League Two Doncaster (2) v Rovers (1)

[Ian]

I think he has to start Saunders simply for his pace. Jolley is not a great player from the off and is more effective as a sub anyway. Jennings is far more effective in midfield. I really hope we concentrate on sorting out strikers next season as we've been without a decent, fit one since Vaughan and it will severely limit our progress if we dont.

 

[ADD]

Well for all the huff and puff and yes we had a few good chances and hit the woodwork the fact remains that we conceded two shocking goals where defending was woefully sub standard and however you cut it it is a poor defeat to a team who hadn't won since New Year's Day.
Season is over now so Adkins needs to get back on the front foot. The way he has set us up and shaped us since he took over has got us into a solid mid table position but he is starting to show the signs of the stubborness that too many managers succumb to. Starting with Jolley week in week is simply wrong IMO - he isn't good enough and never will be - will end up in NLN at best. Now play offs are 100% gone he should focus on entertaining football and also on working out which of the younger players he retains. Surely now Hawkes must start and unless there have been some disciplinary issues with Taylor to explain his complete absence from the first team since Adkins took over he must be given some chances and ideally played through the centre and not shoved out wide as he was against Rylands. Then if Belehouan and Starbuck are such great prospects play them also and have Bentley and Mikey Davis on the bench and given minutes if at all possible.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Well for all the huff and puff and yes we had a few good chances and hit the woodwork the fact remains that we conceded two shocking goals where defending was woefully sub standard and however you cut it it is a poor defeat to a team who hadn't won since New Year's Day.
Season is over now so Adkins needs to get back on the front foot. The way he has set us up and shaped us since he took over has got us into a solid mid table position but he is starting to show the signs of the stubborness that too many managers succumb to. Starting with Jolley week in week is simply wrong IMO - he isn't good enough and never will be - will end up in NLN at best. Now play offs are 100% gone he should focus on entertaining football and also on working out which of the younger players he retains. Surely now Hawkes must start and unless there have been some disciplinary issues with Taylor to explain his complete absence from the first team since Adkins took over he must be given some chances and ideally played through the centre and not shoved out wide as he was against Rylands. Then if Belehouan and Starbuck are such great prospects play them also and have Bentley and Mikey Davis on the bench and given minutes if at all possible.

The first goal was an inch perfect ball, if we only conceded them we'd ship in very few. The second LOC seemed to get wrong or maybe the bounce was unusual. We have defended far worse than that.
Jolley isn't suited to the set up but Nigel clearly thinks he is the best option, I see no evidence to suggest he is wrong. Hawkes is a one trick player and will never be better than Morris, remains a defensive liability also. I'd say Morris, Hendry, Wood and Turnbull are a very decent left side unit now.
Great prospects or unattached players given a cheap punt and fill some shirts when desperate? Bele won't be staying I'm sure. Davies is probably another of our youngsters destined for Warrington, there are hints we keep them to keep to EFL rules on home grown?
Taylor remains a mystery, maybe in the post-Apter world.
I think the first XI is decent bar the forwards. The subs are so limited we only use the same ones, even withstanding Nigel's unusual habit of changing full backs. Lewis offers nothing new unless we are winning, a shore up, and you'd suspect this Norris has a use clause in his deal? You'd expect most of the bench to leave and the hordes beneath them nearly all go? I'd guess at least ten departing maybe up to 15. Then LOC will leave without consent and Hawkes will do so with mixed feelings. Dennis may fancy a re-set, so might we. Norris is not without a debate.

 

[Am on mobile]

Yet again the lack of a scoring forwards gets us. Not having a go but Jolly is not up to LG 2 standard he just doesn't do it and score enough. I love connor but he is better playing behind the forwards. Oh well to very hard games to come

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Yet again the lack of a scoring forwards gets us. Not having a go but Jolly is not up to LG 2 standard he just doesn't do it and score enough. I love connor but he is better playing behind the forwards. Oh well to very hard games to come

Jennings has played behind the forward for weeks now, Jolley yesterday. Jolley was never put in a shooting position yesterday, in fact I struggle to remember hsi last chance. We are back in Hemmings syndrome and the common denominator is us and our unbalanced squad.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

They are at opposite ends of their careers, but I think Adkins is reluctant to use Taylor and Dennis for the same reason: because he does not trust them to do the work out of possession that he wants.

The forwards are required to run and harry constantly with the pressing game Adkins favours, and Nigel probably thinks Dennis does not have the legs and Taylor does not have the discipline to do it for ninety minutes.

The only solution to the problem is the recruitment in the summer of an upgrade on Jolley / Saunders who can match their workrate but is a better player. Hopefully Adkins will be driving that recruitment process, so we avoid a repeat of the situation where 30-50% of the players in the squad are not deemed good enough to even get on the pitch.

 

[Boz]

It sounded like there was plenty of crosses into the box yesterday, was Jolley making any attempt to get at them?

While I get RLCs idea why Dennis and Taylor are out of favour because of workrate issues the main purpose of a forward is to score. It is puzzling that Nigel indulges a defensive midfielder in Brad Walker, who pulls out of a lot of challenges but has high expectations of his forwards. While recognising Brad’s ability in game management and distribution perhaps he should be adding a Walker replacement to his summer shopping list.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I am not sure I agree about Walker. I think his defensive positioning, interceptions and tackling are very good. McAlear is much more cumbersome in that regard.

