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Post by justin blue on Apr 21, 2018 22:02:17 GMT
It's all fine lines between success and failure in football. We just haven't really got going this season it's been all fits and starts and no consistency. If we could have strung a few wins together it might have been a different story. We haven't had the luck this season and the team has been dogged by injuries OK it's excuses, but teams like us need all the help we can get and a lot of luck.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2018 22:40:23 GMT
No, not better than Elliott, but better than anyone since him. Very different in style to Elliott too. I do agree though that it's an important call DC has to make as to what is his first choice pairing at the back. I like Lockyer and Craig, however do feel that Broadbent has some class and must be allowed to develop. Glad I'm not making that decision! Next problem is fitting Lines and Sercombe into the same side without shoving Sercs out wide. Then a 20-goal striker and we're sorted! If you think all we need is a 20-goal striker and we're sorted in terms of signings, I would have to respectfully disagree. I personally think we need a couple of quality full backs, a defensive minded midfielder and an out-and-out winger option. Possibly two strikers if we don't keep Gaffney. Our recruitment plans surely come down to how realistic the club think it is that we can progress further up the leagues while we remain at the Mem in its current form. If we think that we should be aiming to do a Yeovil / Burton and going for a promotion to the Championship that probably can't be sustained at our current ground, then the need for better players in certain positions is evident. It's a sizeable gap to the play offs, never mind the top 2, so in this scenario better players are clearly required. If this is our aim then by and large I would agree with your list of improvements. But, as ever, the problem is affording / attracting these players. If however, our goal is maintaining our status for a period of time in the hope that the owners improve the infrastructure to a point where Championship status can be obtained and sustained, then perhaps we don't need ALL these players just yet. Continuing to tinker and evolve the first team squad bit by bit whilst harvesting from the promising development squad may be the way to go. The problem with this approach of course is keeping hold of an ambitious manager while we wait for development off the pitch. Supporters too can become restless - look at the stick DC took from a minority in December, despite what he has achieved for us. It's a tricky conundrum. Personally, I see no benefit at all in doing a Yeovil and believe that the ground situation is key to the future of the club and to our ambitions. If that means more patience and more years in League 1 (which historically is our level, and a big improvement on our 21st century average), then so be it. |
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Post by Jomo on Apr 21, 2018 22:59:56 GMT
If you think all we need is a 20-goal striker and we're sorted in terms of signings, I would have to respectfully disagree. I personally think we need a couple of quality full backs, a defensive minded midfielder and an out-and-out winger option. Possibly two strikers if we don't keep Gaffney. Our recruitment plans surely come down to how realistic the club think it is that we can progress further up the leagues while we remain at the Mem in its current form. If we think that we should be aiming to do a Yeovil / Burton and going for a promotion to the Championship that probably can't be sustained at our current ground, then the need for better players in certain positions is evident. It's a sizeable gap to the play offs, never mind the top 2, so in this scenario better players are clearly required. If this is our aim then by and large I would agree with your list of improvements. But, as ever, the problem is affording / attracting these players. If however, our goal is maintaining our status for a period of time in the hope that the owners improve the infrastructure to a point where Championship status can be obtained and sustained, then perhaps we don't need ALL these players just yet. Continuing to tinker and evolve the first team squad bit by bit whilst harvesting from the promising development squad may be the way to go. The problem with this approach of course is keeping hold of an ambitious manager while we wait for development off the pitch. Supporters too can become restless - look at the stick DC took from a minority in December, despite what he has achieved for us. It's a tricky conundrum. Personally, I see no benefit at all in doing a Yeovil and believe that the ground situation is key to the future of the club and to our ambitions. If that means more patience and more years in League 1 (which historically is our level, and a big improvement on our 21st century average), then so be it. Great post, I completely agree. |
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Post by pirate on Apr 21, 2018 23:02:36 GMT
