v Southampton (a) - 16/12/23

[tomphil]

25 minutes ago, bazza said:

Bring it on.

One other thing. I'm beginning to criticise JDT. Regardless of a small squad and no money to sign strikers, he hasn't got a clue as to change or manage a game or personnel for that matter. When players are knackered, get them off the pitch and give some teenagers a chance with fresh legs. Reorganise the defence. Reorganise the formation. Change the way we play. Swap wingers etc. etc.  Unfortunately JDT doesn't seem to be able to do this.

I still blame owners and Waggot for a lot but JDT is coming across as rather incompetent, game after game.

There is no getting away from how poor the in game management has been for a lot of his time here even considering we rarely have one game changer on the bench.

There are always options to shuffle the pack and the constant persistence with Brittain there that has been highlighted before now finally came home to roost today.  The lad is a decent RB/RWB but useless in a forward position barring one breakaway goal ages ago.

[martonrover]

54 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

We have seen shambolic window after shambolic window, a bottom half budget and as a result a small, inexperienced squad.

So guess what we’ll get plenty of beatings from these kinds of parachute clubs.

It is what it is, I’m not going to hand wring after such games. On the flip side we could well have a decent Christmas period with the games we have coming up against ‘normal’ Championship sides.

The problem is, having a small, inexperienced squad could really come home to roost during the busy Christmas period.

I fear it could be a horror show.

Thank goodness this is a free midweek.

 

[Mattyblue]

Certainly could be, and I’m sure plenty will look to pin it all on the poor sod in the dugout.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Mattyblue

[Herbie6590]

Back from Southampton an hour ago, one pizza & one glass of Malbec (large) to the good now. 
Right from the off it was clear we were on the back foot. Southampton pressed us hard and we struggled to break their lines. They looked sharper, more technically innovative and generally up for it. Their crowd was noisy, supportive and occasionally witty. 
Rovers looked what we are, a small squad, over-worked, lacking nous, given the runaround. The two late goals are both cruel but in fairness served to deliver a more realistic result. How we react over the next three games is what matters now. 
Got to say 1300 Rovers fans in St Mary’s this close to Christmas is terrific, but this result will hit next week’s gate you fear & as for the FA Cup tie digital-only farce, then we deserve a paltry crowd for the contemptuous way the club has treated its most vulnerable supporters. 
 

A thoroughly disappointing excursion. 

[Mattyblue]

The only saving grace for next week’s gate is you’ll get a lot of fans who just fancy a festive game, folk back home for a few days for Christmas etc so getting thrashed the week before won’t necessarily come into it … but yes it won’t help.

[Blue blood]

Honestly, whilst JDT could be a bit more flexible and try other things, I do wonder how much he's trying to send a message to the owners. And more to the point, I think it's worth considering how little he has to work with! 

Look at what he has missing. If Hedges or Gally are first team necessities then you have huge issues. We hardly ever add any experience and rely on  the youth team to fill the squad. Every year the squad gets weaker. Every year we just over-promote squad players to more senior roles regardless of whether they are ready. 

Yes we should have done better with our very limited recruitment. But how much of that is on JDT? I imagine Waggott and Broughton shoulder a lot of blame. Its a crap budget but we don't use it well either. Restrictions like no one over 27 can't help us miss out on the right puzzle pieces at times either. 

Don't get me wrong JDT is far from perfect and has made some mistakes in his tenure but given what he's working with I'm amazed we have done as well as we have  

[tomphil]

There's no excuse to miss it despite today's mess this is the craziest most competitive football league on earth.

We let in 4 and scored non yet Watford stick 5 in away from home so and open game and goals guaranteed.   No surprise if it's us sticking 3 or 4 in it's all to play for to go home happy before Christmas !

[Waggy76]

1 hour ago, dallydally said:

We are a mid table side. The table and number of wins against losses simply doesn't lie

We are a bottom 6 team , the players are not good enough...

[roverblue]

Just watched the highlights and the defending looked poor on all 4 goals. 
Sounds like we were well beaten from reading the comments let’s hope they rest up and we get a performance next weekend. 

