The Relegation Thread

[Blue blood]

Realistically at 8 points clear - possibly more with the game in hand - the bottom 3 need to win 3 without us picking up any points to overtake us.(I say 3 wins as our goal difference massively helps.) personally I can't see the bottom 3 all doing that nor us not grinding out some more points - draws if not wins. It may not be pretty or what we hoped for from this season but I'm confident we'll be in this division next year. Too many poor teams and now too big a barrier for them to climb.

[Blue blood]

We'd no chance of the play-offs at any point. Just look at the squad when Lambert came in. There may have been three teams worse than us at the start of the season but I'd be hard pressed to name them then.

Bit harsh Imo - rotherham, Bolton, Huddersfield, Bristol, MK Dons, Preston all have weaker teams Imo. Although I'd have been more certain of that at the start of the season! Plus you've the basket case clubs like Leeds which also are odds on to implode. A bit of consistency and this league is there for the taking.

[47er]

Bit harsh Imo - rotherham, Bolton, Huddersfield, Bristol, MK Dons, Preston all have weaker teams Imo.

Which makes it all the more galling that Preston are 7 places above us, even after tonight's win and have 8 more points.

How did that happen?

Edited February 16, 2016 by 47er

[tomphil]

Well this season now really is about beating the crud from down the road on their own patch. Do PNE 3 nil at Ewood and get enough points to finish above them. I think this manager might be able to get them up for the derbies a bit more than the previous.

Edited February 16, 2016 by tomphil

[DE.]

Which makes it all the more galling that Preston are 7 places above us, even after tonight's win and have 8 more points.

How did that happen?

They didn't go on a 9 game run without a win!

[Tom]

Wonder if people will start getting twitchy again come weekend, we don't have a game due to being on the way to Wembely but the other teams around us do. After that all our rivals play Tuesday so potentially we could be 2 points from the drop zone worst case scenario before we play again.

Rotherham away at Burnley

Bolton home to QPR

Fulham home to Charlton

MK Dons home to Bristol.

Tuesday:

Bolton away at Brum

Bristol have Brighton at home

MK Dons have Huddersfield at home

Charlton away at Preston

Rotherham away at Reading

Shows how big the win last night was for a bit of - dare I say it, stability.

I can see Bolton picking up a couple of wins.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tom M

[rigger]

Wonder if people will start getting twitchy again come weekend, we don't have a game due to being on the way to Wembely but the other teams around us do.

Rotherham away at Burnley

Bolton home to QPR

Fulham home to Charlton

MK Dons home to Bristol.

four draws and what's the problem.

[K-Hod]

Bolton aren't dead and buried yet by any stretch, though saying that, having just googled it, the deadline for resolving their financial issues is in 5 days, so there may be a 10 point deduction afoot yet......

Edited February 17, 2016 by K-Hod

[FGS5635]

Bolton aren't dead and buried yet by any stretch, though saying that, having just googled it, the deadline for resolving their financial issues is in 5 days, so there may be a 10 point deduction afoot yet......

Is this deadline number 48 or 49...I lose count

[Lancaster Rover]

Looking at the weekend and Tuesday's fixtures you cant see many wins in there for the teams at the bottom, after all the reason they're at the bottom is their inability to win.

[beanie]

.

Edited February 17, 2016 by beanie

[Blue blood]

Which makes it all the more galling that Preston are 7 places above us, even after tonight's win and have 8 more points.

How did that happen?

Because they have a very good manager (my first shout for the Rovers job).

Let's be honest they're a league 1 club, and sooner or later their finances size and resources will mean they're struggling at the wrong end of the table. I've no doubt that the board will then panic and Grayson will be told to pack his bags. But a fair assessment is that keeping them in this league is a success story for them. Where they are currently is a massive success for them, and shows that Grayson not being able to hack it in the Championship is incorrect.

[Mercer]

I think this thread should be closed.

Not a cat in hell's chance of Rovers going down.

[davulsukur]

I think this thread should be closed.

Not a cat in hell's chance of Rovers going down.

