Very happy with the win and 2 great goals, especially from Joe Bryan. When we attack we look very good, but conversley in defence we still do not look good. The problem with playing what is in essence a 5 man midfield with no recognised defensive midfielder will always expose defensive weaknesses if pressed, and credit to the gas they did that second half. The midfield have to work harder to win the ball back and support the defensive if we are to really challenge this season. Happy with Harewood's efforts tonight, once fully fit he will be a handful in L1, no doubt about it.
There were too many changes in the back 5 tonight (3 out of 5 changed) to say for certain how we will continue but we did miss Marvin in midfield who can operate as a defensive midfielder as well as get into the opposition box. O'Connor wasn't really ready to play a full 90 mins in the second half he struggled but then he is a right back by trade and a CB at need plus he is lacking in match fitness as is Shorey but all in all was quite happy with the performances we just need to cut down on the goals we concede from set plays.
It sounded like we need to work on team strengths and build a camaraderie that will reflect in better performances and points. Next 3 league games will show whether our confidence is well placed and that the climb up the table is an inevitability and not a pipe dream.
I was impressed with O'Connor I thought it was Flint who looked shaky, but that's not running Flint down as I thought he was good as well. Think he will learn well alongside O'Connor. Shorey I liked as well. We let them back into by Pack losing his control in midfield and got a booking, once he calmed down it improved again and I think he is fantastic to watch on the ball, and we have found a star in him. You wait later this season, or next season our midfield is going to be feared and be the envy of a lot teams. The defence is starting to look controlled by the amount of shots they got in which troubled Parish compared to last season.
If I'm going to be honest there wasn't much between the two teams which was the worrying thing as I thought we started well and JET took his goal well but after the goal we sat back went too casual and let Rovers back in it. For me Man of the Match was between O'Connor and Reid. Both worked their socks off tonight, Reid was always looking for space and trying to get the ball forward. O'Connor was class and looks a very good signing who was all over the back 4 winning the ball. Didn't think much of Shorey tonight, O'Connor had to come over the left back position too often but I don't know how much football he has played recently so will need time. I think the let down tonight was Harewood as he offered no outlet, wasn't winning balls played up, couldn't get one shot at goal to trouble the keeper and just makes me ask the question, surely either Krans or Holloway who are scoring goals in the u21 could have been a better option and would given them much needed experience in the first team. Baldock did more in 68 seconds than Harewood did in 68 minutes. If he is our back up to Baldock then god help us if Boldock misses any games.
Thanks for the sympathy hawk but NO I damn well could not! To add insult to injury it messed up my computer so badly trying to download the player that I had to "restore to previous session" and all is now ell with the world. Last time I try a Live Streaming site.
Mike, try www.stopstream.com, you do not need to download any dodgy players like a lot of sites try to force you to do. Probably irrelevant now as I doubt SKY will come to the Gate again this season.
The game should have been dead and buried by half time, but that was due to Rovers giving us the ball and standing off. We played some decent possession football but as per seasons gone by, we lacked the killer instinct in front of goal to wrap the game up early. JET - Brilliant goal, and your tricks are great when they come off, but 9 times out of 10 they don't so stick to playing normally and not showboating. The worrying trends of some many previous regimes were there for all to see in the second half and for all our previous possession we were on the back foot for quite a while, and I thought they might even beat us at one stage. They had more shots than us, and also more on target which is also worrying. I'm glad and relieved that we won, but aside from Bryan's excellent goal which was world class, we looked like the L2 side in the second half, not Rovers. Other L1 managers watching that can suss us out in 2 minutes flat on that showing. Reality check time. We are still on our worst league run for 80 years....14 games without a league win so lets get that sorted next.
But 4 games without a defeat Angelic so small steps of improvement. What I did enjoy last night was that both teams had youth in it, so on a plus side both sides can get better. We both have good managers who could help the clubs going through these transition periods. I don't like them, but could see in the second half they want to play football and that's rare in he league they are. Like you, I said the other week I wouldn't drop JET because at times he is simply too good for any opposing team, but he does tend to get lazy and not work for the team when they need to battle. But what he does conpared to a few in the past when on top he scores. And the best thing about him is he looks tired then destroys them. If there is anything I would change is to make him work on his heading ability. The youngsters will learn so much from him, just love the way players always know he's good but because he's a big old unit, they don't expect him to glide the way he does. Could be a problem in the return games like Albert got found out, but they teams struggle with Baldock always menacing so they work well together.
The advantage JET has over Albert is simple if the opposition try to double/triple mark him he will still manage to get free once or twice in a game plus if everyone is concentrating on him Baldock will have a field day plus in Reid, Bryan and Wagstaff we have players from midfield who can take advantage of the space that would be left if the opposition defenders are concentrating on JET to get in themselves.
I agree Hawk, I've said on a number of threads we will have a midfield to be feared. They will start getting goals on the board. I liked O'Connor hopefully there is more to come and it wasn't a one off. Some say they wasn't impressed with Shorey but I was he linked up well with Bryan. My midfield thread proved there is going to difficult decisions to come when Kelly is back. But Reid or Wagstaff will probably be one of the ones to step aside for him. Which is a delema that will benefit the club, but I suspect it will be Kelly with Pack as the playmaker, his passing are just fantastic to watch.
'But Reid or Wagstaff will probably be one of the ones to step aside for him' Wagstaffe maybe but Reid is destined to be the best of them. Kelly will have to fight off Pack and Marvin for another central spot. He'll have his work cut out.
As SOD said on you tube, you have to also look at the work JET does other than in attack, a number of times he was tackling back, "He looks lazy" but gets through of work. As for not seeing Marlon having a shot? One good save by Mildenhall to his right to push out a stinging shot and one that just flashed past the post, couple of inches and he could have had two?