If you think all we need is a 20-goal striker and we're sorted in terms of signings, I would have to respectfully disagree. I personally think we need a couple of quality full backs, a defensive minded midfielder and an out-and-out winger option. Possibly two strikers if we don't keep Gaffney. Our recruitment plans surely come down to how realistic the club think it is that we can progress further up the leagues while we remain at the Mem in its current form. If we think that we should be aiming to do a Yeovil / Burton and going for a promotion to the Championship that probably can't be sustained at our current ground, then the need for better players in certain positions is evident. It's a sizeable gap to the play offs, never mind the top 2, so in this scenario better players are clearly required. If this is our aim then by and large I would agree with your list of improvements. But, as ever, the problem is affording / attracting these players. If however, our goal is maintaining our status for a period of time in the hope that the owners improve the infrastructure to a point where Championship status can be obtained and sustained, then perhaps we don't need ALL these players just yet. Continuing to tinker and evolve the first team squad bit by bit whilst harvesting from the promising development squad may be the way to go. The problem with this approach of course is keeping hold of an ambitious manager while we wait for development off the pitch. Supporters too can become restless - look at the stick DC took from a minority in December, despite what he has achieved for us. It's a tricky conundrum. Personally, I see no benefit at all in doing a Yeovil and believe that the ground situation is key to the future of the club and to our ambitions. If that means more patience and more years in League 1 (which historically is our level, and a big improvement on our 21st century average), then so be it. It is a tricky conundrum and there is no easy answer. Of course the ground is key to everything, but in the meantime I don't think you can just tread water and hope to consolidate each season. This division gets tougher and tougher each year and if we get complacent we could, god forbid, easily slip back down to League Two. I think the aim at the start of the season should always be to finish in the playoffs and I don't think that is unrealistic. Good, affordable players are out there if we spread our net wide enough, I'm sure of that. Could we compete in the Championship if we did make it there with our current infrastructure? It would be tremendously difficult, but not impossible. Again, it all comes down to players and recruitment. I would relish the challenge of Championship football and if we did come straight back down, hopefully we we would be in a better position the following season to have another crack at promotion. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 0:27:15 GMT
Feel free to admit you got the scapegoat wrong with the 1st goal anytime you like. I wont hold my breath waiting though. Wasn’t there but the highlights show James Clarke giving the ball away for the first goal. Nichols being brushed aside sounds familiar . I’ll always support any player in the quarters but his weakness in 50/50 challenges all season really boils my water. The commentator on rad Bristol today said he’s got one of the highest work rates of any Rovers player , I spat out my beer and nearly threw the radio at the wall. Nichols appears to lack determination. He cant possibly have been as poor as this season at previous clubs so what the hell has happened with him? |
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Post by blueridge on Apr 22, 2018 6:17:04 GMT
If you think all we need is a 20-goal striker and we're sorted in terms of signings, I would have to respectfully disagree. I personally think we need a couple of quality full backs, a defensive minded midfielder and an out-and-out winger option. Possibly two strikers if we don't keep Gaffney. Yeah I’d go along with that and if they were all good signings we’d maybe get top 2. Harrison has been so much improved this season but I think people are getting carried away in thinking there will be championship clubs after him this season. His attitude and will to win has been incredible and fair play to him but even at his best ever he looks an average league 1 striker and we haven’t got anyone else up front that would fit that bill. Gsfney for all his hardwork isn’t going to hit double figures in league 1 and Nichols signing let’s face it has been a disaster so far. In midfield our best player last season was O Clarke and he’s looked below this standard this season Sincs is amazing I take my hat off to the bloke he signed his first professional terms in his mid 20s and his attitude is second to none but again he’s average league 1 at best and also injury prone , lines is one of the best playmakers in league 1 but in his 30s now so he’s only going one way probably downhill , we have bought a good signing in Bennett and Moore has his moments but we need at least one more good wide man short probably two. Sercombe is a fantastic signing he’s good enough for a promotion push. The defence other than Broadbent don’t look to me like they’re capable of stepping up to a top 6 league 1 side. Lee brown offers a lot attacking and is a legend another of my favourites but gets caught out defensively at this level