Reply With QuoteRotherham – What a negative approach to a game of football. They timewasted after 30 seconds. 30 seconds. They then conceded and could have been behind even before we scored. After this they came back into it and had a few long throws. Vaulks and the Rotherham officials got into an argument over the towels being hidden (or thrown into the ground) and they seemed to lose their composure. Wilder was laughing his head off. It was a bit petty actually I felt being honest. They had been building up some headway then Vaulks commits the ridiculous foul. It killed them. Not only reduced them to 10 but he was their main threat in terms of the long throw and the crosses coming in. After this they had no idea whatsoever. They just defended and defended and timewasted and timewasted. Clearly, they had been told to sit in at 1-0; hope for the best and then maybe go for it but even when it was 2-0, they did not bother trying to get men forward and just sat back and seemed content to try and not concede again. They have some very limited players and skill wise it looked like more than 19 places between the two teams. They have a lot of League One players and sadly despite the great effort they have put in this season; the lack of quality (due to resources etc) they will probably go. They do not win at all away and barely draw and rely on the home form. Reading do not seem to be picking up and Millwall are slumping also and it is very tight for that one final spot – expect Bolton and Ipswich to go.
Taking away all the criticism of the way they went about things today; Paul Warne seems a really nice guy and they are punching massively above their weight. Tony Stewart has done a superb job in terms of the new stadium and also the way they have gradually moved up the leagues. For Rotherham to be a yo-yo team between the Championship and League One is actually as good as they will get and is fine. They must be annoyed that it does come down to resources. I think moving forward the approach may need to be refined regardless of the resources issue. Playing very direct and long can get success in the division below but will not work at this level as Millwall are finding out this season also. They need to mix it up a bit. They literally had no plan B today. The lad Vaulks will probably move on in the summer also.
Opponent man of the match – Odd to say but the keeper was dodgy throughout even though he made a number of great saves. He looked very uncertain with his feet and often touched it away from himself and did not catch it; parrying shots away all day. To his credit though he made a few great saves and a few – the one from Fleck, another at the end from Baldock were top drawer so he has to be their man of the match even though his tactics of timewasting were just bizarre. He had clearly been told to do it though but it seemed a pathetic way to go about things. At times he would keep it for 30 seconds and dribble it round his box and then his kicking was awful too! The only other player of note who did anything was the lad Taylor who got wide and put over some decent crosses but he faded.
Weak link – You could make a case for a number of players. Vaulks was a threat from the throws and decent on the ball too and is clearly their main man but what a moment of stupidity. Seen him apologise on twitter but it ended any chance they had of getting anything. Outside of him, the big centre forward was just grabbing players and pretty hopeless, the defence was slow and clumsy across the back line. Ihiekwe was dreadful and had no idea where our players were and just kept shinning it out. Technically inept. However, for all the criticism of a few of their players, the lad in midfield takes the prize just as he played more than Vaulks. Ajayi has been moved into midfield and is a giant and has scored a few goals. He is a truly, dreadful footballer. He kicked it out under no real pressure three times in the second half. He could not control it; Fleck and Norwood just ran around him and he just looked hugely out of his depth in this area.
Henderson 7/10 – Nothing to do all game. Saved one low shot first half but most of his play was fielding the ball back and recycling possession. Had to be alert to a few of the early long throws but nothing of note at all 2nd half once this threat went and had an easy final 45 minutes.
Baldock 7.5/10 – Good to see him back and played well. Got caught with the awful tackle but fortunately he was ok. He was constantly in motion and a real threat on the overlap. Had a few efforts at goal too including one that was saved well by the keeper with his wrong foot and then the one right at the end when he came in on the angle. Played the second half almost as a right winger. Showed some nice skill at times and a few great link ups with Bash and Duffy down that side second half. Very good athlete that pops up all over.
Stevens 6.5/10 – Thought he was our weakest link defensively but still was ok but the lad Taylor got down and away from him a few times today in the first half and with a better final ball we may have been in trouble. First half involved in some decent moves down the left but had to be wary with Taylor’s pace to not go too far. He was ok in general play and improved second half but we did seem to attack more down the right 2nd half but had a header we nearly scored with.
Egan 7/10 – Steady game. He ended up grappling with the lad Smith a lot but stuck to it and in the end, he sorts of gave up as he had no support around him. Used the ball well when he had it and showed some lovely control when he brought the ball out of the sky in tough conditions.
O’Connell 8/10 – Played really well today. A few slices apart; he was bang at it defensively and attacking wise he set the tone with the goal. Such a cool finish when he could have panicked and read the run perfectly. He came onto the ball and attacked it but also when in tight spaces he used his class to keep the ball in a composed manner. Worried when he went down near the end and seemed to yelp but after treatment, he was fine to carry on. Maybe he just rolled his ankle.
