Another fabulous first half display with every Rotherham player contributing to a high pressing, action packed half. Wimbledon were woeful but came out for the second half a different side. I can see why they over - ran Bradford but we did well to resist their physical style. At this rate it's difficult to imagine anyone stopping us achieving a play - off slot and you know what that means! Good debut from Palmer, questions over Lavery's pace, a class goal from Smith and overall a very satisfactory performance!
Worryingly good...ok but the league is the poorest for many a year and even today if the opposition had any quality ( on the day ) we offered them opportunities.
Very reticent to get carried away because we are playing in a poor league and the championship would eat us alive and that's where we want to be.
From the rebuilding - 3 year contracts - growing young talent we have not evolved we have simply lowered our standards. We are no further on the road to "quality".
-- Edited by Bornamiller on Saturday 3rd of February 2018 07:43:17 PM
I think I sort of agree with Bornamiller except I wouldn't be so dismissive of what Warne is doing.
Tony Stewart was trying to square a circle in the Championship. He was desperate to stay in it, but couldn't afford to keep throwing money at it. He indulged Evans for a while and Warnock during a short term rescue mission but couldn't fund it like that in the longer term. That is probably why Evans walked and Warnock chose not to stay. Redfearn and Stubbs were asked to build for the longer term but in both cases the panic button was pushed when the short term results suffered. The supporters didn't help because being what they are they bayed for blood when they didn't like what they were watching in the short term, having been told by the Chairman to expect better. God only knows what happened with Jackett. Maybe he realised very quickly that he was being asked to perform an impossible task.
The point really is that after Jackett walked away the Championship game was up for us. Warne was a cheap and in some ways safe option when nobody else of note was likely to even want the job, and I think that at that stage we were already planning for this season. He wasn't able to get many results but as Glenn has said, Pep wouldn't have been able to do much with what Warne inherited. What he did do was handle himself well and retain some professionalism in a dire situation. Enough to be given a chance with something of his own making in the league below.
What Warne has done this season can not really be faulted. He has halted the decline and restored some pride. He hasn't been given a lot of money to work with. I don't agree with Bornamiller that League One is weaker than normal this season. It is about what it usually is. What is striking is just how much worse it is than the Championship. Us, Wigan and Blackburn are probably no better than we were last season but what isn't good enough to survive in the Championship can still get you promoted from League One. That is the reality.
I agree with Bornamiller that if we went up this season we would probably struggle and come straight back down next.
How to get into the Championship and stay there in a sustainable way for the long term is the big problem Tony Stewart has. So far he hasn't found the answer. Burton have the same problem. Clough freely admits in interviews that all he can do is try his best to swim against the tide. Barnsley are struggling but have had the courage to stick with managers and ride things out, and they now have renewed optimism following foreign investment. For me it is all about managing that expectation, which is not something we have been good at.
For now I think we are on the right track, but the club has to be honest with itself and with supporters about what its SMART targets are and how it is planning to achieve them.
I disagree. This league we are in looks far weaker than last time we were in it. Warney is doing ok with the budget he's got. We haven't got much quality in the side. If we went up would be almost a total re-build or would be a waste of time going up. Ajayi Mattock & Vaulks could cut it in the championship, perhaps when fit Palmer. Wiles & Bailey-King could come through. Can't think of many more.
I disagree. This league we are in looks far weaker than last time we were in it. Warney is doing ok with the budget he's got. We haven't got much quality in the side. If we went up would be almost a total re-build or would be a waste of time going up. Ajayi Mattock & Vaulks could cut it in the championship, perhaps when fit Palmer. Wiles & Bailey-King could come through. Can't think of many more.
This division is poor and we are more than capable of a realistic promotion push.Having said," we have not much quality,"I totally disagree.This is a much younger squad that is improving all the time and we would not struggle to keep in the championship as much as last time, which contained too many"has beens".I also think the championship level of quality has gone down.There is no reason why we cannot emulate what the Blades have done.
Another hard game won both strikers scored
I thought the ref bottled it when their player kicked Smith in the face that was a definite yellow card and should have walked.
