Having not long got back from what I honestly expected to be 3 points gained, I still cannot comprehend what went wrong today. I would definitely say the margin of the scoreline flattered Newport but not the result. I feel they thoroughly deserved to beat us today, they appeared to have more desire to win the ball, they were certainly sharper in front of goal and unlike us, weren't afraid to shoot. When will we learn that it isnt neccessary to walk the ball over the line,its perfectly ok to score from distance! I couldn't attend the Notts County game Tuesday, but a few people I was stood by today all said how well we played and how we deserved more from the match. If you didn't know beforehand, it would not have been possible to correctly pick the team that was at the bottom of league 2 today and the team that was nicely placed to challenge for the play-offs. I rashly predicted 6 points from 6 at the start of the last 2 home games, and here we are, ending up with 1! When will I bloody learn? I'm not going to publicly slate the team we currently have, my measured conclusion is that they simply aren't good enough to mount a serious challenge this season, a nice mid-table finish is probably a feasable expectation and for anyone (like me!) that was harbouring thoughts of top 6 or 7 needs to accept this reality check. Maybe next season we will have a stronger squad capable of a serious challenge, but lets be happy with consolidating a respectable placing in this league for now.
It was a local derby, Newport are fighting for their lives and quite a few of our players lost the plot today. I think we miss the leaders on the pitch like McChrystal, James Clark and Lines. But we definitely need to be a lot more clinical because we could have won this comfortably. But in the end we got what we deserved.
Up to half time I thought that three points were in the bag, not sure who the team were that turned up for the second half. Even though the first goal was an own goal I think the header was brilliantly executed and Bodins goal was of the highest quality and then it was all downhill. Even when we were pushing towards the end of the game the speed of thought and execution was to slow and Newport were very quick to get back and defend. Would the real Bristol Rovers stand up
I sometimes wonder if the atmosphere at The Mem gets to some players if things aren't going well.Parkes' confidence drained away after the own goal. Other players seemed to be affected too.
Let's not overreact. Indeed it was a very poor performance which I (like everyone else on this forum) am very disappointed with and defensively it was a shambles, but it doesn't suddenly make us relegation candidates. We do have a good team - before today we had won 4 and drawn 1 of our last five games. This was a bad day at the office, so there will only be reason for concern if we play like that over a period of time. I also don't buy claims that we're trying to walk the ball in. GWG you seem to have forgotten that our goal in this match came from long range.
I dont believe for a second that we will be in a relegation battle, although I said that during the season when we did get relegated! I also do not believe that we be chasing the play offs either, unless we bring in a striker ASAP who scores pretty much every game. Cant see us getting 1 of these as everyone wants that. DC is too loyal to our strikers. Deep down he knows they don't score enough and he needs more clinical and ruthless strikers. I think he is hoping they will turn into that but clearly they won't. They didn't do it in non league so they won't do it here in league 2. But DC is loyal because they are team players with the right mentality and they are also hard to find. My opinion DC loves Taylor, Harrison and Easter. Hence why Blissett and Lucas not getting a sniff of a chance. Will DC want to get in another striker that he knows we need but will push out 1 of his favourites? I can't see that happening. DC will stay loyal to them because although they are not banging the goals in, they still do score. Look at our away record for proof. Our home form is shocking. Why is this? Each goal yesterday was down to poor defending and keeping. Nicholls error for the 2nd goal was the killer. If that didn't happen then our defence wouldn't have been a bag of nerves for the other goals. At 1-1 I still thought we would win. We still created many chances but same issues, we can't convert. We need 10 chances on target to score 1 goal. Just a guess mind.
Mildy needs to come back in that's a definite for me. Sorry but I just don't rate Nicholls he seems he's beaten well to easy I would send him back and get Preston back as number 2 until Puddy is fit again. Parkes needs to be dropped for James Clarke and FFS DC get Lucas back.
Sorry Gashead79 I don't agree with you about Nichols His distribution is quicker than Mildy's he likes to put the ball to F/Bs to get the attack moving and he is one of the most vocal keepers we have had for along time. I really hope that he is a permanent signing in the next window I agree he didn't play well yesterday. I would also like to see Clarke in at C/B with Lockyer to give the back division strength and solidity. I also know that our goal came from a long range shot but the distance is the exception rather than the rule. I was also baffled as to why Mansell and Easter were taken off unless it is a fitness issue. Chris Lines came on and didn't seem to be able to up the pace of the attacks and Newport very quickly got defenders back and we were continually out numbered. Leadbitter and Brown appeared to be the only two who realised the need for urgency
You have an excellent point about our goal and I dont dispute what you say for a second. It was a stunning shot and I must admit, it looked even better when I saw it again on the tele! My only concern was that there weren't any other long range efforts of note and I just feel that we fanny about too long sometimes trying to thread our way through their defence when a speculative shot from distance (as Bodin proved) can catch defenders and goal keepers unawares and can produce goals. Of course you're correct about us not being relegation candidates too just because of one bad performance - I think DC has a pretty good team at his disposal,on the whole, and from what I've seen of the other teams in league 2, on our day,we can hold our own against most of them so I dont think for one moment that we will be anywhere near the relegation dog fight at the end of the season. Its just so frustrating when we appear to have a good opportunity (like our last 2 matches) to push on up the table and put pressure on the teams above us,and for whatever reason,we fail to deliver. I guess the supporters of the other 91 league teams probably all say the same at some point each season though!
Twelve of our players in yesterday's squad were in the play-off squad at Wembley. Factor in Mark McChrystal who is injured. So the only three missing from that game v Grimsby were Puddy, Balanta and Monkhouse. We didn't set the Conference alight last season....we managed to scramble out of it. Still a great achievement but most would agree that we seldom played a team 'off the park.' So we are trying to do well with basically last year's squad. I think now is probably as good as it gets unless we bring in some significantly better players....and that costs. We will continue to pick up wins....but I think anything better than mid-table will require investment.
The previous loan keeper was doing fine, so I never understood why Nicholls was brought in in the first place. But at any rate I think it's better to employ players rather than take people on loan, because the loanees always blow hot and cold.
I believe the previous loan G/K we had was only available for 1 month because his parent club didn't want out on loan and wouldn't extend the loan period
