UNHAPPY RETURN FOR BOSS FERGUSON
Posh hit Rovers for four
DARREN Ferguson got a tremendous reception on his return to Peterborough, but the new Doncaster Rovers boss admitted that was the only good thing to come from his side’s poor display at London Road.
Ferguson is Posh’s most successful ever manager with three promotions and a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy win, but on his first return to the club since being sacked in February he had to suffer from the attacking, vibrant football that Peterborough’s fans used to associate with his teams.
Goals from Gabriel Zakuani and Erhun Oztumer before half-time and Callum Elder and Conor Washington after the break made it an enjoyable afternoon for the league’s top scorers.
And after his second match in the Donny dugout, Ferguson was in no doubt as to how much improvement is needed with his new side.
He said: “I got a great reception and I was pleased with that. But that’s probably the only good thing to come from today. It’s a really good club.
“We spoke at length about the opposition and how we did not want the game to go. And then it went exactly how they wanted it to go and how we did not want it to.
“The game was stretched and they have a lot of pace in them. They were better than us in every department.
“We knew we had work to do and all of the things I’ve seen from the game here is not going to change that. We’ve got some very, very good players but we have to be intelligent.
“It’s a difficult day but credit to Peterborough.”
Ferguson must have been relieved his side were only two goals down at half-time after Posh completely bossed the play.
The problems began early as Zakuani met Oztumer’s corner with a bullet header, with the home fans soon taunting Ferguson with chants of ‘Sacked in the morning’ and ‘Fergie, what’s the score?’
Posh’s Souleymane Coulibaly rattled the inside of the post from 20 yards and Washington scuffed a shot with just Thorsten Stuckmann to beat, but Oztumer doubled the lead after sweeping onto Coulibaly’s lay-off to curl low into the net from just outside the area.
Coulibaly was then only denied a goal by good work from Stuckmann after Oztumer’s first-time pass played him through on goal.
And soon after the break Elder’s fierce strike hit the face of Andy Butler and rebounded back to him to make it 3-0.
Butler then had a header cleared off the line by Michael Bostwick and Nathan Tyson helped on a right-wing cross from James Coppinger with his boot, but it rebounded off the inside of the post.
And that was as good as things got for the visitors who saw Washington net a superb right-foot shot from 25 yards out as Posh scored their sixth home goal in a week, although manager Graham Westley felt his side could have been even more clinical.
“It was a positive performance and it was good to see a clean sheet,” he said.
“Everyone will know we’ve not been as tidy as we could have been defensively. I want a passion in the team for defending. “Going forward at times we were breathtaking. There was some fantastic attacking play.
“Not many teams in League One would fancy playing against that. I want this to be a side that scores a lot of goals. I want sides to feel attacked.
“Erhun is a wizard, he is a brilliant individual. I called him Harry before the game and you know why.
“There are times when you pick out individuals but this was a job well done.
“Everyone watching that would have said we could have scored ten and it needs to be ten.”