Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: South East Rover on August 12, 2025, 08:22:17 pm
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2-0 up watching on sky sport + :rtid:
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A great win, carry’s on the momentum and great morale the team must have so far this season, let’s carry it on
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Easy. Easy. Easy. Easy.
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Who gets selected for sat after that performance.
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Fabulous performance. We outplayed them and we really should have scored more.
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well - you've got to feel for Bob Mortimer - oh - no you haven't :lol: :laugh: :woohoo: :cool: :P
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Who gets selected for sat after that performance.
Nice worry to have!
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If that had been a boxing match Boro would have been in A&E by 80mins! That was great to watch, no fluke, properly battered them! :woohoo: :woohoo:
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Take a bow each and every player. Nice to see we have strong competition in all position
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Wow!
Just ... wow!
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Middlesbrough fans should think themselves lucky we didn't start with our 1st choice 11.
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What is our first choice after tonight.
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What a midfield headache we’ve got now. Do you start Close Gotts and Bailey? But what about Crew?!
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The style of play and performance was superb, if you didn’t get to see that, it could’ve been 7 or 8 to us very easily, they also could’ve had I think 3. A very open game with some the most fluent football since the SOD days.
Some tough decisions for Grant on Saturday, does Nixon now deserve to play, who drops from midfield to allow Ben Close in the team - that was a huge performance by Ben, MOM by a considerable margin.
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Great at the back
Suoerb in midfield
Wonderful up front.
What a headache for Grant.
Special mention for Ben Close. Out of the picture for ages and comes back with a performance like that!
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11 Donny players in whatever order will get the job done at the at the moment.
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Grant said close will do better in a higher league very easy to see who were the championship team tonight it was the players in blue right........
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Close ran the show tonight.
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Ben Close and Ian Lawlor were exceptional !
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“We were out thought, out fought and outwitted by a League One B-team led by a 39-year-old.”
F**king love that off their forum!
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Captain Cook! Roy Chubby Brown! Your boys took one hell of a beating tonight!
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Now that was some performance, absolutely brilliant from start to finish, we really do have a special squad of players here.
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Ben Close and Ian Lawlor were exceptional !
Lawlor arguably our man of match. Exceptionally strong performance.
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Close ran the show tonight.
He looked knackered after about 50 mins but found another gear. Think Gotts was the catalyst in midfield though , gave us a platform to play and well taken goal.
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I don't think I have ever seen Ian Lawlor play as well in a Rovers shirt as as he did tonight
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Waiting to get out of the car park, one of the best performances I’ve ever seen!
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What a fantastic performance from the lads, everyone played a part but i think Lawlor deserves praise for pulling off three top saves that kept them scoreless and allowed the side to plough on, That's certainly caused a selection headache for GM now.
What a start to the season.
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Could anyone imagine this just 18 months ago, football is the ever giving rollercoaster.
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I expected a bit of a mauling when I saw the line-up but WOW! So proud after that performance. Got to feel for Kammy. Unbelievable Jeff :rtid:
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Brilliant performance. Are we the real deal or just on a great run?
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Second round draw takes place tomorrow night at 7.20pm. This will involve the 11 Premier League sides not in Europe (includes Man Utd) and is still regionalised. Games take place in week of 25 August and if we draw anyone half respectable then we are surely a TV game.
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Where does that rank. Fantastic from start to finish. Brick wall at the back, fast and aggressive going forward. Everyone put a shift in but a special mention for lawlor and close. Both put in performances that being honest I’d wrote them off. Brilliant lads. What a problem to have for Grant
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The thing that stood out most was the togetherness of the squad , you could tell from the goal celebrations what it meant to all the players. Kudos to GM and the staff I think every player genuinely feels they have an important part to play this season and there's no egos in the squad just a genuine belief in the collective.
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It is a feat of man management to so obviously not favour players like Lawlor and Close yet keep them so motivated they turn in performances like that.
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The crazy thing about it all is we should have had a hatfull,
Ironside and Gibson would score them chances more often than not.
Just goes to show what you can do when the pressure is off the side, just go out and play, they did that alright!
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I think that may be the best Iv seen us play, Iv been going since the conference days.
Jesus f**king Christ. What a performance
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Open games always seem to suit us best, Higher based teams think they can play and give you space.
We just filled our boots and some!
