McCann

[GazLaz]

Grant really having a go at the players in the press. Probably unfair after making 9 changes.

The four he hooked at half time…

Maxwell- played quite well
Robinson- Not played at this level before and hardly had any minutes in months.
Broadbent- Can’t play as an 8. Plainly obvious.
Nixon- Again, very few minutes of late.


There have been so many fundamental flaws with the coaching of this team and team selections this season that throwing the players under the bus tonight is unfair.

[Usher wide.]

We were toothless.

We have been all season.

We need a ‘proper No.9’ who will score double figures in this league.

Hanlan & Billy (age has dulled his blade) won’t.

Didn’t see any passages of play tonight (talking about after the interval really) just hoof ball or choosing the wrong outlet & doing it too slowly.

As for their free kick on 11 minutes which ultimately won them the game, the wall didn’t need to jump because their taker basically passed it by them into the corner because the wall was set up by Zander who left a huge gap to his right as he took position up to the left centre of his goal. He was never going to reach it from there.

But, it mattered not in the end as their keeper never had a shot to save all game.

And yes, after a round trip of 130 miles for an 8 p.m. kick off, I did care about this result & took no pleasure from watching Olowu & his new ‘mates’ celebrating shutting Billy out on the far post in the 93rd minute.

But I can put tonight behind us come Saturday.

Not if we ‘put a performance in’, but if we come away with 3 points.

[drfchound]

Nothing wrong with the position of the wall.
The taker didn’t pass the ball by it as you describe.
The ball went through the wall at neck height.

[redwine]

To be fair he’s done it all season, and we weren’t complaining when we went to probably the best side in the championship and stuffed them 4-0

That was then, this is now.

Things move on. Can't live in the past.

[drfchound]

We were toothless.

We have been all season.

We need a ‘proper No.9’ who will score double figures in this league.

Hanlan & Billy (age has dulled his blade) won’t.

Didn’t see any passages of play tonight (talking about after the interval really) just hoof ball or choosing the wrong outlet & doing it too slowly.

As for their free kick on 11 minutes which ultimately won them the game, the wall didn’t need to jump because their taker basically passed it by them into the corner because the wall was set up by Zander who left a huge gap to his right as he took position up to the left centre of his goal. He was never going to reach it from there.

But, it mattered not in the end as their keeper never had a shot to save all game.

And yes, after a round trip of 130 miles for an 8 p.m. kick off, I did care about this result & took no pleasure from watching Olowu & his new ‘mates’ celebrating shutting Billy out on the far post in the 93rd minute.

But I can put tonight behind us come Saturday.

Not if we ‘put a performance in’, but if we come away with 3 points.

Just to set the record straight, I can recall two saves made by their keeper, one very early in the game from Sharp and a late one from Gibson.
There may have been others but I’m not sure.

[grayx]

I thought the subs were pretty strange as well. Maxwell was one of our only decent players in the first half and was hooked. No way Gibson and Sharp should've lasted 90 mins. Adelakun brought on far too late and when he did he was having to play deep so McGrath could go forward? We looked like a team that didn't have a clue.

Agree with most of that apart from Gibson. I’m not his biggest fan but thought he was our most dangerous player last night. Mols was poor again & Sharp pointless.

[mpc123]

What do you do, its easy in hindsight, the squad (2nd team) had got us to the semi final. The first team looked knackered on saturday.

I could see some sense in if thst team played like they did against middlesborough then we would have sll been happy with the choice.

He changed whst he could, tbh I dont understand the haks coming on either to then just put mcgrath upfront and haks holding. Gotts may jave been a better choice, yet they did switch systems / formations too as we made changes.

Onto the league and getting points in the next game.

[drfchound]

Pre game I imagine that Grant would have told the lads that he trusted them to get the job done and that if they won the match they would be starting at Wembley.
It should have been a massive incentive for the starters.

[Rupee92ONLY]

(This isn’t the first time btw).

Saturday - McCann comes out post-game and says he should’ve changed the teams shape at half time.

Tuesday - McCann changes the teams shape at half time.

It isn’t good enough and shouldn’t be accepted because he excited us the first time around. A lot said about the squad needing improvements in the summer but McCann himself needs to improve also, or next season will just continue in the same vein but with a few more million wasted.

[Ian Nimmo]

Yes McCann has to look beyond the players.
The second half was much better by including 2 central forward, and therefore their centre backs had a lot more to deal with. This has been the case in the past, yet he keeps with his preferred one central forward, because he has stated that he believes in the formation. His unwillingness to change could be his downfall.

[silent majority]

That's the 3rd time he's taken us to within one game of a Wembley appearance. And that's the 3rd time we’ve missed out.

[roversdude]

To be fair he’s done it all season, and we weren’t complaining when we went to probably the best side in the championship and stuffed them 4-0

Dickos usually 100% agree with you but the fact the “reserves” played so well against Boro to me makes that performance even worse.
I went to the last round against Huddersfield and that performance was a carbon copy of last night we just didn’t learn

[GazLaz]

Grant referenced the Huddersfield game and the performance that day. We were equally terrible at Huddersfield with largely the same team. Why did he expect different last night?

