[Archived] Play Offs, Really?

[TBTF]

Not a reaction to a poor result tonight but more a reflection of our inconsistency all season.We have had a sequence of winnable games and still not made the frame and now we embark on some very tough assignments, many away from Ewood.

With all thats going on inside the Club, with financial horrors round every corner, players leaving in coach loads and on the back of where we were 6 months ago , are we setting our expectations for this season too high?

Bowyer has steadied the ship on the field but probably no more than that. Some may veiw that as an achievement whilst some may think it isnt good enough. Some may blame his tactics, some blame his signings. Others see an improvement.

But realistically are we right to expect a rookie manager with all these problems in the background, to get us promoted?

We remain a financial car crash of a club who will need to cash in what ever assets they can to make any decent inroads into the losses and the replacements will have to be cheap and cheerful The ones we have got out this window are only loans and we are subsidising most of them.And in Summer they will be back.

Our income levels allow nothing else any more , now that Venkys have taken us to the brink of the abyss.Oh they may have supported us -if running up Bank debt and £36 million losses is what financial support amounts to- but they have caused this carnage and thats why we are only a shadow of what we were.

It could easily get worse (!!) before it gets better.

But Bowyer is basically an honest soldier with the Club at heart who may be out of his depth. The fact he is here at all is actually helpful but again we have Venkys to thank for the fact that the managerial hotseat has been a joke and probably unfillable by anything other than Bowyer types..

Lets not beat up a guy who might have limitations but is trying his best. To expect Play Offs this season is unreasonable because back stage the carnage remains-and that is down to those nutters from Pune and what they have created.

As long as they continue to '' financially support'' us in the way that they have done for 3 years, it will take us down before it takes us up.

One day we might think mid table this season was a decent outcome.

[K-Hod]

Don't be daft. We've ballsed up too many times. It's a pity.

Might as well get the season over with, and see what the loons from Pune plan to do.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I think Kamy drew parallels between us and teams like Leicester - they have been building towards promotion for over a couple of seasons - Bowyer has rebuilt large parts of the squad in just over half a season. I still think that a late charge could see us sneak the play-offs - a lot depends on injuries (and possibly getting back some luck with soft penalties) - and whether Evans gets back to the form he showed before he got injured.

[perthblue02]

I said at the beginning of the season if we finish 10th Bowyer will have done a good job, also said if he was given another season think we would be challenging for the play offs next season, after watching all the full matches so far ( obviously excluding tonight)via Rovers player I'm a little less convinced about next season .

[West Yorks Rover]

Next 4 games

Blackpool (h) draw unless they get someone sent-off ! then a win.

Boro (a) loss

Brighton (h) draw at best !

Reading (a) loss thrashing on the cards !

2 points only.

Top six chance gone IMO, needed wins in last 2 games to have any chance, we blew it !

[patrickvalery]

I think there was a thread at the start of the season called something like 'Season expectations'. I posted that i thought we'd finish 11th i think. And to be quite honest my opinion hasn't changed that much. Play offs was possible with a good run of results and a relegation dog fight was equally possible. This division is just like that.

I think that Bowyer has done well. Not outstanding by any means. But it is important to firstly remember the madness we have partially emerged from and also that Bowyer is essentially learning on the job. I appreciate that for most that just doesn't cut it and its no longer a valid excuse. But in my opinion (and i appreciate i am in the minority), some of the barbed comments aimed at him are well below the belt and totally uncalled for.

A few examples

"Today i give up on playoffs fek off bowyer u negative tw4t"

"Lets get ready to head bowyers tough place to come barbsley the bloody joke"

"He will come out with his usual Kean'isms after the game....sounds more and more like the the dog Kean every week."
"We can wave goodbye to playoffs now thanks to Bowyer. He has as much personality and tactical nowse as a wooden door."

