v QPR (h) - 26/2/22

[Fraserkirky]

I really hate Bournemouth 

[roversfan99]

Really good performance today and to be honest a one nil win flattered QPR. Mowbray got his tactics and subs spot on and it was really pleasing to get an overdue win.

Khadra can be so wasteful and needs to improve his end product, but so pleased for him to score the winner. The thing about him compared to Dolan and Gallagher was that he was posing far more of a threat to begin with, he was getting in great positions, something the other 2 need to work on. Dolan did really lead by example from the front and was shattered at the end and is always a threat.

Johnson was also very impressive, as was Van Hecke. A good team performance really.

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, Fraserkirky said:

I can’t stand Bradley Johnson but he had a decent game today I thought.

We'll have to disagree, thought he was bobbins. Missed an absolute sitter and played some clumsy passes. Was largely anonymous otherwise. He'll be getting a 3 from me when the scoring comes up.

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, martonrover said:

A crucial win, (thank goodness), but our deficiencies up top still look likely to be our undoing in the final analysis. We basically won the game with a freak goal, which won’t happen very often.

There is a gaping void in attack, with no obvious solution until Brereton returns.

I think the goal should do our attackers the world of good. Their confidence in front of goal has looked shot lately, especially today. Think it will be a huge confidence boost. Just a shame our next opponents are the best side in the league, so every chance we fail to score again which may bring the old doubts back in their minds.

[neophox]

Massive win! Had we only won at Sheffield...

Massive for Khadras confidence and Zeefuick had his best game as he was on his best position coming on. 

Can we get something at Next game we then have alot of home games to push on.

[Nuttall is lost]

Big win but a lot of damage done with that run and 2nd looks beyond us now.

Injuries mounting up and no clincal strikers mean I think the team will struggle on the run in.

The performance today and at Sheffield were very good however and were much better than the few games played before that.

[martonrover]

5 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

I think the goal should do our attackers the world of good. Their confidence in front of goal has looked shot lately, especially today. Think it will be a huge confidence boost. Just a shame our next opponents are the best side in the league, so every chance we fail to score again which may bring the old doubts back in their minds.

Listening to Mowbray's post match interview on Sky, he essentially ignored the Fulham game and emphasised the home games coming up. Almost felt a bit like he's prepared to write next week off.

Today has kept us in with a fighting chance of the Play Offs, but another run like the one preceding this game and we'll be out of it.

I just don't think it's likely that players will suddenly "step up" and start banging goals in. 

That's why it was essential for us to bring in a striker or two.

Even today, in victory, our problems were glaringly obvious.

 

[deanives]

Just how good was our defence again. The three of them seem to work so well together. Van hecke was the stand out today again, so composed and calm on the ball, but Wharton and lenihan both did their jobs brilliantly.

I think Johnson had a good game. He was always there where he needed to be and battled. I think him and Travis complemented each other and protect the back 3, but..... the problem with having both is you need the front 3 to be excellent and be firing on all cylinders and we don't have that unfortunately. 

[Mattyblue]

Good job Huddersfield didn’t write off going to Fulham…

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Darrenbot said:

Not just the forward line that need to make better decisions.Giles went for goal when a square ball would have been a tap in for Dolan and a 2-0 lead.

Honestly I don't think Dolan played that well - he started to run into the channel, then realised that Giles was going to carry the ball himself. Dolan then didn't drift central enough to give him a good option square - and Giles drew a very good save from the keeper. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I couldn’t believe the one on one that Khadra missed. Garner, Speedie, Rhodes - just a toe under the ball and it’s over the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net. The second chance he missed - that’s what happens when you have a right footer coming in off the left hand side. It all got very narrow.

Then he goes and threads the eye of a needle to score with the free kick. That’s when he couldn’t even land a corner. Head height between the edge of the six yard box and the penalty spot. How hard is it ! Having said that have we got anybody who can land a corner ?

I was pleased with the result and the performance was good but our decision making in the last third is terrible. Gallagher is always on his heels, he never anticipates anything. For long periods of the game there was a gap between our back 8 and the front 3. Oh for a Dunny or a Berkovic who can actually carry the ball from our half to their last third.

Kaminski did what he had to do. The three centre halves looked sound. Nyambe and Pickering were quiet I thought. Johnson, I’m not a fan of but he’s a good “ wardrobe “. Travis was the usual Travis. Hedges looked off the pace to me. Giles cocked up a great chance. Zeefuik looked lively. Dolan was excellent and a nuisance throughout the game.

With a bit of luck we can get something at Fulham.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

9 minutes ago, deanives said:

Just how good was our defence again. The three of them seem to work so well together. Van hecke was the stand out today again, so composed and calm on the ball, but Wharton and lenihan both did their jobs brilliantly.

I think Johnson had a good game. He was always there where he needed to be and battled. I think him and Travis complemented each other and protect the back 3, but..... the problem with having both is you need the front 3 to be excellent and be firing on all cylinders and we don't have that unfortunately. 

I was only thinking that. If we had a front three of Speedie, Newall and Garner we could play with a back 8 comfortably.

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

 

[Angry_Pirate]

2 hours ago, Gordon Gekko said:

I thought Zeefuik was decent when he came on though, reminds me of a cross between Cafu and Jeff Kenna 

Jeff Kenna will be wondering where that random semi came from...

