Terrible

[Alan Southstand]

One thing’s for sure, despite all the protestations, if we don’t start picking up a few wins in the next few games then we’re down in the NL, like it or not, that is a very real outcome.

I don’t think this squad has the mental resilience for a protracted dogfight!

We are very, very close to the unthinkable!

[andyst79]

The manager talks about a lack of urgency in the team and Close is the worst for this . Just seems to want to play the game at a canter, anyone can look tidy in possession knocking 10 yard passes sideways and backwards.
 

[Filo]

One thing’s for sure, despite all the protestations, if we don’t start picking up a few wins in the next few games then we’re down in the NL, like it or not, that is a very real outcome.

I don’t think this squad has the mental resilience for a protracted dogfight!

We are very, very close to the unthinkable!

Couldn’t agree more, points are more important than performances right now, we seem to be sleepwalking towards relegation

[donnybez]

Everytime I see comments about how bad performances are I have to ask...


...were none of you there last season?! These performances aren't by any means acceptable but lets get real for a moment - 2nd half of last season was absolutely disgustingly bad, saved only by Gary McS' run at the start of the season!

We are attacking, putting balls in, and having attempts on goal - last season I dreamed we could have a couple of shots within the same game!

This is by no means acceptable - but given how low we were last season 2nd half with 6 wins in 22 games, I think we have to manage our expectations and accept we aren't the SOD or McCann sides of old : we are poor and we trying to turn a great big stinking tanker 180 degrees whilst lumbered with a number of individuals who are partially responsible for this predicament.

[Reg of the Rovers]

I don't think many of us realised how much time and effort it would take to shift the rot.

I'd assumed Grant would be a breath of fresh air, changing culture, tactics and personnel and we'd see the impact of that overnight. We've had half a season and it's been very small shoots of growth, but I'd say we are slightly better - each step is a step in the right direction - it's just our starting point is so desperately low that it's slow going!

Grant is the man for the job (in my view) and the Jan recruitment, plus the return to 433 will help that gradual improvement. We won't go down, we need to keep Grant, keep up the investment, and keep dragging ourselves slowly out of the shite!

[ncRover]

In reply to you dickos, I will echo what andy has said above.

Yes Close is a good player. If he goes somewhere else, is happy there, plays well and contributes to success then good for him. It hasn’t worked out here. He is replaceable.

Westbrooke gets about the pitch more and has a gusto and more positivity about his play and attitude than Close.

I’d rather get a good footballer to play alongside Zain in the summer.

We need to get rid the serial losers of the last few years (Molyneux, Biggins, Olowu, Rowe, Anderson) and have an optimistic fresh start. Or they will hang over the rest of the squad like spectres.

[Chris Black come back]

Close, Biggins, Rowe, Ravenhill and Westbrooke all out of contract this summer.

[Filo]

Close, Biggins, Rowe, Ravenhill and Westbrooke all out of contract this summer.

I’d be giving Close and Westbrooke (fitness pending) a contract, the rest can go for me

[BillyStubbsTears]

We've won 28 points this season.

21 of those came in 12 games when both Westbrooke and Close have played.

7 came in the other 15 when one of both of them were missing.

Just saying...

[ncRover]

We've won 28 points this season.

21 of those came in 12 games when both Westbrooke and Close have played.

7 came in the other 15 when one of both of them were missing.

Just saying...

they both came in to the side at the same time, it's westbrooke getting injured that killed us

over the last 18 months in this division i have seen us play against many midfielders that have the technical ability of Close but are either more athletic or have more steel about them

you say it like it's either ben close or a downgrade in the summer

[Jonathan]

Close is a decent footballer and in the absence of Westbrooke he’s probably the best we have, but his limitations can really stand out when we are struggling.

Stick him in a good team with lots of positive and intelligent movement off the ball, and others around him that can both receive and recover possession, and you’d have a really good player. But if we are expecting him to consistently grab games by the scruff of the neck and make up for the deficiencies of those around him then you’ll likely end up as frustrated as we have been at times.

