arbitro

The manager carries the can for results of course and results are the barometer for any club. Therefore they will ultimately pay the price with their job at a normal club but we are not normal. Usually there are signs if the players are going through the motions in a statement of disenchantment with the manager but I haven't seen any evidence of that (apart from Charlton) so I assume they are behind him.

Yes he was an unused substitute on October 11th at Cleethorpes Town.

Patrik Farkas has had 13 minutes game time in the three games Prescot Cables have played since he went there. In my view another totally pointless loan which will do absolutely nothing for his development.

Totally agree Ian. There seems to be almost a resigned acceptance from the vast majority that we are battling against the tide having tried pretty much everything to influence change. Aside from the occasional organic chant I don't believe anything else will happen which is no slight on anyone who has been involved in protests and the like. I'm not even sure the owners are or have been aware of the unrest last season and purely a personal view but I would think they are happy with the way the club is run. I think they are shielded from any news of unrest by their man on the ground. Personally I doubt whether they actually watch the games and more. It's a real feeling of helplessness but as the owners they can do what they want. It's a sad situation when I was envious of the reports last week that Sheffield Wednesday could be served with a winding up order. For their supporters that could be the light at the end of the tunnel. For us there just seems to be an everlasting purgatory.

Yes Leonard there are enough sticks to beat this lot with without making things up.

I just thought it strange not having the insurance policy of another natural centre half albeit possibly inexperienced. I have never seen Montgomery play as in that position before.

How many times did Kargbo and Gueye get caught offside for the period they were on? I recall at least four but maybe there are more. It's such a frustration and wholly avoidable.

On Tuesday the club has three games across various age groups. The under 17's play Stoke at 1 pm in the PL Cup, the under 21's play Solihull Moors in the National League cup and the first team play Sheffield United. Given we have several injuries particularly at centre half I wonder if someone like Tom Atcheson will be given the nod. In my view not having a centre half on the bench yesterday made no sense and playing Montgomery there wasn't the smartest move.

It's such a simple thing to say but scoring when you are on too is so important but our futility in the goals department was once again apparent. I sensed a touch of complacency from Coventry and their entitled fans in the first half which we did really well to capitalise on from a footballing point of view and had we scored first who knows. The two quick goals killed us and once again poor organisation did us I thought. Both were from just outside the box and there was no pressure on the scorers. I saw McLoughlin bollocking Tronstad and Gardner-Hickman for not getting out to get a block. It was hard to disagree with him. The flurry of substitutes were unlikely to get us back in the game but I felt that Ismael has thrown the towel in by this time and had one eye on Tuesday. Coventry did similar and dropped their levels down a year or two and probably saved us from further embarrassment. There were so many good things in the first half which at half-time gave us some hope but the quick capitulation after conceding first is a worrying trend. The shape and system was working well in the first half and the intensity was good. We created some good opportunities from side positions which we should have made more of. Ismael is responsible for results and at any normal football club he would rightly be under pressure. I firmly believe that even relegation would not force a change of manager so he has to come up with answers.

I remember in my earlier years running the line at Bradford and I was in the far side. Behind me (before it was seated) were the Hartlepool fans who took great umbrage at one of my decisions. The next thing I felt something hit me on the back of my head and got a whiff of the unmistakable aroma of a meat and potato pie. The gloopy insides were dripping off my hair and running down my back. It's strange but I've never really fancied a meat and potato pie since then. 😂

This is social media at its worst. An unsubstantiated rumour about such an emotive subject has quickly been dispelled by the club and the originator should hang his head in shame.

They had gone off sale this morning for online sales which perhaps explains it.I Tickets will be available online until 10am on Friday 17th Ocotber. There will be NO SALES ON THE DAY at Coventry. Supporters who still need to collect tickets should be aware that the Roverstore will be open until 4pm on Friday.

I'm with you. The using of numbers instead of positions is one of these chic innovations to make the new breed of coaches and pundits sound clever.

Not guilty Gav. I was more like the blokes in the Highfield WMC talking nonsense.😃

Cheers Gav. Probably for another thread but I remember Vox Pop like it was yesterday and knew lots of the characters.

FCUM have refused to get involved in the NPL's decision to change kick off times to suit live broadcasting. Their reasoning for me is absolutely correct.

I haven't seen anything either. Gestede was watching yesterday so hopefully there will be something done soon.

Right now I would say roughly 6' 3". The good thing is that his football development seems to be matching his physical development.

And up to recently I think Khan was ahead of him. I noticed today that he was more vocal than I'd seen before so perhaps that means his confidence is improving. I saw Honor play for Atherton Colls last season and from then to now there appears to be a marked improvement.

He knocked the ball purposely out of play to allow himself to be treated and slams the physio got to him there was a signal to get a substitute on. It looked like a lower leg injury but I couldn't be sure. I did see him sat on the ground soon after with other substituted players so I presume it might have been precautionary. He was sat on the ground because there are no dugouts at the Preston Academy.

From Rovers perspective this for me was the proverbial game of two halves. For the first 40 or so minutes we dominated the ball, passed it well, were aggressive, on the front foot and played at a good tempo. The two goals we got were in my opinion not reflective of our dominance. Those two goals were almost opposites with Doherty rattling one in from distance and Joseph with an easy header from close range. In a rare foray forward Preston scored a goal just before half-time but it certainly looked like a deliberate handball in the penalty area skirmish just prior. That goal seemed to rattle us and Batty spent some time with the match officials on the pitch after the half time whistle. All the good things we were doing earlier seemed to disappear as Preston seemed to sense our unease. However we defended stoically and Honor in goal is looking better every time I see him. It wasn't until the last ten minutes when Preston were bombing on that we looked like scoring again. In the end we were probably a touch fortunate but a win is a win. Aside from Honor Atcheson looked good I thought with Joesph showing some good strikers attributes although he does, in my view get overly involved with centre halves and plays on the edge in this respect.

Under 21's v Preston preview.

Thanks. Sounds like a stirring comeback 😃.

Thanks Carl. Any more information on team selection, scorers etc?

I went to Crewe v Bromley as my granddaughter is ticking off new grounds and it was a first for her. Bromley deserved their win and the really interesting aspect for me was that Crewe were one dimensional and tried to play out from the back but Bromley were far more pragmatic and did what they had to do without taking and unnecessary risks. I was impressed by Bromley's Arthurs and Krauhaus who was a dead ringer for Todd Cantwell in looks, gait and playing style. We met a Rovers legend on Bolton station and travelled down with him reminiscing about bygone days. He was also on the train back so we chatted again but more about the game today at Crewe.