Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Filo on January 10, 2026, 05:24:42 pm
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
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Finally got on, with that stupid cookie thing.
Fantastic show in the second, but my god, they were nowhere near in the first. Their big centre half could have had my dog to walk around as he played in that first half, he was just allowed to create chance after chance for them.
How good was Jack Senior, he’s having an excellent season, also Gotts looks like what we thought we were getting.
There were two notable poor performances though from Jay McGrath and Owen Bailey. Bailey in particular was a mile behind play.
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
I agree. Also think the lad from everton showed promise & never stopped running.
We do need to strengthen the defence tho, particulary centre half.
Billy offered nothing again im afraid.
Bailey had an off day by his standards
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Robbie Gotts is becoming the midfielder we’ve been needing.
He’s a better version of Archie Irvine and Jimmy Kelly.
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Took us 30 mins before we finally showed some aggression. Gave them far too much respect and gifted goals yet again.
Second half we were excellent, played some great stuff and was unlucky not to equalise.
Haks looked great, so good to have him back.
Still need at least 1 centre half if we are to turn our season around.
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Took us 30 mins before we finally showed some aggression. Gave them far too much respect and gifted goals yet again.
Second half we were excellent, played some great stuff and was unlucky not to equalise.
Haks looked great, so good to have him back.
Still need at least 1 centre half if we are to turn our season around.
We need two in my opinion
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Just need two proper center halves and we are decent. Far to soft through the middle
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The second was a little unlucky with the deflection. Disappointing to lose the ball again in midfield so cheaply at times. It's fine to slate the defence but we gifted it away.
The one that annoyed me was their third, so easy to get at albeit a good cross and header which you'll get from higher level players.
We said at half time, go show some fight and set a performance to really build on over the coming weeks. They definitely did that.
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
I agree. Also think the lad from everton showed promise & never stopped running.
We do need to strengthen the defence tho, particulary centre half.
Billy offered nothing again im afraid.
Bailey had an off day by his standards
Also liked him today. The ball did tend to stick to him rather than bounce off him. Full marks also for his shirt name being ‘Francis’ like he is straight off the beach at Ipanema rather than Blyth.
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First time in a long time that I've enjoyed watching Rovers. Makes me feel positive for the 2nd half of the season.
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Bailey had his worse 90 mins in a rovers shirt even when we were going at them in the second half he gave the second goal away from midfield. Molyneux and Sterry were poor again all the game.
Gotts was the best player on the pitch for us.
Senior had a good game except the only time he was beaten for the third goal cross. He also showed his worth when switched to centre half and we then started playing better.
Only if Okoronkwo effort could have crept in at the post instead of missing just. Robinson has pace and can get up and back in his cameo if he could have kept his shot down he would have scored.
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
I agree. Also think the lad from everton showed promise & never stopped running.
We do need to strengthen the defence tho, particulary centre half.
Billy offered nothing again im afraid.
Bailey had an off day by his standards
Billy offered nothing? he wasn't amazing by any stretch but he nearly scored twice at the end so think you're being a tad too harsh.
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Their keeper made an amazing save in the first half. Also two good saves from the Billy headers.
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I never saw the game I was out for a family meal (don’t bloody ask why it was booked for 3pm on a Saturday) but I kept tabs with family I usually go with and reports on X etc. What I got from the game was a lot of positives from the 2nd half showing fight and creating chances. But the main thing for me was the positives from the negatives. Our defensive woes were again highlighted and if we were only looking at one CB to strengthen us I’d go as far to say we need a full new back 4. I know that won’t happen but, our full backs just do not ever do enough to stop crosses whether it’s Sterry, Nixon, Senior or Maxwell. Love them all but we need better.
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I wonder how many left at HT? Really good second half that. Again subs made us worse particularly Sharp.
Third goal is really bad from Senior. May as well have handed and invitation out to cross
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Just thought of another positive I forgot, TLT was pretty good today, came out for a few crosses, and was unlucky for the goals.
The first was a WTF moment from McGrath - backing away from a player running direct on goal virtually on the penalty spot??? Pearson should’ve been screaming at him to close him down, but instead ended up trying to do it himself. Pearson is not the leader I had hoped for to bring our younger lads through, I do think he would be a good enough defender with someone decent at the side of him though.
Second was a massive deflection, the third a well placed header, but shocking marking.
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Mainly due to excellent balls in from Gotts and then Middleton, finally we have some threat from corners today. Created all kinds of issues for them.
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Just need two proper center halves and we are decent. Far to soft through the middle
Midfield still needs strengthening in my opinion, I really like Gotts but we need a Midfielder with quality who can control a game to play alongside him.
Get a quality midfielder in, another centre back in and put Bailey at centre back.
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I wonder how many left at HT? Really good second half that. Again subs made us worse particularly Sharp.
Third goal is really bad from Senior. May as well have handed and invitation out to cross
i like Senior but that is spot on. Stood right off him and gave him space to cross.
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Fot mobs player fact
Francis Okoronkwo had the least touches (29) of any outfield player to play 90 minutes.
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I left the ground feeling good. Play like that second half for the rest of the season and not only will we be safe but we will hand out a pasting or two.
The lad from Everton looks handy and my word, i forgot about the vision of Haks. That first half 2 quick throws nearly had us in.
The concern is the centre halves. Slow and ponderous at times. Don’t step up to play offside in time and leaves us open.
That said, with the new keeper we are one or two CBs away from League 1 status next season.
