Rovers 0-1 Cheltenham

[Rockford's Love Child]

Robbo doesnt need pace to beat a fullback he is skillfull enough to beat him.

But would you really want our most creative player stuck out on the wing, rather than in the middle ?

 

[drwhoman]

CHELTENHAM

Very disappointed with the result. Sounds as if they were pretty ordinary. Does anyone who was at the game think that Baxter would have made a difference? When we were going through a good spell a few weeks ago he seemed to be a catalyst for much that went well. Unless his tenure is extended again I assume he will be off to Everton Reserves in a week or so? There is never any substitute for quality and he certainly seems to have that at Division One level.

 

[bigmart]

But would you really want our most creative player stuck out on the wing, rather than in the middle ?

Yes i would if it meant we got the ball down on the floor and were creative.

Its not as if our wide mean ever beat the defender on the outside get to the byline and whip a cross on, they nearly everytime try to cut inside.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think we would be less likely to get the ball down on the floor and be creative with a central midfield of Welsh and Weir / Labadie.

On DrWho's point regarding Baxter, it will be interesting to see who is chosen next Saturday. Our downturn in form has definitely coincided with Baxter's absence, perhaps because Robbo isn't getting up in support of the striker as well at present, linking midfield and attack.

 

[Boz]

Well, we would have drawn Luton away, so probably wouldnt have got any further anyway....:roll:

Tend to agree, Luton was never a happy hunting ground for Rovers. However, if you not in the draw you can't progress. Plus there's the money we've lost out from not reaching the second round and former league side v L1 side with cup pedigree might just have attracted the tv cameras, whereas Luton v Cheltenham almost certainly won't.

Some interesting points on the 442 question. While having 2 forwards might increase the chances of reaching one of OFWs kick-outs, it won't prevent them happening. To be fair, Owain did try bowling the ball out to the left once yesterday and got it back within seconds, so unless we play full-backs with more attacking inclination or the central defenders make themselves available to carry the ball forward, his options are limited.

Robinson's performance was patchy yesterday, though he was still one of our better players and looked as though he cared, unsure if he was fully fit. My instinct would be to start with Baxter next weekend due to his fitness and inclination to play further forward. I also hope that Les resists any temptation to tinker with the Ash Taylor-Goodi central pairing.

Finally see it's rumoured Leeds are after Terry Gornell. Did Les miss a trick here?

 

[The Bootle Rover]

Didn't get a clear view of the penalty. From what I've read since, it's not disputed that Lucas clipped his heels, inadvertent or otherwise and the question is was the ball in the control of the player clipped or did he have a chance of retrieving it before it ran out of play? If yes to either then it would be a penalty.

I was beginning to think one or two of you knew the game then I read this from Boz.

As long as the ball is in play then its a penalty. If it had been the other end of the pitch in their goalies hands and their player was deliberately tripped in our box its a penalty. The penalty is for the offence committed, the position of the ball and whether it can be reached by the person fouled or not has no consequence at all.

And as for Robbo going too deep....Yes he does, intimidates others with his demands and shows himself to be part of the problem, not part of the solution. The TEAM plays better without him.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Mart, we're 7th in the league. There is no problem with the system we play. Your reaction to our dip in form is very fickle imo.

We have been too predictable several times at home this season, we get a goal kick or the keeper kicks out of his hands and were does it end up the majority of the time towards Akins head.

Because he's 6'1 and full-backs tend to be on the small side. What do you want the occasional kick to John Welsh just for a bit of variety?

The tactics yesterday were back to the alehouse rubbish of the past two seasons laucnh the ball in the air to the far too isolated striker.

I'm quite certain that Les didn't send the team out to play that way. Nothing to do with tactics. The players were very poor on the day.

Strongly side with RLC's argument re: Robbo.

As long as the ball is in play then its a penalty. If it had been the other end of the pitch in their goalies hands and their player was deliberately tripped in our box its a penalty. The penalty is for the offence committed, the position of the ball and whether it can be reached by the person fouled or not has no consequence at all.

Oh come on. Any ref with an ounce of common sense would not have given that.

 

[Boz]

And as for Robbo going too deep....Yes he does, intimidates others with his demands and shows himself to be part of the problem, not part of the solution. The TEAM plays better without him.

I'm sure you're delighted to have found another scapegoat to blame all our woes on, now that Shuker and ITM have long gone. If the other 10 players had played to their best, then regardless of how Robinson had performed, we'd have at the worst gone down fighting instead of throwing in the towel. It would be nice to see our captain, for example, intimidating someone with his demands, instead of only opening his gob McAteer-style to direct a torrent of abuse at a player, who'd been unable to collect his misdirected pass. I can understand your anger about how Robinson behaved at Scunthorpe, but if you want to pin all our onfield failings at his door then more fool you.

 

[bigmart]

Im aware of our league position but there is still a problem with the way we play, how many games at home this season have we performed well in? very few imo.

