Bristol Rovers reviews

[New Forester]

Can I respectfully propose they go here and we let the other related threads sink?

[eltorrro]

Early days.
Current squad has promise.
Too much fiddling around by wingers instead of getting decent crosses in.
Set play needs sorting
Defence needs tightening. Towler needs to be sharper
Liked how Mous brought on 3 strikers..attack, attack
Sparkes certainly made a difference
Good determination by most although thought Whyte gave up the chase for their first goal

ANOTHER DRAW!!!

[BlueinPLtwenty]

What a debut for Yengi, came on late and scored the equaliser in front of the Fratton End

[Dinksy]

I think we created more chances in that second half than in the whole of pre-season.
If we carry on like that, we'll be okay!

[Pompey55]

Same old same old absolutely no creativity poor set pieces 21 shots 5 on target but they were mostly straight at the keeper
Moushino made positive changes but we should be beating teams like this at home only bright thing was Saydee who looked up for it the moment he came on the pitch
If this is the best we can offer it’s going to be a bl**dy long season

[Pompey1984+1]

Two rather juxtaposed posts there.

[Claygate]

Courtesy of my 15 year old nephew who is a STH in the North stand:

We played poorly but definitely the better side. Poole and Saydee were very good. However, we were far too predictable going forward. Always looking for the ball over the top, but taking too long to do it.

Scully and Whyte were surprisingly very poor when crossing, but this might be because of the weather. Both worked hard for the ball, but ultimately where outshone by all the subs.

[Pompey55]

Two rather juxtaposed posts there.

I couldn’t say much about preseason as I only saw the game last week at the end of the day and that was pretty dire, preseason means sod all its the league which matters and nothing today suggested to me we have improved on last season
We need creativity in midfield and that’s been lacking for a long time but that will cost money which I doubt will be forthcoming

[eltorrro]

Two rather juxtaposed posts there.

I couldn’t say much about preseason as I only saw the game last week at the end of the day and that was pretty dire, preseason means sod all its the league which matters and nothing today suggested to me we have improved on last season
We need creativity in midfield and that’s been lacking for a long time but that will cost money which I doubt will be forthcoming

I have to question 55's negativity here.
Okay, it wasn't scintillating, pin point accurate football but we are Div 3 FFS!!
However, attitude, skill, determination were all there in abundance..and this was the first REAL game with REAL opponents of the season, so why not give the team a chance and a bit of kudos??
Yes, admittedly some of our team didn't perform perhaps as good as we would have hoped BUT..Mous did what was necessary and changed both players and formation resulting in better performance and a draw.
Let's see what transpires from this outing before employing detrimental comments and get behind the team

[Pompey1984+1]

Marlon Pack do much today?

[Sawbo Blue]

Definitely a work in progress.

In general I thought the new signings outshone the established players (Bishop excepting - he was decent). Most disappointing were the central midfield trio of Pack, Morrell and Lowery who simply did not impose themselves on the game, and for me that's where things fell down, particularly in the 1st half. I'm not sure, they are supposed to be good players but every time I see them, I am underwhelmed. This may be unfair, but to me none of them are tough tackling DMs, nor particularly creative, nor have flair. They just seems a bit samey bland general "OK" midfielders. If anyone can educate me as to their merits, please enlighten me!

The full backs and wingers need to gel more, they looked like new pairings. Sparkes lived up to his name when he came on towards the end - I think our best wing play came down the left when he was on. At the back Poole looked good and I am looking forward to seeing his influence grow over the season. However, not sure the pairing with Towler is the best, perhaps a bit lightweight and in League 1 may be best to have one big strong lad (Rags) next to a more cultured centre half (Poole or Towler).

Most positive for me is that at long last we look to have some genuine power options up front, with Saydee and Yengi coming in to complement Bish. Both new guys looked committed, imposing and a real handful. I think Mous learned a thing or two today about how to break down teams who come to Fratton and sit back. Put all 3 on!

There were signs for optimism here for me, despite not getting the win. I think we'll be good at the back, and dangerous up front. I'm hopeful Mous will figure out how to play to our strengths and we will be a force in this league, but it's unlikely to happen overnight. I'm happy with that, there's been too many false dawns in recent years where we've started well and dropped away.

[Berkshire Blue]

I thought that the first half resembled so many of our disappointing first halves last season. There was little service to Bishop, our wingers tried hard but nearly all the crosses were below standard, and having Morrell and Lowery playing together didn't work well at all. I thought that we had established long ago that they shouldn't be on the pitch together, but there they were again. Morrell made one challenge that was late and looked to me a bit studs up, and on another day the card he got (yellow) could have been red. Our fullbacks were outpaced by their speedy attackers a few times, which was a worry.
After half time Saydee came on and everything changed for the better. He was playing just behind Bishop, and things seemed to click into place. Later Kamara, Sparkes and then Yengi came on and we looked even better, and I was really pleased that Yengi opened his account at the Fratton end.
I thought that Saydee was our MOM although he only played for the second half.
Poole looks a class act and I was impressed with Sparkes, who was energetic and put in some good crosses, and also Kamara who is good on the ball. Bishop didn't look quite match sharp, but as usual he gave his all, and we know how good he is. Pack was okay and a decent conduit from the back. Norris looked fine and had no chance with their goal.

All in all, first half can do better, and second half a decent performance.

JM has some interesting decisions to make for the coming matches.

[NSRailings]

Pretty much agree with Sawbo and Berkshire Blue - definitely a work in progress and the midfield needs to be improved as well as crossing the ball (nearly always too high and long). Bishop looked isolated and we were toothless up front until Saydee came on. The more subs Mous made the better we played. Up until then we'd been too slow in attack. But there are reasons to be optimistic - particularly if we get the midfield sorted.

[New Forester]

What was the ground looking like? Have the infrastructure improvements had an impact? Capacity now approaching 21,000?

[Pompey1984+1]

From reading this thread it sounds like the uninspiring new signings were perhaps the better players on the day?