rovers v pools

[aldoes mustache]

looks like the pools are gonna have 500 plus fans on saturday . hoping for a good gate . we are gonna be near the 3000 season ticket sales for next year witch is brilliant can we sell more than 3000 that would be amazing . hope we play a more first team on saturday meybe give green a go and clark in for buxton . the lads are off for another week after so should be ok . if we play same team as tuesday . will be another loss . if we play strong team be a 3-0 win with cookie getting golden boot

 

[Ian]

I think we’ll see the 1st team back in action on Saturday with a bit of rotation from the bench. It would be nice to get the win to set us up nicely for the week ahead.

 

[aldoes mustache]

agree with that . the boys have had a rest would be tempted to play green . just to see . we did pay for him so might as well give him another go

 

[Boz]

I'm in two minds as to whether we should treat this as a dry run for the semi-final and pick our strongest xi or keep some of the stars in cotton-wool and out of this game. Even if MM opts for a near full-strength side, my preference would be to keep Scott Davies out of the action all together, so there is no risk of having to go into a potential semi-final with Fylde with an inexperienced keeper, Taylor being unavailable against his parent club. Otherwise, Buxton has been sent for a scan, so assume won't be fit. My choice would be Ridehalgh at right-back with Clarke in on the left. After an encouraging performance v Solihull, would like to see Green on the bench.

Prediction: with a decent away turnout, should get a crowd somewhere around 5k minimum. Ask me about the predicted result when the team-sheets come out, it's more important we manage to keep our key players available for the games ahead.

 

[Mungy's Hairdresser]

I've gotta admit that Boz has got me waking up in cold sweats at 4am about Davies picking up an injury on Saturday, lol. I was all for going full strength on Saturday but wonder how the likes of Nors, Cookie & Harris et al who might be deployed at right back can seriously go helll for leather. MM even alluded to the difficulty of this decision in his interview.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Micky is pretty non-committal regarding the starting eleven in his interview, although it sounds like there will be substantial changes again. I would favour Ian's suggested approach of starting with a strong eleven and then rotating from the bench, largely because I don't want to sit through another game like Tuesday's.

The injury to Adam Buxton is a worry. He has been a key player for us this season and the other available right backs are Sutton, who I would not want to move out of central defence, and Duggan, who is not really good enough. Hopefully the injury won't be as serious as feared.

As this is the final game of the regular season, and with a decent away turnout expected, the gate will probably be in the region of 5,500 - 6,000.

In other news, apparently the club have set up a 24-7 'Scott Davies Cam', so we can all monitor his progress in the next nine days and ensure he makes it safely to May 5th.

 

[Ian]

Haha, I certainly wouldn't be laughing if he did get injured though!

I understand MM caution regarding risking players as last seasons injury problems are still probably fairly fresh in his mind, but I don't think it's a good idea to rest certain players for 2 weeks going into a semi-final. A weeks rest is fine, but we want everyone still on form.

 

[ONIGP]

A few of our team won't fit back into their shirts if they have another week off! I agree with both of the above posts. Apart from depriving us of a decent match I really think a 2 week break would be ill advised for anybody not carrying an injury. We are a team that has played itself back into form and we shouldn't let the momentum slip - imagine the feeling of us being dumped out of the play offs in front of our own fans after a rusty performance. The first choices need to play and they need to be committed because trying to switch on and off mentally between games could also prove catastrophic. We may be more heavy boned carthorses than finely honed racehorses but I'm sure some of the same principles apply ...

 

[Boz]

Wonder if Andy Mangan doing the pre-match interview suggests he may play a part tomorrow. While his footballing impact may have waned, he always comes across as one of the more articulate and motivated players in interview.

 

[Ian]

The stories I heard from the awards night were funny and Mangan was involved in a lot of it! He seems like a good character to have around. He struggled the other night mainly because he had no service at all. I still think he’s a good player to have around and has bags of energy. If he played more and was given service he’d still score a few.

 

[Sparky]

I cant quite remember what game it was (Borehamwood or Chester away possibly) - but it was one where we'd not had a game for a couple of weeks and we were rusty and Micky quite rightly said we'd lost some momentum.

So playing the reserves again tomorrow would be madness and I don't think he will. As RLC says I think it'll be a strong side to hopefully end the regular season well but making full use of the subs bench. Anyone with the smallest of niggles should miss out.

Yes clearly Mangan is good for morale and he had no service on Tuesday at all. I'm still not sure he's good enough though and like big Eric, its fun to have them around for arranging the Xmas party but their contribution otherwise is minimal.

 

[aldoes mustache]

mm , gonna play full team just confirmed on trust twitter . not suprised . over 400 away fans to should be a great day shame i cant be there

 

[Cowshed Kid]

For me it's got to be the first eleven. Any minor knocks and strains will have a full week to recover.
Don't envisage Pools will come for a fight so it shouldn't be too hectic.
The beauty for us is that fifth down to tenth simply have to put full strength teams out and four of them have to do the same midweek.

 

[aldoes mustache]

over 2000 play off tickets sold good start

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Yes clearly Mangan is good for morale and he had no service on Tuesday at all. I'm still not sure he's good enough though and like big Eric, its fun to have them around for arranging the Xmas party but their contribution otherwise is minimal.

I agree completely with this. The poor recruitment under Mellon has partly been down to a 'jobs for the boys' approach.

 

[aldoes mustache]

agree with the above comments

 

[Mungy's Hairdresser]

Not had a chance to check it out but was Mangy's interview not edited from after Tuesday rather than pre-Hartlepool in which case the suggestion he's lined up to play tomorrow is irrelevant. Think he's a great guy to have around & given a little run in the side, though hopefully not required as a starter, could still do a decent job!

 

[Boz]

It looks like the interview with Mangan was recoded around the same time as MMs and Rovers usually put a player up for pre-match interviews. Even if he doesn’t start tomorrow, Mangan likely to get some match-time.

The match referee, Sam Purkiss, once had to abandon a match as he’d sent so many players off...

 

[Ian]

Cant see it being a feisty game with Rovers wanting to play well and get the points without going mental and Hartlepool enjoying their last game with nothing to play for.

 

[aldoes mustache]

just seen a picture of hundreds of poolies dressed as clownes gonna be a great game