[Archived] Charlton vs Rovers 26th April 3pm

[Majiball]

Kings only just come back from injury too. King was even better last week and Cairney wasn't in the middle.

but they have been fit during the course of the season. How many injuries have we had this year and how many repeats? Cairney wide means he has one less target to hit, when wide he has Rhodes, Gestede and Conway, those are his primaries. When plays central you can add in the man who replaces him on the right. He can pass a ball with four options he has more choice and we become a more attacking threat. He is a better passer than either of Willowe and so when we have the ball our retention will be better as he also moves more off the ball than either of Willowe. Lowe can play right back behind King and then you've actually got a decent team. We have a good team for this league and shouldn't be afraid of anyone, especially not with Gestede and Rhodes as our main threats. You can highlight incidents of isolation, but whenever he has played there, we've played much better football.

Today was good, it is pleasing to see we won and

[tonyoz]

Dreaming..........

Tuesday: Birmingham 2 Wigan 0

Saturday: Forest 1 Brighton 0

Rovers 2 Wigan 0

It's not impossible you know.

(Leonard Cohen is Canadian)

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Am I missing something?

Wigan P44 GD13 P70

Brighton P45 GD14 P69

Blackburn P45 GD06 P67

We have 6 goals to make up if Wigan don't win anything. That means 3 games have to go our way AND by 2 goals.

However, if that did happen, we have scored more goals.

If we beat Wigan 3-0 our GD goes up by 3 and theirs goes down by 3. Equal GD voila

[Tom]

If possible can we try and keep the bickering to a minimum tonight please

[JBiz]

If possible can we try and keep the bickering to a minimum tonight please

I concur.

[Neal]

we've won quite a few games lately without Evans and Cairney in the middle. Evans has been injured and apparently Cairney prefers to play out wide. Who'd have thunk it?

Thanks for enlightening me of our recent results and injuries. APPARENTLY he played much better in centre midfield today than he has on the wing for most of this season.

v Wigan I fully expect Willo, Lowe, Cairney and Conway with King and Evans on the bench. Perhaps rest Gestede also and protect the point.

[Mr. E]

Dreaming..........

Tuesday: Birmingham 2 Wigan 0

Saturday: Forest 1 Brighton 0

Rovers 2 Wigan 0

It's not impossible you know.

(Leonard Cohen is Canadian)

Dreaming..........

Tuesday: Birmingham 2 Wigan 0

Saturday: Forest 1 Brighton 0

Rovers 2 Wigan 0

It's not impossible you know.

(Leonard Cohen is Canadian)

In a way then Reading's comeback doesn't change things so dramatically - we still need 3 results to go out way, we just need to score an extra goal or two in our game.

[Riverside67]

Stranger things have happened..................meanwhile back in the real world

Bolton and Boro starting to rev up for next season as well as ourselves. Still think Rochina and Best coudl add something to the team if they would apply themselves properly. Best I think is a lost cause but still belive Rochina is worth another shout.

With the quality of the teams coming down and Wolves coming up it will be another real dogfight again next season

It will be the consistent ones that go up in that league - No more screw ups next year plaese Mr Bowyer

[somersetrover]

Stranger things have happened..................meanwhile back in the real world

Bolton and Boro starting to rev up for next season as well as ourselves. Still think Rochina and Best coudl add something to the team if they would apply themselves properly. Best I think is a lost cause but still belive Rochina is worth another shout.

With the quality of the teams coming down and Wolves coming up it will be another real dogfight again next season

It will be the consistent ones that go up in that league - No more screw ups next year plaese Mr Bowyer

Wolves will be mid table but nothing more, people said the same about Bolton this season and they haven't done anything. Boro they are a good side but no better than us. On our day we are as good as any team that we will be playing next season..

[beanie]

If we beat Wigan 3-0 our GD goes up by 3 and theirs goes down by 3. Equal GD voila

Added to that the fact that they will have had to have been beaten by Brum by at least 1 so it will have gone down by at least one for us to stand any chance.

[Black Burn]

Added to that the fact that they will have had to have been beaten by Brum by at least 1 so it will have gone down by at least one for us to stand any chance.

And we'll need Brighton to lose to Nottingham Forest, or Reading to lose 4-0 at least.

[Doug]

Well done rovers, Rudy is on fire! He is our first choice forward imo, and chuck king and Conway on the wings we should be very exciting to watch next season.

