Bournemouth away

[Mattyblue]

Very simplistic to say ‘they cost/their wage bill is x times more than us so we did well even competing’ (I thought it was a decent performance, by the way).

Our wage bill was enormous in 2012, we nearly went down again. Sunderland did just that since, Stoke clung on etc etc.

Those wage bills, egos are often the reason these clubs struggle, the seeming advantage of that big wage bill negated by off field/mental issues. A habit of losing, compounded by demotivated, want away stars, rapid turnover of players and managers etc.

There’s a reason so few relegated sides bounce straight back into the automatic places.
 

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Mattyblue

[roversfan99]

Kaminski made one good save and his distribution was ok but I think it is a little premature to describe him as a massive upgrade at this stage, he didnt have overly much to do besides pick the ball out of the net 3 times, none of which were savable. 

[Richard Oakley]

We didn’t lose because we ‘overcommitted. We lost because we couldn’t defend. Bournemouth worked out how to exploit our weaknesses. They would know from tape that Bell never stops a winger putting the ball in or back across. It’s how he’s been coached.

It’s a very stupid decision on Mowbray’s part to play 433, when it’s not been perfected on the training field. Defending with a 4-3 is in two banks; one of 4 and one of 3 to close down and to pick up players coming in. It is not stringing 7 players on the edge of the penalty area and say that they’re defending. They are not. That was two of their goals.

The third was blamed on Dolan by Mowbray. Most teams don’t concede when all their other players are behind the ball.  Had Dolan come through our Academy, he wouldn’t have been on the pitch. Why didn’t Mowbray tear a strip off all the other outfield players who all also conceded possession during the match?

Lenihan reacts late to the striking cutting across the face of the goal, buys the look that says the striker will go backout wide and the striker gets off his shoulder and scores. Another poster has commented that this is a known weakness of Lenihan. Known, but still not corrected.

Our goals: Johnson shot, because no-one wanted the ball off him. It turns out the opposition keeper didn’t want the ball off him, either. Armstrong took the ball off Holtby.

The ugly: Armstrong deliberately waiting until Holtby was marginally offside before playing him in. The smile on the asst. refs face said he knew what Armstrong was doing.

Evans passing, when scoring was easier. The difference between Evans playing for us and Northern Ireland is that he’s not micro-managed playing for Northern Ireland. Pretty ballsy thing for Evans to do.

We’ve now conceded 8 goals in 5 games with Bell at LB. Mowbray is not thick, apparently. A new left back is critical. By all accounts, Williams had another businesslike game. Nothing to put either DC United or LA Galaxy off putting a transfer bid in for him.

Playing Holtby and Johnson meant both Travis and JRC were played out of position. If Holtby and Johnson are in the shopwindow, I’ve got no issue with their playing once. They were two of our highest rated players. It’s not just that I wanted them out at the beginning of the close season, I don’t see them fitting in the team. They keep Evans out and two other players out of position.

Mowbray’s West Brom were praised for their entertaining football in their one season in the Premier League with him as manager. I’d rather have someone of rather more ‘limited football’ that gets us promoted, like Chris Hughton (I’m pulling a chaddyrovers here and not endorsing Hughton. He’s just an example of the type.).

[chaddyrovers]

I felt we were unlucky not to get at least a point yesterday as our performance deserve. 

Unhappy about the 3 goals. twice not closing the shot down quickly enough and Lenihan should be showing him down the line so poor from experience player and captain. 

Kaminski have a good game and we look much more comfortable with him in goal and I'm sure he will get better. Think we got a bargain signing based on that game. 

Well done for Johnson for shoot for his goal something Rovers need to more of when the opportunity is there from 25/30 yards out. 

Well done to Nyambe for the assist and the good ball into the box. Armstrong put it away well also. 

Shame Holtby's goal didn't stand as we won the game from there IMO. 

I was happy with the shape and formation of the team and going forward tho you would like more shots on goal. 

Rothwell and Dolan had a positive impact when they came on. 

So many positives to take but some basic defending needed at times like closing shots down more and showing the player down the line. 

[Crimpshrine]

5 minutes ago, Richard Oakley said:

The ugly: Armstrong deliberately waiting until Holtby was marginally offside before playing him in. The smile on the asst. refs face said he knew what Armstrong was doing.

