Rovers 0 Glovers 1

[Rockford's Love Child]

Well, that was absolutely dire wasn't it ?

What a great show we put on for our guests today. I am sure they will come back in droves.

As I had feared, the loss of Labadie had a major negative impact as Enoch was too isolated, midfield and attack didn't link up, and we resorted to hoofball. However, I thought the team selection and tactics were both wrong today and played into Yeovil's hands as they got men behind ball and tried to close out any space.

The game was crying out for width and 4-4-2, yet Les decided to leave it until 20 minutes from time to make a change, by which time we had been playing so poorly all game there was no way we could flick a switch and gain some momentum. I think it was a mistake to play Akins ahead of Robinson as we had absolutely no threat down the right hand side, even in the first 20 minutes when we played reasonably well without creating anything.

The mistake by Kay for the goal (which admittedly was a great finish) summed up the whole performance really, and it is worrying that he has had a couple of dodgy games now.

On the positive side I thought McGurk did well when he came on, and it may be worth starting with him if we do opt for 4-4-2 (from his post-match comments it seems Les is thinking along these lines).

Amazingly, after three defeats we are still six points clear of the drop zone, but with two tough away games coming up that gap will soon narrow if we don't arrest the slide.

 

[bigmart]

would agree with rockfords comments we were truly dire and played our usual hoof the ball to the isolated striker, akins yet again contributed very little and even a half fit robbo is a better option.

with 5 out of 7 away games in march we really are back in a relegation dogfight big time

 

[Ian]

Well, that was absolutely dire wasn't it ?

What a great show we put on for our guests today. I am sure they will come back in droves.

Exactly what I was thinking. Very poor show in front of 8000. Would be surprised if we get even half that for the next home game.

Awful long ball football along with poor opposition made for dire viewing. Really not good enough at all. They have to do better against a poor team. Three defeats in a row. 1 step forward 2 steps back.

Akins is so poor, I do wonder why Les persists with him. Clearly missed Labadie in the middle and Wier was no great shakes. Why don't they use their heads and try to play football instead of opt for the lazy effortless hoof upfield?

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Not much to disagree with there.

Digging a little deeper, I thought we looked really lethargic, maybe due to having had two hard away games then having to play an enormous, physical team who parked the bus on a cabbage patch pitch.

I thought the subs could have been used a bit earlier when it was obvious that 433 wasn't working. A big frustration was that Lateef saw so little of the ball having had his marker booked as early as the 19th minute.

Far too early to judge Weir. I didn't think he was the main culprit today. Thought McGurk looked lively when he came on and when we switched to 442 we seemed to create a bit more. We had only two real moves of note, both excellent passing moves ON THE GROUND which both led to decent chances. Other than that...

Yeovil were dire, worse than Wallsall even. The way their players stayed behind in a huddle and celebrated after everyone had left the ground was truly pathetic. Good luck to them, it's not sour grapes, but I wonder how they will celebrate if they ever win something big? I doubt we'll ever find out. Their style of football deserves nothing.

Knowing Rovers we'll win at Exeter and Charlton, both grounds which should hold no terrors for us. Then we'll lose at home to Bristol and the message board will be clogged up again!

 

[bigmart]

we need to pick up a point or 3 on tuesday because i can see charlton thumping us

 

[Boz]

Think anyone complacent enough to think Rovers are safe from a relegation struggle will have had a rude awakening after this dismal showing. To play so negatively, mostly in the air, against an unattractive but marginally more positive Yeovil side, when there was a good crowd, some of whom might have been tempted to return with a decent game beggars belief.

The game reminded me of the Hartlepool match, Rovers making little impact against a defensively well-organised side and conceding a freakish goal fairly near the end. Significantly Joss was missing from that one too, both he and Cresswell were missed today. Aaron for his set pieces, as Zoum filled the left-back slot capably.

Thoughts on players;

Warner. Generally solid. I thought he made the right decision to come and head the ball and it was a decent header. Would have to see the goal again, as to whether he should have got back on his line quicker.

Zoum. Good performance, but he seemed to be under instruction to stay back. Couple of decent crosses when venturing forward.

McChrystal. Reasonable, if not as assured as recent performances and distribution iffy.

Goodi. Steady, but doesn't seem at the top of his game, or age catching up with him? Played quite well as a makeshift striker late on, though whether that was the right move when we'd a real striker in Morrow on the bench...

Kay. His mistake led to the goal, but overall didn't do much wrong.

Welsh. One of his poorest games in a while, some rubbish free-kicks and showed little leadership or urgency as captain.

Weir. One decent tackle, a couple of nifty flicks, but didn't appear very committed.

