Bristol Rovers vs Forest Green friendly match day thread.

You can tell the importance of these games in the scheme of things by the players' reactions when they score....even the 'worldies' in the FGR match.
Total indifference.

I’ve not seen many posts expecting ‘success‘ - I don’t even know what success will be next season in what looks a really tough division. I just don’t see the point in all the doom and gloom on the back of preseason friendlies which are little more than training sessions. 
Never thought I’d say it but I think the number of people who seem so keen to write the manager off means playing behind closed doors for a month or two will be beneficial to the manager and the team. I sense there would be a pretty toxic atmosphere if we were not convincingly winning at half-time of the first home game. 

Have you seen the start the bus thread?

gaschat.co.uk/thread/16583/ground-breaking-goal

20 people think we’ll win or get autos. That’s almost 25%.

There wasn’t even an option for not top ten.



Honestly, I think that’s also why the atmosphere would have been hostile if there were supporters and things weren’t going our way.

Unlike DC who had a poor pre-season a couple of years ago - BG has no ‘credits’ in the bank. His team has to hit ground running or the ‘knives’ will be out I’m sure. Comments like “ we were a bit fatigued” following the FGR match doesn’t much help.

Stockholm syndrome

They have to start well as the knives our already out. Now I can understand some of that being base don the performances last season, but the pre-season games should be irrelevant in any thinking

It's nice to win friendlies and play well, but they are that friendlies. you cannot replicate the atmosphere (in normal times) or the pressure (in any times) of competitive matches. People in any line of work react/perform differently depending on the circumstances

EXAMPLE: People may say JCH looks dis-interested or unfit, but given his injury problems/records, perhaps he isn't busting a gut. He is 1st choice, he knows it, we all know it, would any of us want him to get injured when it doesn't really matter?

Jaakkola, probably number 1 in most people's minds. Coming back from an injury and probably rusty. you can't feel or describe how he might stretch a little bit more for a shot when it really matters. the last minute of a game when you are 1 up and 3 points are on the line

Do we want Max Ehmer to crunch somebody in a friendly, just to show us he is the right man for that job?

we played an extra 30 minutes the other day as agreed with the other team. what bearing does that have on a proper football match? It was mutually beneficial for both to give players minutes

It’s almost like last season never happened and Garner has a pristine managerial record unsullied by such treats as the defeat to the team that finished bottom of the entire football league. THAT’S why people are being negative- we just want to see some form of improvement in our approach and philosophy, is that too much to ask?

That’s the thing, all those are perfectly valid examples, however I don’t see how you can explain the same insipid passing along the back line or our lack of creativity. Are our midfielders thinking “I better not play a killer forward pass here because it’s only a friendly and we need to keep our sick movez under our hat, I’ll play an uninspiring back pass instead”.

People can make allowances for losing due to defenders not busting a gut to track their man etc but the lack of any sort of creativity and the persistence of the familiar drudgery of our attempts to create something of note are the reason people are concerned, not necessarily losing the game. Some of us want to see something completely different to the dross that was served up by Garner last season and so far the omens aren’t good.

Lost 1 out of 4.