what to do as he receives a throw in the Swansea half and allows himself to be dispossessed before he can make up his mind.

78 Another tempting ball into the box by Giles is brought down nicely by JRC and he tries to put it back across goal but a defender blocks and it bounces up on to his arm. Rovers claim a penalty but it would have been harsh. Giles wins another corner. Khadra whips in a wicked cross under the crossbar and Fisher punches away but he gets the foul anyway. On the replay it’s a really dumb, blatant push by JRC on the keeper. What a waste!

81 By the way, Diaz has done nothing so far!

84 Travis is beaten by Wolf on their right wing and it looks dangerous but Wharton steps in with a robust challenge to put an end to it.

85 Giles is 18 yards out to the left of the box and he curves a delicious ball behind every defender and in front of the keeper. JRC can’t reach it but Lenihan is there, only 4 yards out and he blazes it over the bar. Big miss, Darragh buries his head in the turf!

86 Good grief! Giles bends in another cross, not quite as delicious as the last one but van Hecke gets up and loops a header towards goal and Fisher tips it over. Giles takes and it’s out for another corner. This time he takes it short to Diaz who loops in a cross. Wharton just manages to get his head on it at the far post and Travis does well to shepherd the ball back to Wharton. He rolls it perfectly to the feet of Lenihan on the penalty spot and his side-footed shot is a foot over the bar. Where is a forward when you need one?

89 Paterson fires a long ball forward and Kaminski, well out of his goal, has to fling himself sideways to head the ball clear!

90 Another cross from Giles finds Wharton, central and 10 yards out. He’s on target with his header but it’s too close to Fisher who gathers. 

91 Buckley tries a shot from outside the box and it’s deflected for yet another corner. It fizzles out.

94 Another Rovers corner. Kaminski comes up for it. It’s pointlessly short to Khadra who crosses from the corner flag anyway. It bobbles about in the 6 yard box but eventually comes to nothing.

The final whistle goes and the slide continues. 

One thing Tony’s got to do immediately in training………ensure we work on how to get the best out of Giles’s deliveries. It’s been many a long while since we’ve had anybody who can cross like that. Lenihan could have given him a hat-trick of assists but we needed some proper forwards on the end of them!

Just to note: the subs, in combination, contributed less than nothing!

Edited February 8, 2022 by tonyoz

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks as always Tony, we need to snap out of this spiral ASAP. We were out enthused again on Saturday. Second to too many 50/50 balls.

[rigger]

Too many players played out of position. Mowbray to blame. As with most things, the simplest repair is usually the best. 

[RoversTilliDie]

6 hours ago, tonyoz said:

PLAYER WATCH v Swansea City

Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: 

+5 GOAL 

+4 Excellent play 

+3 Very good play 

+2 Pleasing/good play 

+1 Decent play 

  0 Routine stuff 

 -1 Sloppy play 

 -2 Disappointing/poor play 

 -3 Very poor play 

 -4 Terrible play 

 -5 Own goal 

The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. 

 
Ratings       

Key incidents per player = coloured stars              Overall contribution = numbers

Kaminski                        **     2                               

Nyambe (68)                 **********  *     15     

Lenihan                          ******************   **********     14

Wharton                        **************  ****     20

van Hecke                     **********  ***      10

Zeefuik (59)                   ************  ****     14

Travis                             ****************  *****     18     

Buckley                         *****  ********    -8        

Rothwell                        ***************  ****     13     

Hedges                          **** ***     1

Giles                              ****************** ***     27 

  

 

Diaz (59)                     0    

Khadra (59)                   **** *****   -2

R- Costello (68)            ** *     0

                                                                        

Highlights and Lowlights 

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

 

A big match today; it’s time to get our mojo back after a string of poor performances. New boys Zeefuik, Giles and Hedges start with Diaz and Khadra on the bench.

 

00 A pass straight into touch from Buckley. Giles and Hedges are playing up front.

01 Nyambe wins the ball on halfway and heads towards the box, he squares to Buckley near the penalty spot but his shot is blocked and bounces harmlessly to the goalie.

03 Some nice play down the left wing. Giles slots the ball down the line for Zeefuik to run on to. Giles keeps running and Zeefuik slips it back to him into the box and his cross is square about 4 yards out but the defender does enough to muscle Nyambe away from connecting. At least Nyambe did well to get in position! There are forlorn claims for a penalty but Lenihan picks it up on the right wing and puts in a decent cross. Again Nyambe can’t get to it but he was offside I think.

05 Hedges and Travis combine to win the ball and Buckley takes over. He slides the ball through to Hedges running into the D but it’s not accurate enough and Cabango gets there first and his sliding interception bounces back off Hedges to the goalie. 

08 Buckley draws a foul 35 yards out but Rothwell’s delivery is disappointing and Swansea clear.

09 Hedges fouls Cabango on halfway. Buckley takes a pot shot at the Swansea goal and is lucky to avoid a yellow card!

11 Swansea attack down their left and Nyambe jockeys well allowing van Hecke to run the ball confidently out of our half and he wins a throw.