I think it’s true that we could struggle to replace him with a better footballer, but with the money he’s on I hold out hope that we could get a more effective option for the level we find ourselves at.

It probably does come down to poor recruitment and strategic planning again. We’re caught somewhere between where we seemed to want to be when we appointed Wellens, where we tried to get to again when we appointed Schofield, and where we actually are. McSheffrey wanted to take us a different way and make us more robust and hard to beat, I understand he actually tried to change the culture towards that and was pulled up on it, so we pulled the trigger (again) in no man’s land. Schofield was to be the new SO’D but without the experience, structure or resources (or time) to make any tangible progress so we went another way again with McCann.

We now have the best manager we could realistically hope to have, and he wants his own way of playing that I do believe will see us pick up significantly, as long as we give him time and he gives us time in return. But he’s playing catch up after inheriting a squad really lacking in direction and identity, and although when you count the loans he’s brought a good number of players in, we have to be realistic that it’ll take more then two transfer windows to fix that.

Right now we’re neither one thing nor the other and we haven’t been for some time. We’re not strong enough to bully opponents, quick enough to overrun them and we’re not good enough to ‘out-football’ them. I genuinely see green shoots in the performance level this season but results are lagging and we just need to be patient and realistic.

Ben Close is a great micro-example of a confused club. A good player in his own right but not the most effective for this situation.

[Upton Rover]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

Why do you think we should have won at Harrogate? We had 2 shots on target, and they scored 3 goals, we are playing shocking football and you can’t keep on defending it.

[drfchound]

One thing’s for sure, despite all the protestations, if we don’t start picking up a few wins in the next few games then we’re down in the NL, like it or not, that is a very real outcome.

I don’t think this squad has the mental resilience for a protracted dogfight!

We are very, very close to the unthinkable!

Couldn’t agree more, points are more important than performances right now, we seem to be sleepwalking towards relegation

Agreed.
I have been saying we are heading for the NL for over two years.
The club needs to realise this.

[monkeytennis]

We are heading for (at best) a third season in the lowest tier of the EFL. I said when we went down there’s no bouncing straight back up here and I’m sad to say I might have been optimistic.

[Lesonthewest]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

We were second best at Harrogate. We didn’t deserve to win.

I think for 65 mins we were the better side.
Even weaver stated that in his press conference.

There was no way we were the better side for 65 minutes, not a prayer. They were on top up their first, we controlled it after we equalised & for 15 minutes into the 2nd half. That's far from 65 minutes really. We went down in the last 20 with a whimper

[Lesonthewest]

Don’t be daft
Newports midfield was very poor, close would walk into there as woukd westbrooke, the new lad craig will end up being a very good player

Let me rephrase that, none of the midfield that played against Newport would have got in their side, that better. All of them were awful & offered nothing, Close was totally anonymous 2nd half. Says it all regarding how far away we are from being  a good side.

[dickos1]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

Why do you think we should have won at Harrogate? We had 2 shots on target, and they scored 3 goals, we are playing shocking football and you can’t keep on defending it.

Because we missed numerous chances at 1-1 and we’re also comfortably the better side for 65 mins

[Donnywolf]

Yes that ...

Even I can remember the left foot Moly volley right at start of 2nd Half , the one he scraped the left hand post with and the Faal header 6 yards out ....

I'm stupid in retrospect because as soon as we pulled it back to 1-1 I was confident there was only going to be one winner

Unfortunately 2 bad passes ( let's make that terrible to go with Threads title) and we were done for

Similarly Newport offered just one effort on goal whereas we had "some" chances to make a Goal change a game and failed

[BillyStubbsTears]

Yes that ...

Even I can remember the left foot Moly volley right at start of 2nd Half , the one he scraped the left hand post with and the Faal header 6 yards out ....

I'm stupid in retrospect because as soon as we pulled it back to 1-1 I was confident there was only going to be one winner

Unfortunately 2 bad passes ( let's make that terrible to go with Threads title) and we were done for

Similarly Newport offered just one effort on goal whereas we had "some" chances to make a Goal change a game and failed

Faal wouldn't score that header one time in 20. He was too far under the ball and reaching backwards to head it.

