Rochdale 3-2 Rovers

[SonkORLY?]

Both teams were pretty poor. Ref was even worse, giving some atrocious decisions for and against both sides.

Didn't get a proper look at Broomes' red as I was tring to sort out my cup of tea, but it didn't sound like one (a red) from how the foul was described to me. It was always going to be an uphill struggle chasing a one goal defecit with 10 men but because Rochdale are so ****, it didn't end up being too hard. Neither team really grabbed hold of the game or created a lot of quality chances; rather that their defence was awful, and we had Collister in goal. We got a lucky peno to go 2-2, then they scored a free header from about 4 yards out from a corner a few minutes later. Game over.

Grandison and Goodison played quite well, nobody else performed notably apart from Collister (awful) and Wooton who had a torrid time at right back.

We're close to full-strength now, this is our 4th defeat on the bounce, Les will run out of excuses soon.

 

[Sparky]

Next 2 games at home mean 3 points is a must at the minimum.

Collister simply isnt good enough from what i have seen. The keeper situation is embarrasing. The signing of Nielsen was a disaster and an expensive one at that as we had him for 6 months. Wooton is being played out of position so cant blame him.

Sonkorly is right. We're getting back to full strength and still losing.

I live in hope we can get Gulasci in for the rest of the season and someone like Shay Logan at right back but could be a difficult few weeks.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Can't disagree with any of that. Another three points gone to a poor team. If you want a confidence boosting result in this division - just play Tranmere.

Losing one goal so quickly after equalising was galling, but two? Their winner was a horrible mess.

Nielson was due to play but called in sick. So beware, he might play on Monday (his last game).

Les is trying to sign a keeper and has a few options. A decent right-back is a priority but McChrystal should give us cover for when Goodi starts his next suspension. Other than that this squad, even with all its limitations, should easily be capable of getting to mid-table obscurity.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I have to say I didn't think it was as bad as has been suggested. While the defending was awful fo their second and third goals, you have to bear in mind we were a man down and the gaps are always going to be found sooner or later (getting stretched out wide, free header from a corner).

When Broomes went off I feared we would capitulate, but we actually dug in and, I thought, played quite intelligently, dropping behind the ball for spells and looking to counter when possible.

It was noticeable that we kept the ball on the floor a lot more than in the previous three games with Labadie back in the side, who was excellent, and there were some promising signs from Aliyou who had his best game for us.

Ultimately I think we deserved at least a point from the game, which you couldn't say about a number of our away performances this season.

The sending off of Broomes was ridiculous as the penalty incident was a straightforward foul in the box, rather than a hacking down by the 'last man'.

However, I agree that the excuses are starting to wear thin and we must pick up at least four points from the next two home game.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I will also add that I think that some of the criticism of Collister is harsh. Other than his kicking in the first ten minutes when he was given dodgy back passes to deal wih, I thought he did ok, and was infinitely preferable to Neilsen.

Obviously he is not the solution for the rest of the season but I would still start with him on Monday.

 

[Ian]

It's hard to judge a performance when you are playing for the majority of the game with 10-men. But based on the fact that we came back twice, and the fact that Rochdale weren't that good, I think we'd have got a result with 11-men. I saw Broomes falling, but didn't get a great view of what happened next. Sending off seemed very harsh, but really killed the game so early on.

Grandison was quite solid when he came on, but I thought the defence was poor overall. Conceding shortly after equalizing twice! that's really poor. 2-2 would have been a great result considering the circumstances, but they couldnt tighten up and squeeze Rochdale out. Like Les said, schoolboy stuff really, but more disappointing having come back into the game.

You can make excuses per game, but it doesn't take away the fact that we've now lost four on the bounce, it's not looking good for Les. Results and performances have to improve.

 

[SonkORLY?]

It was noticeable that we kept the ball on the floor a lot more than in the previous three games with Labadie back in the side, who was excellent, and there were some promising signs from Aliyou who had his best game for us.

we kept it on the floor because they gave us an incredible amount of time on the ball. don't get used to it. and we still managed to create very little and defended very poorly for their goals - none of the defence have any faith in collister, he has absolutely no command of his own area whatsoever. so far out of his depth. going a man down is not an excuse when you concede from a corner.

also aliyou looked really really lightweigh imo. at one point the ball bounced, hit him, and he fell over.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think the defence isn't helped by Wootton being played out of position at right back. He has struggled in all three games he has played in that position, and perhaps Blanchard would be more solid in there.

Despite my defence of our performance, I would agree that our inability to get a result against anybody at the moment (Rochdale had only won about one in ten before today) is somewhat alarming.

 

[Ian]

we didn't create a lot of chances, but when do we ever? we did however have two great chances late on when jennings and moore really should have hit the target.

i wouldnt just single collister out. the whole defence was shaky from the start, more notably in the first half. some crazy tackles going in. if the defence actually did there job, like defending set pieces, we may have got something out of the game.

it was good to see joss back, but i didn't think he was that influential.
also, why was wooton playing as a right winger at times in the first half?

 

[Ian]

just seen the broomes incident. silly boy, rugby tackled their player.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

just seen the broomes incident. silly boy, rugby tackled their player.

Still don't think it was a sending off offence though. Just a penalty and a booking at most.

 

[roverstillidie]

Broomes was last man and deserved to be sent off, he was lucky not to have conceded a penalty a few minutes earlier when he lunged in.

