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Post by stevek192 on Aug 12, 2016 10:00:40 GMT
This game could be described as a typical hard working performance but in all honesty not a game for the purist or in fact a TV audience and as such my report will be shorter than usual due to the fact that so many would have seen the game on tv and my main aim is to deliver a service for those who cannot see the game. Cardiff on paper were formidable opponents even taking into account they made 6 changes and for that reason it was very disappointing to see such a sparsely filled Memorial Stadium for a game that the prize was a visit to Chelsea in the next round. It was no surprise to see the way Darrell set the team up but to be fair the plan worked out to a tee and whilst it was very poor entertainment for a TV audience it returned the required result and to be fair for all the lack of possession we did create the better scoring opportunities and there were a couple of scrambles in the Cardiff six yard box that should have produced goals. I can only recall Cardiff creating three chances in the entire 120 minutes and it was hardly surprising that paul Trollope was shouting for the entire match!!
Mildenhall - 6. One very good save and also reacted very well for the rebound off the post as if he was as slow as some make out then that shot would have hit him on the way out and ended up back in the net. One fumble at a cross just before the 90 minute mark was the only blemish on his performance.
Leadbitter - 5. For me only an average display, could not fault the effort but too often the control or the final ball was woeful. Has pace to burn but now needs to work hard to improve other aspects of his game. J. Clarke - 9.MOM Outstanding all round display. Strong in the air and a composure in possession. This was his best game in a Rovers shirt and he was unlucky not to score a goal as well which would have been well deserved. If we do go back to 4-4-2 he will be very unlucky to lose his place and for me would just edge Leadbitter out of the starting line up if we do go more attacking against Oxford.
Lockyer - 7. Not at his best against an awkward opponent and i wonder whether having to captain the team is just too much at this stage. He still showed moments of undoubted class in what was a pretty good defensive display from the team as a whole. Hartley - 7.5. For me this is the ideal candidate for a captain. He looks a natural leader of men and apart from a couple of lack of pace moments he played as if he has been a regular member of the team rather than a player who has had little pre season. It is good to see a centre half who lets opponents know he is there and marks closely. Better than Parkes defensively and also better in possession than McCrystal I am sure he will prove a great addition to the team.
Brown - 6 Not involved as much as usual but that was more down to an unusually low amount of ball down his side . When he had to he defended stoutly but he certainly missed a "partner" in midfield to bring him into the game and he looked far more his normal self when Montano came on and we came into the game more. 33% possession in the first half really shows what type of game it was and why as a unit the defence took most of the honours.
O. Clarke - 6. Hard working display but passing too often let him down and lacks the presence to actually want the ball. That said he did get in some good tackles and justified his selection in a team that fought for every ball in our half.
Lines. 8.5. The only midfield player who actually wants the ball and makes himself available to receive it. Some good driving runs in possession and rarely gave the ball away. Add to this an absolute screamer of a shot that rolled back the years and you have a performance which was very close to man of the Match. For me Chris was the main reason that as the game wore on the amount of possession we had increased but if we are to challenge at the right end of the League we are going to require consistency from him and a couple of quality signings to impose ourselves on the games.
Sinclair. 7 A typical Sinclair performance, full of energy and running and pressurising Cardiff from the first minute. Was even better when he pressurised further up the pitch and showed that he can play at a higher standard but whether he can keep a regular place will depend on signings made and also0 whether Darrell wants to play a three or two man midfield. He was really made for how DC set the side up last night. it wasn't particularly good to the eye football wise but very effective.
Taylor. 7. You have to feel sorry for our forward players who have to chase four defenders around all game with little in the way of back up in the opponents half. Looked very sharp in possession and always wi8lling to look for the ball and then hold on to it. Some of his movement was sublime and he looks well up to league 1 class and will surely be scoring goals on a regular basis if we can get in a couple of quality players to enable us to show a more attacking approach.
Harrison. 7. Battled for everything and against a big uncompromising opponent he more than held his own particularly in the air. The same goes for him as Taylor in that he had to waste so much energy chasing opponents around with little chance of winning the ball and so low a percentage possession held by us in the first half.
Subs: Gaffney 4 He is struggling at the moment but is willing to chase lost causes. in all honesty other than probably tiredness on Harrisons part I could see little reason for this substitution. I very much hope that he can regain form and prove himself again. Bodin 5 Another who will suffer if we play this type of game too often as he is not what I would call your usual DC sort of player as regards work rate but has the talent to be an asset at League 1 level. He is very much a luxury player who can turn a game on its head but because he is creative there is also an element of risk about him.
Montano 6. Thought he did well when he came on and has the skill to beat opponents and Lee brown suddenly became more prominent when Christian came on. Shame his shot was a little high when he created space for himself and there was also an excellent low cross that should have been converted. I hope Darrell can sort out a system that gives him far more game time this season as he is an exciting player who can do the business at League 1 level.
