Rovers v Barrow

[Sparky]

After Saturday's defeat tomorrow see's us have a good opportunity to quickly get back to winning ways against a side who lost 5-0 at Bromley on Saturday, who we of course defeated 4-0 in recent times.

Barrow won the Conference North last season and notable players include ex rovers youngster and Wrexham player Neil Ashton as well as in form striker Andy Cook who has 9 league goals already this season. Currently lying in 15th position but only 6 points off ourselves.

This will be another game where its like a cup final for our opponents but hopefully given their loss on Saturday we can take full advantage and an early goal could see their heads drop.

I've not heard about the fitness of Dawson & Mangan but am assuming both will miss out. Disappointing the club haven't given out any news on this unless I have missed it. Maynard suspended so I'd bring in Margetts alongside Norwood, Jenno in for Maynard & Ridehalgh in for Dawson. Could also consider bringing Mekki back in for Jackson although I'm not a massive fan of either - but Adam does put the effort in.

Prediction: Slightly nervy affair but rovers to do enough. 2-0 home win.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Although we will be short of one or two key players, hopefully morale will still be high amongst the squad and the fans. Let's hope we get a good start and get back on track. Anything other than a win will certainly see us slip outside the play-off zone with our toughest match of the season waiting for us on Saturday. I hope Sparky is right, 2-0 to Rovers would do.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would start with the team Sparky suggests. I think the missing players, and the loss of Dawson in particular (who has tweeted that he will be out for a month), will have quite a dramatic impact on the quality of our attacking play and this game could be similar to the first few home games of the season - rather nervy. Having been battered at the weekend, I think Barrow will come and park the bus and scoring the first goal will be vital for us. Nonetheless, the Cumbrians have the second worst away record in the division, so it is certainly a game we should be winning.

Barrow are a former league side with a lot of tradition and have decent support for this level. They expect to bring a couple of hundred fans, in a probable gate of just over 4,000.

 

[Boz]

Feel quite uneasy about this one. Barrow will aim to defend and stifle our creative play, then grab a goal on the break. Dawson will be a loss, Mangan, Hogan, Ihiekwe other known injury doubts.

I'd expect the crowd to be comfortably over 4k, but not confident Rovers will get the required result.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I've just looked at the other fixtures tonight. Of the teams above us, Cheltenham and Bromley play each other, Dover visit Braintree and FGR have the pleasure of taking on Eastleigh, which should soften them up for Saturday! Of the teams who could catch us if we slip up, Gateshead are at Macclesfield, while Lincoln have a long drive to Welling. None of those are easy games. Only Grimsby, who host Halifax, must have as good a chance as us of taking all three points.

 

[Ian]

If Barrow are rough and ready like our previous opponents, I think we might struggle. The loss of Dawson will be a problem as I really don't rate Ridehalgh. Mangan might be OK, but we need to be ready for a battle. I have a feeling we'll get a result but think it will be a tough game. I would also definately have Mekki in for Jackson who I thought was really poor on Saturday. Jennings and Harris in midfield.

 

[bigmart]

What a grim result, we have sunk very low, need to bring in a couple of loans quickly before we drop further down the table

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

An awful performance from Rovers, as poor as we have been all season. I knew we would miss the injured players, but by the end of the game we looked rudderless and devoid of confidence and ideas. The result was all the more depressing as Barrow were mediocre in the extreme: as poor as we were, we had four or five very good chances which we did not take, whereas I can't remember Davies making a save other than the goal.

In the first fifteen minutes we looked lively, getting into some decent areas without finding a final ball, but it was downhill from then onwards. The tempo of the game dropped, Barrow time-wasted and we became lethargic. Individually, I can't remember so many players having an off-day, but I think tonight just confirmed that neither Mekki or Jackson are really good enough, certainly the latter who was awful. Without Dawson there was no creative spark and both strikers look low on confidence in front of goal. Norwood did contribute some good things early on but Margetts was awful, although not helped by the barracking he got from elements of the crowd which seemed to visibly drain him. The midfield due were disappointing, particularly Jennings who I barely knew was playing.

We almost certainly have to bring some more quality in or we could fall off the pace. This could turn out to be damaging week, although Forest Green's defeat means we have not completely lost touch with the leading sides. I am certainly not relishing Saturday after that display.

The one positive was a good crowd for a Tuesday night.

 

[Ian]

That was terrible in all honesty. Long ball all night, little creativity in all areas. Wasn't working at half time, nothing was changed, same 2nd half, way too predictable. We really will struggle to finish in the top six if we can't win our home games against medicore opposition. Squad too thin also as there was nothing on the bench of any note. Jackson came on and was as effective as the rest of them.

