Joey (Rovers) vs Steve Evans (Stevenage) Match Thread.

Cat fest

i bet my four cats against any furry things......

First half awful. Second half poor.

The first 45 seriously tested my patience. What was it? 4 goal attempts. Zero on target. We've got to do better than that at home against sides like Stevenage.

Second half saw a slight improvement but we were still very lucky to draw the game. Stevenage had 3 great chances they failed to take. A close range header in the first half parried by Cox, a free header in the second half that came back off the post, and a simple ball forward that put their striker clean through on goal.

Plus our goal should have been disallowed. Offside, handball, take your pick.

I've noticed this in a number of games this season. Opposition teams aren't having many attacks but are creating glorious chances to score. We conceded 4 at Burton and it could easily have been 4 last night. Defence nowhere near good enough.

No quality in midfield last night either. The only player who looked capable of creating something was Vale.

Good finish from Martin but that aside he barely had a kick.

We're just not good enough to play the style JB wants against sides like Stevenage.

I'm not sure where we go from here.

Next 6 games all look winnable on paper. Unless we see some positive performances and results in those fixtures I think JB will be under serious pressure; if he isn't already.

For me we gained an advantage after the ball touched a players hand. Hand ball but as I said. This stuff evens itself out.

It does even itself out as there player gained an advantage when he accidentally sliced the ball into his hand and not out for a corner and then has control to clear the ball.
The ref said he didn't mean it so didn't give a penalty so I'm pretty sure Marquis didn't mean it.

Coming back from 1 nil against a team that were what, 6th? Did we play well? Not really, Cox had to make a few decent saves, they hit the post, more than a few bookings, but we took a point and moved up the table with a game in hand on some around us.

Quite happy.

I just think most of our players just aren’t good enough (consistently) to move the ball quick enough to break sides down. Obvs it works on occasions and when it does we look bloody good. But…. too often passes go astray or we fail to control the ball often leading to giving away chances .

Cut down the amount of passes by about 25% , mostly those risky passes at the back. Get the ball to the front guys quicker. Just needs mixing up a little .

Sense - at last! 👍💙utg

No, once a player takes a controlled touch then everything resets.  From Law 11

"A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent.


*‘Deliberate play’ (excluding deliberate handball) is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of:



passing the ball to a team-mate;

gaining possession of the ball; or

clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it)

If the pass, attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball.



The following criteria should be used, as appropriate, as indicators that a player was in control of the ball and, as a result, can be considered to have ‘deliberately played’ the ball:



The ball travelled from distance and the player had a clear view of it

The ball was not moving quickly

The direction of the ball was not unexpected

The player had time to coordinate their body movement, i.e. it was not a case of instinctive stretching or jumping, or a movement that achieved limited

contact/control

A ball moving on the ground is easier to play than a ball in the air"