v Leicester City (a) - 28/02/23 (FA Cup 5th Round)

[RoversTilliDie]

I asked for a decent performance against Leicester, what a performance could'nt have asked for more from Rovers, Costello, Schmodics, and Dolan stood out for me but a great team performance with a big test against Sheffield United on Saturday coming up. Can't wait for Saturday if they perform like this. Let's not forget Pears in goal another solid performance, Kaminskis got competition for the number 1 jersey.

Edited March 1, 2023 by RoversTilliDie

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

14 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

The enforced absence of Dack and Brereton and playing two wide men up front has made a difference. Dolan has benefited as he plays better on the left. Szmodics offers more pace and work than Dack and Gallagher in the past 2 games  at last looks like a proper centre forward.. it’s all just clucked into place. Even the passing game at the back seems to have a purpose. 
 

I understand the reasons for the “ passing out from the back “ strategy and it worked well for us last night on a fast pitch made for passing. You create space further up the pitch by drawing the opposition deep into your half. It didn’t work too well for Leicester on the same pitch though. 

[Mercer]

To me, it's written in the stars.

Home draw against Burnley in the quarters.

And yes, we are going up through the play offs.

Something has changed over the last half dozen games or so..

Absolutely loved last night and it's years and years since I felt like this about Rovers.

[jim mk2]

2 minutes ago, Mercer said:

To me, it's written in the stars.

Home draw against Burnley in the quarters.

And yes, we are going up through the play offs.

Something has changed over the last half dozen games or so..

Absolutely loved last night and it's years and years since I felt like this about Rovers.

We’ve just peaked for the season 

It’s all downhill from here

☹️

[Armchair supporter supremo]

12 hours ago, bluebruce said:

You think half an Old Trafford quarter final crowd wouldn't net us 100k?

I was exaggerating a little haha

 

But you get my fkin point #waggotout

[RoversTilliDie]

26 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I agree Den that JRC has been so influential and it speaks volumes for his character that he has grabbed his chance after being written off by many (me included) and I suspect some of the staff too. Hayden Carter hasn't been too far behind in terms of performance.

What a first half attacking performance, wave after wave of attacks Rovers should have been 4-0 up at the break. This team has Premier written all over it, the young players from last season are coming of age.

Edited March 1, 2023 by RoversTilliDie

[Mike E]

Counting the clear cut chances, Sammie's goal should've been #5.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

13 minutes ago, Mercer said:

To me, it's written in the stars.

Home draw against Burnley in the quarters.

And yes, we are going up through the play offs.

Something has changed over the last half dozen games or so..

Absolutely loved last night and it's years and years since I felt like this about Rovers.

I am hoping for Fleetwood in the next round 😉

[Gav]

19 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I understand the reasons for the “ passing out from the back “ strategy and it worked well for us last night on a fast pitch made for passing. You create space further up the pitch by drawing the opposition deep into your half. It didn’t work too well for Leicester on the same pitch though. 

It worked really well for the Leicester goal, exactly how you describe TS and shows the benefits of that tactic. But Leicester were awful, especially in the first half, couldn't even make the simple passes. 

Its a different game completely against Premiership teams, more space, high tempo, you need 1 or 2 touches and move, we excelled at that last night but its not conducive to the Championship sadly, or the pitches!

Can't wait for the Sheff Utd game next and I'd wager that is exactly how the players feel too 👍

Edited March 1, 2023 by Gav

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

10 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

We’ve just peaked for the season 

It’s all downhill from here

☹️

Though a brilliant performance - I do think we need to keep in context. Beat Sheffield and then maybe we can dream. But I do fear recent exertions with a thread bare squad may be exposed against a physical team like them.

[superniko]

Ball number 2 tonight....i'll take the worst team left in at home please, if we're cursed and get a tough away day then i'll take Spurs. Great new stadium, big allocation, day session, and they can still look like an incredibly average team at times.

