Cherries 5-3 Rovers

[Ian]

Erm, well it was full of goals. Great to see the lads come back from 3-0 down, showed spirit, but 3 down after 7 mins. That's got to be addressed, surely.

Did anyone go?

 

[Boz]

It sounds like a lot of work is needed defensively, two good goals from the home-side, shots from distance, taking advantage of the orange ball, but the other three could have been defended better apparently, with Cresswell and Goodison the main culprits. Ironic as both knocked one in during the fight-back.

Slightly puzzled at the substitutions. When we'd pulled it back to 3-2, wouldn't have expected the switch to 442 at half-time. Fraughan for Jennings was due to injury, but Morrow for ITM?? We'd have done better putting Simon Miotto up front.

Reality is we were half expecting this kind of result, but it does make a win at Bury in the JPT more important.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I went today, and while the game was fantastically entertaining, the defending by both sides was truly abysmal at times, perhaps due in part to the dodgy ball we were playing with: from where I was sitting, Bournemouth's first four goals were all the result of atroscious defending, and two of ours came from Cressa free kicks that their keeper really should have held on to.

The first ten minutes were the most desperate I have ever seen from a Rovers side. On all three goals no Rovers defender or midfielder so much as put in a block or a tackle on a Bournemouth player. It was schoolboy stuff, worse even than anything we saw under Barnes (yes, THAT bad).

To give credit where it is due, however, our fightback was stunning. We gradually ground our way back into the game, growing in stature as the first half progressed, when many sides would have crumbled. Make no mistake, Bournemouth are a very good side and played better going forwards today than they did at Prenton Park, and we did well to even get a foothold in the game after such a shocking start.

Ironically, having levelled the game, Bournemouth's fourth resulted from another defensive howler, as Cresswell gifted the ball to the opposing striker when he should have put in to row Z.

In response to Boz's comment, the substitution of ITM mystified me, as he was the best of our three strikers today (Enoch doesn't look fully fit), and in such a mad game we still had a chance even at 5-3. Morrow did absolutely nothing as in his previous performances, and our attacking threat petered out in the last fifteen minutes.

I am really struggling to understand the side at the moment. The inconsistency which we used to see from match to match, we are now seeing within individual games. Anybody have any explanations ?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

wouldn't have expected the switch to 442 at half-time.

Blanchard struggled badly in the first half, and his lack of pace was exposed against a lively and mobile Bournemouth midfield. But as you say, I am not sure why Les didn't simply go like for like and bring on Mendy in a 4-3-3, given that he is usually so cautious.

 

[Ian]

I'd say the inconsistency boils down to the management, but not sure if that's just using the lazy excuse. It's really hard to know what team is going to run out.

That first 10 mins sounded truly awful. I do think we rarely start games well. It usually takes us 15-20 mins to get into a game.

3 wins on the bounce, followed by 3 defeats if we lose on Tues. Frustrating to say the least.

Les makes some strange substitutions, none more so than today.

 

[SonkORLY?]

I am really struggling to understand the side at the moment. The inconsistency which we used to see from match to match, we are now seeing within individual games. Anybody have any explanations ?

Rather than losing every week, we now occasionally throw wins into the mix. Cheer up fella, its only the fookin cup. Scoring goals for fun at the moment, anyway. 4-1, 4-2, 3-5 in the space of a month, can't argue we're entertaining one way or another.

4th goal Cresswell was caught in a pretty difficult situation - player bearing down on him either side, collister slightly too far away to head the ball back to, with the ball bouncing up steeply onto his weaker right foot....I have some sympathy for him but one way or another you just have to get something on the ball there and away from goal. Collister looked completely lost for their first goal, wandering around his 6 yard box about 5 seconds after the ball had gone in, shellshocked expression plastered on his face. Today can't have done his confidence any good, but onwards and upwards.

 

[drwhoman]

CHERRIES GAME

Hard luck Rovers after a good fight back. The change of goalie did not help. I thought it was a bit mean of Liverpool not to let Gulasci play. When is he ever going to be needed by them? He is behind Reina and Jones of course but they also have Hansen who was the sub goalie against Napoli on Thursday and Dean Bouzanis who has put in some good displays for the reserves including one last week. So four goalies and that is even before you get to the youth team! Gulasci is yet another good but not super good player just marking time at places like Liverpool until (like Martin who went back to MK Dons from whence he came) he gets fed up and moves to a lower league or offshore team. If Pool had rated him then surely they would not have signed Jones in August? On goalies - is there really any point in Neilsen coming back - he was only on loan until Jan anyway?

 

[DIW]

Hard luck Rovers after a good fight back. The change of goalie did not help. I thought it was a bit mean of Liverpool not to let Gulasci play. When is he ever going to be needed by them? He is behind Reina and Jones of course but they also have Hansen who was the sub goalie against Napoli on Thursday and Dean Bouzanis who has put in some good displays for the reserves including one last week. So four goalies and that is even before you get to the youth team! Gulasci is yet another good but not super good player just marking time at places like Liverpool until (like Martin who went back to MK Dons from whence he came) he gets fed up and moves to a lower league or offshore team. If Pool had rated him then surely they would not have signed Jones in August? On goalies - is there really any point in Neilsen coming back - he was only on loan until Jan anyway?

