Leeds United v Rovers: Boxing Day 2018, 3pm

[Ewood Ace]

8 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

I’ll start with Lenihan, starting to think he might be totally shit. Liability in the air, and prone to a clanger. He should be heading those crosses into row Z. Has struggled big time this year.

Lenihan has been a big disappointment this season, he's so rash in his decision making and he's not a youngster anymore 25 soon yet I think he looks a poorer player now than he did 2 years ago at this level.

[Bigdoggsteel]

4 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

Lenihan has been a big disappointment this season, he's so rash in his decision making and he's not a youngster anymore 25 soon yet I think he looks a poorer player now than he did 2 years ago at this level.

I agree. Expected a big break through season from him this year, but he has been muck. 

I wonder was it the injury? 

If we had a good centre half beside Mulgrew, regardless of any other changes, we would be doing a lot better. 

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

38 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Been along time since I felt physically sick after watching a game of football.

Was excited with the lineup as I was convinced it was 3-5-2 with wingbacks, then Armstrong started right mid.......

Not putting this on Mowbray. If a 39 year old Charlie Mulgrew and an international player like Lenihan don’t know how to see a game out then they must be thicker than two short planks. 

I’ll start with Lenihan, starting to think he might be totally shit. Liability in the air, and prone to a clanger. He should be heading those crosses into row Z. Has struggled big time this year.

Can’t believe people are starting on Rothwell. I thought he looked terrific when he came on. He needs playing every week from the start. Leeds had a long way to go when the picked up the lose pass.

Williams, just simply a poor footballer who wouldn’t get in any other teams in the championship. 

Evans did okay, without being spectacular. He played an embarrassing ball through to graham, on a decent break away in the first half. Criminal.

Rodwell was okay, but struggled athletically on a big pitch. Smallwood did well when he came on, but still a bench player for me.

Nyambe was good again I thought. Did his best.

Bell was poor, squad player on a good day, not starting left winger at a club with top 6 aspirations.

Graham held the ball up really well again, but I’m afraid that’s all he is really doing now. 

Dack, second half, probably had his best half of football since Sheff Wed.  Wonder if Leeds have the cash for him??

Mowbray needs a mean centre half in january, a left back, winger and a striker. Get Rothwell, Reed and Dack in the same team and work around that.

This?

[USABlue]

3 hours ago, HowieFive0 said:

you seriously think we ll get relegated BB ? 

Definitely a concern.

[USABlue]

2 hours ago, davefarnworth said:

I was only joking USA Blue about Mark Hughes. I just want a manager with a defensive head. That's why I went for a centre forward. Merry Christmas 

That's ok he built a fantastic side here I don't know why he has struggled so since.  Nit sure who we would replace Mowbary with, not that I actually want him out.  I am just very concerned that our deficincies have been present over a ciuple of seasons and TM has not corrected them.  I am also tired of the wrong players in their wrong positions I just don't see Mogga changing though.  After 7m in BB I am also concerned about his ability to spend wisely.

[USABlue]

2 hours ago, Parsonblue said:

Once again it comes down to players making the right decisions at the right time.  Too many go into panic mode when we come under any sort of pressure.  No excuse for this result.  Two-one up after 90 minutes and then two goals given away in four minutes - shocking defending.  Personally, I don't blame the manager or the coaching staff - it comes down to the players on the pitch doing the job they are supposed to do.  A professional footballer shouldn't need telling how to see out a game for four minutes, particularly as they had withstood the pressure for most of the match.

Anyone thinking we are going to get rid of Mowbray is living in cloud cuckoo land.  Having signed a long term contract the owners are clearly backing him.  It's now up to him to keep us afloat this season and then look at a rebuilding job in the summer.  We need better than what we have and need to start by building a solid platform at the back.

We all know that we need strengthening some of us think we have better already here. So, if Mowbary signs players will he actually play them.  Reed seems to be the on)y one  so far.  Brereton is a real worry, we spent big he did nit play but in his cameos there was an idd flash or two that hinted at maybe he has something.  Now his last couple of showings he looks like football is new to him.  A real worry.

Edited December 26, 2018 by USABlue

[Waggy76]

I’ll start with Lenihan, starting to think he might be totally shit. Liability in the air, and prone to a clanger. He should be heading those crosses into row Z. Has struggled big time this year.

Unfortunately , this is beginning to be true ...

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, Parsonblue said:

Once again it comes down to players making the right decisions at the right time.  Too many go into panic mode when we come under any sort of pressure.  No excuse for this result.  Two-one up after 90 minutes and then two goals given away in four minutes - shocking defending.  Personally, I don't blame the manager or the coaching staff - it comes down to the players on the pitch doing the job they are supposed to do.  A professional footballer shouldn't need telling how to see out a game for four minutes, particularly as they had withstood the pressure for most of the match.

