where is plan b?

[thornerover94]

its easy to see why we have struggled to win a game this season after going a goal behind, for a team who is just pass pass pass when a goal behind with other teams putting ten men behind the ball and playing on the counter it poses the question why dont we have a plan b, its all nice playing nice football for ninety minutes but that doesnt get results, not the best idea but big sam at blackburn when hes losin sticks samba upfront big and physical and always causes problems when he does it thats the sort of man we need why not use elliot ward while hes here he proved at coventry he can find the target albeit most from the spot but he gives you a target man which is what we lack against these sides anyone else have any ideas or thoughts on should we stick to playing football when we are losin, personally i would rather lose 2-0 by battling for it than 1-0 trying to be perfect

[Thinwhiteduke]

We had a nagging tendency to try to play the ball through the middle of the park tonight, from the off that was never going to work...and never did.

I fail to see why almost every time a Rovers player had the ball at his feet in the box they failed to take a shot at Goal, and I was also puzzled to see us give Leicester so much time and space on the ball - particularly for the first hour.

Leicester came with a game plan, to hurry and harrass us and it worked perfectly.

[kyle17balby]

i thought you had been a rover since 1994..?? surely you know that o'driscol is not this way ive only followed rovers for 4 years and i know by know its either o'driscols way or the high way :/ no point asking for plan B..! our plan B happend tonight.. and many people wont like it but it was guy.. he is the only option we had on the bench what do you want o'driscol to do.. ohh no were losing 1-0 let me ship in beckford from leeds for 10 mins see if we can get a goal back... if there was a plan b dont you think he wud have done it

PLAN A : Lose Games
PlAN B : Not Lose Game's

think he wud go for plan b if it was that simple

[thornerover94]

thats the point i am making we dont have a plan b, personally i think beckford is an overated striker you must be a glory supporter who jumped on the wagon after we beat them if you think thats what we need o'driscoll hasnt been the manager since 1994 if you didnt already know that and we havent always played the nice football we are watching now ive seen plenty of games where we have managed to battle out draws in the dying minutes or sneak the late winner going all out gung ho that is something we lack now

[Thinwhiteduke]

Having said that Kyle. We've shipped out a fantastic natural goalscorer on loan to Bristol, who is, I believe, had been on the pitch this evening, would have put Leicester to the sword.

I know its ifs and buts, but I think Thornerovers is talking about formation/ style as much as personnel. We are all well aware we are stuck with the likes of Guy, who again was disgustingly boo'd when he came on the pitch, but maybe its more of a case to actually push for a Goal when you are losing rather than 3 foward passes, 2 back etc etc??

[MrFrost]

I'm with you on that Thin white duke. I'd love to see Heffs up front with Billy, but SOD will never go for that.
I was in despair when Billy went down injured tonight. We would be buggered without him.

Unfortunately Heffs wont figure again, for whatever reason. We are severely thin on the ground when it comes to attacking options. Other than Billy of course.

[kyle17balby]

its not the fact of when i started supporting rovers is it.. its people like you that critises people for not supporting them since they were born coz i think ive we did that we wud have an attendance of aroun 3,000 .. i know that sean o'driscol hasnt managed them since 1994 and it was in 2006 he took charge  B) but the fact is the plan b is an option that usually works .. and not as yet i have seen that plan b. i dont think any manager would say leave a player on the bench what could come on and score 2 goals

[kyle17balby]

100% behind you there.. why ship out a player that can slot in 10 goals at this level... think where them 10 goals could have fitted in ..?? when billy is firing blunts ..! we need another more consistant striker .. like heffs.. its great having hayter and he plays wonderfull football .. but he aint doing loads atm...! cant wait for woods to come back he is that little bit of stuff were missing  

[Thinwhiteduke]

kyle17balby wrote:

i dont think any manager would say leave a player on the bench what could come on and score 2 goals

Way back when, David Fairclough at Liverpool used to be utilised for just that.

Modern day variation of such a thing, Kevin Philips at Birmingham.

It does happen Kyle.

[kyle17balby]

see what you mean thinkwhiteduke... but is this often done at this level and do you see sean as one of them people to do that..?? or is he a get the job done person.?

[mushRTID]

To be honest we know, deep down we are probably not going to see Heffs in the hoops again.

Its Fairhurst who should haave been in and around the first team this season. He has proved in his brief appearances that he has something. Him and Sharp would be so lively in and around the box. It has to be better than watching Sharp trying to feed off scraps and long balls all on his own with no support.

Really cold, shit ref, Wilson was dreadful, ridiculous booing of Guy, shit game...roll on Saturday.

