- 7 weeks ago
Ricky and Robbie discuss all things DRFC
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00:00hello and welcome on to the latest episode of our rovers chat i'm joined as ever by robbie
00:06andrews robbie how we doing yeah very well ricky thank you stuff we're now uh broadcasting on
00:15youtube as well so who knows i'll be watching could be anywhere in the world um watching this
00:19rovers chat so um unfortunately it's not a kind of happy clappy episode is it at the minute you
00:25know the run that they're on and obviously the the latest result down late in orient you know well
00:30and truly put to the sword 4-0 i mean you know watching it back and then watching the highlights
00:36what's your assessment of it because we were just chatting there off there for me it's probably the
00:42worst performance i was trying to think since when i think since i've been covering the club maybe
00:47stockport very early 2024 i don't know about you i mean in terms of not only result but um you know
00:54overall performance as well yeah rovers lacking in in all departments weren't they against a team
01:00who've not exactly been pulling up any trees so far this season i know they reached the playoff final
01:05last season but they're a very different opponent i think this time around i wasn't at the game on
01:11saturday i was sort of traveling and following it you know three o'clock comes around and you're
01:16thinking okay maybe this might be the the afternoon that rovers turn a mini rut around and get back on
01:22the winning trail within a couple of minutes they're a goal down and you you know a similar
01:27story to the last couple of away games really particularly that the wigan won a few weeks back
01:32rovers just second best in in all departments really you look at the manner of the goals they conceded
01:38whether it's you know switching off from a set piece or whether it's a long ball forward that's
01:44you know if it should have been dealt with by one two three players perhaps you know and it ends up
01:50in the back of your net i think whatever can go wrong for rovers at the minute is doing and i think
01:56they've just got to dig in i think that's pretty much how jack senior summed it up after the game
02:01wasn't it that there's a bit of soul searching going on because and you hit the nail on that i think
02:06you know a good team doesn't turn bad overnight rovers have had a really good start to the season and
02:12an awful month and a bit really haven't they that the last six weeks have been not great to say the
02:18least but it's now about how they pick themselves up because you can't sort of languish and feel sorry
02:26for yourselves you've got to pick yourselves up quickly because you know we're middle of october
02:30now and it quickly gets around to those winter months when you travel in a fair bit and you've got
02:35tough games and teams are getting into a bit of a rhythm the last thing you want is to be a team who
02:40who can't win you know for loving the money and you go into places almost worrying how many is it
02:46going to be as it ended up you know being four on saturday yeah i think as well that you know the
02:52second one is probably one of the the most upsetting i think if you if you if you rovers you know the fact
02:57that you can legislate a little kite for the for the errors for reardon and well close and mcgrath and
03:03if you even want to chuck lawler in there for the third but the second one where nobody got out
03:07quick enough and connelly's took one two and then he's just yeah quality stride but there's
03:11literally nobody nobody you know anywhere near him is there no too easy wasn't it and i think you
03:17know if you're late in orient you're happy as as anything with the goals you did they really have
03:21to work that hard i think grant said that didn't he after the game that you know richie richie wellens
03:27will be thinking brilliant game plan work to perfection when looking at it from a rover's
03:32perspective and it's almost like you've given them at least a couple of goals and made it too easy for
03:37them away from home especially you know grant wants to attack and go for every game but there's
03:42sometimes early on especially if you're on a bad run you think right okay can we get through the first
03:4720 minutes at nil nil you know get get yourselves on a bit of a level playing field and grow into the
03:52game from there but rovers were a couple of goals down in the blink of an eye and and then it's a
03:59mountain to climb isn't it and i think yeah the goals they're conceding at the moment are too easy for
04:05teams you struggle to really find a goal where a team has has properly cut through them you know
04:10even going back as far as wigan individual errors there it was a set piece at lute and the goals
04:17on saturday against orient were were all poor goals really and i know they're always poor goals when
04:22you're conceding them but yeah it's it's just a lack of solidity really that's that's making rovers a
04:28bit too easy to play against at the moment yeah which which brings us on i suppose to this this
04:33run you know i'm just looking through the the records there if you if you count all the cups and
04:38you know the trophy and whatnot it's it's one winning seven in you know all comps is that and
04:44that was at grimsby obviously the other night is that a possible cause of concern for you because
04:48you look at the games coming up spaced out of it aren't they now you know you've got the
04:51northampton reading and the cup game not many midweek games which we've said a lot this season
04:57um how big does that kind of make the northampton game well it's a massive game isn't it i think it's
05:03it's probably too early in the season to call it a must win but it's it's one where rovers would do
05:08anything for for that feel of three points i think we've said before i think a couple of weeks ago
05:13um the lack of goals is is a massive issue and and actually doing a bit of digging um before this
05:20it stems further than this just this run rovers have only scored more than once in two league games
05:26out of 12 this season you know against mansfield away and at home to bradford other than that
