Let's talk about the Lincoln City game

[selby]

  After our two great results against very fancied teams for promotion few would have bet on us losing two on the bounce to two newly promoted sides and also for large parts of the games be outplayed  and look inferior to  both Crewe and Plymouth.
We start as the underdogs again playing the top of the league this Saturday v Lincoln City who conquered Crewe and by all accounts out played them at Crewe last night having won 7  drawn 1 and lost 1 of their league games.
  In doing so Brennan Johnson has won four penalties already for Lincoln, no mean feat and seems a couple of seasons worth for us and will need watching by both us and the referee.
  In nine league games they have had six blanks against their defence, which if you can take a chance makes winning games of football easy, so reversing our habit of missing comparatively easy chances needs  to be addressed and chances taken for us to get anything out of the game.
  Since coming back into the league they have had managers poached from them and players leave, have had some exciting televised cup games  and won through to the later stages that has brought much needed funds into the club and allowed them to spend on team building and progressed to their present position.
  So can we get a result against the top of the league?
  What team would you pick?
  Would you alter our playing system?
  This would probably been one of our biggest crowds of the league season, will you be watching the game on ifollow?
  The big question can we win the game?

[NickDRFC]

“ Since coming back into the league they have had managers poached from them and players leave, have had some exciting televised cup games  and won through to the later stages“

Lincoln returned to the league in 2017. Since then, they’ve gone out in the first round of the FA Cup twice and the third round once. We’ve progressed to the third round, fifth round and second round, meaning we’ve progressed through 7 ties to their 2. In the league cup they’ve gone out in the first, second (twice) and third rounds; we’ve gone out in the third, second and first (twice). So they’re one up on us there.

Despite us winning almost twice as many games over the period you’ve mentioned (10 vs 6) the draw has been extremely kind to them, with 3 games against PL opposition to our 1.

Don’t let the facts stand in the way of your “we’re hopeless at cup competitions” narrative, though.

[LincsRover]

Please, for the sake of my sanity and blood pressure, let’s get a result against Lincoln! It’s been bad enough hearing from all my pub mates about how well they’re doing, looking forward to the championship, can’t wait to beat donny etc etc! Come on boys, give them a damned good beating! At least a draw if we can’t beat them!!

[scawsby steve]

Firstly Brian, I'll be watching on iFollow as I'm a season ticket holder, but some fans are saying they won't bother anymore with it because of the problems; and apparently fans at other clubs are saying the same thing.

Regarding the team, it's becoming increasingly obvious that DM favours rotation, which I'm not a fan of. However, his hands are somewhat tied at the moment with injuries, so we'll have to wait and see who's fit.

I sincerely hope that Gomes is back, and I would certainly keep Smith in the midfield as well. I'd have James back at left back, and hope that Halliday doesn't have another horror show like last night. Sims back on the wing also.

Bursik
Halliday
Wright
Anderson
James
Whiteman
Gomes
Taylor
Smith
Sims
Okenabhirie

[selby]

Nick DRFC I will raise you winners v Shrewsbury 2017/18 season EFL Trophy cup final at Wembley their first season back in the league, I saw what you did there mate but we do enter it rather badley up to press but yes we do enter it.
  And throw in as a bonus their last season as a non league side 2016/17 quarter finals of the FA cup v Arsenal a 5-0 loss but the first non league team to get to round 6 and entered in the preliminary round, so won six games in that one season and a draw v Ipswich winning the replay.
  I will let you check our EFL record it won't take long.
  They have certainly earnt a lot more money from cup games than we have over the last few years.
  I do though hope we hammer them on Saturday and if we play well we have every chance. We can agree on that I hope.

[SoundbiteBarmyArmy]

We'll lose 0-2.

[godlike1]

I'll take a point now. Need to build back some confidence in the players and keep a clean sheet to build on. If we can nick a goal and not play well ill take that too

[Campsall rover]

We'll lose 0-2.

Positive thinking. 

[Campsall rover]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

[drfchound]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

Mate, what happened to in DM we trust?
People are telling him what he should be doing now.

[drfc1951]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

Mate, what happened to in DM we trust?
People are telling him what he should be doing now.

As if he is going to pick a team based on what supporters think.

[Campsall rover]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

Mate, what happened to in DM we trust?
People are telling him what he should be doing now.

I do trust him.
But I disagree with playing John at left back ahead of both specialist left backs in James & Amos.

He obviously knows best except when we lose. 

[Campsall rover]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

Mate, what happened to in DM we trust?
People are telling him what he should be doing now.

As if he is going to pick a team based on what supporters think.

He isn’t but we are allowed an opinion. I am pretty sure DM doesn’t read anything on this Forum.
Managers have far too much to do than spend time reading supporters forums.

