Blackburn Rovers vs Ipswich Town, Saturday 19th January 15.00 Kick off.

[Bbrovers2288]

Mulgrew in the left back position in the tougher games, bell for when we are attacking/chasing 

[SBlue]

1 minute ago, scotchrover said:

Agree with everything you’ve said there. Raya didn’t half the scare the crap out of me again though in those last 10 minutes. His poor decision nearly led to an equaliser. It’s like he gets bored or something, if it’s he’s had little to do. 

On another note, we’re 66/1 for promotion, and we’re only 6 points a drift of 6th. £5 down would definitely pay for a weekend in the capital, come May!

Looked like a Bennett mistake to me. No way should he have been shielding that towards the box from there, just get rid.

[Gav]

The sort of game we should be winning at home and we did just that.

Illness has hit the squad hard over the past few weeks, surprised Dack pulled his shirt on today having been ill for a week now.

Anyone looked at the table? 10th, 6 points behind a play off place, tremendous achievement, take a bow Tony Mowbray.

[Fraserkirky]

38 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Looked like a Bennett mistake to me. No way should he have been shielding that towards the box from there, just get rid.

Yeah row Z was the best place for that situation. Don’t know what Bennett is thinking there.

[Fraserkirky]

What a brilliant second half that was. Agree with Nyambe back in as soon as possible. Bennett would be a great player to have on your bench.

Bell was outstanding again, don’t know what people are expecting from a young left back, I think he is getting better.

Evans had an uneventful game. The type of game we have become accustomed to with him. Travis and Reed should be the two midfield dynamos, with Dack, Rothwell and Armstrong the attacking three.

[joey_big_nose]

2 hours ago, Ewood Ace said:

First half absolutely dire as usual at Ewood. Second half was decent although it wasn't going to take much to dispatch a very poor Ipswich team.

Raya- Fine on shot stopping but a silly mix up with Bennett could have given Ipswich a lifeline back into the game just as his mistake did against Birmingham.

Bennett- Good going forward, less good in defence. Not a full back, if he plays then it should be further forward. 

Lenihan- Appears to thrive in the leading the back line in the absence Mulgrew.

Rodwell-Calm and composed, showed his premier league class.

Bell-Steady, which is probably about as good as it gets for him. 

Evans- Was one of our best players during the first 4 months of the season but the last month or so he has gone back to the Evans of old. Ineffective

Travis-Good again, plenty of energy and a threat in attack.

Reed- Struggles in a wide role in games like today where we need to be attacking and on the front foot. He's good enough out there against side's where we want some more defensive solidity but games like today he looks a central midfielder being played out of position.

Dack-Didn't quite come of for him today but plenty of endeavour.

Armstrong- Playing his best football since last February/March. They couldn't cope with his pace and nice to see a real end product with him the last few games.

Graham-A quite game from him no doubt feeling the affects of mid week but nevertheless put the penalty away when it was starting to look like one of those days.

Subs:

Rothwell- Showed again what a tremendous footballer he has the potential to be. I said the other day on here i thought his best position would be wide left and he certainly impressed there today. A run of games and i think he will only get better.

Nuttall-No question about it he is now our 2nd choice striker. Like all good strikers in the right place at the right time again.

Good summation that.

Weak opposition today, but Travis offers a real step up in quality in the middle, and that has big benefits for everyone in every position. I'd stick my neck out and say best all round midfielder we've had since we were in the prem. We are both more dynamic with him in there, more composed, and defensively more solid. Like Dack he had Premier League player written all over him. It's mad that we seem to have been thinking to loan him down to League 1 a month  ago.

As for Nutall he's a much more basic player but to his credit you can see from the off what his game's about. He unsettles defenders with his strength and pace, and gets in the box and scores goals. Like Night and Day compared to Brereton.

The emergence of those two is a great help to us. Is there a left back in the undrr 23s we can elevate to solve another problem position??

Seriously with Raya, Lenihan, Nyambe, Travis, Dack, Armstrong, Rothwell and Nuttall we do have a very promising young squad which - if we somehow keep it together - we could enjoy watching for years.

