League Two Crawley (3) v Rovers (2)

[Rockford's Love Child]

Having watched the whole game, I think it was a much better performance than in recent weeks under Dawes. There was a clear game plan and we were a constant threat on the break and the two goals we scored were excellent.

However, after half an hour we sat too deep and invited too much pressure. I think the midfield was the problem. Walkers' long range passing was excellent but he is immobile and McAlear does not offer enough in my view. We did not retain the ball well enough for long enough, or get out to press when we needed to, and I think we might see a different midfield combination on Saturday.

The second and third goals we conceded were terrible defensively as a team, but I thought Turnbull and Davies did ok in general play, despite the former becoming a scapegoat. Jolley and Taylor linked up nicely at times and Woods looked promising.

 

[Stickman]

I was at the match and pretty much agree with this. It was hard to put my finger on why, but I just felt the performance was better than in recent weeks. Having said that, it was too easy for Crawley to put our defence under pressure with not enough resistance from our midfield. Once again, the opposition's wide men had far too much space. Crawley probably deserved the win on the balance of play, but if Jolley had put us 2 up at the start of the second half or Hawkes had tapped in from 4 yards near the end then we could have been celebrating a much needed win. Still a long way to go this season and I believe Adkins can turn things around.

 

[Ian]

I'm sure Adkins will make them more organised but there are still problems in the team. I don't know whether some of these players have the mentality for a scrap because that it what we need right now. I don't think there are many if any leaders out there.

 

[drwhoman]

I'm sure Adkins will make them more organised but there are still problems in the team. I don't know whether some of these players have the mentality for a scrap because that it what we need right now. I don't think there are many if any leaders out there.

They seem to lack resilience Ian. They are seemingly unable to dig in when the going gets tough. The leader does not have to be a shout and scream merchant. They can lead by example. As a previous writer said, they need a Spearing type character from somewhere!

 

[Charlton1975]

First half we controlled them well, with wood in particular having the number on their winger. For some reason we decided to try and defend a 1-0 for the next 45 minutes and let them have so much of the ball, especially out wide.

Crawley were much the better team in the second half and deserved to win in my opinion. We did create a few chances on the break, however it just felt inevitable that Crawley were going to score as we sat so deep.

Odd decision to take off wood and Taylor who were 2 of the better players, and leave Jolley on the pitch as he was out on his feet.

Positive is we scored 2, negative is that it is another defeat!

 

[Am on mobile]

Hi all after a, very hard weekend and another poor result. Let us all hope that another week training with Nigel and sort it out its going to be a long hard season

 

[dollar'sbloke]

First half we controlled them well, with wood in particular having the number on their winger. For some reason we decided to try and defend a 1-0 for the next 45 minutes and let them have so much of the ball, especially out wide.

Crawley were much the better team in the second half and deserved to win in my opinion. We did create a few chances on the break, however it just felt inevitable that Crawley were going to score as we sat so deep.

Odd decision to take off wood and Taylor who were 2 of the better players, and leave Jolley on the pitch as he was out on his feet.

Positive is we scored 2, negative is that it is another defeat!

If you think about it, Nigel gelled a plan in a very limited period and everyone agrees it controlled the first 30. As Crawley responded to it, the emphasis goes onto the players to adapt. This is where Nigel's brief work ran out of steam.
Taylor put a huge shift in far more than Hawkes in the same role, he actually shored up his role in the defensive five and yet got into attacking positions. I would have replaced his legs before he scored, but he was never going to survive. Wood equally had a lot of yards done and is a bit lacking in matches I think? Ultimately it was a spent Jennings who allowed the third goal, that is the modern game and with the injury time lottery it is getting worse especially on hot days.
It was telling how Dawes turned good players into useless ones with daft schemes, Nigel took the useless and static McAlear and found a very effective role for him. Far less pointless launches to our diddymen than under Mellon as well.
It will be fine. If Tranmere are not active in the labour market this week then the Nigel plan will become very obvious

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

This has made the local news down here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66837854
I wasn’t aware but it can’t have been easy for Luke. They will certainly face sanctions, but we won’t get any points.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

This has made the local news down here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66837854
I wasn’t aware but it can’t have been easy for Luke. They will certainly face sanctions, but we won’t get any points.

A flare was also set off at that end shortly before the start of the game. Whatever the stewards’ response was to that was clearly insufficient.

There’s a lengthy message and appeal to fans from the club’s Safety Officer on the club website, but I don’t think this is the first time they've had these issues. I expect the FA will be looking for actions, not just words, when deciding their own punishment.