arbitro

I understand Rovers are playing the Dingles in a friendly on Friday morning at their training ground. Hopefully some of the fringe players will get some game time.

It was mentioned recently on here that Joseph, because of his size was more likely to physically dominate opposition players as he came through the system but last night (in the second half) both of Orient's centre halves were the equal of him physically. I thought he coped really well against them both. He does have a strange gait and at times looks unathletic but I have been told he is really quick which along with his physicality is a real asset.

Powell was playing wide on the left of a four. He was probably the pick of the bunch on the night. Isaac Dunn was there but in a boot - a broken foot I believe. Litherland is injured but I'm not sure what it is.

On Saturday 14 games from Leagues 1 and 2 are being shown live at 3 pm. There are also two matches kicking off at 2 pm and 5.30 pm being shown live. During an international break lots a lot of PL and Championship followers used to take in a game or two at this level. They probably won't now

A win is a win and these have been in short supply for the under 21's this season so the objective was achieved but really they made hard work of it. I said after about 70 minutes that you couldn't tell that we had an extra player such was our lethargy. Going ahead and playing against the the men I expected much more but the play was quite insipid with very little intensity and far too often the easy option was taken. Orient deservedly equalised and Honour made a couple of smart saves and as the half time whistle went Batty, in an act of frustration volleyed the ball across the pitch. We toiled again in the second half but got the penalty which seemed to knock the stuffing out of Orient and the third came as a result of this although in between Orient did have another couple of chances which Honour dealt with. The players were taken off the field twice during the match. On the first occasion it was just after we scored our second goal. Prior to the penalty being taken there was the usual gamesmanship and a couple of verbal spats. I wondered if something untoward had been said but just about as we were were entering stoppage time I heard the linesman telling a few players they were going off again. Cue confusion as nobody had a clue what was going on. It transpired (I heard a steward talking) that there was a drone overhead and it was deemed (correctly in my view) unsafe.

As an office junior he won't be allowed time off 😀.

Maybe it's just me but I would have thought his rehabilitation and fitness levels would have been the priority. Having said that he is working for a manager who organised training the day before a game around his birthday celebrations. Edit: Mystery solved. What's good for the gaffer I suppose. 🤔

Rovers u under 21's are at home to Leyton Orient tonight in the Premier League Cup. The game is being played at Lancashire FA HQ in Leyland and is free for season ticket holders. Perhaps more in forlorn hope there might be a few first team squad players getting some game time. I use the word forlorn because in his tenure Ismael hasn't done so

I said at the time it was a strange move to give him another year.

Individual errors have really done Norwich in today. Carelessly losing or giving the ball away is the story of the game for me.

In quite a lot of the games three out of the back four are new. We have conceded some sloppy goals primarily down to individual errors.

Both of his tackles were from our corners when the centre halves were forward. Stoke got the first contact from the corner and countered. We weren't really pulled apart in a conventional footballing sense. Give me some examples of his positioning sometimes not being great. Having seen every game he has played I can't remember one occasion when he has been caught out through poor positioning.

Yesterday's match saw what I thought were text book examples in the art of tackling. Twice Alebiosu made terrific challenges with the added pressure of potentially being sent off if they were mis timed. Similarly McLoughlin made another perfect challenge to prevent Stoke breaking away. In all three the ball was won absolutely cleanly and gave us all a lift

Cantwell's little exchange with Kargbo in this clip is really good.

And yesterday Ismael revealed that Kargbo stood up in the changing room on Tuesday and apologised to the players.