Gas-tly
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2024 12:54 pm
What an absolute barrel of bollocks. Apart from a 20min spell at the start of the second half, when we were already 2-0 down, there was no plan, no direction, no guile and no chance of any points.
Bristol Rovers knew how to defend, we didn't. They had a pair of centre-halves who used their bodies to deal with every through ball, made sure they were first to every 50-50, and weren't afraid to leave a foot in and intimidate our strikers. Our defenders, by contrast, seemed to feel that anything as gauche as tackling was beneath them. And worse than anything, Rovers looked like they were up for a battle and we didn't. I know Liam Manning wasn’t exactly the most inspirational manager ever, but I’ve been at "fire safety in the workplace" presentations that gee me up more than D-Bux would do.
Harris comes in for a lot of stick, but he did the best with what he was given yesterday and I think there's a player there (with the right support around him). His goal might have been a deflection, but he's still got to get into the right areas and have the instincts to do those things. We need to stop slagging off our attackers and sort out what's sat behind them IMHO.
Football aside(!), I actually quite enjoyed my visit to the Mem. It's been a few years since I was last there, and yesterday I was in the home end which was rather good. Spent one half in the West Terrace and then went and sat in the new stand, which knocks spots off the old beer tents which used to sit there. The fanzone behind the Thatcher's End was great too - saw a few Ox fans in there pre-match, and my lunch of curry goat with rice and peas was hands-down the best thing I've ever eaten at a football ground. Wouldn't it be nice if we could ever manage something like that?!?
Bristol Rovers knew how to defend, we didn't. They had a pair of centre-halves who used their bodies to deal with every through ball, made sure they were first to every 50-50, and weren't afraid to leave a foot in and intimidate our strikers. Our defenders, by contrast, seemed to feel that anything as gauche as tackling was beneath them. And worse than anything, Rovers looked like they were up for a battle and we didn't. I know Liam Manning wasn’t exactly the most inspirational manager ever, but I’ve been at "fire safety in the workplace" presentations that gee me up more than D-Bux would do.
Harris comes in for a lot of stick, but he did the best with what he was given yesterday and I think there's a player there (with the right support around him). His goal might have been a deflection, but he's still got to get into the right areas and have the instincts to do those things. We need to stop slagging off our attackers and sort out what's sat behind them IMHO.
Football aside(!), I actually quite enjoyed my visit to the Mem. It's been a few years since I was last there, and yesterday I was in the home end which was rather good. Spent one half in the West Terrace and then went and sat in the new stand, which knocks spots off the old beer tents which used to sit there. The fanzone behind the Thatcher's End was great too - saw a few Ox fans in there pre-match, and my lunch of curry goat with rice and peas was hands-down the best thing I've ever eaten at a football ground. Wouldn't it be nice if we could ever manage something like that?!?