Matt Taylor - Rotherham post-match interview

[Davefevs]

Really worth a watch / listen.

Quite easy to listen to our own manager post-match and get one view, but a lot can be learned from listening to the opposition manager for balance.

https://www.themillers.co.uk/news/2022/december/post-match--the-second-half-needed-to-look-more-like-the-first---taylor/

Not meaning to be critical of our fans, but if this was Nige, they’d be saying he’s thrown Richard Wood under the bus…but all he’s (Taylor) doing is being is honest, recognising the problems caused by Wells and Conway today.  They were excellent btw.  As fans we wanted a bit of honesty, but when we get it, we don’t like it.

Taylor is a manager I like and we should be keeping an eye on him for the future.

 

[Robbored]

That was very candid and fair play to Taylor for saying how it was from his perspective so openly. There definitely are similarities between him and Nige in terms of their honesty, no bluff or waffle. I like that in any manager.

[GrahamC]

Be surprised if anyone has a smaller budget than Rotherham at our level, so they are doing an excellent job at competing & Taylor is just being realistic.

Losing 2 of their best players for free to a (much bigger) club in the division below in the summer after getting promoted again just shows the challenge for them.

Wood is 35, has been a great servant for them & never fails to give his all, but as we know, this is a brutal league sometimes.

They started the season really well & were still unbeaten going in October but have now lost 6 since then, so I reckon they’ll do very well to survive, at present Blackpool, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Wigan & Hull look like the other ones they are in a dogfight with.

[Loosey Boy]

Thanks for sharing @Davefevs

Great to hear his views on Wells/Conway

[italian dave]

Thanks @Davefevs. That might save @Olé his match report, because for me it summed up the game pretty well.

I thought they (Rotherham) looked pretty good coming forward first half. Very mobile, lots of great movement, really caused us problems. They just seemed to lack the final finish. 

Harder to comment on them defensively first half (and on us as an defensively second half) because it was all down the other end and I always find that trickier when we’re behind a goal! 

But certainly what had been a pretty open and interesting game got very ‘stodgy’, very much so once we got our third. And that was partly about us ‘managing’ the game well, although I also felt that they reacted as if it was the hammer blow he talks about and they looked like they’d lost the self belief they had first half. 

Edited December 11, 2022 by italian dave

[Rossi the Robin]

Seems a decent honest manager 

I still can’t believe we did a really good throw in 

 

[Merrick's Marvels]

6 minutes ago, Rossi the Robin said:

Seems a decent honest manager 

I still can’t believe we did a really good throw in 

 

Given the standard of refereeing these days, I'm amazed Wells wasn't penalised for a foul, even though he was just using his body cleverly. One of several occasions when yesterday's ref allowed a physical contest for the ball without blowing for non-existent fouls. 

If only we could have him every week. 

[Numero Uno]

It's not only Nige that gets hacked off with some lines of questioning then "No disrespect to that awful question you complete and utter bellend but it was ******* obvious to a blind person why I had to substitute Richard Wood at half time today" is what he may as well have said.......................

Good interview that summed up the game.

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

I reckon they’ll do very well to survive, at present Blackpool, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Wigan & Hull look like the other ones they are in a dogfight with.

Sadly, I'd include us in there too if only because we're not consistent enough. If we finish where we did last season, I'll be delighted. Doing some business in January may be necessary, although never ideal.

 

[Davefevs]

6 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Thanks @Davefevs. That might save @Olé his match report, because for me it summed up the game pretty well.

I thought they (Rotherham) looked pretty good coming forward first half. Very mobile, lots of great movement, really caused us problems. They just seemed to lack the final finish. 

Harder to comment on them defensively first half (and on us as an attacking force second half) because it was all down the other end and I always find that trickier when we’re behind a goal! 

But certainly what had been a pretty open and interesting game got very ‘stodgy’, very much so once we got our third. And that was partly about us ‘managing’ the game well, although I also felt that they reacted as if it was the hammer blow he talks about and they looked like they’d lost the self belief they had first half. 

