Rotherham Match Thread

[Marc]

Chair and Frey Start

[sharky]

I like having Frey start. Not so sure about Willock starting.

[Marc]

1-0 down after 7 minutes, sheesh!

[Macmoish]

Rotherham take the lead!!!

[sharky]

FFS 1 nil down already

[dan]

🤦‍♂️

[harr]

Shambolic Start , sort out this bloody mess, meanwhile Sheff Weds and scumwall winning

[sharky]

All to play for in the 2nd half. Come on Rangers you can do it!

[Marc]

1-1 (Smyth)

Half an hour to win this!

[sharky]

YES!!! 1-1

Now let's go on and win it Rangers!!

[Marc]

Willock! 2-1

Don't let this slip!

[sharky]

YES!!!!!!!!

2-1

[sharky]

Live 20th

[sharky]

Feb 24, 2024 16:39:55 GMT sharky said:

Live 20th

Now 21st

[Marc]

FT: 2-1

[dan]

LETS GO!!!

[sharky]

2-1 FT and out of the relegation zone!

[blatantfowl]

Very good battling against a cynical basic team in Rotherham who had no intention of playing football.

That’s a very good sign and well done Willock who I thought was not justified to be in the team.

[Marc]

Huddersfeield and Millwall winning made our win all the more important. I was dreading a last minute Stoke equaliser.

[harr]

Thank heavens we did it.
First time since October we have more points than games.
Condemn Rotherham to 24th place
No have to fight for our lives to keep out the last two places.
What a shame Millwall, Sheff Weds and Hudds win but out the bottom three on goal diff.

Two really tough games now , Leics and WBA

[kilburnhoop]

That's 1 loss in 7 games, and 4 wins. Let's enjoy being out of the bottom 3 for at least a week. It's in our own hands now.

[gthompson66]

Frustrating game at times but great result. The team did well to never give up.

[spanishal]

Usual sloppy start and equally sloppy giveaway goal but after that all one way. Willock, Chair and Dunne outstanding, keeper saved them from a hiding but no one there for the follow ups after his excellent saves. Still mustn’t grumble too much, out of the bottom three, question is can we keep out of it.

[rickyqpr]

Feb 25, 2024 9:28:08 GMT spanishal said:

Usual sloppy start and equally sloppy giveaway goal but after that all one way. Willock, Chair and Dunne outstanding, keeper saved them from a hiding but no one there for the follow ups after his excellent saves. Still mustn’t grumble too much, out of the bottom three, question is can we keep out of it.

The first 7 minutes were truly awful. I sometimes think footballers do not have any common sense.
As you say, we always start poorly, and watching teams know this.
Rotherham had nothing to lose, so they threw everyone forward from the start with an ultra-aggressive press.
What did we do in response? 
Our captain Begovic was the biggest culprit - playing the ball out from the back to Clarke-Salter and Cook, who were quickly closed down, with no out ball available. So back to Begovic, who would then put the other centre back under pressure, who would then pass to the opposition, or play the full back into trouble. 
We had three escapes before Chair skyed a ball straight into danger - the goal was coming - it was madness.
No team can press like that for very long. In Frey we had a striker who could hold the ball up, but with all the players camped in our half, we did not try long balls until we were behind. Then Rotherham retreated and tried to do an Ainsworth and sit on their lead.
They looked like they may get away with it - I hope they do next week against Sheffield Wednesday!
When Armstrong starts, it is much harder for teams to apply that early high press, because they have to be watchful of his swift breaks. But yesterday's start against Leicester, and it will be a hiding.
I thought Paal had a poor game - why oh why does he take the set pieces?
Thought the crowd was great. The place was rocking. Overall - Phew!
Tough fixtures ahead now.

[hitmanrangers]

Odd game. As a few have said above, we started poorly with continuing to play out for the back. Marti needs to have a Plan B, or a better way of beating the press - hard to do with the quality of players we have. Thought the subs changed the game in the 2nd half and the January additions are really helping to have good backup options when we trail or struggle to break teams down.

Smyth, whilst throwing a few dives, made the difference and took his goal very well - at first I thought a bad mistake by the keeper as beaten at near post but replays clearly show a great finish through the legs. Could the keeper have done better for Willock's goal? Possibly, but Willock has an odd technique when striking the ball and appeared to disguise his shot which meant the keeper couldn't recover when it was actually struck straight at him, with power.

Colback and Willock had their best games for us this season, and Dunne wasn't caught out too much at RB. Paal was poor, I agree, and his set pieces continue to frustrate.

March fixtures are tough but still 3 games at home where we need to win at least 2. A lot of the teams around us also play each other during this month so hopefully not too many weekends where nearly all win like yesterday! If we can get to 40 points by end of March, then we have a great chance of staying up.