ICT V The mighty Rovers

[roverthemoon]

Great save from Robbie Thomson to keep us in the game. BRS being subbed on and off is a strange one. Perhaps McGlynn has finally made his mind up about him. He had some decent passing but did his usual poor touch and got booked trying to recover. Good to give fringet players and young guys some game time and as others have said, it keeps the unbeaten run going. Onto Saturday

[SandyCromarty]

Decided to go along and now wish I hadn't, the game was played at 100 miles an hour probably due to the over enthusiasm of the youngsters in both team, at times the tempo resembled a bunch of jacked up mad ferrets ripping into rabbits, and for me that spoiled the game, there was some really good long passes across the pitch from both teams which then ended in a melee.

I was surprised Welsh was subbed but then again he's just back from injury, Doran for me was back to his old self when he came on and it was good to see Tommy Walsh back on good form.

As I mentioned in the last game with RR Berra is well off the pace and from the view in the North stand he repeatedly was pushing strikers down or holding onto them, other than that Connelly was his usual constant threat.

[roverthemoon]

8 minutes ago, SandyCromarty said:

As I mentioned in the last game with RR Berra is well off the pace and from the view in the North stand he repeatedly was pushing strikers down or holding onto them

If that’s being ‘well off the pace’ I’ll take that every week. One breakaway aside, a relatively comfortable clean sheet. Berra was his usual solid self. Watched on the stream and both your commentator and Ross Tokely praised his performance. 

[embow]

Christophe is not the fastest that I'll grant you but he makes up for it through huge experience. His positional play is usually very good and he is an organiser passing on his experience to the younger guys. If he was pushing and pulling strikers he wouldn't be the first of many but why wasn't he booked if this was the case?

[roverthemoon]

5 minutes ago, embow said:

Christophe is not the fastest that I'll grant you but he makes up for it through huge experience. His positional play is usually very good and he is an organiser passing on his experience to the younger guys. If he was pushing and pulling strikers he wouldn't be the first of many but why wasn't he booked if this was the case?

Think there’s a narrative around Berra that folk have already written in their heads. That’s he’s old, slow and finished. Some of our own fans jumped to this conclusion early on but watching him week in, week out made it too hard to keep up with that fantasy. He’s been class. There’s absolutely no way he could be described as well off the pace either tonight or in any game this season. 

[embow]

9 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Think there’s a narrative around Berra that folk have already written in their heads. That’s he’s old, slow and finished. Some of our own fans jumped to this conclusion early on but watching him week in, week out made it too hard to keep up with that fantasy. He’s been class. There’s absolutely no way he could be described as well off the pace either tonight or in any game this season. 

Totally agree. The guy is indeed a class act. Both Dave Narey and Bobby Evans were  thought to be past it but look what they contributed to their respective Rovers' teams in the seasons they played for us.

Edited November 30, 2021 by embow

[Wardy]

Berra is probably the best centre back in the league. 

[Raith_Raver]

McGlynn didn't mention Ross's injury, so maybe that suggests it's not an issue.

[Broken Algorithms]

[emoji23] Behave. Berra is a class act. He's comfortably good enough to still be at a club like us.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

2 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

Great save from Robbie Thomson to keep us in the game. BRS being subbed on and off is a strange one. Perhaps McGlynn has finally made his mind up about him. He had some decent passing but did his usual poor touch and got booked trying to recover. Good to give fringet players and young guys some game time and as others have said, it keeps the unbeaten run going. Onto Saturday

He was riding his luck after getting yellow carded, perhaps John was saving him from doing a Tumilty.

[Roath Raver]

 

[CALDERON]

Berra absolutely strolled the game, as he has the entire season.

[TheScarf]

Yeah even at 42, Berra is the best defender in the league. I’d give both my huge, spunk filled balls to have him over big Kirk.

[Lang Toun Lad]

Anyone watching the streams will know how often Berra is singled out by the commentators of other clubs just expecting him to make a big error that never comes. Some times any duel he loses out or isn't totally dominant of is laughed at and made out to be evidence of a massive decline.

Someone brought up the point that Berra has probably come here to learn the coaching side of the game from McGlynn and they are probably correct but I also think we may have someone who can take over from the gaffer in the long term. He looks to be a real leader and a great organiser so hopefully learning a good education under McGlynn then we may be looking at the eventual successor here.

[roverthemoon]

McGlynn just looks so relaxed and loving life in recent interviews. I know it’s easier to be that way when your team is on a winning run, but he looks like absolutely nothing can phase him. It’s great to see. 

[SandyCromarty]

10 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

If that’s being ‘well off the pace’ I’ll take that every week. One breakaway aside, a relatively comfortable clean sheet. Berra was his usual solid self. Watched on the stream and both your commentator and Ross Tokely praised his performance. 

I viewed Berra's play from a vastly different viewpoint than the commentators in the main stand, whereas they were commentating on the wing attacks in front of them I was obviously watching from behind the RR defence and could clearly see that when Berra could see he was going to be beat he physically caught the player, and being the experienced player he is he made sure the referee was blindsided, it's what defenders do when they lose pace.

There was one instance where he ran from defence with the ball through the middle and well into our half and then passed the ball right to the feet of a Caley player, I found that odd.

[Scottydog]

16 minutes ago, SandyCromarty said:

I viewed Berra's play from a vastly different viewpoint than the commentators in the main stand, whereas they were commentating on the wing attacks in front of them I was obviously watching from behind the RR defence and could clearly see that when Berra could see he was going to be beat he physically caught the player, and being the experienced player he is he made sure the referee was blindsided, it's what defenders do when they lose pace.

There was one instance where he ran from defence with the ball through the middle and well into our half and then passed the ball right to the feet of a Caley player, I found that odd.

Running? You sure it was Berra?   

Bene has plenty previous for the occasional nosebleed in that field, Berra rarely enters that territory unless it's for a set piece.

 

I too was unsure about his signing although I kept my powder dry at the time, I was a little skeptical of him, Zanatta and Connolly but retained the view that I trusted McGlynn to be right on the majority of them, unsurprisingly McGlynn's judgement was better than the doubters! All 3 have been way better than good so far.

Berra does lack pace (has done for a long time!) but his positioning and reading of the game more than makes amends 9 times out of 10.  In the air or on the deck he is rarely beaten and on those few occasions that he is it's usually because an opponent is all over him like an octopus yet he is rarely awarded a foul against him.

[roverthemoon]

14 hours ago, SandyCromarty said:

I viewed Berra's play from a vastly different viewpoint than the commentators in the main stand, whereas they were commentating on the wing attacks in front of them I was obviously watching from behind the RR defence and could clearly see that when Berra could see he was going to be beat he physically caught the player, and being the experienced player he is he made sure the referee was blindsided, it's what defenders do when they lose pace.

Guess we all see what we want to see. I watch him every week and see an experienced defender who rarely loses a header and uses his excellent positional sense to make sure he rarely gets beaten for pace, even by younger and quicker opponents. A class act.