Following the morale boosting win at Coventry and the obvious delight amongst many at drawing Burnley in the League Cup, it was with cautious optimism that I was looking forward to the opening home game of the season against a Doncaster Rovers team who had drawn their opening game against Gillingham at home the previous Saturday.
Following on from Southend I was again looking at the team sheet and left wondering which formation we would line up with – I certainly didn’t envisage five at the back or (if you are being generous) with three at the back and Williams and Caddis as wing backs. In my humble opinion, playing that system then doesn’t lend itself to also playing Bennett out wide as leaves the team unbalanced and as can be seen, simply doesn’t work.
I tweeted shortly after the game
absolutely pathetic that from both the players and manager alike… no tempo, no urgency and no fight. Not fit to wear the shirt is right! – @andyneil74
and those comments I stand by. Even former Rovers title winning midfielder, Mark Atkins, who was at the game watching two of his former clubs tweeted “Shambles” and he wasn’t off the mark. Post game Mowbray was quoted in the Lancashire Telegraph as saying
“I don’t think it’s the formation that is the issue” – Tony Mowbray
now I’m not the manager of a professional football club and Tony Mowbray has probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know about the game however the games both today and at Southend show that Danny Graham can’t play up front on his own with any meaningful effect, Charlie Mulgrew doesn’t seem to have the ability to marshall a back three, four or five (depending what formation we are playing) never mind the team. Elliot Ward isn’t the answer if/when Lenihan and/or Mulgrew depart before the end of the transfer window and it seems Mowbray seems to be lacking the options at the top end of the pitch to effect a game for the positive when we inevitably fall behind.
Generally when a team is woeful, pathetic, dis-jointed (I could go on, and on…..and on) the fans usually turn on the manager however for the first time that I can remember since the 1999/2000 season the fans that were left in the ground following the farcical third goal turned on the players and as a chant of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” which I think was started by a bloke walking out of NO1 in the Blackburn End boomed out of the Blackburn End I actually felt the final ounce of the pre-season optimism leave me.
I keep reading X have lost their first two games and gone on to win the league/get promoted/go up through the play-offs (delete as appropriate) however what worries me is the frailty at the back which will only be amplified if we lose Lenihan and/or Mulgrew, in-balance of the midfield with Bennett the only natural wide player, carrying Peter Whittingham and lack of creativity up front which is resulting in a dearth of goal scoring opportunities. The manager seems frustrated, the players seem frustrated and the supporters certainly are frustrated – not an ideal combination for a team who were favourites with the bookies, journalists and pundits alike for an immediate return to the Championship. Maybe the players believe the hype, the supporters certainly wanted to believe the hype however the only ‘problem’ is the opposition haven’t played ball so far.
All of a sudden with Bradford (a) and the small matter of Burnley (h) in the League Cup, the home game against MK Dons at 26th is already taking on a important significance, a position unthinkable just over a week ago when at 0-0 Rovers fans were singing about promotion. Yes, it is only two games in and plenty can change over the course of the season, but given the starts we have had over recent years, it is definitely a feeling here we go again…
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