"Bowyer out stupid tactician"

"And he's either stubborn or a complete idiot"

Ok, maybe some of those weren't really barbed. But some certainly were. Either way, i find it hard to stomach. I don't think he's perfect by any strech of the imagination. He really shouldn't have got the gig in the first place. But he did do exceptionally well last season and it wouldn't be hard to argue that he earned a crack at it.

I'm not sitting here all holier than thou either. I have frustrations with the results and performances too. Sometimes it feels as if this side are straining at the leash. When Bowyer gives them a bit of freedom we look like we can cause sides problems. If i'm honest i don't see what we have got to lose at this stage of the season. We could have gone out and buried Barnsley tonight and lifted the whole squad. Sent a message out to those around us. But i guess it's just not Bowyers style. He seems to be creating his own identity as a manager now. Safety first. Protect a lead. It does work for some managers. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. He has said many times he is an Ian Brown fan. Keep What Ya Got!! Anyone? No? Ok i'll get my coat!

[booth]

I just wish he'd learn that we don't have the right team to sit back, invite pressure and get the opposition to commit players when we're only one goal ahead.

If he could sort that bit out, he'd be alright because he's sorted a heck of a lot out that was wrong before he was in charge.

[Leonard Venkhater]

I just wish he'd learn that we don't have the right team to sit back, invite pressure and get the opposition to commit players when we're only one goal ahead.

If he could sort that bit out, he'd be alright because he's sorted a heck of a lot out that was wrong before he was in charge.

Well I can't wait for this mediocre, false expectation of a season to finish. It's still only January and I want to get it over quickly and face whatever we have to face. This doesn't look anything like a promotion set up We all know where the blame lies

[Parsonblue]

This was always a rebuilding season and one which has seen a change in direction in terms of the type of player signed. We are now moving forward looking to bring in younger players and rebuild at all levels - look at all the youngsters also being released below first team level. All of this takes time and it may well be another year or two before we have a realistic shout at challenging for the automatic promotion places. I accept that for supporters who have started following the club since 1991 that this may be a strange concept to get to grips with and in light of the past twenty years that is fully understandable. However, older supporters know that this is what has been tried in the past and it can be extremely frustrating at times but for a small town club without the financial clout to match the big boys it is the only way forward. It also makes the successful times all the more enjoyable when they come around.

[Mr. E]

Everyone who:

A) Stopped protesting or at any point felt content with Venkys

or

B ) Decided based on a few non-horrible performances that Bowyer is a good enough manager to take us to the Premiership, and defended him

needs to come to this thread and explain themselves. The above are not "positive thinking," they are not "let's just make do with what we have," it is utter and complete defeatest attitude that refuses to aknowledge just how drastically things at the club need to change if we are ever to get back to the Premiership, where we righfully belong. Everything else is at best mediocre and at the worst will eventually lead to the death of the club. This is not Jack Walker's attitude. This is not Jack Walker's dream. Wake up.

[arbitro]

Simply we aren't good enough. How many games have we won by more than one goal since beating Bolton and Barnsley? From memory one at Bournemouth. In the games we have won we have been hanging on in the latter stages.

[yoda's brother]

no chance, just not good enough.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

 

Everyone who:

A) Stopped protesting or at any point felt content with Venkys

or

B ) Decided based on a few non-horrible performances that Bowyer is a good enough manager to take us to the Premiership, and defended him

needs to come to this thread and explain themselves. The above are not "positive thinking," they are not "let's just make do with what we have," it is utter and complete defeatest attitude that refuses to aknowledge just how drastically things at the club need to change if we are ever to get back to the Premiership, where we righfully belong. Everything else is at best mediocre and at the worst will eventually lead to the death of the club. This is not Jack Walker's attitude. This is not Jack Walker's dream. Wake up.