[drfchound]

This is a match like any other match in this league that we can win.
Just because Lincoln are top doesn’t make them unbeatable.

If we play with a high tempo from the off and critically take the chances when they come along then i have every confidence we will prevail.
If we go out with any fear and give Lincoln too much respect then we will have the same problem as on Tuesday. I think a cautious approach was taken at Plymouth which played into their hands and ultimately cost us. It would on Saturday also imo.

We must play to our strengths, play a high tempo game & use our pace.

DM please play James at LB and Sims on the left of the 3 behind Ferji.
My team same as SS if Gomes is fit.

Mate, what happened to in DM we trust?
People are telling him what he should be doing now.

As if he is going to pick a team based on what supporters think.

I haven’t suggested that he would do.
Of course he wouldn’t.
The point I am making is that fans opinions seem to be changing.

[EasyforDennis]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

[Campsall rover]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

1 bad game and you want one of the best full backs in League 1 dropped.

Lets just face it you have made your mind up to dislike Halliday and if he got into the League 1 team of the season you would still think he was rubbish.

Playing a full back on the wrong side of the pitch should always be a last resort imo for the very reason you suggest wouldn’t happen. That’s exactly what a left footed player is going to be prone to.
( getting turned inside out )  It also upsets the balance of the team considerably and is a huge disadvantage in offensive situations imo.

[Colemans Left Hook]

Lincoln's squad is stuffed wiith loanees. I remember the first time i posted about a team being stuffed with loanees (and thinking it wasn't fair) when Rovers got relegated from the Championship and Millwall stayed up and they had sod all players at the club when they all went back

Oops just remembered we are just as "stuffed"  . We seem to get the "fragile" "handle with care loaneees" at the moment.  Could say we need better "forward thinking".

The question is can we turn their "Applecart over ?" There manager was you will recall once rather short odds to come here .

I have noticed that they seemed to have developed a skill of "persuading referees to award penalties" (have they got a budding Francis Lee in their ranks)
If you look at the league table the goals conceeded is interesting not only for Lincoln.

I am not sure how many shots they have had on target
 but apparently Reading 5 points clear in their league have had the fewest shots in their league. Someone came up with a similar " low" stat on here when Forest Green were top last season and they faded.

Match prediction ?
The question is will any of our inured loanees return for the match   we won't know that til is it 2 pm

so at the moment haven't a clue what to predict for P & O  . 
But currently the squad is at its weakest and soon it will be the turn of other clubs to have similar misfortunes --- Liverpool seem to have caught the "injury disease".

At least we wont have a Lincoln team faking injuries to break the match up into quarters to break the momentum (and silence the crowd)


https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=278152.0

[EasyforDennis]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

1 bad game and you want one of the best full backs in League 1 dropped.

Lets just face it you have made your mind up to dislike Halliday and if he got into the League 1 team of the season you would still think he was rubbish.

Playing a full back on the wrong side of the pitch should always be a last resort imo for the very reason you suggest wouldn’t happen. That’s exactly what a left footed player is going to be prone to.
( getting turned inside out )  It also upsets the balance of the team considerably and is a huge disadvantage in offensive situations imo.

Sorry Campsall we are all allowed opinions and mine has always been that Halliday is vastly overrated by many on here. It is not based on one game he gets caught out of position so many times it's unreal. He must be a joy to play against.

[Campsall rover]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

1 bad game and you want one of the best full backs in League 1 dropped.

Lets just face it you have made your mind up to dislike Halliday and if he got into the League 1 team of the season you would still think he was rubbish.

Playing a full back on the wrong side of the pitch should always be a last resort imo for the very reason you suggest wouldn’t happen. That’s exactly what a left footed player is going to be prone to.
( getting turned inside out )  It also upsets the balance of the team considerably and is a huge disadvantage in offensive situations imo.

Sorry Campsall we are all allowed opinions and mine has always been that Halliday is vastly overrated by many on here. It is not based on one game he gets caught out of position so many times it's unreal. He must be a joy to play against.

Well yes it’s your opinion & that’s fine.  I think though if we had a poll you would be out numbered by a huge margin.

[EasyforDennis]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

1 bad game and you want one of the best full backs in League 1 dropped.

Lets just face it you have made your mind up to dislike Halliday and if he got into the League 1 team of the season you would still think he was rubbish.

Playing a full back on the wrong side of the pitch should always be a last resort imo for the very reason you suggest wouldn’t happen. That’s exactly what a left footed player is going to be prone to.
( getting turned inside out )  It also upsets the balance of the team considerably and is a huge disadvantage in offensive situations imo.

