Minstermen v Rovers

[Boz]

Another 6-pointer after we fluffed our lines last weekend. The opening game of the season, when we all hoped Rob Edwards was the man to take us forward seems a very long time ago. On that day, York stuck to their game plan and only a late goal from James Rowe (wonder what happened to him...) saved our blushes.

Things have moved on, with both sides under a change of management. From the highlights of Luton v York, it looked like they tried to play football rather more than the long-ball in yer face approach from our last two opponents. However, maybe Russ Wilcox has done his homework and will opt for a more direct approach against Rovers.

Injury concerns for the weekend; Ihiekwe remains out, his injury being much more prolonged than originally expected and Danny Holmes a major doubt, leading to Micky suggesting a possible move into the loan market. Can't see Donacien coming back, given the situation at Villa. It would be a concern having to play Taylor, who isn't really a full-back on the wrong side. If nobody comes in and Danny is unfit, will Marc Laird be pressed into service there?

Otherwise, there remain concerns about midfield. Jennings has been below par recently, likewise Max Power, while Molyneux doesn't seem to have made much impact post-debut, although he does seem to be deployed out of position. However after picking the same side for Newport after the Carlisle debacle, Micky doesn't seem to have much inclination to change things. It wouldn't surprise me if the only alterations were those enforced by injury.

Rovers have sold all their advance tickets and it looks like a decent turnout 750+ of visiting fans, for what is probably the last of the relatively accessible away games. While we are well capable of getting something here, the nagging fear remains that York's dreadful home form can't last indefinitely

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Molyneux doesn't seem to have made much impact post-debut, although he does seem to be deployed out of position.

Molyneux was excellent at Exeter and did well at Newport by all accounts. I think he is a quality player but gets kicked out of the game against the more physical sides. I agree with the rest of your post.

A vital game which we need to win after recent slip-ups against struggling sides. Aside from a possible loanee at the back, I would stick with the same starting eleven as recent games but perhaps switch to 4-4-2.

It is impressive that we have sold all of our advance allocation, as York away is hardly a derby game. It seems our numbers will be much bigger than I had expected.

 

[Sparky]

Into the squad comes Harrison McGahey signed from Sheff Utd. Has featured 22 times for Sheff Utd so should be match fit for the York game. Temporary replacement for Holmes I would guess.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I have a horrible feeling about this one. We rarely do well in six-pointers and as Boz says York's home record must improve soon. I've a couple of friends who support them and they say York have had a combination of bad luck, poor refereeing and cynical away teams. So, I'd be made up with a draw.

 

[bigmart]

tough game real big 6 pointer im going for 1 1

 

[Ian]

Below par performances of late, i think we'll draw but we really need a win.

 

[frenchrover]

Simply just not good enough, 4 shots, 1 on-target (3 of the shots in the final 10 minutes) in 90 odd minutes is never going to win you anything.This was Yorks first win in 8 attempts, and yet we failed miserably to make any impact on then at all. I'm afraid the players, and the management, are letting the club and the Palios's (who have provided the funds to potentially strengthen the squad) down very badly. With Shrewsbury next Saturday at home, followed by Portsmouth and Cheltenham away we are in a very precarious position indeed.

 

[Ian]

Another poor display as highlighted by frenchrover above. Simply not good enough. We are slipping back into the bottom group. Surely we should be making more of an impact. Hopefully we'll get some more details from the SWA that visited.

 

[Boz]

Another poor display as highlighted by frenchrover above. Simply not good enough. We are slipping back into the bottom group. Surely we should be making more of an impact. Hopefully we'll get some more details from the SWA that visited.

I'm not sure you'll like it Ian, but here goes;

This was one of the most inept, gutless showings I have seen in a long time from Rovers, tactically baffling and with a lack of leadership both on and off the field. When I saw the line-up initially, expected that we'd lose, but it looked like an attacking formation, so anticipated going down by the odd goal in a high-scoring game. Hadn't expected only 4 attempts all game, none of which troubled the home keeper.