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Brilliant performance. Are we the real deal or just on a great run?
That's one helluva bar to set!
Maybe not the most important win, but surely the best most comprehensive performance in the modern era. Does it even eclipse the Villa game?
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Na na na na nananana
Seven in a row. In a row
Seven in a row.
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Just a quick mention for Gibson, a strong and effective performance. Joe the iron looked back to some kind of fitness, and held the ball against some tough challenges. Funny how the ref blew for fouls against Joe that went totally missed on Saturday against Hanlon.
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This is now the fourth season McCann has been in charge. All four of his first round League Cup games have been away (respectively Scunthorpe United, Hull City, Salford City and Middlesbrough) and all four have been won.
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Is their incentive two weeks in Dubai at the end of the season?
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Just a quick mention for Gibson, a strong and effective performance.
TBH I thought he started well, but seemed to flag by early doors in second half....
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Bet Copps is keeping a low profile!
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Tonight you saw a club that are completely together. Well drilled and the main thing…. Professional footballers not sulking about not starting league games and saying right… f@ck you Grant I’m gonna show you. So pick me a starting 11 on Saturday now? Single handedly the best performance I have seen from a Rovers team in my 31 years. From start to finish we were bang at it in every department. We hunted, were creative and were clinical. Not even going to begin to pick out individual performances because it just wouldn’t be fair. What a club we are in this moment.
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I watched at home on TV and when we went 2-0 up I was waiting for the collapse of old. But we just got stronger , I have watched Rovers for over 60 yrs and never seen a team bond as much and you seen it when Nixon put the fourth in what it ment to him and his team mates. This club as certainly turned the corner and the upward again long may it continue. Special shout to all who went tonight as you heard them all the way through the game.
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Does anyone know how many from Donny were there? They certainly made some noise.
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Grant said a thousand or so in his interview.
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Does anyone know how many from Donny were there? They certainly made some noise.
Think on Rovers+ they said 1100 from Rovers. Just over 11900 in attendance.
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Just back home and wow what a performance, every single player gave their all tonight.
I have never doubted Ben Close, unlike quite a number of people on here.
I have always stated he his a class player, just unlucky with a very bad injury.
Given his game time over the last couple of years, his fitness tonight was terrific, well done Ben.
As for Mr Lawlor, well what can I say, that was a terrific performance pulling off so many great saves. One of the best goalkeeping performance by any rovers keepers over the last few years.
Difficult to choose MoM from these two, but would edge to Ian, given his lack of competitive games.
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Just back home and wow what a performance, every single player gave their all tonight.
I have never doubted Ben Close, unlike quite a number of people on here.
I have always stated he his a class player, just unlucky with a very bad injury.
Given his game time over the last couple of years, his fitness tonight was terrific, well done Ben.
As for Mr Lawlor, well what can I say, that was a terrific performance pulling off so many great saves. One of the best goalkeeping performance by any rovers keepers over the last few years.
Difficult to choose MoM from these two, but would edge to Ian, given his lack of competitive games.
Credit where it’s due tonight for Close. He was outstanding. My feelings haven’t changed on him though. It’s one of the few performances we’ve had from him sadly and it’s time for both parties to move on.
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Certainly was a superb performance but perspective!
It doesn't really match the games against Villa and Arsenal in 2005. That Arsenal game was against 9 of the players who would be in the squad for the Champions League final that year. But for Almunia, we'd have been over the horizon by half time.
And the two best assists I've ever seen from the Rovers came in those two games. Guy's genius lay off to Heffernan against Villa and Heffernan's exquisite pass to McIndoe against Arsenal.
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This display must have cut our odds for promotion.
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The manager is building something special here. We didn’t have the possession they had but what we had we used wisely. First to every lose ball, breaking their attacks up. That was some performance, it could have been more than four.
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Have a listen to Lawlor’s post- match interview with Radio Sheffield. He says the squad is like no other he’s ever been involved with. They’re all singing from the same hymn sheet.
That reflects on the management team!
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Hopefully get a nice winnable home game in R2 and then hopefully increase our chances of a big gun away to boost the coffers
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What a joy that away day was. Even better when I spent a large portion of my childhood growing up around there! Had some nice messages from boro supporting friends.
11 men of the match. One of the best team preformances in a long time! Hard to believe ‘that’ Harrogate away day was only 3 years ago, how far we have come!
