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

[Penwortham Blue]

In my view, the best rovers performance for many a year. To a man, they were fantastic. Let’s hope they can perform like that Saturday and against Burnley.

[AllRoverAsia]

Fantastic, just beautiful.

Can't post much as my phone is fecked and will switch itself off anytime.

Well-done to all and a big shout out to the fans who travelled in numbers and were heard loud and clear way out in SEA.

I watched on the wife's phone last night, brilliant stream. She's got it at her work now ..... Bxxxxy bxxxh

[Tugayisgod]

46 minutes ago, arbitro said:

My view is that since Rotherham there has been a realisation that the way we were playing didn't really suit the players or the Championship. The slow tempo isn't as apparent now and the intensity appears to have increased. I have to be honest though as I doubted that some of our players weren't capable of playing any quicker but so far I'm delighted to be wrong.

You may be right, although  I tend to think it was the 1st half horror show against Swansea when we were so bad it was untrue. The 2nd half was better and we won late on , and then the Blackpool game is where the signs of improvement appeared with a much more energetic display even though it was only 1-0 again. Since then we have not looked back and last night is hopefully what JDT is looking for every week. 

If you had said we look a better side without BBD or Dack I would have thought you were mad but that appears to be the case. Szmodics is starting to look worth the money, Travis is unrecognisable from the player of a couple of months ago, JRC has been unbelievable. I could go on but let's just hope this wasn't a flash in the pan , get down on Saturday and lets stuff the Blades !

[LeftWinger]

Best performance in a long, long time.

10 players from the academy in the 20 man squad

16 English players, 2 Welsh, 1 Scottish, 1 Irish (Like watching old school football again)

Average age of under 23. Oldest player in the squad was 27.

The work rate and pressing was absolutely phenomenal.

Reading the Leicester forums and them admitted we could have scored 5 or more goals before they scored.

I'd love to see what JDT could do with a bit of money to supplement our wonderful academy.

[StubbsUK]

[davulsukur]

10 hours ago, speedies gonna get ya. said:

Awesome night. I've doubted JDT at times but now I'm a believer. Whatever happens for rest of this season happens l. But the future is bright and very excited about next season. Squad looking paper thin now so O'brien now would be the icing on the cake.

Same, I've had my doubts about him but he appears to be willing to change/adapt. Most managers aren't like that.

I think we also have to take into consideration just how good results like last night are, when the squad is basically bang average and we have a few players out injured.

Some serious backing in the summer and we could be in for one hell of a season next season.

[Tugayisgod]

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 

[Tricky]

2 minutes 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 

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

 

 

 

🤗

[BigUts]

Sensational.

Probably the  best 65 minutes I've seen us play for many years. We didn't give them a second and pressed so well it was frightening. We could genuinely have been 4 or 5 up before Leicester got a foothold.

Szmodics, Dolan, JRC and Gallagher were the stand outs for me. Szmodics really is the difference maker I think. His energy really allows the team to press with much more vigour compared when Dack is in the side. Bradley is technically superior but he doesn't have the legs to do what Sammy does. 

Gallagher really looked like the centre forward we all want him to be and has all the physical attributes to be. Big, strong, fast, imposing. I'm hoping the last couple of games and working with a real top class centre forward in JDT is finally bearing fruit. 

I'll hold my hands up and admit I was basically laughing at JRC last season he was so bad, but he kept Barnes so quiet before he went off injured and he along with Hyam would be the first names on my team sheet at the moment. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

9 hours ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

That Gallagher tackle got an almighty roar from the fans 

It was a punch the air type of event. Say what you want about Gally, and I’m one of them who does, that man left his soul on the pitch tonight 

It is what really irked about Vales ambling around. You just replaced a man that has nothing left - the least you owe him is that you run yourself into the ground for the last 15. He looked like he couldn’t be arsed. Really running out of patience with him 

Travis made a similar tackle in the first half. A blocked shot right in front of us. I just knew at that moment that these lads didn’t come to get walked over 

We need to take that spirit and that fight into the next league game. All this talk of cup runs ruining leagues is silly. The confidence they will get from that can’t be taught in an extra day on the training field

I’m with you on the Morton story. I’ve been a big critic previously, his sloppy play has cost us some goals in the past,  but last night I thought he did more than ok until he ran out of legs. Where he plays on the pitch is crucial to the “ playing out from the back “ style we adopted again last night. This was especially so in the first half. You are going to get a lot of the ball in that position and not every pass will reach it’s target.

As I say he ran out of legs midway through the second half and he should have been subbed 5 minutes earlier. When your legs go it’s partially because your brain has gone as well. When you get mentally tired you need that extra second to shape a pass and in games like last night that extra second isn’t there.

In summing up I thought he played his part last night.

[Mercer]

Still buzzing after last night.

Our best performance in years.

The benchmark has been set.

Maintain that performance level and many fans will return.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 minutes 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 

There wasn’t much to criticise apart from our finishing. I’m still expecting Hedges to burst the net in my mind with the one he missed. The game should have been done and dusted before they scored.
We were slow to reorganise when JRC had to go off. Barnes had hardly been in the game until then. When they scored their goal he’d a whole quarter of the pitch to run into. Where Brittain was then is a bit of a mystery. After that they kept shovelling the ball out to their left and we didn’t come up with a way to stop this happening.