[Wheelton Blue]

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I was only thinking that. If we had a front three of Speedie, Newall and Garner we could play with a back 8 comfortably.

Our forwards today chased and harried, but they carry no where near enough goal threat.

Up until the goal, I couldn't see where one was coming from.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Wheelton Blue said:

Our forwards today chased and harried, but they carry no where near enough goal threat.

Up until the goal, I couldn't see where one was coming from.

None of them are natural finishers unfortunately.

[Angry_Pirate]

Deserved, deserved win. First one in a long while. If that game was end of the season we're winning that 5-1.

Positives are clearly the 3CB's, and the performance of Dolan and Khadra (mostly), the only negative is how much one game has shown us how utterly piss poor Buckley has been in 2022. Also, Bradley Johnson with a good 90.

Fingers crossed for Nyambe, lad doesn't deserve a serious injury this close to potential freedom.

Scenario: It's July 2022 (Rovers are not in the Premiership), Brighton want Diaz. If you're Rovers, how much money are you even asking for on top of van Hecke and Khadra permanent. £15m, £10m? Those two players could be something special with a ton of sell on potential. 

Starting next season without Brereton, Lenihan, Nyambe, Rothwell, Khadra, and van Hecke doesn't bear thinking about.

[bluebruce]

35 minutes ago, martonrover said:

Listening to Mowbray's post match interview on Sky, he essentially ignored the Fulham game and emphasised the home games coming up. Almost felt a bit like he's prepared to write next week off.

Today has kept us in with a fighting chance of the Play Offs, but another run like the one preceding this game and we'll be out of it.

I just don't think it's likely that players will suddenly "step up" and start banging goals in. 

That's why it was essential for us to bring in a striker or two.

Even today, in victory, our problems were glaringly obvious.

 

Aye, I don't mean that we will start banging them in, just that hopefully we don't have another 5 goalless games run. With how solid we are at the back, even the odd goal could make a big difference to our points haul.

[Waggy76]

22 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I was only thinking that. If we had a front three of Speedie, Newall and Garner we could play with a back 8 comfortably.

If only , great days though !!

[speedies gonna get ya.]

47 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

We'll have to disagree, thought he was bobbins. Missed an absolute sitter and played some clumsy passes. Was largely anonymous otherwise. He'll be getting a 3 from me when the scoring comes up.

Johnson had a great game. He's not going to drift past anyone like Rothwell and some of his passess can go astray. But he is only one physically able to win second balls. He played a very disciplined role, always vocal, kept us in a good shape when play breaks down. It's all about opinions I suppose.

[bluebruce]

8 minutes ago, speedies gonna get ya. said:

Johnson had a great game. He's not going to drift past anyone like Rothwell and some of his passess can go astray. But he is only one physically able to win second balls. He played a very disciplined role, always vocal, kept us in a good shape when play breaks down. It's all about opinions I suppose.

Again, we will have to disagree. I don't think he is without his uses, but he didn't impress me today. The only player I'm glad is out of contract in the summer, I hope we don't renew.

A few people saying he had a good game, so he must have done some things I missed. I can only go off what I saw, and that was shit.

Edited February 26, 2022 by bluebruce

[chaddyrovers]

31 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

Our forwards today chased and harried, but they carry no where near enough goal threat.

Up until the goal, I couldn't see where one was coming from.

We created a number of good/great chances during the game. Khadra 2 chances, Lenihan should have scored, Johnson should have done better with his chances. Second half Giles chance, Khadra free kick.

Again day we would won the game in the first half

[Miller11]

I’m delighted we broke the hoodoo and finally got a goal, however, still some big questions.

We cannot continue to be so profligate in front of goal. We missed plenty of good chances today, and while we can be pleased we created them, the fact our goal came from some horrendous goalkeeping is a worry.

I have tried to give Gallagher the benefit of the doubt, but he can’t play as a wide forward. His basics are poor, his positional sense is worse, he looks like a frustrated midfielder, doesn’t seem to want to get in scoring positions, and looked happy to be subbed off. We looked so much more threatening when he went off.

Dolan deservedly and clearly MOTM. Did the usual jobs of Buckley and Rothwell singlehandedly. Khadra is a definite threat, but perhaps unsurprisingly as a young attacking loanee isn’t arsed about defending. Should’ve had a couple today, but as iffy as the keeper was for the goal, hit it hard and on target and you never know!

Shame that it’s Fulham up next, as it’ll be tough to make this count as the start of a new winning run. Our defence will suffer without Nyambe, and I hope it’s not as serious as it looked. Zeefuik needed a lot of coaching and instruction from his teammates, which is fine and he learns the system and his responsibilities, a more promising run out today though happily - he’s got big shoes to fill.

QPR should be no threat at all, they looked very poor. Delighted with the points and it keeps the dream alive!

Edited February 26, 2022 by Miller11

[Cherry Blue]

Don't agree that Johnson had a good game. He should have scored when ball was pulled back to him and his delay in passing to Nyambe prevented a decent attack. Whether it resulted in Nyambe's injury is debatable. 

[Wheelton Blue]

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

We created a number of good/great chances during the game. Khadra 2 chances, Lenihan should have scored, Johnson should have done better with his chances. Second half Giles chance, Khadra free kick.

Again day we would won the game in the first half

Coulda, shoulda.

1 goal in 6 games games suggests that we have a problem.