Mowbray’s Future

[roversfan99]

13 hours ago, old darwen blue said:

Whilst I respect the rights of people to have their own opinions on Tony I would just like you all to remember where we were before he arrived and the previous few years of catastrophic disaster on a seasonal basis. Let’s just give a manager at least three or four years before any judgement is cast. 

 

I thank you. 

If our benchmark is I have been stopped from posting this by moderators. Coyle then we are going to have some very, very low standards going forward.

Every manager and every player will be judged throughout, I don't understand why some people, like with Brereton, cannot judge as they go along. It goes against the whole point of a messageboard. Whats the alternative, to only open threads about individuals after x amount of years of being at the club?

If we haven't been judging Mowbray up to date then his promotion would have also not affected our opinion of him, which again would be totally unfair.

[DE.]

What's frustrating with Mowbray is that I think I understand what he's aiming for, but the way he sets the team up at present doesn't come close to achieving that. I think his preferred tactic would be a 4-2-1-3 when we're attacking and a 5-3-2 when we're defending. What we're currently seeing is a static 4-2-3-1 that forces our inside forwards out wide as ineffective wingers who aren't providing enough cover for our full backs.

For his preferred tactic to work we would need at least one, if not two better centre halves alongside Mulgrew at the back. Nyambe/Bennett might be passable at RWB but we'd need a massive improvement on Williams/Bell at LWB. We also need a box-to-box midfielder alongside either Evans or Smallwood who can support the attack when we're going forward but get back to provide defensive support when we're defending in our section of the pitch. I don't think we have anybody at present who could fill that role. Possibly Reed but as he's only on loan at present he isn't a long-term answer unless we bring him in on a permanent. We would also need proper back up/competition for Graham as the target man. I can understand having the likes of Brereton, Armstrong, Palmer, Rothwell, etc slotting into the inside forward roles in theory but it only works if they aren't constantly ending up out wide as wingers.

For Mowbray's ideas to work going forward I think we'd need a change in mentality to be braver going forward, but the formation would also need to look something like:

Raya

Nyambe/Bennett - NEW - Mulgrew - NEW

Reed - Evans

Dack

Brereton - Graham - Armstrong

Evans would spend most of the game sitting back with Mulgrew and our other centre half. Reed would push forward when we're on the attack but be able to get back when we need to defend. The full backs would also need to push up the pitch to support the attack as otherwise the pitch becomes too narrow and there are no spaces for Brereton or Armstrong to exploit, meaning they have to drift out to where our wing backs should be.

It's a pretty bold set up and, from what we've seen so far, very much at odds with Mowbray's extremely cautious approach. 

   

[Stuart]

In the last 10 years, only 3 Rovers managers have had a run of four or more consecutive defeats.

Ince (6)

Kean (5)

Coyle (4)

If Mowbray loses tomorrow though, all hope isn’t lost, Graeme Souness (5) and Mark Hughes (4) both managed the same feat and both soldiered on - Souness had lost the plot by this point but Hughes managed a 10th place finish and FA Cup Semi Final appearance in the same season. He didn’t do too badly later in his career either.

Here’s hoping that Mowbray can get out of this bad run against West Brom and put this blip behind us.

[Parsonblue]

2 hours ago, Stuart said:

In the last 10 years, only 3 Rovers managers have had a run of four or more consecutive defeats.

Ince (6)

Kean (5)

Coyle (4)

If Mowbray loses tomorrow though, all hope isn’t lost, Graeme Souness (5) and Mark Hughes (4) both managed the same feat and both soldiered on - Souness had lost the plot by this point but Hughes managed a 10th place finish and FA Cup Semi Final appearance in the same season. He didn’t do too badly later in his career either.

Here’s hoping that Mowbray can get out of this bad run against West Brom and put this blip behind us.

King Kenny lost six on the trot, almost lost out on the play-offs but recovered to win the Premier League title.  Bad runs can happen to any manager - main thing is not to panic.  

[Gav]

As per usual some absolute bobbins talked on here, posters talking about similarities to the kean era, Coyle era, and us plummeting to league 1? WTF are you watching? 

The biggest problem we have is 90% of the site wanted Mowbray sacked in Oct 17, this before we went on to secure promotion at a canter, it's about saving face for many,

'I was right all along''

Load of crap chaps.....

Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?

So let's have it right, we've been poor of late, results need to improve, but my god we're in a place we could only have dreamed of a few years back. Players have new contracts, the manager has built a structure, has his own people in place, when did we last have that luxury in place?

Time to get a grip, show some backbone, and back the best manager since these idiots came our way.

Consolidation this season, push on next.

Onwards and upwards. 

Happy New Year.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Gav

[Stuart]

I miss the old Gav. You know, the one who didn’t stop by once every couple of weeks to slag off posters.

