League Two Rovers (1) v Doncaster Rovers (2)

[dollar'sbloke]

Largely agree, except I thought Saunders was awful. When even when he did something, he wasted the ball. With Sam Taylor playing there, we might even have won.

We could have won, but didn’t deserve to. Donny were not much better and won’t finish high.

Not a fan of Saunders but he did more than Hawkes on the left.
Everyone expects us to lose away I suspect we won't

 

[Sparky]

Yes the 4-3-3 was really exposed first half. The amount of space they had was ridiculous. How Nigel is persisting with it is beyond belief.

I thought Lewis did ok today so perhaps he should get a game (never thought I’d say that!). And Apter should start on Tuesday ahead of hawkes who looks lost at the moment

 

[Sparky]

If using three points for a win as standard, Tranmere are enduring the joint-third worst start in their history. Ten points from 14 games is better only than 1922/23 (nine) and 1956/57 (eight)

 

[Ian]

I thought Lewis did ok today so perhaps he should get a game

Like I said the other day, the standards have slipped remarkably. Lewis and the rest of them don't have the fight, the desire. They are there for the payday and that's it. Why did it take us until 70 minutes for the game to come to life? We need to dig in, fight for every ball, battle.. Piss takers the lot of them (apart from Jennings). Really getting sick of this shit now.

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

I could write a long post about why and how we got beat again however, I'm tired and better things to do, than to through it again.
It was wet and horrible.
The football not the westher!

My biggest point tho.
Is that the more you change things, the more they stay the same!
Still, so much wrong with the set up and tactics, as has been said, Deja vu!

Not good enough! Again Deja vu!

 

[Sparky]

Adkins needs to step aside asap as he’s not up to the task. All this talk of KPIs, boulders, his memories of Friday nights etc. Someone needs to go in there and sort this mess out asap

 

[Boz]

Watching that at home was grim, must have been even worse for those of you battling the inclement weather to see such a mediocre performance. Drastic action is required to give us some hope.

I find it interesting that views diverge so much on certain players. For what it's worth, it seemed to me that Hendry was having one of his better games this season both in the deeper and more advanced position. While the conditions may have been a factor, Turnbull ought to have done much better with the long kick that led to the second goal and there were some sloppy aspects to his play, maybe a bit rusty. While Apter and to a lesser extent Lewis improved us when brought on, Jolley offered little and Taylor might have had more of an impact. What Adkins issue is with Morris is hard to understand.

 

[ADD]

Interesting post match from Adkins. Said he should have made a change after 15 minutes to bring on Lewis as Hendry not suited to holding role. Described a player as lazy for the first goal by not going with his man. Said second CH knows he had to deal with it and didn't.

 

[roverstillidie]

Interesting post match from Adkins. Said he should have made a change after 15 minutes to bring on Lewis as Hendry not suited to holding role. Described a player as lazy for the first goal by not going with his man. Said second CH knows he had to deal with it and didn't.

He could have read any of the fan forums for the last month to realise Hendry doesn’t suit a holding role, honestly what do they do between games?!

 

[Sparky]

Interesting post match from Adkins. Said he should have made a change after 15 minutes to bring on Lewis as Hendry not suited to holding role. Described a player as lazy for the first goal by not going with his man. Said second CH knows he had to deal with it and didn't.

Nigel quite critical of his decisions but as roverstillidie says we’ve all known hendry isn’t a defensive midfielder for ages. He could have played LOC there and Pike at RB. As it is, it sounds like Lewis will play there on Tuesday.

Rather worryingly Nigel says it’s nothing to do with tactics but individual mistakes. Tonight possibly but not all season surely

 

[drwhoman]

I would love to be a fly and n the wall in the real post match analysis sessions and not the bullshit given to fans. Surely it cannot be - ‘yes some bits were good but we lost again. I know, let’s do the same next game’ . Defies belief - there is no magic. This is about survival Nigel. You can go back to retirement - the fans are left in the mess!

 

[Ian]

Rather worryingly Nigel says it’s nothing to do with tactics but individual mistakes

Rubbish. Players will always make mistakes, more so when they are playing in a formation that does not suit. We are losing the battle in midfield and getting battered defensively by average teams, that's not mistakes, that's simple tactics. More worrying, that also sounds like he's not going to change things either.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Nigel quite critical of his decisions but as roverstillidie says we’ve all known hendry isn’t a defensive midfielder for ages. He could have played LOC there and Pike at RB. As it is, it sounds like Lewis will play there on Tuesday.

Rather worryingly Nigel says it’s nothing to do with tactics but individual mistakes. Tonight possibly but not all season surely

In fairness, he did at least acknowledge that we have serious defensive issues, which he has not done previously. It sounds like we will deploy a player specifically to protect the defence in future, which we have not really done all season.

But yes, O'Connor is better suited to the holding role than Lewis. Dawes actually used Lewis in that role several times, to little effect.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Lewis has played that role previously, before this season, and I think Cambridge used him a lot there before we signed him the first time.

i agree he looked shaky when Dawes used him there. And, unfortunately, wherever he plays, he’s the type of player whose good work will often go unnoticed, but when he’s not playing well it really shows. But if - if - Adkins can get him to fill that gap effectively, it could have a significant impact for us.

But a tough-tackling ratter for that position would be top of my January shopping list.

 

[Boz]

Was anything said by Nigel about the absence of Walker and Merrie, two who can play the defensive protection role but didn’t make the bench last night?

I don’t feel confident using Lewis in that role. While he can break up the play, his distribution is patchy and his tackling can be wild. We’d be giving away more free-kicks in dangerous areas. Would prefer to see him used in a more advanced role.

When we’ve got 2 other right-backs on the books in Pike and Starbuck, don’t understand Adkins’ reluctance to use O’Connor in a role he is proven to be capable of. Though he was the best of the back four in this match.

 

[bigmart]

Dear Nigel, please play O'Connor in Central midfield, he will provide desperately needed cover for our defence and may even result in us conceding less goals and gaining points.
Yours sincerely Rovers Fans.

 

[bigmart]

Adkins needs to step aside asap as he’s not up to the task. All this talk of KPIs, boulders, his memories of Friday nights etc. Someone needs to go in there and sort this mess out asap

The big problem is which half decent manager will come in without their own staff and that's if we are actually looking for a manager

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Dear Nigel, please play O'Connor in Central midfield, he will provide desperately needed cover for our defence and may even result in us conceding less goals and gaining points.
Yours sincerely Rovers Fans.

It is staggering that he has not used him in that position, given that he is clearly the best defensive midfielder in the squad, and now seems set to use Lewis there ahead of him. Another square peg in a round hole.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Was anything said by Nigel about the absence of Walker and Merrie, two who can play the defensive protection role but didn’t make the bench last night?

I don’t feel confident using Lewis in that role. While he can break up the play, his distribution is patchy and his tackling can be wild. We’d be giving away more free-kicks in dangerous areas. Would prefer to see him used in a more advanced role.

When we’ve got 2 other right-backs on the books in Pike and Starbuck, don’t understand Adkins’ reluctance to use O’Connor in a role he is proven to be capable of. Though he was the best of the back four in this match.

Walker was dropped from the squad, I don't know about Merrie.

 

[Sparky]

Walker was dropped from the squad, I don't know about Merrie.

Yes Nigel said we have 31 players to choose from and Walker just wasn’t selected. It is strange as on his day he’s probably our best defensive midfielder but unfortunately he’s can’t cope with a Tuesday/Saturday schedule