[Archived] Rovers v Burnley

[JHRover]

24 minutes ago, Mercer said:

As I posted earlier, we are going to get hammered:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4817526/Blackburn-0-2-Burnley-Match-report.html

Don't know the name of our security supremo (bloke with grey hair, glasses and grey suit) but he should be told to clear his desk tonight.  The response of the stewards was abysmal.  Our security man ambled on as though he was on a Sunday stroll and it actually looked to me as though he was beckoning ambulance personnel to go on to the pitch and sort it out.  IMV, as spineless and clueless as our football team. 

 

You're referring to Stuart Kayley. He spent the 2nd half telling two 8 year old kids to stop calling Dyche names and go and sit down. Life's so much easier in the 3rd division with sub-10000 crowds and nothing to do other than stand there on matchday.

[broadsword]

Just now, blackburnforever said:

like i say dont forget the bigger picture  I wouldn't have put a full stength team out crackers when our objective is to get promoted, dont forget we are playing against prem league the second half wasn't bad in terms of effort 43 games to get out of this league dont forget this game you dont get any points for come on rovers championship football next season if we give everything to this cause it can be achieved.

Yeah, best to put a doss team out and get rolled over easily. Real momentum builder that, tony. 

While you're here, why are you so bloody obsessed with grass ? 

 

"But you're asking the wrong person. Go and ask the security people at the football club. I manage the football team on the grass" 

[Mercer]

Just now, blackburnforever said:

like i say dont forget the bigger picture  I wouldn't have put a full stength team out crackers when our objective is to get promoted, dont forget we are playing against prem league the second half wasn't bad in terms of effort 43 games to get out of this league dont forget this game you dont get any points for come on rovers championship football next season if we give everything to this cause it can be achieved.

We had / have no game plan, we seemingly have no collective spirit or backbone.  I was staggered as to how bad we were.  Unless something radical happens, change of manager for example, I doubt we have any chance of even making the top six. 

[Norbert Rassragr]

Arse.
I suppose we can 'concentrate on the league' now.

[G Somerset Rover]

Just now, Mercer said:

We had / have no game plan, we seemingly have no collective spirit or backbone.  I was staggered as to how bad we were.  Unless something radical happens, change of manager for example, I doubt we have any chance of even making the top six. 

Mercer I know we've all had a bad night and I'm not trying to make it worse, but you'll go back to predicting 4-1 victories come Saturday morning.

[tomphil]

8 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Mowbray has a lot to answer for with his selection tonight. I felt the introductions of Bennett, Conway and Samuel all improved our performance and functioning but by then it was far too late and it was damage limitation really. If they had a positive manager who wanted to really make us suffer they probably could have humiliated us tonight, so for me having been 2-0 down at half time I'm actually relieved to have escaped with that at full time. Such a shame that's what I and we have been reduced to but suffering is to be expected in this era of the club's history. Smallwood ok. Antonsson invisible for large spells. Defence a shambles.

Beyond that it is nights like tonight that just bring into sharp focus the shambles that is Blackburn Rovers. A club bereft of any direction, pride, determination. An atmosphere of weary resignation around the ground and on the pitch for large spells. A joke setup handing over freedom of Ewood to that lot whilst our own disillusioned support base sees just 11,000 turn up for the derby. The whole thing makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.

Highly concerned about this manager's eagerness to make numerous changes to personnel and formation game by game. We need a settled system and side and need to stick with that to get some consistency going. He's heaped the pressure on himself for MK Dons which is now a must win game.

As I said the moment the draw was made last week I didnt want to play them. I would have preferred away at Plymouth if the rules allowed it as I expected more or less what we got tonight. It really did baffle me to see so many Rovers fans getting excited for this fixture when the odds were always heavily stacked against us. I didn't want us to play them again until we're back in the same division and I repeat that now. 

 

He was just giving people games i'm afraid and yet again Whittingham looked disinterested, not judging tonight but in the time he's been  here I think another big b@llock has been dropped there or a favour done.

It will probably end in him being loaned out or paid off we seem to bring one in like this every season.

[Mercer]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

You're referring to Stuart Kayley. He spent the 2nd half telling two 8 year old kids to stop calling Dyche names and go and sit down. Life's so much easier in the 3rd division with sub-10000 crowds and nothing to do other than stand there on matchday.