15 Swansea are strolling around with  the ball near the halfway line, then it’s passed forward to a totally unmarked Paterson on their left wing. He moves forward, cuts inside Giles, and launches the ball into the box where it’s 2 v 2 but they’re all spread out. Lenihan and van Hecke are out of the game. Obafemi strolls in between Wharton and Zeefuik and has a free header past Kaminski from 6 yards. The whole of the backline (bar Nyambe) was at fault there I think. A terrible goal to concede….and we don’t do well when we go behind! The Swansea fans are loud.

18 Swansea are knocking the ball around with more confidence and Wharton steps in to make an important interception.

19 Zeefuik does a good job of shielding the ball out for a goal-kick.

21 Some nice football from City down their right wing and the ball is squared to an unmarked Paterson just outside the D but his first-time shot goes over the bar. We were opened up too easily there! He could have taken a touch really but it’s a small let-off.

22 More sloppy defending from Lenihan and van Hecke and we’re fortunate that the pass to Paterson, in the box, was too heavy! Rothwell is playing very deep. There’s a nice 1-2 between Hedges and Rothwell and Hedges slips it to Buckley on the D but he falls over under challenge, claiming a free kick. The ref ignores him.

24 Nice pressing from Zeefuik deep in the City half and Giles dispossesses the defender before drawing a foul. Giles takes it himself and finds Lenihan on the penalty spot but his header comes back off the post. It goes straight to Buckley but, leaning back, he side-foots it over the bar with the goal gaping wide! That should have been the equaliser.

30 Nice chasing back by Zeefuik to rescue the ball and slide it to Kaminski. He’s fouled for his efforts.

32 Zeefuik slides the ball forward to Buckley just inside the box. He’s trying to hold off 2 defenders but he loses possession and goes down and looks for a penalty. He should have released the ball to a teammate. He’s booked for diving! That’s his 8th!

34 Rothwell intercepts in the City half and he’s off. Giles goes with him and Rothwell slips it to him on the left side of the box. He fires in a decent shot but it’s a fairly narrow angle and Fisher saves at his near post.

37 Good persistent play deep in the Swansea half by Nyambe and he draws the foul. Rothwell and Giles stand over the ball but Giles curls it into the box where a defender clears 2 yards from the line near the far post. No Rovers players are near enough to challenge though. I like the look of the lad so far.

44 Rothwell gives the ball away dangerously, deep in our half, but fortunately the Swansea man’s through ball isn’t good enough and it goes for a goal kick.

45 Travis picks up the ball on halfway and slides the ball through for Hedges to run on into the box. His shot runs harmlessly across the face of goal. A good run but the end was a bit disappointing.

46 A nice ball inside from Lenihan to Buckley but he miscontrols and loses the ball.

 

46 Giles arcs another teasing ball, from the left wing, into the 6 yard box but Hedges can’t get near it.

47 Wharton puts a nice ball through for Buckley to chase but he’s offside.

49 Nice wing work from Swansea stretches our defence; Lenihan and Travis are beaten and it’s dangerous. Cabango 30 yards out and central slips it to the edge of the box where Obafemi touches it perfectly to the feet of Piroe who only has Kaminski to beat. That is until a sensational, goal-saving challenge comes in from Lenihan near the penalty spot. Kaminski collects.

51 Wharton wins the ball in the centre-circle and Rothwell drives it on into the box but there’s too many defenders and his shot is blocked out for a corner. Rothwell’s cross leads to a foul on the keeper.

52 Lenihan rushes in to head clear and Manning catches him with a high boot. It’s his second yellow and he’s off. Lenihan is holding his head but the contact was on the forearm and chest area!

56 Another decent Giles cross. We need a big lad in there! The Swansea fans are giving Lenihan the bird.

58 A poor Rothwell pass goes straight out for a goal-kick.

59 Diaz and Khadra on, Zeefuik and Hedges off.

61 Van Hecke slides a lovely ball into the box for Nyambe to chase and we win a corner. Rothwell takes it and Swansea head away to Travis running into the edge of the D. He hits it first time but it’s just wide by a yard or so. 67 games since Travis last scored apparently.

64 We’re struggling to break down a packed 10 man defence. No counter-attacking today!

65 That’s another juicy cross from Giles and it has the defender turning the ball out for a corner. All 3 centre-backs are up for it. It’s a bit disappointing from Giles this time as it fails to go past the near post.

67 We’re devoid of ideas around the box. So van Hecke thinks he’ll have a go himself. He pushes the ball forward and takes a shot from 20 yards but it’s high and wide!

68 Nyambe off, Rankin Costello on. Oh! He passes a secret note to his captain. “Please score” maybe?

69 It must have been more complicated than that because Darragh is reading it again!

74 It’s slow, tedious, approach play from Rovers until Giles wins a corner. It comes to nothing though.

77 We’ve got too many players crowding together on the wings. Here we’ve got 4 players stood where the ball has just gone out for a throw! Now Buckley doesn’t seem to know what to do as he receives a throw in the Swansea half and allows himself to be dispossessed before he can make up his mind.