Referee 6 Had a good game.
Crowd 6 Disappointing turn out but hardly surprising as All Ticket matches and on the TV do not go together. With the Police presence it seems so stupid that at least home supporters cannot pay on the day.
DC Hardly an entertaining selection but one set out to complete a project and did just that. Certainly the players give 100% for the manager and totally follow his plans.
So Chelsea here we come and hopefully a crowd similar to the size of the Total gate last night will follow us to Stamford Bridge for a great night of football.
For the team we move on to a very important League match on Sunday. I am sure Oxford would have been laughing to see the match last night go to extra time and also the amount of work we had to put in to get5 the result. I very much hope that Darrell will select a more attacking team on sunday and a signing or two today would go down well but not expected!!! UTG
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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 12, 2016 10:49:01 GMT
I thought Sinclair ran around like an headless chicken TBH, plently of effort but made so little impact we didn't miss him at all in the middle when he departed.
As far as Taylor & Harrison wasting energy, surely the fact that we created the better chances & scored the only goal suggests the energy was put to good use rather than wasted?
"Certainly the players give 100% for the manager and totally follow his plans." isn't that what we want them to do?
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Post by Centenary Gas on Aug 12, 2016 10:55:51 GMT
Our centre midfield really lacks the quality to keep possession/link the play and impose ourselves. I watched Ollie Clarke stand still and trot around when others around him had the ball. We need players that make things happen. Linesy does try and do this, and Sincs does have a roll in the team when we need enery and terrier like hassling.
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Post by inee on Aug 12, 2016 10:56:39 GMT
imo ellis deserved an 8 at least,seems to have matured a lot on the pitch. Mildy an 8 for me a good performance seemed confident and in command of his box,although is he injured as he din't quite look right every time he dived to his right. The only thing i'm worried about is our pace ,but on the other hand the team are very fit
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 10:59:02 GMT
imo ellis deserved an 8 at least,seems to have matured a lot on the pitch. Mildy an 8 for me a good performance seemed confident and in command of his box,although is he injured as he din't quite look right every time he dived to his right.The only thing i'm worried about is our pace ,but on the other hand the team are very fit If you ignore his kicking!
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Post by inee on Aug 12, 2016 11:03:03 GMT
Ah but is it his kicking or the team to slow to get to them
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Post by garystash on Aug 12, 2016 11:16:16 GMT
Thanks for the report stevek192. Agree with you on James Clarke, looks like a class act. I also thought Taylor's quality showed last night. He may not have set the world on fire, but he looked a class act against a higher level opposition.
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Post by gashead1981 on Aug 12, 2016 11:25:32 GMT
I also thought Bodin was a brilliant outlet for us and our skilled a fair few of the Cardiff players when in possession.
Sadly I see Gaffney as another Blissett. Great for the league we were in, but may struggle against better, quicker and tougher opposition. Would loved to be proven wrong though.
Funny how we all see players differently.
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Post by baggins on Aug 12, 2016 11:51:48 GMT
I also thought Bodin was a brilliant outlet for us and our skilled a fair few of the Cardiff players when in possession. Sadly I see Gaffney as another Blissett. Great for the league we were in, but may struggle against better, quicker and tougher opposition. Would loved to be proven wrong though. Funny how we all see players differently. Yep, because I thought Taylor's first touch was appauling compared to Gaffney.
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Post by warehamgas on Aug 12, 2016 11:53:47 GMT
Again the defence looked very strong, very composed. Hartley doesn't look the quickest but he's not been put in the position where that's important yet. I have always been a fan of Macca but Hartley has played very well so far. Looks to have settled in well with the others and a natural leader. I like SS but with OC makes our midfield dependent upon Lines for creativity. After a few more games we'll see what pattern DC will play. Very similar to last season's first away matches at Yeovil and Luton we were 352 and ground out 2 away wins, but it didn't work at home. Since Christmas 442 at home has been successful. Suspect we might change system for Sunday, DC hinted as much, I thought, in interview on Sky when he talked about different systems for different games.
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Post by countygroundhotel on Aug 12, 2016 13:59:21 GMT
imo ellis deserved an 8 at least,seems to have matured a lot on the pitch. Mildy an 8 for me a good performance seemed confident and in command of his box,although is he injured as he din't quite look right every time he dived to his right. The only thing i'm worried about is our pace ,but on the other hand the team are very fit Really, he made his best (though he didn't have to make many) save diving to his right.
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Post by Jon the Stripe on Aug 12, 2016 15:17:20 GMT
Very professional performance from the whole team in my opinion with James Clarke, Chris Lines and Tom Lockyer standing out.
