[The Earl of Chesterfield]

I guess if we were to be generous we might trot out cliches like 'a typically hard fought local derby', 'both sides cancelled each other out', 'a game of few chances', or even 'maybe a draw would've been a fair result' to describe last evening's encounter.

But i think that would be to gloss over the fact neither group of players showed any real propensity to string three passes together, all too often the ball went long and ariel, and on numerous occasions our distribution was nothing short of woeful.

What couldn't be faulted was the solidity of our back five, who appeared organised and composed (perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view), or the general work ethic on display. Allott was competitive, Niven probably put in his best performance in a position he's quite obviously not cut out for, Conlon did pretty much what he was signed to do, and Jack toiled against opponents that seemed to be auditioning for the WWF with little or no support from the Ref. Then his replacement, Boden, put in the type of willing and energetic cameo appearance that's earned him many plaudits.

However what we witnessed beyond any shadow of a doubt was that of the players currently available we have no one, no one with the pace or trickery to go past, or create clear cut opportunities against half decent defenders.

Which brings us to the two recent loanees. To be fair to the lad from Bristol City (Frankie Argos?) he was thrown into the 'hustle and bustle' of a local derby on debut and understandably looked nervous, what's more he kept working hard and 'showing' for the ball even when a few passes went astray. On this evidence he's a grafter rather than someone who'll open up defences and i'm not entirely sure he's promotion material, though. Time will tell, i suppose. As for Dominic Green, well, perhaps the kindest thing to say is that on what i've seen thus far he's way out of his depth. And the most frightening thing of all is that he's keeping Terrell Whatsisname out the side. Jeez, what must he be like.

Anyway, any residual hopes we had of re-establishing the old "You'll Never Beat The Spireites" record against 'Roll Your Eyes Ronnie' were blown away by that last minute piece of invention from Pope. How the Millers loved it. Worse still, whilst we can celebrate a far tighter defence the free flowing football of the late Summer and Autumn is now a dim and distant memory.

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

This post has been edited by MDCCCLXVI: 27 January 2010 - 11:53 AM

[twistedspire]

Although i do not always agree with some of your posts on here i see this as a very good summary of what i saw last nite.

I think it was game where both teams at present are playing their poorest football of the season and it showed.

I'm still hopeful that by the end of the transfer window we will have seen some players arrive with more quality than what was on show last nite.

[Rodney's Moustache]

twistedspire, on Jan 27 2010, 12:03 PM, said:

Although i do not always agree with some of your posts on here i see this as a very good summary of what i saw last nite.

I think it was game where both teams at present are playing their poorest football of the season and it showed.

I'm still hopeful that by the end of the transfer window we will have seen some players arrive with more quality than what was on show last nite.

I thought Niven had a poor game 90% of his passes went astray, weak in the tackle seemed to be on the peripheral for most of the game and as for Boden same old same old plenty of effort and running but easily nudged off the ball he needs a trip to anabolic steroids R us,my cat could knock him off the ball.

[SALTERGATE]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

I guess if we were to be generous we might trot out cliches like 'a typically hard fought local derby', 'both sides cancelled each other out', 'a game of few chances', or even 'maybe a draw would've been a fair result' to describe last evening's encounter.

But i think that would be to gloss over the fact neither group of players showed any real propensity to string three passes together, all too often the ball went long and ariel, and on numerous occasions our distribution was nothing short of woeful.

What couldn't be faulted was the solidity of our back five, who appeared organised and composed (perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view), or the general work ethic on display. Allott was competitive, Niven probably put in his best performance in a position he's quite obviously not cut out for, Conlon did pretty much what he was signed to do, and Jack toiled against opponents that seemed to be auditioning for the WWF with little or no support from the Ref. Then his replacement, Boden, put in the type of willing and energetic cameo appearance that's earned him many plaudits.

However what we witnessed beyond any shadow of a doubt was that of the players currently available we have no one, no one with the pace or trickery to go past, or create clear cut opportunities against half decent defenders.

Which brings us to the two recent loanees. To be fair to the lad from Bristol City (Frankie Argos?) he was thrown into the 'hustle and bustle' of a local derby on debut and understandably looked nervous, what's more he kept working hard and 'showing' for the ball even when a few passes went astray. On this evidence he's a grafter rather than someone who'll open up defences and i'm not entirely sure he's promotion material, though. Time will tell, i suppose. As for Dominic Green, well, perhaps the kindest thing to say is that on what i've seen thus far he's way out of his depth. And the most frightening thing of all is that he's keeping Terrell Whatsisname out the side. Jeez, what must he be like.

