Cheltenham Town v Bristol Rovers

[vickeryc]

Yeah, I was wondering what's happened to Sloggett

[Robin]

Lloyd's value to the team is his energy, chasing, tenacity, winning the ball, and setting up goalscoring chances. I agree, it would be great if he also scored a few goals as well, though I suspect if he did, we would struggle to hold on to him! Therein lies the frustration of supporting a club like Cheltenham! We're defo not in it for the glory-hunting

There is no doubt Lloyd has improved and is now competing for a starting spot in our team but how many chances has he created this season out of curiosity. For me he's becoming a decent league two forward and I would keep him but sounds like he's got a deal lined up elsewhere anyway so that discussion is mute. I wonder if he will be going back to Grimsby permanently.

[Warwickshire Robin]

I would take a little issue with the lack of depth argument. Yesterday we had Williams, Bradbury and Sloggett not even on the bench. I dont remember getting this late into a season before and having three senior players not logged out or not having to have 2 or 3 kids on the bench.

That said we are lacking in areas, upfront obviously and RWB where we had four options earlier in the season and we are now just flogging Longy to death with no other option.

On another note, with the mysterious disappearance of Greg Sloggett, I wonder if that is one of the behind the scenes issues that DC is referring to? Other than that or injury, I can't see any other reason he isn't at least making the bench?

[CS85]

This is purely rumour but someone said to me sloggett refused to take part in some training sessions. Could be complete balls ofcourse but his disappearance is a strange one.

[robinsrule]

So, would you not play Lloyd? Who would you replace him with?

I was in fact supporting your case that there is no point in getting on the players backs as it seems to be purely the case that they are not good enough for who we are playing against. As far as GL is concerned, he opinion I was putting forward was just that he runs around as much as my Springer spaniel does not mean he is effective. He scores very few and creates very few. As far as replacing him goes, I did point out that his fellow striker has a worse record. So saying he can't be replaced is not the greatest compliment a forward ever had.
You could ask the same question about quite a few on the pitch at any one time
I mentioned yesterday that we may as well put Shepherd up top as I think he would be just as effective as a few of our target front men

It's interesting that many are now saying the players aren't good enough, yet the same players were good enough to beat the likes of Oxford, Blackpool and champions-elect Portsmouth not so long ago.

I think it is less to do with player quality than lack of cover and strength in depth. It is at this sharp end of the season, with two fixtures a week, that the smaller squads get stretched most. Injuries have been mounting up and players like Lloyd and Ferry are having to manfully soldier on with niggles. You're right that any self-respecting fans should recognise the situation and not get on the players' backs.

I disagree with your point about Lloyd's effectivess though. He does break up the oppositions' play as much, if not more, than anyone else. He also, along with Long, has the most assists to his name.

Probably the one and only time I will compare is with Liverpool, but look at them now. Overachieving all season with a host of injuries and inspirational manager - when it finally catches up with them and it dawns on them that they won’t achieve what they have been striving for, performances break down, the defence becomes like a sieve and strikers stop scoring. This is exactly what has happened to us. It’s like a balloon has popped and it doesn’t mean the players are not trying, it means that a long season has caught up with us.

[robinsrule]

Despite what some will have you believe, we'll have one of the lowest budgets next season regardless of what division we're in.

The club is skint and has no facility to make money outside of football itself. Staying in League One every season is a miracle.

And that barely 4000 Robins fans turned up for a must-win game against local rivals yesterday. We simply don’t have the resources or support for this level.

Worth reminding ourselves that Barry Bannan was on £1.3m last season, which is more than 50% of our entire playing budget.

Yes, he’s a top earner, but no doubt there are plenty, maybe dozens, of players in this division on not much less. That is what we’re up against.

[Ihearye]

Despite what some will have you believe, we'll have one of the lowest budgets next season regardless of what division we're in.

The club is skint and has no facility to make money outside of football itself. Staying in League One every season is a miracle.

And that barely 4000 Robins fans turned up for a must-win game against local rivals yesterday. We simply don’t have the resources or support for this level.

Worth reminding ourselves that Barry Bannan was on £1.3m last season, which is more than 50% of our entire playing budget.

Yes, he’s a top earner, but no doubt there are plenty, maybe dozens, of players in this division on not much less. That is what we’re up against.