To me, the bloke looks full of himself.  When he needs to deliver, he failed miserably.  Think he needs to clear his desk PDQ.

[blackburnforever]

guess you wasn't at bradford then i was like i say lets stick together he whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious

[Blue blood]

Just now, blackburnforever said:

like i say dont forget the bigger picture  I wouldn't have put a full stength team out crackers when our objective is to get promoted, dont forget we are playing against prem league the second half wasn't bad in terms of effort 43 games to get out of this league dont forget this game you dont get any points for come on rovers championship football next season if we give everything to this cause it can be achieved.

The bigger picture is they are our hated rivals. The bigger picture is winning and confidence breeds winning amd confidence. The bigger picture is we've a disillusioned fanbase and a lot of walk ons/renewed interest in this match. A win or even a plucky performance may have encouraged fans to re-engage. As it is it was a massive PR blunder and massive missed opportunity to get some fans back onside.

added in you are ignoring how poor we were and how easily Burnley won it.

[glen9mullan]

What I can't understand about a manager taking over Rovers, who spends all week with the players, watches the same games as us yet does not address the things staring him in the face.

Goalkeeper - Steele was never a number 1 and finally we saw sense and got rid, Raya has potential , but wouldn't it of been a good idea to give the new Lad a game tonight if Mowbray's mind was made up to put out a weakened team?

Centre backs - this club has been crying out for 2 Centre backs for 2 seasons , we are playing midfielders in Mulgrew and Lenihan at the back.  Surely getting this addressed allows us to put Mulgrew into midfield given his delivery and use of the ball us better than anything we have in midfield?

Full backs - no disrespect to Williams, Nyambe and Caddis, but none are very good. They offer very little offensively , defensively they are all suspect and when we play wing backs utilizing these three it's like playing with 9 men.

Centre midfield - we pass sideways , backwards or hoof it hopelessly to no one in particular  , often in slow motion, often with no game plan and more than often predictable.

Forwards - when we do finally get the ball in the box, we often look second best. Our forward are often caught on their heels, slow to react and are easily picked off.

Wide players - where have the days gone where a winger is direct , gets down the line into that last 30.yards and gets the ball in the box? Our wide players tend to get the ball too deep in our own half, go infield or backwards and give the opposition full backs and easy ride.

 

There is some good players in this squad who are being made to look very poor by the way we set up, by the lack of game plan and pure lack of belief in what they are being asked to do. Square pegs /round holes. 

Mowbray comes across as a nice guy, but this is about winning football matches. We are a million miles off a team scoring 80 goals plus, creating 600 chances plus a season. We are so disorganised, and the football is bland and the least entertaining i have seen in recent years.

We appear to have signed bodies, rather than targeted players to play a system.

The magic word is "IDENTITY" and under Mowbray I can honestly say, Rovers are severely lacking one.

Forget tonight's game, the gulf in class was there, and it does not matter which 11 we fielded, The result would have been no different.

However it's about promotion and Rovers, with this squad and this manager will struggle to.finish better than mid table . Something needs to change quick, this squad is not good enough, whilst the man at the helm doesn't appear to have a clue on what's needed to compete in this division , let alone get promoted from it.

We need in my opinion 5 players who have experienced football at a higher level and have tasted promotion .

We need leaders and more so winners.

Of the players brought in , 75% will spend most of the season out of the team as they are not good enough.

 

Getting business done early in the transfer window is only good business if the players are the right players. I think many have been hoodwinked with the number of players we have signed, however when it's all stripped back, how many are setting the pulses racing?

Anyway disappointed to lose tonight , but not unexpected, MK on Saturday far more important

[Pedro]

1 minute ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Very surprised an experienced observer like yourself is receivex by Bennett PB. We only gained a modicum of attacking impetus tonight when Samuel came on. He had a bit of fire in his belly. The rest looked as though they had accepted the result when we went 2 down.

I must be honest, I just don't know why you singled him out for being disinterested. There were times when he ran up to the keeper, then to the wing and then ran across and tackled on the opposite wing - all this when six or seven of his team mates had completely given up. His effort seemed to inspire the Boro lad (mental block on his name) who's sometimes iffy performance got better as the match went on.

I agree re Samuel. I really like the look of him. Again, a real trier.  I feel him and Dack will do well for us.

We just don't get enough shots on goal or appear to have grown a pair of nads just yet. 

