Doncaster Rovers 2-0 Crewe Alex 23/24 Review - Wrong Choices

I could break down the worrying things we saw today. But to be honest, they have been a continuation of some trends we've seen all season, that they've managed to suppress with late comebacks, hard work and a good slice of fortune. People might disagree, but look deeper and go back from the start of the season and you'll see that I'm right. So, let's break down all things that came out today that in truth, have been issues all season.

Wrong Selections

This isn't new. Let's not pretend they are. How many times this season have the management got the starting XI wrong? It seemed to happen week in, week out at the start of the season. How many quick changes did they have to make to personnel and formations to rescue games?

Aaron Rowe in the number 10? Ryan Cooney starting? What the hell are they thinking? And then we have the subs. Sure, plenty of times they've gotten them right(often to correct an initial mistake on their part), but today, why on earth wait 60 minutes to bring off Rowe and Cooney when everyone could see they needing hooking at HT. It's piss poor management and if we're being honest, it's been a regular occurence.

Discipline

It's been a problem all season and one that has passed under the radar for far too long. The discipline in this team(aside from giving away penalties and taking red cards) have been atrocious. 4 yellow cards added to an already huge total of 85. How many stupid fouls have they made? How many needless cards?

You might be thinking "what's the big deal?", but given each yellow can fundamentally change a players mindset and performance to varying degrees, having an average of 2.47 players booked every single game is a big issue.

Falling Behind

Today was the 9th time the Alex have fallen 2-0 behind in a game. On plenty of other occasions, the right subs and some fortune have gotten them results where they truthfully barely deserved one. But to fall behind by multiple goals before you yourself even score one is poor. Today, yes the first was a fluke and the 2nd could have been offside. But they deserved to concede 2 as Donny had enough chances to score 2 other goals, even if those don't go in.

Not settled

It;s actually a miracle this team has won 17 of 36 games given the side hasn't been settled pretty much all season. Rotating between 2 GKs, 2 RBs, 2 RCBs, about 5 players in midfield, 3 players on the LW, 2 players upfront.

Rotating between about 6 formations. Making crazy subs and altering systems 2-3 more times a game. As I say, it's incredible to think they're 5th given all those things working against them, some in their control, some not.

Not good enough

It baffles me to see people still defend Aaron Rowe. He's a painfully average player who yes, does get played out of position in the number 10 role, but is still pretty poor most weeks when he's used correctly. Ryan Cooney has been a poor signing. Let's just call a spade a spade. Harvey Davies, poor. Shilow Tracey, dime a dozen L2 winger, nothing special. CBR and Long have scored goals, but in truth have been pretty meh.

Yes, injuries robbed them of players who would have been big contributors right now in Powell, Tabiner, Holicek and Offord. Yes, the losses of O'Riordan and White in January were big blows. But, regardless of what league they find themselves in next season, for me the areas where they need lots of improvement if they A, want to mount another L2 promotion push or B, they want to try and stay in L1.

Don't panic

People will probably roll their eyes through a lot of the above points and think "here goes Mr Negative again". But let's just clarify something. I am delighted with how the season has gone so far. Up until the last 2 and the 6 game wobble they had in December, they've gotten results and played some pretty good football at times.

The fact they are 5th when most fans had them mid-table at best is incredible. It's been a fun season and they are still in a great position to make the top 7, given there are only 10 games to go. What they've achieved with their budget compared to the other big hitters ahead of them is remarkable. The job Bell and Dicker have done on the whole is excellent.

BUT I won't hide my frustration that the same issues that should have rectified months ago keep popping up. Not when they are costing the team precious points at the worst possible moment. It needs to be fixed. Now.

Referee Rating - 0

I can't grumble at the 4 Alex bookings, but Donny not picking up 1 is laughable. As is him buying every flop by them, allowing Adelekun's corner to be taken outside the quadrant and then checking Kirk's after home fan complaints and stopping play for a home side injury and not an away side one on Tabiner. He wasn't the reason the Alex lost, but much like Farai Hallam last week, he made it a lot harder on them.

