v Middlesbrough (h) - 24/1/22

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I thought Connolly was lucky to stay on after the elbow. I’ve seen plenty get the early go at the bath water for incidents like that. Van Hecke heads it more than he kicks it. I could see him doing a Colin Hendrey diving onto the ground for a headed pass. Khadra is all pace and no brains I’m afraid, his decision making is terrible.

[doctorryan]

2 hours ago, booth said:

Their lad got a touch on it before Gallagher did. Not offside.

CORRECT

[USABlue]

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I thought Connolly was lucky to stay on after the elbow. I’ve seen plenty get the early go at the bath water for incidents like that. Van Hecke heads it more than he kicks it. I could see him doing a Colin Hendrey diving onto the ground for a headed pass. Khadra is all pace and no brains I’m afraid, his decision making is terrible.

It will come I think, his decision making.

[Butty]

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Talking of Butterworth, what was wrong with the lad last night? He looked like he couldn't be bothered. I've seen him play only a few times but I've yet to see what he offers. Could someone explain? 

Every cameo I’ve seen of him this season he looks knackered within 10 minutes of coming on! Something not quite right with him.

[47er]

48 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Im not 100% on Van Hecke - got completely owned by Eaves at Hull. Handled Crooks alright last night though.

Like Edun at left back I think he will be targeted as the season moves forward. As other teams do their homework they will look at how Eaves pressured him and try and replicate it. 

Good player, would love him to become a Rover, but think he hasn't been fully tested yet.

 

Wharton's a monster! At the least he's a very big unit!

[Bbrovers2288]

Edun has the heart of a lion but left back wise I’d prefer bell and I didn’t rate him either. I’d like to see us bring in a left back and allow edun to be a midfield sub when we need some legs 

[Commondore]

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Talking of Butterworth, what was wrong with the lad last night? He looked like he couldn't be bothered. I've seen him play only a few times but I've yet to see what he offers. Could someone explain? 

Looked like he was given lengthy instructions before coming on, and was then pulled back to the touchline 5 minutes later for even more instructions (or a bollocking). Might have been some tactical confusion over what he was supposed to do when he came on. I still think he's shown promise, and if Buckley could fight his way into the team without a loan spell to "toughen up" then Butterworth should be able to do the same.

[roversfan99]

54 minutes ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Edun has the heart of a lion but left back wise I’d prefer bell and I didn’t rate him either. I’d like to see us bring in a left back and allow edun to be a midfield sub when we need some legs 

That is a hell of a damning indictment as Bell was horrendous.

Edun is at least better than Bell IMO but he is a liability himself at left back/left wing back. Agreed with the potential signing of a left (wing) back.

[Tom]

Apart from the goal I think my 3 favourite moments of last night were tackles:

Gallagher closing down chasing a ball out wide then a crunching tackle out for a throw 

Edun knowing he’s going to get clattered but going in full blooded in injury time and taking a big hit for the team

Then Zeefuik closing down an attacker like a steam train and getting a big block and wasting some more time and celebrating like an NFL player after a big block 

The kind of thing that will win over the Ewood Crowd massively 

[Mashed Potatoes]

1 hour ago, Butty said:

Every cameo I’ve seen of him this season he looks knackered within 10 minutes of coming on! Something not quite right with him.

It seems like only yesterday that people wanted him to start ahead of Sam Gallagher.....

Edited January 25, 2022 by Mashed Potatoes
spelling error

[Mashed Potatoes]

46 minutes ago, Tom said:

Apart from the goal I think my 3 favourite moments of last night were tackles:

Gallagher closing down chasing a ball out wide then a crunching tackle out for a throw 

Edun knowing he’s going to get clattered but going in full blooded in injury time and taking a big hit for the team

Then Zeefuik closing down an attacker like a steam train and getting a big block and wasting some more time and celebrating like an NFL player after a big block 

The kind of thing that will win over the Ewood Crowd massively 

Yes, it's the hard work and team spirit that is the hallmark of successful sides.

[Derby Blue]

16 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

The ref assistant on the JW side must be so disappointed or plain blind.

Great win against Wilders bullies.

Well done Rovers.

Considering he's been the linesman at both the World Cup Final and the Champions League Final, he had an absolute stinker with some of the decisions he made. Just glad they didn't cost us the points.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

2 hours ago, Butty said:

Every cameo I’ve seen of him this season he looks knackered within 10 minutes of coming on! Something not quite right with him.

I thought it was one of the laziest performances from a Rovers player in a long time. Didn’t get out of a jog and stood still whilst Gallagher chased after everything even with 110 mins in his legs. Pathetic given the circumstances. Basically playing with 10 men. Happy to not see him play again this season if that’s how much effort he’ll put in.

[garnersfags]

16 minutes ago, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

I thought it was one of the laziest performances from a Rovers player in a long time. Didn’t get out of a jog and stood still whilst Gallagher chased after everything even with 110 mins in his legs. Pathetic given the circumstances. Basically playing with 10 men. Happy to not see him play again this season if that’s how much effort he’ll put in.

