Friday 12th February Blackburn Rovers Vs Preston North End @ Ewood Park

[arbitro]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Goodman saying the linesman wasn’t sure because he didn’t put the flag across his chest 

 

@arbitrodid they not stop doing that?

That stopped happening a few seasons ago as the authorities said it drew unnecessary attention to the AR. Now it run to the goal line giving a directional signal with the flag and then run along the goal line to a point adjacent to the eighteen yard line.

[duckson]

Nyambe, Rothwell & lately Davenport are the first ones to be subbed no matter how they are doing, Tony's scapegoats.

Edited February 12, 2021 by duckson

[Tormund]

I’ve had a few drinks and I’m sat here chirpy enough but furious at the same time. Is this what we have to put up with? We deserve so much better.

[alcd]

51 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

What do you have against Davenport?

He's a tidy little player who's a terrier off the ball. I'd play him every week with Travis and Rothwell in a midfield 3.

Rothwell does nothing and did nothing tonight. Won't be missed if he leaves.

[Theaxe15]

It's just the unrelenting deja vu that gets to me. You could sit down before the beginning of every season with Mowbray and predict how it'll go and you'd be right.

Average to decent start, look promising around November, horrific December, unbeaten January, chuck all that form out the window, win 4 dead rubbers at the end of the season and make it look like the next season will be better. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Our season is over now. 

[Exiled in Toronto]

32 minutes ago, booth said:

I see that his Sky interview that they've put online is cut short from the one broadcast (and the one broadcast was edited).

Tony must have been on the phone to someone. Don't interview me when I'm half asleep ever again.

Also interesting that there’s no LT report there yet. Usually is for night games

[Trinidad Rover]

1 hour ago, garnersfags said:

We will not play fluent football until Holtby plays. 

We have not repeated our Deepdale performance once, which backs up my thought that TM stumbles on a fluid, effective line-up accidentally 3 or 4 times a season. 

We really do not have the quality individually or collectively that we thought we would be oozing by now. 

Most of us thought that we would be gelling as a squad by now, but we genuinely look like a bunch of strangers.

We win the odd game when one of two of our players individually snap out of the tactic-free zone and/or show the quality that TM's lack of genuine footballing awareness usually totally stifles. 

The right back fiasco tonight shows real desperation, not a considered plan. We just cannot keep going through games playing Dack, Elliott and Armstrong and only trouble the keeper once or twice.

Preston really didn't need to be anything more than hard-working to beat us, ditto QPR. 

I think we have a decent squad that Mowbray is not utilising effectively. 

I really don't think Davenport is the answer any more than I thought Williams was the answer. Tony takes a bit longer to work things out. I would play Downing every game until our midfield re-appears.

F**king pointless signing decent young loan players unless there is a decent system for them to fit into.

We were, and usually are, clueless. 

Another hard-working, quality-free Championship where we can't seriously threaten the top 7. 

'If' we play at our best for the rest of the season, we'll be seventh, but we won't. 

TM under pressure now, as I don't think much has been made of the wages we are paying our loan-players, and Mowbray must have made some guarantees about where he hoped we would end up if we secured them. January saved him, but now WE WILL NOT REACH THE PLAY-OFFS so he will know his chance of glory has passd him, and us, by. 

I'm truly sick of it. Bowyer mark 2, but more disappointing. 

Brilliant post. 

[booth]

15 minutes ago, Blue blood said:

See I agree about Venkys but then no other manager would play Buckley or Gally at rb and Elliott as a false 9. Literally none. So even if the next guy isn't the level we would want he cannot make dafter decisions. 

Gally at rb is like having a taxi driver who drives with his eyes closed. Doesn't matter how great the car he has assembled or how good his manouvreing is when he is focussed, they are a liability and a danger for you. Same with TM - regardless of squad or past achievements when you play your striker at rb you know that you have issues. 

 

I can't remember seeing a manager deciding to put a striker at full back before.

It's like he's forgotten that he once valued him as a £5m centre forward.

