Coventry v ROVERS

[philipl]

10 minutes ago, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

Makes sense. Bet he was fucking terrifying to face Holding, such a languid approach and before you know it its down your throat 

Known as whispering death- he was so light on his feet in his run up.

[Paul Mani]

50 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

As I was saying in the Brereton thread, Big Ben is the key. If he can run at them from an attacking midfield position like he did at Coventry he'll be asking questions of their defence they might not have the answers to. A few free kicks for Douglas to have a go at would be handy. More than in most games whoever scores first will be crucial.

100%....in the past we’ve struggled to beat teams who put a low block on simply because we didn’t have the quality to unlock the door. The Cardiff and Forest games followed this exact pattern too. We’ve got to find the quality to score and bring them out. Once they start coming onto us we’ll do them.

[rigger]

3 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

To be honest Preston is just another game to me , Burnley are the one and that game is not to far in the future now ..

I think we might swap places with them rather than play them again.

[briansol]

I think the "flat track bully" comparision really relevant. Really enjoy watching Rovers this season dominating teams this season and certainly can be placed as a"happy camper".

Mounting a promotion push you need to be able to handle all aspects of game handling:

1. Putting lesser teams to the sword. We are certainly doing that this season, which is refreshing after Charlton and Luton came to Ewood last season.

2. Grafting out a win against decent teams that get behind the ball. Cardiff and Forest was a struggle to create enough chances. It's one of the hardest thing in football but probably were our biggest challenge lies this season. Promotion teams will carve out that 1-0 win in the majority of games.

3. Strike the right balance against "better teams". Bmouth and Watford show how they can hurt you even if we have possesion and have more chances. They are far mor clinical and hits you on the break. We need to be a bit more tactical when choosing to overload esp with fullbacks and midfield, so the centre-backs are not so exposed.

Right now we might be a Brentford over the last seasons, who scores a lot of goals, play well, but also been loses to many matches. Norwich manages to outscore the opposition when they went up, even if they conceeded a lot. Leeds last year did both parts very well, kept a great shape even when they were on the front foot.

 

[Mattyblue]

That’s exactly where are Brian, it is that adaptability that will be key when playing sides away from home of higher quality who can hit us hard on the counter and home games when teams sit in.

So not sure why it has led to posters being tagged as ‘not understanding the game’ for merely pointing that out.

But I will put Cardiff and Forest to one side, as we just didn’t have the quality of players, on the pitch or bench a month ago. We will get a much better feel to where the season may head over the next week - top of the table Reading, a decent side away in Swansea and then Warnock’s Boro at Ewood who you imagine will be tough to breakdown...
 

[bigbrandjohn]

One thing that helps a side and supporters is the feel good factor. In all aspects of life, we sometimes forget that we have it pretty good and it takes someone to remind us. 
 

Comments like this raise the spirits of the team and fans and builds confidence and respect in the club. 
 

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/elliott-liverpool-support-blackburn-targets-19161900

That plus the calm authority of Barry Douglas has meant that the transfer window has brought not only good footballers into the club but positive influences genuinely excited to contribute to the club as well as line their own pockets  

One swallow doesn’t make a Summer but the early signs are encouraging.

 

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

49 minutes ago, briansol said:

Right now we might be a Brentford over the last seasons, who scores a lot of goals, play well, but also been loses to many matches.

I'll take being Brentford as it will get us in the PO's based on last season. 

[roversfan99]

9 hours ago, philipl said:

You will get hammered for suggesting the Rovers crowd might adversely affect the performance of our players.

I dont think that Sparks was implying that the Rovers crowd are particularly demanding in comparison to other teams to the extent that playing behind closed doors benefits us, thats the difference.

Brereton has after 18 personal dismal months been treated well by the Rovers fan base, in that I can not remember a player for whom there has been such a specific and unifed desperation for him to get a goal. Ultimately if his improvements are solely on the back of playing with less pressure in empty stadiums then in the long term then they are fairly useless if he reverts back to what he wss like before when crowds return. Suggesting so at this case is not only again reverting back to the incorrect suggestion that the Rovers crowd are horrible to play in front of, but also a disservice to the player himself.

