Rovers v Bootle (Liverpool Senior Cup)

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would not normally include this game in the matchday thread, but given the current dearth of fixtures I thought it was worthwhile. I will probably venture down to PP on Tuesday for this one to get my football fix.

In terms of team selection, I would use this game to experiment with the fringe players and those returning from injury such as Dawson, Mekki, Almond and Steve Jennings, and play a team close to full strength next Saturday, as we did at Wrexham. South Park are on a run of five wins in a row and should not be taken too lightly, and we need to ensure the first team squad retain match sharpness after a long period without a match. In addition, the South Park game is an opportunity for Norwood and Mangan to knock a few goals in and regain some confidence.

I hope we don't just play the kids on Tuesday night, and I am reasonably confident that MM will use this match to take a look at some of the squad players.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Fully agree, RLC. I expect the South Park match to be close.

 

[Boz]

I agree with RLC in terms of our line-up for this game and would add Connor Jennings to the list of players returning from injury who need a start. Can't remember if we're allowed to recall loanees to play in this competition, but even if not, it would be a great learning opportunity for the likes of Kevin Clarke and Hope Akpan to line up alongside experienced pros.

South Park are a side in great form, but well below Rovers in the football pyramid. I'm not convinced we have to pick our strongest side for that game. Arguably that is not currently the eleven who started at Macclesfield. If the approach for the Bootle game is as suggested and one or more of the returning/fringe players does well, they should be given a chance against South Park.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree with Boz that we can make a couple of changes for the South Park game, but I still think the majority of the first eleven should start to maintain fitness and confidence levels. I would like to see us try a different combination up front, perhaps Jennings playing off one of the other strikers, or behind them in the number ten role.

 

[Sparky]

Personally I'll be disappointed if we don't put at least 3 or 4 past South Park. Regardless of their form they are way below us in the football pyramid and we should be far too strong for them - especially at home. Liverpool slipped up yesterday of course at home to Plymouth by playing their reserves but I think given our recent lack of goals, especially from the front 2, this is an ideal chance for the likes of Nors & Mangan to get some confidence going with some goals.

I'd also start with Dawson and give Connor J a good run out too. Steve Jennings needs match time so in a nutshell - we should pick a strong team which if they come up with a good result and a few goals, should help ahead of the trip to Woking.

If the loan of Wallace is extended I'd possibly give him another 90mins too.

What we don't want is the likes of Stephenson given a start. Both he and Cole have returned from their loan spells. The latter is still out for a fortnight or so but Nors & Mangan are first choice at the moment, are out of form, so need an ideal opportunity to score - Saturday should bring this.

 

[Boz]

I doubt Stephenson will get a start, due to the weather and injury, he's not had much match time during his loan spell. However I don't accept Norwood and Mangan should be automatic starters for the South Park game. They've had 3 games starting together without scoring and if Micky wanted to (for example) try Connor Jennings playing behind a striker, South Park would be a better game to experiment than Woking away. That said it's quite likely we will start with the two regulars up front.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Whatever the front pairing / trio is, we desperately need them to score some goals and carry that confidence into league matches.

 

[Ian]

I agree. We should be a lot stronger than South Park and this will be an opportunity to bang in a couple. Maybe not full strength but I think there will be half a dozen regulars and some fringe players making up the team.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Just to emphasise the importance of playing a strong team on Saturday, South Park are at the same level as Stamford who knocked Wrexham out of the FA Cup earlier in the season. Equally, the distance in league placings between the two teams is roughly the same as between Liverpool and Plymouth. So if we just threw the kids in, the match would not be a foregone conclusion.

All of that said, I will be disappointed if we don't put a few past them !

 

[Boz]

Gary Brabin's pre-match comments would make South Park sound like Real Madrid. Our current manager has a greater sense of perspective. We're not going to line up with eleven changes, I'd think a side with about 6/7 changes from Macclesfield should still beat South Park, but expect Micky to only change a couple.

 

[Ian]

You're probably right Boz as I was surprised at the team he played against Wrexham in the trophy and as RLC has previously said, I think MM prefers to keep the senior players fit rather than experiment with fringe/young players.

 

[drwhoman]

Rovers have not been prolific this season and South Park will be very committed I am sure. A win will do.

 

[Mal]

You're probably right Boz as I was surprised at the team he played against Wrexham in the trophy and as RLC has previously said, I think MM prefers to keep the senior players fit rather than experiment with fringe/young players.

I think it is difficult to second-guess MMs approach to younger because not only has he only had a short time in the job to assess his senior players, he had a number of injuries to key players. I think once the team is pretty stable and we are still in with chance of automatic promotion, we will get to see his normal approach. Under the circumstances he has done well.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I would love a Rovers team to fill their boots. It seems a lifetime since one did. I know a win is all we really need but scoring four or five would do wonders for confidence. Goalscoring is the main concern I have about this squad and our promotion chances. However, while I think we should win both the next two games, I'd be surprised if the margin was more than a goal or two.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Duggan, Clarke, gumbs, s Jennings, ihiekwe, Maynard, Harris, c Jennings, mekki, Dawson start for rovers.

 

[Boz]

What, no keeper
Couple of queries; Duggan at right-back or in midfield and what formation?
I'm a little surprised that Almond or one of the young forwards; Omotola/Ilesamni/Akpan doesn't feature.

 

[Sparky]

Beaten on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Not reading too much into this result but it's a tad disappointing given the fairly strong line up. Await RLCs report.

We drop to 3rd after forest green draw with Eastleigh. Good win for southport at barrow and Macc beat Dover

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

What, no keeper

I did not mention Pilling as I thought the only real debate was who would be picked in the outfield positions. As it was, Luke had a decent game, saving a one-on-one in the second half and making two good saves in the shootout.

The performance as a whole was frustrating and disappointing. Although some of the senior players are going through the motions a bit in these games, we showed familiar failings with a lot of decent possession football but no real end product, and several good chances missed. The real positive was the performance of the youngsters, who all did ok: Clarke and Duggan got forward well from full back, the former scoring with a superb volley for our second goal after a good ball from Mekki. That goal deserved to win the game, but unfortunately an error from Mitch gifted Bootle their late equaliser. However, the pick of the youngsters was Evan Gumbs who was very solid at centre half.

Of the senior players, Mekki and Connor Jennings worked hard, while Harris and Maynard were solid enough. However, nobody made a major claim for a first team place and Adam Dawson was particularly disappointing. He made a couple of good runs early on, but took the safe option every time for the remainder of the game, knocking the ball back to the full back rather than taking on his man.

At least the 100-150 Bootle fans enjoyed their night. The winning penalty was scored by their keeper who subsequently injured himself in the celebrations and left the field on a stretcher !

The NL results were also pretty good for us tonight.

Hoping for much better on Saturday..........

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Just wanted to add that the absence of Almond suggests he does not have much of a future at the club, unless he has an injury we don't know about. I also thought it was terrible that several of the senior players allowed Gumbs and Ihiekwe to take penalties in the shootout (and miss) ahead of themselves.

 

[Boz]

Which senior players ducked out of the penalties?

That is a worrying match report, if a fairly strong squad cannot beat a side of Bootle's level, which I think is around the same as South Park? Dawson's second coming has been a bit of a flop so far and if he's no long prepared to take on players, little wonder that he's fallen behind Kirby and Mekki in the pecking order. A little surprised Duggan selected at right-back after Micky's remarks suggesting he wanted him to specialise in a position. It is also disappointing in that the further we'd progressed, the more opportunities for our youngsters.

If Wallace is still with us (things have gone fairly quiet on that front) it wouldn't be a surprise for Micky to select the same starting xi as for Macclesfield.