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Didn’t see the game but there’s been plenty of promise recently. Without improving the defence we’re going to struggle but sort that out with a signing or two and we should stay up comfortably.
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C
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Besides the 3rd goal Senior was very good
Gotts MOM by a mile
Bailey was that his last Rovers game ?
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Didn’t see the game but there’s been plenty of promise recently. Without improving the defence we’re going to struggle but sort that out with a signing or two and we should stay up comfortably.
We are miles off staying up comfortably which is why we are 6 points from safety.
It will be a battle to stay up with the such bad recruitment done in pre season, there's teams above us that I think will pull away. We now need some proven quality to help with the relegation battle, it's between the bottom 5 imo.
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Question for all… is staying in league one this season a better achievement than promotion last season? I’ll go first and say yes. If we stay up it will feel just as good. Shouldn’t be waiting for January again but here we are.
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Hope we can take that 2nd half display into the remaining league fixtures and survive. It's sad to see Billy offering absolutely nothing, he should have retired, as a great player, surely Billy knows that
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Agree with most. Gotts and Senior were the only players who played with the required intensity all game and looked like they believed they could comptete. In the second half, the other players gave it a good go by raising the level up to Gotts and Senior.
Once again, there's some encouragement but we have to stop being too passive and hesitant when we can all see when we move the ball quickly and with purpose, we're a decent team.
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
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Myself, and others were giving up hope at half time. It was a really big mountain to climb, but give the lads a massive amount of respect, they came out and pushed a £50-60 million pound team into panic and disorganisation, and nearly pulled off what seemed impossible. So this season's FA cup campaign has ended, but what they have shown themselves and us is what they can do if they let go and do what they can with their skills. Fingers crossed the second half of the season can be like the second half of this match and we will see them rise up the division. The way it is working out nothing is beyond possible.
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Fot mobs player fact
Francis Okoronkwo had the least touches (29) of any outfield player to play 90 minutes.
Often the case for centre forwards in any game.
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Some positives from the second half for sure but still some of the issues that have led to us being where we are. Losing the ball in midfield and they are right at our back 4 for the first goal. Not being able to put together a full 90 minute performance. We can sign all the forwards we want but its another game where we have conceded too many goals. We desperately need some quality at the back. Also not sure what i make of two loan keepers, maybe one has an option to sign at the end of the season but at the moment i don't see that being tlt.
Definitely positives but it means nothing if we don't take that second half performance into the next few games for the 90 minutes
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
So obvious what our issues are and what needs to be addressed to stay in L1.
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Not sure how long this front 4 is going to endure as that leaves Bailey and Gotts to do a hell of a lot of tracking and covering. Interested to see Adelakun play in the role Gibson did today.
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Not sure how long this front 4 is going to endure as that leaves Bailey and Gotts to do a hell of a lot of tracking and covering. Interested to see Adelakun play in the role Gibson did today.
Interesting that Grant chose to play Gibson there in this game. Thought he linked up well with Haks. Certainly two good footballers on the same wave length. I thought Gibson looked tidy in there. He’s got so much ability it’s crazy. Just don’t see 100% of it every week do we. Haks looked tidy without setting the world alight. Again, more ability than our other men, hopefully we can get him at it for the next 4 months.
Same praise for Gotts as mentioned by others. Busy, better on the ball than others and good without it.
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We had a devastating 10 minutes in the second half where we crucified them and that was when the two full backs joined in the punishment beating we were giving out, so there was a huge overload of 8 of our players all attacking.
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Mainly due to excellent balls in from Gotts and then Middleton, finally we have some threat from corners today. Created all kinds of issues for them.
Agree, I thought our crosses/corners were the best I've seen for a long time.
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Gotts corners and free kicks were superb today, so hard to defend when they come in like that.
I also think that new midfield lad(forgot his name) looks like he could be a player based only on that short cameo, he’s physical,gets about and isn’t scared to shoot.
Bring on the league games now.
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Mainly due to excellent balls in from Gotts and then Middleton, finally we have some threat from corners today. Created all kinds of issues for them.
Agree, I thought our crosses/corners were the best I've seen for a long time.
Finally started taking a few in swingers as well!! Gotts is a good set piece taker. They were a big weapon for Barrow when he was there.
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It surprised me he's not taken so many. I remember pre barrow last year McCann calling out Gotts' set pieces.
The new midfielder Robinson got involved too, he probably should have hit the target with the one in the box, but both shots he hit had huge power.
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We had a devastating 10 minutes in the second half where we crucified them and that was when the two full backs joined in the punishment beating we were giving out, so there was a huge overload of 8 of our players all attacking.
Grand. Trouble is, the "you score 3 and we'll score 2" school of buccaneering football doesn't win you many matches.
Yes it was good to watch in the second half, but overall, over the full 90 minutes it was a poor performance against a side we could and probably should have beaten. Setting ourselves out with such an attacking line up from the start, but playing 45 minutes with so little organisation or intensity or basic work rate is absolutely unacceptable.
They played a starting outfield 10 with an average age of 22, and we showed in the second half that we could out-mester them. But for much of the first half, it felt like we were playing a training game where our players had been told to play at 75%.
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
They had a striker who they paid 15 million for and a centre half who played for England last year.
And you’re mocking the level of opposition
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Didn't their side cost £100m?
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
They had a striker who they paid 15 million for and a centre half who played for England last year.