[thornerover94]

im not saying leave someone on the bench to bring on it would be nice to have that attacking option on the field already posibbly at the back just someone you can throw upfront in times of need who can be that physical presence what we lack

[phil o sophical]

plan B is a bit like plan A but with just a tad more sense of urgency :S. SOD talks quite a lot about players taking responsibility,i wish they would when a shooting chance appears rather than look for someone to pass to.

[Thinwhiteduke]

phil o sophical wrote:

SOD talks quite a lot about players taking responsibility,i wish they would when a shooting chance appears rather than look for someone to pass to.

Hmmm! Yeah! The number of occasions this evening where a Rovers player had the ball goal centre on the 18 yard line, chose to play it wide, for someone to cross in, for it to be headed clear by a Leicester defender time after time after time. Shocking.

Now, if that player, goal centre on the edge of the 18 yard line had been Heffs - Im convinced we'd have took at least a point this evening, if not all three.

[VikingJames]

phil o sophical wrote:

plan B is a bit like plan A but with just a tad more sense of urgency :S. SOD talks quite a lot about players taking responsibility,i wish they would when a shooting chance appears rather than look for someone to pass to.

Another thing he preaches is responding well to conceding a goal, which makes you wonder why we haven't rescued a result from a losing position since August 15th.

[kyle17balby]

oster is one player like this at derby in cup had a clear shot at goal... even i would have put it in net proberly about 5 yards out he decided to turn and play it back towards billy..! i wonder if thats what SOD wants them to do.. give the ball to builly and let him score.. coz we dint have this problem at bakc end of last season u dint see everyone letting heff score all the goals LOL

[DonnyBazR0ver]

more consistant striker .. like heffs.

I'm sorry but your're deluded if you think Heffs could prosper in the way that we play.

Unfortunately, we don't play a style that suits him and because he doesn't work as hard off the ball and battles with defenders like Billy does, he aint going to fit in.

If we were to get the ball forward quicker, deliver first time crosses,play with a front two, he might have a chance. But as long as we play with one up so we can dominate midfield, Heffs isn't going to feature.

[VikingJames]

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:

I'm sorry but your're deluded if you think Heffs could prosper in the way that we play.

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   2008/09
Starts Goals
  19     10

Would suggest otherwise.

[Lesonthewest]

Leicester had a plan B if needed on the bench with the likes of Howard. How Sean must wish he could switch things by bringing someone like him on, it's like O'Driscoll said ages ago, it's not a case of bringing in a 6'4 battering ram of a player from a Sunday League side for the sake of it. We obviously can't afford the physical striker we need to improve.

[VikingJames]

Although I didn't think Leicester were anything spectacular, they were hard working, and excellent on the break. Nigel \"I'll moan when they come to our place and put men behind the ball but it's fine for me to do the same at their place\" Pearson set them up very well to hold on to what they had once they had the lead, and this made them oh so difficult to break down. In fairness, Leicester had clearly done their homework on us, and they made the \"stopping us playing\" system work better than any other team we have faced this season.

Leicester weren't the only cause of our downfall though, Rovers definitely have to look at themselves as being largely at fault for the defeat and the manner of which it came. The midfield had no drive, no spark, and little coordination. I have made by views on Wilson clear in the past, and tonight proves my point - he is NOT suited to being in the starting X1 every week. I know you \"get behind everyone\" lot will come back at me with how he is an honest professional and how he tries his hardest, but the simple fact of the matter is, he is a hinderance to our system. He is too slow with the ball, unimaginative when he has the ball, much weaker defensively than he is given credit for, and just generally seems to doodle around the pitch with little or no purpose, coordination, or clear role to carry out. Mutch was just as ineffective for me - yes he is a young player and deserves to be given a chance, but surely Spicer would have been a more sensible option, as he may have given us some spark and a bit of an unpredictability factor with the ball. On the subject of Mutch - how can such a towering player be so poor at heading the ball?

Finally. Evidence, if evidence were needed that we could do with having Heffs back here:
1) Billy got a knock. Had it been more serious, who did we have in reserve? Lewis Guy? Don't make me laugh.
2) Guy summed up in 1 minute. Enters field, played through on goal, falls to the floor as if he was picked off by a sniper.

Overall, very disappointed. Leicester did a job on us, and the OP is correct, we didn't seem to adapt to the situation and didn't ever look like getting back in the game as a result.

[Akinfenwa]

Sean said when he first joined that we weren't flexible enough and he addressed that. In League One we had a plan B which was to utilise Price and McCammon if Heffernan and Hayter weren't doing the business. It seems as though we haven't yet found the Championship's equivalent of these two to bring on if we are not breaking through. Too many times today, the ball was launched forward but with no one up there to cause their centre backs any trouble.