leads is injury prone Craig is getting on and Lockyer hasn’t improved over the last 2-3 years much and as we’ve moved up the leagues he’s got caught out more and more which suggests to me he hasn’t improved at the same rate as our rise through the leagues which considering his age we all hoped he would. Both keepers are ok not great and again probably not promotion keepers but I think Sam is the better of the two. Sounds like I’m tearing them apart I know but I’m not , overall we’ve got a great team mentality at our club with a great manager who’s done amazing well and so have his players but that 10 or so points off the play offs that we’ll finish the season is a big gap. I’m not suggesting tearing it all up and starting again but if we only add one more like sercombe over the summer along with a complete dud like Nichols has been ( so far) we’ll still be mid table this time next season. It wouldn’t be the end of the world and I’d be ok with that but obviously like every other Gashead I want to see us push on, just saying how I see it. UTG. Is Betnard Mensah that forgettable - sadly I think he probably is. Unfortunately him and Nicholls, which have probably cost between them the thick end of £400k have contributed virtually zilch. Fingers crossed they will come good. Sercombe & Bennett for me are real positives. |
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Post by gashead1981 on Apr 22, 2018 7:31:32 GMT
I will admit watching it on ifollow I got it wrong with Craig, having watched it again it is Clarke who gave it away. I will say though that Craig was stood completely square on with Clark instead of 2-3 yards off set which gave their attacker a good head start that Craig could never recover. He have had just got atackle in if his positioning was better.
Still doesn’t change my opinion that he isn’t what we need going forward for all the reasons I’ve mentioned.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 8:16:35 GMT
I will admit watching it on ifollow I got it wrong with Craig, having watched it again it is Clarke who gave it away. I will say though that Craig was stood completely square on with Clark instead of 2-3 yards off set which gave their attacker a good head start that Craig could never recover. He have had just got atackle in if his positioning was better. Still doesn’t change my opinion that he isn’t what we need going forward for all the reasons I’ve mentioned. Be honest you don’t like Craig and Clarke shouldn’t have been so easily beaten by the attacker if Craig scored 3 goals and cleared ten off the line you would still slate him |
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Post by gashead1981 on Apr 22, 2018 8:43:51 GMT
Harley, football is a performance based business and Craig’s performances have not been what we expected them to be for an experienced defender. It’s not nothing to do whether I like him or not, it’s about whether he has the ability to perform week in, week out and form a god spine for the team going forward. I see nothing in him that he is any of that. He isn’t the future of the team and has so far offered nothing better than what we had previously. He’s a bit of a Liam Lawrence signing.
How about coming back with some facts and parts of his performance that would state otherwise?
James Clarke and Tom Nichols I would put in the same bracket.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 9:54:08 GMT
Harley, football is a performance based business and Craig’s performances have not been what we expected them to be for an experienced defender. It’s not nothing to do whether I like him or not, it’s about whether he has the ability to perform week in, week out and form a god spine for the team going forward. I see nothing in him that he is any of that. He isn’t the future of the team and has so far offered nothing better than what we had previously. He’s a bit of a Liam Lawrence signing. How about coming back with some facts and parts of his performance that would state otherwise? James Clarke and Tom Nichols I would put in the same bracket. The facts are he’s a good influence in the dressing room and on the pitch he only joined end of january. other players have made mistakes around him and I think DC will build a team with TC one of the first on the team sheet. He’s what we can afford budget wise and plays for the gas so get used to him. imo he’s performing very well considering the midfield etc aren’t that great so give him a chance. James Clarke,Bola,partington,Leadbitter all mistake ridden even browner and Broadbent have had their fair share Broadbent I’d keep, probably get rid of the rest plus Moore,Nichols,gaffney,burn,sincs it’s time to be tough on the squad with no favours etc. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 10:09:19 GMT
I will admit watching it on ifollow I got it wrong with Craig, having watched it again it is Clarke who gave it away. I will say though that Craig was stood completely square on with Clark instead of 2-3 yards off set which gave their attacker a good head start that Craig could never recover. He have had just got atackle in if his positioning was better. Still doesn’t change my opinion that he isn’t what we need going forward for all the reasons I’ve mentioned. What actually happened is that we had good possession and the defence had pushed up to the half way line as virtually all defences do. If you look at the pre match warm up you will see them working at staying in a line for obvious reasons. But if it suits your anti craig agenda by all means keep trotting out this nonsense. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Apr 22, 2018 10:39:27 GMT
