Post by stevek192 on Jan 29, 2020 11:22:32 GMT
On a cold night in the north it has to be said that this was a marked improvement on Saturday albeit against weaker opponents. The fact that we were one of the few teams to be beaten by them this season meant that you can't take anything for granted and it wouldn't be the first time or the last that we were beaten by a Keith Hill side. It would be easy to criticise my markings especially if you watched the game on Ifollow as the far end was a long way away in a big Stadium and it was not easy always to tell who was who with Rovers yellow against Boltons white.
Blackman 7 - Not a great deal to do but is a commanding figure who controls his area very well and good distribution including one excellent throw out in the first half. He has made a big difference to the defence as a whole.
Kilgour 6 - Good solid game at right back proving that similar to Lockyer he can probably play across the entire back four as needed. Hope we can hold on to him and maybe he will; as Coughlan once said; go on to Captain the side.
Davies 7 - The best of the defence and great to have him back. He does tend to overdo the passing back sometimes but solid and wasn't beaten very often
Craig 5.5 I would assume that it was him who lost his man on the goal although it was at the far end and difficult to see but individual errors cost us points when we don't score enough goals
Leahy 6.5 His best game for a while after a few horrendous performances. Kept things tight, got forward well but not too often and kept Ginnelly supplied.
Upson 6 - A usual performance kept things ticking over but another pointless booking and is never going to be spectacular but does a useful job and would be my first choice in the midfield but never with two other defensive midfielders against opposition that we should have beat and probably would have if we had really gone for it and sacrificed one of the three.
Ogogo 5.5 Awful first half and would have replaced him with Barratt at half time but he improved in the second half and looked more like his old self.
Rodman - 8 MOM always looked dangerous and willing to take on players and his strength in the air is a bonus. Put in some good crosses and an excellent one for the goal.
Clarke - 7 Best game for a while and improved as the game went on. Probably should have scored after driving forward but it was a good attempt under pressure from three players nut with the keeper lazily coming off his line I thought he was going to score.
Ginnelly - 7 At last a player who can run at players and actually look dangerous and excite. His Preston North End connection made him the butt of a Home crowd that yet again are a club in decline and in a stadium that is outstanding but far too big for them. Shame he is only on loan because the problem with loans is that if they are good we probably won't be able to sign them and if poor won't want them. Hope his substitution was just precautionary rather than a full muscle pull. He was able to walk off so maybe it was tiredness having been selected for rough treatment. Unlucky in the first half with a shot when cutting in that brought a good save from the keeper.
Clarke-Harris 7 - Have to give him a 7 because he did what nobody else appears to be able to do which is put the ball in the net but he probably should have scored two or maybe even three.
Sub: Mitchell-Lawson - 5.5 Only a short appearance but would like to see more of him
Crowd 5 Another club that is too big for their stadium as although the crowd was over 10,000 it felt about 3000. Good support from those who braved a cold evening but really should have been rewarded with a win that at times was more dominant than the possession suggested.
Ref 7 Bloody hell a good referee. Can we have a few more of these. Possibly a bit lenient on a Bolton side who fouled constantly especially in the first half
BG If he had been a bit braver I think we would have brought three points home but I can understand his reluctance to change anything as we were playing quite well and didn't really look in any danger of losing but as is always the problem with a one goal lead it only takes one individual mistake to ruin all the good work and that is what happened when Craig totally lost his man at a corner and Murphy was left with time and space to place his header in the corner of the net. A more ambitious approach by replacing Ogogo at half time with Barratt would have given us a better chance of winning by a few goals but of course it could also have left us a bit more open and the possibility that we could have lost a game we were always in the ascendancy.
Bolton 6 Difficult to judge the impressiveness of our performance against a Bolton side who were obviously short of confidence and points and who; similar to us; find goals a difficult commodity to come by. I felt they were there for the taking and didn't really do enough to get a draw
Coventry Saturday will give us a better chance to see if there is any improvement having already played them three times this season. It will be even more interesting if we can keep hold of JCH and get another couple of signings in the door including at least one other striker but preferably two as we are weak in that department. A creative experienced midfielder would also help because in all honesty we have far too many midfielders but lack real creative quality.
So what do I wish for? I will hold on to my helmet and say hopefully the end of Nichols and Bennett. Obviously it would be a bonus to hold on to JCH but anyway I would like to see two attackers in even if we retain JCH because at the moment an injury to him could leave us in a ridiculous position of only having one striker Reilly who IMO is not good enough anyway. In the perfect world we would also get another creative midfielder in and send the likes of Russe, Hargeaves and Kelly out on loan or even transferred.
