v Everton (h) - 19/7/25 - pre-season friendly

[Goozburger]

55 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

say it in hushed tones,i got heinous grief last week for suggesting he`s ready for the 1st team squad😷

Not entirely certain, and correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't you say "it's time for him to step up"? That doesn't sound like you suggested he's ready for the first team at all. More like a demand!

Edited 6 hours ago by Goozburger

[Eddo]

I came onto the message board hoping to see the final score Rovers V Everton...................Have the club banned the revealing of the score ............ Why no mention just loads of weird comments ?

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Whisper it quietly, but Toth looks like a competent GK. 

Thought he was very good today. 

Confidently came claimed a cross (caught the bloody thing as well) early in the second half, which Pears would have flapped/tried to punch.

Also thought that save from the cross-shot was excellent as well.

[oneandycrawford]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Ismael has this lot extremely well coached. 9 subs and we were playing the same controlling a full strength Everton who really didn't look like scoring.

The ball was zipped around crisply and the player in possession always had options - neither of these things could be said about us under Eustace. Let's see if we can build consistency.

Pre-season and all that but very very encouraging. 

 

Can the team sustain that effort with a max of 5 subs though?

[norwichblue]

Feeling very encouraged by what I've read on this forum today. Excited for the season now. 

[B16Rover]

11 minutes ago, Eddo said:

I came onto the message board hoping to see the final score Rovers V Everton...................Have the club banned the revealing of the score ............ Why no mention just loads of weird comments ?

1 nil 

Goal here

[Goozburger]

2 minutes ago, norwichblue said:

Feeling very encouraged by what I've read on this forum today. Excited for the season now. 

Not just our approach to the game, which worked very well, but our academy clearly has a lot to give to Ismael and the senior squad. Something to be proud of as a Rovers supporter.

[Bohinen1983]

Thought Wharton was excellent today- great to see him back!

Travis & Trondstadt are a great duo and need keeping together. Cantwell looks sharper. 

Hedges was Hedges.. 

Toth looked good. 

Kargbo needs a longer contract.

How big Gueye! Looks double the size of everyone on the pitch!

[joey_big_nose]

26 minutes ago, Bohinen1983 said:

Thought Wharton was excellent today- great to see him back!

Travis & Trondstadt are a great duo and need keeping together. Cantwell looks sharper. 

Hedges was Hedges.. 

Toth looked good. 

Kargbo needs a longer contract.

How big Gueye! Looks double the size of everyone on the pitch!

I like Wharton a lot, but Id be really surprised if he can hold down a place. So injury prone, and as others have said , hes one of those defenders who has a regular unforced error in him without the pace to recover.

Shame as he is good in the air, has a decent left foot and is Rovers through and through. Hope he proves me wrong.

[RTM08]

51 minutes ago, oneandycrawford said:

Can the team sustain that effort with a max of 5 subs though?

If previous seasons tell us anything, it isn't necessarily the subs in a fully fit squad that are the problem, it's when we hit the Christmas flurry of fixtures and we lose a few to injury. 

The current squad is nowhere near the depth required to keep this up over a season. However, if VI can get them up to the right sort of fitness levels it may work for the first few months at least.

[rigger]

So in my opinion, as it stands, we have a stronger starting eleven than this time last season.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

Thought he was very good today. 

Confidently came claimed a cross (caught the bloody thing as well) early in the second half, which Pears would have flapped/tried to punch.

Also thought that save from the cross-shot was excellent as well.

I don't want to put it all on Pears, cos we had other problems last year, but how many points did he cost us last year with his basic mistakes?

We'd have been in the playoffs for sure. Hopefully Toth is a safe pair of hands going forward.

[WacoRover]

1 hour ago, Eddo said:

I came onto the message board hoping to see the final score Rovers V Everton...................Have the club banned the revealing of the score ............ Why no mention just loads of weird comments ?

If you care to read, thread entitled, “does the club care?”

Ive come to the conclusion they do not. Well, they are grateful for toffees 4,500 traveling fans today. 

[Exiled_Rover]

4 minutes ago, rigger said:

So in my opinion, as it stands, we have a stronger starting eleven than this time last season.

As in before the transfer window closed, or literally 19 July 2024?

[RTM08]

1 minute ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I don't want to put it all on Pears, cos we had other problems last year, but how many points did he cost us last year with his basic mistakes?

We'd have been in the playoffs for sure. Hopefully Toth is a safe pair of hands going forward.

I'm sure there was compilation on here at one point of a bunch of the mistakes made. To be honest, even if you take out the obvious horror shows, the biggest issue with Pears for me has always been his complete inability to handle a cross. So many routine goals conceded over the years just because of that deficiency and the smart teams targeted it.

[Andy]

3 minutes ago, RTM08 said:

I'm sure there was compilation on here at one point of a bunch of the mistakes made. To be honest, even if you take out the obvious horror shows, the biggest issue with Pears for me has always been his complete inability to handle a cross. So many routine goals conceded over the years just because of that deficiency and the smart teams targeted it.

His basic positioning is terrible, which isn't as obvious as some of the more prominent errors, but is equally contributory.

He benefitted greatly from having a more organised defence for periods of last season, but I don't think there's any doubt that Pears has proven his incompetence regularly, across a prolonged period.

And hopefully he's played his last game for us.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Goozburger said:

Not just our approach to the game, which worked very well, but our academy clearly has a lot to give to Ismael and the senior squad. Something to be proud of as a Rovers supporter.

It's encouraging, but I wouldn't go overboard.

This was Academy kids keen to impress v PL players getting minutes into their legs. If points / a place in the next round was on the line we'd have seen a different result.

Nobody looked out of place today, but Everton clearly had another gear. Did Montgomery et al? 

[Hasta]

14 minutes ago, rigger said:

So in my opinion, as it stands, we have a stronger starting eleven than this time last season.

Depends how much value you are giving Sammy, Gallagher and Dolan compared to whichever 3 you are starting up front.

Toth is an upgrade. Pickering / Ribeiro I think are interchangeable at the moment.

Edited 5 hours ago by Hasta

[Exiled_Rover]

3 minutes ago, Andy said:

His basic positioning is terrible, which isn't as obvious as some of the more prominent errors, but is equally contributory.

He benefitted greatly from having a more organised defence for periods of last season, but I don't think there's any doubt that Pears has proven his incompetence regularly, across a prolonged period.

And hopefully he's played his last game for us.

I'd say he's a decent (but honestly not great) shot stopper - but the rest of his game just isn't professional standard. Positioning, handling, communication, distribution - just poor all round. 

I've no idea how he's carved out a professional career.

[Goozburger]

Why is this message board themed in black?

[rigger]

17 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

As in before the transfer window closed, or literally 19 July 2024?

Did I mention the closure of the transfer window ?

[Polky]

 

[Exiled_Rover]

2 minutes ago, rigger said:

Did I mention the closure of the transfer window ?

So you think we're stronger than when we had a 27 goal forward on our books?

Fair enough. 

[CaptainBeanfart]

2 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

So you think we're stronger than when we had a 27 goal forward on our books?

Fair enough. 

In the team that avoided relegation on the final day of the season. It's not a difficult argument to make really. 

[rigger]

12 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Depends how much value you are giving Sammy, Gallagher and Dolan compared to whichever 3 you are starting up front.

Toth is an upgrade. Pickering / Ribeiro I think are interchangeable at the moment.

I would say: Keeper an improvement, back four an improvement, midfield about the same, forwards an improvement. So overall a better first eleven.