Rovers v Daggers

[Cowshed Kid]

Sick to death of Lincoln this, Lincoln that.
Ok, decent result against Gulls but don't hear much trumpet blowing for Sutton. Even smaller club. Good luck to them tomorrow.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The coverage of Lincoln does seem a bit over the top. I don't remember the same fuss being made when Luton reached the fifth round a few years ago when they were in this division, and we have actually reached the same stage of the competition FIVE times in the last twenty years.

However, Lincoln probably will beat us to the title..........

 

[Cowshed Kid]

Realistically I think they will be Champions. Not afraid of any of the potential play off rivals though. And if we can do it we're better equipped to stay up.
Gotta hope Lincoln get a really shitty draw...but at this stage it's still going to be be big bucks for them.
They play on Tuesday night as well, at Solihull.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Boz]

I don't think Brabin would have left the back four as exposed as we were today. Whatever the failings of individual players, the manager is ultimately responsible for team selection, tactics and how the side adapts to unfolding events on the pitch. Micky failed in most aspects today, while his changing of a basically sucessfully line-up to shoe-horn in new recruits is reminiscent of Adams.


Most of what I would say about this match has already been posted on here. Hopefully MM'll start by ditching the diamond and look to be more open-minded and play to our strengths, making full use of the squad. Tuesday has now become a crucial game, lose that and our play-off prospects greatly diminish.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

You shouldn't begrudge a fellow NL club a few days in the spotlight. They have been good in all three competitions and deserve their success. However, they were pretty average last season and going nowhere until Danny Cowley took over. He's been the main catalyst for their success. I would imagine he will see it through to the end of the season, but surely an underperforming EFL club with money and ambition will then entice him away. Now is a great time to be an Imps fan, but probably not next season.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Micky failed in most aspects today, while his changing of a basically sucessfully line-up to shoe-horn in new recruits is reminiscent of Adams.
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Just on this subject, I think the money Palios has made available to managers mid-season has - however strange it might sound - been a major negative for us in the last three seasons. We had Adams' January spending spree a couple of years ago, the arrival of GTF, Higdon and others last season, and now the attempt to crowbar Mangan and Wallace into the side.

Sometimes the best advice a chairman can give to a manager is 'make the best of what you have'. That is what Lincoln have done to great effect this season and watching their recent games it is clear that a pattern of play is well established, with every player knowing his role. I am not sure the same can be said for us. I know there are mitigating circumstances as Mellon has come in mid-season, but there has been too much unnecessary tinkering recently.

 

[Ian]

That was really disappointing today. Three weeks off to 'work on things' and we managed one or two shots on target. I agree with RLC. The diamond doesn't work with Cook who I thought played well today without any reward. Regarding Wallace, he does seem to be struggling with the pace and that leaves gaps in midfield. Gaps usually occupied by Harris, who to be fair gets around the pitch and has tremendous work rate. I still think Wallace it playing too deep. He's much better behind the front two trying to make something happen which he can do with his passing and vision.

MM touched on it briefly in the post match interview, but the quality of the crossing was poor today and it was on a whole quite disjointed with Cook winning lots of headers but no one to follow up. What annoyed me was the complete waste of 45 minutes. Our setup today clearly was not working, so why not change things sooner? The first half was poor. At least we gave it a go in the second half when the subs came on.

The real worry for me is the end game. I do not think we'll finish top, which means playoffs. On todays showing is anyone confident we can beat those around us? I just don't think they have it in them. It was a real vital game today and a real chance to put some pressure on Lincoln and psychologically those around us and we blew it. Some things never change.

 

[Ian]

I do agree too much tinkering can have negative effects. I think the link between midfield and forward has to be looked at as we need more creativity for the forwards and we need the forwards to be more clinical. Look at D&R today. The few chances they had they took them, and then you look at our lot and we're huffing and puffing to create a chance. That's not right.

 

[Cowshed Kid]

Is our squad too big?
C Jennings, Maynard, Harris, Norwood, Stockton would likely walk into any team in our division? Don't begrudge Lincoln their ongoing glory.....just the OTT coverage they've received. Bit of jealousy in amongst it no doubt .

 

[Mal]

I dont begrudge Lincoln having some 'limelight'. We were happy to bask in the glories of the 90s.

as for performances, perhaps we should set up to play like a top notch National League side rather than trying to play like a Premier League side with intricate build ups.

that us, react to the opposition style as required.

 

[John]

Yes mal. i would like to see us play a bit more direct instead of wasting time at the back.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

as for performances, perhaps we should set up to play like a top notch National League side rather than trying to play like a Premier League side with intricate build ups.

We definitely need to get earlier and better service to Cook, particularly from wide areas.

 

[Ian]

We definitely need to get earlier and better service to Cook, particularly from wide areas.

Agreed, Cook would be sitting much higher in the goal scoring charts however I don't think we have the players to do it. Ridelhalgh puts in 1 or 2 decent crosses a game. I think we need traditional wingers with pace and good crossing ability to play to Cooks strengths. Dawson arguably fits that bill but is out of the picture at the moment.

 

[Boz]

Having slept on it, things don't seem any better.

I agree that Andy Cook was generally starved of service. However, there were a few decent crosses from Ridehalgh, which nobody seemed to attack. Neither of our full-backs are the best crosser of the ball, but with the amount of work they had to do defensively, due to the lack of protection from the midfield diamond, can make some allowance for them fluffing their lines, when getting past the half-way line. Tollit, when he came on, needed to stick out wide rather than drifting inside, particularly as he'd drawn a foul and card for one of the Daggers defenders taking him out on our right soon after he came on. Didn't really press on that vulnerability. Aside from Tollit, I'm unsure the other possible wingers are adept at high crosses, recall Dawson's were more of the skimmer variety, better suited to late runs into the box.