Would absolutely hate Burnley in either the next round or semi/final...couldn't take it.

[47er]

1 hour ago, Tugayisgod said:

Just wondering what has happened to the usual suspects on here that do nothing but criticise and slag the club and players off constantly. 

Haven't seen a single post from any of them after last night's game. Maybe says a lot 

Ok I'll bite. After a game like that, the MB always comes together. Why would anyone want to be negative after a game like that?

But you don't want that do you? I could ask what about those usual suspects who, when some of us wanted rid of Mowbray, always bleated "but who would we get who would be better?" But it would be inappropriate at this time don't you think?

 

[Wheelton Blue]

10 minutes ago, Gav said:

It worked really well for the Leicester goal, exactly how you describe TS and shows the benefits of that tactic. But Leicester were awful, especially in the first half, couldn't even make the simple passes. 

Its a different game completely against Premiership teams, more space, high tempo, you need 1 or 2 touches and move, we excelled at that last night but its not conducive to the Championship sadly, or the pitches!

Can't wait for the Sheff Utd game next and I'd wager that is exactly how the players feel too 👍

That's true, but in a large part down to us harrying them constantly.

[jim mk2]

24 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I understand the reasons for the “ passing out from the back “ strategy and it worked well for us last night on a fast pitch made for passing. You create space further up the pitch by drawing the opposition deep into your half. It didn’t work too well for Leicester on the same pitch though. 

 

Gallagher's sliding tackle to rob the Leicester player to set up the second goal.... he wouldn't have done that on a normal pitch. 

The difference was Leicester's passing wasn't as good as ours - our first goal came from the sort of poor passing mistake we've been making this season. It's still a strategy with risks - it gets even the best teams into trouble at times

The pitch is interesting. Leicester's looked high quality, showing if you're a passing team you need a good pitch to play on. Not like Ewood in other words.  Message to Waggott - spending money on infrastructure (investing) brings rewards  in many ways

[jim mk2]

On a down note, I don't watch the junior sides and I presume he shone for them because he wouldn't have got a professional contract but what do the Ewood hierarchy see in Jack Vale to make them think he will make a decent first team centre forward? 

I've seen him a few times now and he offers so little. Last night was poor even by his standards. 

[R0verb0y]

4 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Bloody hell an actual Rovers dedicated piece on the BBC…. Is it 2009?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64806400

Thanks for that, @Mattyblue; it'll be in my Dingle-supporting old schoolmate in NZ's Inbox when he wakes up in the morning; around teatime GMT.

You'll probably be able to hear his roar of annoyance from wherever you are!

[den]

7 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Gallagher's sliding tackle to rob the Leicester player to set up the second goal.... he wouldn't have done that on a normal pitch. 

The difference was Leicester's passing wasn't as good as ours - our first goal came from the sort of poor passing mistake we've been making this season. It's still a strategy with risks - it gets even the best teams into trouble at times

The pitch is interesting. Leicester's looked high quality, showing if you're a passing team you need a good pitch to play on. Not like Ewood in other words.  Message to Waggott - spending money on infrastructure (investing) brings rewards  in many ways

I’ve always thought the Ewood pitch is on the small side, a bit narrow. That doesn’t make for flowing football.

[NeilInBristol]

2 hours ago, Tricky said:

Dolans sitter, Sczmodics greedy, yet another game Gallagher hasnt scored, oh Dack and Brereton are crap at commentary too...

 

 

 

🤗

Where can we hear this commentary im intrigued

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

On a down note, I don't watch the junior sides and I presume he shone for them because he wouldn't have got a professional contract but what do the Ewood hierarchy see in Jack Vale to make them think he will make a decent first team centre forward? 

I've seen him a few times now and he offers so little. Last night was poor even by his standards. 

It was like playing with ten. I’ve seen more energetic  performances back in the pre substitute days when injured players were told ” no you can’t come off, go up front and do what you can “.

[wilsdenrover]

49 minutes ago, Mercer said:

To me, it's written in the stars.