 

[Rob]

Collister - below average
Wooton - got torn a new arse hole all game, why play a decent CB at RB?
Goodison - superb
Cresswell - usual self, did nothing significant
Grandison - pretty solid
Broomes - totally morose challenge
Welsh - frustratingly inconsistent, one minute hes making sweeping passes that are premiership quality and the next minute hes hoofing it to nobody
Ladabie - see Welsh
Taylor - looked miles off the pace
Enoch - see Welsh/Ladabie
ITM - invisible, petulant and his usual self, playing a decent centre forward on the wing just shows how inept the physio is
Elford Alliyu - decent

Despite all of the above we didnt play too badly although the defending for the goals was woeful and the wrestling from Broomes was just daft.

Thoroughly enjoyed the game though, atmosphere was superb and had a great laugh with the away fans who were brilliant. Its just a shame the atmosphere at Prenton Park is so ***** compared to how it was today.

Legendary moment today which was better than the game itself - first couple of minutes TRFC fan hoofs the ball back onto the pitch and at the same time manages to belt some guys pie out of his hand just as he was about to take a bite, hillarious

****

oh yeah, get the physio out, dont know how I missed that off my post

 

[Ian]

I noticed a few shouts for Parry to clear off during the second half. Has Parry got his cards marked now?

 

[roverstillidie]

The disappointing aspect about the game yesterday was the way the side fell asleep every time we scored. From kick off after both goals there was a feeling that Rochdale were about to score.

We could have easily got a point from the game yesterday if Les had made some better decisions - not playing Wooton at right back, not taking off Taylor when Broomes was sent off which left Rovers in effect playing a 4-1-1-3 (with Labadie running round like a headless chicken) The set up of the side after the sending off left the defence completely exposed, we still had 3 strikers on the pitch - none of whom can defend and Labadie playing attack midfield/upfront. The sensible thing to do after Broomes was sent off would have been to bring on Blanchard for Elford-Alliyu and move Wooton to centre back and put Blanchard at right back.

We had the better of the play in the 2nd half but our inept defending - particularly down the flanks, meant we were always going to concede goals. I thought the main positive was that Goodison and Welsh had good games.


Player Ratings:

Collister: 2 - Terrible kicking, didn't command his area as was shown by our vulnerability to set pieces. Could have come off his line for their 2nd goal. We need Gulasci back.

Wotton: 0 - Clearly not a right back, appaling performance, lost his man for the 3rd goal.

Broomes: 0 - Struggled from the start, failing to clear the ball several times and nearly giving away a penalty before he did a few minutes later. Should know better than to ruby tackle the opposition when your last man.

Goodison: 7 - Got caught out for their 2nd goal but generally played well and made several crucial interceptions. Also made some superb tackles.

Creswell: 4 - Poor set pieces and didn't win a header in the build up to the 2nd goal, seemed to be out of a position a few times.

Taylor: 5 - Solid enough before he was taken off although his passing was a bit erratic.

Welsh: 7 - Worked very hard in the one man midfield and gave Wooton a bit of protection during the 2nd half.

Labadie: 6 - Scored one goal and created another but left our midfield completely open to attack and wasn't diciplined enough defenisively.

Thomas-Moore: 5 - Just got his penalty in and played well in the 2nd half. His behaviour in the 1st half was disgraceful though - kicking Rochdale players for no reason and giving away needless free kicks, also showed plently of dissent toward the referee which led to Welsh been called over to calm him down.

Showunmi: 5 - his persistance led to the 1st goal but he should have scored when his close range volley was saved.

Elford-Allyiu: 3 - Very lightweight and wasn't very effective. Not sure why we signed him as he just looks like Jennings without the touch of class.

Subs:

Grandison: 6 - Came on and steadied the ship well and coped reasonably well with Wooton's shocker.

Jennings: 5 - perhaps should have scored from a difficult angle when a shot was saved to him, didn't really have a chance to run at the Rochdale defence properly.

 

[bigmart]

i think this is a big few days for les as we really need to get 4 or 6 points from these 2 home games failure to do so will mean another grim relegation battle to the bitter end.

 

[Rob]

I noticed a few shouts for Parry to clear off during the second half. Has Parry got his cards marked now?

Yes, out with him ASAP regardless of what the result is tomorrow and the weeks after.

 

[SonkORLY?]

yeah, and bring in who?

i'm not a huge fan of les, but he's doing well to have us fighting and in contention given our budget.

even if we go down i doubt parry will be sacked.

 

[bigmart]

sonkorly what about hartlepool who are on the verge of the play offs and im sure there budget is not very big but there having a decent go.

 

[roverstillidie]

i'm not a huge fan of les, but he's doing well to have us fighting and in contention given our budget.

We do have a very low budget, but Les has also wasted the limited resources he's been given on players such as Nielsen, Wood, Darville, McGurk, Akins, Morrow, Mantom and Allyiu. You could also argue the signings of Blanchard and Cathalina as well as giving Zoom a new contract were pointless as Les seems to do everything he can to avoid playing them.

I know Cathalina has had fitness issues but he's still played players out of position or loan players ahead of him when he has been fit, one of kind of message does that send to Cathalina? Also what does that show about Les' judgement when it comes to signing players.

I would go as far to say that Barnes actually signed players who were at least on a par with Parry's.