Franchise Body Snatching Match Day Thread

Only 8,429 today.

I look forward to the post-match comments. 
#gobsh1tery

Stats: BRFC 0 MK Dons 2 - 61% - 39% - Shots 6-11 - On Target 1-4 - Corners 3-5 - Referee: Carl Boyeson - Attendance: 8,429

Goals at the start and finish of the game bookended a miserable afternoon for Rovers as they succumbed to a third successive defeat.

The home side got off to a terrible start as Quansah upended Leko in the box in the second minute, giving referee Boyeson no option but to award the spot-kick. Eisa fired home down the middle of Mem debutant Balcombe's goal.

There was a slight retribution a minute later as the 'keeper smashed an attempted clearance straight in the striker's face, forcing him off for attention. Balcombe pulled off a stunning diving stop in the 11th minute, clawing Eisa's shot away.

Coutts was booked in the 17th for preventing an MK counter-attack.

The biggest cheer of the afternoon thus far came in the 20th minute when the perpetually-fouled Coburn was awarded a free-kick. The set-piece found its way to Collins and his header looked like it was going to loop in for the equaliser, but drifrted agonisingly wide.

Rovers were enjoying the lion's share of possession but a packed MK defence was dealing comfortably with the pressure. A misplaced Balcombe pass in the 32nd minute handed the visitors a corner, but thankfully the Gas cleared their lines.

The referee spoke to Connolly and Eisa after a coming together, but took no action against either. Meanwhile, Collins and Sinclair switched flanks to see if it would bring about a change in fortunes.

Devoy was booked in first-half injury time for a late tackle on Ward.

Rovers began the second-half without skipper Paul Coutts, as he was replaced by Ryan Loft. The big striker was almost on the scoresheet in the 50th minute, glancing just wide from a Collins cross.

Finley saw yellow as tempers became frayed in the 58th minute. Five minutes later, McCormick replaced Sinclair.

Gibbons did well to block a Devoy shot to give Dons a corner in the 66th minute. Moments later, the Gas right-back was scythed down by an awful tackle from Maghoma, who was lucky to escape with just a yellow card.

Leko was next in Boyeson's book in the 75th minute, followed a minute later by Johnson as MK resorted to some crude tackles.

Grant Ward was now playing deep, looking to dictate play on an impressive home debut for the Gas. Marquis and Anderson entered proceedings.

Quansah denied Eisa a certain goal in the 83rd minute with a last-ditch tackle and James Connolly blocked a goaldbound shot from the resulting corner. Aston Villa youngster Lamare Bogarde replaced Ward in the 85th minute. His first touch was a deft pass to Collins, his second a lovely reverse pass to Marquis.

With Rovers pushing forward and looking for the equaliser, the visitors caught them on the break, with Eisa playing in substitute Dean to make it two-nil.

Bogarde was inches away from a consolation, curling narrowly wide from outside the area.

Next up for Rovers is a Sky Bet League One game at Lincoln City on Saturday 11th February.

Rovers: Ellery Balcombe, James Connolly, Lewis Gordon, Jarell Quansah, Sam Finley, Grant Ward, Aaron Collins, Paul Coutts (c), James Gibbons, Josh Coburn.

Subs: Anssi Jaakkola, John Marquis, Ryan Loft, Harry Anderson, Lamare Bogarde, Luca Hoole, Luke McCormick.

MK Dons: Jamie Cumming, Tennai Watson, Jack Tucker, Josh McEachran (c), Mo Eisa, Jonathan Leko, Daniel Harvie, Sullay Kaikai, Dawson Devoy, Zak Jules, Paris Maghoma.

Subs: Franco Ravizzoli, Will Grigg, Bradley Johnson, Conor Grant, Darragh Burns, Henry Lawrence, Max Dean.

Bristol Rovers player ratings vs MK Dons: Gas suffer third-straight defeat with flat performance..

Ellery Balcombe - 6
His clean sheet was lost within three minutes when he was beaten by Mo Eisa's penalty, but Balcombe did well to deny the same man from long range soon after. Showed his ability in possession on both feet, but he was left with little chance of keeping out Mat Dean's late goal which clinched the contest for the visitors

James Gibbons - 5
Cut a frustrated figure in the closing stages as a pass went astray. Stuck to his task defensively, but needed to come up with a bit more quality on the ball.

Jarell Quansah - 5
Made a nightmare start to his home debut, conceding a cheap penalty inside two minutes when he showed a touch of naivety to bite at the ball with Eisa getting there just ahead of him. However, the Liverpool prospect did relatively well for long periods and MK were limited to relatively few chances throughout the game.

James Connolly - 5
Frustrated the fans with a couple of wayward passes out of defence in the first half, but he dug in and MK were allowed to create relatively little with their chances in transition.

Lewis Gordon - 5
A tentative display without the required conviction in defence or attack. Tidy enough and he takes up good positions when he inverts into central areas, but his contribution was minimised. To his credit, though, he had a tricky matchup with Jonathan Leko and he did not give him too much change in their duel.

Paul Coutts (c) - 5
Not in his best form. Made an unconvincing start, losing out to Josh McEachramn in the build-up to the first goal and he was booked early doors, leaving him in a difficult situation. Taken off at half time with Barton bringing on an extra attacker.

Grant Ward - 6
A steady performance on his home debut. Passed the ball with more efficiency than most and he patrolled the central area in the second half, allowing the Gas to sustain possession in the MK half for a period.

Sam Finley - 5
The will to make things happen is there, but things are not coming off at the usual rate for the 30-year-old at the moment. Battled hard but the Gas could never quite get into gear despite their control of possession.

Scott Sinclair - 5
A disjointed first half gave him few platforms to attack and he struggled to impose himself on the game until he was taken off just after the hour mark.

