The Match v Leicester

[CusworthRovers]

The line up was surprising to see Martis at RB and Sam at CH. Maybe it was combat the threat of Gallagher. To be fair Martis played well. He was strong defending and looked good going forward.

In the first half we could have been 3 up. Hayts missed the chance he has been burying thus far, and it was a simple chance. Billy's goal was quality. Healey rounded the goalie and should have applied the finish.

I cannot say for the Pen as we were so far away, but I noted none of their players seemed to appeal and their fans over there didn't seem to shout for one neither.

In the second half we never turned up. We were all over the place. I have to say Oster and Copps were anonymous, but I put that down to the role they played. With us having 3 up front it meant JO/JC had a specific role to play and it wasn't really getting forward and linking up play or in short playing to their strengths. Unless we tinker or improve this formation I would seriously drop one of the strikers (on what I know I would say that is Healey) so we can have more options in the middle area.

Wellens was awesome today and not just for the goal.

I thought Stock was my MoM

The ref was an absolute homer. Not just for the penno, but for many decisions...Wellens should have had 2 bookings, the corner that was out of the 'D', the free kick that hit the bar that was taken 10yds further in field, the shove on Thomas that was ignored followed by a harmless one on their forward that the ref immediately blew for a dangerous free kick......who was that stroker of an official.

Don't get me wrong on the second half we were blown away. We missed Muzzy to combat their pace on the flanks and up front

[RedJ]

Nice report Cussy. Agree with your comment on the tactics too.

[lee.j09]

yet another game that we are winning and go on to be defeated!! its rubbish, we seem to go up a goal and decide to try and defend the one goal, if we just push on and go for another goal it would probably kill the game off. we havent got enough quality to defend one goal.

[RedJ]

That was the tale at Swansea - scored but couldn't kill it off. I think we really need 4-4-2 with increased competition for the striker roles, as I believe Healy craves competition, and Hayter and Sharp can only benefit, as they'll have incentive to produce.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Personally I felt it all stemmed from losing discipline and they lost their heads after the penalty.  Big shame but that's what happened in my opinion.  Didn't like Copps in midfield and Healy had a stinker.  The full back issue is a big problem aswell.

[GM-MarkB]

I'd hazard a guess and say if that chance had come to Hayts on his head, it would have been 1-0.

The penalty decision baffled me. Watched the game online and had 3 replays of it and for the life of me I cannot see a foul. Now we know the ref only gets 1 look at it, but the Lino was level with play and never moved a muscle.

Sulli was lucky to not concede a second pen in the second half with his assault on Gallacher's thigh.

In my opinion, Healy, Hayter and Sharp on the field at the same time doesn't work.

The most damaging thing to come out of this could be Copps injury...any update ?

[phil o sophical]

Didn't take our chances, never got our passing game going,gave them far to much time and room to play and to many of our players never really got going today.A constantly changing back four isn't helping and players playing in unfamiliar roles are getting pulled out if positon far to easily. The penalty??? seemed unsettle the lads and i can't ever recall seeing a rovers team under SOD surround a ref like that.Probably one of our worst performances of the season. Onward and upward

[The Red Baron]

Never was the phrase \"a game of two halves\" more apt. We shaded the first half, but in many ways that was not because we were so good, but because Leicester were so bad. I thought our passing was poor in the first half- apart from on the Sharp goal which was the result of a slick move- but it didn't need to be good because Leicester created nothing of any consequence.

Two things changed the game in their favour. First- Bednar went off. I don't know if he was injured or if he was pulled off for being cr*p, but he was utterly anonymous. Vassell moved into the centre with Dyer out wide and they looked much more potent. Then the ref gave them an unbelievably soft penalty when Sulli appeared to win the ball and the Leicester man fell over him. If that was a penalty, then you'd be giving half a dozen in every game.

Second half was a different story. They looked to have all the energy and enthusiasm they'd lacked in the first half and we looked lost. They penned us in our half and it was just a question of when, not if, they scored. All the goals came from poor organisation. Why did no-one try to close Wellens down for the second- we know he can shoot from distance? Goal No.3 was a breakaway after an appalling ball from O'Connor (who had his worst ever game in a Rovers shirt) and four and five came from trying to play a high line with no midfield pressure on the ball. Schoolboy stuff!

Although no-one covered themselves with glory, I thought the problems stemmed from midfield. We were undermanned in there, with only three players, and both Coppinger and Oster passed the ball really poorly. I will cut the defence some slack as both full-backs were playing out of position and yet again the formation was changed, but they were too slow to pick up runners. Hayter had his worst game in ages, Healy was anonymous apart from latching onto the backpass (he really should have scored) and even Billy gave up chasing in the second half.

During the second half I thought back to Cardiff where after a decent enough first half display we caved in after the break. If anything we were worse today. It simplly wasn't good enough and I expect SO'D will have some hard things to say, either tonight or on Monday (or both!)

