Bristol Rovers 2 Morecambe 2 [Weir, Phillips]

[redrobo]

Satisfied with that BUT could have been oh so much better had we got another goal....

Sounds as though the new boys played well.

DA obviously feels Mayor is one for the near future.

[Redalert1970]

We have come so far as a club in my opinion .... Some fans are disappointed with draws at Oxford and Bristol Rovers which are excellent draws

Easy games coming up ...

Derby and Sheff Wed lol lol

[black morse]

We should be looking at it this way -

League results to date = 3 Lost 4 Drawn

But add in the cup games and it's

3 Lost 3 Won 4 Drawn

Surely there is hope for the future there?

[Redalert1970]

Points wise not a great start ... But not many teams have had a tougher start fixture wise

Bolton (a)
Oxford (a)
Peterbrough (a)
Bristol Rovers (a)

Mk Dons (h)

Derby and Sheff Wed to come next two games

[Redalert1970]

Some Bristol Rovers fans on their forum said they should have won the game easily yesterday ... also a few mentioned that Morecambe were better than expected and at least tried to play football unlike Shrewsbury the week before

We look a bit better going forward without Stockton (different dimension to the team)

Phillips looks like he will score a few goals - also Weir looks like he will chip in with a few as well

Still things to work on but quite a few positives from yesterday

Nice to see Adam Mayor also get another 10/15 minutes yesterday

[Keith]

I think it was a good point and, to be fair, Rovers probably should have won. They hit the post twice and Ripley made a few good saves. But, that said, both of their goals were soft. The first in particular was poor defending, from Gibson not getting tight enough, to the central defence and keeper all ball watching. But, the defence has improved considerably and occasionally they'll make mistakes. Just a shame Rovers had the quality to punish us.

Cole may have to work hard just to get back in to the starting line up. We were certainly more threatening and enjoyable to watch yesterday. I think that side would have beaten Shrewsbury & Fleetwood earlier in the season. Obviously, two incredibly tough games coming up, so our first win may still be out of reach, but I feel more positive after this game.

[redrobo]

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/foo ... nt-7543978

[Keith]

"Our best performance of the season"
Can't argue with that.

Derek's thoughts post Bristol Rovers.

[fulwoodshrimp]

We are certainly not getting any help from the referees. I thought the ref at Bristol was very poor and bent over backwards to give an advantage to Bristol Rovers. There were several incidents where he ignored blatant fouls on Shrimps players and he was very quick to give free kicks to Rovers. It seems clear to me that referees favour the big teams in the division and progress through the ranks by doing this.

[Keith]

We are certainly not getting any help from the referees. I thought the ref at Bristol was very poor and bent over backwards to give an advantage to Bristol Rovers. There were several incidents where he ignored blatant fouls on Shrimps players and he was very quick to give free kicks to Rovers. It seems clear to me that referees favour the big teams in the division and progress through the ranks by doing this.

Funnily enough, I thought he was a decent ref who tried to let the game go, and if anything, in the first half in particular, we got the rub of the green with a few 'tasty' challenges that he let go, and, I think it was possibly a penalty to Rovers, that wasn't given. Ripley *might* have just got a touch on the ball, but if he did, it was very slight. Certainly, I expected the whistle to go.

The ref in the Papa John's Trophy was good too.

[Little Shrimp]

Managed to get round to watching the match replay on iFollow, thought Shaw was fantastic. Big physical presence at the base of midfield, and very cool in possession. Thought his passing and selection of passes was really good. I hope he'll earn the trust of DA to play as the lone defensive midfielder so we don't have to sacrifice as much in attack. Early days but he looks to have the defensive and possession skills to do so.

Watts impressed again, I really can't believe how brave and purposeful he is for an academy player on his first full loan spell. Phillips is really impressing me too. His movement getting in behind is fantastic. Stockton is a superb hold up player and we do miss that at times, but Phillips's movement in behind and 'striker's nose' instinct seems to be way ahead of Stockton's. Frequently in dangerous potential shooting positions. Finishing looks good too.

I think DA prefers Fane as more of an 8 ideally, using his energy and tackling to press and get in the face of the opposition a bit higher up the pitch. Also his strengths on the ball are more his languid dribbling ability, rather than being tight and calm with receiving the ball and passing.

I think we need to be stronger at controlling games/holding out and while that partially relies on defence, I think we need to be doing a bit more on the ball at times to take the pressure off the backline and get a bit more territory. Hopefully a bit more consistency in the XI will help too. I'd like to see:

Ripley
Love - Rawson - Bedeau - Gibson
Taylor - Shaw - Weir
Gnahoua - Phillips - Watts