To attend yesterday, you more or less had to have the desire to stand and hope to get a semi decent view. That is why barely 4000 turned up. I and 6 others spent the day watching the racing with a few drinks, because of that fact.

[Horteng]

Why has the form, confidence and everything else drained away from what DC had to what he doesn't have now? Granted we havent ever been on fire this season but we have looked a threat, scored a few goals and won a few games under DC. Now I think if we played anyone we would lose. What has gone so badly wrong at a crucial stage of the season? Even Dc himself looks beat to me........

[robinsrule]

Why has the form, confidence and everything else drained away from what DC had to what he doesn't have now? Granted we havent ever been on fire this season but we have looked a threat, scored a few goals and won a few games under DC. Now I think if we played anyone we would lose. What has gone so badly wrong at a crucial stage of the season? Even Dc himself looks beat to me........

Because we were fighting a losing battle from the day he set foot in the club. Confidence is a fragile thing in football. As soon as a few things go against you - form, injuries, luck - it can weigh you down. DC is changing everything he can in terms of formations and personnel to try and turn our form around. Our strike force have three goals between them all season, partly through a lack of service, partly because they can’t hit a barn door. We have not spent one minute outside the relegation zone this season. The players have fought, tried their best and been undermined by the board (even if it is in the best interests of the club to balance the books) and the result is that we are getting relegated.

I don’t understand how anyone is surprised by this.

[Si Robin]

How have they been undermined by the board? I agree with everything else you say, especially confidence being a fragile thing.

We had an up and at 'em mentality for a few months and I remember saying after we beat Oxford that every game has to be a battle for us. It's up to other teams to match us in that battle. If they do then most will have better players and will win - if not then we can win games. The players seem to have lost that in recent weeks. Is it Adam Murray going? Is it the fact that everything seems to be going against them on the pitch - especially in terms of refereeing decisions? Who knows - unfortunately it seems DC is baffled by it as well.

We need to hope it comes back on Tuesday. Win that and the whole mentality could change. Lose and we may as well not bother with the remaining games.

[Broadway Brian]

Murray leaving and Street getting injured are the 2 biggest blows for me. More so than Goodwin leaving.

We’ve lost aggression and ingenuity of late.

[asl]

Lloyd is the ideal second striker in a team that plays an energetic high press - a tactic which I would love for us to play. Obviously, Lloyd aside, we don't have the personnel to play that way.

[Basildon Robin]

Win on Tuesday night, and that’s not out of the question given the strange game football often is, the players can give themselves a platform to go from zero to heroes!

My musings of a Steve Cotterill return are borne more out of nostalgia and memories of past glories at Whaddon Road, Wembley in 98 and elsewhere.
It’s been so disappointing the last four or five games after the team gave the fans reason to believe they could stay up after winning at Fleetwood. Given time DC probably could do a good job but to be a good manager at any level you need luck. And so far it has eluded him…

[Horteng]

How have they been undermined by the board? I agree with everything else you say, especially confidence being a fragile thing.

We had an up and at 'em mentality for a few months and I remember saying after we beat Oxford that every game has to be a battle for us. It's up to other teams to match us in that battle. If they do then most will have better players and will win - if not then we can win games. The players seem to have lost that in recent weeks. Is it Adam Murray going? Is it the fact that everything seems to be going against them on the pitch - especially in terms of refereeing decisions? Who knows - unfortunately it seems DC is baffled by it as well.

We need to hope it comes back on Tuesday. Win that and the whole mentality could change. Lose and we may as well not bother with the remaining games.

This is what I mean. We were aggressive, in opposition teams faces which may of made up for some lack of quality. Now we look powder puff. As I said we have never been on fire this season however we have been much better previously under DC. What has changed?

[Benhall-Robin]

The key missing ingredient from then to now is the strikers, Goodwin and Street, or one of the 2 with Lloyd were able to compete well for each ball and even if we didn't win it there was always good pressure which enabled us to fall on a second ball and start another wave of attack.

[vickeryc]

The key missing ingredient from then to now is the strikers, Goodwin and Street, or one of the 2 with Lloyd were able to compete well for each ball and even if we didn't win it there was always good pressure which enabled us to fall on a second ball and start another wave of attack.

I agree up to a point. However, Goodwin had left and Street was injured before our best run of the season - successive wins against Cambridge, Blackpool and Vale, and the draw at Wigan. Lloyd started in all those games alongside Taylor (who sadly injured his hamstring soon after). Lloyd also started (alongside Keena) in the earlier win against Pompey. I conclude that Lloyd and Taylor has been our most productive starting combo.

