Birmingham - Away, Sat 2nd Jan

[joey_big_nose]

1 minute ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Well done the defence not allowing a single effort on goal, Douglas looked very good for once. Plenty to like about Trav and Davenport, but pretty piss poor from everyone else till the new Ronaldo came on and made the second.

Dolan looks like he really suits the Armstrong role... Can see him getting more minutes there.

One of those games where it's hard to know exactly anything about the team because the opposition were so so poor. They put a makeshift defence under no real pressure.

We were okay in first half, poor in the second, but came away with the win and deserved it as Brum were so bad.

Positives - Davenport was good in all regards, Travis was fitter than expected, Armstrong scored a goal on his own really, Douglas looked much better at RB than LB, all the subs looked decent. Dack getting a goal was great.

Negatives - our final third play was pretty bad. Let maybe a dozen promising breakaways fall apart through sloppy passing. Defensively we did not convince at all. A better team than Birmingham would have scored against us. I reckon the opposition next game will do their homework and go after our full backs.

[chaddyrovers]

Good win today. 

Pleased Armstrong back to scoring. Took it well. Dack's goal well taken. 

Travis is back and how we do need him to be. Delighted he is back

Delighted that We kept a clean with Douglas and Johnson playing out of position.

Davenport was good on his debut. 

Good start 2021. Let keep it going. 

Edited January 2, 2021 by chaddyrovers

[StevenSK]

3 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

Squad getting fit now. Need a Centre Half on loan ASAP. 
Nice to see some grit today.

Playoffs are not gone yet, that is a miserable take.

Last few years have shown we shit our pmts including this year at the slightest sniff of a PO Spot

[Tormund]

Has to be Elliott, Armstrong, Dack up top next time. This Gallagher thing isn’t working, should only be back up to Armstrong.

[joey_big_nose]

2 minutes ago, Vilesinner said:

Johnson was MOM for me. Composed throughout. 

 

Surprised by that, did well in the physical battle but got caught out of position a lot imo.

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

[Wood26]

Brilliant from Kaminski at the end.

Johnson did very well defensively.

Davenport and Travis brilliant in the middle.

Best Armstrong performance in a while.

Gallagher worked his socks off.

Dolan superb when he came on.

Elliott, Rothwell, Brereton not at their best, that’s why this is a squad game.

And welcome back Dacky!!!

[joey_big_nose]

1 minute ago, Tormund said:

Has to be Elliott, Armstrong, Dack up top next time. This Gallagher thing isn’t working, should only be back up to Armstrong.

Gallagher's a tricky one as with the ball he is a total liability. But without the ball he gives us a target to hit long and defensively he provides a lot of height and physicality....

He had a great defensive game today but was abysmal going forward. Which is a weird thing to say about a striker...

[Ewood Ace]

Terrible game of football at times in the second half it seemed like both sides were playing a friendly. Great to see Dack back on the score sheet but in terms of his overall performance again I thought he looked like he wasn't sure what role he was supposed to be playing.

Davenport was very solid in the middle of the park, let's hope he doesn't revert straight back to being an unused sub. The opposition weren't great but I thought he looked a breath of fresh air compared to having the half hearted performances that Holtby's has put in this season.

Elliott was class, that ball to Armstrong for the first goal was sensational  he's the only player in our squad with the ability to play see the pass and then to play it. One of the great disappointments of this season is that we won't get to see this future star playing for Rovers in the flesh. 

Dolan's work for the second goal was excellent he has to start more is pace and quick feet terrify defenders. Gallagher showed mid week not for the first time that if you play him through the middle he can have a positive impact. Today he showed though for the umpteenth time that he is not and never will be a wide man.

 

[Vilesinner]

Just now, Wood26 said:

Brilliant from Kaminski at the end.

Johnson did very well defensively.

Davenport and Travis brilliant in the middle.

Best Armstrong performance in a while.

Gallagher worked his socks off.

Dolan superb when he came on.

Elliott, Rothwell, Brereton not at their best, that’s why this is a squad game.

And welcome back Dacky!!!

Agree with everything you said Amigo. 

[TimmyJimmy]

Gallagher had a good game. Some great defensive tracking back. Worth his place IMO.

[yellowsubmarine]

3 minutes ago, Vilesinner said:

Johnson was MOM for me. Composed throughout. 

 

His distribution was awful to be honest. For me, don't think anyone stood out in particular throughout the match, maybe Travis. His energy and tenacity was so clearly missed.

[SkipDonoghue]

Not the best performance by any stretch but the result is all that matters at the minute for Rovers

Trav comes through unscathed, Davenport settled well, a make shift back 5 keeps a clean sheet away from home, well done

[Doug]

Good debut for Davenport, looks like a bit of a terrier.

