Rovers v Barnsley. Sat 28 Nov 3pm

[garnersfags]

I really envy teams that have a system and a ball-playing discipline that means they will, more or less, play the same way every week, and always be so comfortable and slick on the ball. 

This was Barnsley today. What you can't produce with good tactics and management is a natural goalscorer. Or 3. 

Barnsley were just as good at Ewood last season, with a different manager, but I think they will be even better this season, especially if they can buy some goals. 

Today, for some reason, I was relatively comfortable that we would weather the storm, and I knew we only needed a couple of decent attacks to nick a goal against the run of play.

I would still prefer Barnsley's slick play with our clinical finishing, but teams with both are promoted with 100 points.

It was a really interesting watch, with 2 decent sides battling for the points. 

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, garnersfags said:

This season we are more clinical, mainly down to AA, and that was the difference today. 

 

Armstrong has been clinical all of 2020. Since losing Dack, Armstrong has step up and produced the goals. Playing him in the 9 role has help this also. 

 

 

[DE.]

Just now, Wood26 said:

But that’s the point, Brereton was 19, he was a weak link yes, but was used as a scapegoat by those criticising Mowbray. Like why waste 7 million on him. And it was fair to Mowbray or the player. Some fans seemed to think we had 7 million to chuck at what we wanted and that was clearly never the case, they allowed that fee as saw potential and could sell as much asset in future. Based on his form so far, and still only 21, they made the right call.

When Armstrong was Brereton age, a lot of fans wanted Chapman ahead of him. Granted Armstrong is in a different position, but sometimes fans need to chill out and see the bigger picture that Mowbray has been building.

Mowbray has brought on so much youth from the academy, and signed a few gems in young English talent that he has developed, like Armstrong to be the player he is now.

The Mowbray out crew, simply forget we was a selling club, on our way to league 1, before Mowbray saved us and gave us this talent young squad that’s taken time to be where it could be now.

Brereton wasn't used as a scapegoat, he was simply pointed out as being a huge waste of money when other areas of the team - goalkeeper and defence primarily - were being criminally overlooked. Arguably our defence still has been. Even when taking into account how Brereton played this season, there's no doubt in my mind that such a significant amount of money could have been spent far more wisely than on a single player who was not ready for the first team at the time of signing. 

Whilst we are looking okay at the moment, let's not get ahead of ourselves with talk of how we've been saved. As it stands we remain a mid-table Championship team - the same as we have been for the vast majority of time under Venky's reign. Mowbray has done a good job of getting us out of League 1 and stabilising us back into the position we were in 5 years ago, but let's also remember he hasn't had to sell a single player and has been given plenty of money to spend in order to do so. 

To claim success we require a top six finish at the very least - as it stands we are still in a position where as soon as we get within touching distance we seem to mentally implode. We are yet to beat any of the better teams in the league yet this season. There are still barriers we need to break down before we can truly say we are going in the right direction, rather than seeing a rerun of the Bowyer years. I would love for Mowbray to be the man to finally give us something to look forward to after a decade of nothingness, but for me at least the jury is still out for as long as we continue our aversion to being in the top six of the division for any significant amount of time. 

[garnersfags]

3 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Trybull's a nothing player for me, exactly like Evans offers absolutely nothing either offensively or defensively

Much, much too early to judge this surely.

He provided perfect balance on Tuesday to allow the atracking 5 to do their thing. 

I might have to agree though, that Johnson improved us when he came on, but I think Trybull will be a good addition to the squad, and will become more confident and forward looking, with patience and time (George Harrison song...??) 

[darrenrover]

10 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Armstrong has been clinical all of 2020. Since losing Dack, Armstrong has step up and produced the goals. Playing him in the 9 role has help this also. 

 

 

I don't see Arma as being clinical but he's certainly got a talent for hitting the target from 10 yards out and beyond.

It will be interesting to see how he links up with Dack in our current way of playing.