 

Really? please explain.

[Vilesinner]

51 minutes ago, OnePhilT said:

The biggest thing I took from the game was Kaminski's performance. I didn't realise he plays as a sweeper keeper, but it proved really useful yesterday, especially with Bournemouth putting a few through-balls in that our defenders wouldn't have managed to chase back. Some really good positioning from Tommy K, and he generally looked a lot more assured than Walton or Raya did.

But the biggest moment was when we were 2-1 down, and he pulled off a superb save to keep us in it. I suspect we would have been 3-1 down and out of sight if this was last season, and so I'm hoping that we've managed to progress in terms of our last line of defence. I think most would agree that the three goals conceded are in no way a reflection on him, but a reflection on the players in front of him not offering him enough protection.

I think there are reasons to be hopeful. The goalkeeper looks like a big upgrade already, and I think that's already a great start. I thought our midfield was at fault for allowing Bournemouth players to shoot on-sight for two of yesterday's goals, despite Johnson and Hotlby having generally-good games. The defenders need to protect the goalkeeper, but the midfielders shouldn't be absolved of the same responsibility, and I think that's the main reason as to why we came away with nothing yesterday.

Onwards and upwards.

Holtby is certainly chasing well and best passer we have had since Tugay imo. Johnson looks too slow.

[Vilesinner]

28 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Kaminski made one good save and his distribution was ok but I think it is a little premature to describe him as a massive upgrade at this stage, he didnt have overly much to do besides pick the ball out of the net 3 times, none of which were savable. 

Made a couple of good saves imo..

[Guest]

4 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Has he had game time at senior level? Chapman against Reading set up one goal and put one on a plate for someone else, I would say that he was more effective than Dolan was yesterday, even if he was eye catching.

And I'll respond to that with Huddersfield away 2019/20. Chapman comes on for 20 mins, has a stinker. vs Dolan's 20 minutes against Bournemouth, changed the game. If the Holtby goal stands and we win, or Evans scores and we draw, we're all applauding Dolan for coming on and getting us the point(s).

[Guest]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Kaminski made one good save and his distribution was ok but I think it is a little premature to describe him as a massive upgrade at this stage, he didnt have overly much to do besides pick the ball out of the net 3 times, none of which were savable. 

I think he made a few saves, one of which very good. Distribution was better than both Raya and Walton for me, and seemed extremely composed and confident considering he's only trained for 5 days. 

[Ewood Ace]

4 minutes ago, JoeH said:

If the Holtby goal stands and we win, or Evans scores and we draw, we're all applauding Dolan for coming on and getting us the point(s).

You could counter that with if Dolan doesn't give the ball away perhaps we get a point. Sides will always look back at if's, but's and maybe's over the course of the 90 minutes but the only thing that has any relevance is the full time score.

[Commondore]

2 hours ago, Crimpshrine said:

Really? please explain.

It's the second big conspiracy currently plaguing Rovers. Besides Mowbray being an undercover agent sent out to keep us in mid table rather than the top 6, Armstrong is now sabotaging the team in order to make himself look better so he'll be sold quicker. Do keep up!

[roversfan99]

8 minutes ago, JoeH said:

And I'll respond to that with Huddersfield away 2019/20. Chapman comes on for 20 mins, has a stinker. vs Dolan's 20 minutes against Bournemouth, changed the game. If the Holtby goal stands and we win, or Evans scores and we draw, we're all applauding Dolan for coming on and getting us the point(s).

Hes had about 6 cameo appearances of around 20 minutes during his time here. Its not a reasonable amount of game time. In one he set up the winner.

Ultimately Dolan was very bright but his main contribution was losing the ball in the lead up to Bournemouths winner. Even in your hypothetical scenario, Dolan wouldnt have directly got us any points, he didnt cross the ball for Evans or Holtby.

7 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I think he made a few saves, one of which very good. Distribution was better than both Raya and Walton for me, and seemed extremely composed and confident considering he's only trained for 5 days. 

They had 5 shots on target, 3 he had no chance with, he made one good save and the 5th could barely be considered a shot. Did all he could and the save is reason for praise but nothing too much to really judge overall.

