v Coventry City (a) - 1/10/2024

[K-Hod]

I’m away, so I missed the match last night, though it sounds like I didn’t miss much.

We were bound to lose at some point tbh.

Lose (especially if it’s heavily) again at the weekend and it’s a bit of a concern, but otherwise, I’m not panicking just yet.

[Forever Blue]

It bears repeating that we have a squad that has had minimal investment over the last few years in comparison to the majority of the teams in the Championship.

Haji Wright, their forward who tormented Carter, cost £8m. That’s more than our starting XI cost. 
 

We go to Plymouth next who have wingers far superior to ours in Cissoko and Whittaker. That’s Plymouth!
 

Under the circumstances we are doing really well. Results like last night can happen to anyone in the Championship, let alone to a team that is constantly undermined by shit owners. 

[MarkBRFC]

15 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Our Tuesday night championship record away (since 2012) is:

P 39

W 4 

D 10

L 25

F 33

A 64

What's our Wednesday night away record since 2012 like?!

[roversfan99]

38 minutes ago, M_B said:

Just being devil's advocate, and by way of scientific experiment, how many points has Pears gained us and lost us after 8 games? 

Probably zero. No point costing mistakes and no making saves he isnt entitled to make/arent fairly routine to earn us points.

But he will lose us points over a season.

[tomphil]

7 hours ago, A Northern Horde... said:

I thought the 'throw one in' mentality was a thing of the past?🫣

 

Someone on twitter listed the midweek games and points won under the last few managers and it made horrendous reading especially given the length of time Mowbray was here.

So many games we just don't turn up from the off midweek away from home which led to the poster asking the questing is there something wrong with the upstairs administration that leads to poor preparation ?

Is it penny pinching, do they turn up too late, spend too much time on the famous bus, not get correct nutrition or rehydration beforehand due to penny pinching.

Are they always pissed off or not in the right mind because they have to wash their own kits and bring a packed lunch or something !

Or are they always out on the piss on Mon/Tues nights ?

There is something wrong at this club to have so many regular no shows in midweek aways.

[G Somerset Rover]

Trust me, I get that Dolan was beyond brain dead but there was still a hell of a lot that needed to happen for it to end up in the back of our net. Firstly, Hyam’s clearance/pass was as soft as shit. He should have been whacking that into the stands and taking the man with him. Then once it does make it’s way to Wright we still have several opportunities to prevent his way to goal and get the shot off - it was hardly like he was jinking through us like a young Messi.

Such an infuriating goal to concede which meant it was effectively game over from that point on. 

Edited October 2 by G Somerset Rover

[Hasta]

22 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

I’m away, so I missed the match last night, though it sounds like I didn’t miss much.

We were bound to lose at some point tbh.

Lose (especially if it’s heavily) again at the weekend and it’s a bit of a concern, but otherwise, I’m not panicking just yet.

Agree. I thought at the start of the week 3 points from these 2 games would be a good return. That's still on.

It's just the performance was diabolical. Think "Bristol City away" from last year bad. 

Edited October 2 by Hasta

[NeilInBristol]

First goal was poor defending especially early on but a good free kick can't take that away from them.

Second goal

dolan - hyam= goal. That was atrocious. That was all our own making 

The final goal, you expect any GK to do better.

Pears looks like when he is tested he conceded and then when he concedes one he is going to concede more, if the opposition are aware.

We didn't really look like coming back into the game at all. Concede relatively early and we look a bit hopeless 

Edited October 2 by NeilInBristol
Typo

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

31 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

First goal was poor defending especially early on but a good free kick can't take that away from them.

Second goal

dolan - hyam= goal. That was atrocious. That was all our own making 

The final goal, you expect any GK to do better.

Pears looks like when he is tested he conceded and then when he concedes one he is going to concede more, if the opposition are aware.

We didn't really look like coming back into the game at all. Concede relatively early and we look a bit hopeless 

Too many times with Pears in goal you find yourself thinking - “ how did that end up in  the back of the net ? “

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

47 minutes ago, G Somerset Rover said:

Trust me, I get that Dolan was beyond brain dead but there was still a hell of a lot that needed to happen for it to end up in the back of our net. Firstly, Hyam’s clearance/pass was as soft as shit. He should have been whacking that into the stands and taking the man with him. Then once it does make it’s way to Wright we still have several opportunities to prevent his way to goal and get the shot off - it was hardly like he was jinking through us like a young Messi.

Such an infuriating goal to concede which meant it was effectively game over from that point on. 

I agree. Dolan played Hyam into trouble but it was still recoverable if Hyam had have dealt with it properly instead of trying to pass it to another player who was in an equally bad position. Not that any of that excuses Dolan. Too much passing on of the responsibility to deal with the situation.

Edited October 2 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[roverandout]

11 hours ago, NeilInBristol said:

apparently he was motm at the weekend... 

He's always capable of a mistake 

[Wheelton Blue]

For all the recent talk of how great Dolan has supposedly been this season so far, last night was a massive reality check.

For the occasional good things he does, he more than offsets those as we saw last night.

What the heck was he playing at for that second goal? The lad has what, 3 season's experience now, but doesn't seem to learn and thus improve.

If only he'd ground himself, rid himself of his cockiness and flashy antics, and just concentrate on improving the basics of his game.

IMO, he'll never be anything more than infuriating and inconsistent, with rare occasions of sparkle.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Wheelton Blue said:

For all the recent talk of how great Dolan has supposedly been this season so far, last night was a massive reality check.

For the occasional good things he does, he more than offsets those as we saw last night.

What the heck was he playing at for that second goal? The lad has what, 3 season's experience now, but doesn't seem to learn and thus improve.

If only he'd ground himself, rid himself of his cockiness and flashy antics, and just concentrate on improving the basics of his game.

