Swansea City away

[arbitro]

47 minutes ago, darrenrover said:

Chaddy, that's bollocks. Your first word "Try" should never be used or said in this context unless you want to promote failure as perhaps being acceptable because at least you tried.

The aim should be both definitive and specific i.e. be top 2 and playoffs as an absolute minimum. Anything other is a failure.

We need to stop pissing about as a club and stipulate now that anything other than success is deemed a failure.

This top six talk is so defeatist Nick and was spewed out of Mowbrays mouth recently and jumped upon by some as a target. So if we get top six and fail is that a successful season? Not in my book because promotion is the aim and the only guarantee to do that is top two. 

[alcd]

1 hour ago, Gav said:

Still only 5 points of the playoffs, if he can sort of the defence we have a chance, but he needs to get a lick on.

Could have been worse, we could spent £150 and travelled! 

Anyone seen Boris Johnson?

Only 4 points above the bottom 3. Lose the next 2 (quite likely with this patched up team) and the more likely outcome is relegation. 

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

A Birmingham fan and junior journalist has assured us however that we should just give the manager a free pass for the time being.

Every team at the moment has absentees, its not an excuse.

The manager needs time, hes only had is it 4 years? So could do with a few more months and on the off chance that every single player is available at some point, which rarely happens to anyone.

 

Sadly, all these excuses are rubbing off on the players before and during games.

Would Warnock put up with abject displays like today’s - from any XI he put out?

[rigger]

There is little that can be done about players who are not available. What I am more worried about is the standard of performance of the professional footballers that are picked.

[JPTSwindon]

Drab, miserable, morale sapping defeat.

Too many of the squad signings not up to scratch.

Poor.

 

[davulsukur]

Another wholly predictable defeat with Mowbray in charge.

We are in the throws of a standard Mowbray death cycle which will likely go on for another couple of games before he pulls an unexpected result out of the bag and everything is rosy once again.

Such a drain.

[Gamst]

2 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

He isnt getting a free pass tho. 

But plenty.of fans and I would say majority of Rovers fans are still backing Mowbray from what I seen pre Swansea 

I generally support the manager, but its pretty marginal. He's made slow progress year on year and the squad continues to get stronger (on paper). You do wonder if this decent squad could be completely rejuvenated by a new manager, but what are the odds of them making a good managerial appointment? There are certainly plenty of worse managers out there and at least Tony is a decent bloke unlike some of our previous managers! I'd say amongst his supporters though, most wouldn't be particularly gutted if he left. Apathy has set in. 

[roversfan99]

Pears - a recent Mowbray signing

Nyambe - a player who has played fairly regularly, although should be a shoe in at right back. Certainly no rookie.

Lenihan and Williams - 2 internationals who have been regulars throughout Mowbrays reign, the former being the vice captain

Rankin Costello - a player who Mowbray has found a starting place for in every game available so far this season bar when returning from injury, and who has played around half of his first team games at left back

Trybull - a recent Mowbray signing and one with title winning experience at this level

Evans - an international who Mowbray gave a big and long term contract too as a regular in his squads/team

Holtby - a player with a very credible pedigree and a Mowbray signing undoubtedly on a very decent wage

Elliott - a player we had to beg Liverpool to lend to us and a very big talent

Brereton - a 7m signing

Armstrong - a 3m signing

Subs including a 5m Mowbray signing and in Chapman and Davenport, 2 more signings he paid fees for.

Unavailability is unfortunate for Mowbray, of that there is no doubt, but lets not make out that he is on his own with that problem, with the constant fixtures and of course with covid, many teams across the league are suffering, and even in normal circumstances, a totally clean bill of health is rare.

2 of the absentees (Bell and Bennett) have been our biggest weaknesses since we got promoted and Rothwell's emergence to achieving barely anything in 2 years to now being a massive loss is very impressive. Many were calling for the perennially inconsistent Johnson to be dropped prior to his enforced absence, and Douglas was widely criticised after his performance in midweek.

[Exiled in Toronto]

The biggest benefit of a new manager would be an end to the Gallagher persistence. Mowbray bet the farm on him and Brereton and lost the farm. A new manager might be better betting on Elliott and Dolan, who I thought looked terrific again when he came on. 
 

Not sure I join the groupthink that the goalie was to blame today: Lenihan twice and JRC were to blame today. The corner was out swinging and the second was a pulled back cross; I wouldn’t have expected a keeper to come for either ordinarily.

