• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

Posh v Rovers

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Alan King, Barry Dyson
Not the tie most of us would have chosen, but I'm sure neither will our opponents be happy. I think we have a chance and an away game suits us against strong opposition. It will be nice to go into a game as underdogs with nothing to lose and under no pressure.
 
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I am looking forward to this one. I think we have a chance, even though Posh ended a long losing streak by beating leaders Wolves last Saturday. I'm a bit worried about the defence with Ash and Goodi unavailable, but we've got Otsemobor and Ryan Edwards available, assuming they are allowed to play in the FA Cup. (I don't know why Edwards didn't even make the bench last week.) Attacking options look a lot better and I'm expecting a few goals. I wouldn't like to guess the team as Ronnie has so much choice, but I'm going for a 3-1 win.
 

bigmart

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Edwards didn't make the bench as only 5 loan players can be in the squad.

Think it will be close but 2 1 to them.
 
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Peterborough seem to be turning a corner with improved performances in the last couple of games, but I am still hopeful we can at least force a replay. I think it is likely we will go back to 4-5-1 for this match, with Koumas returning to the side. With Goodsion out and Otsemobor not having trained all week, I would not be surprised to see Ridehalgh start at centre back, given that we are restricted to five loan players in the squad.
 

bigmart

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If Otsemobor is ruled out then that means we would only have 5 loan players in the squad
 
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I still think Ridehalgh might be preferred to Edwards at centre back, and I think he is almost certain to be if Otsemobor is in the 18.
 

Ian

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We usually fair OK away from home with our tactics. It's going to be a really tough game but if we can come away with a draw, I'd like to play them at PP again.

It's a bit worrying defensively but our form is getting better as are our results.

0-0
 

Boz

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If Otsemobor hasn't trained all week, then it would be daft to pick him. Holmes is perfectly capable of playing at right-back, while Edwards could be on the bench if Ronnie wants to persist with Ridehalgh in the centre. Despite his good showing last week, Horwood's defensive ability causes concern, so would prefer to see Ridehalgh at left-back, although Edwards is an unknown quantity in the centre. Likely to be unchanged midfield and attack.

Peterborough have a few absentees through injury and are not in great form, but have a tradition of beating us in the Cup. Can't see that changing, though it will be closer than the hammering at PP
 

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Well I got the 0 bit right...

Terrible defending in the second half.
 
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This was a miserable performance with no positives unless you consider no league points were at stake. But by the end, it looked like Championship v League Two. For 35 minutes we were OK. It was tight, there was just one corner each and there were no shots on target. Then we made a bad error and lost the ball in midfield. We got punished by Assombalonga. We were then under the cosh until half-time. We nearly held out but a corner from the left cleared the goal area and dropped to the unmarked Shaun Jeffers (remember him?). Once the second half started, Posh we're full of confidence. Their miserable run was over. James Wallace of all people lost the ball in a tussle just outside the box and Mr A made no mistake. His hat-trick goal was a cracker and just when we thought we might improve on the PP result, Jeffers smashed in a cross.

So what went wrong? OFW had a good game and made two great saves. I thought the defence with Ryan Edwards on debut was OK. Lowe as ever worked hard but got little service, as did Kirby. Peterson had two markers initially and once he beat the first, he was blocked by the second. The ref gave a free kick but there should have been at least two bookings. Amazingly there was not a single booking despite Posh's physicality. JlAA was continually bundled off the ball and never got in the game. Wallace and Atkinson never got control of midfield. Posh always had a spare man. In my view, the culprit was Ronnie for playing two wingers in a 4-4-2. If we had had an extra man in midfield, we would certainly not have lost 5-0. Ronnie's only changes were like for like. Stockton for Akpo and Rowe for Kirby. Yes, Rowe played on the right of midfield and to be honest did not do too badly.

Let's hope things are back to normal next week.
 
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Boz

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Worryingly, in his post match remarks Ronnie seems to blame it all on defending. It's interesting what BBTC says above about the defence, must have been a torrid debut in a Rovers shirt for Edwards. Given we played with only 10 men for half the home game and our squad was weaker then, this must count as a worse result.
 
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I stand by my report. Two of the first three goals resulted from individual mistakes in midfield and the other from poor defending at a corner (a team responsibility). The defence had no support. Look at the stats - two shots, none on target, you can't blame the defence for that. The last two goals were good individual efforts and had no effect on the outcome.