And you’re mocking the level of opposition
Where am I "mocking the level of the opposition"?
I'm pointing out facts that it was a talented but very young side, few of whom have been regular starters in a side that has struggled in the Championship.
And we made it embarrassingly easy for them to put the game out of our reach.
If you have any counter comments to that, please do make them without making shit up.
By the way. The side that Macclesfield harried out of their stride today collectively cost about £150m and had just shy of 200 caps for England, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, USA and Nigeria.
And we demonstrated in the second half that we could put battle the young opposition we faced today, once we actually started to play with a bit of momentum and aggression.
As usual, I'm not entirely sure what your point is.
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I think some people’s expectation of us getting to and staying in the Championship is an outdated expectation.
Clubs there have wage bills of £20m+. Even teams at the lower end of the table routinely spend 7 figures on signings.
And even then, how would our scouting network compete? Every Championship club seems to have spawned 2 or 3 top quality South Korean / Japanese players, while our recruitment is mostly players we notice by playing against or playing for McCann in the past!
It isn’t 2010 and it isn’t a division of Glenn Murrays and Luke Varneys anymore.
Lincoln have taken four seasons in this league to get to where they are! They are worth keeping an eye on as something for us to realistically aim for.
(This isn’t me being grumpy, I don’t have an issue watching 3rd tier football, especially nowadays)
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while our recruitment is mostly players we notice by playing against or playing for McCann in the past!
Don't forget being the offspring of :lol:
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It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
They had a striker who they paid 15 million for and a centre half who played for England last year.
And you’re mocking the level of opposition
Where am I "mocking the level of the opposition"?
I'm pointing out facts that it was a talented but very young side, few of whom have been regular starters in a side that has struggled in the Championship.
And we made it embarrassingly easy for them to put the game out of our reach.
If you have any counter comments to that, please do make them without making shit up.
By the way. The side that Macclesfield harried out of their stride today collectively cost about £150m and had just shy of 200 caps for England, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, USA and Nigeria.
And we demonstrated in the second half that we could put battle the young opposition we faced today, once we actually started to play with a bit of momentum and aggression.
As usual, I'm not entirely sure what your point is.
Bore off BST.
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The England centre half’s father in law was a fairly good player
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We had a devastating 10 minutes in the second half where we crucified them and that was when the two full backs joined in the punishment beating we were giving out, so there was a huge overload of 8 of our players all attacking.
Grand. Trouble is, the "you score 3 and we'll score 2" school of buccaneering football doesn't win you many matches.
Yes it was good to watch in the second half, but overall, over the full 90 minutes it was a poor performance against a side we could and probably should have beaten. Setting ourselves out with such an attacking line up from the start, but playing 45 minutes with so little organisation or intensity or basic work rate is absolutely unacceptable.
They played a starting outfield 10 with an average age of 22, and we showed in the second half that we could out-mester them. But for much of the first half, it felt like we were playing a training game where our players had been told to play at 75%.
Pardon me for pi**ing on your negative bag of chips but….
We gifted them their first, a wicked deflection fell nicely for their second, but I will grant you we should have dealt with their third better, notwithstanding they are a Championship side still benefiting from parachute payments thus able to pay for & attract better players than us.
Second half they were surprised at our ‘up & at ‘em’ attitude allied with pace, conviction & will to attack which we did with great conviction in midfield, width either side & that with two new starters to the line up.
Many sides would have capitulated at 3-0 down at home against a team that has consistently played at a level or much more above us for so many years.
Shame on you for ‘playing the vulture’ & picking at the bones yet again today.
It’s become a feature of your posts.
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I had to listen on their local radio - here are my quotes from lucky pint
"listening on radio Solent they are quite good - he never stops speaking to his foreign mate.
He just said Harry Clifton was in the Grimsby team who embarrassed Southampton 3 years ago in the F A Cup.
Commentator said Tutala could have been to blame for the first goal when he parried but Tutala did a good save to keep it 2-0
Apologies for the late report but had to make Mrs Coleman a cup of tea -- AT LEAST THE TEA IS STILL IN THE CUP"
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0-3 "A really good header from someone not known for his heading ability"
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commentator says Gotts has been everywhere today
robinson has been signed from hartlepool according to radio solent
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Soton either hadn't won for 6 games or lost them all and pre-match the lead commentator was still recovering from being hammered 4-0 by Middlesbrough. They mentioned we beat them 4-0 but forgot to mention we were away.
Soton made the changes due to the hammering was it 8 from memory ?.
So the 3rd goal goes down as a fluke.
when it got to 3-2 their commentary was like the Battle of the Alamo waves and waves of attack from us and they expected the worst.
With Bailey having his "so called "worst game of the season it hopefully keeps the last minute of the transfer window vultures away?
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We had a devastating 10 minutes in the second half where we crucified them and that was when the two full backs joined in the punishment beating we were giving out, so there was a huge overload of 8 of our players all attacking.
Grand. Trouble is, the "you score 3 and we'll score 2" school of buccaneering football doesn't win you many matches.
Yes it was good to watch in the second half, but overall, over the full 90 minutes it was a poor performance against a side we could and probably should have beaten. Setting ourselves out with such an attacking line up from the start, but playing 45 minutes with so little organisation or intensity or basic work rate is absolutely unacceptable.
They played a starting outfield 10 with an average age of 22, and we showed in the second half that we could out-mester them. But for much of the first half, it felt like we were playing a training game where our players had been told to play at 75%.
