Performance to bring the smiles back

After last weeks victory at Wimbledon and the victory over Chelsea U21 in the week it was great to complete the week with another win over without doubt the best team we have played so far this season. if somebody had told me that after the dismal performance in the 3-3 draw with Accrington that we would win our next three games I would have asked them for more of what they were on! The best thing about yesterday was not only the result but how it was achieved and the fact thnat IMO no player of either side performed poorly and there were a few players in the blue and white quarters who gave their best performance in a Rovers shirt. 

  Jaakkola 8.0 I've said each week recently that he could become one of our best keepers and I will stand by that with the added bonus that he is ours. The only problem I see with him is that we lose him for Internationals which is one of another EFL rule that is a joke - why should ANY team be penalised for having an International player? The club pays the players wages and League and cup games are their bread and butter. It should be a case of ALL games rearranged around International breaks because those International games also affect attendances as well as the continuity of the team. Anyway two great saves yesterday and almost a total domination of his six yard box and beyond. Seems to have built up an understanding with his defence and IMO a better keeper overall than Bonham which is the best compliment I can pay him.


Rodman 7.0 Not in a familiar role but starting to fit to it like a glove. Has the pace to do the job well and also has the strength in the air to beat most at this level. Capable of beating his man , putting in crosses and the occasional goal with it. He is a player who I feel needs to play through a bad game rather than be left out after it as all players have spells of poor form or rather should I say poor games. On form he is like a new signing and one who is capable of getting 10 goals a season.

I will firstly talk about the back three as a unit because this is what they have become and whilst Tom Lockyer was a superb player and an obvious loss in the summer it has IMO yielded a better unit and one which is more capable of handling the attackers we come up against in this division. Wimbledon last week and more so Rotherham yesterday were teams who we would have struggled with last season and for many seasons before that and it is now that we can I believe compete with the majority of teams in that area. It is a great mixture - one who has been there ,done it and leads by example, one young and up and coming who can gain from Craigs experience and then one who really has a point to prove and can now actually become a key player and really show what he can do.
Davies 8.0 Only fault was a couple of overhit passes but that is not always a fault as long as it clears danger. There has not much that has got past him this season and surely it won't be long before he scores as he looks a danger at corners.
Craig 8.5 A battler and an experienced campaigner and yesterday again Captain as he should be permanently leading the team  week in week out as he does unofficially. Not much gets past Tone and he knows all the tricks of the trade from years at a higher standard and IMO could go on for a few more years yet in that position if he keeps himself fit. Probably the most important part of the three man defence.
Kilgour 8.0 What a player we could have on our hands and a player that GC must take full credit for as last season he gave the young man confidence that he had a future with the club and even described him as a future captain - I am not sure if that will come about as with his current progress I can see bigger clubs coming in for him before he gets a chance to captain the side. Like every player he has a mistake in him but he is learning every week and is without doubt a tremendous prospect.

Leahy 7.5 His best game in a Rovers shirt and if he can keep this level up now I am sure he won't become the scapegoat that he could easily become from many. If his 35 yard shot had gone in it would have been talked about for years and overall he linked the play so well down the left side and his combination play with Sercombe was great to see ,defended  with enthusiasm and was rarely beaten. I was unsure about him but felt he was the better of the two (Kelly being the other option) but now if he can set yesterdays level as his norm then we will have a very good left wingback.

Here I will also talk about the unit before individuals as again that is what this game is all about-getting each unit to work together and yesterday was almost perfection as the central midfielders complimented each other so well and each gave something different but were all willing to battle for everything and that really was the difference in the side yesterday against probably all round the tallest team we are going to come up against and the most physical strength with a good amount of skill on the ball as well. For me it is now important that GC keeps these three together fitness permitting as it iis probably by misfortune that they have been put together rather than by great Management-that is not saying that GC is not a good Manager.
Sercombe 8.5 Got better and better as the game went on and by the time the second half was underway he looked the player he was a couple of years ago and like a good new signing. Yes there were some poor passes but that is always going to happen when an individual is trying to play in that creative pass rather than always play the safe pass. He provided what we have really been missing this season and that is a player with an eye for a pass and an eye for a goal and if he keeps this up surely it won't be long before we see one of those 25 yard screamers hitting the net again. GC has probably made Sercs more workmanlike overall but yesterday was the first signs that the talent is still there. Let's hope he is now given a run of games and that what seems like  a great belief by the Manager in Ollie Clarke does not force him back on the bench without being given a fair chance to re establish himself.
Upson 7.5 Did what he has been doing all season and for me the key man in the trio but the wonderful thing yesterday was that he was overshadowed by the performances of the other two midfielders whilst still performing to a high standard himself. Love the way he never gives up and his positional awareness is second to none and I have said all along I would love to see him playing with a good player and maybe after yesterday Sercombe can be that player! 
Agogo 9.0 MOM Superb is the only word to describe his Man of the Match performance. I am sure the opposition must have hated playing against him as he chased around the midfield sometimes putting fierce and fair tackles in and other times just harassing the opposition into submission and not only that he almost scored another goal and passed the ball generally well. a complete midfielders performance.

