BFTG - Donny (a)

[Elm Park Old Boy]

Why the actual f uck Jake Taylor hasn't made more cameos given our recent injuries and suspensions in midfield is a mystery.

Because he's looked out of depth every time he's played until his cameo today?

Good game against Brighton, and he's done less wrong than Akpan.

I'd begun to trust Adkins on this, but after today I'm not so sure.

And played well at Millwall. Not out of his depth at all.

[Ian Royal]

I can only assume Adkins feels Taylor is a bit too much of an attacking midfielder and can't pull his weight across 90 minutes in a 2 man midfield.

[UpThePrem]

I would have to give an assist for that second half performance to the referee.

After making two shambolic decisions one after the other he managed to fire the away fans up more than anyone could have imagined.

Nothing worth saying about the first half, the second half however....... That is how good sides put the poorer ones to the sword and yes we did look a good side.

Man of the match for me was POG, two goals and put a good shift in, McCleary not far behind.

+1 - Pog stepped up to the plate the second half. I thought he was awesome. He even started jumping and won a couple of headers!!!

[kwik-silva]

I can only assume Adkins feels Taylor is a bit too much of an attacking midfielder and can't pull his weight across 90 minutes in a 2 man midfield.

I think this has hit the nail on the head. In a system where we already have four fairly attack minded players, we need the two CMs to put in a shift tracking back - and Akpan and Ledge do that rather well whereas Taylor may be a bit lightweight.

[davidstarkey]

That was a game of three thirds - the first hour was dreadful, but the last half hour was good. For such an important game, the lack of urgency in the first hour was startling. There were far too many long balls, especially given the windy conditions. I'd single out McCarthy, Gunter and Morrison as the main culprits in terms of wasting the ball. McCarthy really needs to work on his distribution over the summer, you can't build from the back with a keeper who either ignores or can't play the short option, and can't play accurate long passes. I lost count of the number of times Gunter wasted possession with speculative chips into the right-hand channel. Morrison seemed to be struggling with form and confidence, but his first touch and passing were abysmal today. We'll never have much of the ball with three of our back five giving the ball away so frequently (about 45% today against one of the worst teams in the division). It's easier to name the players who weren't utter shit in that first hour - Obita was competent, and Gunter at least looked defensively solid. Leigertwood at least made some attempts to get the ball down in the midfield bundle and spread it wide, although they largely failed. That was about it. In the last thirty minutes, we increased the tempo, ran at their vulnerable defence, and got our rewards - although we didn't have many chances outside of the goals.

Unfortunately it seems like the first hour was just one in a line of fairly pitiful recent performances - I didn't see Bournemouth away or Barnsley at home, but apparently they were even worse. Adkins has failed to make many significant changes to our style, and we don't have any identity as a team at the moment. We're not a fast, direct attacking team in the mould of the 106 team, except for occasional periods (MacCleary seems key to these, as he was today). We're certainly not a slick passing unit. We're not even a solid but limited counter-attacking team like the 2012 team. We play too many long balls to forwards who are completely unsuited for them, consequently conceding possession and inviting pressure onto our woefully inadequate central midfield and immobile central defenders.

Having said that, there are a lot of mitigating factors - the long injury list, the lack of financial resources for Adkins, and above all the shambolic ownership situation. At times you can see that Adkins has some idea of how he's going to construct a decent team, but unfortunately so few of our players have the technical skills to implement his style, starting with the goalkeeper and going all the way through the team. I doubt we could do better than him at the moment, but we won't know until he gets a better chance at it. His permatanned positivity might be pretty irritating at times but he's done well to keep it this season.

Despite all that negativity, we're 5th and with a good chance of making the play-offs, we have some (sporadically) exciting players, and the academy is looking promising. If we get promoted, then having the chance to play at the top level is always good, even given the many repulsive things about the Premiership. Obviously it would do a lot of good for our finances as well. If we stay down, we can clear out some of the dead-wood and hopefully bring some of the better young players through. The ownership confusion is the main thing holding us back. Christ knows what's going on there, but let's hope that it gets sorted out as soon as possible.

Oh, and there were some great moments today amongst the dross. The second goal and Pearce's stepover assist were the things that keep you coming back to football. I only wish Pearce could have finished it himself - it would have challenged Ulises de la Cruz vs. Sheffield United as my favourite, completely inexplicable, solo goal.

[percy_freeman]

Alex Pearce. Love him or hate him, at least he has the pasion......
Big oxf*rd Russian, we've got a big oxf*rd Russian

[genome]

[marlowuk]

https://vine.co/v/Mvb96XWMlO0

Pearce's assist. Go on son.

