[Archived] Barnsley v Rovers Tuesday 28/01 19.45

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What's all this progress I'm hearing about? Aren't we only like 2 points better off than we were at this stage last season?

Only difference is last season was a freakish season, were we only just managed to stay up with 58 points, whereas usually that would put you comfortably mid table.

We are on what 39 now, and I think we will finish with around about 58 points again. As we will continue to pick up @#/? all away from home an scrape a few 1-0ers at home, we may even finish with lesser points.

Yes I understand progress made off the pitch, but don't really give a toss about that, I'm bothered about winning football matches and we don't do it often enough.

Then people say, we are a work in progress, for what exactly? We won't be improving next season, we will be in this division for a long, long time.

[Bucksrover]

http://mobile.rovers.co.uk/news/article/downed-by-decisions-1323076.aspx?pd=635265432050000000It's all the officials fault. Again.

The title is right - "downed by decisions" -

Decision 1 - playing lowe and williamson again.

Decision 2 - not pushing on when in the lead against a poor, poor side.

[tomphil]

I'm a bit sick of seeing people on other social media sites saying oh it's a draw, a point is better than losing right ? Thing is we rarely earn a point, what we often do is throw 2 away.

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I'm a bit sick of seeing people on other social media sites saying oh it's a draw, a point is better than losing right ? Thing is we rarely earn a point, what we often do is throw 2 away.

Totally agree.

[Jimmy612]

What's all this progress I'm hearing about? Aren't we only like 2 points better off than we were at this stage last season?

Only difference is last season was a freakish season, were we only just managed to stay up with 58 points, whereas usually that would put you comfortably mid table.

We are on what 39 now, and I think we will finish with around about 58 points again. As we will continue to pick up Kean all away from home an scrape a few 1-0ers at home, we may even finish with lesser points.

Yes I understand progress made off the pitch, but don't really give a toss about that, I'm bothered about winning football matches and we don't do it often enough.

Then people say, we are a work in progress, for what exactly? We won't be improving next season, we will be in this division for a long, long time.

Don't really give a toss about off the field? Christ if there is anything we can learn from the past few seasons it's that the two usually go hand in hand. Chaos off the field usually results in chaos on the field.

We will most probably be in this division for a long time, you're right. The sooner people start accepting that the better. We're still a shambles of a club behind the scenes and a growing collection of numpties on here want to sack the one man who is trying his best to resurrect a dying club.

He's not the finished article, in fact I'd probably say he's a long way off it, but what do you expect from a youth team manager? Funny thing is when we had a manager who 'got results' the same morons wanted him sacked too. Slow learners it would seem

[adsfortheblues]

Don't really give a toss about off the field? Christ if there is anything we can learn from the past few seasons it's that the two usually go hand in hand. Chaos off the field usually results in chaos on the field.

We will most probably be in this division for a long time, you're right. The sooner people start accepting that the better. We're still a shambles of a club behind the scenes and a growing collection of numpties on here want to sack the one man who is trying his best to resurrect a dying club.

He's not the finished article, in fact I'd probably say he's a long way off it, but what do you expect from a youth team manager? Funny thing is when we had a manager who 'got results' the same morons wanted him sacked too. Slow learners it would seem

I understand what you're getting at in regards to off the field chaos etc, but all I'm saying is a 'football' fan I don't care about the business side of things, I am not interested at all, I care about watching games of football and seeing us winning games, we aren't doing that often enough, therefore I see no progress.

All I will say in regards to the manager, is that he must be in the bottom set, whilst learning his trade, as he constantly persists with them two numpties in the middle and Cairney out wide, in fact we had a beautiful selection of 4 central midfielders in the side, lovely sight it was, to see no attacking threat down the sides, what's the point in playing a big man.

[JBiz]

Some of the posts I have read in this forum tonight are beyond belief. Either I'm missing something and we have a perfectly arranged and fit squad to choose from or "fans" are acting like complete morons, personally abusing the only man at Ewood in the past 3 years with (at least) one ounce of sense.

I'm not happy about the result, but I'm more annoyed by the sheer amount of b*llshit on this website, after the last page or two it's getting a swerve.

Rather than actually try and pen an alternative view, I can be barely added to even finish this sente..

