[Archived] Rovers vs Bolton - by m1st :)

[T.J.Newton]

Great performance today, King was magnificent and it's strange to be saying that after writing him off earlier.

Cairney also was superb, early days for him but if he is potentially available we must get in there quickly.

Could list all the team but these 2 along with Dunn and Rhodes were the best of a very good bunch.

It's easy to get swept away with the optimism (as it is with pessimism following bad results) but I feel really heartened for the season ahead now. Young , hungry players who are playing for the manager with no big egos taking over the dressing room.

Who's to say we won't be in with a shot at the playoffs at the business end??

if we can take this form into our away games(and keep hold of our players) I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be in with a very good chance of a play off spot(or better )

[the original david brent]

It's been a long time since that many rovers fans stayed to clap the team off after a win. Epitomises how well they played today

[Derbyshire Blue]

After watchin the game hard to believe Notlob had 61% of the possession, but thats stats for ya, I thought we were well in control

[RussP]

Absolutely terrific performance today.

Massive, massive credit goes to Gary Bowyer. Not just for the way he & the team have responded to 1pt in 3 games but, more specifically, for 2 brilliant substitutions today.

Masterstroke 1: Everyone has been raving about Cairney, who was excellent, but in the first 15 mins of the 2nd half, he was getting battered at Bolton attacked & his creativity was been swallowed up by the amount of defending he had to do. In addition, Dunny was knackered. People were calling for Judgey but GB made a great decision by putting Corry on in the Cairney role & moving Cairney into a more attacking position where he didn't have to worry about defence.

Masterstroke 2: Marshall was clearly ready for being substituted but again Bowyer ignored Judgey for the workrate & defensive ability of Taylor. This worked an absolute treat & again stemmed Bolton's attacking threat.

In addition, Judgey may have been a bit tired with the new family arrival.

Superb performance today, delighted for everyone. It was certain one of the very best days at Ewood for quite a while.

I don't want to be a 1-man Lowey fan club but again he was excellent. Now he has a decent partner alongside, he looks a different player.

Finally, can anyone remember the name of the 3 midfielders we wanted to sign? Jay who? Luke who? Barry who? I think we might just have a gem in Corry Evans. Could be very, very good for us and, from the limited minutes I've seen of him, I'm delighted with the outcome!

[RevidgeBlue]

It's impossible imo to overstate just how good that performance was today, if we're handing out accolades it would take all night and I'll probably mention a few things over the weekend but apart from the obvious things like the individual performances and result, a couple of things stood out for me.

1) Apart from Marshall who can perhaps be excused a little ring rustiness, I thought every outfield player played well. That's extremely rare and indicates an exceptionally good team spirit imo. Usually you get 2 or 3 playing really well, 5 or 6 who are ok and 2 or 3 who are well below par.

2 ) I'm glad someone mentioned Souness's young side that got promoted above because I saw today an enrhusiasm and team spirit I've not seen since then. In the 90th minute we looked likr we really still wanted to play and were still busting a gut to try and score a 5th. That sort of attitude wins you things over the course of s season imo. Plus players like Evans and Taylor were coming off the bench knowing they had to perform if they wanted to stand a chance of getting in this side and performed accordingly.

Terrific stuff.

[AggyBlue]

Still got a great big on my face

[Blue Cabbage]

Me too Aggy, think we deserve it!!

[Tom]

One minor point which I don't like to say but Josh Morris doesn't look like he'll ever be good enough

Its sad because he tries really hard and looks gutted out there but I just don't think he's good enough

[T.J.Newton]

I'm curious to know how many people are still "boycotting" and what would it take to get them back??

[McClarky]

i just dunno why ...but i just kept thinking we are unlucky with bald managers the whole game ......

Bald people are stupid, everyone know' that.

[donnermeat]

One minor point which I don't like to say but Josh Morris doesn't look like he'll ever be good enough

Its sad because he tries really hard and looks gutted out there but I just don't think he's good enough

I echo these sentiments entirely.

But what a performance today, I don't want to take my shirt off!

I know how sad that sounds but sod it.

[killacam]

I'm curious to know how many people are still "boycotting" and what would it take to get them back??

Premier League, I guess. And free tickets.

[Tom]

As superb as King has been someone needs to tell hm to stop running into people in defence he gives away a lot of free kicks

Going forward though he looks as dangerous as any winger in this league

[scrumpyblue]

I've been avoiding the result all day until watching the footie league show.

GET IN THERE!

Well done Rovers! A fantastic result!

[tomphil]

Thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at Ewood.

Again, refreshing to see 11 players giving it their all.

Sublime finishing 4, Bolton can't finish 1.

Goals change and win matches and if Beckford had put Bolton ahead in the 1st half, when he should have, then who knows.

Main points for me:

• Kean making too many errors
• Defence opened up too often and too easily - teams that have better strikers will punish us
• Marshall - hope it's a case that the lad is simply not fit as he struggled with his movement and mobility
• Cairney is a good footballer but needs to get involved more and to try to stamp his authority more on the game
• King - wow, the lad looks a different player
• Sublime finishes from Dunn & Rhodes and a cracker from Evans
• Glad we didn't sign Spearing
• My estimate of attendance, 13 to 14 thousand, nearly 16,000 'officially', hmmm
• Last player off pitch was Rhodes who made a point of shaking hands with Freedman, hmmm again - would make a huge difference to Bolton's team

Finally, next 48 hours are going to be key for Freedman and if anyone has a spare tenner in their pockets, I would get it on him to be the next Championship manager to leave. I think it is a sh1t or bust window for him.