It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
They had a striker who they paid 15 million for and a centre half who played for England last year.
And you’re mocking the level of opposition
Where am I "mocking the level of the opposition"?
I'm pointing out facts that it was a talented but very young side, few of whom have been regular starters in a side that has struggled in the Championship.
And we made it embarrassingly easy for them to put the game out of our reach.
If you have any counter comments to that, please do make them without making shit up.
By the way. The side that Macclesfield harried out of their stride today collectively cost about £150m and had just shy of 200 caps for England, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, USA and Nigeria.
And we demonstrated in the second half that we could put battle the young opposition we faced today, once we actually started to play with a bit of momentum and aggression.
As usual, I'm not entirely sure what your point is.
It's probably the sentence about we should be beating the side they put out. We're in no position to be saying that since September 2025
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Once again I’ll be accused of being BST’s fan boy, but I largely agree with him.
We didn’t compete in the first half and just let them do what they wanted. It could have been 5-1 to them at half time.
Their big left back was strolling through the game, having as much time as he wanted to pick out killer passes under absolutely no pressure.
It was unforgivable.
Second half, when we got stuck in, the same player was booting it anywhere.
So it figures that if we’d been up for it from the start, we could and should have beaten them.
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Once again I’ll be accused of being BST’s fan boy, but I largely agree with him.
We didn’t compete in the first half and just let them do what they wanted. It could have been 5-1 to them at half time.
Their big left back was strolling through the game, having as much time as he wanted to pick out killer passes under absolutely no pressure.
It was unforgivable.
Second half, when we got stuck in, the same player was booting it anywhere.
So it figures that if we’d been up for it from the start, we could and should have beaten them.
We did some good things yesterday, showed spirit and could have nicked an equaliser at the end. A couple of things need to be highlighted though…
They had some very good players involved, love Harwood Bellis in particular, but they did make lots of changes and in football teams are only as strong as their weakest few players, not as strong as their best few. That’s why they went of greater than even money to win the game.
The other thing is that what happens at 3-0 down is far less of a performance barometer than what happens at 0-0.
Yet again the players didn’t lack spirit, that’s not something that they have been guilty of at all this season. They just lacked quality.
It could have been an extremely fun end to the game but it wasn’t.
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
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Besides the 3rd goal Senior was very good
Gotts MOM by a mile
Bailey was that his last Rovers game ?
Could well be last game, I don’t think he’s been at his best in last couple of games, and he may be aware he is wanted elsewhere, which he will have to seriously consider.
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
I agree. Also think the lad from everton showed promise & never stopped running.
We do need to strengthen the defence tho, particulary centre half.
Billy offered nothing again im afraid.
Bailey had an off day by his standards
Billy offered nothing? he wasn't amazing by any stretch but he nearly scored twice at the end so think you're being a tad too harsh.
Totally agree, to say he offered nothing is a joke. He gave the centre backs more to deal with than in the first half.
Personally I would have started Billy.
Nice to see the appreciation from their fans when he came on.
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Besides the 3rd goal Senior was very good
Gotts MOM by a mile
Bailey was that his last Rovers game ?
Could well be last game, I don’t think he’s been at his best in last couple of games, and he may be aware he is wanted elsewhere, which he will have to seriously consider.
A bit confused here, are you basing this on the so called Middlesbrough rumours that clearly was created by some random bloke on X?
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
100% right Gaz.
Also there was no doubting that Southamptons players generally were higher quality that ours which is to be expected given that they are still on the parachute money which gives them the opportunity to pay the higher wages that good players demand.
Strange to say really but at half time I wasn’t too down, even considering the score.
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Besides the 3rd goal Senior was very good
Gotts MOM by a mile
Bailey was that his last Rovers game ?
Could well be last game, I don’t think he’s been at his best in last couple of games, and he may be aware he is wanted elsewhere, which he will have to seriously consider.
A bit confused here, are you basing this on the so called Middlesbrough rumours that clearly was created by some random bloke on X?
No I don’t view any social media.
My view is based on his general performances which will be watched by many clubs and their representatives. You only have to listen to away commentaries where bails and mols are regularly identified as being the two outstanding contributors within our teams performance.
Another key factor apart from his goal contribution, will be his ability to maintain his fitness and be available for every game over the last couple of seasons. Thus he could be a valuable squad player even if he was not able to be first choice in a starting eleven.
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We had a devastating 10 minutes in the second half where we crucified them and that was when the two full backs joined in the punishment beating we were giving out, so there was a huge overload of 8 of our players all attacking.
Grand. Trouble is, the "you score 3 and we'll score 2" school of buccaneering football doesn't win you many matches.
Yes it was good to watch in the second half, but overall, over the full 90 minutes it was a poor performance against a side we could and probably should have beaten. Setting ourselves out with such an attacking line up from the start, but playing 45 minutes with so little organisation or intensity or basic work rate is absolutely unacceptable.
They played a starting outfield 10 with an average age of 22, and we showed in the second half that we could out-mester them. But for much of the first half, it felt like we were playing a training game where our players had been told to play at 75%.
It should also be said they were and and are a good championship level club, with aspirations of getting back in the Prem.
For reference, Bolton went off a shorter price to beat us than Saints did today.
I'm not surprised.
Southampton played nearly a full second XI.
In that context, the first half was an utterly shocking performance. Yes we gave them a game in the second half, but overall, that was a massive chance missed.