Dolan looks so dangerous when he's attacking, love watching him.

Could we play all these together Dack, Travis, Elliot, Dolan, Rothy, Holtby, on their day they would be outstanding.

[Vilesinner]

1 minute ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Gallagher had a good game. Some great defensive tracking back. Worth his place IMO.

Yes, he was our best player in the first half imo. Gallagher's defensive ability is important when Nyambe was missing.

Pity he didn't get that goal, would've been fantastic.

[Wheelton Blue]

2 minutes ago, TimmyJimmy said:

Gallagher had a good game. Some great defensive tracking back. Worth his place IMO.

Completely agree about him having a good game, constantly tracked back to help Douglas out at RB. He was knackered at the end.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Birm'ham 0 - 2 Blackburn - Match Report & Highlights (skysports.com)

Superb goals by our match winners AA and Dack. 

[simongarnerisgod]

imagine the horror of playing gallagher/armstrong up front together,with dolan coming on later,we might even look like a cohesive threat every week,of course this is far to basic for tony and his tactical prowess

[Stuart]

16 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

Goals win games. AA and Dack are our only genuine goalscorers. Praise the lord they are both on the pitch. 

Yeah. I’d be pretty tough having to play with 9 every week. 😶

I’d swap both for a manager that knows how to get Rovers promoted. With transfer fees and wages saved that should even be possible...

[Ossydave]

Some obvious positives and a welcome 3 points of course. I do however think that it was largely down to how utterly terrible brum were, worst I've seen all season and if you fail to score against that patched up defence you really are in trouble!

It'll be interesting to see what a difference a fully fit Travis can make. Really tough couple of games following the cup match if it even goes ahead.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, Stuart said:

Yeah. I’d be pretty tough having to play with 9 every week. 😶

I’d swap both for a manager that knows how to get Rovers promoted. With transfer fees and wages saved that should even be possible...

Goalscorers cost a lot of money. You'd have to replace them because nobody else scores. That will cost a lot of money. AA top scorer in the Championship and Dack consistently the top scorer from midfield in the division.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

3 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

imagine the horror of playing gallagher/armstrong up front together,with dolan coming on later,we might even look like a cohesive threat every week,of course this is far to basic for tony and his tactical prowess

Imagine not having AA and Dack. We'd score once a month. 

[neophox]

Poor game against a very poor side. The only positives was Travis back and the lovely goal by Dacky!! 👌 🎉 

We need to step up now. Some players are still not up for it. Think Mowbray is being saved by the return of Travis and Dack. 

[neophox]

We need a centre half and a left back this window. 

[roversfan99]

Shoddy and disjointed performance against an absolutely pitiful opponents (far from the only one in a Championship to which its quality is sometimes overstated) but happy with the win, not that it will mean much in the grand scheme of things in mid table, and absolutely made up for Dack at the end.

Talk about the referee hating us/being biased against us (he is just generally poor) and wanting defeat to get rid of Mowbray (never sits right and would never happen anyway) is unnecessary IMO.

Performance wise, Armstrong does what he does and gets a goal. His numbers in the last year and now hopefully moving into 2021 are absolutely outstanding, as much as he provokes criticism. He is selfish at times, all strikers are, occasionally (one game in particular) counterproductive to the team and he isnt an all round perfect striker but if he keeps scoring so many goals (is that him back as joint top scorer in the division) then he remains absolutely invaluable to us. The only other player we have who regularly contributes came off the bench in Dack and he showed a few brilliant touches, a backheel and a great touch and pass to Gallagher but more importantly he is the type of player who guarantees goals and his finish was excellent. Build around them 2, that is the key. Brereton was really poor today, Elliott wasnt much better and this Gallagher wide nonsense has to stop, he got worse and worse as the game went on. Sub wise, Rothwell was a total liability until he lofted one over to Dolan who had a much better cameo than many of his prior sub appearances in a Rovers shirt and looked a real livewire.

Moving back, Travis looked rusty but still was a level above the usual players who have played in central midfield. Davenport was an interesting one, started off very sloppy and at times seems to be a little over enthusiastic and lacking control but he did plenty well too and certainly did his case for further starts little harm. Trybull was ok when he came on too. Johnson was an absolute liability, constantly caught out of position and lucky to be playing against such an impotent attack, he is not a capable deputy in that position. I didnt think Lenihan was too bad, defensively fine if poor on the ball. Bell is frustratingly loose and lackadaisical, regular sloppy touches, mishit passes and a lack of urgency when he is caught out of position. Douglas had a really good first half out of position but them question marks around his defending cropped up in the second. Kaminski had little to do, he was lucky after spilling a speculative shot to see the flag go up but he saved us at the end with goalkeeping similar to Brad Friedel at the end of the Worthington Cup Final against Les Ferdinand!