We know Gally only has 75 minutes in the tank. With a bit of luck BBD will be able to come on when he has to go off again.

[Bbrovers2288]

They were both overall excellent last night but szmodics and Dolan really should have added to their tallies, some really poor shooting and that includes hedges too. There will be tighter games where we get 1 or 2 chances like that and they need to be more clinical. I’m nit picking because I’m delighted with that last night, maybe Jdt knew what he was searching for all along, I had my doubts 

[Ossydave]

30 odd years following this famous old club and last night is up there in my top 5 away days, absolutely brilliant from start to finish.

Also managed to get us a striker in......

 

[JC4LAB]

Would love a Wembly trip..Burnley Semifinal,followed by Man U Final 

Silly BBC covered the  Fulham Leeds as their main game with  Lineker  on his own in the hotseat..

Should have been ours with pundits Shearer and Lineker together vying for bragging rights.

[arbitro]

31 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m with you on the Morton story. I’ve been a big critic previously, his sloppy play has cost us some goals in the past,  but last night I thought he did more than ok until he ran out of legs. Where he plays on the pitch is crucial to the “ playing out from the back “ style we adopted again last night. This was especially so in the first half. You are going to get a lot of the ball in that position and not every pass will reach it’s target.

As I say he ran out of legs midway through the second half and he should have been subbed 5 minutes earlier. When your legs go it’s partially because your brain has gone as well. When you get mentally tired you need that extra second to shape a pass and in games like last night that extra second isn’t there.

In summing up I thought he played his part last night.

We were saying at the game that Morton should have been changed ten minutes before it happened as he looked tired and errors were creeping in. But in truth last night wasn't a game for not picking looking at the game as a whole. The challenge now is maintaining that level of commitment and performance.

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, Tugayisgod said:

You may be right, although  I tend to think it was the 1st half horror show against Swansea when we were so bad it was untrue. The 2nd half was better and we won late on , and then the Blackpool game is where the signs of improvement appeared with a much more energetic display even though it was only 1-0 again. Since then we have not looked back and last night is hopefully what JDT is looking for every week. 

If you had said we look a better side without BBD or Dack I would have thought you were mad but that appears to be the case. Szmodics is starting to look worth the money, Travis is unrecognisable from the player of a couple of months ago, JRC has been unbelievable. I could go on but let's just hope this wasn't a flash in the pan , get down on Saturday and lets stuff the Blades !

I really began to sense something different at the Watford and West Brom games, a different mentality perhaps. We weren't good against Swansea in the first half but we went in at half time without having conceded. In most of the bad performances we have been behind and didn't look like getting anything. It's only guesswork from me but the evidence points to something radical changing.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 minutes ago, arbitro said:

We were saying at the game that Morton should have been changed ten minutes before it happened as he looked tired and errors were creeping in. But in truth last night wasn't a game for not picking looking at the game as a whole. The challenge now is maintaining that level of commitment and performance.

I only watched on tv but the pitch looked to be in perfect condition and it also looked to be pretty big. Where does their new pitch stand in the table of pitch sizes ? As you said earlier the wet conditions made for a fast paced game with some slick passing. I used to love conditions like that.

[den]

5 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I really began to sense something different at the Watford and West Brom games, a different mentality perhaps. We weren't good against Swansea in the first half but we went in at half time without having conceded. In most of the bad performances we have been behind and didn't look like getting anything. It's only guesswork from me but the evidence points to something radical changing.

I think a small part of that is JRC’s form. He’s inspirational at the moment.

Shout out to Smodics last night, he was everywhere. Leicester couldn’t match his energy.

[arbitro]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I only watched on tv but the pitch looked to be in perfect condition and it also looked to be pretty big. Where does their new pitch stand in the table of pitch sizes ? As you said earlier the wet conditions made for a fast paced game with some slick passing. I used to love conditions like that.

The first thing I noticed when I got on the ground was how lush the pitch looked. When players made sliding tackles there were no divots and the rain made it really slick. I actually think we were better suited to the pitch and conditions than Leicester. My fear from that is that Ewood might impede us from playing the way we did given the soft and sandy surface and the more obvious consequence of soft tissue injuries.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 minute ago, arbitro said:

The first thing I noticed when I got on the ground was how lush the pitch looked. When players made sliding tackles there were no divots and the rain made it really slick. I actually think we were better suited to the pitch and conditions than Leicester. My fear from that is that Ewood might impede us from playing the way we did given the soft and sandy surface and the more obvious consequence of soft tissue injuries.

It’d be hard to play like we did last night on the Ewood pitch. Especially if it’s dry.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

5 minutes ago, den said:

I think a small part of that is JRC’s form. He’s inspirational at the moment.

Shout out to Smodics last night, he was everywhere. Leicester couldn’t match his energy.

We missed JRC badly last night when he went off.

[jim mk2]

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. 
 

[arbitro]

2 minutes ago, den said:

I think a small part of that is JRC’s form. He’s inspirational at the moment.

Shout out to Smodics last night, he was everywhere. Leicester couldn’t match his energy.

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.

[arbitro]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

It’d be hard to play like we did last night on the Ewood pitch. Especially if it’s dry.

I really hope the broken promise and failure to invest in a new pitch doesn't come back to haunt us.