General Update required for us Down Under please!

[Al4475]

Before Mrs4475 (who has out here agreed to officially become the wife for real - noose prepared and all that) her kids and myself arrive back home on Tuesday, we could do with an overview of how things are going down at the Keepmoat. It's pretty obvious we've not started as we hoped up to press - but we've not had access to the Interweb much at all on our jaunt around Western Australia and The Northern Territory so various posters' feedback would be appreciated.

League? How've we played? How is the injury situation? What kind of impact (if any) have the new signings made? These kids on loan, do they look useful assets? Etc etc.

Any thoughts an opinions would be greatly appreciated! And hopefully as we get back, things'll begin to perk up for DRFC.

Note to self: Renew VSC membership once home!

Cheers all,
Al

[Viking Don]

Not been to any away games but so far at home we've had 2 England keepers on show doing their job very well and also Lee Camp who's another excellent keeper in this league.

Not depressed yet. A very long way to go.

Forgot to add - Could probably do without Speroni being next up!

[VikingJames]

Game by game:

Brighton - We were excellent in the first half, deserved to be more than 1 up probably. Everything was going oh so swimmingly. Second half we sat back too much and invited pressure. The game turned on Billy getting crocked as we lost our presence up front. Although Brighton played well enough 2nd half to deserve something from the game, we were very unfortunate to lose our main man and then go down to 10 men at the start of 7 minutes added time (we had made all 3 subs.) Culminated in us being stretched on the break and Albion took the lead on 90+6. Draw would've been fair. Their first goal was an excellent strike, but the second you could see coming because we were stretched with 10 men. Bitter blow to lose our two main strikers on stretchers and to lose so late on, but the first half was encouraging. Mason slotted in perfectly and probably edged MOM.

Tranmere (Carling Cup) - Totally outplayed a poor side who offered nothing. Routine victory really. Kyle Bennett scored the pick of the goals with a super curling effort into the far top corner after cutting in from the left. Mason's goal was a very nice team goal too with Chris Brown heavily involved.

West Ham - First half we were dire. Hammers got an early goal through Kevin Nolan - a combination of dubious defending from a deep cross, and a great finish from KN. Rest of the first half was a non-event. 2nd half was much better, and we probably deserved a point. Lack of cutting edge without Billy and Hayter. C.Brown put a shift in but didn't get enough support. Copps spurned two great chances - one very unlucky from a header, one where he made the wrong decision on the break. Deserved something from that game against a team full of top players.

Forest - Passed them to death without really causing them too many problems. Again, C.Brown didn't get enough support or service despite working very hard. Woods possibly should've saved their goal, a downward header from Gunter. Our best chance was a Gillett unmarked header from a corner superbly kept out by Lee Camp. We passed the ball around for fun but just couldn't break down a Forest side who were very organised (boring and negative if you like.) Lots of timewasting on their part in the 2nd half made it a dull affair.

Derby - Very poor performance. Worst we've played for ages. We were poor defensively and toothless going forward. Bad day at the office all round. Beaten by a workmanlike Derby side who didn't really have to work hard enough for their 3 goals. SOD admitted he got his team selection and tactics wrong for this. Lalkovic was lively but didn't get into enough threatening areas. Reece Brown was bizarrely played in midfield and looked way out of his depth. Bennett didn't start which was a mystery - he won MOM despite only making a 20 minute cameo. The less said about this game the better.

Leeds (Carling Cup) - Probably our best 90 minute display throughout the entire season. SOD changed the shape with a back 3 and Muzzy/Spurr as wing backs. We should've been out of sight after 20 minutes as we missed some great chances. But we let Lids back into it and were beaten by two great long range goals from Nunez. Encouraging performance but still no result. Further optimism drawn from the return of Hayter to the starting XI who made a big difference. Also Stock, JOC and Martis returned to the bench. Jimmy got about 15 minutes, and Stock a 5 minute cameo.

Bristol City - Didn't really get going in this. Dire first half. Introduction of Lalkovic to partner Hayts changed the game. Battered the door down in the last 20 minutes and Hayts made up for his penalty miss by scoring a header - Relief!! Hayter played great though so can be forgiven for a poor penalty. Bristol didn't offer much but were organised and difficult to break down with a 5 man midfield. Friend had Maynard in his pocket.


Injuries:
- Losing Billy and Hayter on stretchers at Brighton was a bitter blow. Hayter is back now but Billy will be another month or two.
- Mason was crocked against Tranmere in a similar injury to Billy. Probably a month or two away too.
- Copps hasn't featured since Forest. Calf tear in training.
- JOC played some of the 2nd half v Leeds and the entire 2nd half v Bristol, and looks sharp. Great to see him back.
- Wilson, Stock and Martis all back in full training but not being rushed into first team action.
- Chris Brown has a knock. Not sure how long he's out for.

