Should have been a red card that

Why do Rothwell's direct free kicks always seem to go over?

No, went into his side. The benefit of replays. I should add though, I've seen them given. However, should have been a free kick on the edge of the box just before it.

I'd have to say it wasn't. Just muscled him. As much as I wanted it...

Need to make a breakthrough. We know how these games can go...fully expected it to happen against Barnsley

Steady, got to win today first!

Good stuff, shame it's not in the league, they really need points. Could be good for confidence though. Scorers? Found myself wondering who will play up front if McBride and Burns are off on loan as is being reported.

It's our conversion rate that has increased, doubt our number of chances has. What has improved for me is the quality of the chances, which I see as a result of switching to counter attacking. It creates more clear cut chances. As for Gally, he has the hardest shot at the club. He is fairly quick. He is a physical presence and works hard. Unfortunately he has a touch that would shame a Catholic priest and poor decision making.

I don't see why that should make any difference. No work the next day for most I expect. There are three 3pm games on Monday.

On which note, does anybody know why it's a 2pm kick off?

I was wondering if his Spanish has come along yet...the answer is clearly no! Ah well, great to see Chileans willing to fly out in these uncertain times to see us and our famous Chilean. It won't become a regular occurrence that will up our gates of course, but great for the player and great for those two lads who got to see him score, meet him and take a signed shirt home for their troubles.

Disagree. It was apparent early doors this season to me, and others commented I think as early as pre season. He hasn't become bulky, and is still slight, but he is clearly visibly less scrawny than he was before, and more importantly, stronger. He isn't getting brushed off the ball with anything like the regularity he was last season as a result. I'm sure I read recently that this was worked on intentionally by the club too. It's not the only area of his game that has stepped up, but it has helped.

Which means it is very likely not a good enough offer to convince them and will need to be upped. Which means they CANNOT be afforded. If we offered Messi 20k a week, he would reject it. Because we can't afford him.

Only a highlight reel, but doesn't look too bad for a free punt from the Irish league. 2019/20 season too, so may have improved since. Presumably cover at RB for both first team and u23s. Wages will be very low. I do wonder if we could have made a more ambitious move for this position, but hopefully we have found a gem.

It may have changed, but I doubt it - you can't charge away fans more than your lowest pricing for home fans, regardless of stand. It's to stop them getting milked, or overcharged to keep numbers down. Basically to ensure fair treatment of away fans. Like you say, the prices therefore stay high to maximise profit from away fans and the home fans are just collateral damage.

Thinking that same team could then win a total of 28 on the bounce is beyond the realms of realism though.

Not going to happen.

It was as easy to score as pass though, so the percentages work out fine for me. End of the day, what went wrong is he completely mishit the ball.

I assume we mean the sitter at the end. No striker is passing that, I'd question their goal lust. The problem wasn't that he shot, the problem was it was an easy chance he fluffed terribly. If he had hit a pass with the same level of skill he would have fluffed that too!

You're right, it's not an 'excuse', it's a fact. The lads were fine and a totally legitimate goal was unfairly ruled out. It would have only taken a couple of seconds to see they were fine, that won't change anything for an injured party. And as I said, nobody heard his whistle clearly, so it was also a crap blow. He should have been whistling like a madman well before that ball nestled in the net. 'Advantage' doesn't even come into it, that's an entirely different rule. It wasn't our lad down. If you could get the game stopped the instant a player is holding their head as you suggest (well actually you said 'the minute' which I wouldn't object to), that would be highly exploitable to stop goals. Btw an actual referee on this forum already said it was a bollocks decision. I think the word he used was 'baffling'.

If it was every time a referee had an awful performance, yes. But this is one decision that was a top 3 worst against Rovers in my lifetime IMO, as far as I'm remembering, and that doesn't happen every week. Overall standard is diabolical though and has been for years. I'm sure the first time we came down from the Prem at the end of the 90s the officials actually seemed better than the Prem ones.

I don't think he's that type of tackler, especially for RWB. He excels at nicking the ball off defenders passing it a bit too casually at the back or centre of the park. He can take a risk up there too because if he fails at a tackle it's usually no big deal. That liberty isn't there in defensive areas, so the same gambling could be detrimental. He would also generally be up against more skilful, faster players. Further, I don't think he has the speed for RWB and although he is much stronger than last season he still got brushed off the ball far too easily at least once tonight. I like him just where he is right now, Dack or no Dack.

Hard disagree. He blew way too early, not that anyone even seemed to hear it. It was one of the absolute worst decisions I've ever seen, and it nearly cost us, so it's baffling for me to see someone defend it as though it wasn't even the worst decision he made on the night. Right up there with the Berg red card and the Tevez goal for me. He shouldn't be allowed to referee at this level again.

Agree with every word. Very good, balanced post.

Don't apologise. The other link was the Daily Fail and I was never going to help them with a click. Glad you posted an alternate site.