HIT THE CHANNEL Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Checked the forecast - looking dry, mild and not too windy. Thank f**k. Really looking forward to watching a game back on the 4G. The last couple of weeks have been grim spectacles. Obvious as it is, if we want to finish 4th (or higher), home games against bottom of the league have to be won. Hopefully Duku starts and Musonda and Spencer are back in (we really missed both, especially Spencer as Tait is miles off it just now). Beer will be consumed with gusto. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.R.FC Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Agree this is a must win. The league is so tight that defeat here and we could be nervously glancing down the table. Start of a run of 3 straight home games and we should have a much clearer picture of our hopes for the rest of the season after them. Anything less than 5-6 points would be disappointing for me. Alloa will be a tough game though, they seem to have slowly turned a corner in recent weeks. A good win against QOS and a point against Arbroath followed by an unlucky defeat at Dunfermline in their best performance of the 3 going by reports. Famous last words but this game should suit us a bit more. Back at home on a decent surface and Alloa are a good footballing side who try to get the ball down and play but also allow the opposition the chance to do the same. Who knows what Rovers team will turn up but if we are at our best this should be an entertaining game much like the away game in December which was a good game in tough conditions although 5-2 flattered us in the end. Impossible to predict a starting line up for us until we know if any of Matthews, Spencer, Vaughan or Musonda will be back. However, I think at least 3 of those start in our strongest 11 so would be a big boost to even get 1 or 2 back. Duku should start up front, he caused Alloa real problems last time. I actually don’t think there is anything sinister to his lack of game time recently though. Yes, he is our top goal scorer but he blows hot and cold and his all round game isn’t good enough to be considered a ‘must’ start every game. He was poor in the game against QOS (along with the rest of the team) so dropped out for Ugwu at Tynecastle, who did well. He came on 2nd half scored and played well and kept his place for the game at Starks. However, he was awful in the match, albeit with little quality service. But he was rightly dropped for the Dundee game where Abraham came in after signing and had a good game meaning he kept his place for Dunfermline. Abraham was then rightly dropped after the Pars game and Duku could have been back in for Morton but Ugwu was fit again and had a really good game at Tynecastle and wouldn’t have been out of the team but for injury so only right he returned when fit. His hold up play also suited the conditions better. He did well against Morton and deserved to keep his place in similar conditions at Arbroath. However, after Ugwu’s poor performance at Arbroath he should drop out this week and it is right Duku gets his chance again. If Ugwu or Abraham are selected ahead of him I might think there is more to it but at the moment, I don’t see the big mystery and his place on the bench has been easily justified the last few games as per above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 6 hours ago, HIT THE CHANNEL said: Checked the forecast - looking dry, mild and not too windy. Thank f**k. Really looking forward to watching a game back on the 4G. The last couple of weeks have been grim spectacles. Not to be cynical, but the pitch is a 3G surface. There’s plenty of blather about 4G, 5G and even 6G, but none of those designations have any official meaning or definition. Some people call crumbless turf 4G, others insist that an infill is a must for 4G...until a standard is promulgated and accepted, it’s all marketing. That being said, it’s time for a win, according to our recent form. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 4 hours ago, R.R.FC said: Agree this is a must win. The league is so tight that defeat here and we could be nervously glancing down the table. Start of a run of 3 straight home games and we should have a much clearer picture of our hopes for the rest of the season after them. Anything less than 5-6 points would be disappointing for me. Not certain this is a must win unless we are contemplating a playoff spot. 6 points would put us on 30 points, which should be sufficient to hold eighth place or above this year (the usual requirement is about 40 points, so with 75% of the games...), even if we implode and get no more points for the season beyond that. That being said, we are all really thinking playoffs, if we are honest with ourselves. We are currently on track for that with about 1.6 points per game, and to maintain that pace would call for your 5-6 points. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALDERON Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 The absolute aim should be finishing in the playoffs, I would be really disappointed if it wasn't - given where we are. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers1992/1993 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Not certain this is a must win unless we are contemplating a playoff spot. 6 points would put us on 30 points, which should be sufficient to hold eighth place or above this yearI’d be extremely disappointed if we were to finish 8th now and class the second half of the season as a massive failure, if we were to do so. We are 3 points off second with a game in hand, have sat 2nd majority of the season. The absolute minimum we should be aiming for now is 4th. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I don't think we're safe from the bottom end yet. Alloa currently winning at Inverness and if they hold on and then beat us the gap is just 6 points. We could easily still finish anywhere from 2nd to 10th. