Churlish to criticise after a win...

[BillyStubbsTears]

...but that first 30 mins of the second half is the most witless performance against 10 men I've seen since Oakwell in 2008.

5 year olds know how to play against 10 men. Keep possession. Move the ball quickly across field. Crisp passes. Make them work. Keep a high tempo but KEEP POSSESSION. Probe for gaps. Make them work hard to fill them. And BE PATIENT.

What did we do? Ponderous passing in the centre circle. Then a Hail Mary pass in the general direction of John Marquis.

We got lucky in the end and we actually did start doing the right stuff after we scored. But Christ up above, that first 30 mins of the second half was grim.

[i_ateallthepies]

Don't phone Praise or Grumble then BST, we've just had a Rover on and he got ridiculed for grumbling after a win.

[GazLaz]

We were poor, Kongolo hasn’t got the tactical awareness to play centre midfield at this level, Whiteman is much better.

We missed a lot of clear chances in the second half, Williams changed the game when he came on I thought.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Williams changed the game? You mean he lulled the defenders into a false sense of security by being his usual self?

[GazLaz]

Williams changed the game? You mean he lulled the defenders into a false sense of security by being his usual self?

He looked 10 times more likely to score then John.

[Chris Black come back]

Very good three points as that is usually a game you would expect this lot to concede a last mintute equaliser. Maybe something has changed? We shall see.

[Donny Dub]

Our general play defensively and midfield was a massive improvement on recent displays.  Cops is a gem of a player, he’s irreplaceable.  Our goal threat is pathetic, Marquis is not a footballer, he can’t pass or control the ball, he looks so awkward and he spilled a couple or three decent chances today.  He falls down so easily puts his arms out looking for a free kick.  Though, to be fair to him, one of his falling over tactics led to Bury having a player sent off and nearly a penalty for us when it looked easier for him to score.  Williams on for second half was good, two strong shots outside the area and very nearly slid one in from a good Kongolo pass.
Good luck.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Marquis had run his blood to water on his own up front. Williams did his usual job of getting in the right position and missing the target. That lob over the keeper was bordering on pathetic.

[bobjimwilly]

Marquis had run his blood to water on his own up front. Williams did his usual job of getting in the right position and missing the target.

Been saying it all season. You can see why Fergie wanted rid.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Still. It's 3 points. I'll take an ugly win over a pretty defeat. Not sure we'd have beaten anyone outside the bottom 2 with that performance though.

[GazLaz]

Marquis had run his blood to water on his own up front. Williams did his usual job of getting in the right position and missing the target. That lob over the keeper was bordering on pathetic.

Marquis was poor. No quality at all. Williams, if he keeps getting in those positions will score plenty. His movement is good and he takes up goal scoring position. The lob was badly executed, but the right idea. The one that went over the bar from 6 yards was the one! He’s proven over his career he is more than capable of taking these chances. Has to play.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Gaz. Have you been watching him for the past 2 years? He misses chances like those week after week after week.

[steve@dcfd]

Marquis had run his blood to water on his own up front. Williams did his usual job of getting in the right position and missing the target. That lob over the keeper was bordering on pathetic.

Marquis was poor. No quality at all. Williams, if he keeps getting in those positions will score plenty. His movement is good and he takes up goal scoring position. The lob was badly executed, but the right idea. The one that went over the bar from 6 yards was the one! He’s proven over his career he is more than capable of taking these chances. Has to play.

But if he has play it must be with another striker. Last season Williams and Marquis were the best partnership yet they have not played together for varying reason this season.

[IDM]

Marquis had run his blood to water on his own up front. Williams did his usual job of getting in the right position and missing the target. That lob over the keeper was bordering on pathetic.

Marquis was poor. No quality at all. Williams, if he keeps getting in those positions will score plenty. His movement is good and he takes up goal scoring position. The lob was badly executed, but the right idea. The one that went over the bar from 6 yards was the one! He’s proven over his career he is more than capable of taking these chances. Has to play.

But if he has play it must be with another striker. Last season Williams and Marquis were the best partnership yet they have not played together for varying reason this season.

I would like to see them play together and see where it goes.. Maybe they bring the best out in each other..

I don't care if Williams misses loads, as long as in the long term he scores them too.. What's his goals per game record at Doncaster??

Any win is a good win when you're in the wrong half of the table..

[GazLaz]

Gaz. Have you been watching him for the past 2 years? He misses chances like those week after week after week.

Billy, he averages a goal every three starts for us over his time here and the same ratio over his career. He would do the same if he started every game this season. He’s our only proven goalscorer at this level. Is he a world beater? Obviously not but he will score goals given the chance.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

As much as Williams is frustrating to watch he can't be any worse than Marquis is right now. Don't always listen to Mickey Walker but he acknowledged that Williams was putting himself in the right positions.

