League Two Rovers (0) v Crewe (0)

[Sparky]

Lots of effort.

Zero quality going forward. Rubbish

 

[Boz]

Disappointing. Think the decision to stick with the Grimsby side was debatable given the different hurdles we were up again today. Quite a few below par, I wouldn’t single out Jolley. Will post l more when I get home.

 

[Ian]

Crewe were a well organised side and we didn’t have the quality to count in the end but it was a decent point. If we had better quality up front, we would be flying in this league.

 

[bigmart]

Not the entertaining game I thought it would be, at least we got a point but it was pretty poor fair, hopefully Apter injury not too bad.

 

[Sparky]

Frustrating as although a point was what I expected and not a bad result, overall I didn’t think we tested Crewe enough and one goal would have brought us three points.
Morris, Jennings and Jolley were all off the pace and Apter not at his best. Hawkes should have been on earlier. Defensively we were good although had to rely on McGee for one key save in the second half. Saunders ran around as usual but the quality in the final third was really poor. You wonder if we’ve flogged Jennings a bit earlier in the season as he’s looked quiet in recent weeks. Morris unless he’s scoring at times does little as too slow to beat his man.
Hendry too had a quiet game. Conditions didn’t make things easy.

MOM Tom Davies for me but a game to forget.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I actually thought it was an entertaining game and a draw was a fair result.

The first twenty five minutes were reminiscent of the MK Dons game. We gave the ball away far too cheaply and allowed Crewe to dominate possession, albeit we were well organised defensively and rarely troubled at the back. We gradually grew into the match, with Hendry and Morris becoming more involved, and finished the half the stronger of the two sides.

The second half was far more even and end to end, and pretty enjoyable I thought. Neither keeper had a great deal to do, with McGee's saves largely resulting from moments of sloppiness at the back, but there was plenty of decent attacking play from both sides. Ultimately, I think the two sides cancelled each other out, but again I thought we finished half the stronger of the teams and were a bit unlucky not to win it with Walker's chance at the death.

There were a lot of good individual displays after half time, but Jolley remains an enigma. He is a decent finisher, but he offered next to nothing in general play today, not quick enough to really threaten in behind, and not strong enough in one-to-one duels with a centre half.

There was nothing between the teams from thirty minutes onwards, which is frustrating in a sense. If Adkins had been in charge all season, we could definitely be challenging for the top seven now.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Crewe were a well organised side and we didn’t have the quality to count in the end but it was a decent point. If we had better quality up front, we would be flying in this league.

Yes, Crewe are fourth in the table for a reason.

It was a good result today.

 

[Sparky]

Yes, Crewe are fourth in the table for a reason.

It was a good result today.

Yes defensively they are decent and a point was probably no more than we could have expected being realistic.

I guess with a fully fit Norris and Dennis we may have won today but not much we can do about that.

 

[Sparky]

I think we need to move Jolley on in the summer. He’s had his moments but he’s not good enough for a team with promotion ambitions next season.
No Dennis on the bench today

 

[Goody Two Shoes]

I actually thought it was an entertaining game and a draw was a fair result.

The first twenty five minutes were reminiscent of the MK Dons game. We gave the ball away far too cheaply and allowed Crewe to dominate possession, albeit we were well organised defensively and rarely troubled at the back. We gradually grew into the match, with Hendry and Morris becoming more involved, and finished the half the stronger of the two sides.

The second half was far more even and end to end, and pretty enjoyable I thought. Neither keeper had a great deal to do, with McGee's saves largely resulting from moments of sloppiness at the back, but there was plenty of decent attacking play from both sides. Ultimately, I think the two sides cancelled each other out, but again I thought we finished half the stronger of the teams and were a bit unlucky not to win it with Walker's chance at the death.

There were a lot of good individual displays after half time, but Jolley remains an enigma. He is a decent finisher, but he offered next to nothing in general play today, not quick enough to really threaten in behind, and not strong enough in one-to-one duels with a centre half.

There was nothing between the teams from thirty minutes onwards, which is frustrating in a sense. If Adkins had been in charge all season, we could definitely be challenging for the top seven now.

IMO, very accurate match summary. I actually came away and felt satisfied with the point and our second half performance; absolutely no lack of effort from everyone against a very decent Crewe side. We’re definitely a tough nut to crack now. A fit Norris will improve us up front.

 

[Ian]

Jolley is far better coming on as a sub and impact player. He seems to lose his way in games when he starts. Hawkes nearly lost us the game with a suicidal back pass too. Luckily we came away with a point. Four points in two games is a decent return after back to back loses. We keep going.

