Rovers v York

[Rockford's Love Child]

Just as an aside, our game against Sutton on 7th January will be postponed now because of their win in the Cup.

 

[Mal]

Well, things are looking more optimistic as regards my Tranmere/Newcastle champions bet. Ok, still a long way to go....

 

[Cowshed Kid]

Crowd came a bit more to life in second half.
When we lose the toss and kick 'our way' in first half you can feel the groans. I'm one of the first to get miserable, it just happens.
A game to forget bar the late winner which is all that matters.
First decent cross into box all match and Nors obliged. Vaughan supplied it, redeemed himself cos for all his hard work his final ball, until winner, was poor.
I'm no fan of Kirby but even so was surprised he came on for Maynard. I suppose the best you can say is it didn't disrupt things.
MOM for me today, by a country mile, was Hughes.
Everything went through him and some of his vision was top notch.
If Mills was any sort of manager he'd have seen that at half time and done something.
In MM we trust

 

[Boz]

Seen the goal, good cross from Vaughan and decent work from Dawson and Kirby in the build-up, well-finished by Norwood.

 

[Ian]

Nice to see Holmes again but what position was he actually playing? He just seemed to be wandering around the pitch, I'm not even sure he knew although one thing I am sure of he's not that good in the oppositions half. Stick him where's be best - defending!

I was looking at the table before and noticed we have the meanest defence in the league only condecing 16 goals. With a record like that, as long as we can keep getting the goals and winning games like we did today and similarly against Gateshead, whilst not pretty will see us going places.

It's really frustrating with games like today when the opposition comes to not get beat but it's something we have to put up with at this level and let's hope we don't have to put up with it for much longer.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Holmes was playing in midfield, alongside Shaun Newton who is also a full back ! Just shows how cautious York were in their approach and explains our struggles in the game. I think plenty more teams will use those tactics at PP this season: let's face it, they almost worked for them.

In fairness to York, they were dogged and well organised. They have got some genuine quality in their squad with Newton, Parkin, Heslop and a few others. I thought Heslop was excellent at full back, kept Tollitt quieter than any other defender he has come up against at this level. With their new additions, I don't think York will be relegated.

 

[Ian]

Yes agreed about Heslop although moving Tollitt into the centre was not a good idea as he had no space to play and we had no real quality out wide with MI playing as a winger at times.

York must feel a bit peeved sitting at the bottom of the league but there's still plenty of time for them to get some form going.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

While it's a bit worrying that we can't see off teams more easily, you have to admit that this Rovers team is disciplined. I've only seen the goal itself on the OS but the way the players linked up, looking for the best option, impressed me.

Thanks to the FA Cup we are top and we will now stay there for at least two weeks thanks to the FA Trophy. Micky now has an invaluable period to work with his squad before the top of the table clash with Lincoln City. By then, he should have a full, injury free squad to choose from.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

While it's a bit worrying that we can't see off teams more easily, you have to admit that this Rovers team is disciplined. I've only seen the goal itself on the OS but the way the players linked up, looking for the best option, impressed me.

I think this is really noticeable with Micky's team. To be honest, in the last ten minutes I was encouraging the defence to just get it forward to Cook, but we did not hoof it long at any stage and kept playing out from the back, even deep into stoppage time. It is something MM elaborated on in his post match interview.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I've just had a look at the goal again. You'd never guess it was stoppage time. It was a really patient move involving six different players. Not giving up until the final whistle, making every second count and sticking to the plan. Despite the difficulties the team had in this match, confidence must be sky high.

 

[Sparky]

Here's my views from Saturday (better late than never).

I thought after the first 10 minutes you could tell the system wasn't working. I'll try not to repeat what others have said but the diamond didn't work out. Tollit has tremendous pace and he was stifled playing centrally at the tip of the diamond as it was too crowded in there. Me and my mate were wondering if MM would change it at half time but he didn't. Towards the end I was getting really frustrated - yes York had most players back but the system we had wasn't working. We desperately needed width and I was getting concerned MM couldn't see it. It only came from Vaughan who is a full back. I was shouting for Dawson to come on and had given up only to see him come on just as we crept into added time. Too little too late I said - and then the goal came. A great cross from Vaughny and Adam looked bright in his cameo.

