v WBA (a) - Valentine’s Day 💙🤍

[Guest]

Comparing Travis to Lowe… I’m done. See Hull away for what happens when you don’t play Travis.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

16 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I think it's crazy to say Travis is no better than Lowe. He has some limitations but he brings more to the team than Lowe ever did. He leads and I thought the responsibility of being captain last night saw a disciplined and dilligent  performance. His work off the ball is really important to us. I don't really remember any redeeming features about Lowe.

Lowe was terrible, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing the first time I saw him play. I thought an England U-21 captain would have something about him. He had nothing apart from decent athleticism. His contributions were minimal. I never saw him have a good game.

[tomphil]

I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who can't grasp how much better Travis is than Lowe was. 

When you're looking for any available stick to beat with though.

[CambridgeRover]

Travis is much better than Lowe but he is also completly useless with the ball at his feet and we dont have any Tugay like player who can make up the difference. When he first came into the team he was great at little runs forward and had a nice touch as well. Appears to have been coached out of him in Mowbrays plan to make him Bradley Johnson Jr

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

Travis is much better than Lowe but he is also completly useless with the ball at his feet and we dont have any Tugay like player who can make up the difference. When he first came into the team he was great at little runs forward and had a nice touch as well. Appears to have been coached out of him in Mowbrays plan to make him Bradley Johnson Jr

I agree that the attacking side of his game has diminished the longer he has been in the side.

[G Somerset Rover]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

Carrol---still worth his place-would have been very useful for us. Giles is a good crosser but there's not really any target for him.

Yep. Bit of an odd one to bring in, in hindsight given the way we play. His biggest asset is his crossing yet we don't have Kieffer Moore steaming in to get on the end of his deliveries. I imagine Pickering will be back in at the weekend and Giles will then make do with random spells at on the left of the front three.

[tomphil]

4 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

Travis is much better than Lowe but he is also completly useless with the ball at his feet and we dont have any Tugay like player who can make up the difference. When he first came into the team he was great at little runs forward and had a nice touch as well. Appears to have been coached out of him in Mowbrays plan to make him Bradley Johnson Jr

He did but then they tied to turn him into an apprentice Corry Evans which was never going to work. This season hes looked more like his old self but it seems hes been doing that much muck and bullets the other side of his game has suffered.

If we played a different system you could maybe have Buckley with him as a poor mans Tugay and Savage. Not sure that works with the rest of this team though.

[BigUts]

I thought we did well in the end. 

WBA are very one dimensional and you tend to see the same when teams have Andy Carroll. He is such a focal point that he's an easy option. I've heard and seen lots of comments saying he was excellent. He wasn't. Wharton and Van Hecke played very well and the game was exactly what they wanted. See Forest for games they don't want - movement and pace.

We really grew in to this one . Buckley looked back to his resplendent best in the 2nd half before coming off. The ball in for BBD's "goal" that was ruled out for offside was top drawer and an absolute nightmare to play against. Hopefully it gives a little more confidence for Saturday. Nyambe was excellent and I think that position really suited him. You see Lenihan step out with the ball a lot in the current system and with Nyambe's pace and directness with the ball, along with ability to defend, will see him cause a lot of problems...however we really do need him in the wingback role if we can.

JRC is like a fish out of water. Misjudging the flight of the ball so often when we were trying to hit the diagonal became embarrassing for the lad.

I think Gallagher is more and more becoming an impact player from the bench. Playing him from the start doesn't ever really seem to get the best of him. 

I think we all would have taken a point last night. At least 7 from the next 3 are a must and we will be looking good again.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, tomphil said:

He did but then they tied to turn him into an apprentice Corry Evans which was never going to work. This season hes looked more like his old self but it seems hes been doing that much muck and bullets the other side of his game has suffered.

If we played a different system you could maybe have Buckley with him as a poor mans Tugay and Savage. Not sure that works with the rest of this team though.

Trav would be superb as the anchor of a 3, but a proper 3. Not a Corry evans, Bradley Johnson 3.

[jim mk2]

The defence was excellent overall, but I was a bit disappointed with Giles. His crossing wasn't great and I felt he could have got forward more especially in the 2nd half. Fact is we don't have a good crosser of the ball in the club, Gallagher and Nyambe can't do it - Nyambe really needs to work on the part of his game. Pickering's probably the best

Don't understand the criticism of Travis - he had an excellent game. All teams need a water  carrier and he's ours.

Khadra is frustrating, head down and tries to beat a man every time, but please, not in our final 3rd. He's going to cost us a goal sooner or later. And he has to learn to release the ball at the right time. 

Overall, we should have won and it was a game I'm sure we would have won before Christmas. West Brom were there for the taking. Fulham and a few others at the top would have won easily

 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by jim mk2

[RevidgeBlue]

What an outstanding player Nyambe is. Probably our most consistent performer over the last few seasons. It absolutely beggars belief the Club have been prepared to risk him walking out for nothing for the last 12-18 months and seemingly still are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Exiled in Toronto]

I thought being on the right of a three really suited Nyambe, but Wharton was standout defender for me.

Hopefully we can now stop with the play Gally through the middle nonsense; he had plenty of opportunities there last night and was embarrassingly awful for all of them - John O’Mara awful.

