DPL - Oldham, Wimbledon & Wigan

But we could lose either The Iron or The Millers as one of them will be in the play-off final. On paper, it should be Shrewsbury based on the season, but last year in League Two I think Blackpool were #7 at the end of regular season.

Shrewsbury go into the play offs in poor form so despite their good season they may not be favourites.

Donaldo, had he still been with us, NY would have been down on you like a ton of bricks for daring to suggest that the rugby affects the pitch.

( I agree with you by the way and I also noticed quite a few bobbles off the surface which caused problems to the players).

Another less than average performance by us against Wigan, no shots on target again and only two shots in the game by us.
We are far too slow in getting the ball up to JM and the lack of width in our play must make us easy to defend against.
We hardly ever get in behind defences.

Hound,
I'd not looked at recent form, and I do now remember they were in auto-promotion position for a few weeks.
I agree that my old Wisconsin mate Derek (NYankee) would have been outraged by Donaldo's comment, but I must admit I get annoyed by the rugby markings and feel the rugby games certainly do not make the pitch better. Actually I thought it played better than against the Womblies.
While I'll admit that Marquis and Beestin got almost no good service in this game (where are Copps and Rowe when you need them? - OK, I know about Rowe, but was there a real problem with Copps, or is he holding out for more than the club will give him?).
As far as the game is concerned, we certainly lack fire power. We only scored 4 more goals his season than the season we were related two years ago.
Until this season I'd very rarely had the opportunity to see whole games, but now because of iFollow I can. My opinion is that if Marquis is the best fire power we have got, we will never get out of League One. I agree he has great work ethic, but his first touch too often is very poor, and so is his left foot. May be that is all we can get with what we are prepared to spend, and I agree that if he was fed better this year, thing may have been different.
If we cannot afford a good striker, may be we need someone in this league that has the same physical characteristic alongside him. I like Beestin, but he dies get bundled off the ball too often.
As far as the defense is concerned, there has been improvement. Marosi is developing into a very good GK - OK, he occasionally goes wild and too far out of goal (such as once in this game) but the defenders cover for him. I tend to like his pro-active decision making, whereas Lawlor is a great reaction save shot stopper, but sometimes is stranded by being too static.
With Andrew and Amos on the left side we will have the first good defense that side for a long time. Mason is far better on the right.
I was disappointed to see Baudry leave as I thought he had some class. Buts and Wright can do a good job in the centre, and if we can add Anderson all the better.
In mid-field, if we can keep Blaire and Rowe fit, that gives a good attacking basis. As far as the holding role, I'd go for Luke and not sign Jordan.
I like Whiteman if he is allowed to go more forward - he was much better before we signed him an a permanent deal!
I know some of my comments may annoy some fans, but these are the thoughts of an ex-pat who has not seen his beloved Rovers live since we were in the Conference!

Copps has a niggling injury so it wasn't worth risking worsening it for this game.
I guess if we had needed to win it to stay up then he probably would have started.

Not far off pdx .
Blair has alot to prove after been fantastic last season he has been very poor and fortunate to start many games.
Mason best performance 4 me was when he played central midfield in front of back 4 with the ability to use both feet and ti look for forward passes.
Its certainly up front we have the problems with May simply not good enough.
Sad to see Garret go .
Mandy what a waste of talent he could have gone a long way I feel.

Think this could be a long n winding road between now and the start of next season. Really looking forward to the meet the owners session this time, don't think anyone will turn up to face the music after what was "promised" at the last one. We will have a stronger budget to get us back into the championship next year after we consolidate our place in league one. All part of the 5yr plan. Only problem I've got is next season, everybody will fancy it as there are no outstanding sides and I believe promotion will be there for the taking.

It’s all over now and looking back on the season “Predictions” thread (31/07/17) only Lanza with 17th, 2 places better than the final position in the table, can feel some consolation. The rest of us were more optimistic, Nookie - 11th, me - top 8, Hound – Play-offs and BVZ similar.

A good deal of this can be blamed on some false hope generated by the signing of Kongolo whose You-Tube videos suggested more glitter than he managed to summon up even in his early games and perhaps Mandeville’s talent was another thing that we had imagined was ready to bloom. If Marquis had scored 20 odd goals and set-piece discipline had been better, it could have been different too. However, the defence did improve greatly overall and it was against the poorer teams that we seemed to fail to get the results.

Fergie managed sensibly for the most part and was perhaps too cautious on occasions (and without his father’s ruthless streak), possibly placing unreasonable faith in systems that he should have recognised weren’t working. He seemed to favour certain players who should have been dropped or used in other positions and he would have gained more points by getting Marosi into the team sooner. There have been lots of injuries to tendons and ligaments and training regimes could be looked at to see whether there is a connection. There have been no red cards and we are second in what might be called the fair-play table with minimal fouls committed which shows that we try to play football, yet some may say this shows we are not tough enough, easily pushed off the ball and the criticism may be valid.

Promotion is probably beyond the present squad even with everything flowing our way, so we need something more with midfield the key in my view as every club wants strikers, so they tend to be overpriced and quite often will score goals one season and dry up the next, so are probably the riskiest type of buy. Oh for a Laurie Sheffield.

Fergie is a great communicator and you get the impression that he could manage any business or group of people and I hope he will carry on with the club. I believe his father is on the mend now and so he should be back on the job soon.

As for the DPL anyone predicting 0-0 for every game would have gained 133 points including bonuses so would only need a smattering of crowd points to be the champion. But which of us, fervent followers, ever even predicts a draw without a pang of guilt of faith weakened?

That brings me to the point of wondering whether we are content with the scoring system with the crowd points dominant? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Selby was the star predictor of these last three games with a notable 19 points for 0-1 vs Wigan. Indeed, his was rather modest compared with most who all saw us going down, some rather heavily.