Management Rating - 0

Sorry. Wrong starting XI, which was obvious. Didn't hook Rowe and Cooney at HT, which they should have done. Made too many changes and changed the shape, which led to more confusion. The players need to shoulder some blame, but this for me was mostly on the management and their woeful decisions all afternoon. Be better.

Player Ratings

Tom Booth - 5

Not a lot he could do with either goal, most of his other saves were right down his throat. A solid game, one of a small number who didn't put in a poor performance.

Ryan Cooney - 0

Not a L2 calibre starter. I don't know how much more evidence we need to see. Struggled again, giving Adelekun too much space to win the corner for the first, got booked, then was the reason they were able to score the 2nd after his slide took him off the pitch. Shouldn't have started after the Crawley game. Still shouldn't be starting. Can Bell explain the thinking behind this one? Because I'm lost.

Ed Turns - 5

Didn't have the most difficult of afternoons, even in a defence which conceded 2 goals. Gave away a couple of silly free kicks though, he needs to be smarter about getting done by strikers like that.

Mickey Demetriou - 5

I feel for him. It's a miracle he's scored 8 goals this season given teams have now resorted to just holding him at corners. He was denied several penalties today, just like last week. Are refs just basically saying because it goes on in both boxes that it's a free-for-all? Ridiculous.

Rio Adebisi - 4

Poor. Picked up a silly needless booking and then he wasted their best chance of the 2nd half with a poor finish which he really should have buried, even if he's a LB by trade. His corners were poor and he just generally had a bad day I thought.

Conor Thomas - 5

Not terrible, but when Austerfield is the only one with any technical ability in the middle, you notice Thomas' shortcomings. Does he need to start alongside Austerfield? Or would perhaps starting someone who can pass a ball be a better idea?

Josh Austerfield - 5 MOTM

Was the best player for me, but that's not saying much. He wasted a great chance in the first half when he had a shot blocked, but he put in a real shift and got another physical battering for his trouble.

Shilow Tracey - 5

Worked hard to give their left hand side trouble, but yet again his end product just isn't there. He's a dime a dozen L2 winger. If he was out of contract this summer, I'd honestly be looking to move him on.

Aaron Rowe - 0

I think their transfer business in January was mostly good. But choosing to keep Rowe and not going out to find an upgrade was a major mistake. He's a poor player. Yes, being played out of position doesn't help, but he lacks a footballing brain. It's easy to see why Stockport didn't want to use him last season.

Charlie Kirk - 4

Was in the game, but struggled to make anything happen until he was bizarrely subbed off after an hour. He gave you 75 minutes in the last 2 games. Why did he come off and Tracey didn't?

Elliott Nevitt - 5

Fed on scraps, but he couldn't make anything happen despite his best efforts. Still, he gave his all, which is all you can ask for.

Subs

Courtney Baker-Richardson - 5

At least he looked interesting this week. He ran around and tried to get things going, but there was little he could do as the game slipped away from them.

Zac Williams - 4

Looked like a player who's barely played in 2024. Was rusty in his defending, which resulted in a silly yellow card.

Joel Tabiner - 5

Was a spark when he came on. Is he ready to start? They might need him to on Tuesday.

Lewis Leigh - 4

His set pieces were dreadful. A professional footballer who can't beat the first man is unacceptable.

Matus Holicek - N/A

Was a late sub for Austerfield. Fingers crossed his fall on his ankle hasn't done any damage, they can't afford to be losing him at this critical point.

Overall Verdict

As Corporal Jones once said "Don't panic". They are still in a decent position. They are 5th with a 7 point gap over Wimbledon in 8th. There are 10 games to go. They play the bottom of the table Sutton. Yes, that should bring you out in a cold sweat. But on paper, it's the perfect game to get you back on track.

A scrappy 1-0 win in that game will send them into games against the 2 Dons games in good shape. But it's now become a must win game.