So much energy and aggression and determination to keep the ball out the net. Like another thread has said, I’d hate to be grant having to pick a team at the weekend!
Bring on Everton away! New stadium please
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Just back home and wow what a performance, every single player gave their all tonight.
I have never doubted Ben Close, unlike quite a number of people on here.
I have always stated he his a class player, just unlucky with a very bad injury.
Given his game time over the last couple of years, his fitness tonight was terrific, well done Ben.
As for Mr Lawlor, well what can I say, that was a terrific performance pulling off so many great saves. One of the best goalkeeping performance by any rovers keepers over the last few years.
Difficult to choose MoM from these two, but would edge to Ian, given his lack of competitive games.
Credit where it’s due tonight for Close. He was outstanding. My feelings haven’t changed on him though. It’s one of the few performances we’ve had from him sadly and it’s time for both parties to move on.
We will have to disagree on that, I honestly believe his poor performances were a result of his injury woes. I still believe he could play a key role in midfield this season given his experience and quality.
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At last, posters giving Close some praise. I've always said he's a class player, showed it last night
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Joe the iron looked back to some kind of fitness, and held the ball against some tough challenges. Funny how the ref blew for fouls against Joe that went totally missed on Saturday against Hanlon.
I don't always think it's on the ref. For me, part of the skill of playing as the lone target man/hold up striker is to get the balance right of resilience and staying on your feet when a defender is in your back and knowing just the right time to go down to show the ref you've been fouled. Now obviously different refs will have different tolerances, so it's your job as the striker to work that out and adapt how much you stay on your feet versus going down/'draw the foul'. And I think this is something Joe does exceptionally well. He looks strong one second, then goes down like he's made of paper the next, and we get a free kick more times than not. That's skill and experience. I wouldn't dismiss it as just at the whim of the ref. I'm not sure Hanlon, based on a very few showings, can match Joe in that area, but of course we need to give Hanlon a chance.
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How did Grehan look? Didn't manage to watch the game.
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I thought he was very good, looked composed, not out of place at all. Strong.
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Graham was excellent last night. Grew into the game. Solid and composed
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Graham was excellent last night. Grew into the game. Solid and composed
Thank you. ;)
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I liked the way Ajayi was tapping the badge on his shirt when he ran to the fans after his goal and more so, the looks of sheer joy by the players (especially Jack) as they celebrated the fourth goal together.
It is easy to see the togetherness of all the players.
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It was good to see some confidence from Nixon. When he first came he seemed more attack-minded, like Sterry, but he has not really shown that side of his game in the few appearances he’s made since Sterry became the justifiable first choice. But last night he showed that he has the attacking qualities needed from a good wing-back and topped it off with his goal.
The shooting was intelligent last night too. Low shots in a crowded box are always the percentage option.
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Yes a very good performance by Nixon, towards the end he was dead on his feet, could hardly pick his feet up.
The lad gave his all, and certainly deserves more game time.
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Grehan, Lawlor, Close and Gibson write the standouts for me but everyone was excellent.
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Gotts was outstanding and gave the space for Close in the first half, towards the end he was always in support of the attacking play, offered far more than Clifton does in those areas
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Go on the Middlesbrough official site and watch their manager’s interview …………..
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Yes a very good performance by Nixon, towards the end he was dead on his feet, could hardly pick his feet up.
The lad gave his all, and certainly deserves more game time.
I think he's one of those who always looks like he's run himself into the ground. When he was out injured for a while, I saw him in the gym pounding away, he looked knackered then. He deserves his chance as he's worked hard and had to be patient.
Both Nixon and Senior have done everything possible to earn a starting shirt.
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Go on the Middlesbrough official site and watch their manager’s interview …………..
He seemed a bit stunned :)
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
For his own longevity in the game he will have to learn to accept that its wasn't just his teams actions that produced that result. Never once gave Rovers any credit whatsoever for restricting his side to a nil. Most good managers will acknowledge that the opposition had a part to play in their teams poor performance.
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
For his own longevity in the game he will have to learn to accept that its wasn't just his teams actions that produced that result. Never once gave Rovers any credit whatsoever for restricting his side to a nil. Most good managers will acknowledge that the opposition had a part to play in their teams poor performance.
