[Archived] Away Form!

[Silas]

Teams we have beaten away from home last 4 seasons:

Goals For Goals Against

2013/14 (9 games played) 10 17

Bournemouth (newly promoted)

2012/13 (23 games played) 28 39

Bristol City (relegated)

Peterborough (relegated)

Barnsley (21st in League)

Millwall (20th in League)

2011/12 (19 games played) 22 45

Man Utd

Wolves (relegated)

2010/11 (19 games played) 24 43

Blackpool (relegated)

Newcastle

WBA

Wolves (17th in League)

Total Goals 84 (1.2 goals per game) 144 (2.05 goals per game)

Absolutely crazy figures really. It's difficult because it spans 2 different leagues but what stands out to me is that we can't beat anyone away from home unless they are relegation fodder. Barring that ridiculous win at Old Trafford, a win at Newcastle when we were their bogey team and had won 4 on the bounce at their place, and then a good win at WBA, the only teams we have beaten in 4 odd years are teams that placed in the bottom 5 of the respective leagues. That is absulutely woeful!!

The goal figures tell a story too. I am no expert, but reckon scoring 1.2 goals a game away from home aint too bad. A lot of teams stuggle to score at all sometimes. You would think going at a goal a game away from home would yield some pretty good away form.

But then we have the goals against column. Jesus christ, being the wrong side of the 2 goal mark is abysmal, and to me signifies where the blame lies and it is clearly the defence. All this talk about our lack of creativity, and not having enough flair players, and should we play 2 up top etc etc. It is all pointless to me unless we can do something about the way we leak goals first and foremost.

I know I will get lambasted but if that means going Big Sam style, pretty negative, and battling out a few 0-0 draws away from home then so be it. At least that would keep us ticking over with the odd point here and there and give us something to build on. I know it's miserable for away supporters and all that, but we simply cannot afford to continue down a 2 goal a game route if we are to even stay in this league, let alone think about anything more ambitious.

Over to you GB. This is crisis point as far as I am concerned. It is not a little blip, a momentary loss in form, this is a football club that has performed embarassingly away from home on a very consistent basis for getting on for 4 years now. And is totally unacceptable for a club with our spending and squad in relation to the league we are in.

And it is only GB and the players that can sort this out now. I will be interested to see how the away games pan out in the future, both in terms of results, team sheet, and performances. Harsh i know considering the task we have ahead in our next away game, but that is the fixture list, and there aint no point moaning about it. You have to play everyone in the league at some point.

Finally, if this topic isn't top of the list of every meeting/discussion that GB and the players have over the next few months then there is something seriously wrong with the management of the club. I could hand this information to my 5 year old neice and even she would be able to work out that this matter is THE biggest single problem with the club at the moment (excepting the obvious in the form of our esteemed owners of course).

I have one message to GB and the squad - fix it quick sharpish fellas, or we are going nowhere but further down the leagues. And your mission starts this Saturday unfortunately. Good luck!

[Rover_Shaun]

The problem with the playoffs and clubs of Rovers ilk is that those clubs spend a whole season saying to themselves "We are only x points from the playoffs" whilst never ever really threatening to get there.

This x number usually fluctuates between 6-12 points and thus the club never take that extra step thinking that "a good run could be just round the corner" until the point comes where the whole season has been one big waste of everyone's time and promotion is a mere pipe dream.

Sometimes brave and difficult decisions are needed to turn seasons around. Another thing that Rovers current adminsitration lack.

--------------------------

I posted the above elsewhere but if the clubs administration is to be believed and promotion is an absolute necessity to facilitate an easier future then big and hard decisions need to be taken NOW whilst we still have the next window and time to plan for it. Those decisions don't necessarily mean a change in manager (before anyone goes hysterical in the misguided belief that Bowyer is the only man who can manage this club) but a massive change in emphasis and mindset is needed.

If failing to get promotion is the elephant in the room at Ewood then we need to start behaving like a club that wants it. Speculate to accumulate (more sensibly than in the past of course, if they can, which is really the biggest question)

[FGS5635]

Staggering really when laid out like that. No excuse for that really no matter whats happened at times, we should be better than that.

[JonnyBRFC]

Is this not what GB kind of tried to do last night? 2 defensive mids and really emphasised a clean sheet.. Was going so smoothly for all 4 minutes.

I think 451 would be the way to go with Gedeste up top trying to hold up the ball and feed the wide men. Easier said than done though.

Would we prefer we went 'ultra defensive' or went gung ho and attacked from the off?

[Rover_Shaun]

The away form is not surprising when put in the context of the last 5 full time managers we've had. Not one of them were worldies at winning away games. either through lack of ability or misguided emphasis

What was it in 2009/10?

[DE.]

Under Steve Kean we averaged conceding over 2 goals a game - both home and away. Unfortunately those figures will mostly reflect that and it's far from surprising.

[den]

The away form just highlights the lack of quality, rather than Bowyers tactics.