Edited January 19, 2019 by joey_big_nose

[Paul]

2 hours ago, Stuart said:

All three coaches!

There was only one! The rest will be scrabbling around for petrol receipts.............................

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, S8 & Blue said:

Looked like a Bennett mistake to me. No way should he have been shielding that towards the box from there, just get rid.

I thought it was Lenihans fault. Smallwood was in front of him but he got himself into the wrong position trying to win a ball he couldn't leaving a gaping hole in the middle. It wasn't dissimilar to the Newcastle goal on Tuesday when he almost clattered Bell in his desire to win a header, missed the ball and let them in.

[roversfan99]

57 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

What a brilliant second half that was. Agree with Nyambe back in as soon as possible. Bennett would be a great player to have on your bench.

Bell was outstanding again, don’t know what people are expecting from a young left back, I think he is getting better.

Evans had an uneventful game. The type of game we have become accustomed to with him. Travis and Reed should be the two midfield dynamos, with Dack, Rothwell and Armstrong the attacking three.

Criticism of Bell is not due to people setting unrealisticly high standards of him.

Defensively, he allows wide men to get crosses in far too easily, and is very half hearted in preventing them.

Going forward, he is undoubtedly quick but is so reluctant to take full advantage of such an attribute, even when space opens up in front of him he very rarely does anything but pass it to the side or slow play down.

Technically he is very poor and on the occasions that he does find himself in advanced positions, his crosses are almost universally poor.

He was much improved in the second half (untested defensively but more prominent on the ball) and put in a teasing ball at the end of the first half but in general we do need better and he is the weak link in our team.

[SBlue]

48 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I thought it was Lenihans fault. Smallwood was in front of him but he got himself into the wrong position trying to win a ball he couldn't leaving a gaping hole in the middle. It wasn't dissimilar to the Newcastle goal on Tuesday when he almost clattered Bell in his desire to win a header, missed the ball and let them in.

Would have to watch again but that certainly wouldn’t be the first time - one of his few faults for me.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 hours ago, Commondore said:

His goal against Millwall was a fairly good example. Since wingers generally play much narrower these days it becomes a waste to have them primed for crossing the ball, if anything that's the full backs' job.  

He picked the ball up against Millwall in the old inside left position. I asked when do you see a player get the ball from out wide by the touch line and then do that ?  

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

I thought it was Lenihans fault. Smallwood was in front of him but he got himself into the wrong position trying to win a ball he couldn't leaving a gaping hole in the middle. It wasn't dissimilar to the Newcastle goal on Tuesday when he almost clattered Bell in his desire to win a header, missed the ball and let them in.

Similar to a goal we conceded at Preston I think. Lenihan came bombing out of the line to get to the ball in the right side of midfield. Failed to get to the ball by a mile and left a big gap that Preston exploited to score. He should have held his position and left it to the midfield to deal with.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Roverthechimp]

Haven't seen the game but just a comment on Bell. Reminds me of Nyambe 1-2 years ago. The raw material is there but many thought Nyambe wouldn't cut it - hopefully Bell can develop in a similar way with coaching and perhaps a bit more gym work in the summer.

[rog of the rovers]

3 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

https://www.skysports.com/football/blackburn-vs-ipswich/392868

Didnt see the first half but the highlights overall make for nice viewing.

First time finishes from Graham and Arma and we’d have been two up.

Those highlights accurately prove the gulf between the teams. Could have been 3/4 up at half time.

Ipswich as poor a team as we’ve seen in two seasons (including League One). Can’t see us playing them next season!

Lambert must be at the top of the Pantheon of Overrated Managers!

[Blue n whites]

3 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Mulgrew in the left back position in the tougher games, bell for when we are attacking/chasing 

Not for me. No where near quick enough. 

[OJRovers]

13 minutes ago, rog of the rovers said:

Those highlights accurately prove the gulf between the teams. Could have been 3/4 up at half time.

Ipswich as poor a team as we’ve seen in two seasons (including League One). Can’t see us playing them next season!