Funnily enough i want an ocassional kick to go to our centre forward who is actually usefull in the air.

Its funny how against sheff united the youth team main tactics were to launch the ball to cole stockton we have the same way of playing throughout the club and has been the same since les took charge.

Surely Les could see things were going wrong on saturday so what does he do he just changes like for like he only knows the one we to play. The only difference on saturday was when goodi decided to go upfront as well

 

[Sparky]

Wow the extent of the reaction from all really shows the frustration from Saturday. Most people make valid points for changing tactics or not pressing the panic button yet.

It was the first game I have missed this season and thank God I did - sounds like I would have been pulling my hair out.

Lets not go too overboard - up until a couple of weeks ago, we have had a very good season. Is anyone really bothered about the JPT ?? Yes Saturday was obviously a very poor result and performance, but you only have to look at the league to see how well we have done.

The 4-3-3 has had its critics, including me - but in the main has worked well this season. We don't create many chances but have defended well and won games. I would rather win 1-0 every week than draw 4-4. The only issue I have is that it sounds like the 4-3-3 clearly wasnt working, Les does not try and change things in terms of formation, when he did at Scunny a couple of weeks ago.

That said - everything is not rosy so lets see how the next few league games go. The players/squad will be glad to get back to the bread and butter as will Les.

I hoping its a temporary blip and we'll be back to our best but if things carry on, Les is going to have some serious thinking to do in terms of if we're not as solid as we used to be, how can we score more goals ?

 

[Ian]

I'm quite certain that Les didn't send the team out to play that way. Nothing to do with tactics. The players were very poor on the day.

Spot on.

Tactics were the same and have always been the same with Les. What needs to change is the players attitude. They should have been well up for that game. They were poor from the first whistle.

If they would have shown the same enthusiasm as Cheltenham to win the game, I'm sure it would have been a great match.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Yes. Blame lies with the players and their collective attitude towards these cup games.

Im aware of our league position but there is still a problem with the way we play, how many games at home this season have we performed well in? very few imo.

Only 5 teams in L1 have won more games at home than TRFC.

We've lost 1 in 9.

You are amazingly quick to forget how far we've come on since Barnes and Parry's first years in charge. Granted we have impressed more away from home than at PP this year, but I have absolutely no idea how you can complain about the standard of football we've produced this season given our budget relative to other teams in this league.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Couldn't agree more. Some perspective is needed.

I am looking forward to seeing how Les accommodates Baxter/Robinson/Davaney/McGurk/Akins into Saturday's line-up! At last we have real attacking options.

 

[bigmart]

Sonkorly, forget the budget as Les said at the start of the season a lot of teams now will have similar budgets to us so it cannot be used as an excuse.

We have some good attacking players in our squad now but they are not being used to their full potential although some like Mcgurk are over hyped for me

 

[The Bootle Rover]

There is no torrent of abuse aimed at Robbo, far from it. To simply question a players behaviour seems fine by any standards.

In any team the manager is always looking, or should be, to replace the weakest one. I happen to think its Robbo - because of the way he is playing. If he played further forward and used his undoubted talents then great. If not then dont play him - he proves detrimental to the team. Shame because he is [was?] a real talent.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Aside from Stevenage, we almost certainly have the lowest budget of any side in the top half of the table, and probably considerably lower than the majority in the bottom half.

From Les's comments it sounds like he may try and accommodate Robinson and Baxter on Saturday which would be very interesting, if perhaps a little cavalier. As was mentioned previously, I just hope is not tempted to change the centre back pairing, as I thought Goodison and Taylor actually looked pretty solid again on Saturday.

 

[tea for two]

vauxhalls

my nephew name is Daniel Fearnehough.he is 19.hes currently playing at vauxhalls.he is a central midfielder but the last 2 games hes played right back.he is a decent player.he was at barnsley last3 years he made the bench a few times.i know he can do better than vauxhalls.

my sister has written to les parry.it be good if he could come somewhere like Tranmere.vauxhalls are away at blyth spartens tonight and at workington saturday.if anyone from tranmere want to go and see him play they will be welcome.:whistle:

 

[SonkORLY?]

Ah, I've not heard of him. I'll keep an ear out.

Sonkorly, forget the budget as Les said at the start of the season a lot of teams now will have similar budgets to us so it cannot be used as an excuse.

We do not have the 7th largest budget in the league so in real terms we are punching above our weight. This is not the time to complain.

 

[bigmart]

We do not have the 7th largest budget in the league so in real terms we are punching above our weight. This is not the time to complain.

You do realise we are actually 8th level on points but behind Stevenage? sanother team with a low budget i would suggest.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Aside from Stevenage, we almost certainly have the lowest budget of any side in the top half of the table

Please see above. Which of the top six sides would you seriously expect us to be higher than ?

I don't see how you can think our current league position is anything other than a great achievement given the circumstances.