The last two games have starkly illustrated what having good, big, strong strikers can do, and we don’t have a single one.

[Stuart]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Pears - a recent Mowbray signing

Nyambe - a player who has played fairly regularly, although should be a shoe in at right back. Certainly no rookie.

Lenihan and Williams - 2 internationals who have been regulars throughout Mowbrays reign, the former being the vice captain

Rankin Costello - a player who Mowbray has found a starting place for in every game available so far this season bar when returning from injury, and who has played around half of his first team games at left back

Trybull - a recent Mowbray signing and one with title winning experience at this level

Evans - an international who Mowbray gave a big and long term contract too as a regular in his squads/team

Holtby - a player with a very credible pedigree and a Mowbray signing undoubtedly on a very decent wage

Elliott - a player we had to beg Liverpool to lend to us and a very big talent

Brereton - a 7m signing

Armstrong - a 3m signing

Subs including a 5m Mowbray signing and in Chapman and Davenport, 2 more signings he paid fees for.

Unavailability is unfortunate for Mowbray, of that there is no doubt, but lets not make out that he is on his own with that problem, with the constant fixtures and of course with covid, many teams across the league are suffering, and even in normal circumstances, a totally clean bill of health is rare.

2 of the absentees (Bell and Bennett) have been our biggest weaknesses since we got promoted and Rothwell's emergence to achieving barely anything in 2 years to now being a massive loss is very impressive. Many were calling for the perennially inconsistent Johnson to be dropped prior to his enforced absence, and Douglas was widely criticised after his performance in midweek.

Good summary but a symptom of years of buying players to ‘push the lads’ rather than looking to improve the first XI. Effectively buying inferior players to the ones that he had in League One and loyalty trumping logic. The extensions to Hart and Smallwood despite having no intention of playing them summing up our approach.

We need players to be hungry for new contacts not expecting them because they did their laps and sat on the bench without any complaints.

[Paul Mellelieu]

2 hours ago, Doogs said:

We play against a team with a proper manager on Tuesday. A very poor team who almost went down last season. But turned round with no cash to spend. Just good old coaching and the no how, how to set a team up to get results. Boro will beat us on Tuesday. Not because they have better players, but because who is in the dugout.  A PROPER MANAGER...

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

[darrenrover]

To sum it up, NOBODY at the club either acts nor plays like their lives depended on it.

It's a pay packet, can anyone imagine anybody at Ewood or Brockhall being chastised by anyone over anything?

 

[darrenrover]

Just now, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

That he maybe, he's also got an ex Wigan arsehole playing for him in midfield. Who would you back to take the 3 points Paul?

[Oldgregg86]

24 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Good summary but a symptom of years of buying players to ‘push the lads’ rather than looking to improve the first XI. Effectively buying inferior players to the ones that he had in League One and loyalty trumping logic. The extensions to Hart and Smallwood despite having no intention of playing them summing up our approach.

We need players to be hungry for new contacts not expecting them because they did their laps and sat on the bench without any complaints.

This has to be one of if not the biggest gripe I have with him. How do you expect to progress if you don’t replace with better and push the weakest out. It’s better to have two new starting 11 players than five squad fillers. Push the starters to the bench hungry for there place back and get rid of the weakest. Not hand out new contracts so players have gym buddies . If he had done this year on year and used his budget wisely we would have a strong squad instead of kids and tried and tested duds

Edited October 31, 2020 by Oldgregg86

[bazza]

2 hours ago, m1st said:

The whole structure of the club is wrong these days, imo. There appears to be no accountability anywhere and there doesn't really appear to have been since Uncle Jack died; and certainly not since the Walker Trust sold the club to our present owners and what seems to be their benign[?] neglect of an entity which they obviously don't value or respect a fraction as much as most of us on here.

I'm sorry I haven't the technological skills - I'm an old fogey who doesn't 'do' social media; apart from this Board, I like to 'have a life'! - to copy a post about Wolves which I put on page 37 of the post-Watford inquest. A Chinese company bought them some years ago and installed locally one of their executives as a link between the company and 'their' football club. Which has gone from strength to strength at a time when our owners' apparent benign neglect of their purchase has led to us travelling in the opposite direction.

