[Archived] Walsall v Rovers

[Mike E]

Didn't Freidel once say he didn't really 'get it' until he was 27? Then all the shots started feeling slow motion and it got easier.

[Dreams of 1995]

What an atmosphere. Fans were excellent all the way through. The only downside to the day was the stewards not letting us up out of the tiny concourse after half time. Strange move by them as it just meant people bought more beer and came out more tanked up - the result being I don't think I heard the refs whistle once in the last 20, the noise was fantastic.

Payne ran the show first half and showed the class that impressed so many when he played us at Oxford. Faded off in the second half a bit but so did all the team.

Nothing but admiration for a battling Walsall side and it was nice to tick off the stadium. I wish I could have got a ticket for Wimbledon but I'm sure the fans there, although much smaller in number, will make just as much of a racket.

Mowbray had a dream.

[47er]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Didn't Freidel once say he didn't really 'get it' until he was 27? Then all the shots started feeling slow motion and it got easier.

We can hardly play Raya till he's 27 to see if he's good enough though can we? Sign a 27 year old  and groom Raya to take over would be the way to go!

[47er]

Oh dear BDS is confused! 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, 47er said:

Oh dear BDS is confused! 

Ya, I am confused someone wants to sign a 27 year old(very specific)  goalkeeper to replace one of our best performers this season. Could you help me out?? 

[47er]

Yes sure---I think you're taking me too literally there!

[Bigdoggsteel]

5 minutes ago, 47er said:

Yes sure---I think you're taking me too literally there!

Oh

[AggyBlue]

18 minutes ago, 47er said:

Yes sure---I think you're taking me too literally there!

So it's not specifically the goalkeeper you want to replace?

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, renrag said:

Goalkeepers are invariably late developers. Terry Gennoe had not cracked any pots up to joining Rovers, where he blossomed and became one of a long list of outstanding keepers to grace Ewood 

Yeah, we've had some really top keepers over the years.

[darrenrover]

Yes Raya dropped a clanger in the lead up to their goal. What's forgotten is it was a needless corner to concede, Payne should have done better when the ball went wide and there were only half hearted attempts by several when the ball was crossed back in but it's Raya's fault?

Raya more than redeemed himself with a superb, commanding second half display.

I accept that the 2 aspects of his game that need improvement are his kicking and the ability to catch or punch crosses. Both should be cured with good coaching and therein may lie the issue.

I know I'd prefer to see Raya between the sticks rather than the 27year old who's hardly pulling up trees at The Stadium of Light or our Canadian International.

 

[jim mk2]

 

Raya will become a very good goalkeeper in time - but  we need a solid, experienced keeper now, one who doesn't make basic errors and lead to us conceding soft goals. If I'd been manager I would have been looking to bring one in all season. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

6 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Raya will become a very good goalkeeper in time - but  we need a solid, experienced keeper now, one who doesn't make basic errors and lead to us conceding soft goals. If I'd been manager I would have been looking to bring one in all season. 

What about all of the brilliant saves he pulls off? 

[joey_big_nose]

21 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Raya will become a very good goalkeeper in time - but  we need a solid, experienced keeper now, one who doesn't make basic errors and lead to us conceding soft goals. If I'd been manager I would have been looking to bring one in all season. 

Haven't we got a good experienced keeper on the bench in Leutwiler?

[USABlue]

20 hours ago, Hasta said:

Not sure what you base that on. We've got better and better on that front as the season has gone on.

The only game this year where we have conceded late on was Rotherham away which, in hindsight, was a good point.

So far this year we have fought back against Oldham, fought back against Northampton, hung on for win against Walsall, scored late winners at Pompey and Fleetwood and won a 'must win' game against Shrewsbury who did seemed to bottle it on the day.

That we concede sloppy goals is the problem.

 

I base it somewhat on the fact we struggle against supposed "lesser" teams. The mere fact that we had to "fight back" against these teams is part of the issue.  It could all be just a personal opinion but I just get the feel we could be tougher mentally, hard for me to explain but I just have that feel.  I din't have the cinfudence in them like I have in other promotion teams, Souness' , Kendall's and Lee's teams all made me feel like going up was ours to throw away.  I don't feel that with iur current squad.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, USABlue said:

I base it somewhat on the fact we struggle against supposed "lesser" teams.  It could all be just a personal opinion but I just get the feel we could be tougher mentally, hard for me to explain but I just have that feel.  I din't have the cinfudence in them like I have in other promotion teams, Souness' , Kendall's and Lee's teams all made me feel like going up was ours to throw away.  I don't feel that with iur current squad.

I am starting to see similarities with Sounesses team. Teams we play against are coming out saying we are the best team in the league. We are grinding out wins where it looks like we won't. Still, have to take it game by game 

[Hasta]

Just now, USABlue said:

I base it somewhat on the fact we struggle against supposed "lesser" teams.  It could all be just a personal opinion but I just get the feel we could be tougher mentally, hard for me to explain but I just have that feel.  I din't have the cinfudence in them like I have in other promotion teams, Souness' , Kendall's and Lee's teams all made me feel like going up was ours to throw away.  I don't feel that with iur current squad.