Anyway, any residual hopes we had of re-establishing the old "You'll Never Beat The Spireites" record against 'Roll Your Eyes Ronnie' were blown away by that last minute piece of invention from Pope. How the Millers loved it. Worse still, whilst we can celebrate a far tighter defence the free flowing football of the late Summer and Autumn is now a dim and distant memory.

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

I wanted Colin Calderwood out of the two managers due to the fact he had a decent track record, but Sheridan was chosen because he plays attractive football, well that is a lie based on recent performances that make Johnny Duncan look an attacking manager.

[Stallion Blue]

SALTERGATE, on Jan 27 2010, 12:26 PM, said:

I wanted Colin Calderwood out of the two managers due to the fact he had a decent track record, but Sheridan was chosen because he plays attractive football, well that is a lie based on recent performances that make Johnny Duncan look an attacking manager.

SO do you go for broke, play all out attacking football when half the team is missing........NO! we would get a thumping, some of the players last night weren't up to his standard. so he had to adapt to different tactics, long ball....and play defensive..


i think everyone has seen how sheridan wants to play, but he needs to bring in the players to do it. I feel theres a problem with an unstable squad becuase we are always stopping and changing and the lads brought in (Green, Artus) aren't up to standard... i expect sheridan will try and make a few more signings, that will play within his standards.

If we could we should have kept Perkins and DIjali on loan till the end of the season...i think they would have done well.

[Mr.Spireite]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

Difference is Duncan had money to spend, bought in players who you would expect would score goals but he shackled them with defensive duties.

We have no money to spend, a threadbare squad of about 14 players plus the odd loanee.

What do people expect ?

[BlueRover52]

rodney's moustach, on Jan 27 2010, 12:17 PM, said:

I thought Niven had a poor game 90% of his passes went astray, weak in the tackle seemed to be on the peripheral for most of the game and as for Boden same old same old plenty of effort and running but easily nudged off the ball he needs a trip to anabolic steroids R us,my cat could knock him off the ball.

Nivs forte is CM ball winner and breaking down opposition attacks.Playing wide mid aint his position and Artus's inclusion in CM didn't warrant the change.Thought Gray battled to contain the threat of Ellison and his substitute but his distribution let him down---dire at times.

This post has been edited by BlueRover52: 27 January 2010 - 01:03 PM

[Number 9]

What intrigues me is that Green was so obviously out of his depth last night and looked like a schoolkid expecting to get the cane (you young uns won't remember this), however, if I could see it and most contributors on this web site knew it, why oh why was he left on the field for the whole 90 minutes by JS

Out of the subs last night, even the least skillful ball player (Austin) would have been made more of an effect in the wide position

[matt060282]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

I guess if we were to be generous we might trot out cliches like 'a typically hard fought local derby', 'both sides cancelled each other out', 'a game of few chances', or even 'maybe a draw would've been a fair result' to describe last evening's encounter.

But i think that would be to gloss over the fact neither group of players showed any real propensity to string three passes together, all too often the ball went long and ariel, and on numerous occasions our distribution was nothing short of woeful.

What couldn't be faulted was the solidity of our back five, who appeared organised and composed (perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view), or the general work ethic on display. Allott was competitive, Niven probably put in his best performance in a position he's quite obviously not cut out for, Conlon did pretty much what he was signed to do, and Jack toiled against opponents that seemed to be auditioning for the WWF with little or no support from the Ref. Then his replacement, Boden, put in the type of willing and energetic cameo appearance that's earned him many plaudits.

However what we witnessed beyond any shadow of a doubt was that of the players currently available we have no one, no one with the pace or trickery to go past, or create clear cut opportunities against half decent defenders.

Which brings us to the two recent loanees. To be fair to the lad from Bristol City (Frankie Argos?) he was thrown into the 'hustle and bustle' of a local derby on debut and understandably looked nervous, what's more he kept working hard and 'showing' for the ball even when a few passes went astray. On this evidence he's a grafter rather than someone who'll open up defences and i'm not entirely sure he's promotion material, though. Time will tell, i suppose. As for Dominic Green, well, perhaps the kindest thing to say is that on what i've seen thus far he's way out of his depth. And the most frightening thing of all is that he's keeping Terrell Whatsisname out the side. Jeez, what must he be like.

Anyway, any residual hopes we had of re-establishing the old "You'll Never Beat The Spireites" record against 'Roll Your Eyes Ronnie' were blown away by that last minute piece of invention from Pope. How the Millers loved it. Worse still, whilst we can celebrate a far tighter defence the free flowing football of the late Summer and Autumn is now a dim and distant memory.