One thing's for sure- we looked a million miles off a play-off side today.

[The Red Baron]

GM-MarkB wrote:

I'd hazard a guess and say if that chance had come to Hayts on his head, it would have been 1-0.

The penalty decision baffled me. Watched the game online and had 3 replays of it and for the life of me I cannot see a foul. Now we know the ref only gets 1 look at it, but the Lino was level with play and never moved a muscle.

Sulli was lucky to not concede a second pen in the second half with his assault on Gallacher's thigh.

In my opinion, Healy, Hayter and Sharp on the field at the same time doesn't work.

The most damaging thing to come out of this could be Copps injury...any update ?

It certainly looked like a hamstring, but he seemed to be moving fairly freely when he came off. Hopefully no more than a tightening.

[hoolahoop]

CusworthRovers wrote:

The line up was surprising to see Martis at RB and Sam at CH. Maybe it was combat the threat of Gallagher. To be fair Martis played well. He was strong defending and looked good going forward.

In the first half we could have been 3 up. Hayts missed the chance he has been burying thus far, and it was a simple chance. Billy's goal was quality. Healey rounded the goalie and should have applied the finish.

I cannot say for the Pen as we were so far away, but I noted none of their players seemed to appeal and their fans over there didn't seem to shout for one neither.

In the second half we never turned up. We were all over the place. I have to say Oster and Copps were anonymous, but I put that down to the role they played. With us having 3 up front it meant JO/JC had a specific role to play and it wasn't really getting forward and linking up play or in short playing to their strengths. Unless we tinker or improve this formation I would seriously drop one of the strikers (on what I know I would say that is Healey) so we can have more options in the middle area.

Wellens was awesome today and not just for the goal.

I thought Stock was my MoM

The ref was an absolute homer. Not just for the penno, but for many decisions...Wellens should have had 2 bookings, the corner that was out of the 'D', the free kick that hit the bar that was taken 10yds further in field, the shove on Thomas that was ignored followed by a harmless one on their forward that the ref immediately blew for a dangerous free kick......who was that stroker of an official.

Don't get me wrong on the second half we were blown away. We missed Muzzy to combat their pace on the flanks and up front

Good report , it was shove after shove , pull after pull all unpunished. I think he i.e. the ref must get a 'full 6' for his bias today. I would be interested to see the assessors report, he must have been scribbling away throughout the match.
As for the penalty, by all accounts it shouldn't have been given .  :angry:  :angry:

However there was no excuse for the lads to completely lose all focus in the 2nd. half ........it was unprofessional despite the ludicrous decisions that were obviously annoying them as a group.

[Filo]

GM-MarkB wrote:

The most damaging thing to come out of this could be Copps injury...any update ?

Well it did n`t affect his driving ability, I was following him between Barnby Dunn and Stainforth at around 8-15pm, they can shift a bit them Audi`s can`t they?

[jmt]

The penalty changed it all, we went from calm and in control to an almost concussed state, funny enough I felt the same!  It lifted the crowd, who in turn lifted their players and cost us the game. The ref was just plain s#$t, I watched on Internet tv and his  decisions were poor, he was giving them free kicks for fun, so I can see how the lads lost it! You can play against a team, but not the ref.  I hope there can now be an official complaint from drfc, just how many bad refs are we going to get....

People can say all they want about our second half performance, but without that penalty, they were struggling :angry:

[I-was-there1976]

Im not sure the penalty changed too much. The stats say Rovers had an amazing 1 shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes. So even in the first 44m mins Rovers werent battering them and Leicester were dire. When Leicester did decide to play Rovers werent good enough.

Blaming the ref is papering over the cracks

[GM-MarkB]

Just watched it again..and again...and again on the iPlayer.

Whilst the awarding of the penalty didn't really influence the outcome, it's still a shocking decision.

All I can say is if that was my Goalkeeper and he hadn't come out to claim the ball like that, i'd be asking him some very serious questions.

Claridge, as expected, just polished his helmet for a minute

[Snods Shinpad 2]

Credit where it is due. Leicester were clinical, professional, strong, powerful, skillfull and motivated to win. They took the piss and looked a very good team in the second half.

We were amateurish.

Yep, 4-1-2-3 away from home with no holding midfielder? This away from home against a resurgent Leicester City, and after no clean sheet since Albert Jenkins was in nappies? A bit ambitious that Sean mate.

Midfield? We didn't do midfield yesterday. I think we should think about playing one for the Boro game, or am I being old-fashioned? Simon Gillett: first name on the team sheet please, even on crutches.

No blame attached to the defence yesterday from me. There was no protection offered by any of the midfield three. And I don't blame them for that either really. I think SO'D got it wrong yesterday. Which was worsened by the decision not to change anything when it was clear we were being mauled. We willingly bent over and got royally rogered. Wilson must be a pretty depressed bloke today not getting on that pitch yesterday.