78 Another tempting ball into the box by Giles is brought down nicely by JRC and he tries to put it back across goal but a defender blocks and it bounces up on to his arm. Rovers claim a penalty but it would have been harsh. Giles wins another corner. Khadra whips in a wicked cross under the crossbar and Fisher punches away but he gets the foul anyway. On the replay it’s a really dumb, blatant push by JRC on the keeper. What a waste!

81 By the way, Diaz has done nothing so far!

84 Travis is beaten by Wolf on their right wing and it looks dangerous but Wharton steps in with a robust challenge to put an end to it.

85 Giles is 18 yards out to the left of the box and he curves a delicious ball behind every defender and in front of the keeper. JRC can’t reach it but Lenihan is there, only 4 yards out and he blazes it over the bar. Big miss, Darragh buries his head in the turf!

86 Good grief! Giles bends in another cross, not quite as delicious as the last one but van Hecke gets up and loops a header towards goal and Fisher tips it over. Giles takes and it’s out for another corner. This time he takes it short to Diaz who loops in a cross. Wharton just manages to get his head on it at the far post and Travis does well to shepherd the ball back to Wharton. He rolls it perfectly to the feet of Lenihan on the penalty spot and his side-footed shot is a foot over the bar. Where is a forward when you need one?

89 Paterson fires a long ball forward and Kaminski, well out of his goal, has to fling himself sideways to head the ball clear!

90 Another cross from Giles finds Wharton, central and 10 yards out. He’s on target with his header but it’s too close to Fisher who gathers. 

91 Buckley tries a shot from outside the box and it’s deflected for yet another corner. It fizzles out.

94 Another Rovers corner. Kaminski comes up for it. It’s pointlessly short to Khadra who crosses from the corner flag anyway. It bobbles about in the 6 yard box but eventually comes to nothing.

The final whistle goes and the slide continues. 

One thing Tony’s got to do immediately in training………ensure we work on how to get the best out of Giles’s deliveries. It’s been many a long while since we’ve had anybody who can cross like that. Lenihan could have given him a hat-trick of assists but we needed some proper forwards on the end of them!

Just to note: the subs, in combination, contributed less than nothing!

I have said this on other rovers sites a few times, we need a decent winger to supply the ammo for Diaz and Gallagher Giles looks like a decent prospect. I agree with your practice things on the training pitch theory. Get things right and it's a new dimension for our strikers. It won't just be rovers who find things tough against teams like Swansea, they have improved and need the points.We should have got something out of the game if we had our scoring boots on. Another team on form Wednesday Forest, win this one and were back on track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tonyoz]

11 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Thanks as always Tony, we need to snap out of this spiral ASAP. We were out enthused again on Saturday. Second to too many 50/50 balls.

I can feel my optimism draining away game by game.

 

9 hours ago, rigger said:

Too many players played out of position. Mowbray to blame. As with most things, the simplest repair is usually the best. 

Starting with no recognised forwards was always going to be a long day. But, in truth, Diaz and Khadra were poor when they came on! Threadbare squad at the moment.

 

8 hours ago, Geoff66 said:

I have said this on other rovers sites a few times, we need a decent winger to supply the ammo for Diaz and Gallagher Giles looks like a decent prospect. I agree with your practice things on the training pitch theory. Get things right and it's a new dimension for our strikers. It won't just be rovers who find things tough against teams like Swansea, they have improved and need the points.We should have got something out of the game if we had our scoring boots on. Another team on form Wednesday Forest, win this one and were back on track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giles was the only bright spot from that performance. It’s not surprising he’s got so many assists. None of our players have had service like that before. Let’s hope I’m not deluding myself and that we learn how to profit from this “new dimension”.

Edited February 7, 2022 by tonyoz

[rigger]

46 minutes ago, tonyoz said:

I can feel my optimism draining away game by game.

 

Starting with no recognised forwards was always going to be a long day. But, in truth, Diaz and Khadra were poor when they came on! Threadbare squad at the moment.

 

Giles was the only bright spot from that performance. It’s not surprising he’s got so many assists. None of our players have had service like that before. Let’s hope I’m not deluding myself and that we learn how to profit from this “new dimension”.

Diaz and Khadra should have started, if they can't last the full game that is when you make a change, not at the start of the game. I still do not have trust in  Mowbray as our manager. 

[RoversTilliDie]

10 hours ago, rigger said:

Diaz and Khadra should have started, if they can't last the full game that is when you make a change, not at the start of the game. I still do not have trust in  Mowbray as our manager. 

Diaz has just got back from international duty, but it's a few games since his last goal. Needs to find the net to get his momentum going. Khadra can be a bright spark when he's on form. Let's hope our strikers can make the most of any Giles crosses into the box. When is Dolan fit again, adds a bit of pace to the team.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Geoff66