[geedog13]

1 hour ago, Commondore said:

It's the second big conspiracy currently plaguing Rovers. Besides Mowbray being an undercover agent sent out to keep us in mid table rather than the top 6, Armstrong is now sabotaging the team in order to make himself look better so he'll be sold quicker. Do keep up!

O please ........ get a grip

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

8 minutes ago, geedog13 said:

O please ........ get a grip

I think Commondore is being satirical.

[AllRoverAsia]

4 hours ago, Richard Oakley said:

We didn’t lose because we ‘overcommitted. We lost because we couldn’t defend. Bournemouth worked out how to exploit our weaknesses. They would know from tape that Bell never stops a winger putting the ball in or back across. It’s how he’s been coached.

It’s a very stupid decision on Mowbray’s part to play 433, when it’s not been perfected on the training field. Defending with a 4-3 is in two banks; one of 4 and one of 3 to close down and to pick up players coming in. It is not stringing 7 players on the edge of the penalty area and say that they’re defending. They are not. That was two of their goals.

The third was blamed on Dolan by Mowbray. Most teams don’t concede when all their other players are behind the ball.  Had Dolan come through our Academy, he wouldn’t have been on the pitch. Why didn’t Mowbray tear a strip off all the other outfield players who all also conceded possession during the match?

Lenihan reacts late to the striking cutting across the face of the goal, buys the look that says the striker will go backout wide and the striker gets off his shoulder and scores. Another poster has commented that this is a known weakness of Lenihan. Known, but still not corrected.

Our goals: Johnson shot, because no-one wanted the ball off him. It turns out the opposition keeper didn’t want the ball off him, either. Armstrong took the ball off Holtby.

The ugly: Armstrong deliberately waiting until Holtby was marginally offside before playing him in. The smile on the asst. refs face said he knew what Armstrong was doing.

Evans passing, when scoring was easier. The difference between Evans playing for us and Northern Ireland is that he’s not micro-managed playing for Northern Ireland. Pretty ballsy thing for Evans to do.

We’ve now conceded 8 goals in 5 games with Bell at LB. Mowbray is not thick, apparently. A new left back is critical. By all accounts, Williams had another businesslike game. Nothing to put either DC United or LA Galaxy off putting a transfer bid in for him.

Playing Holtby and Johnson meant both Travis and JRC were played out of position. If Holtby and Johnson are in the shopwindow, I’ve got no issue with their playing once. They were two of our highest rated players. It’s not just that I wanted them out at the beginning of the close season, I don’t see them fitting in the team. They keep Evans out and two other players out of position.

Mowbray’s West Brom were praised for their entertaining football in their one season in the Premier League with him as manager. I’d rather have someone of rather more ‘limited football’ that gets us promoted, like Chris Hughton (I’m pulling a chaddyrovers here and not endorsing Hughton. He’s just an example of the type.).

The Armstrong theory fails - he cant time a pass that well

[tomphil]

8 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

Mowbray gives the appearance of a man , who knows he hasnt got long left , how long it takes the powers that be to realise , is anyones guess !

He's looked like that for years so he's done well to hang on ?

To me he just looks like someone who really isn't nor ever has been concerned about his position.

[RevidgeBlue]

9 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

‘Odd’ is the right word.

I wouldn’t particularly want or expect my manager to be bouncing around like a performing seal on the touch line, seems a bit for show with some. Also, there needs to be a degree of ownership from the players - I.e ‘those are my instructions, use your initiative and game management too’ etc.

But TM looks to have gone the other way post lockdown. Literally spending whole halves or matches in the dugout sitting in silence, at Luton he spent most of the match sat in the stand on his own. 

We commented on this whilst we were watching the match. Mowbray can do no wrong in my mate's son's eyes, but his Dad joked that maybe TM has to sit down at his age.

I said he was sat there twiddling his thumbs looking like he was wondering what to have for tea. When their third went in, his expression never changed, there was no flicker of emotion and he barely budged an inch, let alone get up out of his seat.

"Ah yes, I think l'll have pork chops!"

Now if we were winning games and were top of the League I don't suppose anyone would care if he was sitting with his back to the pitch or doing cartwheels down the line. If however results aren't going too well I think it is a criticism that will legitimately be levelled at him. Other managers don't sit there for 90 mins with their hands in their pockets looking like they wish  they could be anywhere else and the least you can expect is for him to look enthusiastic and be up there offering advice encouragement or a bit of a gee up at various points. 