Sulli was like a slug on tamazepam coming off his line for the pen and the Vassel goal (in which he seemed to make only a token effort).

Positives? Well, they did actually serve beer in the away stand in the end, although two cash tills for 800 people meant you couldn't get near any of the stuff, even at those prices.

Sheltoninho's, Ronaldo-esque incursions down the right wing were entertaining to watch, before he doubled up, hands on knees in utter exhaustion as play continued around him after one particularly strenuous 50 metre dash.

Bill's goal was welcome and there was a nice sunset just after half time. Otherwise..that's it.

Moment of the day: Leicester bellowing \"£6! We only paid £6!\" at 5-1 down.

Hard to find one word to sum it up, but 'crap' will do for now.

[London_Rover]

Crap is a good enough word for me too.

Leicester were just too good for us.  We looked clueless.

Hearing the cheers for every pass is something we should do.  Hated being on the  receiving end of that....

[silent majority]

This is a pretty good summing up of the days events from a neutrals point of view;

http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2010/12/12/5-1-but-did-doncaster-deserve-defeat/

[Dimples-D]

silent_majority wrote:

This is a pretty good summing up of the days events from a neutrals point of view;

http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2010/12/12/5-1-but-did-doncaster-deserve-defeat/

That was an interesting read. But if you read other comments further down you will see that he is a Leicester fan.

[VivaRovers]

Belatedly (as I'm without a home computer at present) Viva Rovers' match report is now online too.

[ravenrover]

Snods Shinpad 2 wrote:

Credit where it is due. Leicester were clinical, professional, strong, powerful, skillfull and motivated to win. They took the piss and looked a very good team in the second half.

We were amateurish.

Yep, 4-1-2-3 away from home with no holding midfielder? This away from home against a resurgent Leicester City, and after no clean sheet since Albert Jenkins was in nappies? A bit ambitious that Sean mate.

Midfield? We didn't do midfield yesterday. I think we should think about playing one for the Boro game, or am I being old-fashioned? Simon Gillett: first name on the team sheet please, even on crutches.

No blame attached to the defence yesterday from me. There was no protection offered by any of the midfield three. And I don't blame them for that either really. I think SO'D got it wrong yesterday. Which was worsened by the decision not to change anything when it was clear we were being mauled. We willingly bent over and got royally rogered. Wilson must be a pretty depressed bloke today not getting on that pitch yesterday.

Sulli was like a slug on tamazepam coming off his line for the pen and the Vassel goal (in which he seemed to make only a token effort).

Positives? Well, they did actually serve beer in the away stand in the end, although two cash tills for 800 people meant you couldn't get near any of the stuff, even at those prices.

Sheltoninho's, Ronaldo-esque incursions down the right wing were entertaining to watch, before he doubled up, hands on knees in utter exhaustion as play continued around him after one particularly strenuous 50 metre dash.

Bill's goal was welcome and there was a nice sunset just after half time. Otherwise..that's it.

Moment of the day: Leicester bellowing \"£6! We only paid £6!\" at 5-1 down.

Hard to find one word to sum it up, but 'crap' will do for now.

Could you expand on this? Who for who and why?
It is very easy to criticise SO'D and his susbtitutions, or lack of them, and I have been guilty of it in the past. However when you look at the whole picture do we really have players, the fit ones at the moment, on the bench who could drastically change/improve the team in a situation like Saturday.
Not having a go, just asking a question.

[CusworthRovers]

Don't want to steal his thunder, but I was thinking during the entire game that this game does not need Healey. He's a cracking striker and has pedigree. As I said on another thread, it's more about teamwork, the running of the DRFC machine and taking responsibility. I'd put up with it if somebody wants to say that Healey may be the best individual striker we have, although Hayts and Billy have shown they are also class. I wouldn't be so happy if somebody says Healey is the best team player and the best for the machine. I would strongly argue he is some way behind Hayts and Billy. IMO this team runs on the machine like workings of a team all doing a job and runs at it's best when like this.


I would have had Wilson in and dropped Hayter a bit deeper and thus allowed JC/JO a bit more freedom to create. Or we could have also had Deano in with JO and Stocky holding the middle. That is hindsight, which is a wonderful thing. As I said before the match, I was chuffed to bits when I saw the 3 strikers on and thought get in there Sean.

It's worth bearing in mind that we have played 3 strikers many times before during games this season, those being Billy, Hayts and Copps. The difference there is that Hayts and Copps know their role and know to drop back to link in with the midfielders. They have immense knowledge of how this DRFC machine works

[Snods Shinpad 2]

Agree with CR above.

Or even, Sousa/Lockwood on as centre back for Healy/Sharp and move Hird into the holding midfield role.

Basically, anything to put that extra body into central midfield where Leicester were running at the back four with complete freedom.