Stoke(home)predictions

[robinrover]

Probably be a very leggy performance after the physical display against brentford.
1-1 draw

[AucklandRover]

There do seem to be a lot of goals in Stoke games. I'm hoping that indicates they don't try to close matches out.
With Rothwell, Gallagher and Rankin-Costello all fit again, we have increased attacking options.
Let's get two-nil up and take Lenihan off to avoid the risk of a yellow card!!
3-1 to Rovers.

[champs95]

Hopefully Preston lose away at WBA and we ramp up the pressure by getting 3 points. We could be sat in the play off positions at tea time on Sat.
Rovers win 2-0

[champs95]

Like Aucks said, the other very important factor is not losing Lenihan to a yellow card. I'd do what Aucks suggests. Go win the game then take him off.

[alfinyalcabo]

Stoke are schite,easy win for Rovers 3-1 .. Unless Vokesy plays and bangs a hat trick in..lol

[AucklandRover]

Stoke are schite,easy win for Rovers 3-1 .. Unless Vokesy plays and bangs a hat trick in..lol

Alf - the problem with that is...scores like the one I can see at the moment: Luton 2 - Brentford 0, after 65 minutes! Of course, that's not to say Brentford won't get three in the next half-hour. Honestly, this year's Championship sometimes seems as if it's determined by chaos theory. (Remember? Fulham 0 - Barnsley 3, a couple of weeks ago!)

[AucklandRover]

Frustrating, but you have to acknowledge that Stoke's stifling tactics were very successful.
Perhaps Rovers tried the patience game for 15 minutes too long. Sometimes you have to resort to Allardyce methods!
Main positives: Walton, Nyambe, Travis, Downing, Gallagher.
Tosin: superb at times, but also guilty of being over-elaborate when a quick release was required.
Bell: just lacks that edge of self-belief you can see in Nyambe. Towards the end, he simple needed to get early crosses in.
Lenihan: a bit tentative. Worried about a second yellow?
Johnson: good cover and tackling, but the ball does slow up when it goes through him.
Gallagher won the ball in the air virtually every time. I was surprised that Armstrong and Rothwell didn't read that a bit better and play closer to him. I also wish Armstrong had worked harder at getting his markers out of position in general.
Rothwell faded in the second half, having looked threatening in the first 30 minutes.
Weirdly, the other results mean nothing has changed!

[AucklandRover]

Acido hasn't been on recently, but I think we should reserve a word of praise for Barnsley.
22 attempts on goal at Hull, and another away victory.
I really hope they keep the run going and survive.
On recent form, they could be play-off candidates!

[Saxo1man41]

Frustrating, but you have to acknowledge that Stoke's stifling tactics were very successful.
Perhaps Rovers tried the patience game for 15 minutes too long. Sometimes you have to resort to Allardyce methods!
Main positives: Walton, Nyambe, Travis, Downing, Gallagher.
Tosin: superb at times, but also guilty of being over-elaborate when a quick release was required.
Bell: just lacks that edge of self-belief you can see in Nyambe. Towards the end, he simple needed to get early crosses in.
Lenihan: a bit tentative. Worried about a second yellow?
Johnson: good cover and tackling, but the ball does slow up when it goes through him.
Gallagher won the ball in the air virtually every time. I was surprised that Armstrong and Rothwell didn't read that a bit better and play closer to him. I also wish Armstrong had worked harder at getting his markers out of position in general.
Rothwell faded in the second half, having looked threatening in the first 30 minutes.
Weirdly, the other results mean nothing has changed!

Said it before, I'll say it again.. results against the lesser sides will cost us. TM hasn't figured out a way to get the better of them, and YES, for me, he has to take his share of responsibility for it.

[AucklandRover]

I'm never sure what that means, Saxo. Of course, the manager bears some responsibility in every game.
Here, though, it's not obvious what else he could have done.
I thought the players continued the attempt to pick a way through the defence for too long, but - in a sense - it's a good fault, because they clearly have faith in the system
On the Telegraph site, some posters are arguing that we're much worse in this situation than other teams, but - in fact - we have picked up the same number of points at home as WBA, and more than two of the clubs above us.
Sometimes, people see what they want to see. There are lots of criticisms of Gallagher on that site, but I thought he was one of our best on the night. He won a lot of headers, turned his markers several times, and put in two very good crosses. I thought Armstrong and Rothwell were guilty of not anticipating the loose balls Gallagher created. In addition, Gallagher was clearly pushed over in the area. Yes - it was soft, but it would have been whistled up elsewhere on the pitch. Referees often bottle those situations.
Sometimes, when the early goal doesn't come, the opposition gain confidence. Stoke were very well-drilled and wasted time most successfully. (Only three minutes of extra time? Seriously?!)
In the last ten minutes, you could see Mowbray urging the players to get the ball forward more quickly, but Bell, in particular, cut back inside much too often. Even Tosin continued to play too many short passes.
Having said all that, you could see Travis's frustration at making such a mess of his golden opportunity right at the end.
Swansea apparently tried the same tactics at Fulham, but conceded in the fourth minute of injury-time! It will be interesting to see what they do on Saturday. They have a decent away-record, but don't score many, so we may witness more of the same!
(Incidentally, because Stoke's spending was mentioned in the commentary, I looked it up. Did you know they have spent 108 million pounds in the last three seasons? I was staggered!)