Well Gasheads there is something special about watching a football match on a crisp cold evening, bursting with 8646 fans most of whom have turned up with the expectation that there side is going to continue the astounding run of form since the arrival of John Ward and hopeful that it will be a good game with free flowing football. Unexpectedly when the teams last met Rovers beat Rotherham 3-1 leading to perhaps a tinge of overconfidence from the home fans. Rotherham start brightly pressing forward at every chance closing down the limited space in midfield due to both teams formation, after 10 mins Broghammer pulls up with a hamstring problem and was substituted by Richards who as a right footer struggles to play on the left side drifting to the centre of the pitch offering little width and no more crosses from the left side also forming no partnership with Lee Brown. The game drifts on in front of a near silent stadium, with little quality as the ball is hoofed in the air at every opportunity keeping both defences busy. Suddenly the night came to life, a sideshow to end all sideshows, we enjoyed a comedy moment coming from the Rotherham dug out ,instigated by Rotherham’s pub team manager Mr Angry Evans, visibly furious, went on the attack, berated the ref a number of times for not penalising Rovers for what he thought were blatant fouls, then what ensued was comical, he entered into a series of terse and bizarre exchanges with the fans behind the dugout and the poor 4th official had the hairdryer treatment as well, whilst tucking his beer belly into his badly fitting trousers absolute classic, back and forwards this went for around 20 mins ,the crowd mesmerised by the farcical entertainment, thankfully as the match was boring. no way was Mr Evans going to give in to the fans……meanwhile the Ref or was it Reverend Linington was as oblivious to what was taking place off the field as what was going on the pitch, we all shout have you left your cards in the car, as we did not see them at anytime during the match at the very least Angry landlord Evans should have been banished to the stands for his torrent of abuse he gave the supporters and the 4th off, however diverting and funny it was. View attachment 21670 Mercifully the reverend blew for half time which was you’ve guessed it 0-0. Second half started for Rovers without our only striker Brunt who limped off at half time disappointing he was substituted by Clarkson who continues to carry the weight upon his shoulders since McGhee’s departure. Most of us fans are operating from incomplete information when we criticise a player for a poor performance or being picked week after week saying things like perhaps they were stellar in training those of us who have seen a training match wonder at the selection when they were pants in training as well! Rotherham’s Odejayi scores a soft goal on the rebound following a good save from Mildenhall,with Rovers resistance broken they then conceded 2 mins later Smith fails to clear in side the box and its 2-0 groans from all sides of the ground ,Norburn is replaced by Hitchcock (I thought he had returned to his club).His presence had an immediate effect. Unaccountably we start getting better we take the game to Rotherham Lee Brown racing down the wings, short crisp passing results in a shot on goal. Anyinsah scorches a ball into the Rotherham net to give Rovers fans a glimmer of hope 2-1 the previously quiet crowd get behind the team and its all out attack wave after wave. However it is little than a statistical consolation goal. Sadly the reverend Linington finds his whistle and blows for full time. So Landlord Evans gets his win not by 6 goals as he gracefully said they could scored but 2-1 deluded you say, one eyed maybe. I couldn’t possibly comment. Views and comments on the match Gasheads View attachment 21666 COR
Cheers BB at the moment I will take dull and bag the points.perhaps this will make us all a bit more realistic when we play Morecambe next week. It does show how thin the squad is though with no equivelent striker to Brunt on the bench. COR View attachment 21673
the atmosphere certainly wasnt the best last night but it certainly was not as bad that has been made out. just my opinion though. maybe where i stand (which is right next to the singing lot) it sounded loud to me as i was right by the singing lot. yes it was quiet at times of course. usually there is a few songs before kick off but there wasnt. that usually gets the crowd going. the 1st half was quieter than normal but there was the odd song so we certainly wasnt silent. 2nd half was teh same as the 1st half really until we conceded. that brought on a chorus of irene as we attempted to get behind the players. as soon as we conceded the 2nd it was very quiet. of course conceding 2 in 3 minutes would do that to any set of fans. when we scored and we got back into the game, we were very vocal. i agree it wasnt the best but it wasnt bad either. compare last night to our time under mcghee/buckle then you will see where im coming from
Agree there was some singing mainly from the Blackthorn end of the ground. Probably spoilt during the Barnet game where the atmosphere was electric just like a cup match with singing from all quarters of the ground even the away fans............Your not singing any more when they scored then up popped Ryan and we repaid them the compliment Your not singing anymore cue full time three points Thankyou home happy bunnys. COR View attachment 21674