[ForsolongaRover]

Grant referenced the Huddersfield game and the performance that day. We were equally terrible at Huddersfield with largely the same team. Why did he expect different last night?

Yes and it’s disappointing to hear McCann repeat the same reasons for failure that we’ve heard before - as he did yesterday. It’s surely an admission of failure on his part and the fact that it’s happened before make me doubt whether he is capable of fixing it. Lack of application is fundamentally a poor excuse.

[steve@dcfd]

To be fair he’s done it all season, and we weren’t complaining when we went to probably the best side in the championship and stuffed them 4-0

Dickos usually 100% agree with you but the fact the “reserves” played so well against Boro to me makes that performance even worse.
I went to the last round against Huddersfield and that performance was a carbon copy of last night we just didn’t learn

Who started in midfield against Boro Gotts and Close with Sbarra but 65 min Bailey came on anew scored two goals. Also Molyneux and Middleton came on as wide players. In the EFL Cup
Against Huddersfield we started with Close Broadbent and Robinson which was a miss match not one player was good as a 8 yet 2 played there. Bailey and Gotts came on as well as Molyneux. Last night yet again Grant chose Close Broadbent and Robinson none of these players are good attacking central midfield players. Bailey came on yet we changed shape With Gibson central attacking midfield player which he is not. We wasted Molyneux at right wing back.
It was not about playing the reserve players it was how Grant used these players. Our midfield as not been brilliant all season Baileys goals from there as papered over the cracks.
We have 13 league games left, Grant as to get the starting team right from now otherwise we will be relegated.
The result last night by using a reserve team is an excuse. I'm not sure our first team players would have got a different result, we have stopped creating and hence scoring

[Rupee92ONLY]

Think it’s fair to say his comments effectively blaming players hasn’t washed with fans. He can try fool himself but he won’t fool a whole fanbase.

Imagine if Arsene Wenger played Jeremie Aliadiere in an FA Cup semi-final V Liverpool because he’d played in a third round win V a weakened Portsmouth side. Wouldn’t happen.

 

[Belle Vue Boy]

I mean we were shocking first half but it’s no surprise we picked up slightly when he finally had the sense to swap Middleton and Gibson. How many times does he have try Middleton has a right winger to realise it is never gonna work.

I’m not one for wanting him gone but feel he’s so blinded to his philosophy that 11 players that way whether they’re comfortable or not and feel  after Cardiff relegation maybe getting closer again cos of him

[old lad]

Stockport could afford to put their strongest squad out. They haven’t got a game until a week on Saturday. We’ve got a long journey to Plymouth, and then play Tuesday Saturday. It we had put our strongest team out there would have been people moaning saying the league is more important.

[Upton Rover]

Shocking team selection, shocking formation, shocking substitution timing, and omg what was that wall set-up for their goal, 2 players in the wall were not even covering the goal, shocking wall set up. March looks like it's going to be the Month we either stay up or go down

[Rupee92ONLY]

Stockport could afford to put their strongest squad out. They haven’t got a game until a week on Saturday. We’ve got a long journey to Plymouth, and then play Tuesday Saturday. It we had put our strongest team out there would have been people moaning saying the league is more important.

If it was about getting rest into the players, he wouldn’t have throw them on at half time would he.

[drfcsteve]

The starting line ups seem to be picked on a whim and are usually a reaction to the previous game against different opposition.

I don’t know what we do in training. I have no idea what our route to goal is. Defensively we are wide open which might be forgiven if we were dangerous in attack, but we aren’t. We don’t even seem to know how to take a throw in. Chasing the game it seems to be a case of throw all the attacking players on at the same time and cross your fingers.

We have a real lack of quality (which the Sky commentators picked up on last night) but again, McCann signs off on the recruitment. Why do we have 3 strikers all totally different to each other when we play 1 up front? Why did we start the season with Clifton as our only “attacking” midfielder, then we bring another in with Lee, but to play as a striker?! Why did we sign Middleton?

Being a realist I’m not calling for McCann to go because I’m not sure whoever we’d end up with would be better, but it is massively frustrating at the moment.

[ForsolongaRover]

Stockport could afford to put their strongest squad out. They haven’t got a game until a week on Saturday. We’ve got a long journey to Plymouth, and then play Tuesday Saturday. It we had put our strongest team out there would have been people moaning saying the league is more important.

If it was about getting rest into the players, he wouldn’t have throw them on at half time would he.

It could be seen as inflexible management which is becoming more and more a feature of McCann's style and it isn't working. Why do people rush to rationalise his bad decisions? The "next" match is surely always the most important. Going to Plymouth on the back of a win would surely be better than congratulation for supposedly saving energy yet still expecting his better players to turn a losing situation against a promotion-chasing team. It occurs to me that we may have won at Middlesbrough because at that stage of the season the players had not become embedded in the McCann system.   

