Mitchell’s distribution

[ncRover]

I’m not singling him out SS, a few were poorer than him today.

Big H. You make a point. But none of that would have mattered had Mitchell caught the ball.

He makes some good saves, but who would offer him a contract renewal?

[drfchound]

Mitchell had kept us in the game up to the goal.
If he hadn’t done so it could easily have been three or four nil and three sides of the ground would have been almost empty.

[BigH]

I’m not singling him out SS, a few were poorer than him today.

Big H. You make a point. But none of that would have mattered had Mitchell caught the ball.

He makes some good saves, but who would offer him a contract renewal?

Agree nc that Mitchell was at fault. Should at least have punched the ball away. Totally missed it.

Every team in this division knows that, at a corner, rushing Mitchell with two attackers will ruffle him. It's been apparent since we signed him. Point is to try and protect him. There was none of that in that move.

[Campsall rover]

The fact is Mitchell has turned out to be a very good goal keeper.

He made 2 fantastic saves today one looked world class from where i was sat. The one down to Mitchell’s left bottom corner.
If Gordon Banks had made that save it then it would be replayed over and over again.
( There again it would have been a bit of a miracle as he passed away some years ago. )

Mitchell just lets himself down with some of his crazy distribution.
He must be getting told to play it out short or just kick it onto space. Three times he did the same thing and the ball went straight to Clayton  twice and to another player once and we were immediately on the back foot again.
The tactics are quite crazy. If this is modern day possession football then it is flawed. 100% flawed at league 2 level. They don’t get it right in the Premier league so what hope is there at 4th tier level.

[robchester]

Great shot stopper awful distributor

[Filo]

The fact is Mitchell has turned out to be a very good goal keeper.

He made 2 fantastic saves today one looked world class from where i was sat. The one down to Mitchell’s left bottom corner.
If Gordon Banks had made that save it then it would be replayed over and over again.
( There again it would have been a bit of a miracle as he passed away some years ago. )

Mitchell just lets himself down with some of his crazy distribution.
He must be getting told to play it out short or just kick it onto space. Three times he did the same thing and the ball went straight to Clayton  twice and to another player once and we were immediately on the back foot again.
The tactics are quite crazy. If this is modern day possession football then it is flawed. 100% flawed at league 2 level. They don’t get it right in the Premier league so what hope is there at 4th tier level.

Towards the end of the first half one of our backroom staff was pointing at his watch and telling him to go long, as if to say nearly half time don’t f**k it up now

[drfchound]

The fact is Mitchell has turned out to be a very good goal keeper.

He made 2 fantastic saves today one looked world class from where i was sat. The one down to Mitchell’s left bottom corner.
If Gordon Banks had made that save it then it would be replayed over and over again.
( There again it would have been a bit of a miracle as he passed away some years ago. )

Mitchell just lets himself down with some of his crazy distribution.
He must be getting told to play it out short or just kick it onto space. Three times he did the same thing and the ball went straight to Clayton  twice and to another player once and we were immediately on the back foot again.
The tactics are quite crazy. If this is modern day possession football then it is flawed. 100% flawed at league 2 level. They don’t get it right in the Premier league so what hope is there at 4th tier level.

Towards the end of the first half one of our backroom staff was pointing at his watch and telling him to go long, as if to say nearly half time don’t f**k it up now

Or alternatively, go long because we have no idea how to beat the Bradford press.
Whenever we had a goal kick Bradford had a minimum of 8 players in our half and often they had ten players there.
There was one time that we had a throw in down in the SW corner and every outfield player on the pitch was within 35 yards of the thrower.
We had no answer to their tactics today.

[Filo]

The fact is Mitchell has turned out to be a very good goal keeper.

He made 2 fantastic saves today one looked world class from where i was sat. The one down to Mitchell’s left bottom corner.
If Gordon Banks had made that save it then it would be replayed over and over again.
( There again it would have been a bit of a miracle as he passed away some years ago. )

Mitchell just lets himself down with some of his crazy distribution.
He must be getting told to play it out short or just kick it onto space. Three times he did the same thing and the ball went straight to Clayton  twice and to another player once and we were immediately on the back foot again.
The tactics are quite crazy. If this is modern day possession football then it is flawed. 100% flawed at league 2 level. They don’t get it right in the Premier league so what hope is there at 4th tier level.

Towards the end of the first half one of our backroom staff was pointing at his watch and telling him to go long, as if to say nearly half time don’t f**k it up now

Or alternatively, go long because we have no idea how to beat the Bradford press.
Whenever we had a goal kick Bradford had a minimum of 8 players in our half and often they had ten players there.
There was one time that we had a throw in down in the SW corner and every outfield player on the pitch was within 35 yards of the thrower.
We had no answer to their tactics today.

I’d accept that alternative if he wasn’t pointing at his watch, it was like they knew a bollock was coming and didn’t want to concede before half time

[ncRover]

Mitchell had kept us in the game up to the goal.
If he hadn’t done so it could easily have been three or four nil and three sides of the ground would have been almost empty.