[Rover_Shaun]

Or spell

[West Yorks Rover]

I understand what you're getting at in regards to off the field chaos etc, but all I'm saying is a 'football' fan I don't care about the business side of things, I am not interested at all, I care about watching games of football and seeing us winning games, we aren't doing that often enough, therefore I see no progress.

All I will say in regards to the manager, is that he must be in the bottom set, whilst learning his trade, as he constantly persists with them two numpties in the middle and Cairney out wide, in fact we had a beautiful selection of 4 central midfielders in the side, lovely sight it was, to see no attacking threat down the sides, what's the point in playing a big man.

Exactly ! Anyway how do we know things are so bad behind the scenes, apart from the fact we're losing money 'hand over fist'

Bowyer may feel he is in a fortunate position, what with the owners being 5,000 miles away and not breathing down his neck

all the time, and Shebby gone, looks like he has a pretty good job for himself at Ewood.

I haven't heard too many people complaining that the place is falling down around them either, seems to me GB just needs

to be a little more positive with his tactics.

[Stuart]

Final thought: I think tonight is the night that I've given up the slim hope of us reaching the play-offs.

Now it's just a case of watch the matches and see what happens come the end of the season.

There are much tougher tests than Barnsley to come this season. We just aren't up to it. Until the axis of Williamson and Lowe is removed we are stuck in a vicious cycle. He will no doubt point to the loss of Marshall but it hasn't really made a difference. He seems bent on finding a system to bring out the best in Lowe, rather than finding one to bring out the best in the Rhodes-Gestede partnership.

[Jimmy612]

Well that's entirely up to you but the facts are Blackburn Rovers is primarily a business, as are all professional football clubs. Without a solid business model and the correct off-field decisions you can forget being successful on the field.

Now, we are just about the worst run club in the UK at the moment and have been for 3 years. There's been one man in THREE whole years that has put Blackburn Rovers Football Club as number one priority and it's the same man that people want sacked because we are 4 points off the play-offs.

Time for some people to get some perspective. The club is facing financial oblivion because of the Owners, Jerome Anderson and Steve Kean. Gary Bowyer might not be the best manager but unfortunately he is what we have through ludicrous circumstance. He's made some very positive changes to our club, including bringing some very gifted footballers in whilst battling to rid the club of the few last drops of poison that remain. Until a proper board is appointed, and I am absolutely convinced that a full and sensible managerial selection process can take place at this club, I would not under any circumstance relieve Bowyer of his duties.

The man has been one of very few silver linings in the last few years. Ungrateful, unrealistic and ultimately spoilt fans on here are typically spitting their dummies out because they think this club is bigger than it is. Wake up people, we haven't got a pot to @#/? in and the owners have requested huge wage cuts in the squad - what more could you expect from this season?

[JBiz]

Well that's entirely up to you but the facts are Blackburn Rovers is primarily a business, as are all professional football clubs. Without a solid business model and the correct off-field decisions you can forget being successful on the field.

Now, we are just about the worst run club in the UK at the moment and have been for 3 years. There's been one man in THREE whole years that has put Blackburn Rovers Football Club as number one priority and it's the same man that people want sacked because we are 4 points off the play-offs.

Time for some people to get some perspective. The club is facing financial oblivion because of the Owners, Jerome Anderson and Steve Kean. Gary Bowyer might not be the best manager but unfortunately he is what we have through ludicrous circumstance. He's made some very positive changes to our club, including bringing some very gifted footballers in whilst battling to rid the club of the few last drops of poison that remain. Until a proper board is appointed, and I am absolutely convinced that a full and sensible managerial selection process can take place at this club, I would not under any circumstance relieve Bowyer of his duties.

The man has been one of very few silver linings in the last few years. Ungrateful, unrealistic and ultimately spoilt fans on here are typically spitting their dummies out because they think this club is bigger than it is. Wake up people, we haven't got a pot to kean in and the owners have requested huge wage cuts in the squad - what more could you expect from this season?

Thank god for that. Faith in brfcs restored!

[Dan]

Well that's entirely up to you but the facts are Blackburn Rovers is primarily a business, as are all professional football clubs. Without a solid business model and the correct off-field decisions you can forget being successful on the field.

Now, we are just about the worst run club in the UK at the moment and have been for 3 years. There's been one man in THREE whole years that has put Blackburn Rovers Football Club as number one priority and it's the same man that people want sacked because we are 4 points off the play-offs.