[roversfan99]

6 minutes ago, Gav said:

As per usual some absolute bobbins talked on here, posters talking about similarities to the kean era, Coyle era, and us plummeting to league 1? WTF are you watching? 

The biggest problem we have is 90% of the site wanted Mowbray sacked in Oct 17, this before we went on to secure promotion at a canter, it's about saving face for many,

'I was right all along''

Load of crap chaps.....

Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?

So let's have it right, we've been poor of late, results need to improve, but my god we're in a place we could only have dreamed of a few years back. Players have new contracts, the manager has built a structure, has his own people in place, when did we last have that luxury in place?

Time to get a grip, show some backbone, and back the best manager since these idiots came our way.

Consolidation this season, push on next.

Onwards and upwards. 

There was a sole comparison to a statistic under Coyle in terms of goals conceded at this point of this season. An irrefutable fact. If you choose to take that out of context its up to you.

Mowbray was showered with praise after getting us promoted.

We are in really poor form, our summer signings have in the main failed to really have an impact as of yet, we are conceding goals, these are all things that will cause people to be critical on an internet messageboard. And ive seen us home and away all season. Just not being Coyle or not being Kean is not worthy of a free pass.

Supporting the manager at games and hoping he does well in general, and criticising certain decisions he makes are not mutually exclusive.

[JHRover]

Mowbray is getting patience. We are on an awful run, shipping goals, lacking creativity, sliding down the league. Yet despite that other than one or two people 99% of comments I have seen whilst critical of Mowbray aren't suggesting he should be sacked at this point. I've been very critical of some performances and games this season but I've stopped short of calling for Mowbray to go and don't expect to be at that stage unless something horrific unfolds through January. 

Mowbray is a big boy and experienced in this industry. He should be able to handle criticism and pressure and shouldnt be given carte Blanche to do as he pleases just because he got us up last season. He oversaw awful runs at Boro and Cov prior to leaving them and will know if we continue as we are there is only one way it will develop.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, Gav said:

As per usual some absolute bobbins talked on here, posters talking about similarities to the kean era, Coyle era, and us plummeting to league 1? WTF are you watching? 

The biggest problem we have is 90% of the site wanted Mowbray sacked in Oct 17, this before we went on to secure promotion at a canter, it's about saving face for many,

'I was right all along''

Load of crap chaps.....

Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?

So let's have it right, we've been poor of late, results need to improve, but my god we're in a place we could only have dreamed of a few years back. Players have new contracts, the manager has built a structure, has his own people in place, when did we last have that luxury in place?

Time to get a grip, show some backbone, and back the best manager since these idiots came our way.

Consolidation this season, push on next.

Onwards and upwards. 

Happy New Year.

The thing is we're exactly where we where a few years back, looking over our shoulders at the bottom three and hoping we can scramble enough points to avoid the drop

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Miker]

For me, TM has been the best and most likeable manager since Mark Hughes. He’s also assembled the most committed and likeable team we’ve had in years and so I am desperate for them to do well.

Obviously if the results continue to be poor and it looks like we are going backwards we should look to make a change, but I don’t think we are anywhere near that stage yet.

What I can say is that every game we’ve gone into under Mowbray I am excited about and feel we can win, and in terms of our play that has proven to be the case this season. Other than maybe a couple of games where we have been torrid, we have competed well against the best teams in the division. In a lot of cases we have picked up great wins or draws, but as of late we have been on the end of frustrating losses instead.

It has been incredibly frustrating watching games at times this past month, but I don’t yet get the feeling things are beyond repair. Instead this feels like a bad spell that’s come after overachieving early in the season.

What’s clear is that we need a defensive shake up as we now have one of the worst defensive records in the championship. I’m hoping for quality recruitments in that area of the pitch in January.

[AllRoverAsia]

@Gav

"Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?"

If you restrict comment to those who physically atend games and post on here then expect MB traffic to reduce considerably.

Surely it should be "open and honest debate"

[blueboy3333]

6 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

@Gav

"Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?"

If you restrict comment to those who physically atend games and post on here then expect MB traffic to reduce considerably.

Surely it should be "open and honest debate"

You may find Page 3 of this very topic raises a chuckle

[AllRoverAsia]

5 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

You may find Page 3 of this very topic raises a chuckle

It did!

Proves the saying "A year is a long time in Football messageboards" .... or is it 15 minutes?

Really ones previous posts should self destruct after say 3 months to enhance plausible deniability, I try not to look at mine 

[had.e.nuff]

15 hours ago, Gav said:

As per usual some absolute bobbins talked on here, posters talking about similarities to the kean era, Coyle era, and us plummeting to league 1? WTF are you watching? 

The biggest problem we have is 90% of the site wanted Mowbray sacked in Oct 17, this before we went on to secure promotion at a canter, it's about saving face for many,

'I was right all along''

Load of crap chaps.....

