Matchday Thread: Morecambe v Rams

[MadAmster]

27 shots to their 10. 11 shots on target to their 5. Hit the woodwork twice. Missed 2 penalties, the first one was well taken and well saved, the 2nd poorly taken but well saved. We should have been given a 3rd penalty as well but the ref chickened out on giving another one 2 minutes after the first. That's the stats done. What about the background to those stats? Of the 11 on target, 3 were soft looping headers, 2 more were half hit shots that went straight to the keeper plus the 2 penalty saves. Their 5 on target were 4 good shots and one poor one. Basically, with 42% possession, they had as many serious shots as we did. Therein lies the problem IMO. We had 58% of the ball, spent a higher % than that in their half, conjured up a shot/header every 3 minutes but only troubled the keeper on 6 occasions.

Did we have other chances? Both Dobbs and Osula missed the right hand post by less than a foot. That was it. Basically, we ran the show and should have done more with the ball and territorial advantage we had.

Morecambe played to hit on the break with long balls over the top. That tactic brought 3 of their 5 shots on target, all 3 well saved. It's not the first time this season we've ben "found out" by the long ball. The Smith incident at the weekend where he was lucky to get the foul was one where the ball over the top could have seen a 1 on 1 was it not for the ref's mistake (the attacker was holding but so was Smith, 6 and two threes.....).

All in all, a game we could have won, should have won due due getting 2 penalties but, did we get less than we deserved out of the game? In real terms, we probably got what we deserved and no more than that. Cashin got lucky with his yellow, IMO. No attempt to play the ball. A callous foul on the attacker. There are enough refs about who would have given him red for it.

Overall a decent performance but we still lack nouse in the final third, IMO.

Bird haters all over anti social media. They forget he is playing the DM role. They ignore that, for instance, him picking the ball up on our right, facing the bye line in a crowded area of the pitch, it's probably not a good idea to control the ball, stop, turn and them move pass forward as there is every likelihood he'd get clattered. Instead he passes back to Smith at RB who passes inside to Cashin who moves the ball on, either into the path of a defender who is moving forward down our left (yesterday that would have been Foz or Roberts) or he plays the long ball up to Dobbin. That is the quickest and safest way to launch an attack from a crowded area of the pitch. His footballing brain is several moves ahead of those fans and he makes, most but not all of the time, the right decision.

I thought Sibs was excellent again. This time partnering Bird at DM, he was excellent in defence, his dead balls from corners and free kicks were on the money and he did his bit in an attacking sense as well culminating in his goal. A shot which was deflected, as was theirs.

We're getting there slowly. Our small squad might be our downfall though. Only 6 on the bench yesterday. Cashin's yellow means he misses the next League game. If Curt and Chester are still out for that game it leaves us with 1 fit centre half in Stearman and a stand-in, Fozzy, unless Warne thinks Rooney is right for a start......

[swaledale]

A fair assessment, though I do think we just sometimes need that bit of luck and we'd hAve won 2 or 3 matches by 3 goals or more this season.

I do despair with professional footballers not being able to put a penalty away though! Yes I know the issue is likely a mental one rather than skill, but then if they didn't think about and just hammered it down the centre, 9 times out of 10 they score. IMO no keeper should be able to save a penalty unless its badly taken.

[ramAnag]

So disappointing...but unlucky. Fair play to Connor Ripley...good keeper.
Combination of injuries and suspensions beginning to have a negative impact as many predicted they would and the January strengthening is looking ever more important.
We’re still in a good position, although the two points undoubtedly dropped last night may ultimately prove crucial.
Suppose, in the light of what happened at Accrington it’s a case of ‘what goes around comes around’ but I think we’re still owed a bit in that respect.

[Andy_Faber]

Fair go again to our full backs esp Smith

Big mistake letting mcGoldrick take the second pen

Cashins defensive heading ability is second to none, why can’t he do it in the opposition area?

And better throw in strategy this time, something PW and the RD commentators actually mentioned pre game!

