Originally Posted by
super J
Frustrated, angry and flabbergasted after losing that match, and that is after a nights sleep! It simply isn't acceptable, you cannot lose games like that from the position and dominance we were in, it can't happen and the best sides, the one's who get promoted, don't let it happen. Sadly, we are a very good team but we are not there yet, that missing ingredient is lacking and we won't get promoted this season or any unless we improve.
It was virtually the perfect first half performance, posession football, pressed them high up the pitch, compact and solid in defence, Diagouraga shielding the back four well and putting the home side under pressure. We may not have opened them up time and time again but we had control, I can't remember an away game where almost the whole first half has been played in their half in and around their box. A terrible back pass from their centre back straight to Clayton almost saw us take the lead but under pressure from the keeper Clayton tried flicking the ball with his right foot first time and it trickled just past the post. We were in command but you felt unless we turned this dominance into goals we would pay the price, and we almost did. They hit us on the break, the dangerous Cotterill got inside Bidwell, crossed to the back post where their winger turned Logan and with the goal gaping somehow lashed it high over the bar when it seemed easier to score. A let off, and moments later Moore had to be alert to save a direct free kick that was heading for the top corner. But don't let these chances fool you, we were the better side and couldn't have dominated more, all that was lacking was a goal but thankfully we got it just on half time. A lovely through ball from Forshaw found Douglas' clever run forward and when the keeper came out he dinked it over him into the top corner. A top class goal all round and we all went into half time smiling on what had been almost a perfect half of football.
Doncaster were booed off although that may have been directed towards the referree, Saunders clearly gave them a bollocking at half time and they responded. It was a more even half but we were not overly flustered and Moore wasn't called into any action and it was us who should have extended our lead. Clayton chased a ball forward and intercepted it from their centre back, from a tight angle all he needed to do was square it to Forrester for a tap in but their other centre back did well to block the pass and the chance was gone. It was becoming the Clayton show and chance after chance passed for us to put the game to bed. From the left hand side he drove towards goal but fired wildly over when a simple tap in for Adeyemi this time was an easier option. Then the big chance, their giant centre back Jones lost the ball cheaply, Clayton gathered the ball and drove towards goal, surely it'd be 2-0 but one poor touch cost us and Clayton as the ball got away from him and he could only managed to bundle it off the keeper for a corner.
It was becoming more and more frustrating and you could sense the players were getting edgy as we dropped deeper and deeper, Legge replaced Bidwell with Craig to left back and O'Connor came on for Forshaw. We were so in control but missing our chances and we all know 1-0 is a dangerous lead we all know but frankly I thought we'd just hold out for a 1-0. Then it all went wrong, Doncaster hadn't looked like scoring all half and it was going to take something special and it was a hell of a strike from Cotterill that gave Moore no chance. A critical man would say we could have closed him down quicker but sometimes you can just say "what can you do" when those go in. Typically the home fans piped up and it became quite scrappy, Dallas had come on for Adeyemi as both sides looked for a winner. Paynter almost scored when he broke clear but Dean got in a vital late block but then disaster struck. A cross from the left and Paynter, the man we supposedly had tried to sign, rose unmarked to head into the corner. Disasterous and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We'd ballsed it to be honest and we all knew the game was gone. Forrester tried his best to get us level but Doncaster had worked out the only way to stop Harry was to kick him off the pitch and their defender was lucky not to receive a red when smashed him in the face with his arms when Harry had knocked the ball past him. Your typical last few minutes ensued where we hit it long and put Legge upfront , Logan found space down the right but couldn't put in a good enough cross and that was that. I couldn't believe it and I don't think the Doncaster fans could either.
Like I said at the start, you can't lose games like that, it isn't acceptable and it doesn't happen to the best sides. Lots of things were very good yesterday but a couple of very poor things cost us the game. It is a two way thing when it comes to not finishing them off, if we had taken our chances in the second half and won 3-0 or 4-0 we'd all be saying what a great performance and Rosler is right when he says we have to be ruthless. But the buck stops with the manager, yes it isn't his fault Clayton missed those chances but then he has to ask himself whether his subs contributed to our inability to finish them off. I'm not a fan of changing the centre backs around if it isn't necessary, and yesterday it wasn't. Centre back pairings are built on understanding and working together, i'm not sure Legge and Dean work that well together, not saying it made much fault but clearly Paynter cannot be unmarked in the box in the 84th minute?? I just don't think it was a helpful substitution, Bidwell and Harry were too much for them down that left side and some of the link up between them was sublime. For me the killer was the Forshaw sub. Now if he can't last 90 minutes then fine, but the personnel was wrong. We had an opportunity to go 4-4-2, bring on Hayes or Spencer for Forshaw and hopefully go on and win the game. Bringing on Kev and keeping the shame was such a negative move for me, the momentum changed and we no longer had an outlet down the left or creativity from midfield. It smacked of panic and a defeatist attitude from Rosler, like I said it isn't his fault we missed those chances but then he can't bemoan a lack of ruthlessness when he contributes by taking off our best attacking threats for defensive replacements.
It is clear we are a very good side, we are compact and solid, play some lovely football, now have creativity from midfield and can dominate against any side. What is lacking for me are two things. GOALS, and not enough of them. We can't kill teams off without them when we are playing well, and it also means that if we aren't playing well we can't just nick one out of nothing and hang on for a 1-0. This is another quality we lack, for me the best sides are the one's who win when not playing well. Being tough, hanging in there and having the players in their side who can grab a goal from nothing. Look at the two Charlton games last season, for me we were the better side in both league games home and away but we ended up losing. We dominated, we passed the ball well but did we ever look like scoring? No. And that is the difference, Charlton had that toughness about them, they kept going, they dug it out knowing that they would get a chance eventually and when they did they put it away. We lack that mental toughness, you can't crumble under pressure like we did yesterday and you can't keep letting teams off the hook. I don't blame Clayton, it wasn't his best game but is it a cooincidence that he keeps getting chances? No. He gets in the right positions and makes a lot of the chances himself which is a great quality in itself. He doesn't hide either, his head doesn't drop and he keeps going. Yes he lacks composure and isn't a very good finisher but he adds so much to the team and as we've all said if he could finish he wouldn't be playing for us that is for sure. I think he's just become an easy target for some, I think if we had someone up front with him who was scoring regularly (Farid may have done) then I don't think we'd be talking about Clayton so much. It is just because the burden falls on him so much because we don't have many goals coming from elsewhere apart from a few from Douglas and Forrester that he is talked about so much. I'd hope Spencer starts on tuesday and can take a bit of pressure off Clayton.
So, so frustrating because are almost a top side in this division but we still lack that killer ingredient. I just hope we don't waste this season because i've not seen one decent side yet this season to be fearful. Ok we are approaching next month where the fixtures start to get tricky but really the three games we've lost this season, Yeovil, Orient and Doncaster, there is no way we should have even drawn those games let alone lose. Two home games now against sides in the bottom four, no excuses, and we need the points with a tough looking November and December coming up.
Great travelling support again, shame apart the incident between two fans at the end, I hope it is all sorted out because we are bees at the end of the day. A word for Donny, some of the friendliest fans, staff and stewards i've ever met, very nice club and a lovely little ground. Hopefully Lionel Road will be slightly fuller and have a bit more character to it.
J
6 points rosler or youre out.....fact
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