[Archived] Walsall at home 30.1.18

[Ossydave]

Early goal was crucial, so early I missed it. Never in doubt from then in, it would have been the same Saturday if we'd got one. Seemed a foul for their goal but not seen a replay so couldn't be too sure. Stern test on Saturday but we're more than capable 

[jim mk2]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

A job well done, says the boss! ?

https://t.co/TwwOnRJB0k

Mowbray as cautious as ever after the attacking line-up "gamble": 

“We could have scored more but, with respect to Walsall, better teams might play through us if we play as gung-ho as that."

I don't expect to see that line up too often. 

His comments also explain why we tend to sit back and try to defend leads instead of building on them. 

[bob fleming]

25 minutes ago, Stuart said:

 

The stand out performer tonight though was their keeper Roberts. He was the difference between 3-1 and at least 7-1. Outstanding. I was a little glad that Armstrong hit the bar from the final free kick because he didn’t deserve to concede four. Only 23 and only 6 foot but he pulled off some world class stops tonight. Hope the Walsall club photographer had his trigger finger at the ready.

If it was a boxing match the ref would have called it off after 80 mins. They were done. 

You're right Stuart. He had a great game. Roberts made an absolutely outstanding save second half, tipping a great shot from Armstrong onto the roof of the net. Superb keeping - following a great move from us.

I thought Downing did well actually, and Bell was a tad quieter than on Saturday - attacking wise. Maybe because he had the more attack minded Armstrong in front of him. 

Anyway, no complaints. Great to see Graham back to his best, and Dack just did a Gazza on them last five mins.

Bring on Argyle!

[RevidgeBlue]

After the negative spoiling tactics employed by Northampton at weekend that was a really good open game of football with both sides trying to play the right way. Their keeper made five really really good saves otherwise we could have been approaching double figures.

The difference for me from Saturday was the introduction of Armstrong and Payne in place of Conway and Samuel. Our tempo and energy in the first half was so much higher than normal and the inclusion of those two seemed to pull up the energy levels of everyone else a couple of notches.

Only minor gripe for me was a poor substitution on 63 minutes of Conway for Payne which imo killed a lot of our momentum. At the time we were playing really well and imo half an hour to go is far too early to start shutting up shop, it only takes a second to slip up and let the opposition back into the game.

Overall though, very good indeed one of our better home performances to go with Rotherham and Shrewsbury.

[PAFELL]

36 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Hi Peter. Hope you are well.

Yeah fine thanks. Busy, but fine.

[PAFELL]

33 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I wouldn't bother about the crowd situation too much it's unlikely to change a great deal yet 11k home fans on a Jan night in Ewood in league 1 is pretty decent I think if you look back through history it's about the norm when doing ok at this level against that type of oppo at this stage.

If that was a championship game in the last couple of seasons there wouldn't have been a great deal more on it is what it is but to expect the ground to be packed is very wide of the mark.

Fair point.

 

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Played some very good footy in patches tonight.  Thought we were comfortable throughout.  Armstrong looked lively.  Once he gets a goal, he could well go on a run. Bell good.  Smallwood and Bennett excellent.  Graham deserved mom.  Superb forward play and layoffs to complement his goals. 

Think Mowbray is hoping that Lenihan comes back to partner Mulgrew.  If he is poor, we defo need a cb if we go up. 

[1864roverite]

You have to beat what’s in front of you, that’s all that matters right now.

11 more wins required⚽️⚽️⚽️

Momentum takes us onto Plymouth 

[roversfan99]

Easy win tonight, some of the pressing and one touch play in the first half was very good.

Graham a class apart with his 2 good finishes and all round play.

Still got a really soft underbelly, Williams isnt a centre back, we need Mulgrew and Lenihan back.

Nyambe seemed to fall easily for their goal.

The front 4 had a lovely balance, Payne looks a good technical player, Armstrong needs to work on his finishing and decision making.

