League Two Rovers v Dons

[Sparky]

The only positive is I think we’re not at home now for about a month

 

[Outoftowner]

Where do we go from here???

Get a manager who understands tactics and has a bloody brain on his shoulders !

I thought Palios understood football but I guess he’s too focused on running his other business interests to see what a complete wast of space his manager is !

Bring on Ted Lasso !

 

[Sparky]

Another frustrating home defeat and it makes you wonder how on earth we had the best home record in the league last season.

A fairly cagey start although Lewis had a decent chance after a good move. They weren’t showing much but took the lead after getting in down the left side. Then came the second off which was a moment of madness after Simeu had won the free kick.
Second half we came out and given the circumstances played pretty well. Scoring the penalty would have seen us level the game and maybe go on and win it. In hindsight maybe in such poor form Hemmings shouldn’t have taken it but his record is decent and I’m sure he’ll have wanted the chance to get back amongst the goals.

The save knocked the stuffing out of us and the visitors scored a Good individual second goal and it was game over.

The sending off means we’ll be without both turnbull and Simeu for the next two league games. Davies looked ok.
I think the boos at half time we mainly for the ref but at full time some were for the result. For the first time at some point in the second half there was a few fans in the kop singing your getting sacked in the morning to mickey.

It’s hard to be too critical as we did well early in the second half. But again it’s a game without scoring against a bang average opponent.

Micky will no doubt say the usual things about this is the road we chose to go down and we don’t have great resources etc. but I still keep thinking we were so close last season, we’ve take a good few steps back. Did we need to? Getting all these youngsters and not having many senior pros is going to end up with poorer home down and poorer results

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The scoreline might suggest otherwise, but for sixty minutes with ten men we were the better side and deserved to take at least a point from the game. As commented above, if the penalty had been scored I think we may well have won the game with the momentum we had at that point. It was a good, spirited performance.

I thought we actually started the game quite brightly, with Lewis forcing a good save from their keeper, but between conceding and the red card we lost the physical battle in midfield against big, physical opposition, not helped by a useless referee who let any kind of manhandling go. I did not see the red card incident, but there were few complaints from the Rovers players.

To give the players some credit, we regrouped well with ten men, holding our own until the break and actually controlling possession and looking the more dangerous of the two sides for the majority of the second half. The referee had an influence on the penalty miss by making Hemmings wait for ages, by which time he was nervous and shot straight down the middle. It seemed to me the keeper got lucky and the ball simply hit his trailing leg. Their second goal was a worldy against the run of play and one of those things.

Individually, I thought O'Connor was man of the match and Bristow, Davies and Doohan had good games. Ross's distribution was excellent and he seems to be growing in confidence now. I also thought Byrne was decent in a back four, which is a positive with both Turnbull and Simeu missing for several games.

The majority of recent performances have been decent and results will turn in due course.

 

[Sparky]

Yes there is no need for people to go overboard although some of the stuff on social media has been a bit over the top.

Micky certainly hasn’t been helped by the chairman’s goals goals goals comments pre season. Did mark think that would happen with the change in policy??

Plus who on earth would we get as manager that is any better?

 

[bigmart]

No doubt Micky will go on about we are a well run club, we cut our cloth accordingly but yet we keep running at a loss year after year.
It would appear we have little money to spend in January if any so we will have to try and offload players to bring some in.

 

[bigmart]

Yes there is no need for people to go overboard although some of the stuff on social media has been a bit over the top.

Micky certainly hasn’t been helped by the chairman’s goals goals goals comments pre season. Did mark think that would happen with the change in policy??

Plus who on earth would we get as manager that is any better?

Micky said if you want more risk then you will have more risk yet that has been far from the case, what happened to build up from the back it doesn't happen anywhere near enough.
I don't think you can keep a manager on the basis of we don't think we can get anyone better although with Marks record of appointments not sure we will get the right manager in

 

[Goody Two Shoes]

Like RLC, I’m not too downbeat after that performance. Ugly football and dark arts seem synonymous with Wimbledon and that ghost was present today. With ten men we were the better side and it just wasn’t going to be our day. I don’t condone what Simeu did (looked like he pushed the palm of his hand up Pell’s face) but Pell was irritatingly theatrical all day as we’re one or two others in a blue shirt. I’ve credited every team that’s been to PP this season as deserving their win or point, but I thought Wimbledon were fortunate today.
Lewis should have done better with his early effort and my thoughts at the time was that opposition teams would have made that count. However, Lewis was “clever” in winning the penalty. Refs should just encourage the penalty to be taken as quickly as possible and deal with any shenanigans afterwards, including a retake if necessary or yellow cards for any gamesmanship. They seem naive in the extreme to what players are trying to achieve.
Ref did seem wet behind the ears and Wimbledon took full advantage of that.
I was actually quite proud of the effort from the lads facing such adversity and antics; said it before and will say it again, getting a soft touch as I get older!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

No doubt Micky will go on about we are a well run club, we cut our cloth accordingly but yet we keep running at a loss year after year.
It would appear we have little money to spend in January if any so we will have to try and offload players to bring some in.