IMO, he'll never be anything more than infuriating and inconsistent, with rare occasions of sparkle.

I like the lad but I’m afraid you’re right. He has no game management skills what so ever.

[rigger]

11 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I like the lad but I’m afraid you’re right. He has no game management skills what so ever.

I have never been a fan of Dolan, perhaps the Nobbers weren't wrong to let him go.

[MarkBRFC]

Think this season Dolan has played well in our home games, and pretty poor in 3 of our 4 away games. 

A bog standard average championship player, playing for a bog standard average championship team,

Who would have thought?

[Bronzed A Donis]

An awful performance that exposed all of our weaknesses, no pace, no creativity, players in the middle unable to control a game. I hoped the soft underbelly was a thing of the past, but as so often on a midweek away game it reared it's head.

Every team in this league will have a night like that,  we need to make sure they aren't every midweek like the last few years.

We've so far been punching given the players we have, as Eustace this season is making us a team that has played to its limited strengths and been better than the sum of its parts. Last night he got it wrong.

If he's the real deal, he'll get a reaction at Plymouth, I expect Gueye to start. A place I never fancy us at. Hopefully we show some of that grit and grind it out, I'd settle for a hard working point.

[arbitro]

It's high time Duru was given a Championship start. Carter is a stand in at right back and at times it shows. Even playing a back five would be fine with me but Eustace needs square pegs in square holes. Ironically Carter was by no means the worst last night but it's unfair to expect him to do what a natural right back is expected to do. This silly tactic of Pears kicking it out wide for Carter to head on is a folly. If Pears tried it ten times last night it might have worked once. Another irritant last night was how we fell into the trap Coventry set. Countless times they let us have it and a really impressive press put pressure on us and we have it away cheaply. Why didn't Eustace tell them to by pass the press and look to get us in behind? We aren't a pacy team by any stretch of the imagination but at times last night too many looked like they were running in treacle. A huge improvement against a quick passing, sharp looking Plymouth is required otherwise the result will be the same.

We need a game plan.

[M_B]

The team as a whole played poorly at Preston, and again last night,so why is Dolan being singled out in both performances? 

[M_B]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Probably zero. No point costing mistakes and no making saves he isnt entitled to make/arent fairly routine to earn us points.

But he will lose us points over a season.

Let's review it in another 8 games, whoever is in goal. 

Just checked, that's Boro away and is the 8th game of a very tough looking run. Be interesting to see how it goes. 

Edited October 2 by M_B

[chaddyrovers]

10 hours ago, bluebruce said:

The other two lads out wide did things of note...in a bad way.

Are you seriously saying he shouldn't play ahead of Dolan (who, for the record, I like overall) after that performance?

Yes. Dolan should start for me on Saturday and he would be the 10 role. Every player was bad last night in terms of performance 

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I am not criticising his lack of goals in those 3 games.  

But his lack of all round game has been a factor in our disjointed attack. He isnt strong and he cant hold the ball up and bring others into play. He is quite slow and doesnt really offer an option in behind or in the channels. And technically his passes can often be loose and go astray.

I think he clearly is an excellent finisher when he gets the chance, but when he doesnt score he doesnt offer anything.

The service to him has been poor in the last few games and you blamed himself. Don't agree he is quite slow, see his second goal at home to Bristol City, he wasn't that slow then. He does offer a threat in behind but how often have we actually got into those position last night? not enough times. 

6 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

I said what he did in his brief cameo. But you’re right, after that performance he should stay on the bench cos Weimann, Cantwell and Dolan were fantastic 🤣

He would stay on the bench for me for this game and be sub coming on in the last 20/30 mins. 

[roversfan99]

11 minutes ago, M_B said:

Let's review it in another 8 games, whoever is in goal. 

Just checked, that's Boro away and is the 8th game of a very tough looking run. Be interesting to see how it goes. 

Pears will play the next 8 games sadly. I have seen enough over his Rovers career to know that he costs us far more than he saves.

6 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Yes. Dolan should start for me on Saturday and he would be the 10 role. Every player was bad last night in terms of performance 

The service to him has been poor in the last few games and you blamed himself. Don't agree he is quite slow, see his second goal at home to Bristol City, he wasn't that slow then. He does offer a threat in behind but how often have we actually got into those position last night? not enough times. 

He would stay on the bench for me for this game and be sub coming on in the last 20/30 mins. 

Why would you put Dolan in the middle who flatters to deceive in favour of a player who is obviously our best technical player by some way and also is perhaps defensively not the best? 

[DE.]

Obviously a shit result and performance, but we already know most of these players have it in them so not really a surprise. The big test will be what happens going forward. If it's the beginning of a downward spiral then we'll know the mentality still isn't where it needs to be. Bounce back positively and maybe we can have some genuine belief that Eustace has changed the team beyond streaky purple patches of decent form. 

[London blue]

28 minutes ago, M_B said:

The team as a whole played poorly at Preston, and again last night,so why is Dolan being singled out in both performances? 

Addressing last night, it's probably because he ran two thirds of the pitch in the wrong direction and played an awful pass to a technically poor center back against a team employing a high press with quick forwards. Just after half time. While we were a goal down.

Probably.

[MarkBRFC]

As good as Cantwell was on Saturday, I just thought it was strange chucking him straight in last night.

Personally thought he would have been much better off the bench again when chasing a goal.

[chaddyrovers]

13 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Why would you put Dolan in the middle who flatters to deceive in favour of a player who is obviously our best technical player by some way and also is perhaps defensively not the best? 

Cos I prefer him in the middle where he can score goals like his goal, Play off Gueye and press the ball. 

Yes his pass for the second goal was a disaster going back so far when he such an attacking situation