5 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

Absolutely mate, Anyone with football knowledge can see that we obliterated Watford. It was like one of those iconic giant killing matches where everything the underdog does works and their keeper somehow keeps the giants out.

This team already has and will continue to inflict  heavy defeats on teams this season. We hog possession and are utterly relentless in our closing down. The most pleasing part of our play are the constant waves of attack after attack...it must be a bloody nightmare to play against us now. Get the consistency and we’ll finish comfortably in the top 6 and potentially the top 2.

I know that you are being purposely patronising and antogonistic by claiming additional knowledge to any posters with an opposite viewpoint but we clearly didnt "obliterate" Watford, before considering the laughable giant killing narrative. We lost by 2 clear goals and that is all that matters. We were competitive and we certainly had chances but so did Watford who could have had 5 or 6 aswell. To view it as some sort of freak giant killing is not only totally illogical but also ignores numerous issues with that performance that led to us getting 0 points similar to v Bournemouth (although IMO we werent overly dangerous in conparison v Bournemouth with 2 shots on goal) in showing a real naivety and weakness in transition, and a struggle to turn possession into clear cut chances or if we did, a lack of ruthlessness.

There are plenty of exciting elements to our play at the moment especially in 3 thrashings handed out to 3 of the 4 worst sides in the league so far but ultimately only until the point in which we are picking up points consistenly enough to be in the top 6 will this admittedly exciting way of playing be really proved in terms of effectiveness. Im also not denying that there could be more to come, new signings bedding in, Dack and Travis returning, and hopefully the flaws in our game ironed out, maybe that consistency can come soon.

You could perhaps categorize the first 7 games into 3 categories, playing the weakest in the league in which we have won all 3 and absolutely battered them in an almost unprecedented way for us, decent organised teams coming to Ewood and us being unable to come close to breaking them down, and 2 games v top end teams in which we have perhaps slightly naively have gone toe to toe wih them and leaving ourselves overly exposed, leading to defeat.

Also, never take any stock in an opposition manager praising us, thats my advice. A manager who has won and played against a decent team playing an easy on the eye style will always be full of praise, whereas a team who has ground out a 1 nil win against you in a professional and organised way will always be met with resentment and bitterness. Take Big Sams Bolton or us under Hughes getting under Wengers skin back in the day because he was bitter that he couldnt beat us "lesser lights" so resorted to dismissing our style.

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Analysing the game on Quest's EFL highlights show, Parkin said: "They're probably one of the last teams in the division you'd want to go down to ten men for 75 minutes against because Blackburn's front line are scintillating at the moment."

Morrison followed that up, adding: "Harvey Elliott and Brereton are really good. Armstrong has been oustanding. Tell me a better front three in the Championship at the moment? I can't, and they're in really good form.

 

 

Good to hear such praise, although Colin Murray was full of praise that we signed Harvey Barnes which is news to me!

[islander200]

7 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think that Sparks was implying that the Rovers crowd are particularly demanding in comparison to other teams to the extent that playing behind closed doors benefits us, thats the difference.

Brereton has after 18 personal dismal months been treated well by the Rovers fan base, in that I can not remember a player for whom there has been such a specific and unifed desperation for him to get a goal. Ultimately if his improvements are solely on the back of playing with less pressure in empty stadiums then in the long term then they are fairly useless if he reverts back to what he wss like before when crowds return. Suggesting so at this case is not only again reverting back to the incorrect suggestion that the Rovers crowd are horrible to play in front of, but also a disservice to the player himself.