Taylor. Seemed to be playing to instructions, delivered a lot of long balls, one or two good eg the one that set up Alliyu for the effort into the side-netting, first half. A lot didn't reach their intended target and coupled with some missed tackles, led to Ash getting some flak from the crowd.

Akins. Hardly won a header all game, one or two good turns but no end product.

Showumni. Drifted in and out of the game with little impact.

LEA. When the ball was played to feet, he did well, but too often today high balls aimed well over his head kept him out of the game. Despite this, still probably our best player over the 90.

Robinson. He seems to have put on weight since rejoining us. Once he came on the ball played on the deck a bit more, but didn't really make the most of it.

McGurk. Hopefully has done enough to earn a start, after a promising 15 minute cameo.

 

[DIW]

Utter crap.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Think anyone complacent enough to think Rovers are safe from a relegation struggle will have had a rude awakening after this dismal showing.

Nobody thinks we're 'safe' IMO, but we are in a favourable position regardless of today's result. It doesn't matter one jot that 5 of our next 7 games are away from home, we have 7 away games and 5 home games left this season and I couldn't give a toss what order they come in, it makes no difference. Our home record is better than any of the bottom four, our away record is better than any of the bottom four, and we have games in hand on three of them.

Today was awful. We lacked quality everywhere. We tend to set up in a 4-3-3 because it makes us harder to play through in midfield and accomodates the generally 'counter-attacking' (cough, long ball) style of football favoured by Les; fine, it tends to work. But why we persist with the formation at home versus teams like Yeovil (who will sit deep and look to take a point) is beyond me.

I presume Robinson doesn't start because he isn't fit enough to last 90, fine. I don't care who replaces Akins but he needs to disappear. Mcgurk looked good, give him a go. Fraughan couldn't possibly be worse. We need Jenno back.

Our center-halfs are both very good but they need to work on their distribution because it's so ****ing lazy. Even with time on the ball, and the opportunity to play the ball on the ground, both opt to smash it in a straight line as high up the pitch as possible without even bothering to consider their options. Goodison is the worst culprit.

Their keeper was good and their goal was a great finish.

At least Zoum looked sharp.

Good showing from the fair-weather fans, awful stewarding in the Kop and JK.

 

[DIW]

Contrary to some of the posts one here I thought that Zoum didn't have a great game. Yes, a couple of good crosses went in but his control was terrible. Would much prefer Cressa in there.

Calmed down a bit now since my two word reaction last night. As someone else said, it is good that after three defeats we are still 6 points clear of the drop zone, and to be truthful I don't think we will go down from this position, BUT... it's not out of the question.

Crowd size was great (despite the fact they won't be coming back for that sort of rubbish)although the noise levels were pathetic. Did anyone have trouble finding a seat in the Kop? Seemed ridiculous that people were struggling with thousands of empty seats above them. Alot of daytrippers sat in season ticket reserved seats as well and there was some understandably annoyed reaction to the stewards, (particularly one narky jobsworth).

Back to the game though, we desperately needed some Jennings type creativity, Welsh I thought had the poorest game I have seen from him, Ash spent the game hoofing it aimlessly forward and we clearly missed Joss in the middle. Weir made little impact, although looked tidy enough at times, Enoch bustled about to np effect and Akins is just plainly not good enough at this level. Lateef looked more lively as the game went on.Warner also needs to be careful about smashing a ball high into the crowd in anger - that was a bit foolish IMO.

Two tricky away games and then Bristol Rovers at home and with our record against teams around us at home, that game worries me.

And I agree the Yeovil celebration at the end was pathetic - I would have been embarassed with that. Fair play to them, they came away and got the win, but they didn't play well, created one chance which they missed and profited from a bit of piss poor defending.

 

[Boz]

At the moment Rovers have 37 points and are about 5 wins from safety. While I don't for a moment think it will happen, if Rovers lose all their remaining games, they are certainly down. However we cannot rely on teams below us continuing to perform badly, but must deliver on the pitch ourselves.

Zoum never has had great ball control, what I thought he did well yesterday was stay in position and not get pulled out of place, then try and recover by a wild challenge. I too prefer Cresswell for what he offers elsewhere on the pitch, but felt Zoum did nothing wrong yesterday.

Fraughan is still about a month away from match-fitness, so whoever could replace Akins it won't be him.

 

[Rob]

Awful result and what a way to make those £5 visitors come back in the future.

Parry standing there with his hands in his pockets staring at the floor and ultimately he now has to start taking responsibility for these dire performances.