Aaron Collins - 6
Scoring chances evaded him with MK doing a good job of defending their area, but Collins did deliver three good balls into the area. One in the first half came from a clever headed cross into the six-yard area which Coburn could not convert. After the interval, there were a pair of menacing deliveries from the right but Loft could force neither on target; admittedly, they were half chances. Rovers have lost three straight now and the obvious route out of this slump is to work out ways of getting Collins into the game more now that teams are well aware of his ability. Easier said than done.

Josh Coburn - 5
His most difficult game to date. Was given absolutely no assistance by a dreadful referee, but Coburn also could have been stronger in his attempts to hold the ball up. Taken off in the closing stages with the Gas chasing an equaliser.

Substitutes
Ryan Loft (for Coutts on 46') - 6
Immediately upped the intensity up front and gave the MK defence some moments of discomfort, but only a couple of half chances came his way.

Luke McCormick (for Sinclair on 63') - 5
Could not find a pass to unlock the defence.

Harry Anderson (for Gordon on 77') - 6
His attacking intent gave Rovers a different edge on the left flank, but it didn't materialise into a leveller.

John Marquis (for Coburn on 77') - 6
Put himself about as ever, but the Gas had a hard time creating throughout the contest and Marquis experienced the same shortage of service.

Lamare Bogarde (for Ward on 87') - N/A
Not used: Anssi Jaakkola, Luca Hoole.

Thank you Tote.

What I witnessed was a ' new' team trying to find its way.
The new players look decent to me and from his 2nd half performance we discovered Ward enjoys the deeper midfield role.He had time to pass the ball effectively.In the coming games this will hopefully be a plus.

As i posted above,the Liverpool and Villa lads look good players and Ellery was fine in goal.

So our January signings ('Mccullum' to come) gives Joe some decent cards to play with.He now has to find the best way to play them.

I wonder how a Bogarde Finley pairing would go,just eg?

Ward to play the deep midfield role.

Gibson (when fit) to partner Quansah at the back.

We're clearly not playing very well in what appears a transitional period,we don't threaten enough,but Joe has options and I would of thought theres a bloody good team amongst our squad.

I suppose we'll continue to deal with and in the loan transfer market, just as 99% ( or is it 100%? ) of EFL fcs do.
Part of todays game.

As an aside,I wonder if the parachute money (from 1st to 2nd tier) is made significantly less (as has been discussed),would that effect the current huge loan market?

Just got back...

Headless chicken. Possession based football. 3min home debut. Loyalty. Loan claws. We've been well and truly sussed..

These were all talking points.
Briefly....

Our headless chicken play in possession with no structure and relying on second half improved performance is wearing and taxing on the average GasHead.
This is supported by the lack of atmosphere after the 16th minute, when, very rarely, we heard the Mem in full voice until second half where we bothered their Keeper once - a Finley speculation from 25 yards - a regulation standard catch into the belly from someone cumming.

Possession based stats are all very good and well if you get the result you desire more often than not! I disagree with JAB post match comments....he didn't have to pay to watch the stop, side and inside pass from Gordon every time or the non existent threat from the right rendering our flank attack impotent. I did. So did some of you. When does it matter having 58 % possession when you do nothing with it....?
It reminds me of a scenario of Quasimodo having the biggest c0ck in the world - what's the point?

The home debut of Quansah should be judged after 3 mins.... The naivety of no 3rd division football taught him the lesson, where fella should have stayed on his feet - he was well capable - but the challenge invited a fall , which he duly did, resulting in my (after event) m o m losing a bit of pride there.
A fall before a pride, if you will..

I think the trait most football fans will abide by is loyalty. Loyalty to one's club, colours, players etc and ours is no different. Instinctively, I feel loyalty to Belshaw, and to some extent, Evans whom both have performed above expectations before....a number of us felt bemused with both non involvement - which everyone recognised pre match as a risk - and I wonder in the light of the day whether it paid off? Do we have a goalkeeper that inspires more confidence? Are the set pieces being delivered better? Is there a wonder link between defence and attack? Can we find a Keeper to save a penalty? ....I know early days, but for me, er no to all of those fundamental questions.
Which brings us back to loyalty....in my opinion, over the last 3 matches and listening to JAB post match comments, he's made some awful decisions. We've played 3 clubs in the bottom 6 and not even looked like 1 point, let alone winning any of them, and we go on to Lincoln and Ipswich next!......so, how long can anyone remain loyal to a good manager (imo) making bad decisions?
It feels like JAB has hit a wall.
It feels like JAB has dismantled all the hard work to get us where we are, team spirit, never say die attitude etc, submitting to loan claws, yes claws because the keeper situation feels exactly like that.
It feels like JAB is turning BG like where insists on playing out defence when sometimes it's clearly dangerous to do so.
If JAB can't inspire loyalty to Belly and Evans, why should there be any for him when he underperforms regularly just as much ...?

Genuine moments of interest were...

A Sinclair shimmy in first half, graceful and delight to watch that bought him time and space to cross....worth some of the admission fee alone!

Kicking off 1970s handbag style in Tent End....well done us again. In the interest of trying to extract the last £ for paying GasHeads, reducing season ticket seats for that area has encouraged any old hooligan to chuck things at away fans! Or young, apparently...


I liked Bogarde cameo, so play him again...


Their number 12....I thought m o m. And their number 42.... amazing continuing to play with a broken leg!!! I mean, you don't see that sort of bravery every day? An athlete, a true wizard of fitness...

So...onto the next match.
"I'm just glad we've got 37 points" someone said to me. Hmmmmmm teams have been relegated on more!

Don't press panic just yet, but...

Yes,I know.

However,as it stands there seems little EFL FCs can do about it.
Or is there?

Lincoln away next week.....