League Two Stags v Rovers

[Ian]

I said this a few weeks back but because we are sorely lacking in the goalscoring department, if we go behind in a game we are in trouble. It was OK when we were not conceding but play like that today and we have no chance of winning a game. Defence looked poor including Doohan. We simply do not have goals in side and cannot expect Clarke to pop up with 2 goals a game.

Maynard needs to be playing. I don't care what system he uses but he is the only natural goalscorer we have. Mani is useless, Nevitt could be OK with someone alongside him but this one up top will not get us the goals we need over the course of a season.

I think we all pretty much agreed that the striker recruitment over the summer was poor and maybe now it is starting to bite us.

 

[bigmart]

Not seen the game today but by the sounds of it we created very little today same as last week so unless we get more creativity than playing 1 or 2 up front won't make that much difference

 

[Charlton1975]

I remember being at game at Ebbsfleet (0-0) in the NL some years ago where fans were creaming at Micky to move to a more positive 4-4-2 formation (Cook was out of favour at that time). Really does feel like a case of a deja vu.

All this talk of a strong squad, but Micky plays the same team week in week out, surely now is the time to give some of the other lads a chance.

 

[Sparky]

How strong is the squad though? Attacking wise we have Nevitt, Mani, glatzel and Maynard. Are any of them good enough? Accept the latter two haven’t really had a chance. Feeney is past it, mcmanaman I’m still not sure about yet, foley did well in some games but is another veteran. Walker nowhere to be seen. Watson I’m a fan of but MM doesn’t seem to rate him in our system.
Overall I’m not convinced we have that good a squad as some people make out. Some talent for sure but as a squad, I’m not sure it’s strong enough

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

How strong is the squad though? Attacking wise we have Nevitt, Mani, glatzel and Maynard. Are any of them good enough? Accept the latter two haven’t really had a chance. Feeney is past it, mcmanaman I’m still not sure about yet, foley did well in some games but is another veteran. Walker nowhere to be seen. Watson I’m a fan of but MM doesn’t seem to rate him in our system.
Overall I’m not convinced we have that good a squad as some people make out. Some talent for sure but as a squad, I’m not sure it’s strong enough

I think the defence and midfield are strong, but there are huge shortcomings in the centre forward position. None of the five forwards are good enough, for differing reasons.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A disappointing afternoon.

After the shock of the early penalty I actually though we were the better side in the first twenty minutes, and were a bit unlucky not to go ahead with the disallowed goal. However, we defended awfully for their opening goal - a recurring theme of the afternoon - which was Mansfield's first chance from open play. It was a great first touch and finish from Oates, but the one v one defending from MacDonald was extremely poor, and I thought Doohan could have done better with the shot, which was quite close to his body. From that point on we lost our way for the rest of the half, and it was only some superb defending from Davies and Clarke which kept us in the game.

At half time MM changed the formation from 451 to 4312, with Duffy in the hole behind Mani and Glatzel. There was an immediate improvement, with Duffy pulling the strings, and we were on top again for the first twenty minutes of the half. However, shocking defending of a Mansfield counter attack, with MacDonald again partly culpable, saw us concede a second and it was effectively game over.

Individually, I thought Davies (who was superb despite the scoreline) and Foley had good games, the latter continuing to show spirit and press forward even at two down, and Duffy made a difference when he came on. Elsewhere, Mani was frankly useless and emphasised precisely what Nevitt has been giving us with his hold up play in recent weeks. Doohan had a poor afternoon, culpable for the penalty in my view, and his form and confidence has dipped as often happens with young players. Both full backs were poor.

The defeat today had a lot to do with terrible defending of key moments in the game. However, the bigger problem for Mellon moving forward is that if we play with two strikers we are sacrificing a player from midfield, and a degree of control of the game, for somebody that will not be productive or score a goal (Mani, Glatzel). Both of Mansfield's goalscorers today would walk into our team in the forward positions, as would Oliver Hawkins who was playing centre half for them.........

The 451 does not seem to function without Hawke's spark and unpredictability, and we don't have good enough strikers to play with a front two. Plenty for Micky to ponder.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

All this talk of a strong squad, but Micky plays the same team week in week out, surely now is the time to give some of the other lads a chance.

He changed the team before and during the game today.

 

[Boz]

The point about having a reasonable squad is hard to assess because some players just aren't getting a look-in and so can't say how well they might do. While RLC is probably right that we are stronger in defence and midfield, this is not to the extent that it can compensate for the shortfall up front.

