v Middlesbrough (h) - 16/09/2023

[superniko]

Just now, BigBar said:

Poor performance today. Delighted with the 3 points. Gonna have many of these this season I feel. Lucky to get the 3 points but don't care.

Thought we were outstanding for 60 minutes. A geriatric linesman cost us and made it worse than it needed to be. 
Think JDT has us on a level I can’t really believe looking at our squad. We’d be relegation fodder if we had the classic journeymen managers of the championship. Imagine if the owners backed him with a proper #9 and not a 4th division German. 

Love to see our overall xG on it I doubt that would suggest we were lucky at all, Dolan header, travis 8 yards out, Gallagher header, Dolan not pulling it back to Gallagher, Szmodics one on one alone, add in the penalty we should have had (which won’t be on xG) and probably other chances I’ve missed. 

Positives: Szmodics, Carter, Brittain, JRC off the bench

Negatives: EFL officials, shakey Rovers making nervous decisions, Gallagher and Dolan making god awful decisions and even worse finishing  

Still think Leonard is our best option at number 9 

3 points -  love it. Few pints tonight, indulge in the dispatches scandal then MOTD

[AllRoverAsia]

Good win but we make it hard.

I am still recovering from that early miss by Dolan followed by Gallagher's. I just can't understand how pro footballers can be so useless at times.

Moran was pants.

But overall played some good football before we forgot how to.

Pears will keep the keepers shirt for now and deservedly so after today.

 

[Aqualung]

Our own worst enemies... Game should have been dead and buried at half time. 

[Andy]

Very, very good for most of that match.

But we sat far too back and were too slack once they got one (illegitimate) back.

But we hung on and just about got over the line.

Thank fuck for Szmodics, eh?

Thought the new lad up top looked ok. Some good, some average. Definitely wasn’t out of his depth, which is a good sign on his debut.

[Norbert Rassragr]

It's a win, thankfully. Sounds like a very nervous game again.

[Bethnal]

Winning when you’re not at your best is a good habit. Unfortunately, we were pretty solid everywhere except the final third, so this is a lucky escape from profligacy.

Luckily, we’ve got Sammie Szmodics. Sad for him not to close the game out and walk away with the match ball. MOTM, which he’s in danger of being every week, even when he missed a penalty and nearly gets sent off.

JRC gave the kind of performance that would get you MOTM, but he did most of it in 20-odd minutes. I do like Trav and I rated a lot of his work today. Difficult to say that JRC didn’t look a lot better, though.

Pears quietly had a really good game and had answers to every question that Boro had for him, except an apparently-obvious offside goal.

Weak points: Dolan and Pickering. I don’t think either can really thrive while we’re playing this brand of football and we can’t afford passengers with this squad. I’d look for a loan for Dolan in January, if he re-signs at a reasonable wage. Otherwise, I’d cash in.

Most were fine today, there was just a collective panic for no reason other than wasteful finishing. Gally’s included in that but he had more than a couple of moments defensively that signpost why we tend to do well when he’s on the pitch. Paternity leave is over, extra sessions of shooting practice for the foreseeable.

Most of all: a particularly magical moment in the 30th minute for Matt Silitoe. An undeniable high point of the day.

[johnradfordsubbuteo]

Telalovic: the new Danny Graham, the Bull of Bosnia.

Like.

[lraC]

I need a beer after that.

Great entertainment, but both teams were very open.

Just a thought, would anyone swap a poor Lenihan for a very steady Hyam.

Huge game Wednesday, if we win that, it’s a very good start.,

COYB 5,000 not out for our wonderful club. 

[SBlue]

If we could finish and the officials were up to standard I’d have those 5 years that came off my life in the last 20 mins back.

Some of those misses (namely Dolan’s) were easier to score.

Law of averages say they’ll start going in imo.

Every game is a fight, and Jon’s Baby Army saw it out. Onwards and upwards.

[Torgeir]

Telalovic didn't look great. Not the right arena for a good showing today though, having to chase around for scraps while we put on defensive mode.

Great result, should've been more but they had their chances too. Fort Ewood!

[JohnD]

38 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Pears has dropped a few clangers today, too.

He kept us in the game FFS

[SBlue]

4 minutes ago, lraC said:

Just a thought, would anyone swap a poor Lenihan for a very steady Hyam 

Wouldn’t swap him for Carter or Hyam.

Both proper top quality defenders at this level with a touch of class.

[SBlue]

8 minutes ago, JohnD said:

He kept us in the game FFS

Thought Pears had a good game. 
 

Anything but a National League linesman and it’s a well earned clean sheet.

