v QPR (h) - 26/2/22

[rog of the rovers]

Time to go full Magdeburg FC

 

[Leonard Venkhater]

42 minutes ago, USABlue said:

Mowbary has destroyed the lads confidence keep asking him to do what he is not suited for.  Ended him as a player.

Hmmmm.........Ask Birmingham fans what they thought about his loan spell there-before he arrived here for the second time...

Let's say they were not overly impressed!

[roversfan99]

3 hours ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Agreed. We constantly get overran in midfield.

The false 9 Buckley definitely isn't working, put him in midfield where he played fantastically.

His best form came as a false 9 in the exact same position as he is playing now. 

He is playing shit now and should be dropped, but lets not re create history.

Edited February 25, 2022 by roversfan99

[lraC]

For anyone who think we won't score again tomorrow, fill your boots.

Sky 2.pdf

[roverandout]

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

I will always belief in my team and players in that Rovers shirt. 

I always look at everything as half full glass attitude not half empty as other does

So if we dont have one goal in squad how you explain the goals and goalscorers we have 

You don't.  A few months ago u were saying Mowbray out. 

[RevidgeBlue]

Last chance saloon for any play off hopes I fear. Need 3 points by any means necessary to stop the rot. Looking ahead we need some improved form and a few goals as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WacoRover]

We had a 6-game win streak with a side that basically is extinct for the season, due to loss of BB-D. It was up to Tony to figure out ways to score without him. Not only can we not win, we can’t even score. 

The auto promotion dream is dead, & I’m afraid the playoff hope is out the window. I know what we all need now is a goal- any kind of goal. That would really lift our spirits vs QPR. 

1-1. 

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, tugayislegend said:

Really think a different manager would have improved Gallagher. He was better when he was on loan but sadly under Tony has definitely regressed.

I was quite pleased when they signed him for 3 mill rising to 5 i thought he had a lot to offer. Not that i would have signed him if the money was there as we desperately needed strength elsewhere. 

Still think he has plenty attributes but since hes been back we've probably played 3 different styles. He's been deployed mainly to do the same thing in every one of them, just gallop about wide right. Occasionally coming inside and losing the ball or making a good tackle.

I think to do that job it really didn't need 5 million and 15 grand pwk (min) spending. It'd be unfair to say he hasn't contributed this season but we are back to square one again now.

Edited February 25, 2022 by tomphil

[RoversClitheroe]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

His best form came as a false 9 in the exact same position as he is playing now. 

He is playing shit now and should be dropped, but lets not re create history.

I think it's more the fact he's become more and more advanced, when he's actually way way better when he drops just ahead of Rothwell and Travis. 

Doesnt help we have Gallagher as our main man too.

[WacoRover]

Gally has 30 goals in 141 games with Rovers. I wonder how that compares to other forwards we’ve had? 

[RoversClitheroe]

5 minutes ago, WacoRover said:

Gally has 30 goals in 141 games with Rovers. I wonder how that compares to other forwards we’ve had? 

Or 18 in 129.....

[WacoRover]

5 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Or 18 in 129.....

The others were while he was on loan. 
or, are those goals while a loaner included in the 129? Regardless, not a great percentage. 

[WacoRover]

[4000 HOLES]

Five nil Rovers, Gallagher hat trick and 27,000 on. 

 

Just thought I'd inject a bit of optimism into a slit your own wrist thread.

[RevidgeBlue]

Optimism usually has some foundation in reality. That's just being silly.

[4000 HOLES]

Bloody hell, just trying to bring a bit o light heartedness into the forum. We had our best run of form of the season after the lowest point in the season. How many of the "realists" aka doom mongers on here would have thought after 5 mins of the Sheff U home game that we'd be second a couple of months later.

'Obviously we are out of form, but mentally chucking in the towel and saying we've no chance of making the play offs like some have suggested is plain silly to me. Whether we do or don't, don't be so miserable, we are having a better season than anyone thought so lets treat tomorrow as what it is, the first game of the rest of the season.

 

COYB BOYS!!!!!!!

[4000 HOLES]

On a serious note I'm predicting 2 nil Rovers with a crowd of about 13500. (sold 10877 in home areas as of about an hour ago).

