Ben Brereton Diaz

[AllRoverAsia]

13 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I saw a tweet from Linz Lewis (the ginger ninja badges lady) who said he had his head in his hands on the bench, think the crying thing is a bit of Chinese whispers that nicely starts a narrative against ‘horrible Rovers fans’ that a certain sub section on Twitter seem to revel in.

He’s been here 18 months and has largely been shown a lot of patience considering how utterly dreadful he’s been.

Head in hands? a show of support for his manager even after being hooked.

[tomphil]

18 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I saw a tweet from Linz Lewis (the ginger ninja badges lady) who said he had his head in his hands on the bench, think the crying thing is a bit of Chinese whispers that nicely starts a narrative against ‘horrible Rovers fans’ that a certain sub section on Twitter seem to revel in.

He’s been here 18 months and has largely been shown a lot of patience considering how utterly dreadful he’s been.

That's exactly how it escalated from what i could see on there and of course one persons outburst suddenly becomes ten other peoples gospel.

If his head was in his hands as it quite probably was there could be many reasons maybe he wasn't feeling too good there's bugs going around etc.  Maybe he'd felt a niggle flair up or maybe just maybe there's a possibility he was actually rather annoyed or upset with himself for not performing well.

Too many presenting fans in the grounds comments amongst themselves as a howling mob of abuse towards one player when that wasn't the case. No way do they hear that chatter and name calling from the back of a stand containing nearly a thousand people. Yet again the modern drama of people getting offended on behalf of someone else who probably isn't aware of it and couldn't give a toss anyway. Booing your own player before or during a game you need a slap, booing him or them off after another abject effort is standard sometimes and in some cases perfectly justified although maybe over the top.

 

[Miller11]

I suspect what’s happened here is as follows...

Brereton has performed poorly, again, and been subbed off. A few people have made ironic cheers, maybe the odd couple have booed, and a few people probably shouted something along the lines of “get off, you are shit”. The majority of the supporters there will have stood up and applauded him with varying degrees of enthusiasm. He probably looked a bit disappointed in his performance. Which he should have been.

This whole scenario has since been reimagined with our fans as a baying mob hurling disgusting abuse at an apparently crushed and inconsolably sobbing Brereton as he trudged off the field.

Criticism and abuse are not one and the same. Referees are human, all of them undoubtably try their best, yet they are barracked from all corners in every single match, and their performances scrutinised and criticised whatever they do. Why doesn’t the virtue signalling extend to them? 
 

Branding any criticism of a footballer as abuse is really problematic. I’ve seen fans vilified and bullied disgracefully via social media for simply voicing an opinion (the situation with Bennett on twitter earlier this season being a prime example). There is also a risk of it threatening to trivialise real issues like racism.
 

Also, please let’s not try diagnosing Brereton’s mental health. I expect the support network He has around the club will do that far more effectively than any of us are capable of. Obviously I hope he is ok, and wouldn’t wish any abuse or mental health illness upon him. I do however think he has been an abysmal signing, and one which is more than a little fishy.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Miller11
I have been asked to remove a quote I took from Twitter. The author wasn’t happy I took part of his tweet and displayed it here without proper context and has pointed out it was wrong of me to do so. To view the tweet in its intended follow jimwilkz

[Stuart]

4 hours ago, J*B said:

Have you considered that crying because of boos today could just be the final straw? 

Perhaps he’s very handsomely paid and has a beautiful partner... but loves playing football and his dream move to become a star striker is falling apart because he hasn’t been given opportunities to shine upfront, and when he has it just hasn’t happened for him. 
Perhaps he’s having all sorts of family trouble, Nottingham is just a bit too far away, his partner is staying down there because she can’t do her job up here and doesn’t want to become a wag. 
Perhaps he himself has no idea what’s going wrong. Perhaps he’s up all night worrying because everything he did at Forest that worked brilliantly seems to fail here, and he just can’t understand why. 

