Wigan Away - Renewed hope?

It’s match day and after what feels like such a long time I find that I am looking forward to watching Rovers once again with a sense of expectation that had escaped me for what seems like an age. A short while ago - games just seem to happen without much excitement - but it seems like we have turned a corner - or have we?

Don’t get me wrong I do realise that the win last week could be misleading in that we rode our luck and nine times out of ten , Barnsley would probably have won that match and over whelmed us but it was more than that.

Barnsley didnt win though and we got the points which many will say is all that matters -but it was more than that.

There are certain games that are more important than just 3 points. Walsall away for example was the turning point of our League 2 promotion season and maybe- hopefully Barnsley at home will be the rebirth of the Bristol Rovers that we all love and want.

The big difference to me was that no matter how much pressure we were under we always showed positivity on the field . It wasn’t a backs to the wall , heads down type of performance based upon pure grit and determination as we always had an outlet on either wing who were staying high and could be found quickly with a good ball out. It was evident that Scott Sinclair in'particular was inclined to cover back but the manager was vocal in telling him to hold his position and to attack Barnsley’s narrow back 3 down the sides. As a result Scotty could easily have put us a couple of goals ahead before anyone else troubled the score board.

I remember at the fans forum at the beginning of the season that someone asked Matt Taylor why we didnt leave someone up when we defended corners and his response was to the effect that we were so bad at defending that he wanted as many people as possible crowding the penalty box. We now leave a player up = or at least we did against Barnsley!

I was also impressed with Sawyers who I think may be the midfield general we have been looking for . Early days and he made a fair few mistakes in that game but bearing in mind how rusty he must be - he still played his part in what was a good midfield display against one of the best midfields in this league. We didn’t get over run and Sawyers was constantly getting a foot in here and there to put off their attackers . That enabled Ward to play his natural game and suddenly the players who shone in the middle of last year was running around on our pitch.

Listening to his pre- Wigan interview it is evident that Sawyers is an experienced and intelligent player . In the brief chat he came across as a thinker - the Tony Craig type if you like - that we have been crying out for . He is by his own admission physically fit but not as sharp as he would like but that only comes from playing games and like many of our players his best is yet to come.

It wasnt just that though as the final 10 minutes of the game gave us real hope.

It was during that period when certain players came out of their shell and started to grow in confidence and self belief returned . Players were enjoying the game and it became evident that when a player surged forward out of defence and suddenly overloaded the opposition defence we looked so very dangerous. That happened because the players were encouraged to be brave and not get nosebleed if they were sucked out of position. Twice Wilson went forward and twice he created havoc . Both times it was Sawyers who ran back to cover the missing centre half like the responsible team player that he is and we have been lacking.

Goals breed confidence and both Hutch and Sotiriou will feel much better for getting on the scoresheet. Sinclair also has class and talent and whilst he missed a couple of chances last week the important thing was that he got into the scoring positions and on another day he would score both of the goals that i mentioned. We simply didnt need them agains Barnsley.

Incidentally I watched the Wrexham v Birmingham game on the telly and whilst it was a full blooded affair - both sides made a lot of errors and over hit passes and I wondered why they are at the top and we are so close to the bottom.

The answer quite simply is because their players put in so much effort - particularly Wrexham .

A fair few of the Wrexham guys have come up through the Leagues put in a great shift and even when Birmingham opened up their defence Wrexham had players busting a gut to get back cover up and just get in the way to crowd out the technically superior team. That was missing in the first part of the season for us when players always seemed to be jogging back rather than hungrly chasing the ball down.

I watched the Caldy interview the next day pre Wigan and he stated that we were not the best team last week but deserved the victory because we wanted it more . Hopefully he will instill that in our team and we will be in for a good second half to the season.

Wigan were a good team at the Mem earlier this season and so we have to be better . Our wingers have to keep their wing backs occupied . Burton sat deep and got bodies behind the ball and Wigan could not break them down - sound familiar?. The Wigan manager has already said that this game will be different and suit them better - so lets not get complacent

Even if we dont win lets hope for a performance that shows that we have truly turned the corner .

All the opinions are my own- who else would want them ? #UTG