Anyone thinking we are going to get rid of Mowbray is living in cloud cuckoo land.  Having signed a long term contract the owners are clearly backing him.  It's now up to him to keep us afloat this season and then look at a rebuilding job in the summer.  We need better than what we have and need to start by building a solid platform at the back.

January is extremely important in this regard.

If we send back Reed and Palmer. Then we are left with last season’s League One side plus a £7m U23 player.

On that basis, what difference will there be between Summer 2019 and Summer 2018 in terms of a rebuilding job? If Mowbray couldn’t do it this year then I don’t see how he will next year.

We need to add some quality to the squad now to not only keep us up but to allow any kind of progress and avoid wasting a season.

[tomphil]

20 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

I’ll start with Lenihan, starting to think he might be totally shit. Liability in the air, and prone to a clanger. He should be heading those crosses into row Z. Has struggled big time this year.

Unfortunately , this is beginning to be true ...

He's never shown anything to me to suggest he'll be anything other than bang average although could shape up to be a good league 1 defender on last seasons evidence.

At this level just like last time when admittedly he was raw he struggles most weeks although he's committed to be fair but my thinking is he'd be ok as a defensive mid in the Championship used the right way given time. Our defensive mids are so powder puff it's embarrassing.

[rossyrover]

Rovers need an tall experienced centre half to play alongside Mulgrew not a converted defensive midfield player Lenihan whose distribution is woeful also Mowbray is going nowhere having just signed a new contract and also the owners are prepared to back financially.

[skous18]

2 hours ago, Swanson said:

Could not see most of the match, but how did Rodwell do in the defensive midfield position, compared to Smallwood?

He looked slow and in my opinion he wasn’t really covering Evans well. Maybe I just had bigger expectations as i was desperate for someone to step up and replace Smallwood, but tbh Smallwood coming in for Rodwell felt like having a positive impact (obviously you know how it all ended) but yeah - not Rodwell’s best game imo

[Parsonblue]

22 minutes ago, Stuart said:

January is extremely important in this regard.

If we send back Reed and Palmer. Then we are left with last season’s League One side plus a £7m U23 player.

On that basis, what difference will there be between Summer 2019 and Summer 2018 in terms of a rebuilding job? If Mowbray couldn’t do it this year then I don’t see how he will next year.

We need to add some quality to the squad now to not only keep us up but to allow any kind of progress and avoid wasting a season.

Having given him a long-term contract - the only manager they have given that type of contract - the owners clearly have bought into his plan to rebuild the club slowly over a number of transfer windows.  It's probably the only way that a club like the Rovers is going to make progress with the FFP rules that now exist.  

The manager has given the players who won promotion the opportunity to prove they are able to cope at this level.  Initially some who looked OK are now beginning to struggle.  Despite recent results, and couple of difficult fixtures still to come, I still believe that we have enough to retain our place in the Championship this season.  However, I have no doubt that a couple of new faces will be signing in January to strengthen what we have and that will be sufficient to keep us at this level.

It's then up to the manager to rebuild in the Summer.  An experienced centre-back who can organise those around him would be the first signing I would be looking for.

Personally, I've not lost faith in the manager because I believe he has the experience and ability to take the club forward.  

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, Proudtobeblue&white said:

We are now in a self fulfilling phophecy. Owners who haven't got a clue. Place their faith in whoever the latest bloke (Waggott) suggests, if it doesn't work, get someone else in cheap. It's the total lack of any direction from those that own us that kills us!

If they actually spoke of their ambition.....but they can't, as I don't think they have any. In the words of the famous Accringtonian, they bumble along.

We are a rudderless ship.

Which is why we accept mediocrity offered by any manager in exchange for the pretence that we are a normal club.

Until Venkys go we are indeed a self-fulfilling prophesy. We need to get a lucky manager who will get us into the play-offs, the PL and a the attention of new owner.

Mowbray won’t get us promoted - his teams don’t operate well under pressure.

So round and round we go.

[Gamst]

Have a football team ever conspired to ruin a festive period so categorically? For the third time in under 2 weeks I'm like a bear with a sore head. Bah humbug. 

[Stuart]

Just now, Parsonblue said:

Having given him a long-term contract - the only manager they have given that type of contract - the owners clearly have bought into his plan to rebuild the club slowly over a number of transfer windows.  It's probably the only way that a club like the Rovers is going to make progress with the FFP rules that now exist.  

The manager has given the players who won promotion the opportunity to prove they are able to cope at this level.  Initially some who looked OK are now beginning to struggle.  Despite recent results, and couple of difficult fixtures still to come, I still believe that we have enough to retain our place in the Championship this season.  However, I have no doubt that a couple of new faces will be signing in January to strengthen what we have and that will be sufficient to keep us at this level.

It's then up to the manager to rebuild in the Summer.  An experienced centre-back who can organise those around him would be the first signing I would be looking for.

