West Brom at home

[AllRoverAsia]

We have not run out of games.

Those games have already been played.

[joey_big_nose]

6 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

So just as Armstrong has hit a rich seam of form this season and thus become a good "money well spent" signing in his 3rd year here, couldn't that also happen with Brereton & Gallagher (I of course acknowledge that their fees were more substantial and agree that their contributions to date have been underwhelming)?

I mean, we saw today a glimpse of what Gallagher can do against the side widely considered as the best in the division, and we all saw a big improvement in Brereton post-lockdown prior to his red card. It would be very typical of football for one of them to hit an Armstrong-like run of form and then for their signings not to look as shabby as they currently do, right?

I mean few on here - me included - thought Armstrong would become the central figure he has become did we? Might we be talking about Brereton and / or Gallagher in similar terms in 12 months time?

Let's hope so! 

Don't really agree with this. Armstrong has always looked a threat if he could smooth a few kinks out of his game. A bit like Josh King you could see he has the potential.

Gallagher and particularly Brereton are just not like that. They struggle to perform on a basic level game after game.

I'll be delighted if they do pull it together but both look a lot closer to a Grabbi or a Best than an Armstrong or a King.

[AllRoverAsia]

14 hours ago, Tugay's Right Foot said:

Feel for the lad Davenport. Has done decently since he came on with some fight. Should have scored though

Yes it was a good chance.

Just watched MOTD, skipping past the Scouser, and proper strikers in the PL missed from similar 1on 1s in almost every game. It happens, at least Davenport had a shot on target , goal as opposed to corner flag like some we have.

[Herbie6590]

11 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Can we have a filter that prevents posts saying ‘people on here want Rovers to lose’?

Complete lazy nonsense from folk who can’t debate, ‘err well you love us losing’ , it’s playground stuff that always just derails threads.

 

Oh and as for a ‘dying’ site. Poor stuff S8, the likes of Herbie have worked hard transforming this place with the podcasts, player archives, nostalgia threads. Perhaps you missed it on one of your regular hiatuses (yet you keep coming back, so not all bad, obviously)... 

Thanks...appreciate that ??

[Stuart]

24 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Can we have a filter that prevents posts saying ‘people on here want Rovers to lose’?

Complete lazy nonsense from folk who can’t debate, ‘err well you love us losing’ , it’s playground stuff that always just derails threads.

 

Oh and as for a ‘dying’ site. Poor stuff S8, the likes of Herbie have worked hard transforming this place with the podcasts, player archives, nostalgia threads. Perhaps you missed it on one of your regular hiatuses (yet you keep coming back, so not all bad, obviously)... 

It’s a really odd logic too. Surely if people were happy losing, the forums would be humming with glee every time. 

It would be similarly flawed to say that those who still back Mowbray want Rovers to lose because Mowbray delivers defeats as often as victories!

Every Rovers fan wants Rovers to win and to be successful. Same as every fan of every club. The difference is that elsewhere when a manager doesn’t deliver he is replaced. It’s a situation that every manager accepts. At Rovers it’s very different. It does make me wonder the process for replacing each manager has been. Has the chief exec made the final recommendation in the past? In which case we could be having the types of discussion for a long time yet.

It will certainly be when we are towards heading the bottom end of the league at the earliest. Which betrays the height of the club’s (and some fans) ambitions: Midtable or bust. I’m astonished (and fearful) about the prospects of that being funded indefinitely. Especially if, as Mowbray himself has said (and I paraphrase for the very literal amongst us, Venkys have been told to put their chequebook away. FFP, eh?

[Doug]

Decent performance against a good team. This league is incredible, so close, unpredictable results, the most competitive league in the world!!

Walton pulled off a few decent save but I do not believe he is the long term answer. JRC is benefitting from playing at this level and I hope he can fill the LB void at the club.

Travis was excellent again and is first on my team sheet every week. Armo had one of his invisible games.

I have enjoyed the last two performances as much as i disliked the previous two.

Who knows what will happen over the next few games, surely that's how football should be.

[Tugay's Right Foot]

37 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Yes it was a good chance.

Just watched MOTD, skipping past the Scouser, and proper strikers in the PL missed from similar 1on 1s in almost every game. It happens, at least Davenport had a shot on target , goal as opposed to corner flag like some we have.

And the ground he made, seemingly from a defensive mid position. His physique seems quite different from last season, either bulked with muscles or lockdown excesses

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Can we have a filter that prevents posts saying ‘people on here want Rovers to lose’?

Complete lazy nonsense from folk who can’t debate, ‘err well you love us losing’ , it’s playground stuff that always just derails threads.

 

Oh and as for a ‘dying’ site. Poor stuff S8, the likes of Herbie have worked hard transforming this place with the podcasts, player archives, nostalgia threads. Perhaps you missed it on one of your regular hiatuses (yet you keep coming back, so not all bad, obviously)... 

They would give themselves more kudos and balance the debate a bit if they came on after the regular poor runs.  Offering their explanations and defenses of some of the head scratching selections etc.

Popping up just basically slagging off regulars most of who are hardcore attenders not excused for living somewhere else only makes them look the bitter ones really.

