Gaz - I'm not as down on Taylor as you appear to be. I'm not his greatest fan but of all our players, particularly in the first half, he was the one who closed down and put pressure on their players on the ball. He, again, is a victim of a lacklustre midfield. If they don't fire and provide intelligent and incisive passes to our forwards, as they did in our first 10 games, he will look ordinary. To be honest, because of the poor service to our forwards today, even Moore looked pretty ordinary.
Having said that, the amount of stick that Moore gets from opposition CBs is extraordinary. Refs seem to think that kind of treatment is acceptable because he's a big unit! Yet when Moore put his hand of their LB, who then took a dive, it was seen as aggressive and ruled a foul. Mind-boggling!
Ironic that the midfield looked like our strongest link a few games ago and now it has stopped firing. I don't know whether it is too much chopping and changing of personnel (some of it enforced), a lack of confidence, or a change in the way they are being told to play but we just don't look good with the ball at the moment. I can't remember us putting more than three or four passes together at any point today. The cross that Williams put in for the non-goal and the little flick from Towell in the run up to the goal were the only bits of quality we produced.
Taylor is as honest as the day is long, which is always commendable, but as has been said many times by many people he lacks quality when it matters and today he never really got going.
I agree 100% about Moore. There seems to be an unwritten rule that if you are a big forward you are fair game for being bumped, barged and pushed about. The way we are playing now though he is quite a static target. I didn't think he held it up well today as it happens. On the few occasions we did got runners off him it broke down with him.
Who will keep goal next week do you think? O'Donnell was poor at Crewe but faultless today. He didn't have much to do but had no chance with the goal. came for and got crosses and kicked well. Rodak will be available again, but is he any better?
I think O'Donnell has to be given the shirt next Saturday. He couldn't have done more today to secure his place but he didn't have to make a save which might be different against Shrewsbury. If we could manage a game in which we don't concede a soft goal to which we make a major contribution, it would be a real bonus.
Laugh out loud funny to read the Rovers main forum. We have had twelve efforts on goal, hit the woodwork three times and had a goal not given when it seems it was over the line. They have had three attempts on goal in total, one of which was from Richard Wood which was the only one on target and it went in. They did have a couple of penalty claims but not good ones. Marquis was going down before Emmanuel got near him, and he handled it himself before Wood blocked his shot.
To reiterate, we were shocking today but still deserved a point. Donny battled hard and are world class at time wasting (apparently they have trained the ball boys on that front) but looked a very poor side indeed - likely bottom four candidates on that showing.
Disagree about Vaulks. Always involved, I didn't see him do much wrong. One of the 1st names on the team sheet. Got away with having no left side. Taylor & Newell out next sat'. Ihiewke is suspended. JCH impressed with him when he came on, start him next sat'.
Laugh out loud funny to read the Rovers main forum. We have had twelve efforts on goal, hit the woodwork three times and had a goal not given when it seems it was over the line. They have had three attempts on goal in total, one of which was from Richard Wood which was the only one on target and it went in. They did have a couple of penalty claims but not good ones. Marquis was going down before Emmanuel got near him, and he handled it himself before Wood blocked his shot.
To reiterate, we were shocking today but still deserved a point. Donny battled hard and are world class at time wasting (apparently they have trained the ball boys on that front) but looked a very poor side indeed - likely bottom four candidates on that showing.
I agree Smiler... worst opposition i've seen this season, though I've not seen all games. I fancy if we play anything like our best at NYS Donny fans will have a better idea of just how good they are!!
This isn't just because we have lost. To be fair, a lot of people me included were saying the same things last week after an away draw.
That performance today was awful. It is no good Paul Warne banging on about the lads giving him everything and losing late against the top of the league, and it is no good thinking what might have been if Moore had put the penalty away. Shrewsbury have clearly got something going. They were clinical, well organised and had plenty of pace and power. But they were not exactly world beaters and they had ten men for half an hour. The defeat stings, but the performance was far more concerning than the result.
What did we actually create today? Nothing at all. The goal we scored was a good finish but from a poor defensive header in response to a ball pumped into the box. Otherwise we had two or three scrambles from corners, free kicks or long balls into the area. We were lucky when a goalmouth scramble dropped to Moore at Donny but not so lucky today.
When the tactic of launching everything up to a big lone striker was clearly not working, what did we do instead? Smashed it up to two big strikers. Not exactly a tactical masterstroke.
Our defending is still horrible. Their first goal was unbelievably soft. Caught ball watching and punished for it. Their winner was a catalogue of errors. Mattock let a cross in far too easily, Ajayi gave a needless corner away and surprise surprise we concede from a corner for the umpteenth time this season. You can keep selecting different combinations every week if you like Warney, but when the individuals you are selecting from aren't good enough you are looking for a solution that just isn't there.
Unfortunately the goals at the other end are drying up because we have completely stopped trying to play football, and the more desperate we get the worse we play. It has become a vicious circle. Our creative players have lost their sparkle, and with each week that passes we are starting to resemble the team that ended last season - short on confidence and devoid of ideas.
I believe the players all tried their best but that must always be a given. Other than that I saw no positives at all today. None.
A few weeks ago I thought, just for a moment Warne had turned the corner. I thought I had been impatient, and was wrong in my views and humble pie was in order. The boys were playing well and scoring goals for fun. I thought the rebuilding of the squad was under way and I thought all that was needed was a productive January that would see us strengthening the defence. But like my old Ma used to say…You know what thought did, 5hat himself but only thought he had.