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

A good summary and fair to the players named. I hope people don't go over the top and slam JS for recent events though. We all saw the strengths (back 5) and weaknesses, we know we have little to offer in midfield with injurys and the current crop of players, so lets see how JS goes from here. LR never seemed to learn. Hopefully we will clearly tell the two apart by the end of the transfer window/end of season.

[dtp]

Mr.Spireite, on Jan 27 2010, 01:04 PM, said:

Difference is Duncan had money to spend, bought in players who you would expect would score goals but he shackled them with defensive duties.

We have no money to spend, a threadbare squad of about 14 players plus the odd loanee.

What do people expect ?

Duncan had money only after he had made money.

In his early "successful" days he had no money to spend and had to wheel-and-deal but still achieved promotion. Players like Brian Scrimgoer (Tarzan) and Tommy Curtis cost nowt.

[dtp]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

I guess if we were to be generous we might trot out cliches like 'a typically hard fought local derby', 'both sides cancelled each other out', 'a game of few chances', or even 'maybe a draw would've been a fair result' to describe last evening's encounter.

But i think that would be to gloss over the fact neither group of players showed any real propensity to string three passes together, all too often the ball went long and ariel, and on numerous occasions our distribution was nothing short of woeful.

What couldn't be faulted was the solidity of our back five, who appeared organised and composed (perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view), or the general work ethic on display. Allott was competitive, Niven probably put in his best performance in a position he's quite obviously not cut out for, Conlon did pretty much what he was signed to do, and Jack toiled against opponents that seemed to be auditioning for the WWF with little or no support from the Ref. Then his replacement, Boden, put in the type of willing and energetic cameo appearance that's earned him many plaudits.

However what we witnessed beyond any shadow of a doubt was that of the players currently available we have no one, no one with the pace or trickery to go past, or create clear cut opportunities against half decent defenders.

Which brings us to the two recent loanees. To be fair to the lad from Bristol City (Frankie Argos?) he was thrown into the 'hustle and bustle' of a local derby on debut and understandably looked nervous, what's more he kept working hard and 'showing' for the ball even when a few passes went astray. On this evidence he's a grafter rather than someone who'll open up defences and i'm not entirely sure he's promotion material, though. Time will tell, i suppose. As for Dominic Green, well, perhaps the kindest thing to say is that on what i've seen thus far he's way out of his depth. And the most frightening thing of all is that he's keeping Terrell Whatsisname out the side. Jeez, what must he be like.

Anyway, any residual hopes we had of re-establishing the old "You'll Never Beat The Spireites" record against 'Roll Your Eyes Ronnie' were blown away by that last minute piece of invention from Pope. How the Millers loved it. Worse still, whilst we can celebrate a far tighter defence the free flowing football of the late Summer and Autumn is now a dim and distant memory.

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

Chris I've been known to disagree with you so let it go on record that I am pretty much in total agreement with your summing up of last nights game - the only thing I would add is that I thought the distribution from our back four was at best "awful" when often there were midfield players available to receive the ball and retain it.

[CFC Jill]

An excellent summary mate.

[BlueRover52]

dtp, on Jan 27 2010, 01:35 PM, said:

Chris I've been known to disagree with you so let it go on record that I am pretty much in total agreement with your summing up of last nights game - the only thing I would add is that I thought the distribution from our back four was at best "awful" when often there were midfield players available to receive the ball and retain it.

Agree! For some reason they insisted in the long crossfield ball to the wings instead of the percentage pass.

[twistedspire]

Number 9, on Jan 27 2010, 01:06 PM, said:

What intrigues me is that Green was so obviously out of his depth last night and looked like a schoolkid expecting to get the cane (you young uns won't remember this), however, if I could see it and most contributors on this web site knew it, why oh why was he left on the field for the whole 90 minutes by JS

Out of the subs last night, even the least skillful ball player (Austin) would have been made more of an effect in the wide position

I said the exact same thing.... Throwing Austin out wide instead of Green, atleast we'd have the seen 1 of his gallops down the wing as has been seen before from full back.

I think Green lacks the confidence in his own ability to take a player on.
There was an occasion in the 2nd half where he got the ball on the half way line and we had 3 on 3 and he slowly wondered forward and got caught up by their midfield. Either McDermott or Djilali wud have picked that ball up and run at the heart of the defence as was required.

