Braintree v Rovers

[Ian]

It was a great day just for the fact that we won and FGR lost. That starts putting some pressure on and it could be quite an interesting Xmas period if we keep our excellent form going.

Thanks for the report RLC. Quite a concern over Dawson but hopefully it's just games he needs to recover some confidence and fitness.

Fair play to MM for making another inspired sub stretching the play as the game wore on.

I think this game will mirror a lot of games this season. Opposition frustrating us and having to grind out games 2-1, 1-0 etc..

 

[bigmart]

Pity we now have harris & Vaughan banned for Tuesday due to 5 bookings each apparently

 

[Boz]

Thanks for the report RLC. The radio commentary was also critical of Jeff Hughes, who sounded in danger of losing it at times, wonder what got into him. It sounded that in that sense the officials were quite generous to both him and Harris not awarding second yellows. Gather they missed a blatant elbow on Jay, which led to a black eye and that may account for him being out of sorts.

Was Ihiekwe as bad as the radio suggested? With Vaughan and Harris out, as bigmart suggests, the injury absentees coupled with Duggan out on loan, it does leave us fairly short of options at right-back and in central midfield for the Forest Green game, which I think will be harder after their weekend demise. Can't feel that enthused about Lincoln winning, as they are another rival for promotion.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Pity we now have harris & Vaughan banned for Tuesday due to 5 bookings each apparently

Lucky we have Maynard and Ihiekwe to step in, with Sutton perhaps moving to right-back. With so many key players getting injured and suspended we do have the advantage of quality in depth to see us through a long hard winter.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Can't feel that enthused about Lincoln winning, as they are another rival for promotion.

In my view, Boz, this was the best result. Our strategy should be to go for the top spot, as it's the only guarantee of promotion. So we don't want FGR to get away. If we can't win the league, then it doesn't matter whether we finish second or fifth as the play-offs are a complete lottery.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A Lincoln victory was definitely better than an FGR win, but I agree with Boz to the extent that I think Cowley is actually a better manager than Cooper and The Imps have some real quality in their ranks this season.

Regarding yesterday's game, Ihiekwe did not do anything wrong that I noticed, although I hope Micky is not tempted to start with him at right back on Tuesday. Jeff Hughes has been poor since coming back from his extended ban, and he was lucky not to get a second booking for a blatant drag-back on a Braintree player. I thought Braintree should also have been given a penalty, though the referee was equally poor for both sides, with a whole string of fifty-fifty decisions going against Rovers in the first half, several of which denied us clear goalscoring opportunities.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Apparently, we are ten points better off after twenty matches (40 as opposed to 30) than we were this time last season, which is some indication of the improvement Mellon is making. Interestingly, Cheltenham were on 40 points at this stage last season, which backs up my theory that it is a much stronger division this season. I think the top sides like ourselves, Lincoln, Dagenham and Barrow are quite evenly matched, and there are other sides on the fringes of the promotion race, like Aldershot, who are also very strong.

 

[Boz]

I agree that winning the league should be our aim and at this stage of the season, it's all to play for. However, I share RLCs view that Cowley is a more tactically astute manager than Cooper and if he remains there, Lincoln rather than Forest Green feel more of a danger to our prospects of hitting top-spot. On other contenders, the Shots have gone off the boil recently and don't have the funds to change things, whereas Ronnie Moore's Eastleigh in similar form do.

Agree that MM has made a difference and winning games like this, which we were more likely to have drawn or lost under Brabin could prove crucial.

On squad depth, certainly Maynard can replace Harris and Ihiekwe come in at the back, though please not as right-back, Micky. However, we're scraping around for balance on the bench, in terms of defenders/midfielders for Tuesday night. While Turner and 4 strikers/wingers may be exciting, think that we really need more tactical options available.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would like to have had the option of playing three midfielders on Tuesday, as we have looked a bit light in the centre in the last couple of games. However, Micky is such a positive manager he might well have started with a 4-4-2 anyway. His approach of imposing our own game on the opposition is a breath of fresh air after Brabin.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

https://twitter.com/btsportfootball

 

[Boz]

I agree MM likely to opt for 442 anyway, my concern is more whether we'll have the personnel on the bench to change things should that be needed either through injury or tactical reasons.

Great goal from Cook, who's been one of our best performers this season