Strangely, for all the criticism Mangan and Wallace have attracted, they probably came closest to scoring for us. The pre-match comments were broadly in favour of a Mangan start. Norwood, when he came on had just the one real chance, a one-on-one with their keeper. He hasn't seemed mentally in the right place recently, perhaps harking back to the harsh red card against Ferriby.

Micky has some serious thinking to do following this game. Regardless of their quality, we cannot afford to have two chronically unfit players in McNulty and Wallace in the side together. Big Steve's lack of pace means we have to defend deep, resulting in a significant gulf between defence and midfield. When playing a diamond, this means our best creative midfielder, Hughes is often so far back that the strengths of his game are nullified. Wallace flickers rather than shines at present, might work better as Ian suggests in a more forward role, where the defensive requirements can be minimised.

I don't expect a lot of change for the Woking game, but the Trophy match v Chelmsford needs to be used to try out different systems and players. Whoever is picked still ought to be good enough to overcome a strong side from the league below.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A great result for Sutton today, knocking out Leeds. Good news for us as our game on 7th February now goes ahead, while Sutton's best player, Rory deacon, was booked and will be suspended for that match.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Big Steve's lack of pace means we have to defend deep, resulting in a significant gulf between defence and midfield.

I agree with a lot of your points, but not this one. McNulty has always been slow, but was player of the year in the Fleetwood and Luton teams that got 100 points in this division and scored tons of goals. Clearly those sides did not play so deep that the front men were isolated and the midfield did not function. Equally, the fact the midfield were too deep yesterday is not necessarily the fault of the back four.

McNulty has overplayed at times and has made individual errors recently, but that is nothing to do with the shape of the team tactically. He may need to spend some more time in the gym, but to suggest he should be discarded is over the top.

The back four is not the problem in my view, the issues are further forward. When a team is in poor form there is a danger of overreacting and making changes in all areas of the pitch, some of which are not necessary. To give another example, the full backs have been criticised following yesterday's game, but they were left completely exposed by the diamond formation.

Regarding Mangan, I was in favour of him starting yesterday but I think he has had enough chances now. I would rather we let Norwood play his way back into form, as we do at least know he will come good once he regains confidence. I am not sure the same is true of Mangan, who is probably just past it now.

 

[GroundsmansFork]

I actually think Micky has been trying for some time to find his best side. Once he he knows that there should be more consistency.

 

[Mal]

A great result for Sutton today, knocking out Leeds. Good news for us as our game on 7th February now goes ahead, while Sutton's best player, Rory deacon, was booked and will be suspended for that match.

It is a shame that the FA Cup has been devalued by Premier and Championship teams playing their reserves. Not to mention the final being moved from 3:00 pm for the benefit of the media moguls.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

It is a shame that the FA Cup has been devalued by Premier and Championship teams playing their reserves. Not to mention the final being moved from 3:00 pm for the benefit of the media moguls.

It drives me mad actually. You have clubs like Watford playing their youth team so they can have the 'glory' of finishing 15th in the Premier League. They are not even in danger of relegation, they just want the extra prize money from finishing higher in the table. I wonder what Graham Taylor would have made of that in 1984 ? Just shows how money has polluted the game in this country.

 

[Boz]

I agree with a lot of your points, but not this one. McNulty has always been slow, but was player of the year in the Fleetwood and Luton teams that got 100 points in this division and scored tons of goals. Clearly those sides did not play so deep that the front men were isolated and the midfield did not function. Equally, the fact the midfield were too deep yesterday is not necessarily the fault of the back four.

McNulty has overplayed at times and has made individual errors recently, but that is nothing to do with the shape of the team tactically. He may need to spend some more time in the gym, but to suggest he should be discarded is over the top.

The back four is not the problem in my view, the issues are further forward. When a team is in poor form there is a danger of overreacting and making changes in all areas of the pitch, some of which are not necessary. To give another example, the full backs have been criticised following yesterday's game, but they were left completely exposed by the diamond formation.

Regarding Mangan, I was in favour of him starting yesterday but I think he has had enough chances now. I would rather we let Norwood play his way back into form, as we do at least know he will come good once he regains confidence. I am not sure the same is true of Mangan, who is probably just past it now.

McNulty is almost two years on from when he made the L2 PFA of the year side at Luton, the other former glories you mention are further in the past. I've no idea how Fleetwood/Luton set up to compensate for his lack of pace. My perception is the deep-lying midfield is a consequence of a lack of pace in the central defence, as there is less opportunity to carry the ball out from the back.There should be no sacred cows in the team, every player should be selected on merit. I haven't said that he should never play, but asking the side to accommodate both Wallace and big Steve in the same side is too big an ask on their current fitness levels.

A contrary argument could be that defensively we've looked good, because of the protection they were given by Brabin's side then Carden and MM sides initially and the defensive frailties have been exposed as a result of the less defensive midfield that Micky has selected recently.

I totally agree with what you say about the unfair criticism of the full-backs yesterday.

Mangan is a difficult one. He's only 30, never been a player reliant on pace and you would think he could continue playing at this level for some time. He's scored at a higher level this season as well, but doesn't seem to behaving much luck in front of goal since re-joining Rovers. Whether Norwood is a better bet up front, I'm unsure.
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