05:31goals are a massive issue owen bailey's got six robbie gotts has got three there's a couple of players
05:38who've got a couple but not many are really digging it and even though with bailey of course
05:43his room was always going to come to an end he was never going to keep scoring at the rate he was
05:49going so you're looking around gotts got a couple in the trophy didn't he but elsewhere who's sticking
05:55their hand up and and getting their head on the end of crosses or you know in that right place at the
06:00right time it's three away defeats on the bounce without scoring a goal and without looking like
06:05scoring a goal which is probably the biggest issue so it is a cause for concern i think these next two
06:11fixtures are really important because you know i mean leighton orient were eight places below rovers
06:17so you can't really read too much into that at this stage but i think northampton are 14th redding 21st
06:26you flip to the other side of the fa cup first round and you've got barnesley in eighth and lincoln in
06:32sixth so if you don't pick up a win from these next two you're almost looking into the distance
06:38with a bit of trepidation and thinking oh hang on we've got to go to lincoln we've got a south
06:43yorkshire derby against barnesley off the back of you know as you said one winning seven at the moment
06:49the last thing you want is for that win that uh that winless run to to continue but i just think
06:55the lack of goals away the lack of almost looking like scoring grant said after the burton game
07:00rovers had a good first half got themselves in front had a couple of chances and not loads of chances
07:06but ones where they had to take them sharps you know one-on-one with i think a couple of minutes
07:12before the equaliser that goes in it's two nil i don't think burton come back from that
07:16but you miss that chance and then we know that rovers have got defensive vulnerabilities at the other end
07:22and all of a sudden it's one apiece but even after the equaliser did rovers look like going on to win it
07:27probably not similar against wimbledon as soon as they conceded they don't look like scoring again
07:32it almost knocks the stuffing out of them and that's that there's no real second wind whereas
07:37i think back in the last season and even you know throughout the whole campaign
07:41when rovers conceded there was never really a sense of panic it was always okay we believe in our
07:46quality at the top end of the pitch and i do wonder if that is having a bit of an impact now
07:51because they're not scoring goals is there a few you know glances around at each other as if to say
07:56well okay are you going to take it by the scruff of the neck or are you are you going to lead by
08:00example i'm not sure there's that faith as such in each other that somebody is going to get them
08:06out of a hole because they've not been doing it in recent weeks yeah that kind of ties in a little
08:13with excuse me with grant's you know postmaster interview you know we always enjoy him he's always
08:18honest didn't he and i thought it was interesting that he came out and kind of said you know it's
08:22on me that result but then at the same time you know you have to he gave the warning didn't he later
08:27on that you know maybe he has been a bit loyal to players and like he said i think apart from
08:32Owen Bailey and Billy Sharp there's not really anyone that you go right yeah he starts every week
08:36um so it'd be very interesting one of the team selection i think for saturday will be very
08:41you know if you can get that spot on then good luck to you yeah well the problem is the team's
08:47chopped and changed so far this season whether it's at centre half or on the flanks so it's almost
08:53like is that a reason why rovers are struggling for consistency because you're never quite sure
08:58who's going to start anywhere really as you said there's a couple of positions where you know
09:02molyneux will nine times out of ten start on the right bailey midfield sharp up from but given
09:08sterry's injury you know left back is almost different every week it could be maxwell for a few games and
09:15senior they've changed the goalkeeper so there is a lack of consistency in team selection and i think
09:21grant you know without naming names we can probably all read in a little bit into who's had more
09:27loyalty than others in terms of who's been picked and whether that's based on performance or what
09:33they've done and what credit they've got in the bank which i suppose when you get promoted you're going
09:37to stick with those players that have got you there in the large um large part of it aren't you
09:43but there are players chomping at the bit i think to come in and play we saw ben close start against
09:48burton robbie got scored two in the trophies we've already touched on so there are players particularly
09:53in that midfield area i think he'll be looking and thinking well given the room we're on and i've
09:57not had much game time maybe i should be should be starting here you know in a game where we we want
10:02to win and i've done all right in the cup or i've been training training the house down there's plenty
10:07of competition for for places there aren't loads of injuries in the rovers squad i know they've got
10:12a couple of longish sort of term ones in terms of sterry and clifton at the moment but there's a
10:18fairly you know fairly fit squad and there'll be players and this is a time isn't it when you know
10:24if you've got a big squad and you're winning players can't really come and knock on your door
10:27well when you're not winning the players who are waiting and you've got a fair chunk of them
10:33who haven't been involved much they've got every right i suppose to be asking the question you know
10:37when when is my chance going to come absolutely yeah i mean just on the back of that as well you
10:43know jackson you touched on there with maxwell you know kind of flicking in and out i've not looked
10:48deep you know deeply at the stats but i would imagine they both you know started as many as each