We're only one game in so spirits should be baturally high. Long term though what must it be like for morale if things aren't going that well and the players glance over to the touchline for a bit of encouragement or guidance and see him slumped in his chair like that? 

Edited September 13, 2020 by RevidgeBlue

[Ricky]

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I felt we were unlucky not to get at least a point yesterday as our performance deserve. 

Unhappy about the 3 goals. twice not closing the shot down quickly enough and Lenihan should be showing him down the line so poor from experience player and captain. 

Kaminski have a good game and we look much more comfortable with him in goal and I'm sure he will get better. Think we got a bargain signing based on that game. 

Well done for Johnson for shoot for his goal something Rovers need to more of when the opportunity is there from 25/30 yards out. 

Well done to Nyambe for the assist and the good ball into the box. Armstrong put it away well also. 

Shame Holtby's goal didn't stand as we won the game from there IMO. 

I was happy with the shape and formation of the team and going forward tho you would like more shots on goal. 

Rothwell and Dolan had a positive impact when they came on. 

So many positives to take but some basic defending needed at times like closing shots down more and showing the player down the line. 

We did ok but at the end of the day we still only had two shots on target in the entire game. With the number of goals we concede we are going to be having to score with every single chance to compete.

I know it’s pretty obvious but we are going to have to massively tighten up or create a hell of a lot more chances or we are in for a very long season.

[joey_big_nose]

Couldnt watch the game yesterday, but watched the whole match back this evening.

All in all very unlucky to not get a point, draw would have been fair. Also hard to really say any of the goals were major defensive errors, more that the Bournemouth players made some incisive moves and finished well. Johnson, Evans and Dolan all had chances where if they had shown similar cool finishing we would have scored. Also it was really hard to see if Holtbys goal was offside. Looked very close.

Obviously the 433 is going to lead to some pretty open play. But I'm looking forward to it to be honest. In Dolan, Rothwell and Chapman we have players who can come off the bench and scare teams, and we are a very energetic and youthful side who can cover a lot of grass. 

Del had a surprisingly good game, I like the look of Kaminski. Bell was actually less of a defensive liability (but was an offensive one). Still we do need two really top defenders to kick on.

Think this could be quite a fun season for us playing some ultra aggressive football with quite a lot of entertaining attacking players in the team. Expecting mid table again, but it should be a more interesting season.

[philipl]

12 hours ago, Hasta said:

I couldnt get the pause just as the ball is played, but he looked marginally off before the cross is hit and marginally off just after (attched). 

Isn't there a Bournemouth player out of shot getting back to cover the line at the back post?

[Hasta]

6 hours ago, philipl said:

Isn't there a Bournemouth player out of shot getting back to cover the line at the back post?

Unfortunately not. It's quite clear on the highlights here:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEtZPm_F6Nc

Shame because we were really on top at that moment and there only looked one winner.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Hasta

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

6 hours ago, philipl said:

Isn't there a Bournemouth player out of shot getting back to cover the line at the back post?

If there isn't there should be !

[Mike E]

17 hours ago, Richard Oakley said:

 

The ugly: Armstrong deliberately waiting until Holtby was marginally offside before playing him in. The smile on the asst. refs face said he knew what Armstrong was doing.

 

Well he buggered up his own plan by scoring for us, didn't he?

[Dreams of 1995]

I didn't think it a terrible performance, and it was nice to see Johnson not make a mug of himself as usual. I'm certain he started well last season though so let's give it a while before I praise him.

Unlucky to lose really but it will continue in that fashion whilst we have the back 4 we do. Lenihan flatters to deceive sometimes, and our team never looked like flying in front of the ball to stop a shot. It's a bit too passenger for me at the back, but tell us something we don't know.

Up front it was a good game and I expect we will see a lot of goals this season, either end. Blackburn Rovers BTTS is a cert bet this year, as it has been for nearly 5 now!

Want to see Dolan and Rothwell on the pitch from the start next game, ideally against Newcastle. Let's just go there and attack and see what we can do against a pretty poor side for Premier League standards.