FFS!

[Mercer]

FFS!

I look at the very teams below us and the quality we now have in our football management team and can see no way we will be anywhere near the bottom three. Mid table is where we will finish.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Mercerman

[mhead]

Beat MK Dons and we still have 2 games in hand. Big Sam would have planned to reach 40 points and how to do it; then try to get to 50 points by beating the teams around us.

And that in the Premiership!

[ABBEY]

L1 ?

They are on course for automatic promotion , top 4 and then winning the champions league ..... They are in fact the most weird delusional fans in England .

Because they have a very good manager (my first shout for the Rovers job).

Let's be honest they're a league 1 club, and sooner or later their finances size and resources will mean they're struggling at the wrong end of the table. I've no doubt that the board will then panic and Grayson will be told to pack his bags. But a fair assessment is that keeping them in this league is a success story for them. Where they are currently is a massive success for them, and shows that Grayson not being able to hack it in the Championship is incorrect.

[philipl]

Getting to the time of season when clubs at the bottom start to spring surprises out of desperation.

Perfectly timed win last night and could look vital if a couple of the teams below us pick up wins whilst we are in Cup action.

[VinjayV4]

Bolton aren't dead and buried yet by any stretch, though saying that, having just googled it, the deadline for resolving their financial issues is in 5 days, so there may be a 10 point deduction afoot yet......

Eddie Davies (owner) seems to be favoring Roger Tamraz (according to Nixon) and there's several question marks over him. Criminal history, over 70, etc. Davies shockingly spoke this past week (makes Paul Egerton-Vernon look like a loudmouth in comparison) but Tamraz hardly seems to be protecting Gartside's legacy. Whatever that was in all due respect to the dead.

[VinjayV4]

I think this thread should be closed.

Not a cat in hell's chance of Rovers going down.

Lets hope next season there will be a promotion thread.

Definitely don't think so either unless there's an injury list comparable to 98/99. Or comparable to this one like United have at the moment.

Can't remember if it was mentioned on here but Wigan Athletic look to be taking over Bolton's training ground facilities aside from their academy. It does not seem like Wigan have had the problems that have crippled Bolton. They still have parachute payments though (giving them an advantage in League 1) and presumably subsidising from Whelan still. Unlike Bolton with Davies.

Apparently former United/Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon is working with Tamraz on the deal. At some point he was (and maybe still is) working with Middlesbrough in an advisory capacity. Reportedly he's also transformed Atletico Madrid's finances for money making potential. Seem to recall a thread linking him to Rovers (quite a while ago now) was there any truth in that as far as an advisory position?

Edited February 18, 2016 by VinjayV4

[JHRover]

Just looking at the Championship league table throws up some very interesting statistics.

Rovers have conceded just 27 goals in the league this season. Only 3 teams in the whole division have conceded less goals than Rovers, those being automatic promotion chasers Burnley (26), Middlesbrough (16) and Hull (19). Derby County and Forest have conceded 27 also.

Even the teams chasing the play-offs known for their defensive resilience have conceded significantly more than we have, Ipswich on 39 for example.

Beyond this we have 'only' lost 10 games this season, which is a low figure for a side in our position. Birmingham and Ipswich, just outside the play-offs, have lost 9, whilst Rotherham, third bottom, have lost 9 more games than we have.

In comparison to the sides down at the wrong end of the table with us, the bottom 3 sides have all conceded basically double the amount of goals we have this season, Bolton (52), Charlton (56) and Rotherham (55).

Its quite clear that at the back we are a very strong side and there is little/no work that needs to be done on that front to very quickly climb the league.

At the other end of the pitch the story is very different. Rovers have scored just 28 goals all season, with only Charlton (26), Bristol City (27) and MK Dons (25) scoring less goals than us. Alarmingly Fulham have scored 47 yet sit below us, whilst all the top 6 sides have scored 20+ more goals than us over the 30 games this season.

