After the great start we made; with not only some good performances but also some good results, it would be churlish to aim for the rubbish bin and start again. Wisely perhaps, manager Paul Lambert is not intent on going down that road.
Lambert explained his thinking. ” I’ve said to the guys that because they’ve played that well in all the games but then not so good in one, I might give you the benefit of the doubt, but then if you mess up again then maybe you’ll be out – they know that.”
I think this is completely the right strategy. The players will be hurting and more eager than ever to right their wrongs and the best way to do this is to give them all another chance. Look at Liverpool for example. They lost 7-2 to Aston Villa in what turned out to be a very bad day at the office but this did not persuade German guru Jurgen Klopp to make wholesale changes to his team because he knew that lightning was very unlikely to strike twice.
And there are other factors to contend with here. We knew, before a ball was kicked, that Doncaster Rovers would be a big test. They had been playing well and had just come off the back of an excellent away victory at mighty Portsmouth. Town were good for the first 25 minutes of the game at the Keepmoat Stadium and deserved their lead. Two goals in relatively quick succession just before the interval changed all that, and instead of going in for a half time cuppa with a lead, we were suddenly chasing the game and we never quite recovered.
Now, I am not trying to make excuses for what happened next. Our defence completely capitulated and it is a serious cause for concern. I have often praised keeper Tomas Holy for his ability to command his box but on Tuesday night he did the complete opposite and he was one of the primary reasons for our sad demise. The defence got the jitters and perhaps only Luke Chambers came out of it with any credit at all.
If there are to be changes tomorrow, it will probably come in defence, where Tomas Holy and Toto Nsiala will be watching their backs. They may just be lucky this time but another repeat performance and they will be out. Stephen Ward may replace Myles Kenlock at Lincoln though, as he is over his recent injury.
I will leave the last words to the gaffer. ” The only changes I make will be through fatigue – or if I feel somebody’s off their form a little. I won’t make massive changes because we lost one game of football after being great for the previous six games. Everybody has an off day – nobody wants to, but they do, but you don’t want to do it again. If you perform like that again as an individual, then you won’t play. Simple as that.”