Arma has certainly produced the goods since Bradley has been missing but personally I feel real difference has been since the absence of Danny Graham.

Our style of play has altered, that's the key for me.

Bring back The Dack!

[Wood26]

15 minutes ago, DE. said:

Brereton wasn't used as a scapegoat, he was simply pointed out as being a huge waste of money when other areas of the team - goalkeeper and defence primarily - were being criminally overlooked. Arguably our defence still has been. Even when taking into account how Brereton played this season, there's no doubt in my mind that such a significant amount of money could have been spent far more wisely than on a single player who was not ready for the first team 

I agree with everything else you said in your post.

But my point on Brereton which i think some aren’t understanding is that we didnt have 7 million available for defenders and goal keepers. We had a budget, which we used, and then we had 7 million on top for a 19yr old we thought we could buy, make a player and sell for profit.

We have all seen enough Mowbray interviews to know how tight he is, there’s no way he was given such a large budget and blew so much on a development player.

[Ossydave]

Well its an old saying about the successful teams being the ones that don't play well and win, or maybe we got a bit lucky today? Dunno.

What's different this season for me is that we aren't relying on everyone playing well, nor are we relying on a single player bailing us out. Previously we've seen it where if Dack plays shit we lose etc. 

The full team/squad are carrying the can. I seriously doubt there's many better squads in the league right now.

We've had it rough with injuries but absorbed it, only Norwich have had it worse than us. PNE have had it rough and their lack of depth shows.

Who the hell scouted Kaminski? Get him a pay rise and make him chief scout!

Millwall are a really really dull team, that's gonna be a tough nut to crack against the draw specialists. Win that and I get a bit giddy.

[Wood26]

Last game I went to we lost 3-0 to Derby, we looked terrible. They now sit rock bottom having only scored 6 goals in 14 games.

What a funny old league.

[roversfan99]

14 minutes ago, Wood26 said:

I agree with everything else you said in your post.

But my point on Brereton which i think some aren’t understanding is that we didnt have 7 million available for defenders and goal keepers. We had a budget, which we used, and then we had 7 million on top for a 19yr old we thought we could buy, make a player and sell for profit.

We have all seen enough Mowbray interviews to know how tight he is, there’s no way he was given such a large budget and blew so much on a development player.

Its guesswork (unless Mowbray has publically stated as such which i have missed) to suggest that we had a special and seperate "development" transfer kitty and even if we did, for the first 2 years there were no signs that the development money had been correctly spent. 

[Wood26]

9 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Its guesswork (unless Mowbray has publically stated as such which i have missed) to suggest that we had a special and seperate "development" transfer kitty and even if we did, for the first 2 years there were no signs that the development money had been correctly spent. 

I won’t look it up now but Mowbray has suggested as such in the past.

Regarding no signs in the first 2 years, yeah to us, but we don’t see what happens behind scenes, as I I’ll admit like you probably thought he was no good, but shock the professionals got it right and he’s 21 and turning into a key player.

[47er]

3 hours ago, Mercer said:

Win when you don't play well is a good sign.

Think we can safely say we now have a more than competent keeper!

Delighted for Nyambe with his two assists (yep giving him the second one).  This lad can be a real beast if managed correctly - JRC's hammy might just prove to be a blessing in that gives Nyambe a great opportunity to nail down his spot and the doubters! 

Super finish from Gallagher.

In a good position - next four games will show if we could be the real deal.

Ewood Park bombed at Newcastle but Rovers win leaves me quids in and entitled to uncork a nice red!

COYB

We didn't win in anything like the style you predicted though Mercer!

[47er]

1 hour ago, Wood26 said:

But that’s the point, Brereton was 19, he was a weak link yes, but was used as a scapegoat by those criticising Mowbray.

Don't agree. He wasn't criticised because people wanted to get at TM, he was criticised because he was rubbish---- for 2 years!

And TM (rightly) got the flack for signing him at such a cost while failing to improve the defence.