I know that you are being purposely patronising and antogonistic by claiming additional knowledge to any posters with an opposite viewpoint but we clearly didnt "obliterate" Watford, before considering the laughable giant killing narrative. We lost by 2 clear goals and that is all that matters. We were competitive and we certainly had chances but so did Watford who could have had 5 or 6 aswell. To view it as some sort of freak giant killing is not only totally illogical but also ignores numerous issues with that performance that led to us getting 0 points similar to v Bournemouth (although IMO we werent overly dangerous in conparison v Bournemouth with 2 shots on goal) in showing a real naivety and weakness in transition, and a struggle to turn possession into clear cut chances or if we did, a lack of ruthlessness.

There are plenty of exciting elements to our play at the moment especially in 3 thrashings handed out to 3 of the 4 worst sides in the league so far but ultimately only until the point in which we are picking up points consistenly enough to be in the top 6 will this admittedly exciting way of playing be really proved in terms of effectiveness. Im also not denying that there could be more to come, new signings bedding in, Dack and Travis returning, and hopefully the flaws in our game ironed out, maybe that consistency can come soon.

You could perhaps categorize the first 7 games into 3 categories, playing the weakest in the league in which we have won all 3 and absolutely battered them in an almost unprecedented way for us, decent organised teams coming to Ewood and us being unable to come close to breaking them down, and 2 games v top end teams in which we have perhaps slightly naively have gone toe to toe wih them and leaving ourselves overly exposed, leading to defeat.

Also, never take any stock in an opposition manager praising us, thats my advice. A manager who has won and played against a decent team playing an easy on the eye style will always be full of praise, whereas a team who has ground out a 1 nil win against you in a professional and organised way will always be met with resentment and bitterness. Take Big Sams Bolton or us under Hughes getting under Wengers skin back in the day because he was bitter that he couldnt beat us "lesser lights" so resorted to dismissing our style.

Good to hear such praise, although Colin Murray was full of praise that we signed Harvey Barnes which is news to me!

It's too early to judge and like you say our big wins have come against the weaker teams.

The one thing I take issue with is people adding the Forest game when analysing our season so far.We had 13 players unavailable,5 or 6 of those could be considered starting players.When I seen the side put out pre match I was not confident one bit we would win the match.

Cardiff, we were poor no arguments from me in that game but still we had the most clear cut chances and it was criminal that Gallagher missed that chance from 2 yards out.

We conceded 6 in 2 matches against relegated sides in Bournemouth and Watford.2 teams who have far superior squads than most the division and we did not have what you would consider our first choice defences in both games.The only other goal we have conceded is a deflected shot against Nottingham Forest.

There is a lot more poorer teams in this division than good.The talk of us being in contention for automatic by some I find far fetched, but on the evidence so far I do think we will be amongst the top 6

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-rankin-costello-nyambe-19162715

JRC - that pass was straight out of the Alexander-Arnold playbook. It's a feature of Liverpool's play when he pings it over the defence to the on-running Mane or Salah. Exact replica from JRC to BB yesterday for the first goal. 

[chaddyrovers]

43 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Good to hear such praise

It is good news that Pundits are realising we have a good team and going forward hopefully we will make top 6 this season and promotion. Tho I thought we would when we have Rhodes and Gestede in the team and we didn't. 

Elliott reminds me of Salah type of right side of front 3. Armstrong movement and finishing ability is the best in the league for me. Already 7 goals in 7 games. So could be on 25 goals at least this season. 

[roversfan99]

31 minutes ago, islander200 said:

It's too early to judge and like you say our big wins have come against the weaker teams.

The one thing I take issue with is people adding the Forest game when analysing our season so far.We had 13 players unavailable,5 or 6 of those could be considered starting players.When I seen the side put out pre match I was not confident one bit we would win the match.

Cardiff, we were poor no arguments from me in that game but still we had the most clear cut chances and it was criminal that Gallagher missed that chance from 2 yards out.

We conceded 6 in 2 matches against relegated sides in Bournemouth and Watford.2 teams who have far superior squads than most the division and we did not have what you would consider our first choice defences in both games.The only other goal we have conceded is a deflected shot against Nottingham Forest.

