Facing Wigan Athletic now is not dissimilar from the timing of the trip to Charlton.
What is going on off the pitch may overshadow the football match. A new (Spanish) owner seems to have convinced the Liquidators that he/she is legitimate and once in place will no doubt begin to invest to strengthen a team much weakened by the consequences of the punishment of relegation for being unable to repay debt.
They were a decent Championship side with good support and a competent manager and now the evergreen John Sheridan is in charge with a team whose employment contracts are affordable, but unlike Bolton last year, contain experience as well as some youthful faces.
However, they beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park last week and deservedly so it seems, but of course the home side are not at their best having failed to win at all this season. The Wigan which beat Hull City 8-0 seems to have departed en bloc, so, despite local confidence it would be a near-miracle for a team almost entirely made up of replacements, to perform really effectively consistently so soon.
The first two of their other losses (Fleetwood (A) and Ipswich (A)) would be expected, especially at Fleetwood, although Ipswich have may only be average since they have not had any real tests yet. Losing to Gillingham at home is perhaps more of a true gauge of ability against a team that we would expect to rival in the top half of the league. So one might conclude that Wigan are currently average at best.
Consequently a win there for us should be a possibility and it could come down to whether our exuberant front line can prevail over their fairly permeable defence, all assuming of course that we have a considerably better defence than they possess. (They have conceded 3 twice, 2 once and most recently just 1).
So for my first reckless forecast of the season I’ll wager 2-0 with, not Gomez again, but Whiteman registering the first.
Incidentally, I don’t like the black and grey outfits for all the away games. It’s a pity that commercial considerations are more important than the very essence of our identity.
DPL v Wigan Athletic
posted on 5/10/20
What a crazy league the Premiership has be come with matches like Liverpool's, Leicester's and Man United's today! Who would have thought a team that escaped relegation on the last day of the season would thrash the Reigning Champions 7-2 so early in the season. Yesterday I watched Leeds vs. Man City, and although not classically great football, it was great entertainment. Although not a great fan of The Weeds (although under Don Revie I was), I was rooting for the White Rose of Yorkshire against the Red Rose lot!
posted on 5/10/20
In weighing up the reasons for the upside-down form, the absence of support, particularly at home, is clearly a factor. It is never 11 versus 11 in an emotional sense with crowds and teams like Liverpool have their passionate following wherever they go. The fundamental fear of defeat by the home support in normal circumstances in a match such as that at Villa Park may communicate itself to the team. In contrast a team like Liverpool is nurtured by the home support which they carry with them away; without the regular infusion of adulation, their morale (already bruised by only scraping past Leeds and a closer game than they might have hoped for against Arsenal) was already diminished.
West Ham, in contrast, have been under fire for a couple of years from the fans I know, so for them, no crowds take the pressure off!
posted on 5/10/20
I've had the discussion about the benefit of crowds with Pauline, my wife, trying to persuade her that my position, similar to yours, is the main reason for some strange results (overall away win percentage is much higher than last year), and she basically agrees (as a teenager she remembers shivering on the kop at the Rossington end of Belle Vue, drinking hot Bovril to keep warm. Yes, even though I put her though this, she married me!). However, Chris Sutton made this comment on the Beeb web site today:
"The reason for the huge results this season is the standard of defending in the Premier League is awful - and also there has been some terrible goalkeeping.
You can't blame the fact that there's no crowd for Adrian and his horrific pass. You can't blame the no crowds for the goals that have gone in this season, Manchester United's defending: the Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw errors. We've seen Liverpool and Virgil van Dijk also defending poorly.
It's poor defending, not a lack of fans, simple as that. The standard of defending has dropped dramatically, I think, in the Premier League."
While some of that is true, surely the high press game played by many teams is partly responsible for the goal fest - both scoring more and letting in more!
posted on 6/10/20
It is tempting for journalists to try to generalise when writing about football retrospectively and they always focus on the PL and then top clubs in the PL. Have they spoken to the players about the impact of no crowd support? In sport, there are situations where you feel more pressure to succeed as a result of your surroundings; we all remember the Bill Shankley’s “life and death” quote and for some fans that is almost real.
