A quick look at today's opponents! Bristol Rovers go into today's game looking to get their 2015/16 SkyBet League Two campaign up and running. Rovers: Darrell Clarke's men will be looking to secure their first three points of their first season back in League Two. Team News: The game might come too soon for both Mark McChrystal and Lee Mansell. Darrell's View:"They [Northampton] finished last season well but you just don't know with these things. There will be certain teams that will be fancied to be up there but we will see how things are after the 46 games. "My aim is to be part of that group of teams at the top of the division fighting away for promotion and it is vitally important that over the first 10 league games we pick up as many points as possible and that starts with Northampton this Saturday. Opposition: Northampton finished last seasons campaign in 12th place in League Two after a 2-3 final day defeat to eventual Play-Off Finalists Wycombe Wanderers. Chris Wilder has strengthened his side throughout the summer but was dealt the blow of his second top scorer from last season Ivan Toney signing for Premier League side Newcastle United on Thursday. Dangerman - Marc Richards:Cobblers striker Richards is in his second spell at Sixfields after signing a 3-year contract in May 2014 after rejecting an offer of a new deal with the recently promoted Chesterfield. Richards was Northampton's top scorer last season with an impressive 18 goals in his first campaign back and was also voted the clubs Player of the Season. Last Time Out: Rovers traveled to Sixfields to play out a 0-0 draw back in March 2014 with now Northampton man John-Joe O'Toole in the squad for John Ward's men. Tickets: Tickets for the opening fixture of the season are still available and supporters can pay on the day, however the club would like to advise supporters to arrive early to avoid long queues. Keeping Up With The Game: Full match commentary of Rovers game with Northampton can be heard through Gas PlayerHD. Supporters can access our LIVE match coverage by clicking here. Alternatively, stay tuned to the club’s social media outlets. Bristol Rovers found on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your match day fix and make sure you use #BristolRovers! Betting: The Football League’s primary sponsors have priced the game up with Rovers available at 13/10, Northampton at 21/10 and the draw available at 23/10. Bristol Rovers and SkyBet Promote Responsible Gambling for over 18s only. Prices correct at time of writing and subject to change. www.gambleaware.co.uk.
WE were out muscled , pushed around and had know midfield with any ideas, we knocked long high balls to short strikers who were marked by very tall defenders, we rarely tried knocking the ball along the floor and were second best to most loose balls. If Matty Taylor had knocked the ball in the net instead of messing around after he went round their keeper it could have been a different result. Thought J Clarke our new CH had a good game and looks to be a good signing but the wide men didn't really have much chance to impress, thought we looked much better after the substitutions were made looked livelier up front but on this performance top 7 looks out of reach
The Boorham Wood manager said "Jamie Lucas worked his socks off today after bringing him in from Bristol Rovers yesterday morning scored a great goal." Bring him back!
Northampton were Bigger, Better, Faster and Fitter! I'm not a fan of Blissett but I'd have brought him on to put their big CBs under some sort of pressure.
All credit to Northampton for that performance. On that evidence Chris Wilder has put his stamp on that side as they were physical and outnumbered us all over the pitch. It was not a coincidence that nearly every break of the ball or second ball seemed to fall to one of their players. There was no shortage of effort from Rovers and I certainly wouldn't say they were fitter than us. I just think we struggled to cope with their physicality and made a couple of poor decisions at bad times. We missed Mansell in the midfield, while the supply line to all of our attacking players was cut off and their threat was nullified as a result. There were far too many high balls played towards our strikers, which was weird considering we had a massive height disadvantage against their two centre backs. Why Taylor didn't shoot after rounding the keeper I will never know, and Harrison I think just lacked the composure with the chance towards the end. To be truthful nobody had a very good game, but I think Parkes was particularly shaky. And did I hear right that Sinclair was MOTM? He also struggled. Has anybody else seen a player who is capable of winning the sponsors' MOTM award by merely being on the pitch and having a distinctive appearance? It's beyond a joke now. Don't get me wrong none of our players stood out, but I would have brought Monakana on for Sinclair rather than Montano.
The Manager's post-match thoughts A second half header from John-Joe O'Toole was enough to see Bristol Rovers lose on their Football League return and Rovers boss Darrell Clarke told us he is disappointed with how his side performed in yesterday's season opener. "It was disappointing because I never thought we got ourselves going, we know we can pass the ball better than that. "In spells in the second half we were just hitting the ball long, players weren't taking enough responsibility to create angles for people to pass to and in a way we sort of ran out of ideas." Matty Taylor had a chance to open the scoring just before half time after rounding the Cobblers goalkeeper but Darrell says that his striker will come back and put the next one in the back of the net. "We had a great chance to take the lead, which we were frustrated we didn't take and then Northampton slowed the game down which is a credit to them. "Your strikers should be finishing their one on ones, they know that because we do enough work on that side of their game." A 'street wise' Northampton controlled the game for large spells of the second half and the Rovers boss said that his side probably didn't deserve anything from the game. "When you have as many players as we did having a bad day on the ball you usually come out of the game with a defeat which we've done today. "We kind of got sucked into their way of playing the game and we needed more players to take responsibility out there to find that space to get on the ball. "I think we started the game at a very high tempo which caused them problems where I think Jermaine [Easter] and Matty [Taylor] caused them a few issues. "When we got in at half time level I wasn't too disappointed but we knew we had to do more with the ball and hurt them in the wide areas but we never really got our wide players on the ball. "Credit for Northampton for stopping us playing, but we know we are a lot better than that."
Who was the single person to say Northampton win Who was in charge of the magic sponge on Saturday after Phil Kites successor left
Dont know who predicted Northampton to win. Whoever did it, didnt predict it in the league 2 prediction game, unless whoever did it didnt play the league 2 prediction game! Not sure who was the physio Saturday. There was a woman on the bench, may have been her?? I see we are still advertising the position so she (if her) is not our full time physio.
"In spells in the second half we were just hitting the ball long, players weren't taking enough responsibility to create angles for people to pass to and in a way we sort of ran out of ideas." That is very worrying. Game 1 and we ran out of ideas! Poor.
Here is the advert that went up on Rovers twitter page earlier.... http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/article/vacancy-first-team-physiotherapist-2607502.aspx Closing date is 13th Aug and interviews start 14th. Doesnt leave much time!