I agree with that. Ridiculous of Liverpool to deny Gulacsi a game. Collister by the way is never going to make a career out of goalkeeping at this level.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Cheer up fella, its only the fookin cup.

Maybe the 600 mile round trip influenced my assessment. :-|

But basically I agree, there is reason for optimism when you are averaging three goals a game. Not every team can score five against us.

Following on from the comments about Collister, he looked out of his depth yesterday and Gulacsi's absence definitely influenced the result.

 

[Boz]

Rockfords Love Child, I'm impressed by your dedication in attending away games.

I agree with the comments about Liverpool and Gulasci. They let the outfield players they've got on loan, Ince and Palsson play, so why not Peter? However, I'm not sure we should be writing Collister off just yet, although Les doesn't seem to rate him. Both JC and PG have kept two clean sheets to date. Yesterday both keepers struggled with the orange ball. Bournemouth had 12 shots on target, which suggests Joe made 7 saves. Last weekend v Franchise Gulasci had a string of saves to make. It seems there are significant problems ahead of the keeper, which need to be addressed.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

It seems there are significant problems ahead of the keeper, which need to be addressed.

For all his ability, Jennings doesn't really track back at all and the defensive side of the front three probably isn't functioning properly at the moment.

Maybe with the increased confidence in the side at the moment we are bound to go a bit more gung-ho at times, with the result that we win some and lose some as Sonko has suggested.

 

[Sparky]

Lets face it - all we can hope for is to stay up. Cup runs are all well and good but the priority is staying up. So i'm not too bothered other than the fact we conceded 5 goals which could affect confidence ahead of the up coming games.

At least one local team is still involved - Vauxhall Motors are still in the draw and have a big replay at home to Hartlepool to look forward to !

 

[Ian]

I think the worrying aspect of that game was the complete annihilation in the first 7 minutes, cup game or not. 3 goals down after 7 minutes. That's got to be some kind of record, even Barnes couldn't top!

Regarding Collister, I don't think he's ready for these games yet. Having keepers on loan is always a risky business. So Liverpool cup-tied him. I think we should be shifting the blame away from Liverpool and back home. We shouldn't be in this mess. Why can't we just find a keeper?

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

Agree with Ian's last comment. As much as I like Colly, he's probably a little too young for full blooded vital matches like this but he is a good young keeper who will come good soon.

Les in pre season said he didn't want to be relying on loan players, yet we've used 3 different goalkeepers so far this season. Nielsen is injured and will be a complete waste of money. One game for a six month loan.

The defence needs sorting out good and proper, and a regular goalkeeper is the key to this. You can't concede 5 goals to any team, no matter how good they are.

The disappointing thing was we got back in the game at 3-3 only to switch off and concede the momentum as they made it 4-3 shortly after.

The FA Cup is mickey mouse now anyway :lol: concentrate on the JPT!

 

[Boz]

I still think we'd have likely lost if Gulasci had been between the sticks.

Les was trying to avoid loans, but when Nielsen became available, felt that a 6 month loan for him was too good to miss. Expect with hindsight he'd have done things differently. As it stands, it would be more use to have an experienced keeper, who can play regularly on our books with Joe as understudy at the expense of an 'attacker' like Morrow.

 

[The Bootle Rover]

On the contrary

Hate to disagree chaps but....when have Liverpool ever done anyone a favour? Cup tied, Gulasci - ridiculous, theres more chance of my granny getting a game in goal for Liverpool than him.
Collister is a kid who needs experience and the more he gets of it the better. We are doing Liverpool a favour in giving Gulasci games before they offload him either in January or at the seasons end.

But the best news at the moment is Ash Taylor is on the mend and ready to resume full training.

 

[SonkORLY?]

It's the done thing for clubs to not allow emergency loaned players to partake in cup games. Why? In case Gulasci goes on a standard (longer term) loan/permanent transfer in January, which would obviously be easier to negotiate for his parent club were he not cup-tied. Or in case we draw them, or something. Liverpool are no different to anyone else really, so seems harsh to victimise them for acting in a fairly standard way.

 

[bigmart]

Mendy & Grandison were both on the bench so were allowed to play by their clubs, i would think Liverpool are looking to offload gulasci in January to a championship team and didnt want him cup tied

 

[The Bootle Rover]

True in the case of many clubs Sonko, but the big ones, Man Utd, Arsenal for example allow loan players to play. Seems the mighty reds are a small club after all, or small minded at least.

I'd sooner we gave our youngster chances rather than theirs, thats the crux of it for me.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Mendy & Grandison were both on the bench so were allowed to play by their clubs, i would think Liverpool are looking to offload gulasci in January to a championship team and didnt want him cup tied

mendy and grandison aren't emergency loan signings