Fleetwood borrowed £2m from the EFL to help them through the pandemic and are under spending restrictions which mean that there are limits on what they can do in the transfer market, so with only 6 more points than Rovers and 19th in the league we might be in a stronger position to sign players than they are.
In fact just Lincoln amongst those we sit close to could rival our resources. Only Bolton in the lower half of the table would be seen as an obvious “bigger club" than we are and by that standard we ought not to be there at the end of the season.
It is a question of making a good recovery, perhaps I should say a very good recovery and there is a good chance of that if the new manager is as shrewd in his job as first impressions suggest he will be.
McS needs the players fit and with a winning mentality and loyalty to existing staff cannot get in the way of that objective.
I see no place in the team for Cukur and we know of others which one would think the club could replace with better players.
In the meantime we have to try to beat Fleetwood and if the team that finished the match at Morecambe is put out and their will to win is similarly absent we will lose and that team could lose to most in L2.
We are at home and players will not enjoy much support from the home crowd UNLESS they see more effort and some of them do not deserve it.
Fleetwood have won well at home recently, but against Bolton who have lost their last 6 and Gillingham who are poor as well and away their best recent result was a 0-0 at Morecambe! So it may not add up to much, but the sum of DRFC compared with the rest is not far above zero right now.
If we can field a team of similar strength as that which started at Morecambe we ought to win, but it seems unlikely and that injuries will prevent it in which case the best hope might be a draw, say 1-1. I’ll revisit this when I know the team.
DPL v Fleetwood T
posted on 8/1/22
The Romantics outnumbered the single Realist - who else, but Mooligan!
3 points to him 0 to the rest.
Rovers 0 : Fleetwood T 1
>>>>>>> Scorer > Score > Result Bonus > Total > Pts B/F > O/all
Donaldo>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 40 >>>>>> 40
PDXMickey> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 50 >>>>>> 50
BVZ>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 6 >>>>>> 6
Crazy>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 25 >>>>> 25
Mooligan>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 80 >>>>>> 83
Nookie>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 58 >>>>>> 58
Selby>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 67 >>>>>> 67
LixmKing> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 9 >>>>>>>> 9
>>>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 335 >>>>> 338
posted on 8/1/22
Absolutely dire - like Donaldo, I found it difficult to keep watching. Foolishly, I was expecting some of the spark they showed in the first half against Morecambe, but they came out lifeless, and against a better team would have been murdered within about 30 minutes. At the moment I feel like Selby in that this team would have serious problems in League 2.
The DFP were more generous with their ratings than last week - they gave Hiwula 2. I think it would have had to be 0 for Cukur if they had given him a rating.
Donaldo mentioned two "classic" Hiwula errors, but other players also assume opponents will not run to intercept passes.
I thought Smith and especially Galbraith were way below their normal form and too often reverted to sideways and backwards play.
Williams defensive play was a little better than earlier in the season, but he made some dreadful cross field passes, and wasn't it him that had a good chance with almost the last kick of the game but tamely rolled the ball straight to their GK?
I'd have give positive marks to Dahlberg and Seaman, although Dahlberg's kicking distribution needs to improve. Seaman was a little unlucky with that bullet of a volley. OK it was a little too near to their GK and at saving height, but it would have beaten many GKs. Considering his lack of gamete, he looked lively and at least tried hard and challenged the opposition. I look forward to when he is fit enough to start and play 90 minutes.
In his pre-match talk, GMcS talked about most of the injured players. I did not know so many will be out for so long. Would we be in our current position if John, Taylor and Okenabirhie had been playing all season - and now we add Anderson?
posted on 9/1/22
I summoned up the courage to watch the highlights just now and the only time a Rovers man tackled was Rowe who challenged the player who crossed the ball from which Fleetwood scored. Typically, the nearest to a challenge is when Rovers defenders stand in front of the opponent with the ball, not even getting close enough to restrict his passing options.
I looked back at the comments after the first game of the season against Wimbledon which I actually saw in Doncaster. The attitude was the same then.
Cukur hasn’t changed and Barlow seemed more lively than most of the rest then and yet still gets subbed. Rovers are unrecognisable from McCann teams and those put out by Moore in better times. You see more skill, effort and movement in FA Cup games from level 5 and 6 teams. So many of them don’t run into space, take on opponents when in possession or to try to dispossess opponents.
We would complain in the past if the result was bad for us, but we would always see a bit of good football from Rovers in games. We got none whatsoever - literally - yesterday and that is the norm. So many of the players do practically nothing.
At least they are not disgracing the proper red and white hoops and their names and numbers are impossible to make out, appropriately anonymous. The awful colours suit the weak-as-water football we have to put up with.
We have friends over next weekend and when my wife said she’d organised an afternoon out on Saturday, I felt no regret at being unable to listen to the commentary. Painful it is.
posted on 9/1/22
Let's hope that's the nadir for Rovers. I'm beginning to think it might have been better for a completely new broom to be appointed. GM has been dealt a very poor hand but he's also been part of the set up for some time and making the sweeping changes to all aspects of the club that are necessary will be even more difficult for him. Is it time to plan for League 2 now or forlornly hope for that miracle? On the face of it he probably needs nearly a completely new set of players not the odd signing or couple of loans. It's still baffling though the lack of fight and effort witnessed this season from so called experienced professionals.
posted on 10/1/22
While still hoping for a miracle, I think planning now for League 2 makes a lot of sense. To start, what player with any real talent would want to join us this January? I suppose someone from the National League might.
Also when (and if) all players recover from injury, we will have a big squad and there may be a core that would work well in League 2. The problem will be the talentless surplus that will be still under contract.
We certainly have the potential for too many centre-backs, and that is without thinking about Joe Wright.
There certainly are several comments on the DFP that say the problem has been relying on loan players for so long. They can be a big help, but not for building longterm success. GMcS needs to quickly resolve the situation with our current loanees. He says Smith and Galbraith are happy here, but I think there is a chance Dahlberg and Galbraith will move to more successful clubs. I just hope we have the right to return Cukur as well as Vilca.
After the Radio Sheffield comments I looked at Hiwula's stats at Coventry. Somehow he managed to score 14 goals in 54 appearances!
Another question is who is out of contract at the end of the season? Probably just the ones that might be worth keeping!
posted on 11/1/22
I see that Cukur's loan deal has terminated by Rovers and that we have agreed terms for 2 permanent signings subject to the players' existing clubs formally releasing them. We are also after 1 more permanent signing and a couple of loan players.
We seem to have learned from the experience in the summer by having a definite cut off date for the targeted players to be released beyond which we will move on to other targets.
posted on 12/1/22
Kieran Agard signed. Lots of experience but could be another injury risk based on his recent history.
posted on 12/1/22
I thought appointing a new head of sports science probably more crucial at this stage. Agard's form at MK Don's impressive. Let's hope he stays fit. We now need a couple of players who can create chances for him.
posted on 12/1/22
The back room staff have a long-term impact and our current need is very much short term, so that must be the priority. We need some points now, not in 6 weeks time. Agard looks well suited to our needs given the fact that he is not getting enough games at Plymouth and comes here knowing that he will be pretty certain of starting regularly. He will also not baulk at relegation, having been in L2 before, so a good signing. We have to hope that the new medical/training/fitness personnel will keep him going. I would say a shrewd choice by McS.
posted on 12/1/22
A good choice - if we can keep him fit - and that has not been a success story over the last few seasons. Could he be a 20 goal a season with the Rovers?