We have a habit of seeing 1/8th chances and building them up into a "we should have been out of sight" argument.

[pib]

It was a really difficult chance for Faal definitely. Easy to be fooled by the proximity to goal on that one.

Also I wouldn't say the Moly one grazed the post. If we're talking about the same one (1:26 onward in the highlights linked below) he was almost closer to the corner flag! Should've done better though.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13043160/harrogate-3-1-doncaster-league-two-highlights

[dickos1]

Yes that ...

Even I can remember the left foot Moly volley right at start of 2nd Half , the one he scraped the left hand post with and the Faal header 6 yards out ....

I'm stupid in retrospect because as soon as we pulled it back to 1-1 I was confident there was only going to be one winner

Unfortunately 2 bad passes ( let's make that terrible to go with Threads title) and we were done for

Similarly Newport offered just one effort on goal whereas we had "some" chances to make a Goal change a game and failed

Faal wouldn't score that header one time in 20. He was too far under the ball and reaching backwards to head it.

We have a habit of seeing 1/8th chances and building them up into a "we should have been out of sight" argument.

He was under the ball slightly because he jumped too early.
It was a terrible header.
A professional footballer of his stature should be scoring that 20 times out of 20 never mind 1

[Upton Rover]

Need to start at the back, we’ve got 3 keepers that are not worthy of playing in the EFL, a good keeper will breed confidence in the defence.

[Lesonthewest]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

Why do you think we should have won at Harrogate? We had 2 shots on target, and they scored 3 goals, we are playing shocking football and you can’t keep on defending it.

Because we missed numerous chances at 1-1 and we’re also comfortably the better side for 65 mins

Again you should really watch game over again, there is no way we were the better side for 65 minutes.

[Upton Rover]

Stats
Overall
At Home
At Away
Wins
30%
43%
15%
Draws
15%
14%
15%
Losses
56%
43%
69%
xG For / Match
1.14
1.21
1.07
xG Against / Match
1.42
1.34
1.51
Scored / Match
1.15
1.36
0.92
Conceded / Match
1.74
1.5
2
AVG (Match Goals Average)
2.89
2.86
2.92
Clean Sheets %
19%
29%
8%
Failed to Score %
37%
36%
38%
Possession AVG
49%
49%
49%
Shots Taken / Match
9.3
9.64
8.92
Shots Conversion Rate
12%
14%
10%
Fouls Committed / Match
10.67
9.57
11.85
Fouled Against / Match
9.78
10.79
8.69
Penalties Won
5 in 27
4 in 14
1 in 13
Penalties Conceded
1 in 27
1 in 14
0 in 13
Goal Kicks / Match
1.31
0.75
1.88
Throw-ins / Match
25.07
23.86
26.38
We need to improve big style, just to survive in L2

[Donnywolf]

Yes that ...

Even I can remember the left foot Moly volley right at start of 2nd Half , the one he scraped the left hand post with and the Faal header 6 yards out ....

I'm stupid in retrospect because as soon as we pulled it back to 1-1 I was confident there was only going to be one winner

Unfortunately 2 bad passes ( let's make that terrible to go with Threads title) and we were done for

Similarly Newport offered just one effort on goal whereas we had "some" chances to make a Goal change a game and failed

Faal wouldn't score that header one time in 20. He was too far under the ball and reaching backwards to head it.

We have a habit of seeing 1/8th chances and building them up into a "we should have been out of sight" argument.

My mate pointed that out on way out of Ground but I believe it was a chance he could have taken if he had "addressed" the ball better.

[Donnywolf]

It was a really difficult chance for Faal definitely. Easy to be fooled by the proximity to goal on that one.

Also I wouldn't say the Moly one grazed the post. If we're talking about the same one (1:26 onward in the highlights linked below) he was almost closer to the corner flag! Should've done better though.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/13043160/harrogate-3-1-doncaster-league-two-highlights

Yes , have to agree with the grazing the post by Moly

In my defence I was in the Seats on side just about level with where he shot from.

