Rovers at the Toon FA Cup 3rd Round: Saturday 5th January 2019 - 5.30pm

[blueboy3333]

26 minutes ago, robbojohnno said:

Travis has the energy that Evans and Smallwood don't have but also more nous, forward thinking and leadership qualities. He was constantly instructing players 5/10 years his senior where to position themselves to help stop Newcastle attacks mounting to anything. 

That also stood out against WBA. He seems wise beyond his years.

26 minutes ago, robbojohnno said:

Let's make this clear, he is not a playmaking number 10, he is a second striker and a brilliant one at that!

Agree with you, he's a brilliant finisher. He also a very good passer of a ball so he's a bit more than just a 'second striker'. The problem is when he gets the ball the options ahead of him are limited. With that fat arse he's a bit Dalglish-esque at times the way he rolls people. Daggers wasn't quick either. The 'Dack is not quick enough to play in the Prem' nonsense I keep reading is just that. 

Edited January 6, 2019 by blueboy3333

[47er]

5 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

That also stood out against WBA. He seems wise beyond his years.

Agree with you, he's a brilliant finisher. He also a very good passer of a ball so he's a bit more than just a 'second striker'. The problem is when he gets the ball the options ahead of him are limited. With that fat arse he's a bit Dalglish-esque at times the way he rolls people. Daggers wasn't quick either. The 'Dack is not quick enough to play in the Prem' nonsense I keep reading is just that. 

The way he rolls people is his outstanding attribute. It takes him away from opponents in an instant, sometimes 2 or even 3 of them and space just opens up for him.

[Bigdoggsteel]

It was 100% a penalty. One of those ones where the ball trickled through without Evans touching it and he got the players leg. If it was the other way around and it happens Dack in their box, I don't think anyone here would be saying it shouldn't be a penalty. 

It was just unlucky really. Evans had to go for it. Another day he knicks the ball. We played well. We don't always need to find a scapegoat to blame. 

[roverandout]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Looking at the fixtures so far and still to play. Unless both Man City and Liverpool draw, we will definitely be on TV for the replay, perhaps even the BBC.

So, tickets MUST be £10 to even attract a modest crowd.  If Waggott’s eyes light up and he tries to charge league match prices for a  ‘mouthwatering tie against Premier League giants’ we could be looking at a near empty ground for the nation to see.

Its between us and showing repeats of butcher of the year. They'll probably show the latter

[RV Blue]

13 hours ago, Stuart said:

I’ve thought for a while that Raya is going to hold us back, not just from the penalty spot. He flatters to deceive, a good instinctive shot stopper but woeful with his kicking. Not the same kind of keeper but it feels like we have a Filan when we need a Friedel. But I’m probably being greedy.

Mowbray will remain loyal to Raya unless he has starts making clangers on a regular basis or does something really stupid off the field.

Load of shite, Raya will be playing in the top flight very soon (and it won’t be for us). I’m yet to see a better keeper than him in the Championship and he’s just turned 23. We will soon be holding Raya back, not the other way around. Amazing that people who have watched football their whole lives can’t see how good he is.

[Sparks Rover]

Just now, RV Blue said:

Load of shite, Raya will be playing in the top flight very soon (and it won’t be for us). I’m yet to see a better keeper than him in the Championship and he’s just turned 23. We will soon be holding Raya back, not the other way around. Amazing that people who have watched football their whole lives can’t see how good he is.

Well you haven't a clue about the position then. Raya creates unease and uncertainty in his back 4, kicking is poor, and his decision making is questionable. 

Basically if its instinctive,  Raya is decent. If he has to stop and think, he's poor.  

[RV Blue]

13 hours ago, USABlue said:

His kicking is woeful.  He is a worry but can pull off some remarkable saves but just as easily drop a howler.  Him failing to hold a routine low shot today would have cost us but for a last ditch challenge.  Overall I think he can be a good un BUT my heart is in me mouth everytime he has time to make a decision, even back passes scare the b-jesus outta me.  Slow high crosses and I can barely watch.