1 save was brilliant. 1 error balanced it out. Meanwhile his kicking was infuriating.

[drfchound]

The fact is Mitchell has turned out to be a very good goal keeper.

He made 2 fantastic saves today one looked world class from where i was sat. The one down to Mitchell’s left bottom corner.
If Gordon Banks had made that save it then it would be replayed over and over again.
( There again it would have been a bit of a miracle as he passed away some years ago. )

Mitchell just lets himself down with some of his crazy distribution.
He must be getting told to play it out short or just kick it onto space. Three times he did the same thing and the ball went straight to Clayton  twice and to another player once and we were immediately on the back foot again.
The tactics are quite crazy. If this is modern day possession football then it is flawed. 100% flawed at league 2 level. They don’t get it right in the Premier league so what hope is there at 4th tier level.

Towards the end of the first half one of our backroom staff was pointing at his watch and telling him to go long, as if to say nearly half time don’t f**k it up now

Or alternatively, go long because we have no idea how to beat the Bradford press.
Whenever we had a goal kick Bradford had a minimum of 8 players in our half and often they had ten players there.
There was one time that we had a throw in down in the SW corner and every outfield player on the pitch was within 35 yards of the thrower.
We had no answer to their tactics today.

I’d accept that alternative if he wasn’t pointing at his watch, it was like they knew a bollock was coming and didn’t want to concede before half time

Yeah, I did see that watch pointing thing and you may well be right.
Then again he might have been passing on some second hand information.

[drfchound]

Mitchell had kept us in the game up to the goal.
If he hadn’t done so it could easily have been three or four nil and three sides of the ground would have been almost empty.

1 save was brilliant. 1 error balanced it out. Meanwhile his kicking was infuriating.

He made a fantastic double save in the first half and two exceptional ones in the second half.

[Branton Red]

Comfortably Man of the Match in spite of his faults with the goal.

He made some excellent saves. If it weren't for him Rovers would have been on the end of a thoroughly deserved pasting of a score line.

[Bentley Bullet]

I seem to remember Neil Sullivan's kicking being pretty shite for us but back then we had far more energetic players willing to give chase and retrieve the situation.

It's much MUCH more difficult for Mitchell now having a team that play like slugs on valium.

[ncRover]

Mitchell had kept us in the game up to the goal.
If he hadn’t done so it could easily have been three or four nil and three sides of the ground would have been almost empty.

1 save was brilliant. 1 error balanced it out. Meanwhile his kicking was infuriating.

He made a fantastic double save in the first half and two exceptional ones in the second half.

I forgot that, fair enough

[mushRTID]

I can’t watch him any more, he absolutely infuriates me.

Iv seen a video of the goal from the Bradford end and it’s not even goalkeeping, it was beyond pathetic.

I do accept he made some saves but when people say “he kept us in it”, that is his job you know. Most of these saves any other competent goalkeepers would save. He’s not doing anything other goalkeepers wouldnt.

[drfc1951]

Where were our centre halves for Bradfords goal?

[sedwardsdrfc]

Also as a fan there’s no point Mitchell making world class saves then giving away soft goals.

I can accept losing to chances created by the opposition which must be decent if the keeper has to make a worldie to stop them. But doing that all game is pointless if we give them a goal they didn’t even have to work for

[CJK]

I think a lot of the issues with distribution lie with what has he got to aim at upfield? There is literally nobody in midfield or attack who I'd back to win a header. There's no target man. So when Mitchell is forced to go long, what's he got to aim at? What are the chance we'll win the ball? It's a really big problem.

Bradford showed you don't need to be neat and tidy in this league. You need to be direct, solid defensively and a target man up top. They were a nothing side and Hughes is no mastermind for how he has them set up and playing.

[ncRover]

I think a lot of the issues with distribution lie with what has he got to aim at upfield? There is literally nobody in midfield or attack who I'd back to win a header. There's no target man. So when Mitchell is forced to go long, what's he got to aim at? What are the chance we'll win the ball? It's a really big problem.

Bradford showed you don't need to be neat and tidy in this league. You need to be direct, solid defensively and a target man up top. They were a nothing side and Hughes is no mastermind for how he has them set up and playing.

I think this system can work, It is just crying out for a Chris Brown style striker and a quick thinking GK who can distribute quickly.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Even with no target up top the safe way to restart is to send it high and wide to the touch line. Ok we won’t win the 1st ball but we can make it hard for them to get a free header then we play from the second ball.

I like that we try play out but we need to mix it up. In the 1st half we mixed it up and played in their half a bit more.

[drfchound]

I can’t watch him any more, he absolutely infuriates me.

Iv seen a video of the goal from the Bradford end and it’s not even goalkeeping, it was beyond pathetic.

I do accept he made some saves but when people say “he kept us in it”, that is his job you know. Most of these saves any other competent goalkeepers would save. He’s not doing anything other goalkeepers wouldnt.

Mush, all keepers make mistakes that end up with a goal being conceded, it goes with the job just as much as making saves does.