In truth most Rovers fans sit middle ground with Mowbray and it's a reflection on him and his team. Have to say iv'e seen more anger and frustration on other usually pro TM platforms since resumption though. More and more question his methods and signings but for balance to get two good back to back efforts recently after looking dead in the water shows he still has the players and can motivate them.

Still that illuminates the question why it goes missing too often when it matters.

[K-Hod]

9 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

It’s almost as if...

We should try to view the games and trajectory of the club objectively!?

 

It’ll never catch on @tomphil

3 posts ago, you were ‘leaving it at that’. 
?

[Ossydave]

Saying people want us to lose might be stretching it a bit, but some are a LOT more vocal when we do lose or certain players mess up. It is what it is and perhaps says how they are as a person more than anything else. That's life though.

Its no coincidence, at all, that naming the same starting lineup resulted in a positive performance (likewise Bennett not starting).

I'd still like Mowbray to step aside at the end of the season and give someone else a shot. Its a gamble of course but one we need to take to progress. If we stay with him we will be in no danger at all of relegation, but will finish around mid table once more.

We shouldn't however forget how bloody hard this league is to crack, Leeds have been at it for 10 years now and finally look to have done enough. 

Really hope we can avoid bids coming in for the likes of Travis, Nyambe, Armstrong and Lenihan close season as given the current climate they'll be harder than ever to turn down. On the plus side I doubt many teams are gonna be splashing the cash.

 

[Blue blood]

8 hours ago, Roverinbelfast said:

For someone who has preserved with under performing players and poor formations and plays players out of position, he has progressed us every season. 

Don't get me wrong certain things that he has done annoy me as well. Especially what happened with our keepers this season 

But he has done more good than bad and personality I stand behind him 100%. 

Your first paragraph ignores the fact that both can be true. He can be progressing us AND be playing players out of position. Think of it the other way round - how much better than where we are now would we be if he didn't continue to make these basic mistakes. 

Also as commented by others and myself on here it's hard to assess what progress is due to the ambiguity of what success looks like and the uncertain but limited time frame we have before the team is dismantled. 

Personally I don't think we have progressed this season anything like we should have. When you compare to Souness's or Hughes third season we were perhaps at the pinnacle of that team and you feel we are still a long way from the best we could possibly be under TM. By the third year it was their team in their style and doing the best that they could do. I think we don't know our best team and aren't punching above our weight as those teams (albeit in a championship context) with the consistency you would expect after 4+ windows of shaping the team. 

I also have issues in terms of progress with the squad. Too many loans, too many aging stars who need replacing. It seems like the squad needs a lot of work in the summer and very little was addressed effectively last summer. Even our good buys had a limited shelf life due to loans or age. 

Finally in terms of context - the playoffs have been more than attainable. Just a tiny bit more consistency, beating one weaker team we have struggled against a minor improvement in form and we would be properly in the mix and in a good position. Given the circumstances of the season, we really should have capitalised on this, even with Dack's injury - an admittedly significant blow. 

 

8 hours ago, Atko's Engine said:

So just as Armstrong has hit a rich seam of form this season and thus become a good "money well spent" signing in his 3rd year here, couldn't that also happen with Brereton & Gallagher (I of course acknowledge that their fees were more substantial and agree that their contributions to date have been underwhelming)?

I mean, we saw today a glimpse of what Gallagher can do against the side widely considered as the best in the division, and we all saw a big improvement in Brereton post-lockdown prior to his red card. It would be very typical of football for one of them to hit an Armstrong-like run of form and then for their signings not to look as shabby as they currently do, right?

I mean few on here - me included - thought Armstrong would become the central figure he has become did we? Might we be talking about Brereton and / or Gallagher in similar terms in 12 months time?

Let's hope so! 

I hope so too. Goodness knows we need it. 

I think my big reservations on this happening is he hasn't looked like he is nearly clicking at all, he has looked very poor on many occasions as oppose to frustrating and thirdly I really don't see the wide right experience helping him. I wouldn't lay odds on it. 

I grant you I didn't see Armstrong becoming what he was but the talent was clearly there. There were lots of cries of if only he were a bit more consistent he would be a huge asset, little knowing how consistent he would become. So yeah players can change but the evidence before me makes it seem unlikely. 

I think Gally and Ben would still be classed as mediocre signings at best if they did hit Armstrong type form. The reason I say this is 1) for the money we paid you expect an immediate contribution and we have had little. 2) the opportunity costs of not being able to spread the money round the team. And 3) even if they did well would we get more than the cost of each player? Probably not making it a very costly way to accumulate an extra million or two. 

[Waggy76]

Just now, Ossydave said:

Saying people want us to lose might be stretching it a bit, but some are a LOT more vocal when we do lose or certain players mess up. It is what it is and perhaps says how they are as a person more than anything else. That's life though.

Its no coincidence, at all, that naming the same starting lineup resulted in a positive performance (likewise Bennett not starting).

I'd still like Mowbray to step aside at the end of the season and give someone else a shot. Its a gamble of course but one we need to take to progress. If we stay with him we will be in no danger at all of relegation, but will finish around mid table once more.