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 1 minute ago, Ro Sham Bo said: I don't think we're safe from the bottom end yet. Alloa currently winning at Inverness and if they hold on and then beat us the gap is just 6 points. We could easily still finish anywhere from 2nd to 10th. Agree with this. You are only ever two bad results from disaster in this division. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, renton said: Agree with this. You are only ever two bad results from disaster in this division. At Christmas it looked like the bottom three were going to be miles adrift but their improvement has thrown everything up for grabs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALDERON Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Regardless, when your 2nd place in the January window and bring in 4 players, can't really look at finishing anywhere near 8th as success. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 32 minutes ago, CALDERON said: Regardless, when your 2nd place in the January window and bring in 4 players, can't really look at finishing anywhere near 8th as success. Absolutely. If we end up anywhere in the bottom half of the table it will be a bit of a disappointment given where we've gotten to. Although that game at Inverness ending up a draw is a decent outcome all round. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I don’t disagree with the sentiments, but I think that the playoffs are a pretty optimist goal for us. We had an advantage the first game versus everyone, and on the second go we’ve been much less dominating. It’s lovely to imagine playoffs, but a nice 5th or 6th place would suit us just fine. Yes, it’s nice to reach for the stars, but it’s better to remain grounded and building for the next few seasons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 11 minutes ago, TxRover said: I don’t disagree with the sentiments, but I think that the playoffs are a pretty optimist goal for us. We had an advantage the first game versus everyone, and on the second go we’ve been much less dominating. It’s lovely to imagine playoffs, but a nice 5th or 6th place would suit us just fine. Yes, it’s nice to reach for the stars, but it’s better to remain grounded and building for the next few seasons. f**k that, let’s get to the play offs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 50 minutes ago, Enigma said: f**k that, let’s get to the play offs. Think positive said the colour blind electrician. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.R.FC Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 10 hours ago, Ro Sham Bo said: Although that game at Inverness ending up a draw is a decent outcome all round. Yep, given how tight and quickly things change in this league, I find myself hoping for a draw in every game not involving us at the moment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paco Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Alloa have been had an unfortunate defeat at EEP, where we got thumped, and a draw at Inverness where we got comfortably beaten in their last two. Home win over Queens a couple of weeks ago too, where we got beat. ‘No easy games in this league’ is always a cliche but it wasn’t true in League 1. Home games with Queen’s Park or Stenhousemuir were gimmies. But it’s definitely true here - bottom of the league at home, and they’re showing better form than us in third! If we had the players we could genuinely drop everyone who played last Saturday aside from Jamie MacDonald and maybe Tumilty, and there could be no complaints. Realistically though it depends on injuries. I’d definitely bring Duku back in, and hopefully at least some of Musonda/Matthews/Spencer/Vaughan make it back. Get Gullan on the bench as a priority.Hoping for a game of football to break out, which weather/pitches haven’t really allowed since the win over Dundee. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 McGlynn quoted in the Courier as saying Vaughan will miss this weekend with his thigh problem but might manage the Pars match next week. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllSaint Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 13 hours ago, CALDERON said: Regardless, when your 2nd place in the January window and bring in 4 players, can't really look at finishing anywhere near 8th as success. *you’re Agree with the rest of the post. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyser_soze Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 At the start of the season I think we all would have been very happy with 8th place, however not to finish 4th or better now would seem like a bit of a disappointment. The thing that really worries me is our inconsistency, if we keep going WLWLWLWL (last 8 games) my fear is that it just won't be enough, we haven't recorded back to back league wins since the opening 2 fixtures. For Saturday's game a solid performance and 3 points please and thank you, for some reason we always seem to bounce back after a shocker, 3 home games on the trot and 7 points would be just the tonic after last weekend. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baillieinleeds Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 16 hours ago, CALDERON said: Regardless, when your 2nd place in the January window and bring in 4 players, can't really look at finishing anywhere near 8th as success. And yet we are nonetheless new to the league, and any position above relegation is success. I don’t think the team have the drive to push for a play off. The last few games have proved one thing. We are the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team in the league. We can play some blistering football, the next play like they’ve never met before. Every team goes through spats of bad performances. But we seem to excel at poor displays, especially midweek. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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