Sparky
Member
- Joined
- 8 Sep 2009
- Messages
- 7,692
- Player
- Chris Greenacre
Next up for rovers is a trip to Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers where Andy Mangan remains on the coaching staff.
Barton’s job was under threat earlier in the season but in recent weeks there have been improvements, including two successive league wins with a recent impressive win over Northampton who won at PP a few weeks ago. The pirates also had an impressive midweek away win at league one Oxford in the cup and know victory will see them overtake us and possibly reach the top 10.
3 consecutive defeats for rovers with no goals scored and the joint lowest goalscoring record in the division means it doesn’t take Einstein to work out what our problems are. If we lost and results went against us we could be in 16th come 5pm on Saturday.
I guess the question is whether Micky will stick with his usual system of one up top. I suspect he will, given we are away from home but whether the personnel changes remains to be seen.
On recent form I think there is an argument that Feeney or McManaman could be dropped if Hawkes is fit. If he is, then I expect Feeney to step down with Hawkes coming in on the left. The question is whether Nevitt will lead the line again and will Watson keep that position just behind him. Ryan didn’t really impress against Sutton but perhaps he needs a run of games which he hasn’t really had yet. Of course Mickey may be tempted to bring Foley in plus O’Connor if Spearing is suspended after 5 yellows. Suspect it’ll be the same back 4 and keeper although plenty of the SWA would prefer Murphy and Davies to return but as I have said previously, our defence is generally fine – the problems are at the other end. I still think MM should try and find a system to bring Maynard in who is our most natural goalscorer. The old adage if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it works well, but if it is broke (i.e. not scoring), then something does need fixing. We are a third of the way into the season and have major issues scoring goals. Something must change as we can’t just hope to get through to January as there are lots of games between now and then.
Prediction: Buoyed by their recent form I expect a lot of pressure early on from a physical home side. If we can keep them at bay and grow into the game we could get a result, however I fear we’ll go a goal down at some point and may not get back into it. Hope we’re not pinning too much expectation on Hawkes who is still a young lad and just back from injury.
Barton’s job was under threat earlier in the season but in recent weeks there have been improvements, including two successive league wins with a recent impressive win over Northampton who won at PP a few weeks ago. The pirates also had an impressive midweek away win at league one Oxford in the cup and know victory will see them overtake us and possibly reach the top 10.
3 consecutive defeats for rovers with no goals scored and the joint lowest goalscoring record in the division means it doesn’t take Einstein to work out what our problems are. If we lost and results went against us we could be in 16th come 5pm on Saturday.
I guess the question is whether Micky will stick with his usual system of one up top. I suspect he will, given we are away from home but whether the personnel changes remains to be seen.
On recent form I think there is an argument that Feeney or McManaman could be dropped if Hawkes is fit. If he is, then I expect Feeney to step down with Hawkes coming in on the left. The question is whether Nevitt will lead the line again and will Watson keep that position just behind him. Ryan didn’t really impress against Sutton but perhaps he needs a run of games which he hasn’t really had yet. Of course Mickey may be tempted to bring Foley in plus O’Connor if Spearing is suspended after 5 yellows. Suspect it’ll be the same back 4 and keeper although plenty of the SWA would prefer Murphy and Davies to return but as I have said previously, our defence is generally fine – the problems are at the other end. I still think MM should try and find a system to bring Maynard in who is our most natural goalscorer. The old adage if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it works well, but if it is broke (i.e. not scoring), then something does need fixing. We are a third of the way into the season and have major issues scoring goals. Something must change as we can’t just hope to get through to January as there are lots of games between now and then.
Prediction: Buoyed by their recent form I expect a lot of pressure early on from a physical home side. If we can keep them at bay and grow into the game we could get a result, however I fear we’ll go a goal down at some point and may not get back into it. Hope we’re not pinning too much expectation on Hawkes who is still a young lad and just back from injury.