aletheia

Not really. He had a one on one with a winger and was not close enough and too slow. (I say this as a fan of his.)

Yep, arguably responsible for both goals (but I still like him a lot and would have him in the team all day long, particularly ahead of a left back) -seem off the pace -Injury/illness?

No, there isn't a ref in the land who has a clue 😉

On hoofball and tippy-tappy, winning and losing. That’s several variables. And definitions need to be made. Several things can be true at the same time and are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There’s differing types of going ‘long’, how often and when. Top sides do it strategically, ie not just lumped forward. Big Sam has his method (N’Zonzi on the centre spot –LOL) which could be highly effective and unsettle sides. But too much for some of course. Differing types of tippy-tappy –lots of prem sides (and it was a given under JDT) that the ball would generally be recycled if you got to the byeline. We are capable of doing it when needed, keeping the ball well when ahead but we tend to cross more quickly now and if needs be play safety first. Full on tippy tappy does work at top levels but you need top players. And can become boring to many. Trav is back to his best because he is doing what he does best. But the point has been rightly made, that all sides are now playing the same way generally so that they can feed higher clubs. At present, I don’t think we play hoofball under JE. Cautious, safety first counter attacking with great team spirit and doggedness to defend. Given the personnel, it’s seems pragmatic and has gone well. And think we DO play out from the back (cf. the goalkicks) and have benefitted from JDT’s legacy of passing –but have (by and large!) cut out the suicide stuff and will go longer if needs be. Problems may occur should we lose say 5 in a row - Ideally, for me at least, winning with combination of good short stuff and great crossing plus good targeted long ball is great –with pace too. But then that’ in an ideal world  Who would you like to watch (other than us obviously) in footballing terms –disregard prejudices of other natures 😉

Is there another court case on the horizon?

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Feel there is a good player in there with Buckley but is it something in his head? I note that Eustace has said he figures in his plans but of course that could be the talk of a manager with few options.

Compliments to the manager and players for a good solid win. Good selection with more attacking threat. After a low key start when neither side looked to be doing too much other than keep in their shape, it ended up quite entertaining (always good when you win.) Got the goals and did the necessary in the second half to keep a good clean sheet. ACD added that extra pace and threat on the right (as well as a nicely taken goal), Beck to a lesser extent on the left. Makhtar hustled and did enough to keep them occupied as well as providing a basic outlet (should have scored though- good job Beck was following up to place it home.) Irritations? Buckley coming on and on the break, having the chance to play a simple ball to keep the move going, held on too long and then cried like an entitled girl when he didn’t get the free kick. Baath (who otherwise had a great defensive game) playing a suicide ball out from the back that nearly cost us a goal. Pears, who made 2 great stops and was otherwise sound, dithered on 2 clearances and their forward almost closed him down. Tronstad? Give it up Rev J

LOL. You should be where I sit -any opposition player goes near a Rovers player and it's 'book him'. Any Rovers player kills an opposition player and it's 'never touched him, book him for diving, get up you soft twat.' 😄

Could be a cracker -2 teams playing a low block. 😉

Shefki Kuqi, possibly? Bit harsh?

Could you elaborate?

Generally agree with most of the players but think Baath's mind turns to mush and should just always play safe. He was tremendous yesterday though with clearing headers.

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Disagree TS. Penalty taker should be decided before the game (with obvious reserve in case of injury etc). Said penalty taker (just like free kick takers) should be practising for hours after training instead of knocking off to the golf course 😉 England were useless at penalty shoot outs for years. Until they finally decided to think about it. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13609489/Practice-makes-perfect-ice-cool-Ivan-Toney-insists-penalty-expert-GEIR-JORDET-Brentford-star-held-nerve-12-yards-Englands-shootout-win-Switzerland.html

LOL Much as I have enjoyed the last 2 games, I wouldn't write off Jim's thread yet 😉