[north_ender]

I thought we played well in the first half and probably on balance deserved the win, but was relieved that you didn't attack the way you did at Deepdale, especially as we've lost our 3 best defenders since then. We are currently very vulnerable at the back, yet Harvey Elliott was left on the bench and I'm not sure where Armstrong was playing?

Armstrong was devastating at Deepdale through the middle as a striker. I was relieved that he seemed to be shunted into a different role tonight. Even when he was central, the ball was hoofed up to him against a 6ft 3 centre half.

Thought Branthwaite struggled a bit for you at the back, although Evans did have a very good game again.

Most PNE fans have looked on at your transfer business and 20 goal striker in envy this season yet under Mowbray your limit seems to be mid-table, despite how heavily he has been able to invest.

With an ambitious and more tactically adept manager I'm pretty sure you'd be seriously in the top 6 race every season with that squad.

[SuperBrfc]

Mowbray is not worthy of managing our Rovers. I absolutely hate how Waggott, the media and some supporters make out as though we are lucky to have him. I'd argue it is the other way round. He was abysmal as the manager of Celtic and not much better at Coventry. He was on the footballing scrapheap when Rovers came in for him. He has done nothing but talk the club down since his time here, making out as if we are some small time outfit and it is something that many have sadly bought into. All of this a front to quieten expectation. Then he has the nerve to say some fans will never be happy because they remember Shearer and Sutton! Nobody that I know has ever demanded or expected a return to those days.

The relegation to League 1 is something that he has taken maximum advantage of so he can dampen any kind of expectation. "We can't compete with Boro/Stoke/Brentford/Forest". "We were in League 1 not so long ago". Hold on, Tony, didn't you say that the owners wanted to fund a promotion push but you had to calm them down? Which one is it? We can't compete or you had to calm them down? It sounds like nothing but bullshit to cover up a lack of ambition. He simply does not want promotion and all that it entails. The last two years has seen the weakest Championship for some time. A decent manager would have gone for it, but we have blown it as Mowbray does not have a winning mentality. League 1 title up for grabs? "Nah, you're alright". Not worthy of being the manager of Blackburn Rovers.

I don't even want to get started on us scrabbling around for kids on loan from Premier League clubs and then Mowbray acting as though they are some kind of grand acquisitions. This isn't Carlisle or Burton Albion you're managing, this is Blackburn Rovers. If anybody in India is reading this, it's about time you got us a bloody winner in that manager's seat. You have the funds to do it, bloody sort it out!

[arbitro]

Neill absolutely owned Mowbray tactically tonight. Hid three at the back and wing backs was designed to stop us playing though a flooded midfield and stopping us doing that doesn't leave much else as pretty much every manager knows we have no plan B (unless you consider random substitutes playing anywhere they like a plan).

I'm afraid I'm getting to be embarrassed for Mowbray now. His inane ramblings, his bizarre team selections and tactics are having less and less effect on me and I'm beginning to think he has really lost the plot. There should be a wholesale clear out of Mowbray and his coaches. Will it happen? I don't think there's a snowball in hells chance. We will like be having these same issues with him in a years time.

[Trinidad Rover]

A pretty big elephant in the room is Dack. He’s a shadow of the player he was and we’ve just leveraged OUR club again by offering him a big contract. Symptomatic of how the club is run and a pretty clear example of the decision making.

 

[Trinidad Rover]

8 minutes ago, north_ender said:

I thought we played well in the first half and probably on balance deserved the win, but was relieved that you didn't attack the way you did at Deepdale, especially as we've lost our 3 best defenders since then. We are currently very vulnerable at the back, yet Harvey Elliott was left on the bench and I'm not sure where Armstrong was playing?

Armstrong was devastating at Deepdale through the middle as a striker. I was relieved that he seemed to be shunted into a different role tonight. Even when he was central, the ball was hoofed up to him against a 6ft 3 centre half.

Thought Branthwaite struggled a bit for you at the back, although Evans did have a very good game again.

Most PNE fans have looked on at your transfer business and 20 goal striker in envy this season yet under Mowbray your limit seems to be mid-table, despite how heavily he has been able to invest.

With an ambitious and more tactically adept manager I'm pretty sure you'd be seriously in the top 6 race every season with that squad.