Home draw against Burnley in the quarters.

And yes, we are going up through the play offs.

Something has changed over the last half dozen games or so..

Absolutely loved last night and it's years and years since I felt like this about Rovers.

If we keep us this from your wine cupboard (cellar??) will be empty…

[StubbsUK]

Last nights game was a perfect example of how JDT has said he wants us to play, play the ball around at the back and draw the opposition on to us, then use the fact they're out of shape and take advantages of the space they have left. It's very much an evolution of the tika-taka football Barcelona used to play except instead of doing it all over the pitch to create gaps to attack, we just do it at the back. Maybe as we get more experienced at it, or get better players in it'll spread to other areas of the pitch, but I would bet at some point someone's done some analasys on those tika-taka teams and found that the majority of goals came from playing the ball around the back. There's a reason we do and it's not "Well, we might as well start somewhere."

I thought Ainsley Pears was brilliant again last night, a save is as good as a goal in my book and he made plenty yesterday, he's lost that air of "just about to drop a big one" for me and it's going to be a very difficult choice on who to pick betwen the 2 1st team keepers when Kaminsky's fit.

We just have to remember that progress is not linear, we will not be able to play at that standard every game for the rest of the season, we've had a wonderful season so far with a great cup run, dumping out 2 Premier League teams, any missing out on a play-off place will be a last gasp thing and not a gradual fade away like normal (and will hurt more if that's how our season ends) and that is way beyond what even the most blue and white of us could have hoped for when we didn't even have a manager a couple of weeks before the season started!

My only worry right now is that JDT won't be our manager next season because a bigger (more financially able) club has wooed him away.

[R0verb0y]

58 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

We’ve just peaked for the season 

It’s all downhill from here

☹️

Oh, FFS @jim mk2!!!

Hope that's your idea of a joke?🤔

[wilsdenrover]

45 minutes ago, superniko said:

Ball number 2 tonight....i'll take the worst team left in at home please, if we're cursed and get a tough away day then i'll take Spurs. Great new stadium, big allocation, day session, and they can still look like an incredibly average team at times.

Would absolutely hate Burnley in either the next round or semi/final...couldn't take it.

Surely this is a contradiction 😁

[R0verb0y]

1 hour ago, Gav said:

It worked really well for the Leicester goal, exactly how you describe TS and shows the benefits of that tactic. But Leicester were awful, especially in the first half, couldn't even make the simple passes. 

Its a different game completely against Premiership teams, more space, high tempo, you need 1 or 2 touches and move, we excelled at that last night but its not conducive to the Championship sadly, or the pitches!

Can't wait for the Sheff Utd game next and I'd wager that is exactly how the players feel too 👍

Leicester City's team, especially in the first half, played like they thought they just had to turn up to win the game.

Little did they know how little they knew!! 😁😅😂🤣

My main reason for not going last night was that I'd 'ticked' the King Power back in the glory days; how I regretted that decision while watching Channel 601. It would have been lovely to have been able to quote Max Boyce and say, "I know; I was there!"

Even so, I was so pumped up that it must have been after 3.00 am before I finally got to sleep. More of that, please, Rovers!!

Oh, and I can't remember adding so many 👍 to a thread!! It's lovely to be part of a group where, as @47ersaid, the "Board's come together."

Edited March 1, 2023 by R0verb0y
To quote a post added after this message had been posted.

[ben_the_beast]

Proud to be a Rovers fan this morning. Not just because of the win, but how we went about it. 

We completely played Leicester off the park for much of the game. Its pretty rare you see a side in a lower division do this. Usually cup upsets lend themselves to bodies on the line, being physical and wanting it more. We taught Leicester a lesson for much of last night and then once they did pull one back, I was very impressed with how we defended to see the game out. Most their opportunities for an equaliser were half chances.

We can safely say that last night epitomised what our club and motto are about. Arte et Labore. By skill and hard work.