[dickos1]

To be fair he’s done it all season, and we weren’t complaining when we went to probably the best side in the championship and stuffed them 4-0

Dickos usually 100% agree with you but the fact the “reserves” played so well against Boro to me makes that performance even worse.
I went to the last round against Huddersfield and that performance was a carbon copy of last night we just didn’t learn

Who started in midfield against Boro Gotts and Close with Sbarra but 65 min Bailey came on anew scored two goals. Also Molyneux and Middleton came on as wide players. In the EFL Cup
Against Huddersfield we started with Close Broadbent and Robinson which was a miss match not one player was good as a 8 yet 2 played there. Bailey and Gotts came on as well as Molyneux. Last night yet again Grant chose Close Broadbent and Robinson none of these players are good attacking central midfield players. Bailey came on yet we changed shape With Gibson central attacking midfield player which he is not. We wasted Molyneux at right wing back.
It was not about playing the reserve players it was how Grant used these players. Our midfield as not been brilliant all season Baileys goals from there as papered over the cracks.
We have 13 league games left, Grant as to get the starting team right from now otherwise we will be relegated.
The result last night by using a reserve team is an excuse. I'm not sure our first team players would have got a different result, we have stopped creating and hence scoring

Since New Year’s Day we’re in play off form so I’d say predominantly he’s getting the line ups correct.
Especially over the last 15-20 games

[DonnyBazR0ver]

We can be disappointed about tonight but if we stay in this league it an achievement.
The midfield is our Achilles heal. Not enough drive and no power even in the second half.
But I do question Grants selection in there. Robinson I'm afraid is not ready Clse is the best football player and Broadbent did not do enough. But all three are deep lying midfield at there best. Wrong choice to play all three together.
Bailey came on yet he doesn't have the skill set to be a really goood midfield player.
Grant plays one infront of the defence and two attacking. Yet that leaves the midfield open.
Stockport played three but two sitting and one attacking for most of the game.
We have Bailey Broadbent Gotts and Close for that role if we have two sitting. We have Clifton and Lee who could play the attacking role both okay but not brilliant.

Yes, agree re the midfield along with defense and attack.

Confidence seems shot at the moment and no matter who, or what formation, they don't seem capable of carrying out a game plan.

[Barmby Rover]

During the match I did say it looked as if Rovers didn't want to go to Wembley, they certainly played that way. Grant deliberately playing a weakened side against a full strength Stockport, is GM more worried we don't have the capacity to stay up if we had added a Wembley game on top of the grind to gain enough points?

[Goole Rover]

Anyone know why we have a wall that doesn’t jump against probably the best free kick taker in the competition?

Thought that another should should have been added to give more width. Keepers fault.

[Spilsby Red]

Stockport don’t have a game for ten days

[roversdaft]

All this talk of a proper number 9…

If we had Haaland we would still be toothless under McCann.
This ridiculous 4-1-4-1 formation isn’t working, hasn’t worked and needs to go in the bin.

We need to go with 2 up front working in tandem with plenty of supply from wingers, and wingers that are on their correct wing ffs

Middleton on the right was just a ridiculous decision by the manager.

For me, if McCann gets the boot, I couldn’t care a less tbh

[Rupee92ONLY]

“For me, if McCann gets the boot, I couldn’t care a less tbh”

That’s where i’m at too. I’m not calling for him out but if he left tomorrow I wouldn’t be arsed about it and i’d actually be excited for the summer now the ownership has improved. I have little faith in McCann’s recruitment anymore and i’m not sure he actually knows this league as well as he thought.

Nearly every team we’ve come up against has had height and pace in abundance and a lot have a central attacking midfielder
capable on the ball and able to run the game from just in front of the oppositions defence. Whereas McCann has gone down the ‘industrious’ route that works fine in L2 but not in L1 where everyone is much more tactically aware.

He’s been schooled ever since the league got a few sighters of how we play in the early part of the season and figured out how to stop us. He’s not really had an answer to it either. Can he improve enough or is he too stubborn?

[dickos1]

“For me, if McCann gets the boot, I couldn’t care a less tbh”

That’s where i’m at too. I’m not calling for him out but if he left tomorrow I wouldn’t be arsed about it and i’d actually be excited for the summer now the ownership has improved. I have little faith in McCann’s recruitment anymore and i’m not sure he actually knows this league as well as he thought.

Nearly every team we’ve come up against has had height and pace in abundance and a lot have a central attacking midfielder
capable on the ball and able to run the game from just in front of the oppositions defence. Whereas McCann has gone down the ‘industrious’ route that works fine in L2 but not in L1 where everyone is much more tactically aware.

He’s been schooled ever since the league got a few sighters of how we play in the early part of the season and figured out how to stop us. He’s not really had an answer to it either. Can he improve enough or is he too stubborn?

Since the turn of the year we’ve been in play off form, so if they’ve all figured him out how has that happened?