All Marquis is contributing each game is a booking!

[steve@dcfd]

To play two strikers, when you have three defenders and  two wing backs it only leaves three midfield players one defensive and two others. Not enough creativity. Even today we got the goal when bringing on the extra striker and midfield player BST said the first 30 mins of the second half was dire.

[mrfrostsdad]

The only thing that matters about today's game is we won.
We'd have been right up shite creek without a paddle if we'd lost

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The Rotherham game could be a turning point. Clean slate. Best players available on the pitch including both strikers and no pre-planned subs i.e. Copps or Baudry!

[DonnyOsmond]

Mandeville apparently spat his dummy out because he wasn't in the first eleven so got dropped completely from the squad.

[RoversAlias]

We are missing May up front. I'm not going to moan when we've won, but his dynamic energy gives us something the other three don't have. Williams got into great positions today but his finishing was woeful. He missed a two yard open goal, then followed that up with a terrible lob. Good movement, awful finishing and strikers live and die on their ability to finish.

[acko]

They say league table dont lie but if you add the 3 points we had in the bag at Rochdale,the 1 point against Shrewsbury again in the last minute.letting Northampton score whilst the Rovers were still warming up.We would be in a very healthy position pushing for play offs.At the moment they are finding it hard to put in a performance like all teams at the bottom end of table.

[BigH]

I thought we played with a bit more resolve today. Much better than last week. They had their chances but I didn't feel as if we were about to give a soft goal away which I can't say has been the case in recent matches. Credit where it's due, DF took a bold line with his substitutions and they paid off.

An absolutely cracking result; it's early in the season but this was a real 6-pointer. Particularly good as there is a real lack of experience in this side and the youngsters are having to do a lot of figuring out for themselves. I'm not that surprised that young Kongolo is struggling. I think he needs to gain a bit of experience playing alongside a lower league midfield mester who's seen it all before. At this rate, I can see him going back to City sooner rather than later.

We have a problem up front. Marquis and Williams are both struggling for confidence and, if I'm being honest, don't seem good enough for this level at the minute. But they're all we've got so it's down to everyone - including the fans - to coax them along and not be over critical. At least Whiteman knows where the goal is. Fingers crossed we get to keep him for the whole season. 

[anne honemous]

All we can do is beat what's infront of us and that's what we did today.

So I'm just happy with that and it moves us closer towards mid-table security.

I'm not going to moan as there's been plenty of times already this season where we've had similar games, but been on the wrong end of the scoreline.

A win is a win.

Of course there's room for improvement, but at least we're beginning to find some sort of consistency with our results.

 

[BillyStubbsTears]

Anyone who thought Williams contributed more than Marquis today was watching a different game to me.

Marquis did a lot of the ugly stuff firvthe first hour, with dreadful service and very little support from the midfield. Williams got into position 3 times against tiring defenders and fluffed his lines. Other than that, he contributed precious little. As he tends to do.

[GazLaz]

Anyone who thought Williams contributed more than Marquis today was watching a different game to me.

Marquis did a lot of the ugly stuff firvthe first hour, with dreadful service and very little support from the midfield. Williams got into position 3 times against tiring defenders and fluffed his lines. Other than that, he contributed precious little. As he tends to do.

That’s a big part of what being a good striker involves, taking up good positions and the movement involved in finding these good positions. Yes he missed his chances, as all our frontmen have done too much this season, but it’s his ability to find space and his movement that gets them. I think him and Marquis are a good pairing. They offer different things. Marquis is too interested in buying free kicks at times I think. It’s a great ability to have at times but he goes to the well too often with it and it distracts him from actually playing with the ball. 

[bpoolrover]

Williams did alright today yes missed chances but as has been said at least he got it them, kongolo on the other hand!

[keith79]

Williams with a run of 5/6 games will score goals I have no doubt about that.

[the vicar]

right let's start with the thing about 10 men it is harder to play against 10 men has is always the case as they pack there defence as they did, YES we did miss a few NS YES Williams did miss an open goal but  HE HAS NOT PLAYED IN AGES AND WAS A BIT RUSTY you cant come strait in as a sub after so long out and start strait away, but he did more in 20/25 mins he was on than Marquis did in 3/4 games

[BillyStubbsTears]

Gaz

The Scunthorpe performance (sic) was, I think, the end of Ferguson's patience with Williams. That was a shocking display. One all too similar to a lot over the previous 18 months. He's barely been in the squad since and understandably so. Today, he's had chances to redeem himself and force his way back in to the reckoning. He fluffed his chances.

Yes, you shouldn't judge a striker on single chances. But it's not a single chance. It's the best part of 12 months of similar.