Ro Sham Bo Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 18 minutes ago, roverthemoon said: That reminds me. Our corners and set pieces were brutal yesterday. We really, really missed Connolly in that regard. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.R.FC Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 9 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said: We really, really missed Connolly in that regard. Yeah, given I’m pretty sure Connolly has come close to scoring with every free kick he has had within shooting range for us, it was frustrating that he was unavailable as Tait and Zanatta put their free kicks straight into the wall from great positions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Algorithms Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 It's frustrating. We've had at least one goal from short corners and created a decent half chance in the first half but the one in the second half was particularly criminal. If you're going to use them, you can't have players fucking about and losing the ball. Especially if we're getting Berra all the way up the pitch to cause havoc in the opposition box. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SotesBornalichtie Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 (edited) First off I hope Ricky little is OK and that Spencer's injury isn't as bad as it looked at first. For me the game was a bit of a disappointment. It should have been one of the best games of the season with two teams on unbeaten runs and with Raith being one of the better footballing sides in the league. It seemed that both teams started out wanting to win but ended up wanting not to lose more and Dick's pre-match comment about "blood and snotters" turned out to be right. Ricky Little being injured and the substitution changed the balance of the game. Some of the subs this season have seemed strange and although some have worked this one didn't. As has been said the ref was poor. Big Joel was marked out of the game and I only noticed Donnelly when he was subbed. A draw was probably a fair result for a forgettable game. Was there a man of the match? Possibly Tom O'Brien, but nobody lit up a dull afternoon. Edited December 5, 2021 by SotesBornalichtie spelling 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith Against The Machine Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 I think you'd have to have Tom Lang as man of the match. Everything that Arbroath created in the first half came to an end with his involvement, including that unbelievable header on the line. While the Rovers set up was conservative, I can't see that McGlynn would've "taken a point" before kick off. It was a set up to provide a solid base from which we could go and try to shake something loose at the other end. And when you look at the few chances that both teams had, it's fair enough. To play any more open would've played into Arbroath's hands, and we did create a couple of half chances. In hindsight, I think Musonda in for Tumilty was a step too far. Maybe Tumilty was carrying a knock, but I suspect it was more of a punishment from McGlynn for that daft red card at Falkirk. With the three centre halfs already out there, we didn't really need that additional solidity from Musonda, but missed the outball that Tumilty provides, and that was compounded by the absence of Ross (in the first half) and Connolly. So much of our good play is built on movement and interchangeability and we just didn't have the right tools for that yesterday. Varian did his usual good work harrying and breaking balls loose, but we never looked like having the support in place to really benefit from it in open play. We were relying on him to hold the ball up long enough to win set pieces that we could attack from. No comment on how that went. It was one of those games - again, particularly the first half - where we would've been better off with a more orthodox number 9, but we simply don't have one. As I said yesterday, the period between Little and Spencer's injuries was the only time the Rovers looked like properly imposing themselves on the game. Prior to Little going off, Dick was being targeted again and again by Jason Thomson on the overlap and he wasn't having a great time. It looked like it was only a matter of time before Arbroath scored from that route, but Thomson going to centre half totally changed that dynamic and let us off the hook. As we saw earlier in the season, though, Brad Spencer is the beating heart of that Rovers midfield. Matthews and Tait are both very good at what they do, but they need Spencer there as that metronomic lynchpin to really be at their best. Once Spencer went off, we lost that composure required to build through the middle and were relying on balls into the channels. Aaron Arnott didn't do badly when he came on, but he's never going to bring the same control at this stage in his development. I imagine that substitution is the death knell for Blaise Riley-Snow's prospects as a real first team player too. All in all, a point at Gayfield is no bad thing. Looking at the way this Championship has broken, I don't think there's a manager in the top five who wouldn't be content with draws away at the other teams around them. Arbroath are too good a side to get an exemption from that, as much as Dick Campbell might want to kid on otherwise in the papers. The Rovers are now 14 games unbeaten, and that's a monumental achievement. It's been a strange 14 games, though. Breaking games down into halves, how many have the Rovers truly been in their stride? Maybe five or six? That's not a criticism, it's just an observation. McGlynn has toyed with different formations and different personnel throughout, and there have been spells where there have been seemingly clear weaknesses (the entirety of Matthews absence, for example) but the team have persisted throughout. You'd have to assume Spencer won't bounce back immediately from that injury, so there'll be more punches to roll with going into tough games against Killie and Thistle, but would you readily bet against this Rovers side continuing their unorthodox unbeaten run to Christmas? I wouldn't. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecto Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 11 hours ago, roverthemoon said: Absolutely love how Berra keeps on the officials all game. What a guy! Say what you might about Berra, but the way he man marks the ref, good pro 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers_Lad Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 (edited) Many ways to punish a player for a sending off and its not by benching him,thats schoolboy stuff so I,d like to think Tumilty being on the bench was because of a niggle otherwise he should have started. Dick Campbell “They managed the game,they take ten minutes on every set piece,they,re kicking the ball away,this,that and the next thing” Edited December 5, 2021 by Rovers_Lad 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afc_36_0 Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Dick Campbell “They managed the game,they take ten minutes on every set piece,they,re kicking the ball away,this,that and the next thing” [emoji25] DC’s interviews get worse every week, “my granny could have finished them” speaking about linn’s chances. We maybe had better chances but i thought a draw was fair 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 When did Arbroath fans turn into a bunch of whining, greeting faced wee gimps? I can barely remember much of the game, good day out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Algorithms Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 43 minutes ago, Raith Against The Machine said: In hindsight, I think Musonda in for Tumilty was a step too far. Maybe Tumilty was carrying a knock, but I suspect it was more of a punishment from McGlynn for that daft red card at Falkirk. With the three centre halfs already out there, we didn't really need that additional solidity from Musonda, but missed the outball that Tumilty provides, and that was compounded by the absence of Ross (in the first half) and Connolly. So much of our good play is built on movement and interchangeability and we just didn't have the right tools for that yesterday. It's worth keeping in mind, Tumilty played a full 90 against Caley. Last season in the loss up at Gayfield, we played two pressing full backs and our goal came from Kieran MacDonald giving the ball right to Arbroath in a harmless situation which might have factored in. It really did hinder us yesterday though. Ideally next week we'll be back to our usual selves with Ethan Ross playing more centrally. Not ideal that there's no timeframe for Spencer or Connolly to come back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan3600 Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Also, just laying it out now. If we try any short corners that don't immediately lead to a cross into the box, with those options in the air, I'm going to hurl myself into the North Sea. Did you enjoy your swim? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raith Against The Machine Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 24 minutes ago, stan3600 said: Did you enjoy your swim? Just painfully predictable. At least the first short corner did produce a cross, of sorts, but we've tried that cut back for Tait to first time it on the edge of the box in just about every game this season and I think that's about the second best its gone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichtielegend Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 18 hours ago, Tattie36 said: Yeah, would have made more sense to make a like-for-like swap instead of upsetting the balance. We definitely lost something after little went off as JT/our right side was dominant up until then. There's no like for like replacement for Little really. Centre halves are now becoming very specialised at being left-centre and right-centre. Usually they'll play on the side of their stronger foot but if they're both right footed, the better ball player will play on the left. So (after TOB) our best option maybe is Thomson to play that role. I think it will be TOB and Hammy centre-half next week with Henderson at full-back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 7 hours ago, R.R.FC said: the limited chances MacDonald had to deal with were straight at him (although he did almost mess one up). I hope he doesn't drop the bairn when it comes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 2 hours ago, stan3600 said: Did you enjoy your swim? I’ve no problem with short corners in general. I’m sure the stats show that even with a traditional ball-in-box corner your chances of scoring from it are fairly low. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baillieinleeds Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 19 hours ago, Broken Algorithms said: Can I introduce you to bailieinleeds? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Starko Rover Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Pretty poor game overall don’t really remember either keeper doing much 0-0 was probably about right on the balance of the game, hopefully Spencer isn’t too badly injured. Onwards to the next game, 14 unbeaten is fantastic by the team hopefully we can make it 15 against Killie. Decent day out for my first trip to Gayfield. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lellywong Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Have only just defrosted from yesterday's game, God was it cold. Think a point was good result for both teams, nothing much changed in the league after yesterday, a point to the better and a clean sheet. Brilliant train journey back though with a lot of the young lads, they were having a ball 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basher brash Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Regarding Campbells comments total BS , If Rover came for a draw thats surely up to us as for time wasting get a grip , Maybe Dicks needing to realise his patter and one liners are wearing thin we have heard them a million times now . Draw was a fair result between 2 evenly matched teams as both teams had chances In a very scrappy game 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan3600 Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 Regarding Campbells comments total BS , If Rover came for a draw thats surely up to us as for time wasting get a grip , Maybe Dicks needing to realise his patter and one liners are wearing thin we have heard them a million times now . Draw was a fair result between 2 evenly matched teams as both teams had chances In a very scrappy game BS? Dick? Surely not? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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