Personally, I've not lost faith in the manager because I believe he has the experience and ability to take the club forward.  

I sincerely hope you are right, because relegation would be unthinkable.

As for FFP, the only way to beat this is promotion to the PL.

[Waggy76]

2 minutes ago, Stuart said:

I sincerely hope you are right, because relegation would be unthinkable.

As for FFP, the only way to beat this is promotion to the PL.

I think relegation is highly unlikely , bad results and the passed few seasons , have panicked supporters ...

But giving goals away late as to stop ....

[Parsonblue]

3 minutes ago, Stuart said:

I sincerely hope you are right, because relegation would be unthinkable.

As for FFP, the only way to beat this is promotion to the PL.

To be honest Stuart, I honestly don't believe we are in any danger of relegation.  I think we have enough to keep a sufficient gap between ourselves and the bottom three.  After this run of difficult fixtures, January and February provide us with a real opportunity to kick on again.  Ipswich look to be in serious trouble - and Lambert is not likely to turn things around given his recent record.  Reading, Rotherham and Wigan are falling far quicker than ourselves and Bolton are in a financial mess.

Of course, as many have said, we have to get better at defending the final quarter of games and I'm sure that Mowbray, as a pretty decent defender himself in his playing days, will surely realise that a top class centre-half needs to be one of the first signings he needs to make.  

My main criticism, with regard to the club at the moment, is that we are failing to explore the foreign market in the hunt for new players.  In the past we have found some outstanding players for very little money by scouring Europe.  The new scouting setup is supposed to be looking at addressing this - I certainly hope so.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Read a painfully true statement on twitter 

"if we hadn't went 2-1 up, we would have gotten away with the draw" 

The nervousness and dropping back cranked up to 11 at that point. 

 

[@roverseas]

Getting to be a bit of a habit this... not closing out games! Perhaps we should consider a new formation that can utilize Mulgrew as a midfielder and get two center backs that know what they are doing.  He is to good to be dropped... however we need an improved defense, which means new faces! It will be difficult to drop some of these lads that got us back to the Championship, but needs must. Cruel to be kind. Thoughts from the gaffa & more. 

 

[Mercer]

Mowbray is not going to change.

IMV, his reign has been characterised by an overly cautious approach, muddling tactics, poor player trading, failing to use what he has properly (square pegs and round holes) and poor football.

Last season we got away with it in a pi $$ poor league.  This season we will get punished for it.

I do think we need a young and progressive manager and not a very poor man's Mourinho

Edited December 26, 2018 by Mercer

[tomphil]

Positives are we are good enough to get ourselves in good positions plenty times this season, Brum, Norwich and now Leeds to mention recently, all good sides.

Negatives are it's the same old soft underbelly that keeps undoing us both physically and mentally. Might be hard to make the squad better in quality terms in Jan but it was crying out to be physically stronger even last season so those adjustments need to be made otherwise the second half of the season could very well resemble the last time after TM took over.

All this 'we'll be alright' was trotted out repeatedly then but the quicker you act the quicker it gets sorted !

[G Somerset Rover]

Agree big time re: our scouting. We seem to think there’s no life outside of Coventry’s 15-16 side which didn’t even get promoted. It’s extremely amateur. 

[Mercer]

Certain we wont go down given what we already have in the bag.

However, don't buy this consolidation cr@p - aim for the ceiling and hit the floor.........

I think the confidence and momentum of promotion plus the addition of 3 or 4 decent players (not a £7million+ player who can' even get a game), should have seen us flying.

We are marginally better off than 2 years ago but read somethereal our league position is identical to Christmas 3 years ago.  This is not progress.

 

[tomphil]

6 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Agree big time re: our scouting. We seem to think there’s no life outside of Coventry’s 15-16 side which didn’t even get promoted. It’s extremely amateur. 

Probably a lot of it is done via certain channels therefore it really narrows down what they'll go for. A suspicion i'll have about Rovers as long as Vs are here.

[Bbrovers2288]

Smallwood gave away the free kick that led to their winner, I was screaming at the tele don’t foul him but standard Smallwood, he has no football brain.

the one thing that will hold dack back is pace/fitness, he broke through on the Leeds goal and had a clear sight at goal but slowed up allowing a defender to get a toe in, top class player scores there. 

Our defence is woeful, can honestly say we need 2 new actual centre backs, a new left back and quite possibly a new rb. It’s a shambles. Lenihan should then be pushed back into midfield with Rodwell or reed, giving us some actual bite rather than the powder puff Evans n Smallwood. Armstrong is a one trick pony, knocks it on and tries to use his pace, doesn’t work at this level. Play him up top or not at all. 

Bell needs to work on his final ball and I just don’t think he is quite good enough in all honesty. 

New hard battering ram cocky striker needed to aid graham.

sad thing is most of the rovers fans can see these points need addressing but mowbray can’t, it’s baffling