Exiled in Toronto Mk2

I don’t watch Prem games so it was interesting to see from that perspective. As has been mentioned, no fancy Dans in their team, all very skillful and very physical. But the biggest difference I thought was thir movement - very impressive. To get a cup upset you need to be rock solid and lucky at the back, plus clinical with the very few chances you get, and we were neither. Dozed off for a short corner then the pathetic flap, two bad choices by keeper and Brittain for the second, missed two one-on-ones, so we deserved nothing but at least didn’t get shellacked. Wharton Snr’s passing out is the reason he won’t be a starter under JRT. Wharton Jnr clearly has prem level vision and passing, but I couldn’t see him getting in Chelsea’s team, he needs to keep working on his off the ball stuff and put in more miles IMO. No-one else other than Hill looks likely to play at the top level.

Still very much in this. The only player looking out of his depth for me so far is Moran. You need your keeper to play a blinder in these ties and that wasn’t it.

Tronstad easily our best player first half, Carter second half. Best piece of skill/vision was Dolan for the goal, closely followed by our keeper’s one save. Sammy and Siggi were very poor which really blunted our attacking play. Good little cameo by Ennis at the end, got us up the pitch a few times when we really needed it.

That’s how I read it too, the illegal bit is the £3million used on something unrelated to running (ha!) a football club.

Good stuff. Keeper - solid Hill - excellent Carter - out-matched, too much shirt-pulling, penalty in waiting Hyam - OK Pickering - good Tronstadt - best midfielder half by anyone this season; box-to-box contributions, gets back a lot quicker than the jogging teenager. JRC - quiet except for the first goal. Sammy - should’ve shot Markanday - very effective, two assists Dolan - actually quite good Siggy - constant threat

And the three combine to score a great teamwork goal!

I wasn’t really looking forward to the game till I saw the universal condemnation of the line up on here, so just bunged Roverstv £10 to watch a classic away win. 1-2 (Dublin; Oggy og, Fergie’s elbow)

The one hard fact I would dispute is that it’s taking two or three men to stop Wharton. From my eyes it’s been mostly one just following him around, and it’s not taking a Bremner or Stiles to do it either.

Who were the old players on the pitch in the pre-game thing?

Pears - keeps the shirt on Weds Brittain - best game for us so far Carter - our best defender IMO, give him a bigger, even longer contract. Hyam - reliable, better than Lenihan Pickering - learning the JDT way, did the JRC midfield switch thing well in the first half Travis - Travis Wharton - some silky touches but man, he needs to be better when we don’t have the ball, offered very little defensively and I’d love to see his running stats. Hedges - good game, unlucky not to get two goals Sammy - love the guy Dolan - doesn’t have it to play the JDT way and that first miss was pathetic Gallagher - see Dolan Moran - worst home debut I can recall, little boy lost Telalavic - I liked him, some good passes under pressure in the last ten Hill - I liked his awareness and tracking Leonard - not there yet but I have high hopes.

While I don’t claim to understand the intricacies of JDT’s tactical approach, I’m fairly sure throwing seven random blokes in wouldn’t get the best out of it. The current players have been learning the system for a year, so if anyone can pick it up after a couple of weeks, it couldn’t be much good. Sammy was in the U21s this time last year. But, with four new guys on the bench, several of todays team are on notice they have to perform not just today but every game.

The differences between what JDT and GB say to me just sound like the different perspectives that the DoF / Coach structure introduces: JDT wants more and better players whereas GB has to balance the reduced budget. Under the old system, Mowbray had to make the squad/money trade-offs himself.

You are assuming 1500/2000 fans won’t go as a result, but clearly someone else is assuming they will. Given Cardiff fans’ reputation, putting them in a same stand as Rovers fans would’ve been madness.

Is that a young Shilton being rounded by John Connelly?

The first thought that occurred to me was, is this a sign of how close to the financial precipice we are? Let’s hope it’s just all about Waggott being Waggott.

Bolton in the 70s was far more intimidating. Turd was a great day out, Burnden was like the first 20 mins of Indiana Jones.

If you haven’t been hit by a brick at the Turd, you weren’t standing close enough to the Longside dividing fence - I got hit by a quarter of one and my mate next to me by a golf ball - the inbreds didn’t even shout “Fore!”

I can understand it if we had been largely paper losses, but it’s been entirely cash, most of which has gone in wages to not very good footballers. Who could benefit (and how) from disbursing that much cash on something that remains mostly value-less?

Plenty I’m sure. Two nailbiters spring to mind from the Furphy era: Away to Willington 0-0 Home to Altringham 0-0 and they hit the bar late on.

Same. We hadn’t played Burnley for 7 years and they were two divisions above us - I barely thought about them.

Really enjoyed that. Pretty much flawless defending, some great counter-attacks, and the goal of the season that epitomised Arte et Labore. Pears - very assured performance, two good saves and a crucial brave header in the first half that dealt with the only ball that undid us. JRC - had his work cut out against their best player, did fine. Carter/Hyam - both excellent. Brittain - upgrade on Pickering. Needs to be more choiceful on when he tries to beat his man in our half. Wharton - fabulous vision and touches make up for occasional sloppiness. Travis - Fabulous for the goal: wins it on our D when we are under the cosh and a few seconds later he’s almost through on goal. Hedges - his best game for ages: provided a good outlet, involved in most of our good moves and a truly sublime goal having run 70 yards to get there. Leonard - not yet Dolan - not ever

Intriguing game so far. Letting their centre halves have it as long as they want which is fine as they aren’t playmakers. Good defending and we get through the middle half of the pitch really quickly and sharply, but not enough up front so far. I suspect we won’t be seeing Dolan second half and the rest of our lives on that non-performance.

C’mon lads - same spirit as our play off win here in whenever it was (‘88?), Garner scoring the only goal in the first minute sending us all bonkers in the away end.

Could be Tony. On TV there was a momentary close up of him where he appeared to be flexing his groin or hip.

Brilliant effort undone by players we thought excellent - Hyam and JRC - having stinkers and going awol at crucial moments. I’ve been bothered for a while that Hyam, the senior defender and supposed captain material, seems to do no organizing whatsoever, I think we miss Ayala and even Lenihan in that regard. Am I the only person disappointed Gallagher didn’t put his 1-on-1 away? Typical Sam I thought, didn’t outmuscle the defender enough, so didn’t have the ball or himself under full control making the shot hopeful rather than clinical. Ennis should’ve scored his but I thought the pass a bit heavy (like quite a few of Wharton’s today) which turned a tap-in into something a bit more difficult. To be fair to Hull, I thought the finish for the first goal terrific, first time volley from a ball coming over the shoulder - none of ours could’ve pulled that off.