Rovers v Birmingham-Saturday ,December 15th

[Oldgregg86]

So up until the penalty did we play well ?

Anybody have a good game ? 

Brereton came on in place of graham like most people have asked for , how did that work out ? Did he show any signs of promise ? 

how did Armstrong play ?

How did Evans play after his new contract ?

 

?

[West Yorks Rover]

Might as well send Ben out on loan in January, and Bring in a proper reserve for Graham, failing that, Nuttall would be better than, an out of position

Brereton.

[Mercer]

Not there today - early Christmas celebration.  

Friend phoned me on way home from match, thoroughly pi$$ed off.  

Thought at first I was already pi$$ed then realised thread full of repeat, repeat, repeat messages!

That's 12 goals shipped in last 5 games - horrendous.

Understand Raya had a mental aberration, Smallwood again looked way out of his depth and Brereton continues to mystify.

Never mind, Christmas is coming.

Will be there at Leeds on Boxing Day - why, I'm not quite sure.

 

[Cherry Blue]

2 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

So up until the penalty did we play well ?

Anybody have a good game ? 

Brereton came on in place of graham like most people have asked for , how did that work out ? Did he show any signs of promise ? 

how did Armstrong play ?

How did Evans play after his new contract ?

 

?

Reed was decent, man of match. Evans didn't get booked but Armstrong is not this level. His goal was due to a brilliant back heal from Dack. It wasn't Brereton's fault but we fell apart when he came on.

[Ewood Ace]

16 minutes ago, West Yorks Rover said:

Why does Mowbray insist on taking Danny Graham off early almost every game, we were cruising at 2-0, how many times

have we dropped points after his departure from the field ?

Off the top of my head

Ipswich 2-1 up drew 2-2

Bristol City 2-1 down lost 4-1

Sheffield United 0-0 Lost 2-0

Swansea 1-0 up lost 3-1

Birmingham 2-0 up drew 2-2

 

That's 8 points dropped, 10 goals conceded and 0 goals scored. Mowbray has to take the blame on two fronts, one taking Graham of when its clear how much we struggle without him. And two for not signing a suitable alternative to him when it was clear to everyone that we needed one in the summer.

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

35 minutes ago, Stuart said:

What an awful day that was!

If Brereton is the answer then the question must have been ‘what’s the best way to throw away £7m?’.

Cold, wet, and pissed off with that today.

Odd angle to come at considering all the other things that went on today 

[DE.]

2 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

So up until the penalty did we play well ?

Anybody have a good game ? 

Brereton came on in place of graham like most people have asked for , how did that work out ? Did he show any signs of promise ? 

how did Armstrong play ?

How did Evans play after his new contract ?

?

Stats suggest Birmingham at the very least deserved their draw. We had more possession but did far less with it. That said, attacking wise by the 46th minute we had done what we needed to do. Two goals clear at home with over half the game gone should usually be enough. Not for Rovers though.

We are throwing points away and leaking goals all over the shop. We've now conceded more than Bolton who are 23rd, we've also conceded more than both Hull and Wigan. The same as Rotherham. The main difference is we score more goals than all of these teams, hence our higher positioning in the table. However, of the teams above us only Villa and West Brom have conceded more than us, and both have scored A LOT more goals than we have. WBA nearly double and Villa 14 more than us. Realistically this means that unless we work out how to stop conceding or how to score a significantly higher amount of goals we are going to likely end up finishing roughly where we are now.

Is that acceptable? I suppose, but I can't help but look at the form of the teams in and around us and wonder whether we're missing out on an opportunity which is disappearing with every point from a winning position we throw away.

[Exiled in Toronto]

The defence needs a proper leader, the goals against column doesn’t lie. 

[1864roverite]

Piss poor diabolical suicidal 2 minutes when both full backs went missing cost us victory against a static Birmingham team who were clearly out kff by the northern weather. Btw what the hell was Raya doing giving away the ball and conceding a stupid penalty ?

[DeeCee]

How many clean sheets have we managed this season?

[Bigdoggsteel]

That was the worst and most frustrating game I have ever seen and I have an Ireland season ticket. 

Bell and Nyambe are brain dead. Really poor I thought. Lenihan was bad as well. Evans and Smallwood were OK. Dack was pretty good. Armstrong terrible. He really annoys me to be honest. He gives up chasing the ball and tracking back far too easily, a lazy little sod. Reed was good as usual, but clearly put of position as he kept coming into the middle. Graham was good. I don't think it's fair to blame Brereton for us falling apart, that lies with Raya. What an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. It wasn't just that though. He is so slow kicking the ball out. At the end when we needed urgency he was fecking around with the ball instead of launching it. I would drop him. 

Birmingham were absolutely awful. We bet ourselves basically. Every time they attacked I was nervous, we are so shakey at the back it's unreal. I knew that we would mess it up I just knew it. I didn't know how, but I knew we would. That's a bad position to be in. We could have lost that at the end. 

That game has the feel of one that's hard to bounce back from. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose the next day, or even if we lose a couple now. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[arbitro]

I don't remember feeling as comfortable about a game as I did today at 2-0 up. A thoroughly disinterested Birmingham were beaten and didn't look like they had anything in them and had settled for a two goal defeat. And then Raya gives away the most stupid penalty I have seen in a long time. What on earth he was doing out there I don't know but to make the challenge with his feet shows how random his decision making is sometimes. And when they scored I really felt they whoever another and perhaps go on and win it. Quite frankly we just concede too many goals without the opposition having to work hard or through their own creativity. We are suspect defensively and today both full backs looked full of mistakes.

I am still strongly of the opinion that we need to get to fifty points sooner rate than later or we could be in for a turbulent couple of months at the end of the season.

[Stuart]

41 minutes ago, Cherry Blue said:

It was after Graham went off we fell apart. 

