Rovers v Vale

[Boz]

A visit from another Potteries team after our exit from the League Cup at the hands of Stoke. While the mood seems a bit more encouraging following our performance in midweek, the game didn't throw up any blinding tactical revelations capable of transforming the season.

Horwood is out injured and Holmes went home ill, so if Ronnie's ringing around doesn't rustle up a loanee left back, things may get difficult. Don't know if Hateley or Dugdale can play there, Goodi did under Little, but it's not an experiment I'd care or expect to see repeated. Elsewhere, no sign of any of the recent injuries getting better, so probably Goodi and Thompson returning to the starting line-up will be the only changes apart from the left-back conundrum.

Port Vale are a steady side, with a decent striker in Pope. Their manager, Mickey Adams was having a hip op, so they may be under the supervision of his deputy for the game, which may work against them. However off the back of a win against form side Coventry, they are no mugs and tough opponents.

Prediction: The visitors have sold their initial allocation of 400 tickets, so the Cowsheds should be more lively than of late. However, still doubt we'll muster much over 4.5k. The match is crucial for Rovers, but with the injuries and lack of form we may do well to get a point out of this.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Vale expect to bring over 1,000 fans tomorrow so there should be a 5,000 plus gate. Wednesday night felt like a step in the right direction and although the left back situation is worrying, I fancy us to win this one.

 

[WildRover]

with only something like 6 home games remaining this calendar year we really need to win this one, 1-0either way i think

 

[Ian]

Is this a must win game like Max Power says? 2 points from the bottom. I don't like the thought of us losing but I think it'll be tough. Think it will end as a draw.

 

[bigmart]

with the game weve got in October this is certainly a must win game im going for a 2 1 home win.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We deserved to take something from the game today and luck was certainly not on our side. I thought it was probably the best we have played in the league this season and we certainly had the chances, even with ten men, to take something from the game, but our lack of confidence and form is evident in the quality of our finishing.

The ref was an absolute b***end. I was too far from the sending off to know whether it was justified, but throughout the game he penalised our centre halves while allowing Stockton and Lowe to be manhandled by their defenders. The free kick which they scored from was not a foul and he forced our wall back what looked to me much more than ten yards, which allowed Lines to get the ball up and down.

Much of our game was improved, but the lack of a defensive midfielder is still a big problem, as the game became too stretched early on and I think this contributed to the sending off incident. On the positive side, I thought the back four were superb with Ash Taylor a colossus (man of the match). Hateley was good again at right back and I thought our attacking play was bright and inventive throughout the game, but unfortunately without a finish: I have no idea how Akpro missed that sitter from six yards. With ten men we probably created more opportunities than them and it was not at all obvious we were a man short; player for player I don't think they are better than us and yet they are in tenth place.

Sodje has been written off by many of our fans, but I thought he was a handful when he came on and was more effective than Stockton, who had a poor game. Sodje scored 13 goals in this division last season and at the moment we can't hit a barn door, so I think he should get more time on the pitch.

I thought the new left back actually looked decent prior to the sending off......

There were some positives to take from the game but this is another depressing result. I just hope we are not cut adrift at the bottom by the end of October.

 

[WildRover]

One positive: We are still above Sheff Utd!!
Another: At least there will be some new grounds to visit....I really cant see us scoring at the moment, 2 open goal chances and we fluff them!

 

[merseyside bossman]

I was impressed by our passion today..
points to raise:-
OFW - peno save was awesome
Ash Taylor - looked like he would die for the cause today.
Dugdale - is a very very nice player
Goodi- ooooooozes class
Lowe- ran is heart out and will still be running in his sleep
Stockton - looked like he was running knee deep in mud

ref was prob the worst Ive seen in the last 10 years....

 

[Ian]

Agreed with all these points. Ref was an asshole and we deserved better than getting beat at home by a mediocre side. Both teams had good chances but like RLC says, we got done by a good free kick which should never have been. I thought the game was over at half time with 10-men but we had a really good second half and should have equalised with good chances being missed. Akpo, what the hell happened?

 

[Boz]

I can't share RLCs viewpoint that it was the best we have played in the league this season. Once again, we started quietly, Vale move forward quickly and had much more attacking intent, though fortunately their strike-force were off colour and this didn't convert into goals. While Rovers recovered after the break, we were undone by a dodgy free-kick award and despite the grandstand finish, couldn't get the vital goal. Vale were a physical side and it seemed a mistake for Ronnie to start with the tackle-lite central midfield pairing of Atkinson and Rowe; Max Power improving things.