[USABlue]

25 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I agree that the attacking side of his game has diminished the longer he has been in the side.

Thank Mowbary for that.

[jim mk2]

Gallagher's just doesn't have the striker's nous.  When a cross comes in he's either just ahead of the ball, or just behind it, or off balance, and rarely in the right place at the right time.

Was it Wharton or van Hecke who missed the header in front of goal in the 2nd half, tried to glance it instead of putting their forehead and neck through the ball? Should have been a goal 

[G Somerset Rover]

2 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Was it Wharton or van Hecke who missed the header in front of goal in the 2nd half, tried to glance it instead of putting their forehead and neck through the ball? Should have been a goal 

Wharton. Top defender but pretty useless so far at attacking from set pieces. We really need these CB’s to start chipping in with the odd goal given our midfielders and attackers couldn’t hit a barn door at present.

[Tom]

We could have done worse than bringing Carroll in just for Gallagher to learn a bit from, noticed them stood side by side that Gally is slightly taller but not a tenth of the presence 

[AllRoverAsia]

56 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Lowe was terrible, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing the first time I saw him play. I thought an England U-21 captain would have something about him. He had nothing apart from decent athleticism. His contributions were minimal. I never saw him have a good game.

In defence of Lowe (well someone has to, he did, somehow, where the shirt for years) I think his passing accuracy was quite high.

Backwards, sideways, backwards, sideways ad infinitum.

He was also very versatile and usually poor wherever he played.

[AllRoverAsia]

Warton is PL ready.

I would have Wharton before the accident known as Harry Maguire.

Once he improves on heading towards the oppo goal he will be gone or we will be in the PL.

Someone else mentioned our diagonal balls. They should stop. The only one half decent at them is Lenihan.

We were good in the 2nd half and just about deserved a win.

WBA had their chances though and only Dolan's quick thinking and acrobatics saved us from an underserved defeat.

BBD improved a lot as the game progressed as did Buckley. Someone has had that long overdue word with him about striking hard at goal.

Unlike some others I thought Rothwell had a decent game. We have no one else who can take the ball a long way and into dangerous areas so quickly. I think he suffers criticism because when he is at the top of his game he is quite brilliant so less than that gets criticised. If he could do it every game it would not be with us, unless we were in the PL.

I have already had my say on JRC and SG so will waste no more words on trash.

[Wheelton Blue]

Nyambe deservedly getting plaudits for his performance last night.

But for me, Wharton was the MOM by a country mile. If he's not tied down to a contract, he needs to be.

As @AllRoverAsia says above, he's PL ready. A PL club will come knocking soon enough.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Wheelton Blue

[Mattyblue]

He’s contracted till 2024, with a further 12 month option.

[Hasta]

40 minutes ago, Tom said:

We could have done worse than bringing Carroll in just for Gallagher to learn a bit from, noticed them stood side by side that Gally is slightly taller but not a tenth of the presence 

Problem is we would have played Carroll like we expected him to be Chris Waddle.

[G Somerset Rover]

24 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

As @AllRoverAsia says above, he's PL ready. A PL club will come knocking soon enough.

The ace in his pack is his niche left peg, which IMO is a huge reason as to why he'll end up in the PL.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

26 minutes ago, Wheelton Blue said:

Nyambe deservedly getting plaudits for his performance last night.

But for me, Wharton was the MOM by a country mile. If he's not tied down to a contract, he needs to be.

As @AllRoverAsia says above, he's PL ready. A PL club will come knocking soon enough.

He’s done great to come back so well from that serious injury he had.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[CambridgeRover]

Our academy must be one of the top ones for producing defenders. Hanley and Jones had good periods in the prem. Wharton, Nyambe, Lenihan in our current team. Carter and Magloire both playing very well out on loan. With Phillips now being linked to many clubs in the prem. Long may it continue.

[Bbrovers2288]

3 hours ago, 47er said:

I thought Brereton was excellent. The one player on either side who looked like he could win the game. The way he's checked by 2 defenders but can pull away from them and bear down on goal is outstanding. He has learned so much in the last few months.

The finish for the second off-side "goal" was brilliant.

A few other observations:

Why did we persist with the big diagonal pass? The player receiving was invariably trying to control a ball over head-height when standing on the touch-line! A non-percentage option.

Carrol---still worth his place-would have been very useful for us. Giles is a good crosser but there's not really any target for him.

Wharton, VanHecke and Nyambe---absolutely outstanding. Very sad that 2 will likely leave us.

Finally, if we play like we did for that 2nd half for the rest of the season, we will at least make top 6.

 

As much as I agree brereton has improved, there is still some to go for me

- my main issue is that he needs to get a lot stronger, easily pushed off the ball time and time again then goes down expecting fouls when it’s just he wasn’t strong enough. Good few times last night he was bullied.

- he needs to watch offside a bit more, winner to be had with just a quick look along the line 

but I am wholly impressed with his improvement this season , even came back and sprayed some lovely balls about the field last night, night and day with the nervous looking player of old

 

another point I saw you make is Giles is a good crosser. Is he? Iv been really disappointed in him so far , not seen the hype. Barry Douglas mark 2