Championship 2018-19

[Bigdoggsteel]

To be honest and ye might say I'm naive here or have rose tinted glasses on, but I think we are closer to being a good side in this division than a poor one. My biggest worry is not making the play offs. I'm not concerned about anything else 

 

[chaddyrovers]

8 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

To be honest and ye might say I'm naive here or have rose tinted glasses on, but I think we are closer to being a good side in this division than a poor one. My biggest worry is not making the play offs. I'm not concerned about anything else 

 

Not making the playoffs? Is that Mowbray target? 

[DE.]

7 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

To be honest and ye might say I'm naive here or have rose tinted glasses on, but I think we are closer to being a good side in this division than a poor one. My biggest worry is not making the play offs. I'm not concerned about anything else 

 

We aren't going to make the playoffs imo. Not enough quality in the team at the moment. I think we'll finish around 9th-14th, which wouldn't be a bad thing as it'd give us a solid platform to go into next season. 

[JHRover]

There's positives and negatives to be had. The obvious positives are that we've only lost 1 in 8, defensively aside from the 45 against Bristol City we appear to be as solid as anyone else, we seem to be quite a resolute and cohesive side that is battling in every game and is hard to beat. We seem to have adjusted to life in a higher league quite comfortably, though you could say the same for Wigan and Rotherham.

Its early days and I hope that we're not rueing those dropped points v Ipswich and Villa later on in the season. At the moment we're putting a lot into it and have that momentum from last season. Hopefully when the season is reaching the mid-way stage we're not going to run out of steam etc.

The critical way of looking at things is that we're not really doing enough going forward - against Derby, Villa, Millwall, Brentford we didn't really create much at all and I still worry we're too reliant upon the Dack/Graham double act with very little coming from elsewhere.

Frustrating thing is that if we get a point at Stoke on Saturday people will rightly argue that 3 draws from Villa home and Derby/Stoke away is a very reasonable return, yet we'll be no better off than had we held on for 2 minutes v Villa and been beaten twice this week. So its pleasing to not be losing with regularity but its the wins that separate teams out and if we'd have held out when ahead we'd be sitting pretty now.

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

To be honest and ye might say I'm naive here or have rose tinted glasses on, but I think we are closer to being a good side in this division than a poor one. My biggest worry is not making the play offs. I'm not concerned about anything else 

 

I dont think we will get near the play offs sadly but neither do I think we will be in significant relegation danger.

We definitely have some good players at this level but our squad seems imbalanced and lacking in certain areas. We signed some decent players in the summer but im not sure we did it in a totally balanced fashion, nor do I think that Mowbray knows his best team.

There are big questions at the moment about our ability to control and manage games at this level. That said I think we will be fine.

[K-Hod]

We've adapted well enough, but there's certainly room for improvement. We're not getting smashed out of sight with regularity and by and large I think we're doing fine so far.

I don't think think that we'll go down, but I also don't think we've any danger of getting in the play-offs either. Mid-table is about where I think we'll finish and to be honest, for a promoted team, if that happens, we can't really grumble with that.

[rigger]

We will only, not make the playoffs, if there are six teams with better results than us. lets just wait and see how the season pans out.

[Darwen Rover 007]

Wring thread sorry 

Edited September 19, 2018 by Darwen Rover 007
Wrong thread

[47er]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

We've adapted well enough, but there's certainly room for improvement. We're not getting smashed out of sight with regularity and by and large I think we're doing fine so far.

I don't think think that we'll go down, but I also don't think we've any danger of getting in the play-offs either. Mid-table is about where I think we'll finish and to be honest, for a promoted team, if that happens, we can't really grumble with that.

Agree but will it be enough to keep Dack?

[Boroblue]

 

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

We've adapted well enough, but there's certainly room for improvement. We're not getting smashed out of sight with regularity and by and large I think we're doing fine so far.

I don't think think that we'll go down, but I also don't think we've any danger of getting in the play-offs either. Mid-table is about where I think we'll finish and to be honest, for a promoted team, if that happens, we can't really grumble with that.

I agree mid table is a more tha acceptable assumption but this league is unbelievable inconsistent in the results it produces. Rotherham beat derby who look excellent against us. Boro lose against Norwich who have been poor. Couple that with questionable referring decisions on a regular basis and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that with a little sprinkling of fortune a play off place is achievable.

This however can be applied to most of the division and has you said mid table is more likely.