Beck ahead on left gives attacking options we have not had + defensively solid, intelligent player Tronstad would have been a brilliant fireman 😉 Feel for Ohashi, works tirelessly and often has to chase lost causes. Big Mak has been disappointing after a good start but found the moans about him not chasing a ball really tiresome. Trav put a ball miles ahead of Mak who was never going to make it. Pointless chasing and wasting energy –better to maintain the shape. He did chase on a few minutes later and nearly caught it but was then knackered for a few minutes so couldn’t close down as much. More irritating was us giving the ball away cheaply late on (this is a small gripe in a game where we were all excellent). So Dolan (great game) twice had the ball up the pitch late on and simply needed to play a simple pass to keep momentum but contrived to lose it. Beck tried a (wonderful had it come off) reverse ball to Dolan but the percentage pass was 10 yards down the line. And Pears at least twice kicked the ball straight into touch late on. Game management needed. But these are details in an excellent performance. Will be interesting to see how we perform at home against a side that we are expected to beat ie a side that sits back and expects us to do something.

It's a clear gameplan given our personnel and resources. Keep it tight and hit on the break. Requires all players working very hard to deliver it, good saves, great blocks and great defensive headers to keep them out. More pace and a better striker would help to make us more effective on the turnover but has worked well this week. When it goes wrong (eg opposition scores 1 or 2 early on) and the gameplan is ruined and you are forced to then change up and go after them by attacking when you really haven't got the players for it. We were compact and worked our socks off today - it is hard work and it means you cannot always press because it is knackering - so obviously we were going to get deeper.

...surviving in this division.... Previous manager gave us a glimpse of possibility until the Raos made sure it all went JG Ballard... Normal service resumed. Not to say he isn't doing a reasonable job under the circumstances. Just expect some turgidity.

A la J*B Think we need to get Buckley on sooner to at least attempt some through balls rather than sideways/back stuff we have played of late. ACD should play at some stage if fit.

You do wonder why japanese/Korean etc are not scouted more. Always good attitude, always give 100% and tidy on the ball. Not enough fees for agents?

Good win and agree with all the comments on the positives on the field and off (imaginative recruitment on the usual peanuts). Mood is good all round. So at the risk of being churlish/contradictory:- Don’t buy this ‘we were rock solid at the back.’ They didn’t offer much. They could have scored very early on as Tyrone pointed out. Baath (or Hyam?) weak minded and dallying on the ball and should have been 2-1 which could well have made it a little more interesting. Why on earth they didn’t go long quickly when they got the turn-over is beyond me –they went nowhere trying to play out with only 10 men. Trav was very good but so easily narked. Such a petulant foul for his booking because he had got a nudge off the ball a few seconds before. If I were playing him my players would be using the dark arts to get under his skin. Ohashi was better than people are saying imo. One moment of pure class showed his ability/brain. He didn’t look interested near the byeline when chasing a ball then suddenly accelerated, cleverly knicking the ball off the defender and drawing the foul and yellow card. Can’t resist a player who bows to the pitch when he goes off. I thought Gueye was a good Gally replacement in first few games. Not so sure now. Early days though and love his attitude. We were pedestrian with that initial team (so were they) and it looked like it could be a 0-0. Would have been nice for Yuki to get that goal after a sublime through ball from Dolan. Trying to get it on his right foot and defender did well. JE seems to like that –solid, maybe somewhat dour early on (hence Hedges). Works great if you then get a goal on the break. Tronstat and Trav give obvious solidity but neither score enough (yes I know today) and are no Cantwell/Wharton for creativity. Though Weimenn was a little disappointing today. The sending off effectively ended their ambition and we had the freedom to stroke it around at will. We did it much better than against PNE who certainly offered a lot more with 10 than QPR did today. Cantwell is a breath of fresh air for us but he did come on against 10 men and had the freedom and time to do his (creative) stuff at will. Let’s see against 11 in tighter situations. Did I say a great win and well done lads? 😁

Does he have a ciggy at half time?

The sequence goes • Osmajic gets fouled • Holmes doesn’t like it and comes running in to barge Cantwell over • Beck then kicks Holmes as he is trying to take the free kick quickly i think • Osmajic doesn’t like that and bites Beck (ie after Beck’s kick) • Beck sent off for kick = correct • Osmajic gets yellow=incorrect should be red (to be fair , so much kicking off then that lino/ref probably didn’t see it –at the time looked like he just put his head into Beck’s neck from behind –hopefully he gets what he deserves and a long ban retrospectively) • Holmes gets nothing=incorrect should have been yellow for a barge after the fact

Pears with 3 top class saves a point. Well done.