• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

Coventry v Rovers

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
A 2pm ko at Northampton to avoid clashing with the rugby, as Rovers take on the exiled Sky Blues. They've done well so far, wiping off a points deduction to be comfortably in the top half of the table and looking capable of making the play-offs at least.

There isn't too much team news for Rovers. OFW returns from the Welsh bench and will invariably get parachuted straight back into the side. Jennings is unlikely to feature due to a groin strain, but hasn't looked that fit since coming back anyway. Wallace came through a reserve match unscathed (though the team got hammered), but won't make the bench for this one. Given Koumas' encouraging second half, will Ronnie stick with him? Hateley seems out of favour, yet it would be risky going into an away game against an opponent of this calibre without a defensive midfielder... so who to leave out?

I reckon this is one we'll lose, probably 2-0.
 

bigmart

bigmart
Member
Joined
29 Jul 2009
Messages
7,110
Player
Ian Muir
I would play Hateley and leave out Atkinson but think Fon will be the only change and think they will win 2 1
 
Joined
1 Oct 2005
Messages
5,692
Player
Alan King, Barry Dyson
Coventry are on a great run, which has to end some time, but I think it will be Rovers' unbeaten run which will end on Saturday. One-nil to the Sky Blues.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,873
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
I agree with Boz that the big decision is whether or not to play Hateley. I would guess he will start, so it will be interesting to see who is left out (I think we are obliged to play Atkinson under the terms of the loan agreement).

I would say this is our toughest game of the season so far, as Coventry are in superb form at home and are scoring a lot of goals, with Clarke and Wilson formidable up front. We will have to play out of our skins to take anything from the game; certainly, the back four will have to be excellent if we are to get a point.
 

bigmart

bigmart
Member
Joined
29 Jul 2009
Messages
7,110
Player
Ian Muir
an amazing scoreline so far what a 45 minutes
 

frenchrover

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2012
Messages
688
Player
aldo
What a fantastic result....great hat-trick for Ryan Lowe but how brilliant for James Wallace to come off the bench and..score. He deserves every bit of praise for coming through he own personal hell and bouncing back so well. C'mon SWA.
 
Joined
1 Oct 2005
Messages
5,692
Player
Alan King, Barry Dyson
Could not have been a better result, but a shame about Ash. I expect it will mean a three-match ban. Look forward to the eye-witness reports.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,873
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
Just one of those incredible performances that comes along every few years: it was a privilege to witness such a fantastic team display. While nobody predicted the scoreline, the superb performance has been coming given our considerable improvement in recent weeks.

In thirty years of watching football I have not seen a better hat trick than Ryan Lowe's today. I thought his second goal was brilliant, a delicious chip over Murphy from the edge of the box; then he came up with his third which was simply incredible, a routine clearance by Murphy to the edge of the 18 yard box which he controlled first time and volleyed back over Murphy's header into the top corner of the net. All of the finishes were superb, with Wallace's epitomising what we have been missing in the last twelve months; he made a superb tackle on the half way line, ran past 2 or 3 of their players before belting it in the bottom corner.

Lowe's performance was stunning, but the contributions of Koumas and Kirby were almost as impressive. The pair of them ran the game for long spells and caused their back four no end of problems with their passing and movement. Koumas is visibly getting stronger and was actually going past people today, as well as spraying the ball around as we know he can.

In summary, it was a game where we married the discipline and workrate of recent weeks to some real quality in the final third: all of our big players - Lowe, Koumas, Kirby, Taylor, Fonners - played really well.

Despite the scoreline, Fon Williams made three or four excellent saves at key moments in the game. Twice in the first ten minutes, with the score at 1-0, he saved one-on-ones with Wilson, the second a brilliant one-handed stop. Had we conceded at that point the outcome may have been very different.

With Koumas and Wallace back in the side and Kirby improving all the time, we clearly have far more quality in the team now, so hopefully we can pull well clear of the bottom four in coming weeks and avoid too much stress in the second half of the season.

Nearly forgot: Ash's sending off looked very harsh indeed. Their player ducked and was caught by Taylor's trailing boot as he made a clearance. There was clearly no malice in the challenge and I did not even think it was a foul, let alone a sending off offence. Hopefully we can appeal, as to lose him for three games would be a major blow with Goodison apparently injured at the moment.
 
Last edited:

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
Thanks for the report RLC, it must have been amazing being there. I was a little surprised at the lack of a defensive midfielder in the starting line-up...but what do I know!

Hope we can successfully appeal Ash's sending off as thin on the ground for central defenders just now.
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,873
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
I was a little surprised at the lack of a defensive midfielder in the starting line-up...

Me too. It is funny that Hateley was really the catalyst for our improvement, playing the holding role, but the way our midfield is at the moment - and assuming they stay fit - I can't see him getting back in the team.

Looking at the quality of the individuals in the Coventry team I think they probably have the best midfield and forward players in the division, which just makes today's performance and result all the more remarkable.
 

bigmart

bigmart
Member
Joined
29 Jul 2009
Messages
7,110
Player
Ian Muir
looking at there squad you have to wonder how they can maintain it when they get hardly anybody going to watch them.
 

Ian

Super White!
Admin
Joined
21 Sep 2005
Messages
12,019
Player
Aldo
Manager
Kingy
Incredible.
I don't think that could have panned out any better with the ever improving Lowe getting a hat trick, the young and upcoming Kirby bagging his first and to top it off, Wallace getting on the scoresheet with a fantastic goal.

Im really pleased for Lowe. He was getting quite a bit of stick early on and I think it's taken him a while to settle in but yesterday really showed what a superb finisher he can be.

The confidence has been returning in recent weeks and we look to be getting stronger. The return of Wallace is a huge boost and actually feels like we've signed a new player due to the length of absence.

Feeling a lot more positive to the run in for Xmas.
 
Joined
7 Mar 2012
Messages
100
Player
Backayogo
Never saw that coming, what a great result. Hope we continue this. Confidence must be sky high after that. Great for Lowe and great to see Koumas coming strong. Onwards and upwards hopefully.
 

andrewesq

Faith Light Strength
Member
Joined
25 Jun 2013
Messages
118
Player
Billy Woods
Onwards and upwards hopefully.
Fantastic result, hopefully these will come together now and we can climb the table
 

Boz

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2005
Messages
8,851
Player
Iain Hume
It's a shame that the footage doesn't capture Ryan's hat-trick goal clearly, but impressive nonetheless.

While it was great to see James Wallace return and score, I hope that expectations will be realistic for the lad. Let's see if there's any post-match reaction from the leg and ease him back gently.

I wouldn't be confident of Ash winning an appeal against that red card; his foot was high even though their player was in an unnatural position. Of course if you're Shrek, you can deliberately kick an opponent and get away with a yellow.:confused:
 
Joined
15 Mar 2010
Messages
13,873
Player
Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
Manager
John King
Taylor's challenge was not malicious but was a bit wild. The way he swung at the ball could be deemed reckless and I think it is unlikely we will appeal.
 
Last edited:
Top