Warner - Nothing he could do about the goal

Zoum - only player who had a decent game

McChrystal - poor, aimlessly hoofs the ball out of defence to nobody

Goodi - looks like he's injured

Kay - needs to pick a proper pass + when he takes a throw in actually give it to someone

Welsh - worst i've ever seen him, gave the ball away constantly and doesnt show any leadership skills, why is he the captain

Weir - crap, send him back

Taylor - he has the ability to make a decent pass but he needs to pick the simple ball sometimes, as someone above posted he is being told clearly to just lob the ball to nobody

Akins - one of the worst professional footballers i've ever seen, another cousin of George Weah's I think

Showumni - tactics for using him are dreadful, holding the ball up is all well and good if theres someone running onto it which there never is. Also I dont think I have seen him win a single ball in the air in the last couple of games.

LEA - alright, but he had nothing to work with again

Robinson - hugely unfit

McGurk - looked promising when he came on, this kid should definately be starting ahead of people like Akins/Weir

 

[Ian]

Why wasn't the top end of the kop open? I had a feeling it wouldn't be a 5-figure gate and it wasn't, but the club were tweeting on about how they hoped it would be 5-figures, yet they left half the kop closed. They couldn't have been that hopeful! Ended up with people standing at the sides.

Agreed with most about McGurk. This guy needs a decent run in the side. I'm sure he could produce. Akins has had his fair share of chances and done nothing. Fraughan has been mentioned too, but I don't rate him at all. Another waste of space IMO.

When Labadie returns, we will improve, but the lads need to give more if they are to stay clear of the bottom four.

 

[bigmart]

Rob, think your bit hars on weir yes he was poor yesterday as were the whole team but send hom back after 1 start.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

While I have commented that it is a shame we could not give some of the newcomers a performance yesterday, the behaviour of a minority of them who sat in reserved seats at 2.30 before the ground was even half full was appalling. Near to me several season ticket holders went and sat in the front row of the stand simply because they were too nice to complain or couldn't be bothered with the hassle of an argument. I agree though that it was daft of the club not to open the top of the Kop, the stewarding cost of which, for one game only, would not have been great.

I also agree that the increased numbers of uncommitted fans in the ground actually diluted what little atmosphere we already have at the matches, but then I suppose increased atmosphere is not really the point of the exercise.

 

[SonkORLY?]

While I have commented that it is a shame we could not give some of the newcomers a performance yesterday, the behaviour of a minority of them who sat in reserved seats at 2.30 before the ground was even half full was appalling.

Someone was sat in mine. I asked them to leave, then told them to leave. Fair-weather mother****ers.

The top of the Kop was open for about 5 minutes, then everyone got moved again. In the JK, families were getting split up into different places because the stewards wouldn't open the section by the away fans. Shambles.

 

[Sparky]

A lot of the newcomers probably sat in Reserved seats coz they dont realise what the big 'R' on a seat means.

I made the mistake of getting in at 10 to 3 - assuming the upper kop would be open - and then having to sit 3 rows from the front which felt like I was pitch side - but my own fault for getting their so late.

The atmosphere was awful - but I doubt all the newer fans would sing unless the players gave them something, but they didnt. Lets face it, the atmosphere is generally crap these days anyway at home

As for the game, agree with most comments. Akins time to be dropped with Robbo even if he is unfit given a run of games. He has something special that not many of our other players have. And it was left far too late on Saturday

 

[bigmart]

Sonkorly, it was not down to the stewards that the rest of the jk stand was not opened up or the top of the kop it was down to the police who said no.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

The seats fiasco would merit a whole new thread... I brought two pals to the game, one first-time visitor to Prenton Park.

Actually the steward on duty in the middle of the JK stand did a pretty good job. He was trying to get seats for everyone. The punters were helpful too. Nevertheless, i got split up from my friends. Wish I'd gone with my initial hunch and headed back to the pub though.

Someone didn't do the maths. if you are expecting a 10,000 crowd, and you close 25% of the JK and the entire top tier of the Kop and given that the away end will be 90% empty and hundreds aren't likely to want to sit in the main stand - exactly where did the club think they could seat all these extra fans?

Just as well it was only 8,000 - could you imagine another 2,000 fighting for seats? Almost as much of an own goal as the game! And the queue was so long I couldn't get a bovril. Roll on Bristol Rovers with 3,950 in the ground...

 

[Ian]

Roll on Bristol Rovers with 3,950 in the ground...

Haha, yes, can't wait for it to be empty again. :whistle: I gave up queuing for a coffee.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Sonkorly, it was not down to the stewards that the rest of the jk stand was not opened up or the top of the kop it was down to the police who said no.

on the day, sure. but it's our ground. presumably we expected more people to come, and should have had the foresight to open up other parts of the ground before the problem occured.