Harley, football is a performance based business and Craig’s performances have not been what we expected them to be for an experienced defender. It’s not nothing to do whether I like him or not, it’s about whether he has the ability to perform week in, week out and form a god spine for the team going forward. I see nothing in him that he is any of that. He isn’t the future of the team and has so far offered nothing better than what we had previously. He’s a bit of a Liam Lawrence signing. How about coming back with some facts and parts of his performance that would state otherwise? James Clarke and Tom Nichols I would put in the same bracket. Looking at the marks fans give Craig he's been one of our most consistent performers, the fact he's not the dominant CH we probably needed is hardly his fault. The issue now for DC is how he keeps Locks, Craig and Broadbent happy next season. |
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Post by gashead1981 on Apr 22, 2018 10:57:04 GMT
I will admit watching it on ifollow I got it wrong with Craig, having watched it again it is Clarke who gave it away. I will say though that Craig was stood completely square on with Clark instead of 2-3 yards off set which gave their attacker a good head start that Craig could never recover. He have had just got atackle in if his positioning was better. Still doesn’t change my opinion that he isn’t what we need going forward for all the reasons I’ve mentioned. What actually happened is that we had good possession and the defence had pushed up to the half way line as virtually all defences do. If you look at the pre match warm up you will see them working at staying in a line for obvious reasons. But if it suits your anti craig agenda by all means keep trotting out this nonsense. 🙄🤦🏼♂️ there is no agenda. Most good defences have the centre halves 2 yards behind the full backs even when pushing up to offer the option of an easy pass back to keep possession. Perhaps that is a DC instruction? Or maybe it’s an individuals making that incorrect decisions. You usually keep a flat line if you are playing the offside trap, but it’s high risk football for the reasons we saw yesterday. Either you get out sprinted and can’t recover or you miss the line and play someone onside. That’s basic tactics and away from home, in the first 10 mins, you should always play the percentage game. Clarke had 2 left feet and Craig wasn’t quick enough to recover as he was already 3 yards plus momentum behind when their player nicked it. Perhaps this is why we have conceded so many over the season? |
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Post by wilkimania on Apr 22, 2018 11:12:36 GMT
To me what we're currently facing is similar to the summer where Trollope came undone, we need to improve the squad in order to really have much chance of a proper playoff fight but if we get the recruitment wrong then it can kill the squad unity that's taken us so far already.
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Post by lastminutewinner on Apr 22, 2018 11:36:40 GMT
To me what we're currently facing is similar to the summer where Trollope came undone, we need to improve the squad in order to really have much chance of a proper playoff fight but if we get the recruitment wrong then it can kill the squad unity that's taken us so far already. Squad unity will only get you so far, now we need to inject much needed quality to push on. We are nearer to the relegation places than the play off places and in my eyes we have taken a big step back this season. |
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Post by gashead1981 on Apr 22, 2018 13:48:46 GMT
Harley, football is a performance based business and Craig’s performances have not been what we expected them to be for an experienced defender. It’s not nothing to do whether I like him or not, it’s about whether he has the ability to perform week in, week out and form a god spine for the team going forward. I see nothing in him that he is any of that. He isn’t the future of the team and has so far offered nothing better than what we had previously. He’s a bit of a Liam Lawrence signing. How about coming back with some facts and parts of his performance that would state otherwise? James Clarke and Tom Nichols I would put in the same bracket. The facts are he’s a good influence in the dressing room and on the pitch he only joined end of january. other players have made mistakes around him and I think DC will build a team with TC one of the first on the team sheet. He’s what we can afford budget wise and plays for the gas so get used to him. imo he’s performing very well considering the midfield etc aren’t that great so give him a chance. James Clarke,Bola,partington,Leadbitter all mistake ridden even browner and Broadbent have had their fair share Broadbent I’d keep, probably get rid of the rest plus Moore,Nichols,gaffney,burn,sincs it’s time to be tough on the squad with no favours etc. Insprational speeches of organisation and good banter in the dressing room means nothing if you are not consistently performing yourself. Look at Lee Mansell, known to be the heart of the dressing room, L1 was just that step too far for him though and towards the end you could tell he had lost that bite, tempo and control. He retired at the right time. I don’t believe TC can consistently play at the level we need him to to be able to push the team forward. But Broadbent could and now would be the right time to give him that extra experience. When it doesn’t matter |