We have struggled against lesser teams but I think it's just we concede avoidable goals which means that anyone can score against us. 

We do start complacent as though we expect to score rather than force it to happen and it takes an opposition goal to jolt us in to life. I suppose that is a mental issue.

However if we have to hang on with our backs to the wall in a game, or force the issue late on in a game, I haven't seen that as being a problem. I think there are more leaders in there now than previously and they seem to be playing with a positive team-spirit, which can actually carry you through games.

[Hasta]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

I am starting to see similarities with Sounesses team. Teams we play against are coming out saying we are the best team in the league. We are grinding out wins where it looks like we won't. Still, have to take it game by game 

In the second half of the season under Souness, we didn't grind many wins out. We were quite comfortable in a lot of games IIRC

 

[AllRoverAsia]

3 hours ago, renrag said:

Goalkeepers are invariably late developers. Terry Gennoe had not cracked any pots up to joining Rovers, where he blossomed and became one of a long list of outstanding keepers to grace Ewood 

Gennoe, a great keeper, was also tall.

I do hope Raya learns how to cope with high balls. At present his lack of success with crosses must affect those defenders around him and another reason why we need at least one dominant CB next season.

[Bigdoggsteel]

3 minutes ago, Hasta said:

In the second half of the season under Souness, we didn't grind many wins out. We were quite comfortable in a lot of games IIRC

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000–01_Blackburn_Rovers_F.C._season

A few draws and wins by the odd goal there. Only finished 4 points ahead of Bolton 

[chaddyrovers]

53 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Raya will become a very good goalkeeper in time - but  we need a solid, experienced keeper now, one who doesn't make basic errors and lead to us conceding soft goals. If I'd been manager I would have been looking to bring one in all season. 

Drop Raya?

Will only learn by playing first team football and thats should be here. 

[darrenrover]

I dread to think what the reaction on here would be if the results of our last 12 games of 91/92 were repeated this season! (Heaven forbid btw!) 

[JHRover]

We seem to get by in games with short excellent spells of 20-40 minutes and the rest being quite poor. When it works then great but I still have this nagging feeling of us not living up to our potential often enough or for long enough in games.

Some will see that as me nitpicking or finding faults out of nothing but those Walsall performances are the norm rather than the exception. All well and good winning games when not playing well or not playing well for 90 minutes but it happens more often than not - frequently this season we blitz the opposition for 30 minutes, look unplayable, could have the game wrapped up, but then let them back in out of nothing and proceed to spend the remainder of the game holding on in an unconvincing manner.

There is a massive contrast during games between the Rovers that click and go at the opposition and then the Rovers that end up pushed back, defending, looking very nervous and providing encouragement to the opposition. It must be something mentally

As I say, not trying to be critical when we're delivering results but I'd certainly hope that the manager has concerns about it and is aware of the problem rather than saying 'but we're winning and we're top so nothing to find fault with'.

I'd happily take another 12 single goal victories and hanging on every week but I do also thing that we could be more effective at managing games and putting teams to bed rather than ending up hanging on in games we really shouldn't.

[AllRoverAsia]

14 minutes ago, darrenrover said:

I dread to think what the reaction on here would be if the results of our last 12 games of 91/92 were repeated this season! (Heaven forbid btw!) 

No problem ..... if I knew the outcome would be the same.

Otherwise it's time for me to stock up on sedatives.

COYB 

[roversfan99]

9 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Bennett's work rate is excellent, leadership, defensively positional is good, offer plenty going forward tbf but assist stats are misleading. Yes he might not scored this season but its like we lack goals in the team is it? 

To be fair, ive never said that Bennett doesnt contribute at all. He does work hard and he does graft (unlike Samuel) but ive acknowledged that and its irrelevant to my point.

Last season he only played half a season but he scored 4 goals, all really good, similar technique and we know he can get into shooting positions. I and many others earmarked Bennett in the summer as someone who could chip in with plenty of goals and assists considering the massive drop in opposition quality. 

Your point about not lacking goals elsewhere is stupid, you can never have enough goals and others stepping up doesnt excuse that.

I want a simple yes or no. Ive acknowledged there are other ways that he contributes, its a stand alone point. If you had said with 12 games to go, hes played most games on the wing, would you have been content/happy (or would he have been happy) with no goals at all and a couple of assists? 

[USABlue]

4 hours ago, Mike E said:

Didn't Freidel once say he didn't really 'get it' until he was 27? Then all the shots started feeling slow motion and it got easier.

Many on here have Freidal as our best ever.  Those who were around at the time will remember I often questioned his "fundamentals", like coming out for the ball.  Bit like Raya, of.course we don't recall Brad costing us.like Raya has at times but we did not see big Brad at Rays's age either.  Young Raya does need to improve but he has all the attributes to be a top class keeper, attributes that can not be coached such as reflexes.  Even if he would punch instead of palm the ball it would help.  He'll be alright, you'll see.