There is a lot more poorer teams in this division than good.The talk of us being in contention for automatic by some I find far fetched, but on the evidence so far I do think we will be amongst the top 6

I dont think you can give the manager a free pass just because we had a lot of players unavailable. That will happen to every manager during the season, and out of those players, 4 were new signings considered unavailable (2 not registered and 2 not selected by Mowbray) so surely they also increase the absentee list for the 4 games prior if thats the case? Not for me, just a drawback of signing them so late. The 11 players plus the first sub Gallagher are all consistently in the first team squad so it wasnt quite bare bones by any means, and tactical errors by the manager (Gallagher widre, Chapman as a 10, Johnson sitting, Evans further forward) all majorly contributed to the poor result.

In the Cardiff game we created very little. The Gallagher miss was poor but it wasnt as clear cut as a tap in and indeed if the managers 5m purchase misses a sitter, he doesnt get a free pass from judgement!

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

15 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

It is good news that Pundits are realising we have a good team and going forward hopefully we will make top 6 this season and promotion. Tho I thought we would when we have Rhodes and Gestede in the team and we didn't. 

Elliott reminds me of Salah type of right side of front 3. Armstrong movement and finishing ability is the best in the league for me. Already 7 goals in 7 games. So could be on 25 goals at least this season. 

He could have been half way to that 25 goals already given the chances he's had.

[islander200]

3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think you can give the manager a free pass just because we had a lot of players unavailable. That will happen to every manager during the season, and out of those players, 4 were new signings considered unavailable (2 not registered and 2 not selected by Mowbray) so surely they also increase the absentee list for the 4 games prior if thats the case? Not for me, just a drawback of signing them so late. The 11 players plus the first sub Gallagher are all consistently in the first team squad so it wasnt quite bare bones by any means, and tactical errors by the manager (Gallagher widre, Chapman as a 10, Johnson sitting, Evans further forward) all majorly contributed to the poor result.

In the Cardiff game we created very little. The Gallagher miss was poor but it wasnt as clear cut as a tap in and indeed if the managers 5m purchase misses a sitter, he doesnt get a free pass from judgement!

 

I'm not giving Mowbray a free pass as he could have changed it around tactically but at the same time I appreciate the players that were out make a big difference.Especially the midfield 3.And if other clubs had 13 out,5 or 6 starters I would expect them to struggle aswell.

I also think its unfair to criticize Mowbray for not including Douglas and Trybull, both had been signed 24 hours before and both had 1 competitive game between the 2 of them this season.

Also you and others keep saying we have only beaten the dross of the division,which is true but I haven't seen those teams being hammered too many times like we have done to them.

Some are now calling Reading automatic promotion candidates,yet the majority of their victory's have been against the weaker sides In the division

[roversfan99]

3 minutes ago, islander200 said:

I'm not giving Mowbray a free pass as he could have changed it around tactically but at the same time I appreciate the players that were out make a big difference.Especially the midfield 3.And if other clubs had 13 out,5 or 6 starters I would expect them to struggle aswell.

I also think its unfair to criticize Mowbray for not including Douglas and Trybull, both had been signed 24 hours before and both had 1 competitive game between the 2 of them this season.

Also you and others keep saying we have only beaten the dross of the division,which is true but I haven't seen those teams being hammered too many times like we have done to them.

Some are now calling Reading automatic promotion candidates,yet the majority of their victory's have been against the weaker sides In the division

I didnt criticise Mowbray for not including Trybull and Douglas, and I did acknowledge that the absentees made the situation much more difficult. But all managers have some games where they have major unavailability. Mowbray made numerous tactical mistakes with the players at his disposal. Johnson in front of his defence has always been a liability, Evans has always got a nose bleed over the half way line and Gallagher has never been a winger since he had a hole in his arse. 