Perhaps, just perhaps, despite the 6m transfer and massive wage increase, the promises he was given just haven’t materialised and suddenly the transfer is the single worst thing he’s ever done.

I suggest you read Matt Jansens book when he talks about returning from injury. 

I have edited out my final comment on this post because on reflection it may not have been fair.

As far as the Brereton debacle goes, the buck stops with Mowbray and his coaching staff.

Being played out wide has destroyed any potential this lad might have had. He’s 20 years old and has been saddled with unfair expectation from day one due to a ludicrous transfer fee. He has then been ‘protected’ by not being played, then played out of position, then dropped. This has done him no favours.

Sadly, in a world where the manager is beyond reproach and who singles out his own players, it was only a matter of time before he bore the brunt of frustrations (although from what I’ve read elsewhere this is now being over-played - maybe to protect Mowbray and deflect on to fans).

This lad will now likely go on loan but if he does I can’t see him returning. This may well be Kevin Davies all over again.

Sadly, this will happen again and again just with different players.

[the original david brent]

45 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I suspect what’s happened here is as follows...

Brereton has performed poorly, again, and been subbed off. A few people have made ironic cheers, maybe the odd couple have booed, and a few people probably shouted something along the lines of “get off, you are shit”. The majority of the supporters there will have stood up and applauded him with varying degrees of enthusiasm. He probably looked a bit disappointed in his performance. Which he should have been.

This whole scenario has since been reimagined with our fans as a baying mob ‘pissed, off his skull on coke, snarling vile abuse’, at an apparently crushed and inconsolably sobbing Brereton as he trudged off the field.

Criticism and abuse are not one and the same. Referees are human, all of them undoubtably try their best, yet they are barracked from all corners in every single match, and their performances scrutinised and criticised whatever they do. Why doesn’t the virtue signalling extend to them? 

 

 

I completely agree with this. Ironically these same fans then make it worse by tweeting the footballer involved! ie ‘disgusting abuse to @benbrereton reducing him to tears!’ The poor lad now has to read about the reimagined bit! He’s probably now sat at home thinking he is derided by the baying mob of Rovers fans when the reality is nothing of the sort! 

Edited January 4, 2020 by david brent

[Angry_Pirate]

The sad reality is we entered last summer potentially only a few players away from competing for top six...

As it stands now, (because of our manager/transfers/loan dependency) we are potentially only one or two more players (sold or injured) away from relegation fodder (thanks to selling Raya and Dacks injury so far). 

The blame starts, and finishes with Tony. (He's spunked £15m+)

[OldEwoodBlue]

This is just bollocks.

The lad is either a kid and should be playing with them, or he's a first team striker and will be expected to score 20 goals plus or he can go elsewhere.

20,000 used to boo Keith Andrews every week because he was complete shite and below the expectations of a Blackburn Rovers player.

I don't doubt it included many of these so called fans who have become aware of mental health as the latest fashion.

If he can't hack it then it says it all.

Knuckle down and prove everyone wrong... or everyone is right.

Simple fact is a striker has an instinct and he doesn't. You can't coach instinct. Either have it or don't.

 

What if Mowbray cries ?

Give him a sympathy job 4 life ?

What if Balaji cries ?

What if Cheston cries ?

What if Don Trump cries ?

Is one person worth more than another ?

Embarrassing discussion.

Even more embarrassing, fans trying to call out other fans for allegedly booing BB and making him cry.

Incidentally, as Duncan alludes to, it is 99% likely to be total bullshit.

 

[Boroblue]

4 hours ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Criticise on a messageboard - yes. But if it is true that the young man was driven to tears by his treatment from Rovers supporters -no.

Ignoring football for a second life is about success and failure and failure is the most important part. Adversity is what builds strength of character. Crying which I don’t believe he did is not the answer. Get out on the training ground roll your sleeves up and prove the doubters wrong. That is the answer not only to football but to life.