We need a decent winger on the right and we really missed Mangan's energy as he works a hell of lot harder than Margetts. Norwood needs to do more.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Norwood is good as a foil for Mangan but is not a reliable finisher, as we saw again tonight. Margetts' overall contribution just was not good enough. In all honesty, we could really do with two new wingers if Dawson is out for an extended period.

I was particularly disappointed in Jennings who did not show the kind of leadership we need from a captain in a game like that. Like several of the others, he went missing.

 

[Ian]

Jennings is not captain material, he may have played a lot of games but he's not a leader. He hardly opens his mouth! At least GB is fully aware we need to strengthen after tonight's dismal performance.

 

[drwhoman]

Another disappointing result. As everyone else has said it would appear that the squad is not up to scratch once a few key players are taken out. I link our improvement a few weeks ago with the arrival of Dawson. I just hope we can keep him ( six month loan from Kidderminster?). He offers something different out wide. Maynard back on Saturday will help but they need to score goals without Mangan. Let us hope that Norwood has something to prove against his old club!

 

[Sparky]

Utterly frustrating but not a total surprise given the players we were missing. Last night will have shown to Palios that the squad isn't good enough and he may need to open his chequebook again to improve the quality and strength in depth.

Norwood again showed his limitations with a poor effort - that's a few he has had in recent games and finished poorly. Margetts who I am a big fan of had a nightmare. Like Norwood a couple of his shots were like back passes and didn't test their keeper at all. As RLC hints, Norwood & Mangan is a partnership that seems to work but I'm not convinced about Norwood/Margetts.

As has been stated it was clear last night once again that Jackson & Mekki don't have the required quality for a team who wants to get out of this league. You only have to look at their career history to know that. Jackson is on non contract terms & Mekki was signed up until January so there was obvious doubts about them. Ridehalgh also who did okay at the start of the season isn't a winger as everyone knows and isn't good enough in that role either. I'd also question not having another striker to call upon last night. I'm not Cole's biggest fan but he has done ok at Southport and once Mangan was injured should we not have recalled him if we could? Or at least have signed someone on loan? I've talked before about having a target man option if required to throw on if things aren't working. Blissett didn't work out but there must be someone.

That goes back to wondering how long Mangan & Dawson are out for - are we going to find out?

Forest Green will be a tough ask on Saturday and if we had a full strength side I would be confident we could get a decent result as we did at Cheltenham. If the side is similar to last night it could be 3 defeats in 7 days...

 

[Gray]

What a depressing couple of days it's been. After the result last night I kind of resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn't be going up this season, however looking at the league table this morning there is still a long way to go and 6 / 8 points is nothing at this stage of the season, it's a marathon not a sprint!

Saturday was a freak result, my Dad was at the game and said we played well and should have walked it. Last night was a consequence of missing a few key players and we have to be mindful that other teams around us will have the same problem at some point in the season. We just need to make sure we're there or thereabouts and in a position to capitalise when the chance arises.

Interesting to hear so many different opinions regarding Jenno. People were raving about him a few weeks ago, but in the two games I've seen this season (Woking at home and Cheltenham away) he didn't do anything special IMO. He's a quality player at this level but nothing to write home about.

In terms of the squad, I'm no fan of the loan system and would much prefer to continue with a settled, albeit depleted squad until January when hopefully we can look to strengthen problem areas on a more permanent basis.

Big test Saturday.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I agree that although we are a good side when at full strength, we have a number of key players whose absence hurts our performance. Saturday's result was due to exceptional circumstances, but last night's team was full of experienced pros. Some are regular first-teamers and the rest should have been playing for their place. The trouble was when Plan A failed, we had no plan B as the bench was full of defenders, Jackson and a youth team player. I'm surprised too that Cole hasn't been recalled, as he's found form. We surely should be looking at loaning other wide players, but there probably aren't many out there.

To answer drwhoman's point, I gather that Dawson wanted to be nearer home. As we signed him in September, it had to be as a temporary 3-month loan. It runs out in mid-December. Hopefully it can be extended for three weeks and then we can negotiate to sign him on a contract.

As regards our prospects for the rest of the season, I still think we can do it. This season we have always been competitive against the better teams, but have dropped bucketloads of points to teams in the bottom half. We need more consistency. However, no team in this league is outstanding - even FGR recently had a bad run - so if we can get a couple of decent loanees in to tide us over until Dawson and Mangan return, we should be OK.

 

[Boz]

Firstly, the match itself. I'd half expected something like this both because of our injuries and Barrow coming back off a hammering. The visitors had 2 serious efforts on target. The goal itself, which visiting fans reckoned was a very good finish, though it was hard to judge from my angle. There were players, who if they'd been stronger in the build-up could have prevented the danger. Barrow's other decent effort was a snapshot midway through the second half, which Davies did well to turn round the post. Rovers had about 4/5 decent chances, the best falling to Jennings a few minutes after the Barrow goal, which was scrambled away. Could he have done better; would have to see it again, but 1-1 there and who knows? Norwood, Margetts and I think Jennings again all had chances in the second half, either put wide or shot tamely at their keeper. This wasn't a Boreham Wood performance where we created next to nothing, had we taken some of our chances we'd have won this, regardless of a poor performance.

