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Rovers v Carlisle JPT

Boz

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While I'm pretty indifferent to this game, it could be a chance for RE to try some things out and if we were able to beat the Cumbrians, it could both boost our confidence and deflate the Curle bubble before it gets too big.

There have to be 6 players from the Bury starting xi in the line-up. Edwards says "we'll pick the strongest side we've got"...does that mean he's finally worked out what that is? Stockton joins the long-term absentees as unavailable and I'm unsure if Davies is eligible. Given OFW is on Wales call-up at the weekend it would seem sensible to give Brezovan a chance of working with our defenders. I would also like to see Holness and Rowe given an outing and because Gill is racking up the yellow cards would rest him. My line-up would be;

Brezovan
Holmes Ihiekwe Holness Donacien
Koumas Rowe Laird Baggie
Donnelly Richards

It will be interesting to see the crowd size. The turnout at Gigg Lane was impressive and there is the incentive of a return to the Cowsheds for home supporters. I'd reckon under 2k, to see Rovers losing on penalties.
 
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Given his importance to the team and the current crop of injuries, I would rest Gill and start with Koumas. If Richards is fit I would play him and restore Odejayi to the bench: regardless of the competition, this is a massive game for Edwards and the club as we are so desperate for a win to boost morale and start turning things around. I would take Edwards' word that we will be putting out a strong team.

Rob seemed embattled in his pre-match interview and I felt a bit sorry for him. However, I found his contention that we have a 'bottom third' budget a bit strange. I remember Mark Palios stating that we had a mid table budget when he came in, and we subsequently signed three or four players on deadline day, which has been unheard of for Rovers in recent years. My feeling is that the current squad is bigger and stronger than in the last four or five years and our current position will not be acceptable in the medium to long term. Rob bemoaned the lack of experience in the side at the moment, but he must accept at least some responsibility for the make-up of the squad and the focus on youth, and there have been a number of occasions this season where he has had the option of bringing an experienced head into the side, but decided not to take it.

Carlisle have won two under Curle but still looked a desperately poor outfit ten days ago. Regardless of our current form, I think the JPT could be a big competition for us this year as we are unlikely to be pulling up any trees in the league, regardless of what happens in the next few matches.

I would normally chastise Boz for his pessimistic prediction, but losing on pens would seem about right given how the season has developed so far. Let's hope we get a win.
 
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I hope he doesn't tinker with the side too much as any win would give the team a lift and another defeat make morale worse. I like Boz's team, as it's probably the most experienced set of players we've got on the books and who are still fit.
 
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Not remotely a convincing performance and although we scraped through in the end, the display left me feeling a little flat to be honest. We were ok in the first half and deserved our lead at half time, but the second half was shocking and Carlisle should really have won the game in ninety minutes. At least the back four stayed strong and stood up to Carlisle's second half pressure to take the game to pens.

We started slowly, but after about fifteen minutes Koumas began to get on the ball and dictate things and his vision and range of passing was outstanding in the first half. It was his excellent free kick which led to the goal, well finished by Max. However, in the second half we lost all semblance of shape, sat too deep and ended up soaking up wave after wave of pressure. I thought the two centre halves did well in this period, with Holness in particular making one exceptional block after a Carlisle breakaway.

Individually, Koumas was excellent in the first half but could not get in the game in the second when we were under the cosh and kept booting the ball long. Brezovan was good commanding his area and made two decent saves in the shootout. Power, Baggie and Richards looked low on confidence and were poor, but you could really say the same about several other players. I have been a big critic of Odejayi, but tonight he won a lot in the air, really put himself about and was probably our best player. Credit to young Liam Davies for coolly slotting away the winning penalty.

A win is a win, but there will have to be a big improvement if we are to get three points on Saturday.
 

Boz

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Unable to get over for this, bus it sounds a mixed bag. Puzzled that Rowe didn't feature at all, not even on the bench and given that an error by the hapless Kirby, within minutes of coming off the bench, led to the Carlisle equaliser, Rob's poor record on substitutions continues. I read Ben Davies scored the winning penalty
 
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Unable to get over for this, bus it sounds a mixed bag. Puzzled that Rowe didn't feature at all, not even on the bench and given that an error by the hapless Kirby, within minutes of coming off the bench, led to the Carlisle equaliser, Rob's poor record on substitutions continues. I read Ben Davies scored the winning penalty

Correct, I always get those two confused. The Kirby substitution actually made sense as we were getting overrun in midfield and Baggie was not contributing in the second half.
 

