Match Thread: Lincoln City v Doncaster Rovers | Page 9 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Lincoln City v Doncaster Rovers

Red Wimp said:
Did MK complain about the attitude as I haven’t heard the post match?
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MK certainly did and rightly so. There appeared to be an arrogance and complacency about last night’s performance that led to sloppiness and throwing the game away against a very limited Doncaster. It was clear for 70 minutes that the Imps had far better technical players but that is of no use without focus and passion and they were very much absent. Worryingly this is not the first time this has happened this season, witness home games against Forest Green and Fleetwood, as well as the abject collapses at Peterborough and Cambridge.
Against that there have been some excellent performances, Portsmouth and Oxford, Derby and Bristol Rovers (going forward) but all that will be wasted if some of the players sit back and think they are Billy Big B*****
 
We have a soft underbelly this season.

Sometimes it seems more worrying when we take the lead than when it's 0-0, because it just seems to energise the opposition while we don't quite know how to play with a lead.

Our two recent wins could have had different outcomes. Against Derby the second goal came at exactly the right time for us. If we hadn't scored at that time I doubt we'd have won (Derby had some good chances too including just before we scored). Against Bristol we could easily have gone in level or behind at half time. It's worth noting we benefitted from early and very soft pens in both games which were crucial to the context of both games.

Obviously I hope it's mostly a case of young players bedding in and that we will become more resilient over the coming months and grind out some useful points even against top teams.

Regarding this competition I fully expect us to beat the Geordie kids and progress.
 
I really did not share the optimism after the wins against Derby and Bristol Rovers. In both those games I thought we we played against two of the worst defences I had seen for a long while.

Last night showed more of what we are really like - little in the way of creativity and a tendency at the back to switch off.

Our positive points this season have been a high press and high work rate, both of which disappeared last night.
 
I think 'could / should have' evens itself out a bit though.

Depending on the point you want to make you can say:

- 'our wins could have gone the other way' or
- 'we should have won the games we drew'

You'll never fall on the better side of all your could / should but it's reasonable to assume you'll fall on the right side now and again. I think we've made a surprisingly good start - acknowledging the last week (before last night) has been a real boost.
 
7 players changed match fitness for the fringe we haven’t lost league points we can still progress in this competition. I don’t see the big deal.

re our league status we have 13 points already only another 40 to go to safety. It doesn’t really matter how poor we are as long as the opposition is worse ie Saturday or last Tuesday.
 
bristolimp said:
7 players changed match fitness for the fringe we haven’t lost league points we can still progress in this competition. I don’t see the big deal.

re our league status we have 13 points already only another 40 to go to safety. It doesn’t really matter how poor we are as long as the opposition is worse ie Saturday or last Tuesday.
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I think the problem is more about the disappointing and worrying manner that we got over ran and deservedly beaten by a poor Doncaster fringe side, bearing in mind we had a few first teamers out there and some who I would like to believe are wannabes.

I agree in the greater scheme of things it wasn't a disaster, but the application needs sorting pronto.
 
hulloutpost said:
I think the problem is more about the disappointing and worrying manner that we got over ran and deservedly beaten by a poor Doncaster fringe side, bearing in mind we had a few first teamers out there and some who I would like to believe are wannabes.

I agree in the greater scheme of things it wasn't a disaster, but the application needs sorting pronto.
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oh well we are league one not premier league if the players were consistent they would be in the championship.
 
I know I'm going to get absolutely castigated for this but I'm not sure Hopper in the team is conducive to how we want to play.

He is good at what he does in holding the ball up, winning a few flick ons and getting you a free kick in your own half but if you want to play pacy attacking football then he's not the man for the job down the middle of the forward line.

As bad as we were defensively last Saturday going forward we looked sharp especially down the left with Diamond.

That is how to play these days. It's so easy for defenders when you just play up to a centre forward and play from there, there's no pace to that and defenders can see exactly what's in front of them and it's not difficult to mark and play against.

Having pace in your team is essential and it's the one thing defenders hate to play against.

You have to have players that can interchange and run at people and that will always cause defences problem's like Diamond did last Saturday and House who never stopped running all game.

Last night was just a pedestrianised exercise of keep ball, going sideways and backwards without creating too much but to score goals you have to be creating multiple opportunities, as we did on Saturday, somehow.

Yeah it was only the Pizza Cup but there are many people on here that can't see the bigger picture. You can't just look at things game by game, you have to be able to see things further afield and at the players we have available to play in every position in relation to how we actually want to play.
 
clanfordimp said:
I know I'm going to get absolutely castigated for this but I'm not sure Hopper in the team is conducive to how we want to play.

He is good at what he does in holding the ball up, winning a few flick ons and getting you a free kick in your own half but if you want to play pacy attacking football then he's not the man for the job down the middle of the forward line.

As bad as we were defensively last Saturday going forward we looked sharp especially down the left with Diamond.

That is how to play these days. It's so easy for defenders when you just play up to a centre forward and play from there, there's no pace to that and defenders can see exactly what's in front of them and it's not difficult to mark and play against.

Having pace in your team is essential and it's the one thing defenders hate to play against.

You have to have players that can interchange and run at people and that will always cause defences problem's like Diamond did last Saturday and House who never stopped running all game.

Last night was just a pedestrianised exercise of keep ball, going sideways and backwards without creating too much but to score goals you have to be creating multiple opportunities, as we did on Saturday, somehow.

Yeah it was only the Pizza Cup but there are many people on here that can't see the bigger picture. You can't just look at things game by game, you have to be able to see things further afield and at the players we have available to play in every position in relation to how we actually want to play.
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i think you are right - also if he could finish he would be in the championship. He does a job offensively and defensively but the chance Diamond laid on the plate to him at Bristol was a really weak effort. I think House is a better option
 
Interesting that MK's post match interview is now locked on iFollow, and can't be viewed.

Perhaps he is regretting something he said?
 
Noticed some interviews are delayed on there. Then again the website has always been a bit glitchy/slow, possibly all the adverts they have. Needs fixing.
 
clanfordimp said:
I know I'm going to get absolutely castigated for this but I'm not sure Hopper in the team is conducive to how we want to play.
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Completely agree. No pace, his natural game (his natural instinct, perhaps) is to hold the ball when he receives it. That is fine providing you have a couple of mobile strikers and a supporting, attacking midfield there a second or two later, but we don't have that. Our midfield is far too slow as well, and could be tackled by a toddler most of the time. Sorry, I am back to that 'midfield' again...
 
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