That was all the proof

[DanRrr]

I needed to show that this team has been underperforming and a new partnership was needed at centre back.

Fair do's that it was against 10 for most of the game, but that was a good performance. I hope Bowyer takes note for the next game and realises that some of his 'reserves' do a much better job that core players, such as the captain!

[Bobcrompton1896]

Here,here!! Shane Duffy correctlyd man-of-the-match.
It will be an absolute disgrace if Grant Hanley is recalled...these two played together(Kilgallon & Duffy)like proper defenders.

Gary Bowyer has to show the bottle to drop his captain,and also give Josh King much more playing time.

But well done,a great team effort,and maybe Chris Taylor should be adapted into a "Frank Lampard-style goalscorer".

[Despair]

Granted I have seen more of GH than SD, and this was only one performance, against a 85 min 10 man team. But even so, SD' s performance was head and shoulders above GH. Remembering of course this was against Prem opposition. As said, his partnership with MK looked far more together and assured than that of the more usual/regular ones.
Of course it takes two to make a partnership, but I still feel GH is living on old earlier performances and has not really advanced over the last 12 months.
Whether this has anything at all to do with the captains arm band I don't know, but it doesn't appear to have helped

[DanRrr]

Does anyone think Bowyer will re-evaluate things after that? I know there was the TV and premier league opposition to lift the players, but the work rate was excellent in pressing and closing down. Swansea definately underestimated Rovers, which maybe made things look a but better, but still...

Cairney played well inside. Conway, excellent on the left, (but so's Marshall). Hanley also played just as well at leftback as anyone else has this season, so no need to waste Marshall there. But to see a central defence and central midfield was great again. I hope it wasn't just an FA Cup blip. After Man City last season things picked up, maybe it can happen again? I hope so.

[Despair]

We all know you meant. ' Henley played as well...' Helped a fair bit by Taylor's commitment to work his bit running the line, I know this lad gets some criticism but he does have a energetic enthusiasm that must help.
As for the 'fringe players' being lifted by TV and opposition, that needs to be countered against by the very low turnout that would not have inspired them.
But fair does, they got past that and put on a workmanlike performance.

No mention yet of the 'woes' being voiced re GB's. Starting eleven!
Was it circumstance that produced the end product or, much of it to do with GB's subsequent tactics?

[Howie5o]

We all know you meant. ' Henley played as well...' Helped a fair bit by Taylor's commitment to work his bit running the line, I know this lad gets some criticism but he does have a energetic enthusiasm that must help.
As for the 'fringe players' being lifted by TV and opposition, that needs to be countered against by the very low turnout that would not have inspired them.
But fair does, they got past that and put on a workmanlike performance.

No mention yet of the 'woes' being voiced re GB's. Starting eleven!
Was it circumstance that produced the end product or, much of it to do with GB's subsequent tactics?

Fantastic result ..decent display ..a lil luck ..but thats the cup..well done Rovers !

But ..lets not get carried away ..looking at the other results today in some way takes the edge off our result ..how committed are the the big boys ?

One result ..especially in the cup (sides have reached finals and been relegated ?)

[Pooch]

Agreed 100%

For the first time this season I thought we actually closed down the opposition properly in our own half (minus their goal of course). We blocked an insane amount of shots which shows our defenders stuck close together in our box and didn't leave too many gaps. We didn't lose any 1 on 1 battles on the outside either. Really happy about that. I guess you could say we looked organized for once.

Could have done better crossing the ball. It's an area we are extremely weak in. Counter attack was poor as well. Towards the end of the game we wasted too many opportunities to get an easy goal because the 2nd pass out of our half was terrible.

Either way I think we did pretty well overall. I'm desperately hoping we can keep this up in the league.

[robinrover]

I think a few things got proven in this game
We have found a good centre back pairing which we have been crying out for
4-4-2 isn't the formation for us anymore
If the worst happens and both Rhodes and gestede goes we have a player in king who could cause defences lots of problems
A bit of humble pie here Lowe has been missed in that holding/defensive midfielder role.

[DanRrr]

I'll eat humble pie with Lowe as well. That said, last season we had a few well up for centre midfield. Right now though, it likes Lowe is the best we've got there. So he should be there.

[Quickenthetempo]

Has King improved then RobinRover?

He looked like he was going to be a world beater with his pace but always seems to flatter to deceive.