Not rocket science is it?

[JBiz]

27 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Its guesswork (unless Mowbray has publically stated as such which i have missed) to suggest that we had a special and seperate "development" transfer kitty and even if we did, for the first 2 years there were no signs that the development money had been correctly spent. 

I guess that’s why it’s called development money then or spending on younger players - will take longer to get into the team and flourish!

[Wood26]

36 minutes ago, 47er said:

Don't agree. He wasn't criticised because people wanted to get at TM, he was criticised because he was rubbish---- for 2 years!

And TM (rightly) got the flack for signing him at such a cost while failing to improve the defence.

Not rocket science is it?

He was criticised for performance, rightly so, and he was used in every single post on here by someone having a pop at Mowbray, every single post.

And once again because you must of skipped me theory, there wasn’t £7 million available to spend on a defence. There was a budget for the team, the Brereton money was extra as an investment

[47er]

Just now, Wood26 said:

He was criticised for performance, rightly so, and he was used in every single post on here by someone having a pop at Mowbray, every single post.

And once again because you must of skipped me theory, there wasn’t £7 million available to spend on a defence. There was a budget for the team, the Brereton money was extra as an investment

That's fair comment but we can only judge on what we see. We don't really know what's happening behind the scenes, we just guess.

If TM had no money to improve the defence but had been instructed to buy a young striker for investment purposes not football reasons, then that tells you all you need to know about the owners. Promotion a priority for the fans but irrelevant to the owners seemingly.Yet we are having debates about whether its time to forgive them and welcome them back to Ewood!

Anyway, he was bought for the future and played in the present and the club suffered for it---for two years!

In your scenario the correct criticism levelled at TM should be that he took it fro the owners and didn't rail against it. Can't imagine Ferguson taking that can you?

[TBTF]

8 hours ago, JoeH said:

Straight back into the team. As he should be. Was dropped for Gallagher after his goal against Luton, and now rightly back in the side.

Not disputing his quality and he’d play above Gallagher for me every week on the right side. But just saying you have to manage a young lad carefully . 
Tbh I thought today was one of his quieter games .

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

2 hours ago, Wood26 said:

But my point on Brereton which i think some aren’t understanding is that we didnt have 7 million available for defenders and goal keepers. We had a budget, which we used, and then we had 7 million on top for a 19yr old we thought we could buy, make a player and sell for profit.

You couldn't possibly know that and it makes no sense anyway. 

[TBTF]

2 hours ago, DE. said:

Brereton wasn't used as a scapegoat, he was simply pointed out as being a huge waste of money when other areas of the team - goalkeeper and defence primarily - were being criminally overlooked. Arguably our defence still has been. Even when taking into account how Brereton played this season, there's no doubt in my mind that such a significant amount of money could have been spent far more wisely than on a single player who was not ready for the first team at the time of signing. 

Whilst we are looking okay at the moment, let's not get ahead of ourselves with talk of how we've been saved. As it stands we remain a mid-table Championship team - the same as we have been for the vast majority of time under Venky's reign. Mowbray has done a good job of getting us out of League 1 and stabilising us back into the position we were in 5 years ago, but let's also remember he hasn't had to sell a single player and has been given plenty of money to spend in order to do so. 

To claim success we require a top six finish at the very least - as it stands we are still in a position where as soon as we get within touching distance we seem to mentally implode. We are yet to beat any of the better teams in the league yet this season. There are still barriers we need to break down before we can truly say we are going in the right direction, rather than seeing a rerun of the Bowyer years. I would love for Mowbray to be the man to finally give us something to look forward to after a decade of nothingness, but for me at least the jury is still out for as long as we continue our aversion to being in the top six of the division for any significant amount of time. 

Totally right .

I also think we need to just calm down a bit over the justification of BB & SG. 
yes much better from BB this year largely down to a much improved work rate and far better use of his strength . Is he a finisher ? Not in my book - his one on one in the 2nd half today for example was embarrassing . So he’s doing ok but £7m ? Not for me.

