What happened to Williams? Is he injured? I thought he went to play for Ireland and then caught Covid, but we’ve not seen him since. 

Before the red card I thought Trybull, Johnson and Rothwell were playing excellent. What a shame and it’s absolutely killed the game for us. We say it every week but the quality of referees at this level is nothing short of shambolic. But we rode our luck with decisions vs Millwall so all teams are suffering the same poor decisions. 
 

2 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

What is it with Brentford away and things going 180 in a matter of minutes? Perhaps one day we’ll hold a lead there.

We did....and got relegated ?

Worried that we have Douglas and Lenihan on yellow cards now. 
 

20 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Man of the Match: Joe Rothwell

Yes please

Strong start. 1 or 2 passes / bits of quality away from a clear cut chance.

Johnson is looking like he’s going to have one of his good days. 
Douglas does worry me a little at left back. It’s certainly our weakest position in the squad. 

Disappointed that he’s resting Holtby, but glad Wharton is back in as he hasn’t put a foot wrong yet. 

Imagine this place at 5pm if we come out with 3 points!

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Hugely looking forward to this game which should be very different from playing Luton, Barnsley and Millwall and more like Bournemouth or Watford- hopefully with a different result!

From what I have seen of Brentford, they play open football, are a bit vulnerable at the back but clinical in the opposition area.

The fate of this match is in the treatment room. If we have to play Bell and/or Carter, we will lose.

Brererton is a big miss BUT the pace and dribbling of Armstrong, Gallagher, Rothwell, Elliott and Nyambe should be too much for that Brentford defence. If Johnson and Holtby have decent games by their standards we should have the platform to dominate possession and inflict damage of our own.

What we don't want is Raya to have the sort of MoM performance the Watford keeper put in against us.

Comparison of Raya and Kaminski, Toney and Armstrong, 2000 fans in their new home for the first time- this match is full of fascinating sub-plots. Just hope they don't pump crowd noise through the PA in addition to having those socially isolated hungry and thirsty souls...

 

Not sure I have the same views on a Brentford defence that has only conceded 2 goals in the last 7 games. Albeit against nobody as lethal as ourselves. 
Agree with the rest though, leagues top 2 scorers, open match, a few fans back in the ground. Just a shame life isn’t normal as it would have been a great Saturday away trip. 

Tough 3 games (and Stoke away after Rotherham who are much improved this season). I'd take 4 points from the 3 personally, draws aren't the worst either. Bristol City are punching above their quality, I think that game is very winnable so long as we don't suffer many more injuries. Saturday will be the toughest, i'd be happy with anything there. Armstrong v Toney.

Brentford (L), Bristol City (W), Norwich (D)......then probably lose to Rotherham 

3 minutes ago, neophox said:

Really need Dack and Trav back soon...

Yeah, thinking about it, that was the kind of game where we really missed Trav.

Great defending by Nyambe on their counter attack 

Bell particularly poor. I’m worried about him if he’s playing against Brentford on Saturday. 

Holtbys worst game for a while, he’s so much better alongside Rothwell. Can’t say he had much help in the middle though, and he’s so important to make us click. 

Not the game to bring on Dolan for me. Few bad decisions made but he’s young and raw and I’d rather see him in open games where we’re dominating. 

No idea what formation / personnel we were playing at the end. Bit of an in-play tombola. 

Referee was shocking, but we say it every week, it’s terrible at this level.

Hope Big Ben isn't out for too long.

Absolute smash and grab at the end, the kind of game we wouldn’t win or see out in the past (looked shakey from 90 on to be fair). Eases some pressure going into Brentford, that’ll be open, I want us back with Holtby and Rothwell central for that. 

Doesn’t look good at all, I’ve not seen a replay but not even a yellow shown by the ref. 

Lack of balance for me really, nothing in the middle. Elliott still looks like he’s playing wide, making it a 4-2-4.

We need to be tighter than that at the back. A few times we’ve been caught poorly hacking it away 

Wonderful finish. Pure quality 

Who the feck signed off these kits!!

A bit disappointed to see Rothwell drop to the bench, but glad it’s not a negative holding midfield replacement. Elliott and Holtby should link up well, and we’ve 2 games a week until Xmas. Johnson for Trybull the right move in this game too. 
Assume Wharton is still not recovered as he’s not made the bench. Not too worried defensively given how poor Millwall are going forward, just hope we can break them down early on. 

Bournemouth and Bristol City both losing early doors. 

1 hour ago, only2garners said:

The Sky TV contract gives money to all clubs but then if your club is chosen for a live home game you get £50,000. This is a reduced amount as part of the revised deal following the pandemic which had an increased number of games. The away team gets a much smaller fee - it was £10,000 but may now be less.

Cheers for that - It's obviously not make or break money, but if you get 10 extra games (some of these clubs are!), then it's the difference between signing a Kaminski or not. 

Edit: Brentford allegedly on 20 times through 2020 (vs 3 for Rovers mentioned above), obviously a lot of that was down to last seasons performance with 3 playoff games in there for Brentford too.

Just now, MarkBRFC said:

Only 3 televised games for Rovers in the whole of 2020.

One weekend game

One midweek where the other fixtures weren't on the red button

One midweek where the other fixtures were on the red button

 

3 times in a whole calendar year - this must be the lowest in the league

Sky Sports December fixtures have been announced and no additions for Rovers, am I right in thinking we've only been on TV once this season (twice including upcoming Bristol City)? (Both of those matches are mid-week and would have been on the red button regardless). So not one televised weekend game through half the season. Odd for the highest scorers in the league (ironically 0-0 in the 1 Sky game)

Is TV money divided equally or not? It's a complete shambles when you see the same clubs every week.

Over just 2 weeks between Dec 15th - 30th you can watch Watford and Norwich 3 times & Brentford, Stokes and Swansea twice

Marine have also qualified from the Northern Prem! Same league as Bamber Bridge!

Our Christmas fixtures look very similar to last year, in that all are very winnable (and two identical teams). I just hope we go into the 3rd round FA cup match on the back of better results this year. 
We were on the edge of the playoffs and got two points from Wigan, Huddersfield and Birmingham. With great home and away crowds at the first two.  
This year we have Shef Wed, Huddersfield and Birmingham and if we go into them in contention at the top it will be a big test of whether our mentality has changed. 
 

The biggest difference this season is going into every game I believe we can win and expect points, whether it’s Norwich away or Wycombe at home. I wouldn’t have said that last year vs Leeds, Brentford, Fulham etc. Testament to the gradual turnaround from the staff and players. 

2 minutes ago, philipl said:

Any idea when the draw is?

To say the BBC have first dibs on the FA Cup, their coverage is abysmal.

Tomorrow evening around 7pm, probably 7.15 by the time they’re doing it. 

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Good to see Watford beat Preston. 

Wonder what the PNE forums are like tonight? 

@north_ender what are PNE fans saying after today game? Time for a manager change? Or the owner need to invest in the team more? 

What's your thoughts on Alex Neil and would you like to see a change of manager there? 

Why is a promotion rival winning against bottom half fodder ‘good to see’ for us?