I think Palmer played well to say that this is first competitive game for while. Laverty needs game time and he will be an asset in the 16 games we have to play or maybe 19 lol
Vaulk has stopped the world passing and actually finding our players
Forde is getting better ever game
Newell at the moment is playing like we know he can
Roll on the s*** Saturday happy with a point 3 better that would put a point behind good result against Oxford could see us climb into 4th if results go our way
All in all good game against a physical side
Is it the case that L1 of this season is weaker than norm, or is it a fact that we are, dare I say it, better than we were last time, making all the rest look poor fare. I'm not playing devil's advocate here, I don't get to that many games these days to be able to form my own informed judgement, so its a genuine question.
It seems to me that we are better on current form than we were under Evans, younger and hungrier and now have what we have needed since before Evans perhaps, the nucleus of a successful squad. Promotion this season would in my view be a result of the building momentum (as our last outing) and would have no sustainability even if the burgeoning squad is kept together and added to, we may survive a season perhaps.
At the moment we are in that never-never land that Smiler alludes to, too good for L1, not enough quality as yet for the Championship. So where do we go form here? Again I think Smiler nails it in his last sentence….."For now I think we are on the right track, but the club has to be honest with itself and with supporters about what its SMART targets are and how it is planning to achieve them."
Honesty will instil trust, trust will instil faith and confidence and the fans will buy in.
I hope if we ever get into the Premiership, it is the worst Premiership ever, lol…
You can only beat the teams in the League in the season you are in, I find the debate that it’s a poor League very strange… are we saying we don’t want success ??
I’ve just got back to Scotland having gone down for the game – firstly, it’s good to watch just now, surely, we can agree that. Players look like a team playing for each other, there are no passengers in the team, and whilst we are not Man City…. The team is playing pretty good stuff since we abandoned ‘hoof ball’
for a while last year I thought we were looking like we might be in a relegation fight. Now I look forward to watching games again, which feels a lot better than the last two seasons and the Play-offs is now a strong possibility.
Great sentiments and they are all true - however I have watched this season and some are getting a little euphoric about the current state of affairs which - seen in isolation - are fine. BUT - I worry that in football terms - with the championship as a benchmark - the euphoria of our present league position is misplaced.
Someone suggested above that any attempt to play in the championship - with this team / management would demand a total EVO style rebuild - which we can't afford - and I totally agree with that. And the management team are also subject to the same misgivings....the point is - we are no further on than when Warne was promoted despite it "feels" better.
The latter stages of this season will be interesting to see just what and how TS plays his cards which are currently very close to his chest.
-- Edited by Bornamiller on Sunday 4th of February 2018 09:50:38 PM
We're on a very good run of form. We will progress as far as is possible in this league. On current form we have nothing to fear from any other team in League 1. Some supporters cannot comprehend the sudden improvement in our form. Our fitness levels have never been better. Take a look at some of teams we have played already. They have been flagging near the end of each game. We have kept our focus and shape. We have stayed hungry to win games.
Are we deluded into thinking that we cannot reach the playoffs at the end of this season? 'No', say I.
We're on a very good run of form. We will progress as far as is possible in this league. On current form we have nothing to fear from any other team in League 1. Some supporters cannot comprehend the sudden improvement in our form. Our fitness levels have never been better. Take a look at some of teams we have played already. They have been flagging near the end of each game. We have kept our focus and shape. We have stayed hungry to win games.
Are we deluded into thinking that we cannot reach the playoffs at the end of this season? 'No', say I.
Is it too good to be true? Again, 'No', say I.
'Enjoy it while you can', say I.
UTM!
totally agree
and as someone else commented in the past when we was here before our 2 central defenders although good were getting on
and apart from wood we have a young hungry team
if we do play those extra 3 games and are successful . the question is will tony spend to get that little bit of quality will we surely need
because as it stands even if we dont stay up
we will need at least
1 X GK
1 X RB
1 X CM
1 X STRIKER
as these postions are currently loans
could we afford to buy these 4 or if any
towell i would defo buy
emmanuel ipswich wont sell for what we would offer
lavery i have heard we have a option to buy already