SG getting lauded for a couple of goals which is fine and today’s was great . But 4 games ago I didn’t want him near the team . 
Still too much reliance on AA for our goals . If he has a quiet spell or gets injured I worry for us .

promising signs I’d say big much still to deliver . 

[Blue blood]

4 hours ago, Yoogo said:

I feel totally the opposite. So many teams have done us over the years by winning when the performance suggested otherwise. It's nice to be on the other side and do it back. It's important - essential, even - for promotion-contending sides to win on their off-days. We did just that.

Totally agree it's nice and a welcome change. Also think yes often is a sign of a promotion contending team to win on their off days, but equally we've seen poor teams get fluke results - beating Manure under K**n for example. Now I don't think we are a poor team, or TM is like K**n but equally I am not convinced that this win shows we are a promotion winning team who can grind results on our off days. IF we do it on a few more occasions, than yes, but so far it seems a lucky aberration. It should go without saying however that I hope it is the start of us grinding out the results to a promotion, but off this one game I am not so sure. If nothing else - 23 shots to concede is a lot. Even a 1 in 6 strike rate would give them a number of goals.  

 

4 hours ago, booth said:

I hate to be positive as this team seems to have a habit of filling you with false hope then going into freefall, but if you look at the league table our playoff hopes aren't that slim and the teams inhabiting the top 6 places are all fallible.

Yep, been suckered before by that and this in part perhaps is a reaction against it. Think our playoff hopes more rest on my lack of faith in the team to mount a sustained push rather than it being a mathematical challenge. Goodness knows how many chances we had last season to ge tinto playoffs and botched it. 

Again though, to clarify I'm delighted with the win. Just not getting my hopes up yet, and even factoring in guarding against disappointment I don't see us making the grade.   

 

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

We didn't win in anything like the style you predicted though Mercer!

No we didn't.  A tad fortunate.

Bottom line though is we got three points and my bookie paid out!

 

[all you need is duff]

I don’t want to turn this into a Brereton thread but he really did in my opinion show very little potential in his first 2 years here. I would have bitten a team’s hand off if they offered £1million for him in the summer. I am flabbergasted and delighted with how well he’s playing this season despite him not being that influential today. I always had more time for Gallagher because he was a good player in a poor team under Coyle. 

[JHRover]

I enjoyed it today. It was really good to see the other side to our game and do the necessary to get the 3 points without dominating the game especially after a hair-raising first 40 minutes.

Very frustrating to sustain another couple of injuries. It seems a game cannot pass without at least one. Defensive issues once again midweek?

Millwall I suspect will be the polar opposite of Barnsley in their approach.

 

[47er]

Injury record has become a real concern.I can't remember us picking up injuries so regularly.

Are we we just unlucky or is there something wrong with our training and/or our medical staff?

[Blue blood]

Just now, 47er said:

Injury record has become a real concern.I can't remember us picking up injuries so regularly.

Are we we just unlucky or is there something wrong with our training and/or our medical staff?

Last time I recall so many injuries was 99. And a lot of key players then too. 

I think in some way our injuries are less problematic this year because everyone is picking up injuries and isolations due to the pandemic, but it certainly does make it harder. I kept saying I wanted another defender in, and it's not surprising that there we are looking really short. Compare that to midfield, where without Travis and Evans (not that I rate him) we still put out a strong midfield with plenty of options. 

It also doesn't help that Williams, Ayala and Evans aren't exactly known for the excellent fitness record.   

[roversfan99]

I do think on the injury front that the main 2 reasons are the fact that we have many injury prone players and obviously fixture congestion and the pandemic. Other teams are really suffering too (see Norwich today who had half a bench and all kids) which is why I am reluctant to put too much stock in the narrative that injuries are a major excuse. I think they are normal at the moment across the board.