By the way, the atmosphere at London Road was terrible. A crowd of only 3,200 did not help but you only heard the home fans when they scored and the SWA was noticeably silent throughout. I've been to noisier funerals.
 
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Unacceptable performance. I agree with BBTC that we made a major error in playing a 4-4-2. We were far too open when Peterborough counter attacked and this left the back four, and in particular Edwards, horribly exposed, in the second half in particular. I disagree with BBTC that the defence did ok; the back four were abysmal in the second half and Edwards was torn to shreds at times. For Assombolanga's second and third goals instead of showing the striker down the line, he allowed him inside onto his stronger foot to belt a shot into the bottom corner. It was completely naive to expect a 19 year old whose only experience has come at League Two level, to cope with Peterborough's strikers without the protection of an extra man in midfield; Edwards deserved better assistance from his manager. Wallace did well in the first half, but even at this stage of the game when we lost the ball on halfway Peterborough's talented and mobile midfield / attack were able to run straight at our back four.

The game had started fairly promisingly and for forty minutes I though we matched them for possession, if not quality in the final third. We pressed high up the pitch and looked solid and disciplined. That said, the defending for the first goal was poor, a breakaway down Edward's side with Assombalonga afforded acres of space. Had we avoided the second goal (conceded from a corner) and gone in at 1-0 at half time, we probably would have avoided a rout. As it was, we looked completely dishevelled from the first minute of the second half, and the team as a whole showed a complete lack of professionalism with a limp, gutless, disorganised second half display, albeit against vastly superior opponents.

With Taylor back in the side next week, we just have to hope today was a one off, against quality opposition, and we can get results in the vital league games coming up in the next few weeks.
 
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I stand by my report. Two of the first three goals resulted from individual mistakes in midfield and the other from poor defending at a corner (a team responsibility). The defence had no support. Look at the stats - two shots, none on target, you can't blame the defence for that. The last two goals were good individual efforts and had no effect on the outcome.

I agree about the lack of midfield protection, but three of Peterborough's goals came down Edwards' side and to me he looked completely out of his depth (understandably). Although we lost the ball on halfway, there is no way Assomabolanga should have run into the box unchallenged for the first goal. Lowe gave the ball away 60 yards from goal and we should have been able to recover the situation. For his second and third goals, Edwards backed off him, allowed him on to his stronger foot, and did not get tight enough at any stage. I am not blaming him, he was not ready to face a team of Peterborough's quality, but defensively we were shocking and with Taylor in the side several of those goals probably would not have happended.

The common denominator between today and the home 5-0 defeat is that we had a centre half in the team who was not up to it (Foster / Edwards).

I should also add that the 4-4-2 may have functioned better had we played with two strikers, rather than Akpro deciding to opt out of the game for the majority of his sixty minutes on the pitch. If we were going to persist with that formation, Stockton should have replaced him earlier.

I agree with you about the general gulf between Peterborough and ourselves. I think League One is becoming like the Premier League now, in that the very top sides - Wolves, Peterborough - are light years ahead of the rest of the division, certainly the botoom half sides such as Rovers.
 
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bigmart

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This result is a wake up call to the players management and supporters, there is still a lot of hard work ahead if we are to get clear and stay clear of trouble this season.
 
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This result is a wake up call to the players management and supporters.

I think that is over the top, but we definitely need to be more careful about the tactics we use in tough games, rather than believing a 4-4-2 suits every match. If Taylor had played yesterday rather than Edwards, there is no way we would have lost the game 5-0.
 
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bigmart

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People on here were getting carried away, look at the predections before the game which confirms it.
 

Boz

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People on here were getting carried away, look at the predections before the game which confirms it.
Do you include yourself in that category, Bigmart? For my part, while expecting a loss, was thinking that we wouldn't losing as heavily as last time, , so maybe getting carried away myself:rolleyes:

I'm not sure that the players were complacent, just overwhelmed. I do agree, to an extent, that it's a wake-up call to management. 442 using two wingers away to strong sides like Peterborough is unlikely to succeed unless everyone's on top of their game, while defending starts from the forwards back. It's too simplistic for Ronnie to pin all blame on the defence.
 

bigmart

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I predicted we would lose as I thought with them beating wolves last week would be just the boost they needed and it turned out right. I agree with the comments about playing 442 was asking for trouble, maybe Ronnie will learn for when we go their in the league.
 
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