We shouldn't however forget how bloody hard this league is to crack, Leeds have been at it for 10 years now and finally look to have done enough. 

Really hope we can avoid bids coming in for the likes of Travis, Nyambe, Armstrong and Lenihan close season as given the current climate they'll be harder than ever to turn down. On the plus side I doubt many teams are gonna be splashing the cash.

 

I dont think any of them are Prem quality at the moment ..

The teams coming down , might be interested , especially Norwich .

[Mattyblue]

Two mistakes in a tiny match report. In the esteemed Sunday Times, no less.Remarkable.

Can you spot them?

[Sparks Rover]

8 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Two mistakes in a tiny match report. In the esteemed Sunday Times, no less.Remarkable.

Can you spot them?

Feckin Donal?? What a doughnut. 

 

[SBlue]

3 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Can we have a filter that prevents posts saying ‘people on here want Rovers to lose’?

Complete lazy nonsense from folk who can’t debate, ‘err well you love us losing’ , it’s playground stuff that always just derails threads.

 

Oh and as for a ‘dying’ site. Poor stuff S8, the likes of Herbie have worked hard transforming this place with the podcasts, player archives, nostalgia threads. Perhaps you missed it on one of your regular hiatuses (yet you keep coming back, so not all bad, obviously)... 

Yeah I’d had a couple of cans obviously, bit out of order that. Apologies.

[SBlue]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

3 posts ago, you were ‘leaving it at that’. 
?

Stop bullying me you ?

[tomphil]

As Blue blood mentions above it's a concern about the 3 or 4 year cycle managers tend to have.  Come in, asses, sort out, push on then peak. We are or should be near peaking point now.  If you look at Souness, Hughes and the like similar happened to them one went backwards alarmingly whilst the other got poached.  Different times yes but more recently Bowyer, add in that those cycles at Rovers often end when the good players who've shone through in those periods begin to be sold and re-investment is wafer thin.

He'll have to buck that trend if we are to make a genuine stride forwards. It's a big task.

[Mattyblue]

Oh much bigger than mere grammar and punctuation, who missed the sitter again?

Edited July 12, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 hours ago, Roverinbelfast said:

Again fair points. You might not want to believe it, but I do. 'fans' on this forum enjoy us getting beat if it gives them an opportunity to kick the manager that's where we differ 

" Enjoying seeing Rovers getting beat " ?  I don't think  my wife would see it quite like that on a Saturday night, or the cat. It takes me whilst Monday morning to start smiling again.

[Atko's Engine]

32 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

Finally in terms of context - the playoffs have been more than attainable. Just a tiny bit more consistency, beating one weaker team we have struggled against a minor improvement in form and we would be properly in the mix and in a good position. Given the circumstances of the season, we really should have capitalised on this, even with Dack's injury - an admittedly significant blow. 

I agree, finding a little bit more consistency is what's needed. So does that warrant sacking TM & going back to the drawing board? IMO no it doesn't. He's improved us this season compared to last, and last season compared to the one before.  It's reasonable to assume therefore (& expect) further improvement next season based on that, which is foreseeable with a returning Dack even if we just make like for like changes elsewhere to replace loanees & out of contracts.

It's not guaranteed of course, nothing is. But I think sticking with TM is preferable because he has shown tangible season-on-season improvement overall. 

I recall last season it being said, correctly, that without Dack or Graham we'd have been down amongst the dead men due to over reliance on their goals. This season, whether enforced or through choice, we've not had either playing for over half the season, yet we're still in a better position now (places and points) than last season. That must indicate a better overall strategy in other areas, so I fail to see how that cannot be construed as improvement overall, and that's even with 2 expensive misfiring forwards. 

Clearly it's not sufficient improvement for some, ergo calls for a change. But I think that would be an unnecessary backward step when, overall, improvement has been achieved despite all the club's idiosyncrasies behind the scenes.

 

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 hours ago, Roverinbelfast said:

Very good post. I'll hold my hands up and say that at one stage this season I wanted shot of the manager, because we were playing so poorly and as previously said the keeper situation really annoys me. But he has turned it round and I'm glad he didn't get the boot. 

He's turned it around for two games ! Let's not get carried away.

[MarkBRFC]

Mowbray will always go around in these cycles though, horrible winless runs followed by an ok run with the odd really good run thrown in there.

In the end it all mounts to W1, L1, D1.

More or less where we have been at this level since 2012.

[K-Hod]

1 hour ago, S8 & Blue said:

Stop bullying me you ?

Don’t drink and BRFCS pal, it’s not worth it!

(Same advice goes to anyone, to be fair, not just you).

[rigger]

11 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Don’t drink and BRFCS pal, it’s not worth it!

(Same advice goes to anyone, to be fair, not just you).

It’s hard not to.

[oldjamfan1]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

" Enjoying seeing Rovers getting beat " ?  I don't think  my wife would see it quite like that on a Saturday night, or the cat. It takes me whilst Monday morning to start smiling again.

Although I’m nowhere near as bad as I once was (I swore after Selhurst Park 1989 I would never let football affect me that badly again!) I am still a grumpy old sod for a couple of hours after a defeat. 
 

Bloody football, eh?