[JacknOry]

Just now, 47er said:

Agree but will it be enough to keep Dack?

Nope - he will be gone in the summer I reckon to a top-end Championship club.

[DE.]

Just now, 47er said:

Agree but will it be enough to keep Dack?

Doubtful I'd think. We could realistically be going into next season needing to replace Dack, Graham and Mulgrew so we'd better hope the purse strings are still open.

[JHRover]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

Nope - he will be gone in the summer I reckon to a top-end Championship club.

We need to become a top-end Championship club then. Rolling over and selling our best players to so-called bigger clubs in this league will get us nowhere.

[davulsukur]

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

We need to become a top-end Championship club then. Rolling over and selling our best players to so-called bigger clubs in this league will get us nowhere.

Agreed but with Venkys at the helm, it's unlikely to happen.

Dack will gone in the summer (maybe Jan, depending on his form) and it will be for much less than we believe he should have, certainly in today's crazy transfer market prices.

[Bigdoggsteel]

9 hours ago, DE. said:

We aren't going to make the playoffs imo. Not enough quality in the team at the moment. I think we'll finish around 9th-14th, which wouldn't be a bad thing as it'd give us a solid platform to go into next season. 

I don't know if it will be a good platform. We will probably lose Dack, plus the momentum we had from last season will be gone. I have a feeling this season is really important

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

6 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think we will get near the play offs sadly but neither do I think we will be in significant relegation danger.

We definitely have some good players at this level but our squad seems imbalanced and lacking in certain areas. We signed some decent players in the summer but im not sure we did it in a totally balanced fashion, nor do I think that Mowbray knows his best team.

There are big questions at the moment about our ability to control and manage games at this level. That said I think we will be fine.

Ya, I agree that Mowbray doesnt know his best team. Or maybe he does, but is being loyal to those who got us up. I imagine we will have a different "go to" starting 11 in 5 games times 

[DE.]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I don't know if it will be a good platform. We will probably lose Dack, plus the momentum we had from last season will be gone. I have a feeling this season is really important

I should have added "in theory" there, as yeah, plenty could change between now and the end of the season to make next season very difficult indeed. Dack potentially departing along with Mulgrew and Graham would be a major rebuilding job - arguably our three most important players all gone. It's possible Mulgrew and Graham will sign on for another season but even so, they're both old enough that we can't keep going into seasons relying on them. Mowbray will know this better than anyone so hopefully at the very least he'll be thinking ahead. Difficult to do with the current owners at the helm though. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

25 minutes ago, DE. said:

I should have added "in theory" there, as yeah, plenty could change between now and the end of the season to make next season very difficult indeed. Dack potentially departing along with Mulgrew and Graham would be a major rebuilding job - arguably our three most important players all gone. It's possible Mulgrew and Graham will sign on for another season but even so, they're both old enough that we can't keep going into seasons relying on them. Mowbray will know this better than anyone so hopefully at the very least he'll be thinking ahead. Difficult to do with the current owners at the helm though. 

I think the most important person we keep is Mowbray. He gives us continuity. The players you mention will be hard to replace, but if Mowbray left I would be very worried. The thing is we can talk about Dack and whoever else, but if Mowbray gets us even top 10, I would say there will be interest in him. He had a long term plan and the players are playing for him big time. If he was to leave, less reason for the likes of Dack to stay too. A lot of good work would be undone 

Edited September 19, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I don't know if it will be a good platform. We will probably lose Dack, plus the momentum we had from last season will be gone. I have a feeling this season is really important

 

says who? 

[Husky]

Millwall are crap away from home aren't they. It was certainly 2 points lost against this lot.

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

says who? 

Me 

[blueboy3333]

I can smell the testosterone. 

 

[RevidgeBlue]

Some fairly harsh comments about the owners above considering They've just forked out 7m for a player to sit on the bench.

[AAK]

Qpr won 3 drawn 1 in last 4, a great deadline day for them bringing some quality players in and keeping Freeman, after 4 losses out of 4, done well there Mclaren. 

Edited September 19, 2018 by AAK

[JHRover]

20 minutes ago, AAK said:

Qpr won 3 drawn 1 in last 4, a great deadline day for them bringing some quality players in and keeping Freeman, after 4 losses out of 4, done well there Mclaren. 

Not sure how bringing in Wells and Hemed can possibly fit in with their upcoming transfer embargo. Unless they've agreed miraculously low wages with Burnley/Brighton or have been able to sign up to big wages.