In 2019/20 there was an average of 2.72 goals scored per match. So far this season a quick look at the table shows that the average number thus far is well above that level.
But it is surely simplistic to suggest that poor defending throughout the PL is the cause just because the top teams have shipped embarrassing numbers.
In looking for cause in any situation should you not first consider the obvious difference between this season and last which is the spectator factor? Have we forgotten too the pressure on officials including VAR refs imposed by large home crowds?
It would be an unlikely coincidence that only the defensive ability of the leading clubs has fallen away, would it not? What about the standard of Aston Villa’s defending or West Ham’s; their’s has surely improved.
As well as the crowd factor, last season there were so many goals ruled out after VAR review that the celebration had to be put on hold. VAR is not invoked as frequently this season because some of the rules have changed to prevent the disallowance of goals; for example, where there has been incidental accidental “handball” by the attacking side in the build-up.
posted on 6/10/20
Today's game - pathetic is almost too kind a word, and we made Oldham look quite good. I can't say anyone had a really good game. Jones made some good saves and I'm sure he feels he could have done better with their first goal. Also he stands some way off the line at times and twice Oldham attempted to lob him. I'm glad they scored a second goal as Wright was livid about the foul against him, and from the iFollow angle it looked like a foul against him. It seems the ref accused him of a shirt pull.
Whiteman really has lost his shooting boots!
I think Okenabirhie will have blown his chance to start in the next league game with poor misses from three good chances. Others also had good chance that should have at least been on target, especially Gomes and Cameron John
posted on 7/10/20
Two swallows do not a summer make either!
posted on 10/10/20
Think its going to be a long hard road till the end of the season. Unless Moore leaves and we start again. Then again who knows what will happen as things stand, clubs could be looking at going bust if the fans are not let back in to support their teams.
Strange times we live in.
Just hope we're all still here when we come out the other end.
posted on 10/10/20
BVZ: Do you think we'd be better off without Moore? I cannot agree, not because I think he's perfect, but he should be given more time. Getting a new manager in would put the club on hold for more than a month while the Board go through their very sensible recruitment process.
That process has led to all the managers since Dickov being wanted by other clubs which is good and we have to hope that if it happens it is in the close season, so the time taken is not as crucial.
Obviously the Oldham result was a setback with practically a full strength side out, but he has conveniently bought himself time via the International call-ups to sort things out.
You are right that if the money crisis in the lower leagues is allowed to go on, some clubs will go to the wall. The Football Economy has much in common with the national one where in effect the Bank of England is providing the bale-out. The PL does depend on lower-echelon football, just like the national economy requires smaller businesses with a viable future to survive, so it should recognise where its duty lies. Unfortunately in carrying on spending tens of millions of pounds buying players who are not even ten times, let alone a hundred or a thousand times better than the typical League 1 or 2 player, they are utterly profligate and irresponsible and only encourage the price structure get even more unrealistic.
posted on 10/10/20
Yes strange times indeed. I was wondering whether DM really has the ability to lead us out of League One? Its already almost a familiar pattern to last year. Yes the loanees need time to settle in but there is a significant core from last year. Tactically he still seems a bit naive and far too nice!
I'm happy he's given at least this season to prove what he is capable of. Rovers have proved they can play attractive football already this season, but there is always a place for grinding out results to get you promoted. We'll be there or thereabouts if the season is completed.
posted on 12/10/20
https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/football/project-big-picture-radical-proposal-english-football-and-how-would-it-affect-doncaster-rovers-3000168
The above article sets out a financial support plan for the EFL and the rest of professional football clubs funded by diverting TV money from the PL.
The EFL management have drawn it up with the owners of Manchester United and Liverpool with 4 other top PL clubs also involved in the negotiations. Unfortunately the rest of the PL clubs were not party to the talks and it will have an adverse effect on some of them with the added drawback of reducing the PL to 18 clubs.
Obviously something has to be done, but not bringing in reps from all the PL clubs seems ill-advised.
The lesser PL clubs will presumably stand to lose more because their ancillary income and ticket receipts will be less, so it must be hoped that they will not just walk away. And, in a sense, you could not blame them if they did.