Rovers v Forest

[Rockford's Love Child]

I don't expect us to win this game, but I certainly hope we can get the ball down and play a bit more football than we did on Saturday. Strangely, playing Forest may actually suit us in some respects as we won't be harassed to the extent we were against York.

It will be interesting to see the team and formation Edwards starts with. James Rowe probably deserves to play, but if Kirby is dropped we will have no natural width in midfield. The other alternative is for Power to miss out. Marc Laird came in for heavy criticism on Saturday but I still believe he is a decent player and would be surprised if he was dropped on the strength of one poor showing; if he does not start, Matt Gill is his obvious replacement in the holding role.

Defensively we did ok at the weekend, but we will certainly be tested against our old nemesis Assombolonga.

It will be interesting to see whether we get another healthy gate, for what is quite an attractive tie.

 

[bigmart]

don't think there will be many there unless they bring a lot think be about 3500 and they will win 2 0

 

[Boz]

There will have to be a change at the back with Holness out. Presumably McDonald/Hill to come in. There are some interesting choices to make further forward. Edwards clearly likes Rowe, so expect him to start, probably in place of Max Power. I would expect Laird to keep his place, but fear that the idea of converting him into a holding midfielder will end in tears. Unsure, but it might have been Stuart Pearce who gave him a pro contract at Man City. Hopefully Rob will play Richards and Stockton as a front pair, rather than the former out wide, but if his preference is for an isolated lone striker, might as well start with Odejayi.

From memory of how Man City played under Pearce, I'd expect Forest to do a fair bit of closing down and keeping play tight. If they get the same amount of possession as York in the final third, they will undoubtedly make the most of it

Prediction: There seemed to be a decent number of purchases in the short time I was in the ticket office on Saturday so I'd expect a crowd of over 4k with about 500 from Forest. The visitors will win comfortably.

 

[Ian]

Not too bothered about the result, I just want us to play better than Saturday.

 

[roverstillidie]

My main concern is Mcdonald playing, having seem him warming up on saturday I don't know how a man so fat can even claim to be a professional sportsman. With Assombolonga playing for Forest, his pace could cause one or two problems against Mcdonald. I wouldn't be surprised if Woodards was moved to centre back and Hill came in at left back to try and prevent this from happening. I also expect Rowe to start, although I think it will be at the expense of Koumas. It wouldn't surprise me if we went 4-3-3 with Power, Laird and Rowe behind Kirby, Richards and Stockton.

Prediction: 3-1 to Forest.

 

[Ian]

I think Matt Gill has a chance of starting tonight.

 

[Higgy]

Think there might be changes and might play 4 - 5 -1, with Koumas palying, but not in the hole.

OFW

Holmes, McD, Ihiekwe, Woodard

BB, Rowe, Laird, Gill, Koumas

Odejayi

If fit it might be a chance to give Bruna a run.

 

[Boz]

Rob's certainly rung the changes. Starts for Hill, Rowe, Bell-Baggie, Gill and Odejayi. I think Power and Stockton might feel a little hard done to.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Very good performance. Over the ninety minutes we had the better chances and completely dominated when they went down to ten men. There were a number of excellent performances, not least from those players who did not start on Saturday, but I thought Woodards in particular was superb at centre half and Rowe showed great quality once again. Odejayi had his best game for us so far, holding the ball up really well and justifying his selection. We were fairly route one at times in the first half, but with the extra man I thought we were good in possession and worked them from side to side. Matt Gill was very tidy in the holding role and Richards, Baggie and Ihiekwe all had good games. Bruna looked promising when he came on.

Judging by the starting line up, Edwards is not afraid to make changes and as on Saturday his substitutions made an impact. While the squad is not massive, it does seem we have genuine competition in several positions this season, which has not been the case for some time.

Great to see another decent crowd in Prenton Park, much bigger than we would generally get for a first round League Cup game. On to the New Meadow we go......

 

[drwhoman]

Good to hear RLC. RE seemed pretty happy with the effort as well. See how they go against the Shrews. At a separate note I see John McMahon has gone. Always sad to see someone lose their job but such is football and I must confess that I was surprised he stayed for so long. I just wonder whether Rovers were delaying until the change of ownership took place. He will presumably have received a pay out of some description.

 

[Ian]

Much better last night. Not one bad performance and the only criticism I would place would be the lack of cutting edge in the final third. We were camped in their half for a lot of the second half yet we struggled to really test their keeper. However the team played some good football at times and looked more comfortable on the ball.

Woodards who was unlucky not to score with a superb header in the second half had a solid game at the back as did the experienced Gill and the back four looked solid. Midfield had a lot more of the ball. Koumas, Gill and Rowe all played well and Odejayi was a handful up front, although isolated at times.

A lot more positives and I think we'll start seeing better results as the season goes on.

 

[frenchrover]

As has been said above, a much improved performance all round. Had we turned in performances like this last season I would argue that we would have avoided the drop. Forest's team last night was basically the same that turned Blackpool over on Saturday and is thought to have a good chance at promotion this season. So a lot of promise for Rovers last night which was missing on Saturday. Difficult to point out the better individual performances in what was fundamentally a great team performance but Woodards, Iheikwe, Gill and Rowe stood out. Baggie also caused their defence a lot of problems as did Bruna when he made a cameo appearance late on. Although we may not be allowed so much time on the ball playing against teams in Div. 2 there was enough shown by the squad last night to suggest that we could prove successful this season.

 

[roverstillidie]

The reports on here and other sites all seem promising. I suspect it's going to take at least 10 games before we start to see them playing fully in the way that Edwards wants them to play. I know that people will say that is what pre season was for, but it's completely different playing that way in front of a loud crowd in a competitive game. My only concern is that we might be lacking the striker to finish off this attacking play.