 

[bigmart]

Just back home, had a really good weekend except for the game unfortunately. Against a team out of form it was very disappointing, they had a young inexperienced keeper who we didn't test anywhere near enough.
Hendry needs shooting practice as he should have scored at least once, Jolley is a waste of a shirt when he starts he doesn't link up well, doesn't win many headers and is not that quick closing players down.
Need to bounce back with a win on Tuesday as I can't see us beating Stockport and it will be very disturbing if the season fizzles out and we end in the lower parts of the league

 

[Boz]

I agree about McAlear who isn’t really a defensive midfielder. There have been some games where Walker has pulled out of challenges leaving the defence exposed and it’s happened enough times for it not to be simply errors of judgement. I can understand given his injury record a caution about taking risks. Maybe mental as much as physical as there have been matches when he’s been strong, was one of the better players v Crewe for example.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

I think one Walker's many classy skills, undermined by a barely fit body, is his ability to determine challenges he will win. He often whips the ball away or muscles the opponent off the ball. Not sure I have ever spotted him backing off other than to keep himself in play, if he gets skinned then he isn't goal side anymore. Of course he does go in for the deliberate foul knowing he gets booked.
McAlear needs game time a big lad in midfield won't get better without experience. It's the most unique of roles and defies all football logic, he shows some promise and has a presence. The more classic types Merrie and Hughes just disappear. He is one bright spot recently although the absence of Taylor is just annoying now.

 

[mellow submarine]

Back in November Nigel found a way of winning , ie playing Apter and playing 442, with a pretty settled lineup. It looked to me like Donny knew what to expect and set up accordingly. We were second best in the first half, not winning the second ball and put under pressure when in possession. Our only form of attack was to get the ball to Apter and we didn't do that often enough. We offered nothing down the middle or on the left. Their goal looked very good to me , a fine cross and an accurate header. No complaints at 0-1 at half time for me. The subs in the second half made a big difference. A fine goal by Hawkes seemed to get us back in the ascendancy, but it didn't last long. Harvey offered more than Charlie, just that extra yard of pace, a shame that his shot wasn't the other side of the post . We could have got an equalizer , but it wasn't to be. Wood has had a good couple of months but yesterday he was easily beaten for pace, that wouldn't have happened with Bristow (what a shame we have to let our better players go). I agree with NA , it was fine margins , maybe a draw would have been right , but with our first half showing........
MOM ,for me, was the SWA , a magnificent turnout , and in fine voice throughout.

A couple more wins should secure league status, when you would hope that the club starts looking to next season. I believe that without Apter we would still be in a relegation dogfight, and I can't see him being with us next season , so the hard work starts now. I would like to seen them blooding the players who are still going to be around next year. Maybe that is why Nigel isn't playing Hawkes and is playing Jolley and Saunders, but they haven't got the goals in them for me, which like many others I am surprised by the absence of Taylor in the lineup, or could he too be on his way out ?

 

[Ian]

I don't think Taylor is on the way out, I just don't think Adkins is ready to plunge him into the deep end yet.

 

[bigmart]

I agr

I don't think Taylor is on the way out, I just don't think Adkins is ready to plunge him into the deep end yet.

I agree but he should be an option from the bench if we are trailing or need try to find a winner

 

[Sparky]

You do wonder now whether we’re a bit predictable. For a while now we’ve been 4-4-2, compact shape, and look for Apter as much as we can. Some teams will have worked out ways to deal with us and it’s whether we’re flexible enough to deal with that with the players we have. I still think if teams stop apter and Morris/Hawkes are out of form then we won’t create much. But hopefully Hawkes will now get an opportunity.

I’m sure Nigel is aware that it’s pretty much guaranteed we’ll be in league two next season so now is the time to start preparations

 

[Boz]

I do think we've become a bit predicable in how we line up and the changes made. In part that's a reflection of the limitations of the current squad and the lack of options Adkins has. Hawkes is an enigma, before Doncaster he hasn't made much difference when coming on as a sub, but the way he performed at the weekend may persuade Nigel to give him a start.

 

[ADD]

Definitely predictable now since we effectively only have one real tactic given we start Jolley every blooming game who should never have been given an extended contract. Jennings can create something form nothing occasionallly but he isn't a striker so ultimately when Morris is off it as he was on Saturday Apter picking it up and skinning two is the only realistic weapon unless Saunders is on the pitch where we also try a hail mary over the top and hope that Saunders gets lucky.

 

[ADD]

I don't think Taylor is on the way out, I just don't think Adkins is ready to plunge him into the deep end yet.

Taylor might well be tempted himself to look for a way out for sure if he gets no game time to season end. Yes he got a new contract and so an immediate pay rise but he surely wasn't expected to be completely sidelined since then.

 

[Sparky]

I do think we've become a bit predicable in how we line up and the changes made. In part that's a reflection of the limitations of the current squad and the lack of options Adkins has. Hawkes is an enigma, before Doncaster he hasn't made much difference when coming on as a sub, but the way he performed at the weekend may persuade Nigel to give him a start.

To be fair to Hawkes in recent weeks his sub appearances have been very short. 14 minutes of normal time v Crewe and even less in some games. To be fair that will partly have been because of the goal scoring form of Morris but Kieran has been off the pace for a few games now so Josh needs to start tomorrow.
I agree he can be a bit of an enigma but we can’t forget he got POY last season and was top scorer. He’s not perfect but we don’t have much pace in the side and he can finish.

 

[Boz]

Sparky, I’d like to see Hawkes starting and you make a fair point about his lack of minutes. However he needs to stay switched on accept part of his role is protecting the full-back and no suicidal back-passes.