They had a striker who they paid 15 million for and a centre half who played for England last year.
And you’re mocking the level of opposition
Where am I "mocking the level of the opposition"?
I'm pointing out facts that it was a talented but very young side, few of whom have been regular starters in a side that has struggled in the Championship.
And we made it embarrassingly easy for them to put the game out of our reach.
If you have any counter comments to that, please do make them without making shit up.
By the way. The side that Macclesfield harried out of their stride today collectively cost about £150m and had just shy of 200 caps for England, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, USA and Nigeria.
And we demonstrated in the second half that we could put battle the young opposition we faced today, once we actually started to play with a bit of momentum and aggression.
As usual, I'm not entirely sure what your point is.
It&039;s probably the sentence about we should be beating the side they put out. We're in no position to be saying that since September 2025
I made that quote in the knowledge of how the game panned out. Yes, they had some extremely talented young players, but they looked rudderless when we upped the tempo, and the fact that we created more chances at set pieces than we have in half a season in L1 was telling. That part of the game really did look like men against boys, with them doing none of the grabbing and holding down you get as a routine in the league.
But we were miles off the standard in the first half and that cost us what was an eminently winnable game. We allowed them space and time for their ability to shine. We pressed in packs of one and we didn't impose ourselves on them. And when they broke for the first and third goals, we were ambling back. Absolutely no intensity.
The change of approach after half time showed how fragile they were as a unit and as some individuals. One moment stood out. Hanlan's first involvement was to flatten one of their defenders. The lad got up looking crestfallen. We did none of that at all in the first half.
Personally, after how well our midfield played against Bolton, I was gobsmacked that we dropped Clifton and I think not having his energy and bite cost us dearly in the first half.
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Besides the 3rd goal Senior was very good
Gotts MOM by a mile
Bailey was that his last Rovers game ?
Could well be last game, I don’t think he’s been at his best in last couple of games, and he may be aware he is wanted elsewhere, which he will have to seriously consider.
A bit confused here, are you basing this on the so called Middlesbrough rumours that clearly was created by some random bloke on X?
No I don’t view any social media.
My view is based on his general performances which will be watched by many clubs and their representatives. You only have to listen to away commentaries where bails and mols are regularly identified as being the two outstanding contributors within our teams performance.
Another key factor apart from his goal contribution, will be his ability to maintain his fitness and be available for every game over the last couple of seasons. Thus he could be a valuable squad player even if he was not able to be first choice in a starting eleven.
I do like Bails and he's been quality for us during his time here but he's been off it in the last few games in my opinion. Still not convinced with him as captain either. Badly at fault for their 1st yesterday.
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Fantastic second half, Gotts was excellent and Haks just makes things happen
I agree. Also think the lad from everton showed promise & never stopped running.
We do need to strengthen the defence tho, particulary centre half.
Billy offered nothing again im afraid.
Bailey had an off day by his standards
Billy offered nothing? he wasn't amazing by any stretch but he nearly scored twice at the end so think you're being a tad too harsh.
Totally agree, to say he offered nothing is a joke. He gave the centre backs more to deal with than in the first half.
Personally I would have started Billy.
Nice to see the appreciation from their fans when he came on.
Really?
Would love to know why you would have started Billy . Now that is a joke. Even his biggest fan must realise his playing days, at this level at least, are over. As good a servant he has been its one contract too many. I could see him leaving by mutual consent to pursue a coaching role somewhere and wish him all the success if he does. His experience/ knowledge is there, his legs are not now.
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My view is Grant and his analysis team got it wrong.
I imagine we have had them watched a few times and the feedback was the big centre back ( so tall I imagine he has snow on top of his head all year round) was rubbish with the ball, so the tactic was to let him have it, wait for the poor ball then pounce.
Unfortunately, I think the analysis team didn’t pick up that only when he was pressed is he so poor with the ball.
We got right in his face in the second and he had either changed his boots for 50p pieces or he couldn’t handle the pressure and just crumbled.
It was worth noting the shear amount of tactical fouling they did off the ball too, blocking runs, holding players, tripping players up and the general sh?!housery of pretending to be injured.
The ref was fairly good with understanding their pretending to be injured and requesting fouls. BUT, only 7 mins injury time, one of their lads was sat down for 5 mins after he pretended to be hurt by that muscle man Gibbo, should have been well over 10 mins with the subs and goals.
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I think it's fair to say Bailey isn't the best technically and perhaps, particularly of late, his hesitancy, ball control and passing ability is symptomatic of our frailties which are costing us dear. We've seen all our players be a little careless at times and the opposition have been quite ruthless in taking advantage of sloppiness.
With Bails scoring a few goals by getting into those advanced positions have glossed over the other weaknesses..
Fortunately, the emergence of Gotts gives us some hope and together with Robinson, the midfield will hopefully be stronger as a unit.
Where that leaves Bailey, I'm not sure as it'll be a big call to leave him out. Would he be better off competing with Clifton for that more advanced midfield role? With Haks and Gibson there's even more competition for those attacking positions.
I think we just need to hope Gotts stays fit over the next few weeks as it feels we can build a team around him.
Obviously still some question marks about the centre half slots and the keeper but who knows, Clark might bring a calming influence and a strong voice to our defensive organisation.
We just need to tip the balance so the goals for, exceed those against. We've succeeded in that two second half seasons running. I think we can do it.