[Rover8T4]

The kids got the job done. Should of been easier if more clinical but the chances are there. Like the look of our new striker. Wasn't on the ball as much as we would of liked but looked composed when he had it. Broke the line with some good through balls as well

[roversinmyblood]

Some very poor decision making by Rovers players today. Not clearing their lines when under pressure in the last 15 mins or so. Trying to walk the ball into the net earlier because nobody will take the responsibility to shoot. Dolan’s and Gallagher’s misses unbelievable. If Sigardson and Ennis prove to be rubbish (hopefully not, obviously) then we could be in a relegation battle like Boro because don’t have anyone ( apart from Sammie) who can finish. 

[Tugayisgod]

11 minutes ago, JohnD said:

He kept us in the game FFS

This Pears bashing is frankly ridiculous. Ok, blame him when necessary, but today he was excellent. A couple of really good punches from corners, great save 2nd half from O'Brien (I think), and also kept out a lenihan header 1st half.

Did absolutely nothing wrong today

[WacoRover]

Looking at our starting 11, it’s a solid team with 2, maybe 3 changes. Tomasson has this. 👍

[Tugayisgod]

Hoping Travis and Gallagher are ok after there knocks.. Trav didn't look great although JRC came on and did a great job in there.

[booth]

On way home, should have been 4 or 5 before our players went on strike over that offside goal.

[joey_big_nose]

25 minutes ago, Andy said:

Very, very good for most of that match.

But we sat far too back and were too slack once they got one (illegitimate) back.

But we hung on and just about got over the line.

Thank fuck for Szmodics, eh?

Thought the new lad up top looked ok. Some good, some average. Definitely wasn’t out of his depth, which is a good sign on his debut.

Yeah, compared to other debuts Telalovic didnt look too bad. Few players look world beaters out of the gate.

Dont think we really should expect big things from him in the short term. 

[Displaced Rover]

1 minute ago, joey_big_nose said:

Yeah, compared to other debuts Telalovic didnt look too bad. Few players look world beaters out of the gate.

Dont think we really should expect big things from him in the short term. 

That’s an understatement. It was Andre Ooijer levels of bad.

I feel JDT played him to prove a point. “Look at one they’ve given me, now don’t complain online when I don’t pick him for rest of the season”

[AllRoverAsia]

8 minutes ago, roversinmyblood said:

Some very poor decision making by Rovers players today. Not clearing their lines when under pressure in the last 15 mins or so. Trying to walk the ball into the net earlier because nobody will take the responsibility to shoot. Dolan’s and Gallagher’s misses unbelievable. If Sigardson and Ennis prove to be rubbish (hopefully not, obviously) then we could be in a relegation battle like Boro because don’t have anyone ( apart from Sammie) who can finish. 

The stuff of nightmares.

Dolan missed another later on and then had a shot when a pass to Gally was the one to play.

I've got a feeling that the German lad will put those sort of chances in the onion bag if/when he gets them.

[OsloRover]

Easy win if the inept officials do their job, that boro goal is one of the most blatantly offside goals I’ve ever seen.

Pears excellent, Hyam and Carter too.

Brittain very good first half but faded a little. Pickering steady as usual.

Travis good, JRC very good. I would like to see them as a midfield pair when Wharton gets his rest, he was average today.

Szmodics man of the match by a country mile, too bad he fluffed his hat trick chance but still a top performance.

Hedges good, Dolan very poor again but Moran not a lot better today.

Telalovic like every other foreign player shocked by the sheer tempo of the league, but is not slow and won quite a few headers. Deserves a chance.

Leonard did well in his short cameo. Hill I dont’t think did much but looks big.

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

Pears - keeps the shirt on Weds

Brittain - best game for us so far

Carter - our best defender IMO, give him a bigger, even longer contract.

Hyam - reliable, better than Lenihan

Pickering - learning the JDT way, did the JRC midfield switch thing well in the first half

Travis - Travis

Wharton - some silky touches but man, he needs to be better when we don’t have the ball, offered very little defensively and I’d love to see his running stats.

Hedges - good game, unlucky not to get two goals

Sammy - love the guy

Dolan - doesn’t have it to play the JDT way and that first miss was pathetic

Gallagher - see Dolan

Moran - worst home debut I can recall, little boy lost

Telalavic - I liked him, some good passes under pressure in the last ten

Hill - I liked his awareness and tracking

Leonard - not there yet but I have high hopes.

[Eddie]

We are often overly harsh when assessing our performances.

Thought we were excellent for large parts of the game. Created more than enough chances and we were entirely comfortable until a shocking officiating decision changed the game.

Still could have put the game to bed and did ride our luck a bit late on, but overall a well-deserved 3 points.

As for judging new signings based on 30 minutes when we were on the backfoot? Give players time and a proper opportunity.