Then we have the chief protagonists who actually never  go to games, yet dictate the bile spewed at a side they only ever see on a Pc monitor or smart phone, how can that form honest debate or opinion?

So let's have it right, we've been poor of late, results need to improve, but my god we're in a place we could only have dreamed of a few years back. Players have new contracts, the manager has built a structure, has his own people in place, when did we last have that luxury in place?

Time to get a grip, show some backbone, and back the best manager since these idiots came our way.

Consolidation this season, push on next.

Onwards and upwards. 

Happy New Year.

total agree time for a reality check of the last 9 promoted teams only 1 is above us, we have had a bad run of fixtures against the top teams it seems the modern way to sack the manager at the first dip in form I dont see Man city crying out for their manager to go after losing 3 .

[JHRover]

14 minutes ago, had.e.nuff said:

total agree time for a reality check of the last 9 promoted teams only 1 is above us, we have had a bad run of fixtures against the top teams it seems the modern way to sack the manager at the first dip in form I dont see Man city crying out for their manager to go after losing 3 .

But it isn't just these last 3 or 4 games against good sides that people are concerned about. We had Wigan, PNE, Rotherham and Birmingham just before and picked up a poor points return and performed even worse against those sides than we did at Leeds and Sheffield. When you only win 1 in 10 or 11 you can't hide behind a few tough fixtures. You have to either grind out results or make hay when playing the poorer teams, like 1 win in 13 Wigan.

[G Somerset Rover]

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

But it isn't just these last 3 or 4 games against good sides that people are concerned about. We had Wigan, PNE, Rotherham and Birmingham just before and picked up a poor points return and performed even worse against those sides than we did at Leeds and Sheffield. When you only win 1 in 10 or 11 you can't hide behind a few tough fixtures. You have to either grind out results or make hay when playing the poorer teams, like 1 win in 13 Wigan.

In a nutshell. Hadenuffs argument is the same one peddled on social media by 90% of our fans and it just doesn’t hold up as you rightly point out. ‘But we’ve faced all the hard teams’ ‘What do we expect against X?’ ‘I assumed we’d get 0 points anyway’.

1 win in bloody 9 people. Needs to change starting today.

[K-Hod]

Why is it so hard for some people to grasp that fans are behind the manager but not happy with 1 win in 9 and conceding loads of late goals?

It’s really not that complicated.

[Bbrovers2288]

aitor karanka if he gets the shove from forest- yes please 

[SBlue]

Excellent tactically today to drop the midfield into a proper bank of four when we were expecting to lose our shit.

Everyone knew what they were doing, and reduced the usual panic.

Two strikers to press, harry, hold up and run the channels.

Great game management that was getting him calls for the sack in the match thread.

[Tom]

Tell you what he put his balls on the line a bit there taking Dack off for Conway, if we let it slip the knives would have been being sharpened.

As it was we changed shape and saw the game out with only a couple more scares

A successful days work for Tony!

[DE.]

Credit to Tony today, tactics and subs appear to be spot on. Bringing on an experienced head in Conway was probably a good idea considering our recent capitulations, whilst bringing off a player who - whilst very important for us - had just proven himself to be a liability defensively. 

[47er]

10 hours ago, had.e.nuff said:

total agree time for a reality check of the last 9 promoted teams only 1 is above us, we have had a bad run of fixtures against the top teams it seems the modern way to sack the manager at the first dip in form I dont see Man city crying out for their manager to go after losing 3 .

You seem to overlook the manner in which we have thrown so many points away needlessly. Manager bound to get stick in this situation.

[Boz]

Delighted that we got all three points yesterday, hopefully also a few days on from our nightmares in Yorkshire, most folk might have calmed down a bit too?

Don't get me wrong, I was as livid as the next person with the graft the team had undertaken, but then only to self implode late on. Though it might serve at times to have a period of reflection before calling for wholesale changes in management. I'm sure TM was as bemused and angry as the supporters, but we all could do to consider that Rovers are most definitely a work in progress after the madness which has befallen us for 6/7 years now, but surely TM has been the best thing to have come our way now since? Admittedly overly cautious at times, which can be frustrating, yet he has engineered a team spirit and togetherness amongst a set of players we've not seen for quite some time, yes they have their limitations, but surely the way forward is to look to make the continual improvements in quality which he's stated he'd like. Likewise I'm sure TM might be asking questions of his back room team, with the technical and fitness coaches, as to whether these instances are fixable and to crack on to stop them reoccurring. 

Surely to goodness though, let's not give our owners any thoughts as to making any rash decisions, we've been there and it wasn't very pleasant. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

The knee jerk fan reaction definitely leads to managers being sacked at some clubs. I don't think Mowbray will be going anywhere anytime soon and I'm happy about that. I believe you need to give managers time. Look at Norwich.