To our most distant contributor and wine correspondent, Micky in Portland, Oregon, we must say congratulations and it is such a pity that the iFollow match feed did not come a year or two earlier as NewYankee would have relished it and would only have had to get up for 9:00am to watch games. So

Uthred was a worthy 2nd and 3rd was Mooligan, whose points I probably got wrong more often than anyone else’s. (The fact that he was my own closest rival was completely unconnected!)

Oldham 0 : Rovers 0 (5297)
………………..….Crowd Scorer Score Result Bonus Total Pts B/F Cumltve
Donaldo ………… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 160 ……. 160
PDXMickey ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 190 ……. 190
Yorks Lad …….. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 134 ……… 134
BVZ. ……..…….. 3 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 145 ……… 148
Crazy …….……… 2 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 2 …….. 115 ….…… 117
Uthred …….…… 1 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 1 ……. 182 ….…. 183
Mooligan …..…. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 169 ……. 169
King Chmprr …. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ….…. 0 ……. 61 …..…… 61
Small Azza ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …….. 93 …..…. 93
Aussie Lad. ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …… 0 ……... 5 ……..… 5
Azza ……..…..… 3 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 140 ….... 143
Cheltenham …. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……..… 0
Nookie ……….… 3 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 6 ……. 91 …...…… 97
Selby …….……… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 …... 3 ……. 125 …….… 128
Lanza …….……. 0 …….. 0 ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 .... 0 ……… 53 ….…… 53
……………..……. 12 …….. 0 ……. 0 ….. 6 ……. 0 …... 18 … 1663 ….. 1681


Rovers 0 : Wimbledon 0 (7094)
………………..….Crowd Scorer Score Result Bonus Total Pts B/F Cumltve
Donaldo ………… 4 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 4 ……. 160 ……. 164
PDXMickey ……. 4 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 4 ……. 190 ……. 194
Yorks Lad …….. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 134 ……… 134
BVZ. ……..…….. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 148 ……… 151
Crazy …….……… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …….. 117 ….…… 117
Uthred …….…… 2 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 2 ……. 183 ….…. 185
Mooligan …..…. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 169 ……. 169
King Chmprr …. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ….…. 0 ……. 61 …..…… 61
Small Azza ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …….. 93 …..…. 93
Aussie Lad. ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …… 0 ……... 5 ……..… 5
Azza ……..…..… 2 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 2 ……. 143 ….... 145
Cheltenham …. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……..… 0
Nookie ……….… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 97 …...…… 97
Selby …….……… 1 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 …... 4 ……. 128 …….… 132
Lanza …….……. 0 …….. 0 ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 .... 0 ……. 53 ….…… 53
……………..……. 13 …….. 3 ……. 0 ….. 3 ……. 0 …... 19 … 1681 ….. 1700


Rovers 0 : Wigan 1 (12057)
………………..….Crowd Scorer Score Result Bonus Total Pts B/F Cumltve
Donaldo ………… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 164 ……. 164
PDXMickey ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 194 ……. 197
Yorks Lad …….. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 134 ……… 137
BVZ. ……..…….. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 151 ……… 154
Crazy …….……… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 …….. 117 …... 120
Uthred …….…… 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 6 ……. 185 ….…. 191
Mooligan …..…. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 169 ……. 172
King Chmprr …. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ….…. 0 ……. 61 …..…… 61
Small Azza ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …….. 93 …..…. 93
Aussie Lad. ……. 0 …… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 …… 0 ……... 5 ……..… 5
Azza ……..…..… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 145 ….... 148
Cheltenham …. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……..…,, 0
Nookie ……….… 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 0 ……. 97 …...…… 97
Selby …….……… 0 ……. 3 ……. 3 ……. 3 …. 10 …... 19 ……. 132 …… 151
Lanza …….……. 0 …….. 0 ……. 0 ……. 3 ……. 0 .... 3 ……... 53 ….…… 56
……………..……. 0 …….. 6 ……. 3 ….. 27 ……. 10 ….. 46 ..… 1700 .. 1746

Many thanks for doing the sums Donaldo, it's a big commitment. Well done.
Congratulations to Mickey.
I'm happy with top 3 for the third season in a row.
Enjoy the World Cup and the summer.

Donaldo, many thanks for being score keeper. You did a great job. I never thought when I joined I'd finish top - may be I did have an advantage of being able to watch most games. You are right, it would have been good if NYankee was still with us - if he had been, I'm sure he and I would have spent time on the 'phone during the games.
Uthred, tough luck you just failed to catch me during my end-of-season slump - you did make me somewhat a little nervous that I really got a little confused trying to separate what I wanted from what I really thought would happen.
Donaldo, as far as the scoring is concerned there are two changes that we could consider - even though I have benefited from the current system. First is crowd scoring as I think in League I it is probably too easy to score points. How about have a maximum of three points available? Even though only a few of us have benefitted from the bonus points, it makes a big difference. We could consider offering 6 which basically doubles getting the score and scorer correct.
I hope everyone has a great summer even though it seems there will not be enough positive changes at our team. I'm sure we will all be commenting on any news that comes out.
Cheers from the Left Coast.
PS: It seems my other team (The Saints) have just saved themselves. Looking at fixtures, it could be Huddersfield that goes down - playing Chelsea and Arsenal with Swansea playing Stoke, and they have a worse goal difference than Swansea.

Thank you very much for the effort and time you put in to to the DPL, I know how much time it can take so well done that man.
I hope we'll all be here come the start of next season for all the ups n downs that lay ahead.
Congratulations to Mickey, it got close at the end but you made it.
Let's hope the world cup can fill the void till it's time for the season to start. All the best boys, R.T.I.D.