The Relegation Thread

[den]

Just pointing out that there is a reason our goal difference isn't utter gash. And we just sold it to Middlesbrough.

At the end of the day Rhodes is no longer a Rovers player so we have to hope that the three players that we've had to bring in to attempt to replace his goals do so (even if this means all of them exponentially improving their career stats). Also, I wonder how their combined wages compare to what we were paying the bloke who was keeping our goal difference from being in the minuses.

Personally I'd rather we had kept Rhodes and brought in two midfielders than brought in Watt, Jackson and Graham but we move on.

I think you were happy watching that garbage week in,week out. rather than sell Rhodes Stuart. Personally, I think if Lambert wanted to fundamentally add quality and pace to the squad, he had no option other than to sell him. We tried keeping hold of Rhodes and bringing in freebies to bolster the squad for at least three years - and all that was doing, was taking us further towards the drop. Edited February 5, 2016 by den

[jim mk2]

Stuart, who do you want to succeed tomorrow, Rhodes or Rovers ? I think we should be told.

Very good question, still not answered.

Didn't Rovers miss a trick here - insisting as part of the deal that he should not play in this match ?

[VinjayV4]

Didn't Rovers miss a trick here - insisting as part of the deal that he should not play in this match ?

Asked that question (if you're reading Yoda guess who to?) on twitter.

Can't do. Third party interference. Plus Boro paid for him to play for them by signing him.

Edited February 6, 2016 by VinjayV4

[Stuart]

I think you were happy watching that garbage week in,week out. rather than sell Rhodes Stuart. Personally, I think if Lambert wanted to fundamentally add quality and pace to the squad, he had no option other than to sell him. We tried keeping hold of Rhodes and bringing in freebies to bolster the squad for at least three years - and all that was doing, was taking us further towards the drop.

Rhodes has been playing in a team which has never suited his style - certainly not since CKR was here - and that has got worse each season. Yet he continued to score goals. Even this season - his worst since he arrived he has scored half of the team's goals.

We finally have the kinds of players who could help him - certainly with Gomez in midfield - and we go and flog him (without even using the money to bring in permanent reinforcements - a left back and a midfield general, STILL). It's not just a case of replacing Rhodes' goals, we now have to get more points as a team without him than we did with him.

And Jim, oh Jim, the guy who wants to march on the pitch but makes every excuse possible not go first; the guy who questions the supporter credentials of anyone else who won't; the guy who gleefully, in his own sardonic way, creates a relegation thread earlier and earlier every season; the guy who spits personal comments at people like a bitter old man when he doesn't have anything useful to say. Yes, your opinion of my support really means a lot to me.

[DE.]

Asked that question (if you're reading Yoda guess who to?) on twitter.

Can't do. Third party interference. Plus Boro paid for him to play for them by signing him.

Indeed. Has there been a transfer in recent times where part of the clause has been "but they can't play against us?" ... loans aside. It just doesn't happen.

Rhodes will probably be on the bench today anyway.

[den]

Rhodes has been playing in a team which has never suited his style - certainly not since CKR was here - and that has got worse each season. Yet he continued to score goals. Even this season - his worst since he arrived he has scored half of the team's goals.

We finally have the kinds of players who could help him - certainly with Gomez in midfield - and we go and flog him (without even using the money to bring in permanent reinforcements - a left back and a midfield general, STILL). It's not just a case of replacing Rhodes' goals, we now have to get more points as a team without him than we did with him.

And Jim, oh Jim, the guy who wants to march on the pitch but makes every excuse possible not go first; the guy who questions the supporter credentials of anyone else who won't; the guy who gleefully, in his own sardonic way, creates a relegation thread earlier and earlier every season; the guy who spits personal comments at people like a bitter old man when he doesn't have anything useful to say. Yes, your opinion of my support really means a lot to me.

We blooming know he scores goals Stuart, that's all you ever say about him, so what's all this about us now having players to help him? We DO help him - that's how he scored the goals. You never, ever address points about his awful displays.