[Herbie6590]

QPR Preview for @LoftForWords
Full article including YouTube clips etc here for reference
https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/news/57143

Well, look at us, hey, look at us. Who would have thought it? 

Not many of us, let’s be honest here. 

The loss of out of contract players, the return of loanees to parent and the sale of Adam Armstrong in the summer of 2021 served notice that the upcoming 2021/22 campaign was going to be a season of concern, consolidation and perhaps contemplation.

*checks league tables* crikey..!

 

How has this happened?

How much is accident versus how much is design is hard to say, but what is clear is the following:-

• Possession on its own butters no parsnips
• If you play a formation that exploits your team’s inherent strengths, this is generally a good thing
• Transforming one of your forwards into a world-conquering super-hero is a handy trick to pull off

 

How’s Tony turned it around? He seemed on his last legs last time we spoke?

Yeah, about that; Mowbray has just celebrated five years in charge and is showing all the resilience and indefatigability of Status Quo. 

The obituaries are written repeatedly but the farewell tours continue apace and the audiences keep turning up; “Again And Again” you might say. (Nobody will get this reference - Ed).

I’ve written him off now more times than sub-prime mortgage portfolios in the US in 2009. (Again, nobody will get this reference - Ed).

He has re-fashioned the side to exploit pace and trickery of Khadra and Dolan together with the strength and newly-found cunning of BBD and it has worked.

Tony Mowbray…more comebacks than Sinatra (I give up - Ed).

 

I’ve got to ask about the first game. Blackburn came for a 0-0, showed zero ambition, lost, and afterwards TM seemed incredulous that you’d try and do anything else. Then an explosion of form. Did he change? Was that some sort of turning point? I think about that game a lot, you would never have guessed what was coming next for Rovers on that evidence.

See answers above - bluntly, no. 

The alchemistic impact of *that* Fulham result seems to have transformed the side - at least for a dozen games - into a strong, brave, attacking unit capable of scything apart any opponent not doing sufficient pre-match homework on Rovers’ capabilities.

Again, not sure how much is down to fate or design, but Mowbray appeared to take the Fulham defeat quite phlegmatically and superficially at least appeared to be supremely relaxed. 

Whether that was because he was expecting a response from the squad, or he was expecting a P45 from the board is a moot point, but whatever he did, it clearly worked.

Confidence breeds confidence and momentum was now with us…extraordinarily.

 

What January business did you do? What did you need to do?

A reasonable amount but with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, almost certainly not enough.

Dilan Markanday joined from Spurs, amidst a fanfare from disgruntled Spurs fans, unhappy that a bright prospect had been allowed to depart. The excitement at Ewood soon dissipated however, as Markanday suffered what seems likely to be a season-ending injury during his debut.

Ryan Hedges, a soon-to-be out of contract Welsh international based in Scotland joined from Aberdeen, presumably to fill one of the “wide midfielder cum striker” roles that Mowbray seems to adore.

We also added loan signings. The talented and admired Ryan Giles further added to our “Ryan” quotient (Nyambe, Hedges) joining on loan from Wolves and Deyo Zeefuik (yes, commentators just LOVE that surname) arrived from Hertha Berlin, then got injured.

Many hoped for a striker to bolster the ranks to reduce the over-reliance on BBD but as long as Ben doesn’t pick up an injury that were to keep him out for 7/8 games, then we’ll be fine. 

(*checks Twitter notifications* “Ah feck…”).

 

POTY candidates other than the next president of Chile?

Stand out candidates would probably come from the defence. 

The skipper, Darragh Lenihan (out of contract in the summer) has led from the front; Ryan Nyambe (out of contract in the summer) has had another solid season; Jan Paul van Hecke (on loan until the summer) has impressed for his whole-hearted endeavour & taekwando schtick (see the highlights from *that* Fulham game); plus Joe Rothwell in midfield (out of contract in the summer) has also had some sublime moments.

I’ve not been able to put my finger on what these guys have in common, but they all deserve plaudits for their ample efforts so far this season.

John Buckley also has stepped up a level this season despite not being imminently out of contract.

Ben could miss the remainder of the season now and still be POTY though. Technically, he too is out of contract in the summer but apparently we do have a further 12 month option which I suspect we will exercise…although knowing Rovers, it wouldn’t entirely surprise me if we somehow contrived to forget.

 

Weak links in the team?