The best keepers in the world make howlers every now and again, Raya has made what? 1 this season? That is fewer than De Gea, Ederson, Alisson, Lloris etc. etc. He’s 23 ffs, get a grip.

[RV Blue]

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

Well you haven't a clue about the position then. Raya creates unease and uncertainty in his back 4, kicking is poor, and his decision making is questionable. 

Basically if its instinctive,  Raya is decent. If he has to stop and think, he's poor.  

The back four trust him massively you weapon, I know this personally after speaking to one of them. He’s made one error leading to a goal all season, which is pretty excellent at any level. His shot stopping is fantastic and his command of the box is good (and getting better all the time), his distribution needs work admittedly but it’s by no means horrific.

[jim mk2]

Raya does make mistakes and has cost us points this season and last but he's still young and is not the finished article. I'd stick with him because the team needs strenghtening elsewhere more urgently but if a good offer came in for him I'd be a seller. There's a few solid, experienced 30-year-old keepers around on the edges of PL squads who we could get as a replacement

[JacknOry]

Raya is still very young for a goalkeeper, a position which players often do not peak in until they are much older than those in other positions. Sure, there are areas he can improve but for his age you will not find any better in this division, or any in fact. I am in the camp that he will develop into a PL level goalie.

[Mattyblue]

End of the day he’s doing his development in our first team in the Championship. At one point we’d have had him loaned out and these odd mistakes would have been on some other club’s watch. 

He is a potential star in the making and in the mean time we will have to live with his slip ups.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I was delighted to get the draw with a decent performance but our Achilles Heel  came back to bite us. Every Manager that plays against us will be saying " Keep going right to the end against these, they're very vulnerable at the death". It's up to us to find a way of playing out close games. Anybody know how many goals we've scored in the last 10 minutes this season ? It can't be many.

On a more depressing note we've a long FA Cup history of getting great away draws and then folding dismally in the home replay. My first big disappointment came this way. We'd got a good draw 2-2 away at Fulham in the 6th round and we'd been drawn against the Dingles in the quarter finals. In the home replay we never turned up and lost miserably 1-0 in front of a 34,000 plus gate.

Coming more up to date we got another good draw against Newcastle away  in the Shearer era only to fold at home.

Let's hope we can overcome the HooDoo, I can't see the Geordies putting out their best team.

[RV Blue]

36 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Raya does make mistakes and has cost us points this season and last but he's still young and is not the finished article. I'd stick with him because the team needs strenghtening elsewhere more urgently but if a good offer came in for him I'd be a seller. There's a few solid, experienced 30-year-old keepers around on the edges of PL squads who we could get as a replacement

He made a big mistake that cost us points in the Brum game, I can’t remember any others this season? So he’s cost us just 2 points this season, and he’s saved us many more than that, that’s not bad going at all.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Should Shelvey have been on the pitch?   https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/jan/06/jonjo-shelvey-paul-pogba-fa-referees-video-evidence

[philipl]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

The way he rolls people is his outstanding attribute. It takes him away from opponents in an instant, sometimes 2 or even 3 of them and space just opens up for him.

Bum rolling and simply amazingly quick feet

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Depends if Waggott is still in Coventry mode or if he’s worked out east Lancs yet.

Anything more than a tenner (the same as Newcastle charged us) and I’ll consider boycotting the replay out of principle. Especially if it’s on TV anyway.

[RV Blue]

I was under the impression that the replay had to be the same price as the first game?

[Ewood Ace]

33 minutes ago, RV Blue said:

He made a big mistake that cost us points in the Brum game, I can’t remember any others this season? So he’s cost us just 2 points this season, and he’s saved us many more than that, that’s not bad going at all.

Ipswich's equaliser and I personally thought the Villa equaliser his wall was set up wrong and his positioning was wrong. He's a fantastic shot stopper as good as anyone one in the league. But his decision making leaves a bit to be desired, he's never looks convincing or commanding when coming for crosses and his kicking is terrible (I don't think anyone would argue that) and it sometimes puts us under unnecessary  pressure. 