I think that’s a bit harsh. His own team’s poor performance was obviously his focus and if he’d said that Rovers were lucky or tried to rationalise why the 4 goals were somehow undeserved, you might criticise him. I don’t agree that “most good managers…” I think Clough was unusually complimentary in his remarks and I don’t think you could expect more from a man who was very clearly embarrassed.
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
For his own longevity in the game he will have to learn to accept that its wasn't just his teams actions that produced that result. Never once gave Rovers any credit whatsoever for restricting his side to a nil. Most good managers will acknowledge that the opposition had a part to play in their teams poor performance.
I think that’s a bit harsh. His own team’s poor performance was obviously his focus and if he’d said that Rovers were lucky or tried to rationalise why the 4 goals were somehow undeserved, you might criticise him. I don’t agree that “most good managers…” I think Clough was unusually complimentary in his remarks and I don’t think you could expect more from a man who was very clearly embarrassed.
We deserved credit for that performance, GM is always on point when he speaks about opposition teams.
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Someone posted the radio teeside phone in, I think it’s titles reaction - have a listen. Each Boro fan praised us, but I’m not sure I’ve heard a team get so much stick on the radio - I’m not sure Edward’s has long in the post if they start to have a league wobble.
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
For his own longevity in the game he will have to learn to accept that its wasn't just his teams actions that produced that result. Never once gave Rovers any credit whatsoever for restricting his side to a nil. Most good managers will acknowledge that the opposition had a part to play in their teams poor performance.
I think that’s a bit harsh. His own team’s poor performance was obviously his focus and if he’d said that Rovers were lucky or tried to rationalise why the 4 goals were somehow undeserved, you might criticise him. I don’t agree that “most good managers…” I think Clough was unusually complimentary in his remarks and I don’t think you could expect more from a man who was very clearly embarrassed.
The thing is though, good managers understand how to take a certain amount of pressure of their side after a poor result. By acknowledging that Rovers had a part to play in that poor performance takes some pressure of his players, allows them to regroup and refocus on where they went wrong and how to deal with it.
Standing there all embarrassed and talking about his team like they had just set out to play Rovers but Real Madrid turned up makes it look like his man management skills are lacking and he fails to understand that sometimes you play against a team that against all your earlier thoughts nullify your original plan, have to implement another on the fly and then further refine it as it finally dawns on you that you've been outplayed by a team you didn't expect to be able to.
This fella will go far!!
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I had a meeting with a supplier today, a lovely chap but sadly a Boro fan. We started the meeting and he said "Not a word. Not one. You handed us our arses last night"
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Graham was excellent last night. Grew into the game. Solid and composed
I thought he was better than that as was Jay.
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Came across three types of Middlesbrough fan last night, one congratulated us and said we played really well, another barked like a dog and called Billy Sharp a sex offender, the third called me a bald prick and lobbed a bottle at me. Funny old place to go
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Came across three types of Middlesbrough fan last night, one congratulated us and said we played really well, another barked like a dog and called Billy Sharp a sex offender, the third called me a bald prick and lobbed a bottle at me. Funny old place to go
Was it a bottle of hair restorer matey. ;)
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Came across three types of Middlesbrough fan last night, one congratulated us and said we played really well, another barked like a dog and called Billy Sharp a sex offender, the third called me a bald prick and lobbed a bottle at me. Funny old place to go
Was it a bottle of hair restorer matey. ;)
No, Matey is bath foam.
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He looked shell shocked after 10 mins of the game, he or they clearly didn’t expect us to be as competent on the ball and in the press, neither did I, as good as we’ve been in the last year, we haven’t shown that free flowing one touch football for years, a real pleasure to watch.
For his own longevity in the game he will have to learn to accept that its wasn't just his teams actions that produced that result. Never once gave Rovers any credit whatsoever for restricting his side to a nil. Most good managers will acknowledge that the opposition had a part to play in their teams poor performance.
I think that’s a bit harsh. His own team’s poor performance was obviously his focus and if he’d said that Rovers were lucky or tried to rationalise why the 4 goals were somehow undeserved, you might criticise him. I don’t agree that “most good managers…” I think Clough was unusually complimentary in his remarks and I don’t think you could expect more from a man who was very clearly embarrassed.
The standard format for that interview is for the embarrassed manager to say. "I'm taking nothing away from Doncaster because they were superb. A credit to their manager. But..."