If we lose I never look back at highlights but in this case I have done and saw from Camera it was not close to grazing the post

I think it was much much closer than hitting Corner flag though 

[dickos1]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

Why do you think we should have won at Harrogate? We had 2 shots on target, and they scored 3 goals, we are playing shocking football and you can’t keep on defending it.

Because we missed numerous chances at 1-1 and we’re also comfortably the better side for 65 mins

Again you should really watch game over again, there is no way we were the better side for 65 minutes.

We were,
Weaver even stated himself they won but but we were the better side.
The first half we had lots of possession without creating much the second half we continued being the better side and should’ve scored at least twice

They scored and we went to pot

[Lesonthewest]

Definitely nowhere near the worst performance of the season.
If Ironside could have finished today it would’ve been a comfortable victory

Yep. Yet another match that we'd have won if we'd scored more than the opposition.

Your’e a strange chap aren’t ya?

If you went to the game you’d have seen the misses from Ironside, if you didn’t then I thought you didn’t comment on games?

Dickos.

The point is, it's the same line from you every time we lose. "We wouldn't have lost if we'd taken our chances".

When does the penny drop and you accept that the reason we don't take our chances is that we are not very good? Like some of us were sending from the first day of the season.

More nonsense!
Ironside twice from 3 yards out managed to not connect cleanly with the ball.
That doesn’t mean he’s shite, it doesn’t mean we’re shite, it means a very good player missed two sitters.

Does it never occur to you that you've spent the season saying "We made good chances and didn't take them"?

Don't you think there's a conclusion to be drawn?

I haven’t, you’re just making it up.
The fact is the last two games we should’ve won as created a lot more chances than the opposition

Why do you think we should have won at Harrogate? We had 2 shots on target, and they scored 3 goals, we are playing shocking football and you can’t keep on defending it.

Because we missed numerous chances at 1-1 and we’re also comfortably the better side for 65 mins

Again you should really watch game over again, there is no way we were the better side for 65 minutes.

We were,
Weaver even stated himself they won but but we were the better side.
The first half we had lots of possession without creating much the second half we continued being the better side and should’ve scored at least twice

They scored and we went to pot

Did Weaver say we were the better side for 65 minutes? Yes or no. I dare bet he didn't, because we weren't. They were the better side for the 1st 20 minutes cutting through us at will. We took over for the last 25 minutes to half time. We then had chances to go ahead in the second half, we were the better side 15/20 minutes tops, that's 45 minutes, not 65.

[BillyStubbsTears]

We've won 28 points this season.

21 of those came in 12 games when both Westbrooke and Close have played.

7 came in the other 15 when one of both of them were missing.

Just saying...

they both came in to the side at the same time, it's westbrooke getting injured that killed us

That's incorrect.

We played 5 of the first 7 games of the season with Westbrooke in the side, but Close injured. The results were:

P5 W0 D2 L3 Bottom of table form

The next 12 games they both played some part in the match

P12 W7 D0 L5 Play off form

Since then, Close has played every game bar 1 and Westbrooke has missed them all.

P7 W1 D2 L4 Relegation form

Suggests that we actually have the makings of a decent side, but we have no Plan B in the absence of one of 2 key players.

[scawsby steve]

Yes that ...

Even I can remember the left foot Moly volley right at start of 2nd Half , the one he scraped the left hand post with and the Faal header 6 yards out ....

I'm stupid in retrospect because as soon as we pulled it back to 1-1 I was confident there was only going to be one winner

Unfortunately 2 bad passes ( let's make that terrible to go with Threads title) and we were done for

Similarly Newport offered just one effort on goal whereas we had "some" chances to make a Goal change a game and failed

Faal wouldn't score that header one time in 20. He was too far under the ball and reaching backwards to head it.

We have a habit of seeing 1/8th chances and building them up into a "we should have been out of sight" argument.

My mate pointed that out on way out of Ground but I believe it was a chance he could have taken if he had "addressed" the ball better.

Do you mean "stamped" his authority on it?

OK, Wolfie, I'll get mi coat.