Ian

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Yeah, it wasn't great at all and took peno's to finish it off. First half wasn't bad and we weren't in much danger. Like RLC says, Koumas was having a good game and we looked comfortable. Second half was a different story. Carlisle went on the attack and we were on the back foot hardly creating anything. Brezovan had a good game as did Odejayi who was a handful all game. Shame he didn't have the support he needed. Why does RE continue to field Kirby? He contributes nothing, well not true, his contribution today was to defend woefully and gift Carlisle the equaliser. I hope it gives the players some confidence but I think there's a long way to go before we see some improvement.

Winning on pens put the gloss on a poor display all round with too many below par performances. Nice to be back in the Cowshed though.
 

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Correct, I always get those two confused. The Kirby substitution actually made sense as we were getting overrun in midfield and Baggie was not contributing in the second half.
We were getting overrun in midfield but Kirby is not the answer. He won't add anything to the team. Wasn't Laird on the bench?
 
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Yes, but replacing Baggie with Kirby is a like for like substitution which meant we did not have to change the shape of the team. I am not particularly defending Kirby, I just think on this occasion the manager got it right.

What surprised me more was seeing James Rowe sitting a few rows behind me in the stand, as Boz has alluded to.
 
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I'd have loved to attend and be back in the Cowshed, but I'm just relieved we won. OK, I'd rather have had three points, but morale would have been even worse if we'd lost after leading in normal time and in the shoot-out. Sounds like we dug deep and held our nerve to win. Other positives must be the performances of Brezovan, Holness and Odejayi, which will give Rob a couple of pleasant selection problems in the next week or so. For the first time in a month, I'm looking forward to our next match.
 
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My first game of the season, so a first look at League 2 and two of the bottom three to boot.

In a word: woeful. I agree with the overall assessments made above, but I really was quite shocked at how poor both teams were, especially Rovers in the second period.

It looks as if Edwards' plan to play good football has gone out of the window as the majority of the match (even the first half when we were marginally the better team) we relied too often on a big belt up the park to our lone striker.

Not sure what the point of Richards was. Didn't attack with any conviction, seemed lost between the midfield and forward. Power looks out-of-sorts on the wing. Indeed there seemed to be no structure or - dare I say it? - tactics. We have no pace in the side, and we're not big and strong enough to compete in midfield.

The second half was truly shocking. Carlisle came through our wafer-thin midfield time-and-again. I would suggest if Paynter hadn't gone off injured, he might have fancied himself for a couple of second-half goals.

The centre-backs manned up and I thought the keeper did well. Koumas showed the odd touch of class, but faded.

I hope that the rest of League 2 is as poor as that. if it is, we have a chance of staying up. If not, I can't see how we can. We didn't even look like a good side low on confidence. We just looked like a bad side. Sorry to be so defeatest, just trying to be honest!

Enjoyed being in the Cowshed, not a bad atmosphere, considering.
 

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Richards never convinces me. He fades out of games too much. Power just had a bad game and to be fair to Koumas, I think he struggled after taking that knock in the first half. I'm glad we held on at the end. The crowd were getting nervous and a few boos were starting.

I felt it a bit for Odejayi. He really put in a good shift, won a lot of balls, held it up well and caused their defence problems. Just a shame there was no-one to support him.
 
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I would not disagree with any of TT64's assessment, but in fairness to Edwards and the players we have played much, much better than that this season, even in games we have lost. In a number of games our football has been good, but at present we are a team at absolute rock bottom in terms of confidence and quality.

Richards is a good player, quick, mobile and skilful, who is just really struggling for form at the moment (in fairness, he is not the only one). I think he may also still be carrying a slight injury.

The one positive last night was the way the back four stood up against relentless pressure in the second half (Kirby's back-pass excepted).
 
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