Sorry Campsall we are all allowed opinions and mine has always been that Halliday is vastly overrated by many on here. It is not based on one game he gets caught out of position so many times it's unreal. He must be a joy to play against.

Well yes it’s your opinion & that’s fine.  I think though if we had a poll you would be out numbered by a huge margin.

Well a few years ago we had a poll on whether we should come out of the EU and look how that panned out. 

[SoundbiteBarmyArmy]

We'll lose 0-2.

Positive thinking. 

I am ever the pessimist haha.

We're not consistent enough, though.

[NickDRFC]

We'll lose 0-2.

Positive thinking. 

I am ever the pessimist haha.

We're not consistent enough, though.

If we do lose 2-0 that’s 3 defeats on the bounce - if nothing else it’s pretty consistent!

[Campsall rover]

What I cannot understand is Danny Amos now seems to be a regular for NI U21s and has never had a bad display when brought on as a sub for us, yet cannot get a start. Some might say he was possibly our best player (even though it was just 10 minutes) against Plymouth.
I would have him at right back instead of Halliday on Saturday. A good fullback should be able to play on either side of the pitch and certainly wouldn't be turned inside out as many times as Halliday gets done.   

1 bad game and you want one of the best full backs in League 1 dropped.

Lets just face it you have made your mind up to dislike Halliday and if he got into the League 1 team of the season you would still think he was rubbish.

Playing a full back on the wrong side of the pitch should always be a last resort imo for the very reason you suggest wouldn’t happen. That’s exactly what a left footed player is going to be prone to.
( getting turned inside out )  It also upsets the balance of the team considerably and is a huge disadvantage in offensive situations imo.

Sorry Campsall we are all allowed opinions and mine has always been that Halliday is vastly overrated by many on here. It is not based on one game he gets caught out of position so many times it's unreal. He must be a joy to play against.

Well yes it’s your opinion & that’s fine.  I think though if we had a poll you would be out numbered by a huge margin.

Well a few years ago we had a poll on whether we should come out of the EU and look how that panned out. 

Can’t argue with that. 

Oh maybe I can. The EU was a 52% to 48% split vote.
Think a vote on Halliday would be much more decisive.

[Campsall rover]

We'll lose 0-2.

Positive thinking. 

I am ever the pessimist haha.

We're not consistent enough, though.

That suggests to me we will win then as we have lost 2 on the bounce. 

[donnievic]

If we play like we have last 2 games and they start like they did against crewe midweek we will be 4 down in twenty mins,let’s just hope it’s the latter and we play like we did against Ipswich

[LincolnDonny]

Hopefully we will give Lincoln a footballing lesson and send them back to the sincil drains...Donny 4-1 win (the cheats will be given a penalty ......they tried that last year and the tosser from last year miss-hit ..was SO FUNNY.)

[since-1969]

If we play like we have last 2 games and they start like they did against crewe midweek we will be 4 down in twenty mins,let’s just hope it’s the latter and we play like we did against Ipswich

Teams know that if they press high up into our half early on they could get lucky . Our problems seem to not putting enough balls into spaces for Taylor and Okenabirhie to get on to when being  press high up . L1 is a tough league but teams who play a more direct often get the better of our style of play . IMO to be effective we need more forward passing as side to side and back again is just not hard to defend against if nothing is going forward.

[DearneValleyRover]

I doubt this will happen and I’m sure some would disagree but I would like to see.

Jones
Halliday Wright Anderson James
Smith John
Taylor Whiteman Sims
Okenabirhie

If neither Gomes or Richards is available.

Reason for John in defensive midfield being he’s basically a centre half but has pace so would be able to fill that role. Whiteman played far better in the second half when he was further up the pitch, he could essentially fill into the hole behind virtually a front 3 where his passing would have a better effect. Jones picks himself as I believe he’s a better keeper than Bursik

[RoversAlias]

Cameron John in defensive midfield would not be a good idea I don't feel. Not sure why so many think you can just plug anyone from other positions into that area as if it isn't quite a specialised role to be a good defensive central midfielder.

It's also a waste of Whiteman in my opinion, he is not an attacking player because he has so many good qualities that involve him linking with defence, on and off the ball. The fact he does affect play high up the field is an asset because he does it in addition to vital work further back.

[Janso]

Cameron John in defensive midfield would not be a good idea I don't feel. Not sure why so many think you can just plug anyone from other positions into that area as if it isn't quite a specialised role to be a good defensive central midfielder.

It's also a waste of Whiteman in my opinion, he is not an attacking player because he has so many good qualities that involve him linking with defence, on and off the ball. The fact he does affect play high up the field is an asset because he does it in addition to vital work further back.

Throwback to the time people were randomly suggesting Matty Blair could play DM because reasons.