No team rightfully belongs in the Premiership. As far as Bowyer is concerned - nobody knows whether a more experienced manager could do a better job - it is all just conjecture. Everything he does (when we lose) seems to come in for criticism - somebody actually called him on a thread last night for loaning out DJ (when most fans agreed with it - and many had actually said on this MB that the club should sack him). Every signing he has made has been criticised - and in the main most of his signings have proved to be astute. Bottom line - no manager is perfect - even under Dalglish we struggled to get out of this division - and nearly threw it away. IMO Bowyer has done a good job in difficult circumstances - could he have done better - yes - but you could say that of most managers as we fans criticise post match with the benefit of hindsight.

[K-Hod]

Thing is, everyone saying 'this season is just about consolidation' is all well and good.

Why then, are the players, Bowyer and the club talking about a play-off push at every opportunity????

[Rover_Shaun]

The play offs are still on IF our handicap pulls his socks up and removes the leash.

Because at the moment the manager is holding the team back...

[rovers11]

Thing is, everyone saying 'this season is just about consolidation' is all well and good.

Why then, are the players, Bowyer and the club talking about a play-off push at every opportunity????

What would you expect them to say? Of course a play off push is the aim so why would bowyer and the players come out and say they just want to finish midtable.

[McClarky]

On the basis that this is a poor league which anyone could finish in the top 6 of, we have a chance but we need about 35 points from 18 games which is a big ask considering the inconsistency of our form this season. I reckon we are likely to finish around where we are now or perhaps slightly lower. Until the club sorts itself out internally and has a proper direction we are going nowhere but gradually backwards.

[Parsonblue]

What would you expect them to say? Of course a play off push is the aim so why would bowyer and the players come out and say they just want to finish midtable.

You are talking far too much sense there for the negative brigade who inhabit this messageboard, rovers 11. The fact that Gary has had to rebuild a team around young players who will have ups and downs seems to be ignored by the glory hunters who still believe we are in the Jack Walker/Walker Trust era. It was great while it lasted but it has gone, just like other successful periods at the Rovers came and went. It seems to me that for the first time since the owners arrived that we have a management team who have a clear vision of how they want to develop the club in terms of the type of players that they want to bring into the club. This is a season of transition but, of course, that doesn't sell season tickets and so of course things are going to be talked up. A look at the club's history will show that in the 20th Century there were two successful periods - just before the First World War and Jack's era. In between there were some successful seasons, some poor seasons and the overwhelming majority like this one when we won some games, lost some games and drew some games to finish mid-table. It's simply a fact of life of following a small town club.

[Clitherover]

Imagine where we'd be if we hadn't chucked leads away so easily, I'd say comfortably in the playoffs maybe even in the automatic promotion slots.

I just cannot understand why we can't play like we do in the first half for ninety minutes, we'd be all over this league if we did.

[JBiz]

You are talking far too much sense there for the negative brigade who inhabit this messageboard, rovers 11. The fact that Gary has had to rebuild a team around young players who will have ups and downs seems to be ignored by the glory hunters who still believe we are in the Jack Walker/Walker Trust era. It was great while it lasted but it has gone, just like other successful periods at the Rovers came and went. It seems to me that for the first time since the owners arrived that we have a management team who have a clear vision of how they want to develop the club in terms of the type of players that they want to bring into the club. This is a season of transition but, of course, that doesn't sell season tickets and so of course things are going to be talked up. A look at the club's history will show that in the 20th Century there were two successful periods - just before the First World War and Jack's era. In between there were some successful seasons, some poor seasons and the overwhelming majority like this one when we won some games, lost some games and drew some games to finish mid-table. It's simply a fact of life of following a small town club.

It's very sad indeed that only a small number can see this!!

K-Shod- what's up lad? It's not like you to be so god damn negative. Openly calling the manager a "negative c*nt"??

The club needs cash. Selling half season tickets under the guise "come watch us consolidate and stop the slide" is not gonna work. Not mentioning that we are only a handful of points away.

92 is when I was first a st holder, yet I can see what a few are alluding to that a lot of our fans are deluded. Less than 12 months ago we were sinking fast and any improvement on that has to be seen as a marginal success based on the rate we sunk.

