bluebruce

Think Szmodics' shot had a good angle and curl on it too, could have landed top corner if the Stoke lad hadn't clearly swung his arms out. I disagree with most handballs that are given, but that one is a definite hand to ball.

Hyam...more of one than the first one they claimed, but he went down very very easy. Just trying to win one more than genuinely fouled, but seen them given. Very bad half. Those shot stats (10, 4 on target for Stoke, 3, 0 on target for us) and of course the scoreline, sum up how little we deserved.

Zero chance we get a point tonight now. Blatant penalty for us there, didn't see it at the time but the replay makes it a very obvious penalty for handball.

Fucking blatant foul on Travis before that goal

This better be our shitter half, or we're gonna get dicked more than Annabel Chong.

What do you think of shit?

Pears looks nervous. I fear a return to the old Aynsley. Much like we are seeing the old Rovers who fuck about too much at the back. JDT needs to get this under control at half penalty. Commentator is off his tits. I watched that replay and laughed at the Stoke player's pathetic attempt, yet he says Carter was fortunate not to give away a penalty lol. Yet no comment on how they should have been booked for the high foot on 'Travers'.

Stoke's manager's comments before the game suggest to me he knows enough about how we play that he won't let them over commit seeking a 2nd. He knows we are best on the counter. They're hardly shutting up shop but I don't think they'll stretch right open for us.

All that talk of feeling invincible...I didn't like it, and this complacency is why.

Shame, I'd take that over the position we're now in just a few minutes later.

Too easy. Uphill struggle now, we know how poor we are from losing positions. Time to put that demon to bed so we can be real contenders.

Maybe end your boycott then and get tickets before boarding? Might help you get to places you wanna be.

I got a small bone from him not doing though.

Commentator doing my nut in already. Can't pronounce Szmodics' name, he just called him Smog Dicks just now. And just mentioned Lewis 'Travers'. Fuck me that should be 1-0. Defence need to up their game today, looked shakey so far.

Gilsenan with the 4th. Not heard his name for a while but he was once described as the Irish Messi I believe? Think I heard he had some injury problems this season?

Third goal by Ethan Walker, that's 3 games running he has scored, I believe. The lads have had 5 shots, all on target, and 3 goals. That's good going. Shame this isn't a league match, we could do with the points (assuming we don't fuck it up from here).

Only took 30 mins for it to be at 2-1. Was 2-0 (J. Edmondson and O'Grady-Macken) until Clinton Mola decided to show why he doesn't get in the first team and scored an OG. Not that I know it was really his fault tbf, I'm not watching.

Well you're not helping your argument there...

Dan Pike going to Fylde on loan again seems pointless, at least from our perspective. 21 years old now and returning to a National League North side for the third time. Obviously isn't going to make any real development by going there, clearly doesn't have a future here. One of the only (relatively) experienced players in our U21s, many of who are stepping up to a level they're unfamiliar with and are struggling. I'd definitely be keeping him here until the summer to help our U21s try to stay up, then he can go where he likes. And before anyone bothers, no I don't care about the player's career as much as the wellbeing of Rovers. But it's just a few months, he can go there permanently in the summer if he likes. His contract is up...we have an extension option that I can't imagine we will be activating.

I'm more concerned by comments from a couple of players since Saturday that we feel invincible, the game being on Sky, and JDT being nominated for Manager of the Month, than I am by XG. Those are the usual omens of our imminent demise! The Sky curse has been less prevalent lately, but I certainly hope JDT doesn't actually win Manager of the Month...

(Nevermind, misread the post I was quoting)

Some bad news for you...if you're vulnerable to that, it's pretty much our strong point. Sounds like if we score first we will win. On the other hand you'll be happy to know we are pretty dreadful at getting back in the game if we concede first. This has improved slightly recently though.

Yep, creating chances is only as useful as the players on the end of those chances. Making loads of chances but having Chris Brown taking them isn't gonna help. I also see lots of games with less XG than actual goals, sometimes games where any watcher would say there should have been more. It's a load of rusty old bollocks as far as I'm concerned. No stat should be used in isolation without wider context and analysis as you say.

If a full season is still a small sample, that only goes to emphasise how it isn't that great a predictor. And recent matches suggest JDT already has improved our processes. We absolutely battered Leicester. I don't know what our XG was for that game, but there is a post on here showing a Leicester fan on their forum saying we should probably have been 6 or 7 up. I'm only worried for next season if JDT leaves or isn't backed. If you expect a defeat why were you puzzled by our positivity?

'Won't somebody please think of the XG?!?' No. I'm a fan of stats and data, but I think XG is the most useless one around (well, after possession). Imagine saying 'Yeh you're in 4th and we're 16th, but what about the XG?' I mean come on. If it was so important, we wouldn't be 4th would we? There was an argument to point to our low XG earlier in the season, when league position can be a bit deceptive, but for crying out loud it's March! We're where we are because we've been one of the better sides in the league over the course of 35 games. You're where you are because you haven't. We're positive because we're on the back of two excellent performances and a 5-game winning streak that includes a Premiership scalp. We're talking about the playoffs because we are in the playoff spots! You're in quite good form too, and you have home advantage. So if you do edge a win, or we do, or it's a draw, none of those outcomes should be a surprise to anyone. Either team winning by more than one would be a bit surprising, this should be a tight game that could go either way. My feathers aren't ruffled btw, I just thought it was rather silly to talk about XG given the greater context, or to be puzzled why we might be in a positive mindset. Sheff United fans were puzzled by our positivity too, then we beat them. With respect, they're a lot better than you are. But as I said, this will be a tough game, and you've probably as much chance at the 3 points as we do. All depends which Rovers and which Stoke turn up on the day, as usual in this league.