Cc Venkys

[LDRover]

8 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

Mowbray is not worthy of managing our Rovers. I absolutely hate how Waggott, the media and some supporters make out as though we are lucky to have him. I'd argue it is the other way round. He was abysmal as the manager of Celtic and not much better at Coventry. He was on the footballing scrapheap when Rovers came in for him. He has done nothing but talk the club down since his time here, making out as if we are some small time outfit and it is something that many have sadly bought into. All of this a front to quieten expectation. Then he has the nerve to say some fans will never be happy because they remember Shearer and Sutton! Nobody that I know has ever demanded or expected a return to those days.

The relegation to League 1 is something that he has taken maximum advantage of so he can dampen any kind of expectation. "We can't compete with Boro/Stoke/Brentford/Forest". "We were in League 1 not so long ago". Hold on, Tony, didn't you say that the owners wanted to fund a promotion push but you had to calm them down? Which one is it? We can't compete or you had to calm them down? It sounds like nothing but bullshit to cover up a lack of ambition. He simply does not want promotion and all that it entails. The last two years has seen the weakest Championship for some time. A decent manager would have gone for it, but we have blown it as Mowbray does not have a winning mentality. League 1 title up for grabs? "Nah, you're alright". Not worthy of being the manager of Blackburn Rovers.

I don't even want to get started on us scrabbling around for kids on loan from Premier League clubs and then Mowbray acting as though they are some kind of grand acquisitions. This isn't Carlisle or Burton Albion you're managing, this is Blackburn Rovers. If anybody in India is reading this, it's about time you got us a bloody winner in that manager's seat. You have the funds to do it, bloody sort it out!

Very very well said. Nothing anyone can disagree with there.

[Wood26]

12 minutes ago, Trinidad Rover said:

A pretty big elephant in the room is Dack. He’s a shadow of the player he was and we’ve just leveraged OUR club again by offering him a big contract. Symptomatic of how the club is run and a pretty clear example of the decision making.

 

Shadow of player is harsh he started 2 games in a year. Come on.

Also, the contract is as much for us as him, as it means we can sell him for more money instead of him going for free next year.

There is no conspiracy here.

[Mercer]

7 minutes ago, Trinidad Rover said:

A pretty big elephant in the room is Dack. He’s a shadow of the player he was and we’ve just leveraged OUR club again by offering him a big contract. Symptomatic of how the club is run and a pretty clear example of the decision making.

 

Think you are right.

You get a serious injury like that and have barely kicked a competitive ball on your return and someone offers you a new lucrative two and a half year extension with a one year option then, IMO, it would be utter madness not to sign it.

Rovers got stung with the Mulgrew extension and, IMO, the new Dack deal looks ominously premature and expensive. 

[garnersfags]

37 minutes ago, Theaxe15 said:

It's just the unrelenting deja vu that gets to me. You could sit down before the beginning of every season with Mowbray and predict how it'll go and you'd be right.

Average to decent start, look promising around November, horrific December, unbeaten January, chuck all that form out the window, win 4 dead rubbers at the end of the season and make it look like the next season will be better. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Our season is over now. 

This.....sigh....

[Trinidad Rover]

6 minutes ago, Wood26 said:

Shadow of player is harsh he started 2 games in a year. Come on.

Also, the contract is as much for us as him, as it means we can sell him for more money instead of him going for free next year.

There is no conspiracy here.

That’s fair. But I’d argue he need us just as much as we need him. Where’s his incentive to earn the contract?

[Fraserkirky]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Mowbray just put the first goal on Nyambe on sky 

No shit, what on earth was he doing in the middle of pitch. Madness from Nyambe

[Roverinbelfast]

1 minute ago, Trinidad Rover said:

That’s fair. But I’d argue he need us just as much as we need him. Where’s his incentive to earn the contract?

He didn't need an incentive as many teams would have snapped him up for a free on his past performances alone. The contract gave us protection, which to give dack credit he seems to like us and probably wouldn't have wanted to walk away on a free. 