 

[Blue blood]

Just now, blackburnforever said:

guess you wasn't at bradford then i was like i say lets stick together he whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious

Guess you weren't at Doncaster then.

Also let's try for some punctuation in your motivational speeches and possibly some evidence to back up your points.

[blackburnforever]

second half not that much in it

[Parsonblue]

I thought Burnley looked a class apart for most of the match.  We had little or no threat until Bennett, Conway and Samuels came on.  Bennett may not be everyone's cup of tea but he puts in a shift every game, week in and week out.  Just a pity a number of the others can't do the same.  Raya kept us in the game with some outstanding saves but too many players looked very ordinary tonight even by Third Division standards.  Whittingham looks a shadow of the player he was at Cardiff.  Antonsson looks anything but suited to the rough and tumble of life in League One - if only we could find another Mike Hickman to play up front.  Not sure what Gladwin's position is supposed to be but he is another new arrival who looks no better than those we released.  Williams surely must be dropped to give Jack Doyle a chance and likewise Caddis if Nyambe is fit.  We look weak in defence, lack creativity in midfield and carry no threat up front.  I like Mowbray but to me he is overthinking everything at the moment.  Our players are playing in the Third Division (sorry, League One) because they aren't good enough to play at a higher level at the moment.  Keep the system simple and I'm sure we will get more out of them.  Sadly, Burnley are now light years ahead of us and are likely to be so for the foreseeable future.  MK Dons is, sadly, a far more important game as far as the Rovers are concerned. 

[Mercer]

Just now, Blue blood said:

The bigger picture is they are our hated rivals. The bigger picture is winning and confidence breeds winning amd confidence. The bigger picture is we've a disillusioned fanbase and a lot of walk ons/renewed interest in this match. A win or even a plucky performance may have encouraged fans to re-engage. As it is it was a massive PR blunder and massive missed opportunity to get some fans back onside.

added in you are ignoring how poor we were and how easily Burnley won it.

Lost count, when walking back to the car, of the number of people saying they were now finished with the club until ownership and the manager changes.  Some seriously p I s s e d off fans.  There were six people sat round me who left the ground at half time. 

[booth]

13 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

One final point - the flares. We were searched on entering the ground and I assume their fans were too. In which case how did they get the flares in? Could be mistaken but seems another black mark against our security.

They don't search up arses.

[JHRover]

Just now, Mercer said:

To me, the bloke looks full of himself.  When he needs to deliver, he failed miserably.  Think he needs to clear his desk PDQ.

Just promoted from within like so many others. Very easy to manage matchday arrangements when nobody turns up but when there's a risk of trouble or a big gate they can't cope with it and we then see scenes like tonight. Like other areas of the club simply couldn't cope if we ever got 20,000 a week turning up again or got back to the Premier League as the infrastructure and staff has been hollowed out.

[blackburnforever]

top 2 our aim, yeah  i was at doncaster game that was bad but there was motivation and determination there at bradford lets use this as our marker for the season

[JHRover]

Just now, Parsonblue said:

I thought Burnley looked a class apart for most of the match.  We had little or no threat until Bennett, Conway and Samuels came on.  Bennett may not be everyone's cup of tea but he puts in a shift every game, week in and week out.  Just a pity a number of the others can't do the same.  Raya kept us in the game with some outstanding saves but too many players looked very ordinary tonight even by Third Division standards.  Whittingham looks a shadow of the player he was at Cardiff.  Antonsson looks anything but suited to the rough and tumble of life in League One - if only we could find another Mike Hickman to play up front.  Not sure what Gladwin's position is supposed to be but he is another new arrival who looks no better than those we released.  Williams surely must be dropped to give Jack Doyle a chance and likewise Caddis if Nyambe is fit.  We look weak in defence, lack creativity in midfield and carry no threat up front.  I like Mowbray but to me he is overthinking everything at the moment.  Our players are playing in the Third Division (sorry, League One) because they aren't good enough to play at a higher level at the moment.  Keep the system simple and I'm sure we will get more out of them.  Sadly, Burnley are now light years ahead of us and are likely to be so for the foreseeable future.  MK Dons is, sadly, a far more important game as far as the Rovers are concerned. 

I agree re. the 3 introductions. 

The thing is with the money we're shelling out we should be getting promoted this season, and whilst Burnley outperformed us tonight I'd be very surprised if they weren't in a long hard relegation scrap this season. 