 

[bigmart]

I think we need to move Jolley on in the summer. He’s had his moments but he’s not good enough for a team with promotion ambitions next season.
No Dennis on the bench today

Dennis has a slight calf strain, Apter had cramp in both thighs.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

I thought it was a very good performance. They were clearly the better at first but slowly we gained control and by the end there was only winner in view, without ever creating many openings.
Wood controlled his man very well, the midfield and central defence were very good. Jennings running jumps to flick on create a lot of space but we haven't the tools to make the most of it. Jolley could be a different player in the right side but we offer him so little. As Saunders was completely out of synch coming on maybe his energy from the start might be better. Hawkes is just a one trick pony step inside and look to shoot. That back pass was so bad I could see the danger a couple of yards before he hit it, what was he not thinking about?
Kudos to Nigel, think he had set up well and a marginally winning draw was a good outcome.
The Ref just ignored blatant fouls both ways next week we'll get one dishing cards out like confetti, no regulation in the EFL dreadful standard now

 

[Boz]

If Micky or Dawes had put out a team that couldn't muster a shot on target at home, then think historically more would be made of it, but it seems to have been mostly accepted on here, which surprises me a tad, For a goalless game, the football was of reasonable quality and after a poor opening half hour for Rovers, the remainder of the game we probably shaded. Although Crewe had more attacking edge and seemed the more likely team to score.

Our attacking limitations were evident today. I did feel that some of the criticism of Jolley was unfair, he was given scraps to work with. Yet Kristian Dennis doesn't score because we're not feeding him the right ball... None of the attacking players on show were at their best, although Jennings grafted his way back into the game after a quiet first half. I thought Morris was one of our better players in the first half, it was harder to see what influence he had in the second half, but in an attacking sense Hawkes didn't seem to improve things. Elsewhere we were solid at the back, Crewe's best effort came after Davies had taken a knock at then O'Connor slipped at the edge of the box, giving Long a free shot, which fortunately McGee dealt with. In midfield, Walker had a steady game, but Hendry was inconsistent.

The referee went from giving us next to nothing in the first half, to nearly everything in the last twenty.

Only 1 point out of 9 from our recent games against teams in the play-off places tells it's own story about our receding chances of making the top 7. In terms of ability out of the 3, Crewe looked better than Barrow, but some way behind Milton Keynes.

MoM would be a toss up between McGee, whose saves kept us in the game and Wood, who was arguably the most consistent of our outfield players.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We have actually taken four points from the four recent games against sides in the play off places, in addition to beating Harrogate who are only outside of the play offs on goal difference.

Of those five teams, only MK Dons were clearly better than us, so there is plenty to be optimistic about.

We are still averaging two points per game since Adkins took permanent charge, which is automatic promotion form.

 

[ONIGP]

@Boz apologies for the laughing imoji but Wood was our weakest link throughout the match. He was poorly positioned throughout the first half although he improved in the second. Jennings put in a sterling performance winning a lot of aries duals that he had no right to. Defensively, Turnbull had a bit of a shocker in the first half but improved thereafter. Jolley put in a lot of effort but is not a goalscoring answer playing alongside Jennings. We all know this; Norris plus ano up top is our best attack but until Nigel has that option we make do and mend. Despite the first 30 minutes where we were second best, I thought we were the likelier to break the deadlock as the game progressed. I thought the sponsors MoM was reasonable enough, but also thought Tom Davies had an outstanding game.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Funny how we see the game differently.

I thought Wood was excellent.

 

[Ian]

If Micky or Dawes had put out a team that couldn't muster a shot on target at home, then think historically more would be made of it, but it seems to have been mostly accepted on here, which surprises me a tad,

There is a bit more to it though Boz. If you can see the team is working hard and at least trying to win the game, in general supporters appreciate that. No goals today and a point but they got a good reception at the end of the game.

 

[ADD]

Decent point ultimately - game was fine but Jolley simply isn't up to it sadly.
From Adkins press conference Apter just cramp is excellent news. Dennis didn't train Monday and Tuesday as suffered a bit of a tight calf post last Saturday's game so left out of subs. Will play Tuesday at Warrington Rylands in Cheshire Senior Cup. Presumably we might even see Taylor also in that game and I assume some of Benehouan/ Starbuck/ Merrie etc. will be given a game.

 

[ONIGP]

There is a bit more to it though Boz. If you can see the team is working hard and at least trying to win the game, in general supporters appreciate that. No goals today and a point but they got a good reception at the end of the game.

Yes, are are chalk and cheese in terms of "watchableness" since the start of the season. We looked awful under Dawes and it is pretty impressive that Nigel has used the same players to create an attractive footballing team - win, lose or draw. Irrespective of results I couldn't have watched that garbage fir a year!