Smallwood and Bennett played well too in midfield. Very pleasing night.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Just now, 1864roverite said:

You have to beat what’s in front of you, that’s all that matters right now.

11 more wins required⚽️⚽️⚽️

Momentum takes us onto Plymouth 

Seems no reason why we can't go through rest of season unbeaten tbh. 

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, jim mk2 said:

Mowbray as cautious as ever after the attacking line-up "gamble": 

“We could have scored more but, with respect to Walsall, better teams might play through us if we play as gung-ho as that."

I don't expect to see that line up too often. 

His comments also explain why we tend to sit back and try to defend leads instead of building on them. 

This is what worries me slightly about TM. I thought the first hour tonight proved that form permitting we need to start with that same line up and show the same tempo energy and enthusiasm.

Not start getting all negative, cagey and defensive.

[Jim Royle]

13 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

After the negative spoiling tactics employed by Northampton at weekend that was a really good open game of football with both sides trying to play the right way. Their keeper made five really really good saves otherwise we could have been approaching double figures.

The difference for me from Saturday was the introduction of Armstrong and Payne in place of Conway and Samuel. Our tempo and energy in the first half was so much higher than normal and the inclusion of those two seemed to pull up the energy levels of everyone else a couple of notches.

Only minor gripe for me was a poor substitution on 63 minutes of Conway for Payne which imo killed a lot of our momentum. At the time we were playing really well and imo half an hour to go is far too early to start shutting up shop, it only takes a second to slip up and let the opposition back into the game.

Overall though, very good indeed one of our better home performances to go with Rotherham and Shrewsbury.

So, no mention of either Bennett or Graham

How strange?

[blueboy3333]

10 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Only minor gripe for me was a poor substitution on 63 minutes of Conway for Payne which imo killed a lot of our momentum. At the time we were playing really well and imo half an hour to go is far too early to start shutting up shop, it only takes a second to slip up and let the opposition back into the game.

Their left back was quite decent and a threat going forward. So maybe Mowbray though Conway would close the game out better than Payne.

[Mike E]

That finish from Dack... thing of beauty!

Very tidy finishes from Graham too.

Thought the foul in the build-up to their goal was a bit of 50-50 re: whether the ref gives it. 'Soft foul' as you get the feeling Nyambe either went down or was off balance imo. Thankfully it didn't affect the game much.

COYB!

[frosty]

Good result, job done. Good to see Graham get a couple more goals, he's in his best form for a while. Dack's first goal at Ewood for a bit too I think, which he took extremely well.

Armstrong was impressive, second half in particular. Payne showed some nice touches and good link-up play around the edge of their box, think there's more to come though. Bell maybe a bit quieter than Saturday but still decent and the LB position should be his now.

Walsall were feeble though and pretty much rolled over (like plenty of our midweek away days in the Championship). There's been a couple of odd comments about it being nice to face a side that isn't 'cynical' like Northampton - well, they got a point, Walsall didn't and I bet Walsall fans wished they played more like Northampton tonight. In fact in the good old PL days, I'd have been delighted if we got a point at Old Trafford, Arsenal etc through rolling our sleeves up, committing niggly fouls, time wasting and winding up the opposition fans in the process....!

[blueboy3333]

29 minutes ago, bob fleming said:

That's the spirit.

To be fair Mowbray said exactly the same thing.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/15907928._It_was_a_much_needed_three_points____Tony_Mowbray_reacts_to_Rovers__win_over_Walsall/?ref=mac

[jim mk2]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

This is what worries me slightly about TM. I thought the first hour tonight proved that form permitting we need to start with that same line up and show the same tempo energy and enthusiasm.

Not start getting all negative, cagey and defensive.

 

I think tonight was a one-off and he'll only do it again if we desperately need a win. Mowbray will probably revert to type in the next few games

[chaddyrovers]

very good performance tonight. 

very pleasing to get an early goal from Graham and then it restrict the opposite from playing so defensive like Northampton. 

