Are we becoming a one man team will be the question on here tonight after an afternoon on which the injured Zola was sorely missed.
And yet during the walk home, thinking through what I might put in these notes, I found that there was still a lot to be pleased about.
There was no rolling over, as we saw last year. The fight was not as fast or fierce as it might have been but we did keep plugging away against a side that I thought got better the longer the game went on.
They always seemed to have a spare man to pick up the second ball where we had gaps, and they played some neat football through the middle, between the increasing common site of a giant target man and an equally imposing stopper.
Three quarters of our back four were outstanding, with Diamond the pick for me. He is not just a good blocker but his use of the ball coming forward was as good as I have seen from anyone in the black and yellow.
Have to single out McCrory today. I have been really impressed with him so far, but he had a nightmare first half, poor passes, crosses straight out of play, and regularly leaving his winger unmarked and unchallenged.
Mags ended up taking more of a share in defending against the right winger (Ayinsah?), which made him less of a threat.
Cleveland.............He works his socks off but he never quite gets past his man does he. Still, won us a few corners today, and probably should have had a penalty late on.
Good signs also from Justin and Billy. Justin worked a lot harder and Billy, apart from his goal, had a number of efforts where the connection wasn't quite as it should have been.
I could understand why Gaz left it so late to make a change, because in the long run, pitch time is what will get them that extra sharpness, but five minutes was insufficient for Pato or Adi to make an impact, though the former did find some space with a clever turn that led to a last minute corner.
But let's be honest, it would have been a bit of a steal to have won it at the death. Over the ninety minutes, I can't say that we deserved any more than a point, which brings me back to Calvin.
With Gillingham away, followed by Port Vale and Bradford at the Pirelli, we need him back and firing.
Gas pressure failure cools Brewers flame
posted on 13/10/12
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 13/10/12
Sorry to have to disagree Steve but I saw the game a bit differently to you - though I do agree with some of your comments.
1. Not a lot to be happy about at the final whistle.
2. A flat performance for virtually the whole game.
3. Cleveland shouldn't have been playing.
4. Bristol Rovers were bad - 2 points dropped.
5. Maghoma anonymous second half.
6. Substitutes should have been made on the hour (or earlier).
I agree about the back 4 - superb (though McCrory did not have the best of games).
I wonder whether the decision to let them have 3 days off for rest was a good idea in hindsight. They were not very sharp.
posted on 13/10/12
I thought we did look a bit flat first half, a fit Zola may have given us more punch up front ,but Harold for Rovers might have posed us more problems had he been in the rovers side . By and large i was happy with the defence , Zander Diamond being the pick , midfield worked hard without Weir my favourite player ,up front we were ok but i didnt feel we were going to break them down and score a hatful ,but Bristol made it difficult for us ,Tom Parkes played well and should really have been wearing an Albion shirt ,another of Peschs mistakes , and they could quite easily have stolen all three points . I thought a draw was about a fair result , just wish Justin could get a goal and get back some confidence . Some hard games coming up , glad we are sitting fifth from top and not fifth from bottom !.
posted on 13/10/12
Sorry guys but we cannot become a one man band in the respect of Calvin Zola.I hear to much about missing the man and im afraid you have got to get used to it.The man is a walking accident and the sooner we cater for that the better.Today we were not sharp enough the passing was school boy and the midfield none existant.It proves to me Wier is the kiddy in there and we missed him alot.Diamond should be playing at a higher level for me what a player first choice every week.Poor performance i thought,lack of ideas going forward although Justin played well for saying he hasnt had many starts.Fair result lets take it on the chin and learn from it.
posted on 13/10/12
Gutted, points thrown away. Rovers were poor and we were worse!
Billy Kee useless - yes he scored but the rest of his game was poor (and he is hugely over weight!). Richards useless - a good ten minute spell in the second half, but the rest was poor. Taylor useless, was he on the park? Maghoma, disappeared when we really needed him.
Diamond outstanding again as was O'Connor. McCroy had a very poor first half, but a good second. Midfield non existant but thought Dyer stepped up to the mark.
Substitutions pointless.
Missed Zola up front , missed Paterson up front, sooner these two are fit and back the better.
Left feeling completely deflated.
posted on 13/10/12
We still picked up a point and climbed 2 places in the table ! On the whole we are drawing games we would have lost last season and winning games we would have drawn. Its the mark of a useful side when you don't play well and still pick up points. Thats 8 unbeaten,nothing to be despondant about but i understand the concerns.
We have 3 tough fixtures coming up,it will be interesting to see how we do,hopefully Wier and Zola will be available for those.
posted on 14/10/12
Was very disappointed.
Defensively we stood up, Rovers were terrible, they pumped the ball up to the big lad Eaves (who was a donkey) and kept their fingers crossed, one of the poorest teams I have seen at the Pirelli this season, which does not say much for us!
I agree with Steve in as much that McCrory had a very poor first half, but apart from that I thought we were very solid and Zander was my motm. O'Connor got absolutely no service/help from Taylor throughout the game.
Midfield battled and I think Dyer did well enough, we just did not have anything going forward, everything went sideways or backwards. Cannot understand Taylor coming in for Rooney - is there a problem?
Up front was probably the worst I have seen all season. Billy was continually pushed off the ball, failed to hold it up and did not win a single header, he looks over weight and a little bit dis-interested. Justin battled away, but he is not the player he was and was just as slow as Billy was - did not like this pairing at all. Definitely missed Zola and Paterson who I hope are both fit and well for Gillingham, otherwise I fear our run may come to a horrendous end!
Yes it was another point and we are fifth in the table, but it was the most uninspiring game I have watched all season.
posted on 14/10/12
Interesting points raised.
The defence at the moment picks itself so no qualms there.Taylor for Rooney was always likely to happen but why not play Rooney on the left (he is left sided) and Maghoma on the right.Taylor had a poor game again.Up front could never understand why Patterson wasn't paired with Key.Richards performances of late didn't warrant a starting birth.
Dyer for Weir was a no brainer.
What was obvious was how much we missed Weir.
He is the one that usually fills in the gaps that they found to score one and nearly score a secon just after halftime.
Agree Zola a big miss but so too was Weir.
As long as Zola is injured i would like to see patterson given a extended run in the side.
posted on 14/10/12
It's funny how differently supporters see the same game, no rose tinted spectacles in sight!
The consensus from the Bristol Rovers supporters I met both before and after the game was neither team deserved the 3 points but generally happy to gain something from a Brewers team who have improved dramatically from last season.
The next three games should shape our season if we can match and come away with some points from those we have a clear barometer of what to expect from now on in.
Gary has done fantastic in moulding his squad, while making mistakes he is still getting a lot right.
The stats on Zola before the game, win % with him starting 57%, win % without him 25%, the stats don't lie on the reliance of us on last year’s player of the season.
Come on you brewers!!!
posted on 15/10/12
Got over my disappointment of the game now - fifth in the table is an excellent start to the season and maybe we should focus on that! (but it was two points dropped!!)
Very interesting stats CaptainUtd. I think it is obvious to everyone that we are a far more threatening side when Zola plays, that said we cannot allow ourselves to be a one man team. Billy is back. albeit he definitely looks to be struggling weight wise, Paterson should be back for Gillingham and Rooney I believe can provide the service to the strikers which gives Mags more of a maurauding role imo.
The future does look bright and if you don't lose games you play terrible in then we are doing something right, because that's a few now!