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It was great to see an inswinging corner right under the crossbar that resulted in a goal-still wondering why we took so many out swingers after that?
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him than that. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
Agree with that, but have to say Bailey was fouled
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
100% right Gaz.
Also there was no doubting that Southamptons players generally were higher quality that ours which is to be expected given that they are still on the parachute money which gives them the opportunity to pay the higher wages that good players demand.
Strange to say really but at half time I wasn’t too down, even considering the score.
If that’s the case hound then why didn’t their higher quality shine out when we changed our approach in the second half when we were all over them.
Or are you just being awkward coz its me.
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By the way, I'm not picking on Gibson, but their third goal shows how stupid it was picking him in that position.
When Archer comes deep to receive the ball from their centre half with no Rovers player in the same postcode, Gibson doesn't move more than 2 yards in 5 seconds. He's static. He's actually, when Archer receives the ball, our furthest forward player. But has not been part of any pressure.
Imagine Clifton in that situation. He'd have been melting his boots to cover ground and deny space.
Again, this isn't Gibson's fault. He's just not that player. So why in God's name select him there?
We are not turning this season round by going balls out with 4 up front, and banking on scoring 5 if we concede 4. We've got to have a formation and a selection that at least makes teams work bloody hard to make chances.
We stumbled on that against Bolton. Then ripped it up and rolled the dice yesterday. I really don't get it.
The second half was great and I screamed my head off as much as anyone. But you don't save seasons (or many matches) like that.
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
Agree with that, but have to say Bailey was fouled
I thought that at the time. Watching the video, I think their lad just got a toe on the ball. Whether than absolves you of going through someone's back I don't really know.
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him than that. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
We miss Olowu’s recovery pace for McCann’s attacking style to not be so exposed.
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
Agree with that, but have to say Bailey was fouled
I thought at the time that Bailey was found and after watching the highlights I still think he was fouled.
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
100% right Gaz.
Also there was no doubting that Southamptons players generally were higher quality that ours which is to be expected given that they are still on the parachute money which gives them the opportunity to pay the higher wages that good players demand.
Strange to say really but at half time I wasn’t too down, even considering the score.
If that’s the case hound then why didn’t their higher quality shine out when we changed our approach in the second half when we were all over them.
Or are you just being awkward coz its me.
Don’t big yourself up Tommy, I don’t really care what you think.
But to answer your question, we didn’t make as many mistakes in the second half as we did in the first half, plus we upped the tempo.
By the same token, the Southampton players DID still show their superior quality.
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
You really think the third goal was due to an individual mistake rather than a poor structure and a total lack of intensity in our midfield?
Or that a slip 8 yards inside their half must result in a 4-on-2 in our box?
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
Agree with that, but have to say Bailey was fouled
I don’t think it was a foul. Didn’t even contemplate it being one watching live either.
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Here we go all the well known premiership managers telling us exactly what happened and what we are doing wrong.
We lost 3 nil in the first half to a championship team and won 2 nil and could have even won it in the 2nd half.
Simples!
A signing or 2 to sure up the defense and I think we will have a very good 2nd half of the season.
Lets all go and enjoy it. Come on rovers!
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How can you say they didn’t lack spirit Gaz?
It was exactly what they lacked in the first half.
Individual mistakes cost us first half. It wasn’t a lack of effort.
You really think the third goal was due to an individual mistake rather than a poor structure and a total lack of intensity in our midfield?
Or that a slip 8 yards inside their half must result in a 4-on-2 in our box?
Giving the ball away so weakly in that situation, against a good team, is going to leave you very open. We had controlled possession, you need to have players in advance of the ball. We had two centre halves playing that struggle to defence counter attacks against poor teams so it will be tough for them against decent ones.
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Here we go all the well known premiership managers telling us exactly what happened and what we are doing wrong.
We lost 3 nil in the first half to a championship team and won 2 nil and could have even won it in the 2nd half.
Simples!
A signing or 2 to sure up the defense and I think we will have a very good 2nd half of the season.
Lets all go and enjoy it. Come on rovers!
People having an opinion on football on football forum shocker.
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Not saying you can't or its a shock, its definiately not a shock. Pointless conversations, that I cant stop reading as the thread title is gallant effort. Of which it was a very positive view, which actually I think you have.
The top prem team players make mistakes, it isnt going to change with a league one side against a championship side especially.
Great effort Rovers, lets take that positivity of the 2nd half into our next game.
Lets get behind them!
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The ball played to Bailey was stupid and the reason the full backs Billy were out of position especially the left side who was wanting the ball down the line in the channel, where we got some joy all the game.
Not only that , When McGrath passed that ball into danger he was 10 to twenty yards wide left of his central position leaving space straight down the middle which their player ran straight into, and he hasn't the pace to cover. His out ball had to be wide or over the top into the channel.
Poor decisions that put the onus on other players, a Hollywood ball that has danger all over it that got punished.
Other teams have seen it and intercept it on a regular basis and have done when he is in possession in not just yesterdays game, it cost us a goal and the game yesterday.
The answer don't over complicate defending, look for the out ball wide out of danger and just watched Brighton do exactly that v Manchester United, it's not showy but works and don't try and do what you can't do.
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Watching their first goal again on the highlights really hits home how ridiculously we set up in the first half. Yes it was an error by Bailey, but the whole structure of our set up at that moment was insane and gave us no cover for a mistake.