[Campsall rover]

Where were our centre backs someone said.
I can’t remember Olowu winning any headers yesterday.
Thought he had a poor game. He had been excellent since he returned to the team but really struggled yesterday. Big Tom i thought had a good game. Nelson shows promise but does give ball away trying to play too much at times.

[Filo]

Where were our centre backs someone said.
I can’t remember Olowu winning any headers yesterday.
Thought he had a poor game. He had been excellent since he returned to the team but really struggled yesterday. Big Tom i thought had a good game. Nelson shows promise but does give ball away trying to play too much at times.

Tom was lucky to be still on the pitch after his lunge on Clayton, mind when Clayton got yellow carded after 10 mins I said surely he can’t go another 80 mins without risking another yellow, we should have been in his face after that, but we’re too nice aren’t we

[Chris Black come back]

If we think of the alternative, a keeper even accurately hammering a ball upfield in the hope of the central striker trapping and distributing the ball, isn’t the most effective way of winning or retaining possession. Taking the ball out yourself from the back is far more likely to result in ball retention in the opposition half.

Granted we can at times lose this as we play out, but is it any worse than knocking it long to the big guy? Maybe we lose possession further up the pitch, but we still lose possession.

Perhaps the solution is to try and get it out by playing faster from the back. It doesn’t need to be done at snail pace.

[Padge_DRFC]

Up to their goal he was MOM. The save to his left 9 times out of 10 that goes in. It's a great save.

[sedwardsdrfc]

If we think of the alternative, a keeper even accurately hammering a ball upfield in the hope of the central striker trapping and distributing the ball, isn’t the most effective way of winning or retaining possession. Taking the ball out yourself from the back is far more likely to result in ball retention in the opposition half.

Granted we can at times lose this as we play out, but is it any worse than knocking it long to the big guy? Maybe we lose possession further up the pitch, but we still lose possession.

Perhaps the solution is to try and get it out by playing faster from the back. It doesn’t need to be done at snail pace.

In theory your right but reality is it ends up with us having a throw in in our own half or worse.

Go long and compete properly for the second ball dandy we can play in the opposition half. This is exactly what happened when we went long in the 1st half

[Campsall rover]

If we think of the alternative, a keeper even accurately hammering a ball upfield in the hope of the central striker trapping and distributing the ball, isn’t the most effective way of winning or retaining possession. Taking the ball out yourself from the back is far more likely to result in ball retention in the opposition half.

Granted we can at times lose this as we play out, but is it any worse than knocking it long to the big guy? Maybe we lose possession further up the pitch, but we still lose possession.

Perhaps the solution is to try and get it out by playing faster from the back. It doesn’t need to be done at snail pace.

If we play it long from goal kicks it’s all about winning second balls. Yes Miller is not a big target man so won’t win many high balls played to him. What we need to do is win those second balls that come from the oppositions centre backs. We then can build attacks from higher up the pitch.
We were struggling to get anywhere near the half way line playing out from the back yesterday before losing possession.
Bradford had us in their pockets. We were so obvious and far too slow. It doesn’t work. Our players are not good enough to beat a high press. If DS can’t see it then we’re in trouble. Premier league players mess it up so what makes him think this group of League 2 players can play it.  Madness, Stupidity, stubbiness & even insanity are 4 words that come to mind.

Forget the coaching manuals and play effective attacking League 2 football.  Ask Dave Penney how to do it.
Oh for having a team like that 03/04 team right now. Players with steel at the back, ball winners in midfield,   pace and skill out wide, goal scorers up front and a team with a never say die attitude, and a winning mentality.

Oh I must have been dreaming, just woken up to the reality of 2022/23 
Well there is always next season.   

It’s along time since I have been so depressed after a match.  We had a massive opportunity yesterday against a fairly ave Bradford team and we completely blew it. 
I just can’t see how the season has got any legs left for us now. We need a miracle. Don’t see one happening.

[Lesonthewest]

Where were our centre backs someone said.
I can’t remember Olowu winning any headers yesterday.
Thought he had a poor game. He had been excellent since he returned to the team but really struggled yesterday. Big Tom i thought had a good game. Nelson shows promise but does give ball away trying to play too much at times.

Tom was lucky to be still on the pitch after his lunge on Clayton, mind when Clayton got yellow carded after 10 mins I said surely he can’t go another 80 mins without risking another yellow, we should have been in his face after that, but we’re too nice aren’t we

We have seen this season that Clayton can't cope with a player in his face, he's too slow & gets caught in possession, so what did we do? stood off him, let him play & influence the game. We should have been in his face all the more after his booking. I honestly don't know the manager is thinking sometimes.

[Chris Black come back]

It’s worked the best under Schofield when the full backs press on hard and interplay with the midfield. I can’t think of too many times yesterday where Rowe or Brown really got beyond our midfield. Instead it was painfully slow from the back and then asking Hurst in particular to perform wonders by dribbling round the 8 Bradford City players who had by now got behind the ball.

[no eyed deer]

Great shot stopper awful distributor

And add awful decisions making. He has made some great saves but that is far outnumbered by errors.