Rovers v Canaries. Sat 12th Dec 3pm

[darrenrover]

Norwich next up at Ewood, as the fixtures continue to role on thick and fast.

They're currently top, as the top half of the table is starting to look pretty congested as the season develops.

Recently suffering from horrendous injuries, they have started to stutter, not least demonstrated better than by a tame loss against Luton.

A much win game for me, if we are intent on closing the gap on the leaders. A 4 point return from the last 3 games would be acceptable but should we lose this rubber, 1 point would be a poor return.

Will Darragh be back to partner Ayala in the centre of defence or will Williams retain his place after getting a game under his belt after injury at Ashton Gate?

How and with who, will we set up in midfield or attack, with several players showing signs of tiredness on Wednesday night?

[chaddyrovers]

                     Kaminski 

Nyambe Lenihan Ayala Douglas 

     Rothwell Johnson Holtby 

       Elliott  Armstrong  Dolan

 

[philipl]

Agreed this is must win.

They are good but not unbeatable.

Two injury hit squads going head-to-head.

Surely we are not going to be as profligate with chances as we were at Ashton Gate. Equally we cannot assume Puki and co won't find row Z with the unerring regularity of Nakki Wells.

Based on last night, strong cases for starts for Bell and Davenport.

Edited December 10, 2020 by philipl

[danger19_80]

I'd persevere with Douglas but he needs to start proving why he's so highly considered by Leeds and Wolves fans. I'm still not over that first goal v Reading to be honest. He's been awful so far, as bad going forward as in defence. Terrible set pieces, lightweight.

Start showing us something please Barry.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

Douglas is currently the weak link in the defence. He may want to go forward but his primary role is defending. He isn’t a Nyambe who can get up and down the wing nor does he have the same physical strength. Bell did OK at Brentford when replacing Douglas but yet again left out. A return for Bell? 
 

Midfield could do with a shake up but without Trybull our options are limited. Against Bristol, Johnson got caught on the ball too often and it wasn’t one of his better games. Davenport certainly deserves an opportunity. 
 

What’s the situation with Brereton? Do we know how long he will be out for? Without him we are a bit lightweight up front. 

[darrenrover]

32 minutes ago, Uddersfelt Blue said:

Douglas is currently the weak link in the defence. He may want to go forward but his primary role is defending. He isn’t a Nyambe who can get up and down the wing nor does he have the same physical strength. Bell did OK at Brentford when replacing Douglas but yet again left out. A return for Bell? 
 

Midfield could do with a shake up but without Trybull our options are limited. Against Bristol, Johnson got caught on the ball too often and it wasn’t one of his better games. Davenport certainly deserves an opportunity. 
 

What’s the situation with Brereton? Do we know how long he will be out for? Without him we are a bit lightweight up front. 

I agree with all of this.

Douglas I feel is more suited to a left wing back role, perhaps if we elected to play 3 at the back and 5 in midfield, he looks extremely suspect with regards to defensive duties. I'm no fan of Bell but perhaps he deserves another shot. Another option could be switching Williams to left back and partnering Lenihan with Ayala in the middle.

Johnson was excellent last Saturday and particularly marshalled the troops well after the red card. Last night he looked jaded and in need of a rest. Remember he tended to blow hot and cold last season, he seams that type of player.

Brereton is out for a while I suspect but his energy and involvement have been badly missed.

I did hear a whisper that Bradley could possibly be on the bench on Saturday. That would give everyone a lift if true.

Edited December 10, 2020 by darrenrover

[Ewood Ace]

                              Kaminski

Nyambe     Lenihan           Ayala         Bell

           Rothwell   Davenport    Johnson

Elliott                   Armstrong             Dolan

[DE.]

Above us in the table ✔️

Three points gets us into a playoff place ❌

50% chance of winning. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, danger19_80 said:

I'd persevere with Douglas but he needs to start proving why he's so highly considered by Leeds and Wolves fans. I'm still not over that first goal v Reading to be honest. He's been awful so far, as bad going forward as in defence. Terrible set pieces, lightweight.

Start showing us something please Barry.

If you rolled Douglas, Bell and Williams into one you still wouldn't have an Alan Wright at left back. Some poor signings there, I'll except Williams because he's a reasonable centre half.

[islander200]

4 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

If you rolled Douglas, Bell and Williams into one you still wouldn't have an Alan Wright at left back. Some poor signings there, I'll except Williams because he's a reasonable centre half.

On paper Douglas wasn't a terrible signing,he has done it in the championship and got promoted twice.

No arguments from me that he has been woeful since with us but il give him some more time than the half a dozen games he has started before I label him a terrible signing.

[Bigdoggsteel]

6 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

If you rolled Douglas, Bell and Williams into one you still wouldn't have an Alan Wright at left back. Some poor signings there, I'll except Williams because he's a reasonable centre half.

Douglas hasn't gotten going, but his pedigree at this level speaks for itself. I wouldn't describe him as a "poor signing", just one that hasn't gotten going yet. He hadn't played much when we signed him. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Douglas hasn't gotten going, but his pedigree at this level speaks for itself. I wouldn't describe him as a "poor signing", just one that hasn't gotten going yet. He hadn't played much when we signed him. 