Graham 2 goals was good but Dack shown his class with his goal. Armstrong deserve a goal tonight cos he kept trying and another night he would have got a hat trick 

Rovers played 4-2-3-1 formation with Payne playing from right and Armstrong from left with Dack in 10 role. it worked excellent tonight but I think Conway will start on Saturday in place of Payne. 

I thought their goal was a foul by their player on Nyambe. it was clear to see from my seat but it was just a small setback. 

enjoyable night

[chaddyrovers]

18 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Easy win tonight, some of the pressing and one touch play in the first half was very good.

Graham a class apart with his 2 good finishes and all round play.

Still got a really soft underbelly, Williams isnt a centre back, we need Mulgrew and Lenihan back.

Nyambe seemed to fall easily for their goal.

The front 4 had a lovely balance, Payne looks a good technical player, Armstrong needs to work on his finishing and decision making.

Smallwood and Bennett played well too in midfield. Very pleasing night.

Nyambe was foul. probably couldn't see the incident properly from your Darwen end seat. 

I said Payne could play from the right side and Armstrong was unlucky tonight but should scored at 1 in the 1st half and at least 2 goals second half tho his free kick was good, shame it hit the bar

Bennett set the tempo and he played excellent as captain of the team tonight. should be captain if Mulgrew didn't play

30 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Mowbray as cautious as ever after the attacking line-up "gamble": 

“We could have scored more but, with respect to Walsall, better teams might play through us if we play as gung-ho as that."

I don't expect to see that line up too often. 

His comments also explain why we tend to sit back and try to defend leads instead of building on them. 

don't have a problem with his comment cos the first 60 mins we could have been 6 or 7 -1 up front. 

4 hours ago, JacknOry said:

interested to see where Armstrong plays. 

from the left in the 3 behind the main striker

2 hours ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

What position is Armstrong playing?

from the left in the 3 behind the main striker

[blueboy3333]

A nice little cameo from Travis tonight. Got a couple of crucial tackles in and passed the ball well. Looks a confident lad.

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, Jim Royle said:

So, no mention of either Bennett or Graham

How strange?

Ithink if you check you'll find I didn't mention Raya Bell Downing Williams Nyambe Smallwood or Dack either!

 Bennett had a good game, I missed Shrewsbury due to flu, so that was the best game I've seen him play in the middle,  thought he played a lot better than against Fleetwood and Northampton when I didn't think he played particularly well.

As for Graham he also had a good game, the Walsall defence didn't put him under any physical pressure at all and he thrived accordingly. Doubt he'll have many more days as easy as that this season but you can only beat what's in front of you so fair play.

[had.e.nuff]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

What’s happened to Tomlinson? Travis seems to have jumped ahead of him for the bench. 

They binned Tomlinson off to the Game room earlier.

he is  suspended sent off for reserves

[JAL]

2 hours ago, Miker said:

Nyambe fell over way too easily for their goal, not really good enough there. He's been impressive going forward and supporting attacks, but he gets caught out a lot in defence. I thought he was at fault for Northampton's equaliser as well.

Big learning curve for Ryan Nyambe though question is can he improve is he capable of improving see Sharp of the local rag going into protective mode again for Ryan.

[blueboy3333]

Payne, Dack and Armstrong (or Mogga's Midgets as I have just now exclusively called them, or just PDA) were a joy to behold at times tonight. That first goal was a wonderful move and I think they were all involved. Graham's finish  was that of a man bang in form.

[blueboy3333]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

As for Graham he also had a good game, the Walsall defence didn't put him under any physical pressure at all and he thrived accordingly. Doubt he'll have many more days as easy as that this season but you can only beat what's in front of you so fair play.

Interesting. The first thing Samuel did when he came on was fail to hold the ball up under pressure from their back line. I think you're doing Graham a disservice, his hold-up play was fantastic.