v Preston (h) - 31/1/2025 - k/o 20:00

[RevidgeBlue]

Didn't get the chance to watch the game live - just watched it back.

Random thoughts:

Loved the free kick routine on 3/4 mins

Buckley was incredibly fortunate not to get booked for a near red card offence on 11/12 mins - was booked for another silly foul 2nd half, 99 times out of a 100 he'd have been off, needs to be a lot more careful.

Travis is absolutely crucial to this side, the main man.

We were very lucky in the last 10 mins after Travis went off. From being 2-0 up with 10 mins to go, we could have  lost it had Riis not touched a ball that was already going in and had the ref awarded what looked  a fairly stonewall penalty against Gueye. Thought our penalty was a definite one as well.

Chris Sutton came out with some really intelligent comments at HT about Gueye not attacking the right areas enough. The Club could do worse than pay for him to have some one on one sessions with Gueye.

We desperately needed those 3 points, but we'll probably play a lot better and lose before the end of the season.

 

Edited Saturday at 01:30 by RevidgeBlue

[booth]

16 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

We were very lucky in the last 10 mins after Travis went off. From being 2-0 up with 10 mins to go, we could have  lost it had Riis not touched a ball that was already going in and had the ref awarded what looked  a fairly stonewall penalty against Gueye. Thought our penalty was a definite one as well.

Got to thank Venkys for that. Travis's replacement was a bloke whose legs have gone, alongside him on the bench were an out of form JRC, a just back from injury Cantwell, a guy who can't get in a league 1 team, a dodgy goalie and four kids.

Gueye was our only striker today. Disgraceful.

[Exiled_Rover]

10 minutes ago, booth said:

Got to thank Venkys for that. Travis's replacement was a bloke whose legs have gone, alongside him on the bench were an out of form JRC, a just back from injury Cantwell, a guy who can't get in a league 1 team, a dodgy goalie and four kids.

Gueye was our only striker today. Disgraceful.

It's incredible that Toth has been written off after one performance (that I don't think was that bad), yet the incumbent GK gets "well he's really improved this year" comments every match.

The last three goals we've conceded have all been goalkeeping errors by Pears and (if you're someone that hates him as much as I do) you could argue that he hardly covered himself in glory for the Oxford goal either, making him at fault for four of the last six.

Edited Saturday at 01:57 by Exiled_Rover

[norwichblue]

Been enjoying a bit of schadenfreude on their forums. It really is their cup final. Highly recommended.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 minute ago, norwichblue said:

Been enjoying a bit of schadenfreude on their forums. It really is their cup final. Highly recommended.

I don't even regard them as a real rival. Historically there's never been that much rivalry between the Clubs due to us being in different divisions and the only time I can remember any real needle was around 1973-75 when Bobby Charlton a million miles past his best had an unsuccessful stint as player manager there.

Leave them to concentrate on besting their real rivals, the mighty Blackpool.

[chaddyrovers]

6 minutes ago, norwichblue said:

Been enjoying a bit of schadenfreude on their forums. It really is their cup final. Highly recommended.

I worked with 4 PNE fans who went tonight but very quiet from them. Really good. 

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Great win and much deserved. 

Brittain excellent tonight. Good defensive and great going forward. 

Batth and Hyam good..

Gueye getting better every game. Good header for goal.

Great to have Travis back and we are better with him in team. 

Deffo pen for us. 

Great 3 points and glad to get back to winning wages  

5th now, Eustace and the players deserved the praise and credit they should. 

Let's get that quality striker in before the deadline and secure that playoff place

Eustace's Blue and White Army 🔵 ⚪️ 

Im guessing that our penalty award and their non penalty award were both the correct decisions in your head speaking totally from a neutral perspective?

We got lucky today, having seen it back their shout could have been a penalty for handball on Gueye and ours was really soft.

And I am very happy to take the luck and run with it.

Dont worry. If you think we got a dodgy decision in our favour and admit it, the goal wouldnt be taken away.

[speeeeeeedie]

A good win. The first 30 minutes were excellent, yet due to a lack of depth Rovers players got tired and PNE came into it the longer the game went on. I thought Rovers penalty was a soft decision, but I'll take it as the opposite usually happens with nothing being given for blatant fouls.

I don't rate Dolan. I thought that he was anonymous, then he pops up with a great ball for the first goal. He's not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough, but has moments. He'd be a world beater at 7-a-side or futsal. 

Gueye played very well. He tried a couple of Hollywood passes that missed but his touch has improved. He had one chest control in the first half that stuck to him like glue.

Did anyone else wonder what Rovers were doing at kickoff? 4 players, including Beck, were lined up on the left side of the halfway line. I expected a quick pass back then a knock to the left corner. Instead of that I saw 4 backwards passes ending up with Pears slicing a rushed clearance that barely made it to the centre spot. It was very strange and looked amateurish.

[chaddyrovers]

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Im guessing that our penalty award and their non penalty award were both the correct decisions in your head speaking totally from a neutral perspective?

We got lucky today, having seen it back their shout could have been a penalty for handball on Gueye and ours was really soft.

And I am very happy to take the luck and run with it.

Dont worry. If you think we got a dodgy decision in our favour and admit it, the goal wouldnt be taken away.

