Brewers & Referee 2 Rovers 0

[Rockford's Love Child]

It is difficult to comment on a game where we were effectively robbed of any chance of a result by the incompetence of the officials.

My view of the sending off incident was that it was probably a penalty, but never a red card, as we had four or five defenders in the vicinity and Ridehalgh was not the last man. Once Liam had been dismissed it was always going to be an uphill battle, but despite a spirited display in the seventy minutes that followed we did not help ourselves with the defending for their second, another routine corner which we failed to deal with.

In the circumstances, I thought we did well with ten men to stay in the game and restrict them to just the two goals, and we kept the ball really well in midfield at times. The spirit and character was there as always. That said, there was no quality in the final third at all and the service to the strikers was poor. Equally, Cole in particular did not do enough to make an impression on the game. Regardless of the circumstances of today's defeat, I think we have to bring in more creativity and quality in the attacking third in January.

I just hope the Northampton game goes ahead, as it is vital we pick up three points from that game.

 

[Ian]

Very frustrating as the game was over in the first half. Let's move on and hope for some points on Sunday.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I wasn't there, but looking at the penalty on YouTube, Ridehalgh was arguably the last man as the Burton striker had a clear shot on goal before another defender could cover. But either way, I'm disappointed with the fact we failed to muster a single shot all game, even in the first quarter of the game when we had a full team. Is that a first for Rovers? It's doubtful we'd have got anything even with 11 men. The sending-off is masking a general weakness in the side, our play in the final third, which RLC mentions above.

I have very mixed feelings about Chris Shuker's reappearance in a Rovers shirt. He's neither 6 feet tall nor match fit and is well past his best, so why is Baggie not given a chance? (No need to answer.)

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Baggie and Richards were both at the Pirelli Stadium yesterday but were not in the squad, and it seems clear to me that they either requested / were told to leave in January some time ago. When we lose their wages, it is a question of bringing in creative players who are better able to fit into our style of play, and I would imagine Adams already has ideas in this regard. This might mean playing someone in the hole behind the strikers (as Martin did yesterday), unless we are going to ditch the 5-3-2 system, which I would not be in favour of. Ideally, I would like to see us ship Donnelly out and bring another forward in, sign another dominant centre half (assuming Thompson's fitness is going to remain an issue) and a creative midfielder / wide man. However, it might not be easy to move on underperforming players who have recently signed contracts.

Shuker was playing in Leauge One for Port Vale last season and is only 32, so it may not be as daft a move as it seems. At his best, there is no doubt he is a better player than Richards, for example.