Acting like a mad two hat because your team got beat- calling possibly the only person with a modicum of intelligence to be given the job a c*nt and whinging for a new manager because you believe the WUM's make or break theory;

Got to love some "supporters" eh!

[CAPT KAYOS]

IMO its not what the club have said its the way the club has promoted the 'promotion' push like it was nailed on and they honestly thought it as well aa alot of gullible fans have ( blue spectacled) without consideing what has happened and what was all too evident in front of their eyes.

Nothing wrong with setting the expectations to challenge for this as this is what every team should be aiming for regardless in this division anyway, but a more sedate way would probably have been more beneficial I think - something along the 'We Believe' campaign Wigan had for the FA cup last season.

All things considered - we are simply not good enough and although as much as I think a promotion play off place may help on its own a promotion play off final or even promotion itself is the wrong time for us and would damage us further in my opinion.

I am not a fan of GB and was not convinced on his first stint, but as he has to be given time as he does appear to have steadied the tide in some respects , and as we all know we have had to start from virtually 'scratch' and still need to get rid of certain idiots at the club (Shaw for me being another that needs to go) as well as other deadwood.

Next season may still be too early for us as a club, but I feel we would be in a better standing to cope with a promotion challenge/promotion next season all being well.

We are playing better football in comparision to recent years but we have still a long way to go and rebuilding to do as frustrating as it is.

The club needed sanitising and is still not fully scrubbed yet.

[Blackpool_Rover]

Everyone who:

A) Stopped protesting or at any point felt content with Venkys

or

B ) Decided based on a few non-horrible performances that Bowyer is a good enough manager to take us to the Premiership, and defended him

needs to come to this thread and explain themselves. The above are not "positive thinking," they are not "let's just make do with what we have," it is utter and complete defeatest attitude that refuses to aknowledge just how drastically things at the club need to change if we are ever to get back to the Premiership, where we righfully belong. Everything else is at best mediocre and at the worst will eventually lead to the death of the club. This is not Jack Walker's attitude. This is not Jack Walker's dream. Wake up.

"Where we rightfully belong"....are you joking? Why the hell do we rightfully belong in the premiership ahead of much bigger clubs who aren't there?

Your clueless posts and lack of understanding have been pissing me off for months. Turn your mobile off, tuck your shirt in and get back to your lesson.

[FGS5635]

The ironic thing is not many if any expected the playoffs at the start of the season. Through good management and a sound transfer policy Bowyer has raised expectations to such a level that most now are angry we arent in the playoffs.

In many ways he's becoming a bit of a victim of his own good work

There are to many reasons we arent in the playoffs and it isnt a single one thats let us down really. From budgets, to shifting dead wood, to keans like best trying to ruin moral. Heck Jake Keans form implosion in conjuction with eastwood has cost us pushing 10points maybe. Penalties have hit us hard, both given and not given. The list goes on and on. It is what it is, but regardless of points totals we are a better club/team this year than last. The fanbase is more in harmony again due to the style of side bowyer has forged. In my opinion if we survive this summer then the team has made giant leaps in many many areas and bowyer has to take his fair share of credit for a lot of that.

[AJW]

Based on the last 3 games definately not , Forest battered us , Derby were the better team and we couldnt beat a team struggling to stay in the divison , it was about Christmas time i thought if we could put a run together we might just sneak it bearing in mind most of the teams above us still have to come to ewood , but now without the introduction of 2-3 quality players to go straight into the starting 11 we will probably finish roughly where we are now , which at the beginning of the season most of would have accepted

[Gav]

People on the site have unrealistic expectations unfortunately. We have absolutely no chance of getting promoted this season and probably won't be good enough next season either.

The players we have in the side are in the main good honest professionals and that's a start after some of the mercenaries we've been paying recently. But sadly they're of limited ability and with limited ability comes inconsistency, we've seen it many times in years gone by, this season mirrors many from early to mis 80's for me.

But one things changed and for the better this season, most players are putting a shift in and that's a start.