Davenport would've been a much better option in terms of energy levels, and he would've been ready for any counter attacks. He gave the nod to Butterworth because he wanted to shore-up the 9 man defence, and it backfired as they had 3 or 4 good chances when Butterworth was introduced. 

I was worried when we took Khadra off straight after the goal. He would've been the perfect player to exploit the space. 

Still, it worked, and we were euphoric after 104 minutes....

Edited January 25, 2022 by garnersfags

[garnersfags]

38 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

It seems like only yesterday that people wanted him to start ahead of Sam Gallagher.....

I wanted Davenport instead of Gallacher, but Tony has decided to let him waste away on the bench. 

[speeeeeeedie]

3 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Coming back to Sky last...it was Middlesbrough this,Middlesbrough that from the commentary.

If you don't like Rovers Sky then stay away,you won't be missed.

I'm assuming that I got the same commentary on ESPN then.

I don't know who it was but it was a single man booth. 

He spent the first 20 minutes banging on about how Rovers were going to miss Brereton-Diaz, when if he was actually watching the game and not using his talking points he'd have seen that Gallagher was doing a decent job up top.

Hull was worse though. That was awful.

[Dan]

Did anyone else pick up on the fact that Stewart Downing hasn’t done his homework? They were talking in the studio about what a big miss Ben would be and Downing when asked said that Ben would be looking to add to his goal tally tonight! 

[1864roverite]

1 hour ago, garnersfags said:

I wanted Davenport instead of Gallacher, but Tony has decided to let him waste away on the bench. 

I think the evidence proves he actually got it right result was 1-0 Rovers

[Bbrovers2288]

41 minutes ago, Dan said:

Did anyone else pick up on the fact that Stewart Downing hasn’t done his homework? They were talking in the studio about what a big miss Ben would be and Downing when asked said that Ben would be looking to add to his goal tally tonight! 

Thought he came across like a pillock in all honesty, didn’t show blackburn one bit of respect, I get that he is a boro boy but he still played for us too, you would’ve thought some nice words towards us would be respectful but all he came across was a bit bitter 

[Groundhog]

I'm still buzzing from last night, couldn't help but get emotional last night watching our young side grind out that win, there's something about these types of games at Ewood that stays with you. So proud, not felt like that for years. The crowd cheering that block from Gally in the second half like a goal, the one that went out for Boro throw, just summed up the night. 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Groundhog

[OsloRover]

50 minutes ago, Dan said:

Did anyone else pick up on the fact that Stewart Downing hasn’t done his homework? They were talking in the studio about what a big miss Ben would be and Downing when asked said that Ben would be looking to add to his goal tally tonight! 

He wasn't the only one, the stadium big screen showed Brereton Diaz in the starting line up.

[OsloRover]

5 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Considering this was Sky’s promo for the game, then no surprise…

 

That is disgusting, makes me furious.

[SuperBrfc]

4 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Coming back to Sky last...it was Middlesbrough this,Middlesbrough that from the commentary.

If you don't like Rovers Sky then stay away,you won't be missed.

Exactly. They decide to have us on for a run of games, as we are the form team, but still make it all about the opposition. It's happened in past seasons too when we've been on for the odd game here and there. They'll never get over our title win. Good!

No doubt our next showing at Swansea will be all about their 'brilliant' style of football, their 'philosophy' and their recruitment of managers. Sky can get stuffed. The ease with which that crook got his crocodile tears interview out on their channel says it all.

On a more positive front, I'm noticing a lot of warm comments online towards Rovers from fans of other clubs. Many saying that they want to see Rovers back in the Prem and how they enjoy visiting Ewood. I think the big away allocation we can offer is appealing.

I noticed similar comments last season on a United forum, when we weren't anywhere near the promotion picture. They had a thread on Rovers discussing what had happened to us, saying how they wanted us back in the Prem and how they were still haunted by reminders of Friedel and MGP.

Usually, it doesn't matter what fans of other clubs think. However, we were turned into and have been, the forgotten club for the best part of a decade, so it's good to see that there is still some respect out there from other fans.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, garnersfags said:

Davenport would've been a much better option in terms of energy levels, and he would've been ready for any counter attacks. He gave the nod to Butterworth because he wanted to shore-up the 9 man defence, and it backfired as they had 3 or 4 good chances when Butterworth was introduced. 

I was worried when we took Khadra off straight after the goal. He would've been the perfect player to exploit the space. 

Still, it worked, and we were euphoric after 104 minutes....

I think they took Khadra off because he’d got a slight injury. He’d gone on a long sprint almost immediately after the restart.

[islander200]

I recorded it and watched it last night after I got back from the game there was a definite Boro bias and they wouldn't shut up about Wilder.In fairness to Downing pre match he said both us and Boro would make the playoffs.

Hardly surprising he was more focused on Boro when he supports the club and is from the area 

One stat from last night regarding Gallagher in his last 10 starts 5 goals and 3 assists.Good numbers