The threat provided by Norton-Cuffy disappeared, Pring got to grips with him.  That’s the best I’ve seen Norton-Cuffy play, he can normally be a bit heavy with his touches, but he was good first half.  Felt at h-t Pring had to be more physical with him, which he kind of did, and the threat dissipated.  He went off after 70, Pring scored after 73.

As for @Olé, suspect Portugal’s defeat has slightly dampened his enthusiasm for footie!

[Davefevs]

13 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Given the standard of refereeing these days, I'm amazed Wells wasn't penalised for a foul, even though he was just using his body cleverly. One of several occasions when yesterday's ref allowed a physical contest for the ball without blowing for non-existent fouls. 

If only we could have him every week. 

I agree, thought he was very good.  A ref that understood the rules / laws but also how to interpret them into the game.  He sussed out the physical but fair from the niggly, cynical, stop play type stuff.

[The Coach]

In my opinion. You never throw players under the bus publicly. You deal with it in the dressing room. Regardless of their performance 

[Davefevs]

4 minutes ago, The Coach said:

In my opinion. You never throw players under the bus publicly. You deal with it in the dressing room. Regardless of their performance 

But I think “throwing under the bus” is a term too ready to be used, when a manager comments on a player who hasn’t played that well.  In this interview, all Taylor has done is said Wood wasn’t doing the things he wanted (and had done for many years).  It’s a critique, evaluation, nothing more.  If Taylor had come out and said the back three were good, he’d be slated for bullshit.

[The Coach]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

But I think “throwing under the bus” is a term too ready to be used, when a manager comments on a player who hasn’t played that well.  In this interview, all Taylor has done is said Wood wasn’t doing the things he wanted (and had done for many years).  It’s a critique, evaluation, nothing more.  If Taylor had come out and said the back three were good, he’d be slated for bullshit.

That’s I agree with Dave. But even if one player has a bad game. I’d be going about it from a collective unit. I.e from a defensive stand point we weren’t good enough.

The statement above may not be true and it may have been down to one individual. But I’d address that away from cameras. I’d be saying to Taylor what you said behind closed doors. Not in front of the camera. But hey, that’s just my management style and way I do things. 

Edited December 11, 2022 by The Coach

[GrahamC]

50 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Sadly, I'd include us in there too if only because we're not consistent enough. If we finish where we did last season, I'll be delighted. Doing some business in January may be necessary, although never ideal.

 

Probably, though our goals against is definitely on the decline, which is significant & yesterday was a huge result in terms of the 2 side’s relative positions.

A month ago I looked at the sides I thought we were in competition with to stay up, the only one missing from my list here is Reading who keep picking up points when you don’t expect them to.

This January is going to be different from the last couple, I’ve heard of one expected departure already & you could make a case for probably up to 4 more.

I doubt all will happen, but it does mean we are far more likely to do incoming business than in any January since Pearson took over.

[Red-Robbo]

41 minutes ago, The Coach said:

That’s I agree with Dave. But even if one player has a bad game. I’d be going about it from a collective unit. I.e from a defensive stand point we weren’t good enough.

The statement above may not be true and it may have been down to one individual. But I’d address that away from cameras. I’d be saying to Taylor what you said behind closed doors. Not in front of the camera. But hey, that’s just my management style and way I do things. 

 

TBF Taylor did say that Rotherham collectively played poorly, rather than blaming just one player. He did it quite subtly, using that favoured managerial cliche "a lack of quality let us down". 

He's seems quite a feet-on-the-ground, sensible guy who knows that there are limitations to what he can achieve on their budget. 

[Rudolf Hucker]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

The threat provided by Norton-Cuffy disappeared, Pring got to grips with him.  That’s the best I’ve seen Norton-Cuffy play, he can normally be a bit heavy with his touches, but he was good first half.  Felt at h-t Pring had to be more physical with him, which he kind of did, and the threat dissipated.  He went off after 70, Pring scored after 73.

As for @Olé, suspect Portugal’s defeat has slightly dampened his enthusiasm for footie!