Agreed. Brereton just can’t do what Graham does. He’s looking like a very poor choice right now.

Raya cost us with the penalty but although Brum had a lot of the ball, their breakthrough came after Graham went off.

[DaveyB]

24 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

Is anyone surprised? I'm certainly not, once they got one back the equaliser was inevitable. We are too soft and too many players go missing when the going gets tough instead of rolling their sleeves up and fighting. The engine room of Smallwood and Evans is always the first thing to evaporate, if I was Reed I'd be looking to move to a club where I am played in my best and most effective position as he is wasted out wide. But the result has to be on Mowbray today why is he taking Graham off has he learnt nothing from performances when Graham has not been playing this season, we can not afford to take Graham of as he is our key player and despite Mowbray spending £7 Million on Brereton we don't have anyone capable of replacing Graham.

After a promising start to the season the defence has as I feared been shown to not be up to it at this level which is not really a surprise as we struggled to keep clean sheets last season in League 1 and no new defenders have been added. Nyambe as been well off the pace since his injury, Lenihan looks well out of place at this level as a centre back and as for Bell I've seen statue's with more energy. A big, physical ball winning centre back to play alongside Mulgrew is a must in January but it has been what we have needed for 3 or 4 windows now.

I’m not convinced that Mowbray or his tactics made Raya come charging out and give away a ridiculous penalty, nor made Bell and then Evans give the ball away cheaply and Smallwood completely sell himself instead of covering round. 

And, for however poorly Brereton did when he came on, he too had no effect on those things either. And without them we’d have cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory - maybe Mowbray should get credit for coaching us into such a commanding position in the first place 

[DE.]

5 minutes ago, DeeCee said:

How many clean sheets have we managed this season?

6 so far, which is more than I'd have thought in all honesty.

However, we've conceded 2 or more goals in 10 matches so far this season - two goals or more conceded in nearly HALF of our games this season so far. Nowhere near good enough.

Will our esteemed local journalists bring this up with Tony though? Doubtful.

[G Somerset Rover]

3 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I am still strongly of the opinion that we need to get to fifty points sooner rate than later or we could be in for a turbulent couple of months at the end of the season.

We’re going to need to upset the bookies between now and mid January or we will begin to look over our shoulder. Hopefully we can pull a Leeds or two out of the bag between now and then as it could well be a very long festive period given our fixtures.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[Butty]

Lost for words after that today. If we could hold a lead we’d be in the top two that’s the reality of it!!! Mental..

[Ewood Ace]

Just now, DaveyB said:

I’m not convinced that Mowbray or his tactics made Raya come charging out and give away a ridiculous penalty, nor made Bell and then Evans give the ball away cheaply and Smallwood completely sell himself instead of covering round. 

And, for however poorly Brereton did when he came on, he too had no effect on those things either. And without them we’d have cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory - maybe Mowbray should get credit for coaching us into such a commanding position in the first place 

You only have to look at the effect taking Graham has on our results, we don't score and we are under the cosh more defensively as we don't have anyone to keep hold of the ball when we clear it so instead it comes straight back at us. Do you think it is purely coincidence the amount of points dropped when Graham has been taken off? 

As for you comments about Evans and Smallwood I have long said that they should not be playing in midfield together, Reed should be in there instead of being wasted out of position. As for Bell why is Mowbray even picking him has he not seen enough of him now to know that he is useless. 

[G Somerset Rover]

4 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

As for Bell why is Mowbray even picking him has he not seen enough of him now to know that he is useless. 

The alternative is Williams. Choosing between them is like deciding which b*llock you’d prefer to be whacked in.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[Ewood Ace]

7 minutes ago, DE. said:

6 so far, which is more than I'd have thought in all honesty.

However, we've conceded 2 or more goals in 10 matches so far this season - two goals or more conceded in nearly HALF of our games this season so far. Nowhere near good enough.

Will our esteemed local journalists bring this up with Tony though? Doubtful.

I was surprised how well we did defensively early on in the season but sides have worked us out now as 1 clean sheet in the last 10 games suggests.

[Ewood Ace]

3 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

The alternative is Williams. Choosing between them is like deciding which b*llock you’d prefer to be whacked in.

Give me Williams every day. If we are going to progress long term is he the answer, no. But I would have him over Bell every day I've seen Williams have plenty of good games but I've never been impressed by Bell every game he plays he just looks so lethargic.

[OldEwoodBlue]

1 hour ago, Cherry Blue said:

It was after Graham went off we fell apart. 

AGAIN

Been saying it for months. He must be kept on the pitch or we have nobody else who can win balls up top and get us playing in their half. Ball just ends up constantly in our half with everyone getting sucked deep. It happens time and time and time again.

Brereton looked like a lost schoolboy when he came on.

[Waggy76]

Ridiculous 2 points dropped against a very very poor team.....We give goals away without being under pressure , Raya crazy decision and Bell is just not good enough ...

I don't think I ever been as cold watching football , I went to Huddersfield 35 years and it snowed but we all huddled together on the away end and of course we won !!!

Which helps .

[Waggy76]

Just now, Franky said:

AGAIN

Been saying it for months. He must be kept on the pitch or we have nobody else who can win balls up top and get us playing in their half. Ball just ends up constantly in our half with everyone getting sucked deep. It happens time and time and time again.

Brereton looked like a lost schoolboy when he came on.

It wasn't Breretons fault that Raya had a brain storm ....

[Bigdoggsteel]

I don't think we fell apart after Graham went off. We played the same. The scapegoating of Brereton is odd in my opinion and widely missing the real issues. 

We completely took our foot off the gas at 2-0. The players looked so lazy. We should have won that at least 4-0. If we had literally anything about us we would have. Forget about the play offs now. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel