League Two Swindle v rovers

[Boz]

Just watched the Sky 'highlights', which showed only the Rovers goal, all the other goal attempts including one closer to a rugby conversion were by Swindon. This does not seem to be a fair reflection of the match action.

The Rovers goal was a great defence splitting pass by Merrie which Hawkes ran onto and calmly finished. The Swindon equaliser came from a cross on our left and there was an earlier attack from the same side which looked dangerous. We seem to look brittle on that side recently and Jameson wasn't on the park today to put all the blame on, it's an area where the manager and coaches need to put a lot of work in.

The Turnbull sending-off looked to be a straight red card rather than second yellow then red. I've played the footage back a few times, but can't work out if Turnbull had a foot high into the challenge, his main aim seemed to be to head the ball and he won that though taking out their player in the follow through. If there was no high foot, then it ought to be a yellow at worst

 

[drwhoman]

Just as a final comment, we have six centre halves in the squad and six strikers (Hemmings, Nevitt, Glatzel, Mumbongo, Jolley, Burton) if Burton is included as part of the first team squad.

So no great disparity in spending between the two areas, particularly given that forwards are by definition more expensive than defenders. The quality and injury record of the forwards can be debated, but the numbers are there.

Fair comment RLC. A shame that non of the fit forwards can be relied upon to score goals on a consistent basis. This will cruel our chances of promotion unless Rovers pull a rabbit out of the hat in January!

 

[bigmart]

On the highlights it looks a straight red was given not a second yellow

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

On the highlights it looks a straight red was given not a second yellow

I thought at the time it was a straight red. In his interview Mellon mentioned two yellows, which seems to have been a mistake. Fortunately we have Davies who can cover.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Just watched the Sky 'highlights', which showed only the Rovers goal, all the other goal attempts including one closer to a rugby conversion were by Swindon. This does not seem to be a fair reflection of the match action.

The Rovers goal was a great defence splitting pass by Merrie which Hawkes ran onto and calmly finished. The Swindon equaliser came from a cross on our left and there was an earlier attack from the same side which looked dangerous. We seem to look brittle on that side recently and Jameson wasn't on the park today to put all the blame on, it's an area where the manager and coaches need to put a lot of work in.

The Turnbull sending-off looked to be a straight red card rather than second yellow then red. I've played the footage back a few times, but can't work out if Turnbull had a foot high into the challenge, his main aim seemed to be to head the ball and he won that though taking out their player in the follow through. If there was no high foot, then it ought to be a yellow at worst

Swidon's right back was their best player and I thought generally Bristow did well against him, as well as being excellent going forward. I have not seen a replay of the goal but it seemed that Hawkes did not track him and the delivery into the box was of such quality the centre halves could not deal with it.

 

[Boz]

Did you get a clear enough view of the Turnbull red, to form an opinion as to whether it should have been a straight red, RLC? Some criticism of the referee elsewhere in terms of being a bit of a homer.

 

[Ian]

Highlights above. It was a good cross, hit hard and low, too fast for the central defenders. I blamed the defence at first but the more you see it, the better it gets.

Shame about Turnbull but at least we have cover.

 

[Ian]

Turnbull challenge was more clumsy than malicious imo. Definitely a yellow, depending on ref, could easily pull out the red.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Did you get a clear enough view of the Turnbull red, to form an opinion as to whether it should have been a straight red, RLC? Some criticism of the referee elsewhere in terms of being a bit of a homer.

The referee was shocking but I thought in real time it was a red card. Quite a high challenge and you can argue he was also last man, which is why I think he had to make the tackle.

 

[Sparky]

Yes no genuine malice but you go in that high nowadays then it’s often a straight red for dangerous and reckless play.

It looked like a straight red at the time and Micky had no complaints in his interview. Hopefully not a 3 game ban

 

[Boz]

It will be. 3 game ban if for dangerous play. Micky’s comments were in the context of him thinking second yellow.

 

[Sparky]

Well if so then at least we have Davies back who can slot straight in.

 

[Boz]

How match fit is Tom Davies though? Didn’t play the full game v Carlisle and only came on as a sub yesterday. The reality may be that we’re needing Byrne/Jameson to play a part in the next few games, even if they don’t start. Turnbull is potentially a big loss.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

How match fit is Tom Davies though? Didn’t play the full game v Carlisle and only came on as a sub yesterday. The reality may be that we’re needing Byrne/Jameson to play a part in the next few games, even if they don’t start. Turnbull is potentially a big loss.

Davies played seventy five minutes at Carlisle last week, so I think he will be able to play the next three games with no problem.

I would keep Byrne and Jameson as far away from the first eleven as possible.

 

[Sparky]

I agree with RLC about Jameson and Byrne. Micky May be tempted with the former as a left foot option to replace turnbull like for like but Davies is a level above those two.
We need to keep our defensive record as strong as we can as I dont see us improving our goalscoring record by any significance any time soon

 

[Boz]

In an ideal world, I'd agree about Byrne and Jameson, the former disappointing, the latter erratic and living up to the poor reputation fans of former clubs had warned us about. However, suspect that if Turnbull is banned for 3 games they will get match time off the bench.

 

[Charlton1975]

I thought we were excellent today and deserved to win the game over the ninety minutes.

I thought the first half performance was arguably our best of the season considering the venue and the strength of the opposition. In the first thirty minutes we were completely dominant - it was almost a reverse of the recent games against Carlisle - and some of our passing and movement was superb. We were also excellent out of possession, setting traps for Swindon when they tried to play out from the back and winning the ball high up the pitch. Their equalising goal was so against the run of play it was almost comical.

The second half was far more even and end to end, with both sides creating chances, but again I thought we played well. We had a number of good openings on the counter attack where the final ball or finish was lacking, the best two falling to Hemmings, when Cogley's cross was played slightly behind him, and a four v two break where Nevitt found himself in the number ten position and had to simply slide in one of the three other players, but panicked and blazed the ball over the bar.

I thought everybody played well, but Simeu and Bristow in particular were superb, and Doohan had an excellent game: a worldy save from a free kick near the end and generally solid handling and distribution.

Finally, a word on the strikers. They are not offering anywhere near enough in the eighteen yard box, but they did not by any means play badly today and contributed to the team performance through their movement and link play.

Did we watch the same game? First half we started really well and looked to be very comfortable, but as the half wore on Swindon got more into the game and definitely ended the half as the dominant team.

Second half we played very much on the counter attack and made some really good situations where the final ball just was not good enough, and also the movement in the area was not good enough. MM seemed to be happy to try and protect a point however the lack of attacking options from the bench seems a real problem

Hemmings doesnt look fit, Nevitt is being found out for what he is. Bristow had a poor game, with Swindon focusing the majority of their attacks down his side and hitting so many long balls to their number 2 (who crossed for the goal) down their right, but to be fair he had no support from Hawkes.

Simeu was our best player (again) by a country mile, although he was completely static for their goal.

The sending off seemed fair and we were hanging on for dear life towards the end with Doohan again showing his frailty buy inviting pressure buy not commanding his area an flapping at corners and crosses.

Their number 10 ran the game second half, not sure why either O'Connor or Merrie couldnt sit on him as he was never under pressure when he received the ball.

A point is probably a fair result, however with better forward players it would possibly have been 3.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Did we watch the same game? First half we started really well and looked to be very comfortable, but as the half wore on Swindon got more into the game and definitely ended the half as the dominant team.

Second half we played very much on the counter attack and made some really good situations where the final ball just was not good enough, and also the movement in the area was not good enough. MM seemed to be happy to try and protect a point however the lack of attacking options from the bench seems a real problem

Hemmings doesnt look fit, Nevitt is being found out for what he is. Bristow had a poor game, with Swindon focusing the majority of their attacks down his side and hitting so many long balls to their number 2 (who crossed for the goal) down their right, but to be fair he had no support from Hawkes.

Simeu was our best player (again) by a country mile, although he was completely static for their goal.

The sending off seemed fair and we were hanging on for dear life towards the end with Doohan again showing his frailty buy inviting pressure buy not commanding his area an flapping at corners and crosses.

Their number 10 ran the game second half, not sure why either O'Connor or Merrie couldnt sit on him as he was never under pressure when he received the ball.

A point is probably a fair result, however with better forward players it would possibly have been 3.

Yes, there is this crazy concept on internet forums, where we each give our opinion of the game, and we don't necessarily all agree. I would guess my vantage point from the stand was better than yours in front of a computer screen.

Your criticism of Doohan is laughable by the way, and Bristow had an excellent game but was up against a similarly talented full back. If there was an issue on the left side it was the lack of protection provided by Hawkes.

 

[Charlton1975]

Yes, there is this crazy concept on internet forums, where we each give our opinion of the game, and we don't necessarily all agree. I would guess my vantage point from the stand was better than yours in front of a computer screen.

Your criticism of Doohan is laughable by the way, and Bristow had an excellent game but was up against a similarly talented full back. If there was an issue on the left side it was the lack of protection provided by Hawkes.

I was at the game, shame we couldnt have sat next to each other to discuss our opinions.........

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I was at the game, shame we couldnt have sat next to each other to discuss our opinions.........

Well done, but I will pass up the offer thanks.