The truth is that some football fans believe that if a player scores a goal every third game or so, then he's done enough.

[Tom]

Well the relegation situation may look a little scarier tonight looking at some of the fixtures around us

[47er]

Rhodes has been playing in a team which has never suited his style - certainly not since CKR was here - and that has got worse each season. Yet he continued to score goals. Even this season - his worst since he arrived he has scored half of the team's goals.

We finally have the kinds of players who could help him - certainly with Gomez in midfield - and we go and flog him (without even using the money to bring in permanent reinforcements - a left back and a midfield general, STILL). It's not just a case of replacing Rhodes' goals, we now have to get more points as a team without him than we did with him.

And Jim, oh Jim, the guy who wants to march on the pitch but makes every excuse possible not go first; the guy who questions the supporter credentials of anyone else who won't; the guy who gleefully, in his own sardonic way, creates a relegation thread earlier and earlier every season; the guy who spits personal comments at people like a bitter old man when he doesn't have anything useful to say. Yes, your opinion of my support really means a lot to me.

Stuart---you still going on about him? What's the point? We know you think we should have kept him but it won't change.

I don't mind if it all goes wrong and you can say " I told you so" but why not leave it for a month or two?

[Reedy You're A Star]

Rhodes has been playing in a team which has never suited his style - certainly not since CKR was here - and that has got worse each season. Yet he continued to score goals. Even this season - his worst since he arrived he has scored half of the team's goals.

We finally have the kinds of players who could help him - certainly with Gomez in midfield - and we go and flog him (without even using the money to bring in permanent reinforcements - a left back and a midfield general, STILL). It's not just a case of replacing Rhodes' goals, we now have to get more points as a team without him than we did with him.

And Jim, oh Jim, the guy who wants to march on the pitch but makes every excuse possible not go first; the guy who questions the supporter credentials of anyone else who won't; the guy who gleefully, in his own sardonic way, creates a relegation thread earlier and earlier every season; the guy who spits personal comments at people like a bitter old man when he doesn't have anything useful to say. Yes, your opinion of my support really means a lot to me.

We couldn't have signed those players that could help him without selling him. It's a catch 22 that means keeping a gash team and one good player, or selling the one good player to try and get a good team. I think we've made the correct choice long term. What if we'd pinned all our hopes on Rhodes for the foreseeable and he suffered a career ending injury? Then what would we have done?

[oldjamfan1]

What if we'd pinned all our hopes on Rhodes for the foreseeable

What if we'd pinned all our hopes on Rhodes for the foreseeable and he suffered a career ending injury? Then what would we have done?

This is the point that so many people seem to be missing. You simply cannot afford to put all of your eggs in one basket, it is way way too risky a strategy. This has been the correct decision in so many respects, now we have to hope that it translates into better performances and, more importantly, points!

[Stuart]

Stuart---you still going on about him? What's the point? We know you think we should have kept him but it won't change.

I don't mind if it all goes wrong and you can say " I told you so" but why not leave it for a month or two?

It's not me that keeps raising the issue.

Unfortunately he will be the elephant in the room as long as we aren't scoring goals.

Believe it or not, I very much hope that Graham and Watt can form a formidable partnership - and that both remain here next season (to avoid us having to start all over again, again). Neither of which is guaranteed at this stage.

[47er]

Its not JUST you Stuart!

[Rover_Shaun]

Do you remember what happened the last time we lost a striker who scored a disproportionate amount of goals? We were relegated within 4 seasons

[oldjamfan1]

Do you remember what happened the last time we lost a striker who scored a disproportionate amount of goals? We were relegated within 4 seasons

Not strictly true. We've lost many strikers since then who scored a disproportionate amount of goals so really you've just picked one example to suit your argument.

[Stuart]

We blooming know he scores goals Stuart, that's all you ever say about him, so what's all this about us now having players to help him? We DO help him - that's how he scored the goals. You never, ever address points about his awful displays.