The way to help a person is not to make it easier but make them confront the challenge. In adversity you learn about yourself it chips off the rough edges.

He needs to get up and show us what made him an England international because you don’t get there by crying or being shite. It takes work and dedication and to suggest that someone who at 20 has got that far in his career is now crying at a few boos is laughable. 

 

[47er]

A bit of a beat-up eh? Does anyone actually know he cried?

Was there such a crescendo of abuse directed towards the lad?

It seems to me that this is deflection. Instead of hearing about another poor performance from Brereton, the discussion is about disgusting Rovers fans, (of which there are some but no more than anywhere else).

[davulsukur]

He certainly seems like a different player to the one in this YouTube video: (one thing I will say, his touch often looks like it goes just that bit too far away from him but he seems to get away with it every time)

I know they are only highlights but you can see him running at players, beating players, getting shots away. Looks full of confidence, not like what we get, he's practically anonymous most of the time in a Rovers shirt.

I do fear he's going to be one of those players who just drift out of the game, down the leagues before being back in the news for scoring 25 goals for some non league team.

Mowbray has a huge task on his hands getting some confidence back into him. I personally don't think Mowbray is capable of that, in fact I'd say he's more likely throw him under the bus instead.

[OJRovers]

13 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

He certainly seems like a different player to the one in this YouTube video: (one thing I will say, his touch often looks like it goes just that bit too far away from him but he seems to get away with it every time)

I know they are only highlights but you can see him running at players, beating players, getting shots away. Looks full of confidence, not like what we get, he's practically anonymous most of the time in a Rovers shirt.

I do fear he's going to be one of those players who just drift out of the game, down the leagues before being back in the news for scoring 25 goals for some non league team.

Mowbray has a huge task on his hands getting some confidence back into him. I personally don't think Mowbray is capable of that, in fact I'd say he's more likely throw him under the bus instead.

Strange that he doesn’t run the same as in the video and looks like he’s lost some pace. 
 

[arealbrfcfan]

Don’t usually ever get involved in this sort of thing but..

a) did anyone actually see him reduced to tears? Where is the incident online?

b) who else was there in the stands to report the said abusing? If it’s some isolated bloke sat behind you, well I hear that all the time and think ‘idiot’ you won’t get away from it! Perhaps that’s all it was and it’s blown up in a tweet! I’d have turned round to them and said shut up and watch the game rather than putting it online. I remember a bloke giving Kenna abuse years ago on my first ever trip to Ewood, and I wanted to turn round and lamp him but thought he’s just an idiot and I don’t wanna rise. Instead I just though ‘this is football’ people go for a drink pre-match and get so irate when a ball gets misplaced. 
 

c) I don’t like how it’s been sensationalised in dramatic tweets, and then makes our fans look crap! 

 

d) just for fun... everyone was laughing when TM said F off to Williams just a few months And that WAS on TV in broad daylight, we have proof of it. If my boss said that to me I’d be upset. I hear he’s put Gally and Breo under the bus. I’m just saying, if there’s any meanness going on. Look closer to home not us fans.

Edited January 5, 2020 by starscascade

[Herbie6590]

12 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I saw a tweet from Linz Lewis (the ginger ninja badges lady) who said he had his head in his hands on the bench, think the crying thing is a bit of Chinese whispers that nicely starts a narrative against ‘horrible Rovers fans’ that a certain sub section on Twitter seem to revel in.

He’s been here 18 months and has largely been shown a lot of patience considering how utterly dreadful he’s been.

For absolute clarity Linz isn’t the ginger ninja badges lady - that’s Jen.

[Mattyblue]

Sorry, I always get those two confused for some reason!

[Gone to seed]

It would probably go better for Ben if he stopped trying to look like Danny Graham, and if he just got a dose of the feckits and did his own thing on the pitch (assuming he ever gets another chance). One thing is for sure, doing what he is told by TM is NOT working for the lad. So anything else has got to be better.

