[Archived] Southend v Rovers

[JacknOry]

Yep, like this shrimper guy. Talks a lot of sense and is nothing like the usual oppo fans that come on here with their sly little digs.

All we heard during the summer was how TM is working on these fancy formations but I always had my doubts with one up top. No point over-complicating things if you dont have the players to do it. You cant build and Arsenal or Barca tippy tappy style with free agents. As i said before, play with wingers, get a strapping CF in alongside Graham and just get the damn ball in the box.

[Dunnfc]

11 hours ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

Judging by some reactions over what was a pants result on the first day of the season, some here are probably buying one of these already.

She included too?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I know I'm stating the bleeding obvious but I always thought the idea was to build your system of play around the abilities of the players you have at hand. You don't shoehorn players into systems that don't fit their particular skills.

IE , if you have three good centre backs at the club, say Henning Berg, Kevin Moran, Colin Hendry and two good attacking fullbacks, say Kevin Hird and Graham LeSaux playing the 3-5-2 system would make sense.

[Dunnfc]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I know I'm stating the bleeding obvious but I always thought the idea was to build your system of play around the abilities of the players you have at hand. You don't shoehorn players into systems that don't fit their particular skills.

Usually that is how it happens the only exceptions are England managers and obviously Mowbray. 4-4-2 has always bar a spell under Hughes been the way we play 4-5-1 creates pish viewing strangles attacking freedom. 

[JacknOry]

I think Conway and his delivery would be excellent in this league. We also have the pace of Feeney and Chapman can always come on or start instead of him.

Problem is, who loses out in midfield. Dack on his showing last time out should be sent to Love Island. id probably have Bennet in there with either Whittingham or Evans.

[Dunnfc]

Just now, JacknOry said:

I think Conway and his delivery would be excellent in this league. We also have the pace of Feeney and Chapman can always come on or start instead of him.

Problem is, who loses out in midfield. Dack on his showing last time out should be sent to Love Island. id probably have Bennet in there with either Whittingham or Evans.

Feeney Evans Bennett Conway

Samuel Graham 

Whitts looked poor against Southend (they all did tbf) and Dack can miss out for me.

[JacknOry]

Just now, Dunnfc said:

Feeney Evans Bennett Conway

Samuel Graham 

Whitts looked poor against Southend (they all did tbf) and Dack can miss out for me.

Agreed but I dont want to write off Whittingham just yet. I dont think him sitting so far back and lumping balls is his normal game. With one of up top he has nothing to aim at from back there. Him slipping balls in to a top two and being further forward is his strength i believe - he didnt get all those goals and assists last year sitting in front of the CBs. Id like to see him alongside Evans or another runner in a 442

[Shrimper]

28 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I know I'm stating the bleeding obvious but I always thought the idea was to build your system of play around the abilities of the players you have at hand. You don't shoehorn players into systems that don't fit their particular skills.

IE , if you have three good centre backs at the club, say Henning Berg, Kevin Moran, Colin Hendry and two good attacking fullbacks, say Kevin Hird and Graham LeSaux playing the 3-5-2 system would make sense.

Exactly this. Play to their strengths.

I think Phil Brown was/is planning on setting us up in a 3-5-2 formation at some point. We've got 3 solid CB's in Anton Ferdidnad, Michael Turner & Rob Kiernan, and 2 very good wingbacks in Ben Coker & Jason Demetriou.

The problem is, 2 of them are currently injured (Turner out for 6 weeks & Coker is out for 6 months) so instead of Brown trying to shoehorn other (lesser) players into their positions, to play that specifc formation, he's had to change the formation completely, and utilise one that suits our remaining strengths, which at the moment is 4-4-2. 

[Shrimper]

29 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

Dack on his showing last time out should be sent to Love Island

 

Make no mistake, Dack is a very good player at this level. He had been Gillingham's main man for a few years now, and in the past has regularly been a thorn in our side, when we've met them. 

He needs a confidence boost, sure. But he will come good sooner rather than later 

He's a proven, free-scoring attacking midfielder, which I assure you, you won't find many of, at this level. 

 

[Shrimper]

6 hours ago, perthblue02 said:

Bloody hell Shrimper you will have our resident self proclaimed expert on tactics in tears by championing 4-4-2, Just don't mention  a Director of Football / coach scenario as being a complete waste of time compared to a proper manager  or his his head will explode

Thanks for the insights into life in League 1, hope you keep posting throughout the season

I genuinely have no idea why a football club needs a director of football.

