On Saturday we are at home to our deadly rivals Barnsley in a game that should see the biggest crowd of the season at The KM.
Before i get into the details of the upcoming game i would like to dedicate this thread to our good friend and fellow Rover, NewYankee, who has had some uplifting news regarding his current state of health.
I write for all of us mate in wishing you well.
Unfortunatly we were unable to get the better of Bristol City in the Cup replay
but by all accounts we performed well again and having conceded a poor goal in the first half, found ourselves chasing the game and conceded a late second to put us out.
However, credit should go the PD and the team for a valliant effort.
The perpetual problem is converting the good football and chances into goals.
We had 4 shots on target on Tuesday as did Bristol but they put two in the net.
It is becoming a regular feature of our game and i hope that PD resists holding back Tyson on Saturday and starts with him instead of the out of touch Main and the hard working but never looks like scoring Robinson.
The other potential option is giving a start to Jack McKay.
I have seen two or three of his goals on the OS and he looks to have the natural finishing ability of a predatory striker.
He is a big lad but is he physically strong enough to compete in the mens game right now.
There is only one way to find out i suppose but i have to trust the managers judgement and i feel that he will know when the time is right to bring him in.
We started with Harry Middleton against Bristol and he did ok but the commentators and someone i know who went to the game said that he looked out of his depth at times.
I think that a fit Tyson is the best choice.
Barnsley did put out a very young team in last weeks 2-0 home win over Yeovil but reports indicate that Yeovil should have had at least a draw from the fixture.
I would suspect that the team against us won't differ too much from last weeks.
Their team will of course include Ross Turnbull.
Ross signed for Barnsley in the summer after the Rovers dithered about offering him a new deal whilst the failed takeover bid overshadowed our pre season.
I for one would have loved him to have been our keeper this season.
In the 1-1 draw at Croakwell a few weeks ago he was the main reason that we didn't come away with all three points.
I have been harping on of late about our good run( of just 4 losses in 16 games now) but because we are now out of the Cup i will convert that into a view of our league form.
We have lost just two of the last eleven games in L1 but in truth there have been too many draws, five in total.
See above for reasons why.
In contrast Barnsley have lost four of their last seven in the league and find themselves two points behind us having played the same number of games.
Having got "the home form monkey" off our back of late we have two games at the KM, one of which is our game in hand, which if we can take maximum points from will see us soar into a position realistically challenging for a play off place.
It is vitally important to take all six points because the following Saturday we have no game due to the Bristol league match being postponed.
Nine of the thirteen teams above us have played one or two more matches than us so a couple of wins will put a totally different look to the league table.
Who knows, we might even get a mention on The Football League Show.
Matches between us and Barnsley are usually tight affairs and the historical record indicates that.
Rovers won 23, Barnsley won 21, 19 games drawn.
The last three games between us have finished all square.
Does this all indicate another draw on Saturday, well i hope not.
I do expect Barnsley to come and try to play for a draw though.
Finally, it is strongly rumoured that Stephen Bywater is due to join us in time to play in goal on Saturday and for the sake of our promotion chances i hope hope he does do.
We need an experienced keeper behind what is now a solid defence.
No discredit to Young Marosi but i wouldn't want him as first choice for the rest of the season.
I think that a stronger keeper would have kept out that first goal on Tuesday and things may have been different but hey ho, we move on, i hope to a top six spot.
ROVERS V BARNSLEY MATCH THREAD
posted on 17/1/15
Whoever wins on Tuesday will go into the play-off places.
posted on 17/1/15
Well, possibly not, as Oldham are palying too - depends on thier result and possibly goal difference
posted on 17/1/15
Donaldo, all those stats you quoted do give a true reflection of the game and IT WAS a convincing win.
Only 1-0, yes maybe, but we outplayed Barnsley from start to finish.
They came set up to get a draw and i dont care who is playing against a team that does that, it is always hard to break them down.
Main had a great chance early on that he should have put away and if he had then Barnsley would have had to have had a different approach.
Main also had another very good chance early in the second half but snatched at it and sliced it wide.
The funny thing is, Main probably had his best game for ages today but his shooting was terrible.
Our midfielders and defenders look rock solid and i think i can only remember Barnsley having one shot on target in the whole game and even then it was no bother for Bywater to save.
Because we rarely look like conceding a goal now we will always have a chance of winning a game with the flair players that we have available and that proved to be the case today when Forrester showed his class with a very special goal.
posted on 17/1/15
Yet again I was struck by what a tidy and well organised overall performance Rovers gave. Irrespective of the score I got the feeling that the manager is getting all the players in the team to play to close to their best. One goal didn't reflect Rover's dominance, and therein lies the problem. Defenders aren't scoring, midfielders aren't getting many and the forward tend not to get on the end of many chances. Given the league we are in and the available money this shouldn't be news to anyone and, even with this limitation, we are still just a win or two away from the play-offs. One day we will unearth a prolific goal poacher and the world will be our lobster.......
posted on 17/1/15
Quite agree Albi. For me, Robinson and Main are one of the worst striker pairings we have had down here. Wonder if O'Callaghan and Kitchen could come out of retirement
Unless Tyson and Forrester aren't match fit I would start with them every time.
posted on 17/1/15
Bring back the Heff
posted on 18/1/15
Thanks eye-witnesses. The Player team were less complimentary about the general effectiveness of the performance, hence the listeners' reaction. Main in particular seems utterly frustrating and you wonder why Forrester and Tyson did not start. If Forrester had been there at the beginning it would surely have been more comfortable and there would have been more goals. So I'm glad I didn't hear "inspired substitutions", but then I haven't sampled the BBC interview yet!!
posted on 18/1/15
I have listened to PD on the BBC Don and he didnt say anything about inspired substitutions.
Funnily enough, before the game i said to my pal that i wasnt happy about us starting with Theo and Main but that Tyson and Forrester would probably turn out to be impact subs.
True, honestly.
I have also listened to Danny Wilsons interview after the game.
He must have been looking at a different game to everyone else.
Even the Barnsley fans who phoned in to praise or grumble on Radio Sheff said that they were outclassed and that Donny murdered them all day.
The odd thing about Forrester is that very often when he starts he doesnt have the same impact on the game but if he gets to come on for the last half hour he is regularly outstanding.
If he can get some more consistency into his game he will propell us up the table because he is very very good at times.
I should also mention Bennetts contribution yesterday because i thought that he also looked very good.
posted on 19/1/15
thanks for the reports.
will be there tuesday
posted on 19/1/15
Rovers sign Abdul Razak until the end of the season, subject to International clearance. We just need a good striker who can put away the chances and we will finish strongly.