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Post by I Voted For Kodos on Apr 22, 2018 14:16:13 GMT
What actually happened is that we had good possession and the defence had pushed up to the half way line as virtually all defences do. If you look at the pre match warm up you will see them working at staying in a line for obvious reasons. But if it suits your anti craig agenda by all means keep trotting out this nonsense. 🙄🤦🏼♂️ there is no agenda. Most good defences have the centre halves 2 yards behind the full backs even when pushing up to offer the option of an easy pass back to keep possession. Perhaps that is a DC instruction? Or maybe it’s an individuals making that incorrect decisions. You usually keep a flat line if you are playing the offside trap, but it’s high risk football for the reasons we saw yesterday. Either you get out sprinted and can’t recover or you miss the line and play someone onside. That’s basic tactics and away from home, in the first 10 mins, you should always play the percentage game. Clarke had 2 left feet and Craig wasn’t quick enough to recover as he was already 3 yards plus momentum behind when their player nicked it. Perhaps this is why we have conceded so many over the season? But Craig was the left of the two CBs. After Clarke makes the mistake at RB, if anything you'd expect Lockyer to be the one covering, not Craig. |
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Post by syg on Apr 22, 2018 14:18:51 GMT
I'm confused, maybe I haven't been too enough matches, but TC appears to be an all round better defender than TL.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2018 18:27:36 GMT
What actually happened is that we had good possession and the defence had pushed up to the half way line as virtually all defences do. If you look at the pre match warm up you will see them working at staying in a line for obvious reasons. But if it suits your anti craig agenda by all means keep trotting out this nonsense. 🙄🤦🏼♂️ there is no agenda. Most good defences have the centre halves 2 yards behind the full backs even when pushing up to offer the option of an easy pass back to keep possession. Perhaps that is a DC instruction? Or maybe it’s an individuals making that incorrect decisions. You usually keep a flat line if you are playing the offside trap, but it’s high risk football for the reasons we saw yesterday. Either you get out sprinted and can’t recover or you miss the line and play someone onside. That’s basic tactics and away from home, in the first 10 mins, you should always play the percentage game. Clarke had 2 left feet and Craig wasn’t quick enough to recover as he was already 3 yards plus momentum behind when their player nicked it. Perhaps this is why we have conceded so many over the season? Your wrong,when the opposition have good possession you get your cover on,often full backs in pro football but when you push out you do so together and any forward has to get himself onside. But im wasting my time because your mindset is to blame craig for every goal we concede which is more or less what youve done since we signed him. |
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Post by oldgas on Apr 22, 2018 20:17:02 GMT
Went to Rotherham, and my first question is "How come they went bankrupt twice (I was told this by some of their fans we enjoyed a drink with in a pub outside the railway station) yet can build a new stadium, and all in an absolute shithole of a town like that. These guys had run some kind of fund- raising marathon in Bristol and they were blown away with the place. All the fans we spoke to, and they were reet friendly, like, didn't have a good word to say about their home town.
On to the game. There was nothing between the 2 sides, except they took the 2 chances they had. And we absolutely gifted them the first. I would say we had the majority of posession, but we all know that means f all unless you also score. A fantastic Gas turn out, nobody seemed to mind the result, even though Rotherham played the ref, and were dirty and gamesmanship experts. In comparison we were niece and soft, and need to wise up. They would never have got away with that against the Francis Warrior Class of 1989/1990.
I don't think Byron should be retained, Nicholls we're stuck with unless we can do some kind of exchange plus cash for a replacement. J Clarke is above his level, as is Gaffney. Bola looked unfit and Mensa is still adjusting to League 1, he found out a few times the difference to National league football.
altogether I enjoyed the day, looking forward to Wigan now.
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