Time for some people to get some perspective. The club is facing financial oblivion because of the Owners, Jerome Anderson and Steve Kean. Gary Bowyer might not be the best manager but unfortunately he is what we have through ludicrous circumstance. He's made some very positive changes to our club, including bringing some very gifted footballers in whilst battling to rid the club of the few last drops of poison that remain. Until a proper board is appointed, and I am absolutely convinced that a full and sensible managerial selection process can take place at this club, I would not under any circumstance relieve Bowyer of his duties.

The man has been one of very few silver linings in the last few years. Ungrateful, unrealistic and ultimately spoilt fans on here are typically spitting their dummies out because they think this club is bigger than it is. Wake up people, we haven't got a pot to kean in and the owners have requested huge wage cuts in the squad - what more could you expect from this season?

Is it ungrateful to want ours manager to learn from his mistakes? Is it wrong to get frustrated at the tactics and midfield selection that has cost us many points?

I'm sorry to the Rovers Fans, but it has @#/? me off to see the same @#/? happen over and over. Yes the manager is better than the clowns before him, but that makes it worse that he can be so oblivious to the obvious. So, so frustrating, as if he learnt from his simple mistakes we'd probably have a good chance of the play offs.

Still, it's better than life under Kean. How dare we moan and vent.

[West Yorks Rover]

Is it ungrateful to want ours manager to learn from his mistakes? Is it wrong to get frustrated at the tactics and midfield selection that has cost us many points?

I'm sorry to the Rovers Fans, but it has keaned me off to see the same kean happen over and over. Yes the manager is better than the clowns before him, but that makes it worse that he can be so oblivious to the obvious. So, so frustrating, as if he learnt from his simple mistakes we'd probably have a good chance of the play offs.

Still, it's better than life under Kean. How dare we moan and vent.

Well said ! and some posters would have us believe that he (GB) does it out of the 'goodness of his heart', let's not forget,

he's on a damn good salary, so no he gets little sympathy from me for making the same mistakes, time and again.

[davefarnworth]

GB is a novice. The chicken farmers continue to be novices. Much happier with novices around them. Footballers are prima donnas and when there is no leadership, they don't care about leaders. If it were like that in other professions, we would be buggered. Only football. Sorry they can't see the wood for the trees - midfield, tactics, India's arrogant caste system/culture. We may stay around 8th with a bit of progress

[Jimmy612]

Is it ungrateful to want ours manager to learn from his mistakes? Is it wrong to get frustrated at the tactics and midfield selection that has cost us many points?

I'm sorry to the Rovers Fans, but it has keaned me off to see the same kean happen over and over. Yes the manager is better than the clowns before him, but that makes it worse that he can be so oblivious to the obvious. So, so frustrating, as if he learnt from his simple mistakes we'd probably have a good chance of the play offs.

Still, it's better than life under Kean. How dare we moan and vent.

So because Bowyer makes mistakes we should all demand that he is sacked?

You're completely missing the point of my post. I have said myself that Bowyer has a long way to go. I appreciate that seeing Lowe and Williamson together is frustrating. I say the same thing myself, and I constantly get frustrated by decisions or selections etc. What I object to is this frankly embarrassing demand to sack the man.

Could you explain to me why anyone would want to sack Bowyer and allow Venkys to begin a new managerial search? Or perhaps even explain to me why some fans feel it is appropriate to call him a 'tw4t', or compare him to that slimy backstabbing worm Kean?

He's a good man with the best intentions for Blackburn Rovers and the changes I have seen in this club, both on and off the field, has been enough for him to earn my respect. It's not his fault that the club has been, and still is a complete shambles at board level and above and is heading towards financial meltdown.

Vent all you like Dan. Stab in the dark but I expect you probably did the same when Allardyce was in charge. The grass isn't always greener.

[Jimmy612]

Well said ! and some posters would have us believe that he (GB) does it out of the 'goodness of his heart', let's not forget,

he's on a damn good salary, so no he gets little sympathy from me for making the same mistakes, time and again.

You've seen the terms of his contract have you? I can guarantee he'll be on a lot less money than the last three managers we employed, and most probably a damn sight less than any other replacement that you could suggest.

You carry on venting your spleen WYR, maybe sometime you'll realise who really is responsible for the demise of BRFC.

[Tom]

Demanding he is sacked is ridiculous IMO but I think he needs help tactically

I'm starting a new job at the minute and it's a total new field for me, my boss has told me he expects me to make mistakes but if I was to make the same mistake consistently then there would be cause for concern!