[47er]

44 minutes ago, alcd said:

Rothwell does nothing and did nothing tonight. Won't be missed if he leaves.

When he does go and plays for a decent manager you'll see what we missed

[Wood26]

3 minutes ago, Trinidad Rover said:

That’s fair. But I’d argue he need us just as much as we need him. Where’s his incentive to earn the contract?

He wants to play in Premier League, so he either performs, or he is stuck with us.

[Roverinbelfast]

1 hour ago, Blue blood said:

See I agree about Venkys but then no other manager would play Buckley or Gally at rb and Elliott as a false 9. Literally none. So even if the next guy isn't the level we would want he cannot make dafter decisions. 

Gally at rb is like having a taxi driver who drives with his eyes closed. Doesn't matter how great the car he has assembled or how good his manouvreing is when he is focussed, they are a liability and a danger for you. Same with TM - regardless of squad or past achievements when you play your striker at rb you know that you have issues. 

 

Remember how bad it was when GB got the sack. Berg, Appleton Lambert and finally ending up with Coyle. That's the route I fear we will take again if TM goes. 

[JHRover]

Outthought and outdone by Alex Neil yet again. What's that now? 5 times in 6 games? 

He should have gone after the Preston embarrassment of October 2019 when Mowbray and his dithering team collapsed and chucked away a 2-0 lead at Deepdale. 16 months down the line and he's still here being outwitted by Nob Enders.

Where I come from the mere prospect of losing a game to Preston was at one time inconceivable but thanks to this setup they repeatedly get the better of us thanks to clueless management, so much so that we are at best neck and neck with a clearly inferior squad of players but better managed and coached.

This was all so predictable. I'm the first to accept that this is a results orientated business and on that basis was happy with our January points haul but anyone watching those games would have had concerns about our performances. I think we were fortunate to beat both Middlesbrough and Luton, were abysmal in the cup against Doncaster and bang average in the drab draw v Stoke. 

True to form a new month arrives with us in a reasonable position to kick on and Mowbray and his side bottle it like so many times before with pitiful performances against bang average and out of form QPR and PNE. I fully expect 1 point from 6 now v Barnsley and Forest, pressure to really mount from the fans and then a couple of wins once the play offs are gone to keep the heat off his back.

I can't even begin to discuss the team and substitutions tonight. He surpassed even his own deranged track record on random decision making.

I had to laugh to myself when Don Goodman began lavishing praise on Preston for their excellent tactics and performance in containing Rovers and seeing the game out. No Don. That was just a standard Ewood performance where we have shed loads of possession, do next to nothing with it and the opposition goalkeeper can have a sleep for an hour. It's only the first ten minutes and last fifteen that we apply anything remotely like pressure and even then it rarely sees us test their goalkeeper. Was the same against Luton, Stoke, Doncaster, Millwall, Barnsley, Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Sheff Wed, Forest and Cardiff. Infact this myth that we are a coiled spring of quality blowing teams away has no evidence other than a thrashing of lowly Wycombe on their first away game in their history at this level. Every other home fixture has been turgid. The Mowbray myth in full swing.

What was he up to tonight? He had clearly made a decision pre-match that he was going to go and sit 10 rows back upstairs, on his own, not stand up or go to the touchline, and I didn't see him make any attempt to communicate with coaching staff or issue instructions. 

I've no issue with a manager sitting upstairs, or delegating to coaches to issue instructions, but it is like he is making some sort of point. He was at one stage for us a manager that spent the entire game prowling the touchline barking instructions, now he's slumped in his chair leaving it to Venus to sort out.

Meanwhile in the PNE dugout you've got Neil and 3-4 other coaches including Thompson on their feet in the technical area all the game barking instructions. What do Johnson and Lowe do because they never seem to even stand up?

We need a complete clear out, the sooner the better ahead of next season. 

[Sparks Rover]

26 minutes ago, Fraserkirky said:

No shit, what on earth was he doing in the middle of pitch. Madness from Nyambe

All 6 rovers players in the area were watching the ball and all were out of position.  Fucking useless the lot of them. I've got better 15 year olds than branthwaite.   😔 

Mowbray Go