The injuries are starting to accumulate and fatigue seems to be setting in which means players playing out of position and form is unsurprisingly, tailing off and becoming more brittle.

It would be unfair to single out individuals in those circumstances, especially given the over-achievement so far.

Not sure where the goals are coming from though between now and mid-April.

 

Recent form - bit of a wobble or more serious? (We’re asking ourselves the same question)

It is right on the cusp of moving from a concern to a crisis. 

I’m always reminded of the definition of a crisis as used at Ipswich Town in the heady days of the Cobbold ownership and Robson management as being “when the boardroom runs out of chilled white wine…”.

Neither do I believe are we yet into “Blackadder” levels of crisis…it doesn’t have 12 storeys, nor “a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour porterage…” etc.

But, Marks & Spencer presently has an offer on men’s underpants and WH Smith’s at the station has had a run on pencils, so who knows ?

 

So, are you going to do it? How do you see the season panning out from here?

Until the recent BBD news I felt reasonably confident that Rovers could accumulate enough points to secure top six. The loss of our talisman striker is a body-blow. How it unfolds now depends upon whether we can design/stumble across another formation and complementary tactics to enable us to fashion some honest to goodness battling 1-0 wins (see, Middlesbrough at Ewood) sufficient to bring in another say, 24 points.

That would need 8 wins from 14 remaining games or perhaps, 6 wins & 6 draws…

With the December team in the form of December, I’d back us to get the 8 wins in the next 10 games, but the world has changed.

If pushed, I think we will still be in the hunt with a couple of games to go but fear it won’t be entirely in our hands. The final home game of the season is against Bournemouth. Winning that to secure top six would be an astonishing achievement.

 

I’m just off out now…I need to go to Marks & Spencer and WH Smith…again…

 

@ianherbert

www.brfcs.com

[bluebruce]

5 hours ago, rog of the rovers said:

Time to go full Magdeburg FC

 

Best thing about this is the one guy who is pointing his arrow at the corner flag instead. Must be John Buckley.

Edited February 25, 2022 by bluebruce

[Gav]

2 hours ago, WacoRover said:

Gally has 30 goals in 141 games with Rovers. I wonder how that compares to other forwards we’ve had? 

Don't tell anyone, but its not to dissimilar to Diaz..... who everybody said was shi1te too......Whisper it though.

[chaddyrovers]

6 hours ago, booth said:

I’m baffled why you’ve posted a chart that completely disproves your point.

well its clearly does prove my point thats we have goals in this team. 

6 hours ago, USABlue said:

Mowbary has destroyed the lads confidence keep asking him to do what he is not suited for.  Ended him as a player.

Really?so why would he sign a new contract here then recently

4 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

His best form came as a false 9 in the exact same position as he is playing now. 

He is playing shit now and should be dropped, but lets not re create history.

great point there roversfan99

3 hours ago, roverandout said:

 A few months ago u were saying Mowbray out. 

And since that Fulham game we have great chance that gives a chance automatic promotion and we are still in playoffs places despite a bad run. Mowbray has turn us around and got us over achieving this season

[Mattyblue]

21 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

well its clearly does prove my point thats we have goals in this team. 

 

Good god! Still with this! It’s a figure of speech! 🤦‍♂️ I.e we are struggling to score without BB. 

Think the board had forgotten about The Chaddy Show. You really need to stop getting involved in debates when you don’t understand  what people are saying…

Edited February 25, 2022 by Mattyblue

[AllRoverAsia]

39 minutes ago, Gav said:

Don't tell anyone, but its not to dissimilar to Diaz..... who everybody said was shi1te too......Whisper it though.

Twisting stats.

Diaz scored 2/3rds of his in just 5 months.

You know that already.

[OldEwoodBlue]

Sky will be regretting signing us up for a full Las Vegas residency.

So are we !

[bluebruce]

50 minutes ago, Gav said:

Don't tell anyone, but its not to dissimilar to Diaz..... who everybody said was shi1te too......Whisper it though.

Diaz's transformation is not only a rare occurrence, to go from so poor to so good in a relatively short time, but he was young with room to improve.

Gally is 26. His development years are gone and he should now be operating at his peak. He's an unlikely candidate to start rocking up with a ton of goals. Yes, even unlikelier than Diaz was.