I would like to think moving forward, as long as we survive this season, that the major surgery will be concentrated on our attacking abilities and not on our defence, which has been consistent all season.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

You have to get more bodies into the last third of the pitch to score more goals. Unless your work rate is up there with the best you can then get caught on the break. One of the reasons we haven't conceded many goals is until recently only Rhodes played in the last third. Lambert's job is to get more players getting forward without conceding goals.

[jim mk2]

Just looking at the Championship league table throws up some very interesting statistics.

Rovers have conceded just 27 goals in the league this season. Only 3 teams in the whole division have conceded less goals than Rovers, those being automatic promotion chasers Burnley (26), Middlesbrough (16) and Hull (19). Derby County and Forest have conceded 27 also.

Even the teams chasing the play-offs known for their defensive resilience have conceded significantly more than we have, Ipswich on 39 for example.

Beyond this we have 'only' lost 10 games this season, which is a low figure for a side in our position. Birmingham and Ipswich, just outside the play-offs, have lost 9, whilst Rotherham, third bottom, have lost 9 more games than we have.

In comparison to the sides down at the wrong end of the table with us, the bottom 3 sides have all conceded basically double the amount of goals we have this season, Bolton (52), Charlton (56) and Rotherham (55).

Its quite clear that at the back we are a very strong side and there is little/no work that needs to be done on that front to very quickly climb the league.

At the other end of the pitch the story is very different. Rovers have scored just 28 goals all season, with only Charlton (26), Bristol City (27) and MK Dons (25) scoring less goals than us. Alarmingly Fulham have scored 47 yet sit below us, whilst all the top 6 sides have scored 20+ more goals than us over the 30 games this season.

I would like to think moving forward, as long as we survive this season, that the major surgery will be concentrated on our attacking abilities and not on our defence, which has been consistent all season.

It's a shame we didn't have this defensive resilience 2 seasons ago when we were among the top scorers in the league but couldn't stop shipping goals.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Just looking at the Championship league table throws up some very interesting statistics.

Rovers have conceded just 27 goals in the league this season. Only 3 teams in the whole division have conceded less goals than Rovers, those being automatic promotion chasers Burnley (26), Middlesbrough (16) and Hull (19). Derby County and Forest have conceded 27 also.

Even the teams chasing the play-offs known for their defensive resilience have conceded significantly more than we have, Ipswich on 39 for example.

Beyond this we have 'only' lost 10 games this season, which is a low figure for a side in our position. Birmingham and Ipswich, just outside the play-offs, have lost 9, whilst Rotherham, third bottom, have lost 9 more games than we have.

In comparison to the sides down at the wrong end of the table with us, the bottom 3 sides have all conceded basically double the amount of goals we have this season, Bolton (52), Charlton (56) and Rotherham (55).

Its quite clear that at the back we are a very strong side and there is little/no work that needs to be done on that front to very quickly climb the league.

At the other end of the pitch the story is very different. Rovers have scored just 28 goals all season, with only Charlton (26), Bristol City (27) and MK Dons (25) scoring less goals than us. Alarmingly Fulham have scored 47 yet sit below us, whilst all the top 6 sides have scored 20+ more goals than us over the 30 games this season.

I would like to think moving forward, as long as we survive this season, that the major surgery will be concentrated on our attacking abilities and not on our defence, which has been consistent all season.

Keep saying it but Lambert so far is very much mirroring Hughes' first season in charge. The number one priority for both was/is sorting the defence out, which its often said is the first thing any good manager does. Very few teams go down whilst being water-tight at the back. Under Hughes we couldn't score for toffee in his first season and he needed the summer transfer window to bring in Bellamy and Bentley to give us some attacking options. Whilst he's made a start with it, to get someone of real quality on his non-existent budget, Lambert will need the same window.

[Lancaster Rover]

I've said in other threads that I feel Lambert and Hughes are very similar in their approaches and also their no-nonsense approach to managing individuals. Hughes was quite scathing of a number of player when he came in and their levels of fitness and application. He quickly assembled a core of committed yet workmanlike players and over time added flair here and there to great effect.