DPL v Carlisle Utd

You have to go back 9 games to find the last time Carlisle lost and that was 2-1 at Stevenage. So they are a team in form.

There have been quite a few draws and you would describe them as “steady" rather than impressive, but they are clearly difficult to beat. They have not played that many top half teams, but their last outing was at Hartlepool where they put 3 goals past the home team and conceded just 1. The other unfavourable comparator would be their mid September 0-0 draw at Mansfield.

So we might conclude that they will be tough to break down. Rovers need resilience and developing is as useful as having a structure on which to build a winning plan.

McSheffery is similar to SOD in manner, but whereas SOD had a plan, McS does not seem to have a settled strategy. One thing I wish was evident is good ball control; that was what was very obvious in the warm-ups back then. So many of the current squad seem clumsy with the ball at their feet and it is surely a fundamental which also helps with accurate tackling. And tackling, so evident in the Premier League, often seems to be avoided, particularly by our players in League 2.

(I wrote the above before we lost to Barnsley’s youngsters.)

I am not sure whether I want to add anything, but our chances of winning will not have been strengthened by what happened on Tuesday.

It is a long time since I felt like I do now - probably it was when Dickov seemed to be secure in his post despite the way he operated, both in his management practice and his style of presentation to the fans. I don’t dislike GMcS, but his objectives as far as his players and their way of playing is obscure and inexplicit. It is difficult to get behind an unknown objective.

I’ll say 3-1 to borderers - Miller/Hurst/Faulkner with the goal.

(I envy you Mickey, because in the UK we can’t stream any matches on Saturday afternoons.)