I was surprised and delighted when Norton-Cuffy was taken off. He was their best player in the first half imo and the likely source of any goal threat. Certainly Pring got tighter to him in the second half and N-C’s threat diminished but not enough to sub him. 

[italian dave]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

The threat provided by Norton-Cuffy disappeared, Pring got to grips with him.  That’s the best I’ve seen Norton-Cuffy play, he can normally be a bit heavy with his touches, but he was good first half.  Felt at h-t Pring had to be more physical with him, which he kind of did, and the threat dissipated.  He went off after 70, Pring scored after 73.

As for @Olé, suspect Portugal’s defeat has slightly dampened his enthusiasm for footie!

Yep, good point. And as for @Olé, Englands defeat hasn’t stopped the rest of us….he should just learn that stiff upper lip and get on with it

[italian dave]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I agree, thought he was very good.  A ref that understood the rules / laws but also how to interpret them into the game.  He sussed out the physical but fair from the niggly, cynical, stop play type stuff.

He did, but he let a carbon copy of the push on Mount go unpunished in a dangerous area for us in the first half.  I’ve no problem with the greater physicality message, but it really winds me up when that’s used to allow players to simply clatter into and barge an opponent off the ball just as they’re about to head/control it.

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, italian dave said:

He did, but he let a carbon copy of the push on Mount go unpunished in a dangerous area for us in the first half.  I’ve no problem with the greater physicality message, but it really winds me up when that’s used to allow players to simply clatter into and barge an opponent off the ball just as they’re about to head/control it.

Can’t recall that one, who was it on?

[petehinton]

2 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Probably, though our goals against is definitely on the decline, which is significant & yesterday was a huge result in terms of the 2 side’s relative positions.

A month ago I looked at the sides I thought we were in competition with to stay up, the only one missing from my list here is Reading who keep picking up points when you don’t expect them to.

This January is going to be different from the last couple, I’ve heard of one expected departure already & you could make a case for probably up to 4 more.

I doubt all will happen, but it does mean we are far more likely to do incoming business than in any January since Pearson took over.

Heard similar of ‘expect a very different January to last year’ 

I think Nige wants to speed up ‘trading’ and probably shift along the inevitable of HNM going, and maybe Bentley too? As you say, could be a good 3 or 4 genuinely off. 

[italian dave]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Can’t recall that one, who was it on?

Can’t remember Dave. Might have been King. It wasn’t a penalty call or anything like as critical as last night: it when we were defending, first half. And not much came of it. I had a moan at the time, but if it hadn’t sprung immediately to mind last night I’d probably have forgotten it by now!

But it’s not the first time that’s happened by any means. Bit like last night: if the French player had used his body strength, had gone shoulder to shoulder, fair enough, that sort of physicality is part of the game. But just clattering into someone with no intent other than to push them over isn’t the same thing. 

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Heard similar of ‘expect a very different January to last year’ 

I think Nige wants to speed up ‘trading’ and probably shift along the inevitable of HNM going, and maybe Bentley too? As you say, could be a good 3 or 4 genuinely off. 

A month or so back I thought “quiet January”, but like you and Graham, I think we will see some activity.

[Olé]

20 hours ago, italian dave said:

Yep, good point. And as for @Olé, Englands defeat hasn’t stopped the rest of us….he should just learn that stiff upper lip and get on with it

Apologies. I took notes as usual but as a match it was a bit "meh" (especially for one we were winning at half time, despite looking shapeless whenever they went at us). By the second half my hands were too cold to type so I had a 25 minute gap in my notes until our third, and as commented the game by then had become very flat apart from the odd Max O'Leary save. Then legged it to Sheffield to watch the Portugal game, which by full time had done for my enthusiasm for football as @Davefevs rightly identified (and I even had a 3 hour train journey back to follow, which is normally a vacuum of time filled by writing the report).

Stiff upper lip a lot easier for England - at least you turned up and against the favourites. 