I definitely think he should be despatched on loan to Accy, or Fleetwood, or somewhere he would be used as a striker, where the boss would tolerate (or require) no bollocks tactics, and where he could regain the confidence that playing under a £7 million tag for Rovers has completely drained from his game.

Next time I want to see Ben Brereton in a Rovers shirt will be on his return from scoring for fun in the lower leagues - plus with a better haircut!

[Mattyblue]

Interesting on that video he seems to have some upper body strength, holding off defenders etc. 

Something else that seems to have disappeared from his game...

[BlackburnEnd75]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

He certainly seems like a different player to the one in this YouTube video: (one thing I will say, his touch often looks like it goes just that bit too far away from him but he seems to get away with it every time)

I know they are only highlights but you can see him running at players, beating players, getting shots away. Looks full of confidence, not like what we get, he's practically anonymous most of the time in a Rovers shirt.

I do fear he's going to be one of those players who just drift out of the game, down the leagues before being back in the news for scoring 25 goals for some non league team.

Mowbray has a huge task on his hands getting some confidence back into him. I personally don't think Mowbray is capable of that, in fact I'd say he's more likely throw him under the bus instead.

My theory is a growth spurt. He's grown a couple of inches and his touch has gone slightly. 

[Ossydave]

The biggest difference, by far, between that video and current BB is one of them is a player playing with bags of confidence, the other is a young lad who's desperately short of any confidence whatsoever. His manager signed him and should therefore be going out of his way to make the player a success. Instead he plays him out of position making it twice as difficult to make any kind of impact. The annoying thing is, this was the biggest issue in his later days at Forest, shunting him out on the wing. I know this, why can't the bloke spending all that money on him know it?

The only way Ben will get better now is under a different manager. Be it here if we pot TM or elsewhere on loan.

[chaddyrovers]

15 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Interesting on that video he seems to have some upper body strength, holding off defenders etc. 

Something else that seems to have disappeared from his game...

He needs to play regularly and get his confidence back. 

Most of his games at Forest came under Warburton. Maybe he the type of person who can get the best out of him

[Sparks Rover]

4 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

He needs to play regularly and get his confidence back. 

Most of his games at Forest came under Warburton. Maybe he the type of person who can get the best out of him

Warburton wasn't queuing to sign him was he?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

He needs to play regularly and get his confidence back. 

Most of his games at Forest came under Warburton. Maybe he the type of person who can get the best out of him

If he's going to play regularly it needs to be somewhere else. We can't keep playing with 10 players.

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

He certainly seems like a different player to the one in this YouTube video: (one thing I will say, his touch often looks like it goes just that bit too far away from him but he seems to get away with it every time)

I know they are only highlights but you can see him running at players, beating players, getting shots away. Looks full of confidence, not like what we get, he's practically anonymous most of the time in a Rovers shirt.

I do fear he's going to be one of those players who just drift out of the game, down the leagues before being back in the news for scoring 25 goals for some non league team.

Mowbray has a huge task on his hands getting some confidence back into him. I personally don't think Mowbray is capable of that, in fact I'd say he's more likely throw him under the bus instead.

Has he got a twin brother? Because that looks like a completely different player. He is quick, holds the ball up, turns quickly.

Our coaching staff have certainly not improved this lad. If this were a one-off you could blame the player but there are others who have come storming into the team who seem to have their attacking instincts drilled out of them - so much so you can see the confidence drain away.

Players will accept doing a job, providing it is working and they get results and the team is successful. It’s a very fragile state though. A few bad results and it unravels.

[Stuart]

31 minutes ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

My theory is a growth spurt. He's grown a couple of inches and his touch has gone slightly. 

Very possible. He does look very ungainly now compared to then.

[chaddyrovers]

10 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

If he's going to play regularly it needs to be somewhere else. We can't keep playing with 10 players.

I meant elsewhere

[chaddyrovers]

15 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Warburton wasn't queuing to sign him was he?

Wasnt in management at that time. ?