For me Gary is consistently making the same mistakes in games, he needs to either learn from that sharpish or bring someone in alongside him who can help him out with in game changes etc

[West Yorks Rover]

You've seen the terms of his contract have you? I can guarantee he'll be on a lot less money than the last three managers we employed, and most probably a damn sight less than any other replacement that you could suggest.

You carry on venting your spleen WYR, maybe sometime you'll realise who really is responsible for the demise of BRFC.

He won't be working for buttons ! so no need to make him a martyr, and you haven't seen his contract either Jim.

I personally go with the ' Glasgow gangster theory ' with a little help from their friends.

Demanding he is sacked is ridiculous IMO but I think he needs help tactically

I'm starting a new job at the minute and it's a total new field for me, my boss has told me he expects me to make mistakes but if I was to make the same mistake consistently then there would be cause for concern!

For me Gary is consistently making the same mistakes in games, he needs to either learn from that sharpish or bring someone in alongside him who can help him out with in game changes etc

I've been saying this for quite a while Tom.

[Colt Seavers]

Just got home. Robinson excellent tonight. Henley had a better game than he has all season. Got forward well in first half and put some good crosses over. I really like killgalon, and dunn and cairney are a class apart.

Rudy will be something of a cult hero and i thought we looked far more dangerous with king on the pitch. I also thought williamson did ok tonight.

Jason lowe is the worst player i have seen in 36 years of watching. Colin randall runs him close but its lowe for me. He gave the ball away time and time again. He needs taking out of there urgently. We were over run and totally dominated second half which is nothing short of a disgrace.

I think bowyer could be chopped if we mess up the blackpool game.

[arbitro]

The real question from tonight from me is how we can go from domination to near submission after half time. None of us know for sure if Bowyer tells them to invite pressure or the players do it themselves but what I saw at Barnsley was worrying. In the first half we passed the ball quite well and kept possession. For 35 minutes of the second half we were the polar opposite of this. We were so narrow in midfield in the first half that Henley and Spurr were like auxiliary wingers. In the second half they hardly got out of our half aside from the last ten minutes when Spurr was getting forward. Dunn was embarrassing tonight. He looked grossly overweight and his lazy passing gave Barnsley possession on countless occasions. Only two substitutes used again by Bowyer. Surely a real statement of intent would have been to bring another forward on and go for the winner.

In reality we are nowhere near good enough. We have perhaps five players who are good enough but the rest are jobbers, journeymen who will keep us in mid table. Frustrating doesn't quite do how I feel because once again we have tossed away points, not because our opponents were better but because of the Kamikaze football we play and tactics we use.

And the referee had a Joe Cocker.

[West Yorks Rover]

Just got home. Robinson excellent tonight. Henley had a better game than he has all season. Got forward well in first half and put some good crosses over. I really like killgalon, and dunn and cairney are a class apart.

Rudy will be something of a cult hero and i thought we looked far more dangerous with king on the pitch. I also thought williamson did ok tonight.

Jason lowe is the worst player i have seen in 36 years of watching. Colin randall runs him close but its lowe for me. He gave the ball away time and time again. He needs taking out of there urgently. We were over run and totally dominated second half which is nothing short of a disgrace.

I think bowyer could be chopped if we mess up the blackpool game.

I'm glad you've come on having been to the game, my oldest mate texted me earlier from the match to say something very similar.

I said the other day, Bowyer's loyalty to Lowe will cost him his job, he's just not good enough in this league, he'd probably be ok

at Bury or Fleetwood.

[Leonard Venkhater]

There comes a point when you stop analyzing things game by game and look at the common denominator. Every team is going to make individual mistakes and have dodgy decisions against them. That's part and parcel of human fallibility, but we've dropped far too many points both home and away for this not to be a wider issue with the manager's team selection, tactics and preparation. Why are we constantly inviting teams back into the game? Why do we keep dropping off when we should be in the ascendancy? Bowyer's done a decent job of picking up the pieces and getting us within spitting distance of the playoffs. However, the shambles of the past should not provide Bowyer with blanket immunity from constructive criticism when fans believe the team is underachieving.

There certainly seems to be a pattern. Today was like a commentary I have heard soooo many times this year.