[thenodrog]

Well done rovers, Rudy is on fire! He is our first choice forward imo, and chuck king and Conway on the wings we should be very exciting to watch next season.

Hit the bar and had one cleared off the line I believe. He's virtually unplayable in the air.

[Riverside67]

Doug when you think Marshall and even a recalled Rochina could be in the mix it almost gets you enthusiastic again.

A bit more solidity in the middle still required as we are still leaking goals but yes definite grounds for optimism.

[Stuart]

Can you imagine, all the other results come in and we are 2-0 up against Wigan, and Bowyer tries to keep it tight as injury time ticks down...

[Riverside67]

I am 55 now and my heart just would not take that scenario.....................i don't even want to think about it.

If we did make the play offs ironically I now feel we would have genuine chance.............what a crazy season for us.

[beanie]

And we'll need Brighton to lose to Nottingham Forest, or Reading to lose 4-0 at least.

Would a big win over Wigan and a Brighton loss not mean we were in the playoffs regardless of the Reading result. If Wigan lost to Brum that is

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Yes

[G Somerset Rover]

Hit the bar and had one cleared off the line I believe. He's virtually unplayable in the air.

I can't understand how Cardiff didn't rate him. He'd give defenders in the PL problems all day long - especially in the air. As you say, teams cannot cope with him.

Just got back and that was a very decent Rovers display. Mind you Charlton were absolutely atrocious. They couldn't string two passes together. Evans and Cairney dominated the midfield and I was impressed with how Cairney got stuck in and even won his fair share of headers. Special mention too for Olsson who I thought had a great game - he was decent at the back and very good offensively. It will give Bowyer something to think about if Spurr is back for Wigan. King terrified their full backs and Conway had a solid game.

Only two players who were well below their usual standards were Hanley and Rhodes. Hanley had a torrid first half and could have seen red on one occasion for grappling with Sordell.

All in all a pleasing day at the office and bodes very well for next season when you consider that Marshall comes back into the mix.

[thenodrog]

Only two players who were well below their usual standards were Hanley and Rhodes. Hanley had a torrid first half and could have seen red on one occasion for grappling with Sordell.

Did Jordan Rhodes accept being winched off with good grace?

[Tom]

Before I start I want to emphasise that this isn't a dig at Rhodes at all

But we look such a better team when we go through Rudy and don't solely rely on JR for goals, recently Rudy has been brilliant (my worry is him doing it consistently) and Conway has been chipping in as well.

We now have different options going forward but we must be able to adapt our game when Rudy isn't on becuase Rhodes and Varney just aren't built to win the balls Rudy will.

[somersetrover]

But we look such a better team when we go through Rudy and don't solely rely on JR for goals, recently Rudy has been brilliant (my worry is him doing it consistently) and Conway has been chipping in as well.

Rudy's scored 11 goals since the new year, in my book that constitutes consistency.

[Tom]

But he's also never scored 10 in a season before this one

Lets just hope he's never had the chance and nothing more. Remember Santa Cruz was astoundingly good in his first spell with us in a similar role

[G Somerset Rover]

Did Jordan Rhodes accept being winched off with good grace?

He did Theno. He wasn't really involved in the game at all so it was the right decision to take him off and he took it well.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Good performance, good result. Charlton were awful. Rhodes wasn't as effective as Gestede but he got into good areas and should have probably scored before Cairney did. Its always the same with Rhodes, he either scores or is fairly anonymous.Thankfully he scores enough to justify being in the team and him and Gestede are a very difficult combination to stop.

In terms of individual performances Cairney and Conway were very impressive. King had an injury when he went off so I doubt he'll be around next week but he gave the team such a good option out wide. He often runs into blind alleys but he terrifies defenders. I'd have him in the side each week if he could stay fit.

Olsson did ok but in the first half I thought he struggled a bit. Evans did well. Didn't think Feeney was particularly great.

The play offs are (realistically) gone but I'm not going to lose too much sleep. Going into next season we look very strong. If you compare where we are now to where we were last year, Bowyer has to be given a huge amount of credit. The signings of Gestede, Cairney, Kilgallon, Evans and Spurr have all been brilliant so another transfer window of building and I think we could realistically get into the top 6 next year. The last two months have been promotion winning form. Get that going next season and we will be there or there abouts.