I did mention that we keep beating the weaker teams but not in the flippant way that you implied. I have referenced that we have battered them in a way we havent done to teams for a long, long time and it is very exciting. Us at our best and/or v the worst teams in the league has been leading to brilliant watches for a Rovers fan. You mention Reading but it is not them at "their best" that is impressive to date, it is the consistency of our results. We are a little bit all or nothing at the moment, only winning when we wallop teams. Im excited about many aspects of our team at the moment, I just will only be totally satisfied when we start picking up top 6 level results consistently.

[chaddyrovers]

22 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think you can give the manager a free pass just because we had a lot of players unavailable. That will happen to every manager during the season, and out of those players, 4 were new signings considered unavailable (2 not registered and 2 not selected by Mowbray) so surely they also increase the absentee list for the 4 games prior if thats the case? Not for me, just a drawback of signing them so late. The 11 players plus the first sub Gallagher are all consistently in the first team squad so it wasnt quite bare bones by any means, and tactical errors by the manager (Gallagher widre, Chapman as a 10, Johnson sitting, Evans further forward) all majorly contributed to the poor result.

In the Cardiff game we created very little. The Gallagher miss was poor but it wasnt as clear cut as a tap in and indeed if the managers 5m purchase misses a sitter, he doesnt get a free pass from judgement!

 

no one is given Mowbray a free pass but when Holtby and Rothwell arent available for the Forest game it was going to reduced our ability to win the game surely?

on Cardiff, I think alot of teams will struggled to break them down cos of the way they played. Its ain't beautiful to watch but effect. Harris deserved praised for last season playoff position. But now he got Wilson he may be open abit more. Different managers play different tactics and formations and its enjoyable to watch these different styles at times

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

36 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I didnt criticise Mowbray for not including Trybull and Douglas, and I did acknowledge that the absentees made the situation much more difficult. But all managers have some games where they have major unavailability. Mowbray made numerous tactical mistakes with the players at his disposal. Johnson in front of his defence has always been a liability, Evans has always got a nose bleed over the half way line and Gallagher has never been a winger since he had a hole in his arse. 

I did mention that we keep beating the weaker teams but not in the flippant way that you implied. I have referenced that we have battered them in a way we havent done to teams for a long, long time and it is very exciting. Us at our best and/or v the worst teams in the league has been leading to brilliant watches for a Rovers fan. You mention Reading but it is not them at "their best" that is impressive to date, it is the consistency of our results. We are a little bit all or nothing at the moment, only winning when we wallop teams. Im excited about many aspects of our team at the moment, I just will only be totally satisfied when we start picking up top 6 level results consistently.

Lets not forget that two of the bangings came against teams that had been reduced to ten men yet continued to play like they still had eleven. Instead of shutting up shop and trying to minimise the damage like anybody with half a brain would do,  they both failed to do that.

Edited October 25, 2020 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[roversfan99]

9 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

no one is given Mowbray a free pass but when Holtby and Rothwell arent available for the Forest game it was going to reduced our ability to win the game surely?

on Cardiff, I think alot of teams will struggled to break them down cos of the way they played. Its ain't beautiful to watch but effect. Harris deserved praised for last season playoff position. But now he got Wilson he may be open abit more. Different managers play different tactics and formations and its enjoyable to watch these different styles at times

I acknowledged that it made things more difficult without numerous players, undoubtedly. A problem all managers will face at some point. That being said, both Holtby and Rothwell were available in the home game prior when we were equally impotent, Rothwell in particular had one of his best games for the club v Forest by not being involved yet being painted as a potential saviour!

The issue regarding breaking down teams is a recurring one that we will need to overcome to reach the top 6. Going away from home and grinding out draws and wins is a very common and successful method.

The side that played was full of regulars during Mowbrays tenure. Kaminski and Ayala were big summer signings. Lenihan has been critical to Mowbrays teams throughout his time here. Nyambe is in most peoples first 11. Bell has sadly been trusted by Mowbray playing most games since he signed. Bradley Johnson had won the leagues player of the month after the previous game. Corry Evans has been involved whenever he has been fit during his time here. The front 3 had nailed down places in the starting 11. Buckley has been in the vast majority of squads since the start of last season, heavily involved and often waxed lyrical over. Gallagher was a 5m man on the bench. Enough there to not be able to absolve the manager of responsibility should we lose to a team at home on 0 points? Certainly.