10:54other or it can't be too much disparity between the two but um just moving on to jack and i'm sure
10:59you'll have heard the interview that he did um i thought it was really interesting you know i did
11:02a piece on it that you talk to players a lot don't you know regardless of the result and
11:06you know nine times out of ten there's a lot of cliched answers and it's it's you're just going
11:10through the motions where on saturday you could kind of see the cogs working in jack's head you know
11:15wasn't responding to questions it was taking his time to think through and he looked as though he was
11:21really hurting and i thought it was a really good interview and i thought you know it was a good
11:24choice actually as a post-match interview the fact that they'd sent which they always do they always
11:28send at least one player out rovers which is a credit unlike a lot of clubs um you know that
11:34when you've just lost four and away from home might not send anyone out so to send someone
11:39that was articulate as that i mean what you know i suppose that says a lot doesn't it about
11:44you know the the group and i suppose the characters and character of jack
11:49it does it is a he's a yorkshireman isn't he ricky so we shouldn't expect anything uh anything
11:54less uh from him i think you could see that the cogs turn and you could see that he wanted to
11:59articulate his answers in the right way and then you know he mentioned soul searching and things like
12:05that and i think he was he was obviously keen not to throw his teammates under the bus but while
12:09admitting that you know it's not been good enough um and i think it will be difficult for the players
12:16nobody wants to come out and face the media when they've been beaten 4-0 do they you know
12:20and in our jobs it's it's about scratching beneath the surface so if you if if after a defeat like
12:26that you've got somebody who is almost you know the shutters are down and it's very basic answers
12:33work hard go again next week they're the the usuals aren't they you know we'll get back to it on monday
12:38i think to hear jack come out and almost front up really and he's not the most senior player in the
12:45squad pardon the pun he's obviously got a lot of games under his belt but there are other people in
12:51that dressing room who have been there seen it and done it and been around the block a few more times so
12:57it would have been easy for for one of those to come out and and give it the the usual um answers
13:02after a defeat but fair play to him for for coming out i think he might have been after the
13:08the draw against walsall i think in the league i'm sure i had sort of heard him talk after that
13:12and i remember thinking you know this lad's got his so his head on on his screwed on his shoulders and
13:17he knows what he's talking about as well it is sometimes easy for players to come out and open up a
13:22bit more but then almost revert to type a little bit but i think he he seemed like a player that
13:28rovers fans can relate to you know he he gets the club now doesn't he he's been here for a good
13:32couple of seasons he's he's been in and he's been out he's had injury uh issues as that left back and
13:37the right back berth seem to just follow or have injuries follow them around don't they so he's had
13:42to work hard as well and i think it is good competition for him and maxwell um but it must be difficult
13:48again not really knowing whether you're going to play week in week out so you could have a really
13:53good game but then the opposition might suit the lad who's working alongside you so yeah great
13:59interview and i think he'll be one of those who's thinking well i've had my chance now all right we got
14:04beat but am i going to get a run is it going to be james maxwell again it's uh it's difficult but
14:09that's why the managers in the role he is and that's why he's got the squad he's uh he's assembled
14:14to to make those choices yeah absolutely yeah we'll just end on the the look of the draw or not as
14:20he says there um i mean it's mad into this fa cup draw again i don't think anyone was surprised when
14:26you know they got an away tie it's not the most glamorous is it crew away you know when winter's
14:32coming um what did you make to it well it's it's not the most glamorous but in our job ricky we've got
14:39to think of the logistics the travel time the different elements have we been there before do we
14:45know the set up so you know if you're looking at it from a fan's point of view it's a ground you've
14:50probably been to multiple times it's not an exciting one as such with all respect to crew
14:56it's a team of which rovers are pretty unhappy memories of a couple of seasons ago certainly of course
15:02played each other a couple of times since then in the league haven't they so that's probably you
15:06know in the past now given that rovers have achieved promotion but yeah i think i was looking at
15:11it of course from a rovers perspective and a football heaven point of view last night and the
15:15draw was relatively kind i think there was a trip to stevenage for chesterfield obviously rovers go to
15:20crew barnes and rotherham are both at home in the first round so that's the i think the main thing you
15:27look at is is how far away is it you know you're almost you know i hope it's not troro away or anything
15:32like that albeit it would have been a new ground and something different to to go and tackle but it's a
15:38it's a draw that while not the most uh appetizing it is a winnable game isn't it for rovers and it's a
15:47chance to get through we've seen in previous years that whether it's this competition or the carabao
15:52cup grant mccann's teams tend to do well in the cups and if you can get a decent tie first up we saw
15:58rovers get through and do all right didn't they last year in the cup again so and it can be you know
16:05sometimes it can be a distraction the fa cup but when you're not on a great run a winning that could
16:11you know provide a bit of a springboard and get rovers back to the sort of form we were seeing
16:16you know mid to mid to late august
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