[Jim]

Murray leaving and Street getting injured are the 2 biggest blows for me. More so than Goodwin leaving.

We’ve lost aggression and ingenuity of late.

I'm beginning to think Murray leaving was a bigger blow than we realised. Our style etc has got steadily worse since he left. When we were at our best in November/December, you could see patterns of play but that has steadily eroded. This could have nothing to do with Murray and more to do with injuries and fatigue, but at the moment the tactics just aren't there. It's muddled and desperate, whereas before it felt considered and planned.

As others have mentioned, letting Smith go in Jan seems a mistake, but I think as a club we just roll with the punches with that sort of thing - he wanted to move north and be guaranteed football, we let him even though it probably weakened the squad. I also think Bevan's injury was massive. He was really starting to look the part, a good defender, no slouch and with ability on the ball. He had the odd poor moment, but was looking more and more confident, unlike Andy Smith who went the other way.

So many ifs, buts and maybes - every team has them throughout a season, but I think our luck has been worse than most.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

To play our aggressive pressing game we really need to use four fullbacks and four running strikers a match. This is something we haven’t been able to do since January, maybe even longer ago.

We have run out of available fit players who can do it. When the likes of Lloyd and Ferry are playing through injury and players like Long are playing two games a week without rotation it is impossible to play the in your face style.

We are relying on players who are not fit enough due to injury and ones who are not injured but are not fast or strong enough.

[Shade]

Although Wycombe at home on 3rd February was the first properly poor performance in a while, 23rd February is when everything seemed to turn against us. The 1-1 draw at Wigan. We had ridden out the bad decisions away at Derby and Bolton and the mess of that Wycombe game and had just won 3 in a row. We started well at Wigan, went 1 up but then ended up hanging on for dear life, really. For the first time in a long time we were backs to the wall and just looking to take the point instead of pushing for all 3. Even in the games we messed up like Orient and Reading at home, we were never really just hanging on begging for the full time whistle. Ever since, and including, that second half at Wigan, the performances have been nowhere near the levels of before. Something happened there, and we only have 5 points in the 10 games since then, after 9 points in the previous 3. The Barnsley 0-0 away being the best performance by far and Fleetwood the only win, which was pretty streaky in the second half.

[Warwickshire Robin]

Another reason for not being able to wait this godforsaken season to end:-

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/1 ... ed-penalty

OK didn't cost us a goal at the time but did cost Luke a broken toe and yet another in the deficit column for the 'Decisions will even themselves out over the Season' ledger!

[Shade]

Not another bad decision against us?!

Only surprise with this one is that apparently no fan or player seemed to pick up on it!

[longmover]

bent league

[Broadway Brian]

Although Wycombe at home on 3rd February was the first properly poor performance in a while, 23rd February is when everything seemed to turn against us. The 1-1 draw at Wigan. We had ridden out the bad decisions away at Derby and Bolton and the mess of that Wycombe game and had just won 3 in a row. We started well at Wigan, went 1 up but then ended up hanging on for dear life, really. For the first time in a long time we were backs to the wall and just looking to take the point instead of pushing for all 3. Even in the games we messed up like Orient and Reading at home, we were never really just hanging on begging for the full time whistle. Ever since, and including, that second half at Wigan, the performances have been nowhere near the levels of before. Something happened there, and we only have 5 points in the 10 games since then, after 9 points in the previous 3. The Barnsley 0-0 away being the best performance by far and Fleetwood the only win, which was pretty streaky in the second half.

The injury to Street at Derby is the crucial factor to the change in our performances. Having 2 pressing runners in the channel, with Sercombe down the middle picking off the panicked scraps was effective for the most part, but was definitely a defining trait of our play. Bolton particularly, really struggled against it first half.

The 3 wins (1 against a poor Vale side aided by 2 set-piece goals, 1 against a woeful Blackpool team and a backs to the wall win v Cambridge) masked the absence of that forward threat.

It became evident though v Wigan. A big pitch and a ball playing team that used the space to their advantage.

The right side first half v Fleetwood away is about the only game since that we’ve had a sustained period of pressure (or so it feels).

That’s my take anyway - but yes, it was a long 90 mins that Friday night in Wigan. Banging pie n mash though.