Lambert must be at the top of the Pantheon of Overrated Managers!

Ipswich very poor, if it wasn't for Collins at the back they would be shipping a lot more goals.

BBE top corner in good voice today, long may that last.

[Sparks Rover]

On 16/01/2019 at 21:04, roversfan99 said:

Both are shite but Bell is the worst of the 2.

I thought Bell was good both ways today and cannot see old Del boy getting the LB position back.  Potential to improve too.

[joey_big_nose]

31 minutes ago, Blue n whites said:

Not for me. No where near quick enough. 

Yeah, Mulgrew way too slow for  full back.

When Mulgrews fit again he has to play as he's club captain and for his goals. Also I can't see Mowbray wanting to drop Rodwell. I think we could well see three at the back and two up front to fit them both in.

------------------------Raya

-------Lenihan----Rodwell---Mulgrew

Bennett------Travis------Reed---------Bell

-------------------------Dack

-------------Graham-----Armstrong

 

 

[Husky]

47 minutes ago, rog of the rovers said:

Lambert must be at the top of the Pantheon of Overrated Managers!

I think he'll stay if/when they go down to Division 3.

By the start of next season he'll probably have 11+ of his own players. Then we'll see, if he can't get out of that shower of a league at the first time of asking we'll be able to put him in the class of Coylio and co.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Husky

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, Roverthechimp said:

Haven't seen the game but just a comment on Bell. Reminds me of Nyambe 1-2 years ago. The raw material is there but many thought Nyambe wouldn't cut it - hopefully Bell can develop in a similar way with coaching and perhaps a bit more gym work in the summer.

The problem is nyambe has played 65 league games and is 21. Bell has played close to 160 and is 3 years older yet nyambe is already the far better player . Bell.is 24 with alot of games behind him and should really be stepping up a gear. You can put nyambes previous poor performances down to age, niavety and inexperience who has learned and is maturing steadily into a good player. I don't think that is the case with bell. Their is definitely a player in there with bell but he seems to be maturing at a very slow rate

Edited January 19, 2019 by Oldgregg86

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Roverthechimp said:

Haven't seen the game but just a comment on Bell. Reminds me of Nyambe 1-2 years ago. The raw material is there but many thought Nyambe wouldn't cut it - hopefully Bell can develop in a similar way with coaching and perhaps a bit more gym work in the summer.

Agreed and i thought Bell was very good today, he had Sears on toast who is very much their danger man. Williams would've been tormented by him

[Husky]

3 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

Looked like a Bennett mistake to me. No way should he have been shielding that towards the box from there, just get rid.

To be fair he did recover well to stop a certain goal by chesting it wide. If that had gone in with 10mins until the final whistle we would probably have been looking at 2-2 and another Birmingham head scratching situation.

[JacknOry]

Rodwell very impressive today - as he always seems to be. Successor to Mulgrew? This lad is so comfortable on the ball. Sign him up alongside Reed on a perm please.

[Miker]

8 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Yeah, Mulgrew way too slow for  full back.

When Mulgrews fit again he has to play as he's club captain and for his goals. Also I can't see Mowbray wanting to drop Rodwell. I think we could well see three at the back and two up front to fit them both in.

------------------------Raya

-------Lenihan----Rodwell---Mulgrew

Bennett------Travis------Reed---------Bell

-------------------------Dack

-------------Graham-----Armstrong

 

 

I think that is our best team as well. Although Bennett and Nyambe are interchangeable in that position. We have decent cover throughout the team that way as well.

The only area that we look light in is defence and hopefully we make some signings to address that. I’m still not convinced by Bell, once again he looked like he has the makings of a great full back today but his decision making was off.

[Butty]

Just stumbled across this video from an Ipswich fan. Longggg way to come too watch that .. No chance they’re staying up. I think them and Bolton will definitely go, but it will be close for the last spot. Hopefully Rotherham stay up as it would be an absolutely massive achievement for them. Don’t know anyone that DIDN’T predict them too be at the bottom of the pile!