Next the players. Injuries aside, the starting xi Brabin put out looked capable of holding their own. While I haven't the inclination to award marks, the reality is that few would have exceeded 5/10. Davies didn't do much wrong, Hill was fairly steady and had one or two nice links with Ridehalgh, Harris had his moments.
However, there was a lot wrong. Riley looked incapable of heading the ball, while Sutton and especially Logan resorted to lumping the ball long at every opportunity in the second half. Up front Margetts started ok, with some nice lay-offs, but quickly lost confidence, while Norwood was all over the place. There was no leadership either from our captain or the other experienced pros. I missed the Eastleigh game, but it sounded like we showed heart and fight, even when down to 9 men, against Barrow we were gutless.

Finally the manager. Gary Brabin wanted a small squad, so he must accept responsibility for the risks which that brings when key players are unavailable. It doesn't help that he opted to assemble such a poorly balanced one. No established right-back, a lack of creativity in central midfield and leaving recruitment of wingers so late, that we got Mekki, no more than a squad player at this level, Dawson a half-decent if fairly one-footed player at this level, but likely to be out until his loan expires and the totally clueless Jackson. Kirby and Stockton have both scored goals at L1 level, so why are they out on loan, while the manager is giving playing time to someone so out of his depth he's drowning? The young lad Askew on the bench last night is a winger and would hardly have done any worse than Marlon.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I have to disagree with Boz about Dawson. I think he is a fantastic player at this level and probably has the raw ability to make it to the Championship. His absence was the major reason we were so dire last night: nobody to provide quality in the final third, encourage us to keep the ball on the ground and hold on to the ball in dangerous areas to allow us to get up the pitch and get on top of the opposition.

Boz also has a right go at the manager, but if we had a bigger squad it would almost certainly mean players like Mangan would not be here. We have opted for quality over quantity: the alternative might be a squad full of Jacksons, not an appetising prospect. We have to remember that although we are relatively wealthy at this level, we still operate with restricted finances.

With regard to Stockton and Kirby, nobody has believed they were good enough in the last three years, so I am not sure they suddenly become good players because we have injuries. Margetts was awful last night but still offers more than Cole in my view.

I generally agree with the point made by a few people above that we have to ride this period and recruit wisely in January.

 

[Boz]

RLC, I am not disputing that Dawson was missed last night, nor that he has the potential to go higher. Personally, I don't subscribe to the Dawson is awesome cult, an inability to use both feet effectively may tell against him higher up. However, the reality is that he is going to be out of action for the near future at best, more likely until his current loan spell expires, so Brabin needs to get someone else in.

I would disagree that a bigger squad means no players of the calibre of Mangan. We were told that Rovers would have a top four budget at the start of the season and remarks by Mark Palios suggest there is still significant money available. There are noteable weaknesses in the current squad which that money could be used to rectify. If we want to have a good chance of making the play-offs, is it not better to make use of that money now rather than trying to muddle through?

Direct question, do you think Jackson is a better player than Stockton or Kirby then? Kirby hasn't been tried at this level, while Stockton has scored 3 goals at National League level. Last nights bench with that pair replacing one of the defenders and Askew would have given the manager more options when things weren't going for us.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would disagree that a bigger squad means no players of the calibre of Mangan. We were told that Rovers would have a top four budget at the start of the season and remarks by Mark Palios suggest there is still significant money available. There are noteable weaknesses in the current squad which that money could be used to rectify. If we want to have a good chance of making the play-offs, is it not better to make use of that money now rather than trying to muddle through?

Having now watched Brabin's full post-match interview - the best and most honest he has given - it is obvious that he does have some reasonable quality targets available and we will be bringing players in immediately. My comment was made on the assumption that we would only be able to sign mediocrities in the short term; thankfully that is not the case. Brabin's no-nonsense approach was quite refreshing and it is obvious that some of last night's team will be departing.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Direct question, do you think Jackson is a better player than Stockton or Kirby then? Kirby hasn't been tried at this level, while Stockton has scored 3 goals at National League level. Last nights bench with that pair replacing one of the defenders and Askew would have given the manager more options when things weren't going for us.

No, all three of them are s***e. Jackson was obviously an unknown quantity at the start of the season, and has not started many games. It is now obvious he is not good enough, but it is pointless replacing rubbish with rubbish.

Stockton has scored the odd goal for us in the last three seasons, it does not make him good enough for a promotion chasing team at this level. When we were playing well in our unbeaten run we had mobility, awareness and decent pace up front, and Cole has none of these attributes. He is not even suited to our style of play.