Pog had acres of space there. How did that happen?!!!

[RoyalBlue]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX6KCRM_0rk

Spotted, Pepe @ 1:46

McCleary has a back problem and is having to be nursed through games and Pearce picks him up like that??

Highly irresponsible. Fine them both!

[Wimb]

I can only assume Adkins feels Taylor is a bit too much of an attacking midfielder and can't pull his weight across 90 minutes in a 2 man midfield.

I think this has hit the nail on the head. In a system where we already have four fairly attack minded players, we need the two CMs to put in a shift tracking back - and Akpan and Ledge do that rather well whereas Taylor may be a bit lightweight.

If that's the case then you have to wonder why he was overlooked for two attackers in McAnuff & Obita at Bournemouth and for McAnuff alongside Hector against Leicester.

Not his biggest fan but his omission during those games is baffling.

[Norfolk Royal]

https://vine.co/v/Mvb96XWMlO0

Pearce's assist. Go on son.

Pog had acres of space there. How did that happen?!!!

Brilliant. That gets better the more you watch it. Best thing is that Pearce actually kicks it by mistake after the stepover and just before he passes to Pog.

He ought to try that in defence, or maybe not.

[kwik-silva]

I can only assume Adkins feels Taylor is a bit too much of an attacking midfielder and can't pull his weight across 90 minutes in a 2 man midfield.

I think this has hit the nail on the head. In a system where we already have four fairly attack minded players, we need the two CMs to put in a shift tracking back - and Akpan and Ledge do that rather well whereas Taylor may be a bit lightweight.

If that's the case then you have to wonder why he was overlooked for two attackers in McAnuff & Obita at Bournemouth and for McAnuff alongside Hector against Leicester.

Not his biggest fan but his omission during those games is baffling.

McAnuff who has far more experience, and Obita who's been predominantly playing as a LB? I wouldn't say baffling, but it was definitely an opportunity that Adkins should have taken - especially with hindsight at Bournemouth.

[NR_Royal]

I am genuinely amazed by how decent Obita is at LB. Looks weedy but holds his own pretty well.

[From Despair To Where?]

https://vine.co/v/Mvb96XWMlO0

Pearce's assist. Go on son.

Pog had acres of space there. How did that happen?!!!

Caught them on the break. They're away to Leicester next week so really needed something from yesterday's game

[Derbyshire Royal]

There seemed to be a little bit of afters outside after the game with some of the Donny Neanderthals, was it the Scorpions?

[sandman]

I am genuinely amazed by how decent Obita is at LB. Looks weedy but holds his own pretty well.

Really? Looks like he has bulked up quite a bit to me. Remember going to the evening with Jason Roberts who said how much he was impressed with Obita's dedication and that Jordan was always in the Gym trying to get stronger.

[3points]

We, of course, have Burnley at home - who were, by all accounts, poor today even though they managed to get a 1-0 victory over Ipswich.

If that was Burnley being poor then we're in trouble next Saturday. From what I saw they were pretty comfortable against Ipswich. Very organised and effective, a bit like our team from 2012

[RoyalinBracknell]

I can only assume Adkins feels Taylor is a bit too much of an attacking midfielder and can't pull his weight across 90 minutes in a 2 man midfield.

I think this has hit the nail on the head. In a system where we already have four fairly attack minded players, we need the two CMs to put in a shift tracking back - and Akpan and Ledge do that rather well whereas Taylor may be a bit lightweight.

If that's the case then you have to wonder why he was overlooked for two attackers in McAnuff & Obita at Bournemouth and for McAnuff alongside Hector against Leicester.

Not his biggest fan but his omission during those games is baffling.

Was it not Williams and Hector v Leicester? As for Bournemouth technically he was overlooked for Guthrie and Obita - them Guthrie got injured but as Taylor wasn't originally on the bench he couldn't come straight into the starting 11 (if he was even at the ground etc. at all.)

[winchester_royal]

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?299925-Doncaster-Rovers-vs-Reading-***-Official-Thread-***

This thread on the Brighton forum makes for fun reading.

Page 25 is the money shot for those wanting to skip to when we scored our 2nd.

[scumbag]

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?299925-Doncaster-Rovers-vs-Reading-***-Official-Thread-***

This thread on the Brighton forum makes for fun reading.

Page 25 is the money shot for those wanting to skip to when we scored our 2nd.

An enjoyable read!