In the absence of a report looking back at my notes the key themes are covered in this thread I think, the fact Rotherham ran at us effectively throughout the game and we seemed to stand off and stand off (and in the first half anybodies guess who was tracking who). Our best football was from the same place it came earlier in the season, Naismith going direct and picking out the run of Conway off the last man. We were much more effective in the second half at killing the game, but we weren't ever particularly quick to the 50/50s and second balls. Everything was a bit flat, even the crowd, I think everyone was distracted by other things...

[italian dave]

5 minutes ago, Olé said:

Apologies. I took notes as usual but as a match it was a bit "meh" (especially for one we were winning at half time, despite looking shapeless whenever they went at us). By the second half my hands were too cold to type so I had a 25 minute gap in my notes until our third, and as commented the game by then had become very flat apart from the odd Max O'Leary save. Then legged it to Sheffield to watch the Portugal game, which by full time had done for my enthusiasm for football as @Davefevs rightly identified (and I even had a 3 hour train journey back to follow, which is normally a vacuum of time filled by writing the report).

Stiff upper lip a lot easier for England - at least you turned up and against the favourites. 

In the absence of a report looking back at my notes the key themes are covered in this thread I think, the fact Rotherham ran at us effectively throughout the game and we seemed to stand off and stand off (and in the first half anybodies guess who was tracking who). Our best football was from the same place it came earlier in the season, Naismith going direct and picking out the run of Conway off the last man. We were much more effective in the second half at killing the game, but we weren't ever particularly quick to the 50/50s and second balls. Everything was a bit flat, even the crowd, I think everyone was distracted by other things...

Thanks Ole. And you know I was only joking! Always look forward to your reports,

Yes, a shame that England Portugal semi never materialised.

And yes, it was bloody freezing, wasn’t it? 

[Steve Watts]

I have to be honest I don't think Wood played badly - he just had no answer to Tommy and Nakhi's pace and movement.  I wasn't surprised to see him come off at half time, but I presumed it was due to the booking.  I didn't think they looked any more secure at the back in the second half and lacked his leadership.

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, Steve Watts said:

I have to be honest I don't think Wood played badly - he just had no answer to Tommy and Nakhi's pace and movement.  I wasn't surprised to see him come off at half time, but I presumed it was due to the booking.  I didn't think they looked any more secure at the back in the second half and lacked his leadership.

Peltier’s recovery run on our second was awful, meant Wood couldn’t show him the way he wanted…and Tommy rightly exposed his lack of pace and agility.  Good boy TC…he’s bloody ruthless, he needs to be.

[Bristol Oil Services]

56 minutes ago, Olé said:

Apologies. I took notes as usual but as a match it was a bit "meh" (especially for one we were winning at half time, despite looking shapeless whenever they went at us). By the second half my hands were too cold to type so I had a 25 minute gap in my notes until our third, and as commented the game by then had become very flat apart from the odd Max O'Leary save. Then legged it to Sheffield to watch the Portugal game, which by full time had done for my enthusiasm for football as @Davefevs rightly identified (and I even had a 3 hour train journey back to follow, which is normally a vacuum of time filled by writing the report).

Stiff upper lip a lot easier for England - at least you turned up and against the favourites. 

In the absence of a report looking back at my notes the key themes are covered in this thread I think, the fact Rotherham ran at us effectively throughout the game and we seemed to stand off and stand off (and in the first half anybodies guess who was tracking who). Our best football was from the same place it came earlier in the season, Naismith going direct and picking out the run of Conway off the last man. We were much more effective in the second half at killing the game, but we weren't ever particularly quick to the 50/50s and second balls. Everything was a bit flat, even the crowd, I think everyone was distracted by other things...

Ok mate, but don't let it happen again. Otherwise, we'll have to start going to these bleedin away games miles away up North ourselves, and who wants to do that? what are we, Fewers? else we won't know wtf happened. Or be forced to listen to Radio Local.

[Red-Robbo]

1 hour ago, Olé said:

By the second half my hands were too cold to type so I had a 25 minute gap in my notes until our third,

 

Gloves and a pen & pad, young man. Do you think I reported thrilling Basingstoke Town v Winchester City derbies in mid-January using my phone?