Our owners apparently see us as a small and insignificant part of their portfolio; and, imo, all our present ills stem from this. A couple of years ago - plus or minus - I was one of those who took the attitude that, because Rovers were in roughly the same League position that we were at the time of the first match I remember my Dad bringing me to at Ewood in the 1953/54 season, we should give Mowbray at least another season.

Well, he's had that and more; and we seem to be locked into a spiral of decline in which he seems incapable of reversing. And worse, our owners seem not to care - at least to those of us who have always cared about Lancashire's Most Historic Football Club - enough about what they're presiding over.

I don't know what we can do about this - to most of us on here - sad state of affairs. The way that the FA and the EFL apparently did little or nothing in the sad case of Bury FC leaves me with little hope that either of them will want, especially not retrospectively, to investigate whether our owners are appropriate or responsible owners.

It hurts me to post a message like this; but we seem to be in a spiral of neglect. Money is wasted on players who are then played out of position; key positions are not being filled adequately; we're signing what appear to be Mowbray's cronies - or the sons of cronies - irrespective of whether they are what we actually need.

The worst thing is I don't know what we can do about it.

What a brilliant post. It says everything I want to say. It covers the whole problem at Rovers and not just which players are poor or how bad the manager is or how crap the backroom staff are etc. etc.

Well said M1st. Your first and last sentences are so true. Where can we possibly go from here?

[Stuart]

4 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

This has to be one of if not the biggest gripe I have with him. How do you expect to progress if you don’t replace with better and push the weakest out. It’s better to have two new starting 11 players than five squad fillers. Push the starters to the bench hungry for there place back and get rid of the weakest. Not hand out new contracts so players have gym buddies . If he had done this year on year and used his budget wisely we would have a strong squad instead of kids and tried and tested duds

Exactly

[Ewood Ace]

18 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

Warnock knows how to get promoted especially out of the Championship. He doesn’t mess about with slow building journeys, there’s no bullshit with him he says it as he sees it and doesn’t suffer fools. 

So he is basically the complete opposite of Mowbray which is why he has had a far more successful managerial career.

[Doogs]

22 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

But a manager never the less...

[JHRover]

Players missing cannot be used as an excuse for their first goal. Players missing but not in attack where we still have Armstrong, Brereton, Gallagher all fit signed by this manager.

Internationals in midfield and defence.

The biggest frustration for me is witnessing clubs no better, more attractive or developed than us outperform us. I'm talking sides like Middlesbrough, Millwall, Stoke and Reading. Sides who we were above last season but who have made progress and kicked on under new decent managers whilst we go around in an endless circle picking up plaudits for being attractive.

It isnt difficult. Birmingham will be another example making steady progress under Karanka just by focusing on being pragmatic and hard to beat. 

We could so easily have been one of those pushing this season yet Mowbray thinks he is too good for pragmatics and defensive organisation and wants to try to be Klopp or Guardiola. His disproportionate level of power at this club, vacuum above him and lack of pressure from above have partly enabled this situation.

No real pressure or expectation from anywhere. Press, fans and colleagues happy to roll with whatever our Great leader decides. Heaven forbid making a change just stick with it in perpetuity.

A real setup would be on to him on Monday morning demanding answers. Anyone reckon Waggott will be?

 

[47er]

Another game--same outcome. Poor at the back, missed chances, dominated possession away from home against a good side.

Recipe for disaster. Everybody praised his dealings in the transfer window but that's just one part of a manager's job.

In terms of everything else, he's rubbish.

[47er]

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Sorry my point was the target is top 6. 

But like I said in previous posts with the Coronavirus around for next few months, no fans in stadiums and lockdowns in place this isnt a normal season and shouldnt be considered as one. 

Same for everyone? You're scraping the barrel there.

[tomphil]

44 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

Does it really matter though ?

An arsehole is an arsehole when it's somebody else's. When it's your own you tend to think it's alright.

We aren't having cups of tea with the manager.

[Mattyblue]

59 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

Do sides promoted with an ‘arsehole manager’ earn less?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, darrenrover said:

That he maybe, he's also got an ex Wigan arsehole playing for him in midfield. Who would you back to take the 3 points Paul?

Who'll most likely make our midfield look like lightweights. We needed Travis to quieten him..

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

With an arsehole of a manager IMHO.

Doesn't really make much difference.

You don't need to go for a pint with him, he would just need to get Rovers winning football matches.