[NeilInBristol]

1 hour ago, Herbie6590 said:

Back from Southampton an hour ago, one pizza & one glass of Malbec (large) to the good now. 
Right from the off it was clear we were on the back foot. Southampton pressed us hard and we struggled to break their lines. They looked sharper, more technically innovative and generally up for it. Their crowd was noisy, supportive and occasionally witty. 
Rovers looked what we are, a small squad, over-worked, lacking nous, given the runaround. The two late goals are both cruel but in fairness served to deliver a more realistic result. How we react over the next three games is what matters now. 
Got to say 1300 Rovers fans in St Mary’s this close to Christmas is terrific, but this result will hit next week’s gate you fear & as for the FA Cup tie digital-only farce, then we deserve a paltry crowd for the contemptuous way the club has treated its most vulnerable supporters. 
 

A thoroughly disappointing excursion. 

The only good thing about today was the solid away support. Even when we went to 10 men. Great show by the fans. Didn't realize it was 1300 but definitely felt like it was, if not more. Phenomenal. The owners need to invest in the squad because it's paper thin. Red cards and injuries happen.

 

[booth]

2 hours ago, bazza said:

Bring it on.

One other thing. I'm beginning to criticise JDT. Regardless of a small squad and no money to sign strikers, he hasn't got a clue as to change or manage a game or personnel for that matter. When players are knackered, get them off the pitch and give some teenagers a chance with fresh legs. Reorganise the defence. Reorganise the formation. Change the way we play. Swap wingers etc. etc.  Unfortunately JDT doesn't seem to be able to do this.

I still blame owners and Waggot for a lot but JDT is coming across as rather incompetent, game after game.

We play teenagers every week and it's proven to be pretty hit and miss.

[booth]

2 hours ago, tomphil said:

There is no getting away from how poor the in game management has been for a lot of his time here even considering we rarely have one game changer on the bench.

As you say we rarely have a game changer on the bench so perhaps if Venkys give him some better players to in game manage, I assume he'll manage better?

Expecting the in game management to be better when the quality of player is either inexperienced or poor, is expecting a bit much.

Some fans need to manage their expectations better. Go into every game expecting nothing because that's what the owners have put onto the pitch this season.

[bluebruce]

5 hours ago, aletheia said:

 

As to the notion that JDT has run his course and it’s time to look elsewhere. I see it. Get in a seasoned pro who will buy experience and toughen up the team.

 

That's not feasible. The manager isn't in charge of transfers for starters, that's been made abundantly clear. The policy of buying young and using youngsters comes from elsewhere, and the primary reason is that the budget is dogshit.

If we can barely afford (or sometimes can't afford) to buy inexperience, how are we supposed to buy experience? Switching managers to someone who wants experience will just leave us with a frustrated new manager, or perhaps an experienced League Two side.

Edited December 17, 2023 by bluebruce

[tomphil]

12 minutes ago, booth said:

As you say we rarely have a game changer on the bench so perhaps if Venkys give him some better players to in game manage, I assume he'll manage better?

Expecting the in game management to be better when the quality of player is either inexperienced or poor, is expecting a bit much.

Some fans need to manage their expectations better. Go into every game expecting nothing because that's what the owners have put onto the pitch this season.

If you can't see the flaws in the lack of direction and action in altering things at times when it's clearly needed that's on you.

And him.

We know the issues nly to well and nobody expects much but some of it is pretty basic stuff.  Some fans need to accept that on matchday the gaffer on the sidelines owns responsibility for tactics and substitutions and playing a defender as a wide forward and leaving forwards on the bench.

 

[Torgeir]

43 minutes ago, tomphil said:

If you can't see the flaws in the lack of direction and action in altering things at times when it's clearly needed that's on you.

And him.

We know the issues nly to well and nobody expects much but some of it is pretty basic stuff.  Some fans need to accept that on matchday the gaffer on the sidelines owns responsibility for tactics and substitutions and playing a defender as a wide forward and leaving forwards on the bench.