If both those things came to pass then we'd be lining up against them next season in the same division with them albeit in a stronger financial state but that wouldn't last for long if they didn't bounce back immediately.

Sadly I suspect that once again we will underachieve in relation to our expenditure as our manager appears to be confusing himself and his players with his selections and formations whilst their relatively meagre resources for the level they are at will be made to stretch due to competent management unlike the sham we have here.

[Blue blood]

So 3 of the 4 games have been poor performances yet we use the one good one as an indicator for what we're like??? Not sure on the stats for that one.

Btw I do think we're better than we've done which makes the season start all the more galling and unnecessary. But let's call a spade a spade - we were poor tonight and have has a bad start to the season.

[Parsonblue]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

I agree re. the 3 introductions. 

The thing is with the money we're shelling out we should be getting promoted this season, and whilst Burnley outperformed us tonight I'd be very surprised if they weren't in a long hard relegation scrap this season. 

If both those things came to pass then we'd be lining up against them next season in the same division with them albeit in a stronger financial state but that wouldn't last for long if they didn't bounce back immediately.

Sadly I suspect that once again we will underachieve in relation to our expenditure as our manager appears to be confusing himself and his players with his selections and formations whilst their relatively meagre resources for the level they are at will be made to stretch due to competent management unlike the sham we have here.

To be honest I don't think Burnley will have any trouble staying up.  They have players who can create and take chances and in Dyche they have a manager who knows how to get the best from the players he has at his disposal.  For me tonight just underlined how wide the gulf has become between the two clubs and continues to widen with each passing season.  It will, at some point, change again - it always does - but I think it may be some time before we are competing on a level playing field.  This is the second time I've seen Burnley lording it over us in the top flight whilst we languished in the Third Division.  It's changed before and it will again - eventually.

[Reedy You're A Star]

9 minutes ago, blackburnforever said:

top 2 our aim, yeah  i was at doncaster game that was bad but there was motivation and determination there at bradford lets use this as our marker for the season

Do you think, from the evidence of the games played so far this season, that this is a squad capable of finishing in the top 2? For me, they'll be lucky to finish in the top half unless we start playing a straight forward system and stop hoofing it to players who aren't big strong target men.

[Mercer]

Just now, Parsonblue said:

To be honest I don't think Burnley will have any trouble staying up.  They have players who can create and take chances and in Dyche they have a manager who knows how to get the best from the players he has at his disposal.  For me tonight just underlined how wide the gulf has become between the two clubs and continues to widen with each passing season.  It will, at some point, change again - it always does - but I think it may be some time before we are competing on a level playing field.  This is the second time I've seen Burnley lording it over us in the top flight whilst we languished in the Third Division.  It's changed before and it will again - eventually.

Trouble is Parson, we weren't £150million+ in debt back then !

We may not even have a football club to support in the not too distant future.

[A cup of beans]

On 18/08/2017 at 16:36, tomphil said:

 

Tickets bought. I'm naming it :'The Rovers Ressaurection'.  

The tombstone couldn't be moved back tonight.

Apart from the 1st 15 mins, we looked well below.

We played some wretched stuff.

We lacked, sharpness, spirit, devilment.

All this against a bang average side, intent on hoofing the ball. They were playing a game of 'the pitch is Lava.'

They will be relegated come May, so we can all rejoice in that.

Mr Mowbray has plummeted from his pedistal. He chose not to play his strongest side tonight, again he didn't grasp it's importance to all of us.

A couple of players shone, Bennett, Samuel, and Chapman. Smallwood will be brilliant with a decent partner.

The rest of them, looked weak in every way. 

Raya deserved his Man of the match (even though his kicking lacks power and direction).

[Pedro]

2 minutes ago, Reidy You're a Star said:

Do you think, from the evidence of the games played so far this season, that this is a squad capable of finishing in the top 2? For me, they'll be lucky to finish in the top half unless we start playing a straight forward system and stop hoofing it to players who aren't big strong target men.

I think Mowbray rested the core of his best side tonight (Conway, Samuel, Evans, Bennett and Graham) and also had Dack injured. That's a massive chunk of our best 11 missing.  We looked much more lively when the subs came on but we are  seriously lacking fight, belief and intensity.  I agree that we need a straight forward system. Play your best players in their best positions and forget about one lightweight or immobile front man.