Lancaster Rover

I've no problem with slowing the game down when needed, however I don't think slowing it down is through choice with TC it's through habit and/or deficiencies in his overall technique. Whilst he looks a very competent technical player he is rarely able to receive and play without needing correcting touches, it's not that he doesn't have the quality it's because he's a terrible habit of his body orientation meaning he receives the ball with closed shoulders, taking the ball backwards or inside and needs then to take extra touches to get out of his feel. Compare to Travis and Tronstad who play back foot at every opportunity due their body positioning ultimately being much better. The problem is also compounded by TC dropping into areas he's not needed and asking/receiving the ball with his back to play thus needing additional touches.

I've said this all along re Cantwell and glad people are catching on, he drops deep because teams know he won't hurt them there. They let him play, take his 47 touches, slow the ball down while they get set and watch Rovers play the ball around in front of them. If you compare how quickly Travis/Tronstad transfer the ball forward it's night and day, they play 1 and 2 touch, and orient their body in a way that allows them to try to play forward as much as possible, Cantwells' first first touch is invariably backwards, then requiring additional touches to turn and play forward slowing the game down

He's looking increasingly like the player who has spent the last few years on loan and Tik Tok than anything resembling the breakthrough player at Norwich. For the vast majority of this season he's looked like a bad Eyal Berkovic impersonator, dropping painfully deep, taking far too many touches and playing the ball backward, sidewards or a pointless crossfield pass. Gives the ball away so much it's painful. Perfect example on saturday, ball comes in to him in midfield with pressure behind instead of just setting the ball back to Beck or Hyam, turning and receiving it again on his back foot to play forward he takes 4 touches and starts dribbling backwards. This is Oxfords trigger to press, he then dribbles deeper and deeper to the point he's on the byline, at which point he skews a left footed clearance to their right back and they have us 6 v 5 because he's put everyone under pressure needlessly.

Cantwell has the same number of assists and goals as Brittain, played more games too. For a so called top level creator his returns are very poor, his tendency to lose the ball in deep possessions only compounding the issue of his lack of match winner stats. Not had an assist since boro and I’d argue that beck made the greater goal contribution in that one to boot

North End always win at Ewood too, we tend to reserve some of our worst performances of the year for their visit. That 4-1 haunts me to this day (even though we reversed it at Dumpdale)

With Tronstad out Travis will be a different player. Tronstad has enabled Travis to be much more expansive and forward thinking knowing he has the safety and solidity alongside him.

Problem is that Cantwell drops deeper and deeper because teams let him turn and play in deeper areas. For all the noise about him I’m yet to see him come close to running a game for us. Dolan, Buckley and JRC get endless stick (warranted) for being 1 in 5 players, Cantwell is roughly 1 in 8 over the season and getting paid a hell of a lot more than those 3

I can honestly count his good performances on 1 hand, he’s done next to sod all in any of the games where we weren’t comfortable winners.

Our superstar creator Cantwell has been invisible again

Can we bring Gueye back on as an impact sub……….

Good free kick, although questions over pears as it’s not really top corner , Brittain has to make the foul after an awful pass from Forshaw

I’m hoping we do a Hull/Watford here and are crap for the bast majority yet sun 1-0

ACD looking very much a PL2 player at the moment. Making mistakes you get away with in academy football and can’t in men’s football. Got very lucky with the last one, trying to make a pass that was never there

Hell of a strike from Bucko, has looked like the Buckley who broke through not the one we’ve seen recently

Largely due to cost and the embarrassingly low numbers of places available. They basically only get offered to those in the elite game. To do a level 2 qual (eufa C license) it’s £650 quid. I did my b license in wales at a fraction of the cost of doing it in Uk and at the time I probably wouldn’t have even got a place.

Oh I definitely have a belief in which way is right, just couldn’t be arsed getting into an argument about being in love with foreign managers or something! St. George’s park was meant to provide the coach education/finishing school for British coaches but it hasn’t happened. Top players get jobs without doing the learning and anyone outside of the very elite game can’t do an A license. It’s a joke. We have under 1000 A license coaches in this country, Spain has over 18’000

I listened to a podcast a while ago comparing the lack of success of that generation of UK players in management. It highlighted how few of them go to ‘school’ to learn the tactical side of the game as they do in Spain, France, Germany and Italy. Gerrard got a 2mill job with zero experience, training, etc whereas you look at the current batch of successful Spanish managers - they’ve essentially done a degree in football as well as having been pro’s, they then spend time with lesser teams refining their craft. not saying one way or the other is right it was just quite stark the difference in approaches and relative ease in which English ex pro’s get high level jobs

Talking of the opinions of fans on players, Bolton fans thought Beck was absolute garbage and look how he's turned out.

Pace goes a long way at this level. Look around the championship and you'll see slow wingers with no end product, christ we've got a basket full of them! Pace is a golden ticket in the game these days. Not saying we should, will or even have any intention of signing, merely that Peterborough are notoriously difficult to deal with as MacAnthony is a very good chairman in terms of getting what he believes is good value for his club.

Poku and Jones both at Peterborough, Darragh MacAnthony won't be letting either go for anything less than he deems them to be worth. That rules us out as we will want to pay with a playground champion Conker, a pack of Match Attax and a piece of used chewing gum.

He gets stick from some but a great assist and even better goal from Brittain

I don't buy the attitude stuff, if that were the case I don't think JE would even have him on the bench regardless of how thin we are in that area. As someone who is all about the collective I just don't see him standing for a bad apple who isn't grafting when everyone else so clearly is.

Buckley seems to be moulding himself as a deep lying playmaker type role, his abilities were always nipping in higher up rather than lying deep and seeing the game well. It's a real shame as I think he's the potential to be a cracking player but sadly he's hit the age where he really needs to have kicked on and this crisis of identity seems to be going against him more and more.

I'd say we have one of the best output records in developing professional footballers of any of the Cat 1 academies, they may not play for Rovers but to some extent that isn't what EPPP was set up to do. League 1 and 2 are littered with lads who came through at Rovers.

On to the topic of linked names, Ryan Kent is similar to Dolan without the industry. Lots of stationary step overs before passing the ball sideways and backward.