Signings:
Tommy Spurr - Has been very solid. Probably the most consistent player so far. Slower than Joe Mills but far more solid defensively. Looks a bargain if he keeps performing as he is!
Kyle Bennett - Looks a very exciting prospect. Has been absolutely phenomenal in bursts. Very quick and tricky on the ball. Gives us a bit of flair that we've missed. End product needs working on, but I trust SOD with that. Scored a peach v Tranmere, and with a bit of luck could've had a hat trick against Leeds as he hit the woodwork twice and had another saved.
Rich Naylor - Looks steady. Brings some welcome experience to the back line, but probably isn't the longer term answer IMO. Very good in the air and knows what he's doing. Distribution leaves a bit to be desired, and his knees look a bit iffy, but at times he's what we need - an experienced head who has been round the block. Has done pretty well on the whole.
Chris Brown - Has done well in the circumstances. Good in the air and good link up play, but hasn't had enough support/service when he's played. He's worked hard but as I said, we haven't been great as an attacking unit, so Browny can't be blamed much. Good to see him back at the club though! We'll be able to judge better when we see him up front with Billy - could be a good partnership IMO.
Ryan Mason - Played exceptionally well vs Brighton and Tranmere, but haven't seen him since through injury - real shame as he was making us tick.
James Baxendale - Had the odd cameo, shown some good skills and touches but looks raw. One for the future I think. Maybe could benefit from a spell out on loan because I don't think he's quite ready for the first team here.
Oscar Radford - Not seen him. Appears to be back up / one for the future.
Rachid Bouhenna - As above. Currently injured I think, hence we haven't seen him yet.
Giles Barnes - Looks skilful and very comfortable on the ball, but probably short of a yard of fitness as he hasn't played much football for the past 2 years. Has looked decent in flashes but I think he needs to be given a chance to get up and running. Has his doubters already, but if you ask me, you can't judge him on the 4/5 appearances we've seen from him so far. Could potentially be good if he can get his fitness up.
Reece Brown - Poor at Derby, but was played out of position so unfair to slate him. Looks very tall in stature, so I wouldn't mind seeing him partner Friend at centre half at some point. Not really seen enough to judge overall.
Milan Lalkovic - Looks very lively, quick and tricky. Struggled at Derby a bit, but that was a day to forget for the whole team. Against Bristol he changed the game, looked very good and gave us some spark and energy in the final third. Want to see him partner Hayter up front for the next game.

Overall, we've been good in spells, but poor in others. We need to start playing for 90 minutes rather than just turning up for half a game / 20 minutes. Derby was the only terrible 90 minutes so far. There have been sparks of hope, but overall there's room for improvement at both ends of the pitch. Injuries haven't helped, but we've got to deal with it. Stand out players so far are Friend (who has also been captaining the side), Spurr, Bennett and Oster. Jury is very much out on Gary Woods who looks shakey. Dumbuya looks better on the wing than at right back. Mason and Billy have been sorely missed in the last few weeks.

Hope this helps. Took me bloody ages!

[Al4475]

VJ - top notch job matey, and very much appreciated! Sounds like we've got promise and things should perk up a bit with a few players returning! I hope so! At least we can now get back to Blighty with a decent take on the season's start! Just a query on the Rowan Vine front - Any news there as I felt he was a pretty much nailed on part of the squad having been used throughout pre-season?

Thanks again VJ!
Any other thoughts out there will again be fully appreciated over our last day or so here now we can get online - it's been just a little tricky to keep informed in the middle of the Outback!

[RTID75]

Bloody hell - that's one hell of a great summary VJ! Excellent work!

Mine would have been (a little more than) - 'We're not crap, haven't been thrashed by anyone, but with our best players out injuries we're nowhere near strong enough as a squad to compete. Much the same as the last half of last season'.

[VikingJames]

VJ - top notch job matey, and very much appreciated! Sounds like we've got promise and things should perk up a bit with a few players returning! I hope so! At least we can now get back to Blighty with a decent take on the season's start! Just a query on the Rowan Vine front - Any news there as I felt he was a pretty much nailed on part of the squad having been used throughout pre-season?

Thanks again VJ!
Any other thoughts out there will again be fully appreciated over our last day or so here now we can get online - it's been just a little tricky to keep informed in the middle of the Outback!

No problem.

I think we were hinting at signing Vine for the 4 weeks he was here on trial, but as I understand it, we got Giles Barnes on trial towards the end and opted to sign him instead of Vine. Don't know whether anyone in a more informed position has a different version of events, but that's what seems to have happened with that. RV was clearly quite pissed off about the whole thing judging by his comments on Twitter, as I think the loan deal option was quite favourable to Rovers financially (QPR seemingly paying most of his wages.) Vine has now joined Exeter City on loan and made his debut against Chesterfield yesterday.

[benaldo]

This season as summed up by - as I now refer to him - \"Angry Yoda\" who sits behind me in the Premier club platinum seating area (No hawkers, traders, Hittites, Moonies, or the casually dressed)   \"Bloody Rovers win can't Oster ball Useless bloody O'Driscoll kick time not again!\"

I think that's as good a summing up of the performance of the first few games as you'll find.

[Al4475]

Cheers Benny - very amusing, and sounds about accurate! Haha!

[Standanista]

What, no wifi in the Humpty Doo Hotel still???

[Al4475]

Ne'er mind Humpty Doo Hotel - no wifi bloody anywhere hardly apart from Perth, Broome, Caernarvon and Geraldton! Thankfully it's slightly better now we're back in Cusworth! Haha!