Have the wheels come off!!!

[Copps is Magic]

Having the two central defenders back would help also. This is not the time to be nursing niggling injuries and watching pointless. Inject them with steroids.

....and get players banned!

I'm not about about illegal drugs, I'm on about those drugs that trick the brain into thinking pain doesn't exist.

Whatever the weather, they need injecting with something. That much is clear.

[Campsall rover]

Well I was there and we were better than Carlisle apart from about 20 mins. Where we lacked was in poor finishing and if we had gone 2/3 nil up as we should have it would have been game set and match.
They scored there confidence was boosted and they battled hard to stay in front. 2nd goal unfortunate.
I do think the Battle of Newport took it out of them to a degree as it was a bruising encounter.
There is as usual the knee jerk reactions to a defeat.
We haven't lost 2 on the bounce all season. If it stays that way we will be fine. If we lose the next 2 then I will be worried.

[idler]

Plymouth fans are probably running a similar thread as well.
How sick must they be?
There was a chance to put real pressure on us and up their goal difference but they blew it big style.

[ballysbackin]

Agreed and do not forget that Ryan Donaldson states that everybody sees them as a big scalp - They are very important you know.(Sounds a bit like that load in West Riding)

[Campsall rover]

Well they ar the biggest club in Devon aren't they.

[i_ateallthepies]

After the first five minutes when we barely touched the ball we started playing and dominated play but missed three or four openings.  They scored on 35 minutes and we couldn't get going after that, couldn't win headers and could barely complete a pass.

And mine isn't a knee-jerk reaction, it isn't any kind of reaction other than to disagree with the opinions of some about what happened in the game.

[ballysbackin]

Well they ar the biggest club in Devon aren't they.

Yes they very well could be 

[Bentley Bullet]

To answer the thread title "have the wheels come off", the answer is yes.

Hopefully, though, unlike last season they'll be able to put the buggers back on.

[idler]

In F1 they are pretty good at it.
They might be loose rather than come off though.

[ravenrover]

People start worrying when it becomes 2 point out of 15 or 18 Win on Saturday and everything is hunky dory

[drfchound]

You would not believe how many of my customers have opened conversations with me this week with "what's happened to the Rovers then?".

[Bentley Bullet]

In F1 they are pretty good at it.
They might be loose rather than come off though.

Let's hope Rovers don't have too long a pit stop.

[DRFC-Hanksie]

Don't think they've come off, a bit of a blip - yes. Service is resumed on Saturday, COYR!

[Copps is Magic]

People start worrying when it becomes 2 point out of 15 or 18 Win on Saturday and everything is hunky dory

And that's why we need to start worrying. We could have a much better record than that (8/9 points from 18) and the likelihood would be we wouldn't get promoted.

[idler]

You can be aware of a problem and try to fix it without being worried.
All sides have blips we just need to make sure that this is a small one.

[Copps is Magic]

I'm not worried at this point Idler in all honesty, I just don't want anyone at the club to get complacent. The way everyone came out after the Newport game and said 'brilliant point' shows me there's a risk they might be.

[Dutch Uncle]

People start worrying when it becomes 2 point out of 15 or 18 Win on Saturday and everything is hunky dory

And that's why we need to start worrying. We could have a much better record than that (8/9 points from 18) and the likelihood would be we wouldn't get promoted.

Sorry CiM, bit I think that is overly pessimistic.

In your worst case of getting 8 out of 18 points, given we have 2 from 9 would mean 6 from the next 9 points

That equates to 69 points after 34 games.

85 points has never failed for promotion, and a lower total is likely to be required this year. How you can call 69 points from 34 games as a 'likelihood we wouldn't get promoted' (i.e. less than 50% chance) I don't know. We would need max 16 points from 12 games, maybe only 12 points. And after Plymouth two teams would need to average over two points a game to catch us.

Where is BST when you most need him.

[Dutch Uncle]

I'm not worried at this point Idler in all honesty, I just don't want anyone at the club to get complacent. The way everyone came out after the Newport game and said 'brilliant point' shows me there's a risk they might be.

I don't take that as complacency. Confidence is important, and I take that as a public statement of confidence. I wouldn't want players to get nervous and play too safe - that is not how we got here. I know there might sometimes be a fine line between confidence and complacency, but behind closed doors I am sure very different things are being said to players.

[Herbert Anchovy]

Don't worry - we'll be absolutely fine! Supporting the Rovers is never, ever easy or straightforward and does nothing for the nervous system, however we're still in a strong position. Saying that though, there doesn't seem to have been too many seasons of 'mid season mediocrity' for the Rovers over recent years. It may be the years playing tricks on me but back in the day I seem to recall that our season was usually over by November!

[Bentley Bullet]

I reckon you hit the nail on the head when you mention 'playing too safe', Dutch. It seems to me that we've already started doing that. DF mentioned a few games ago that the team must learn how to hold on to a lead by playing safe and not allowing opponents back in the game.

The problem now is they're not taking the lead in order that they have a lead to hold on to! The team are playing too safe from the start, and although they have improved defensively, it is at the expense of making quick attacking moves.

They played the entire Morecambe game in one gear because of this.