 

[Sparky]

Call me old fashioned like Ronnie Moore but could we go 4-4-2? Spearing and Watson could be a decent centre midfield pairing. Although perhaps Jay needs more legs alongside him

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Call me old fashioned like Ronnie Moore but could we go 4-4-2? Spearing and Watson could be a decent centre midfield pairing. Although perhaps Jay needs more legs alongside him

Who are the two strikers though ? From what we have seen to date they are, frankly, pretty crap. I think that is why Mellon will always bank on Morris or Hawkes popping up with a goal as the extra man in midfield, rather than waiting for Mani or Glatzel to score.

I did have some hopes for Maynard, but there seem to be attitude / fitness issues with him, as he did not even make the bench today (I did not see any injury mentioned).

 

[Boz]

Walker??

Even if he's failed the attitude test, surely he can be given some game time until January when Micky can bring someone in more on his wavelength and Walker offers one thing we're sadly lacking with his pace.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Walker??

Even if he's failed the attitude test, surely he can be given some game time until January when Micky can bring someone in more on his wavelength and Walker offers one thing we're sadly lacking with his pace.

Possibly, we have not seen enough of him to judge.

 

[Sparky]

All sorts of rumours about Walker so we can only assume he’s overstepped the mark with attitude or behaviour.

the two strikers I’d play would be Nevitt and Maynard. With hawkes and mcmananan on the wings. Easy on paper though

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

All sorts of rumours about Walker so we can only assume he’s overstepped the mark with attitude or behaviour.

the two strikers I’d play would be Nevitt and Maynard. With hawkes and mcmananan on the wings. Easy on paper though

Yes, I agree that Nevitt and Maynard are the best options we have.

Glatzel played in a front two today and was still lightweight and ineffective, despite some decent service from Duffy at times.

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

Once again, this is typical of Rovers. Play a team who have struggled for results all season, (14 no wins). And you can guarentee which team actually turns up, and its never Rovers. We were defensively wobbly from the start and gave away a peno. As we settled down, we played with a bit more determination until they scored. Once they scored , i was not expecting any points, the body language was not good, as i have said before, one or two make mistakes and the team looks very fragile. There doesnt seem to be someone capable of being a captain to motivate the lads.
Second half again, not good, and by the previous posts, i believe that the blip, was whenwe won those games and the norm is us playing awful and getting beat by teams, that are if not worse than us. And i agree with many on here who say the summer signings were not good enough, and also been said that we at this time, are a lower league two side, not good enough or capable of gaining promotion.

And i dont blame MM for what is going on behind the scenes. He did not do much recruitment in the summer and had mediocre players pushed onto him. Any wins are a success, due to the quality of the squad.
And investment in the first team squad, should always come first and if we are to bring in a squad every year, we have to have way better than this lot.

Summary. Not good enough, and dont seem interested enough to wear our shirt.
We need to review our recruitment and how we are going to pay enough to get them.
Also, i do see fitness issues, which we shouldnt have with no game tuesday.

I hope we can attract some more consistent players especially a striker but someone who can get the lads going with a bit of pride. We need a leader!

 

[Ian]

@Sparky @Rockfords Love Child Surely it has to be Nevitt and Maynard. Nevitt as we know he can hold the ball up well and Maynard who is a proven goalscorer. He needs game time as we have a problem scoring goals and it will seriously put a dent into any ambitions we have this season if we do not address it. It's pretty poor to be getting beat by the likes of Scunthorpe and Mansfield. I do not read the game quite the same of RLC. Apart from a 15-minute spell in the second half, I thought the hosts were the better team throughout.

 

[Ian]

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

@Sparky @Rockfords Love Child Surely it has to be Nevitt and Maynard. Nevitt as we know he can hold the ball up well and Maynard who is a proven goalscorer. He needs game time as we have a problem scoring goals and it will seriously put a dent into any ambitions we have this season if we do not address it. It's pretty poor to be getting beat by the likes of Scunthorpe and Mansfield. I do not read the game quite the same of RLC. Apart from a 15-minute spell in the second half, the hosts were the better team throughout.

I thought we did ok for fifteen minutes after the penalty. Other than that, I don't disagree.

 

[Boz]

Micky frank in his assessment of our failings today.

On the Nevitt-Maynard combo being our best option up from, in the early games they played together there were signs of potential for a future pairing. However v Northampton, they didn't appear to link up at all.

 

[Ian]

They would probably take a few games to gel anyway but we have to try something. Some senior players have to step up too. McManaman seems like a luxury at the moment, Feeney I'm not so sure has it in him anymore and we need to see more from Watson who has done little in the time he's had but I do think there is a decent player there.