I am sure all Gasheads will be watching the transfer deadline with interest. UTG
Blackman 7 - Not a great deal to do but is a commanding figure who controls his area very well and good distribution including one excellent throw out in the first half. He has made a big difference to the defence as a whole.
Kilgour 6 - Good solid game at right back proving that similar to Lockyer he can probably play across the entire back four as needed. Hope we can hold on to him and maybe he will; as Coughlan once said; go on to Captain the side.
Davies 7 - The best of the defence and great to have him back. He does tend to overdo the passing back sometimes but solid and wasn't beaten very often
Craig 5.5 I would assume that it was him who lost his man on the goal although it was at the far end and difficult to see but individual errors cost us points when we don't score enough goals
Leahy 6.5 His best game for a while after a few horrendous performances. Kept things tight, got forward well but not too often and kept Ginnelly supplied.
Upson 6 - A usual performance kept things ticking over but another pointless booking and is never going to be spectacular but does a useful job and would be my first choice in the midfield but never with two other defensive midfielders against opposition that we should have beat and probably would have if we had really gone for it and sacrificed one of the three.
Ogogo 5.5 Awful first half and would have replaced him with Barratt at half time but he improved in the second half and looked more like his old self.
Rodman - 8 MOM always looked dangerous and willing to take on players and his strength in the air is a bonus. Put in some good crosses and an excellent one for the goal.
Clarke - 7 Best game for a while and improved as the game went on. Probably should have scored after driving forward but it was a good attempt under pressure from three players nut with the keeper lazily coming off his line I thought he was going to score.
Ginnelly - 7 At last a player who can run at players and actually look dangerous and excite. His Preston North End connection made him the butt of a Home crowd that yet again are a club in decline and in a stadium that is outstanding but far too big for them. Shame he is only on loan because the problem with loans is that if they are good we probably won't be able to sign them and if poor won't want them. Hope his substitution was just precautionary rather than a full muscle pull. He was able to walk off so maybe it was tiredness having been selected for rough treatment. Unlucky in the first half with a shot when cutting in that brought a good save from the keeper.
Clarke-Harris 7 - Have to give him a 7 because he did what nobody else appears to be able to do which is put the ball in the net but he probably should have scored two or maybe even three.
Sub: Mitchell-Lawson - 5.5 Only a short appearance but would like to see more of him
Crowd 5 Another club that is too big for their stadium as although the crowd was over 10,000 it felt about 3000. Good support from those who braved a cold evening but really should have been rewarded with a win that at times was more dominant than the possession suggested.
Ref 7 Bloody hell a good referee. Can we have a few more of these. Possibly a bit lenient on a Bolton side who fouled constantly especially in the first half
BG If he had been a bit braver I think we would have brought three points home but I can understand his reluctance to change anything as we were playing quite well and didn't really look in any danger of losing but as is always the problem with a one goal lead it only takes one individual mistake to ruin all the good work and that is what happened when Craig totally lost his man at a corner and Murphy was left with time and space to place his header in the corner of the net. A more ambitious approach by replacing Ogogo at half time with Barratt would have given us a better chance of winning by a few goals but of course it could also have left us a bit more open and the possibility that we could have lost a game we were always in the ascendancy.
Bolton 6 Difficult to judge the impressiveness of our performance against a Bolton side who were obviously short of confidence and points and who; similar to us; find goals a difficult commodity to come by. I felt they were there for the taking and didn't really do enough to get a draw
Coventry Saturday will give us a better chance to see if there is any improvement having already played them three times this season. It will be even more interesting if we can keep hold of JCH and get another couple of signings in the door including at least one other striker but preferably two as we are weak in that department. A creative experienced midfielder would also help because in all honesty we have far too many midfielders but lack real creative quality.
So what do I wish for? I will hold on to my helmet and say hopefully the end of Nichols and Bennett. Obviously it would be a bonus to hold on to JCH but anyway I would like to see two attackers in even if we retain JCH because at the moment an injury to him could leave us in a ridiculous position of only having one striker Reilly who IMO is not good enough anyway. In the perfect world we would also get another creative midfielder in and send the likes of Russe, Hargeaves and Kelly out on loan or even transferred.
I am sure all Gasheads will be watching the transfer deadline with interest. UTG