We needed players to hit the ground running not ones that take three months to get up to speed. The season will effectively be over by then. Somebody on here was telling me happy days are here again when we signed Douglas, Trybull, Ayala and Kaminsky. Well apart from the goalkeeper I'm a bit underwhelmed.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Douglas hasn't gotten going, but his pedigree at this level speaks for itself. I wouldn't describe him as a "poor signing", just one that hasn't gotten going yet. He hadn't played much when we signed him. 

I don't know what it is with Mowbray and left backs, he also signed Sam Hart for whatever reason. That was an inexplicable signing if ever there was one.

[roversfan99]

To be fair, that pedigree for Douglas is made up of a spell at Wolves 4 years ago when he played as a wing back, so in a different position. For Leeds he rarely played so he wasnt a regular left back for either promotion winning side, and is now 31 having spent much of his recent career injured, so there are certainly question marks.

That being said, Bell is proven to be well short so there isnt much alternative.

[Bigdoggsteel]

5 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I don't know what it is with Mowbray and left backs, he also signed Sam Hart for whatever reason. That was an inexplicable signing if ever there was one.

He barely played and cost peanuts. Came from the Liverpool academy (like Travis) and was worth a gamble. I would certainly have many, many on the list of "inexplicable" signings before him! 

[Bigdoggsteel]

9 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We needed players to hit the ground running not ones that take three months to get up to speed. The season will effectively be over by then. Somebody on here was telling me happy days are here again when we signed Douglas, Trybull, Ayala and Kaminsky. Well apart from the goalkeeper I'm a bit underwhelmed.

Ayala has been good. Much better than Mulgrew defensively. Trybull better than Evans as well. Kaminski is class. 

Douglas isn't playing great, but that's football-it's not an exact science how quickly players play into form  

[Bigdoggsteel]

7 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

To be fair, that pedigree for Douglas is made up of a spell at Wolves 4 years ago when he played as a wing back, so in a different position. For Leeds he rarely played so he wasnt a regular left back for either promotion winning side, and is now 31 having spent much of his recent career injured, so there are certainly question marks.

That being said, Bell is proven to be well short so there isnt much alternative.

4 years ago? He played for them in the 17/18 season. Then played almost 30 games for Leeds in the 18/19 season. Then had some injuries, but still featured 17 times for Leeds the season they went up. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

I'm calling it right now. We are beating these Saturday and throwing down a marker. 

3-1 

[roversfan99]

28 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ayala has been good. Much better than Mulgrew defensively. Trybull better than Evans as well. Kaminski is class. 

Douglas isn't playing great, but that's football-it's not an exact science how quickly players play into form  

Ayala was an exciting signing but I dont think he has "been good," he has been mainly injured, and looked really rusty up until an impressive backs to the wall display at Brentford and then he was solid yesterday but not great for the all important goal. Mulgrew is not a suitable benchmark for the standard of a Championship defender.

Trybull has again been disappointing. Kaminski undoubtedly a very shrewd addition.

[Bigdoggsteel]

4 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Ayala was an exciting signing but I dont think he has "been good," he has been mainly injured, and looked really rusty up until an impressive backs to the wall display at Brentford and then he was solid yesterday but not great for the all important goal. Mulgrew is not a suitable benchmark for the standard of a Championship defender.

Trybull has again been disappointing. Kaminski undoubtedly a very shrewd addition.

Ayala is a proper defender. He has been injured, but can you criticize him for that? Whenever he has played he has looked to me like the best center half we have had in a long time and I include Lenihan in that. Even allowing for the ring rust. 

 

[DE.]

Being a Spaniard I didn't expect Ayala to be quite so clumsy on the ball, but I guess that's why he's spent his career at this level. Overall the talent of our defenders isn't necessarily the problem - more their collective injury-proneness which means we can never have a solid back four playing together for multiple games. 

[Waggy76]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

If you rolled Douglas, Bell and Williams into one you still wouldn't have an Alan Wright at left back. Some poor signings there, I'll except Williams because he's a reasonable centre half.

Wonderful footballer Alan Wright , only surpassed  by Graeme Le Saux and Keith Newton in my time of watching ..

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

The flaw Rovers must correct & poor record on Sky Sports | Lancashire Telegraph

'For the first time this season, on Saturday, Rovers could have all three of Darragh Lenihan, Daniel Ayala and Derrick Williams available at the same time. That luxury could afford Tony Mowbray the chance to go with a back three should he wish, with a midfield box infront of them, and then Adam Armstrong in attack. It’s something Mowbray has contemplated, but not been able to do as yet, given the personnel available'

 

Change of system perhaps. It would accommodate Dack when he's fit.  

Edited December 10, 2020 by Hoochie Bloochie Mama

[roversfan99]

One of the main problems would be that outside of those 3 injury prone CBs, Nyambe and Douglas, we have no cover so we would likely not be able to play it for long.

[Kie_BRFC]

10 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

One of the main problems would be that outside of those 3 injury prone CBs, Nyambe and Douglas, we have no cover so we would likely not be able to play it for long.

No doubt if we went with the 3 at the back, 2 of them would be injured in the first half. Can just picture it now