Owd Em

[Drog]

Fair enough Payne didn't help Nyambe much but just watch their first goal Steve. I wouldn't mind so much if it was De Bruyne or Gareth Bale they were up against but he managed to make Nazon look like them didn't he?

 

[steve w]

Fair enough Payne didn't help Nyambe much but just watch their first goal Steve. I wouldn't mind so much if it was De Bruyne or Gareth Bale they were up against but he managed to make Nazon look like them didn't he?

Haha - he did!!
Like I said he didn't have a great game but me and my mate both commented yesterday during the game that too many of our players "just hadn't turned up"
Dack hardly got a kick and when he did - he looked a little jaded and out of form
Bell looked lost in the midfield role and his first touch was awful all afternoon
Payne was playing his own game, particularly in the first half
Bennett only came into the game 2nd half
both central defenders looked slow and indecisive

 

[Drog]

Like I said he didn't have a great game but me and my mate both commented yesterday during the game that too many of our players "just hadn't turned up"

Last time we 'turned up' at the opening whistle was v Shrewsbury. Up and at em from the start and made them look very ordinary. So many times we need to allow the opposition to get a goal in front before we discover any urgency. Common sense suggests that we cannot keep relying on gifting the opposition a lead before we start to play ourselves. We've lost so many points to teams from the bottom third of the table that imo it's a motivational issue and that's a psychological issue not a physical one. What Jack Payne had to say in the LT...
“The first half wasn’t good enough. We couldn’t get going, we take responsibility for that. We didn’t keep the ball, didn’t defend well, didn’t attack well and were awful.
I mentioned bringing in a sports psychologist to assist with mental preparation a number of weeks ago and depending on the quality of the individual that could be money well spent.



What the Richard Sharp in the LT had to say.....
After the terrific first half displays against Shrewsbury, Fleetwood and Walsall last month, three of their last four opening 45 minutes have been well below par.
Against Northampton, Plymouth and Oldham Rovers found themselves over-ran and looking lost for ideas in the final third. Here, they were restricted to long range efforts in attack and far too easy to counter in defence, with Oldham fully deserving of their 2-0 lead.
Rovers have now conceded the opening goal in 11 of their 31 matches and for the second successive week trailed 2-0 at the break (and third time this season).
On 16 occasions they have failed to find the back of the net in the first half and trailed at the break seven times. Of their 56 league goals, 34 have come after the break and there have been many times Rovers have needed to rely on a second half turnaround.

 

[OnlyOneTugay]

Thanks.... As for Downing, he'd only be a stop gap CH if Lenihan hadn't got this long term injury. In fairness he's stepped up to the plate pretty well but he goes from being average to poor when Mulgrew is not playing and he is expected to be the 'main man'. Even worse his distribution is absolutely woeful and especially so for a professional footballer.

I think Downing and Mulgrew are a bit like David Mail and David May types . OK centre halves in this division ( in Mulgrew's case very decent ) with a good big ' un '. On their own , without the strength and aerial dominance that the two Davids had with Glenn Keeley and Colin Hendry respectively , they can struggle against big , physical and pacey forwards of the type that Oldham had . It seemed to be panic stations when they played it long or broke quickly and the Rovers defence probably made their two guys look much better than they were .

 

[Drog]

'Tuck in and drop a little to cover' is the usual tactic. I must say Downing did do that and in all fairness a lot of credit must be due to Nazon's power and skill which made Nyambe and Downing look like schoolboys.

 

[steve w]

I thought Oldham had done their homework and straight from the start were happy to trade punches and give it a go (showing us no respect ) the first 5 mins was very open and "end to end"
Further proof of that was the way they crowded the box for corners putting Raya under pressure in his weakest area.

 

[Drog]

Given what we know about Raya (and Mowbrays refusal to put a man on the back post) that first corner from the right was terrifying. He was surrounded by giants and got nowhere near the ball and for a split second I thought it was going straight in at the back post. I doubt it missed by much.

 

[khmerblue]

From the highlights the Oldham striker on loan from wolves,who he would be playing for them if it weren't for all there imports will score a sack full in this league.
We missed a trick there.

 

[Drog]

You might be right but in January Graham and Dack were on fire. Our main concern was fending off buyers for Dack not replacing him.
Am I being somewhat a taj disloyal in suggesting that since the window closed Dack's scintillating form has dipped somewhat?

 

[Alan]

You might be right but in January Graham and Dack were on fire. Our main concern was fending off buyers for Dack not replacing him.
Am I being somewhat a taj disloyal in suggesting that since the window closed Dack's scintillating form has dipped somewhat?

You are right and it's a bit worrying. Although hopefully you are just being a bit cynical. It could be of course that the other teams have realised that if you stop Dack you stop Rovers. It's time that Payne and Armstrong took advantage of the gaps that that leaves. Of course I hope that Dack's loss of form is only temporary. We need him at the top of his game.