Those who went to Fleetwood would have seen Rovers play with two small strikers who had pace and movement and ripped their back line to shreds. Since this game and the addition of Brunt to the squad it has been mainly a one man up front jobbie - at least for the first 60 - 70 mins, and then a bit more support after that - mainly from Clarkson. Yesterday however in the second half, because of the injury to Brunt we tried get the ball down and play it on the deck (something I wish we'd do a bit more often), with JJ dropping back into deep midfield to pick up and distribute the ball. This however took a few minutes to get used to again, and it was in this period that we concieved the two goals. I for one, although I'm not knocking in any way shape or form John Ward) would love to see us play a bit more football on the deck and use our fast nippy forwards to create more havoc in and around the oppositions box, rather than the hoof ball up to our lone striker that seems to be the way we are playing at the moment. At Oxford RB got no change from their centre backs and the ball just kept coming back time after time, and even the rose tinted specs wearers out there would say that over the last 4 - 5 games we have rode our luck at the back ... it just seems that last night it ran out! Oh well - up to Morcambe I go on Saturday to cheer them on!! One last note - at Fleetwood Ellis H ripped em to shreds for 70 mins and set-up our first goal. At Rotherham he played well and scored a tremendous solo effort - anyone got any insight as to why he hasen't even got on the field since then! I know the old guard are back but surely this youngster deserves another pop - I would have thought he would have played last night - seeing as he scored against them up there!!!
agree, nothing like barnet. rotherham played well i thought and you could tell they will be in the mix at the top end at the end of the season. think the fans was waiting for rovers to give them something to cheer about. every time we we did a great tackle and broke down rotherhams play there was encouragement from our fans but then groans when we gave it away again. rotherham did well to quiet our attacks and our fans. they deserved the win
spot on rhinestone. im also interested to know why harrison hasnt been involved since. maybe JW wants experienced players as were still in a dogfight. harrison was involved because we were struggling with injuries. maybe too much too soon for harrison and JW wants to introduce him to a bit at a time.
Now that the spirit is back and the team are fighting, perhaps it's time to give the likes of Harrison a run out and a chance to attack teams. I agree that we look better playing with two nippy strikers up front - certainly it's an option we should employ when Plan A isn't working as we can't spend most games on the back foot and then expect to score on the break all the time. Our defence is competent and confident enough to withstand the opposition breaking at them when our attacks break down, so I think we should start playing more football on the deck. Brunt is great, but he's only 19 and there's only one of him!
Rhinestone I think that Ward went back to basics get the simple thing right, Firstly, players in there right positions making them feel comfortable,fielding the same team when possible,ensuring every player new what his job was on the field,working as a tight unit supporting each other,getting the defence to be tough to break down,standing up to the opposition (instead of crumbling).This league forces you to play the ball in the air sometimes its like a balloon, Rotherham were constantly pressurising us with a hoofball, headed ones then the the attackers especially 22 would pick up the ball in the final qtr and run at us. I agree we need more attractive football played on the ground however that was what Mcghee tried in most matches and failed to bring off.Harrison is 19 perhaps he is being protected at the moment until safety is secured I for one would like to see him replace Anyinsah for a few games or come on in the last 20 instead of Clarkson to show us what he is made of. Perhaps Ward hand was forced the other night with the injuries early on to Broghammer and Brunt leaving only one more option to bring on Tom. BB is right the defence are a much more solid unit my opinion is that the midfield work harder to break down the opposition before it reaches the defence and Ward has us set up like an away side 5 across the middle 1 up front with support from JJ ,Any and brog. At least we know have a plan B and sporadically we play nice one touch football at enough pace to trouble any opposition Not sure what Morecambes style of play is but like you have a good feeling about the weekend know the Rotherhams game is out of the way. Oh and a guy who has been supporting us since the 50's said that we are much harder to beat now like the great team around then that beat Man Utd (before my time) with a mean defence,also Ward is a better manager now than he was with us the first time only time will prove if he is right or wrong on that one. At least we have a fighting chance to pick up points now,its not attractive to watch (although more than when we were managed by Atkins) but its effective,under Mcghee we would have dreaded going to Morecambe not now although its not going to be an easy match you know that the team is going to work there socks off to get a result. COR View attachment 21684