The opening was fairly scrappy, an early free-kick on the edge of the York box wasted. Gradually the hosts started to edge possession, but their goal didn't feel inevitable. Didn't get a great view from behind the goal, but it seemed that a free-kick wasn't properly cleared and the ball back into the box from the left-side was put away. The rest of the half was more York than Rovers, but without too much threat to our goal.

Things took a downturn after half-time, no changes and the side wearing the Rovers shirts seemed to have left their hearts in the dressing-room. Around the hour mark, York attacked from the left and after completely bamboozling the defender (Taylor I think) strolled into the box and flashed an unstoppable volley past Fonners. It took another 10 minutes, in which time York hit the post twice and OFW made a good save, before Micky stirred to introduce some substitutes. Kirby on for Hume, but instead of moving Kirby out wide and putting our most prolific striker Rory Donnelly up front, Kirby was a direct replacement for Hume there. Odejayi replaced by Koumas shortly after and finally the under-performing Myrie-Williams replaced by Molyneux. Aside from a flurry in the last 5 minutes, it made little difference, with the hosts more likely to add to the lead, indeed the final scoreline of 2-0 was flattering to Rovers.

OFW was MoM by a country mile. Otherwise, of the starting xi, only Holmes and Rory D, who did his best in a position where he was least effective scraped into the adequate category.

The rest? Surprised McGahey picked ahead of Thompson and he struggled alongside a poor Dugdale at the back. Power was ineffective again, Jennings faded after a fair opening half. Myrie-Williams gave one of the most half-hearted showings, which made me want Baggie back. Don't think Hume was ready for a start and the side only started playing the ball in the air after Odejayi had gone off.

Before this game, I thought we'd do enough to stay up. After recent showings that confidence is waning.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree with everything Boz says above. In thirty years of watching Rovers I have not seen many performances as inept as today's. It was a shameful showing in a game of such significance, and an embarrassment to the club. The fact that our first shot on goal came in the eightieth minute, and our first shot on target was four minutes into stoppage time, says everything about the display.

For the first ten minutes I thought we looked ok. Then our back four for some reason lost composure and gifted York possession high up the pitch with a series of miscued clearances. That lifted their crowd and put us on the back foot and it was downhill from then onwards. Until the arrival of Koumas ten minutes from time, we created nothing in the entire game, lacked spirit and basic organisation and were defensively woeful. As Boz comments above, it was the lack of reaction from the players - and manager - at half time that was most concerning. Our first half display had been so mediocre York had not really had to get out of first gear to take the lead and get control of the game, yet there were no changes in tactics or personnel, nor even any evidence that the players had a rollicking to lift them out of their lethargy. The whole performance was listless and clueless.

Tactically the line up did not make any sense. We played our top scorer on the left wing, and left our most reliable centre back - Thompson - on the bench, playing a loanee nineteen year old in his place. The Sheff Utd lad was by no means solely to blame for the defeat, but he struggled for the majority of the game and it was his error which led to the second goal which killed the match,though in truth we should have been put out of our misery long before then as York had numerous opportunities. At 2-0 down, the decision to stick Jake Kirby up front was simply baffling, and the changes came far, far too late to change the direction of the game. Regardless, of the personnel and tactics the lack of fight, spirit or even basic professionalism among nine or ten of the outfield players was simply shocking. Most of them looked like they simply could not be bothered, and today was the first time I have refused to applaud any of the outfield players at the end of the game: only Fonners got a clap for keeping the score down, when in truth York should have won by five or six. We were so shambolic the final twenty minutes of the game resembled a training session, with the York strikers having shooting practice, as our defence and midfield had simply gone AWOL by that stage.

Individually, I thought Donnelly worked hard out of position, but the rest of the players were varying shades of awful. Dugdale's distribution was atrocious, but the most infuriating performance came from JMW. He strutted around as if it was a pre-season friendly and made no positive contribution whatsoever. Not the sort of attitude we need in a relegation fight.