[dim view]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view

Fine analysis, but can't agree about Gray. Terrible distribution, which can perhaps be overlooked providing the defending is good, but I was fearful of him conceding a penalty for the whole 90 minutes. He has this habit of leaning/holding which is easy top spot and is not pretty. I'm also wary of players whose ONLY weapon is the long ball - he's either lazy or he doesn't possess the skills or pace to join in with a passing game.
Also, as well as Downes played for 89 minutes, it was him that miss headed the ball into LeFondre's path when Tommy saved superbly, and it was him that misskicked in the goalmouth for the goal - after he had farcically tried and failed to put his boot back on properly.

[spyright]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

I guess if we were to be generous we might trot out cliches like 'a typically hard fought local derby', 'both sides cancelled each other out', 'a game of few chances', or even 'maybe a draw would've been a fair result' to describe last evening's encounter.

But i think that would be to gloss over the fact neither group of players showed any real propensity to string three passes together, all too often the ball went long and ariel, and on numerous occasions our distribution was nothing short of woeful.

What couldn't be faulted was the solidity of our back five, who appeared organised and composed (perm any one from Gray, Page, Downes or Goodall for MOTM in my view), or the general work ethic on display. Allott was competitive, Niven probably put in his best performance in a position he's quite obviously not cut out for, Conlon did pretty much what he was signed to do, and Jack toiled against opponents that seemed to be auditioning for the WWF with little or no support from the Ref. Then his replacement, Boden, put in the type of willing and energetic cameo appearance that's earned him many plaudits.

However what we witnessed beyond any shadow of a doubt was that of the players currently available we have no one, no one with the pace or trickery to go past, or create clear cut opportunities against half decent defenders.

Which brings us to the two recent loanees. To be fair to the lad from Bristol City (Frankie Argos?) he was thrown into the 'hustle and bustle' of a local derby on debut and understandably looked nervous, what's more he kept working hard and 'showing' for the ball even when a few passes went astray. On this evidence he's a grafter rather than someone who'll open up defences and i'm not entirely sure he's promotion material, though. Time will tell, i suppose. As for Dominic Green, well, perhaps the kindest thing to say is that on what i've seen thus far he's way out of his depth. And the most frightening thing of all is that he's keeping Terrell Whatsisname out the side. Jeez, what must he be like.

Anyway, any residual hopes we had of re-establishing the old "You'll Never Beat The Spireites" record against 'Roll Your Eyes Ronnie' were blown away by that last minute piece of invention from Pope. How the Millers loved it. Worse still, whilst we can celebrate a far tighter defence the free flowing football of the late Summer and Autumn is now a dim and distant memory.

Infact if things continue like this Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

Pretty good summary '1866'. I was amazed that JS left Green on for the full 90. I can't fault young Gray for effort but his passing was awful (especially in the first half) and his positional sense remains poor. I think we've seen enough of Niven on the wing to know that he needs to be played at CM.

This post has been edited by spyright: 28 January 2010 - 12:40 PM

[Skywalker]

spyright, on Jan 28 2010, 12:42 PM, said:

Pretty good summary '1866'. I was amazed that JS left Green on for the full 90. I can't fault young Gray for effort but his passing was awful (especially in the first half) and his positional sense remains poor. I think we've seen enough of Niven on the wing to know that he needs to be played at CM.

His passing was probably our best second half. Agree with everything else.

[Spireite-Karl]

Skywalker, on Jan 28 2010, 01:13 PM, said:

His passing was probably our best second half. Agree with everything else.

This post has been edited by Spireite-Karl: 28 January 2010 - 07:12 PM

[Spireite-Karl]

Skywalker, on Jan 28 2010, 01:13 PM, said:

His passing was probably our best second half. Agree with everything else.

Gray's probably the best passer of the ball we've got! What I mean by that is the quality and awareness of some of his passes are sublime! The down-side to his passing game at the moment is he passes some stinkers. I think with more pitch time and a move into the centre will cure him of 95% of this.

For the first half of the first half Goodhall had a stinker and was so far out of position time after time after time that I was going mental at him. How many times in the first twenty minutes or so did Rotherham get down their right, past Goody and Downesy had to come storming across to deal with it?? It was a good job that Mr D did deal with it as he was so far out the centre he was playing left back with Goodhall playing left wing

Though in fairness to Goodhall he corrected this and I can't remember him getting exposed again for the remainder of the game! I don't know if he sat deeper in a result of him realising he was getting beat every time or the instruction came from the management; either way it worked.

This post has been edited by Spireite-Karl: 28 January 2010 - 07:11 PM

[Frank Thacker]

MDCCCLXVI, on Jan 27 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

...Sheridan will be assuming the mantle of 'Johnny No Goals II'.

Wouldn't it be something if he could assume one of Johnny's promotions, too?