The reality is that unlike virtually every other club owner in the division, Palios does not have the personal wealth to bankroll us to even a limited extent. That means we have to live prudently and our ownership model is actually closer to a fan owned club, albeit one with a Chairman with superior business acumen.

That could change if we receive additional Indonesian investment, but that does not seem likely at the moment.

 

[keep the faith]

Where do we go from here???

maybe an over-reaction sparky but maybe mellon going and taking hemmings with him, I can,t believe they have trained all week to produce that

 

[Boz]

I wish could be as positive as RLC…

We started ok and Lewis didn’t hit cleanly an early chance which the keeper saved. Then the visitors scored with their first goal attempt. Some suggestions elsewhere that Doohan could have done better, didn’t get a clear enough view to say if that’s fair comment. Most of our play then involved lumping the ball upfield. It looked to me as though Simeu hit their player after winning the free-kick and whatever other failings the referee had it was a clear red card no question. Rovers did seem to do better after the enforced tactical re-adjustment and chat from the manager. However that didn’t equate to much in the rest of the half.

Things improved after the break, the full-backs especially Bristow keeping the ball on the deck and causing Wimbledon all sorts of problems. However we had few clear cut chances aside from the missed penalty and were finished off by a quality sucker punch soon after Hemmings missed.

I’d agree with MoM as O’Connor, hadn’t realised Lee had that much pace until today and a great work-rate. Bristow had a good second half, Davies and Byrne were steady although Neill looked to pick up a knock near the end and Doohan, caveat about their first goal aside, did fairly well. I felt Merrie was unlucky to be taken off, none of the forwards were firing and Morris seemed to be below par too. There seemed to be a lot of negative sentiment from those leaving the ground today about the quality of football on offer.

 

[mellow submarine]

With 10 men we were excellent, but didnt really look like scoring. . We are not keeping clean sheets like last season. missing the pen was massive, not sure what we can do if we cant even score a pen. Should their keeer have got a red ? We had lots of corners but none were threatening, another difference between this season and the first half of last season . I thought Byrne played well , but was limping badly at the.close , not. sure why they didnt take him off. Wimbledom got under Tranmeres skin , thier antics have got to be part of thier game plan , Tranmere have got to do thier homework and not fall into the trap. We arent going to score many this season , so we need to be disciplined at the back.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

There seemed to be a lot of negative sentiment from those leaving the ground today about the quality of football on offer.

I can't say I heard much of that. Generally just praise for the second half display.

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

Wimbledon came for a result however any way to get one!
With all three, they will be extremely happy. Great away day win.
Simeu was right to be sent off. We played better and not to their height advantage with ten men, got the penalty, the keeper spread himself and the penalty Kick hit his legs, it wasn't a great penalty.
I think we deserved a point no more. It would have been interesting how Wimbledon react to us scoring.
But their second goal was a belter.
The lack of depth in the squad, the lack of goalscorers, the lack of investment in the team is telling as the Christmas period approaches. I just wonder if we can afford to strengthen, rumours abound about Cogley being gone in January.
Typical comments coming out of the main stand, car park was, that was s....!
But I'm with RLC, the lads did have a go and the tactics and shape improved in the second half.
Regardless, a change of manager will make a huge difference, similar to Truss taking over from Boris!
We are in good hands, pity that the club having got the resources to improve the squad.
A point would have been ok today, but that wouldn't stop the moans !

Wonder what group of players will be playing Tuesday night at Burton?

 

[bigmart]

As we have no game next Saturday we should be as strong as possible on Tuesday with both Turnbull and Simeu being available

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Micky hinted in his interview that it will be a strong team at Burton. We have got no reason to rest players with no game next Saturday and it is our last chance to progress in a cup and make some money. We have a reasonable chance of going through against a struggling Burton side and a victory would lift morale.

I am actually quite looking forward to it.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

As we have no game next Saturday we should be as strong as possible on Tuesday with both Turnbull and Simeu being available

I think Turnbull will start, but Simeu will be left out as punishment for today.

 

[Ian]

We never seem to do well against the teams that want to play physical. The heads did go a bit in the first half for various reasons and a really poor half ensued with a goal and a man down at half time. We did come out much better in the second half and really deserved the opportunity to equalise with the penalty which I think was poorly struck from the usually reliable Hemmings with a slice of luck hitting the GK feet after he dived. The lads seemed a bit deflated after this and is just wasn't to be, but I was impressed with their attitude second half, however that's another poor first half display, far too many this season already.

 

[Boz]

I see no reason not to start Simeu (and Turnbull) in the Pizza Cup.
The referee is one who’s being tried out for promotion from the NL. Shall I be diplomatic and say reports from other games he’s been tested on have not been favourable. I wonder when’s the last time Rovers have had 3 red cards in consecutive games..?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I see no reason not to start Simeu (and Turnbull) in the Pizza Cup.
The referee is one who’s being tried out for promotion from the NL. Shall I be diplomatic and say reports from other games he’s been tested on have not been favourable. I wonder when’s the last time Rovers have had 3 red cards in consecutive games..?

Davies played well today, which is one reason. I think in the short term Mellon might take action against him. He was clearly very unhappy with him in his post match interview.