I think the crowd figures have had a slightly more realistic look to them although i'd be amazed if we have actually SOLD 10k plus ST's. Don't forget to add your teams contingent in Saturdays figure Mercer :)

[Baz]

As superb as King has been someone needs to tell hm to stop running into people in defence he gives away a lot of free kicks

Going forward though he looks as dangerous as any winger in this league

Agreed, although their full-back did appear to take on the weight of a feather on being tackled today.

I wonder if King could do a job a little further forward?

[Tom]

He's best out wide ideally picking up the ball around halfway at full pace, king is poor from a standing start but if he's in full flow can knock it past any full back in this league and then get onto it.

It's how I played at Sunday league level when I was 18 or so, never had much ability but had enough pace to knock it past a defender and then get round him or get fouled in the process.

If we / he plays to his strengths he could be dynamite, teams are terrified of him when he plays like that.

I was just thinking tonight we have Dunn, Cairney, King, Judge, Taylor and now Marshall I can't remember a time when we had so many players who can create something from a midfield position. It's starting to look like we have all the pieces there for a good team it's just fitting them together right

[Colt Seavers]

Just finished an evening shift and watched the goals back on telly. First match shown for a change.

It was fantastic at ewood today and i can't get this stupid grin off my stupid face!

I have been lowey's biggest critic i'll admit but i thought he was tremendous today.

This team has massive potential. I think they were rocked by the rochina injury and struggled to come to terms with it but it seems to me that bowyer has simply shifted that weight of expectation to king who is clearly revelling in the limelight. He has been absolutely sensational and is going to be massive for us.

On another note, i have watched the relationship between dann and dunn these past two home games, and i am guessing that there is no love lost between the pair. I will continue to monitor that with interest.

Someone mentioned friedel earlier; i love that idea!

[tkturner]

its nearly 3am and and I have had more than my fair share of ale today!

Today was a great performance and to come away with 4 past Bolton is ace considering I work across the road from the reebok, had plenty of banter already with their fans!

They were nervous today and I thought we would draw one all, how wrong I was...

When attacking we look good, defence still a little shaky for me but when we score more than the opposition its ok!

Rhodes' finishing is top drawer, lets hope he stays...

Chuffed for Bowyer!

[Paul]

2 ) I'm glad someone mentioned Souness's young side that got promoted above because I saw today an enrhusiasm and team spirit I've not seen since then. In the 90th minute we looked likr we really still wanted to play and were still busting a gut to try and score a 5th. That sort of attitude wins you things over the course of s season imo. Plus players like Evans and Taylor were coming off the bench knowing they had to perform if they wanted to stand a chance of getting in this side and performed accordingly.

Terrific stuff.

Very pleased to read this view as I felt the same but dismissed the thought as it's very early to be thinking that way! Really enjoyed the performance, that's two Saturdays in a row, and to see so many smiling faces at Ewood was fantastic. A very good all round performance and if we keep it going there is real reason for optimism.

Ignoring local rivalry the next game is crucial. Three points behind the team currently third. Winning should put us above them, not necessarily third, on goal difference. This is a big match and against any other side I think the fans would view it differently, its not so much Burnley we need to beat but the third placed team. Win this one and the signs will be very good.

Concerns from yesterday? Once Dunn went off there seemed to be much less support for Rhodes and I could be wrong but no one else seemed prepared or able to get close to or in the box quickly.

Second half I felt Rhodes was poor. Often when the ball came to him his control was ball and several times his attempted layoffs went straight to a Bolton defender. Perhaps I just haven't noticed before but felt when we needed him to offer an outlet he wasn't providing it

So an excellent afternoon but I'm trying not to get carried away, but I see why one would!!!

I don't believe the attendance figure for one moment. Probably 3000+ from Bolton, there wasn't another 13,000 in the ground.

[des]

watch the game and rovers played well bolton are a good team and with better luck there should of could have scored more. still great for us more work need to be done when we have not got the ball but the signs are good. However there will be set back from such a young team, so lets not be too hard on them what or should i say if it happens

now for the big one having in nelson near burnley we need to win this one to give my some peace so come on rovers

[glen9mullan]

I don't think the highlights did Rovers any justice , they were exceptional for the first 45 minutes .

Bolton looked dangerous 2nd half until the third went in, but bar that Rovers moved the ball so quickly and creativity wise it was the best I'd seen us in a long long time .

Taking away Dunns age , Dann was our next oldest player at 26 , whilst Rhodes at 23 was one of the eldest players .

The team has so much potential now as these young lads are going to get better with experience .

The 4-5-1 suits us at present as we are winning the midfield battles .

Cairney is looking excellent , his composure on the ball is something we have lacked over the last few seasons and I would hope Rovers try and turn that deal into a permanent deal sooner rather than later as his loan is only until the new year .

We also have honest options on the bench also , which bodes well for the rest of season .

We have signed a lot of players over the summer and its not going to click together over night, but the early signs are good .

IMO the only suspect position at present is goalkeeper , Kean is going to be a good Goalkeeper , but he is open to a few errors and is not the best on crosses .

He needs to also work on his kicking .

We have yet to keep a clean sheet , and probably should have now but a couple of errors have gifted the opposition goals .

All in all , there is plenty to be optimistic about in terms of the current squad and this is the perfect preparation for a tough derby a week on Saturday.

[alexanders]

I echo most Sentiments.

Just want to point out Lowes great defensive 60m run in the 90th min when leading 4-1. Thats a winners mind!

[OJRovers]

It's great to finally have a manager that after poor results makes the right DECISIONS and is able to MOTIVATE players. Something we've not had for ages.

[Hasta]

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