I think fitness and psychology must be factors. On paper it didn't sound like a negative team selection from Bowyer. Worryingly, Thomson used terms like arrogance, sloppy,unprofessional and lack of desire.in the 2nd half.

I was wondering whether the fact that so many matches have taken the same course makes it more likely that the next one will follow the same. Play well, miss chances, concede on opponents' first or second opportunity, collapse in the 2nd half.

Paradoxically, even playing s**t* after half time, it sounds like we created enough chances to have won in the 2nd half alone.

I promised myself that I wouldn't listen to live radio commentary again but I gave in to temptation.Great!!

[Parsonblue]

Tonight showed that the players are simply not top six material as yet. We had plenty of possession in the first half but didn't make the right pass at the right time. Our defence were almost caught out when Robinson kept it 0-0 with a brilliant save. Then Barnsley scored a superb goal which was extremely well worked with an outstanding cross and a forward who drifted away from Hanley and got free to sweep the ball home. We came back well with an excellent goal from Cairney and a well made goal for Gestede by Dunny.

Barnsley made changes and the Rovers were forced to defend more. Williamson came into his own in the second half and held the midfield together. He was excellent until the injury. After that we struggled in the middle of the park. We played with a narrow midfield with Henley and Spurr being used as attacking full-backs. It didn't really work and Rhodes had another of those games when he goes missing which left Gestede to do too much on his own.

Once again the bench looked thin in terms of quality with neither King nor Taylor having the slightest impact when they came on.

I've felt all along that we are a top ten team but not a top six one. Gary is going in the right direction but bringing in young players and developing them takes time. They will make mistakes, they will have indifferent spells and Gary, as a young manager, will make mistakes. It's a steep learning curve for all concerned. There will be many more frustrating nights like this and, sadly, we no longer have to financial power to find instant solutions to our problems. It is only by improving the existing players that things will improve. Let's not kid ourselves that there are any number of promising youngsters at reserve and academy level waiting to step up. There aren't. The rebuilding of this club is going to take time, probably years and it may be that things will get worse in the short term before they improve. However, as supporters we can only stick with the manager and players. Goodness knows there have been far darker days than these in the past in terms of what is put out on the field. Once the supporters turn on young players - or a young manager for that matter - then all really is lost.

[Gamst]

I don't get to many matches, but sadly I made this one. I have mostly turned a blind eye to the many comments about GBs tactical negativity, but having now seen it first hand, it is rather shocking. I am a huge fan of GB and still maintain that he has performed miracles, albeit mostly off the pitch. He seems honest and genuine and because of this, my pride in my team has slowly started to return after 3 years of shame. However, on the pitch it is not quite right. I know losing Marshall is a blow, but I struggled to understand the starting tactics today. Both wide men spent most of the time in the middle leaving the full backs horribly exposed. Indeed, our repeated inability to stop crosses coming in cost us in the end. The full backs had clearly been told not to advance up the field and because of this we really lacked width. Having said that, at times in the 1st half we played some good stuff through the middle with Cairney and Dunn pulling the strings. We scored two lovely goals and created several other decent chances. This makes the result even more galling. Sloppy defending, poor concentration and not stopping crosses coming in meant that despite our dominance in the 1st half, Barnsley looked like scoring when they advanced and that is exactly what happened.

We were so much better than Barnsley in the first half, they were terrible and we passed rings around them. How we did not beat that team is criminal. They are bottom of the league for a reason and they looked every bit that bad. Why on God's green earth did we just give up attacking in the second half? This must be the negatively that has been lamented ad nauseam. We literally threw in the towel and sat back. Our passing was poor and the front men were completely isolated. Dunn and Cairney tired and Lowe and Williamson just gave the ball away to end any possession we tried to establish. Im not sure whether this negativity was a directive from GB or whether our better players tired, but its just not acceptable against a team this poor. With this negative style Im not sure we'd have beaten Whitehawk FC as we just invited pressure until the inevitable occurred. Im not sure if it was a penalty, but they would probably have scored by other means had it not been awarded. Then frustratingly we tried to attack again when the game was 2-2, but this time with less guile. Overall its just incredibly frustrating that we are clearly far superior to the opposition but failed to win. Most damning is that despite our obvious superiority in terms of ability, they deserved their point.

GB is doing so well to stabilise the club from the shambolic mismanagement of recent years, but it would seem he has much to learn on the management front and I for one hope he succeeds!