A lesson for patience I guess. MM has since said he did want to bring Dawson on earlier but didn't want to risk us being caught on the break, but then thought lets just go for it and credit to him we got the win.

I just thought it was a bit negative not bringing Adam on earlier when Tollit had run out of ideas. I also think bringing Kirby on at home was a bit negative against a side who hadn't won away for 34 games. Aside from the front 2 we started with only one other creative player. Not playing with 2 creative midfielders in forward positions e.g wingers in a 4-4-2 isn't that positive. Hughes can create but was playing deep. Personally I felt Kirby offered absolutely nothing in the game. He can't beat a man and the best you can hope for is a throw in or a corner. Perhaps I'm being harsh - MM seems to rate him and no doubt he looks good in training but I do think he has confidence issues, especially at home.

The diamond didn't really work at Gateshead although we won and I didn't think it worked on Saturday. Another win of course is great but a slight concern for me that MM was a tad negative and couldn't see things weren't working, but it worked out in the end.

Also again Big Mac nearly cost us when instead of heading it away in the 2nd half, he headed it to Ihikwe who wasn't expecting it (and neither was the kop) but we got away with it. In the last few home games he has taken a chance and had to hold his hand up to apologise - sooner or later it'll be punished.

Mustn't grumble tho

 

[Mal]

best watch the full MM interview. He explains his logic.

 

[Ian]

Sparky, I agree completely with your thoughts about Kirby. I would have thought Wallace would have been an ideal replacement for Maynard, I know it was quite early in the game but I think a bit more quality would have made a difference in the centre where is was pretty crowded. Kirby made no difference to the game at all when he came on and contributed very little.

That's the problem with Kirby. He can have a really good game and score a few goals but then go missing in the next 10 games following. Not good enough for me, but like you say MM does seem to persist with him.

That's my monthly Kirby rant over !

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree that Wallace for Maynard might have been the better substitution, but.......

Contrary to what people are saying we did brighten up a bit when Kirby came on because of his movement. That is what Mellon sees in him: movement and energy. No, his quality on the ball is not great, but Mellon likes to play a fluid system with movement between the lines and Kirby, although he is not the most gifted player around, suits that style of play. He is more effective away from home where we can counter-attack and he has space to run into, and he can finish if he gets a chance in the eighteen yard box.

In general, the last two performances have been below par but I am not concerned. The players have had an incredibly intense period against teams that have made life very difficult for us, but they now have a couple of weeks break before the next league game. I am sure performance levels will rise again at Lincoln, just as they did at FGR.

Just to add, the diamond formation is not by definition negative. We used exactly the same system and personnel as Saturday at Forest Green, where we played our best attacking football of the season. The success of the system depends on the attitude of the opposition and the form of our own players.

 

[drwhoman]

Agree with all of the above from what I glean from distance. It may also be that MM is having faith in his permanent squad and demonstrating that Wallace is not an automatic choice notwithstanding the fact that he is a very good player at this level. I was reflecting on the Morgan situation discussed in another thread. People like that must find it hard moving to a club where the Manager is probably much less astute than they are used to and a number of the players there may well have chips on their shoulders about the 'mighty fallen'. From his interview the other week it seemed clear that while Wallace wants to contribute he does see his future back at Sheff Utd. Who knows whether that has any impact on the other players at Rovers. They just have to grin and bear it I suppose.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Lincoln 3 Oldham 0 at present. Lincoln impressive, Oldham dreadful. I can see them 'doing a Tranmere' if they go down this season. Rhead has bullied their defence; won't happen against big Mac.

 

[Sparky]

Imps through to the next round. I was hoping the descending fog might see the match abandoned but too little too late.

Hopefully it'll distract their league form. Agree with RLC about Oldham, they have been poor for a while

 

[Boz]

Finished 3-2 to Lincoln. Didn't see the game. Any clues in how Oldham got back into it, to help with our forthcoming trip to Sincil Bank?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Oldham brought old-stager Lee Croft on - he seems to have been around for ages - and he got them playing some decent football. I think Oldham also switched to 5-3-2 to outnumber them in midfield, which is interesting as we will probably play an extra man in the middle against them. Lincoln looked suspect at the back as soon as they came under pressure. They don't keep may clean sheets and I think our strikers can get some joy against their back four. Fog was farcical at the end, could not see anything for the last ten minutes !

Over 7,000 there, which is a great crowd for Lincoln.