The truth is that some football fans believe that if a player scores a goal every third game or so, then he's done enough.

We see his performances differently den, and always will. Yes, he has weaknesses (although he's not nearly as bad as the intelligentsia on here make out) but he still did what he was paid to do (sorry - as much as it seems to grate for you, strikers are paid to score goals, and measured by how many).

Unfortunately he was never going to develop further under Bowyer, and prior to that was on his own on that front, given the calibre of manager. He couldn't even get the potential out of Judge, Rochina, or any other attack minded player, and moved Marshall to right back, such was his defensive focus. I firmly believe that with better (or even just attacking) players behind him in midfield, and playing football higher up the pitch, would have got more out of Rhodes. Given that I've stuck my neck out on this one, I'm very interested to see how he does at Boro - just not today. We really should have insisted he didn't play but unfortunately the way we went about that last day, we backed ourselves into a corner and gave any leverage to Middlesbrough.

We couldn't have signed those players that could help him without selling him. It's a catch 22 that means keeping a gash team and one good player, or selling the one good player to try and get a good team. I think we've made the correct choice long term. What if we'd pinned all our hopes on Rhodes for the foreseeable and he suffered a career ending injury? Then what would we have done?

But aside from loaning Gomez, we did!! The money is now in Venkys bank account.

[Rover_Shaun]

Be careful what you wish for Oldjam

And "as if" Lambert will see much of the £9m. This is venkys Blackburn Rovers we are talking about. Incompetent and lies rule

Edited February 6, 2016 by Rover_Shaun

[DE.]

The last half of this season was going to be a struggle with or without Jordan. Our pitiful performances have never been down to one man, the team as a collective are very poor and Lambert has not been able to improve the players Bowyer left for him. We have to trust that Graham, Watt, Bennett, Jackson, Gomez and Ward will bring a completely different element to the overall squad and improve the sad nature of our displays up until this point.

I'm not sure we can expect too much from them, though. Most of them will have been sold to us because they weren't good enough for their previous clubs - though at least we can say a few of them have come from the league above, rather than teams around us.

[Reedy You're A Star]

We see his performances differently den, and always will. Yes, he has weaknesses (although he's not nearly as bad as the intelligentsia on here make out) but he still did what he was paid to do (sorry - as much as it seems to grate for you, strikers are paid to score goals, and measured by how many).

Unfortunately he was never going to develop further under Bowyer, and prior to that was on his own on that front, given the calibre of manager. He couldn't even get the potential out of Judge, Rochina, or any other attack minded player, and moved Marshall to right back, such was his defensive focus. I firmly believe that with better (or even just attacking) players behind him in midfield, and playing football higher up the pitch, would have got more out of Rhodes. Given that I've stuck my neck out on this one, I'm very interested to see how he does at Boro - just not today. We really should have insisted he didn't play but unfortunately the way we went about that last day, we backed ourselves into a corner and gave any leverage to Middlesbrough.

But aside from loaning Gomez, we did!! The money is now in Venkys bank account.

I'm not sure we did. I think they were signed with the understanding that we were flogging Rhodes to Boro and most of his fee has likely already been spent. They are more than likely set up as loans with a view to be perms in the Summer, so we didn't fall foul of FFP this window if something went wrong and Rhodes didn't get sold. Personally, I think that's why PL had a fit at Rhodes' agent playing silly beggars. Only time will tell, but it fits with the "only loans and freebies" party line changing and suddenly Rhodes is off on a jolly to Boro. Edited February 6, 2016 by Reidy You're a Star

[oldjamfan1]

Be careful what you wish for Oldjam

And "as if" Lambert will see much of the £9m. This is venkys Blackburn Rovers we are talking about. Incompetent and lies rule

I'm not sure what you mean by this, or the relevance of your second sentence to my post? I was simply pointing out that your use of Shearer as an example failed to mention the countless other players we have had since that scored most of our goals and the world didn't end when they left. Shearer possibly wasn't a great example to pick in any event because other players scored plenty while he was here too.