 

I think we shouldn't expect too much from a game like today. If we had snatched a goal and try to shut them out, then that would've been an achievement. No chance from what I was watching and I wasn't expecting anything else. MIssing a lot of players and a starting striker, so hopeful we'll still be in the mix come the new year.

[roversfan99]

Obviously teams with parachute money will always be favourites, but such are the budget cuts, its depressing to see us uncompetitive against them to the point where we almost write the games off.

[lraC]

7 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

We are a bottom 6 team , the players are not good enough...

We are definitely a bottom 6 team, so full credit to the manager for him getting us much higher so far.

We will not finish in the bottom 6 either, despite him having a hand tied behind his back.

The blame for the state of things lies squarely elsewhere, so hopefully the negative comments made in here about JDT are born out of frustration, in particular after the drubbing we received.

If the manager moves on to a normal club, he will succeed there in my opinion and I think he is the real deal. 

[Roverthechimp]

6 hours ago, tomphil said:

If you can't see the flaws in the lack of direction and action in altering things at times when it's clearly needed that's on you.

And him.

We know the issues nly to well and nobody expects much but some of it is pretty basic stuff.  Some fans need to accept that on matchday the gaffer on the sidelines owns responsibility for tactics and substitutions and playing a defender as a wide forward and leaving forwards on the bench.

 

Wasn’t a double substitution prepared just prior to Brittains idiocy? Leonard was one of them - didn’t see who the other was tbh 

[Waggy76]

50 minutes ago, lraC said:

We are definitely a bottom 6 team, so full credit to the manager for him getting us much higher so far.

We will not finish in the bottom 6 either, despite him having a hand tied behind his back.

The blame for the state of things lies squarely elsewhere, so hopefully the negative comments made in here about JDT are born out of frustration, in particular after the drubbing we received.

If the manager moves on to a normal club, he will succeed there in my opinion and I think he is the real deal. 

I know the blame lies with our diabolical owners ,this team is running on empty and if no  proper additions in January, a very difficult 2nd half of the season awaits ...Sheff Wed and QPR are improving...

[Mattyblue]

Not a chance we go down. We get our arses handed to us on days like yesterday but we win plenty against ‘normal’ sides and no reason that won’t continue. 

It was a crap afternoon but as usual on forums a fair few lose all perspective after a defeat like that.
 

[cesus]

21 minutes ago, Roverthechimp said:

Wasn’t a double substitution prepared just prior to Brittains idiocy? Leonard was one of them - didn’t see who the other was tbh 

Yes, Leonard definitely one. Pretty sure the other was Garrett. I'm still fuming about Brittain now. Gives himself a nice rest whilst he team mates are exhausted, which is nice for him.

[AllRoverAsia]

11 minutes ago, cesus said:

Yes, Leonard definitely one. Pretty sure the other was Garrett. I'm still fuming about Brittain now. Gives himself a nice rest whilst he team mates are exhausted, which is nice for him.

Not quite as Duffy's red card, but getting there.

At a minimum it was as a result of a deliberate act with known consequences.

Edited December 17, 2023 by AllRoverAsia

[AllRoverAsia]

Whitewashing of that debacle in full swing.

Its much easier to go with truth. We didn't turn up, tactics were almost non existent, most players has a mare and we were lucky to only conceded 4,

Oh and wtf is that lightweight crap, Moran, doing in a Rovers shirt. If you want that sort of weak in weak out (deliberate) bring Buckley back.

[cesus]

6 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Whitewashing of that debacle in full swing.

Its much easier to go with truth. We didn't turn up, tactics were almost non existent, most players has a mare and we were lucky to only conceded 4,

Oh and wtf is that lightweight crap, Moran, doing in a Rovers shirt. If you want that sort of weak in weak out (deliberate) bring Buckley back.

Buckley is looking like being out injured long term, as of yesterday.

[Mattyblue]

Who’s whitewashing it? It was a load of shite from the first minute.

However, we also win loads of games against non parachute sides, ergo perspective and not bipolar reactions for a 46 game season in a division we obviously are competitive in.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Mattyblue