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Post by tinner on Aug 12, 2016 15:31:25 GMT
I also thought Bodin was a brilliant outlet for us and our skilled a fair few of the Cardiff players when in possession. Sadly I see Gaffney as another Blissett. Great for the league we were in, but may struggle against better, quicker and tougher opposition. Would loved to be proven wrong though. Funny how we all see players differently. Yep, because I thought Taylor's first touch was appauling compared to Gaffney. You surely did not watch the game, sadly Gaffney lost control of the ball virtualy every time it came to him!!
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Post by tinner on Aug 12, 2016 15:48:49 GMT
imo ellis deserved an 8 at least,seems to have matured a lot on the pitch. Mildy an 8 for me a good performance seemed confident and in command of his box,although is he injured as he din't quite look right every time he dived to his right.The only thing i'm worried about is our pace ,but on the other hand the team are very fit If you ignore his kicking! Absolutely nothing wrong with his kicking unless we now expect him to ping 50 yard accurate passes!!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 16:05:31 GMT
Montano did well in the build up to the goal, just thought id add that as he doesn't get mentioned much for his part.
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Post by youmadethatup on Aug 12, 2016 16:11:59 GMT
Sparsely populated stadium......ERM tickets were not available after the second round draw was made, so having chelsea had no bearing at all on the crowd. I expected city fans to not understand this concept but rovers fans...I'm disappointed ;-) Also the crowd was one of the higher ones in the round...I can think of Sheffield United's 8000,brightons 6000 ,derby's 11,000 and another game had 5000 ...didn't see the Coventry crowd. Most teams had under 3000 by a long way. Only 1800 people thought the massive europa league club BcFC worth watching.....
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 16:14:49 GMT
If you ignore his kicking! Absolutely nothing wrong with his kicking unless we now expect him to ping 50 yard accurate passes!! Is that why they swerve out for a throw every time?
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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 12, 2016 16:58:21 GMT
Absolutely nothing wrong with his kicking unless we now expect him to ping 50 yard accurate passes!! Is that why they swerve out for a throw every time? I can't recall that happening a lot last night? As far as Gaffers given we've seen him play in one Div 1 game so far then surely it's a bit early to say he's the new Blisset? He was impressive against Villa's defenders who are hardly Divvy quality. Regardless, Harrison probably had his best game at the Mem since we left the Conference, so it'll be interesting to see if he can now perform as well in a league game. CM wise we clearly need LM & /or LL fit asap, or a newcomer but probably all 3. Not sure why there's so negativity on the forum when we were a bit unlucky to lose on Saturday and beat a Championship side last night.
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Post by slam on Aug 12, 2016 17:03:41 GMT
It was an amazing defensive performance. The TV commentary was critical of Cardiff's lack of cutting edge, which maybe partially true on the night, but I also think it plays down the way we kept our shape and didn't allow ourselves to be pulled around the park by some really good possession football played by Cardiff.
I am not sure that I agree about it not being a game for a TV audience. True, there was a dearth of goalmouth activity, but I thought the game was quite entertaining. The reason that these sorts of games are televised is to show a "David vs Goliath" competition. A neutral TV audience is either likely to see a steamrollering and plenty of goals or to see a dogged rearguard performance where the underdog holds their own and possibly even sneaks a win. Either can be quite interesting, especially as most neutrals will tend to side with the underdog.
DC seemed to get his gameplan right on the night, AGAIN!!!!. I do have a criticism of our 3-5-2 formation though, and that is that I can't really remember an effective display by either of our wingbacks, either Brown or Leadbitter. Defensively they are obviously more than capable, but when we have the ball they don't seem to get involved in the game in the way they do as fullbacks. I am not saying that it is their fault, I am not sure that it is. For some reason, the rest of the team seem to bypass them in midfield. Am I being over critical here???
If we are going to stick with a 3-5-2, I wouldn't mind seeing either Sinclair or Ollie Clarke making way for Easter. Whilst we wouldn't have so much chasing and harrying, I do believe that with Easter, alongside Lines, we would keep the ball better and certainly provide an added edge going forward.
Only my opinion - Tin Hat please
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Post by HarryBayles on Aug 12, 2016 17:11:32 GMT
Is that why they swerve out for a throw every time? I can't recall that happening a lot last night? As far as Gaffers given we've seen him play in one Div 1 game so far then surely it's a bit early to say he's the new Blisset? He was impressive against Villa's defenders who are hardly Divvy quality. Regardless, Harrison probably had his best game at the Mem since we left the Conference, so it'll be interesting to see if he can now perform as well in a league game. CM wise we clearly need LM & /or LL fit asap, or a newcomer but probably all 3. Not sure why there's so negativity on the forum when we were a bit unlucky to lose on Saturday and beat a Championship side last night. That what i was thinking. Still time to find his feet in league 1 so not to be written off yet.
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