[Sparks Rover]

1 minute ago, Ewood Ace said:

Ipswich's equaliser and I personally thought the Villa equaliser his wall was set up wrong and his positioning was wrong. He's a fantastic shot stopper as good as anyone one in the league. But his decision making leaves a bit to be desired, he's never looks convincing or commanding when coming for crosses and his kicking is terrible (I don't think anyone would argue that) and it sometimes puts us under unnecessary  pressure. 

He should have had the cross away at West Brom that was headed in virtually in the 6 yard box...Smallwood was bollocking him. Theres loads of times I thought he looks shaky. Great at point blank etc, but let's us down in other ways.

[Roverthechimp]

Regarding Raya: personally think he is a very good "modern" keeper - kicking aside but that is improving.

Trying hard to think of a keeper in the current game that dominates his area? Seems more that reflexes and distribution are the key attrubutes

[Stuart]

55 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

Should Shelvey have been on the pitch?   https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/jan/06/jonjo-shelvey-paul-pogba-fa-referees-video-evidence

The FA are an out of date organisation and football is leaving them behind. Trouble is that it is in the PL’s interests to let them take the rap for stuff like this.

Also the FA are able to prevent referees from being involved in any league set up that doesn’t sign up to their charters. Already happening in some grassroots leagues.

But who cares enough to challenge it let alone change it? Nobody.

[The Fish]

Well that was about as crap as I predicted. You can see our second string are bereft of confidence. Game changed when we brought Perez and Shelvey on. Was a penalty for me, but I think it's fair to say we didn't deserve a draw. Your lot were up for it from the off and while we had 19 shots, none of them really troubled your 'keeper. 

Hope the lads who travelled had a good time in Newcastle. 

 

re: not having sympathy for fans of clubs with shit owners. I don't get it? I know I speak for Newcastle fans when I say we feel for you having to suffer the Venky's, and for the Blackpool fans suffering Oyston, and Charlton with Duchâtelet. It shouldn't be "We can't feel bad for you because we think our owner is worse", should it? Everybody's battles are their own and I'm sure there's an owner out there who's worse than our fat chancer, your lot, and so on. Doesn't mean your owners aren't shit, or ours, or Charltons. It's not shit-owner Top Trumps.

[Ewood Ace]

28 minutes ago, Roverthechimp said:

 

Trying hard to think of a keeper in the current game that dominates his area? Seems more that reflexes and distribution are the key attrubutes

Are you referring to World level or Championship level?

[Roverthechimp]

World level.

[Stuart]

32 minutes ago, The Fish said:

re: not having sympathy for fans of clubs with shit owners. I don't get it? I know I speak for Newcastle fans when I say we feel for you having to suffer the Venky's, and for the Blackpool fans suffering Oyston, and Charlton with Duchâtelet. It shouldn't be "We can't feel bad for you because we think our owner is worse", should it? Everybody's battles are their own and I'm sure there's an owner out there who's worse than our fat chancer, your lot, and so on. Doesn't mean your owners aren't shit, or ours, or Charltons. It's not shit-owner Top Trumps.

I think it’s partly down to the fact that we had so little sympathy from fans of other clubs when the chips were really down for us.

Many opposition fans felt (and still feel) sorry for how “Rovers fans treated Kean” and we’re delighted when we were relegated from the PL while Kean allegedly got another pay rise. Without any understanding or caring to find out exactly why Kean was so despised.

If the football fan family had been a little more understanding it might have been different.

Cashley and the Oystons both got their teams promoted to the PL. In Cashley’s case he spent a lot of money and you have a Champions League manager.

Meanwhile, Rovers had 7 years of misery and only just now (by a fluke) look like we may have turned a corner by getting out of L1 first time (but so did Bolton and Wigan). We are only ever one error from our absent owners jailers from falling again, and “owe them” over £150m and still climbing. Charlton and Coventry probably share our pain the most but even Coventry won a trophy!

I’ve nothing at all against Newcastle and hope that you do well - except when we play you of course (!) - and we have a common bond in our love for Alan Shearer (as well as a few shared manager’s and great players over the years) but it’s hard to have too much pity for a side still gracing the PL when we have (still) had more relegations that promotions since the loons from Pune rocked up.