When Bailey gets tackled in the centre circle, other that McGrath who played the pass, there's no Rovers player within 18-20 yards of Bailey. There are FIVE Southampton players closer to him. Even if he didn't make the mistake, he was under massive pressure and unlikely to do anything with the ball.
Meanwhile, in addition to a front line of 4 players, Sterrey is 10 yards inside their half and God alone knows where Senior is. Somewhere up near their box given where he is when he appears in the shot sprinting back.
Then when they break, they break much faster than our players respond. Gotts (who was generally very good) was 3 yards inside their half when Bailey was fouled. Fellows was 15 yards further into their half. Yet 7 seconds later, Fellows is in our box, 3-4 yards ahead of Gotts.
Ok.
Fellows cost £8m. Accepted. Maybe he's just a sharper, faster, quicker responder than our players. Accepted.
But then for f**ks sake, don't set us up with an approach that says to them "There you go. If we slip up once, you've got 75 yards of freedom."
Setting up like that meant that one slip turned comfortable possession into a 4-on-2 in our box in 9 seconds.
It's shit or bust football and we get picked off far too easily.
If you are going to play like that, you've GOT to have a Clifton in the middle, who will run his blood to water for an hour and give some coverage for mistakes. Madness to play Gibson instead of him yesterday.
Agree with that, but have to say Bailey was fouled
I don’t think it was a foul. Didn’t even contemplate it being one watching live either.
I've not seen the replay but thought at the time he took a bad touch then was simply muscled off it.
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
Agree. It was a standard pass and one which any of the deepest midfielders should cope with easily. There was an easy return pass on and at that point, we'd sucked them out into pressing us. Our next pass would have been a more probing pass to take advantage of the overload we'd created, with our two full backs pushed up. We play like this alot and is one of the reasons we're successful on the break.
Of course, it falls down with individual errors but that doesn't mean we should resort to being too safe. We've been there and that's why McCann wants them to be brave.
In this instance, we were slow to react , as we were for their second goal too, but it was the turnover which was the root cause. It wasn't a foul either.
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
Agree. It was a standard pass and one which any of the deepest midfielders should cope with easily. There was an easy return pass on and at that point, we'd sucked them out into pressing us. Our next pass would have been a more probing pass to take advantage of the overload we'd created, with our two full backs pushed up. We play like this alot and is one of the reasons we're successful on the break.
Of course, it falls down with individual errors but that doesn't mean we should resort to being too safe. We've been there and that's why McCann wants them to be brave.
In this instance, we were slow to react , as we were for their second goal too, but it was the turnover which was the root cause. It wasn't a foul either.
Being brave is one thing.
Setting yourself up so that a bobble or a poor touch leaves you facing a 4-on-2 attack is mad.
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
Agree. It was a standard pass and one which any of the deepest midfielders should cope with easily. There was an easy return pass on and at that point, we'd sucked them out into pressing us. Our next pass would have been a more probing pass to take advantage of the overload we'd created, with our two full backs pushed up. We play like this alot and is one of the reasons we're successful on the break.
Of course, it falls down with individual errors but that doesn't mean we should resort to being too safe. We've been there and that's why McCann wants them to be brave.
In this instance, we were slow to react , as we were for their second goal too, but it was the turnover which was the root cause. It wasn't a foul either.
Being brave is one thing.
Setting yourself up so that a bobble or a poor touch leaves you facing a 4-on-2 attack is mad.
We should know that if a mistake is made like that the next action has to be foul!
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
I just dont see why mcgrath made that pass in the first place. Put Bailey under instant pressure, wasnt fouled in my opinion.
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It wasn’t the greatest ball of all time but Bailey is good enough to deal with it. Poor technique taking it square on and lack of scanning to know where the danger was coming from cost him.
I just dont see why mcgrath made that pass in the first place. Put Bailey under instant pressure, wasnt fouled in my opinion.
Not sure it was the best option but passing to players that have pressure on them happens at times. Bailey is usually pretty good at taking balls in that situation, he made a mistake playing a level up, it can happen.
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Agreed Gaz, and our approach depends on us, sometimes, drawing ina player or two from the opposition midfield to open gaps that we can play into.
But that choice, that time, was barmy, given the position of our players and the 4-5 Southampton players that were surrounding Bailey. There's got to be a balance and doing that 7 minutes in, against a side with quick, alert youngsters seemed barmy. Way too much risk for any likely benefit.
I hope we learn from it because we aren't going to survive if we do that regularly.
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Just contrasting barnsley’s efforts in this first half against a very strong Liverpool team to ours on Saturday and its night and day. They’ve been everything that we weren’t - strong, organised, aggressive, brave in possession. Obviously they aren’t exactly having a great season themselves but it’s everything we weren’t, which is worrying.
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Just contrasting barnsley’s efforts in this first half against a very strong Liverpool team to ours on Saturday and its night and day. They’ve been everything that we weren’t - strong, organised, aggressive, brave in possession. Obviously they aren’t exactly having a great season themselves but it’s everything we weren’t, which is worrying.
Keillor-Dunn is a proper centre forward at our level.
Wish we had someone like him.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
Itv feels like Mcgrath is stuck in distribution rut of risky short passes into midfield or 60 yard crossfield punts that mostly come straight back. He needs a break so that can can be coached.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
Itv feels like Mcgrath is stuck in distribution rut of risky short passes into midfield or 60 yard crossfield punts that mostly come straight back. He needs a break so that can can be coached.
I have been saying for a while that McGrath looks very nervous when playing his passes.