Fundamentally, with the changes we made in January I think Micky does not know his best eleven, or what system to play them in. There were too many unenforced changes today, and none of the players seemed to understand what their role in the team was. In the position we are in, we must have basic discipline, organisation and team spirit as an absolute minimum. It concerns me that Micky seems to have taken his eye off the ball and thinks that because we have better individuals now, we don't have to show the discipline and apply ourselves as we did in the weks following his appointment. If this attitude does not change quickly, we will be in serious trouble.

I did think the Carlisle ans Hartlepool games were just blips, but now I am not so sure.

 

[Sparky]

Dear oh dear. Some damning reports here and a real blow. Not just the result but the reports on effort and basic tactics.

You do have to scratch your head why he is playing Donnelly out wide. He is clearly a natural goal scorer and should be in the middle. Simple.

Dugdale in my view never impressed when on loan so I wasn't totally impressed we signed him permanently. He was at fault for the 2nd Carlisle goal last week too.

Max has been poor for weeks and deserves to be dropped. Either for Jason or Laird. And I was amazed we played a loanee instead of Thompson who had done well of late. And as much as I was pleased to see Hume back, I'm not convinced he can offer that much.

A lot of hard work this week required....

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I nearly went but I'm glad I'm on holiday instead. Following it on BBC livetext I could see it coming after the player selection and team formation followed by the strange substitutions.

After a good January, things are going badly this month. Micky must take a lot of the blame for getting so much wrong. He has a difficult job remotivating the team.

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the reports. It actually reads a lot lot worse than I had imagined. There's no excuse for not putting effort in. It will be interesting to see how they react in the next few games. What was the general reaction of the SWA who are always very vocal away from home?

 

[Boz]

There was a decent away turnout of 770. In answer to Ian's question, while the SWA started out in good voice, if a little bemused at the starting line-up. The performance on the pitch quickly dampened things down though. Best chant was the 'we've only had one shot' after Koumas' free-kick sailed over in the 80s. Personally didn't notice individuals getting much flak, but there was annoyance with some; Max, JMW, Dugdale and the manager in particular and sympathy for McGahey and Hume. Side booed off at the end of both halves.

I saw a reported comment from Micky Adams post-match, where he said he thought York were there for the taking. A very strange and ill-advised remark, though if that was his attitude in preparing for the game, it may account for the side's casual approach on the pitch. He also seemed to be putting blame for the result on the lack of efforts testing their keeper, while remaining silent about the deficiencies of those further back.

 

[bigmart]

As I said after the Carlisle game these are worrying times, we have been outplayed by 3 teams at the bottom of the table now and got 1 undeserved point, we are in big trouble.

Micky needs to choose a system and try sticking too it instead of chopping and changing all the time, Hume isn't fit Donnelly is a centre forward Power needs a spell out of the team, we hardly look like scoring and don't keep a clean sheet.

I though after the Accrington game we would easily pull clear now I am not sure we will get enough points to stay up

 

[Mal]

The Paddock forum is currently populated by many manic depressives. Win a couple and we are to be promoted. Change some players and now we are relegation fodder be ause of two losses. Given we have won three , drawn three and lost two, albeit with bad performances in two of the last three games, I would have taken that form at the end of December. I prefer to wait and see how we perform in next four games before hitting the despair and woe-is-me buttons. Hopefully, there has been a wake up call. Incidentally, was the York game as bad as the Brentford away game some years back where Tranmere refunded those who had made theaway trip?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

In fairness, nobody on this site is over reacting to Saturday's performance. I am usually the most optimistic Rovers supporter around, but the display was appalling and there has to be a major reaction in the games ahead. Of course we now have players and a manager that are good enough to keep us up, but without greater effort and organisation than we have seen since the squad was reshaped in January, we will be in trouble.

In answer to your question, I was not at that Brentford game but yes, I am sure the performance was equally poor, if not worse.