If you really want to evaluate a player, watch him away from home where it's much harder. Sorts the Wheat from the Chaff. Any good scout will say the same.

[Silas]

The away form is not surprising when put in the context of the last 5 full time managers we've had. Not one of them were worldies at winning away games. either through lack of ability or misguided emphasis

What was it in 2009/10?

In 2009/10 and 2008/9 we conceded 37 goals in the 19 away games in both seasons. So 1.95 goals an away game.

So basically, this couple of goals in each away game has been going on for more than half a decade.

That is absolutely astounding, and I am beginning to wonder if that might not be close to one of the worst defensive away records in the football league. Surely there can't be many other teams out there with such a record. Miserable.

[MarkBRFC]

What was it in 2009/10?

3 Away league games won in 09/10

4 Away league games won in 08/09

So, thats what, 18 away wins in 5 and a half seasons?

[Silas]

Would we prefer we went 'ultra defensive' or went gung ho and attacked from the off?

It can surely be a mixture of the two at various points during the game, and that is what GB is paid good money to work out and has spent years supposedly learning how to do.

I don't know the answer, but I really want to just see us beat a top half team away from home. It would be such a relief and help get a monkey off our back.

It will soon be 2 calender years since we beat a top half team in that Old Trafford fluke (31st Dec 2011), and before that god knows as have only just realised WBA and Newcastle both finished bottom half the season before.

Can we break the hoodoo and actually get a scalp? Well next three months sees us away to Yoevil and Barnsley where you would hope we could do something. But in terms of top half teams we have QPR, Leeds,Forest, and Reading. Can anyone see us beating any of those 4? Doesn't look promising does it.

[arbitro]

Is this not what GB kind of tried to do last night? 2 defensive mids and really emphasised a clean sheet.. Was going so smoothly for all 4 minutes.

I think 451 would be the way to go with Gedeste up top trying to hold up the ball and feed the wide men. Easier said than done though.

Would we prefer we went 'ultra defensive' or went gung ho and attacked from the off?

He did set up with two defensive midfielders but on the night both were poor I thought. Another problem last night was playing Campbell in the hole. Positionally he looked lost and contributed nothing defensively or offensively. It's decisions like that which are causing me to lose a little faith in Bowyer. Just running through the goals we have conceded away from home the vast majority have come from individual errors. Even the best players make mistakes which contribute to goals but the number that we have conceded is beyond a joke.

[Waggy76]

We cannot defend , goalkeeper and the 2 centre halves are poor ! Fullbacks not much better ...

No creativity in midfield ,means we cannot open teams up ...

Relying on mistakes and the odd fluke goal ...

Only King with pace and he blows hot and cold ...

Very reliant on Dunn for creativity it is not true . why Rochina didn't play at Ipswich is a mystery especially when the totally disinterested Campbell did...

[Proudtobeblue&white]

We had Fortress Ewood, good admin, and experienced managers....then we got the knobheads.......all downhill from there imo

Ps.....can't bring myself to by my other half Fergies biog for Chrimbo, but does he say how much Coco paid him to throw the match (dec 11) that saved him? Worst Manure performance in living memory........I'll never forgive, nor forget!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Four years of pish poor away results?.....very strange indeed

[grizfoot]

There is of course the occasional exception but over the course of a season a team will pick up more points at home than they do away from home. The away form isn't really a problem it is more the fact that our team is currently looking like mid-table quality in this division, and that is an improvement in comparison to our relative quality compared to other teams in the division for the last two seasons. Our away form is perhaps slightly down on what you would consider 'normal' for a team in our position but you do get general fluctuations like this. In addition this league seems to be a very close one with little difference between the quality of teams, in a sense home advantage can play a key part in the result of a given game. I also noticed we drew ten away games last season which was a high for the league, we picked up 22 points in total from away games last season which was more than the likes of Leeds, Bolton and Derby managed.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Terrible stats clearly demonstrating our away form has been absolutely shocking for as long as most of us care to remember.

That effin win at United! Plus the draw with Liverpool away that Xmas. I remember thinking we will lose both of them and the classless one would be potted. Yakubu notches, Hanley bully's their defenders and suddenly we get three points at OT. You couldn't make it up.

[Jimmy612]

We had Fortress Ewood, good admin, and experienced managers....then we got the knobheads.......all downhill from there imo

Ps.....can't bring myself to by my other half Fergies biog for Chrimbo, but does he say how much Coco paid him to throw the match (dec 11) that saved him? Worst Manure performance in living memory........I'll never forgive, nor forget!

I remember beating United when Ped scored two under Hughes and the delirium of beating United.

Compare that to the strange strange feeling I had on that New Years Eve - It was like, 'I should be delighted right now, instead all I can think about is how long that vile creature will be able to use it to his advantage'. Awful time to be a Rovers fan, at least now I can enjoy us winning without a nagging feeling at the back of my head.