A break would do him good.
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Just contrasting barnsley’s efforts in this first half against a very strong Liverpool team to ours on Saturday and its night and day. They’ve been everything that we weren’t - strong, organised, aggressive, brave in possession. Obviously they aren’t exactly having a great season themselves but it’s everything we weren’t, which is worrying.
Keillor-Dunn is a proper centre forward at our level.
Wish we had someone like him.
Mansfield signed him for about £100k in January 2023 from Burton.
We signed Caolan Lavery on a free to replace the recently retired Lee Tomlin.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
Itv feels like Mcgrath is stuck in distribution rut of risky short passes into midfield or 60 yard crossfield punts that mostly come straight back. He needs a break so that can can be coached.
I have been saying for a while that McGrath looks very nervous when playing his passes.
A break would do him good.
McGrath could do with travelling forward 10 to 15 feet with the ball to open space up.
CO'R did this in spades which opened up several different passing options.
McGrath telegraphs every single pass and he does it from a near on standing position. He makes life so difficult for himself.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
Itv feels like Mcgrath is stuck in distribution rut of risky short passes into midfield or 60 yard crossfield punts that mostly come straight back. He needs a break so that can can be coached.
I have been saying for a while that McGrath looks very nervous when playing his passes.
A break would do him good.
McGrath could do with travelling forward 10 to 15 feet with the ball to open space up.
CO'R did this in spades which opened up several different passing options.
McGrath telegraphs every single pass and he does it from a near on standing position. He makes life so difficult for himself.
CO’R did do that very well didn’t he.
I’m not sure Jay is good enough right now to do the same.
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Absolutely agree hound.
Without criticising Jay’s endeavours, he’s not yet confident enough (in my opinion) in his own strengths at his position to be able to ‘progress’ at this stage to become a confident ball carrying centre back that we witnessed O’Riordan had.
As I said in an earlier thread, we can only assume Grant is looking for such a centre back.
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Just contrasting barnsley’s efforts in this first half against a very strong Liverpool team to ours on Saturday and its night and day. They’ve been everything that we weren’t - strong, organised, aggressive, brave in possession. Obviously they aren’t exactly having a great season themselves but it’s everything we weren’t, which is worrying.
Keillor-Dunn is a proper centre forward at our level.
Wish we had someone like him.
Mansfield signed him for about £100k in January 2023 from Burton.
We signed Caolan Lavery on a free to replace the recently retired Lee Tomlin.
I suggested him when he was at Oldham. Him and Piergianni were there at the same time, both obvious top end L1 players available for nothing.
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McGrath did exactly the same pass earlier in the season which cost us a goal as Broadbent made a mistake I think. Pretty much the only option to the midfielder is a pass back to the keeper given the intense pressure so why give the pass. Why the risk for little gain.
His passing is that of a player who just wants to get rid of the ball, either a short pass to anyone regardless of their situation or a long diagonal punt that looks impressive but almost always just hands possession back to the opposition.
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We often tend to play each other into trouble. Sometimes a pass goes to a teammate who has two players on him, as though there is no other option available. This is potentially suicidal, especially when done from the back.
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Absolutely agree hound.
Without criticising Jay’s endeavours, he’s not yet confident enough (in my opinion) in his own strengths at his position to be able to ‘progress’ at this stage to become a confident ball carrying centre back that we witnessed O’Riordan had.
As I said in an earlier thread, we can only assume Grant is looking for such a centre back.
I think that's a fair assessment and we must remember he's a young lad where he still needs some nurturing. Some of the criticism is a bit harsh however, he's one of a few players who's mistakes have been punished.
I still think he has the potential to progress even more than Joe Wright for example, who was also young and prone to errors of judgement (as well as blighter with injury).
Jay could certainly thrive with an older head alongside, although Pearson doesn't seem to have those leadership/mentor qualities we've had in Wood, Anderson, Butler, Jones etc.
Jay's positioning and decision making is questionable but that's symptomatic of a back line which isn't always on the same page. That said, the defensive performance v Bolton recently was very good so we need more of those please.
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To add to the above, I’m hoping some verbals from our new keeper will help those in front of him!
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Absolutely agree hound.
Without criticising Jay’s endeavours, he’s not yet confident enough (in my opinion) in his own strengths at his position to be able to ‘progress’ at this stage to become a confident ball carrying centre back that we witnessed O’Riordan had.
As I said in an earlier thread, we can only assume Grant is looking for such a centre back.
I think that's a fair assessment and we must remember he's a young lad where he still needs some nurturing. Some of the criticism is a bit harsh however, he's one of a few players who's mistakes have been punished.
I still think he has the potential to progress even more than Joe Wright for example, who was also young and prone to errors of judgement (as well as blighter with injury).
Jay could certainly thrive with an older head alongside, although Pearson doesn't seem to have those leadership/mentor qualities we've had in Wood, Anderson, Butler, Jones etc.
Jay's positioning and decision making is questionable but that's symptomatic of a back line which isn't always on the same page. That said, the defensive performance v Bolton recently was very good so we need more of those please.
I think this is fair comment DBR and mine are borne of frustration at his persistence with the same wasteful passing choices, evidently unwilling or unable to learn. Nevertheless, I do agree he should be given the opportunity to continue his development and hopefully become the CB that we all would like in our team.
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Can’t dispute some of the short passes have been shocking but just to caveat it he has played some amazing long balls