There should only ever be one man in charge, which means one man responsible & one man accountable. 

Anyone who believes otherwise, needs to give their head a jangle. 

[Shrimper]

8 hours ago, JHRover said:

I'm starting to like you

I'm honestly not looking to kiss arse, or win friends cheaply when I say this, but I do genuinely dislike Burnley as a football club & detest their fans, on the whole.

 They brought a few lads down to our place years ago, and got sent packing fairly quickly. 

@#/? 'em, and @#/? that stupid David Fishwick stand aswell 

[JHRover]

13 minutes ago, Shrimper said:

I genuinely have no idea why a football club needs a director of football.

There should only ever be one man in charge, which means one man responsible & one man accountable. 

Anyone who believes otherwise, needs to give their head a jangle. 

In times gone by when clubs had British ownership and British directors I would completely agree with that, however in today's world with foreign based often clueless owners running clubs there can be a need for a 'middle man' operating as the 'figurehead' of a club between the owners, who can't/won't spend their time around the club or don't know much about football, and a manager who should spend the majority of his time on the training ground preparing for games.

In the case of our crackpot setup at Rovers there is a definite need for something to exist between manager and owners. I refuse to accept that Mowbray flying to India to get his budgets/answers is the best arrangement for this club and probably will prevent the club ever being successful under their ownership as it is so ridiculous it is scarcely believable.

An example would be what happens if Rovers proceed to go winless in their first 10 games? Someone should be based at Ewood Park with their eye on the ball and the power to hire and fire to make the changes necessary. We haven't got that so IF the need arises to make a change (hopefully it won't) then there is a vacuum into which indecision, lack of communication and delay all seep and before we know where we are the season has drifted by and our 'targets' have been missed.

[Bigdoggsteel]

24 minutes ago, Shrimper said:

 

Make no mistake, Dack is a very good player at this level. He had been Gillingham's main man for a few years now, and in the past has regularly been a thorn in our side, when we've met them. 

He needs a confidence boost, sure. But he will come good sooner rather than later 

He's a proven, free-scoring attacking midfielder, which I assure you, you won't find many of, at this level. 

 

On and off the field by the looks of it! 

[Shrimper]

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

In times gone by when clubs had British ownership and British directors I would completely agree with that, however in today's world with foreign based often clueless owners running clubs there can be a need for a 'middle man' operating as the 'figurehead' of a club between the owners, who can't/won't spend their time around the club or don't know much about football, and a manager who should spend the majority of his time on the training ground preparing for games.

In the case of our crackpot setup at Rovers there is a definite need for something to exist between manager and owners. I refuse to accept that Mowbray flying to India to get his budgets/answers is the best arrangement for this club and probably will prevent the club ever being successful under their ownership as it is so ridiculous it is scarcely believable.

An example would be what happens if Rovers proceed to go winless in their first 10 games? Someone should be based at Ewood Park with their eye on the ball and the power to hire and fire to make the changes necessary. We haven't got that so IF the need arises to make a change (hopefully it won't) then there is a vacuum into which indecision, lack of communication and delay all seep and before we know where we are the season has drifted by and our 'targets' have been missed.

Yeah reasonable point, that (thankfully?) doesn't apply to most teams, especially those in the lower tiers. 

My origional point though, was that there has to be one man in charge. A go-between, for the Manager & Owners is fine, but that should be the extent of his involvement. I can't agree with Anyone other than the manager, deciding what players should be bought in, what formations should be played & what tactics should be used.

I'm not saying that's happened at Rovers, but we know it's happened elsewhere

[philipl]

Crikey our defending was bad for those two Southend goals!

I watched Luton 8 Yeovil 2 after it and couldn't tell the difference.

 

[Gav]

1 hour ago, Shrimper said:

I'm honestly not looking to kiss arse, or win friends cheaply when I say this, but I do genuinely dislike Burnley as a football club & detest their fans, on the whole.

 They brought a few lads down to our place years ago, and got sent packing fairly quickly. 

@#/? 'em, and @#/? that stupid David Fishwick stand aswell 

They got sent packing fairly quickly on Saturday also 

[Husky]

Yes I had a good weekend in Blackpool. Thanks for asking guys.