Smith 6.5 Chased and harrassed defenders and showed one moment in the first half where he really showed what he was about other than the disappointing finish. He really should have put that chance away that he created himself but hit it weekly straight at the keeper when the net beckoned. He was unlucky on a couple of occasions and never gave up despite it not being the ideal sort of game with so much physical presence in numbers in the opposition.


JCH 7.0 It is not often that JCH meets his match in the physical battle but that happened yesterday but the sign of a great striker is that on the odd occasion he can win that battle and finish with a plomb. A class finiish but it was a bit worrying that he does often look as if he is still carrying an injury and was replaced to a great ovation before the end.


Subs

Adeboyejo 7.0 Caught offside a couple of times but held the ball well and has a bit of pace and was very unlucky not to score with an angled drive. There is something there but I wonder whether he will be able to get the run of games he probably needs to show us what he can do.
Nicholls 6.5 A good contribution in the relatively short time he was on the pitch.
Menayese NOLE Thought he had a very good game against Chelsea U21 and was unlucky (although it was the right decision) to find himself back on the bench. Good cover to have though and if he does get a chance to prove himself could possibly turn out to be another Kilgour. 


Crowd 7.0 Better numbers and those who didn't attend yesterday missed a good game 
Ref 6.0 Missed a lot but overall would prefer someone like him who kept his cards in the pocket rather than flashing the bloody things every couple of minutes and if the choice was referee or VAR assisted referees it would be referees every time but just assisted by goal line3 technology- we do not need offside decided by the mm or the game extended by ten minutes whilst we wait for decisions - the game has managed for over 140 years without being governed by technology. Perhaps I am old fashioned but certainly I would not be looking forward to a Dalek moving about the pitch blowing a whistle but all the decisions actually being made a few miles away in front of a TV set!!
Rotherham 7.0 Probably the most powerful team seen at the Mem for awhile still showing why they were in the Championship last season and I doubt they had a player under 6 foot. They showed a lot of skill and passing ability and yet it was strange because I always felt that we were actually the better footballing team and put the better moves together and created the better chances. They got away with quite a few niggling fouls throughout the first half but we got stronger and stronger and seemed to unusually enjoy the physical battle. It is a long time since Ii have seen a team who stuck their heads iin the way of so much and headed the ball so powerfully and yet it was ironic that the goal that decided the match had physicality written all over it and Clarke-Harris escaped the tight reins and held off two defenders before finishing with accuracy of a striker in scintillating form.

GC - 10 He's been given a hard time but has gone on to give us our best start for many years and yesterday IMO he got everything right. I would like to see him now have the guts to stand by this team and give them a run of games


So we go into an EFL fault break with a great result and a good all round performance. Really annoys me that the EFL didn't sort out the mess before this season started and made sure the division had a full compliment but there are many answers that are not answered by them especially things like how Bolton were allowed to sign 9 players after failing to fulfil the Doidge transfer last season- if anything deserved a transfer embargo then that was it and I really feel that both the Bury and Bolton situations should have been dealt with better and is seems to me that Bolton being the bigger club were given much better treatment. Anyway IMO that 3 points yesterday was not only deserved but vital with the two week break that will see other teams either catch up games on us or play one more. The importance iis really shown when you see that had Rotherham beaten us yesterday they would now have been level on points with two games in hand - instead they find themselves two games in hand but six points adrift- I know what I would rather have! UTG