[Ramshank72]

2 penalties missed isn't good, it's been a long time since we had someone reliable to take them, Chris Martin probably... failing that, Steve Howard!
It's still a good point, regardless of what could have been.

[Andy_Faber]

2 penalties missed isn't good, it's been a long time since we had someone reliable to take them, Chris Martin probably... failing that, Steve Howard!
It's still a good point, regardless of what could have been.

Old farts like me just say to ourselves ‘what would Alan Hinton do’

[MadAmster]

Goalkeeping penalties has become something of a science. In the past most keepers simply made their mind up which way they were going to go and hoped for the best. Then they started analysing the taker's run up. Angle of the run, body shape, movement of the shoulders, follow their eyes... These days they have the stats. How many to the left/right/centre. They have "slides" showing where the penalties went, highlighting which scored and which were saved/missed. They also have them on video. Know the history, as well as reading the approach etc, and you have a better chance of going the right way.

I read the run up etc and the final piece of the jigsaw for me was the position of the non-striking foot in relation to the ball and the direction in which the toes were pointing. I never went the wrong way and had about 70% success rate in stopping them.

Penalty takers. Simple. A firm to hard shot into one of the top corners is unstoppable. My tactic was a shallow run, starting about 2 yards behind the ball and 4 paces away, eyes fixed firmly on the right hand post, place the non-striking (left) foot level with the ball and about 9 inches to the left of the ball.... and then smash it, with my right foot, into the left corner. Keeper always went the wrong way.

[Ramshank72]

Goalkeeping penalties has become something of a science. In the past most keepers simply made their mind up which way they were going to go and hoped for the best. Then they started analysing the taker's run up. Angle of the run, body shape, movement of the shoulders, follow their eyes... These days they have the stats. How many to the left/right/centre. They have "slides" showing where the penalties went, highlighting which scored and which were saved/missed. They also have them on video. Know the history, as well as reading the approach etc, and you have a better chance of going the right way.

I read the run up etc and the final piece of the jigsaw for me was the position of the non-striking foot in relation to the ball and the direction in which the toes were pointing. I never went the wrong way and had about 70% success rate in stopping them.

Penalty takers. Simple. A firm to hard shot into one of the top corners is unstoppable. My tactic was a shallow run, starting about 2 yards behind the ball and 4 paces away, eyes fixed firmly on the right hand post, place the non-striking (left) foot level with the ball and about 9 inches to the left of the ball.... and then smash it, with my right foot, into the left corner. Keeper always went the wrong way.

My tactic is... give it to the striker, sod that!

[swaledale]

Goalkeeping penalties has become something of a science. In the past most keepers simply made their mind up which way they were going to go and hoped for the best. Then they started analysing the taker's run up. Angle of the run, body shape, movement of the shoulders, follow their eyes... These days they have the stats. How many to the left/right/centre. They have "slides" showing where the penalties went, highlighting which scored and which were saved/missed. They also have them on video. Know the history, as well as reading the approach etc, and you have a better chance of going the right way.

I read the run up etc and the final piece of the jigsaw for me was the position of the non-striking foot in relation to the ball and the direction in which the toes were pointing. I never went the wrong way and had about 70% success rate in stopping them.

Penalty takers. Simple. A firm to hard shot into one of the top corners is unstoppable. My tactic was a shallow run, starting about 2 yards behind the ball and 4 paces away, eyes fixed firmly on the right hand post, place the non-striking (left) foot level with the ball and about 9 inches to the left of the ball.... and then smash it, with my right foot, into the left corner. Keeper always went the wrong way.

I don't give a monkeys how much a goalkeeper reads the penalty taker, there is no way a professional footballer should not beat the keeper from 12 yards! If the ball is hit hard and low, impossible for a keeper to get to, yes one of the corners will beat him BUT, a half decent player will easily send the keeper the wrong way. But smack it hard straight dwon the middle and most times the goalie won't be there or if he is won't stop it.