[MarkBRFC]

Saturday's lineup reminded me of the time Souness lost the plot on the opening day of the 04-05 season and played left back's everywhere.

Why was Samuel on the right wing? Why was he not up front with Graham considering we bought him in to score goals? Why was Bennett on the left wing? If they were meant to be playing out wide why didn't they stay there and keep drifting in? Why was Whittingham playing just in front of the back 4 when for the last few years he has been more of an attacking midfielder? Where was Dack meant to be playing?

People are saying let them gel and they have had no time together, what have they been doing all pre season? Why didn't they look as fit as our opponents?

I find it a bit worrying that we haven't nailed down a system in pre season that suits our players and this league, Mowbray has spent the past 6/7 weeks with them, surely he knows his best 11 that he currently has available?

I wouldn't mind losing 2-1 to a half decent team like Southend if it appeared we had any kind of gameplan and could see what we were trying to do, it appears there was none here though.

I can only see it getting worse before it gets better unfortunately.

[tomphil]

In the recent past there's been a scattergun approach to getting players in so Rovers really haven't had a style of play and a formula it's based on. Now we have a manger who seemed to have a sensible recruitment plan of horses for courses so I hope he isn't going to blow that by then being another who turns out formations and tactics every week that doesn't suit what he has or he himself has brought in.

[MikeRovers]

The one thing I was shocked about more than anything on Saturday was a lack of heart and willingness to dig in for each other. I know it's only day one but that aspect of the game was worrying. Particularly in this league where we'll come up against teams who'll fight for every ball and play a direct game, we need to have bottle as well as ability. As others have said, I already fear Mowbray thinks tippy tappy football will cut it. We need to learn quickly and hopefully we'll bounce back on Saturday against Donny. A win tonight would be a bonus too just to get some momentum. 

[Rover_Shaun]

That Southend are a good side aren't they......................................

[Reedy You're A Star]

Better than us 

[Rover_Shaun]

But the excuse was they'd walk this league??

[Reedy You're A Star]

People thought we would too! 

Shows this league is all about hard work and graft, not stupid "clever" formations. If you're not on your game on the day and willing to earn a result, you'll get spanked. Southend did it to us, Rotherham did it to them. I hope TM and the players were taking note.

[blueboy3333]

On ‎07‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 00:05, Shrimper said:

Evening Rovers. 

Let me start by saying I think it's a travesty what's happened to your club. I've seen Rovers play 3 times at Ewood in the past (beating Arsenal 2-0, beating Newcastle 5-2 & beating Charlton 1-0, all circa 2002/3) & always had a soft spot for the club. I hope things can be restored one day, and you return to where you belong. 

Although I fully appreciate it was a bad day for you lot yesterday, you shouldn't be too disheartened. For what it's worth, I think you'll finish up in the play-off positions at least. The spell you's had after half time was very difficult to cope with, and a lot of teams in this league would have (and will) crumble under that pressure, and you's would have taken the 3 points. Personally I thought Elliott was your main danger man, and we were delighted to see him withdrawn. Bradley Dack is a @#/?, but on his day he'll run rings around this league. Also thought your boy Chapman looked lively, but the nerves got the better of him on a couple of occasions. If he can settle fast, he'll be a decent player at this level. Although I must admit, you're biggest downfall might well be Mowbray. He ain't cut out for this level. 

Nice to see some praise for our little old tin-pot club. We've invested well, and if we can keep our key players fit, we'll be there-or-there-abouts with you, come May. We had 4-5 of our key players missing from the starting XI yesterday aswell, so there's (hopefully) more to come from us. 

The main thing about this league is, anybody can beat anybody on their day. Form guides don't mean jack @#/? really. It's a tough league, but it's also a league where if you can string together 4/5/6 wins, you find yourself rocketing up the table. Teams are regularly swapping places, leapfrogging each other, and closing ground on one another. Oh, if you thought we were physical, then wait til you come up against the likes of Bury or Scunthorpe. 

And I can also confirm that the refs in this division aren't that good, and moaning about them after every game, will become second nature, regardless if you win or lose. Keep a special eye out for one certain individual called Trevor Kettle. He's well known to the more regular fans of the lower divisions, simply because, he only needs to ref you once, and you won't forget him. 

Good luck for the season.

Was it this clown we had today?