Wait until Rhodes has been gone for a few games, and see how the new players work out, before relegating us.

Edited February 6, 2016 by oldjamfan1

[den]

We see his performances differently den, and always will. Yes, he has weaknesses (although he's not nearly as bad as the intelligentsia on here make out) but he still did what he was paid to do (sorry - as much as it seems to grate for you, strikers are paid to score goals, and measured by how many).

Unfortunately he was never going to develop further under Bowyer, and prior to that was on his own on that front, given the calibre of manager. He couldn't even get the potential out of Judge, Rochina, or any other attack minded player, and moved Marshall to right back, such was his defensive focus. I firmly believe that with better (or even just attacking) players behind him in midfield, and playing football higher up the pitch, would have got more out of Rhodes.

I can only shrug my shoulders Stuart. He didn't develop because of Bowyer? His all round game wasn't as bad as the "intelligentsia" on here make out - but you don't even attempt to list his other qualities. Then he was only paid to score goals, but "with better players around him we would have got more out of him" - like what?

We were going downwards with him Stuart. We needed fundamental change. He carried a ridiculous price tag. Lambert Sussed Rhodes out straight away, just as most managers have. Lambert has done the right thing for the future of the club in my opinion. He's gone and we can now look forward. Will it work? Who knows.

[Rover_Shaun]

I am sure Rhodes will score goals and improve with better players at Boro. Sadly improvement was never going to happen here given the assorted talentless miscreants he was playing with.

The time to spend the Rhodes transfer money elsewhere was the day we bought him. Many ships have sailef since

[philipl]

Four of the teams below us are in matches against each other whilst we travel to Boro this afternoon.

Table could look ominous by 5 o'clock.

Have to win our next two home matches.

[Stuart]

I can only shrug my shoulders Stuart. He didn't develop because of Bowyer? His all round game wasn't as bad as the "intelligentsia" on here make out - but you don't even attempt to list his other qualities. Then he was only paid to score goals, but "with better players around him we would have got more out of him" - like what?

We were going downwards with him Stuart. We needed fundamental change. He carried a ridiculous price tag. Lambert Sussed Rhodes out straight away, just as most managers have. Lambert has done the right thing for the future of the club in my opinion. He's gone and we can now look forward. Will it work? Who knows.

Maybe with better players we could have ADDED TO the goals that he scored - either by him or by others. Now we have lost the goals he scored and don't have any guarantee that others can step up.

If you have the deadliest scorer in the league then you need to create chances for him so that he can finish them, not dry up the service and blame him when the goals follow suit. I'm struggling to understand why scoring goals is such a problem for you, den. Much rather that than lots of endeavour but nothing to show for it.

We were going downwards because of a poorer and poorer midfield, not because of Rhodes.

Did you hate Andy Cole as much as you hate Rhodes, btw? Because he had the exact same accusations against him and he had Cantona to support him!

[Tom]

Four of the teams below us are in matches against each other whilst we travel to Boro this afternoon.

Table could look ominous by 5 o'clock.

Have to win our next two home matches.

I've said it's going to get worse before it gets better but we still have games in hand and some kinder fixtures after the horrible impending run.

Still think we should be ok but may drop into the drop zone at some point

[den]

Maybe with better players we could have ADDED TO the goals that he scored - either by him or by others. Now we have lost the goals he scored and don't have any guarantee that others can step up.

If you have the deadliest scorer in the league then you need to create chances for him so that he can finish them, not dry up the service and blame him when the goals follow suit. I'm struggling to understand why scoring goals is such a problem for you, den. Much rather that than lots of endeavour but nothing to show for it.

We were going downwards because of a poorer and poorer midfield, not because of Rhodes.

Did you hate Andy Cole as much as you hate Rhodes, btw? Because he had the exact same accusations against him and he had Cantona to support him!

Here we go - haters.

Andy Cole was ten times the player Rhodes is. The fact that you compare the two tells me a lot Stuart.