Hindsight Is A Wonderful Thing
Peterborough United boss Steve Evans has suggested for the last two matches that he might change the starting line-up only to leave it as it is after winning all five opening matches of the season…that was until Saturday!
Grant McCann was back in town for the first time since his sacking with his re-vamped Doncaster Rovers side. Another former Posh boss was in charge of Rovers until the end of last season before the club and Darren Ferguson decided to part ways. McCann has gone in and on the evidence on what we saw on Saturday, has improved them remarkably!
Rovers completely dominated Posh in the first-half and should’ve gone in at the interval with more than the one-goal advantage they had. In fact, they should’ve increased their lead early in the second-half but when teams only lead by a single goal, the opposition can always snatch a point regardless how deserved or undeserved it may be.
It came as a surprise that no changes were made during the first 45 minutes and even more surprisingly, when the same eleven players trotted out for the second-half!
What did you think to the performance of the players? Rate the players HERE.
Evans did change formation a few times in the second-half in an effort to come to terms with Rovers as so many players were off the boil. Maybe Evans should’ve tweaked his starting line-up at least to give it a fresh feel but as we say, “hindsight is a wonderful thing”! Although some of the tactics obviously didn’t work during the match, it was so nice to see a Posh manager who not only has a plan “B”, but also a plan “C” and “D”!!
You could’ve taken your pick of 6 or 7 players who could quite easily have been hauled off during the match and the match against MK Dons in the opening match of this seasons Checkatrade Trophy has probably come at a good time for Posh.
It will give Evans the chance to rest some players while giving players on the fringes, and who have been “training well”, a chance to shine and stake a claim in the starting line-up for their next League match at Southend United on Saturday.
The Rovers match did show the potential Ivan Toney has and what he brings to the table and also the dangerous balls that Marcus Maddison hits which often causes panic in the opposition backline and what has been missing so often this season.
McCann may have left with a smile on his face after showing what he has achieved in such a short amount of time although he will be gutted to have left with just a point. Rovers fans shouldn’t get too excited as Posh fans also saw an improved level of performance and results when McCann took over as temporary boss and then as permanent boss.
Did he learn from his time at Posh? What will happen when Rovers hit a sticky patch? It will certainly be interesting to see how he copes with a different set of players. Maybe going from player to manager at the same club wasn’t the easiest of things to do as many players would still see him as one of them rather than the “gaffer”. This may be the difference between his time at Posh and how things pan out at Doncaster.
For Posh to come away from this game with a point was a major plus point. They were completely nullified in that first-half as they only created one real chance which Matty Godden struck wide of the post.
Posh have really been strengthened at the back during pre-season and while they were fortunate to concede only one goal, and there will be times they could concede a hatful if this sort of performance returns against a side who know how to find the back of the net, they shouldn’t concede as regularly as they have in the 10+ years Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has been at the club.
What did you think to the performance of the players? Rate the players HERE.