For the penalty/sending-off, I thought Birchall made a meal of the challenge, but if the referee deemed it a push then there can't be any argument with the red card given Ridehalgh was last man. Agree the free-kick to them which Lines converted seemed wrong and that there were inconsistencies in his approach to our forwards and theirs, but it would be a mistake to blame everything on the referee.

Thoughts on players;

OFW. Didn't deserve to be on the losing side, great save from the penalty and a double save near the end and wasn't glued to his goal-line.
Ridehalgh. Looked promising in his time on the pitch.
Dugdale. Rescued by Owain after an underhit back-pass early on, steady thereafter.
Taylor. Some great covering tackles and nearly grabbed us a point with a late effort against the post.
Hateley. Hmm. No major errors, but he didn't make himself available for the ball out from OFW and strange positioning at times.
Rowe. Seemed out of his depth and not strong enough.
Atkinson. Became more influential as the game went on.
Thompson. Sacrificed for Goodi, but hadn't done much up to then.
JLAA. Drifted in and out of the game, felt the chance he missed may not have been that straightforward to convert as suggested.
Stockton. What's up with the lad, hardly broke sweat today.
Lowe. Worked hard, but played out of position.

Subs.
Goodi. Decent showing down the left.
Power. Gave a bit more bite to the midfield, the visitors weren't allowed to stroll through so readily.
Sodje. Not convinced. He got one decent ball inside the box and blazed well over, I'd expect Lowe/Stockton would have at least tested the keeper from that range.

MoM. Toss-up between OFW and Ash for me.

 

[Ian]

My major concern is the lack of goals. We don't create that many chances, so when we do we need to convert them. I never thought I would be saying this after the strengthening in this area by Ronnie. We've only scored nine and three of them were last week!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Agree with Boz that it may have been better to start with Max Power to give us more midfield presence, but disagree that we started quietly; the game was end to end early on and we had several opportunities, although they had edged possession prior to the red card, with a lot of shots from the edge of the box.

Also disagree about Sodje: he should have done better with his chance, but he made more impression in 20 minutes than Stockton did in 70 and clearly can finish, given his career record. He also seems to link up better with Lowe than Stockton and actually created his two goals this season.

 

[Ian]

Game was end to end before the sending off. Could have been a cracker.

 

[bigmart]

They were the better team before the red card having had 3 or 4 decent efforts to our 1 then they created chance after chance but couldn't put them away I thought we may just get something out of the game but it was not too be.

The effort and commitment was there but at times we are badly lacking in ability, Rowe was awful Atkinson not much better, for all the running & effort he put in Apka Akpro is poor in front of goal & Sodje also missed a sitter.

With the run of games we have in October I really cant see where the next win is coming from, as it stands I will be amazed if we stay up this season unless something changes.

 

[Boz]

They were the better team before the red card having had 3 or 4 decent efforts to our 1 then they created chance after chance but couldn't put them away I thought we may just get something out of the game but it was not too be.

I agree with this. The match stats show us with 12 shots only 3 on target as opposed to 21 with 10 on target for the visitors. I can't recall their keeper having a proper save to make.

Probably a bit harsh to describe Sodje's miss as a sitter, but I don't think he is the answer and wouldn't start for home games. On our travels where an 'out' ball is required, he may be an option, but I'd still prefer Ryan Lowe up front if we're playing lone striker as he's more likely to hit the target.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Vale edged the game prior to the sending off but there s no way we only had 'one chance' and a number of their shots on goal were from distance and did not trouble Fon Williams. Over the ninety minutes we matched them in general play.

The BBC stats are BS half the time (in midweek the BBC stated that we had more possession than Stoke....).

 

[bigmart]

We had 1 chance before the sending off when JLAA went round the keeper and hit the side netting. They hit the post and Fon had to make a couple of decent saves again before the sending off. After the red card they had numerous chances where as we didn't, so we really didn't match them in general play they were clearly the better team and deserved the win.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We had 1 chance before the sending off when JLAA went round the keeper and hit the side netting. They hit the post and Fon had to make a couple of decent saves again before the sending off. After the red card they had numerous chances where as we didn't, so we really didn't match them in general play they were clearly the better team and deserved the win.

Disagree. After the red card we had Taylor's header against the bar, Akpro's miss from six yards, Sodje's shot, Sodje's header straight at the keeper......... Claiming which side was the 'better team' is subjective and I believe we matched them. Plus, we played 60 minutes with ten men.

 

[bigmart]

they had the penalty, a one on one which went wide in the first half, a couple of free headers from corners in the 2nd half which just missed several very good saves from Fon including a brilliant double save late on but yeah if you think we matched them then you can believe it.