Our penalty was clear as day. 

I haven't seen their back. I will watched the full game back later this morning after I finish work. 

If we got some luck then it's equal when they got theirs. 

P.S. I've just watched that incident back, yes it could be given or not. Gueye gone for ball. Don't think it's clear cut has some might think. It's might just the slice of luck we need and those extra 3 point may be crucial in getting a playoff place. Just like Wharton o.g at Deepdale cost us

Edited Saturday at 08:29 by chaddyrovers

[Old Codger]

7 hours ago, Torgeir said:

Wrong. He makes contact so it’s a clear foul and a penalty. 

No, it was dangerous play. Which is an indirect free kick.

[Upside Down]

13 minutes ago, Old Codger said:

No, it was dangerous play. Which is an indirect free kick.

You could argue it was a late challenge, which is a foul.

Someone mentioned it further up, if the ball was on the ground and he'd have made the same challenge with his feet, it would absolutely be a penalty no argument.

I honestly didn't think it was a pen until I read that, but now I can see the logic. As I mentioned earlier, there was also a foul on Batth just after with someone pulling his shirt in the box.

I don't think the nobbers could be too aggrieved by the result though, they were awful for a large part of the match.

[Paul Mani]

7 hours ago, only2garners said:

He was pretty much as good last week at Bristol City.

That level of performance is exactly what we need. Buckley was assured, dominant and expansive - excellent. 

[Ossydave]

7 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

They weren.t but McCann, Greenwood and Riis all missed decent 2nd half chances and the penalty could easily have been given

We rode our luck but hard work saw us through

Beck missed the chance of the game too though don't forget

[Ossydave]

9 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

That level of performance is exactly what we need. Buckley was assured, dominant and expansive - excellent. 

Whilst I agree Buckley has looked better the last few, he needs to stop getting the ridiculous schoolboy bookings. He's so petulant and childish at times. That little trip last night completely unnecessary when their man was going straight into Travis' challenge anyway.

He's now on 4 bookings which is the same as Tronstad has had all season, given the minutes played it says a lot.

Don't get me wrong I want my players to get stuck in, but they're always stupid fouls that mean you need to be careful for the rest of the game, it's just immature. 

[jim mk2]

18 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Beck missed the chance of the game too though don't forget

Beck should have scored, agreed, but some fans are in denial about how lucky we were not to lose that match in the last 15 minutes.

Overall though we shaded it and the players deserved it too for the massive shift they put in over 90 minutes and the bad luck we’ve also suffered in some recent games

[...]

7 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

He was shit. Now he’s good. 

There's a song there somewhere lol 

He was shit m'lord, now he's good!

He was shit m'lord, now he's good.

He was shit m'lord, now he's good!

Ohhh Lord now he's good!

[...]

5 hours ago, norwichblue said:

Been enjoying a bit of schadenfreude on their forums. It really is their cup final. Highly recommended.

Link lol

[alex l]

Gueye was lucky not to give away a pen at the end but glad to see another reasonably good performance. Maybe he shouldn't have been written off by some so quickly. I think the team have taken time to adapt to him too - it was noticeable we tend to put in low crosses in open play and clearly he's more threatening attacking the ball with his head than his feet 

[BankEnd Rover]

10 minutes ago, alex l said:

Gueye was lucky not to give away a pen at the end but glad to see another reasonably good performance. Maybe he shouldn't have been written off by some so quickly. I think the team have taken time to adapt to him too - it was noticeable we tend to put in low crosses in open play and clearly he's more threatening attacking the ball with his head than his feet 

It's incredibly hard to be patient in this sport...Szmodics, Brereton, Gueye etc, all showing why, it does take time.

It will be the same for Kargbo and others who come in. Scouts will of been impressed by Gueyes performance last night...It was a, almost, perfect number 9 display.

[Lancaster Rover]

I don’t personally think the comments made over the first 15 games were unfair, Gueye really was bloody awful. He’s  clearly worked on his touch but he’s still very clunky and technically miles off the standard, finíshing with his feet is terrible however that matters not when he’s effective like last night. Suttons point about areas is spot on and if he can improve that as well he’ll become a real asset. It has helped him that Brittain is currently looking like Beckham circa 2000 with his delivery

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Paul Mani said:

That level of performance is exactly what we need. Buckley was assured, dominant and expansive - excellent. 

Buckley had a good game next to Travis last night. Maybe what Buckley actually needed was a run of games and get used to playing again

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

1 hour ago, Old Codger said:

No, it was dangerous play. Which is an indirect free kick.

Pretty sure in its basic form  the rule is if you 'jump into a player' its a foul. He did that - and was late.  Clear pen. 

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

11 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Guere's close control has improved alot but still no goal threat 

Aged like milk 

[chaddyrovers]

Preston fans I worked with were quiet all night. All admitted they were poor and we were best team on the night and deserved to win

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

13 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Buckley had a good game next to Travis last night. Maybe what Buckley actually needed was a run of games and get used to playing again

Also helps that Buckley and Trav have been at the club a long time.  They have played together in previous seasons and under 21 etc. Those 2 will know each other's game inside out. 

I don't think Buckley is really consistent enough for the top end of the championship but he is a far better option with Trav than JRC or Forshaw.