The setting for the Fergie-McCann comparison could not be more perfect. Obviously, DF is a long way from making his mark on Peterborough this time around, but the connections between the two men are so very close that this is a very much a contest, albeit not an unfriendly one.
To do what he did in his earliest spell at the club marks the young Ferguson with an adventurous approach taking them into the Championship and discovering Mackaill-Smith, Boyd, McLean and Gayle along the way and selling 3 of them on for 7-figure sums. Even though outscoring the opposition was apparently his plan to begin with here too, a more conservative attitude developed as time went on. A greater concentration on organisation was actually not particularly successful. Nevertheless, he still had an eye for goal-scoring talent and you would say that finding May and Beestin from non-League as well as, obviously, Marquis, reflected his ability in that respect. I got the impression that his man-management was good and this seemed to be an inherited trait.
But unlike his father who always had the financial resources, managers of teams in the lower leagues, perhaps with very isolated exceptions like SOD, cannot out-skill their way up. They have to take risks with talent that his not fully developed, with players like Wilks and coach defenders like Wright, Mason and Whiteman (not to mention Kane of course), encouraging them scope to try things on. Enthusiasm and energy play a significant part and such an approach was something which I am not sure Ferguson was as good at with us as he might have been when he was younger. It is usually a team characteristic of the less well-off clubs that progress from this league. He could spot potential, but more recently seemed less able to bring it on as with Mandeville, Grant, Houghton and Mason.
I usually study the form table, but how relevant is it at this juncture for Peterborough? Certainly they have been quite good away from home, but they are extremely inconsistent. Fundamentally they have stopped scoring more than the odd 1 or 2 goals (apart from 4 at Accrington) especially at home where Plymouth apparently deservedly came away with the points last week.
So I reckon that McCann, both in style and his team's potential performance, has more than an edge right now and Peterborough in transition should be second best tomorrow.
I will say 3-1 and Kane with the first and 8500 to see it.
DPL vs Peterborough Utd
posted on 10/2/19
Mickey, in the last two games he has scored one goal.
I agree that he should score more from the chances he gets, he missed on great chance in particular in the first half, but really.....you cant realistically say you would have let him go to Sunderland in the hope that we might get another striker who scores as many as Marquis does.
posted on 10/2/19
Any views on the "sportmanship" incident? Also re the Malik incident. I thought the opposing player was feigning injury as there was definately no head butt
posted on 10/2/19
There were at least three contentious moments. The first was the booking for time wasting. Fergie suggests that you can't time waste with two thirds of the match remaining. Nevertheless every time Posh got a throw in they dawdled and the ref did warn them at least once. The second booking which led to the sending off was a stonewall professional foul. The second was the theatrical fall by Toney after Wilks went chest to chest with him. Wilks shouldn't have done it but there was no hint of a headbutt. The third was when the Posh goalie threw the ball into touch. I confess to being a bit perplexed by this as I hadn't seen that one of their players was injured at the other end. When I did look it was clear he was being treated off the pitch, so when Kane threw the ball to Sadlier who strode on to score a stunner the ref didn't see any problem and neither did I. The goalie simply made a mistake. As Peterborough clearly came to win by any means, with their players going down like ninepins at every challenge, I can;t find it in my heart to feel any regret.
posted on 10/2/19
https://popularstand.wordpress.com/2019/02/10/doncaster-rovers-3-1-peterborough-united-250-word-match-report/
posted on 10/2/19
And thanks Art Fold
posted on 10/2/19
Great win puts us in the play offs with 2 games in hand. We need to win these however starting on Tuesday night against a tricky Southend.
Let's cement out place in the play offs, and look up to catching Charlton. It's in our hands just as McCann wanted it so let's keep the momentum going 👍🔴⚪🔴
posted on 10/2/19
Thanks to all of you; your three perspectives add a great deal of depth to what was conveyed by the commentary. Peter Catt was the summariser and although I would never doubt his commitment to the cause he can sound extremely depressed when things go wrong as they looked as though they would for the eternity that it seemed to take before we scored.
Despite all the missed chances before and after then, the match illustrated what distinguishes McCann’s team from some of its predecessors. They do not bemoan their luck when the opposition thwart them with great blocks, saves and their own lack of ability to finish off relatively straightforward chances to score.
Wilks certainly appears to be easily provoked, but he is marked out as a target to antagonise by the opposition and we surely remember what we were like at his age; even now 50 or 60 years on some things antagonise me. I saw his first game for us against Southend when he was embarrassingly arrogant and he has come a long way since then; the very style of his play puts him in very close contact with his marker which heightens the potential tension.
Coming through this one may well create an extra edge of confidence and reduce the anxiety which can often lead to a chance missed.
posted on 10/2/19
Just to add to the above, when their player was injured he did roll off the pitch and I was surprised when he didn’t roll back on to it, as they usually do.
As the ball was knocked up to the halfway line I looked at the ref to see what he would do.
He had a look at the player then looked away as if he wasn’t concerned.
When the keeper threw the ball into touch, apparently Marquis asked the ref if it was ok to continue the game.
The ref said yes, JM had by now given the ball to Kane and we know what happened next.
My thoughts are that the keeper was trying to buy some time in order to get their player, or a sub, onto the pitch as at that time they only had nine players on the pitch.
He had probably been instructed to put the ball out of play.
posted on 10/2/19
Thanks for the fantastic in depth reports lads.
We will be there Sunday.
I shall not be having a ho at Marquis and thank goodness he is still with us it would be impossible to replace his work rate and his goal/game ratio is almost as good as ??
posted on 11/2/19
Thanks for some great analyses by Art and others of the "contentious" incidents; Posh were some of the most unprofessional players I've watched in some time, and although there are some good players there, Fergie (whom I like) has some work to do. I've watched the highlights and there was no head butt, but it is easy to see why it could be taken as such from the sidelines.
Their keeper just made a dreadful mistake, and I think Hound is absolutely right about why he did it.
With Luton looking to have almost locked in an auto promotion slot, and Sunderland having the best chance (if they win the games in hand) to catch the Dingles or Luton, it looks improbable we can. However with 16 games tp go, much can happen. If we can get 7 or 9 points from the rest of February we will be looking good for at least a play-off spot.