The key to me was the tactical errors as I mentioned earlier. Cant see any merit in Johnson sitting, Evans ahead of him, Gallagher wide and Chapman as a number 10. Did Mowbray use the senior squad he had available in the best and most efficient way? Absolutely not for me.

Im not in the business of putting the successess down to Mowbray and the failures down to mitigating circumstances, or indeed vice versa. Coventry went down to 10 men very early on, I could write off the last 75 minutes. Or I could write off the Forest loss due to unavailability. But no, praise and happiness warranted yesterday, and frustration and criticism warranted for the Forest game. Weve played 2 promoted and 2 relegated teams, I could focus solely on playing 2 easier teams with less resources, or 2 potentially harder teams with more resources. But no, I will factor in both sides.

[LDRover]

7 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Watford could have put 5 past us! They picked us off at will on the counter - that isn’t ‘obliterating’ a team. Amazes me that you constantly try and flex your expert credentials, but lack the basic knowledge that football isn’t just about what you do going forward with the ball.

That will be the challenge this season when we go up against the better sides. Though the fact higher quality players are now being integrated into the team in holding/defensive areas will hopefully begin to negate it.
 

Think the skewed view of this game needs to be reined in. I thought we played well but if we'd done what Watford did to us we'd be applauding a counter attacking masterclass.

[islander200]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Lets not forget that two of the bangings came against teams that had been reduced to ten men yet continued to play like they still had eleven. Instead of shutting up shop and trying to minimise the damage like anybody with half a brain would do,  they both failed to do that.

We were 3-0 up already against Wycombe before any sending off.

Both sendings off were when we had players running through on goal.

Should have been a sending off In the Watford game also when Armstrong running through, just tells me teams are struggling to defend against us and have to resort to fouling .

 

[Inglorious basturk]

Just now, islander200 said:

We were 3-0 up already against Wycombe before any sending off.

Both sendings off were when we had players running through on goal.

Should have been a sending off In the Watford game also when Armstrong running through, just tells me teams are struggling to defend against us and have to resort to fouling .

 

Watford are superb defensively now . We did well to score , I do think Ben fosters performance is shrouded in hyperbole . A sending off in the event toy describe would have been harsh 

[Ewood Ace]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Lets not forget that two of the bangings came against teams that had been reduced to ten men yet continued to play like they still had eleven. Instead of shutting up shop and trying to minimise the damage like anybody with half a brain would do,  they both failed to do that.

Also two sides who got promoted from League 1 after playing less than 75% of the season and in Wycombe's case they were 9th in the table. At the moment we are looking like flat track bullies.  

Edited October 25, 2020 by Ewood Ace

[islander200]

1 minute ago, Ewood Ace said:

Also two sides who got promoted from League 1 after playing less that 75% of the season and in Wycombe's case they were 9th in the table. At the moment we are looking like flat track bullies.  

In that case Coventry and Wycombe should be getting hammered every week.Add Derby to it aswell.Maybe leave the season progress a little and give the new players a chance to settle in before labelling us flat track bullies.

 

[Inglorious basturk]

2 minutes ago, islander200 said:

In that case Coventry and Wycombe should be getting hammered every week.Add Derby to it aswell.Maybe leave the season progress a little and give the new players a chance to settle in before labelling us flat track bullies.

 

To be fair those three are all at the wrong end of the table 

[Vilesinner]

27 minutes ago, LDRover said:

Think the skewed view of this game needs to be reined in. I thought we played well but if we'd done what Watford did to us we'd be applauding a counter attacking masterclass.

5? What nonsense. We had 7 shots on target to their 4, and played them off the park in every department, apart from the scoreline.